Galatians 6

1. 6:1 How does this verse expand on 5:22-25?
   Class Answers: If we are bearing fruits of the Spirit – if we are guided by the Spirit – we will seek to restore one who is *detected, caught, or overtaken in a sin rather than to shun or condemn, while being careful that we don’t succumb to the temptation ourselves. Note the word gentleness, which is also sometimes translated meekness: Sensitivity of disposition and kindness of behavior, founded on strength and prompted by love.
   *After-class note: The Greek word translated detected in the NRSV, caught in the NASV, and overtaken in the NKJV is Prolambano, which the NAS New Testament Lexicon defines as 1. to take before, 2. to anticipate, to forestall, 3. to take one by forestalling (him i.e. before he can flee or conceal his crime) 4. surprise, detect. It indicates that the sinner is not sinning with a defiant attitude but is either unaware of the sin or caught up in something she can’t handle by herself.
2. 6:2 How are 6:2 and 5:14 related?
   Class Answers: The law of Christ is love. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) is taught both in the Old Law (Leviticus 19:18) and the New Law (Matthew 7:2; Matthew 22:39 ). It is called the Royal Law in James 2:8. We try to lighten others’ loads just as we would want help, and just like members of our physical body come to the aid of other members. (The left leg bears more weight when the right leg is injured.) See also John 13:34,35.
   Note: The Greek word for burden is baros: weight or heavy load.
3. 6:3-5 What three attitudes are suggested in this passage?
   Class Answers:
   v. 3 – arrogance. Anything but personal humility is deceptive.
   v. 4 – making comparisons, judging
   v. 5 – being responsibility for our own work. (See James 4:17.)
   Note: The NAS New Testament Lexicon defines load  (Phortion) as 1. a burden, load, 2. of the freight or lading of a ship, 3. of burdensome rites, 4. of the obligations Christ lays upon his followers, and styles a "burden" by way of the contrast to the precepts of the Pharisees, the observance of which was most oppressive, 5. faults of the conscience which oppress the soul.
4. 6:6 What responsibility do students have toward their teachers?
   Class Answers: To share in all good things. A teacher’s greatest reward is to see her students take the lessons to heart, to see them grow because of the things they have learned. This applies to all teachers, but particularly to teachers of God’s word, because the lessons learned are so vital to life.
   In Philippians 4:14-19, Paul refers to material gifts he was given by the Philippian Christians. They also shared in his distress. As thankful as he is for their material help, he is even more thankful to see their generosity of spirit.
5. 6:7-9 What general truths does Paul reveal here?
   Class Answers:
   v. 7 – God is not mocked.
   vv. 7-8 – You reap what you sow, both physically and spiritually. Sin leads to destruction. Sowing to the Spirit leads to eternal life.
   v. 9 – Don’t quit trying. Persevere.
   See also 2 Corinthians 9:6-11.
6. 6:10 Why should spiritual family members receive special attention?
   Class Answers: It’s just natural that family members take care of one another, rely on each other. We look to each other for help, not outsiders. It’s also a sign to nonbelievers of our love for one another (John 13:35).
   The observation was made that at times we feel closer to our spiritual family members than our physical family. For example, we’ll draw closer more quickly to strangers at a conference of believers than we will at a reunion of physical family members who are not believers.
7. 6:11 Why do you think Paul emphasizes that he is writing this with his own hand?
   Class Answers: To make it more personal. It’s possible that up to this point, he had dictated the letter to a scribe, as mentioned in Romans 16:22.  But he writes this last portion himself, perhaps giving it more weight as his final warning to them to avoid the Judaizers.
   It shows his personal interest as contrasted with the Judaizers whose aim is to use the Gentile Christians for their own purposes.
   It’s also possible it alludes to a problem he has with his eyesight (Galatians 4:12-15)
8. 6:12-13 What motivated the Judaizers (those who insisted on circumcision)?
   Class Answers:
   v. 12 – For show – for a good showing in the flesh. They wanted to appear righteous to those who would judge or criticize them.
   v. 12 – To avoid persecution from the Jews for proclaiming the cross of Christ.
   v. 13 – So they could boast in their flesh. They could boast in their ability to get Gentiles to submit to the Law. It was all about them.
9. 6:14-15 What things are most important?
   Class Answers: The cross of Christ; being a new creature. Verse 16: The rule: boasting only in the cross, the peace and mercy that God would give the Israel of God (the church of Christ).
10. 6:17 What marks might Paul be talking about? (See 2 Corinthians 11:23-30)
    Class Answers: His physical suffering: whippings, beatings, stoning (Acts 14:19; 16:22.) They would be particularly aware of the beating he had suffered in Lystra, one of the Galatian cities.

Choose a verse from Chapter 6 to memorize (or to post in a prominent place).

Verses chosen were 6:2-3; 6:7, 6:8, 6:9, and 6:10.

