INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS

Transcription

1 LESSON 1 (SUNDAY): INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS CLASS SCHEDULE 1. Welcome/Prayer/Songs (2) 2. Bible Verse 3. Lesson 4. Worksheet 5. Closing Prayer MEMORY VERSES: Galatians 2:20-21 SUPPLIES NEEDED Intro to Galatians worksheet BIBLE TIME Teachers Tip: hang a map of Paul s missionary journeys in your classroom to refer to as you speak about the regions of Galatia and Ephesus. You can also have computer and visual resources available about these areas during Biblical times featuring way of life and such during this time period. See Pinterest for more info. Lesson: This quarter, we will be studying Galatians and Ephesians which are 2 books Paul wrote to churches during his missionary journeys. Galatians is written to the churches in Galatia by Paul around AD. Some scholars believe this could be Paul s first letter written due to the dates. The main personalities we will read about in this letter is Paul, false teachers, Jesus, and Abraham. The reasons why these people are so key, is because the main theme of the book is to convince the Christians in Galatia that false teachers are making their way into the church to try to sway new Christians- mainly gentiles, to dessert the teachings of Paul, and adopt some Jewish traditions like circumcision. In his letter, Paul explains the difference between the old law and the new by comparing the was of Abraham to the new freedom found in Christ. The reason why these facts are so important is because as students of the Word, we must understand what is going on during these people s lives so we can best apply these things to our lives today. Let s look at an example of how we can do that. Read Galatians 1: 1. When Paul opens up the letter, what does he call himself? An apostle of Christ-not an apostle of men. Why is this important? Turn to Acts 9. In the account of Paul s conversion, we see God explain to Ananias the purpose as to why He made Paul and Apostle. Read Acts 9: What did God call Paul? An instrument to carry His name to all people. If God used Paul to do this, then what special authority was Paul given? Remember when we very first started our study of the New Testament by researching how we go the Bible? We learned a special word- inspired. What did it mean to be inspired? God spoke through you. God

2 chose Paul and inspired him through the Holy Spirit to teach His Word. Let s read on in Galatians 1:6-9. Why is Paul astonished with the church in Galatia? because they turned form what Paul said, and began to listen to those who trouble and distort the Gospel. From reading these opening verses, Paul is aggravated with these people because after they received the Word from Paul, they allowed themselves to be swayed by people who were not inspired by God. Think about this: People were manipulating and changing the Word, and convincing others to do the same, how does this apply to us today? (Allow students to discuss) Paul started off his letter by reminding Galatia that he was inspired by Godhe wasn t just walking around teaching nonsense. They needed to remember how powerful and true the Word of God is! He goes on to say, Hey! I am Paul! A chosen Apostle by God- who speaks through me by the Holy Spirit! I am the real deal! Why are you listening to people who are not inspired by God or the Holy Spirit?! Today- Paul s words, and the words of the other authors of the Bible are all inspired by whom? God! So, if someone approaches you and says, Hey! You know you really don t have to be baptized to receive salvation; all you have to do is be a good person and God will take care of you. Is this statement written in the Word of God? It is not. But a lot of people believe this to be true. God just wants you to be a good person. You don t have to be baptized, or go to church or read your Bible. You just gotta be good. What does God- speaking through Paul in the letter to the Galatians- have to say about this? Read 1:9. If anyone teaches you anything that is the opposite of what God s Word says- they will be condemned. God does not tolerate false teachers who try to twist His good and perfect Word. This is the lesson we get from this account today, and the lesson the Galatians received as well. As we will see through our study, the Galatians were allowing people to throw in Jewish traditions into Christianity- convincing them that they needed both. Paul explains to them the reason why the Jewish Law was in place for so long, and how it protected God s people until the Perfect came. What was the perfect? The perfect is the full and complete Word of God which came to us after the death burial and resurrection of Jesus, who made the Perfect Word possible. As paul goes on to explain these truths, he also teaches the Galatians about faith, the fruit of the Spirit, and how we as brothers and sisters are to take care of one another. This is a wonderful book full of True and useful information to help those of us who are Christians continue to live for Christ.

3 VOCABULARY Galatia 48-55AD Paul False teachers Abraham Jesus The Law The Way Inspiration To speak and/or write the Words of God through His inspiration Approximate date the book of Galatians was written Person who wrote the book of Galatians One of the early patriarchs Person/people who do not share the true Word of God The guardian of the Jews until the perfect came The Son of God What Christians are to follow

