THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE GALATIANS.
_______________
INTRODUCTION.
The congregations of the Roman province of Galatia in Central Asia Minor were especially dear to the Apostle Paul. He had come here, with Barnabas, on his first missionary journey, Acts 13, 14-14, 23, spending considerable time in the cities of Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. With Silas he had gone to the same district of the Galatian province on his second journey, Acts 16, 1-6, at which time he had taken Timothy along with him. Again, on the third journey, he went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples, Acts 18, 23, before going down to Ephesus. It appears, from the account in Acts as well as from the present letter, that the Gospel was, on the whole, received by the inhabitants of this part of Galatia with great enthusiasm, and they, in turn, may have carried it to the regions toward the north, where the descendants of the Celts, or Gauls, lived, who, coming from the northern part of what is now France, had migrated eastward in the third century before Christ and found a home in this fertile and beautiful country south of the Black Sea. At the time when Paul wrote this letter, therefore, there may have been flourishing congregations not only in Southern Galatia, in the sections of the country which were Phrygian and Lycaonian by nationality, but also in the region adjoining, with all of whom Paul was personally and intimately acquainted. These churches were composed principally of converts from heathenism, although there was a liberal sprinkling of Jews.
The
reason which prompted Paul to write this letter to the Galatian
Christians was the following. Shortly after his last visit among them a
number of Judaizing teachers came to Galatia and began to make trouble,
chap. 1, 7. The method of these converted Jews, who still adhered in
their hearts to all the precepts of the ceremonial law, was simple, but
effective. "They insisted that faith in Christ was not enough to obtain
righteousness before God, life, and salvation. They told the Galatians
that it was necessary to salvation to keep the ceremonial law of the
Jews, to submit to circumcision, observe the Jewish feasts, etc. Paul
had taught the Galatians that in order to become righteous in God’s
sight and obtain life and salvation, nothing more was needed than faith
in Christ. To destroy this doctrine, these Judaizing teachers hinted
that Paul was no true apostle of Christ, that he had never seen the
Lord, and that he owed his knowledge of the Gospel to the apostles who
had their headquarters at Jerusalem. They were prompted by unworthy
motives, chap. 4, 17; 6, 13. They soon succeeded in winning over the
greater part of the churches. What made their success easy was the fact
that some members hoped to escape persecution if they would enter into
outward fellowship with the Jews, chap. 6, 12. Many were ready to
receive circumcision, etc., chap. 3, 1; 4, 9 ff.; 5, 1; 6, 13."
The
Epistle to the Galatians is one of the earliest, as many scholars
believe, the very first letter which Paul wrote, very likely from the
city of Corinth, about the year 51, or from Ephesus, a few years later.
Its form and language indicate great commotion in the apostle’s mind,
as well as a holy zeal for his apostolic office and for the purity of
the Christian doctrine as taught by him. Though much briefer than the
letter to the Romans, it is a doctrinal epistle throughout and of
peculiar significance in the fight against Judaism. It may readily be
divided into three parts. In the first, personal or historical, part
Paul defends his apostolic office as one entrusted to him by God, a
fact which appears not only from his being acknowledged by the apostles
at Jerusalem, but also from his rebuking of Peter. In the second,
doctrinal, part Paul offers the proofs for the soundness of his
doctrine that salvation comes not by works, but by faith, since the
nature of the Law is such as to make it necessary for the Christians to
be free from its dominion, a fact which is typified also in the story
of Isaac and Ishmael. In the third, practical or hortatory, part Paul
draws the ethical conclusions from the doctrine as taught by him, with
the admonition to hold fast the liberty in Christ Jesus; he warns them
against the yoke of circumcision, against walking after the flesh; he
urges them to give evidence of brotherly harmony and fellowship.
Luther
summarizes the contents of the letter as follows: "The Galatians had
been brought by St. Paul from the Law to the true Christian faith and
to the Gospel. But after his departure there came the false apostles,
that were disciples of the true apostles, and seduced the Galatians to
believe that they must be saved through the works of the Law and were
committing a sin if they did not keep the works of the Law.... in
opposition to them St. Paul extols his office and does not want to be
considered less than any other apostle, boasting that he had his
doctrine and ministry from God alone, in order to quell the boasting of
the false apostles that relied upon the true apostles’ work and
name.... This he does in the first and second chapters, and concludes
that every one must be justified without merit, without works, without
Law, through Christ alone. In the third and fourth chapters he supports
all this with Scriptures, examples, and parables, showing that the Law
brings sin and condemnation rather than righteousness, which is
promised by God by grace only, fulfilled by Christ without the Law, and
given to us. In the fifth and sixth chapters he teaches the works of
love which should follow faith."
Paul E.
Kretzmann