1) What are the plural promises? Paul refers later to the singular promise of Abraham (Gal 3:17). Why does he refer to the plural promises here? Either he refers to each aspect of the promise to Abraham as individual promises (i.e., land, descendants, and blessing), or, more likely, he refers to promises because the promise… Continue Reading
If Galatians were summarized in a sentence, it could be this: justification is by faith alone and not by doing the works of the law (Gal 2:16; cf. 2:16–21). Supporting this truth in Galatians 3:10–14, Paul quotes the OT numerous times. First, in Gal 3:10, Paul quotes Deut 27:26 and adds wording from Deut 28:58… Continue Reading
In Galatians 3:6–9, Paul supports the truth that God declares one righteous by faith alone by quoting three passages, Genesis 12:3, 15:6, and 18:18. The first quotation supports the truth that righteousness comes to all by faith alone by holding up Abraham as the paradigmatic example of this truth. Quoting Gen 15:6, Gal 3:6 states,… Continue Reading
After an introduction to his letter (Gal 1:1–5), rebuke of the Galatians for going astray (Gal 1:6–10), and a defense of his apostleship and the gospel’s divine origin (Gal 1:11–2:14), Paul directly addressed his letter’s primary burden, to steer his readers away from seeking justification by works and back to knowing they are justified by… Continue Reading
As a follow up to last week’s post, here is my attempt at a paraphrase of Paul from Galatians 2:15-21. — Though we are Jews and not Gentile sinners (2:15), even we know that justification is not by works of the law but by faith in Christ Jesus (2:16). But if we seek justification through… Continue Reading
As Providence would have it, I’ll be preaching through Galatians 2:16–21 for a couple of Sundays this month on the doorstep of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. So, to the glory of God, and in honor of the Reformation, I’ll do my best to work through this passage for a couple of weeks… Continue Reading
In previous studies, we matched the events of Galatians 1–2 to the book of Acts and concluded the following: Paul’s conversion and subsequent missionary endeavors are recorded in Acts 9:1–25 and Gal 1:11–17 (cf. 2 Cor 11:32–33); Paul’s first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion and departure to the Gentiles are recorded in Acts 9:26–30… Continue Reading
Many equate Paul’s description of his meeting with Peter, James, and John in Galatians 2:1–10 with the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:1–29. Both meetings were provoked by Judaizers (Acts 15:1, 24; Gal 1:7, 22; 6:17), attended by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:2; Gal 2:1), and concerned with whether or not Gentiles must be circumcised and… Continue Reading
Luke generally describes a meeting between Paul and the apostles in Acts 9:26–27. Paul gave more details as to this meeting in Gal 1:18–19. Paul mentions that he then left for Syria and Cilicia in Gal 1:21. Luke mentions this departure as Paul leaving for Tarsus in Acts 9:30 (Tarsus is a city in the… Continue Reading
In Gal 1:11–17, Paul defended the divine origin of his gospel by recounting when and how he received it from Christ. Along the way, he stated that “he went away into Arabia” (Gal 1:17) but not what he did while he was there. A parallel passage for Galatians 1:17 is Acts 9:10–25, but Luke only tells… Continue Reading
In one of Paul’s strongest passages, he stated, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to… Continue Reading
Galatians is probably Paul’s earliest letter, written around AD 48 to the churches in southern Galatia and not to Gentiles in northern Galatia (the first conclusion among several debated issues, as you will see). Assuming some dates (these dates can be debated) and matching Paul’s biographical details their parallels in Acts, Paul persecuted the church… Continue Reading
After an introduction (1:1–5), Paul rebuked the Galatians for turning to false gospel and cursed those who preached it (1:6–10). This false gospel was that one had to add the Law of Moses to his faith in order to be righteous, shown representatively by being circumcised. As Paul would explain, if this “gospel” were true,… Continue Reading
Aquila’s name is Latin for “eagle,” a bird that migrates from one place to another as demanded by its circumstances. His wife was Prisca, meaning “ancient” in the sense of old age (short for Priscilla, “little old lady”). Naming a baby as such could have hopes for a long life. These two ideas seem to… Continue Reading
A few passages about Mark (or John; cf. Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37) teach us a lesson about failure in ministry and then serving again thereafter. As a young man, Mark’s home was used by the church for prayer and possibly worship (Acts 12:12). With a home large enough for a church gathering, complete with at… Continue Reading
The name Tychicus comes to us five times in Scripture. An examination of each mention gives us a picture of Christian service in the early church, which functions as an example for us today. The first mention is in Acts 20:4, a list of Paul’s companions on his third missionary journey (AD 52–57), including “the… Continue Reading
In his “last will and testament” in 2 Tim 4:6–8, Paul (1) sees his impending death, (2) looks back at his life, and (3) considers his future. In light of his words, we could ask ourselves the three questions that you find below. What is your “today”? While still alive, Paul realized his end was… Continue Reading
Only three verses in the NT use the title “evangelist”: “On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him” (Acts 21:8 ESV); “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers” (Eph 4:11… Continue Reading
There is great benefit in studying the lives of key figures in the Bible. While the greater lessons of the passages below involve the greater themes of promise of the Davidic covenant and continuing the Davidic line, and while Christ is our greatest example, we find many practical lessons from men of old as well… Continue Reading
Click to read part 1, part 2, and part 3 of this series. The emphasis in the second clause of 2 Tim 3:17 is to clarify for what and to what the extent the man of God has become “complete.” Specifically, Scripture has “equipped” him for good works, the extent of which is “every good… Continue Reading