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The Apostle Paul wastes no time getting to the point. Remember, he wrote this letter to the Christians in Galatia to passionately remind them that Christianity is about belief, not behavior– what you believe is much more important than how you act. Many Christians today struggle with the very same idea.
So Paul skips past the pleasantries and gets to the point: You are turning away from God by believing something that is untrue. (v.6) The challenge is false beliefs are rarely ever blatantly false. If they were, we would reject them on the spot. What makes bad beliefs so dangerous is that often it feels like it’s a better version of the truth. It feels like enlightenment, but it’s not. It’s a lie that’s just true enough that you don’t realize you believe a lie that is “turning you away” from God.
In the case of the Galatian Christians, they believed they needed to be “better” Christians by being better rule followers. Specifically, they needed to act more Jewish and be circumcised. But there is no such thing as “better” Christians.
Can you understand how hard it would be for the Galatians to view the message of “be a better Christian” as harmful? It sounds like Good news, but it’s not good news at all. (v.7) As we continue to read Paul’s letter, we will find out why.
Question
Do you believe that your beliefs are more important than your behavior? How is that different than what you’ve heard about Christianity before?
Scripture
About this Plan
Take 18 days and study the letter to the Christians in Galatia from the Apostle Paul. In this six chapter book, the Apostle Paul points out the false belief that better behavior makes you a better Christian, and reminds all of us of the truth of the Gospel message.
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