Galatians 1:6-10
1:6a “I am astonished” Paul finds it astounding and disappointing that the Galatians would exchange the gospel for the Law, when the Law was never able to save. Every Old Testament figure who received salvation was saved by faith, even those under the Law. The gospel was not an add-on to the Law. Christ’s sacrifice has always been the source of Salvation.
Heb 11 is called "the faith chapter". How does this fit in with salvation? As was already mentioned, all of the Old Testament saints were saved by faith as well. It is not as if the method of salvation changed with Jesus' death. Jesus' death was not the backup plan. It was not a fallback position. It was the plan from the very beginning. And everyone who was saved before Jesus' death was saved on the basis that Jesus' would die and pay the penalty. Likewise, now everyone is saved on the basis of Jesus' death, which paid our penalty. He paid for all of our sins. Not just for the ones that we committed before we came to Him. He died for the sins that we commit after we have been saved as well! Otherwise, we would all be doomed!
“that you are deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ” The one that Paul mentions is not himself, but rather God the Father. In turning to the Law, they were abandoning not just the gospel, but also God.
"The Galatians are at a crossroads and Paul speaks passionately to try to show them how to go forward in their Christian lives. This rhetorical piece is not about 'getting in' or even about 'staying in' but about how Christians should 'go on', and especially how they should not 'go off' the right track and so commit what Paul views as apostasy" (Witherington, 80).
1:6b-7a “and are following a different gospel – not that there really is another gospel” This illustrates that the Law is not the same as the gospel. In fact, it has a very different purpose. The Law’s purpose is to show that we are not able to save ourselves, but it does not give a solution to the dilemma. The gospel’s purpose is to show that while we cannot save ourselves, God has provided the way.
This is by no means an indication that the Law is in any way bad or evil. It is not. The Law is Holy and Good. Here, the distinction is never between the Law being bad and the gospel being good. Rather, the Law points to the need for the gospel.
"The point in any case is that in Paul's view there is only one true Gospel, the Gospel of grace, from which the Galatians are defecting" (Witherington, 83).
1:7b “but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ.” The message of the Judaizers was not the gospel, but rather, it was a distortion of the gospel. It was so great a distortion that what was being taught was not gospel at all. It was the tired old idea that we can save ourselves by our good works. But the Law itself reveals that we are not able. It is incredibly ironic that the good works the Judaizers were proclaiming were in following the Law (at least in part), the very Law that shows that we cannot satisfy God's righteous demands on our own merits.
The Judaizers may have had good intentions. They saw the basis of the gospel in the Law. They saw that Christ fulfilled all of this. What do you think?
"No one would think of calling this substitute message a 'gospel', Paul implies, except with the intention of confusing the minds of believers. Gospel it is not; it is a message of bondage, not of freedom. It is a form of [the] doctrine of salvation by law-keeping from which Paul himself had been liberated by the true gospel which he received on the Damascus road 'by revelation of Jesus Christ' (v. 12). That was the gospel which he preached to others, including the Galatians, and there could be no other" (Witherington, 82).
1:8 "But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you"
Paul was so adamant about this. There is only one gospel! It doesn’t matter who it is that is telling you otherwise. Don’t believe them! Not even if it were an angel from Heaven. Paul says that even if he were to come to them again bearing a different gospel, to not believe it! They have had the truth preached to them, and they accepted it. They shouldn't allow anything to budge them from it.
Of this, Calvin says, “[Paul] declares that the doctrine which he had preached is the only gospel, and that the attempt to set it aside is highly criminal.”
“let him be condemned to hell!” Paul didn’t mince words. They had life, but they were abandoning it. Paul was so upset with these teachers and so concerned for the Galatians that he would have gladly seen the false teachers condemned … if it would save the Galatians from their false teaching. The Greek word here is anathema, which means “cursed” or “accursed.” But, the curse that Paul is speaking of is the one that leads to eternity in Hell. Paul is upset that the Judaizers are drawing people away from the gospel, and thus leaving them exposed to Hell. He would much rather that the Judaizers went there, and that quickly, than for the Galatians to be drawn away and endangered.
"The idea here is of something which is set aside for destruction, and in this case destruction by God. Paul is not himself banning or cursing the agitators but asking God ('let him be ...') to act against them" (Witherington, 83).
This does not mean that Paul hated the Judaizers. He knew that they were merely deceived themselves. He cared for his own people so much that he would always start by preaching the gospel in the local synagogue. Then he would move on to reaching the Gentiles.
1:9 "As we have said before, and now I say it again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!"
Paul is so concerned that the Galatians get the message that he repeats the gist of verse 8.
This reminds me of what Jesus said in Luke 17, "Jesus said to his disciples, 'Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin" (Luke 17:1-2).
1:10 "Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!"
If Paul were trying to please people, he would not be traveling around preaching the gospel. Not only did he generally not please people in the first place, the cost that he paid for the privilege of preaching the gospel was quite steep. See 2 Cor. 11:16-33 for a summary of some of the price that Paul paid so that he could have the privilege of preaching the gospel. But he gladly paid the price! Not for his own glory, but because he knew the price that Jesus had paid for him and for the ones he was sent to reach.
“slave” is from the Greek doulos, which has the meaning of “bondservant.” This was used of someone who had sold himself into slavery to another. Paul was not one to go by half-measures. He was totally devoted to the causes that he thought were right. At first he was persecuting the church, because he thought that this was the right course. When Jesus set him straight, he did a one eighty and began to proclaim the gospel. This happened so quickly, that people didn't trust him at first. They thought that he was trying to deceive them. The appearance of Jesus to him on the Damascus road set the course that he would follow until his death. He was so radically converted that it was as if he had sold himself to his new master and Lord.
All scripture quotations, except if embedded in another quote, are from the NET. This can be found online at http://net.bible.org/
Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Galatians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
Calvin, John. Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians.
Witherngton III, Ben. Grace in Galatia. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.
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