Paul's Letter to the Galatians
Background information
The 'book' of the Bible we are about to study is actually called the 'epistle' … the letter, written by the apostle Paul to the Christians in the province of Galatia (Asia minor)
The very first thing that it is important to note is the reason that Paul had to write this letter. Paul has heard that false teachers had arrived in the area, claiming that they had been sent by the main church in Jerusalem to correct the apostle Paul's teaching. Their teaching was so different to Paul's, that much 'damage' and division was being created in the churches of Galatia.
The church experience that we all enjoy today, has been also been affected by false teachers down through the centuries, and will continue to be affected by false teachers until Jesus returns. We should be very thankful if we have been so blessed as to have had good, solid Biblical teaching in our individual Christian lives.
Jesus warned us to watch out for false teachers. He predicted that many would appear in the last days.
For this reason I hope and pray that, by examining this small letter, we can be helped in our recognition of false teachers that may appear (and likely WILL appear) among us.
To gain a proper perspective of Paul's letter it is necessary to lay a foundation of some elements that some of you might consider to be a bit on the 'boring' side. We will do that in the next section.
Preliminary information
Let's talk a little about the province of Galatia, the churches of Galatia, and the date of this letter.
Galatia was a province of Asia minor that was included in Paul's missionary travels. Paul, with his mentor Barnabas, traveled from Antioch, Syria, in a counter clockwise circuit that covered many miles and a lot of time.
Their first stop was on the island of Cyprus. After that they moved northward into Asia minor, and then eastward until they arrived back in Antioch, Syria.
Galatia was a province, or area, located on the east side of Asia minor. It was about 200 miles long and no more than 150 miles wide at its widest point. It was called Galatia because it historically was populated by Gauls.
The time or date when Paul wrote to the Galatians is not at all agreed on by biblical historians, but most lean toward the letter being the first one written by him. That would place it at about 53 ad., (which would be about two years after he had planted these churches).
So, let's begin.
Ga 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle — not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead --
Paul … an Apostle. Paul usually began most of his letters this way. However, what follows is not that usual. These words actually form a defense. For reasons which we will discuss later, Paul finds it necessary to defend himself to these people.
Jesus chose 12 disciples out of his larger following, and He gave them the title of Apostle. The scriptures says that He, Himself, placed them into His church.
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 1Co 12:28
Jesus (God) did this Himself while He was here on earth, as we read in Luke. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Lu 6:13
In verses 14 – 16 Jesus proceeds to mention each one by name.
The apostle Paul was not included in the list. Why? Because at the time that Jesus appointed the 12 apostles, Paul was not yet a believer. As a matter of fact, when Paul first appears in the biblical narrative, Jesus has already been crucified and has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven. So Paul missed the 'initial' appointing of Apostles.
But at the time of Jesus' death, one of the apostles, Judas, took his own life. If 12 was the number that should be maintained, there was now an 'opening' for a replacement. But at that time, Paul still was not a Christian.
A replacement for Judas was mentioned by the Apostle Peter, 8 or 9 days after Jesus ascended up to heaven. He told the group of 120 or so, that Judas needed to be replaced at that time.
Keeping in mind that the day of Pentecost had not yet come, (meaning that the filling of the Holy Spirit had not yet happened) and also bearing in mind that the group had not been instructed to do anything at all prior to the filling of the Spirit … except to wait, it follows that the action that Peter was calling for … was either premature or uncalled for at all. Another thing to make note of is that Peter was not known for his ability to wait. He appears in scripture as quite an impulsive person.
He proceeded to offer to the group some criteria required in the appointing of a new apostle. How did he come up with this criteria? Since Jesus never mentioned it, Peter has to make some assumptions:
Peter is saying ...
1. The number of apostles should always be twelve.
2. The replacement's experience should match that of the rest of us (the remaining 11).
3. Today must be the day to choose someone.
4. We (the 120 who are in the room) are the ones that must do the choosing.
Peter might have been right on the first two, but he was merely guessing on 3 and 4.
So Peter asks the question … of the 120 who are here in the room, how many have been a disciple right from the beginning of Jesus' ministry on Earth, right up until the time that He ascended up to heaven?
They did a quick check and discovered that there actually were two men who fit that criteria.
Notice what Peter is not addressing here, and that is that these two men would have been present when Jesus initially choose the 12. Jesus did not choose either one of them at that time. I suppose Peter could reason … “But Jesus had to choose Judas for a reason … and now that he is gone we can choose one of these.”
Next notice how the choosing took place.
First Peter had them to pray about it. Isn't that what Jesus did before He choose the 12 in the first place? As a matter of fact, Jesus spent the whole previous night in prayer before making the selection of apostles.
The prayer that Peter prayed on that day went like this:
Ac 1:24 And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen
Was that a good and correct prayer? Not really. The prayer really should have been ...”Lord, do you want us to choose a replacement apostle? And do you want us to do it today?”
