Print copies of the worksheet for students.
Ask: What do you think of when you hear the word "freedom"?
We celebrate freedom every July 4. We remember the cost of freedom or liberty every Memorial Day. We recall the words from history: "Give me liberty or give me death" from Patrick Henry during the American Revolution; and "Let freedom ring" from Martin Luther King, Jr. Who can forget Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, when he said: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
But the concept of freedom goes back into history far beyond the time if the United States. In the Greek and Roman worlds slaves were common, mostly made up of peoples conquered in military campaigns. Freedom was possible but often elusive.
We value freedom as well we should. We celebrate it in popular culture, from the story of William Wallace in Braveheart to the ultimate defeat of Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.
In Galatians Paul writes about freedom, but a different kind of freedom. This freedom has less to do with nationality and more to do with eternity. And this freedom comes not from winning a war but by surrendering all to Jesus, who redeems us by His grace.
1. The Gospel Is Freedom's Pathway (1:1-2)
Before class ask four volunteers to be prepared read these passages in order: 1 Corinthians 1:1-4; Philippians 1:1-3; Colossians 1:1-3; Galatians 1:1-6. Before asking them to read the passages aloud, ask the students to see if they hear something in the first three that is not in Galatians. Point out that the first three include thanksgiving, but not Galatians. The reason is Paul's urgency to head off those in the Galatian church who were distorting the gospel of Jesus.
Explain: Paul and Barnabas had sown the gospel and planted churches across Galatia, which is in modern day Turkey. He is writing the letter to these churches, probably to be read aloud in the congregations, challenging some people in the church who 1) sought to undermine Paul's authority and 2) sought to add elements of Judaism to the gospel.
Explain how Paul's statement in verse 1, "an apostle (not sent from men nor through human agency, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead)" was aimed at the first problem. In Ephesians and Colossians, letters to other churches in the region of Asia Minor, he simply said he was "an apostle by the will of God," and in Philippians he did not refer to himself as an apostle. But here, he boldly states his apostleship was not something people determined, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, linking both together as deity. And, to make it even more clear, it was the risen Christ who appointed Paul.
When I studied for the Ph.D., all those years of arduous work culminated when I received a letter indicating my dissertation had been approved and I would be graduating soon. I was surprised at the lack of excitement that caused. My supervisor, who had also earned his doctorate, told me all I needed to hear: "Remember this, they can never take that away from you." This is even more true concerning our salvation: when God saves us, no one can take that away from us. And no person could take away Paul's call as an apostle.
2. The Gospel Is the Father's Plan (1:3-5)
Ask a volunteer to read verses 3-5. Ask: List each word or phrase which helps to explain the gospel, or the good news in Jesus. Ask volunteers to identify which word of phrase that most signifies good news to them. Point out how some terms display God's nature (grace, peace, Father), some show the work of salvation (Christ "gave Himself," "for our sins," to "rescue us from this present evil age"), and some show the motive of God ("according to [His] will" and because of His glory). Show how you can restate this by going from the end of verse 5 back to the beginning of verse 3 to say the same thing but from a different viewpoint:
Our glorious God and Father's will was to rescue us from this present evil age through Jesus, who gave Himself for our sins, granting us grace and peace from both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Explain: "This present evil age" reminds us that our freedom in Christ saves us from this sinful world but does not immediately take us out of it. We are His ambassadors to spread this good news to the world.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, where Paul summarizes the gospel. Say: the gospel is spelled "done" because Christ has done on the cross everything needed for our salvation!
Ask someone to read Ephesians 2:8-9. Point out how grace means God gives us what we do not deserve (which is why it is amazing). Note that grace is a theme throughout Galatians and tied to freedom.
Remind students of how salvation frees us from sin. Say: when we are born again we are freed from the penalty of sin; as we grow in grace (sanctification) we are gradually being freed from the power of sin; and one day we will be set free from the very presence of sin!
3. The Gospel Is Fervently Proclaimed (1:6-10)
Ask a volunteer to read verses 6-10. Ask: what words do you see repeated in these verses? Words like "gospel," accursed," and "preach" might be observed. Say: unlike other letters of Paul, this one shifts quickly and boldly to the issue of the gospel. Paul defended his apostleship in verse 1, now he defends the gospel.
Ask: who are the different subjects Paul lists who are not to be heeded if they preach a different gospel? Point out that Paul includes himself along with angels or anyone else. The gospel is too precious, too powerful to be changed.
Apply the passage by describing the difference between a personal preference and the gospel. We may prefer a style of worship, or attire for church services, or a host of other examples. But our preferences are not the gospel. What is going on in Galatia is even more severe because it deals with the very gospel itself, but many churches today have strife and division because people confuse preferences with the gospel.