TRUE OR FALSE

Uncovering the Gospel in Galatians

EP. 1A | GALATIANS 1:1-10

Hosted by Neil Eukel with Special Guest Craig Smith

IN THIS EPISODE

• A day in the life of Craig Smith | 1:12
• Reading through Galatians 1:1-10 (NIV) | 2:19
• A breakdown of Paul setting the tone for the whole letter | 4:00
• A turn in the way of thinking for the new Church | Freedom at the Heart of the Gospel | 8:57
• The Old Law no longer gets you to a relationship with God | 12:35
• Please God > Please People | 16:39
• Stay grounded in the Gospel | Face Down the Freedom Fighters | 19:05
• The Gospel Changes us into new creations, make sure you’re keeping it simple! | 27:01

INSTANT TAKEAWAYS

1 | Freedom is at the heart of the Gospel

The first part of the letter to the early Christian communities in Galatia is wonderful, it’s really setting the tone for what’s truly on Paul’s heart:

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers and sisters with me,
To the churches in Galatia:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
No Other Gospel
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. | Galatians 1:1-10 (NIV)

Here, Paul is talking about how Jesus came to save us from the bondage of sin, the bondage of rules and regulations and to set us from those wicked ways. We don’t live the way God intends us, in a way that aligns with His character, and Jesus is that way to break free of our old sinful ways! Following Christ, frees us from the sin that holds us back. And that’s what Paul is saying here, the Old Law no longer gets you to a relationship with the Father, that relationship is attained through accepting Christ. 

2 | Endearing in our relationship with him

Here’s a great real world example Craig uses to illustrate this point. When his daughters were little, they assigned them chores and one of those was to wash the dishes. Washing dishes, in and of itself, didn’t endear them to Craig and Coletta. They didn’t love their daughters any more because they washed the dishes, the simple act didn’t make them more of the people that they wanted them to become. But know, those values are there! The other day they came home and the kitchen and the front room and the living room had been cleaned, spotless. They hadn’t instructed the daughters to do that, but the practice of cleaning at a young age pointed her towards who they wanted her to be. Through those chores she learned to be others oriented, to take on a servants heart, and to root herself in what it looks like to move into a transformation of character that is pleasing to her parents. They clean and serve others now based on a change of character rather than with the hopes of earning something. And that’s what Jesus wants for us! He wants our character to change and for us to draw closer to him every day. 

3 | Be Weary of Repeating Behavior

Craig and Neil discuss a fantastic metaphor for this point. When there is a behavior that we don’t like, we throw it away from ourselves, similarly to a boomerang. And like a boomerang, if we’re not active in preventing it from returning, it will come back and hit us in the head. And through a relationship with Christ, and working towards becoming more like Him (all the time), we can avoid the pitfalls back into that behavior or the things that are holding you back. 

SHOW NOTES

Welcome back to Uncharted as we kick off our new series, True or False, uncovering the Gospel in Galatians. This series is focused on showing men how to study their Bible. Imagine you’re at a coffee shop with a few buddies, or a mentor, and you’re working through how the passages you just read, relate to you; and that’s what we hope this is. We’re using the book of Galatians to demonstrate this process. Galatians is an incredible book of the Bible with real world application-pieces that you can start using today.

Welcome back to Uncharted as we kick off our new series, True or False, uncovering the Gospel in Galatians. This series is focused on showing men how to study their Bible. Imagine you’re at a coffee shop with a few buddies, or a mentor, and you’re working through how the passages you just read, relate to you; and that’s what we hope this is. Today we’re joined by Craig Smith, our lead pastor here at Mission Hills Church, as we pour into Galatians 1:1-10. Craig and Neil brake down the background of the book as well as kick off our series with some excitement! You won’t want to miss this series!