November 24: Galatians 1-3

November 24, Galatians 1-3

Galatians! Paul’s letter to the Church of Galatia… Majority is from Bakers Commentary today with great insights and summary...

Galatians 1 Paul is stressing heavily the importance of Truth and nothing less. Bakers Commentary for the summary: “This chapter consists of four short paragraphs: verses 1–5; 6–10; 11–17; and 18–24. In the first of these subdivisions Paul’s painful distress reveals itself in the manner in which he describes himself and the addressed, and in the qualifying clause by means of which he enlarges on his opening salutation. In that clause he clearly implies that to the sacrifice of Christ for sinners to purchase their salvation nothing can be added.

In the second paragraph Paul gives expression to his shocked amazement about those whom he addresses, because of their disloyalty to the God who had called them, and their readiness to accept a different gospel, which really was no gospel at all but a dangerous distortion. He pronounces God’s curse upon anyone who might proclaim—or is actually proclaiming—a gospel other than the one which had been preached to the Galatians and had been accepted by them.

In this connection two facts must be borne in mind:

(1) Paul’s anathemas have relevancy in every age. Anyone who teaches that God’s grace and human endeavor are twin sources of salvation, that is, that to a certain extent men are able to lift themselves into heaven by the lobes of their ears, is here condemned. Implication: then would not this curse rest at least as heavily upon those who proclaim that salvation can be achieved apart entirely from divine help (“Mankind alone must save us”)?

(2) These anathemas are aimed at those who are leading the Galatians astray, not at the Galatians themselves. With the latter the apostle is sorely displeased. Nevertheless, in his love and patience he still regards them as his and God’s children, grievously erring children though they be—a lesson for all pastors, parents, and leaders of men.

In verses 11–17 Paul proves that the charge of the opponents, namely, that he is not a true apostle and that his gospel had been imparted to him not by God but by men, and is accordingly a merely human invention, is false. He bolsters his argument by briefly setting forth certain relevant events from the story of his life. As to receiving the gospel from men, particularly from other apostles, he shows that before his conversion this would have been psychologically impossible for such a bitter persecutor; that at the time of his conversion it would have been wholly unnecessary, for Christ himself revealed the gospel to him by appearing to him and addressing him directly; and that immediately after his conversion it would, in addition, have been geographically unthinkable, for in Damascus and in Arabia, the places to which he wended his way, there were no apostles who could have imparted the gospel to him.

The same line of argumentation is continued in the closing paragraph. Paul shows that his first post-conversion visit to Jerusalem was of very short duration, had as its purpose “to become acquainted with Cephas (Peter),” not to receive the gospel from him, and was not followed by visits to the other apostles (though James, the brother of the Lord, was also briefly contacted). The writer had remained unknown to “the Christian churches of Judea,” outside Jerusalem. Accordingly, when the wonderful news of his conversion began to spread, those who heard it did not begin to praise Peter or the rest of the apostles but “were glorifying God” on Paul’s account, for it was from God—from Christ himself—that the former persecutor had received the glorious gospel of salvation full and free for Gentiles as well as for Jews.

Implication: since, then, this gospel is divine in origin and essence, no attempt must be made to distort it. It is the only good news whereby men are saved, enabled to be a blessing to their neighbors, and equipped to live to God’s glory.”

• Paul’s words to us about false teaching is 100% as relevant for today as it was a couple thousand years ago when he penned them. Have nothing to do with false teaching or even partial teaching. The whole Gospel is what we need to hear. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Nothing less, nothing more.

Galatians 2 Bakers Commentary for the summary: “This chapter consists of two paragraphs: verses 1–10; 11–21. The first describes what took place in Jerusalem fourteen years after the visit indicated in 1:18, 19. The apostle gives his version of The Jerusalem Conference (cf. Acts 15:1–29). The second paragraph concerns the Paul-versus-Peter affair in Syrian Antioch shortly afterward. In the first paragraph the foes are the Judaizers, Christians only in name, men who advocated faith plus law-obedience as the way to glory. One of their slogans was, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Not being real Christians, they had no business at this synod. They were present as spies, bent on depriving true believers of their freedom in Christ. Now to this Conference the Antiochian church had delegated Paul and Barnabas, champions of Christian liberty. With them was Titus, a Christian of unmixed Gentile extraction, and thus uncircumcised, a test case therefore. Would the Judaizers succeed in persuading the assembly that Titus must be circumcised? If they do, then everywhere the position of Gentile Christians would be in jeopardy, Christianity would never become a worldwide religion, and the gospel of Christ’s all-sufficiency for salvation would vanish from the earth. But by God’s decree that cannot happen! In a private consultation the truly Christian leaders—Paul and Barnabas, on the one hand; James, Cephas, and John, on the other—plan their strategy. Concerning God’s work among the Gentiles Paul and Barnabas bear witness with such conviction, both before the Jerusalem leaders and before the full convention, that the opponents fail completely. The paragraph closes by picturing James, Cephas, and John in the act of extending the hand of friendship and brotherhood to Paul and Barnabas. The work-load is divided and help for the poor is provided.

