APGCI CHURCH USA

Book of Galatians
December 20/25 Seed Class
Teaching by APOSTLE JEAN MULOVERY
A. Briefly tell about yourself:
Where are you from?
Your family? When you came to the USA?
What is your experience in church leadership?
What about your church now?
B. Ask Questions: (for Students to Answer)
Do you know who wrote the book of Galatians?
(Answer: Apostle Paul)
Who was this letter written to?
(Answer: people in the church in Galatia)
Why do you think Paul wrote this letter?
(Possible answers: to teach the church, to encourage the church, to help them grow in their faith)
C. Lesson:
Date of Writing:
Galatians is maybe the first New Testament book to be written around AD 49.
Purpose of Writing:
The churches in Galatia had both Jewish and Gentile believers who were confused. Paul wanted these Christians to understand that Salvation was from faith, not the Law of Moses.
Background:
The Jewish believers thought that all Christians must follow the Law of Moses. For example, they thought that all Christians (Jews and Gentiles) needed to be circumcized in order to be saved. In the Old Testament God’s law was that all males had to be circumcized. So the new believers who were Jewish thought that rule was still important. Basically they thought that all Christians first had to become Jewish and be circumcized in order to become Christian.
Paul was not happy about this idea. He said in this letter that it was not true. New believers did not need to become Jewish or be circumcized to become a Christian. The Gospel was about faith in Jesus, not about obedience to the Law.
Paul explains that, as Christians, we have freedom in Christ. We are no longer saved by obeying the Law of Moses. Other churches were also struggling with this same question about Salvation. Paul talks about this topic in other letters to other churches too.
Important points from Paul’s teachings
Paul emphasizes that righteousness comes through Christ not the works of the Law. (Gal. 2:21)
We must preach the truth that we are saved by faith and God’s grace, not obedience to the Old Testament Law.
Freedom in Christ is good but is not an excuse to keep sinning. It is how we can love one another even from different backgrounds. (Galatians 5:13; 6:7–10).
We can live a Christian life through the power of the Spirit (not the flesh).

(Gal. 6:15)

Study Guide: The Book of Galatians
Key Themes
5. Crucified with Christ
Our flesh must be crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) so that the Spirit can grow fruit in our lives (Galatians 5:22–23).
6. The Work of Salvation
Salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit that encourages us to be born again and helps us bear spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-25).
(Optional) Connection to Old Testament
In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul tells the Jewish believers that everyone who believes in Jesus are spiritual children of Sarah, not Hagar. What might this mean?
Paul says that we are all children of the freewoman, not children of the slave. We are more like Isaac (Sarah’s son) than Ishmael (Hagar’s son). Isaac was the son of promise—God gave him to Abraham and Sarah as a miracle when they were old. But Ishmael was the son of human effort, born because Abraham had him with the slave woman, Hagar, when he was afraid that God’s promise would not come true.
So we are children of Sarah—children of promise and blessing and freedom and hope. Not children who are slaves to human effort and rules and weak faith.
D. Share a Couple Favorite Verses from Galatians
You can pick 2-3 verses and say why you like them. Here are some examples using the NIrV (readers version):
Galatians 2:16
“Here is what we know. No one is made right with God by obeying the law. It is by believing in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus. This is so we can be made right with God by believing in Christ. We are not made right by obeying the law. That’s because no one can be made right with God by obeying the law.”
Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ. I don’t live any longer, but Christ lives in me. Now I live my life in my body by faith in the Son of God. He loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 3:11
“We know that no one who depends on the law is made right with God. This is because ‘the one who is right with God will live by faith.’”
Galatians 4:5-6
“He came to set free those who were under the authority of the law. He wanted us to be adopted as children with all the rights children have. Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. He is the Holy Spirit. By his power we call God Abba. Abba means Father.”
Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit the Holy Spirit is love, joy and peace, patience, kindness and goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things.”
Galatians 6:7
“Don’t be fooled. You can’t outsmart (or mock) God. A man gathers a crop from what he plants. (A man reaps what he sows.)”
APGCI BIBLE COLLEGE Uganda Refugees Camps
By APOSTLE JEAN MULOVERY