October 16, 2004
Chapter 1
– Review
Outline of Galatians:
I.
Salutation (1:1-5)
II.
The problem in Galatia: another Gospel from false teachers
(1:6-9)
III.
Defense of Paul’s apostleship (1:10 – 2:14)
IV.
Paul’s defense of the Gospel (2:15 – 6:10)
V.
Conclusion (6:11-18)
(New Geneva Study Bible)
Chapter Outline:
(Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible)
1. What were Paul’s reasons for
writing this epistle to the Galatians?
The main reason was that the
message of the Gospel was being perverted in the churches that Paul had
started. We mentioned that a group of
Jewish Christians (Judaizers) had come to the churches and had started teaching
that in addition to trusting in the Lord Jesus for salvation, one must also
accept the physical act of circumcision.
In a more general sense, they were teaching that obedience to the
ceremonial part of the Law was a requirement for salvation. Paul writes the epistle to debunk this
dangerous false teaching.
A second reason, very much related to the first one, was that in order to establish their false teachings, the Judaizers had to undermine Paul’s standing and authority as an apostle. Paul writes the epistle to re-establish his standing as a true apostle and the authority thereof.
2. What were the main points in verses 1 – 5?
Paul wastes no time and begins
the epistle with “Paul, an apostle”.
The word apostle, as we saw in Romans as well, means “delegate,
messenger, one sent forth”. However,
the word, in Christian circles, was used specifically for the Twelve. Paul establishes from the opening words who
he is. This is not an example of lack
of humility, rather of holy pride, because he follows his designation with
“(not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who
raised Him from the dead)”.
Paul clearly shows the divine nature of his calling. He says that his apostleship is “not from men” meaning he was not sent through the agreement of a group of men. (As an important aside, the Judaizers were most likely sent by Jewish Christians in Jerusalem to “correct” Paul’s teachings.) Also, he says that his apostleship is not “through man” meaning that it is not through the agency of a man, which, in turn, means that it was not a particular person that God used to call him to apostleship. His apostleship was “through Jesus Christ and God the Father”. As you remember from Acts 9, Paul’s conversion involved a personal and visible encounter with the Lord Jesus Himself. Also, his calling came from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as we can read in Acts 26:16. Paul shows by this that his calling to apostleship was as valid as that received by the disciples.
In verse 3, Paul gives his customary greeting. If you look
in most of the other epistles written to churches this is a standard
greeting. “Grace to you and peace from
God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ”.
“Grace to you” – the Greek word for grace is cariß (charis), which Paul uses more than any other
writer in the New Testament. In most
cases, Paul uses it with the sense of “the merciful kindness by which God,
exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps,
strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and
kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.” (The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon) Even in this greeting Paul reminds the
Galatians about the true nature of salvation – that is, unearned and
undeserved, a gift, based solely on God’s perfect sovereign will.
In verse 5, Paul closes the introduction with a reverent
and worshipful utterance: “to who be glory forever and ever. Amen” This can
very well be any Christian’s motto. God
deserves glory forever and ever.
3. What were the main points of verses 6 – 9?
Something that we can notice is
Paul’s saying that the Galatians’ turning away from the true Gospel happened so
soon. We cannot exactly quantify
this (could have been a few years depending on the date of the writing) but it
is worthwhile to note that the false teachers came to “correct”, as they
claimed, the beliefs of Christians young in the faith. This is not to excuse them (because they had
received their instruction from Paul himself), but to emphasize the importance
of growing the faith. As Christians, we
should at all times strive with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, of
course, to be more like Christ. It is
not an easy task since the distractions and excuses are many, but tenacity
should be characteristic of our attitude.
Verse 6 finishes by saying that
the Galatians were turning away to a different gospel. In verse 7, Paul hurries to add that
this other gospel is not another.
What does this mean? The gospel
preached by the false teachers was not another gospel in sense that it was not
equal to Paul’s Gospel as far as truthfulness and authority. The Greek word for gospel, euaggelion, means
“good tidings”, specifically the good tidings of salvation in the Lord
Jesus. What Paul is saying here is that
the teaching of the false teachers is not another set of good tidings equally
effective for one’s salvation.
In verse 7 we read But there
are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. The
false teachers did not teach that a radical change to the gospel that Paul
preached was necessary. Rather they
claimed that minor adjustments needed to be made to make it complete. This is how Satan operates. He perverts things. He does not tempt us to
make huge radical changes, which we would most likely reject. He tempts us to change little things in our
lives and, before we know it, our fellowship with God and His word lessens, our
prayer life is weak, and, as a result, we stumble more often. This is another lesson we can learn from the
Galatians’ mistakes. We must be well
prepared to see and fend off early attempts to derail us from the straight and
narrow, if you will. How? By reading
the Word, studying it, praying, and not least, attending Church and participating
in the sacraments. (Reading some Church
history and the works of some of the important figures of Church history would
be beneficial as well.)
