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Introduction

Galatia was a region within the larger region of Asia (which is today known as the nation of Turkey). This can be confusing to modern readers because we’re so accustomed to thinking of Asia as a continent, and the world’s largest one at that.

Paul went through Galatia on all three of his “missionary journeys” (Acts 13-21). Because Galatia was a region which probably had many churches, Paul does not include the kind of personal greetings we saw in Romans and the Corinthian letters. And it is not as intensively and extensively personal in tone as the Corinthian letters; in that regard, it’s more like Romans.

Like the Corinthians letters, there is a problem in Galatia driven by false teachers. However, Paul has to deal with the issue differently in this letter because he’s not writing to a large city church where he spent over a year and a half and many people know him well. Therefore, Galatians is a shorter letter, getting to the point more quickly and speaking more bluntly. It also helps that the false teachers in this case seem to be camping on one specific false teaching: that Gentiles need to circumcise and keep the Law of Moses – as opposed their being a variety of teachers spreading a variety of false doctrines combined with personal character assassination of Paul.

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Galatians 1

Gal 1:1-2 – Paul states boldly that the Lord, and the Lord alone, had sent him to preach. Jesus Himself quoted this verse from the Old Testament:

Ps 118:26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD…

Paul knew this was a credential the false teachers could not match.

Gal 1:3-5 – Paul here succinctly restates the gospel that he preaches, the one that brought him to Galatia in the first place, and the one that will be his focus in this letter.

Gal 1:6-9 – Paul is calling the Galatians back to the same Jesus Christ to whom He had called back the Corinthians. (emphasis added)

Gal 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Gal 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Gal 1:5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

1 Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
1 Cor 3:11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

And he’ll emphasize to the Galatians the same grace-over-law he had preached to the Romans. (emphasis added)

Gal 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
Gal 1:7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

Thus Paul’s letter to the Galatians will alternately echo themes you’ll remember from both Romans and the Corinthians letters.

Gal 1:7 – Re: “the gospel of Christ” see #TGTC.

Gal 1:10 – Paul is here applying the principle highlighted by the Master.

Matt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Gal 1:11-12 – Keep in mind what Paul means when he speaks of a revelation.

Gal 1:13-24 – Since the gospel was first preached in Judea, Gentile churches, like those in Galatia, tended to have extra regard for teachers who claimed to come from Judea. Apparently, there was a fair amount of name-dropping that false teachers did – claiming to well-connected with Judean churches and the apostles. In this part of his letter, Paul is wanting to show that he, too, knows the leaders of the movement – people like Peter and James. He also wants to explain why, even though he knew Jerusalem well, he had kept a lower profile in Judea since his conversion. He will build on this in the next chapter.

Gal 1:18 – “Cephas” is Peter.

Gal 1:19 – James is the one who wrote the New Testament book named James.

We today who believe give great respect to the apostles, but in their day, they had to deal with a great many challenges to their character and calling. It’s hard at times for us to imagine, but it probably shouldn’t be given how the Israelites grumbled at Moses.

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Galatians 2

In the last half of the previous chapter (Gal 1:13-24), Paul began explaining how when he was first converted to Christ, he did not immediately consult with the apostles. Rather, he only met Peter and the Lord’s brother James three years later – and even then didn’t try to become more widely known to the churches in and around Jerusalem – that is, in Judea. This is why he wasn’t as closely associated with Peter as others might have expected him to be. Paul goes on to demonstrate that he neither shows these other apostles more respect than they deserve nor less respect than they deserve.

Gal 2:1-5 – Keep in mind that the main issue in this letter is whether Gentiles have to keep the Law of Moses – specifically, whether they have to be circumcised. Paul is saying that requiring Gentile believers in Christ to be circumcised was false teaching coming from false brethren. In other words, this false teaching wasn’t a matter of good men erring; it was a matter of bad men doing bad things. Such teachers were wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Gal 2:6 – This is Paul’s foundational principle for dealing with the other apostles – impartiality. And the foundational motive for this principle is that we should be imitators of God – He is impartial and therefore we should be, too.

