Galatians 1

Galatians 1:1-5

The Apostle Paul opens his letter to the churches of Galatia with a demonstration of the power of God, and with a synopsis of the gospel.

In the first verse he mentions God the Father raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Not just this, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, the churches not only see that Paul has been made an Apostle as witness of the gospel, but in the second verse they see all the brethren who are with him also serve the churches as witnesses.

He then goes on to say, "God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins" (Galatians 1:3-4), did so to extend grace and peace to them. He did so, "that He might deliver us from this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4), and this is "according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen" (Galatians 1:5).

Galatians 1:6-10

There was a problem with the Galatian churches which the Apostle Paul was addressing. He said, "you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ" (Galatians 1:6). What were they receiving in exchange for the glorious grace and peace which come from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ? They were turning to a different gospel which is no gospel at all, as Paul lets them know in verse seven.

The way this problem crept into the churches of Galatia is revealed in the Apostle Paul's statement, "there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ" (Galatians 1:7). Here we see the depravity of the heart in these individuals. They are not content with troubling those to whom the grace and peace of God has been granted. Their intention is to pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ. Which is to say, their intended goal is to get the recipients of the grace and peace of God to turn away from this glorious gospel from heaven.

Regarding any individual who is perverting the gospel, Paul tells the church twice to "let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8, 9). In other words, such an individual is alienated from God, and let it be so. It makes no difference whoever it may be. The gospel which has been handed down to the churches through the apostles and prophets comes from the Lord who Himself "nourishes and cherishes" the church (Ephesians 5:29). Therefore, the gospel is to be cherished and spread by the church, that we all may "be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma" (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Anyone who brings any gospel other than the true gospel of the grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ is accursed. As Apostle Paul said, "even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). Again, he says, "if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:9).

Those who want to pervert the gospel seek to restrain God, as if it were possible. Conversely, as the Apostle Paul tells the churches, the gospel seeks to persuade and restrain men so they may be saved. If the Apostle Paul himself had accepted or brought a different gospel, he would have surely been accursed, as already stated. Therefore, the words of the Apostle Paul are, "For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10). If Paul were trying to restrain God instead of restraining and persuading men, the churches should understand, he would clearly have been accursed. So, why would the churches allow themselves to be led astray by a different gospel coming from anyone else, regardless of who it was from?

Galatians 1:11-14

Again, the true gospel is that of grace and peace from "God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins" (Galatians 1:3-4). This glorious gospel which makes us residents of heaven as "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together" (Romans 8:17), does not come from man, as Paul makes known in Galatians 1:11. Rather, as he says, "For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:12).

The gospel reached Paul and provided a great demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. The churches of Galatia had heard of Paul's former conduct in Judaism, and how he "persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it" (Galatians 1:13). At that time in Paul's life (known as Saul), he was alienated from Christ. He was trying to restrain God. In His abundant mercy the Lord revealed Himself and said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads" (Acts 26:14).

The Apostle Paul was helping the churches understand, by what they knew concerning his former life in Judaism, that although he was, as he said, "advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers" (Galatians 1:14), he was alienated from the gospel and accursed, without the grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins.

Galatians 1:15-17

The glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the work of grace from God, according to His will, from before the foundation of the world. Before going to the cross to pay for the sins of His people, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). The Apostle Paul also says to the church at Ephesus, "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:4-6).

Although the Apostle Paul was previously alienated from grace and was a persecutor of the church prior to revelation of Jesus Christ, he was now able to tell the churches of Galatia about God's work in man's behalf. The Apostle Paul said that at an appointed time "it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles" (Galatians 1:15-16). He referred to his transformation, from Saul to the Apostle Paul, saying to the church at Corinth "my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Corinthians 2:4). The revelation of Jesus Christ was so clear to Paul that he "did not immediately confer with flesh and blood" (Galatians 1:16). He did not even "go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus" (Galatians 1:17). Paul's response to the Holy Spirit's revelation of this glorious gospel is seen in his message to Corinth when he said, "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16).

Galatians 1:18-24

He did eventually make it to Jerusalem, but not as if to seek permission from the other apostles regarding the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. He had already been spreading the gospel in Arabia and in Damascus for three years before going "up to Jerusalem to see Peter" (Galatians 1:18) for just a couple of weeks (fifteen days), during which time he also saw "James, the Lord’s brother" (Galatians 1:19), but no one else.

In verse twenty he assures the purity of his heart before God regarding this letter to the Galatian churches. Then he continues with the demonstration of the Spirit's power over his life as a result of this glorious revelation of the grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. He shares that he "went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia (Galatians 1:21), and "was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ (Galatians 1:22). Nonetheless, they "glorified God" in him (Galatians 1:24), because of the effect of the gospel in the life of Paul who was once an accursed persecutor of the church. He once restrained Christians in attempts of restraining the will of God, which is from before the foundation of the earth. To the glory of God, Saul was now the Apostle Paul; a preacher of "the faith which he once tried to destroy (Galatians 1:23).

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