What must you do to be saved?

It is the most important question anyone can ask, and the book of Galatians gives a surprising answer: nothing. We are saved by trusting Jesus, not by anything we do to earn it. In this first study of Galatians 1:1-10, Dr. Toby Holt begins a ten-part, verse-by-verse walk through one of Paul’s most passionate letters, written to guard that good news from people who wanted to add rules to it.

Soon after Paul left the churches in Galatia, other teachers showed up. They told new Christians that believing in Jesus was not enough, and that they also had to follow certain old Jewish laws to really be saved. Paul is stunned. He says a message like that is not good news at all. It is a different message, and it cannot save anyone. Hundreds of years later, Martin Luther would fight the very same battle, when the church of his day taught that people had to earn God’s approval.

Questions this study answers:

1. What is the book of Galatians about? Galatians is a letter from the Apostle Paul defending one simple truth: we are saved by trusting Jesus, not by following rules to earn it. Across six short chapters, Paul warns that adding anything to that good news ruins it.

2. Who were the Judaizers? They were teachers who told new Christians that faith in Jesus was not enough, and that they also had to be circumcised and keep the Jewish law to be saved. Paul stood against them because their “faith-plus-rules” message pulled people’s trust away from what Jesus had already done for them.

3. What does the word “anathema” mean? It is a strong word that means “cursed,” or cut off from God. Paul uses it twice in Galatians 1:8 and 9, saying that even if an angel from heaven preached a different message, that angel should be cursed. He repeats it to show how serious he is about protecting the true good news.

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” — Galatians 1:8-9 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This is Part 1 of the ten-part Galatians study. Find the whole series, along with verse-by-verse studies of other books of the Bible, at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.

Is the gospel just a human idea?

No. In Galatians 1:11-24, the Apostle Paul says the good news he preached did not come from any person and was not something he made up. It came straight from Jesus Christ. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows why the source of the gospel changes everything.

Paul’s critics tried to discredit his message by attacking him. They claimed he was a second-rate apostle who learned the gospel secondhand. Paul answers with his own story. After God changed his life, he did not rush off to be trained by the other apostles. He spent years away, and only later met Peter briefly. His deep grasp of the truth could only have come from God. Holt compares it to suddenly being able to lecture on a subject you never studied — the only explanation would be a miracle.

Questions this study answers:

1. Where did Paul’s message come from? Paul says plainly that he did not receive the gospel from any person and was not taught it by men. It came directly from Jesus Christ, which is why no one had the right to change it.

2. Why did people attack Paul instead of his message? When people do not like what is being said, they often attack the speaker. Paul’s opponents called him unqualified so that people would stop listening to the truth.

3. What is “another gospel,” and why is it so serious? “Another gospel” is any message that adds human rules to faith in Jesus. Paul says it is not good news at all, because anything that changes the gospel destroys it.

“But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” — Galatians 1:11-12 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This is Part 2 of the ten-part Galatians study. Find the whole series, along with verse-by-verse studies of other books of the Bible, at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.

Is God’s grace really for everyone?

Yes. In Galatians 2:1-10, the Apostle Paul shows that God welcomes outsiders into His family by grace, without making them earn it. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt explains why this was such amazing, unexpected good news.

For centuries, the Jewish people and the Gentile, or non-Jewish, nations were bitter enemies. So it shocked many to learn that God planned all along to bless “all the families of the earth,” just as He promised Abraham. Paul brought along Titus, a Gentile believer, as a living test case. The leaders in Jerusalem did not force Titus to be circumcised or to keep the Jewish law — proof that faith in Jesus needs nothing added to it. As Holt puts it, the ground is level at the foot of the cross.

Questions this study answers:

1. Did God always plan to save people from every nation? Yes. God’s promise to Abraham was that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him. Welcoming outsiders was not a backup plan; it was God’s design from the start.

2. Who were the Judaizers? They were teachers who said that believing in Jesus was not enough, and that people also had to be circumcised and keep the Jewish law. Paul resisted them because they were adding human rules to God’s free grace.

3. Why does Paul say there is no “first class” and “second class” in the church? Because everyone is saved the same way — by grace through faith in Christ. There is no room for ranking people by race or background, for in Christ there is “neither Jew nor Greek.”

“Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.” — Galatians 2:3 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This is Part 3 of the ten-part Galatians study. Find the whole series, along with verse-by-verse studies of other books of the Bible, at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.