Part 1 - Paul's Introduction

From Paul, an apostle who is not sent from human authority or commissioned through human agency, but sent through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead; and from all the brothers and sisters with me. To the churches in Galatia.

Verses 1-2

The apostle Paul's letter to the churches in Galatia is a very significant letter, both to the Jew and Gentile. I believe there are many who misunderstand, or fail to understand at all, the purpose of this letter. Starting just in the very first chapter of his letter, we see some very strange and yet very powerful verses. 

One of the more basic things to understand when approaching this letter, as with any letter of Scripture, is to understand its context. Not just the context found within the letter, but also the context outside of the letter itself. Why was Paul writing this letter in the first place? To whom was he writing it? What was the historical background of this setting, and what motivated him to write these things? Which leads to one of the most important questions I had to ask myself when studying through this letter, "To what was Paul responding?" Very rarely does one write such a letter like this on a whim, much less in the power of the Spirit. But the apostle was not writing this because he saw visions of their error, but rather because he knew of it firsthand through his own experiences with the Party of the Circumcision. Though many start with the whole historical context (such as the geographical setting, the era in which they lived, the customs of the people, etc.), I would prefer to keep this more as a general and applicable overview. Not to say the other ways of study are wrong or are not applicable, but that my purpose in writing this is to layout, in plain English, the intent of his message to these churches. For example, if you notice in my quotation of the first two verses above, I did not use the New American Standard Bible (my "go-to" version for many of my Bible references), but rather, the Common English Bible (CEB), particularly due to the fashion in which it is phrased and laid out. I will go into greater detail later on as to why I did this, but I will periodically do this throughout my study, not to edit the Text itself, but to clarify better, in the flawed language that English is, the intent of the verses, in order to point better to the meaning of them. 

I would not dare consider myself an expositional scholar, but I do firmly believe that the Scripture was written so plainly to make it understandable and clear to the average reader. And for the purpose of lesser thinkers such as myself to understand it better, and apply it quicker and more accurately to my life. Far too many seem to lay out their findings in the Scriptures as a sort of theological leap, something you wouldn't come across on your own. But ultimately, one does not need a degree, nor a perfect understanding of history or culture, to understand the basic gist of these texts. I am not one who excelled in History (much less Math), and I know very little about the era in which this was written. What I have learned about it has been a culmination of what I have heard and read throughout the past few years, some of my own research, and ultimately, the study of Scripture, which often reveals many of the culture and historical mysteries in and of Itself. 

The study of Scripture lasts longer than our small lifetimes allow however, but its intent is to affect our lives now. 

An Apostle

I will not start with a dramatic overlook of Paul's life, as he himself gets into that later, and for a much different purpose than setting context for his introduction here. Rather, he starts by saying three simple words. "Paul, an apostle..." It does not take much understanding to see that he is pulling out the official title of "apostle" for the sake of validating what is to come. 

An apostle was a specific messenger sent by Christ Himself. What set these men apart from other the disciples of Christ was the fact that they were personally sent by Christ, not practically sent (like a pastor, who answers his calling due to the prompting of the Spirit and the work of God in his life, though never directly through a revelation from Christ in person). This holiness ("set-apartness") was evidenced in the signs and wonders they preformed, which both validated their claims as men sent from God, and also proved to themselves that the Gentiles were also brought into the economy of salvation (a point later to be dealt with in Galatians 2, and also seen by Peter in Acts 10). The reason Paul began this way, especially to the churches in Galatia, was to essentially tell them, "Listen up!" It was a call to heed the words of God, not the words of a man. And so, when we ourselves read these things that are about to be stated, we must not view them with contempt or subjectivity. They are entirely applicable, and we desperately need them. The reason I am writing this, in fact, is as a very serious reminder to myself of the urgency we must have in learning more of the Truth every day, and constantly drowning our minds in its treasures (things often easily revealed to us, just not often sought for by us). 

The Subject and Speaker At Hand

I believe far too many today overlook the most important part of any book of the Bible when they study through it. They are so picky about the historical context, or so profound in their practical theology, that they miss the underlying point of a letter in any given Scripture. 

And that purpose is God. 

There are many who tell us to find Christ (in reference to the Gospel) in every passage of Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments. The problem with this is that the Gospel is not, in fact, in every passage of Scripture. To be clear, the Gospel is not actually the point of the Bible, if we believe the Gospel is about us. As soon as we believe that we are the main character of the Gospel, we have gone off course. Some, with all the good intentions they can muster, will loudly proclaim "The Gospel is about Jesus!" And to an extent, that is true, if you believe in His deity. But even then, Christ did not make the Gospel about Himself. He clearly and consistently proclaimed, "I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 6:38) The Gospel, and the whole of Scripture, at their very core, are about God the Father. 

