last week, but let's turn to the book of Galatians, the book of Galatians. We're going to be starting a new book, a wonderful book, an inspired book. And this morning we're just going to give a little background information and an overview of the message of this book and to just give us a little more appreciation for this small but potent book in the New Testament. But let's begin with a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, for every portion of scripture. And we ask, Lord, that you would guide our minds and hearts as we look into the book written to the churches of Galatia. Teach us from it, Lord. Help us to see things that we never saw before. Help us, Lord, to apply truths that perhaps we've never applied to our own lives. and just give us a better grasp of the gospel message and of the means of sanctification and how we can live lives that are pleasing in your sight. And we'll thank and praise you for this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we'll be, again, looking at some background information on the book written to the Galatians. First of all, the author, The world of theology and theological academia argue among themselves almost in every single subject you could think of, but the authorship of the book of Galatians is one that there's virtually no disagreement on. Paul was the author. The first word in the book tells us that Paul, the Apostle Paul, not just any Paul, was the author of this book. He claims to be the author. The writings of this book are in perfect sync and harmony with the rest of Paul's theology, especially the book of Romans. And early on, in the first few centuries, there were some ancient writers, extra-biblical writers, that confirmed in their day, in those very early days, that this book was written by the Apostle Paul. So we're not going to belabor that point. Paul is the author, he says so, I believe him. But his audience, who were the Galatians? It's written to Galatians and that's not a church, that's not somebody's name, that was the name of a region. And if you look at the end of verse 2, Paul says this book was written unto the churches, plural, of Galatia. So, Where is Galatia on the map? Here we see the region of Galatia. This is really modern-day Turkey. Ankara is the capital of modern-day Turkey, and that was a major city in the ancient region of Galatia. It's pronounced almost identically to... I shouldn't say pronounced, but it looks very similar in the spelling to Ankara. the city that we know in Turkey today. It was settled by about 2,000 Gauls and also a good group of Celtic people with them that traveled down this far south from Northern Europe. And this was about 280 BC when these Gauls and Celts settled down in this region. And then 200 years after that, around the turn of the century, just before, It became a Roman province and it became part of the Roman Empire. And the Roman Empire expanded the region of Galatia. Originally it was in the north, but I don't know if you can see the cities of Lystra and Derbe and Tarsus. it's probably too small for you on that map, but the Roman Empire expanded the boundary regions of this province of Galatia to include those cities as well, and it included the region of Pisidia, Phrygia, and like Ionia, and if those names sound familiar to you, those were areas where Paul visited on his missionary journeys. So Galatia has two meanings in history. Sometimes the word Galatia refers to the ancient northern part of what we would call Galatia today. And other historical accounts refer to Galatia more so of the southern part of Galatia that we hear more about in Paul's missionary journeys. Paul visited, by the way, both regions, and we don't know for sure exactly if this book of Galatians included the whole realm of Galatia or was focused more on the churches in the south. I personally lean towards the southern Roman province view. and particularly so because there were the cities of Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch, which we know Paul was familiar with and instrumental in those areas of establishing churches there. And also, those cities were also in a direct line with a major highway, I guess if you could use that term, a major road from Paul's hometown in Tarsus through those cities, which is why he went there immediately on his missionary journeys. And also another reason for believing that Paul was referring to in the southern part of Galatia was because usually Paul used the name of a region or a city at the time. He didn't use its ancient historic name, he used the city's name or the region's name at the time of his writing, and that would indicate that it was more inclusive of the southern region of Galatia. But nonetheless, this book is addressed to the churches of Galatia, and there are several churches in this region And there were maybe quite a few churches that were planted that we're not familiar with, that were not revealed in the New Testament. But Paul wrote one letter to all of those churches. It's the only time he ever addressed a region of churches. Maybe he didn't have time to address a letter to each of the churches individually. We don't know. But one reason why he may have addressed this letter to the whole region of churches is because they all had the same problems. That whole region was infected by the same sort of problems. And if you look in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 6, Paul writes, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto, and notice this, another gospel. which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ." So there was a problem of another gospel entering into this region. After Paul left, other men came in and were preaching another gospel. And this affected all of the churches in the region of Galatia. The gospel of grace was being perverted. And so they all had that same problem in this region. Look also in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 1. You move very quickly in an overview. