Galatians

Grant R. Osborne, Philip W. Comfort, Grant R. Osborne, Philip W. Comfort

• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780842330268
• eBook ISBN: 9781496456519

The Life Application Bible Commentary series is the only commentary to offer sermon and lesson applications alongside stirring commentary. Each volume in the series provides in-depth explanation, background, and application for every verse in the text. Perfect for sermon preparation and lesson planning, this one-of-a-kind reference provides excellent quotes and a bibliography for additional commentary.

Additional features include

• Charts, diagrams, and maps on the same page as their related verses
• Quotes from various versions, such as the NIV, NRSV, and NLT
• Key information graphically highlighted

Galatians 1

INTRODUCTION / 1:1-5

The year was probably A.D. 49. Paul and Barnabas had just completed their first missionary journey (Acts 13:2–14:28). By their standards, it must have been a whirlwind adventure. Following a brief stay on the island of Cyprus, they had visited Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, cities in the Roman province of Galatia (present-day Turkey). In their travels they had met with both wholehearted response and deep-seated resistance.

Usually Paul and Barnabas would introduce the gospel in a new area by starting in the local Jewish synagogue, demonstrating from the Scriptures that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. But they would venture beyond the Jewish community to offer the promise of forgiveness and eternal life to the Gentiles. And that would get them in trouble. Declaring that God wanted to save Gentiles placed Paul and Barnabas under a cloud of suspicion by Jews and Jewish Christians. As a result of their preaching, however, many Jews and Gentiles converted to Christ. The success of Christianity also created deep resentment in those holding positions of leadership in society and in religious circles. The work of Paul and Barnabas threatened their standing.

Thrilled by the number of persons who accepted their message, upon arriving back in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas “gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27 NIV).

Shortly after their return to Antioch, some Jewish Christians arrived from Judea. These Judeans claimed that the Antioch church and its missionaries were diluting Christianity to make it more appealing to Gentiles, and they challenged Paul’s authority as an apostle. They disagreed with Paul’s teaching that Gentiles did not have to follow many of the religious laws that the Jews had obeyed for centuries. The resultant heated debate touched almost every church in the first century. The issue: how to maintain a proper place for the Jewish root from which the vine of Christianity was flourishing.

LEGALISM AND LABELISM

Paul encountered two forms of Jewish attitudes toward the law. Modern forms of these same attitudes can be found in Christianity today.

Legalism		Labelism
“Legalism” is attempting to win God’s favor by our own determined efforts of dedication and obedience.		“Labelism” is pride of ownership for having the “right” religion.
Then	In Paul’s time, Jews and many Jewish Christians believed that by faithful adherence to the law they could win God’s approval. By strict and rigid adherence to the Mosaic code, they could earn righteous standing with God.	Then	Jews saw their commitment to the law (primarily the Jewish food laws and circumcision) as a badge of ownership, a symbol of their performance of the historic covenant between them and God. They felt superior for their religious correctness and for upholding the “right” religion. Too often this adherence to the law was in name only.
Now	Often without realizing it, we try to live up to God’s and other people’s expectations of how Christians should be—all this as a means of winning God’s approval. We do this by our efforts at obedience, dedication, full-time Christian service, academic study, and volunteer work. Some people try to be saved by working their way into heaven; more often, however, Christians find themselves trying to win God’s love or approval through perfectionistic duty.	Now	Some Christians display this same love for having the “right” label, identifying with the right church, pastor, denomination, or religious viewpoint. Often their only identity as believers is a stance taken quite proudly over a single issue. By comparing themselves spiritually, they demean others who don’t hold their view.
Result	Frustration, bitterness, or resentment over our failure to live up to the standards.	Result	Pride, smugness, self-righteousness.
Lesson	We must obey and serve freely out of love and gratitude to Christ. The Holy Spirit must empower us. Our dedicated service cannot remove sin or obtain saving grace.	Lesson	Only Christ’s faithful work on the cross, which enables us to respond in faith, can save us.

Some of Paul’s accusers went to the Galatian churches and insisted that the Gentile converts had to be circumcised and follow all the Jewish laws and customs in order to be saved. According to these people (called Judaizers), Gentiles had to first become Jews in order to become Christians. This caused much confusion in the churches that Paul and Barnabas had planted in Galatia.

In response to this threat, Paul wrote this letter to the Galatian churches. In it, he explained that following the Old Testament laws or the Jewish laws would not bring salvation. A person is saved only by grace through faith. Most likely, Paul wrote this letter about A.D. 49, shortly before the meeting of the Jerusalem council, which settled the law-versus-grace controversy (Acts 15). By this time, Paul himself had been a Christian for about fifteen years.

