Justification By Faith

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  • Created by: Erin W
  • Created on: 04-05-19 15:47

Intro

  • The churches Paul had founded in Galatia had been influenced by the Judaisers
  • They believed it was necessary to follow the laws of Moses
  • Paul's intention was to explain that their salvation depended soley "on faith working through love" (Drane)
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Abraham

  • Abraham was the first person who became righteous through his faith in God (Freed)
  • The Jews had descended from Abraham and God promised them the same blessing he had given to Abraham
  • Therefore his descendants should trust in God that they will be saved by faith alone
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The Law

  • He explains that the purpose of the Jewish law was only a temporary measure
  • "No amount of observance of the law can make a man right with God" (Barclay)
  • It was obsolete now that the seed of Abraham (Christ) had come
  • Jesus lifted the curse that bound them to the laws so that they may be free to justify their salvation by faith
  • The law was to prepare the people for Christ, it was always secondary to the faith that Abraham had in God
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Inheritance

  • Paul uses a metaphor of a tutor guiding a son until he is old enough to receive his father's inheritance
  • His coming of age is like the Jews becoming free from the law
  • The law was no longer needed as they had received the Holy Spirit which granted them justification by faith
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Hagar and Sarah

  • Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael
  • Isaac was the son of Sarah, a free woman
  • Ishmael was the son of Hagar, a slave woman
  • Fitzmyer suggests that Sarah represents the superior covenant made with Abraham and Hagar represents the inferior Sinai covenant
  • God rejected Ishmael and accepted Isaac as he was born through the Holy Spirit
  • Paul uses this for the Galatians who are free because of their faith in the Holy Spirit
  • Ishmael represents the Judaisers who are slaves to the law
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