Galatians

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Introduction to the book:

Author: Paul the Apostle of Faith

Date: Theologians differ as to when this epistle was written because to determine when it was written you would have to determine whether the region Paul is referring to as Galatia is the former kingdom of Galatia or whether it was the Roman Province of Galatia. If it were the former kingdom of Galatia (northern theory) it could have been Paul’s first epistle and written as early as AD 49 if it were the Roman province of Galatia (southern theory) it could have been as late as AD 56. For our purposes, it is not essential to determine which theory is correct.

Main Motivation: In Galatians, Paul is defending the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith while further stating the same grace that justifies also sanctifies. Paul sets the Galatians straight in emphasizing that the Spirit only works through grace; therefore, any merit-based approach to sanctification is as unbiblical as it is unattainable. God’s favor only comes by Faith, not Works.

Main Theme: Grace and Law cannot be mixed or mingled as they are antithetical to one another. Sanctification like Justification is by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone. There is absolutely no reason to mix law and grace, faith and works, or a merited approach to gaining God’s favor with an unmerited favor approach to gaining God’s favor. Any attempt to do so is offensive to God because it is an attempt to diminish the need for and sufficiency of the sacrifice of the cross of Christ.

Main Players:

Paul: The apostle of faith sent by God to impart the gospel message to Gentiles who had extraordinarily little knowledge about God. Paul had spent time in the region of Galatia while recovering from an illness and while he was there, he introduced the Galatians to the gospel message resulting in many people being saved. These Christian Galatians were now departing from that message, and he was admonishing and encouraging them, in this letter, to return to it.
Judaizers: Jews who were teaching that Christians needed to adopt certain principals of the law to be right with God and/or live a life that pleased God. Their primary motivation was pride in their heritage which they felt was being compromised by the Gospel. They believed Gentile converts must adopt the Jewish Law because following the Jewish law is what pleased God. The Judaizer’s insisted Gentiles had to be circumcised and follow Jewish dietary laws. Paul counters by pointing out their own failure to keep the law while also suggesting they were primarily concerned about pleasing other Jews and not God. Their strategy was to coerce unity through uniformity by intimidation.
Galatians: The Galatians were Christians, primarily Gentiles, in the region of Galatia. Although they had initially responded favorably to Paul’s gospel message, they were now being influenced by the Judaizers to mix aspects of the Mosaic Law with the grace message of the gospel to gain favor with God.

Major Issue: The Judaizers were influencing the Christian Galatian church and attempting to persuade others that for Christians to live out their salvation in a way that finds favor with God they must also adhere to the Mosaic law. Any deviation from the principals of Jewish law meant, from the Judaizers’ perspective, you were still a “sinner.” The most visible symbol of such adherence was circumcision, followed by adherence to dietary laws. For centuries many Jews, including at this time the Judaizers, mistakenly substituted these outward symbols and rituals as a means of salvation and evidence of sanctification. Instead of dependence on God alone by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, the Judaizers supplemented faith alone with rites such as circumcision.

Paul states the most obvious problem with mixing the principals of law and grace is it violates the gospel message. Paul teaches that any merit-based approach to please God is offensive to God and diminishes the need for and sufficiency of the sacrifice made by Christ at the cross. The ultimate demonstration of God’s grace was the sacrifice by the Father of his Son and the offering of the Son to be sacrificed which created the pathway by which men and women would be and are redeemed. The ultimate demonstration of God’s glory is not His creation of the earth, the stars, the galaxies, the universe or even the angels but His children. We were made to glorify God by being His children and that glory is guaranteed because God has done and will do the work to make sure that happens. God’s favor only comes by faith, not works!

Section 1: Paul Defends His Apostolic Authenticity

Galatians 1:1 to 2:14

In the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul is battling the legalistic mindset that often infiltrates a church with an emphasis on some work or ritual that is a prerequisite to acceptance and status within the church. For the legalist grace is a wonderful thing so long as you deserve it. Paul’s counterattacks on the legalists in the churches of Galatia were meant to remind everyone that no one should suffer from any delusions of virtue for one can never merit unmerited favor.

Therefore Chapters 1 and 2 contain Paul’s defense of his apostleship, a fact denied by the Judaizer legalists who were attempting to cast doubt about Paul as a trustworthy messenger so they could discredit his message. Paul spends the first two chapters defending his authenticity so that the gospel he preached could be viewed with authority.

In Chapter 1, Paul says he could not be preaching another gospel because there is no other gospel to preach. The gospel he preached is unalterable. Furthermore, he did not receive the gospel he preached from any man. He received the gospel directly from the source, Jesus Christ. He then lays out a brief history of what he did before and after he received the gospel.

In Chapter 2, he says he went to Jerusalem a second time to make sure they were still correctly preaching the gospel, not for the disciples there to evaluate whether he was correctly preaching the gospel. He mentions that false brethren were secretly activated to spy out our freedom in Christ. He mentions the other disciples recognized the grace given to him and the fact he had been tasked with being a missionary to the Gentiles. Later in Antioch he observed that Peter and Barnabas had succumbed to Jewish pressure…so he confronted them. He notes the foolishness of trying to rebuild what Jesus Christ has torn down because it nullifies the purpose of the cross.