4 LESSON 1 (WEDNESDAY): STUDY OF GALATIA CLASS SCHEDULE 1. Welcome/Prayer/Songs (2) 2. Bible Verse 3. Lesson 4. Worksheet 5. Closing Prayer MEMORY VERSES: Galatians 2:20-21 SUPPLIES NEEDED Map of region of Galatia (see Pinterest) BIBLE TIME Lesson: On Sunday, we talked about the facts concerning the letter to the Galatians. About what date was this letter written? 48-55AD Who wrote the letter? Paul. Why did he write the letter? The church on Galatia turned from the Gospel and began to listen to false teachers as well as define faith and works. God wants us to understand there is only One Message, and that message is what we base our beliefs on. Where is the message located? In the Bible! Someone remind us why Paul needed to remind the people in Galatia that he was an Apostle inspired by God. Who was teaching the people other things? In this particular passage, those who were called false teachers were known as Judaizers. They tried to pull those who were Christians following The Way back to Judaism. They did not, or didn t want to, understand the freedom Christ had given God s people. Remember, if you were a Jew before Christ, how did you show devotion to God? You followed rules, and performed various duties like circumcision, animal sacrifices, and not working on the Sabbath to be a follower of God. You were totally responsible for yourselfyou didn t understand what grace was which is a gift given to us that we didn t work for, or deserve. They simply didn t understand grace, so they kept convincing themselves, and the new Christians in Galatia that faith and grace simply will not work- you have to earn God s favor. It was a hard habit to break for sure. Looking at the map, let s find the region of Galatia. Did you know that Galatia was a region, and not an actual city? Which cities are located in the region? We can see Iconium, Lystra, Antioch, and Derbe. All 4 of these cities were included in Paul s missionary journeys. Do you remember some of the things that took place in these places from last quarter? What happened in Antioch? Let s turn to Acts 11:26 and read the last part of the verse, And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. Where is Antioch on the map? This is one of the key places for the spread of Christianity. The first was Jerusalem on the day of what? Pentecost. Antioch among other places, were very important in the spread of the Gospel and the beginning of the church. Let s talk about Iconium. Iconium was a small plain

5 that had mountains to both it s east and west. This area grew things like wheat and flax because of its moist climate. In archeological discoveries, archeologist have found several coins (See Pinterest) with the Emperor Claudius on them. Turn to Acts 11:28. We see Claudias mentioned in the Bible! What does the Bible say about him? There would be a great famine during his reign. Guess what? It happened. Around 45AD in Judea! Several historians that wrote of the history of men during this time period also spoke about the famine. Iconium was also the town in which Paul and Barnabas spread the Gospel and many during that time believed, but they had to flee to Derbe and Lystra because men wanted to have them stoned. We read of this in Acts 14. Derbe and Lystra were also in the region of Galatia. Derby was a smaller secluded town, and is thought to be the only town in Galatia in which Paul and Barnabas were not threatened. From there, they went to Lystra, and as we read in Acts 14:8-23, Paul healed a crippled man, causing many to believe. The people there thought Paul and Barnabas were gods like Zeus, which mad them sad because they knew these gods were false. Paul didn t want to be a god, he wanted people to know the One True God. The men from Iconic followed Paul and Barnabas to Lystra, and had Paul stooned and drug outside of the city to be left for dead. Archeology has found many artifacts that shown the city s devotion to Greek gods and they have found no evidence of a Jewish synagogue. This makes sense when we read about the people trying to make Paul and Barnabas gods to worship, that s what they were used to! (see Pinterest) As you can see, the churches in Galatia were actually really spread out amongst several towns and cities. So when we read the book of Galatians, and see that Paul is writing to the church in Galatia, we will now know that the church was not in just one town, but it was a many people, gathered together in a large region that made up the church. This is true today as well. Can all Christians form all over the world gather to worship together every Sunday? No, we gather with other Christians in the areas in which we live but still remain one church. When we meet next week, we will go into chapters 1-2, and discuss the authority of Paul as an Apostle, as well as discuss how to spot out false teachers, and what we can do to keep the Truth protected against those who try to make it something it is not.

6 LESSON 2 (SUNDAY): GALATIANS 1: FALSE TEACHERS CLASS SCHEDULE 1. Welcome/Prayer/Songs (2) 2. Bible Verse 3. Lesson 4. Worksheet 5. Closing Prayer MEMORY VERSES: Galatians 2:20-21 SUPPLIES NEEDED Realistic fruit Real fruit Knife BIBLE TIME Lesson: Open your Bible to Galatians 1:1-10 and read the verses with the students. When we began our first study on the book of Galatians, we talked about how one of the main reasons for Paul writing his letter to the Churches in Ephesus was to remind them the differences between the inspired will of God through the Apostles, and the opinions of others. In what ways do we face issues such as these today? (Allow the students to discuss at length examples of opinions vs. the Word. If needed, keep the conversation going, the discussion should last at least 5 minutes. Let s turn in our Bibles to Hebrews 4:12 and read. What does this verse tell us about the power of the Word? What do you think this talks about when it says it pierces your heart, and is living? Let s place yourselves in the shoes of the people in Galatia. When Paul first began his letter, he said, Grace and peace to you from our God and Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from evil, according to God s will. God, through Paul tells those in Galatia that He gives them grace and peace because of the sacrifice made through His Son, Jesus. How would this make you feel? To have Paul, one of the Apostles, write a letter specifically to you from God that said something so heart warming? Would it pierce your heart with love? When anyone says things to us, good or bad, it can do powerful things to our hearts. Now, imagine you continue listening to, or reading the letter, and then move on to verses 6-9 (Read). God, through Paul is telling you He s shocked you are leaving what He has spoken. He gave His Son to die for you and forgive you of your sins, and then decide to turn to from His Word. How would this affect your heart? Now let s read Hebrews 4:12 again. God s Word has the power to change a person s heart and to affect the way they live their lives. That s why understanding His Word is so important. Let s read 2 Timothy 3: What does God s Word do for us? (Allow discussion) It gives us life-changing information that will affect our eternity. Who has the power to effect our eternity? God. So if God gives us

