Galatians Bible study raises the question, “Why do so many believers experience failure and defeat, when the promise of victory is so prevalent?”  Paul gives insight to that question when he wrote: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. . . I do not frustrate the grace of God. . .” (Gal. 2:20, 21). Paul did not frustrate grace and the abundance of grace in his life allowed him to prevail in life.

According to Paul, the people who prevail should be the believers in Christ. In the Galatians letter, Paul called the believers in Christ the “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16).  With the word Israel meaning “God prevails,” the people of God should prevail because “Christ liveth in [them].”  Christ prevails in all those who like Paul “do not frustrate the grace of God.”

Yet,  many Christians struggle to experience the peace, the joy, and the sense of justice that should occur in people who prevail. They started out well, but something happens that prohibits them from experiencing the life they know they should be enjoying.  The believers in Galatia had a similar experience. Charismatic teachers had stirred their emotions and seduced them in to taking their eyes off Jesus.  Becoming religious and zealous in their activities of working for God, they soon found they were in bondage to the very things they were attempting to do. They had lost the joy of their freedom in Christ.

Galatians Bible study warns of the end results of frustrating the grace of God.

This issue of “not frustrat[ing] the grace of God” was such an important issue among the early followers of Jesus that the entire letter of Galatians was written to warn of its consequences. Paul wrote,

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. . . (Gal. 2:16).

Again, the same emphasis is given when Paul stated, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). Understanding the phrases “works of the law” and “if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” is to understand the very essence of why so many Christians struggle. It is also the understanding of that which frustrates grace.

Galatians Bible study gives the answer for people who want to prevail in life.

There is only one way to experience all the blessings of God which allows the believer to reign in life. Paul gives it in Galatians 2:20,

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh [humanness] I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Paul is stating simply that he does not attempt to live for Christ (frustrating grace). Christ lives in him!

The gospel in Galatians Bible study will set you free from religion and let you enjoy once again the fullness of the life of Christ.

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Preface

In beginning to develop the correct understanding of grace among the first readers of the letter, Paul asked a rather penetrating question to the Galatians. He, in essence, stated, “I just want to know one thing. How did you get saved?”: He asked, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (3:2). Paul is, indeed, asking the saints, “How did you become a Christian?” “How did the Spirit of Christ come into your life in the salvation experience?” “Was it by works, or self-righteousness, or was it through faith from hearing the gospel message?”

The response to that question was apparently rather easy to answer for Paul stated, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ.. . (1:6). The essence of Paul’s message to the Galatians was no doubt the same gospel he wrote about to the Ephesians: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (2:8, 9). Paul stated to the Galatians, “You did not get saved by works; you were saved by grace through faith.” He is assuming that they will know this basic truth of how they became Christians. They were saved by grace through faith.

It is the next statement of Paul to the Galatians that is the key to understanding frustrated grace. He wrote, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (3:3). The word perfect is the standard word used in the New Testament for Christian maturity. It literally means arriving at the end to which you were intended or being made complete. It simply means becoming all you can become in Jesus Christ.

One who is perfect is a mature Christian with the emphasis being on the process of “are ye being perfected” rather than the actual arrival at perfection. Paul asked the Galatian saints, “how does a believer go about the business of becoming a perfected saint.” He is probing for an understanding of the very heart of what it means to be a Christian. He is asking, “How did you get saved; how do you stay saved?” Paul is laying the foundation for an understanding of continual victorious Christian living. A believer not only is saved by grace, he is also perfected by grace.

Paul raised the question, in essence, “Does a Christian develop into spiritual maturity by the flesh? (Gal. 3:3). The word flesh, specially in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, is probably one of the most misunderstood words in the New Testament. Paul gave a vital clue to the meaning of flesh in chapter four, verses twenty-two and twenty-three: “For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh . . . .”

The Old Testament account of the son of the bondwoman being born reveals that God had promised a child to Abraham and to Sarah in their old age. The son, however, did not come immediately after the promise. So, what did Abraham and Sarah do? They decided to help God out in His promise to give them a child. The error was not necessarily Abraham going into Hagar, but Abraham and Sarah attempting to help God out in the fulfilling of the promise.

There is only one way to experience all the blessings of God which allows the believer to reign in life. Paul gives it in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh [humanness] I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Paul is stating simply that he does not attempt to live for Christ (frustrating grace). Christ lives in him!

It is not based upon the faith of Paul, but “by the faith of the Son of God.” This is what it means to be Christian. This is the good news of the Gospel. Christ died on the cross and was resurrected for the forgiveness of sin. Christ lives within and through the believer for the sin-free life of holiness. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the good news for mankind. The free-flow of grace as opposed to frustrated grace is how the abundant life is experienced.

Many Christians do struggle to experience the peace, the joy, and the sense of justice that should occur in the abundant life of Christianity. They start out well, but something happened that prohibits them from experiencing the life they know they should be enjoying. The believers in Galatia had a similar experience. Charismatic teachers had stirred their emotions and seduced them in to taking their eyes off Jesus. Becoming religious and zealous in their activities of working for God, they soon found they were in bondage to the very things they were attempting to do. They had lost the joy of their freedom in Christ. The gospel in Galatians will set you free from religion and let you enjoy once again the fullness of the life of Christ.

Table of Contents

Session  1. Israel of God – Galatians 6:15-17

Session  2. Ambassadors of the Gospel – Galatians 1:1-5

Session  3. Not After Man – Galatians 1:6-12

Session  4. Revealing His Son – Galatians 1:13-17

Session  5. Not After Flesh – Galatians 1:15-24

Session 6. Liberty or Bondage – Galatians 2:1-13

Session  7. Frustrating of Grace – Galatians 2:14-21

Session  8. Obey the Truth – Galatians 3:1-5

Session  9. The Nations – Galatians 3:6-9, 14, 26-29

Session 10. The Nation of God – Galatians 3:5-29

Session 11. Living by Faith – -Galatians 3:10-29

Session 12. Settings of Boundaries – Galatians 4:1-7

Session 13. Known of God – Galatians 4:7-19

Session 14. Children of the Free – Galatians 4:20-26

Session 15. Children of the Free 2 – Galatians 4:27-31

Session 16. Hope of Righteousness – Galatians 5:1-6

Session 17. Greater Good: Jesus – Galatians 5:1-15

Session 18. Be Not Deceived – Galatians 5:16-6:18

Session 19. Restitution of “Israel” – Galatians 6:9-18

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