Bahan Alkitab: Galatians
Tanggal: 27/09/2020
Ringkasan:
Galatians
Author: Apostle Paul
Audience: churches in the southern area of the Roman province of Galatia (Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe) that Paul had founded in his first missionary journey.
When: between 48 and 49 or between 51 and 53
Purpose:
· To resist false teachers (Judaizers’ teaching) that believed a number of the ceremonial practices of the Old Testament (especially circumcision) were still binding on the New Testament church.
· To establish his apostolic authority. The Judaizers argued that Paul was not an authentic apostle and that out of a desire to make the gospel more appealing to Gentiles he had removed from the gospel certain legal requirements.
The Judaism teachers claim that we cannot be saved by only believing in Christ but must carry out the Torah laws. Why do they add the law as requirement for salvation?
– To the followers of Judaism teaching, for one to be saved, he must carry out the Jewish law and adhere to the Jewish rites and tradition, such as Sabbath, circumcision, and other 613 commandments in the Torah. The main thing is to carry out the law, without that then you can’t be saved.
– They are very proud of the Torah because it is from God Himself, other nations do not have the Torah, so they regard themselves very special.
However, this is a wrong teaching. It is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone that man is justified, nothing else and nothing more.
The word justified means “pronounced or treated as righteous”. If you are ‘justified’ means God declares you as ‘righteous’ and forgives your sin, so you will not be punished because of your sin.
Let me give you an illustration. Let’s say I am arrested by the police and charged with a crime. I am brought to a trial and the judge pronounces me ‘guilty as charged’. Because of this verdict, I am punished with 10 years of prison time. Like this situation, we are all born into the world with sinful natures, due to the sin of Adam. Our status is sinful, and the punishment is eternal death.
Back to my crime illustration, in order for me to be freed from the jail punishment, I need to get a very good lawyer to gather strong evidences to prove that I did not commit the crime and clear the ‘guilty’ status. But for our sinful status, the only way to clear the sinful status is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ:
– By grace means it is given by God, not something we can get ourselves
– Through faith in Jesus Christ means by believing in Jesus Christ as our Saviour.
Why only through Jesus Christ? Because Jesus Christ is the only person whose sacrifice can satisfy God. Christ died in punishment of our sins. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross covered our sins and took away our sins so that when God sees us, He no longer sees our sins but the blood of Jesus that cleansed our sins. God’s anger is turned away and He declares our status as ‘righteous’ and we no longer be punished.
There is no ritual, no sacrament, no works that can make us worthy of God’s gift of salvation.
Galatians 2:15-16 – We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
In the book of Ephesians, Apostle Paul also repeated the same: Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Talking about carrying out the Torah commandments, the only person who can fulfil the law completely is Jesus Christ. There’s no way we can perform all the commandments. Who among you can say that you love and worship only one God? That there’s not even a single moment that you do not think God as the most important? That you never lie? That you never have a bad intention or bad thoughts in your mind? That you never feel jealous of your friends? I think none of the human beings can be 100% perfect like that, except Jesus Christ.
When we believe in Christ, Christ dwell in our hearts and we live in Christ through faith. Because we are in Christ, we are saved although we cannot fulfil the law. The law does not bind us anymore, because the work of Christ to save us is complete, 100% complete.
When we believe in Christ, we have a new life. The Holy Spirit comes to live within us and enable us to bear good fruits. How do we live out our faith? How do we show up as followers of Christ? By becoming more like Jesus in the ways we think and behave, according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, rather than behave according to sinful desires. Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
We do good works as the fruit of our repentance and our new life in Christ. Good fruit are produced from good tree. John 15:5 – I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
This is the difference between Christianity and other religions. Followers of other religions do good works as requirements to be saved. Followers of Christ do good works as a result of new life in Christ!
Do not take salvation for granted. Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
Galatians 6:9-10 – And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, gas we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Application / Group Discussion:
– What does it mean that we are made righteous by grace through faith in Jesus Christ?
– Give one or two examples of how you live out your faith by demonstrating the fruit of the holy spirit.
Ayat Hafalan:
Galatians 2:15-16
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
