Galatians

George R. Brunk, III

• Publisher: Herald Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780836198607
• eBook ISBN: 9780836198614
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Galatians by George Brunk III tracks the important role that this epistle of the Apostle Paul played in Christianity’s shift from being a messianic sect within Judaism to a Gentile-dominated religious movement. As a sustained defense of Jesus Christ as the center of faith, the full unity and equality of Christ’s followers, and the Spirit’s empowerment in the life of the believer, Galatians holds both world-changing and personally transforming power for the contemporary church. Brunk’s commentary, an important contribution to biblical studies, includes historical and cultural background; shares necessary theological, sociological, and ethical meanings; and, in general, makes “the rough places plain.”

Volume 28 in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series

About Believers Church Bible Commentary Series

Accessible to lay readers, useful in preaching and pastoral care, helpful for Bible study groups and Sunday school teachers, and academically sound, the Believers Church Bible Commentary Series foregrounds an Anabaptist reading of Scripture. Published for all who seek more fully to understand the original message of Scripture and its meaning for today, the series is based on the conviction that God is still speaking to all who will listen, and that the Holy Spirit makes the Word a living and authoritative guide for all who want to know and do God’s will.

Galatians 1:1-5

The Letter Opening

PREVIEW

Galatians is in the form of a letter, or epistle—the ordinary form for written correspondence in the Greco-Roman world. The modern reader can identify parts of this form with ease because they have persisted as features of written correspondence up to the present time. The formal opening identifies the sender and receiver(s) of the letter and establishes a personal relationship by means of a formula of greeting. The formal closing may contain several elements, but there is always an expression of well-wishes.

While the early Christian writers respect the standard forms, they also freely adapt the language to their faith (see comments on 1:3). Moreover, Paul expands on the basic structure to make even these formal parts of the letter serve the purposes of the body of the letter. In Galatians, the expansion serves to establish the tone of the letter and to alert the readers to the author’s agenda. In a typical letter of the time, the introductory material includes a thanksgiving for something associated with the recipients. Paul normally observed this practice. It helped to build relationships. However, in Galatians the thanksgiving is conspicuously missing. This certainly is a deliberate move to strengthen the effect of the disappointment and rebuke that Paul expresses later in the main body of the letter.

OUTLINE

Author, 1:1-2a

Addressees, 1:2b

Greeting, 1:3-5

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Author 1:1-2a

The letter identifies multiple senders—Paul … and all the members of God’s family who are with me. By placing himself first and apart from the others, Paul indicates that he is the principal author. This is supported by the first-person singular (I) that predominates throughout the letter and by the reference in the closing to his own handwriting (6:11). Other persons associated with the sending of the letter show that there is a community of support for the viewpoint defended in the letter. Since Paul’s authority as an apostle is a crucial factor in the letter, it is all the more significant that others are mentioned. Paul exercises apostleship and its authority from a base in the wider community of faith (see also on 2:2). The presence of the word all strengthens the point by implying a solid backing of Paul’s stance. The accountability process at work in the letter is one of community (the company of believers with Paul) to community (the Galatian churches) as well as one of individual (apostolic leader) to community (cf. 1 Cor 11:16; 14:33b).

Paul is the Greek name for the man whose Jewish name was Saul (Acts 13:9). Generally Paul uses the title of apostle in introducing his letters. This is understandable because the letters we have are part of Paul’s ministry of guiding young churches. Reference to his role enhances the significance of what he writes in the eyes of the reader. The word apostle is related to the Greek verb “to send.” In the New Testament the noun is used for persons who are sent with a commission on behalf of someone else. Paul’s life and message, as apostle to the Gentiles (2:7-8), reflects Paul’s powerful self-awareness of being under commission from God. This status gives authority to his ministry, including his pastoral guidance in letter form.