7 everything we need to know in His Word, and we choose not to follow Him, and listen to other people who tell us their way is better, who still holds our eternity? God! Do you see why it was so important for the Galatians then, and everyone today to know that false teachers are very dangerous? Let s read on in Galatians to verse Paul talks about a man s gospel what do you think this is? What does the word gospel mean? The word means news or announcement. Paul is comparing man s gospel to The Gospel because the people needed to be reminded of the difference. LIFE APPLICATION Title? Take the fruit out and place it on the table. Ask the students if they can spot the difference between the real fruit and the fake fruit without touching it. Talk about how hard it is to tell the difference without examining it closer. How can we truly decide if the fruit is real or fake? We can hold it, and we can also open it up. Using the knife, cut open a fake fruit piece, and a real fruit piece. What does the inside of the fake fruit look like? Can we do anything with it? What does the inside of the real fruit look like? Can we do anything with it? Which fruit is better for us? Sometimes, it can be hard for us to really tell the difference between man s gospel, and The Gospel. Sometimes, people just seem to make way better sense when they talk about the Bible, and make it hard to tell the difference between the real and the fake- just like when we look at this fruit. But once we dig a little deeper, we see that man s gospel is just full of fluff and has no real value. God wants us to dig deeper into His Word so we can continue to be filled with His Word. In Scriptures such as Matthew 4:4 and 1 Peter 1:25-2:2, God s Word is even compared to food and the way our bodies need it to survive. We need to always dig deeper into what our friends, family, and others say about God s Word, as well as in the Word itself so we can be sure to follow the one true Gospel that was meant to give us everything we need.

8 LESSON 2 (WEDNESDAY): GALATIANS 1-2: PAUL S AUTHORITY CLASS SCHEDULE 1. Welcome/Prayer/Songs (2) 2. Bible Verse 3. Lesson 4. Worksheet 5. Closing Prayer MEMORY VERSES: Galatians 2:20-21 SUPPLIES NEEDED BIBLE TIME Lesson: Today, we will be studying the authority of Paul and what this meant to the people in Galatia, and what this means for us today. When we think of the word authority what do you think it means? (Allow discussion) the word defined in the dictionary means The power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. Knowing this term, who can you think of today that has authority? (police, judge, parents, teachers, principal etc) All the people we mentioned have a certain type of authority over certain things. Teachers and principals have authority over you when you are in school. Police and judges have authority in the law which we are to obey. Your parents have authority as your guardians and guides in your life. In all circumstances in our lives, we have someone over us at all times as the authority. In Paul s letter to the Galatians, he wrote about the type of authority he possessed and why this authority was to be understood, and obeyed above all other types of authority. As we defined earlier, authority means having the power to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. Turn in your Bibles to Galatians 1:1. How does Paul open his letter? He claims he is Paul- an apostle through Christ, not men. What is the big deal about being an Apostle as opposed to being a disciple, or a teacher, or elder? An Apostle was specifically chosen by God to carry our specific duties. As we have learned since we were little, there were 12 Apostles chosen by Christ while he was alive, and the 13th was Paul, which was chosen by Christ after he went back into Heaven. So we see that these 13 men had a very focused job, and a very special one. Do we have any other Apostles mentioned in the Bible? Or can you think of any Apostles alive today? (allow children to discuss) Let s read on in chapter 1:11-24 (Allow students to take turns reading) What does verses teach us when Paul says he did not receive the Gospel through man, but through revelation? How do we receive the Gospel? Someone

9 tells us, teaches us, or we read it. This is what he means by received by man. What is a revelation? A revelation is a divine information given to humans. Who is The Divine? God! So how did Paul receive his information? Directly from God. In verses Paul goes on to explain his life before the revelation was given to him by God, and what happened to him afterwards. Why do you think Paul was explaining to the people in Galatia, about his past as a Jew? Do you remember who the false teachers were? They were former Jews, trying to mix the old law with the new covenant in Christ. Paul is saying, Hey! I used to be the most strict jew there was and followed each and every rule exactly! I know the Jewish law better than pretty much anyone, and I m telling you, what these people are telling you is wrong! I know this because I m an Apostle of God, and because I used to be a Jew! Paul s explanation of his story is just like what we do when we are trying to relate with someone. He shows he knows what he s talking about (chosen Apostle), he relates to their confusion about the false teachers (Once a Jew following the law), and gives them hope in God (his explanation of how God was glorified in him once he became a Christian). Let s read on in chapter 2:1-5. In our study over Acts, we learned of the things he is talking about in verses 1-5. Paul went through a lot of crazy stuff during his journeys. Stoned, beaten, bitten, in prison, and many other issues. But he kept going. Why? Read verse 5. To preserve the truth of the Gospel. The Truth is that important to Paul- it s that important to God. Again, Paul is talking about his authority and the seriousness of his dedication to the truth. I m guessing whoever the false teachers were, they were not willing to go through the troubles that Paul went though to spread their idea of what the truth is. Knowing all of this information, let s make a list of all of the things that makes Paul the absolute authority in the Gospel, and in writing so many letters in our Bibles today. - Chosen Apostle - Revelations given from God through the Holy Spirit - Once was the most important Jew - Christian - Suffered greatly for the Truth - Accepted by the other Apostles - God glorified through Paul What did the false teachers possess to show their authority in what they taught? - Their words - Their ideas God, through Paul, is teaching the Galatians, and us today that we must remain faithful to the Word given to us and preserve it always.

