Today, Paul Trask continues his study of Galatians by moving into chapter 5, verses 1-12.

• The Christians in Galatia have come to a fork in the road
  • Faith
  • Legalism
  • These are mutually exclusive of each other – cannot go down both roads at the same time
• God extends His righteousness to His children based solely upon their faith
  • All our human righteousness amounts to no more than ‘filthy rags”
  • Even the faith we express in God is a gift of His grace towards us
• Sanctification v. Justification
  • “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
• The Christian life is compared to running a good race – in order to get the prize
  • Coaches enhance our performance, and cheer us on
  • Judaizers were ‘cutting in’ on the running of Galatians, potentially disqualifying them from getting the prize
• “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:11)
  • True in the 1^st century
  • True in the 21^st century
• Paul’s wish that the Judaizers would ‘go all the way’ and emasculate themselves, thereby permanently cutting themselves off from God’s people i.e. Deuteronomy 23:1

(Galatians 5:1-12; James 2:10; Galatians 3:10; Isaiah 64:5–6; Romans 7:24–25; Luke 22:20; Jeremiah 31:31–33; Romans 4:4–5; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:8–10; Romans 14:4; Hebrews 10:11–14; Philippians 2:12–13, 1:6; 1 Corinthians 9:24–25; Matthew 16:11; Deuteronomy 23:1)