Paul’s Authority and the Gospel-Galatians 1:1-5
Galatians 1:1-5
Key Verse: 1:3
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
For about 30 years from the time of his conversion to his Roman imprisonment, the Apostle Paul made 3 famous missionary journeys where he taught the Bible, preached the gospel of Christ, and planted churches wherever he went. On his 1st missionary journey (recorded in Acts 13,14) he traveled through what is known as southern Galatia, where he started churches in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. (show map) But after Paul left, some Jews, who were known as Judaizers, came to question Paul’s authority in order to undermine the gospel of Christ that Paul had taught. This letter to the Galatian church, written around AD 48, was Paul’s 1st epistle in the N.T., and it was Paul’s response to what he heard regarding these Jews’ false teachings.
Interestingly, these Judaizers didn’t deny Jesus as the way of salvation. But they taught that Jesus alone was not enough for their salvation, because they also needed to be circumcised and to follow the law of Moses, if they wanted to be good Christians. It may be similar to an older Christian saying to younger Christians or to an un-churched person today, “You need Jesus, but you also need to come to our church, and you need to follow our church customs and traditions if you want to be saved and to be blessed by God.” In this way, they distorted the gospel of Christ (7b), and caused young Christians in Galatia to turn to a different gospel (6), “which is really no gospel at all” (NIV) (7a). To Paul, whenever one adds anything to the gospel of Christ, it’s no longer the gospel. If anyone says, “You need Jesus, plus you need to do this and do that,” he causes it to no longer be the pure and precious gospel of our eternal salvation.
This is why Paul was so angry and very harsh in the tone of his letter to the Galatians. Twice, in 1:8,9 Paul said that those who preached a different gospel, “let him be accursed” (ESV), or “let him be eternally condemned” (NIV). In 3:1, Paul refers to them as “O foolish Galatians.” To call someone a fool is quite insulting. But Paul did so to emphasize the seriousness and gravity of their foolishness in departing from the gospel by listening to the false teachers. In 5:12, Paul reserved the most graphic, even lewd language to those who teach a different gospel by telling them to go and “emasculate themselves!” (Those who don’t know what “emasculate” means, please check up on it in the dictionary in your spare time.) In this most descriptive way, Paul showed just how angry and displeased he was. As a side note, we learn that anger is not always a sin in the Bible, just as Paul clearly and unashamedly showed his anger toward the Judaizers. The Bible does say, “In your anger do not sin” (NIV) (Eph 4:26, Ps 4:4). But a Christian is not necessarily one who is nice all the time, or one who smiles all the time without ever getting angry. In fact, there are times when a Christian is sinning greatly against God if he is not angry at the things that displease and dishonor God, especially by those who claim to be Christians and yet pervert or add to the gospel, as these Judaizers were doing.
This first lecture of Galatians covers Paul’s introductory salutation in verses 1-5. In any letter, 2 particulars are important: 1) who wrote the letter and 2) why the letter was written. Paul addresses these 2 particulars in 5 short verses.
1st, Paul’s authority (1,2). Read verse 1. “Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” In all of Paul’s epistles, he introduces himself either as an apostle, or as a servant of Christ, or both as an apostle and a servant, or as a prisoner of Christ without elaboration. (Only in 1 and 2 Thessalonians did Paul only identify himself by name without any mention of his apostolic status, probably because there were no false teachers challenging his authority in the church at Thessalonica.) But in Galatians Paul elaborates on his apostolic status, by adding, “an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ…” Why did Paul do this?
Paul clearly addressed the importance of his credentials as “an apostle” because the Judaizers had questioned his authority, and attacked and undermined his authority and especially his message of salvation. What was Paul’s message of salvation? It is simply that we are saved by faith in Christ alone, through grace alone, without any need of anything else, such as circumcision or diligent hard work to keep the law of Moses. To question Paul’s authority and credibility, the Judaizers likely said that Paul was not among the original 12 apostles that Jesus had chosen while he was still alive. Therefore, Paul was not an authentic apostle. They opposed Paul not just because of doctrinal differences, but because they wanted to gain power and control over the young church in Galatia, being motivated by their own personal political ambition to displace Paul who had planted the church there.
