This year, I’m still pondering my recent study of Galatians. While we celebrate Jesus’s birth at Christmas, we cannot separate it from the reason he came nor his promises for the future. Join me here as I look at each of the traditional Advent themes—HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and LOVE—found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Today we start with HOPE.
Jesus Christ
Galatians 3:15–4:7: Law, Promise, Sons, Heirs
Since Paul has argued that salvation is by faith, he now turns in Galatians 3:15–4:7 to explain the purpose of the law—to point to our need for Christ. And in Christ we are sons (yes even women) and heirs of God.
Galatians 2:11–21: Justified by Faith in Christ
n this short section of Paul's letter to the Galatians, Galatians 2:11–21, he recounts to his audience the things he said when he confronted Peter about his hypocrisy regarding the law and non-Jews. Paul lays out the basics—we are justified by faith in Jesus and not by obeying a set of rules.
Galatians 1: Only One Gospel and Pleasing God
As I study Galatians with the women in my church, I'm doing something a little different than I usually do here on Pondered Treasures. I'm summarizing the passages, adding same parallel passages for explanation, then asking some application questions. It's my way of making sense of Paul's writing and digging for his meaning and and how I can apply it personally. It may only appeal to "Bible nerds" like me, but I offer it to you. May it help you in your study. I start with Galatians 1:1–10.
Pondered Treasures 