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INTRODUCTION OF THE LETTER
GALATIANS 1:1-10
This introductory paragraph contains the salutation to the letter (1:1-5). Then Paul launches immediately into the subject and occasion of the letter (1:6-10).
GALATIANS 1:1-5
Compare the form of the salutation of this letter with other letters in the N.T. (Acts 15:23: James 1:1). Like all letters at this time, the salutation is divided into three parts: the sender’s name, the recipient’s name, and a greeting. See for example Acts 23:26: “Claudius Lysias to his Excellency the governor Felix, greeting.” Paul expands this conventional form giving it a distinctively Christian emphasis and here in this letter stating his credentials and anticipating the subject of this letter: the defense of the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24). In this letter,
- the sender’s name is given in verses 1 and 2a;
- the recipient’s name in verse 2b; and
- the greeting in verses 3 through 5.
GALATIANS 1:1-5
1. Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor through men, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2. and all the brethren 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, that He might deliver us out of the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5. to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
1:1. “Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor through men, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),”
Paul is the sender of this letter. He identifies himself as an apostle, that is, “one sent,” an authorized and commissioned messenger. God had called him (Rom. 1:1), not man. He says that his apostleship is not “from men” as to its ultimate source, or “through men” as to its immediate source. Paul’s apostleship is independent of men. But he not only states the source of his apostleship negatively but also states it positively; it was “through Jesus Christ and God the Father.” He received his apostleship directly from God with no human agency (Acts 9:5-6, 15-16; 22:14-15; 26:15-18). Paul then refers to the resurrection of Jesus because he had received his commission from the risen Christ, not as a follower of Jesus in the flesh before His resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus was the main element in the gospel and Paul was an eye-witness of the risen Christ (I Cor. 15:3-8).
1:2. “and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia:”
Even though Paul is writing this letter as an authorized apostle, not as a private person, he also includes all the brethren with him as the senders of the letter. He is here probably referring to his traveling companions, his fellow missionaries, the members of his apostolic team, not to those Christians at the place from which he is writing. The second half of this verse gives the recipients of the letter: “the churches of Galatia.” These churches are those in the southern region of the Roman province of Galatia, the churches that Paul founded on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:13-16,42-52; 14:1-26). On the location of these churches see, for example, Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Frank E. Gaebelein, general editor, vol. 10, pp. 412-417.
1:3. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,”
This verse contains the greeting. This Christian greeting is also a word of blessing. Compare it with the Aaronic benediction in Num. 6:25. God’s grace is the source of salvation (Eph. 2:8-9) and God’s peace is the result of salvation (Rom. 5:1). The source of this grace and peace is God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is on the same level with the Father and as such is also the source of grace and peace with the Father (I Cor. 16:23). This is clear evidence that Jesus Christ is God (Titus 2:13).
1:4. “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,”
This verse contains the expansion of the Christian greeting. In this expansion, Paul says two things about the Lord Jesus Christ:
(a) that “He gave Himself for our sins,” and
(b) that “He might take us out of the present evil age.”
The second is the result of the first: “He gave Himself for our sins so that He might take us out of the present evil age.” By the giving of Himself for our sins Christ saves us from sin (idolatry – trust in a false god) and thus removes us from this present evil age with its false gods (Rom. 12:2). This salvation is “according to the will of our God and Father.” Our salvation was God’s plan and purpose for us.
This verse contains the conclusion of the Christian greeting. It is in the form of a doxology, ascribing glory to our God and Father forever.
GALATIANS 1:6-10
Without his customary thanksgiving to God for his readers with which all his letters begin following the salutation, except I Timothy and Titus, Paul goes immediately to the subject and occasion of this letter.
GALATIANS 1:6-10
6. I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7. which is not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8. But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed. 10. For 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 slave of Christ.
1:6. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;”
Paul expresses his surprise that they are so quickly turning away from God for a different gospel. Their apostasy was not from Paul or his teachings but from the God who called them by the grace of Christ. Since the gospel is the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24), their turning from God is also a turning from the message of the grace of Christ by which God called them. They were deserting God and His gospel of grace for another (heteros — another of a different kind) gospel, a message of salvation by the meritorious works of the law and not by the grace of God through faith.