10 LIFE APPLICATION Approval of Man or God? (Galatians 1:10) In our study over the book of Galatians, Paul states in chapter 1:10 Am I seeking the approval of man or God?. He goes on to say something that we all need to focus on daily as we strive to be more Christlike, and for some of you, make the decision to become Christians. If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. If Paul worried about what other people thought, he would not be protecting the Word of God as actively as he was. He would be too worried about others, and not about his duty as a Christian. We too can fall in this trap, but we must remember the words of God- revealed to us through Paul- Are you seeking the approval of people or God? and if you want to please people, you shouldn t be a servant of Christ. Jesus tells us this as well when he said, Man cannot serve 2 masters. So we have a choice we have to make each day- who will we serve? God or what others want us to do. The choice is always up to you and one that God will help you make if you continue to seek Truth.

11 LESSON 3 (SUNDAY): JUSTIFIED BY FAITH OR WORKS CLASS SCHEDULE 1. Welcome/Prayer/Songs (2) 2. Bible Verse 3. Lesson 4. Worksheet 5. Closing Prayer MEMORY VERSES: Galatians 2:20-21 SUPPLIES NEEDED Bibles BIBLE TIME Lesson: Last week, we discussed Paul s authority in Christ, as well as one of the reasons why Paul was writing to the churches in Galatia-which was to counteract the false teachers that had come in to make the new Christians try from the Gospel that was preached to them by Paul on his missionary journeys. Today, we will dig a bit deeper into what exactly it was that the false teachers were trying to add to the Gospel, and why these things needed to be taken out of practice. Let s read chapter 2: Who is Cephas? Cephas is Peter- one of the Apostles. Who can tell me a few facts about Peter? (brother of Andrew, fisherman, preached on day of Pentecost, denied Jesus, etc) Peter, just like Paul, worked extremely hard at spreading the Gospel to all the people after the death of Jesus. He too was given authority by God through the Holy Spirit to speak to people on behalf of God. Judging from the text we just read, what do you think was going on between Peter and Paul? Peter had done something that was more about Jewish tradition than it was about Christianity. He was gathered in Antioch with Gentiles eating, then a group of Jews (the circumcision party) came in making Peter who was once a Jew, a bit nervous, so he drew back from the Gentiles. Remember- Old Testament Law told Jews to keep themselves separated from the Gentiles, because they were not God s chosen people. Turn your Bibles to Acts 10:9-15 and read. God, through a vision, told Peter that the Gentiles deserved the same salvation as the Jews and they were to no longer be unclean. After this dream, we read on in Acts to see how God sent the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles in the same way He did the Jews as a sign to the Jews, and the Gentiles that in Christ, we are all one now with no divisions. Knowing this, do you understand why Paul was upset with Peter? Verse 14 states that their conduct was not in step with the Gospel. Peter, because of feeling uncomfortable being seen with Gentiles, drew away from them to please the Jews rather than God. Do you remember the key verse from chapter 1 we discussed on Wednesday? Am I seeking the approval of man, or God? Peter, in this moment, was seeking the approval of man. What did Paul say to Peter because of his actions? If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live