Gal 2:7-9 – Paul goes back and forth between saying “Peter” (Greek for “rock”) and “Cephas” (Aramaic for “rock”). Paul is not trying to make a point by alternating; it’s just the way people spoke in a multi-lingual environment. That is, because some people might have known of Peter by one name and not the other, a speaker might use both. Or it simply might be that the speaker spontaneously and unconsciously switches from one name to the other. ***** Paul explains that the reason he hasn’t interacted more with these other apostles is that the Lord sent them to Jews and Paul to Gentiles. This difference in commissions would obviously send these men in different directions.

Gal 2:10 – Jesus taught His disciples to always be concerned for the poor (Jn 13:29). The Jewish believers in Judea were a particular concern, and for them Paul had shown particular concern. See “Paul’s Collection” at Paul.

Gal 2:11-21 – Having demonstrated that he has the proper respect for Peter, Paul now proceeds to demonstrate that he is not beholden to Peter – that when Peter was wrong, Paul was not afraid to confront him with that wrong. It’s apparent that Peter held no hard feelings about the incident because, per Ussher’s Chronology, 2 Peter was written after Galatians; so see Peter’s reference to “our beloved brother Paul” in 2 Pet 3:15-16.

Gal 2:20-21 – Paul quotes the prophet Habakkuk (Hab 2:4) three times in his letters – four if you count this personalized adaptation. (Emphasis added throughout to emphasize the connections)

Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Gal 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

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Hab 2:4 “Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith.

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Rom 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Gal 3:11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Heb 10:38 BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH;
AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.

Note that Paul’s personalization of Hab 2:4 in Gal 2:20-21 is of both Paul and his God. Paul had received a revelation of what Hab 2:4 meant with regard to Messiah. The apostle was eager to share it with others, but, as a foundation, he himself was living it and glorying in it.

Gal 2:21 – If we could get to God by being good, He wasted time and effort getting Himself crucified. We can only be good if we get to Him first – and His grace is the way to get there. We just accept His commanding invitation – and from that point, we will be able to start being truly good for a change.

Matt 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Matt 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Matt 11:30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

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Galatians 3

As you read Gal 3, keep firmly in mind the last sentence of the previous chapter.

Gal 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Keep in mind as well the foundation upon which Paul laid Gal 2:21, which was Gal 2:20.

Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Everything Paul writes in this chapter is building out from those two thoughts. Together they show the incompatibility of living by the grace of Jesus versus following the Law of Moses in the traditional way.

Gal 3:1 – Paul chastises the Galatians just as he did the Corinthians, bringing them back to the cross.

1 Cor 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

The crucifixion of Jesus is crucial to the gospel message. And Paul’s point in Gal 2:21 was that Jesus did not endure it just so people would be more motivated to keep the Law of Moses. He got Himself crucified because keeping the Law of Moses wasn’t enough to fix the problem. Of course, crucifixion is the part of the gospel that people least want to talk about because it’s icky. It says something awful about our condition. If it took the torture and death of an innocent man to fix us, how bad off must we be!? People don’t want to face the reality of what we’ve become in this world. But Christ’s crucifixion gives us the courage to face it.

Gal 3:2-5 – Did we start receiving life because we were reading the Bible left-to-right as if it were a self-help book – or by reading of Jesus in the New Testament and then reading the Old Testament in the light of Jesus?

Gal 3:6-9 – Paul invokes Abraham because Abraham preceded Moses by hundreds of years. God didn’t give Abraham a law – He gave him a promise. A promise provokes faith. Faith is what made Abraham righteous in God’s sight. This is why Jesus tells us to pursue God’s righteousness – not our own idea of righteousness. (emphasis added)

Matt 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Even unbelievers think that self-righteousness in a person in repugnant. Why then are they practicing it themselves?

Gal 3:10-12 – In verse 11, Moses is quoting the prophet Habakkuk. (As to the importance of Hab 2:4, see BSN note on Gal 2:20 above.) Habakkuk lived centuries after Moses. Therefore, Paul has bracketed Moses with Abraham before him and Habakkuk after him – both men testifying of the consistency in God’s desire for faith in his followers. Moses could not have been a departure from that straight line.

Gal 3:13-14 – Note how this fits with something Paul wrote the Corinthians:

2 Cor 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Cor 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Gal 3:15 – Paul’s point to the Galatians wasn’t that the Law of Moses was bad or wrong, but that it was temporary and that it must be seen in the context of Abraham’s covenant – not treated as if it was a departure from it.

