Galatians 1

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Introduction

Authorship and Date

Paul is the author of Galatians, and the letter is the least disputed of the Pauline epistles.¹ It is dated to shortly before the Council of Jerusalem, in AD 48, and was most likely written during the period described in Acts 14:28. The letter cannot be dated earlier than AD 48, since Paul refers within it to an interval of fourteen years (Gal 2:1).

Purpose

Paul’s aim in Galatians is to confront a false Gospel. The Judaizers were teaching that believers must also become practicing Jews in order to be saved.

Commentary

Galatians 1:1

From Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)

Paul establishes both his authorship and his apostleship at the outset. He affirms that his apostleship is not of human origin; it was conferred on him by God.

Galatians 1:2-5

and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia. 3. Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4. who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, 5. to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.

Paul addresses the letter expressly to the churches of Galatia, opening with the greeting of grace and peace that appears in each of his letters.

He then turns immediately to the gospel itself, reminding his readers that Christ has paid for their sins and calling their attention to “this present evil age.” He closes the greeting by ascribing glory to God.

Galatians 1:6-7

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel — 7. not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ.

Paul had received word that the Galatians were deserting the Gospel he had originally delivered to them in favor of the distorted message of the Judaizers, who taught that believers must also become practicing Jews in order to be saved.

Legalism infiltrated the church with remarkable speed. The same vigilance is required of us, so that we remain centered under grace.

Galatians 1:8-9

But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! 9. As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!

Paul places the authority of the gospel above both the angels and the apostolic band. His repetition is deliberate, and it makes the point unmistakable: no one is permitted to preach a gospel other than that of Christ.

The term Paul uses is accursed, or anathema, which denotes “a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and if an animal, to be slain; therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction.” Paul is calling down divine judgment upon these men.

This raises a significant difficulty. An author of Scripture is here consigning someone to hell. How can Paul say this when Jesus instructs us to love our enemies (Mt 5:44)? Five considerations bear on the question.

First, Paul refers to divine justice rather than human justice. He is not taking matters into his own hands, nor is he expressing a desire to harm anyone personally. His desire is that God bring justice to bear on these people (Rom 12:19-21).

Second, Paul refers to universal divine justice. He is not describing a personal feud with an enemy, but a universal opposition to “anyone” who sets himself against God’s message.

Third, Paul places himself under the same judgment. He writes, “Even if we, or an angel from heaven…” should teach an alternate message, let them be accursed (v. 8). Paul therefore does not merely place his opponents under the judgment of God; he places himself under it as well.

Fourth, Paul elsewhere expresses willingness to forfeit his own salvation for his Jewish brothers. He writes, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed [anathema], separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom 9:3). Paul cared deeply for the Jewish people. Here in Galatians, however, he calls down divine judgment specifically on false teachers, who knew the truth and were actively deceiving others.

Fifth, Jesus likewise called down judgment on false teachers. He said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea” (Mk 9:42). Jesus and Paul teach the same thing on this point: false teachers deserve God’s judgment.

Galatians 1:10

Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!

People-pleasing is among the most frequently confessed struggles in the church, and among the least often acted upon. See the accompanying note on People Pleasing.

Paul draws a firm line. If his aim were to win the approval of those around him, following God and obeying what he commands would not be the means to secure it. Paul seeks the approval of God instead.

Paul was willing to accommodate a great deal for the sake of winning people (1 Cor 9:19-23), but he was unwilling to alter the gospel.

Galatians 1:11-12

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12. For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ.

This statement raises a question when set alongside Paul’s testimony. On the road to Damascus he saw Jesus, yet Jesus sent him on to Ananias; we are not told that Jesus directly delivered the gospel to him.

During the three days of his blindness, Paul likely reasoned his way to the gospel, since he was thoroughly familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures. He proceeds in what follows to authenticate his claims.

Galatians 1:13-17

For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it. 14. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15. But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased 16. to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being, 17. nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus.

This passage is among the best autobiographical accounts of Paul’s testimony available to us, and it corroborates the record of Acts closely.

The Judaizers grounded their argument in their ethnicity. Paul surpasses them on their own terms: he was not only a Pharisee but a persecutor of Christians.

Galatians 1:18-20

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and get information from him, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20. I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you!

Three years after coming to Christ, Paul went up to Jerusalem to speak with Cephas. He met with none of the other apostles apart from James, the brother of Jesus. Because Paul had not known Jesus during his earthly ministry, he was likely seeking to learn everything he could from Peter. This is inferred from Paul’s use of the word historesai, meaning “to investigate” or “to enquire.”

That Paul consulted no other apostle, save James, who likewise became an apostle after Jesus’s death, is a detail he raises deliberately, since he will later use it to dismantle the authority claimed by the Judaizers.

Galatians 1:21-24

Afterward I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22. But I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23. They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24. So they glorified God because of me.

Paul’s story served to edify believers in Syria and Cilicia. They did not know him personally, but the account of his redemption and of the way God turned his life around gave them cause to celebrate.

The question follows for us: do we celebrate when people come to know God? And do we celebrate when someone’s story is one of dramatic redemption, in which God changes them radically?

Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians, p. lvii. See also Donald Guthrie, Galatians, pp. 1-7. ↩