Sermon Text: Galatians 5:1-6 Theme: Paul exhorts believers not to add circumcision to Christ’s completed work and thereby lose all. Instead, they are to stand firm in hope and faith that Christ has done everything needed to justify them Structure/points: Prior to Galatians 5, Paul hasn’t directly mentioned the Galatians undergoing circumcision or even being tempted to. But circumcision has been on…
Sermon Text: Galatians 4:21-31 Theme: The parentage of Isaac and Ishmael teaches the Church a spiritual lesson: only those who trust in God’s grace for salvation, apart from reliance on human effort, will inherit eternal blessing. Structure/points: The Judaizing heretics had nearly convinced the Galatians that the law of Moses requires them to keep it in order to be saved. But Paul…
Sermon Text: Galatians 4:12-20 Theme: Paul’s pastoral desire was that those who received the Gospel with eagerness would zealously pursue the formation of Christ within them, lest they be excluded from Christ by the deceptions of false teachers. Structure/points: Paul has demonstrated great anger and frustration with the Galatians for their near-apostasy throughout this letter. Now the apostle softens his tone, like…
Sermon Text: Galatians 4:8-11 (Romans 1:18-23 for context) Theme: A church that renounces the saving knowledge of God converts back to the spiritual slavery that Christ rescued them from. Structure/points: Since Gal. 2:15 and onward, Paul has explained the salvation and justification that Christians have from God through Christ. Yet the Galatians were on the very cusp of renouncing their faith in…
Sermon Text: Acts 13:13–46 Theme: David’s character and life extensively prefigured the experience of Christ, while falling short as the shadow is less than the substance. Structure/points: Paul’s preaching in Antioch of Pisidia is an instructive example of weaving elements from the OT revelation together to show that Christ was there all along. The instance of David is especially instructive. After introducing…
Sermon Text: Galatians 4:1-7 Theme: When the time came for the Church to be redeemed from their bondage to the law, the Father sent His Son to redeem and adopt those He would make His sons and heirs by grace. Structure/points: If the Old Testament fathers and mothers were saved in the same way as New Testament people are, why then were…
Sermon Text: Galatians 3:23-29 Theme: The cessation of the law’s power equips the Church to believe that all who are justified by faith have equally received Christ and share in His inheritance. Structure/points: Paul has insisted that God’s promise to save people by faith was not invalidated when He gave the law to Moses. The law was never intended to save people…
Sermon Text: Galatians 3:19-22 Theme: The law of God accomplishes its purpose not by justifying sinners from its curse, but by showing them their need for Christ to deliver them. Structure/points: Paul has been arguing that the law of God is incapable of saving sinners; only by faith in Jesus is anyone justified. But why then did God give the law? What…
Sermon Text: Galatians 3:15-18 Theme: The promise of God to bless Abraham’s offspring remains unaltered by the introduction of the law, so that everyone with faith like Abraham’s shall receive the promised inheritance. Structure/points: As we’ve seen in the last few weeks, Paul has been reminding the Galatian churches of their justification. Since Christ had been crucified, they’d been forgiven of their…
Sermon Text: Galatians 3:10-14 Theme: The law’s curse rests upon all who have failed to keep it perfectly, but Christ became a curse to redeem all whose faith rests upon Him so that they could receive the blessing of Abraham. Structure/points: Why is Paul still hammering home that we are only justified by faith and not works of the law? And why…