Sermon Schedule: Galatians -- Faith Alone
Our series in Galatians will run from end of August to November 2022. We have spent a large portion of the year in Genesis, an Old Testament book which has helped us to understand God's plan of redemption for His people and the world. Galatians, a New Testament epistle, speaks of the fulfilment of God's promises through Christ in the gospel, and the importance of this gospel.
Introduction to Galatians
A crisis confronts the Galatian church. False teachers, who have infiltrated the church, are teaching a false gospel requiring obedience to the Mosaic law to be accepted as God’s people. In other words, Gentiles have to become Jewish if they are to be right with God.
Paul vigorously opposes this false gospel, insisting that justification is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. We are made right with God by believing in Jesus, who bore the curse of God’s judgement that the promised blessing might come to all peoples. In Christ, we receive God’s Spirit and become a part of God’s people. We are to keep in step with the Spirit, who transforms us to live obedient and fruit lives for God’s glory.
Major themes
In this epistle, we see how God has accomplished his redemptive plan to bless the nations through Abraham’s seed, Jesus. The Mosaic law points to Christ and Christ has ushered in the age of the new covenant. Thus, justification is by faith alone in Christ alone. In Christ, both Jew and Gentile believers are adopted by God to be his Spirit-indwelt people, and the Spirit enables God’s people to bear fruit.
Aims
Through this series, we hope to:
Clarify the Biblical gospel, especially in the face of false “gospels”
Show how the Old Testament reveals the exact same gospel as the New Testament, since Christ fulfils the Abrahamic promises
Explain the relationship between old and new covenants, as well as law and gospel
Help Christians understand how all of Scripture points to Jesus
Encourage believers with the gospel of God’s saving grace and safeguard Christian liberty against legalism and moralism
Show how the biblical leads to love, unity, obedience, and fruit and foster a gospel-shaped culture at GBC
Schedule
This sermon schedule is as follows:
