Paul's most passionate letter, the Galatians are drifting back to
Speaker:law keeping and Paul is alarmed.
Speaker:Freedom in Christ isn't licensed.
Speaker:It's liberation from a yoke that was never meant to save.
Speaker:This is seek, go create.
Speaker:You're listening to read the New Testament in 90 days, 27 books in order in context.
Speaker:We're walking through the New Testament, the way it was written so you can hear
Speaker:it the way the first churches did.
Speaker:Make sure before we get going here, you grab the free reading plan at.
Speaker:K two M Foundation slash NT 90.
Speaker:There's a ton of resources there.
Speaker:There's notes, there's background, and as these episodes are recorded,
Speaker:there'll be links there, so you'll have everything you need all in one place.
Speaker:K two M DO Foundation slash NT 90.
Speaker:And the downloadable reading plan that you'll definitely want
Speaker:to get today, we get to Paul.
Speaker:Today's stop is Galatians, Paul's most urgent letter.
Speaker:It's the first one that comes on the scene in what we call our New Testament.
Speaker:And I just wanna pause real quick before we dive into the book of Galatians.
Speaker:Let's think where we are in our in order reading plan.
Speaker:We started with James, the brother of Jesus.
Speaker:Then we went to Mark, who spent time with Peter getting Peter's account of
Speaker:the life of Christ, the life of Jesus.
Speaker:We just finished up Matthew, which is one of my personal favorites, and Matthew
Speaker:was one of the apostles and we get his account of spending time with Jesus, now
Speaker:we get to who had the one that has more written in the New Testament than anyone
Speaker:else, and that is Paul, the one that had the experience on the road to Damascus
Speaker:with Christ, and we get to dive into.
Speaker:Paul's letter.
Speaker:So we got, we, if we stopped right now, we're not going to, but if
Speaker:we stopped right now with these four books, we would have the most
Speaker:incredible things that were written.
Speaker:I believe in the history of all time and and we are walking through it in order.
Speaker:Cool.
Speaker:Let's jump into that.
Speaker:We've got Galatians here.
Speaker:Key facts author.
Speaker:There's very little doubt.
Speaker:This is Paul.
Speaker:The date, we believe it was around 48 or 49, so about 18
Speaker:to 19 years from the cross.
Speaker:The audience, the South Galatian Churches, Pisidian, Antioch.
Speaker:Iconium, Lystra Derby.
Speaker:I don't know if I've gotten all those pronunciations right, but
Speaker:those could be close there about, we're kind of putting this about
Speaker:19 years after the resurrection.
Speaker:The churches are barely a few years old, but there's already crisis brewing.
Speaker:There's things going on.
Speaker:When you get people together, especially in the midst of all that's happening,
Speaker:we're about to cover, there's gonna be some stuff that has to be dealt with.
Speaker:And that's what Paul is doing with this letter.
Speaker:The context, historical context.
Speaker:Rome Claudius is still on the throne.
Speaker:Just months ago, we'll hit this in just a second.
Speaker:He expelled Jews from Rome, including believers like Priscilla and Aquila.
Speaker:The expulsion scattered believers like seeds.
Speaker:What Rome meant for silence, God.
Speaker:Used it to spread, to spread this gospel in Jerusalem.
Speaker:The temple is still intact.
Speaker:Jewish Christian tension over Gentile inclusion is heating up the Jerusalem
Speaker:Council, which we will look at in Acts 15 is about to happen around this time.
Speaker:The church Galatian churches that were planted by Paul just months earlier, maybe
Speaker:a year or so earlier, young believers.
Speaker:No scriptures, no trained leaders.
Speaker:The movement is growing, but still it's mostly Jewish, so keep that in mind.
Speaker:The tension men from Jerusalem are saying that Paul's gospel is incomplete.
Speaker:Believe in Jesus and to get circumcised.
Speaker:They're trying to combine the law with the freedom that Paul is speaking about.
