J. Vernon McGee's Notes and Outlines for Galatians (cont.)

We enter now a new section of this letter. Paul follows his regular pattern. After giving doctrine, he concludes with a practical application. Paul always puts doctrine in shoe leather.

v. 1 -- Paul challenges the believer to stand first of all in the liberty of grace before beginning to walk by faith in the power of the Spirit. The Law is not the rule of faith for the believer.

v. 2 -- This is one of the most startling verses in the Scripture. Paul is not saying that to trust something other than Christ means you are not saved -- he has said that before. He is saying that if you trust Christ and also trust something else, you are not saved.

v. 3 -- Even to put on the badge of the Law, which is circumcision, means that you are indebted to do the whole Law. James gave the negative side:

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. ( James 2:10)
It is faith plus nothing that saves the sinner. God will not let salvation become a complicated matter. Nothing can enter in to rob Christ of His glory. Imagine a person sending in a testimonial about Geritol saying, "After taking 254 bottles, I feel good. I also made up my own formula and I have been taking it along with Geritol." You can see that such a testimonial would be of no value. The home remedy might have been the cure.

v. 4 -- Fallen from grace does not mean to fall out of salvation or lose it. It means to try to be saved by some other means. You fall from the high plane of grace down to the low level of legality. To be saved by grace and then to try to live the Christian life by law is to fall from grace.

v. 5 -- Hope of righteousness is the only prophetic reference in the entire epistle. The only hope is the blessed hope. Christ is made unto us "righteousness" ( 2 Corinthians 5:21).

v. 6 -- No legal apparatus will produce a Christian life. The formula is a simple simile: faith which worketh by love.

v. 7 -- Paul chides the Galatians. They were doing excellently until the Judaizers came along.

v. 9 -- In Scripture leaven is always used as a principle of evil.

v. 10 -- Paul believed that the Galatians would ultimately reject the teaching of the Judaizers.

v. 11 -- See author's booklet, The Offense of the Cross.

v. 13 -- Paul presents 3 methods for trying to live the Christian life, of which 2 will not work:

  1. Life of liberty ( vv. 1, 4);
  2. Life of legalism ( vv. 2, 3, 14 );
  3. Life of license ( v. 13 ).
Paul gives, in the remainder of this chapter, the modus operandi of living by liberty. The life of legalism not only includes the 10 Commandments, but a set of regulations that Bible believers follow. They can keep all these and still not live the Christian life! There are the antinomians who think they can do as they please and live the Christian life. These are as extreme as the legalists.

v. 14 -- Here the Law is reduced to the lowest common denominator. This is the acid test of those who think they are living by law.

v. 15 -- A sermon entitled "Christian Cannibals" should be preached from this text.

v. 16 -- Here is stated the great principle of Christian living -- walk by means of the Spirit. The word for walk is peripateo, which refers to the direction and purpose of the life.

Lust of the flesh refers to desires of the flesh, many of which are not immoral but are of the flesh (music, art, and works of do-gooders, etc.).

v. 17 -- A transliteration of this verse will help convey the meaning:

For the flesh warreth against the Spirit, and the Spirit warreth against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
The believer has a new nature and an old nature. Christ clarified this in a dialogue with Nicodemus ( John 3:3-16 ).

v. 18 -- Walking by the Spirit is the antithesis of living by law ( Romans 8:1-13 ).

vv. 19-21 -- The old nature can do but one thing: the works of the flesh. These are labeled so that there can be no mistaking whether or not a person is living by the flesh (see chart).

Do (v. 21) is "practice" ( 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ).

vv. 22, 23 -- The new nature is the instrument through which the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit. This is not human effort or "our best." It is strictly the fruit of the Spirit (see chart).

The Law attempted to require love, but failed. The Spirit alone can produce love.

Law restrains -- flesh;
Spirit constrains -- new nature.

What God required under law the Spirit produces. The Christian life is not moral rectitude, which is negative. It is the fruit of the Spirit which is positive.

Law made a slave -- fear;
Grace makes a son -- love.

Grace frees the believer to do right.

v. 24 -- ( Colossians 3:3; Galatians 2:20 ) In all of these passages the thought is that when Christ was crucified, the believer was crucified at the same time. The believer is now joined to the living Christ, and the victory is not by struggling but by surrendering to Christ. The scriptural word is yield; it is an act of the will ( Romans 6:13 ).

v. 25 -- Walk (Greek: stoichomen) means that which is basic and elemental, proceed or step in order. (This is different from the word for "walk" in v. 16.) It means to learn to walk. Just as we learned to walk physically by the trial-and-error method, so we are to begin to walk by the Spirit. This is a learning process. There will be failure and a fall again and again. The important thing is to begin and then keep trying. This is realistic and not idealistic.

v. 1 -- Fault is "trespass, fall beside." The believer does not lose his salvation when he sins.

