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FROM THE PASTOR'S STUDY

Topic: Galatians Chapter Three: Message Outlines (Include Audio)

Galatians 3:6-14 (8)

by Darrel Cline
(darrelcline biblical-thinking.org)

Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 2 Study # 8
January 29, 2012
Dayton, Texas
(Download Audio)

(149)

Thesis:Is "substitutionary atonement" what Paul really wanted to get across to the Galatians?

Introduction:In our studies so far, we have seen that Paul's point was to show that the Bible has never been unclear about how "life" becomes the experience of a human being. It is "by faith" as opposed to "by works of law". The difference is primarily a matter of how one relates to God, and that depends upon how one "sees" God. Under "works of law", God is primarily seen as a Rigid Evaluator, or a "Just Judge", and those who view Him in that manner can only opt for attempting to please Him by conforming to His sense of Justice. Under "faith", God is primarily seen as a Committed Benefactor, or "Gracious Father", and those who view Him in that manner primarily opt for attempting to please Him by simply depending upon His promises to them.

This evening we are going to look into how the Just Judge/Gracious Father theses, which are both contained in the Bible and given extensive coverage in human history, are "blended" so that men do not distort the truth about God as they attempt to relate to Him. It is altogether improper to view God as a Just Judge and dismiss the Gracious Father implications and it is altogether improper to view God as a Gracious Father and dismiss the Just Judge implications. But one view does have to have primacy and Paul's argument is that, in order to properly relate to the Gracious Father, we have to understand how HE resolved the conflict involved between Justice and Grace.

Paul's claim is that Justice was satisfied and Grace is free because of the particular work of Christ called "redemption". This is the point of Galatians 3:13.


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