Why is this point important? Because the Lord Himself made it thus. As mentioned, He consistently urged the focus to be on the Father. If Jesus Christ focused so much on the Father, how much more should we, who cannot claim to be equal with the Father, find the purpose of the Father in every text? 

The understanding of this text, then, is to know and make this study Theocentric in our hearts and minds, as all Scripture ought to be. The debate at hand is not, however, "Is this verse speaking of the Son or the Father?" but to lay down firmly both the reality that this is the Word of God and our accountability to heed it. 

Allow me to give an example of the importance of this point. Look down to verses 6-7 of this first chapter in Galatians: "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; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ." Now, there is a clear point being made here concerning the desertion of the Gospel, which we will dive into when we reach that text. But we must first understand the severity of his tone. We could view it this way: "These foolish Galatians were abandoning their own salvation! They were abandoning any hope of joy or, even worse, 'The peace which surpasses understanding'! Paul is sharply rebuking them because they do not know what they are doing." This is, in a small sense, true. But is not primarily the point, as the context of the letter proves. They were giving up that joy and peace which come as results from the Gospel, but the severity is found in Who it was that gave them this Gospel in the first place. Notice, firstly, that he does not begin "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting the Gospel of Christ..." He begins rather, "I amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel..." His emphasis is not on the Gospel, but on He who called them to it. 

So often, we treat sin and apostasy as a person sinning against themselves, when in reality they sin against the most high God. If we view them merely as sinning against themselves, we will not treat the sin and apostasy as urgently or seriously as we ought to. But if we view it in the light of them opposing and deserting God Himself, "who is to judge the living and the dead" (1 Tim. 4:1), then the amount of seriousness and urgency cannot be measured. How we view the severity of this text and their error ourselves will greatly affect how we view the sin in those around us (and within ourselves), and how we respond or react to it. 

We must understand firstly the importance of the text in light of the fact that it is God's Word. And so, when Paul begins by saying "an apostle," the ears must listen up, the eyes focus, and the heart pay fast attention to what is about to be said. 

To Whom It Must Concern

Paul does not begin lightly here. He does not begin with a commendation or even a joyous tone (in fact, he never commends the churches in Galatia for anything). He starts very brutally, and in this very first verse. Though it is placed in parentheses in the NASB, I believe this should not be the case, which is my reason for using the CEB in its stead. This is not a small clarifier, but a foundational point for the rest of what will be said. The student of Scripture must understand that Paul was not writing this out of a random feeling to say something to them, but in a specific response to one of the underlying problems in these churches, which can be seen as nothing other than the fear of man, and worse, a lack of the holy fear of God. The reason Paul began this way is to lay down the reality that his apostleship has absolutely nothing to do with any man or gathering of men. That is to say, he was not a member of any organization, cult or assembly, which had the authority to send him to various places. He is seen being sent out by the other apostles in Jerusalem in Acts, but Paul's phrasing here indicates that his initial "being sent," and his ultimate authority and judge is Christ Himself and God the Father. He will, later in this chapter, write in greater detail of this fact, but he quickly establishes it in the first verse to make clear that it is not Paul the apostle writing these words, but the Lord Jesus Christ writing through an apostle- one who speaks the words of Christ, who is God Himself. The point here is not to say "Listen! I am an apostle, which means you must listen to me!" If the reader puts the proper emphasis on this passage, it is very clear what his intent is. "...not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father..." The first part removes man from the picture, and the second part establishes Who sent him in the first place, and Who is speaking. 

In light of this then, we see that he was responding to a couple points of error within these churches in Galatia. Firstly, they severely struggled with the fear of men. In this period of time, there was a specific group titled "The Party of the Circumcision" as Paul titles them in chapter 2. Peter, the other apostle, fell prey to the same error as these Galatians, when he held "himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision" (2:12) along with the other Jews. The reason Paul uses this account as an example was to counter the very problem the Galatians fell into so quickly. The only reason anyone would accept false doctrine over the Truth is that they, in some way or another, fear men more than God. This fear is not always seen in one cowering in a corner. Many students in schools suffer with the fear of men. They conform the style of their clothes and music to this fear, and strive with all their might to "fit in," fearing that they might not impress and please those around them. The fear of man has so captivated society today, that they advertise it without shame. The Galatians saw the power of the Pharisees and those like them and were captivated by their religion. After all, who wouldn't want a religion in which you could earn your way to Heaven? Who wouldn't do their part to reach the gates of splendor? 

