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GalATIANS rEADING PLAN

Week 6: May 16 - 22

 

Galatians 6

Paul spends four and a half chapters of Galatians convincing the believers that they should not try to live by the Jewish law, but should live by the Spirit of God.  In chapter 5 he begins to explain what it means to live by the Spirit, and here in chapter 6 he continues to unfold that cheerful gospel.  

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Day 1

  1.  Read Galatians 6 and focus on vv. 1-6.

  2. In Galatians 5:16 Paul has given God’s promise that those who live in the Spirit will not do anything wrong, and, as we have seen, later in his letter to the Christians in Rome he gives the other side of God’s promise--that those who live in the Spirit will do everything good that God requires of them (Romans 8:4).  According to v. 1 what else can someone who lives by the Spirit do?

  3. Where Galatians has Paul already talked about rebuking?

  4. What does James say about this topic in James 5:19-20?

  5. What does John say about it in 1 John 5:16?

  6. Earlier we saw what Moses and Jesus said about rebuking a fellow Christian.  Now we see what Paul, James, and John say about it.  Peter seems to be the only one who does not add his voice on this question.  Can you think of any reason why he is not as enthusiastic about it as were all the other apostles whose writings we have in the New Testament?

  7. Can you think of any other duty in the Christian life that Jesus, Moses, John, James, and Paul enjoin upon us?  Why do you think they all pile on about this area of obedience?

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Day 2

  1. Read Galatians 6 and focus on vv. 1-6.

  2. What warning does Paul give the one who seeks to rescue a fellow Christian in v. 1?

  3. What law of Christ do you think carrying each other’s burdens fulfills?

  4. “Carry each other’s burdens” is a metaphor.  What do you think it means literally?

  5. Who has carried a burden for you?  How did she or he do it?

  6. Who that you know is burdened?  What can you do for that one?

 

Day 3

  1. Read Galatians 6 and focus on vv. 1-6.

  2. Remember Martin Luther’s donkey.  How could people fall off the other side of the donkey as they thought about v. 2?

  3. Evidently there were some in the church in Thessalonica who thought v. 2 was great for everybody else.  What does Paul have to tell them in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 to keep them from freeloading on generous Christians?

  4. How does v. 5 convey the same message?

  5. If the air masks fall from the ceiling in the airplane, whose do you put on first?  Why?  Which command, the one in v. 2 or the one in v. 5, do you think has priority?  Why?

 

Day 4 

  1. Read Galatians 6 and focus on vv. 6-10.

  2. Here comes the donkey!  What mistake is Paul trying to guard against in v. 6?

  3. Evidently it is not automatic that we live by the Spirit after we give our lives to Christ.  Back in Galatians 5:21 Paul has to warn the believers that those who do not live by the Spirit will go to Hell.  In vv.7-8 what metaphor does Paul use for the choices believers must make in their daily lives?  What are the two possible outcomes of their choices?

  4. Have you ever seeded a garden? Did the plants spring up over night?  Did you get tired of all the watering and weeding you had to do before you saw any flowers or fruit?  Are you tending anything for God that is taking a long time to grow?  What is God’s promise to you in v. 9?

  5. As we sow God’s blessing to the world, how does God want us to prioritize our efforts?  

  6. What opportunities do you have this week to obey v. 10?

 

Day 5

  1. Read Galatians 6 and focus on vv. 11-18.

  2. Like most letter writers in the first century, Paul used a scribe to write his letters.  Now at the end he signs it personally and adds a few comments.  Why do you think he returns to his main idea, even after spending four and a half chapters talking about it?

  3. In v. 13 Paul points out that even the hyper-Jews didn’t expect the Galatians to obey all 613 commands of the law.  Deuteronomy 16:16 orders men to go to Jerusalem three times a year.  How could people who live 800 miles away make those trips?  James, who heads Jewish branch of the church in Jerusalem, where the hyper-Jews came from, tells us in James 2:10 that breaking one little part of the law shatters the whole thing.  What is the hyper-Jews’ motive?

  4. Since the hyper-Jews want to boast about the submission of the Gentiles to the Jewish law, what does Paul want to boast about?  What do you boast about?

 

Day 6

  1. Read Galatians 6 and focus on vv. 11-18.

  2. What do you think Paul is thinking when he writes v. 17?

  3. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 Paul describes some of the things he has endured for Jesus.  Can you sympathize when he doesn’t want any added trouble from the people he has loved and served so well?  Does this verse give you a glimpse of Paul’s humanity?

  4. What qualities does Paul associate with each member of the Trinity?  Which one do you feel most in your heart today?

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