INTERACTIVE TEACHING/LEARNING GUIDE
Week 8
session title: “covered by promise”
FOCAL PASSAGE: (Galatians 3:15-20)
Central Teaching/Learning Aim: To help the learner trust in the reliability of God’s promises and live life based on faith, not fear.
I. Creating Interest in the Word (Hook)
A. Object Lesson – Objects
Bring product containers such as detergent boxes, cereal boxes, soap bars, household cleaners that claim to be “new and improved”. (Or display pictures of these items provided on the power point.)
State – People are always claiming that their product is “new and improved”, that somehow it is better than before. Is this the truth or just a marketing scheme?
This is exactly what the Judaizers tried to do with the Mosaic Covenant. In their minds, it was a “new and improved” covenant better than the Abrahamic Covenant.
State – Today we will observe how Paul countered the claim of the Judaizers and discuss the reliability of God’s promises.
B. Optional Method
Distribute – the Honesty Quiz and instruct members about how to complete it.
State – This quiz was given to 1009 participants by Dateline NBC. Work through the quiz and answer “yes” or “no” for each question. Then add up your number of honest answers you gave. Allow members time to complete the quiz, then share the results of the quiz given by Dateline NBC.
Following the Law instead of living in the grace of Christ is certainly a flawed system.
Most Honest 14-15 honest answers 16%
Reasonably Honest 11-13 honest answers 36%
Honest when Convenient 8-10 honest answers 31%
Dishonest 6-7 honest answers 11%
Congenital Cheater 0-5 honest answers 6%
Ask – How did you fare? Are you surprised that only 52% were most or reasonably honest? We are fortunate that the great promises in the Bible are not based on man-made laws but are superior to the Law and are completely trustworthy.
State – Today we will observe how Paul countered the claim of the Judaizers and discuss the reliability of God’s promises.
C. Optional Method – Movie Clip – “Chicken Run”
Start: 41:00
Stop: 43:30
Synopsis: The chickens on Tweedy’s farm desperately seek a way to escape before they end up in chicken pies. Mrs. Tweedy provides extra chicken feed for them so she can fatten them up for the slaughter. The chickens dig in greedily until Ginger tells them they’re all going to die. That not only stops her friends from eating but also sends them spiraling into depression. Rocky pulls Ginger in and tells her that she needs to lighten up because complete honesty isn’t always the best way to motivate people. Ginger bristles at his suggestion that she should tell others what they want to hear rather than the total truth.
State – We serve a God who is honest, forthright and completely true to His Word. His promises never fail. Men will fail and be dishonest but God will not change. What a great truth to trust in. In today’s passage, Paul is countering the claim of the Judaizers that the Mosaic Covenant is greater than God’s promise to Abraham.
State – Today we will observe how Paul countered the claim of the Judaizers and discuss the reliability of God’s promises.
II. Getting Into the Word (Book)
Utilize - the questions in the Discussion Guide to examine the Scripture passage.
III. Getting the Word Into Life (Look)
A. Distribute – the handout “Resting in God’s Promises” and guide members to complete it.
(Note: You could place members into groups and have them discuss sections and then report to the entire group.)
IV. Conclusion (Took)
A. Place – members into groups and have each member share one promise that really hit home with them and how it can impact their daily life this week. Have them close in prayer.
B. Optional Method -
Share – an example and/or ask members to share an example when you participated in a risky endeavor. Maybe it was an experience in sport, maybe a business decision. Share a time when you had a strong sense of panic that you might have made a wrong decision.
State – We are fortunate to have the promise of God that His son provides salvation through faith that will not be taken away. It is an eternal promise and we do not have to experience panic or doubt.
Close in prayer.
DISCUSSION GUIDE
(Teacher’s Copy)
1. a. To whom is Paul debating in Gal. 3:15?
The Judaizers.
b. What is the position of the Judaziers? (3:15)
That the law of Moses was superior to the Abrahamic Covenant because it came later and added to God’s promise.
c. What is Paul’s position?
That the promise made between God and Abraham was superior because it was between man and God and the Law was added after the transgressions of men.
2. What are Paul’s points that prove God’s promise to Abraham is more reliable than the Law?
a. (v. 16) God’s promise to Abraham was that the nations of the earth would be blessed through his seed, Christ.
b. (v. 17) The Law which came later does not invalidate or nullify the earlier promise of God.
c. (v. 18) If salvation is based on law, it can no longer be based on God’s promise to Abraham or faith in Christ.
d. (v. 19) The Law was given because of transgressions and was delivered by a mediator to Moses.
e. (v. 20) God gave Abraham the promise directly, there was no mediator.
3. What is the significance that Christ is your mediator?
4. How can the promises of God comfort you in times of doubt?
5. How would you describe Paul’s argument to a lost person in terms where they could comprehend it?
DISCUSSION GUIDE
1. a. To whom is Paul debating in Gal. 3:15?
b. What is the position of the Judaziers? (3:15)
c. What is Paul’s position?
2. What are Paul’s points that prove God’s promise to Abraham is more reliable than the Law?
a. (v. 16)
b. (v. 17)
c. (v. 18)
d. (v. 19)
e. (v. 20)
3. What is the significance that Christ is your mediator?
4. How can the promises of God comfort you in times of doubt?
5. How would you describe Paul’s argument to a lost person in terms where they could
comprehend it?
HONESTY QUIZ
Answer the following questions “I would,” “I would not,” or “I’m not sure.”
1. Would you or would you not get in the “10 items or less” checkout line when you were in a hurry, even though you had 14 items?
