The Book of Galatians
Chapter 1
The Book of Galatians
Introduction |
Chapter 1 |
Chapter 2 |
Chapter 3 |
Chapter 4 |
Chapter 5 |
Chapter 6
1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
Paul The Author Of The Epistle
There has never been any serious challenge that this epistle was written by the one we know as the Apostle Paul. Not only does it bear his name in the salutation, but it also reveals facts about his life and minsitry.
An Apostle
The word "apostle" in the New Testament comes from the Greek word 'apostolos' which means "one who is sent". An apostle is one who is sent on a specific mission. And Paul was in fact "a man on a mission". His mission was to preach the gospel, with particular emphasis on a Gentile ministry (Gal 2:2, 8).
Not Of Men
Paul did not appoint himself to be an apostle and no man on earth appointed him. He was appointed by God. His apostleship was neither "of" nor "by" men. "Of" refers to the source of the authority and "by" refers to the medium or means of conveyence. More on this subject when we get to verse 12.
Who Raised Him From The Dead
Then Paul mentions THE central event of all Christianity: the ressurection of Jesus Christ. The faith rests entirely on this historical fact. If Christ is not raised then your faith is in vain and you are still in your sins (1 Cor 15:17).
2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
The Brethren
Paul does not mention who was with him and we cannot infer who it was. We can speculate all day. When you know everything in the Bible that we can know, then let's speculate.
Jesus said "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." Matt 23:8.
This concept of "brethren" is very cool. It's under-rated in terms of its pure hepness.
As a Christian you are part of something very special: the brotherhood. Those who are saved are children of God, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9).
And you are peers to each other. That's why I like the idea of calling each other "brother" and "sister". It's a title of great significance. It's something special and unique. Even though we have diverse backgrounds, we all have something in common in the Lord.
A person who claims to be a Christian actually once told me that "it's cornball that you all call each other "brother" and "sister". But I told her that it is Biblical. The word "brother" is used in this context over 100 times in the New Testament.
Unto The Churches of Galatia
Paul established the Galatian churches in what is now southern Turkey on his first missionary journey. The account is in the Book of Acts chapters 13 and 14.
The Church At Antioch In Pisidia
When Paul and Barnabas left their home church in Antioch of Syria, they went to Perga in Galatia. It was there that John Mark left them and went back to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas went on to another town called Antioch, this one in Pisidia and established a church there despite intense persecution.
Acts 13:13-14
13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
Acts 13:48-51
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.
50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
The Church At Iconium
"But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium." Acts 13:51.
Acts 14:1-7
14:1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.
3 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
4 But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
5 And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,
6 They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
7 And there they preached the gospel.
Paul and Barnabas went from Antioch in Pisidia to Iconium. There they made some believers, but again ran into opposition from some jealous Jews who decided to stone them. But Paul and Barnabas escaped and went from Iconium to Lystra and Derbe.
The Church At Lystra
When they were at Lystra the home of Timothy, Paul healed a man who was lame. Then all the people proclaimed that Paul and Barnabas were gods and were about to sacrifice to them when Paul stopped them. Later, Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and incited those same people against Paul so that they stoned him and left him for dead.
Acts 14:19-27
19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
20 Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
The Church at Derbe
Not much is known about the church at Derbe except that they "preached the gospel to that city and taught many".
Acts 14:21-22
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
Grace And Peace
"Grace and peace" is Paul's signature, 2-fold greeting.
In using the terms grace and peace, Paul combined common salutations that relate to the New and Old Testaments respectively. Grace is especially associated with the New Testament even though the word appears several times in the Old Testament.
Grace refers to God's unmerited, undeserved favor and his love toward mankind. In Romans 6:14 Paul wrote: "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." So grace characterizes the mode under which the church serves God in the New Testament age.
The term peace was a common Jewish term of both greeting and farewell and today many Jews still use the word Shalom in their greetings. Biblical peace includes the ideas of wholeness an well-being. When we are saved we have peace WITH God (Rom 5:1) and once saved when we are serving him faithfully we have the peace OF God in our lives (Phil 4:7).
From God the Father
Grace and peace come from God the Father as the fountain and through our Lord Jesus Christ as the channel. Without Jesus, no one is truly in God's grace, nor can they experience true peace.
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Who Gave Himself
Jesus paid the supreme sacrifice not to remove his people from the world, but to rescue them from the power of it (John 17:15).
Any effort on our part to add to that sacrifice by our own works pales in comparison and actually represents a denial of the power of that sacrifice to utterly save us.
It's insulting to the Lord. The Galatians wanted to hold up their own keeping of the law alongside the sacrifice of Jesus. The thinking goes like this: "Ok, let's take an inventory or our righteousness portfolio. We have the sacrifice of Jesus, and our own keeping of the law." See how this reasoning detract from the power of the Lord's death to pay for our sins.
