Kirwa 1
Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians: For the African Context
BAB614 Galatians P66
Daniel Kirwa (BA, MABC, MABS)
Mentor
Rev. Dr. Zugg
Miami International Seminary
1440 Old Cutler Road Mimi
Florida, 33158
USA
Outline
Lesson One: Introduction, False Teachers and the True Gospel
1. False Teachers, the True Gospel and Paul’s Authority
2. Church Defected from the Truth
3. The Purpose, Author, Date and the Recipients/Receivers
Lesson Two: Paul’s Position as an Apostle and his Relationship with Jerusalem Apostles (Gal.1)
1. Paul’s Personal Vindication of His Position as an Apostle (Gal.1:1-10)
2. Paul Called by God and his Relationship with Jerusalem Apostles (Gal.1:11-24)
Lesson Three: Paul in Jerusalem and Contends for the True Gospel (Gal.2)
1. Paul Goes to Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1-10) and Contends for the True Gospel by Opposing Peter (Gal.2:11-16)
2. Salvation Comes through Christ alone (Gal. 2:17-21)
Lesson Four: Theological Perspectives (Gal.3:1-14)
1. Paul’s Theological Perspectives on the Gospel and the Law (Gal.3:1-5).
2. Paul Argues for the Superiority of the Doctrine of Faith to the Doctrine of Merit by Works (Gal.3:6-14)
Lesson Five: The Purpose of the Law (Gal.3:15-29)
1. The Purpose of the Law and its Preparatory Function (Gal. 3:15-18)
2. The Law was the School Master to Bring Israel to Christ ( Gal.3:19-29)
Lesson Six: The True Gospel (Gal.4)
1. The Gospel and Mature Sonship (Gal.4:1-20)
2. Childhood and Slavery (The Allegory Of Sarah and Hagar- Gal.4:21-31)
Lesson Seven: Standing Fast in the Liberty of the Gospel (Gal.5)
1. A Return to Judaism, A Denial of Christian Liberty (Gal.5:1-15)
2. Practical Results of the Doctrine of Faith (Gal.5:16-26)
Lesson Eight: Christian Burdens and the Duty of Sympathy (Gal.6)
1. Bearing One Another’s Burdens (Gal.6:1-5)
2. Duty of Sympathy and Liberality (Gal. 6: 6-10)
3. Paul’s Concluding Remarks (Gal.6:11-18)
Conclusion
Annotated Bibliography
Biography
Coordinator’s Manual
Course Content
The course is divided into eight lessons, beginning with the date of the epistle, occasion and Paul’s purpose of writing, and how the apostle said the preachers of the false gospel are accursed, and how Paul received the gospel by revelation as well as how he condemned the false teachers, followed by Paul’s defense as an apostle, and his relationship with other apostles. From lesson 4 and 5 we will show the superiority of the doctrine of faith to the doctrine of merit by works, purpose of the law and its preparatory functions. We shall conclude by looking at the practical results of the doctrine of faith in lessons 6 through 8 (Galatians 5 and 6).
Course Objectives
At the end of this course the student will able to:
a) Expose the false teaching of the Judaizers who were undermining the faith of the new converts (Galatians 1:6-10). The student will be able to understand today’s false teachers, false prophets as well as the present Judaizers. They will understand those who will distort the true gospel and can sneak in strange doctrines.
b) Understand how the apostle defended his apostleship which was being challenged by Judaizers (Galatians 1:11-17). At the end of this course, the student will be able to defend the truth of the gospel today.
c) Emphasize that salvation is through faith alone by nothing less and nothing more. Not by faith plus the law (the doctrine of righteousness by faith and affirms the value of spiritual religion as opposed to a religion of externals (Galatians 1: 18 to 2:21). The students will be able to teach salvation through faith alone in their churches. They will also detect those who can sneak in false doctrine in the church today.
d) Understand that Christians today live in the liberty brought by Jesus (Galatians 5:1) and to bring forth the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The student will be able to understand the practical results of the doctrine of faith.
e) Study the book for the Africa context in order to contend for true Gospel (Galatians 2:1-14).
