I. The Introduction. Gal. 1:1-10

A. THE SALUTATION. Ch. 1:1-5

1 Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren that are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father: 5 to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The salutations with which Paul opens his epistles are never mere literary formulas. They follow the forms used by writers of his day but they are phrased with peculiar skill and are always pertinent to the particular letters in which they are found. Thus in addressing the Galatians the three usual parts of a salutation appear: first, the name of the writer; second, the description of the readers; and, third, the apostolic greeting. However, to these familiar features Paul adds phrases which are so unusual that the salutation forms a significant introduction to the epistle.

The name of the writer is arresting. It is that of Paul, the famous apostle, who stands supreme in his influence among all the followers of Christ. That he was the author of this letter there is not the slightest ground for doubt. Others of his writings have been questioned as to their genuineness. No one ventures to challenge this. Here the veil of intervening centuries drops away. We stand face to face with one who holds a foremost place in the history of the race. He is reciting chapters from his own life, and the arguments thus enforced press upon the hearts of his readers the reality of his teachings with a power which none can resist.

Here one meets with Paul, and with Paul in his most characteristic moods and utterances. Here appear the subtlety and vigor of his intellect; here burst forth the ardor and the passion of his soul; here are revealed his absolute devotion and submission to Christ; and here are declared the essential elements of the faith which he proclaimed. With his own name Paul unites in this salutation a reference to his Christian companions, "all the brethren that are with me." Possibly these were members of some local church; more probably they were Paul's companions in travel. For these obscure Christians it is enough of glory that they enjoyed the confidence and shared the labors of this great Christian leader who held them in loving remembrance as he wrote these immortal lines.

As to the exact churches here addressed, there is room for decided difference of opinion. They were surely situated in the region now known as Asia Minor. They were located near the center of that region. They were "the churches of Galatia." However, whether they were located in the northern or the southern part of the Roman province known by that name, it is difficult to affirm. If located in northern Galatia, then they probably included churches in the cities of Ancyra, Pessinus, and Tavium, churches founded by the apostle on his Second Missionary Journey. If located in southern Galatia, then they were the churches established during his First Missionary Journey in Antioch of Pisidia, in Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.

Sufficient facts are not forthcoming to justify a dogmatic position in favor of either theory. It is evident that the location of these churches would determine more exactly the time and place at which Paul wrote. Fortunately, however, it does not affect the meaning or value of his message. The great doctrines of justification by faith and of Christian liberty, here set forth, apply to all churches in all places and times, and have a special import for the present day.

The greeting which Paul sends to these churches is summarized in the words "Grace . . . and peace." Possibly their familiarity may obscure their meaning. We expect them from the lips of Paul. He uses them continually as he begins his historic letters. They are not mere conventional phrases. They were current coin, but the great apostle stamped them with a new meaning, and in them embodies for his readers a prayer inclusive of the widest conceivable blessings. "Grace" was a salutation common among the Greeks. "Peace" was the salutation of the Hebrews. Paul so employed the terms as to give them for Christians a significance unique, tender, precious. "Grace" came not only to denote mercy shown toward the undeserving but to include all the blessings bestowed by God; while "peace" came to signify the sum of all the spiritual blessings enjoyed by man. "Grace" is the fountainhead of redeeming love, and "peace" the "river of life" that flows deep and calm through each believing soul. For ourselves and for others, we do well to offer this prayer which was so continually on the lips of the apostle, the prayer for "grace . . . and peace." Then, too, as one reads this letter, and notes its severe rebukes and stern warnings, it is well to remember that they come from the heart of one who longed to have his readers experience all the fullness of divine grace, all the blessedness of heavenly peace.

This salutation, however, does much more than designate the writer and the readers and express a prayerful greeting. It forms a real introduction to the epistle. To these three conventional elements of an opening salutation, such phrases are skillfully added as to present at once the essential themes of the letter. These are three. The first is Paul's apostolic authority; the second, the doctrine of justification by faith; the third, the life of believers. To each of these three subjects two chapters of the epistle are devoted, and to each of these subjects definite reference is made in this salutation with which the letter begins.

First of all, then, is the reference to Paul's authority as an apostle. This evidently had been questioned by his enemies at Galatia, and with a view to undermining belief in his doctrines. So in the first syllables of his message he affirms the genuineness of his apostleship. Therefore, when the writer designates himself as "Paul, an apostle," he is using the term in its highest sense. Not merely is he a "messenger" of Christ like Barnabas and James, the brother of our Lord, who are called "apostles." Rather, he claims to be on an equality with the Twelve. He is not one of the Twelve but has the same ranking and credentials and mission as they.

He declares that he is an apostle, "not from men, neither through man." His authority is not from any human source or through any human agency or channel. As to the agency, it is "through Jesus Christ"; as to the source, it is from "God the Father." The last phrase is to be taken as referring to the peculiar and unique character of the sonship of Christ. God is here regarded as the Father of Christ, and not, as elsewhere, the Father of believers or the Father of all men.