12 like Jews? Whatever Peter was doing with the Gentiles he thought was ok- which probably was, he could have just been eating a type of meat that the Jews, due to the Law, couldn t eat. But when he got caught by the Jews, he decided to try to get the Gentiles to do something that the Jews do. This part in the passage is important because we need to continue to understand that the Jews that had become Christians were still not quite grasping the concept of what faith meant, and since they didn t understand, they went to their old ways and tried to get others to follow. Peter was an example of this when he was confronted by the Jews for being with the Gentiles. Sometimes it is hard to continue to stand up for what is True and right when we feel the pressure coming from those who don t understand. Paul helped Peter to remember there is only one Gospel, and we are to live it by example, and do our best not to worry about what others think. This brings us to verses Starting in verse 15, Paul is now going to describe to us the difference between faith which is vital in the New Covenant, and works which was vital in the Old Covenant, and the differences between the two. Let s read. In verse 15 Paul is explaining to the Jews that yes- they were born as Jews which were chosen by God to be His people, and were not born into the Gentile race, which was anyone else who was not a Jew. Then he says yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ. What does justified mean? Justified means to be made righteous in God s eyes. If we follow the Jewish law that we find in the Old Testament, will it make us righteous before God? No! What did make us righteous? Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. Did we have anything to do with this? No-yet through our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection, we are justified. Let s read on in When Jesus died, what was tore down? The curtain that separates the Jews from God. When God made Himself available to all through Christ, he tore down the barrier between His glory and us, and asks us to tear down a barrier as well. Do you know what this barrier is? What are we promising to leave behind and start doing when we are baptized into Christ? Our old ways. We tear down the old, and rebuild a new thing. What happens if we try to rebuild our old life of sin? Verse 18 says we prove ourselves to be transgressors which is another word for one who sins against God. Nothing has changed. To these Jews that were false teachers- nothing changed. They still thought that if you didn t eat certain things, hang out with certain people, and if you allowed yourself to be circumcised, then that made you right in God s eyes. God tells us through Paul that our faith and obedience to the Gospel justifies us in verse 20. Let s all read this together. The life we live today as Christians, or future Christians, is to be a life of faith. What is the definition of faith? The assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. Faith was a very hard things to grasp for these people, and for many of us today because it means we are to completely trust in something we cannot see. They had a hard time with that, so went back to what they could see, and that was following the Law. read verse 21. What does nullify mean? To have no value, or to cancel out. Paul is saying we cancel out the grace of God if we think we can earn our way into Heaven. Let s think about this statement again.

13 We cancel out the grace of God if we think we can earn our way into Heaven. This is the summary of everything Paul wrote about in verses Bottom line- We are all sinners in need of grace, and there is nothing we can do to earn it. Obedience to the Gospel which is driven by faith saves us- nothing else. Wednesday, we will continue Paul s thoughts about faith and works in chapter 3. I encourage you to read verses 1-14 before we meet again for class. LIFE APPLICATION A Time to Tear Down (Galatians 2:18) Getting yourself right in the eyes of God is hard, impossible even, because often we take Christ out of the picture. Since the beginning of time, God had a plan set in motion to give all of mankind a chance to be with Him in Heaven. He knows we mess up. He knows we can t do this on our own, and He knows we will be tempted to backslide into our old way of thinking at times just like Peter did. But God asks us to not rebuild what Christ s love tore down. When we become Christians, Christ tears down the wall of sin that kept us from the Father, and asks that through thankfulness, we keep this wall tore down. When we go back to our sinful ways, or even think we can earn our way to Heaven by following rules, that wall goes right back off again, blocking us from the Father. Keep tearing down the walls of your old life, and completely have faith in Christ s sacrifice for you.

14 LESSON 3 (WEDNESDAY): LIVING BY FAITH CLASS SCHEDULE 1. Welcome/Prayer/Songs (2) 2. Bible Verse 3. Lesson 4. Worksheet 5. Closing Prayer MEMORY VERSES: Galatians 2:20-21 SUPPLIES NEEDED Blindfold BIBLE TIME On Sunday, we talked about the difference between faith and works. Do you remember why the people in Galatia were having a hard time with these two things? They thought they had to do more than just have faith to be saved, but what did God, through explain to them? In Galatians 2:20, Paul states that we have been crucified with Christ and when this happened, we were saved from our sins, and now live a life for Christ. He saved us, and by faith- we will live for him. Why was this so hard to understand for some? Some grew up their whole lives following the hundreds and hundreds of Jewish laws- they thought they still had to do certain things to stay in line with God s grace. We know that when Christ died- the Old Law was abolished (which means was canceled out) and a covenant began which is what we have today. Living a life full of faith and obedience- not working hard to obey rules. Obeying rules is important, but God wants us to know that we obey His rules because we love and respect God- not because they get us into Heaven- Christ s sacrifice made Heaven possible. With this being said- let s talk about faith! What is faith? (Allow students to explain) The Bible talks a lot about faith. It is mentioned in the New Testament about 520 times! Faith is something we must really try our best to understand as Christians/future Christians. It is hard sometimes to describe faith, just as it is hard to understand love and grace. The good news is, God doesn t want us to know all there is to know about faith, but He does expect us to show faith and act on our faith. Let s turn to Hebrews 11:1 (ask someone to read) What does this mean? A simple way of describing it is believing in something we cannot see. The Bible goes a little further in it s description. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. What is assurance? Assurance is to have confidence in something. The next part of the description says the conviction of things not seen. Do you know what conviction means? Conviction describes a very strong belief in something. Now that we defined this verse, we can really dig into it s meaning. We have a very strong belief in something we cannot see, because of the promise we have been given. We have

