Message Highlights

• The Law was never meant to save us—it reveals our need for grace by showing we can’t meet God’s perfect standard.
• Christ bore the curse of the Law so we could receive God’s blessing through faith, not performance.
• Legalism is lethal because it trades trust in God’s promises for confidence in our own performance—making it rebellion disguised as obedience.

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Conversation Starter

What’s one area of your life where you find yourself reverting to a “checklist mentality”—where you measure your progress by what you’ve completed rather than by trust or relationship?

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Core Discussion Questions

Connection Question
What stood out to you from today’s message about the difference between living under law and living by grace through faith?

Context Question
When you think about your spiritual life, where do you find yourself naturally gravitating toward rule-keeping rather than relationship with God?

Clarity Question
How did today’s message clarify the difference between following God out of obligation versus following Him out of faith and relationship?

Application Question
Pastor Anthony said, “When we try to live by a checklist rather than walking with God in a relationship of faith—this is rebellion and unbelief.” What’s one way you can shift from checklist to relationship this week?

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Additional Questions (Optional)

• Where have you seen legalism or keeping rules show up in your own faith journey or in church culture around you?
• How does understanding that “the Law was never meant to save” change the way you read the Old Testament?
• What does it practically look like to be “driven by relationship with your Savior” rather than driven by rules?

Exploring the Scripture

Main Scripture: Galatians 3:10-18

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Paul is writing to churches in Galatia who were being influenced by false teachers called “Judaizers.” These teachers insisted that Gentile (non-Jewish) believers needed to follow the Mosaic Law—including circumcision and Jewish customs—in order to truly be saved and grow spiritually. This wasn’t just a minor theological debate; it struck at the heart of the gospel itself. Were people saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, or did they need Jesus plus law-keeping?

In this passage, Paul makes a decisive theological argument: the Law cannot save or sanctify anyone. It was never designed to make people righteous—it was designed to reveal unrighteousness, to show humanity’s desperate need for a Savior. Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26 to show that the Law demands perfect obedience to “all things”—and as Paul emphasizes, you can’t be “a little bit under the Law.” Once you’re under it, you’re wholly obligated to keep every single command without failure, which is impossible for fallen humanity. One violation means guilt before the whole Law.

But Paul doesn’t leave the Galatians (or us) under condemnation. He points them back to the earlier covenant God made with Abraham—the promise of blessing for all nations through faith, not works. This covenant came 430 years before the Law of Moses, which means the Law cannot nullify God’s original promise. The fulfillment of that promise comes through one specific descendant of Abraham: Jesus Christ. Christ bore the curse of the Law on the cross so that we could receive the blessing of Abraham—the Holy Spirit—through faith.

This passage confronts a persistent human tendency: we want to control our standing before God through our performance. We’d rather trust in what we can see and measure (our rule-keeping) than in what seems uncertain (God’s promises). But Paul insists this is backwards. Faith has always been the way. From Abraham to Habakkuk to the Galatian believers to us today—righteousness comes through trusting God’s promises, not through keeping a checklist.

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Study Questions:

Having affirmed that Abraham was declared righteous by faith and that those who belong to Christ are the true children of Abraham, Paul advances his argument against the Judaizers by underscoring the inability of works and the law to justify.

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Verses 10-12

Paul calls out those who were seeking to establish their own righteousness. In doing so, they unknowingly were placing themselves under God’s wrath because they could not live up to His law and they would not submit to His grace.

In verse 10, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 27:26 to emphasize the point that reliance on works of the law is an all or nothing endeavor. 

• What is the standard required for us to enter heaven and be fully justified? Reference Matthew 5:48 and Revelation 21:27.
• What do Psalm 143:2 and Jesus’ own words in Matthew 5:21-22 and 27-28 remind us about our ability to keep the law? 
• What do James 2:10-11 and Romans 7:9-11 teach us about our accountability to the law? Why would the law be worthless if we “fail in one point” of it? 
• What then is universally true about the law’s inability to save anyone? Reference Romans 3:20. 

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In verse 11, Paul quotes another Old Testament verse (Habakkuk 2:4) to emphasize the actual means of our justification (faith). In verse 12, he quotes yet another passage (Leviticus 18:5). 

• What is the meaning of Leviticus 18:5 in relation to verses 10 and 11? 
• Why can’t we mix law (works) and faith (grace) or utilize some combination of both? What happens when we try to operate by both at the same time?
• Why do you think Paul continues to quote so many Old Testament verses here as he argues against the teaching of the Judaizers? 

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Verses 13-14

The word “redeemed” used in verse 13 is from “exagorazo” and was commonly used in reference to buying a slave’s freedom. 

• How does this word make perfect sense in relation to Matthew 20:28, 1 Corinthians 7:23, Ephesians 1:7-10, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, and 1 Peter 1:18-19?
• What should this knowledge of what Jesus has done for us invoke within us? 

