Category Archives: Galatians

Click here for Galatians 6 audio:

---

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

Paul shows what life in the Spirit looks like in real relationships. When someone is caught in sin, those who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness, watching themselves (v. 1). We’re called to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ—love (v. 2). Each believer should examine his own work, carrying his own load while avoiding comparison (vv. 4–5). Churches should share all good things with those who teach the Word (v. 6). God is not mocked: we reap what we sow—sowing to the flesh leads to corruption, but sowing to the Spirit leads to eternal life (vv. 7–8). So don’t grow weary; in due season we will reap if we don’t give up. Do good to everyone, especially the household of faith (vv. 9–10).

Paul closes in big letters, warning against teachers who boast in outward signs to avoid persecution (vv. 11–13). He will boast only in the cross of Christ—through it, the world is crucified to him and he to the world (v. 14). What counts is not circumcision but being a new creation (v. 15). Peace and mercy rest on those who follow this rule, the true people of God (v. 16). Paul bears the marks of Jesus in his body and ends with a blessing of grace (vv. 17–18).

🌀 Reflection:
Whose burden can you help carry this week (v. 2)? And where do you need to shift your “boast” from self—wins, work, or worry—to the cross of Christ (v. 14)?

💬 Mission Challenge:
Sow to the Spirit today (v. 8): reach out and gently restore a struggling friend (v. 1), support a gospel teacher with a tangible gift or note (v. 6), and do one concrete good for a church member (v. 10).

---

Click here to return to the contents page for Phase 2.2 — The Savior, His Church, and the Mission.

---

Click here for Galatians 5 audio:

---

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

Paul urges the church to stand firm in the freedom Christ gives and not trade it for a yoke of slavery by making circumcision (or any work) a requirement for being right with God (vv. 1–6). If you choose law-keeping for justification, you’re obligated to keep all of it—and you cut yourself off from the grace of Christ (vv. 3–4). The Christian hope rests not in what we do, but in grace through faith in Jesus alone working through love (vv. 5:6, 11–12).

Freedom isn’t a license to sin; it’s power to love and serve one another, which fulfills the law (vv. 13–14). The battle is real: the flesh desires against the Spirit, but the way forward is to walk by the Spirit so you will not gratify the flesh (vv. 16–18). The works of the flesh are obvious—sexual sin, idolatry, divisiveness, envy, drunkenness—and those who make a practice of such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (vv. 19–21). In contrast, the Spirit grows love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control in us; against such things there is no law (vv. 22–23). Belonging to Jesus means we have crucified the flesh and now keep in step with the Spirit (vv. 24–26).

🌀 Reflection:
Where are you tempted to earn God’s approval or to indulge the flesh? Ask the Spirit to help you “keep in step” today, and pick one fruit of the Spirit to practice intentionally (vv. 16, 22–25).

💬 Mission Challenge:
Serve someone in love this week—meet a practical need, reconcile a strained relationship, or encourage a weary friend—so that your faith works through love (vv. 6, 13–14).

---

Click here to return to the contents page for Phase 2.2 — The Savior, His Church, and the Mission.

---

Click here for Galatians 4 audio:

---

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

Paul explains that before Christ came, God’s people were like heirs who were still minors—no different from slaves under guardians (vv. 1–3). But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman and born under the law, to redeem those under the law so we might receive adoption as sons (vv. 4–5). Because we are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts so we cry, “Abba! Father!” and are no longer slaves but heirs through God (vv. 6–7).

Paul warns the Galatians not to turn back to the old “elementary principles” by keeping special days, months, seasons, and years as if they were required (vv. 9–11). He appeals to their past love for him when he first preached to them through weakness/illness, contrasting his sincere care with the flattery of the false teachers (vv. 12–18). With pains of childbirth, he longs for Christ to be formed in them (vv. 19–20).

Using Hagar and Sarah, Paul shows that seeking righteousness by the law leads to slavery, while trusting God’s promise brings freedom (vv. 21–31). Believers are like Isaac—children of promise, belonging to the Jerusalem above and called to cast out the enslaving message of works-righteousness (vv. 28–31).

🌀 Reflection:
Where are you tempted to slip back into rule-keeping to feel accepted by God? Remember—you are adopted, indwelt by the Spirit, and free to call God “Abba, Father” (vv. 6–7).

