Galatians
1
New
American Standard Bible (NASB)
Introduction
1
Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through
Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the
brethren who are with me,
To
the churches of Galatia:
3
Grace to you and peace from [a]God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who
gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil
[b]age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory
forevermore. Amen.
Perversion
of the Gospel
6
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you [c]by the
grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only
there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel
[d]contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be [e]accursed! 9 As we
have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel
[f]contrary to what you received, he is to be [g]accursed!
10
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please
men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of
Christ.
Paul
Defends His Ministry
11
For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me
is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I
taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
13
For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to
persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; 14 and I
was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my
[h]countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. 15 But
when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through
His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him
among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with [i]flesh and blood, 17
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went
away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
18
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to [j]become acquainted with
Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other of the
apostles except [k]James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to
you, [l]I assure you before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then I went into the
regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was still unknown by [m]sight to the churches
of Judea which were in Christ; 23 but only, they kept hearing, “He who once
persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24
And they were glorifying God [n]because of me.
The
IVP New Testament Commentary Series
Desertion
from the Gospel (1:6)
Paul's
expression of astonishment is actually a stinging rebuke: I am astonished that
you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and
are turning to a different gospel. The present tense of the verb deserting
tells us that the Galatian Christians had not yet decisively carried out their
desertion. They were just starting to turn around and leave. Paul's letter was
designed to arrest them before they had gone too far. The one they were
deserting was the one who had called them by the grace of Christ. While this
may be read as a reference to Paul himself, similar references to God's call by
his grace in Paul's life (1:15) and in the Galatians' experience (5:8) indicate
that the reference is to God. Paul is stunned that people who had just recently
experienced so much of God's miraculous power by his Spirit in their lives
(3:1-5) would now turn away from him. They are turning their backs on God in
order to follow a different gospel.
The
content of this different gospel will become evident as we read the letter. But
it is clear already that this gospel was not God-centered. It was drawing
people away from God to focus on themselves. Preoccupation with racial
identity, religious observance and ceremonial rituals was robbing them of their
experience of God's grace expressed in Christ. The irony and tragedy of the
situation was that in their pious pursuit of spiritual perfection (3:3) they
were actually turning away from God.
The
Galatian tragedy is a warning for us that not every quest for spirituality is
in reality a quest for God. The emphasis in our day on "spirituality"
and "spiritual formation" may be a way of finding God. But it may
also be a way of running and hiding from God. When we are enticed by provocative
books on New Age spirituality, we must remember that the Galatian Christians
were trapped by a message that promised spiritual perfection but turned them
away from God.
The
IVP New Testament Commentary Series
Perversion
of the Gospel (1:7)
The
fascinating, even spellbinding teaching of some people in the Galatian churches
had turned the Galatian believers away from the true gospel. Paul boldly
asserts that the different gospel which is so attractive to the Galatian
Christians is really no gospel at all. It is a perversion of the gospel of
Christ, perpetrated by some people who are trying to cause confusion in the
Galatian churches.
Probably
these people claimed that their message supplemented and completed Paul's
message. They would not have viewed their version of the gospel as heretical.
After all, they did not deny the deity of Christ, the cross of Christ or the
resurrection of Christ. They subtracted nothing from Paul's message. They only
added to it.
But
Paul does not allow their gospel to stand as a legitimate option. He sets forth
a radical antithesis. His gospel cannot be served alongside other gospels,
buffet-style. There is only one true gospel of Christ. The rest of his letter
defines the true gospel in antithesis to the false gospel, so that the readers
will reject the false and embrace the true.
IVP
New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity
Press.
