#40- Called To Freedom?
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(English Standard Version)
Gal 1 - Greeting - No Other Gospel - Paul Called by God
Gal 2 - Paul Accepted by the Apostles - Paul Opposes Peter - Justified by Faith
Gal 3 - By Faith or by Works of the Law? - The Righteous Shall Live by Faith - The Law and Promise
Gal 4 - Sons and Heirs - Paul’s Concern for the Galatians - Example of Hagar and Sarah
Gal 5 - Christ Has Set Us Free - Walk by The Spirit
Gal 6 - Bear One Another’s Burdens - Final Warning and Benediction
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
Be sure to read Galatians!
Watch the Bible Project video Galatians
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Galatians begins with: "Grace to you and Peace from God…” This greeting is the foundation and the result of the Gospel which is the focus of this letter to the churches of Galatia.
Paul and his team of missionaries had traveled through Galatia, now central Turkey, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and establishing local churches. Both Jews and non-Jews (known as gentiles) were believing what they heard and becoming followers of Jesus. The Gospel Paul preached did not include following the Jewish laws and customs so familiar to the Jews. (There are 613 recognized commandments - you can search it online) Certain Jews followed behind Paul and taught that Paul was wrong and the Gospel required Jesus’ followers to not only acknowledge Jesus as the Christ but to also obey the Jewish commands. They especially taught that the Gospel included Jewish circumcision.
When Paul heard that the Galatian Christians were beginning to believe and follow these additions he responded: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9) Why does Paul call this “a different gospel”?
The Judiazers, as they were called, were teaching that following the Old Testament commandments were an essential part of the Gospel. The Gospel Paul taught set people free from keeping commandments and ordinances as a required part of being justified, redeemed, forgiven, saved, born again, etc.
The Gospel Paul taught was accepted as the true Gospel by all the other Apostles. Paul’s unique life was a testimony of the Grace of God. His former commitment to keeping all God’s commandments were exemplary. That commitment led him to be a chief persecutor of the followers of Jesus, until the day he met Jesus himself. His eyes were opened, his heart was changed; and he began a new life with a changed understanding of the Good News of Jesus Christ. We don’t know the details of Paul’s three years in the desert with Jesus, but we know the result. Paul now understood the purpose of the Old Testament Laws; he understood the purpose and the result of Jesus’ death and resurrection; he understood the LIFE that Jesus’ came to give, and how people could receive it. These things he described as “The Gospel” and he spent the rest of his life proclaiming and defending it. These others were claiming the Gospel had many more elements, but Paul declared their gospel “different”, “distorted”, and not really “another” one.
How do we know what Gospel Paul preached? How do we know someone hasn’t altered or lost it? How do we know the Bible we read is reliable? There is zero textual evidence that Paul and the Apostles taught any different Gospel than what is recorded in our modern Bible. While there are understandable copying differences in the various ancient manuscripts, most are spelling errors and the like, none of them alter the content and meaning of the text in any significant way. The New Testament we have today has many more manuscripts than any other ancient work of literature. There are more than 5,000 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts catalogued, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and more than 9,000 manuscripts in various other ancient languages.
No other major religion has a text that even comes close to the verifiable accuracy of the Christian Bible. Thus, we can know with certainty that the Gospel we read in our current Bible is the same Gospel Paul and the other Apostles preached after Jesus’ instruction.
The Gospel of the Bible is simply that people are reconciled to God when they put their faith, belief, trust in what God has said and done for us. There have been many down through history who have taught that God saves people in response to their obedience to various commandments. Paul said something very sobering: “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10-14)
Paul called seeking to be saved by keeping rules “slavery”. This focus on commitments and rules we can never fully keep is the slavery from which the Gospel of Grace has set us free. He told the Galatians that whether or not they were circumcised counted for nothing, just like any other rules they observed trying to win God’s favor. The only thing that counts is “faith working through love”. (Gal 5:6) Lest anyone think that this new Gospel Freedom meant they could ignore living by the power and guidance of the Spirit of God, Paul wrote: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. … But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:13,16)
Paul concluded his letter to the Galatians with the observation that “even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law…” (6:13) and what counts is “a new creation”. (6:15) The Good News, The Gospel, is that our LIFE with Jesus is neither earned nor deserved but is a gift both received and lived by faith in the Grace of God that sets us free to serve God and others rather than ourselves.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.”
