Galatians -- Chapter One
Monday, Jun 14 2010 11:14 AM
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Verses 1-5
Paul writes his letter to the churches of Galatia: Pisidian Antioch, Iconium Lystra, and Derbe, cf. Acts 16:6ff -- after his first missionary journey to them (47/48 A.D.).
False teachers had raised questions as to Paul's credentials: should Paul be identified as an apostle?
We read in Matthew 10:2 that Jesus appointed 12 disciples, whom he also named "apostles" (i.e., sent ones) so that they might be sent out to preach. After Judas Iscariot hangs himself, in Acts 1:21-26 we read that Peter called a meeting of the 120 person who followed Jesus to cast lots for a new apostle to complete their numbers again to twelve. The condition of qualification was that he needed to "have accompanied the 12 during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us" (Acts 1:21-22).
Of note is that Barnabas and Paul were both referred to as apostles (Acts 14:14). Paul often referred to himself as an "apostle to the Gentiles" (Romans 11:13). Paul reasserts his credentials in verses 11-24. Paul was not sent by the 12 or anyone else, but by the risen Lord Jesus Christ himself, who appeared to him on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9). The message that Paul proclaims was received directly from the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12). Paul offers, too, the evidence of his complete transformation from being a violent persecutor of the church of God, trying to destroy it, to becoming a preacher of Christ Jesus as additional evidence to his call and revelation.
From verses 6-10 we catch a glimpse of what the trouble is in the church. Visiting preachers are persuading the Galatians that they should require circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic law in order to be justified before God (see Galatians 4:17; 6:12-13). Such additions are a distortion of the gospel of Christ (verse 7) and really no gospel at all.
Additional thoughts:
Paul gives us some biographical information that is echoed in his letter to the Philippians (see chapter 3) and in the book of Acts (see chapter 22 and 26).
- Pastor Jeff
Paul writes his letter to the churches of Galatia: Pisidian Antioch, Iconium Lystra, and Derbe, cf. Acts 16:6ff -- after his first missionary journey to them (47/48 A.D.).
False teachers had raised questions as to Paul's credentials: should Paul be identified as an apostle?
We read in Matthew 10:2 that Jesus appointed 12 disciples, whom he also named "apostles" (i.e., sent ones) so that they might be sent out to preach. After Judas Iscariot hangs himself, in Acts 1:21-26 we read that Peter called a meeting of the 120 person who followed Jesus to cast lots for a new apostle to complete their numbers again to twelve. The condition of qualification was that he needed to "have accompanied the 12 during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us" (Acts 1:21-22).
Of note is that Barnabas and Paul were both referred to as apostles (Acts 14:14). Paul often referred to himself as an "apostle to the Gentiles" (Romans 11:13). Paul reasserts his credentials in verses 11-24. Paul was not sent by the 12 or anyone else, but by the risen Lord Jesus Christ himself, who appeared to him on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9). The message that Paul proclaims was received directly from the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12). Paul offers, too, the evidence of his complete transformation from being a violent persecutor of the church of God, trying to destroy it, to becoming a preacher of Christ Jesus as additional evidence to his call and revelation.
From verses 6-10 we catch a glimpse of what the trouble is in the church. Visiting preachers are persuading the Galatians that they should require circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic law in order to be justified before God (see Galatians 4:17; 6:12-13). Such additions are a distortion of the gospel of Christ (verse 7) and really no gospel at all.
Additional thoughts:
Paul gives us some biographical information that is echoed in his letter to the Philippians (see chapter 3) and in the book of Acts (see chapter 22 and 26).
- Saul, a Jew (tribe of Benjamin), was born in Tarsus in Cilicia (modern-day Turkey) but raised and educated in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel.
- Saul trained and lived as a Pharisee and surpassed most of his peers in both knowledge and zeal and adherence to the Law.
- Saul was present at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7) and began persecuting the believers of Jesus by having them arrested and brought to Jerusalem for trial and punishment (Acts 8)
- Saul encountered the resurrected Jesus Christ on the way to Damascus (Acts 9) and changed.
- Saul, immediately following his conversion, went away into Arabia and returned to Damascus. After three years he went to Jerusalem to visit Peter for 15 days. Then Saul traveled to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
- Pastor Jeff
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