Restore is as to set a bone. In the spirit of meekness is required.

v. 2 -- Burdens (Greek: baros) is "weight." Bear one another up in frailty, weakness, grief, tension or pressure. "A load is half a load when two are carrying it."

v. 3 -- This is one of Paul's sledge-hammer blows against pride.

v. 4 -- This is also a characteristic statement of Paul, that a man needs to keep close tab on his own life's work ( 1 Corinthians 16:13; 2 Corinthians 13:5 ).

v. 5 -- Burden (Greek. phortion) is something to be borne, as a ship's cargo; a child in the womb; a responsibility. Dr. Phillips has a good interpretation: "Shoulder his own pack."
There are burdens you can share; there are burdens you must bear alone. We are born alone, become sick alone, suffer alone, face problems alone, and go through the valley of the shadow of death alone. We go before the judgment seat of Christ alone ( Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10 ).

v. 6 -- This simply and bluntly means to pay your preacher. If someone ministers to you spiritual benefits, minister to him of material benefits.

v. 7 -- Principle stated: This is an immutable law that operates in every sphere of life. In agriculture and horticulture if you sow corn, you get corn; if you sow cotton, you reap cotton. In the moral sphere you reap what you sow. Jacob, who deceived his father, was deceived by his uncle in the same manner. Pharaoh who slew male children had his own son slain. We see this law at work in the lives of Ahab and Jezebel, and also in Paul's life.

v. 8 -- Practice suffered: Paul applies this law to the believer. He says that the believer can sow to the flesh or to the Spirit. Sowing to the flesh leads to a harvest of corruption. Sowing to the Spirit leads to a harvest of life everlasting.

v. 9 -- Patience satisfied: This is an encouragement to a child of God who has patiently taught the Word of God and served the Lord. Such a one will reap a harvest of blessing eventually. For example, Jochebed taught Moses, although Egypt was against her. Then came the day when she reaped.

The true sense is, "I have written with large letters." This is an indication that Paul's thorn in the flesh was eye trouble (see Galatians 4:14, 15). Characteristically the handwriting of a person who does not see well is with large letters.

v. 14 -- A cross stood between Paul and the world. Paul stood on this side of the cross. Christ's death and resurrection had brought him out of the world into a new relationship with God.

v. 15 -- Circumcision was the handwriting of religion and the Law. Outward badges are not acceptable with God -- only a new creation ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 ).

v. 17 -- The marks (Greek: stigma ) were the personal handwriting of Christ. In the Roman world, "marks" were used in 3 ways:

  1. Runaway slaves were branded on the forehead when captured;
  2. Soldiers had the names of their commanders tattooed on their foreheads;
  3. Devotees of a pagan goddess in a mystery religion had her name branded on their foreheads.

Paul had physical scars, "brand marks of the Lord Jesus," all over his body (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 ).

v. 18 -- Paul concludes this marvelous epistle by commending the brethren to the grace of God.

These notes, prepared by J. Vernon McGee, are for the purpose of giving assistance to the listeners af the THRU THE BIBLE RADIO program. They are to be used with the Bible and will be more meaningful as you look up all the Scripture references. Due to the necessary brevity of both notes and broadcasts, a list of recommended bookd is included for those wanting a more detailed study. These books may be obtained from a Christian library or bookstore or ordered from the publishers.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS:

Cole, R. Alan. The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1965.

DeHaan, M. R. Galatians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Radio Bible Class, 1960

Gromacki, Robert G. Galatians: Stand Fast in Liberty. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1979.

Hendriksen, Willlam. Exposition of Galatians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1968. (Comprehensive.)

Hogg, C. F. and W. E. Vine. The Epistle to the Galatians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1922. (Excellent.)

Ironside, H. A. Expository Messages on the Epistle to the Galatians. Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1940.
(All of his books are especially fine for young Christians.)

Kelly, William. Lectures on the Epistle to the Galatians. Addison, Illinois: Bible Truth Publishers, n.d.

Kent, Homer A., Jr. The Freedom of God's Sons: Studies in Galatians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1976.
(Excellent for personal or group study.)

Luther, Martin. Commentary on Galatians. 1525. Reprint. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, n. d. (Abridged.)

Ridderbos, Herman N. The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1953.

Strauss, Lehman. Devotional Studies in Galatians and Ephesians. Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1957.

Tenney, Merrill C. Galatians: The Charter of Christian Liberty. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1954.
(Excellent illustration of ten methods of Bible study.)

Vaughan, Curtis. Galatians: A Study Guide Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972.

Vos, Howard F. A Call to Christian Liberty. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1971.
(An excellent, inexpensive survey.)

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Free (Galatians). Wheaton, Illinois, Scripture Press (Victor Books), n. d.

Wuest, Kenneth S. Galatians in the Greek New Testament for English Readers. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1944.

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