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 1. Here's another problem that all of the churches in that region were dealing with. He says, foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you? This only would I learn of you. 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, ye are now made perfect by the flesh? So here we discover that these churches were bewitched by a spiritual seduction. They started off well, they understood the gospel well, And they all seemed to be doing well originally when Paul was there and shortly afterwards, but there came a point when they started to depart from their walk in the Spirit and they turned back to the flesh and to the law. And then skip ahead to chapter 5 and verse 7. Chapter 5 and verse 7. And here Paul says, ye did run well, meaning originally, initially. Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? So again, Paul mentions the fact that these churches all began well. They heard the truth. They understood the gospel of the grace of God. But when Paul and his missionary associates left that region, initially all seemed to be going well, but then something happened. And subsequently, Paul began hearing stories that now the churches were being hindered from obeying the truth that Paul taught them originally. So the book of Galatians is not merely a presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's an apologetic. It's a defense of the gospel of the grace of God, which began to be under attack not in 1980, but in the first century. So Paul was obviously upset over that. And one of the reasons why he was so upset, and one of the reasons why he wrote this letter to the whole region of churches, was because he personally evangelized the churches in that region. Notice in chapter 4 in verse 19, Paul addressed the churches there as, my little children. And so the Apostle Paul sees these churches as his spiritual children. He led them to faith in Christ. He saw himself as the spiritual father of these churches. He was the founding father. He led them to the Lord. And he was the one that initially preached the gospel to them. And Galatians chapter 1 and verse 11, he said, but I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me, so he preached the gospel there, is not after man. And then also we see chapter 4, verse 14. He said, you know how through infirmity of the flesh, Paul had some physical ailment. Many believe it was some kind of an eye problem. He said, I preach the gospel unto you. So Paul was the one who initially, he was that missionary sent there to preach the gospel unto these people. He personally preached it and taught it to them. And his message was well received. Many received the gospel message. In fact, look at what he said about how well he was received. In chapter 4, in verse 14, he said that, you received me as an angel of God. Paul was loved by the people when he went there. They heard of God's grace. They heard of salvation through faith, and they believed, and they were genuinely saved, and they were thankful to the apostle of Paul. They saw him as an angel or a messenger sent specially to them from God. And that's how Paul was considered there. He was the father in the faith, but all of these churches had the same problems. Paul had a special heart for that region. First of all, it was very close to his hometown in Tarsus, and secondly, because he evangelized them and he was the founding father of those churches, and something happened in that region. Something terrible happened in that region. And the end result of it would have been, had not Paul written the book of Galatians, the church of Jesus Christ would have split into two churches, a Jewish church and a Gentile church. That was a real possibility in the first century. And that would have been totally incompatible with the nature of what the body of Christ is. The body is one. There's one body, one God. And so the Judaizers who came to that region, they were the troublemakers, they came into that region And they were OK with Christianity as long as it was considered a sect of Judaism. As long as it was under the umbrella of Judaism, under the authority of Jewish law and Jewish customs, they were OK to be a unique little sect. There were several other sects, the Pharisees and Sadducees, et cetera. So the Jews were okay as long as this new sect in their mind, Christianity, remained under their umbrella. And the Jews were teaching them that it would be to your advantage to be under the umbrella of Judaism because in the Roman Empire, Judaism was an approved