To the Jews, the word “apostle” is quite well defined. It refers to a special messenger who was sent by an authority higher than himself. In Luke 6:13 Jesus chose 12 among his disciples and designated them as apostles. In the N.T., the term apostle is limited to a unique group of 12 plus only a few others, such as Paul, and also James and Jude, who were Jesus’ own brothers. Thus, only apostles wrote the N.T. Here, it is important to note that there’s no apostolic succession. This means that no one else in history, no matter how great a man of God, can add to what the apostles had written as final and complete in the N.T. But although there is no apostolic succession, there must be absolute faithfulness to apostolic doctrine (which means teaching), because these “men (apostles) wrote from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pe 1:21).
Paul clearly identified himself as “an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ…” This was Paul’s forceful statement that his apostleship is not human in any way (not from men nor through man), but divine (through Jesus Christ and God the Father). Paul was not appointed by a group of church leaders such as the council in Jerusalem, which was the headquarters and home base of world mission in those days, nor was Paul brought through any single human mediator, such as Ananias, “his 1st shepherd,” in Acts 9, when Ananias visited him, laid his hands on him and baptized him (Ac 9:17,18). Sometimes a rebellious person claims to be like Paul and says, “I wont’ listen to you, because I only listen to God alone.” But Paul’s reason for forcefully stating his apostleship was not because he rejected human authority or church authority, but because the very gospel of Christ was at stake. Paul wanted to emphasize clearly that his apostleship was “through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” (1b), so that we’ll take the gospel that Paul taught very seriously, for the gospel is the only way for God to save man from his sins.
Here, we learn from Paul the importance of one’s calling from God and one’s standing before God. Sometimes, we may think that the person who invited us to church or to Bible study is the one who called us to be a Christian, or to join a particular church. But Paul was clear that his calling was “not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him (Christ) from the dead” (1b). We must also know that it is God who called us, not because of anything we had done, but only because of His own mercy and grace. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” In all of Paul’s teachings in the N.T. and especially in Galatians, he repeatedly teaches over and over that we are saved only by grace and not by our works, and only through faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must always give thanks to God with all our hearts for his mercy and grace to save us from our sins. Also, this suggests that our responsibility and accountability must always be to God and God alone. God calls us to be faithful to Him not just on Sunday when we’re at church, but through out the rest of the week, and for the rest of our life. Do you know from your heart who called you to be a Christian, a child of God? Do you know from your heart who are you responsible and accountable to after you leave church?
2nd, Paul’s gospel: a message of grace and peace (3-5). Look at verse 3. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is not just a passing greeting, but it summarizes concisely Paul’s gospel of salvation. It teaches us 2 things: the nature of our salvation, and the source of our salvation. What is the nature of our salvation? How does our salvation feel like? According to verse 3b, the nature of salvation is peace; it is “peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Here, peace primarily means reconciliation. It is not peace by having a nice romantic dinner, or peace from watching a good movie, like Avatar. But biblically speaking, peace is peace with God, peace with men, peace within. Next, what is the source of our salvation? Paul says in verse 3a, “Grace to you…” We may use the word grace quite freely or commonly by saying, “I received much grace.” But grace is God’s greatest gift to all mankind. Grace is God’s free favor, irrespective of any human merit or works. Grace is God’s loving-kindness to the undeserving. And his grace and peace flow from the Father and Son together (3b).
How do we come to know this wonderful “grace and peace”? In verse 4, Paul immediately goes on to explain the great historical event in which God’s grace was demonstrated, and from which His peace is derived, namely the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Read verse 4: “…who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”
Although Paul declared in verse 1b that God the Father raised Christ from the dead, he writes in verse 4 that Christ gave Himself to die on the cross to save us. Let us consider the rich teaching which is given here about the death of Christ. We learn 3 things:
1. Christ died for our sins. Verse 4a says, “…who gave himself for our sins.”
The New English Bible version says, “who sacrificed himself for our sins.” The death of Christ is not just a heroic act, and not just an act of love. Rather, the death of Christ is mainly a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus bore in his righteous person the curse or judgment which our sins deserved. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…” How would you like to replace your healthy smooth body with the emaciated body of someone who is dying from terminal cancer? What Jesus did is far greater than this by taking our curse of sin upon himself.
