About this Series
Most scholars agree that Galatians was written about 50 A.D. and is therefore among the earliest, if not the first, of the New Testament documents. The first Christians were Jewish but as the gospel spreads more and more Christians come from non-Jewish backgrounds. This creates some serious problems for the early church not least of which is do you have to be a Jew first before you can become a Christian? Although this may seem an esoteric issue to us today it raises an absolutely central question for all Christians – what is the gospel? For commentaries on Galatians see http://bestcommentaries.com/galatians. This site gives you reviews and some indication of the academic level of each commentary (ie technical, pastoral, devotional).
Kieran Carr | Galations 3:1-14
Galatians 3:1-14 is a unit that some scholars call an inclusio in that it starts and ends with similar words and ideas. In this section it starts and ends with references to "faith" and "the Spirit." In between Paul explains that it is faith not works that make someone right with God and that you receive the Spirit through responding to the gospel with faith not by doing works of the law. Human beings whether in Paul's day or now get right with God by putting their faith in Christ – there is no other way to do this (ie no other "work" you can do). If you have not put your faith in Christ yet and would like to ask more questions please talk to the preacher, service leader or one of the staff team. You might also want to join the Alpha course which has just started.
We welcome Kieran Carr as he preaches for the last time as our Youth Minister.