"Paul,
an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the
Father, who raised him from the dead;)"
“Apostle”: In general
terms, it means “one who is sent with a commission.” The apostles of Jesus
Christ – the 12 and Paul – were special ambassadors or messengers chosen and
trained by Christ to lay the foundation of the early church and be the channels
of God’s completed revelation.
“Not of men … but by Jesus Christ”: To defend his
apostleship against the false teachers’ attack, Paul emphasized that Christ
Himself appointed him as an apostle before he met the other apostles (verses
17-18; Acts 9:3-9).
“Raised him from the dead” Paul included this important fact
to show that the risen and ascended Christ Himself appointed him, thus Paul was
a qualified witness of His resurrection (Acts 1:22).
Paul vehemently denies that his apostleship is due to human
agency – he was not commissioned an apostle by any group (“not of men”) nor by
any mortal individual (“neither by man”), but “by Jesus Christ, and God the
Father, who raised him from the dead:”
Unlike the other apostles, Paul received his call from the
resurrected, glorified, and exalted Jesus. This special reference to the Lord’s
resurrection implicitly confirms Paul’s appointment as an apostle.
We see a declaration of who Paul is right at the very
beginning. We find that Paul reminds them immediately that his call was of the
Lord Himself. When we speak of a disciple of that day, we think of the 120, who
had disciplined themselves to follow Jesus. We, also, think of the twelve who
Jesus chose out of that larger group to make them apostles.
We then realize that Matthias was also one of them. The Lord
Himself had chosen him to replace the traitor, Judas Iscariot. Paul was an
apostle also, even though he was not of the original group. Jesus had appeared
to him on the road to Damascus, and called him to apostleship.
Paul never forgets to remind them that Jesus rose from the
dead. These people all believed in God the Father, and Paul reminds them that
it was the Father's will for Jesus to rise from the dead. To call Paul an
apostle, verifies the fact that his authority is from God.
Mighty signs and wonders followed these apostles. They were
empowered of God to represent him in the earth. They were, also, empowered to
lay hands on others that they might receive the Spirit to minister in a certain
capacity. These are called, gifts of the Spirit.
One very important thing we must note in Paul's statement is
that he was not called of men, or by a man. Jesus was much more than man. That
is what Paul is saying there.
Galatians
1:2 "And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of
Galatia:"
“Churches of Galatia”: The churches Paul founded at Antioch
of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe during his first missionary journey
(Acts 13:14-14:23).
Notice in this, that Paul travelled with many others. There
was usually a large group who went with him into each area. Probably, some of
these very brethren with Paul now, were the same that had been with him
establishing the churches of Galatia. Galatia was an area with many small
towns, and, perhaps, each had a small group of Christians meeting in a church.
This letter is of a general nature. It is not to a specific
church, but to all in this little province. These Galatians were partly
European. When Gaul and this group came through this area on their way to
Greece, they were stopped and surrounded. They intermarried with the local
people. This, then, is speaking to these Europeans mixed with the local people.
In the 18th chapter of Acts, Galatia is spoken of as a
region. It seems there was not idolatry in this area as in other areas, but
Jewish teachings filtering into the church. The argument was between law and
grace. This could even be thought of as between the flesh and the spirit, also.
This was not an argument with those who were idolaters, but those with another
doctrine.
Verses 3-5: Paul’s deep concern over the churches; defection
from the gospel is evident from his greeting, which lacks his customary
commendations and courtesies, and is instead brief and impersonal.
Galatians
1:3 "Grace [be] to you and peace from God the Father, and [from] our Lord
Jesus Christ,"
“Grace be to you and peace” Even Paul’s typical greeting
attacked the Judaizers’ legalistic system. If salvation is by works as they
claimed, it is not of “grace” and cannot result in “peace,” since no one can be
sure he has enough good works to be eternally secure.
This statement is strictly a statement of Paul. He spoke
this often. "Grace", of course, means unmerited favor. All Christians
received grace, not because of their actions, but because of God's love toward
them.
The only real peace is the peace of God. Even in the midst
of terrible trials and temptations, we can know this peace of God. It surpasses
the reason of man. Jesus is the King of Peace.
Peace will reign on this earth the 1000 years that Jesus brings
peace to the earth. In the meantime, there will be no peace on the earth,
except that inner peace that Christians have when they totally trust the Lord
Jesus.
We have mentioned before, the name of Jesus meaning Savior,
and the name Christ meaning the anointed one, or Messiah. The Old Testament
uses the name Lord for the same person the New Testament calls Jesus Christ.
These Jewish people were looking for Messiah. This is Paul's way of telling
them that Jesus was their long awaited Messiah.
Galatians 1:4
"Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present
evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:"
“For our sins”: No one can avoid sin by human effort or
law-keeping (Rom. 3:20); therefore it must be forgiven, which Christ
accomplished through His atoning death on the cross (3:13).
“Present evil world”: (or age). The Greek word for “age”
does not refer to a period of time but an order or system, and in particular to
the current world system ruled by Satan.
“To the will of God”: The sacrifice of Christ for salvation
was the will of God designed and fulfilled for His glory. Matt. 26:42; John
6:38-40; Acts 2:22-23; Rom. 8:3, 31-32; Eph. 1:7, 11; Heb. 10:4-10.
