This early letter was written by Paul after his
first missionary journey. He writes to oppose the teaching that obedience to the
law was essential for salvation.
V1-5
Opening greetings. This pattern is followed through Paul’s other
letters to churches.
V1
Paul’s divine call; he is an apostle through Jesus Christ and God the
Father. This gives him authority to speak against those “who trouble you”
(v7; 3.1; 4.17; 5.7), who are true enemies of the gospel.
V2
Paul writes to an area of several churches, not a city of one church.
V3
Paul prays for the churches. Whatever errors they had fallen into, he has
a constant desire to se them experience God’s blessing to the full.
V4
Christ gave Himself, as in 2.20; a reference to His love and grace, and
His initiative in saving us; this contrasts with a legalistic view that seeks to
earn something from God.
Christ died to deliver us from this present evil age; this includes sins,
heresy, false religion, etc. By implication, our citizenship is in heaven (John
17.15; Phil 3.20), and we are witnesses here on earth.
All this is according to God’s will; this provides a basis for our
salvation and our service (v15-16; Acts 26.17-18; John 1.13.
Through stating these basic truths, Paul is already beginning to counter
the false gospel that had been proclaimed in Galatia.
V5
Through this gospel, glory rebounds to God.
V6-12 Paul
introduces the theme of his letter. There was a different gospel, bringing a
challenge to Christian liberty (see 2 Cor 11.4). The test is simply the content
of the message.
V6
They were turning away, from the truth, to a different gospel. Paul did
not say, ‘You have turned away’; he had identified false doctrine gaining
influence, and sought to counter it. The true gospel is in the grace of Christ,
see 2 Tim 1.9; this grace brings us into real liberty; a false gospel brings
bondage, to sin, to legalism, to both.
V7
The different gospel is really no gospel at all, it is not ‘Good
News’, it cannot save, it denies the grace of God in Christ, see 2 Tim 1.9.
This grace brings us into true liberty; false doctrine brings us into bondage.
Such false teaching is not theoretical; real people were involved, who
brought real confusion into the Galatian churches.
The different gospel brings confusion and trouble, and disturbance; it is
unsettling, and disturbs our peace and assurance. The true gospel is perverted
(Gk: METASTREPHO), making something opposite (see Acts 2.20; James 4.9); they
change the gospel of Christ into something which is not the gospel.
V8-9
Those who proclaim another gospel are accursed. This is not surprising,
given the effects of their ‘ministry’. This judgment is repeated, “so now
I say again”. It is no light thing to change the message of Jesus Christ.
V10
Some apparently preferred the message of the new teachers. The test is
not whether we please men, 2 Cor 11.19-20. Paul is a servant of Christ, called
to please Him.
V11-12 The source of the message, “not
something that man made up”; the gospel does not have a human origin, it came
through revelation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, no preacher or evangelist has the
right to change it, in order to please men, or in response to human preferences,
opinions, or culture.
Those who do proclaim the gospel must be faithful, whether in personal
conversation, or preaching to many. To depart from the message is to depart from
the God who gave it.
Although Paul had met Jesus of the Damascus Road, his conversion was
essentially no different from that of any other Christian.
Outline:
1.13-2.21:
Liberty in personal experience and ministry
3.1-4.31:
Liberty is a theological truth
5.1-6.10:
Liberty is a life to be lived
V13-14
Paul refers to his judaistic zeal, as in Phil 3.5-6. This was well-known
to many. This was his “former way of life”; Paul had changed, because Jesus
Christ had changed him.
The influence of false teachers in Galatia was to turn Christians back to
the old legalistic way of life. It was as wrong for Paul as for the Galatians to
revert to the way of the law.
V15
God chooses His servants; He had set Paul apart from the womb, but it was
years before that calling was brought into effect. Similar words are used of
Samson, Samuel, Jeremiah, John Baptist.
V16
What we are called to: first that His Son be revealed in us; second that
we might proclaim Him. Paul was called specifically to preach Christ among the
Gentiles, Acts 9.15; 22.21; 26.17, 20, 23.
V18-24
After three years, Paul went to Jerusalem. Although Paul was not
well-known, there was clear evidence of conversion, a new life and a new
message. It was clear that God had changed him, although some were confounded,
rather than convinced, Acts 9.20-22.