Like Christians of Paul’s day, church elders in almost all main line churches have opted to a return of African Traditional Religion (ATR) customs, and beliefs of their ancestors that are not in line with biblical truths. Paul cannot build what he had destroyed (Galatians 2:18; 5:11). Our Churches, pastors, church leaders, are trying to build what our church elders in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s destroyed. The students are advised to learnt and understand how African beliefs’/customs are sneaked into the church today. Elders refused totally a mixture of faith and ATR. Elders faithful to the true gospel must oppose this syncretism at all costs. African Christians must renew their attention to ATR, especially those training in Bible colleges and seminaries. Olowala, a leading evangelical African scholar notes the following concerning the revival of ATR.
The continuing revival of traditional African religion in our day presents a great and unavoidable challenge to Christianity in Africa. Traditional religion is increasingly being taught in secondary schools alongside of Christianity and Islam. Religious relativism is being promoted by leading scholars of African Religion under the guise of ‘religious tolerance’ Examples of these African theologians are Magesa, Idowu and Mbiti, to name a few. While Africans are being exposed today to western education, traditional thought is still the source of basic worldview of most. The growing Christian population is not exempt from such influence. In our day, Christianity in Africa faces traditional religion as never before.
The above factors show the need to understand that salvation comes through faith (Galatians 2:15-21) and that a return to ATR is denial of Christian liberty and they need to understand today’s Judaizers and need to understand that the gospel is a massage of grace that calls for faith and that liberty did not mean freedom from moral restrain and need to share one another’s burdens.
Course Materials
The lecture notes are full of exposition for this course. The students are required to read them thoroughly along with the scriptures, and to supplement their reading with Pauline Theology I and II by Julian Zugg and other additional readings.
Course Requirements
1. The student should participate in 15 hours of teaching time.
2. The student should answer all questions as contain in the 8 lessons.
3. The student should read recommended textbooks.
4. The student should write essays / sermon from what we have learned in class.
5. The student should write the final exam.
Benefits of the Course
The course will help students address the major problems of syncretism (a mixture of Christian faith with other beliefs) today. The book of Galatians is all about gospel freedom and it will equip the students to teach the Bible alone to others and to understand God’s amazing grace. It will also help them put in check (silence) today’s Judaizers, and legalists who are in their missionary expedition to place Christians under yoke of slavery.
Course Evaluation
1. Class attendance 15%
2. Homework 25%
3. Reading 25%
4. Essay 25%
5. Final exams 10%
6. Total 100%
Essay Requirements
Read your lecture notes and prepare a sermon from Galatians 3.
a) Certificate & Diploma. Select a topic and write 3 pages in length.
b) BA students select a topic and write 10pages.
c) MA students select a topic and write 15 pages.
Reading Requirement
The MA students must read Galatians by Cole and write a 12 -15 page project. Certificate and Diploma students read the Expositors Bible Commentary by Frank E. Gaebelein General Editor and Galatians by J.M. Boice from 409-508 and write a 5-8 page project. BA students read NT. Commentary on the Epistle of Galatians from 3-256 pages and write a 8- 10 page project. All levels are to read Jeff Borden’s course notes on an Introduction to Theology for the African Context as well Zugg’s Apologetics for a credit.
Lesson One: Introduction, False Teachers and the True Gospel
Although Galatians is one of Paul’s shorter epistles, it is highly esteemed as one of his greatest and most influential epistles. Martin Luther and other reformers based their arguments on this great book, in that the just shall live by their faith in Christ. And that justification is the work of God as opposed to the merits of works of the law and the Roman Catholic teachings on indulgences (salvation by works). This letter contains the most empathic statement of salvation apart from the works of the law to be found in the Scripture. It revolutionized the thinking of Luther and played a strategic part in the Reformation. Luther in his commentary on Galatians said, “This is my epistle, I have betrothed myself to it, it is my wife” (referring to his wife Katherine Von Bora). As we study this book, let us betroth ourselves to it. Galatians has 6 chapters, 149 verses and 3098 words.