2. Would you or would you not report on your tax return a $500 profit from the sale of your used car?
3. Would you or would you not use a radar detector to avoid getting speeding tickets?
4. Would you or would you not destroy documents at the request of your employer, knowing that they were relevant to a pending lawsuit?
5. Would you or would you not agree to pay a plumber in cash in return for a discount, knowing that he will not report the income on his tax return?
6. Would you or would you not falsely state you live at your sister’s address, so you can get your child into a better school outside your district?
7. Would you or would you not copy computer software or a videotape from a friend to save yourself money?
8. Would you or would you not return an item to the store after you broke it, saying it was broken when you opened the package?
9. Would you or would you not lie on behalf of a friend so he would not get into trouble with his boss?
10. Would you or would you not tell your spouse, because you think he or she would be upset, that you had a harmless two-hour lunch with your former fiancée?
11. Would you or would you not leave a note on the car you accidentally dented?
12. Would you or would you not give your child a note saying he was ill, so his absence from school would be excused, when he was actually at a World Series baseball game with you?
13. Would you or would you not, in response to a direct question on a health insurance application, disclose a previous injury, even though it would cause your insurance premium to go up $50 per month?
14. Would you or would you not tell your boss that a former employee erased an important computer file, when you had accidentally erased it.
15. Would you or would you not tell your child to tell Grandma, “I’m not home” when you just don’t want to talk to your mother on the phone at that time.
“RESTING IN GOD’S PROMISES”
If we truly believe that God is trustworthy and His promises never fail, then it can bring tremendous hope in everyday life. Work through the following handout to discover the wonderful promises of God.
Scripture / God’s Promise / Hope for LivingHebrew 13:5
Genesis 15:1
Isaiah 41:10a
Isaiah 41:10b
John 10:4
Jeremiah 20:11
Matthew 11:28
I John 1:9
Psalm 84:11
Psalm 25:9
Romans 8:28
Galatians 3:21-29
Cherished as Children
Monday—Read Galatians 3:21--22
· By making justification depend on keeping the law, the false teachers are setting God’s law against God’s promise and making them seem contradictory.
· How does Paul deal with this?
· We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel. To do so is to contradict the plan of God in biblical history.
· How do your own Christian witness and evangelism stand in the light of this statement?
Tuesday—Read Galatians 3:23-24
· Paul continues by describing a similar pattern of law and promise in individual Christian experience.
· What are the two images he uses to portray the law?
· How did the law function?
· What is the significance of the two images he uses to portray the law?
Wednesday—Read Galatians 3:25-26
· What do you think it means to be under the supervision of the law?
· How do you become a son (understood: or sister) of God?
· If a quarterback puts on the jersey with a Cowboys emblem on it he is declaring allegiance to the Dallas Cowboys. Win or lose. Hopefully win.
· When we put on the jersey of faith in Christ, whom are we declaring allegiance to? Who are our teammates?
· What team are you playing for this week?
Thursday—Read Galatians 3:27-28
· What does it mean to clothe “yourself” with Christ?
· What does it mean to be "one in Christ?"
· What happens to the racial and social differences in Christ as they relate to salvation?
· Did Christ's Sacrifice make possible the salvation of all people, men and women of all nationalities? How should we respond and treat other believers?
Friday—Read Galatians 3:29
· Those in Christ enjoy a new freedom.
· What specific blessings does Paul mention in the verses we’ve looked at this week?
· List out the ways in which these work out in your own life.
· Paul talks a lot about God’s promise to Abraham.
· How is this promise significant to you as a Christian today?
· How do Gentiles become Abraham's seed? What is the reward?
· Does God make good on his promises?
GALATIANS: Walking the Walk in Freedom
“Covered by Promise”
Galatians 3:15-20
(Exegetical . . . What it meant to the Galatians back THEN)
PAUL’S ARGUMENT BY ANALOGY THAT THE COMING OF THE LAW
HAD NOT ANNULLED SO AS TO ABOLISH THE PROMISE . . .
MAINTAINED THAT IF THE INHERITANCE (REALIZATION OF THE “WILL”) RESULTED FROM KEEPING THE LAW – WHICH WAS INFERIOR TO THE PROMISE SINCE IT WAS A CONCESSION TO SIN, TEMPORARY, AND MEDIATED THIRD-HAND – THEN THE INHERITANCE (REALIZATION OF THE “WILL”) WOULD NOT AND COULD NOT BE BASED ON PROMISE.
I. Paul’s ARGUMENT by analogy (15b) that the Coming of the Law (Exodus 20) some four hundred and thirty years after God’s Gracious Ratification of the Promise to Abraham (in Genesis) Had Not Annulled so as To Abolish the Promise maintained that IF the inheritance (realization of the “will”) resulted from keeping the Law, THEN the inheritance (realization of the “will”) would not and could not be based on Promise, (15-18).
A. Paul’s MANNER of Speaking about the Promise made to Abraham (see verse 14) was by
means of a human analogy, (15a).
B. Paul’s ARGUMENT [against those who accused him of maligning the Law of Moses (cp. Acts 21:28; 23:29)] – an argument based on a commonly accepted human practice of making a covenant (“will”) – maintained that once a will had been Ratified (signed and sealed) no second party could Set it Aside or Add to it, (15b).
NOTE: Paul was referring to the Promise made to Abraham. His point was that once God had ratified the Promise (see Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-18), nobody could change it – specifically, the Law of Moses could not change the Promise made to Abraham (and his Seed – see verse 16). Paul was saying, “You people know how that kind of thing works.”
C. The RECIPIENTS of the Promises Spoken (in Genesis 12 & 15) were Abraham and his Seed – not seeds, but Seed (see Genesis 3:15; 22:18), that is Christ, (16).