Gal 3:16 – As to Jesus being “the” seed, Peter agrees.

Acts 3:25 “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’
Acts 3:26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Yes, there is a sense in which the Jews were the seed of Abraham who in many ways have blessed all the families of the earth. However, in that one particular Jew – the Messiah – all those families have been blessed infinitely more! It is therefore “He”the” seed, not those seeds, who should be exalted above all. As the senior citizen Simeon prophesied over the infant Jesus on the temple steps…

Luke 2:32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Gal 3:17-25 – The main point here is that for anyone living after the crucifixion and resurrection of Messiah, the Law of Moses should not be used as a code of conduct but rather as a tutor to lead to Christ. This is why we look for signs and shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament (and mark it with a celebratory hashtag – #FJOT). And, more importantly, having been pointed to Christ, we follow Him.

Why then don’t we just abandon reading the Old Testament? Because when it points to Christ it tells us things about Him that help us follow Him.

Gal 3:26-29 – What applied to the church in New Testament times applies to the whole human race in the kingdom of God. (The Kingdom of God Is Here and Now)

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Galatians 4

Gal 4:1-2 – At the end of the previous chapter, Paul presented the Law of Moses as a “tutor” that would lead Israel to its Messiah. He continues that stream of thought here, using the terms “guardian” and “manager.”

Gal 4:3-7 – If the purpose of the Law of Moses was to lead the Israelites to their Messiah, then, with the coming of that Messiah, it was time for them to begin exercising the privileges and fulfilling the responsibilities that sons have.

Gal 4:8-11 – Feasts like the sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread were all provisions of the Mosaic law but also foreshadowings of Messiah. When we see a shadow, we know someone is approaching. But as the person becomes visible, we can stop focusing on the shadow. The false teachers in Galatia were presenting Messiah as an advertisement for Judaism. Instead of trying to lead Jews and Gentiles to Christ, they were trying to lead Gentiles to become Jews. If becoming Jews was a workable solution for Gentiles then Christ had “died needlessly” (Gal 2:21).

Christ came to teach both Jews and Gentiles an entirely new way of living based on a fundamental change in consciousness. That conscious mental change was to see the Creator through the lens of the cross. That is, He who made us from nothing and lost us to sin, won us back by enduring crucifixion so that we might have no doubt about His existence or His love for us. Once that reality is fully embraced, it will change every other thought in life. That’s why the devil works so incessantly to get us to let go of that fundamental life-changing thought. If he can pry that foundational thought out of us, we revert to our former consciousness and continue living in vain.

Paul is beginning to think that his preaching to the Galatians might have been in vain. Such a thing is certainly possible. As he wrote to the Corinthians: (emphasis added)

1 Cor 15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
1 Cor 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

The apostles all knew that it was possible for people to believe their preaching, but then fall back into the same unproductive mental habits. As Paul’s fellow apostle Peter put it:

2 Pet 2:22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

Therefore, let us be on guard against thinking in old patterns. We must go back to that attitude we add when we first saw the light of Jesus.

Rev 2:4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Rev 2:5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place–unless you repent.

You’ll know you’re on the right track at each morning’s personal devotional time if, when you read the Bible and pray, you sense a fresh whiff of the newness of life in your thoughts that only the Spirit of Jesus can bring. (emphasis added)

Rom 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

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Rom 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

Gal 4:12-15 – Luke reports in Acts that Paul went through Galatia on his first missionary journey (Acts 13-14) but there’s nothing there that seems to explain what Paul means by “bodily illness.”

Gal 4:16 – Israel’s ruling class perceived Jesus to be an enemy because He told them the truth about themselves. Many of our fellow Americans now consider us enemies if we tell them the truth and are even trying to make it against the law to tell the truth.

Gal 4:17 – False teachers do not seek followers for Jesus; they seek followers for themselves.

Gen 38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”
Gen 38:9 Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother.

By contrast, true teachers seek followers for Jesus and not for themselves.

2 Cor 4:5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.

Churches tell nonchurchgoers there is no going to God without going to church. Thus churchgoers shut out nonchurchgoers from the kingdom of God so that nonchurchgoers will become churchgoers. The church has thus usurped the role of Jesus. He said “I am the door” to God and “I am the way” to God, but the church says, “Yes, but we are the door to Jesus, we are the way to Jesus – no one comes to Jesus but through us.” I used to think that way, too…but it’s not right. Jesus said “Come to Me” (Mt 11:28), not “Go to them.”

