Gal 3:1-4:7 Promise of adoption: growth and maturity as heirs
Anne-Marie Ternes
So far in Galatians Paul has reiterated that the gospel he has been preaching was
received directly from God (chapter 1). Some time after having received this gospel,
Paul met with other key leaders of the early church. Together they all agreed that
salvation can come through grace alone and there is no compulsion for believers of
Jesus to follow the Jewish laws (chapter 2). In this week’s passage, Paul gives an
impassioned appeal to the Galatians christians to return to living a gospel of grace.
They had begun their walk with as christians by grace but had been lead astray by the
false teachers who claimed that believers must obey parts of the Old Testament law.
Paul points them towards the truth of the gospel through an appeal to their own
experiences (3:1-6) and an appeal to their knowledge of scripture (3:7-18). Through
these appeals we are shown that through grace the Holy Spirit works in our lives to: 1)
grow and mature us as followers of Jesus and 2) unite us as heirs in the promises of
God.
NOTE: There are quite a lot of questions included here. You should not feel pressured
to answer all of them. Nor are you limited to just these questions. My prayer is that
these questions will be a useful tool as you allow the Spirit to open His word to you.
Test your experience 3:1-6
1. What circumstances surrounded your decision to follow Jesus?
2. Share one example of a time that you have witnessed God working in your life.
3. When thinking about the above two questions - do you see evidence of the grace
of God in your life?
Test scripture (Understand!) 3:7-18
4. Faith can be thought of as being “certain of what we do not see” (Heb 11:1).
Referring to Gen 11:27-12:9, in what ways did Abraham demonstrate his faith?
5. Can you think of an experience in your own life where you have acted faithfully to
God despite being unsure of the future?
6. As believers living in the post-resurrection times, what promises do we look
forward to?
7. According to 3:7 - do you see yourself as a child of Abraham? (that is are you
living your life in obedience to promises that are not yet fulfilled?)
8. Why are those who are observing the law under a curse?
9. By what means is the curse of the law removed from us?
10. In Paul’s analogy in 3:15-18, what does the ‘covenant’ or ‘will’ represent? In the
context of this analogy why does Paul reiterate that a will cannot be set aside or
altered? What does the altering of the will represent?
The role of the law 3:19-25
11. According to 3:19-22 what was the purpose of the law (hint: see also Rom 3:20)?
12. In what era was the law relevant? Is the law still relevant to us today? Use 3:19
to explain.
13. The promise was given directly to Abraham from God. The law was given to the
people from angels via a mediator (who was Moses) (3:19-20). What might this
tell us about the superiority of the promise over the law?
14. Have you ever thought of the Old Testament law as a ‘mistake’ or as God’s ‘plan
A?’ Does this week’s passage challenge your view of the law? (HINT: this
passage teaches us that both the law and promise were from God but had
different purposes).
15. Can you summarise in your own words the purpose of the law and the purpose of
the promise?
United heirs of God’s estate 3:26-4:7
16. Have you ever witnessed discrimination amongst brothers and sisters in the
church?
17. Being honest with yourself, are their certain types of believers that you have
chosen to distance yourself from?
18. How does 3:28-29 guide how we interact with our fellow believers?
19. What does it mean for us to be adopted into ‘sonship’ by God? What inheritance
does this bring?
20. Practically, what does it mean for you to be adopted into ‘sonship’ by God? How
does this transform your life?
21. 4:6 speaks of the intimate relationship we have with God. Do you experience this
intimate relationship? How might you increase your intimacy with God?
To take home
In this week’s passage we have seen that through grace the Holy Spirit works in our
lives to: 1) grow and mature us as followers of Jesus and 2) unite us as heirs in the
promises of God. The following series of questions are designed to help you explore
how the Spirit is working in your life in these ways.
22. Are you relying on grace for your birth, growth and maturity as a Christian? (Who
do you know God to be - a God who demands that we follow rules and
regulations or a God who, in His grace, bestows upon us an unimaginable
inheritance? How do you view your life as a Christian - does it mean following
rules and regulations or does it mean reliance on the gospel of grace?)
23. Do you view yourself, and all Christians, as equal under Jesus? (Are you
treating your Christian sisters differently to your Christian brothers? Do you view
Christians from another culture as different or apart from yourself? Do you
recognise that nothing about you earnt the grace that God has given you? Do
you recognise that you are no more worthy than any other person to share in the
inheritance that God has adopted you into?)