Fine Line
“Of Veering”
Galatians 1-2

Galatians 
	About a 20 minute read
	149 verses 
	Written by Paul
		He wrote 13 or 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament (there is a debate about 		the unnamed author of Hebrews). Paul wrote more New Testament books than 	
		any other author, and Luke contributed the largest amount of content for the New 		Testament with his historical books of Luke and Acts.

		Paul was Luke’s pastor and Luke was Paul’s doctor.

		The history of Acts 13-28 focuses mainly on Paul which, combined with the 
		books he wrote and influence he had on Luke, means that the majority of the 
		entire New Testament is written by Paul, written about Paul, or written by 
		someone working closely with Paul.

		Paul’s incredible intelligence includes studying under the renowned rabbi 
		Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) and being fluent in the languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, 
		Greek, and possibly Latin.

		In his letters, Paul used more than one hundred Old Testament quotations in 
		addition to innumerable echoes and summations of biblical themes and terms 
		(perhaps all from memory as he was often traveling by foot, an average of twenty 
		miles per day, and often in jail during his roughly decade of ministry). Paul’s 
		letters to the Romans and Galatians are perhaps the most significant source of 
		theological clarity.

	Written to the “churches in Galatia” – a multi-site church
		Galatians has been called “the Christian Declaration of Independence”
		
		Paul was the founder and spiritual father of the churches in the region of Galatia 
		during his first missionary journey.  After the churches were founded, Paul left the 
		region and a false teacher (Galatians 3:1, 5:7, 5:10) and teachers motivated by 
		pride (Galatians 4:17, 6:12) entered the churches to refute Paul’s authority and 
		teaching, which split the church and discouraged people (Galatians 5:15, 5:26, 
		6:1,3,9). These false teachers went so far as to claim that Paul was a false 
		teacher and that they were truly more godly, using the real gospel of Jesus 
		Christ. 

		Multi-site church: One church meeting in several different locations around 
		Galatia

Reason
	Warning (fine line) against the danger of Christ followers veering either toward 	
	liberalism on the left, or legalism on the right.
		Liberalism: “I love Jesus, but I will live however I want to.”
		Legalism: “I will follow all the rules so Jesus will love me.”

	Centrality of grace in the gospel where God makes peace with us
		Totally foreign to every other religion or faith system on the planet 
		To turn from grace is to become like every other religion in the world

	Address the specific issue of circumcision 
		False teachers were saying that in order to be saved, you had to believe in Christ 		plus become a Jew by following the laws of Old Testament; most notably, you 	
		had to be circumcised. (Acts 15)

Grace is the answer! (Galatians 1:3)
	Unmerited favor of God
	Unique, revolutionary, life transforming
	Understanding that God’s pleasure is not based on our performance

Gospel of Grace (Galatians 1:3-5)
	God makes peace with us, not the other way around

	It is free
		God the Father initiated this grace 
			We don’t deserve it
			We didn’t ask for it
			Grace comes running after you
		God the Son accomplished grace for us

	It is freeing 
		Free from sin; not free of sin 
			“Deliver/rescue”
			Israelites (Acts 7:34)
			Peter (Acts 12:11)
			Paul from “killed” (Acts 23:27)

	It is motivating
		Motivated to obedience
		Compelled to share it

Turning from Grace (Galatians 1:6-10)
	Can happen quickly

		“Turning” (Galatians 1:6) 
			Switching teams – Yankees/Red Sox
			“Foolish” – Hypnotized you (Galatians 3:1)
			Don’t be enslaved again (Galatians 5:1)

		Satan does more damage…
			Twisting, confusing, changing the gospel
			Following rules
			Do whatever you want – covered

		This is why it is a fine line

	Serious
		Golden Calf (Exodus 32:7-8)
		78% of church-goers believe it is possible to go to Heaven without Jesus

	You can turn back
		“Don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9)
	
Paul’s Testimony (Galatians 1:11-24; Acts 5:34, 7-8, 9:1-19, 26:10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11)
	Gospel			World
	I have a problem: sin		Everyone makes mistakes 
	I am the problem		Blame everyone/everything
	There is a solution		Hopeless despair
	You are not the solution	If you work to be better or do good
	Jesus is the solution 

We may not have the same background, but every follower of Jesus has the same testimony.

Truths from a terrorist turned evangelist
	Grace is at stake
	The goal of Christianity is not morality; it is union with Jesus Christ!
	You are made right to do right