1:7. “which is not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.”
This other gospel which they were turning to was not another gospel of the same kind (allos) as the gospel of grace of God. In fact it was not even a gospel, good news. For it was a message of bad news. As Paul later argues, the works of the law bring a curse (Gal. 3:10). And that is bad news. This message that they were turning to was a perversion of the gospel. There were some people — Paul never says who they are — that were disturbing and upsetting the Galatian Christians by their perversion of the gospel.
1:8. “But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
Paul now pronounces an anathema on himself or an angel from heaven if they or he preach a gospel contrary to that which he had preached to the Galatians.
1:9. “As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.”
Paul repeats the anathema, extending it to any man preaching a gospel contrary to that which the Galatians had received.
1:10. “For 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 slave of Christ.”
Paul was apparently accused of modifying the gospel to curry the Gentiles’ favor and acceptance. Paul denies this accusation, arguing that he would not be slave of Christ if he were trying to please men.
GALATIANS 1:11-2:21
With these verses, Paul begins his defense of the gospel he preached. This defense will continue to the end of chapter 2. In this part of his letter Paul will show that his gospel
is of divine not human origin, (Gal. 1:11-17),
is independent of the apostles at Jerusalem (Gal. 1:18-24),
but was accepted by those apostles (Gal. 2:1-10) and,
when applied to them (specifically Peter), corrected their errors (Gal. 2:11-21).
GALATIANS 1:11-24
Throughout this section (Gal. 1:11-24), Paul is concerned to show he was not taught the gospel by man and his apostleship was not received from man, that is, from the apostles in Jerusalem. His message and ministry were from God. Paul tries to show this by showing limited contact with apostles at Jerusalem.
GALATIANS 1:11-17
11. For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13. For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it. 14. and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous
for my ancestral traditions. 15. But when He who set me apart from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased 16. to reveal His Son in me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17. nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus.
1:11. “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.”
In this and the next verse, Paul will assert the divine origin of the gospel he preached. He declares this negatively and then positively; in this verse he asserts that the gospel he preached was “not according to man.” This phrase is explained more fully in the next verse. Paul addresses his readers as “brethren” which usually meant fellow Christians (Mark 3:31-34; Matt. 23:8; I Cor. 5:11; 6:5-6; 8:11-13; 15:58; II Cor. 1:1; 2:13; Rom. 14:10,13,15).
1:12. “For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Paul now explains more fully what he meant when he said in the previous verse that the gospel he preached was “not according to man.” He says that he neither (a) received it from man nor (b) was he taught it. In this verse, he explains why he did not receive it from man and in the rest of this chapter he explains why he was not taught it. He did not receive it from man because he received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. This revelation no doubt began with his conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9) and continued while he was in Damascus (Acts 9:15-22) and in Arabia (Gal. 1:17). The impact of the revelation of the risen Christ on the Damascus road was so radical that Paul no doubt had to spend time absorbing it and rethinking his theology. The Greek word translated “received” here is the same word Paul uses in I Cor. 15:3-7 where he says:
“For I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures ….”
Since Paul did receive these historical facts of the gospel, the revelation of the gospel that he did not receive from men had to do with the meaning of these events, that is, the salvation by grace through faith and not by the works of the law.
1:13. “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it.”
Now Paul begins to explain why he was not taught the gospel. First of all, his background and pre-conversion experience were such that he could not have been taught it. Everything he had been taught was opposed to salvation by grace through faith; it was salvation by the works of the law. This is why he persecuted the church and tried to destroy it (Phil 3:6).
1:14. “and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.”
Paul could not have been taught the gospel of the grace of God before he met the risen Christ on the Damascus road, because he was advanced in Judaism beyond many of own contemporaries among his own race, being extremely zealous for the traditions of his fathers (Phil 3:4-7).