religion. New sects were not. They would experience persecution. And so here was a problem that arose in the early church very early. Vine, in his commentary on Galatians, wrote, Paul asserted that while Christianity preserved the essentials of Judaism, and it did, it preserved the truth of the Old Testament, it believes every word of the Old Testament, it superseded it. Far from being merely Judaism seen from a new angle, Christianity antiquated Judaism and replaced it. And so early on, where did the church meet? In the temple. But as time went on, it was becoming more and more clear that you could not practice offering sacrifices while simultaneously believing that Jesus' one sacrifice ended them all. It was impossible to believe from the Jewish standpoint that Jesus was just a rogue prophet. And on the other hand, the Christians believed that he was God in human flesh. So there was bound to be a split between these two groups eventually, because Christianity was not a sect of Judaism, nor was it under its Jewish laws, the Mosaic system, or under its traditions. So a divide was necessary. And the Book of Galatians makes a very powerful argument for that divide. And so sudden changes began. The attitudes of the churches in the region of Galatia, once these Judaizers came in, their attitudes began to change towards the gospel of God's grace and also towards the Apostle Paul, who initially preached it to them. Initially, in chapter 4, the churches said of Paul, Paul said, you received me as an angel of God. And he went on to say, it's believed Paul had some kind of an eye ailment. And he said to them in the next verse, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. So these people really loved the Apostle Paul initially. They were thrilled about having been saved by grace through faith, that a Savior bore all of their sins and paid the penalty in full, leaving nothing for man to do but to receive the gift of grace. But then something happened. And here we see in Galatians chapter 4, In verse 15, Paul says, where is then the blessedness she spake of? For I bear you record that if it had been possible you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them unto me. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? So something happened between the time that Paul was considered to be almost like an angel, a messenger sent from God. They would pluck their eyes out for him, and now Paul is seen as an enemy because he's teaching them the truth. The blessedness in that relationship, Paul said, something happened to it. And isn't it amazing how fickle the human heart is? How quickly human sentiments can change? And how this must have stung the Apostle Paul, planting all of those churches, risking his lives to bring the gospel message to those churches, and they seem to be doing so well, and now he goes on to other fields and he discovers that they've turned on him. Something happened that changed their minds. Their attitude completely changed. And then in that passage we just read, men came in and Paul says, I marvel that you were so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of God unto another gospel. Paul was shocked at how quickly their minds changed. And most of these folks that he's writing to, they were believers. And their minds changed because their minds were infected by false teachers. These false teachers came in and they perverted, they twisted the gospel of Christ. So, who were these Judaizers? Now, Paul doesn't name them by name. This is a name given to them later. Paul doesn't name them as the Judaizers, but we know that this is the name that history has given to them. But Galatians does describe them not as an individual person, but rather as a group of people that had similar beliefs and similar practices. And everywhere the Judaizers are mentioned, it's in the plural. He says in chapter 1, verse 7, some trouble you. Chapter 5 and verse 12, they, plural, or they zealously affect you. So Paul and his associates all throughout this region were preaching the gospel and teaching sound doctrine, but after they left, These Judaizers dogged their steps and began undermining Paul's gospel ministry and undermining Paul's apostolic authoritative teachings. And the Judaizers were an evil influence. And their teachings were an attack on the gospel of grace. both as a means of salvation, how you get saved, and also as a means of sanctification, how you maintain a relationship with God. The law can neither save nor can it sanctify. It was never given for that purpose. But here we see that some of these men, some of these Judaizers, Paul describes as false brethren. He says that because some of false brethren, unawares, brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. So here Paul tells us in the second chapter their motives and their goals. This is what these Judaizers were up to. They were out to bring the Gentiles back under the umbrella of Jewish law, Jewish authority, and Jewish traditions. And here, Paul describes it as spying out, in a sinister way, their liberty that they have in Christ. Now, Paul taught, you're free in Christ. The Jews thought, no, we're not free. We have to obey the law. And so, there was an obvious clash here. Now, some of these Judaizers were clearly not saved. Paul describes here, he called some of them false teachers. And they were claiming that in order to be saved, you have to keep the Ten Commandments. You have to keep the Law of Moses. And in fact, that's what the early church, the first church council was about. We read that in our response of reading in Acts chapter 15. Let me just remind us in verse 1 of chapter 15, Luke writes, And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, This is the men from Judea, these Judaizers. Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. And he was just taking one aspect of the Mosaic law and using it to refer to the whole. In other words, you need the law if you're going to be saved. You have to submit to the law of Moses or you're not going to be able to be saved. So these men, these false brethren, were just that, false. They did not believe the gospel. They believed another gospel. They didn't understand what the gospel of the grace of God was all about. and they didn't understand that the Jewish laws and customs had become obsolete, null, and void by the cross of Calvary. They wanted the new believers in Christ to submit to the law, to submit to the Ten Commandments, to submit to all the feast days and the holy days and circumcision, etc. If they wanted to be saved and if they wanted to walk with God, that was an absolute essential. And we read in Acts 15, when Paul heard that, he was outraged. And he ran straight to Jerusalem, to the mother church, so to speak, initially in those days, to deal with that issue, along with Peter. They just did not understand. And it's hard. This is a difficult thing to grasp. And here we see in Galatians chapter 6, He says, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. So they were forcing this on them. Now, there's nothing wrong with it as long as it's voluntary, but forcing it makes it a legal requirement for salvation, which is being saved by law. And then in chapter 5, Behold, I, Paul, say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. That's pretty forceful. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, he is a debtor to the whole law. In other words, the law is a unit. And if you're going to put someone under obligation to one portion of that law, then they must be under obligation to law in its entirety, including the penalties, which often was death. For a Jewish person, the Judaizers were Jewish. They were coming from Jerusalem. It was nigh unto impossible for them to wrap their heads around the fact that someone could be saved other than by the law. They were brought up in the law. They were groomed in the law. The law was ingrained in the way they thought. the way they lived. And this was so strange and so foreign to them that you can be saved freely by grace through faith. Even Peter was unsettled in this as far as Acts chapter 10. After the church began in chapter 2, It wasn't until Acts chapters 10 and 11 where it finally began to dawn on Peter that, yes, he did receive the Lord as the Savior, he is now part of the church, he's born again, he's part of the body of Christ, but he still believed that he had to eat only foods that were considered clean according to the Levitical dietary laws. And when the Lord gave him a revelation that those foods were now clean, it's okay to eat ham, it's okay to eat lobster. In fact, it's excellent to eat lobster. But Peter first said no. To the Lord, he said no. It sounded so foreign to him. So this was not an easy thing for Jewish people to grasp. that Christians can have a right relationship to God apart from their Jewish law. And this is a common struggle for believers today who are unfamiliar with God's method of sanctification and many good sound Bible-believing churches who understand the gospel by grace through faith clearly seem to have gone back to some legalistic system in order to walk with God. Galatians deals with that. You know, a new believer will almost automatically We all do this when we're first saved, at least if we were not brought up in a Christian home. You get saved and you understand that Christ paid the penalty, that we're not under the law, and now I'm saved and I have the Holy Spirit. So now, now that I'm saved and I have the Holy Spirit, now all I have to do is dig in my heels and I'll keep that law. And I'll be good. God, you wait and see. Read Romans 7. That's what Paul said. He didn't have that settled early on in his Christian life. He thought that now that he was saved that he'd be able to keep the law, and he was shocked that he couldn't. And that's because very often we as believers have to learn the hard way that not only does the law not save, but the law does not sanctify either. It's not God's method of sanctification. And so the Judaizers entered into the region of Galatia. And some of them were clearly not saved. They were false brethren. They did not understand salvation by grace. But it appears that there may have been others who were also Jewish believers in the first century who were genuinely born again. They were genuinely saved. But they thought, ignorantly, but they really believed that Christians needed to submit to the law. in order to walk with God. You're saved by grace, but we're not going to throw the law out. Certainly we have to live by the Ten