Yesterday we read quite a bit about how the law, or Torah, demonstrated the sinfulness of both the Jews and the Gentiles – the Gentiles for not having it, and the Jews for not being able to keep it. So, if the promised “blessing” of God is that God himself would be the reward of a new people descended from Abraham (Gen 12 and 15), then the law demonstrates that everyone is “cursed” because of sin.

For Paul the answer to this curse is “faith/faithfulness.”

Today we’ll read a key passage in Habakkuk that is quoted three times in the New Testament. First Read Habakkuk Chapters 1 & 2. Then compare it to Gal 3:11, Rom 1:17, and Heb 10:38.

Questions for reflection:

1. What is going in in Habakkuk? What is the context in which God says, “The righteous will live by faith [or faithfulness]” (Hab 2:4)?
2. How does this context of Habakkuk compare to the three passages in the NT where it is quoted? That is, what do they share in common?
3. We’ve talked about how the Hebrew mind didn’t make a distinction between “faith” and “faithfulness” the way Western Greek thinking does. How do these passages help you bring these concepts together?

Yesterday we read about the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15. At it’s core, this promise was that God himself would be Abram’s “great reward” (Gen 15:1), a reward that is tied directly to Abram’s earlier calling and promise, that “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3). This is the “gospel” that Paul quotes in Galatians 3:8

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

This is the gospel as Paul understands it; that all the people and nations of the earth would be “blessed” (think Matthew 5:1-12) by the reward of God’s very presence. It’s this great age of peace and reconciliation that the Jewish prophets would speak of centuries later (we’ll get to that on Wednesday).

Other versions of the “gospel” that we have heard – for example, that Christ came to die for our sins and eradicate our guilt, or defeat God’s enemies, or make a way for us to live in eternity with God – are only one part of the gospel. The fuller gospel, the good news, is that God has made a promise to pour out the blessing of his very presence upon all the people of the earth, thereby reconciling the world to Himself, and bring about the long awaited peace, justice, and reconciliation that the world so desperately needs. This gospel extends far beyond the sin-guilt of the individual and infiltrates the familial, political, ethnic, cultural, and religious realms of humanity.

So, if this gospel promise goes all the way back to Abraham, what kept it from being implemented or announced all those centuries ago during the extended and difficult history of the Jewish people of the Old Testament?

Today read Leviticus 18:1-5 and Deuteronomy 27:9-26 alongside Galatians 3:10-14.

Questions for reflection:

1. What do you see as the purpose of the law from reading Leviticus and Deuteronomy? What are the key verses in those passages that are clues to the purpose of the law?
2. According to Paul in Gal 3:10-14 what does the law (or Torah) accomplish?
3. How do you think this purpose for the law (to be a curse) might contribute to the gospel of bringing God’s blessing to all the nations?

This week we will track the trajectory of the gospel through the Old and New Testament in order to get a better sense of what Paul is talking about.

Today, we’ll start by reading Genesis Chapter 15. This passage relates the covenant made between God and Abraham (or “Abram” at this point), the father of faith claimed by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. It will be impossible to understand Paul’s argument for the gospel if we don’t have a sense of who Abraham was and how God related to him.

Questions for reflection:

1. What are the promises God makes to Abram in this encounter one starry night in the desert?
2. Can you find the “moment of faith” Abraham experiences with God in this passage?
3. Have you had similar moments of faith? Recount here in the comments or in a journal or to a friend.

Tonight we’ll be coming together for our weekly gathering and common meal. If you can’t join us, try to gather with others and practice this simple liturgy or mix it up with your own elements:

• Begin by gathering around the communion table and read Galatians 3:6-9.
• Receive communion together, meditating on how the Lord’s supper demonstrates how we, as gentiles, have received the blessing of faith.
• Have a short time of open prayer for revealing the “blessing” of God to the whole world.
• Eat together
• After dinner, gather to read through Galatians 3:1-14 and discuss how God’s promise to Abraham reveals that God always intended to redeem the whole world through faith in Christ, and not by observing Torah.

Today is a rest and reflection day.

Today we’ll step away from Galatians and read something Jesus taught. In popular Evangelical theology it’s often difficult to reconcile Jesus’ teachings with Paul’s teachings because it is widely assumed that Paul is teaching against good works, while Jesus was constantly teaching the necessity of good deeds. How can we reconcile them? Today, read the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.

Questions for reflection:

1. What are the similarities you see (if any) between this parable and the issues Paul is dealing with in Galatians 1-2?
2. How does this parable illustrate what Paul says about “the law” in Rom 3:20 (through the law we become “conscious of sin”) and Gal 2:16?
3. How does Jesus use this parable to illustrate the fulfillment of the law through the Samaritan?

Today we continue our closer look at the “works of the law” or “observance of the law” from Galatians 2:16. This is important because ever since the Reformation it has been widely proposed that Paul was refuting a Jewish belief that a person was “saved” by earning their salvation through good works, and that those good works are what Paul meant by “works of the law.” Nowadays, we extend that same formula to condemn any attempts to “be good” or do good things as a form of “legalism.”

The problem – as any informed Jew will tell you – is that the Jews never taught a form of works-based righteousness. In other words, they were never trying to “earn their way into heaven” (and I would argue hardly anyone today, Jew or otherwise, is trying to do so either).

• Read Psalm 143, paying special attention to verse 2.
• Read Galatians 2:11-21, paying special attention to verse 16.
• Read Romans 3:9-20, paying special attention to verse 20.

Paul is quoting a variety of OT sources (he quotes Psalm 143:2 in both Gal 2:16 and Rom 3:20) that echo the Jewish understanding that none were righteous in God’s eyes.

So, if Paul isn’t coming against an early form of earning salvation by good works, what might he be speaking against? This is not an easy question to answer, but look for clues in Galatians chapters 1-2. As yourself, what is the issue at hand? Is it doing good deeds or something else?

Keeping in mind the backdrop of Acts 10 (Peter and Cornelius), and Acts 15 (The Jerusalem council where they dealt with the controversy of Gentile Christians becoming Jews), go back and read Galatians 2 and circle or highlight everywhere you find the word “law,” by which Paul means Torah.

Question:

1. Given the issue at hand, what do you think Paul means specifically by “observing the law” or “works of the law” in Gal 2:16?

Yesterday we read about Peter refusing to eat with the Greek Christians in Antioch, and how Paul called him a hypocrite because, before the group came from Jerusalem, Peter had been eating with the Greeks. There is some history to this for Peter, so today we’ll go back to Acts 10 to read about an incident that occurred before this conflict.

Read Acts Chapter 10.

Questions:

1. How does the story of Peter and Cornelius help put the Galatians issue into perspective for you?
2. If Peter had already received this revelation from God about no longer separating from Gentiles, why do you think he might have separated from them in Antioch?
3. Based on what we’ve read so far (Gal 1-2, Act 10, Acts 15), what would you say was the purpose of “The Law” or Torah?

Read Galatians 2:11-21

Questions:

1. What key practice that caused this argument to arise between Peter and Paul? Why do you think this would have been a problem for Paul?
2. What similarities or parallels can you find between this passage (2:11-21) and the first part of the chapter (2:1-10)?
3. How does Paul’s story about confronting Peter illustrate his conclusions in 17-20?