The Galatians were in awe of these men. The Galatian churches were, as far as we can tell, made up of both Jews and Gentiles. The Jewish people saw their old way of life, and quickly fell in love with the works and security that came with them (as they supposed it to be). The loftiness of the Jewish title fascinated them, and captured their interest with the possibility of inheriting salvation both through their heritage and good works. They deserved credit for working hard, and for being of the seed of Abraham, and this religion was the most powerful in their area. Jesus was a Jew, therefore, there had to be some place for this exclusivity. The Gentiles naturally saw these things and thought very much the same way, being likewise quickly captured by all the religion involved. This was truly the fear of men, not because they hated the idea, but because of both the popularity and the desire to do good things to earn their way to Heaven, they were "afraid" to not be a part of it. They, in some way, feared themselves, that they might have the ability to earn their way, and do their part, and might be missing out on the privilege of being a Jew. This is why all of the religions of the world involve doing good things, in some way or another. To earn their righteousness and security in heaven. They fear either the majority around them, or themselves, that they can somehow earn their right to be seen by God. 

This was, in a very basic look, the group to whom Paul was writing. Only these also professed to be Christians, having previously accepted the salvation brought to them in Christ. They were not ignorant of the Truth regarding the Law and good works to a complete extent. And thus, as I shall make clearer, is the reason for Paul's bluntness throughout this letter. 

The Word of God 

Once again we return to the point of Who is speaking. I cannot emphasize this point enough, because it is crucial to understanding so many points throughout the Scripture. And Paul begins putting the focus on God from the start, making clear that what he wrote was not only from God, but he himself was held accountable for his presentation of the Word of God. 

Paul was "not sent from men nor through the agency of man..." A pastor must never view himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, unless he is merely using the basic meaning of the word "apostle." The biggest difference between an apostle of Jesus Christ and a pastor or minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the difference between two words: Proclamation and Definition. Pastors are the "proclaimers," in that they proclaim the Word of God already revealed. When a man calls himself "a minister of the Gospel," he is not one who defines a new gospel, he is one who tells men what that Gospel already is, proclaiming the Good News as they themselves have already been saved to. When I go to preach at the Lansing City Rescue Mission, I am not there to tell them a tale or make up a false reality in order to lift their spirits. Many can proclaim various stories and ideas that lift of the spirits of men, give them a better outlook on life, and inspire them to build bigger goals in their lives. But this is not the task of the preacher of the Gospel. I am there to proclaim what God has done in Christ, telling men not of their need for a better life, but their need for an eternal life through justification before and through God. A pastor has the job of proclamation of the Gospel, as do all Christians, but pastors also bear the title of "undershepherd," that is, one who cares for the Christian congregation of those placed under him by the Shepherd. Proclaiming the Word of God throughout the whole world, as well as the location to which he is called to stay. The pastor is also a teacher, studying and giving out the explanation of the Word of God as it is written, making clear its meaning to the hearers of his church, and making it applicable, and if nothing else, understandable. The job of a pastor is Proclamation. 

The job of an apostle was Definition. That is to say, the apostle was the one who declared, in the name of Christ, what that Word is. The apostles were not essentially teaching the hearers the various aspects of the Old Testament, but was declaring the fulfillment of it in Christ, something which was, at the time, not considered Scripture by any means. The apostle declares new revelation from God, the preacher clarifies what that revelation means. Often, the apostles were both. In the case of the churches in Galatia, Paul starts first by reminding them that he was an apostle. He teaches them (and us) many things about the Law, but first he clarifies that he speaks for God. This is not subjective revelation (such as the subjectivity of a preacher, who may or may not be teaching the Scripture accurately), but certain revelation (where what is said, without any doubt, is Truth) because it is the Word of God, who cannot lie. And so, when we see Paul beginning with the words, "Paul, an apostle," we must not see any sort of subjectivity in the text, but reality. This is Truth. The only thing we need is to understand what that Truth is, and how we ought to apply it to our lives. There is the pastor, who proclaims to the hearers the Word of God as it has been already revealed, and then there were the apostles, who defined and wrote the Word of God as given to them from Him, from which the preacher draws his sermons. Very much like advertising does not make the product itself, it simply proclaims what was already made.

Paul was sent through Jesus Christ, as we see in Acts 9, having the Lord Jesus personally appear to him on the road to Damascus. Such is the significance in Paul's wording here in Galatians 1:1, as he later clarifies in this same context. Paul was validated as an apostle through the signs and wonders provided through the work of the Holy Spirit, but this was only to validate him before men. He was already established as an apostle by Jesus Christ, God Himself, thus making it of little difference in few believed he was actually an apostle. Christ was also thus proved to be the Son of God, doing works which no man could do on their own, but was also the Son of God whether or not the majority believed Him. 

