Galatians 1

Paul opens the letter to the Galatians by identifying himself to be an apostle, "not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead." (1:1)

What is an apostle? "men who were commissioned by the Lord Himself and given the task of speaking authoritatively on doctrine and practice in the church." Therefore he establishes that his authority is from Christ Himself, for one issue in the 1st century church was a debate of whether to consider Paul an apostle since he was not among the original 12 disciples. We are to heed Paul's instructions as authoritative and from God.

Paul intended this letter to be distributed "to the churches (plural) of Galatia." (1:2)

Verse 1:3, sounds like a standard salutation:

3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

4who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of ^(J)our God and Father,

5to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

Paul immediately launches into the gospel and reduces it down to just two verses- 1:4, 5

After the greeting, Paul launches directly into the central issue with the Galatians, they are "so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel." (1:6) "A different gospel" is an oxymoron as Paul explains in 1:7 that it is "really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and what to distort the gospel of Christ."

There is a sad irony in these first few verses of Galatians. Paul opens the letter by briefly procaiming the gospel in 1:3-5, which is the true gospel. Yet, in Chapter 1, the word "gospel" appears five times all within the first 11 verses:

1. 1:6 "a different gospel"
2. 1:7 "distort the gospel of Christ"
3. 1:8 "a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you"
4. 1:9 "gospel contrary to what you received"
5. 1:11 "gospel which was preached by me is not according to man"

In the first four appearances of the word "gospel" it is in the context of being contrary or perverted to the true gospel (1:3-5). Further, Paul clearly points out that the false gospel is from man (1:7, 9) as opposed to being from God and says twice in successive verses that any man who preaches a gospel that is contrary to what he has preached should be accursed! This is really important when we see something repeated two times like this.

Paul then poses the rhetorical question which may seem a little oddly placed. He says in 1:10-

10For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

Paul was talking about the true gospel being from God versus the false gospel from man. Suddenly Paul is talking about seeking favor from God or men. Imagine that Paul is the messenger carrying the gospel. In modern times, perhaps this is a spokeperson, or in Washington D.C. this would be the White House Press Secretary who conveys the Administration's message to the press. The messenger's job is to deliver the message, but who is the judge of whether that message is delivered accurately and well? Who is the messenger trying to please? The sender makes all the difference- is the gospel of God or of man? Paul of course is preaching the true gospel which is from God, hence he is seeking the favor of God and not of man.

This is a very important point for all of us to heed, for we all carry the gospel message wherever we go. And I hope you are praying for oppourtunities to preach the gospel wherever you are. We must remember that we are seeking to please God as we carry forth His message, and not men. "Men" could our parents, our pastor, our Christian friends, our manager at work- it could be anyone other than God! The gospel is not of man, but of God, so let us please the true Sender.

In 1:11 does Paul finally refer to the true gospel is "not according to man," "received it from man," "nor taught it" and then proceeds to explain that it is from God (1:12). Note how Paul talks about the gospel. We(man) do not give the gospel, nor teach it, but others received the gospel by revelation by Jesus Christ Himself!

Following, Paul recounts-

1. His life before Christ as a persecutor of Christians (1:13-14).
• "My former manner of life" 1:13
  
• Note the "I" pronoun.
  
2. How he became a Christian by God's calling through grace and by the revelation of Christ (1:15-16)
• Subject is God, not "I" - God is the active participant in a person's salvation.
  
• Pronoun is now "me"
  
3. His life after becoming a Christian: preaching the faith (1:16b-23)
• "I" pronoun again.
• Parenthetical statement ("Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying") likening to 1:1.
  
4. What it means to be a Christian (1:23-24)

• "They" pronoun
• Others would glorify God because of you!
  

In short, Paul is giving his testimony!

Note that Paul says that he was called to the Lord "through His grace." (1:15) Grace is receiving things you do not deserve. Grace is central to the salvation of Christ. "Not by works so that no one can boast." Notice that when Paul talks about his personal salvation story, the focus is not what he did to be saved, rather the focus is on what God did. In verses 1:15-16, God is the subject and the verb clauses are "set (me apart)", "called (me)", "was pleased to reveal." God is setting us apart (another way to say being made holy), calling us to Him through His grace and not by our works, and revealing His Son in us so that we might do what God's called us to do. For Paul that would be to preach Him among the Gentiles. Paul could have phrased it differently, but he says "to preach Him." (1:16) Very interesting. This kinda of recalls John 1, where the Word refers to Jesus. So Paul is to preach Jesus, the Word!

In 1:16-24, Paul recounts his early days as a Christian and makes a point to say that he was nor influenced by man-

1:16 "I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood"
1:17 "nor did I got to Jerusalem to whose who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus(Acts 9:2?)"
1:18 "The three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.
1:19 "But I did not see any other of the apostles except James..."
1:21 "Then I went into the regions of Syria(Acts 15:23, 41) and Cilicia(Acts 6:9?)"
1:22 "I was still unknown by sight tot he churches of Judea which were in Christ"

Paul seems to be saying that he spent very little time with other Christians in his early days and even when he did they were apostles(Cephas) or an early church leader (James). This isn't revisionist history by Paul either. Looking back in the book of Acts, after Saul's conversion in Acts 9, Luke writes very little about Saul. Is whisked away from Jerusalem for the Hellenistic Jews there were seeking to kill him. We don't hear anything of him until Acts 11, when Barnabas brings him back from Tarsus to help with the church in Antioch.

I belive Paul is making a point of this "gospel of God vs. Man" thing because this establishes the foundation for the rest of this letter. And so he must establish that he is sent from God as an apostle and not sent by man.

Remember the innocuous salutation at the beginning of the chapter? In 1:3-

3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
4who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

Paul is in fact greeting the Galatians with the whole point of his letter. The thesis is to live by the true gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel of grace, liberty and freedom, which is from God, as opposed to living a gospel from man which is of the flesh, bondage and the Law.