Study on Galatians

Week 1 

Galatians 1

Working as a teacher years ago, I would always train my class. We had class rules and procedures that provided structure and solidified expectations. One day, however, I became ill and had to be absent for several days. Upon my return, I realized that a few students who had been so compliant and willing to adhere to our class framework, in my absence, quickly deviated, creating their own variation of our rules.

Paul, an apostle of Christ, sets the stage for a similar scenario with the churches of Galatia, a region now known as Turkey. This letter, Paul’s first, was most likely written about AD49 and was meant to be circulated to all the churches in the region.

Paul’s primary goal was to establish and re-establish the gospel of Jesus. His message over the next few chapters focuses on the sufficiency of faith in Christ alone: His death, burial, and resurrection for our salvation.

It is the message that they needed to hear then; it is the message we still need to hear today.

 

Let’s begin with Paul as he addresses the churches, his brethren. 

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Galations 1:3-4

Ironically, Paul extended this salutation to these churches knowing full well that in his absence, the  message he taught them of Jesus Christ and His grace had already been modified to fit the agenda of a certain group of people. Yes, God’s grace was under fire and Paul knew that he must quickly address it.

After his greeting, he states the current situation.

 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, which is really not another… and (you) want to distort the gospel of Christ.” Galations 1:6-7

False teaching had crossed the threshold of the very young churches. Certain Jewish legalizers created their own version of the gospel.  They began teaching that some of the Jewish laws still needed to be practiced, such as circumcision, to gain salvation.

Unfortunately, what they failed to realize, is that it is either the gospel of Christ and Him alone, or not the gospel at all.

Let’s look closely at a couple of key words.

“Called you by the grace of Christ…” (v6a). What exactly does grace mean?

Grace (Greek/charis) means a blessing extended to us by God, leaning toward us so that we can share in the benefits of God. It is the way God freely extends Himself to us.

I really love that!  

When confronting them, Paul continues “and (you) want to distort the gospel of Christ.”(v6b)

Gospel (Greek/euaggelion)  means the “good news.”

He called it. They were certainly trying to distort the Good News.

 

Now that Paul has greeted them and placed before them his reason for writing, he knows what he must do next.  He, like a good teacher, establishes who he is and why he is qualified to present his argument.

He knows that if they can question his credentials, they can question his message.

Wisely, he is ready to back up his position as an apostle before he defends the message of grace he has been entrusted with.

He makes these points to solidify his apostolic position.

First, Paul states, “If I were still trying to please men, then I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” (v10) 

Paul contends that he is acting on behalf of Christ, and the gospel of grace, not for the approval of man.

 

Second, he clarifies that he received the gospel, not from man, “but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”(v.12 ) 

Acts 9 records the history of Paul, then Saul, and his quest to kill Christians. On this road to Damascus, he was confronted by Jesus. His life was changed.  Like the original apostles, Paul’s message of grace came from Christ himself.  

Last, he narrates his story, his powerful testimony, for these churches:  

“…I used to persecute the church of God…and tried to destroy it.”(v13)

But then “He who had set me apart… (and) called me through His grace was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.”(v15-16)

He continued, “then, I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only they kept hearing, ‘He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith, which he once tried to destroy.’” (v21-23)

News of Paul had traveled.  “He who once persecuted us in now preaching the faith…”

His testimony of who he was, how Christ revealed Himself to Paul and the change that Christ made in Paul’s life is a testimony that is still preached today.  

His story validated his claim that he was a chosen apostle of Christ.

His mission was clear,  defend the gospel of grace. 

jeannaswann

#nowuntohimwhoisable

Question for discussion: (your email is never posted or shared)

As Paul set out to defend the gospel of Christ against those that would try to add to the complete message of God’s grace, where do you see that same thing happening today? church, work, school, relationships?