Wednesday Evening Bible Study

Date:  November 4, 2026

Topic

Why God Accepts Us?

Bible Study Scripture (Galatians 3:1-14)

3 O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as having been crucified? ² I want only to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to be made complete by the flesh? ⁴ Have you suffered so many things for nothing—if indeed also it was for nothing? ⁵ Therefore does the one who gives you the Spirit and who works miracles among you do so by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

⁶ Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, ⁷ then understand that the ones _⌊who have faith_⌋, these are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news in advance to Abraham: “In you all the nations will be blessed.” ⁹ So then, the ones who have faith are blessed together with Abraham who believed. ¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things that are written in the book of the law to do them.” ¹¹ Now it is clear that no one is justified in the sight of God by the law, because “the one who is righteous will live by faith.” ¹² But the law is not from faith, but “the one who does these things will live by them.”

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by* becoming a curse for us, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” ¹⁴ in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. ^[1]

Ice Breaker Questions

1. What does it mean to be accepted?
2. Why do we need or have a desire to be accepted?
3. Why would a person believe nonsense makes sense and follow people pedaling nonsense?
4. Why do you think Christians often have a hard time believing that God accepts them unconditionally in Christ?

Bible Study Questions

1. According to verses 1–5, what was the chronological order of the Galatians’ spiritual journey to and with Jesus Christ?  What does this say about your spiritual journey to and with Jesus Christ?
2. In what ways did the Galatians’ behavior seem “bewitched” and “foolish” according to verses 1–5?
3. In what ways do we sometimes try to earn God’s favor by what we do?
4. How can a vivid understanding of Christ’s crucifixion (v. 1) guard us from thinking we must earn God’s favor?
5. When we follow the example of Abraham’s faith, what are the results (vv. 6–9)?
6. How does Abraham’s experience contrast with that of the person who seeks to earn God’s acceptance (vv. 10–12)?
7. The word redeemed means to deliver from some evil by paying a price. How and why did Christ redeem us (v. 13–14)?
8. How does the gift of the Spirit affirm that God accepts us completely in Christ?

How have you been blessed by the Spirit’s presence in your life?

^[1] W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Ga 3:1-14.