ELNORA’S BIBLE STUDY WITH FRIENDS, Galatians 1, Saturday, March 29, 2025
Context for Chapter 1
Galatians 1 begins one of the most-loved books about God's grace in all of Scripture. This and the following chapter detail Paul's biography, as he makes the case that he has been made an apostle by Christ and, therefore his message is trustworthy. Chapters 3 and 4 go into depth about exactly what the gospel of God's grace is and why it is true. In chapters 5 and 6, Paul teaches about how Christians should live in the world as people who have received the grace of God through faith in Christ. (https://www.bibleref.com/Galatians/1/Galatians-chapter-1.html)
Greetings & The Good News, Verses 1-10, DESTINY
1 This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. 2 All the brothers and sisters[a] here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia. 3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ[b] give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.[c] You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. 8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. 10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
SECTION QUESTIONS:
1. What can we learn from verse 1 about what an apostle is?
2. Why do you think Paul starts almost every one of his letters by identifying himself as an apostle?
3. What is a false gospel? What specific false gospel were the Galatians turning to?
4. In verse 7, Paul says what the Judaizers are teaching is not good news at all. What does he mean by this?
5. Paul seems angry at a certain point in this section. In which scripture can you begin to sense his anger? Did you see what he said about the angel from heaven? What about verse 9?
6. What is the difference between selfish anger and righteous anger?
Paul's Message Comes From Christ, Verses 11-23, KESHIA
11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. 12 I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. 13 You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. 14 I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him 16 to reveal his Son to me[b] so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being.[c] 17 Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus. 18 Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter,[d] and I stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie. 21 After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally. 23 All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!”
SECTION QUESTIONS:
7. Why do you think it is so important that Paul pointed out in verses 11 and 12 that the gospel is not of human origin?
8. What is Paul telling the Galatians about his life before converting to Christianity?
9. What can we learn from Paul's life?
10. Why is it noteworthy that Paul only spent a short time with the first disciples?
11. Although Paul spent time seriously persecuting Christians, look at what he said in verses 15-16a. How can he say this with such confidence?
12. After Jesus appeared to Paul, according to verse 17 it seems that Paul spent about 3 years in Arabia and Damascus. The Bible says little about what he could have been doing there. How would you speculate Paul is spending this time?
13. What are some implications for our church or our personal lives that we can take away from our discussion today?
Confessions for Galatians, Chapter 1
"1This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. 2 All the brothers and sisters[a] here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia." (Galatians 1:1-2)
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