💬 Mission Challenge:
Encourage someone who feels like a spiritual slave. Share Galatians 4:4–7 and remind them of the gift of adoption and the Spirit’s witness in our hearts.

---

Click here to return to the contents page for Phase 2.2 — The Savior, His Church, and the Mission.

---

Click here for Galatians 3 audio:

---

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

Paul calls the Galatians “foolish” for turning from the gospel of grace to the works of the law (v. 1). They had received the Spirit by hearing with faith, not by keeping rules (vv. 2–5). To make his point, Paul reminds them of Abraham, who was counted righteous by faith long before the law was given (vv. 6–9). True children of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, are those who believe as he did.

But those who rely on the law’s works are under a curse, since no one can keep it perfectly (vv. 10–12). The good news is that Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us—He bore our sin on the cross so that the blessing of Abraham and the gift of the Spirit might come to all nations through faith (vv. 13–14). The promise given to Abraham came long before the law, and the law did not cancel it (vv. 15–18). Instead, the law was given to reveal sin and to lead us to Christ, the true “offspring” of Abraham (vv. 19–22).

Through faith in Jesus, believers are no longer under a guardian but have become sons and daughters of God (vv. 23–26). All who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ—their identity is now found in Him. In God’s family, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus (vv. 27–28). And if we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise (v. 29).

🌀 Reflection:
Are you resting in God’s promise or striving to earn His approval? Remember—your righteousness and acceptance come by faith alone in Christ who redeemed you.

💬 Mission Challenge:
Remind someone today that the gospel is not about what we do for God, but what Christ has done for us—share Galatians 3:13–14 as good news of freedom and grace.

---

Click here to return to the contents page for Phase 2.2 — The Savior, His Church, and the Mission.

---

Click here for Galatians 2 audio:

---

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

Paul recalls a visit to Jerusalem where the leaders recognized his gospel and mission. Even with Titus (a Gentile) present, they did not require circumcision, showing that Gentiles are received by grace, not by law (vv. 1–5). James, Peter (Cephas), and John gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that Paul would go to the Gentiles while they focused on the Jews—only asking them to remember the poor (vv. 6–10).

Later in Antioch, Paul opposed Peter for withdrawing from table fellowship with Gentile believers under pressure from the “circumcision” group (vv. 11–14). Such behavior denied the truth of the gospel. Paul states the heart of it: a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 15–16). Believers have died to the law and now live to God—“I have been crucified with Christ… and the life I now live… I live by faith in the Son of God” (vv. 19–20). If righteousness could come by the law, Christ died for no purpose (v. 21).

🌀 Reflection:
Ask the Lord to expose any ways you lean on performance for acceptance with God. Rest in Christ’s finished work, and live by faith in the One who loved you and gave Himself for you (v. 20).

💬 Mission Challenge:
Encourage a believer who feels like a “second-class Christian.” Share Galatians 2:16 or 2:20 and remind them that in Christ, they are fully accepted by grace.

---

Click here to return to the contents page for Phase 2.2 — The Savior, His Church, and the Mission.

---

Click here for Galatians 1 audio:

---

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

Paul opens by reminding the Galatians that his apostleship comes not from men but through Jesus Christ and God the Father (v. 1). He greets them with grace and peace, pointing immediately to the gospel—that Jesus gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, all according to God’s will and for His glory (vv. 3–5). His authority and his message both come directly from the risen Lord, not through human instruction (vv. 11–12).

But Paul is astonished that the Galatians are so quickly deserting the grace of Christ for a different gospel that is not the good news about Jesus at all (vv. 6–7). He warns that the message of salvation through Christ alone cannot be altered, and that anyone—whether an apostle or even an angel—who preaches another gospel stands under God’s curse (vv. 8–9). Paul’s concern is not to please people but to remain a faithful servant of Christ (v. 10).

🌀 Reflection:
Where are you tempted to care more about human approval than about the truth of the gospel? Ask the Lord to help you stand firm in His grace.

💬 Mission Challenge:
Share with someone this week what makes the gospel “good news”—that Jesus gave Himself to rescue us from sin and bring us peace with God.

---

Click here to return to the contents page for Phase 2.2 — The Savior, His Church, and the Mission.

---