It is impossible to overstate the importance of the word of God in our lives and its power to change us. Paul says we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds in order not to be conformed to this world and so that by testing we might be able to discern what God’s will is. This transformation takes place, of course, through the word of God. It is through the Bible that God speaks to us and makes us into his image.
This is why, of course, we center our worship around the word of God. We prepare our hearts to receive it. We hear it read. We listen to it explained and proclaimed. Then we respond to it. This also is the reason why I preach expositorily—verse by verse through books of the Bible. Expository preaching is the best way to grow in our knowledge of the word and to hear God’s voice through the word speaking to us. Learning and growing in the word of God together knits our hearts together in unity, helping us all to see the Bible in the same way.
Last week on Sunday morning we covered the first five verses of Galatians 3 thoroughly, and touched on the sixth verse before closing. This coming Sunday we will pick up right there and go through verse 9. One thing you can do, either individually or with your family, to prepare yourself for Sunday worship, is to spend time meditating on this passage. Talk about it. Read up on it. There are some tremendous old commentaries available online for free that can help you think about these verses—Matthew Henry, John Calvin, John Gill, or find the Spurgeon archive and see if Charles Spurgeon preached from this passage. Just about every one of Spurgeon’s sermons are available online for free. Don’t be afraid to use your search engine. Another interesting resource for Galatians in particular is to find Martin Luther’s commentary and reference it.
In addition to that, if you’d like, I prepared a set of questions to ask and answer regarding our passage for this Sunday. Read a question then look at the verse and think about the answer. Here are the questions:
1. What exactly did Abraham believe? (v. 6)
2. Who are the children of Abraham? (v. 7)
3. Was it always God’s intent to save the Gentiles through Abraham? (v. 8)
4. The gospel preached beforehand, where is that gospel found? (v.8)
5. Are the blessings promised Abraham primarily physical/temporal in fulfillment? Or eternal? (v. 8)
6. Can we separate gospel/salvation from covenant? (v. 8)
7. Who are the true heirs of the Abrahamic covenant? (v. 9)
Paul is explaining some very important concepts in this passage. Understanding them has ramifications for how we look at the Church, at what God is doing in the world right now, and how we view our future as his people. As always, read and think about these things prayerfully and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!