Christ Has Set Us Free: Preaching and Teaching Galatians

by D.A. Carson (Editor), Jeff Robinson Sr. (Editor), Sandy Willson (Contributor)

How can a sinful human stand before a holy God?

The New Testament book of Galatians deals with this question--a question that stands at the heart of the gospel. In Christ Has Set Us Free, nine seasoned Bible teachers walk through the entirety of Galatians, offering insights on how to interpret and apply its important message about justification by faith. This book will help all who teach or study the Bible better understand what Christ has done to set us free from the power of sin through his death and resurrection.

Genres: Theology

176 pages, Paperback

Published April 30, 2019

About the author

Donald A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has been at Trinity since 1978. Carson came to Trinity from the faculty of Northwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he also served for two years as academic dean. He has served as assistant pastor and pastor and has done itinerant ministry in Canada and the United Kingdom. Carson received the Bachelor of Science in chemistry from McGill University, the Master of Divinity from Central Baptist Seminary in Toronto, and the Doctor of Philosophy in New Testament from the University of Cambridge. Carson is an active guest lecturer in academic and church settings around the world. He has written or edited about sixty books. He is a founding member and currently president of The Gospel Coalition. Carson and his wife, Joy, reside in Libertyville, Illinois. They have two adult children.

Reviews

[Brian Pate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A homiletical commentary (of sorts) on Galatians. I read this as our church in Brazil studied through Galatians Nov 2020 - May 2021.

Each chapter was originally a sermon at the TGC 2017 National Conference. This book includes an introduction by Schreiner, history of interpretation by Bray (which was interesting but seemed out of place), and a conclusion by Ferguson.

You can watch each message:

Galatians 1 by John Piper
Galatians 2 by Sandy Willson
Galatians 3 by Peter Adam
Galatians 4 by D. A. Carson
Galatians 5 by Thabiti Anyabwile
Galatians 6 by Tim Keller

[David Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this is a compilation of teachings from 9 authors, every reader will have their favorite chapters. Even so, every chapter has moments that are at once theologically rich and personally applicable.

Piper:"...when God chose Paul....he planned to let him become a hateful persecutor of his children so it would be crystal clear that, when he called, Paul, it was totally God's doing."

Wilson: "If you have been completely accepted by God in spite of your lousy performance, how good does your spouse have to be before you fully love and accept him or her? Whether married or not, how good does a brother or sister have to be before you love them?"

Adam: "Legalistic Christians must remember that in God's economy his promises trump his laws......Other Christians must remember that God not only gave promises but also laws.....We must live in daily repentance, in daily dependence on the atoning death of Christ."

Carson: "...if you decide what you can and can't do on the basis of your current feelings about what will make you happy, you're actually selling yourself into a kind of slavery."

Anyabwile: "Christian freedom does not center itself on the Christian's personal desires. In the world, 'freedom' has come to mean doing what you want for yourself.....Scripture tells us that there are proper and improper, convenient and inconvenient uses of Christian liberty."

Keller:"Sin makes us operate on this principle: 'Your life for me. I'm going to make you sacrifice for me, for my interests, for my self image. You will sacrifice your needs to serve mine. But Jesus Christ came into the world saying 'my life foryou. My life to serve you. My life poured out for you. I sacrifice for you."

Ferguson: Quoting DML Jones. "If you are not misunderstood and slanderously reported from the standpoint of antinomianism, it is because you do not believe the gospel truly and you do not preach it truly." Woaaaaaah !

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good collection of sermons on Galatians. This was a good help in crafting my own sermons on the same letter.

[Matthew Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever wanted to know what some of the brightest minds in theology have to say about Galatians? Get this book. It is a quick, trip through Paul's writing to the Christians in Galatia, but it helps to provide the Christian with easy-to-digest background information regarding the cultural context.

Through the short writings compiled, we are taken on a journey through not only the culture, but also the importance of why Paul chose to write the things that he did. This is an excellent book to help someone understand Galatians without getting too deep that it causes pain. Seriously, it is that good that I think it ought to be on the bookshelf of every believer.