The actual prayer that they prayed was really putting God on the spot. They were leaving no room at all for God to say … “I never asked you to do the choosing … I want to do that Myself. And why do you think it has to be one of these two? I have someone else in mind.”
At any rate … they prayed, “Lord show us which of these two you want.”
And just how was the Lord supposed to answer that? Peter made it very simple for the Lord. He said, We are going to 'cast lots'.
Whether they used the long straw, short straw method, rolled a pair of dice for each one to see which one rolled the higher number … or simply flipped a coin and said, “Heads, it's Matthias, tails, it's Barsabbas” we don't know. But, heads it was, and Matthias was now one of the twelve.
We must ask … was the total number supposed to be 'capped' at 12? I think so. Consider this verse:
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Re 21:14
This verse refers to the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. The names of 12 apostles are engraved on the foundations. Obviously Judas' name would not be one of them. Will Mathias have his name on one of the foundations? Or will one of the names be that of the Apostle Paul?
Paul indicates that he is one of the new 'twelve' by stating that God called him to be one of them … but he was 'born' a bit late.
Paul seems to agree with the criteria for being an apostle as being one who has personally seen the Lord and was taught by Him.
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul re-shares the gospel and then gives evidence of eye-witnesses of those who saw Jesus .. raised from the dead. He says, “I was one of them.”
Here is the passage:For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 1Co 15:3 - 8
Paul is referring to his spiritual birth here. He is saying that he was 'born again' too late to have been included with the 12.
But Paul has said in this opening verse of Galatians that he is an apostle … and that it was not his idea at all – that it was totally God's idea.
So Paul is convinced that he is one of the twelve … but there were many Christian Jews in the Jerusalem church that did not agree with Paul at all. We are going to read about their opposing efforts to destroy Paul' s ministry.
We will continue looking at Paul's introduction to this letter:
Ga 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle— not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who raised him from the dead—2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
These opening remarks from Paul are very beautiful. They are kind remarks. They are remarks that point to the wonderful grace of God, and His marvelous salvation. And they are remarks that bring out the inclusiveness of family … spiritual brothers and sisters.
But the next verses change in tone very drastically.
Ga 1:6 ¶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel --
Paul is writing to churches, plural. These are churches that Paul personally planted during one of his missionary trips. He is addressing whole churches. Paul is accusing them of having deserted Christ by having turned to a totally different gospel. How painful to the Apostle Paul to hear that these people that he personally led to Jesus … have now turned away from the gospel!
How could this happen?
We will see why as we proceed into the letter to the Galatian churches.
The very first thing that it is important to note is the reason that Paul had to write this letter. Paul has heard that false teachers had arrived in the area, claiming that they had been sent by the main church in Jerusalem to correct the apostle Paul's teaching. Their teaching was so different to Paul's, that much 'damage' and division was being created in the churches of Galatia.
The church experience that we all enjoy today, has been also been affected by false teachers down through the centuries, and will continue to be affected by false teachers until Jesus returns. We should be very thankful if we have been so blessed as to have had good, solid Biblical teaching in our individual Christian lives.
Jesus warned us to watch out for false teachers. He predicted that many would appear in the last days.
For this reason I hope and pray that, by examining this small letter, we can be helped in our recognition of false teachers that may appear (and likely WILL appear) among us.
To gain a proper perspective of Paul's letter it is necessary to lay a foundation of some elements that some of you might consider to be a bit on the 'boring' side. We will do that in the next section.
Preliminary information
Let's talk a little about the province of Galatia, the churches of Galatia, and the date of this letter.
Galatia was a province of Asia minor that was included in Paul's missionary travels. Paul, with his mentor Barnabas, traveled from Antioch, Syria, in a counter clockwise circuit that covered many miles and a lot of time.
Their first stop was on the island of Cyprus. After that they moved northward into Asia minor, and then eastward until they arrived back in Antioch, Syria.
Galatia was a province, or area, located on the east side of Asia minor. It was about 200 miles long and no more than 150 miles wide at its widest point. It was called Galatia because it historically was populated by Gauls.
The time or date when Paul wrote to the Galatians is not at all agreed on by biblical historians, but most lean toward the letter being the first one written by him. That would place it at about 53 ad., (which would be about two years after he had planted these churches).
So, let's begin.
Ga 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle — not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead --
Paul … an Apostle. Paul usually began most of his letters this way. However, what follows is not that usual. These words actually form a defense. For reasons which we will discuss later, Paul finds it necessary to defend himself to these people.
Jesus chose 12 disciples out of his larger following, and He gave them the title of Apostle. The scriptures says that He, Himself, placed them into His church.
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 1Co 12:28
Jesus (God) did this Himself while He was here on earth, as we read in Luke. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Lu 6:13
In verses 14 – 16 Jesus proceeds to mention each one by name.