This Present Evil World
The world systems under which we live are affected by sin. The world may appear normal to us, but it has been severely warped by the power of darkness. Compare this world to a perfect environment such as the Garden of Eden where there is perfect peace, security, joy and tranquility.
Sin is the reason things are messed up. Sin causes the suffering in the world. Sin causes men to hate and kill each other. Sin is the reason people take advantage of each other and use each other. This world's way is to look out for Number One.
This present evil world places us on a treadmill. We have to keep up the pace. In the end we face a major problem: death. Jesus died to set us free from the law of sin and death.
5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
The "gospel" is the good news that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and rose the third day (1 Cor 15: 1-6).
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
News of the troublers' "perversion of the gospel" was disturbing to Paul. Paul quickly rose to the Judaizers' challenge and produced this letter. From the outset he was ready for debate. He dispensed with his customary introduction and launched immediately into his argument against the perverters.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
An Angel Of Light
Satan is not a little red devil with horns and a pitchfork who sits on your shoulder and suggests little naughties into your ear. He would like you to have that image of him though so that you won't really know what he's up to.
Satan is in the business of false religion. His mission statement is: "To destroy the work of Jesus Christ." He does this by confusing people with all kinds of spiritual lies and deceit.
Satan is a powerful angelic being who pretends to be one bringing light.
In fact the name 'Lucifer' means 'Light Bearer' and Lucifer pretends that he wants to "enlighten" us. But Satan is really a fallen angel who is in rebellion to God. And he wants to drag down any sucker that he can take with him.
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Corin. 11:13-15).
Notice in the verses above that Satan actually has his own ministers. His ministers do not walk around and say "Let me feed you some lies so you can go to hell." They wouldn't fool many sheeple that way. They deceive people by posing as "ministers of righteousness" and "ministers of Christ" in particular. Satan's main trick is to counterfeit the Lord's true churches.
Let Him Be Accursed
The term "accursed" in verses 8 and 9 means "eternally condemned". Should I translate the phrase "let him be accursed" into modern colloquialism for you? You could say it like this "If any man preach any other gospel unto your other than that which you have received, he can go to hell". This might be a little strong for you. If so try thinking of it as "let him have a bad day".
Them's Fightin' Words
Another thing that this verse and the whole first section of the epistle show is that it's ok, even scriptural to stand up against false doctrine. Today the forces of political correctness would try to silence the truth. They preach a gospel of pluralism and tell us that we should not only tolerate, but embrace all types of religion. But this gospel is in direct opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
I Should Not Be The Servant Of Christ
In verse 10 the word “persuade” means “to seek the favor of” or “to win the approval of” or “to win over”. Paul says “Am I now seeking the favor of men?” “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
When Paul was a Pharisee, he tried to please his superiors by advancing in his faith and especially by persecuting Christians. But when he became the servant of Christ he preached the truth of the gospel and didn't worry about who didn't like it.
All servants of Christ face this same decision. What is my goal? Do I want people to like me or do I want to please God? Those two conditions are diametrically opposed. This is because people generally do not love the truth and in their sinful nature apart from the grace of God, they cannot love the truth. And so they tend to become displeased with you when you tell them the truth of the gospel.
Was the Lord surprised that the world rejected him? Not one bit as shown in John 15.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Let me share an example. The world loves Christmas, but the world doesn’t love Christ. This fact became apparent this year when Christ was banned from the festival of lights parade in Denver. Also, a town in Florida banned public nativity scenes. And secular organizations like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) want a total ban on any type of public Christmas displays or expression. Instead of "Christmas", our friends over at the ACLU want the name changed to "Winter Holiday."
Dan Barker, the PR director of the Freedom From Religion Foundation was on the Lora Ingraham show last week. Like they do every year, the foundation is celebrating the winter solstice this season. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and usually occurs around December 21st.
The foundation is also busy working to remove all references to religion from holiday decorations at the Wisconsin state capitol. He said that they are doing that because Christian holiday slogans at the capitol have been insulting to atheists because they include offensive religious sayings.. He said “Christians stole the holiday season from us (anti-theists); but we are willing to share it with them.” I thought that was very profound and exactly correct.
The fact is that the winter solstice was a very ancient celebration practiced by many cultures. It usually was a celebration of the birth of the sun god.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia , 1967, says:
According to the hypothesis . . . accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the Invincible Sun). On Dec. 25, 274, Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-god principal patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome.
Only in the fifth century did the Roman Catholic Church order that the birth of Christ be observed on December 25, the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, the sun god. They renamed this day "Christmas."