Now Paul expands on the title with an extended comment, carefully worded. His explanation has to do with the ground of his apostleship, and he therefore is establishing his credibility as author. Paul’s claim to apostolic standing by divine commission is supported first by a negative assertion and then by a positive one. He is an apostle neither by human commission nor from human authorities, or more precisely translated, not from human source nor through human mediation (1:1a AT). The emphasis is on the two differing prepositions from and through. Paul’s intent is to exclude humans both as the originating cause and as the intermediate means through whom another agent acted (God, in this case). It is not likely that Paul expects the Galatian believers to associate these statements with specific persons or occasions. The language is too general even to allude to specific things in the past.

While the human factor is eliminated, the divine ground for Paul’s apostleship is asserted—but through Jesus Christ and God the Father (1:1b). Surprisingly Paul does not say through Jesus Christ and from God the Father in exact (but contrasting) parallel with the prepositions from and through of the previous clause. That is common in the New Testament: in achieving divine purposes, God (the Father) is the source, and Jesus Christ is the agent. Such is, in fact, the underlying thought here. However, the particular form of the expression appears to be determined by the fact that in early Christianity, apostleship is linked directly to a commission of the risen Jesus (and such was Paul’s conviction, based on his own experience). Therefore Jesus Christ is mentioned first. But Paul wants to acknowledge the ultimate source as God the Father, who raised [Jesus] from the dead (1:1c). His apostleship has its ultimate cause in God the Father and its intermediate cause in Jesus Christ. Paul may also want to express the unity of Father and Son (Christ) with one preposition (cf. the same pattern in 1:3).

The reference to resurrection is, therefore, not a mere formality of the letter’s opening. As near as we can tell, the term apostle was normally used for someone who had received an appearance of the resurrected Jesus. The commission as an apostle came as part of the appearance of the risen Lord. A mutual dependence exists between the resurrection and apostleship. The resurrection needs the witness of the apostle for its proclamation and verification. An apostle requires the authorizing of the resurrected Jesus. It follows that Paul is alluding to the appearance of Jesus to him on the road to Damascus. This becomes clearer in 1:12: through a revelation of Jesus Christ. (For further comment on Paul as an apostle, see TBC below.)

Who are the cosenders of the letter mentioned in verse 2? The phrase who are with me (1:2a) would be a strange way to refer to a congregation that Paul is visiting at the time of writing. More likely it points to Paul’s missionary associates, those traveling with him. Philippians 4:21-22, for example, distinguishes between persons with Paul (as in our text) and all the saints, meaning the church where Paul is located. The identity of these associates is uncertain since we are not sure of the date of Paul’s writing this letter and where then to locate it in Paul’s missionary travels as recorded in Acts (see the Introduction).

Addressees 1:2b

The letter is written to the churches of Galatia. This is not one congregation but multiple congregations. Just as one can easily miss the multiple senders, so one can easily miss the multiple addressees. The incorrect teaching that Paul combats in the letter is a regional phenomenon. Presumably traveling teachers are visiting the local congregations and promoting the same teaching. Here the word churches signifies local groups of believers; the term can also mean the wider body of believers as in 1:13: the church of God. Since the churches are not identified more exactly, the question of where they were located has been debated. The uncertainty is made greater by the fact that more than one area could be called Galatia in Paul’s day. (See the Introduction for a discussion of the theories of destination.) Paul’s practice was to embellish the reference to his addressees with positive descriptions such as “saints” and “beloved of God.” The lack of such language here signals a coolness of Paul’s attitude. From the fact that several congregations are addressed, we can conclude that Galatians is a circular letter.

Greeting 1:3-5

Verse 3 states the formal greeting. This is the third element in the standard features of a letter opening. The greeting itself conforms to early church practice in combining grace and peace. It is an adaptation of the Greek formula that used the verb for rejoice (chairein). New Testament writers creatively changed this to the similar charis, meaning grace, and added the Jewish greeting of peace (shalom). With these words the first generation of believers captured the essence of the gospel, confessing it in the repetition of routine greetings. (Note how grace sums up the gospel in 1:6: grace of Christ.) Grace expresses the ground of gospel reality, and peace states its fruit. But the ultimate source is God, seen once again as God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1:3; cf. 1:1). What is new is the title Lord for Jesus Christ, which was the common confession of the first believers. It points to Jesus exalted to the right hand of God after the resurrection (Rom 1:4; Phil 2:9-11, esp. v. 11) and affirms his authority over the church and potentially over the world. The triple repetition of the designation Father in verses 1, 3, and 5 is striking. It discloses the dominance in Paul’s thinking of a familial and intimate understanding of God. (See also comments on 4:6 and TLC below.)

