Reading the BiBle with John Stott R E A D I N G G A L A T I A N S with JOHN STOTT 9 WEEKS FOR INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS JOHN STOTT with DALE & SANDY LARSEN InterVarsity Press P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 ivpress.com [email protected] ©2017 John Stott’s Literary Executors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press. This volume is abridged and edited from The Message of Galatians ©1984 by John R. W. Stott, by permission of Inter-Varsity Press, England. Some of the discussion questions are from Galatians: Experiencing the Grace of Christ ©1998 by John Stott with Dale and Sandy Larsen. ® ® InterVarsity Press is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA , a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges, and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, visit intervarsity.org. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New ® ® ™ International Version , NIV . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark ™ Office by Biblica, Inc. Cover design: Cindy Kiple Interior design: Beth McGill Images: © f9photos / iStockphoto ISBN 978-0-8308-9240-2 (digital) ISBN 978-0-8308-3194-4 (print) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Stott, John R. W., author. Title: Reading Galatians with John Stott : 9 weeks for individuals or groups. Description: Downers Grove : InterVarsity Press, 2017. | Series: Reading the Bible with John Stott (RBJS) Identifiers: LCCN 2017013141 (print) | LCCN 2017016958 (ebook) | ISBN 9780830892402 (eBook) | ISBN 9780830831944 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Galatians—Textbooks. Classification: LCC BS2685.55 (ebook) | LCC BS2685.55 .S764 2017 (print) | DDC 227/.40071—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017013141 Contents How to Read the Bible with John Stott 7 Introduction 11 1 Galatians 1:1-12: False Teachers and Faithless Christians 14 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 2 Galatians 1:13–2:10: Radical Change 26 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 3 Galatians 2:11-21: Facing Conflict 40 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 4 Galatians 3:1-14: Faith and Works 52 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 5 Galatians 3:15-29: The Gift of the Law 64 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 6 Galatians 4:1-31: Children of God 76 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 7 Galatians 5:1-15: True and False Religion 90 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 8 Galatians 5:16–6:5: Loving One Another 101 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 9 Galatians 6:6-18: Sowing and Reaping 113 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Guidelines for Leaders 125 Also Available 130 Praise for Reading Galatians with John Stott 131 About the Author 132 More Titles from InterVarsity Press 133 How to Read the Bible with John Stott During John Stott’s life (1921–2011), he was one of the world’s master Bible teachers Christians on every continent heard and read John Stott’s exposition of Scripture, which was at once in- structive and inspiring With over eight million copies of his more than fifty books sold in dozens of languages, it is not surprising that Time magazine recognized him in 2005 as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” and Christianity Today called him “evangelicalism’s premier teacher and preacher ” At the core of his ministry were the Bible and his beloved Bible Speaks Today series, which he originated as New Testament series editor He himself contributed several volumes to the series, which have now been edited for this Reading the Bible with John Stott series The purpose of this series is to offer excerpts of Stott’s The Message of Galatians in brief readings, suitable for daily use Though Stott was himself an able scholar, this series avoids tech- nicalities and scholarly debates, with each reading emphasizing the substance, significance, and application of the text 8 Reading Galatians with John Stott Following each set of six readings is found a discussion guide This can be used by individuals to help them dig more deeply into the text It can also be used by study groups meeting regularly Individuals in the groups can go through the readings between group meetings and then use the discussion guide to help the group understand and apply the Scripture passage Discussions are designed to last between forty-five and sixty minutes Guide- lines for leaders at the end of this volume offer many helpful suggestions for having a successful meeting If you are a group member, you can help everyone present in the following ways: 1 Read and pray through the readings before you meet 2 Be willing to participate in the discussion The leader won’t be lecturing Instead all will be asked to discuss what they have learned 3 Stick to the topic being discussed The focus is the par- ticular passage of Scripture Only rarely should you refer to other portions of the Bible or outside sources This will allow everyone to participate on equal footing 4 Listen attentively to what others have to say Be careful not to talk too much but encourage a balanced discussion among all participants You may be surprised by what you can learn from others Generally, questions do not have one right answer but are intended to encourage various dimensions of the text 5 Expect God to teach you through the passage and through what others have to say How to Read the Bible with John Stott 9 6 Use the following guidelines and read them at the start of the first session • We will make the group a safe place by keeping confi- dential what is said in the group about personal matters • We will provide time for each person to talk who wants to • We will listen attentively to each other • We will talk about ourselves and our own situations, avoiding conversation about others • We will be cautious about giving advice to one another John Stott had an immense impact on the church in the last half of the twentieth century With these volumes readers today can continue to benefit from the riches of the Bible that Stott opened to millions