15 faith in God and in the things He did and will do, even though we cannot see Him because He has made great promises to us. A good way to think of it is to think of the wind. We cannot see the wind but we know it is there because we can feel it and we can see the wind blow things such as leaves. We cannot see God, but we know He is there because we can feel Him, and can see His work all around. We can feel Him because we have a great love and peace in our hearts, and we can see His work all round us when we look at the creation of the world, and we can read of His works in the Word. Let s read in Galatians 3: Again, Paul is restating that the Law was a guardian until Christ came which means the Old Testament Law helped people live righteous lives by teaching them what was righteous and unrighteous, but now that Christ has come, we can be children of God through baptism- not by following rules. In the Old Testament times there were two types of people; the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews were God s chosen people and everyone else- the Gentiles- were not. You could not be a child of God unless you were a Jew. In Galatians 3:28, Paul is explaining the very exciting news that now that Christ died and was resurrected, anyone can be a child of God! Anyone! And to be a child of God, do you become one by following the Law? No! How did the people who were alive after Christ went back into Heaven all the way until now become children of God? By being baptized into Christ because of faith. Having faith isn t always easy, but when we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and on God s promises, God will protect us and bless us because of our faith in Him. That s one of His promises! As we continue on in our study over the book of Galatians, we will look at the purpose of the Old Law on Sunday morning then next Wednesday, we will talk about freedom in Christ. Before we close, let s talk a bit more about faith, and end with a faith filled activity.

16 LIFE APPLICATION Seeing Isn t Believing (2 Corinthians 5:7) In 2 Corinthians 5:7 we are told that we are to walk by faith, not by sight. What do you think this means? You hear a lot of people talk about their Christian walk. This is a way to describe their journey through life a a Christian- we call it a walk as an illustration. If we are told to journey through life by faith, and not by what we can see, how can we do this? The lesson today was filled with reminders that faith is vital for Christians. We cannot see God, but in faith, we know He exists and He has everything under control. This can be very hard at times, but as we read in God s Word in places such as Hebrews 11, believing in God and in His plan even though we cannot see it will get us through anything. Select a volunteer and blindfold them. is now blindfolded and cannot see a thing. I m going to spin them around and around until they are really dizzy and have no idea where they are or where they are going. (Spin the student in a tight circle several times to make sure they are nice and dizzy-once you stop, be sure to hold their shoulders and gently guide them to a seat that is far across the room, careful not to bump the child into anything) As you can see, (the volunteer) couldn t see a thing and had no idea what I was doing- but I lead them to safety. They trusted in me to do what was best. This is faith. Now let s see faith played out in a different way. (Select another volunteer to blindfold, but make sure it is someone who is very good at following instructions. Spin them around as before but instead of physically leading them to the chair, you will lead them to the chair by your voice and ask them to sit down once they are positioned right. You can put the chair right underneath them once they get to the spot. make sure they do not reach down to feel chair, they have to sit in faith!) Again, they had no idea where they were or what was going on, they just had to have faith in me to get them to the seat. This is what it means to walk our Christian walk by faith and not by site. We obey God and have faith in Him not because we can see Him, but because we now He has all the answers and can see everything we cannot. I was able to walk (insert name) to the chair because I could see it and they couldn t. I was able to give instructions to (insert name) to get them to the chair because I could see the path that they couldn t. This is the faith we must live out daily. We can t see the path, we don t know what s coming up, and we have no idea what s going on in the big picture, but God knows, and because of our faith, that should be good enough for us to keep on walking.

17 LESSON 4 (SUNDAY): LIVING BY FAITH CLASS SCHEDULE 1. Welcome/Prayer/Songs (2) 2. Bible Verse 3. Lesson 4. Worksheet 5. Closing Prayer MEMORY VERSES: Galatians 2:20-21 SUPPLIES NEEDED Vocabulary sheets BIBLE TIME Partial obedience is disobedience. What do you think this means? Your parents tell you to clean your room, and you look around and chose to clean half of it. Hey! They didn t say clean your whole room, they just said clean your room. Half of it is clean, so is it clean? No. Did you disobey, or did you partly obey? If you only cleaned half of your room, then you disobeyed. There is no such thing as partly obeying a command. You either obey, or you don t! This is what we will be talking about today. Turn to Galatians 3:10. What is this passage saying? It sounds a little confusing reading just this, but we have to remember the context of the situation. Paul is writing to the Galatians because they are Christians trying to bring back parts of the Old Testament Law. This is the key word to understand the verse we just read parts. They are choosing to follow parts of the Law- just like you choosing just a part of your room to clean instead of the whole thing. As we have learned over the past several weeks, the Christians were starting to rely on their works and not by faith. So when Paul in verse 10 says For those who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them he is saying, Hey! If you think works still saves you, then why aren t you doing ALL of the things written? By doing only a few, you are still disobeying! Turn to Deuteronomy 27:26 and read. Paul is quoting the words spoken by God through Moses when God is speaking to the Israelites before they go into the Promised Land. In verses Moses is explaining to the Israelites the things they could not do once they were in the promise land. Once he went over everything, he then finished with If you choose to do these things once we get there, then you will be cursed. It s kind of like when mom and dad are laying our rules for you to follow while you are driving in the car to go somewhere. Say please and thank you. Don t act crazy. Mind your manners. Don t pick on your brother/sister. Eat all your food. If you misbehave in any of these things, you will get it! If you only obey 1 and not the rest, what will happen? You will get in trouble! Now think about this again as we turn back to Galatians 3:10 do you see what he is saying? If you want