So what does Jesus dying for our sins teach us? It teaches us that we sinful human beings can never ever save ourselves. We need a sacrifice for our sins in order to be saved. Also, it teaches us the great cost of our salvation. Our salvation is totally free for us. But it was extremely costly for God the Father who had to sacrifice his one and only Son. Do you know what the word “excruciating” means? It comes from the Latin word “excruciatus” which mean “out of the cross.” Jesus experienced the most painful death known to man. What Jesus went through on the cross is something we don’t ever want to experience. It shows us just how costly it was for God to save us from our sins.
2. Christ died to deliver us from this present age. Verse 4b says, “to deliver us from the present evil age.”
The Greek verb for “deliver” is “exaireo,” which means “rescue.” The purpose of Christ’s death on the cross was to rescue us from the present age. The Gospel is a rescue, an emancipation from the state of bondage. Christianity is, in fact, a rescue religion.
From what does Jesus rescue us by His death? God’s purpose is not to take us out of this world, but that we should stay in this world as a light to the darkness. Christ died to rescue us out of this present age of wickedness, which is under the power of the devil who, as Jesus says, is the prince of this world. Christ died to rescue us from a lifestyle of the devil who wants to rule our hearts and minds. The world has a pattern where most people follow. We follow a life that when someone wrongs us, it is normal to retaliate and make them pay, not just to get even, but to payback more! A life where cheating on your spouse and divorce are becoming common. If you notice nowadays tv shows that have high ratings are those shows about people cheating on their boyfriend or girlfriend or their spouse. To the young ones, the world tells you to live it up while you are young! The world tells us to engage in wild parties, drugs, alcohol, and free sex. And if you don’t do these kind of activities, you’re not ok, you’re not welcome in this world, and they call you all kinds of names. To the world you’re welcome, you‘re cool, when you do these things. But to God, according to Genesis 6:6, our Father God is grieved that we are living this kind of life. We are not made to do this. And those who live this way become slaves. They’re trap and there’s no way out.
In my first few years in the US, my routine in life was like this: wake up in the morning, go to work, come home, eat and sleep, and do the same thing over again. When I saved a little money I bought something that I couldn’t afford back in Philippines, something I always wanted: DJ equipment. Soon I gained many friends and engaged in wild parties. I was introduced to things I shouldn’t be doing and I became trapped with a lifestyle that made me really sick inside. Many times when I’d go home drunk or on something, I’d lie on my bed looking at the ceiling, and I’d say to myself, “I want out.” But I couldn’t. I could not change nor save myself. I was trapped. So I’d recover for a few days and the weekend came, with the same routine. I couldn’t save myself. And many today are living this kind of life, and are trapped with no way out. Only Jesus is able to rescue us from this present evil age. Only Jesus rescues us from this present age to give us a new life.
The purpose of Christ’s death was not just to give us forgiveness of sins but also to give us a new life where God can rule our hearts; a life where we can do great things for God, for his own glory, not our own; a life where we can use our abilities and talents the way they were meant to be; a life of assurance: knowing where we come from and where we are going. That’s real life and that gives us peace while on earth!
3. Christ died according to God’s will. Verse 4c says, “according to the will of our God and Father.”
Jesus’ death was not an accident or a tragedy or a misfortune. Rather, Jesus death was exactly according to the plan and the will of God our Father. Thus, verse 4 teaches us that the nature of Christ’s death was for our sins (4a), the object of Christ’s death was to rescue us from this present evil age to give us a new life (4b), and the source or origin of Christ’s death happened according to the will of our God and Father. It was all God’s plan. God made a promise, God made a plan and fulfilled it through Jesus Christ.
In these 1st 5 verses of Galatians, Paul does 2 things: 1. he emphasizes his authority in verses 1,2; and 2. he concisely explains his gospel in verses 3-5. Briefly, Paul’s authority comes from being an apostle, by the authority of Jesus Christ and God the Father (1). Paul stressing his authority as an apostle is so important because it authenticates that his gospel was not what he or any man made up but that it came from God. What is this gospel? Paul tells us in 1 verse what the gospel is. Verse 4 tells us that the gospel is Jesus “who gave himself for our sins to deliver (rescue) us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (4). When we know this gospel in our hearts, we have what we truly want most in life. We may think we want so many things in this world. But what we really want is grace and peace (3), which only the gospel can give us.
