1Paul,
an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead— 2and all
the brothers and sistersa with me,
To the
churches in Galatia:
3
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4
Who gave Himself for our
sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the Will of our God
and Father, 5to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
No Other Gospel
6I am
astonished that you are so quickly deserting the One Who called you to live in
the Grace of Christ and are turning to a different
gospel— 7which
is really no gospel at all.
Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert
the Gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we or an angel from
heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them
be under God’s curse! 9As we
have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel
other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
10Am I
now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to
please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a
servant of Christ.
Paul Called by God
11I want
you to know, brothers and sisters, that the
gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12I did not receive it from any
man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus
Christ.
13For you
have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted
the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14I was
advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was
extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15But
when God, Who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace,
was pleased 16to
reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, my
immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17I did
not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went
into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
18Then after
three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephasb and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw
none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20I
assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
21Then I
went to Syria and Cilicia. 22I was
personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23They
only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching
the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24And
they praised God because of me.
Galatia was a
province of Asia Minor, having Pontus on the east. Bithynia and Paphlagonia
north, Cappadocia and Phrygia south, and Phrygia west. However, it extends on the north to the Black
sea. It was probably about 200 miles in its greatest extent from east to west,
and varied in width from 12 to 150 miles. It was one of the largest provinces
of Asia Minor, and covered an extent of country almost as large as the State of
New Jersey.
It is probable,
however, that the boundaries of Galatia varied at different times as
circumstances dictated. It had no natural boundary, except on the north; and of
course the limits may have been varied by conquests, or by the will of the
Roman emperor, when it became a Roman province.
There is no certain
information as to the time when the gospel was first preached in Galatia, or
the persons by whom it was done. There is mention, however, of Paul's having
preached there several times, and several circumstances lead us to suppose that
those churches were established by him, or that he was the first to carry the
gospel to them, or that he and Barnabas together preached the gospel there on
the mission on which they were sent from Antioch, Acts 13:2.
In Acts 16:5-6, it is expressly
said that they went "throughout Phrygia and the region of
Galatia." This journey was for the purpose of confirming the
churches, and was undertaken at the suggestion of Paul Acts 15:36, with the design
of visiting their brethren in every city where they had preached the word of
the Lord. It is true, that in the account of the mission of Paul and Barnabas Acts 14, it is not
expressly said that they went into Galatia; but it is said Acts 14:5-6, that when they
were in Iconium, an assault was made on them, or a purpose formed to stone
them, and that they fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia.
A part of Lycaonia
bordered on Galatia, and contained 14 cities, of which Iconium was the most
celebrated. Phrygia also was contiguous to Galatia, and to Lycaonia, and these
circumstances render it probable that when Paul proposed to Barnabas to visit
again the churches where they had preached, Galatia was included and that they
had been there before this visit referred to in Acts 16:6.
It is probable that
the Epistle was written somewhere about the year 53 A.D. or between that and 57
A.D. and was evidently designed to settle an important controversy in the
churches of Galatia. The place where it was written, must be wholly a matter of
conjecture. The subscription at the end that it was written from Rome is of no
authority whatever; and there are no internal circumstances, which throw any
light on the subject.
It is easy to discern from the
Epistle itself that the following circumstances existed in the churches of
Galatia, and that it was written with reference to them.
(1) that they had been at first
devotedly attached to the apostle Paul, and had received his commands and
instructions with implicit confidence when he was among them; Galatians 4:14-15; compare Galatians 1:6.
(2) that they had been perverted
from the doctrine which he taught them soon after he had left them; Galatians 1:6.
(3) that this had been done by
persons who were of Jewish origin, and who insisted on the observance of the
rites of the Jewish religion.
(4) that they claimed to have
come directly from Jerusalem, and to have derived their views of religion and
their authority from the apostles there.
(5) that they taught that the
apostle Paul was inferior to the apostles there; that he had been called more
recently into the apostolic office; that the apostles at Jerusalem must be
regarded as the source of authority in the Christian church; and that,
therefore, the teaching of Paul should yield to that which was derived directly
from Jerusalem.
(6) that the laws of Moses were
binding, and were necessary in order to justification. That the rite of
circumcision especially was of binding obligation; and it is probable Galatians 6:12, that they
had prevailed on many of the Galatians to be circumcised, and certain that they
had induced them to observe the Jewish festivals; Galatians 4:10.
(7) it would seem, also, that
they urged that Paul himself had changed his views since he had been among the
Galatians, and now maintained the necessity of circumcision; Galatians 5:11. Perhaps
they alleged this, from the undoubted fact that Paul, when at Jerusalem Acts 21:26, had complied
with some of the customs of the Jewish ritual.
(8) that they urged that all the
promises of God were made to Abraham, and that whoever would partake of those
promises, must be circumcised as Abraham was. This Paul answers, Galatians 3:7; Galatians 4:7.
(9) that in consequence of the
promulgation of these views, great dissensions had arisen in the church, and
strifes of an unhappy nature existed, greatly contrary to the spirit which
should be manifested by those who bore the Christian name.
From this description of the
state of things in the churches of Galatia, the design of the Epistle is
apparent, and the scope of the argument will be easily seen. Of this state of
things the apostle had been undoubtedly informed, but whether by letters, or by
messengers from the churches there, is not known. It is not improbable, that
some of his friends in the churches there had informed him of it, and he
immediately set about a remedy to the evils existing there.
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