This was gifted to me for an unbiased review.

[contemplativereflections · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "Christ Has Set Us Free," a group of notable pastor-scholars tackle the gospel issues that the apostle Paul presents in the book of Galatians. The book material is based on a series of messages delivered by most of the contributors along with some additional supplementary material to help provide greater context and cohesiveness. The first two chapters provide a framework for interpreting the epistle with a general introduction by Thomas Schreiner and a survey of how Reformers interpreted Galatians by Gerald Bray. The ensuing six chapters exposit the contents of the epistle in sequential order. John Piper begins in Galatians 1 in which Paul explains how his gospel is the one true gospel as given to him by Jesus Himself and that any other gospel is false. Next, Sandy Willson delves into Paul’s arguments in Galatians 2 on the sufficiency of Christ as our only means of salvation and how justification is by faith alone. The next chapter by Peter Adam focuses on Galatians 3 where Paul helps the believers recognize the deeper significance of the Old Testament laws and how it relates to God’s promises of a future new covenant that includes all peoples regardless of race, gender, or any other distinction. In addition, D.A. Carson further expounds how Paul in Galatians 4 urges believers to be free from slavery under sin by becoming slaves of Christ and righteousness. Next, Thabiti Anyabwile develops the topic of Christian freedom as found in Galatians 5 in which Paul warns against returning to the Mosaic law as a means of justification and encourages the believers to lay hold of Christian liberty through the work of the Spirit. For the last chapter of Galatians, Tim Keller examines how Paul urges the Galatians to not boast in themselves but to boast in Christ as the One who redeems and liberates us to enjoy true freedom in Christ. The final chapter of the book is by Sinclair Ferguson who gives a summary of how the epistle helps us navigate between legalism and antinomianism.

I gladly recommend this book to anyone who hopes to grasp the core messages of the book of Galatians. The contributors concentrate on explaining the most essential themes of the epistle without being entangled by scholarly arguments or hypothetical conjectures. The book of Galatians played a central role in shaping the Reformers’ rallying cry for believers to return to the true gospel and the authority of the Scriptures. The temptations to believe in alternate gospels, obey our fleshly desires, and earn our own justification are alive and well to believers today. When we fall into these temptations, we are re-enslaving ourselves when Christ has already set us free. Galatians reminds us that true freedom comes from putting on Christ and living in the power of the Spirit. When we do so, we are living according to the law of love which fulfills the entire law of God as summarized by Jesus in the first and second great commandments to love God and others.

In compliance with Federal Trade Commission regulations, I was provided a review copy of this book from Crossway.

[Grace Kenganzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book after I told her I was planning to study the book of Galatians. As the title suggests, it is written in a way as to equip bible teachers to teach from a book that raises some contentions among Christians. One of these contentions is the fact that in Christ we are free, and therefore don't have to add anything in ways of works in order to be more free.

Each chapter is written by a bible teacher who digs deep into the different chapters of Galatians. They juxtapose the churches in Galatia to whom Paul wrote the letter, to today's church, taking care to stay true to the Scriptures while pointing out the issues we shouldn't ignore today.

This is not a casual read as it will require all your attention, but it is definitely an enriching read, especially if you're studying the book of Galatians.

[John Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t know these were sermons when I started reading, and wanted to quit once I found out. I was looking more for essays on major themes but instead got odd emphases because speakers were trying to tie a particular chapter together when they weren’t written that way by the Apostle.

Keller’s chapter was decent, because Keller was a gifted speaker. Carson’s was the best chapter by far, because it’s DA Carson - he’s going to analyze. By far, though, the best part of the book was Sinclair Ferguson’s essay at the end. He provided the explicitly reformed angle I was looking for and was writing an essay, not preaching.

Almost worth the price of the book by itself. Everything else can be skipped, unless you’re a big fan of Carson or Keller.

[Kyle Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5