At this point in Galatians, Paul decided to cap his scriptural defense of the gospel of grace with a story from Scripture. [1] Paul was shocked that some in the Galatian church contemplated living under the law, after receiving Christ's gospel (21). They were not listening to the demanding nature of the law (21). And Paul could not understand why they wanted to rely on it for their standing with God.
Read moreGod is Love: The Welcoming Love of the Spirit
Christmas Eve 2025
Read moreStay Focused in the Gospel: Christ Formed in Us (Galatians 4:17-20)
With this passage, we wrap up Paul’s passionate appeal to the Galatians not to add to the gospel they’d been given but to stay firm in the gospel of grace. Through his words, we’ve also seen the Spirit’s heart expressed for all of us, and so far, we’ve learned that God wants us to stay simple in the gospel, relating to him as our father, and to stay free in the Christian liberty he won for us.
Read moreGod is Love 01—The Overflowing Love of the Father (Galatians 4:4-6)
Sunday Teaching Notes: God is Love 01—The Overflowing Love of the Father (Galatians 4:4-6)
Read moreStay Free in the Gospel: In Christian Liberty (Galatians 4:12-16)
Today, we pick up in the middle of Paul’s loving appeal to the Galatians, pleading with them to stay firm in the gospel of grace rather than being swayed by false teachers to add practices of Judaism to be accepted by God. As Paul expressed his heart to them, we learn the Spirit’s heart for all of us. Last week, we saw how God wants us to stay simple in our relationship with him, relating to Him as our Father.
Read more08 An Advancing Gospel Community: Partners Together (4:10-23)
Sunday Teaching: An Advancing Gospel Community—Partners Together (4:10-23)
Read moreStay Simple in the Gospel: God Is Our Father (Galatians 4:8-11)
We are in the middle of Paul's theological case to the Galatian church. After he had brought them the gospel, they had begun to drift from it. False teachers were telling them they needed to attach the practices of Judaism to their new faith in Christ. Soon, these brand-new Gentile Christians were acting out Old Testament practices in an attempt to become accepted in God's sight. All this was abhorrent to Paul—he referred to it as a gospel contrary to the one they had received, a distorted gospel, a different gospel, one worthy of a curse on all who proclaim it (Galatians 1:6-9).
Read more07 An Advancing Gospel Community: Requires Ongoing Maintenance (Phil. 4:1-9)
Sunday Teaching: 07 An Advancing Gospel Community: Requires Ongoing Maintenance (Phil. 4:1-9)
Read moreDo I Feel God Is My Father? (Galatians 4:1-7)
After asking, Do I think God is my Father? the second question this text leads us to ask should be, Do I feel God is my Father? These verses tell us that God is discontent with only positioning us as his sons or us merely thinking we are his sons—he also wants us to feel we are his sons. He puts his Spirit in believers, and the Spirit within us cries out to God, “Abba, Father!”
Read moreDo I Think of God as My Father? (Galatians 4:1-7)
This entire passage illustrates the point in the final verse: "So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God" (7). If you have trusted Christ and believed his gospel, you have been transferred from slavery to sonship. You are—right now, not only in the future—a full heir of God because of your connection to Jesus.
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