Introduction: We come to the end of our 2017 study of Paul’s letter
to the Galatians. If you have been with us through the entire series,
I hope that you have a better understanding of Paul’s message of
righteousness by faith, and his concern that through the power and
leading of the Holy Spirit faith changes our attitude. That change
causes us to want to live a life that brings glory to God and makes
our journey here easier. Paul has a few important truths to share in
his closing, so let’s plunge into our final study of Galatians and
see what we can learn!
- Large Letters
- Read Galatians 6:11. What does Paul’s statement about
writing with his own hand suggest about the rest of the
letter to the Galatians? (Read Romans 16:22. Paul used a
scribe to write his letters. He did not hold the pen
himself – except for the part we are about to study.) - Look again at Galatians 6:11. Why does Paul tell us that
he is writing in “large letters?” (This is proof that Paul
himself wrote these last few verses.) - Why would Paul write in large letters? (Read
Galatians 4:15. The most simple and obvious answer is
that Paul has vision problems. It is nothing new for
readers over forty years of age to understand that
writing and reading in small print is a challenge.
However, scholars suggest other reasons for the large
letters. These are that Paul is not very skilled in
writing Greek, or he has bad handwriting, or that the
letter to the Galatians is long. The last suggestion
turns on understanding “large letters” to mean “long
letter.” I think the eyesight issue is the most
obvious answer.) - Closing Remarks
- Read Galatians 6:12-13. Before we get into a discussion of
the meaning of this, what impact does Paul’s “large
letters” comment have on the importance of this section of
the document? (Paul did not just sign his letter to the
Galatians, he actually wrote by hand the section we are
studying this week. That suggests that this concluding
section is very important to him, and thus should be
important to us.) - Let’s focus on Galatians 6:12. What is the motivation
of the pro-circumcision people? (They want to make a
good impression and they want to avoid persecution.) - What is wrong with that? If a young person
asked me if first impressions are important, I
would absolutely answer, “Yes.” However, as we
will see later in this study, Paul teaches us
not to focus on externals.) - What does Paul mean when he talks about the
pro-circumcision group wanting to “avoid being
persecuted for the cross of Christ?”
(Apparently the Jews from Jerusalem were
persecuting Christians. We started our study of
Paul’s letter by reading Paul’s (Saul’s) role
in the killing of Stephen because of his
Christian testimony. See Acts 7:57-60. Thus,
the pro-circumcision Galatians were motivated
to stay out of trouble with the Jerusalem
crowd.) - What do you think about a motivation like
that? (Paul argues that it is selfishness,
rather than a principled understanding of
God’s will, that is behind their pro-circumcision position. They want to appear
to go along with the Jerusalem
authorities.) - Do you compromise your religious beliefs
to avoid being attacked by others? - Read Galatians 6:13. What is Paul’s point here? That those
who argue for circumcision are hypocrites? (I don’t think
that is the main problem. If a person argues that keeping
the law is key to salvation and that person cannot keep
the law, then attempting to keep the law is not a
practical solution to sin.) - Notice his language about “boasting about the flesh.”
When you convince someone of your point of view, do
you feel like boasting? (Yes, we all feel a sense of
accomplishment when we are able to convince others of
our point of view.) - So, what is the problem here? (They have
convinced someone of a worthless point of
view.) - How should this direct our evangelism efforts?
(We need to focus our efforts on what matters
most – faith in Jesus and His provision of
righteousness by faith.) - Read Galatians 6:14. What do you boast about? When someone
asks you about yourself, what do you say first? - When Paul writes that the “world” has been
“crucified” to him, what do you think he means?
(Crucifying something is to kill it. He seems to say
that he is dead to the world and the world is dead to
him.) - Why would Paul use the term “crucified” if he
just means “dead?” (The point is that Jesus
overcame the world through His crucifixion.
Jesus overcame the law of sin bringing death
for those who place their faith in Jesus. That
is why Paul says that his goal is to boast only
in the cross.) - When I was growing up, and even now, I hear people
talk about standing apart from the world. That is
consistent with what Paul writes here. What do you
think that means? - Read Galatians 6:15. Is this what Paul means by being dead
to the world? (When I was growing up, standing apart from
the world meant to be plain. To be a “peculiar people.”
You could spot a female church member in a crowd because
she did not wear make-up, jewelry, or fancy clothes. This
was true for other denominations at that time as well.) - Isn’t the idea that you can see the difference the
modern equivalent of circumcision? The difference is
external, we look different than the world? (Paul
tells us that what makes us different from the world
is that we are proud of the cross. The world is
selfishness, and the cross is the symbol of ultimate
unselfishness. That may well have an impact on what
we wear, what we drive and how we live. But, the
point is not the externals, it is the attitude. “What
counts is a new creation.”) - Read Galatians 6:16. Paul mentions following “this rule.”
What rule does he mean? (The rule of a new creation. The
rule of that externals are not important. The rule of
unselfishness.) - Will we have peace if we follow this new rule? (Paul
says that the circumcision group is taking its
position in part to avoid persecution.) - Let me ask you a practical question. If your heart
were converted to an attitude of unselfishness, would
you have more or less peace in your life? If your
heart were converted so that externals did not make a
difference, would you have more or less peace? - Would you experience more or less mercy if you
focused less on externals? - Read Romans 2:28-29. What does Paul write about externals
here? - Read Galatians 6:17. Why should people not cause trouble
for Paul? He has a Jesus tattoo on him? (Read 2
Corinthians 6:4-5 and 2 Corinthians 11:24-25. Paul
literally bore the marks of his suffering as a result of
his witness for Jesus. He does not need any more beatings.
And, he has physical proof of his commitment to Jesus.) - Read Galatians 6:18. What is “your spirit?” (Paul has been
encouraging us to live by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, he ends by saying let your spirit listen to the Holy
Spirit. Accept this message of grace given us by Jesus.) - Friend, will you accept grace today? Will you constantly
seek to live by the leading of the Holy Spirit? Will you
focus on matters of the heart and not externals? Why not
make that decision right now? - Next week: We begin a new series of studies on Paul’s letter to
the Romans.