So yes, the world loves its winter festival; just as long as Jesus doesn't show up to the party.Jesus would spoil their fun. If I wanted to please men, I would not be the servant of Christ.
John 3:18-21
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
By The Revelation of Jesus Christ
The gospel that Paul preached is not something that man made up. He did not receive it from any man but rather by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. The gospel is not synthetic. It is God's design, not man's.
Man wants to earn his way into heaven by working and doing good. He wants to get real smart and figure his own scheme to get into heaven. He wants to build his own combination plate of salvation burritos and heavenly tacos.
The gospel could not have been made up by man because it runs contrary to the natural mind.
The natural mind sees the gospel as foolishness as Paul explained in 1 Corinthians chapter 1:
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
The Traditions Of My Fathers
13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
We need to know what we believe and why we believe it. We cannot simply be zealous for the traditions that our parents give us without examining those traditions.
We should be like the Bereans and search the scriptures daily to see it the things they are telling us are so.
Conversely we don't want to be like those whom Paul said have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (Rom 10:2-3).
We certainly don't want to "make the word of God of none effect through our tradition" (Mark 7:13).
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
From My Mother's Womb
Paul had big plans for his life. He was excelling in Judaism. He was ahead of the pack. But God had other plans for him. God had set him apart from birth for his own purpose to reveal Jesus Christ.
God has a plan for your life too. His plan is for you to serve him faithfully. He is calling you now. I do not know what your call is. Only God can reveal it to you. The key is to be submissive to God's will and be ready and willing to do whatever he calls you to do. Rest assured that he will use your talents in an effective way that exploits your abilities. You may not even recognize those abilities at this point in your life or even know that you have them. But God will give you the strenth to do whatever he calls you to do.
To Reveal His Son In Me
Notice that verse 16 says "in" me and not "to" me. God did reveal his son to Paul, but that is not what he is referring to here. The preposition here indicates instrumentality. It means "by means of."
The same Greek word "EN" is translated "through" in Matt 9:34 "But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils."
EN is translated "with" in Revelation 6:8: quot;and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword."
The same word EN appears in verse 24 of this chapter where it says "they glorified God in me." That is they glorified God through or by means of Paul not "to" Paul.
"In" whom does God reveal his son today? Are there super-apostles out there now whom God has called to reveal his son? Not at all. The Lord's churches have been appointed to reveal his son to the world and every member of the Lord's church is called to reveal the son. Can people see Christ in you? Can they hear him in the things you say?
I Conferred Not With Flesh And Blood
Paul had a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. Therefore, when the Lord called Paul to preach the gospel, he did not take an opinion poll as to what he should do. He determined to obey the command from God whether man approved or not. He did however work under the authority of a New Testament church. Paul was sent out by the church at Antioch in Syria (Acts 13:1-3).
Likewise when we are called to serve the Lord, we should not let the opinions of others stop us. And we like Paul should work under the authority of a New Testament church. Your friends might mock you and avoid you if you tell them that you have become a Christian. Your family might be upset to learn that you have been led to renounce Catholicism or Judaism or Mormonism in favor of a scriptural New Testament church. Your mother might not be exactly thrilled to find out that you have decided to become a preacher instead of a doctor. But we need not heed the advice of "flesh and blood" on these matters. What counts is obeying the call of God to the truth of the gospel.
17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.
20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;
These verses provide details about Pauls life between the time of his conversion and the time of his visit to Jerusalem. If you are intersted in this, the ABA quarterly has a nice section on page 23 that outlines the life of Paul.
22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:
23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.
24 And they glorified God in me.
And They Glorified God In Me
People saw the dramatic change in Paul's life after his conversion. He made a 180 degree turn from wasting the churches to building them. The churches recognized this life change in Paul as the work of God. They gave God the credit for it. The power of God to change lives was demonstrated in Paul. And so they glorified God because of the change in him.
Are people glorifying God in you? Can they see the change? Do you reflect Christ in your manner of life; in the things that you say and do?
Each of us needs to be Jesus to somebody. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." (Gal 2:20).
"Let them see the "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Gal 5:22-23) in your heart so that they will want a heapin' helpin' of the same for themselves.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
The Change
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor 3:18).
We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
When people try to get saved by keeping the law, they have a veil over their heart that prevents them from understanding the scriptures. For this veil of misunderstanding can be removed only by believing in Christ. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord from his sins, then the veil is taken away.
We do not wear veils over our faces like Moses did when he shone with the glory of the Lord. We can reflect the glory of the Lord to everyone; and as we do the Lord will ever increase that glory in us through the change.
The Book of Galatians
Introduction |
Chapter 1 |
Chapter 2 |
Chapter 3 |
Chapter 4 |
Chapter 5 |
Chapter 6