The phrase is added, "Who raised him from the dead." The resurrection of Christ was to Paul the proof of his divine sonship; it was also the completion of his exaltation. Thus Paul regards his, apostolic authority as conferred upon him not by the man Jesus but by the risen and ascended Lord. His commission is in every respect divine.

The risen Christ to whom Paul refers was also the crucified Christ, "who gave himself for our sins." Thus Paul has in mind not only his own authority but the great doctrine the defense of which is to form the second division of the epistle. This is the doctrine of justification by faith. It is significant, therefore, that in this introductory salutation he refers to the death and the resurrection of Christ "who was delivered up for our trespasses and was raised for our justification." All the "grace . . . and peace" which Paul prays for the readers, in his greeting, come from "God the Father" as their source, but from "our Lord Jesus Christ" as their channel. In him God has revealed his "grace," through him God has bestowed his "peace." This has been made possible by the redeeming love and self-sacrifice of Christ. He "gave himself for our sins." He laid down his life by his own free act and will, and the occasion of his self-sacrifice was "our sins." The object was to do away with our sins. "The Son of man . . . came ... to give his life a ransom for many."

Where, then, is the need of the ceremonial upon which the Galatians were basing their hopes of salvation? To the death and resurrection of Christ nothing need be added, nothing could be added. His redeeming work is complete. In this single phrase Paul sums up the supreme message of his epistle: "who gave himself for our sins." Here we find the ground of our justification — not in works of the law, not in ritual observances, but in Christ's atoning death.

However, justification must be followed by sanctification. The ultimate purpose of God is to deliver us not from the guilt of sin but from its power. This is the third great theme of the epistle. Paul defends his apostolic authority, but this is in order to establish the truth of his doctrine, and he wishes to establish his doctrine, not as an end in itself, but in order to secure holiness and purity of life. Doctrine is never an end in itself; it is ever the means to an end. Life is the ultimate goal of Paul's endeavor. Thus, the third portion of this epistle deals with the life of victory over evil, the life of liberty and love, which is enjoyed by those who put their trust in Christ. He "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil world."

More literally, "this present . . . world" is "this present . . . age." Paul here follows in his language the Jewish custom of dividing the history of the world into two great periods, the "age" preceding the future coming of the Messiah, and the "age" of the perfected Messianic reign. Wherever the gospel of Christ has gone, wherever the lordship of Christ is recognized, there conditions and customs and life are transformed. Nevertheless, the age is still an "evil age." The hope of the world is for a better age — the age of glory which will dawn with the perfected Kingdom of Christ.

However, Christians are regarded as already delivered and redeemed. This deliverance is moral and spiritual. They are not taken out of the world, but are kept from the evil that is in the world. This deliverance was the very purpose and end of the work of Christ. He "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil world."

The origin of this deliverance, however, is found in the loving heart of God. It is "according to the will of our God and Father." Thus, as the apostolic authority of Paul had its source in the Father and its channel in the Son, so the redemption of believers is traced through the redeeming work of the Son back to "our God and Father."

No wonder that Paul breaks out in a spontaneous doxology, unique in that it closes a salutation: "To whom be the glory for ever and ever." The glory of God is his manifested excellence. This has been manifested in his Son. Measurably it may be shown in all the redeemed. To God, however, belongs and should be ascribed the praise now and forevermore.

B. THE REBUKE. Ch. 1:6-10

6 I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; 7 which is not another gospel: only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. 9 As we have said before, so say I now again. If. any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema. 10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

In opening his letters Paul usually follows his salutation with a thanksgiving. Here the thanksgiving is not only conspicuously absent, but its place is filled with a severe rebuke. It is even more arresting in that, while the salutation closed with a doxology, in this rebuke Paul invokes a curse.

He wishes his readers to understand from the start that he has serious matters to present. He is beginning no mere academic discussion. The essence of the gospel is at stake, and the glory of Christ and the salvation of immortal souls.

The rebuke is threefold. Paul rebukes the Galatians for their fickleness, the false teachers for their heresy, and his enemies for their charge of "timeserving." His language is not only vehement but solemn. He declares that the Galatians are turning from God, that the teachers are accursed of God, that he himself is loyal to God.

He begins by expressing his astonishment at the suddenness of the defection: "I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel." He may mean that he is surprised that they are turning away from his teaching so soon after their conversion or so soon after his second visit to Galatia. Possibly, however, he may mean so soon after the arrival of the false teachers. He is astonished at the suddenness of the change, at the rapidity of the movement, at the ease with which the Galatians had yielded to the Judaizing doctrines. He is startled by their fickleness, appalled at their instability.

They have not taken, however, the decisive step. To prevent them from this he is writing. They "are ... removing"; they are in the way of apostasy. However, Paul does not despair of them. Later in the letter he expresses his confidence in their personal loyalty and in the general soundness of their faith. Still, he sees the greatness of their peril. They "are . . . removing," or are proving themselves to be "deserters" or "turncoats" or "apostates." The case is intensely serious. They are not proving false merely to Paul, their teacher. They are not deserting a human cause or party. They are proving untrue to God. It was he "that called" them; and he called them to salvation "in the grace of Christ." The source of the call was the unmerited favor of God, which he revealed in Christ. In fact, the whole gospel which Paul had brought them as the messenger of God was a gospel of grace. Paul is distressed that the Galatians are turning from God and his divine doctrine of grace to a doctrine of works which has been formulated by man.