Galatians 5

1. 5:1 What is the “yoke of slavery”?
   Class Answers: As a class member pointed out, the verse (in most versions) reads “a yoke of slavery,” so she answered (if I remember right) that this was any type of reliance on our ability to keep the law. In the context of Galatians, the particular “yoke of slavery” or “yoke of bondage” Paul is addressing is the Old Law. See also Acts 15:6-11, especially vs. 10, and Galatians 2:4.
         R. C. Bell compares it to a new master buying a slave and telling him, “I have bought you to set you free.” The slave wouldn’t think about going back to his former cruel master.
2. 5:2-4 Why does Paul condemn circumcision?
   Class Answers: He doesn’t condemn circumcision per se, but he does condemn having it done in order to gain approval from God. To be circumcised for religious reasons is to reinstate the Old Law, to subject oneself to the Old. Law. Circumcision is not part of the Law of Christ.
        Again, to quote R. C. Bell from his book Studies in Galatians (pg. 61-62): “Christian freedom has both a negative and positive aspect. Men are freed from some things and freed for other things…. God has worked out a unique plan by which Christ’s slave becomes his own master! Christ gets the essential law of life obeyed, human nature fulfilled, and his slave in possession of life abounding—all this without slavish drudgery or ‘dragging of feet’ on the part of the slave.”
3. 5:5-6 What two manifestations of faith are mentioned here?
   Class Answers:
   v. 5 – We eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. See Romans 8:23. John Stott (The Message of Galatians) points out that we wait for it, we don’t work for it; Bell compares this hope to the crown of righteousness Paul mentions in 2 Timothy 4:8.
   v. 6 – Faith works through love. See John 13:34,35. A motive of love means we go beyond what the Law would demand.
4. 5:7-8 What does it mean to “obey the truth”?
   Class Answers: Stott writes that it means applying belief to behavior. Obeying the truth means we subject ourselves to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. From Ed Wharton’s The Constitution of Christian Freedom: Legalism hinders submission: I have to do what is required, or commanded, nothing more.
5. 5:6-12 List 7 fallacies of legalism mentioned here. (Legalism: The effort to be justified through keeping the law.)
   Class Answers:
   v. 6 – In Christ, keeping the law means nothing. (NIV: It has no value.)
   v. 7 – It prevents us from obeying the truth, hinders our submission.
   v. 8 – It doesn’t come from Christ, the one who calls us.
   v. 9 – It affects others in the body. Wharton: It leavens the church with disobedience. Bell: This powerless form of religious would destroy the life of the church.
   v. 10 – It confuses us. Wharton: causes trouble.
   v. 11 – It abolishes (removes) the offense of the cross. The “offense of the cross” reflects back to Galatians 3:13 and the shame of the cross. How could we worship a God who was not only killed but went through a humiliating, excruciating death at the hands of lesser men?
   v. 12 – It agitates, unsettles new Christians. Wharton: It mutilates the body.
6. 5:13-15 Freedom in Christ gives us freedom to love one another and serve God. NOT to sin! It’s freedom from sin, not freedom to sin.
   Bell (pg. 66): “As the character of Christ proves, law itself and love are not incompatible; Pharisaic legalism, not law, is what contradicts gospel grace, truth, and love.”
7. 5:16-18 What conflict is described here?
   Class Answers: The conflict between the Spirit and the flesh (NIV – sinful nature). [I didn’t write down anyone else’s answer . Feel free to put a better explanation in the comment section.] Comment from Bell’s book: Flesh is not sinful; it’s just how Satan reaches us.
       We also had a discussion about whether or not we can be led by the Spirit without the Word. See Galatians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Romans 10:17. The general consensus was that only the Word can reveal the will of God, but the indwelling Spirit helps us to carry out His will. When we follow our best impulses – which we can identify as “best” because of what the Spirit has revealed in the Word – we allow the Spirit to guide us.
8. 5:19-21 Below is the list of “acts of the sinful nature” from the NIV. Beside each word, write a synonym, either from another version or a dictionary.
   Class Answers:
   sexual immorality – fornication, adultery (NKJ)
   impurity – uncleanness
   debauchery – licentiousness, lewdness, indulgence
   Note: These first three are also condemned in the 7th of the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:14)
   idolatry – worship of an image or other material object representing a deity
   witchcraft – sorcery, magic
   Note: Idolatry and witchcraft also break the 1st of the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:2-3).
   hatred – enmities, hostility, animosity
   discord – strife, contentions, quarreling
   jealousy – resentment against a rival or against another’s success. It occurs when someone else wants to take something I own.
   fits of rage – anger, wrath, outbursts of anger
   selfish ambitions – quarrels, factions, disputes
   dissensions –strong disagreements, contentions or quarrels, discord
   factions – heresies, a party spirit (Stott), “a feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group” (New Living Translation)
   envy – a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to antoher’s advantages, success, possessions. Having to do with wanting other people’s things.
   Note: These have to do with our relationships with others, which would be covered in the 10th commandment (Exodus 20:17) and Leviticus 19:17-18 – “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
   drunkenness – given to intoxication
   orgies – carousing, revelries
   Note: Don’t overlook the “and the like” at the end of this passage. Legalism would say “If it’s not on the list, it’s not sin.” Wharton: We can make our own list. We know the difference between what is good and what is sin.
9. 5:21 What is the result of such a lifestyle?
   Class Answer: Loss of inheritance in the kingdom of God.
10. 5:22-25 Some would look at these verses as a to-do list as opposed to the “do-not” list in verses 19-21. How do we develop these attributes?
    Class Answers: By crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires, following the Spirit’s guide, not just by moral discipline. It is all based on love. Without love, the rest is not possible. Bell: The Holy Spirit is the only tree that produces this fruit.
         It is not a to-do list but is rather what we can reap when we follow the Spirit rather than our selfish desires.
11. 5:26 How does our opinion of ourselves affect the way we treat others?
    Class Answer: Being self-centered leads to competition and envy.

Choose a verse from Chapter 5 to memorize (or to post in a prominent place).
Verses chosen were Galatians 5:13b,14; 5:22; and 5:25.