Galatians

·       Summary (church, strengths and weaknesses, reference to Acts):

This epistle is written to the Galatians which include all the people of the Roman province Galatia. It would be specifically for the cities which Paul went to on his missionary journeys; these include Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. We read of Paul visiting these places in Acts 13:14-14:23; 16:1-6 and 18:23. In this letter Paul is upset! He does not greet and bless/thank the readers first but jumps right in to get his point across. The Galatians were going back to works and believing the teachers who were twisting the gospel. Paul explains in a fatherly manner to these young believers that it is not the law or their works that saves them but the grace of God when they put their faith in Christ which brings freedom.  We also get to see their strengths in Galatians 4:12b – 16, they are said to have taken Paul in and cared for him when he was sick and they had joyful and grateful spirits which Paul encourages them to continue having.

·       Main ideas, key words and repeated ideas:

The key verse of Galatians is 5:1, it says, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”

The main idea of Galatians is that we shouldn’t live by the law but by the spirit and that our salvation does not come through our works but it is by the grace of God that we are saved through Jesus. We words circumcision and freedom are repeatedly found.  There is this idea that we are not slaves to the law but we have freedom and salvation by grace yet we are to use that freedom to commit to each other and be slaves to one another, loving and caring each other. We see this in 5:6, 13: ‘For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.’ and ‘for you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.’

·       Character and nature of God:

The most prominent thing we see in Galatians concerning God’s character is that He gives grace. We are saved by His grace and we deserve none of it! We also see that God is a planner, throughout this letter we are shown how God had a plan and we have now moved on to the next part of His plan yet in his love he has given us the Holy Spirit to lead us and has not just left us out in the blue. He has taken us from living under the law to giving us the gift of salvation. We also see traits of God in Gal 5:22-23 where it says that the Holy Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Paul urges the Galatians to believe the truth and not to stray from it, He wants the best for them and is concerned for them, his deep care and love can be seen in the harshness of his rebuke and his fatherly explanation to child-like people. All of this that I see in Paul is an image of who God is and how He cares and loves us. The father heart of God is evident through Paul’s heart in this epistle.