They "are . . . removing . . . unto a different gospel," which is in reality no gospel at all. This is not exactly what Paul says, but it is in effect the meaning of his words. "Do I call it a gospel?" Paul seems to say. "But that might imply that it has a right to the name. This false teaching in reality is not another gospel. The only excuse for using the name in connection with the false teachers is the fact that their doctrine is a corruption of the gospel." This teaching, Paul insists, "is not another gospel: only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."

In fact there is and can be but one gospel. This is the "good news" of salvation through Christ. It is not a system of human philosophy. It is not a religion invented by man. It is not even good advice in the form of a rule of living. It is "good news"; it is the announcement of a great redeeming work, the proclamation of a great reconciling act. It is the offer of peace and life through faith in Jesus Christ.

To pervert this "good news" into a system of rites or ceremonies or "works of the flesh" is to contradict God, and those guilty of such perversion deserve the condemnation and displeasure of God. "But though we," writes Paul, "or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema."

The term "anathema" meant originally "devoted to God"; but as an animal, for instance, thus "set aside" as a sacrifice, is doomed to death, so the special sense of the word came to be "a curse," a "thing devoted to destruction." This is the sense of "anathema" throughout the New Testament; namely, "accursed." "Let him be anathema" must mean, therefore, "let him be accursed," or "let a curse be upon him," or "let the curse of God be upon him." It is thus the strongest possible form of condemnation.

Paul had warned his readers when with them of the peril of false teaching. He therefore repeats what he said then, "If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema."

It should be noted that Paul speaks these solemn words not of men who are teaching infidelity or heathenism or atheism, but of those who professed to be preachers of the gospel of Christ. He pronounces "anathema" upon anyone who perverts that gospel.

The perversion which he had in mind is that which substitutes legalism for evangelism. To add anything to the atoning work of Christ, as a ground of salvation, is not merely to add to the gospel, it is to destroy the gospel. It is to proclaim a doctrine which is no gospel at all.

Law and grace constitute opposing systems, as do salvation by works and salvation by faith, circumcision and the cross, self and Christ. However, such is the pride of the hum^an heart that men are ever attempting to substitute law for grace, and are ever attempting to secure salvation by ways of their own choosing.

There are those who put their real trust in rites and sacraments rather than in the living Christ whom these services should represent. Others have their real confidence in an orthodox creed. This is actually the idol which they worship. They believe in their acceptance with God because of their fierce defense of dogmas, even though they are grieving the Spirit of Christ to whom these dogmas relate.

Still others rest confidently upon their moral deeds, upon their culture, or upon their generous support of worthy causes. The entire Church of the present day is in danger of legalism, of Galatianism, of substituting law for grace. Each believer needs to be called back again to that vital, humble, personal, transforming faith expressed by Paul in a subsequent chapter: "That life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me."

Paul has rebuked the Galatians for their fickleness and
^he false teachers for their heresy; he now rebukes all who may believe or may have circulated the charge that he is a timeserver. This form of slander had been given some seeming support by the conduct of the apostle. He had been careful to obey the law of Moses even after his conversion to Christianity. As an apostle he had kept Jewish feasts and performed Jewish vows and observed Jewish rites. Now, however, when teachers have come from Jerusalem insisting upon the necessity of observing the Mosaic institutions, Paul is pronouncing these men anathema. This surely looks like duplicity and insincerity.

The motive seemed to be quite obvious. Paul taught men what he thought they wished to be taught. To please the Jews he observed the law; to please the Galatians he proclaimed freedom from the law. The explanation appeared to be perfectly simple: Paul was seeking for popularity and human favor.

This is the charge he meets as he asks indignantly. "For am I now seeking favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men?" To this charge there is the one sufficient answer; it is found in his Christian life and service: "If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ." His loyalty to Christ, his sufferings for the sake of Christ, were the evidences that he was seeking no human favor, but was conducting himself as a "bondservant," a "slave" of Christ.

Popularity with men cannot usually be secured along the line of devotion to the Master. This does not mean that loyal Christians cannot expect the love and admiration of countless friends who are true to the same Lord. Nor does it mean that men fail to recognize and to admire true Christian character. It does mean, however, that there are always those who are opposed to Christ and who refuse his gospel, who will feel enmity and will show hatred toward his followers.

Paul is absolutely certain that his course is not being determined by a desire for the praise of those who are disloyal to Christ and are seeking to corrupt his gospel. He is certain that as a servant of Christ he is doing the will of God.

This confidence explains the severity of the language he has just been employing. He can thus reprove the Galatians and can thus condemn the false teachers just because he is so sure that he is speaking for God as a servant of Christ.

Thus this reply to his accusers forms a fitting conclusion to Paul's surprising rebuke, vs. 6-10, and a true introduction to the defense of his apostolic authority which immediately follows, chs. 1:11 to 2:21.