Galatians 3:1-14 (Reading for August 12, 2007)

One more time I am revisiting a passage I already spoke about.

Go below and reread Galatians 3:1-14. I will be looking more closely at verses 6-9, and in particular, verse 7, "those who believe are the the descendants of Abraham."

Galatians 3:1-14 (Reading for August 5, 2007)

To get through the book of Galatians in a timely manner, we must move on. I still believe there is much to plumb in 2:15-21. I have highlighted the central questions Paul places before the Galatians, I will focus our attention on exploring these questions. I just want to keep in front of us, what I believe is the central theme in Galatians, "we are justified by grace through faith." Here is the NRSV translation of 3:1-14:

Law or Faith

(Cp Rom 4.1—25)

3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! ² The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? ⁴ Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. ⁵ Well then, does God^a supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

⁶ Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” ⁷ so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. ⁸ And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” ⁹ For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.

¹⁰ For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” ¹¹ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”^{b 12} But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law^c will live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— ¹⁴ in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

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a Gk he
b Or The one who is righteous through faith will live
c Gk does them

1. Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?
2. Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?
3. Did you experience so much for nothing?
4. Does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

Galatians 2:15-21 -- A Second Time

After spending time with this passage to be preached on July 22nd, I decided this passage was so "big" that it would take more than one week to cover what is presented by Paul. So, I invite you back to passage, Gal 2:15-21, an live with it for another week. This is my plan. While on the 22nd I focused the sermon on the foolish ways we try to justify ourselves, on the the 29th I will look to explore what it means to have faith.
These theological concepts are "big" in our Reformed/Presbyterian tradition. The Reformation of the 16th century, these thoughts were pivotal in a new message and mission for the church. It is sad that it took a schism within the church -- the split in the church that lasts today with a division between the Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church.
Well, let's see where this passage will take us.

Paul's Rhetorical Style

One of the ways scholars approach Paul’s letters is through the study of his “rhetorical style.” In fact, one of the new forms of biblical analysis is referred to a “rhetorical criticism,” to go side by side with textual criticism, historical criticism, redaction criticism, and literary criticism. Each of these biblical studies methods help us get closer and closer to what the author(s) might have wanted to communicate to their audience. A good Bible dictionary will help you look up these different methods of approaching the biblical narrative.

Now, back to rhetorical style. In popular use, rhetoric is used as a put down term or negative evaluation of speech; “it is all rhetoric” as a critique of politician’s endless words. Behind this is a suspicion that each speaker will try to manipulate the hearer to get him or her to do something the speaker wants for the speaker’s benefit or even a falsehood. However, there is a rhetorical style that Paul uses that was used by educated Greeks of his day. Rhetoric was seen as an art form – an art form of presentation, persuasion and argument. In Paul’s usage, his words were designed to have an effect on the reader/hearer.

John Calvin had a method of Bible study that asked the reader to read “closely” the text. This type of reading was to see the plain sense of the words as they lay out on the page. He was not looking to simplify the content of the passage. He was trying to get the reader to stay with the text, turning it over and over, mining it for meaning. He looked for shades in meaning and nuance that were actually there. These characteristics became more apparent with reading a passage time after time in different historical setting.

Seeing Paul’s rhetorical style close up can make us scratch our heads and wonder why he says the things he says in the way he says them. His arguments are often “dense.” But I would suggest that Paul’s letters are like a dense forest and is a wonderful place to visit. The denser the trees, the foliage, the undergrowth and the animal life, the more there is to see and learn. However, moving through a dense forest requires patience and sometimes hard work just to go a few feet. So with Paul’s letters. It takes time; it takes work. The time and work we put into discovering Paul’s rhetorical style brings us much to appreciate in his teaching about the reality of Christ’s love for you and me.

The sermons connected to this Galatians series do not allow me to go into all the finer details each Sunday (they are already long enough). This might be a path you might journey on through these summer months. I will be glad to answer specific questions.

If you are more interested in rhetorical style, you might go to Aristotle's Rhetoric. I believe he was the first Western philosopher to write on this subject in detail.

Galatians 2:15-21 (Galatians text for July 22, 2007)

Jews and Gentiles Are Saved by Faith

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that a person is justified^d not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.^e And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ,^f and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. ¹⁷ But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; ²⁰ and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,^g who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification^h comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

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d Or reckoned as righteous; and so elsewhere

e Or the faith of Jesus Christ

f Or the faith of Christ

g Or by the faith of the Son of God

h Or righteousness

Join a Galatians Group

Listed to right under Helpful Links you will see a Galatians group. This is for further information that is coming from sermon preparations. You will also be allowed to sign up for this group which means that any time I make a change to that group, you will receive an email.

A clear chronology of Paul's life is difficult to lay out. It takes an effort to bring together the Paul's autobiographical comments in his authentic letters and Luke's biographical information on Paul's life. The following outline is taken from The Cambridge Companion to St. Paul, edited by James D. G. Dunn.

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Birth in Tarsus	Around the turn of the first century
Education primarily in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3)
Crucifixion of Jesus	30
Conversion of Saul (Acts 9 etc.)	32/33
First Jerusalem visit (Gal 1:18)	35/36
Antioch – teacher and missionary (Jerusalem visit? Acts 11:30) -- ‘the first missionary journey’ (Acts 13-14)	Early and mid 40s
Jerusalem Council (Gal 2:1-10/Acts 15)	48/49
Aegean mission – Corinth (acts 18:11) 1 & 2 Thessalonians Galatians	50/52
Jerusalem visit (Acts 18:22)	52
Aegean mission – Ephesus (Acts 19:10) 1 & 2 Corinthians (Philippians, Colossians & Philemon?)	53-5
Aegean mission – final phase (Acts 20:3) Romans	56
Arrest in Jerusalem (Acts 21:33)	57
Imprisonment in Caesarea (Acts 24:27)	57-59
Journey to Rome (Acts 27:1-28:16)	59-60
Imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28:30) Philippians, Colossians, & Philemon)	60-62
Probable date of execution	62/63
(Possible release and further mission, Ephesians, Pastoral Epistles)	62-4?