Introduction
Paul's letter to the Galatians, like his letter to the Romans, is of vital importance to our understanding of the Christian faith. More than any other book of the Bible, Galatians exposes the substance of the Christian gospel. The letter serves to demolish the heresy of nomism (dependence on the law to maintain and/or progress a believer's standing before God) and establish the grand truth that a person's salvation, now and in the day of judgement, is totally dependent on the free application of the grace of God, appropriated through faith in Jesus Christ. The truth of this book can help a believer move away from the insidious error of pietism. This error would have us believe that our approval before God is confirmed, maintained and progressed by faithful obedience to the law. Most Christians know that their salvation begins with their faith in Jesus Christ, but sadly many also believe that their progress in the Christian life is by a faithful submission to the law of God. This heresy is best described as "sanctification by obedience" (The Christian journey begins by faith, but goes on by obedience). In simple terms, it is very easy to believe that "Jesus loves good little boys and girls", when in truth he loves repentant sinners. Galatians reminds us that our standing before God, whether at the moment of our conversion, during our life's journey, or in the day of judgement, is totally dependent on the grace of God. We are saved by grace through faith, and not works of the law.
The churches of Galatia
We are not at all sure which churches Paul addresses in this letter. Galatia can refer to two regions in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), both of which fall in the Roman Province of Galatia. There is the northern region where the Galatians themselves live, and there is the southern administrative area commonly known as Galatia. We have no record of Paul evangelizing and developing churches in the northern region. We do know that during his first missionary journey he established churches in the towns of Pisidia (known as Pisidan Antioch, which is distinct from the Antioch found in Syria), Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. These towns were made up of mixed Hellenized peoples, each with small Jewish communities. The letter seems to be directed to such churches and so the majority of scholars today opt for the "South Galatian Theory".
Date of writing
It is not possible to fix an exact date of writing, nor do we know where the letter was sent from. It was obviously sent after Paul's first missionary journey, and most likely soon after the Jerusalem Council in 49AD, Acts 15. It may have been written from Antioch (in Syria) which tended to be Paul's base-camp during his early years of ministry. If this is the case, it was written before his second missionary journey and is therefore one of his earliest letters.
The purpose of the letter
Paul was constantly troubled by Jewish believers who saw him as a libertine. They obviously felt it was their religious duty to follow up Paul and instruct the new believers in a more complete understanding of the Christian life. These "Judaizers", members of "the circumcision party", "the weak", .... regarded the Old Testament law, along with the law of Christ, as binding on a believer. God's blessing, both now and in the future, both spiritual and physical, was dependent upon a faithful observance of the law. For a believer to abandon the canopy of the law could only result in an undermining of their standing before God. Not only would they fail to progress in the Christian life, fail to grow in holiness without strictures of the law, but their eternal standing before God may well be undermined, since, without the law's control, sin is given free reign.
It is doubtful if these Judaizers were in any way saying that a person is saved by their good works. They obviously saw their salvation dependent upon God's grace appropriated through faith in Christ. Yet, they held to a limited justification; a Christian begins with faith, but must go on in obedience. Thus they were determined to teach the value of total law-obedience in the Christian life against people like Paul who spoke of freedom from the law. The issue focused on circumcision which served as the defining sign of a willing subjection (obedience) to the law, as baptism was the defining sign of a willing subjection (repentance and faith) to Christ.
The issue of Gentiles being forced to comply with the law of Moses came to a head at the Jerusalem Council. On this occasion, Paul's gospel of justification by grace through faith was confirmed, and he and his team were given the "right hand of fellowship." On his return to Antioch, the issue flared when Peter literally applied the table-fellowship requirements listed in the Council's letter to the churches in Syria, Gal.2:11-14, Act.15:23-29. The problem expanded to Paul's other mission churches as the Judaizers continued to push their law-obedience line. To counter their push, Paul writes this letter to his newly formed mission churches in Southern Asia Minor, known commonly as Galatia.
Paul's argument is simple, a person is eternally justified, approved, right, holy, ..... before God as a gift of grace, appropriated through faith in the person and work of Christ, apart from obedience to the law, and as a consequence of that standing before God, they begin to be what they are, again, by grace through faith.
Structure of the letter
1:1-11. Introduction
1:12-2:14. Circumstance demonstrates the authority of Paul's gospel
2:15-5:1. Paul defends his gospel
5:2-6:18. The gospel applied
Critical Issues
The above introduction presents a simple overview of Galatians, but it should be noted that scholars are divided on many important issues which affect the exegesis of this letter. The reader may like to consider the present debate over The New Perspective on Paul which is so central to an understanding of the book of Galatians.
