Galatians Book II

The "Heavenly Citizens" series serves as a tool to help the Christian understand not only what the Bible teaches us, but also how to study the Bible. Explaining what the Bible teaches is like giving someone a fish to eat. Teaching him how to study the Bible is like teaching someone how to fish so he can feed himself. Both approaches are essential to developing spiritual maturity. "Galatians" is the fourteenth volume in the "Heavenly Citizens" series. The Apostle Paul begins with a greeting from God to the churches in in the Roman province of Galatia, located in central Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Then he charges right into the fray, outraged that heresy has reared its ugly head in the churches of God! And this, even after this issue had already been resolved by the Jerusalem Council. Yet this didn't stop some Pharisaic believers in Jesus setting forth from the Jerusalem Church, to contradict what the Church had already voted into disrepute. What heresies were there in the churches of Galatia? Ah, that is the subject of our book on this letter to the Galatians. This heresy was not at all like that in the Church of Corinth, mind you. Not at all. In Corinth pagan Gentile culture and human wisdom were promoted, alongside belief in Jesus. This was quite typical of pagan culture and religion, so no one seemed to recognize its utter inconsistency with the New Testament Covenant of Grace. Unlike the Gentilizer heresy (our name for the heresy in Corinth), the churches of Galatia went hog wild for the Judaizer heresy (again, our name for this heresy). Pharisees in the Jerusalem Church thought that Torah (aka the Law of Moses) was still in effect under the Covenant of Grace. They provoked a fight in the Church of Antioch, Syria, which led to the Jerusalem Council where the heretics were discredited. Not to be undone, however, these Judaizers took their heresy to Galatia. Oh, but we wouldn't want to give the story away. For a thorough understanding of these issues, we invite you to come inside and join the Bible class with us. We plan to delve into each and every detail and get to the bottom of it. After all, we wouldn't want to go through the same mess in our church today, would we? The approach for "Galatians," and for every volume in the "Heavenly Citizens" series, is to teach the student the meaning of Scripture. We also teach him or her how to study the Bible on his/her own. We do this in two ways: we provide a few rules by which to govern our Bible study, and we demonstrate by example how to study the Bible. Experience is an outstanding teacher. In our books we practice the rules for Bible study. By walking through the Bible with us, the reader experiences firsthand what our method of study is like. We believe the student will come out of our studies with both an understanding of the Bible and the ability to truthfully understand the Bible on his/her own. The path lies before you. Walk through the gate and join the journey with us! And may the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ be yours in abundance.