Tag Archives: justification

Galatians Bible Study, Pt. 37: The Whole Law

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Class #37:  Having completed his teaching on salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone, the Apostle St. Paul now drives home what would be the result for the Galatians, if they obeyed the yoke of law provided by the Judaizers.

  • Christ will profit you nothing.
  • You will be a debtor to the whole law.
  • You will be estranged from Christ.
  • You will have fallen from grace.

Those attempting to be justified by even the smallest part of the Law have already fallen from grace.

Overhead: Galatians Class 37 Overhead
Handout: Galatians Bible Study Chapter 5 2 thru 15

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Galatians Bible Study, Pt. 20: Believing Abraham

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Class #20:  Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Galatians 3:6, Genesis 15:6).  All of the Old Testament upholds the Scriptural doctrine of justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  The promise given to Abraham was not that he was to be the father of the Jewish nation.  God’s promise was that in Abraham “all the nations/families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:3, 18:18, etc.).  God justifies the people of all nations by faith.

Abraham believed in the promise of the Savior, Jesus Christ, coming from his own body.  Abraham’s righteousness was not accomplished by his own works.  He was declared to be righteous from faith.  Abraham believed that God would create from him “a great nation,” that is the church!  The false teachers cannot claim Abraham in support of their righteousness by works. On the contrary, it is the Galatians, who are “of faith,” that can claim Abraham as their father.  The believing Galatians are the true sons of believing Abraham.

Overhead: Galatians Class 20 Overhead
Handouts: Galatians Bible Study Chapter 3 6-9  and seed offspring descendant NKJV

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Galatians Bible Study, Part 18: Distinguishing Justification and Sanctification

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Class #18:  There is a distinction between justification(Christ for me) and the fruits of justification, called sanctification(Christ in me).  A person is saved when he is justified by faith in Christ, “who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20).  It always follows that the person who is justified, is sanctified.  That is, God creates a new heart so that the Christian desires to please God and love the neighbor.  Nevertheless, due to the sinful nature, that sanctification is imperfect.   We are not saved by our sanctification, nor do we trust in our sanctification.  We trust in Christ for our justification, which is always perfect.

At the end of Galatians, chapter 2, St. Paul begins to speak about the results or fruits of the Galatians having been crucified with Christ(justification).  “Christ lives in(ἐν) me” and “I live in(ἐν) faith to the Son of God” (Gal 2:20).  Beginning with Galatians, chapter 3, he asks them to look at how their Christian life began, if they were now continuing to live by faith, and the suffering they had endured as a Christian.

With this lesson, we examine the Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article III. Righteousness, 24-29, 37-54, in order to clearly speak about justification and sanctification.  We take note Of the 7+ ways to fail at distinguishing between justification and sanctification.

Overhead: Galatians Class 18 Overhead
Handout: Formula of Concord Solid Declaration III Righteousness Jan 15 2017

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Galatians Bible Study, Pt. 16: Christ isn’t a Minister of Sin, is He?

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Class #16:  St. Paul declares that Jews know—because of the teaching of the Old Testament—that no flesh is justified by keeping the law(Ps 143:2).  Therefore, in order to be justified according to the promise of the Gospel(Mk 16:16), Christians have believed in Jesus Christ.

With Galatians 2:17-18, St. Paul shows the logical result of what happens when a Christian (who is seeking to be justified by faith) adds the requirement of keeping the law for his justification.  With verse 17, we learn that if faith in Christ alone is insufficient to save, then Christ has become a servant who lead us into sin.  Similarly in verse 18, we see that if believers in Christ need the law in order to be justified, then the church’s teaching of faith alone makes us lawbreakers.  We cannot rebuild the law as a requirement for justification, without turning Christ into a sin-causer and us back into a transgressor.  The truth of the Gospel is that important!

Overhead:  Galatians Class 16 Overhead

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