(English Standard Version)
Gal 1 - Greeting - No Other Gospel - Paul Called by God
Gal 2 - Paul Accepted by the Apostles - Paul Opposes Peter - Justified by Faith
Gal 3 - By Faith or by Works of the Law? - The Righteous Shall Live by Faith - The Law and Promise
Gal 4 - Sons and Heirs - Paul’s Concern for the Galatians - Example of Hagar and Sarah
Gal 5 - Christ Has Set Us Free - Walk by The Spirit
Gal 6 - Bear One Another’s Burdens - Final Warning and Benediction
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
Be sure to read Galatians!
Watch the Bible Project video Galatians
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Galatians begins with: "Grace to you and Peace from God…” This greeting is the foundation and the result of the Gospel which is the focus of this letter to the churches of Galatia.
Paul and his team of missionaries had traveled through Galatia, now central Turkey, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and establishing local churches. Both Jews and non-Jews (known as gentiles) were believing what they heard and becoming followers of Jesus. The Gospel Paul preached did not include following the Jewish laws and customs so familiar to the Jews. (There are 613 recognized commandments - you can search it online) Certain Jews followed behind Paul and taught that Paul was wrong and the Gospel required Jesus’ followers to not only acknowledge Jesus as the Christ but to also obey the Jewish commands. They especially taught that the Gospel included Jewish circumcision.
When Paul heard that the Galatian Christians were beginning to believe and follow these additions he responded: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9) Why does Paul call this “a different gospel”?
The Judiazers, as they were called, were teaching that following the Old Testament commandments were an essential part of the Gospel. The Gospel Paul taught set people free from keeping commandments and ordinances as a required part of being justified, redeemed, forgiven, saved, born again, etc.
The Gospel Paul taught was accepted as the true Gospel by all the other Apostles. Paul’s unique life was a testimony of the Grace of God. His former commitment to keeping all God’s commandments were exemplary. That commitment led him to be a chief persecutor of the followers of Jesus, until the day he met Jesus himself. His eyes were opened, his heart was changed; and he began a new life with a changed understanding of the Good News of Jesus Christ. We don’t know the details of Paul’s three years in the desert with Jesus, but we know the result. Paul now understood the purpose of the Old Testament Laws; he understood the purpose and the result of Jesus’ death and resurrection; he understood the LIFE that Jesus’ came to give, and how people could receive it. These things he described as “The Gospel” and he spent the rest of his life proclaiming and defending it. These others were claiming the Gospel had many more elements, but Paul declared their gospel “different”, “distorted”, and not really “another” one.
How do we know what Gospel Paul preached? How do we know someone hasn’t altered or lost it? How do we know the Bible we read is reliable? There is zero textual evidence that Paul and the Apostles taught any different Gospel than what is recorded in our modern Bible. While there are understandable copying differences in the various ancient manuscripts, most are spelling errors and the like, none of them alter the content and meaning of the text in any significant way. The New Testament we have today has many more manuscripts than any other ancient work of literature. There are more than 5,000 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts catalogued, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and more than 9,000 manuscripts in various other ancient languages.
No other major religion has a text that even comes close to the verifiable accuracy of the Christian Bible. Thus, we can know with certainty that the Gospel we read in our current Bible is the same Gospel Paul and the other Apostles preached after Jesus’ instruction.
The Gospel of the Bible is simply that people are reconciled to God when they put their faith, belief, trust in what God has said and done for us. There have been many down through history who have taught that God saves people in response to their obedience to various commandments. Paul said something very sobering: “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10-14)
Paul called seeking to be saved by keeping rules “slavery”. This focus on commitments and rules we can never fully keep is the slavery from which the Gospel of Grace has set us free. He told the Galatians that whether or not they were circumcised counted for nothing, just like any other rules they observed trying to win God’s favor. The only thing that counts is “faith working through love”. (Gal 5:6) Lest anyone think that this new Gospel Freedom meant they could ignore living by the power and guidance of the Spirit of God, Paul wrote: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. … But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:13,16)
Paul concluded his letter to the Galatians with the observation that “even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law…” (6:13) and what counts is “a new creation”. (6:15) The Good News, The Gospel, is that our LIFE with Jesus is neither earned nor deserved but is a gift both received and lived by faith in the Grace of God that sets us free to serve God and others rather than ourselves.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.”
Check out these LINKS:
Watch Bible Project summary of Galatians
Read "Bible Words to Ponder" related to this week study
Read "The Gospel"