The apostle Paul was not included in the list. Why? Because at the time that Jesus appointed the 12 apostles, Paul was not yet a believer. As a matter of fact, when Paul first appears in the biblical narrative, Jesus has already been crucified and has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven. So Paul missed the 'initial' appointing of Apostles.
But at the time of Jesus' death, one of the apostles, Judas, took his own life. If 12 was the number that should be maintained, there was now an 'opening' for a replacement. But at that time, Paul still was not a Christian.
A replacement for Judas was mentioned by the Apostle Peter, 8 or 9 days after Jesus ascended up to heaven. He told the group of 120 or so, that Judas needed to be replaced at that time.
Keeping in mind that the day of Pentecost had not yet come, (meaning that the filling of the Holy Spirit had not yet happened) and also bearing in mind that the group had not been instructed to do anything at all prior to the filling of the Spirit … except to wait, it follows that the action that Peter was calling for … was either premature or uncalled for at all. Another thing to make note of is that Peter was not known for his ability to wait. He appears in scripture as quite an impulsive person.
He proceeded to offer to the group some criteria required in the appointing of a new apostle. How did he come up with this criteria? Since Jesus never mentioned it, Peter has to make some assumptions:
Peter is saying ...
1. The number of apostles should always be twelve.
2. The replacement's experience should match that of the rest of us (the remaining 11).
3. Today must be the day to choose someone.
4. We (the 120 who are in the room) are the ones that must do the choosing.
Peter might have been right on the first two, but he was merely guessing on 3 and 4.
So Peter asks the question … of the 120 who are here in the room, how many have been a disciple right from the beginning of Jesus' ministry on Earth, right up until the time that He ascended up to heaven?
They did a quick check and discovered that there actually were two men who fit that criteria.
Notice what Peter is not addressing here, and that is that these two men would have been present when Jesus initially choose the 12. Jesus did not choose either one of them at that time. I suppose Peter could reason … “But Jesus had to choose Judas for a reason … and now that he is gone we can choose one of these.”
Next notice how the choosing took place.
First Peter had them to pray about it. Isn't that what Jesus did before He choose the 12 in the first place? As a matter of fact, Jesus spent the whole previous night in prayer before making the selection of apostles.
The prayer that Peter prayed on that day went like this:
Ac 1:24 And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen
Was that a good and correct prayer? Not really. The prayer really should have been ...”Lord, do you want us to choose a replacement apostle? And do you want us to do it today?”
The actual prayer that they prayed was really putting God on the spot. They were leaving no room at all for God to say … “I never asked you to do the choosing … I want to do that Myself. And why do you think it has to be one of these two? I have someone else in mind.”
At any rate … they prayed, “Lord show us which of these two you want.”
And just how was the Lord supposed to answer that? Peter made it very simple for the Lord. He said, We are going to 'cast lots'.
Whether they used the long straw, short straw method, rolled a pair of dice for each one to see which one rolled the higher number … or simply flipped a coin and said, “Heads, it's Matthias, tails, it's Barsabbas” we don't know. But, heads it was, and Matthias was now one of the twelve.
We must ask … was the total number supposed to be 'capped' at 12? I think so. Consider this verse:
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Re 21:14
This verse refers to the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. The names of 12 apostles are engraved on the foundations. Obviously Judas' name would not be one of them. Will Mathias have his name on one of the foundations? Or will one of the names be that of the Apostle Paul?
Paul indicates that he is one of the new 'twelve' by stating that God called him to be one of them … but he was 'born' a bit late.
Paul seems to agree with the criteria for being an apostle as being one who has personally seen the Lord and was taught by Him.
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul re-shares the gospel and then gives evidence of eye-witnesses of those who saw Jesus .. raised from the dead. He says, “I was one of them.”
Here is the passage:For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 1Co 15:3 - 8
Paul is referring to his spiritual birth here. He is saying that he was 'born again' too late to have been included with the 12.
But Paul has said in this opening verse of Galatians that he is an apostle … and that it was not his idea at all – that it was totally God's idea.
So Paul is convinced that he is one of the twelve … but there were many Christian Jews in the Jerusalem church that did not agree with Paul at all. We are going to read about their opposing efforts to destroy Paul' s ministry.
We will continue looking at Paul's introduction to this letter:
Ga 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle— not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who raised him from the dead—2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
These opening remarks from Paul are very beautiful. They are kind remarks. They are remarks that point to the wonderful grace of God, and His marvelous salvation. And they are remarks that bring out the inclusiveness of family … spiritual brothers and sisters.
But the next verses change in tone very drastically.
Ga 1:6 ¶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel --
Paul is writing to churches, plural. These are churches that Paul personally planted during one of his missionary trips. He is addressing whole churches. Paul is accusing them of having deserted Christ by having turned to a totally different gospel. How painful to the Apostle Paul to hear that these people that he personally led to Jesus … have now turned away from the gospel!
How could this happen?
We will see why as we proceed into the letter to the Galatian churches.