Commandments. That's very similar to the mistake of Seventh-day Adventists. They teach salvation by works, but then out of the other side of their mouth, I'm sorry, they teach salvation by grace through faith, but then they say in order to maintain that you have to work and keep the Sabbath. This is what Galatians is about. The Judaizers had taught in their churches, they had infected the churches with their form of legalism, and Paul directly confronts that legalism on both accounts, both with respect to salvation and with respect to sanctification. And boy, is that relevant to today. The same kind of error exists in churches in Christendom today. And if we don't understand the message of Galatians, we could easily fall prey to modern-day Judaizers, who think that somehow salvation by faith is too simple, so we have to add something else to it. We have to add commitment, a promise to obey, We have to surrender every area of our life or we're not saved. We have to do this and that and the other thing. Whatever it is, it's adding to the simplicity of faith. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians deals with that subject. Let's consider some notable quotes by notable men. quoting the importance of the book of Galatians. Way back in 1531, Martin Luther, one of the great reformers, a godly man who loved the Lord, he had his issues. Anti-Semitism was one of them. He had other issues. But God used him in a mighty way because he saw in the book of Galatians how vital the message of this book really was. And he understood that the book of Galatians was the backbone of the Reformation or would become that. And he said of this little book, he said, the epistle to the Galatians is my epistle. To it, I am, as it were, in wedlock. It's my Catherine, or Katrina. That was his wife's name. And so Martin Luther looked at the Book of Galatians and he said, that's my wife. That's the closest thing to me. And he was willing to die for the message of the Book of Galatians. Another man wrote, He said, talking about the book of Galatians, he said, it was the pebble from the brook with which the reformers smote the papal giant of the Middle Ages. And this man used an illustration like David and Goliath. And the reformers were a small group with not much backing against the Roman Catholic Church, which had armies at their command, which greatly outnumbered them all throughout the region, especially in Europe. And they understood the Book of Galatians was like one of those little stones that David took out of the brook and defeated the giant Goliath. And this was the victory that God gave them in the Middle Ages in the Reformation. A little closer to our time, our age, Dr. Merrill Tenney wrote, Few books have had a more profound influence on the history of mankind. Now that's a pretty strong statement to say about a little book with six chapters. Few books have had more profound influence on the history of mankind than this small tract, and that's really what Galatians is, it's a gospel tract for the first century and beyond. For, for such it should be called. Christianity might have been just one more Jewish sect, and the thought of the Western world might have been entirely pagan had it never been written. And again, here he's noting the fact that apart from the writing of the Book of Galatians, and perhaps Romans as well, there could have been two different churches. They were heading in two different directions. The Judaizers, the believers, there were many Pharisees who got saved in the early century, and some of them had a hard time letting go of the law, just like Peter and Paul did. Peter and Paul eventually got it, but these men did not. And they wanted Christianity to exist under the umbrella of Jewish customs and law. And the Gentiles, clearly, many of them understood that we're saved by grace through faith plus nothing. And while it's perfectly legitimate for our Jewish Hebrew Christians, if they want to keep some of their customs, that's fine. But commanding it is legalism. It's adding to the gospel. And those two churches could easily have split. That's why there was that first church council in Acts chapter 15, and Merrill Tenney said that was the value of the book of Galatians. It was a powerful weapon against that split. and another man described it as the Magna Carta of spiritual emancipation. In other words, it paves the way for Gentile believers to understand that they are free in Christ and we don't have to submit to the Jewish laws. And so let's look at some of the important subjects that we find in this book. It's similar to the Book of Romans in that they're both dissertations on justification by faith. But Galatians, we might say, is the Book of Romans, but it's concentrated. Have you ever bought concentrated orange juice? Don't drink it straight. You have to add water to it. It's very potent. Anything that's concentrated is very potent and powerful. And that's really what the book of Galatians is. It is the gospel concentrated. It is powerful, it's potent, and it was designed to be that. It is an apologetic, it is a defense of the gospel against attacks. So let's think of some of the contents in this book that indicate to us how valuable it should be to every one of us. First of all, Its value arises