I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him [God] who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one…
Galatians 1:1-10
In the first five verses of his letter, Paul set out the Gospel in a nutshell, and established the truths he would defend throughout this epistle to the Galatian church. Paul, as an apostle, was a representative appointed by the Lord and had full authority over the fledgling church which he had founded. In Galatians, Paul would defend that authority against those false teachers/preachers, in Galatia, sent by mere men. The heretics diminished the work of Jesus Christ by saying that human works were necessary for salvation as a supplement to Christ’s work. Paul told them that they have grace and peace. The heretics were telling them that they did not really have grace and peace unless they added some good works to the Gospel. Paul said that our salvation rests entirely upon the work of Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins. How can any human presume to add to the works of Christ for humanity’s salvation? Humanity was in need of rescuing and Jesus rescued us from this present evil age. Christianity has long recognized that even the unlearned can understand the basic gospel found in Scripture. And, an awareness of Scripture’s historical context is necessary for its proper interpretation. Our verses today begin with Paul writing his usual greetings to the Galatian Christians and, then, Paul goes directly to the problem in the church, a “different gospel,” brought in by false preachers/teachers. They needed correction because they were embracing something in addition to the gift of Jesus’ perfect righteousness as grounds for salvation. The false teachers in Galatia were telling the new converts that “true” Christians must submit to circumcision, taking upon themselves the yoke of the Mosaic law in addition to faith in Christ. Such teachers have been called “Judaizers” in other letters of the New Testament because they imposed Jewish practices (circumcision, the kosher laws, and so on) on Gentile believers. Many people in the first century wanted a salvation that was only available to a select few who were “in the know.” Perhaps the Galatians found the Judaizers’ “higher” religious life attractive. Paul wrote Galatians to counter these Judaizers and defend the truth. It is one of the most passionate of his letters, so grave was the error that needed refuting. Martin Luther, in writing his commentary on Galatians wrote, “Since Paul by his own experience teaches us that congregations which are won by great effort and are easily and soon overthrown, we ought with singular care to watch against the devil at work everywhere, lest he come while we sleep, and sow tares among the wheat.” Since the gospel has been pronounced, false teachers have tried to seduce God’s people with error. Let us seek to be well-informed in Scripture that we may not be deceived.
Source: S C Ball January 8, 2024
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