MNC Fellowship

Galatians 3:1-3 // Paul minces no words when he calls the Galatians foolish and hypnotized. Make no mistake about it, there are religious men in the world who you need to avoid. This lesson also talks about how a person receives the Spirit, and how that if you have received the Spirit, you need not doubt when a self-proclaimed "prophet" tells you otherwise.

Galatians 3:1-5, INTRO // Basic review of the big picture in Galatians, and a beginning into chapter 3, particularly the part where Paul chastises the Galatian Gentiles for thinking they need to go back and do something that was already done.

There are some things that were concealed in the Old Testament that were revealed in the New Testament, at the time of the Apostles and Prophets. The Old Testament saints caught a glimpse of such things, but only later did the picture become clear.

Some people will push you far away from Yahweh, while others will push you nearer to Yahweh. Choose your friends wisely.

If we are in Messiah, we are not guests or outcasts, we are citizens of heaven, right along with our brother Yeshua. This status is available to anyone who places their faith in the cornerstone that Yahweh laid.

Galatians 2:17-21 // Yahweh's law is perfect. Yahweh's law is good. There is nothing wrong with Yahweh's law - AT ALL - but... Yahweh's law was not designed by Yahweh to be an instrument of justification. Yahweh's law was not designed by Yahweh to remove sin. If we try to use the law in a way it is not designed to be used, we are making void the grace of Yahweh.

Galatians 2:15-16 // When all the dust settles, Judahite-Israelites by birth are just as much sinners as Gentiles. No man is declared justified (acquitted) by the works of the law, because no man is complete in Torah.

Galatians 2:11-14 // Paul gave Peter an open rebuke, but it wasn't because he disagreed with him on how to observe a commandment, it was because Peter was deviating from the truth of the gospel to the Gentiles.

Within a natural body, there are many different parts, yet diversity does not mean harmony. It should be the same within the spiritual body of Messiah. Yeshua is our common bond. He is our peace.

Galatians 2:6-10 // Paul respected the Jerusalem leadership, and that leadership gave Paul and Barnabus the right hand of fellowship. They agree with Paul's gospel; an uncircumcised heathen could be saved from his sins and be in a right relationship with Yahweh, simply by placing trust in Yeshua, the One Yahweh sent.

Galatians 2:3-5 // Titus the Greek wasn't forced to be circumcised. Why? Would Titus have done wrong by getting circumcised? Listen to learn the important first century context of what was taking place in and around Jerusalem, Israel when people received the message of the good news about Yeshua.

Galatians 2:1-2 // The second time Paul went to Jerusalem (as a believer in Messiah) he presented his Gospel to the established elders there. Why did he do this? How did he do this?

How do we view people, Christian people, who are not entirely as we are? Listen to this lesson to learn how that in the Messiah, we are one with those who are in the Messiah, even when they aren't as we are, or as we think they need to be.

1:16b-24 // Paul finishes out the intro to his letter by further demonstrating that his gospel did not originate by his going to those who were apostles before him. This man had a mighty encounter with the risen Master. (At the end, I speak about how our identity is found in the gospel.)

Galatians 1:15-16 // What was the major shift in Saul's life after his encounter on the road to Damascus? And what was the purpose of this encounter? Saul (Paul) tells us in this text.

The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes is necessary for us to be saved. If we are dead in trespasses and sins, and we do not desire Yahweh (or seek Yahweh), how are we then saved? This lesson explains that grace and faith are gifts given to us by our Creator.

Galatians 1:14b-15 // What are the ancestral traditions Paul was zealous for, and how does this effect our reading the word "law" in the epistle to the Galatians? I also look at how we never know who Yahweh has called to be his child, so we should always approach people with love and care, in hopes that one day they will receive the gospel about Yeshua of Nazareth.

Galatians 1:14 // Before Saul encountered Yeshua in a saving way, he was involved in the religion of Judaism. What does this mean? Is this a false religion? Did Saul give up everything he believed to go follow Yeshua?

Galatians 1:11-13 // Saul uses, as proof that he was not taught the gospel by man, his former manner of life inside of Judaism. Paul hated and hunted the ministers of the gospel prior to his Damascus road experience.

Galatians 1:6-10 // Paul warns the Gentiles that they are leaving the message he taught them during his stay there. He pronounces a curse on those who distort the gospel, and speaks to his now servitude to the Messiah rather than being a man-pleaser.

Galatians 1:1-5 // Paul greets the congregations in Galatia, but within this greeting he emphasizes that his apostleship is not based on human authority. Why does he do this?

More on the background and historical context of Paul's epistle to the Galatians. I finish going through Acts 13, which if understood will do wonders in helping one understand Paul's later epistle.

In order to understand Paul's letter to the Galatians, we need to know to whom he was specifically writing. The answer lies not on the surface, but underneath an experience he had while on a missionary journey to the area known as Galatia.

When we approach a book of the Bible, especially a single letter, we must pay close attention to the author and recipients. Historical context is a must if we are serious about arriving at the proper interpretation. Not taking into account the when and why will lead us to erroneous conclusions.

A dead person can't make decisions. We were all once (or still are) dead in trespasses and sins. Something had to take place. His name is Yahweh.