Raufu Spagnoletta
Scripture Lesson Text: Galatians 2:15-3:5
Overview
I agree with the Sunday School writer that today’s lesson is a great one for introspection. Do we believe that God’s love depends on our performance? Do our sins cause God to love us less, and our good deeds make Him love us more? Have we been subconsciously relying on our own efforts and not on grace? Have we abandoned faith for works?
Paul was defending the “truth of the gospel. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) “not by the works of the law” (Galatians 2:16). Simply put, we are justified (declared righteous by God) through faith not through the law; If righteousness came by the law then Christ would have died in vain. Paul called the Galatians foolish because they followed the false teaching of the Judaizers and abandoned grace for the law. Since they begun in the Spirit, they should be progressing in the faith.
Instead, a spiritual regression was occurring as they sought to be perfected by the works of the flesh. Our lesson ends with Paul’s rhetorical questions to the Galatians: “Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doth He it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?”
Related Scriptures – Romans 3:9-31; 4:13-25; 9:30-10:4; Titus 3:3-7
Romans 3:9-31, lays the foundation for the gospel by demonstrating humanity’s need for a Savior and revealing God’s solution in Jesus Christ. The key point in Romans 4:13-25, is justification (declared righteous by God) comes through faith not through keeping the law. Paul uses Abraham as an example, highlighting that God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants was not based on Abraham’s obedience to the law (which didn’t even exist at the time of the promise), but on his faith in God’s promise.
Romans 9:30-10:4, explains while Israel pursued righteousness through the law, they stumbled over Christ, because they sought it through works rather than faith. Gentiles, on the other hand, who did not pursue righteousness through the law, found it through faith in Christ. Titus 3:3-7, describes the transformation that occurs when a person becomes a Christian.
Practical Point
As Christians, we continue to live by faith in Christ.
Christ is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). The Christian life begins in faith (Ephesians 2:8-9); continues in faith (2 Corinthians 5:7; Romans 10:17), and ends in faith ( 2 Timothy 4:7-8).
