An Introduction to the Letter of Paul to the Churches of Galatia
The apostle Paul was not writing to a single church here, but a group of churches which had been established in Galatia. As we will see throughout the letter, this church had a false teacher, or more than one, come in and teach them that they had to be subjected to the Law once more, despite being in Christ. Whoever it was that was disturbing them did so in distorting the very Gospel, and the churches accepted these ideas with open arms within a very short period of time. They were, in a word, immature. They had learned the Truth, and turned to the Salvation, and yet quickly changed things around to make it as though He was not enough. There was a distortion of the salvation found only in Christ, and it was not only attacking faith, but the fullness of the work of Jesus Christ, and was making the Law something it was never meant to be. The fruits of the Spirit were obviously misunderstood, and the flesh was focused on far too much, in that they believed they had to avoid doing wrong in order to be saved from sin, and to do that, they had to keep an eye on the flesh.
The churches of today are a lot like the churches of Galatia. They teach and preach that we must, at all costs, avoid doing evil. Some take a passive sort of stance and say that it doesn't really matter. But the churches of Galatia, though much older, and the churches of today, are very much alike.
The issues of the Galatians all result from one main issue, and that is the neglect and forgetfulness of the one true Gospel- the Good News from God. They not only made salvation a matter of works, but at the same time, made works something very different. They not only subjected themselves needlessly to the Law, but did so quickly, and obviously, without any consideration of who Christ was and what He did. Many churches to this today in their efforts to avoid sin, in that they accept a sort of mindset that supposedly adapts to all sorts of temptations, but never strives to actually do the opposite of them. That is to say, most people are focused on not doing evil, and yet have so little focus upon doing good. This was certainly one of the foundational issues of the churches in Galatia, in that they were seeking subjection to the Law, not perfection in righteousness through Christ alone.
To understand Paul's letter, you must first understand why he is writing it in the first place. Paul, like the other apostles, did not merely sit down, jot some thoughts down and send it out. He wrote a letter to specific churches concerning specific problems, and was correcting them for very specific errors in a direct fashion. This was not a passive sort of correction, as some might think it to be, but a direct rebuke against the churches in Galatia. He calls them foolish, and gives them questions that quickly corner them in their sin, attacking the ideas that the false teachers had quickly spread, and the Galatians had quickly received. The urgency is obvious in these texts, and Paul instantly deals with the very core of their thinking. They had allowed false teachers to come in and twist the Foundation of Scripture, that is, the Gospel of Christ, and disturbed and turned around this church until it had no idea where to turn next. They were going after each other in disputes, and even doubted the authority of the words of Paul. As we see in the very first verses of the very first chapter, Paul clarifies Where he obtained these words, and thus his authority. This was never the word of Paul, but the Word of God, Who used Paul as an instrument, and so their forsaking the words which Paul and the others had given them was far more than rejecting the words of mere men.
The Galatians were seeking the approval of men, not God, and that was their very first error, from which all the other issues sprung up. The very first chapters of this letter are packed with direct counters to their new beliefs, and Paul wastes no time in pointing out Where his authority came from, as that is the very first thing they must understand, else all he says is doubted. But it goes even deeper than a loss of the true Gospel. From there they went into other errors, all of which were serious, such as actual circumcision, works for the wrong reasons, slavery to sin, a false sense of righteousness, a lack of persecution, and so on.
Though this introduction pales in comparison to what the true content of this letter has to offer in knowledge, it must set the mind straight in order to understand better the reason for Paul's writing this letter.
The churches of today are a lot like the churches of Galatia. They teach and preach that we must, at all costs, avoid doing evil. Some take a passive sort of stance and say that it doesn't really matter. But the churches of Galatia, though much older, and the churches of today, are very much alike.
The issues of the Galatians all result from one main issue, and that is the neglect and forgetfulness of the one true Gospel- the Good News from God. They not only made salvation a matter of works, but at the same time, made works something very different. They not only subjected themselves needlessly to the Law, but did so quickly, and obviously, without any consideration of who Christ was and what He did. Many churches to this today in their efforts to avoid sin, in that they accept a sort of mindset that supposedly adapts to all sorts of temptations, but never strives to actually do the opposite of them. That is to say, most people are focused on not doing evil, and yet have so little focus upon doing good. This was certainly one of the foundational issues of the churches in Galatia, in that they were seeking subjection to the Law, not perfection in righteousness through Christ alone.
To understand Paul's letter, you must first understand why he is writing it in the first place. Paul, like the other apostles, did not merely sit down, jot some thoughts down and send it out. He wrote a letter to specific churches concerning specific problems, and was correcting them for very specific errors in a direct fashion. This was not a passive sort of correction, as some might think it to be, but a direct rebuke against the churches in Galatia. He calls them foolish, and gives them questions that quickly corner them in their sin, attacking the ideas that the false teachers had quickly spread, and the Galatians had quickly received. The urgency is obvious in these texts, and Paul instantly deals with the very core of their thinking. They had allowed false teachers to come in and twist the Foundation of Scripture, that is, the Gospel of Christ, and disturbed and turned around this church until it had no idea where to turn next. They were going after each other in disputes, and even doubted the authority of the words of Paul. As we see in the very first verses of the very first chapter, Paul clarifies Where he obtained these words, and thus his authority. This was never the word of Paul, but the Word of God, Who used Paul as an instrument, and so their forsaking the words which Paul and the others had given them was far more than rejecting the words of mere men.
The Galatians were seeking the approval of men, not God, and that was their very first error, from which all the other issues sprung up. The very first chapters of this letter are packed with direct counters to their new beliefs, and Paul wastes no time in pointing out Where his authority came from, as that is the very first thing they must understand, else all he says is doubted. But it goes even deeper than a loss of the true Gospel. From there they went into other errors, all of which were serious, such as actual circumcision, works for the wrong reasons, slavery to sin, a false sense of righteousness, a lack of persecution, and so on.
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| A chart showing the patterns of error which occurred within the churches in Galatia |
- This will be a series of posts that I am proud to work on with Gillian Ayotte, the girl I get to court. -
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