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In verse 13, Paul yet again quotes the Old Testament—this time from Deuteronomy 21:23. In ancient Judaism, a criminal who was executed was typically tied to a post/tree after stoning until sunset to visibly represent rejection by God. The person didn’t become cursed by “hanging on a tree,” but rather was hanged on the tree because he was already “cursed.” 

• What exactly is the “curse of the law” as referenced in verse 13?
• Based on 1 Peter 2:24, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and Isaiah 53:4-6, how did Jesus “become a curse” for us?  
• What would have been the symbolic significance of Jesus being crucified on a “tree” to the Jewish people? What does this tell us about the depth of Jesus’ love for us and substitutionary work on our behalf?

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Paul makes it clear in verse 14 that when a person receives Jesus through faith as their Lord and Savior, they receive the promised blessing and the promised Spirit (Romans 4:5). 

• How is this confirmed in Ephesians 1:13-14 and 2:6-7, Romans 5:1-2, and 1 Peter 1:3-5?
• Do we then have any reason at all to fear the law and its curse? Reference Romans 8:1-4.

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Verses 15-18

Paul anticipates and responds to the Judaizers’ next likely argument that the Mosaic Law, given to Moses well after Abraham’s time, would have ushered in a new covenant and established a new means of salvation. In verses 15–18, he addresses the first part of that argument.

God’s covenant with Abraham, infinitely more binding than even any human covenant, was unique in that Abraham was put into a deep sleep while God alone made the covenant (Genesis 15:12-17). It was unilateral and unconditional, the obligation resting on God Himself only. 

• Why is it significant to note that God alone made this covenant with Abraham? 
• How does this knowledge strengthen its permanence and legitimacy that much more? 

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Every promise assured in the covenant made with Abraham was fulfilled through the finished work of Jesus. Thus, the only way to be included in the promised blessings of Abraham is to be a fellow heir with Christ through faith in Him. 

• Why does Paul emphasize that the promise was to Abraham and to his “seed” (singular)—meaning Christ—rather than “seeds” (plural) in verse 16? 
• What does this reveal about how God’s plan of salvation has always centered on Jesus and not the physical descendants of Abraham? Reference Romans 9:6-8, Romans 10:4, and Acts 26:22-23. 

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In verse 17, Paul references the Mosaic law which was actually given 645 years after the Abrahamic Covenant. 215 years later, God repeated the promises of the Abrahamic covenant to Abraham’s grandson, Jacob (Genesis 28:15). This was exactly 430 years before the Mosaic law was introduced, confirming Paul’s statement.

• Paul argues that the Mosaic Law could not nullify the earlier promise. Why is this timeline significant? What does it teach us about the permanence of God’s covenant of grace?
• Pastor Anthony said, “Theology is not meant to confuse us—it’s meant to keep us from error.” How does understanding the difference between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant protect you from false teaching? 

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“Man cannot succeed in perfectly keeping the law, and God cannot fail in perfectly keeping His promises.” 

• Why do you think the word “inheritance” is used here in verse 18? Does it denote something earned or something received? 
• Return to Galatians 2:21 as a reminder of what adding works to our faith ultimately does. 

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Living It Out

False Teaching is Rooted in Rebellion and Unbelief:

Are you driven by rules or your relationship with your Savior? 

• Have you ever been tempted to (falsely) think you can be the savior of your own life if you work hard enough? What caused you to come to this conclusion? What was the outcome of that false belief in your life?
• How can rule-keeping become a form of rebellion against God? What’s the difference between obeying God because you trust Him versus obeying Him because you think it will earn something from Him?
• How can you recognize areas in your life where you are ultimately distrusting God’s promises? Once recognized, what can you do about it? 

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Would you rather trust in yourself or in God?

• What steps can you take to stay rooted and grounded in the truth of God’s Word this week. How can you remind yourself of His promises and lean on His strength instead of your own?
• What does it practically look like to “walk with God in a relationship of faith” instead of living by a spiritual checklist? 
• How would your daily life change if you stopped measuring your spirituality by what you do and started measuring it by how you’re relating to Jesus?

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Spirituality Comes from Christ: 

Remind yourself that spirituality doesn’t come from your lineage, your upbringing, boundaries you have set for yourself, the good things you do, or your moral position. 

• Who and what alone does it come from? How will this knowledge alter your actions moving forward? 
• Recognizing that our upbringing and traditions can indeed impact us, why is it important to identify these influences and evaluate whether or not they align with biblical truth?

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What motivates you to attend church, pray, read your Bible, tithe, etc.? 

• How can you tell when your motivations are rooted in something other than a desire to know, love, and serve Jesus? 
• Choose one spiritual discipline (prayer, Bible reading, worship, etc.) that has become routine or obligatory. Instead of doing it out of duty this week, before you start, pause and ask God to help you engage with Him personally, not as a task. Notice the difference.

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Prayer Focus

Pray: “Lord, strengthen my faith by deepening my love for your word.”

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Galatians 3:11 

… The just shall live by faith. 

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Romans 10:17

So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.