The course, therefore, is designed to help students understand the theology of Paul on the doctrine of justification by faith, as taught in his other writings such as the book of Romans. The apostle Paul had planted churches in four cities Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe during his missionary labors. The cities are recorded in the book of Acts chapters 13 and 14. On his second missionary journey Paul visited these churches, strengthening them as he went.
Certain teachers had sneaked in and; after a period of time, although Paul had a close knit relationship with these converts, he experienced a great deal of anxiety when he learned that certain teachers were spreading their error. These teachers had disagreed with the gospel which Paul was preaching. They were teaching what Paul called a “different gospel” which was really “not another” gospel but a distortion or twisting of the true gospel into a false one.
At this time the apostle was far away from the Churches and he didn’t have time to take a long journey, therefore he wrote to them instead. When we study the New Testament epistles, you realize that the authors were writing to counter specific problems including theological problems, leadership problems, relational problems, moral problems, marriage problem, and so on and so forth. The same is true of the churches of Galatia. A problem had a rose over the interpretation of the gospel itself-what was the gospel and how would a person get saved? How can a person be justified, is it true the gospel or by the works of the law? Paul had said one thing and then those so called apostles were saying something else. Who was right and who had the apostolic authority to define the gospel?
1. False Teachers, The True Gospel and Paul’s Authority
Paul’s Gospel is in question as well his authority as an Apostle. Not only had these false teachers question Paul’s gospel, they were also questioning his authority as an apostle. They were slandering the apostle by saying that he really was not apostle at all. They claimed that Paul did not know what he was talking about, and that they (false teachers) had come to clear what Paul had confused in the minds of the faithful. Today we can be certain that some of us have been attacked by the people we are trying to lead to the Kingdom of God. And as they attack us (the messenger), they are in actual sense attacking the message. Discrediting the messenger means you are discrediting the message.
The epistle was written by Paul, probably while travelling through Macedonia at the news of a complete defection from the truth of the gospel in favor of a return to the bondage of the Jewish law (a return to Judaism) observance of circumcision, festival days and the Sabbath in order to be saved and then Paul was forced to write to them (Galatians 2:16, 21:3:2; 5:4; 4:10). The group which advocated these teachings is called Judaizers.
Who are the Judaizers? They were Jewish believers who proclaimed a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. They stressed obedience to Mosaic Law, which requires observance of circumcision, festival days and the keeping of the Sabbath for one to be saved or to obtain salvation. Before we look at the writer, receivers’ date and the purpose of Galatians let us see the general structure of the book. The book is divided into four broad sections:
1. Salutation and the problem in Galatia (Galatians 1:1-9)
2. Defense of Paul’s apostleship (Galatians 1:10-2:14)
3. Defense of the Gospel and a defense of justification by faith alone Galatians (2:15-16)
4. The conclusion Galatians (6:11-18)
2. The Messenger (writer) Recipients, Date and the Purpose
a) The author and the recipients of the epistle
b) The recipients (the receivers)
There is some uncertainty as to which churches were addressed in this epistle. Paul in 1: 2 highlights, “And all the brethren, who are with me unto the churches of Galatia” It really is a very short unpleasant introduction. In Paul’s other epistles such as Romans and Corinthians, the apostle uses the words saints and believers sanctified in Christ which are in Rome and Corinth (Romans 1:7 and 1 Corinthians 1:1-2).
They were either in Northern Galatia the district of which Ancyra was the capital or in the district on the boarders of Phrygia and Galatia that was visited by Paul on his first missionary journey. In either case the Galatian churches were certainly visited by Paul on his second (Acts 16:6) and third (Acts 18:23) missionary journeys. Therefore the receivers were the churches of Galatia.