18 to follow the law, then you gotta follow the WHOLE law, and if you re not following the WHOLE law, then you are still in error with God. Let s read on in verses This verse is very important in understanding the rest of our study of the week. It explains why freedom in Christ is called freedom in Christ. Paul says it is evident that no one is justified by the Law. What does Justified mean? To be made right in God s eyes. Did the Law make us right in God s eyes? No, but it did teach us right from wrong- just like our parents teach us right from wrong. When we grow up, our parents are told by God to raise us up in the truth and knowledge of the Lord. They teach us right from wrong, and punish us when we do wrong. How did we know running out in the middle of the street without looking was wrong? Because mom said so! She gives us rules to keep us safe. The Law didn t make the people who followed it righteous, but it did teach them what was right. After he explains this, he goes on to say the righteous shall live by faith. This is him explaining again that we are righteous- or justified, which means made right because of our faith. What does our faith make us do? It causes us to want to be baptized into Christ, which makes us righteous because of his sacrifice. Then he says The law is not of faith, rather, the one who does them shall live by them. The people in Old Testaments times lived their lives around the Law, they lived by the Law, but again, it didn t save them. Now after this statement, we read something interesting. In verse 13, it says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. What does this mean? Why is Paul calling the guardian, which was the Old Testament Law that was given to God s chosen people a curse? Again, we have to think about context. What was the curse? Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law and do them. Could the people of Israel do every single thing mentioned int he Law and not mess up even once? No. They are only human. Mom tells us we shouldn t run out in the street, but sometimes we forget and disobey. Not because we mean to, but simply because we forgot. The people of Israel were still considered unrighteousness if they broke any of the rules. The rules couldn t make things right, they only told the people what was God s will, and what was not. This is why Christ came. The rules aka the Law guarded the people until Christ came to justify them, to make them righteous. Think about your parents again. Can your parents make you righteous or justified by their rules? No. Their rules are put into place to help you understand what is right and what is wrong. Their instruction and rules also lead you to Jesus. When the time comes after years and years of your parents teaching you right from wrong, and you decide to become a Christian, what justifies you then? Christ s blood through baptism. Your parents guarded your heart as you grew up understanding what to do and what not to do, and once you understood that you could not be righteous without Christ, in faith, you were baptized for the forgiveness of sins. The Law had a purpose in our history. The Law helped God s people understand right form wrong, kept them separated from those who didn t follow the Law, and the Law pointed people to Christ our redeemer. Now let s finish up our thoughts on the Law in Galatians 3: Again, the Law itself wasn t a bad thing. it kept God s people on the right track! The imprisonment, however, was the fact that even thought they obeyed, they couldn t obey it all, and

19 nothing was there to completely make them righteous. They had the sacrifices of animals, but even then, it didn t help. This was the prison- not being right before God- not the Law itself. Again, your parents rules for you, no matter what you think sometimes, are not a prison. They are put in place to help you grow and mature into a responsible adult. The things they are teaching you are leading you to something very important- they are leading you to Christ. They are guarding your heart until you put your faith in Christ. The prison of it is that once you understand that you cannot be righteous apart from Christ, you are simply living a prisoner to sin until you decide to become a Christian. Putting on Christ sets you free! The prison is sin, and freedom is Christ s sacrifice to no longer be in prison because of sin. Christ makes you righteous. Not your parents rules, not the commands in the Bible, not everything you do that is right. Christ makes you righteous. On Wednesday, we will talk about the phrase freedom in Christ and define what this means for the Galatians, and for us today. LIFE APPLICATION Following the Rules (1 John 2:4) Although we have learned that rule following doesn t save us, we are still commanded to obey the will of God. In 1 John 2:4 it reads, Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. If we claim to know and follow Christ, and love God, but we do not obey, then we are as liars. We can t say we re a child of God, then do the complete opposite of what He asks. We love our parents. We obey them because we trust them and we love them. Our love for mom and dad is what keeps us doing what is right. Same with God. Rule following won t save you, but rule following does show your love and thankfulness to God, and it is expected. He gave his son over to die a very painful death for you, and all He asks in return is to love Him and keep His commands. Doing this is hard sometimes, and He knows you will fail, which is the very reason that since the beginning of time, He decided to send His son to make you righteous. Don t be a rule follower- be a Christ follower.

