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Galatians

  1. Lesson One
    Epistles (First Few Verses Of Each Pauline Epistle)
    25 Activities
  2. Lesson Two
    Overview of Galatians
    19 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Works-Righteousness as Slavery
    19 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  4. Lesson Four
    Faith, Life, and the Spirit
    13 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Author and Audience
    17 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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It’s a crime today, but some of the best reading we do in the Bible is “reading someone else’s mail.” The biblical Epistles are letters. Paul’s letters, and the letters of other apostles in the New Testament, are the personal correspondence of those apostles who knew and encountered Jesus. 

Epistles are first-hand accounts of Christian expectations and trials in the years following the ascension of Jesus. Through these documents we’re able to see the church in its infancy—as organic communities laying the foundation of Christian faith for millennia to come.

The Gospels were meant for a broad audience and distribution. In contrast, the Epistles were mainly communicating with individual people and congregations in light of their unique problems and contexts. This difference is evident in their opening lines:

The GospelPaul’s Epistles
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31, NIV)Paul, an apostle . . . and all the brothers and sisters with me, to the churches in Galatia. (Galatians 1:1-2, NIV)