Galatians 3:1-9

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Salvation is By Faith Alone, Not a Mixture of Faith and "Works"

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Receiving the Holy Spirit is by faith, and not by works. (Galatians 3:1-5)

  2. Righteousness from God is by faith, and not by works. (Galatians 3:6-9)

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Don’t use Galatians 3:7 to spiritualize Israel.

QUESTIONS

  1. In his epistle to the Galatians, the apostle Paul is straightening out a very serious problem that had arisen in the churches of Galatia. What was this problem?

  2. Why is it essential to know and understand God’s way of sanctification?

  3. What is meant by “sanctification?”

  4. Refer to Galatians 3:1. What does the term “bewitched” mean?

  5. According to Scripture, is salvation by faith alone, or by works, or by a mixture of faith and works?

  6. According to Scripture, is sanctification by faith alone, or by works, or by a mixture of faith and works?

ANSWERS

  1. False teachers, known as Judaizers, had come in and were preaching and teaching a different gospel than Paul was preaching and teaching. The Judaizers were wrongly teaching that you had to add works of the law to your faith in order to be saved.

  2. Because, as believers, it affects our whole way of living.

  3. Sanctification is to be made more holy or more godly.

  4. It means to be cast under an evil spell by an evil influence of the devil.

  5. Salvation is by faith alone.

  6. Sanctification is by faith alone.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Sanctification comes about by yielding your mind and body to the Lord, and by letting the Holy Spirit empower the new life that you have in Christ. Weren’t you saved by faith alone? Are you now walking with the Spirit, who dwells in every believer?

  2. Righteousness from God is by faith, and not by works. How would you challenge someone who proclaims salvation by works?

CHALLENGE

  1. Galatians 3:7 should not be used to spiritualize Israel. This does not mean that God has done away with His promises to the natural descendants of Abraham, namely, the Jewish people. These promises will be fulfilled in the future. Read Romans 11 in this connection.

KEY VERSES

  • “Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth?” (Galatians 3:1)

  • “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2-3)

  • “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Galatians 3:6)



Galatians, New Testament, TalksDeb HarmsGalatians 3:1-9