Although not overly important, commentators are divided as to whether the letter was written before or after the Jerusalem Council, cf. Acts 15. The notes on this site proceed on the assumption that the letter was written after the Jerusalem Council and refers to Peter's actions in Antioch following the arrival of the circular letter from the Jerusalem church, Acts 15:20, (Gal.2:12, not "certain people came from James", but "certain instructions came from James").
Central to any understanding of Galatians is the actual identify of the Judaizers, "the members of the circumcision party", who were undermining Paul's ministry in his mission churches, and whose activities Paul focuses on in this letter. Some commentators regard them simply as unconverted Jews, but it is more likely that they are believers, probably converted Jews, but certainly believers committed to full obedience of the Torah, even down to demanding that converted Gentiles be circumcised.
Crucial to an understanding of Galatians is how both Paul and the members of the Circumcision Party view the law. Both do seem to be speaking about the law of Moses, the Torah, but from totally different perspectives. For Paul, the primary role of the law is to expose sin and thus drive the sinner to seek a righteousness that is apart from law obedience. As far as Paul is concerned, the law has now completed its service to this end, having led us to a divine righteousness available in Christ as a gift of grace, appropriated through faith. For a believer to return to the law to confirm, maintain, or advance their right standing before God, their justification, serves only to place themselves again under the curse of the law, under judgment. Of course, the law, for Paul, still has an ongoing function, it continues to guide the life of those who are righteous by faith.
On the other hand, it does seem that the members of the Circumcision Party saw the law in quite a different light, although, since we only have Paul's critique of their position, it is not easy to know exactly what they taught. Most commentators regard these Judaizers as legalists, that is, they taught that obedience to the law earned a person their salvation, it justified them, but this seems unlikely. It is more than likely that 2nd temple Judaism understood that covenant status was a gift of God's grace, but they failed to recognize that the prime function of the law was to expose sin and thus compel Israel to seek a righteousness like Abraham's, a divine approval that rests on faith, faith in a merciful God. Note how Jesus uses the law with the Pharisees. Some commentators think the Judaizers were simply arguing for the maintenance of Jewish traditions, in particular, circumcision, but again, this is doubtful. It seems more likely that they were nomists, that is, they saw the law as an integral part of new covenant life, such that a failure to obey it undermined a believer's standing before God, undermined their covenant status. Probably, and of course this is open to debate, they taught that submission to the law maintains a believer's standing before God in that it restrains sin, and/or that submission to the law progresses a believer's standing before God, in that it promotes holiness. What Paul was probably dealing with was an early form of pietism, of sanctification by obedience.
Sanctification has always been a hotbed of debate in Christian circles. Pietists usually define sanctification as the progressive realization of what we are in Christ and tend to teach that faithful obedience to the law, in the power of the Spirit, is the central mechanism for progressing that sanctification (making holy). Yet, as far as Paul was concerned, in Christ we are already holy, nothing can progress our standing further; we are justified, completely justified before God, "just-if-I'd never sinned", perfectly holy in Christ. Paul then faced the obvious retort, "why not sin that grace may abound?", but in truth, a person in Christ will naturally strive to be like Christ, apart from the law. It would be more appropriate to say that as a product of justification, sanctification is a state of holiness, which, in the renewing power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, we seek to realize in our daily life, albeit, always imperfectly.
This, of course, leads us to another central issue in Galatians, namely, Paul's understanding of justification. As stated above, Paul does seem to be promoting what Wesley calls "full justification." Often, justification is understood as a declaration of righteousness, of right standing before God, at conversion, which must then be maintained by a faithful attention to God's law. It is likely that this is the very heresy that Paul is addressing. For Paul, justification is the declaration of an eternal right standing before God, which is a gift of God's grace, appropriated through the instrument of faith. In Christ we possess the righteousness / holiness of Christ, which is ours by faith, a righteousness which certainly cannot be improved upon by submission to the law. Commentators certainly divine on the declared, or made right issue, although we probably need to accept that what God declares so is so. If God declares that we are members of the new covenant community, that we are approved before him, then we are approved. Just because we stand approved before God does not mean that we should loose sight of the indicative / imperative so evident in the scriptures. Certainly Paul doesn't and it is particularly noticeable that he doesn't in Galatians. In Christ we are perfect, so let us strive to be the perfect person we are in Christ. Of course, we never will; as Luther put it, "the old Adam retains his power until he is deposited in the grave". None-the-less, we press forward. Neither libertarianism, nor perfectionism has any place in Paul's understanding of a justification that is by grace through faith.
The above are just some of the central issues raised by Paul's letter to the Galatians, all of which will impact on our exegesis.
![[Pumpkin Cottage]](images/cottage1s.gif){kind=small}