The significance of Christ's position is now seen in His resurrection. Clearly, nowhere in his letter to the Galatians does he rebuke them for denying the resurrection of the Christ. Why bring up the resurrection then, in his introduction to them? The resurrection of the Messiah was not just a miracle, and it was not primarily used as a sign to the people so they would believe. The primary purpose of Christ coming again was, as a result of His defeat of death, His intercessory work on our behalf. 

And the apostle explains in greater detail the clarity of the resurrection, and the consequences of denying it, in 1 Corinthians 15: 

"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." - 1 Cor. 15:1-20

The Corinthian church had clearly struggled with the same issue the Galatians did, that being the fear of man. There were some in their midst who denied the resurrection of the dead (perhaps related to the beliefs of the Sadducees). They, as it seems, did not directly want to say that Christ was not risen from the dead, but said that the dead, in general, are not raised. Maybe they did not want to directly claim that the Gospel was a lie, but wanted to change the Corinthian's views and perspective by altering their beliefs on seemingly philosophical topics. But more importantly, the Gospel (as "good news") is dependent upon the fact of His resurrection. For, as Paul states in the above text, if the dead are not raised, we are all still in our sins, and are, above all men, "most to be pitied." The reason for this is that we would still be in our sins, as there is no Mediator standing in our stead who can fully complete the priestly work. Christ now stands as our mediator and high priest, for if He only died for our sins, we would sin again and fall back into death. But since He lives, we now are no longer the ones living, but He lives within us (Gal. 2:20). So when Paul says, "and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead," we see a sort of validation, and reminder. Or rather, a reminder of the validation, by which the heavenly Father declared Christ to be the Son of God through the resurrection, raising Him from the dead. This Christ, who was raised from the dead, was raised through the power of the Father (God almighty), and for the purpose of Him being the mediator for us before God, a job no man could truly do. 

"...concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ..." - Romans 1:3-6

But these are not just the "ramblings of an apostle," but the beliefs of the church. For Paul clarifies, "and all the brethren who are with me..." He was not alone in these things. He did not say, "Paul, an apostle, declares to you the words of God!" On the contrary, he often mentions those with him, in his introductions to 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, and Philemon. The benefit we gain from these introductions is the reality that these are not merely the words of Paul, these are the Words of God, coming through His slave, the apostle. As in the 1 Corinthians 15 passage, he makes sure to clarify that the resurrected Christ was seen by more than five hundred of the "brethren." This Gospel is not a hidden belief, but a wide open call to repentance. One that the world desperately seeks to hide. 

He was one of the twelve, who were the apostles of Christ, who declared the doctrines of the churches. This doctrine, which was given by God through His servants, set the standards of living, the hopes of the coming Christ, and all their beliefs in light of the Old Testament, making firm the foundation and results of their belief. But the apostles were not the perfect leaders of the church, Christ was. And these words, coming from Christ, who was raised by the Father, are to be listened to with all understanding and with clarity must be preached to these churches in Galatia. For no man has the authority to speak of his own words to the Bride of Christ. His only authority is found in the Word of God, and if that is not being preached accurately, he has no business speaking anything else to this Bride. 

The Churches in Galatia

These are those to whom the apostle is writing. The reason I changed the translation from NASB to CEB is due to a point I would like to make, as a side note in this chapter. It is by no means wrong to translate it "To the churches of Galatia." For these are, in fact, the churches found in Galatia. However, I have found that many make their churches "of the world" more than the bride of Christ. This is not a boycott against calling a church "the church of [such and such a place]." Rather, it seems so many treat their churches as though they are of the world, rather than of Christ. They are so central on music, entertainment, and pleasing and aiding the community around them, that they think doctrine (and false doctrine) is of no consequence. They believe that, since we are in the world, we are meant to captivate the world by any means necessary. Even if it means sacrificing standards and ideals for the sake of accepting sinners into the church. They base every sermon on the Gospel, because they see the church as a place to get people saved, not as a gathering of believers to learn more of the Scripture- things deeper than the basic Gospel message. (See Heb. 6:1-2) 

And so, one could, in this sense, say that these are "the churches of Galatia," in that they were so bent on accepting the false doctrines of men, and not holding fast the Word of life. 

I do not go to "the Baptist church of Dansville, Michigan." I go to the Baptist church that just so happens to be in Dansville, Michigan. 

But getting back to the context, we see that this is plural. The "churches" in Galatia, not a singular church. Because these churches were spread throughout the region of Galatia. Which also goes to show how far the infection of false doctrine had spread... 

And so, in conclusion, we must see at the very beginning both the essential error of these Galatians, and the purpose in Paul's phraseology. He was not merely throwing a fact out there, he was emphasizing where they had gone off track. This is the Word of God, and if they dare treat it so lightly, they forsake the clarity and saving work of the Gospel, running off to the "shadow of things to come," not the Caster of this shadow.