Just as the identification of author undergoes a surprising expansion, so the word of greeting is greatly enlarged by verses 4 and 5. The expansion is, in effect, a statement about Christ and has the ring of a confessional affirmation. The Epistles of the New Testament contain numerous formulas of this kind. They usually have Christ as their subject and are marked by a compact and artful style (e.g., Rom 1:3-4; Phil 2:6-11; Col 1:15-20; 1 Tim 3:16). This clearly demonstrates that the faith of the early church was Christ-centered.

Several indicators suggest that Paul incorporates a formula already in existence that was probably known to the readers. First, there is a unique vocabulary for otherwise common Pauline concepts. The verb to set free, or deliver, and the phrase the present evil age are never used elsewhere by Paul. Second, the confessional formula appears to serve as an appeal to traditional material known and accepted by both the writer and the readers. The inclusion of such formulas in the introductions to Pauline letters appears only in Romans and Galatians. In Romans the confessional statement builds a faith tie to believers whom Paul has never met. In Galatians it evokes common beliefs that Paul can use as a basis from which to argue against Galatian error. Thus the greeting looks back to the familiar beliefs of the Galatians and forward to the themes Paul will develop in the letter. This move from the familiar to the new and controversial makes the argument of the letter more persuasive.

Who gave himself for our sins (1:4a) expresses the essence of the gospel from the viewpoint of Christ and his work. The language of self-giving is a reference to Christ’s death on the cross, a central theme for Paul. His death deals with the problem of human sin. His life is given on behalf of our sins. The plural (sins) highlights the specific ways in which we have violated and fallen short of God’s will. In this way the problem is made to focus on the human person, on all persons. By consequence the work of salvation is personal (our sins), being directed to the individual’s condition. Yet the language can also include the collective sins of the human community.

The thought then moves to a goal beyond that of dealing with sin itself. The ultimate purpose of Christ’s self-sacrifice is to set us free from the present evil age (1:4b). This purpose clause goes beyond the isolated individual to speak of the context in which the individual and the human community live. It is a social and cosmic (total world reality) context. The sin problem is answered not only by forgiveness of sins, but also through a rescue or deliverance from the present evil age. Age does not merely signify a defined period of time but also a social context marked by particular patterns of thinking and behavior.

Although the believer and the believing community are not physically removed from the present world setting, they are changed (converted) to a new understanding of life, a new set of values, and a different way of living. The same idea appears in Romans 12:2, which literally says, “Do not conform yourselves to the pattern (of life) of this age.” The concept of rescue implies a movement from an undesirable state of bondage to a favorable condition of freedom. By this traditional formula, then, Paul touches on the later themes of slavery to the elemental spirits (4:1-10) and of freedom in Christ (2:4; 5:1, 13).

In his saving work, Christ is not a passive instrument in the hands of God: he gave himself. At the same time, what happened to him is according to the will of our God and Father (1:4c). By this phrase the introduction further emphasizes the unity of Father and Son already present in the phrase that pairs the Father and Christ (vv. 1, 3). The emphasis on Christ’s self-giving shows him to be an active participant in the love and grace extended by God to a needy world. Moreover, it takes him as a true example of the obedient child of God (Heb 5:8).