“Who gave himself for our sins” (“since He gave Himself for
our sins”): This confirms the divine desire expressed in verse 3. In view of
Jesus’ sacrificing Himself for believers, it is certainly His wish that they
may receive “grace” and “peace.” “that he might deliver us” is more accurately
rendered “that He alone might deliver us.”
The expression “He alone” means Jesus rather than anyone
else. This strikes the epistle’s keynote, for the gospel is an emancipation
from a state of spiritual bondage. And the clause also strikes at the
Galatians’ theological error of trying to rescue themselves by their own effort
through the law.
Jesus, willingly, gave Himself to save His people. All of
creation belonged to Jesus. He was Creator God. In John chapter one, we find
that He made all things, and without Him was not anything created. It was right
that the Creator would give His flesh for His creation.
Jesus did follow the will of the Father in the crucifixion,
but it was Jesus' choice to do, or not to do. He gave His body on the cross to
purchase our salvation. We see in the following Scripture, that it was within
the will of Jesus to do with His own life as He would.
John 10:18 "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down
of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my Father."
Egypt is a type of this evil world we live in. I have said
over and over that we must leave Egypt, before we can go to the Promised Land.
The Promised Land for a Christian is heaven. Jesus is the door that we enter in
by.
Galatians
1:5 "To whom [be] glory forever and ever. Amen."
Paul stops to glorify the Father and the Son here. This
glory shall never cease. "Amen" means so be it.
Verse 6-7: “Ye are so soon removed” can be translated, “you
are so quickly deserting.” The Galatians are in the initial stages of defecting
from God to “another gospel.” The Greek word rendered “another” is heteron
which means “another of a different kind.” The Judaizers’ gospel is not the
same one Paul preached to the readers.
In verse 7 the apostle goes on to affirm that their gospel
“is not another.” The Greek word here translated “another” is allo which means
“another of the same kind.” So the message of salvation proclaimed by the
legalists is vastly different from the true one.
Galatians
1:6 "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel:"
“So soon”: This Greek word can mean either “easily” or
“quickly” and sometimes both. No doubt both senses characterized the Galatians’
response to the false teachers’ heretical doctrines.
“Removed” or deserting: The Greek word was used of military
desertion, which was punishable by death. The form of this Greek word indicates
that the Galatian believers were voluntarily deserting grace to pursue the
legalism taught by the false teachers.
“Called you”: This
could be translated, “who called you once and for all” (2 Thess. 2:13-14; 2
Tim. 1:8-9; 1 Pet. 1:15), and refers to God’s effectual call to salvation.
“Grace of Christ”: God’s free and sovereign act of mercy in
granting salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ, totally apart
from any human work or merit.
“Another gospel”: 2 Cor. 11:4. The Judaizers’ perversion of
the true gospel. They added the requirements, ceremonies, and standards of the
Old covenant as necessary prerequisites to salvation.
God, Himself, had called them into the grace of Christ,
through the teaching of Paul. He is amazed that they have already forgotten the
teachings he had brought to them, and had gotten into error. It seems that the
very minute he left, they started listening to these Judaizers who were trying
to put them under Moses' law.
Paul is very disappointed that the gospel that he gave them
was not better rooted within them. The thought that they would turn from his
teachings so fast, makes Paul believe they are unstable in their belief. They
would be like those fallen away from grace. They are actually saying, that
grace is of none effect. All of this is beyond Paul's comprehension.
Galatians
1:7 "Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would
pervert the gospel of Christ."
“Trouble”: The Greek word means “to shake back and forth,”
meaning to agitate or stir up. Here, it refers to the deep emotional
disturbance the Galatian believers experienced.
“Pervert” To turn something into its opposite. By adding law
to the gospel of Christ, the false teachers were effectively destroying grace,
turning the message of God’s undeserved favor toward sinners into a message of
earned and merited favor.
“The gospel of Christ”: The good news of salvation by grace
alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Christianity brings hope. To go back to the law would not be
good news (gospel) at all. The condemnation of the law brought hopelessness.
For any Christian to give up the hope that is in Christ for the hopelessness of
the law is not understandable.
"Pervert" in this Scripture, means corrupt. This,
then, would mean that they had changed it, and corrupted the message of hope
that Paul had brought them.
Verses 8-9: Throughout history God has devoted certain
objects, individuals, and groups of people to destruction (Jos. 6:17-18; 7:1,
25-26). The New Testament offers many examples of one such group: false
teachers (Matt. 24:24; John 8:44; 1 Tim. 1:20; Titus 1:16). Here the Judaizers
are identified as members of this infamous company.
Galatians
1:8 "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
This verse shows that the message, not the messenger, is of
utmost importance. The Galatian controversy is not over teachers or
personalities, but over truth and error. Even a heavenly angel, if he preaches
error, is to “be accursed,” that is, eternally condemned.
We know that Paul was primarily speaking of the message he
had brought them, but as we have said before, many ministers travelled with
Paul and they all brought this same message of hope. There are two kinds of
angels. The angels that stayed in heaven, and did not follow Lucifer, minister well.
The angels that followed Lucifer out of heaven are already cursed of God.
They minister lies and deception, because they are working
for that old devil Lucifer. Many people call them demons. They would definitely
try to bring another message that would put you back under the law. Jesus
commissioned Paul to bring the good news of the gospel, not the bad news of the
law.