Gal 4:18-20 – It’s so much more conducive to productive communication to be face to face than to be restricted to writing only.

Gal 4:21-31 – Paul in this passage practices what he’s preaching. That is, he demonstrates how the Old Testament can be productively used by believers in Jesus Christ. It’s not by trying to follow the letter of Moses’ law as if we were all ancient Jews living on the other side of the world; rather, it’s by letting it tutor us about Christ and the superior way of living He offers by His teaching.

2 Cor 3:6 …a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

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Galatians 5

Gal 5:1-6 – Throughout this chapter, and throughout this letter, in Romans and elsewhere, Paul is contrasting the Law of Moses with the grace of Jesus Christ – just as other New Testament writers did.

1 Cor 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.
John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
James 2:12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

But how do you and I apply the New Testament’s instruction on this point since we are not being tempted to follow the Law of Moses? We apply it by constantly reminding ourselves every single day and all day long that while we seek to obey Jesus, we do so in the context of our faith in the grace He is abundantly giving us. As Paul put it…

1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

There’s a flow of grace to us from heaven at all times. We turn to that grace to find the courage and wisdom to obey Christ’s law – which is love. Apart from that grace, we only have human strength to help us and that is just not enough. To put it in the most pragmatic of terms, we go to the Bible every day to find the words that will give us strength to do what is right – words that are bread to the nourishment of our souls. Without the strength the consumption of that spiritual food brings us, we are like soldiers suffering from chronic malnutrition trying to stave off giants bare-handed.

As I noted above, we today are being tempted away from the grace of Christ to follow the Law of Moses as was the case for New Testament believers. We are, however, tempted to follow various Christian rules-based ideologies – whether imposed on us by others or of our own individual making. Any rules-based system for relating to God is the same sort of departure from grace against which the New Testament is, in essence, constantly warning whenever the subject of the Law of Moses versus grace is brought up. Yes, God has rules, but He cannot be reduced to rules – just as any loving and wise father has rules but cannot be reduced to mere rules. Jesus Christ proves that God is just as much a person as we are. After all, in whose image were we made? He has a presence just as we do – only greater. We do not like it when our children ignore our rules, but neither would we like it if they accepted our rules but ignored our presence…and all that comes with it.

Gal 5:7-10 – Someone had gotten the Galatians off track. The Galatians did not stray by themselves. Neither do you and I get bad ideas all by ourselves. All sinners in this world have a helper, and it’s not the Holy Spirit.

Gal 5:11-12 – You and I may not be tempted to follow the Law of Moses, but the cross is as much a stumbling block as it has ever been. If you don’t think so, try talking about it at the next garden party you attend.

Gal 5:13-15 – Grace is not law, but it does include a law – the law of Christ (1 Cor 9:21; Gal 6:2) – and that law is love (Mk 12:28-34). If grace had no element of law within it, grace would be lawlessness. And lawlessness is, of course, sin (1 Jn 3:4). The sexual revolution was about removing all “law” from sex and making it only about consent – which is only to remove God’s consent from the equation. This has resulted, of course, in moral anarchy. When New Testament concepts like “grace” and “freedom” are abused, we end up with what Jude condemned.

Jude 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, let us walk the straight path of grace – neither veering into the ditch on the right (which is to make the gospel just a bunch of rules), nor into the ditch on the left (which is to make the gospel something with no rules at all).

Gal 5:16-23 – Paul is giving us a good way to judge ourselves – whether we are in our morning devotionals or even at any moment we are awake, day or night. It’s a test of what’s coming out of us toward others and even of what’s in us – for that’s where everything that’s coming out of us toward others is coming from anyway! Let us grade ourselves on a simply binary basis, deciding which list below better describes us.