Speaker:They still believe you need to keep the Sabbath and follow dietary laws.
Speaker:Why now?
Speaker:Why is this letter written at this time?
Speaker:Some Galatians are wavering.
Speaker:Paul writes with no pleasantries, no Thanksgiving, just alarm.
Speaker:Very firm and very direct.
Speaker:Let's pause for what I'm calling my reality checks here.
Speaker:Let's, let's briefly look at the expulsion from Rome that we
Speaker:know occurred in AD 49, which.
Speaker:It was right around the time this letter was written and was sent
Speaker:Claudius, expelled Jews from Rome.
Speaker:We're not sure exactly why, but it could have been because of the friction
Speaker:between what we now know are Jewish Christian believers and the faithful Jews.
Speaker:And they could have been having conflict, and Claudius not really understanding
Speaker:the difference between the two.
Speaker:Just said, get out, leave Rome.
Speaker:Among those forced out, a tent maker named Aquila and his wife
Speaker:Priscilla, they'll end up in Corinth where they'll meet a man named Paul.
Speaker:The seeds are scattering the friction.
Speaker:Is growing.
Speaker:Here's what you're gonna encounter in Galatians.
Speaker:It's fierce.
Speaker:There's no warm opening.
Speaker:Paul goes straight to the problem.
Speaker:You'll hear about a different gospel.
Speaker:Paul is astonished that they're deserting so quickly.
Speaker:He'll use terms like, oh, foolish Galatians.
Speaker:Always a nice way to address people.
Speaker:oh.
Speaker:Foolish Galatians.
Speaker:Who bewitched you?
Speaker:He will talk about the law as guardian.
Speaker:It held us until Christ came.
Speaker:But now faith has arrived.
Speaker:Sons and daughters of Abraham, not by blood or circumcision, but by faith.
Speaker:He will talk about freedom.
Speaker:For freedom Christ has set you free.
Speaker:Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Speaker:That's how he terms the law.
Speaker:He'll mention the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.
Speaker:Not by trying harder, but by surrendering.
Speaker:If righteousness came through the law, then Christ died just
Speaker:18 years earlier for nothing.
Speaker:He is reminding the Galatians of that powerful message.
Speaker:Now you're gonna be reading Galatians over the next three days.
Speaker:If you're following the plan, you're gonna go chapters one through two, then
Speaker:three, four, and then five and six.
Speaker:Again, I encourage you if you can try to sit down and read the whole thing
Speaker:at once, maybe over the next few days.
Speaker:Read it a few times.
Speaker:It will mean so much more, and if you can try to read it out loud,
Speaker:that's a powerful thing to do.
Speaker:Next up, after Galatians first Thessalonians, hope
Speaker:that doesn't disappoint.
Speaker:Even when believers die, before Jesus returns will get into that topic.
Speaker:When we get to the.
Speaker:The book of First Thessalonians reminder to follow along with all
Speaker:the details, all the information.
Speaker:the downloadable plan at K two M Foundation slash ntini
Speaker:K two M. DO foundation slash.
Speaker:NT 90.
Speaker:Make sure you go do that.
Speaker:And a reminder, keep sharing this with people that you may want to
Speaker:read along in context with them as we're following along this plan.
Speaker:Okay, here we go.
Speaker:Before you read.
Speaker:Let's set the scene for Galatians.
Speaker:It's a D 90 A courier arrives exhausted, carrying a scroll from Antioch.
Speaker:Paul has written the believers crowd into a house.
Speaker:Leather workers, farmers, a few traders.
Speaker:They remember Paul well, the man who was stoned in Lystra and left for dead.
Speaker:Then got up and kept preaching.
Speaker:The scroll is unsealed.
Speaker:I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called
Speaker:you in the grace of Christ.
Speaker:No Thanksgiving, no blessing.
Speaker:Paul goes straight to the problem.
Speaker:Now let's read.