Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 5 Study # 3
January 2, 2011
Dayton, Texas
(Download Audio)

<048> Thesis: The message is true because God is the chief Actor. Introduction: In our studies to date in the first chapter of Galatians, we have seen that Paul is attempting to provide a legitimate foundation for faith in his message. The reason for this is that Paul clearly understood where "faith" stands in the order of the things that most critically affect a person's experience of Life. It is not "ground zero" (that position is held by "love"), but it is the first consideration of any step away from "ground zero". Love, by itself, is of no use; it is only when love is actively pursued that its values make their intended impact. And it is at this point -- the initiation of active pursuit -- that "faith" becomes critical. But, for "faith" to bring a good result, it must be legitimate; and, for it to be legitimate, it must be rooted in two things simultaneously: first, it must be rooted in Truth; and, second, it must be rooted in an understanding of Truth. In other words, it is not sufficient for "faith" to be rooted in Truth; it must be springing out of the understanding of the Truth by the "believer". "Faith" is not something that can be exercised as long as "understanding" is out of the picture. Thus, Paul is fixated upon providing an "understanding" of why his message should be considered true. And, as we have seen, his first step toward the provision of such an understanding is the argument that his message is true because it has the ability to rearrange both the root values and the root precepts of those who believe it so that they line up with the only kind of "love" that is universally recognizable. This evening we are going to begin to look into a further development of Paul's argument and what we are going to see is that Paul's message is true because its capacity to rearrange one's basic values and beliefs results from direct divine involvement. In other words, the message is true because God is the primary Actor in the process of revealing, clarifying, and convincing those who believe it. So, let's look into Paul's words in Galatians 1:15.