Some Helpful Resources for Understanding Galatians
Updated: Aug 31
Okedoki... so, whenever you bring up obedience to God's commandments, there will be someone who says something about Galatians. The joke is that when you tell people that we should obey God's commandments, they will say, "Haven't you read Galatians?"
And yes, we HAVE read Galatians... many times.
Let's be really clear... Galatians IS confusing. It seemed to make sense to me when I was under the teaching of the church, but as I read the Bible for myself, it appeared to be contradicting what Jesus said regarding God's commands. It even appeared to contradict other things Paul himself had said about the law. This may well be one of the letters Peter refers to as being "hard to understand."
2 Peter 3: 15b, 16 "our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him. He speaks about these things in all his letters. There are some things hard to understand in them." Personally, I think that is an understatement. Paul's letters are some of the most misunderstood books in the Bible! The context of this comment is also very interesting. Peter goes on to say that the "untaught and unstable will twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures. Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stable position."
Peter is not concerned that those who read Paul's letters will follow God's commandments! No! He is concerned that those who read Paul's letters might twist them (to their own destruction), and warns people (since they know this in advance), not to be led away by the error of LAWLESS people. Let that sink in!
Jesus said that he had not come to abolish the commandments but to fulfill them. He said that those who obey and teach them would be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, and those who didn't would be the least. He told people to obey the commandments. So if Paul appears to be saying that we don't need to... who are you going to follow? However, Paul actually does teach obedience to the commandments. We have been taught an incorrect interpretation of Paul's teachings if we believe he is against obedience to God's commandments.
Here are some helpful resources for understanding Galatians. These will hopefully help you to consider the greater context.
I really appreciate this teaching. I came to understand that God wants us to obey His commandments. I was so willing to obey, because I was incredibly thankful that He had saved me by His grace and mercy. I wanted to live to please Him.
The following teachings are presented by David Wilber, whose scholarly teaching I value.
A Different Gospel? - Galatians Series (Chapter 1-2) Rise on Fire Ministries
This is the first video in their series about Galatians.
I hope these are helpful. Galatians does not teach against obedience to God's commandments. If it did it would directly contradict the teachings of Jesus. What is missing is a full understanding of Paul's meaning. We need to read it in the context of the rest of Scripture and the context of the times and Jewish thought and reasoning.
Understanding Galatians requires understanding the rest of the Scriptures!
Happy studying!
It might be helpful also to watch this series:
Comments