Men's Group Study Guide
NIV Notes by Kelly Link
Introduction
When I first got into the insurance business I had to learn the right way in which to approach people, how to get to the table, how to sell the need, how to close, and how to secure the sale for others could not come in and replace all my hard work and effort.
So it is with our lives as Christians. First we must learn the right way to approach God; which is by grace not works. Just like in the insurance business, if we don’t learn the right way to approach God then all our efforts that follow would be in vain. We would never get a chance to get to the table, sell the need, close the sell and secure the sell. In the last four chapters we looked at the doctrine of the law verses the doctrine of grace. Without this knowledge in the first four chapters it would be impossible to live out a Christian life the way God has intended. It is here in chapter five that we are given how to practically live out this doctrine of grace. Before we start lets pray for the Holy Spirit to come and give us personal revelation on how we can apply these truths to our own lives.
STUDY NOTES: verses 1-15
V1. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. – This verse not only gives me hope but also a Godly fear. Christ died on the cross to free us from sin and having to fulfill a long list of legal obligations under the written code. What a blessing! However, it also states that we can let ourselves be burdened again by sin and the law. (Proverbs 23: 23), (Ephesians 6: 14), (Hebrews 3: 14)
V2. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. – There are other religions that teach what Jesus Christ did on the cross wasn’t sufficient to save a person. So they add things a person must do in addition to what Jesus did on the cross. Then you will be saved. However, Paul states just the opposite. These individuals who are adding to the work of Jesus in order to be saved are not. Christ, in effect, becomes of no value because the individual is trying to save self. (Acts 15: 24), (Romans 10: 3)
V3. Again I declare unto every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. - If a person tries to save themselves (be acceptable to God) by their works, God will hold them to fulfill the whole thing. (Deuteronomy 27: 26), (James 2: 10)
V4. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. – God will never accept a man on the grounds of his work, discipline or moral behavior. Even if all our life we were good at all points yet failed at one, under the law, all the good things wouldn’t count. We would be judged for the one wrong thing we did. This is what it means to live under the law. (Romans 3: 20), (Romans 4: 4)
V5-6. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. – Circumcision and uncircumcision have absolutely no value toward God accepting you. God doesn’t care what day you worship on, what you eat, or how good you behave. These things are irrelevant as far as your relationship with God goes. The thing that does matter is that your belief in God is expressed by a new attitude of love. That is you no longer have to be good but you get to be good. (Galatians 6: 15), (Romans 2: 29), (1John 3: 16), (James 2: 17)
V7-8. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persecution does not come from the one who calls you. – Someone had actually cut into the Galatians lane while they were running a race and caused them to stumble. Some people never recover and cross the finish line. (1Corinthians 9: 24), (Matthew 13: 21), (Hebrews 12: 1)
V9. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” – Sin is contagious but righteousness isn’t. It only takes one person to spread sin throughout a church. (Matthew 16: 12), (1Corinthians 5: 7)
V10. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. – This is a pretty good warning for those who want to teach. We bear a great responsibility to rightly divide the word. (1Corinthians 5: 5), (1John 2: 19)
V11. Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. – Paul wasn’t being persecuted for promoting circumcision. He was persecuted for preaching the cross. Isn’t the cross offensive to those who have spent their whole life working their tail off to be acceptable to God? Basically, God has cut the legs out from under many people’s life long endeavor of good works. I can appreciate where they are coming from but we all need to learn that the cross of Jesus is the only way we can be accepted by the Father. (1Corinthians 1: 18-23), (Romans 9: 32-33)
V12. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! – This is a radical form of birth control. Maybe Paul was concerned about these false teachers perpetuating this false teaching by passing it on through their children. Emasculation would take care of this. I’m just kidding. This is Paul’s way of telling the Galatians to be careful who you fellowship with. (Genesis 17: 14), (Titus 3: 10)
V13. You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love. – There is good reason not to indulge the sinful nature. It can enslave you all over again. Rather, serve one another in love. We are not free to sin but we are free from sin. There is responsibility with freedom. (Jude 1: 4), (Jude 1: 10-12)
V14-15. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. – This truth is the sum of all that has been said. If we really understand grace and how God has made us an object of His grace, then we would be a lot more loving towards others. Yet there are times when we sow seeds of discord and talk behind other people’s backs. But Paul warns us that we will only consume or destroy each other by doing this. (Romans 13: 8-10), (James 3: 14-18)
TRUTH APPLIED:
Q. 1 List out the practical applications in the previous 15 verses on how to live by grace.
Q. 2 List out the things that will happen if you don’t learn to live by grace.
Q. 3 How did the cross affect your life? What is your attitude today about the cross?
Q. 4 How do you treat others? Do you love them as yourself? Please take some time and share how you treat your wife or girlfriend.
Q. 5 What is your attitude towards sin? Are you free to sin or from sin?
Q. 6 Do you feel like you have to be good in order to be acceptable to God? Please explain your answer. What would you say to a person that feels they have to be good in order to be acceptable to God?
CONCLUSION:
Walking by grace is the pathway to blessing. Many times we can be duped into thinking God accepts us on the grounds of how good we are. But the man who walks by grace knows this is a lie. Legally we have been freed from our old master the devil but he doesn’t want us to know and act on this. He wants to keep us enslaved to the law and our flesh by trying to approach God through our own effort. But we now know how we can practically live by grace in our lives: Stand in God’s truth, by faith we wait for God’s righteousness to be revealed (Psalm 62 5), we don’t use our freedom as a license to sin, and we serve one another in love. Please take some time in prayer to reflect on your position in Christ as well as how you have been living.
Grace and Peace to You,
Kelly Link