Anchor My Faith

Title: Introduction to Galatians

^1:1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— ² and all the brothers who are with me. To the churches of Galatia: ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Galatians 1:1 – 5 ESV)

This letter begins with the name “Paul” which has been widely accepted by scholars down through the ages as the author of the letter to the Galatians. The date of the letter is in question but because Galatians 2:1 – 10 seems to be talking about the Council in Jerusalem, which probably occurred in A.D. 48/49, it is assumed the letter would have been written sometime after that. A plausible date would thus be sometime around A.D. 48.

With the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, came the age of a new covenant as described in Galatians 3:23 – 26 ESV: ²³ “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” The transition from following the outward ceremonies of the Mosaic law to faith in Jesus Christ was not easy for those raised and schooled under Judaism. However, the acceptance of the heart of the gospel was necessary for salvation, which was justification by faith alone and not by obedience to the law. This is seen in Galatians 2:16 ESV: “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” There was also the transition from our work of obedience to living under the guidance and power of the Spirit, which is covered in chapters 5 and 6).

The purpose of this letter to the Galatians was to resolve a crisis that was brought into the church by false teachers who taught that to be saved one must be circumcised. This condition of circumcision became an issue we looked at in Acts 15 and was finally resolved in a meeting in the Jerusalem church to not be a requirement. In Acts 18, the time when Galatians was written, there were still some who believed circumcision was required. This letter to the Galatians addresses this issue.

Paul describes himself as an apostle, “not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” Paul, at the time called Saul, “journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished” when suddenly, ⁶ “about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. ⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’” (Acts 22:5 – 8 ESV). This was the starting point of Saul becoming the apostle Paul. It came as a direct result of God choosing Paul as the one to take the gospel to the Gentiles.