DECEPTION IN THE GALATIA CHURCHES

Galatians 1:4 Jesus gave himself for our sins to RESCUE us from this evil age

**[For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
Colossians 1:13 NIV]**

v6 Paul was SHOCKED/ASTONISHED/IRRITATED/MARVELLED that they had started to desert God’s Grace through Christ and we’re turning to a different Gospel, v7 Which was NO GOSPEL at all.

{You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Galatians 1:7 NLT}

** They were being thrown into confusion by those who were perverting the Gospel**

v8-9 Anyone who preaches a different Gospel should be under God’s Curse
v11-12 The Gospel Paul had preached was of no human origin but was from God through revelation.

Gal 2:4………some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.

¶They were demanding Gentiles be circumcised in order to be saved, and that’s why Paul did not allow Titus to give into this¶ v3

Even Peter & Barnabas had been led astray by this Group (Agitators/Circumcision Group (v9 Talks of Peter as one of the PILLARS of the Church….yet he had been led astray by this influential Group)
v11-21

**[So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV]**

v2: 11-21
The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

Paul Explains the undistorted TRUTH:

v16 ……..a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too [JEWS], have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be JUSTIFIED by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

v19 Paul says he had died to the LAW and now lives for God.

**[For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. Galatians 2:19 NLT]**

v20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

v21 We cannot set aside the GRACE of God,  for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:21 NIV

**[God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8 NLT ]**

**[For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…Titus 2:11 ]**

Paul is Astonished by the distortion of the TRUTH. Explains FAITH is the ONLY way.:

– You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. Galatians 3:1 NIV

……. I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you? Galatians 3:1 CEV

v2 – Asks if they received God’s spirit by putting faith in Christ or by observing the Law?

v3 How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God’s Spirit started in you? Galatians 3:3 CEV***

v3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your OWN human effort?
Galatians 3:3 NLT ***

v5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. Galatians 3:5 NLT ****

v8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” Galatians 3:8 NIV

v9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Galatians 3:9 NIV

v 10-11 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Galatians 3:10-11 NLT

v 13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Galatians 3:13 NLT

Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:14 NLT

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. Galatians 3:19 NLT

Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:21-22 NLT

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our GUARDIAN until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. Galatians 3:23-25 NIV

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27 NIV

***There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ****If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:28-29 NIV

Paul Renews His Concern:

So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.
Galatians 4:9-10 NLT

****You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.
Galatians 4:10 NLT

v14-15 Paul recalls how they received him so well like an angel though he was sick. They could have even removed their eyes and given to him.

He warns them:

v17 These men [the Judaizers] eagerly seek you [to entrap you with honeyed words and attention, to win you over to their philosophy], not honorably [for their purpose is not honorable or worthy of consideration]. They want to isolate you [from us who oppose them] so that you will seek them.
Galatians 4:17 AMP

He emotionally weeps for them for he doesn’t know how else he could help them:

Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.
Galatians 4:19 NLT

Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. Galatians 5:2-3 NLT

For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. Galatians 5:4 NLT

But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
Galatians 5:5-6 NLT

Question
You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? Galatians 5:7 NLT

**You were doing so well until someone made you turn from the truth. Galatians 5:7 CEV ***

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16 NIV

For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
Galatians 5:17 NIV

***Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24 NIV

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Galatians 6:7 NIV

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:8 NIV

**v9 At the RIGHT TIME we shall reap a harvest if we don’t give up.

Final Warning with LARGE Letters about what these false teachers want: v11-17

v12 They want to look Good to others
v12They don’t want to be persecuted for preaching the truth
v13 Want to boast about how they convinced you to be circumcised v14 and not the cross of JESUS.

v15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the NEW CREATION.

Do you bear the MARKS of JESUS??

………. I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus. Galatians 6:17 NLT