A SURVEY OF GALATIANS 1

Only One Gospel

 Introduction.  Maxie Dunnam, who was the editor of the Upper Room devotional magazine, called Paul’s letter to the Galatians the Magna Carta of Evangelical Christianity.  This letter is Paul’s great declaration of religious freedom – a freedom that involves independence from men and dependence on God.

The main theme of this letter is grace – God’s grace alone by which we are saved.  By grace God frees us from the law, liberates us from legalism and rule keeping, and gives us a Spirit-filled life of joy, meaning, and ministry.  Accepting Christ by faith, we are not only justified, we become new beings in Him.  We enter a new realm of power – the Spirit.  And Christ lives in us.  Our lives reflect His life as His presence grows in us.  We produce the fruit of the Spirit which is the expression of Christ living in us.

As to why Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia, controversy and conflict has arisen over false teachers and false teaching that had crept into the congregations.  To show how strongly Paul felt about this issue, he had been dictating this letter to a scribe, but by the end, as though he wanted to make sure there was no mistaking his stand, he takes the pen and wrote boldly:

See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! [15] Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.  (Galatians 6:11, 15 | TNIV)

 It was written by Paul around 48 AD – likely before the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 – making it one of the earliest New Testament writings.  It was written to various churches he had founded in the Roman province of Galatia, primarily in the southern region, including places like Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe during his first missionary journey.

Christian greetings.

Paul, an apostle—sent not with a human commission nor by human authority, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— [2] and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia: [3] Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…  (Galatians 1:1 – 3 | TNIV)

Here’s a powerful description of what an apostle was and why there aren’t any today.  The office of apostle was not a human appointment, ecclesiastical promotion, or the result of personal ambition.  It originated in the direct commissioning of the Lord, in Paul’s case, on the Damascus Road.  The apostle carried the direct authority of the one who sent him.  The double negative, “not with a human commission nor by human authority,” emphatically rules out any human source or intermediary.  Even the resurrection of Jesus – the mighty act of God the Father – underwrites Paul’s apostolic calling.  So this is no ordinary letter writer.  This is a man sent by heaven.

He’s writing with “all the brothers and sisters” with him.  While Paul’s apostleship was unique, he wasn’t a Lone Ranger; he ministered with partners.  The letter is addressed to multiple churches in Galatia, which were young and mostly Gentile congregations Paul knew personally and loved.

The greeting itself, as short as it is, is theologically rich.  Grace is God’s unmerited favor – the fountainhead of salvation.  Peace is the settled wholeness of being that is the result of being reconciled to God.  Both grace and peace come from the Father and the Son because the Godhead is absolutely united in our salvation.  This simple greeting announces that Christians already possess what the world desperately seeks:  Acceptance we didn’t earn and peace we could never manufacture.

Every Christian – leader and believer – is “sent” in some sense, but we must never confuse being gifted or being in a position with self-derived authority.  Our message and our lives must rest on Christ’s calling and the Father’s resurrection power.  Whenever we run into each other, whether at church or someplace else, let’s make it a point to extend the grace and peace that have been given to us.

…who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, [5] to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.  (Galatians 1:4, 5 | TNIV)

Here, Paul compresses the whole Gospel into a few well-chosen words.  Christ “gave himself for our sins.”  His death was completely voluntary, substitutionary, and penal – He bore the penalty our sins deserved.  The purpose was to “rescue us from this present evil age.”  The Greek word behind “rescue” carries the sense of being plucked out from danger.  “This present evil age” describes the world system under the dominion of sin, Satan, and death.  The Gospel never promises escape from all suffering or immediate removal from the world, but it does deliver us from the ruling power of evil and transfers us from the ruling power of sin into the kingdom of Jesus.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  (Colossians 1:13, 14 | TNIV)

Furthermore, everything happens “according to the will of our God and Father.”  Salvation isn’t a human initiative or a reluctant concession by God; it’s the outworking of the Father’s sovereign good pleasure.  The Son accomplishes what the Father willed.  How else can anybody respond to this other than giving glory to God for ever!  The Gospel is totally God-centered.  It begins with the Father’s will, centers on the Son’s self-giving death, and ends in the eternal glory to God.

We need to make sure than presentation of the Gospel we are exposed to is measured by this standard.  Does it exalt Christ’s finished work for our sins?  Does it acknowledge deliverance from this evil age as a present reality with a future consummation?  Does it trace salvation back to the Father’s will and forward to His glory?  Any message that shifts the center to human decision, moral improvement, or cultural relevance alone has already begun to drift.

No other gospel.

 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— [7] which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. [8] But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let that person be under God’s curse! [9] As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let that person be under God’s curse!  (Galatians 1:6 – 9 | TNIV)

If that was good news, here’s the bad!  Paul’s angry with what he’s heard about these churches.  The word “deserting” means changing sides or transferring allegiance.  It’s a word often associated with apostasy or spiritual treason.  These people weren’t just adding things to the true Gospel, they were deserting the God who had called them “by the grace of Christ.”  The caller is God Himself; the sphere and instrument of the calling is grace.