from the content, what it actually says. And the first thing we note here Well, we just noted, one, that in presenting the gospel, remember Paul said, there are some who are perverting the gospel. And it was a very powerful message against those who pervert the gospel. And in chapter 1 in verse 9, he goes on to say, as we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than you have received, let him be accursed. Those are very powerful words. That's how strongly Paul felt about anybody that would dare to change, to subtract from, or to add to the gospel of the grace of God. Let him be cursed. And so that's one value to the book of Galatians. It shows how the gospel message early on was distorted and perverted by these Judaizers. Another value to it is that it makes a powerful case for the divine origin of the revelation of the gospel message. Where did Paul get his gospel from? He says in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 11, But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me, the gospel Paul preached, is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." So the gospel message contains information that came directly from Paul from the risen Lord Jesus Christ when Paul was in the wilderness. He received direct revelation. We would call that truths that were previously unrevealed in the Old Testament, those mystery truths. So Paul revealed, to Paul was revealed, the gospel message of Jesus Christ. And so why is that important? Because Paul is highlighting the fact that it didn't come from men, it didn't come from the apostles, it didn't come from the church council. The gospel message that was under attack in Galatia, they were really attacking God, the Lord Jesus, who gave that message to Paul, who preached it to the churches of Galatia. So the divine revelation of truth itself was under attack. And third, another one, It was an attack on the doctrine of justification by faith, by faith alone. Galatians 2.16, how clear could it get? Listen to this. Knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, I'm counting. Here, on one side, not of works, but by faith or grace. So we're not justified by works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no man be justified. Six times. Three times, it's not by law. Three times, it's by grace through faith. And so this little book packs a punch, preserving the simplicity of the gospel message by faith alone. And that was really one of the main messages of the Reformers. Solo fide. Faith plus nothing. Only faith. That's how we're saved. Another message in this book. dealt with Christian living by grace through faith. And so in this sense, the book of Galatians, when it comes to sanctification, is delivering the same message as Romans 6, 7, and 8. Galatians gives us valuable information about the means of spiritual growth and maturity. And he says in chapter 3 and verse 3, Are you so foolish having begun in the spirit? Are you now made perfect by the flesh? The spirit goes with law and goes with grace. Flesh is attracted to the law and trying to justify itself. Spiritual growth is not by law, but by the Spirit of God. And another message of this book, Galatians preaches or teaches the truth concerning the conflict between the flesh and the Holy Spirit in chapter 5 and verse 16. This I say, then walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So here he makes the clearest, simplest statement. Now there's much more to that. Read Romans 6, 7, and 8. Paul gives more details. But here we have a concentrated form of the same truth. Our relationship to God is a walk of faith, not of law. Next, Paul deals with another issue. He deals with the negative subjects of legalism and formalism. In Galatians chapter 4 and verse 10, he rebukes the churches there. He says, you observe days and months and times and years. I'm afraid of you. No, he's talking about the Jewish calendar, the Jewish religious calendar. They had certain holy days and feast days and years of jubilee and this somehow worked its way into the churches of Galatia. He says, I'm afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. So Paul was their founding father and he sees his children are going back towards Judaism and he was disturbed by it. These Hebrew Christians of the first century, they continued to keep their Jewish customs and their Jewish ways, and that was fine. for Hebrew Christians. And it was also fine if a Gentile Christian voluntarily chose to submit to some of those customs. But the Judaizers made them mandatory, and that's what made it legalism and contrary to grace. If you add one tiny little speck of law to grace, then grace is no more grace. Either it's free or it isn't. And this affected another aspect, our freedom in Christ. In Galatians chapter 5, Paul says, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage. And so Paul wanted these Gentile Christians to be free from the yoke or the bondage to Judaism. And at the church's first council in Acts 15, the apostles, thinking through the Old Testament, said, neither we nor our fathers were able to keep that law. That yoke was too much. It was unbearable. And that was the purpose of the law, to show that we needed a savior, that we can't keep the law. And so Paul was defending freedom