Something we can
learn from verses 8 and 9 is to duplicate Paul’s passion for God’s truth in our
lives. Are we filled with this sort of
righteous anger when we see God’s true Word being trampled underfoot
nowadays? Were we filled with
indignation at the ordination of gay bishops by a traditional Protestant
denomination? (This is just one example.) God’s truth shall endure regardless
of the attacks upon it. Precisely
because of that, I am sure we all want to stand with it.
4. What were
the main points of verses 10 – 17?
In verse 10, Paul emphasizes
that his defending the message of the Gospel is prompted by his desire to
please God not men. By
emphasizing that he is seeking to please God and not men, Paul addresses one of
his detractors’ accusations, and, that is, that he modified the message of the
Gospel (removing the necessity of circumcision) in order to be more appealing
to Gentiles. Paul clearly states that
pleasing (or appealing to) men was never on his agenda. He interestingly states that had he desired
to please men he would have not been a bondservant of Christ. Paul’s language is once again relevant
here. A bondservant’s life and wishes
are wholly dependent on the one that he is bound to, that is, his master. In
the same way, if Paul had wanted to please men he could not have been a
bondservant of Christ, because allegiance to Christ cannot be but total.
Paul states in verse 12 that all
that he had preached to the Galatians had been revealed directly by the Lord
Jesus. One must wonder about when this
happened. From the commentaries that I
have read there seems to be an agreement that it happened when Paul met the
Lord Jesus on the way to Damascus. Most
of us are most familiar with the account that we find in Acts 9. However, there are two more accounts of
Paul’s conversion in Acts 22:6-10 and Acts 26:13-18. These two other accounts contain more information about the
encounter with the account in Acts 26 giving details of Christ’s words to Paul
and showing the direct calling that Paul received from the Lord. One might also wonder how the Lord could reveal
so much to Paul in a fairly short amount of time. First of all, we do not know
for a fact that it was short. They
could have been in the road for hours. Also, remember, that Paul was not a
neophyte as far as the teachings of the Old Testament. All that he needed was for someone to
connect the dots; that is, to show him that Christ Jesus was indeed Messiah and
that he lived, died, and resurrected to fulfill the prophecies that Paul was no
doubt familiar with. Also, he needed to
be taught that salvation was accomplished by the Lord Jesus and is bestowed
upon those upon whom God has mercy independently of their merits. In conclusion, Paul bases the authority of
his teachings on the source – the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I am sure the Galatians were shaken to
reality by this clear statement of the divine origin of Paul’s teachings that
they had started to deviate from.
In verse 15, note that Paul says
that when it pleased God […] to reveal His Son. Once again we see who is
who in salvation; we see clearly that salvation occurs according to God’s
perfect will/pleasure. Now, I know I
have emphasized this a great deal in our study of Romans and elsewhere. God is indeed sovereign in the matter of
salvation, however we must not forget that God is also merciful. God is righteous but He also reconciled us
with Himself. Psalm 85:10 puts it
beautifully Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have
kissed.
5. What were
the main points of verses 18 – 24?
Then in verse 18, he mentions
that he eventually went up to Jerusalem after three years. (In Acts 9, the
three years are described as “many days”.)
Three years is very many days.
Now, why would this be significant?
Damascus was a prominent city at the time and home to many Jews (there
were enough of them to have a synagogue).
Not just that, but Damascus (given its large Jewish population) seems to
have also been home to a fairly large Christian community. Let’s not forget
that Paul had gone there to capture the ones “who were of the Way” (Acts
9:2). Why is this all significant? It is significant because Paul wants to
establish his authority for his Galatian readers. By his mentioning that he was in Damascus for nearly three years
preaching, he shows that the church there welcomed his teachings. If Paul had been preaching false teachings,
the church in Jerusalem founded by people who most likely had heard the Gospel
from the apostles in Jerusalem (if not the Lord Himself) would have at least
protested his teachings. Also, given
Damascus’ proximity to Jerusalem, the apostles would have been alarmed. This is all meant to once again underline
the truthfulness of Paul’s teachings and character.
It is significant that Paul says
that he only met with Peter and James. The reason it is significant is the
identity of these two men. Peter was
the most prominent of the apostles. He
was a leader of the Church from the very beginning. Also, the James that Paul met with was James, the Lord Jesus’
brother. (The apostle James the Elder,
the brother of John, had been already martyred by Herod according to Acts 12.)
According to Church tradition James, the Lord’s brother, was the head of the
church in the city of Jerusalem. Paul
implicitly shows here that he received the approval of these two important
figures in the Church. This should have
once again gotten the Galatians to think about their attitude towards Paul, his
teachings, and authority of his teachings.
Verse 22 is a subtle jab at the Galatians’ waning respect for Paul and their abandonment of his teachings. Paul points out in this verse that churches that had not even seen him were rejoicing at hearing about the great thing God was working through him. The Galatians had had Paul with them for a while and now they were starting to drift away from the teachings that Paul had given them.
Note in verse 24 that the churches were praising God for Paul’s conversion and ministry. We should always keep in mind the author of the miracle not the object of it.
Thanks be to God!
Sorin Voicu-Comendant
Soli Deo Gloria!