The Gospel is at Stake Update

We are a few weeks into our series on the book of Galatians called, "The Gospel is at Stake." We have just finished the first chapter. So I thought it would be a good idea to bring us up to speed on what is going on and reintroduce the central theme of the book as we study.


Context
Paul is the author of the book and he has started churches in various cities and towns in the region of Galatia. In each one of the cities, Paul had previously preached the gospel and started churches by appointing and training leaders of those churches. While preaching, Paul was threatened with death if he continued to preach by religious power wolves. Paul was actually stoned just outside of one of the cities and left for dead.

This did not stop Paul, he would get up and go to the next city knowing full well that those same power wolves would follow him into the city and cause chaos. But the gospel was more important to Paul than his safety. So he went in and taught these people the gospel.

Theme
It is very simple and it is the message that Paul preached to the people prior to him writing the book. The theme is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone and not through any religious activity.

Chapter 1
Through the first chapter of the book Paul has reinforced two things strongly. First, the gospel. Paul very simply points out the gospel in Galatians 1:4 and points out, with vigor, his purpose for the book in Galatians 1:6. In the second half of chapter one Paul continues by proclaiming that his message of the gospel is the message that God has charged him with teaching. It is Paul's authority to proclaim the gospel.

What is ahead
This week we begin to look into the mission of Paul and the mission that we have as men and women "entrusted with the gospel". We hope to see you Sunday at 10:00 am at 660 Charbonier in Florissant. You can also check out the podcast of the message linked from our website and Facebook page.

The Gospel is at Stake Part 1:: Set Up

We started our series on the book of Galatians this past Sunday called "The Gospel is at Stake." We will use this blog to look back at what we talked about in the message and also to look forward to what is coming. Today we will look back at the set up message from October 24.

Galatians was written to the people in the churches in the region of Galatia that Paul established during his first missionary journey. That journey led Paul to preach in several cities across the region of Galatia and then later come back to those cities and establish churches and appoint elders for those churches. You can see those cities (Salamis, Paphos, Perga, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe) on the map. (courtesy to ESV Study Bible for use of the map.)

As he preached he would also receive persecution from religious leaders in the cities who threaten to stone him and on one occasion did stone him and nearly killed him. Paul preached a message of justification by faith alone. The religious leaders contended with Paul saying that converts needed to fully obey the law of Moses, which goes against the core of the gospel.

The ESV Study Bible provides this commentary on the Galatians, "In one way or another, everything in the epistle is related to Paul's defense of justification by faith alone. The letter is also unified by the apostle's intensity of tone, which comes through as strongly here as it does in any of his writings—especially in his intolerance of false doctrine and his indignation with people who promote it."

Thanks for reading, be sure to check back to the blog consistently for more commentary and direction as we go through this series and we hope to see you Sunday.