STAKING HIS CLAIMS

The Galatian Christians were in danger of being led astray by false teachers. Paul wrote to protect them from this danger. To combat the false teachers, Paul made three primary claims:

1. Paul claimed dvine authority for his appointment as an apostle. He contrasted his mandate with those who were sent by human institutions or presumed to be God’s messengers (1:12).
2. Paul claimed his spoken and written message embodied the directly revealed will of God (1:11). Therefore, if he himself contradicted the message, he would be subject to judgment (1:8).
3. Paul claimed that opposition and distortion of his message were evidences of the present evil age. The fact that the gospel offered hope to persons lost in sin made the message as much a threat to the evil age as Christ himself had been when he died on the cross (1:4).

1:1

Paul, an apostle.NKJV First-century letters often began by introducing the writer, although this “writer” often dictated his letters to a scribe. Paul used a secretary for most, if not all, of his letters (see Romans 16:22), usually writing the last few lines in his own hand to authenticate his message (6:11). Tertius served Paul in this way (Romans 16:22).

Saul (Paul was probably his Roman surname) was born into a Jewish family from the tribe of Benjamin. He was raised as a strict Pharisee (Philippians 3:5), grew up in Tarsus, and was educated under a well-known teacher, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). However, he was also a Roman citizen, a privilege he used to great advantage at times (Acts 22:27-29). Out of this diverse background, God formed and called a valuable servant, using every aspect of Paul’s upbringing to further the spread of the gospel.

The Jewish name Saul, given to a man born in the tribe of Benjamin, evoked memories of the tribe’s days of glory—the first king of Israel was named Saul and came from this tribe (1 Samuel 10:20, 24-26). The Roman name Paul (Paulus) was a common surname (see, for example, Sergius Paulus in Acts 13:7). We know nothing of the origins of Paul’s Roman citizenship; the name may have been a family name, or Paul may have chosen the name simply because of how close it sounded to his Jewish name. In Acts, Luke wrote, “Then Saul, who also is called Paul” (Acts 13:9 NKJV), then used only the name Paul throughout the rest of the book. When Paul accepted the Christian faith and began his mission to the Gentiles, part of his effort to identify with his listeners included using his Roman name. In all of his letters, Paul used his Roman name, linking himself with the Gentile believers to whom he had been sent with the gospel of Christ.

Paul was called to be an apostle by Jesus Christ and God the Father. Paul was not one of the original twelve disciples (later called apostles), but Jesus had especially called him on the road to Damascus to preach the gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Acts 9:3-19). The apostles’ mission was to be God’s representatives; they were envoys, messengers, and delegates who were directly under the authority of Jesus Christ. They had authority to set up and supervise churches and discipline them if necessary. Paul presented his credentials as an apostle at the beginning of this letter because his authority was being undermined in the churches in Galatia.

COURSE REVERSED

What a change had occurred in Paul’s life! At first he had been a fierce “apostle” of the Sanhedrin, persecuting the first Christians in the name of Judaism. But that calling was replaced by God’s call to follow Christ and to offer God’s grace to Jews and Gentiles alike. Paul’s apostleship was transformed. His intensity and zeal remained, but his purpose had been reversed. Paul had begun as the apostle of death to those who dared to be Christians, but he ended as the apostle for Christ who offered life to anyone willing to believe.

Whatever our past, God is able to call us out by his grace, transform us by his power, and give us a new purpose for life. Has God given you a new purpose for serving him?

Sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.NRSV The title apostle means “one sent on a mission.” Paul had gone on a mission while he was still a committed Jew. Acts 9:1-2 records his mission, authorized by the high priest, to imprison Christians in Damascus. However, Paul’s mission here was of an entirely different character from an entirely different authority. Paul was sent with the gospel not by any person but by Jesus Christ and God the Father. Jesus’ name side-by-side with “God the Father” reveals Paul’s understanding of the oneness of God and Jesus Christ.

No human had commissioned him; no human authority had called him; instead, Jesus Christ himself had spoken to Paul (Acts 9:4-5). Thus Paul added, who raised him from the dead, further clarifying that it was the living, risen Christ who had met him on the road to Damascus. Paul was not called during Jesus’ ministry on earth; rather, he was ca...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• New Testament Timeline
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Vital Statistics
• Outline
• Galatians 1
• Galatians 2
• Galatians 3:1–4:7
• Galatians 4:8–5:1
• Galatians 5:2-26
• Galatians 6
• Bibliography
• Index