To the confessional summary is appended an outburst of praise to God (a doxology): to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen (1:5). Such a response of praise, which turns the flow of address from the reader to God, does not appear in other introductions of Paul’s letters; but it is present with the salutation in the book of Revelation (1:6). At the same time, we see similar spontaneous statements of praise elsewhere in Paul’s letters (Rom 11:33-36; 16:27; Phil 4:20; and others). They invariably follow a reference to the benefits of God for believers. This explains its presence here in dependence on the preceding confessional formula, which states the benefit of salvation. Thus we view the intense personal faith of Paul, for whom these beliefs are an experiential reality. Glory is the radiant manifestation of God’s presence that points to the divine power and majesty. To ascribe glory to God is to acknowledge this highest excellence of God and to own its consequences in one’s life and in all creation.

THE TEXT IN BIBLICAL CONTEXT

Galatians as an Apostolic Epistle

Paul’s epistles, or letters, of which Galatians is an example, have the form of the normal correspondence of the day. They were written in response to a specific situation (occasional) to achieve a particular goal (task-oriented). They do not aspire to be great literature for a general audience. On the other hand, they have a public character inasmuch as they were intended as (or became) circular letters. None of the New Testament letter writers, including Paul, give evidence of consciously writing literature that would endure or become part of a permanent standard of truth (canon of Scripture).

Nevertheless these writings serve as foundational witnesses to the gospel. As witnesses to God’s once-for-all action in Jesus the Christ, they share this good news and its implications for the church and indeed for the whole world. Thus the writings themselves participate in the special and once-for-all character of the gospel. This is the basis for their unique and permanent scriptural authority. In this regard the epistle to the Galatians is of special interest. Here the issue of apostleship and its relation to the truth of the gospel (cf. 2:5) receives specific treatment. Questions of authority come into view. As a result there is a link between the authority of Paul the apostle and the authority of the Galatian letter, and finally the authority of Scripture. Comments on chapters 1 and 2 (below) will explore these matters further.

The Special Function of the Letter Opening

Normally the opening of a letter is little more than a formality. But Galatians is different. Here each expansion of the basic letter form makes a significant point. In these expansions or digressions, we can read the interests of the writer. One might anticipate that those thoughts would parallel the themes of the letter proper—and such is indeed the case for Galatians. The introduction prepares for what follows in tone and in theme. The tone is set by the lack of any praise for the addressees. Paul’s reserved and cool tone is further underscored by the absence of a thanksgiving for the virtues and achievements of the readers. This tone prepares for the criticism and rebuke that follow in the body of the letter. The anticipation of later themes focuses on three items: apostleship, the cross of Jesus Christ, and freedom in salvation. Paul speaks to these themes in 1:1 (apostleship) and in 1:4 (cross and freedom).

Apostleship

Paul sees what is happening in Galatia as a challenge to his role as apostle. The attempt by some to introduce new ideas to the Galatians (1:7) has understandably undermined respect for Paul. The message and the messenger are linked and interdependent. On that linkage Paul and his opposition are likely agreed! In the first major section of the letter, Paul defends his qualifications as a messenger and his view of how messenger and message relate. Here in the opening, he makes just one basic but crucial point: his apostleship is fully grounded in divine initiative rather than human authorization.

In the early church the term apostle was used in a narrow, specialized sense for that group of Jesus disciples who had witnessed Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and who were commissioned by Jesus Christ himself to preach the gospel. Later apostle could refer to any delegated person who represented the church in mission (2 Cor 8:23). Paul clearly lays claim to membership in the first, specialized group. That Paul’s status as an apostle was open to dispute is understandable: (1) he was not a participant in the earthly ministry of Jesus (cf. Acts 1:21-22), and (2) he received his appearance at a later time, after the ascension. Paul refers to the latter issue in his acknowledgment of being “one untimely born” (...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Abbreviations
• Series Forward
• Author’s Preface
• Introduction to Galatians
• The Letter Opening, 1:1-5
• Part 1 (1:6–4:11): A Rebuke: Defending the Truth
• Part 2 (4:12–6:10): A Request: Obeying the Truth
• Outline of Galatians
• Essays
• Map of the New Testament World
• Bibliography
• Selected Resources
• Index of Ancient Sources
• The Author