Adult Sunday School

“It is No Longer I That Lives, But Christ Lives in Me”

Part 8 of our Galatians lesson series ...

Galatians 2:19-21

(19) For I, through the Law, died to the Law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ. (20) It is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself over for me. (21) I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
In a previous lesson, I suggested that “the things that I destroyed” from verse 18 refers to not to the works of the Law, as is virtually unanimously understood, but to the works of the flesh, i.e., to sin. In this post I want to quickly examine how this understanding of Galatians 2:17-18 affects our reading of the final three verses in the chapter. (more…)

By Kerry Lee, ago
Adult Sunday School

A Gospel of Reconciliation, Not Merely Justification

Part 7 of our Galatians lesson series, or really an augmentation of that part of the series ...

Galatians 2:17-18

(17) But if we who seek to be justified in Christ are ourselves also found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Absolutely not! (18) For those things that I destroyed, if I build them up again I prove myself to be a transgressor.
In the last paragraph of Galatians 2, Paul again seems to be responding (at least in part) to the Judaizer’s attacks against him. Based on passages both in Romans as well as Galatians, it seems that the Judaizers had a two part attack against Paul and his gospel. First, they said, “Paul is not preaching to you the whole gospel, but only its easy and attractive first part. He is doing this because he wants to be highly esteemed among men.” Second they said, “Paul is telling you that all you have to do to be righteous is believe, meaning that you can continue to act however you want afterwards. In fact, Paul says that God is glorified by your sin.” But this is a willful misunderstanding and distortion of what Paul actually says. In this post, we are just going to focus on verses 17-18, because they are pivotal, extremely difficult to understand, and subjects of intense debate among scholars. (more…)

By Kerry Lee, ago
Adult Sunday School

The Divine Origin of Paul’s Gospel

Part 2 of our Galatians lesson series.

Galatians 1:11-24

(11) I am letting you know, brothers, that the gospel proclaimed by me is not of human origin. (12) Nor did I receive it from man, but through a revelation of Jesus Christ. (13) For you heard about my conduct when I was in Judaism, that I persecuted the church of God to an extreme degree and I was trying to destroy it, (14) how I advanced in Judaism beyond all my contemporaries, being extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. (15) When the one separating me from my mother’s womb and calling me by his grace was pleased (16) to reveal his son in me so that I might proclaim his good news among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, (17) nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and then again returned to Damascus. (18) Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit with Peter, and I remained with him 15 days. (19) I did not see any other of the apostles, except James the brother of the Lord. (20) These things I write to you, behold before God I am not lying. (21) Then I came to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. (22) I was unknown by face to the churches of the Jews who were in Christ, (23) they were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us now proclaims the gospel he once tried to destroy,” (24) and they glorified God on account of me.
(more…)

By Kerry Lee, ago
Calendar
<< May 2024 >>
SMTWTFS
28 29 30 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31 1
Meeting Times
  • Sunday Morning Worship at 10 am
  • Wednesday Evening Prayer Meeting at 6:30 pm
Our location
Contact us

Questions? Need someone to pray with you?