Hardly was this battle won when a second had to be fought, as shown in verses 11–21. And in this struggle the foe was no one less than Cephas, the leader of The Twelve. Not that Peter was at heart an enemy of the gospel of grace, but here at Antioch he suffered a temporary lapse (cf. Matt. 16:23). When, at a public church-gathering he withdraws himself from the Gentiles, refusing any longer to eat with them, he is saying, in effect, “To be saved, more is needed than trust in Christ. Adherence to the ceremonial law is also necessary.” He knows better, having been taught by Jesus and by the vision of the sheet. He is playing the hypocrite, having become alarmed by the arrival of a party of Judaizers. For a while things looked bad, for Peter’s example was followed by others, including even Barnabas. Paul, however, rises to meet the challenge. We see him at the height of his fortitude. By inserting the substance of his remarks in this letter to the Galatians, he shows that his words are now also meant for these similarly erring brothers. In substance he says, “If you, Cephas, though a Jew, can live like a Gentile, as you proved when you ate with Gentiles, how can you now, by withdrawing from them, force them to live like Jews, so that they may be able to eat and have fellowship with us?” Then, turning to the entire audience, he stresses that not by law-works is anyone justified, but only by faith in Christ, and that if the Judaizers were right, Christ would be a promoter of sin. The real sinner, however, is the man who rebuilds the very structure—salvation by law-works—which he had previously pulled down. As to law Paul states, “For I through law died to law, that I might live to God.”

In the room silence prevails. The gospel of grace has triumphed once more. And may we not assume that not only Cephas but all true but momentarily erring believers who had followed his example were grateful to the Lord that they had been corrected by “our beloved brother Paul”?”

• We are called to be genuine Christ followers and consistent in our faith walk. God has called all of us to be where He leads us and who He leads us to. We are not to tolerate disobedience. This is to be handled with tact and respect, but God is firm that we are to pursue holiness.

Galatians 3 Bakers Commentary for the summary: “Having shown that the gospel which he, Paul, proclaims is of divine origin and therefore victoriously independent, the apostle now indicates that both Scripture and experience bear testimony to its truth. He begins (verses 1–5) with a lesson from experience. Now experience is very important. The way in which God has led men in the past must be constantly recalled and applied to new situations (cf. Ps. 78:1 ff.). This the Galatians had neglected to do. So in verse 1 Paul asks them, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose very eyes Jesus was openly displayed as crucified?” And in verse 2 he continues, “This only would I learn from you: Was it by doing what (the) law demands that you received the Spirit, or was it by believing (the) gospel message?” In verse 5 he repeats the question of verse 2 in somewhat expanded form. In verse 3 he asks, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, now by fleshly means are you being made perfect?” They had begun by yielding to the direction of the Spirit, but they were now continuing by placing their trust in fleshly means: observance of days, months, seasons, and years (4:10), believing in the necessity of circumcision (5:2, 3; 6:12–15); in short: adherence to law as a means of obtaining salvation. And this was progress? Has all their past experience—the manner in which at their conversion they had been enriched with both special gifts and spiritual endowments—been in vain? Paul refuses to believe it, and by saying, “if (it be) really in vain,” he “rouses them to the exercise of repentance” (John Calvin).

For the idea that justification—hence, salvation in all its fulness—is obtained by way of faith and not by reliance on law-works Paul now (verses 6–14) appeals to Scripture. He shows that from the very beginning of Israel’s history—that is, already in the promise God gave to Abraham—the divinely appointed means of obtaining the blessing was faith, not works (Gen. 15:6). Hence, all those, and only those, who have faith as their guiding principle are the true sons of Abraham. Those, on the contrary, who rely on law-works are under a curse from which they cannot deliver themselves, for they cannot “continue in all the things that are written in the book of the law to do them” (Deut. 27:26). Therefore “by law no one is justified before God, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’ ” (Hab. 2:4). Leaning on law means depending on self. Exercising faith means resting on Christ. Considered as means of obtaining salvation these two do not mix. But penitent sinners do not need to despair, for Christ has redeemed them from the curse by taking it upon himself (Deut. 21:23), in order that thus “the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Jesus Christ, in order that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

In the final paragraph (verses 15–29) Paul shows that this promise made to Abraham-Isaac-Jacob is superior to law, for two reasons: (1) Because the latter came much later, and was therefore unable to annul the earlier promise, just as even among men a last will or testament that has been legally confirmed and has gone into effect cannot be abrogated. Surely a promise that centered in Christ, the one and only seed, could not be withdrawn. Nevertheless, the law performed a useful function, namely, by serving as custodian to bring sinners to Christ, having aroused within them the sense of guilt and the yearning for salvation through him. (2) Because the law reached us through mediation (Moses), but the promise came directly from God, who, in establishing his covenant with Abraham, and thus with all believers, regardless of racial-religious, social, or sexual distinctions, did this on his own sovereign account, being filled with love. Nothing can ever remove God’s love for all who belong to Christ. Nothing can deprive them of their inheritance, for “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.”

To sum it all up: 

• See above for my very brief takeaways… Blessings to you in the powerful name of Jesus Christ! 
• My apologies for the brief post thoughts today.