The deeds of the flesh:
- immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these
The fruit of the Spirit
- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

Notice that the first list consists of things we do, while the second list consist of things the Spirit does through us. That’s the difference between a deed (which we do) and fruit (which we bear). A deed is dead; fruit is life. These are two completely different and mutually-exclusive ways of living. (Walking in the Spirit and Not in the Flesh)

Notice second how what Paul has taught us about grace applies to these two lists. Only by grace can we bear the fruit of the Spirit. Grace makes us a living tree, bearing fruit in its season. (Consider some of the biblical references to men as trees – including Psalm 1:3 and Jeremiah 17:5-8.) By contrast, walking in the flesh is to walk outside of grace, and this can manifest in two different ways: either as a sinner (who is turning grace into lawlessness, a license to do what he wants) or a hypocrite (who is turning grace into just another set of rules, either for himself, for others, or for both). Thus the irreligious adulterer and the religious hypocrite are both walking in the flesh.

Gal 5:24 – Connect this verse with one Paul wrote earlier in this letter. Let one help you better appreciate the other. Compare them side by side.

Gal 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Gal 5:25 – If we came to Jesus by faith, let us continue with Him by faith. Again, connect this verse with a previous one from this letter, comparing them next to each other.

Gal 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Gal 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

The Galatians had begun their life with Christ by believing what Paul preached about Him, but had now been pulled by false teachers into a life of trying to please God by works (“our deeds”). Instead, we ought to walk in the Spirit, and let the fruit of God be produced through us.

Gal 5:26 – This verse goes even more with the ones that follow it than it does with the ones that precede it. Therefore, I address it in the notes for the next chapter rather than in this one.

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Galatians 6

Gal 6:1-5 – Let’s read the beginning of this chapter in its context, which comes from the last verse of the previous chapter.

Gal 5:26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Gal 6:1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Gal 6:4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.
Gal 6:5 For each one will bear his own load.

Paul’s instructions are to the churches in Galatia but we can apply it to our families and even friends in Christ. This logic follows Jesus’ prescription.

Matt 18:15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
Matt 18:16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.
Matt 18:17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

The context of Paul’s instructions should be further extended to include the pivotal verse (“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” – Gen 5:25), which links what came before it (the framing discussion about deeds of the flesh versus fruit of the spirit) and what follows it (a description of the outworking of a Spirit-led approach to resolving disputes). Of course, if there’s no one spiritual involved or if no one will heed the spiritual person’s counsel, then it’s going to be the deeds of the flesh until the cows come home.

Gal 6:2 – Re: “the law of Christ” see #TGTC.

Gal 6:6-10 – Again, Paul is contrasting the life of the Spirit with life of the flesh. (Walking in the Spirit, and Not the Flesh) This can also be called the life of faith versus the life of secularism. The one acknowledges and respects the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in every corner of the earth and the other doesn’t.

Gal 6:11 – The reference to “my own hand” probably indicates that Paul has been dictating the letter to a scribe up to this point. (By the way, we also see dictation to a scribe in the OT – see Jeremiah using Baruch in Jer 36:4.) ***** The reference to “large letters” may be connected to the “bodily condition” that made the Galatians willing “pluck out their eyes and give them” to Paul (Gal 4:13-15) or maybe it was just a distinguishing touch Paul added to his dictated letters to assure recipients of its authenticity.

Gal 6:12-13 – The whole world is trying to “make a good showing in the flesh.” And we can see how poorly this is working out for them. But we have to recognize that while we are seeking spiritual success we’re tempted to think we do not have to sacrifice any worldly success along the way. Yet we cannot make a good showing in the spirit and in the flesh. That is, too many of us are thinking that spiritual and worldly success are compatible. But they’re not.

Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

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Luke 16:15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

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John 12:43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

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Gal 1:10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

We must have a single-minded focus on success in the sight of God.

Gal 6:14 – Among other things, Jesus’ crucifixion tells us that worldly success is not the goal down here. This has been a theme of this letter, and Paul is punctuating it here at the end.

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Gal 3:1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

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Gal 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Gal 6:15 – Link this verse with the following verses in your mind.

1 Cor 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

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2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Gal 6:16 – Walking in the Spirit is a rule that allows you to throw away a lot of other rules. Walking in the Spirit just means to think, say, and do everything down here that you would do in the presence of Jesus – because the presence of Jesus is here. (Jesus Christ Has Already Come Again)

Gal 6:17 – Paul is saying that rather than letting circumcision be the brand-mark of his belonging to God, he’ll let it be the welts on his back.

Gal 6:18 – Grace is invisible and comes to us as we accept the words of God. That’s something – unlike circumcision – that only God can see.

Matt 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

2 Cor 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight–

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