1:15. “But when He who set me apart from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased”
Paul was also not taught the gospel because after his conversion he was not in contact with the apostles to be taught by them. This is what Paul is saying in this and next two verses (verses 15 through 17). Paul conversion was an act of God’s grace. Like Jeremiah, God had set him apart from his mother’s womb and called him through His grace (Jer. 1:5). Romans 9:11 shows Paul’s theology of election and calling; it is not of works but by the grace of the God who calls.
1:16. “to reveal His Son in me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,”
This God of grace was pleased to reveal His Son in Paul in order that he might preach God’s Son to the Gentiles. Paul’s calling as an apostle to preach the gospel to the Gentiles accompanied this revelation (Acts 9:5-6, 15-16; 22:14-15; 26:15-18; See again Jer. 1:5). After this revelation, Paul did not confer with any human person, “with flesh and blood.” Paul could not have been taught the gospel of the grace of God, because he did not confer or consult with anyone.
1:17. “nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus.”
Neither did he go up to Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles before him. But Paul also could not have been taught the gospel of the grace of God, because he immediately went into Arabia. The word “immediately” in the previous verse stands before the two negative clauses and with the positive clause: “but I went away into Arabia.” Arabia does not mean he went to the region around Mt. Sinai. At this time in history Arabia extended from Sinai north to Syria; the region around Damascus was known as Arabia Petraea and controlled by the Nabataeans. Their kingdom was ruled over by Aretas IV from 9 B.C. to 40 A.D. When Paul fled the city, Damascus was under a governor appointed by King Aretas (II Cor. 11:32). Thus Arabia could refer to the region about Damascus. Paul does not tell us when, how long or what he did while in Arabia. After his stay there he returned again to Damascus.
GALATIANS 1:18-24
In this paragraph, Paul reports his brief visit to Jerusalem and that he is unknown personally in Judea. This show the independence of Paul’s gospel from the other apostles.
GALATIANS 1:18-24
18. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19. But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20. (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) 21. Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22. And I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. 23. but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24. And they were glorifying God because of me.
1:18. “Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.”
Paul visited the city of Jerusalem briefly after three years. It is not clear whether these three years were after his conversion or after his trip to Arabia. And it is also not clear how long was this three years. According to the Jewish way of reckoning part years as full years, this three years could be as little as less than two calendar years. It appears that that this visit was the visit recorded in Acts 9:26-30. Because of the fear of him, the disciples at Jerusalem did not want to have anything to do with Paul, and Paul’s contacts were limited. If it had not been for Barnabas, Paul probably would not have seen the apostles at all. According to this verse, Paul saw only Peter (Cephas) and according to the next verse, James, the Lord’s brother. And his stay in Jerusalem at this time was brief, fifteen days. According to this verse, the purpose of this visit was to become acquainted with Cephas. The Greek word here translated “become acquainted with” (historeo, from which we get our word “history”) originally meant “to inquire of,” hence later “to visit, to become acquainted with.”
2:19. “But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.”
Paul did not see any of the other apostles, except James, the Lord’s brother. This probably refers to a younger son of Joseph and Mary. James was not one of the original twelve apostles but he was considered one of the pillars of the church at Jerusalem (Gal. 2:9).
1:20. “(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)”
Paul takes an oath that he is telling the truth about his limited contacts with those in Jerusalem.
After his Jerusalem visit, Paul says he went to the regions of Syria and Cilica. Damascus is in Syria, and Paul’s home town, Tarsus, was in Cilica. He probably engaged in evangelism and preaching, not in retirement for reflection like in Arabia. Paul was brought by Barnabas from Tarsus to Damascus to help with the ministry in the church there (Acts 11:22-26). This happened about a year before the famine visit to Jerusalem (Acts 11:26-30).
1:22. “And I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.”
And during this time in Syria and Cilicia, he was unknown personally (“by face”) to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.
1:23. “but only, they kept hearing, ‘He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.'”
But the churches of Judea had heard of his preaching of the faith he once tried to destroy. Paul was not unknown in Judea even though they in Judea did not know him personally.
The churches of Judea were grateful to God for what God had done in Paul. This meant that they had accepted him and his ministry.