Galatians - Session 2

Why is the Book of Galatians Special?

As we being our study of Galatians, we need to put effort into getting to know Paul's letter well. Remember that is exactly what it is - a special letter, written to special people - not "just another book of the Bible". Approach it as a treasured love letter, excited to hear what is said, taking seriously the heart of the writer.

1. Bible Study Method: Observation

There are three basic elements of effective Bible Study: Observation, Interpretation, and Application. We'll work on these regularly during our study sessions, and we've working lately on Observation. To get started, work on reading the letter in different ways — Read the whole letter at once, using different versions to help your attention be caught by various points. Get familiar enough with the letter that you can notice where similar or related things appear in different places.

1. Focus on the chapter we are in with our study, thinking about the different paragraphs, what kind of sections the text falls into. Watch for key words that indicate a transition or conclusion.


2. Make special effort to "dig in" on the verses that we will be studying each session. Pick a couple of key words and look them up in a dictionary, use an online Bible study resource to learn about the original language, and even use a theology resource to learn about doctrinal truths related to the verses.

You might try using a computer spreadsheet as a way to organize your study notes. I suggest one "tab" in your spreadsheet file each for Observation, Interpretation, and Application. Then the rows become chapter & verse. You can create your own columns, but you can start with the various categories of observation as provided by Hendricks in his book, "Living by the Book." Or, contact me (email on the right) and I will send you an Excel file I've set up with this approach.

2. How does Galatians fit in the Bible plan?

When you begin a study of a book of the Bible, it's usually best to take some time to get to know various types of "introductory" information. Look into who wrote it, what was going on from the perspective of God's people when it was written, why it was written, etc.

The beginning of Christian Missions: Galatians is distinctive because it was most likely Paul's first epistle, at least as far as inspired writings included in the Bible. It was likely written around 49AD, very soon after his first Missions Tour into south Galatia. To get to know the book better, read Acts 12-14. After Paul finished this tour, he went back to his "sending church", Antioch, and also spent time in Jerusalem for the very important council that met to deal with Judaistic legalism. That subject has much to do with his writing Galatians. We can't spend a lot of time here covering this introductory material, so you might want to look up some additional information with your study tools. However, we can talk about the "north or south" question.

North or South? You can probably picture Paul & Barnabas talking about what direction to head in as they were planning their first missionary journey. Look at a map in the back of your study Bible (I hope you have one!). Note where Antioch is - on the west end of the Mediterranean, north of Jerusalem. They could have stayed on land, gone a little north and then west and ministered in "north" Galatia. However, using the locations mentioned in Acts 13-14, their decision apparently was to jump on a ship traveling west and go to the island of Cyprus (home to Barnabas) and then north to the mainland of "south" Galatia. Understanding this route and sequence is important to place the time Galatians was written (soon after getting back from the trip) and who Paul was writing to (the new believers in those places mentioned in Acts 13-14).

Map It: Using a Bible study map can often help in this part of study. Your Study Bible should have some helpful maps, and you can also find good maps online. Here is a good standard map showing Paul's missionary journeys...

3. The nature & flow of Galatians

In order to start getting more familiar with Galatians, you need to spend a little time reading through the book a couple of times, preferably with different translations - I suggest the NASB and NIV. Jot a few notes down as you read about the nature of how Paul writes, and the basic structure of the book. For notes, I suggest writing the reference and just a short phrase from the verse - that way you can review the high points and remember the verses.

You're going to see that Galatians is a "quick-read" type book, one that has a fair amount of emotion in it. Paul also makes what are obviously some strong, declarative statements about fundamental truths. Try to pick up on the major sections of the book. I suggest there are three -- see if you agree, and try to come up with titles for each section.

4. Major points & passages in Galatians

Another valuable way to "warm up" to Bible book is look through the whole book and write down every "high point". Ways to find these:

• The verses you have underlined or made notes about
• The verses that your Study Bible has annotation on
• From your read-through's, verses that stood out for some reason
  

Here are some that I would suggest as a start...

• 1:5 - what is the Gospel
• 2:16 - justified by faith
• 2:20 - crucified with Christ
• 3:11 - evidence... faith
• 3:25 - no longer under a tutor
• 5:1 - stand fast
• 5:16 - walk in the Spirit
• 5:22 - the fruit of the Spirit
• 6:1 - if a man is overtaken