The people were turning to a “different gospel,” the Greek meaning something else that is different.  There is only one Gospel.  What these false teachers were offering the Galatian churches was a “perverted” gospel, an interesting Greek word mean to turn something inside out.  These teachers were causing all kinds of trouble in the churches and were unsettling the believers who had found rest in Christ.

The repetition of the false teacher(s) being under God’s curse (anathema) is one of the strongest statements in Scripture.  Even it was Paul or an angel preaching another gospel, that messenger would stand under God’s curse.  The Gospel is a fixed message.  Its truth doesn’t depend on the status of preacher or the circumstances of culture in which it is declared.  The message authenticates the messenger, not the reverse.

Am I now trying to win human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. [11] I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. [12] I did not receive it from any human source, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.  (Galatians 1:10 – 12 | TNIV)

Paul asks rhetorical questions to show his true motivation.  Was he currying favor with people?   If his goal were human approval, he would never have preached a message that was so offensive to both Jews (the cross as a curse) and Gentiles (a crucified Savior).  The fact that he continued to preach such an offensive message proved that he was no long a “people-pleaser.”  Paul was, in fact, a slave owned by Christ, who  lived only to please Him.

The Gospel Paul preached was didn’t come from anybody’s imagination – not his teachers in the rabbinic schools or by the apostles in Jerusalem.  He received it directly from the Lord Himself.  The Damascus Road encounter, Acts 9, was the decisive moment, but the language suggests both the initial unveiling and the subsequent unfolding of the Gospel’s ultimate meaning.  The Gospel – the true Gospel – is not human or church tradition or philosophical insight; it’s divine revelation.

Transformed by grace.

 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. [14] I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. [15] But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased [16] to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.  (Galatians 1:13 – 16 | TNIV)

Paul’s previous life was definitely not irreligious; it was really hyper religious!  Everything he did – the rule keeping, the persecution of Christians, his attempt to destroy the church of Jesus – was his working out his Jewish faith.  He was the most sincere, zealous Pharisee ever, and he was in direct opposition to Jesus Christ.  Religion without Christ can make a person a more effective enemy of the Gospel.

“But then” wrote Paul, came God’s sovereign grace.  God’s electing purpose reached back before Paul’s birth!  The call was entirely by grace, not merit – Paul was an enemy on his way to persecute Christians when God acted!  Paul said that the Father was “pleased” to reveal His Son “to me.”  This wasn’t intellectual knowledge Paul received but an inward, transforming revelation that brought Paul into union with Christ.  The purpose was clear:  So that he take the Gospel to the Gentile world.

Paul’s immediate response was independence from human advice.  He didn’t run to the apostles for validation or instruction.  The Gospel he was to preach came directly from Christ.

If Paul’s story tells us anything it’s that nobody is beyond God’s grace.  The strongest opponent to the Gospel can become its most effective messenger.  A person’s past doesn’t disqualify anybody; it simply magnifies the glory of grace.

I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. [18] Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. [19] I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. [20] I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. [21] Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. [22] I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. [23] They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”  (Galatians 1:17 – 23 | TNIV)

Paul’s post-conversion movements further prove the divine origin of his message.  He went into the Arabian desert, for an extended time with God, then returned to Damascus.  Only after three years did he go to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter for 15 days.  He saw only James the Lord’s brother besides Peter.  With a solemn oath before God, Paul affirmed he is not lying about his limited contact.  Then he went and ministered in his home region around Tarsus.

Most important, Paul remained “unknown to the churches of Judea.”  They had only heard the rumor that the former zealous rabbi who had been persecuting God’s people was now preaching to them the faith he once tried to wipe out.  Paul’s transformation was so complete and so obviously the work of God that it produced praise, not hero worship.

This group of verses teaches three vital truths:  (1)  Paul’s Gospel message and apostleship didn’t come from human teaching or with the approval of the Jerusalem elders; (b) the change in his life was clear for all to see – it was verifiable and undeniable; (c)  genuine transformation always directs the glory to God rather than to the transformed person.

Time alone with God (like Paul in Arabia) is necessary before any kind of fruitful public ministry.  Seek fellowship with mature believers (like Paul did), but don’t become dependent on human validation.  Let your transformed life be your strongest credential.  When others see the change their response should be “Glory to God,” not “What a great person.”  Share your testimony regularly.  Let the church celebrate and publicize stories of radical grace; they strengthen faith and fuel evangelism.

Conclusion.  Galatians 1 leaves us with a clear charge:  Guard the one true Gospel of grace, reject every distortion, and live as people transformed by that Gospel.  The same grace that called Paul before he was born, revealed Christ to Him on that dusty road, and turned a persecutor into a preacher is working in us, too.