here. forcefully. And also, another aspect of the message of the book of Galatians in chapter 3, here it says, and this I say that the covenant, the Abrahamic covenant that was confirmed before God in Christ, I'm sorry, not the Abrahamic covenant, the law, The Mosaic Covenant, the law, which was 430 years after the Abrahamic Covenant, cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect. So here Paul is saying, and I'll kind of put this in a nutshell, that the absurdity of going back to the law for Gentile Christians, and the absurdity of requiring it. And he's saying here that the Abrahamic promise that God gave of a Messiah who would bring salvation, that covenant, that unconditional covenant, came four centuries before the Mosaic law. And so the law cannot disannul what God had promised. God can add other responsibilities for a time period, but it doesn't change the original promise that God made to Abraham, and that is the forerunner of salvation by grace through faith for Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. So these are key doctrines that we see in the book of Galatians. They're not explained in full detail as they may be in other New Testament epistles, but we see a concentrated form of these very valuable doctrines. And then we also have in this book some key verses. Key verses. When it comes to justification by faith, In chapter 3 in verse 11, that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. That was Martin Luther's crying call. That was his carrying call in the days of the Reformation. And this particular passage, the just shall live by faith, was the core of the message, the gospel message, that the Reformers preached. And here we see it in Galatians. We see another vital passage on sanctification. I am crucified with Christ, our identification with Christ in his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Nevertheless, I live. My old man was crucified, and now I live as a new creature. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, the indwelling presence of Christ in you, the hope of glory. And he's living his life through me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." So how are we to live this new life? By faith, not by the law. sanctification in a kernel form, if you will. And also we see another key passage on the unity of the body of Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither born nor free. There is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. So the spiritual body of Christ is one. And here we see a passage that seems to bring all of that together in one concise little statement. And then we have another key passage on the subject of Christian liberty, Christian freedom. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. So stay away from legalism and stand fast in the freedom that we have in Christ. And then the battle, the Christian battle, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Another key passage on the fruit of the Spirit. Here we have a sort of a sampling of what life in the Spirit will produce in us and it's basically the sweet character of Christ manifested through our lives. in another key doctrine, a key passage, on the believer's relationship to the world. But God forbid that I should glory, save, or accept in the cross, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. And so here again, Paul puts in a concentrated form our relationship to the world. Because of our identification with Christ, we died with Christ, and we died with him to the world. And the world is crucified to us. Death severs that old relationship that we had to the world. Previously, before our regeneration, we were part of the world system. We were in bondage unto Satan's evil present evil world system, and we walked in lockstep with our adversary the devil, but once a person is saved, he is set free in Christ, and this world is no longer our home. We are citizens of heaven, and while we have a ministry to do in this world, heaven is our ultimate home. So these are all key truths Truths that believers today need to know and need to understand with key passages on major doctrines found in this little book of Galatians. A little book with a powerful punch. And we will look at all of these in the weeks and months and who knows how, maybe several years to come. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for This book we pray that in the months ahead that you would give us understanding, help us to apply it to our lives, help us to understand more fully what Christ accomplished for us on the cross in setting us free. And we thank you Lord that we are free from bondage to sin, that we are no longer slaves to our sin nature, that we've been set free from Satan, that we have been set free from bondage to this world system. And now we're able to stand in freedom in Christ to serve you with all of our hearts. And God, we pray that you would help us to understand properly our freedom in Christ, that we would not abuse it. as we see freedom on an earthly level abused in this country. Father, as a church, we pray that you would help us to be free to serve a holy God, that the Lord Jesus might manifest his holy life through us as we yield to him. And we'll thank and praise you for that. In Jesus' name, amen. Please turn.