Galatians

Introduction

Paul's epistle to the Galatians is foundational and fundamental Christianity. In it, Paul corrects the error that was being proclaimed by Judaizing teachers. This error was that obedience to the law was necessary in addition to the exercise of faith for justification and that the believer is perfected by keeping the Law. Paul's correction of this error vindicates the gospel of grace from any admixture of law.

The early church was almost exclusively Jewish. With the conversion of Saul/Paul God established his apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 2.8). As the Jewish nation continued to reject Jesus as the Messiah, Gentiles came to put their trust him as Messiah. In the book of Acts the transition begins with Peter's vision in Acts 10. Gradually, the majority of believers in the Messiah changes from Jews to Gentiles.

The Jews had been under the rule of the Mosaic Law for hundreds of years. It was extremely difficult for them to accept the fact that the authority of the Law and Moses was over. When it became apparent that God was saving Gentiles and giving them the Holy Spirit as he was for the Jews, many wanted to bring the Gentiles under the requirements of the Law. Circumcision became a focus for this controversy (Acts 15). Paul opposed and corrected this false teaching and proclaimed that salvation is apart from the Law. It is wholly a work of grace. Salvation is by means of faith, through the Holy Spirit.

Addressees

Paul wrote this letter to the churches in Galatia (Gal. 1.2). Galatia had two meanings when the epistle was written. One was the geographical meaning and the other was the political meaning. The first sense applied to the area known as Asia Minor where the Gauls had settled after migrating from western Europe through Italy and Greece. This territory was limited to the north and east central areas of Asia Minor. The second sense began to apply in 25 B.C. when this kingdom was converted to a Roman province and territory was added to the south, which included the cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Over the years, a debate has been waged over whether Paul wrote to the northern district or the southern. This has come to be known as the North Galatian Theory and the South Galatian Theory. It was assumed by commentators until the 19^th century that Paul established churches in this northern district and that Paul wrote to a group of communities there. The South Galatian Theory was advanced by Sir William Ramsey. According to this view, Paul visited the churches in southern Galatia on his first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). No Scriptural evidence exists of churches beings established in the north. Other arguments favoring the south are that the main roads from Paul's hometown of Tarsus go through the cities of the South; the Judaizers were unlikely to bypass the southern cities for the northern; representatives of South Galatia accompanied the offering for the poor in Jerusalem but none were from the North (Acts 20.4); Barnabas, who is mentioned but not introduced, (Gal. 2.1, 9, 13) would not have been known by the believers in the northern cities since he traveled with Paul only on the first journey. For these reasons the South Galatia Theory has become predominant.

Time and Place of Writing

If the recipients of the letter were believers in the southern cities of Galatia, it is generally considered that the epistle was written from Antioch of Syria in about 48 A.D. just before the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). Under this scenario, after Paul and Barnabus returned to Antioch after the first missionary journey. Peter traveled from Jerusalem to see them and was rebuked by Paul when he withdrew himself from the Gentile believers. In the meantime, the Judaizers had infiltrated the churches in Galatia and taught that Paul was a false apostle and that circumcision was necessary for salvation. Paul reacted to this challenge which threatened a movement into legalism and wrote his epistle prior to the Jerusalem Council. If the epistle was written to churches in the north, then it probably dates to around 60 A.D. during Paul's third visit to Corinth.

Outline

Introduction	1.1-1.5
Defense of the gospel (a curse to those who pervert the gospel)	1.6-1.10
History of the gospel of grace (of divine revelation not human invention)	1.11-2.21
Faith, not Law, is the means to righteousness (Abraham is the model)	3.1-3.29
True freedom is found in Grace not Law	4.1-5.26
Practical Christian living (bearing other's burdens)	6.1-6.17
Salutation	6.18

The Doctrine of Law in the NT

Law ruled Jewish life from the time of Moses till Christ. The Law's purpose was to make sin manifest by revealing the righteous character of God. Christians are under the rulership of grace not Law. The following key texts demonstrate the role and purpose of the Law and the new relationship of grace between God and mankind.

Rom. 3

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of Law? Of works? No, but by a Law of faith.
28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

Rom. 6

14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under Law but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Law but under grace? May it never be!

Rom. 7

1 OR do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?
2 For the married woman is bound by Law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning the husband.
3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the Law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.
6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, <<YOU SHALL NOT COVET.>>
8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.
9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;
10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;
11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which
dwells in me.
21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22 For I joyfully concur with the Law of God in the inner man,
23 but I see a different Law in the members of my body, waging war against the Law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the Law of sin which is in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the Law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the Law of sin.

Rom. 10.4

For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Gal. 3

19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one.
21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a Law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on Law.
22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.
24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

1 Tim. 1

8 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
9 realizing the fact that Law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers
10 and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,
11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

Heb. 7

11 Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?
12 For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of Law also.
13 For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.
15 And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek,
16 who has become such not on the basis of a Law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.
17 For it is attested of Him, <<YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.>>
18 For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness
19 (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

tw~| a0gaph/santi h(ma~j kai\ lou/santi h(ma~j a0/po\ tw~n a9martiw~n h(mw~n e/n tw|~ a(i/mati au)tou~.

Updated August 28, 1999