20 VOCABULARY Justified Righteous Commands Guardian Cursed Abide Assurance Conviction A very strong belief in something Confidence in something promised Being made right in God s eyes A defender, protector, or keeper The quality of being morally right and justified A direct authoritative order To accept something and be in agreement with it To be annoyed with, or to have a bad fate

21 LESSON 4 (WEDNESDAY): FREEDOM IN CHRIST CLASS SCHEDULE 1. Welcome/Prayer/Songs (2) 2. Bible Verse 3. Lesson 4. Worksheet 5. Closing Prayer MEMORY VERSES: Galatians 2:20-21 SUPPLIES NEEDED Red sturdy yarn BIBLE TIME On Sunday, we talked about the purpose of the Old Law, and how the people in Galatia were struggling with following it, and with Christianity. Some people who became Christians had been Jews their entire lives, and they were having a very hard time understanding that they didn t have to obey the Law anymore. They still felt they had to work on things from the Old Law in order to remain under the grace of God. Today, we will discuss what freedom in Christ means, and how we should, and should not apply this freedom in our lives. Turn to Galatians 3:24-29 and read. In verse 24, we see Paul call the Law a guardian- which is what we talked about on Sunday. The Law showed the people what was right and wrong, and protected them. The passage goes on to say that we are now no longer under a guardian, but have been set free. it compares someone who is a slave, and someone who is a child. Let s define the difference between the two. (Ask the class to discuss the difference between a slave and a child) Would you rather be a slave or a child? Own property, or be property? Take care of a home, or own a home? These are differences between a slave and a child. Under the Law, the people were slaves. In Christ- they are sons and daughters. Paul says in verse that it doesn t matter who you are, or where you are in life- if you are a Christian, you are part of God s family. No longer a slave- but a family member. Now let s read Galatians 4:1-7 We see a key difference in a child and a slave. is a slave under the rule of their master? Yes. Is a child under the rule of their parents? Yes. Both are under the rule of something- but what s the difference? Being an heir. An heir is someone entitled to property. Someone who receives something once a family member dies. When a family member dies, they leave something called a will and in it the will explains who gets what. Whatever the person owned, they give these things to their family. They are given a gift. Who died for us? Jesus. What did he leave us when he died? The forgiveness of sins. When we accept this gift through baptism, what else will we eventually receive? A home in Heaven. Christ made us heirs of Heaven through his death. Now think about the Old Law. Did the Old Law sacrifice anything for us? No. Did the Old Law leave us an inheritance? No Just as slaves, it told us what to do

22 and how to live, but the Law itself couldn t actually give us anything eternal- it just guided us until the eternal gift came. Christ s death gave us redemption. To redeem something means that you are buying it from slavery. Christ set us free. Now. Since we have this freedom in Christ how are we to behave? Freedom in Christ does not mean you are free to do whatever you want because you are a child of God. God isn t raising spoiled brats! If a parent gives their child everything, and never gets on to them when they are wrong, what happens? The child is usually mean, selfish, and uncaring. When you see the phrase freedom in Christ its not talking about not having to obey the rules- it s talking about the fact that we are no longer slaves to sin. Christ died to set our souls free from the death that comes from sin. We are free from sin. When we mess up and try again, the sin is forgiven and forgotten if we are in Christ. If we are not in Christ- the sin rules us and pulls us away from God so we can never receive our inheritance. Is a child still supposed to follow the rules? Yes. As a child of God- though free from sin, are we expected to follow the rules? Yes. Galatians 5:1 says For freedom in Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Christ bought us out of slavery so we can be children of God. The Galatians needed to be reminded of how good the new covenant was so they wouldn t keep being tempted to go back into slavery which was following a guardian that did not give an inheritance. So what does this mean for us? Obviously, we are not slaves to the Old Law, but we are still slaves to something. Do you know what it is? Sin. Being slaves to sin means we have no inheritance. We are slaves, with no future. When we become Christians- we become children of God and are bought from slavery. We are given an inheritance, and our hearts are free from the terrible feeling we have from being lost in sin with no hope. We didn t earn heaven, nor can we work towards it. It is a gift given from God to His children. We still live respectable lives for God, because we are His children, but not because we want to be saved- it s because we already are saved and are living thankful lives because of our salvation. This is what our study over Galatians is about today. We can t make it to Heaven on our own because we are slaves to sin. Jesus bought us from slavery when he died and was resurrected. When we become Christians, he takes care of our salvation and we live as obedient children because we are thankful.

23 LIFE APPLICATION I Have Been Crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) *Get on Quarter 4 Year 1 Pinterest Board for directions on how to do the string visual. Read Galatians 4:20. This scripture repeats what we just talked about. Christ paid our debt, set us free from sin, and now we live out of thankfulness to God. Sometimes, we tend to forget this fact, and make a big mess of things. This is exactly what the Galatians were struggling with. They forgot Christ made them children of God, and felt as if they needed to do things to be in Heaven. Using this yarn, I will demonstrate the difference between how sin can trap us, and how in Christ, even though sin is present, Christ still sets us free. Using the directions on the Pinterest site, get your yarn ready, and ask a child to place their hand in the correct spot. We see that sin is present, but when we try to escape, it still has us trapped. This is the slavery that Paul speaks about in Galatians. Using the directions on the Pinterest site, get the yarn ready again, and have your student place their hand in the yarn as instructed in the second set of directionsmake sure their hand is placed right. Same thing, sin surrounds us, and we sin daily, when we are children of God, we ask for forgiveness and help with our sins- and guess what? Christ sets us free! We aren t trapped because we are children of God. Being a child of God doesn t mean we won t ever sin again- because we will, but it does mean that as we try our best daily to live obediently, when we do mess up, we are forgiven and not trapped.