Laws and Legalism - MSQ
Part of Unleashed
November 12, 2023

UNLEASHED (1920 x 1080 px) (2).png

Laws and Legalism - Message Study Questions

Message Summary

We can have a mixed perception of God. We can hear that God loves us yet our perception of God is that he is standing ready to beat us for anything we do wrong. This keeps people from connecting with God because they think he is unpredictable.
This is certainly the message that the Galatian people were getting. Paul taught them that Jesus Christ is the loving Messiah who came for them and the Judaizers were teaching that if they didn’t obey all the laws of Moses they would be punished. The people were caught in this bad cycle of not knowing if God loved them or if he was just waiting to lash them.

God isn’t sitting in some distant heaven ready to smack you for every mistake, no he is drawing you to himself with perfect love.

What is your perception of God?

How does your perception of God affect how you relate to God?

Consider This

Jesus saves us by grace, we know we cannot earn our salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace doesn’t stop at salvation, but often we live as if becoming more Christ like depends on our good work. In Galatians 3 Paul calls that idea foolishness.

  1. How do we keep a mindset of encouraging everyone to move toward Christ, rather than have them follow the rules so they are accepted? (center set vs bounded set mentality)

  2. According to Romans 10:17 where does faith come from?

  3. Read Romans 4:1-18, How was Abraham considered righteous?

  4. Put Galatians 3:3-4 in your own words.

  5. Paul challenged the Galatians by asking them about their history with God, why is it important to remember God’s faithfulness in your own life?

  6. How do we become more like Christ (sanctification) according to:

    • 1 Peter 1:2
    • Romans 8:9-13
    • 2 Corinthians 3:18
    • 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
    • Galatians 5:22-23

  7. Are you more tempted to ignore the law or ignore grace?

  8. Read James 2:14-26 what is the relation of actions to our faith? What is the source of the good deeds/actions?

  9. How are faith and good deeds in James 2 different from living like our spiritual growth is dependent on our good work?

Moving Forward Application

  1. What is your history with God and how has he been faithful in your life?

  2. What areas in your life did you “begin in the Spirit” but are “trying to finish in the flesh”? (Galatians 3:3)

  3. How can you guard against being self-reliant?