Overview of Galatians

This is a letter written by Paul to the churches in Galatia. There’s evidence that this letter is one of Paul’s earliest dating between 49-50 CE. Some have described it as a shorter and earlier version of the letter we read to the Romans.

In Acts 13-14 we read as Paul set up churches throughout Galatia, modern day Turkey. Unfortunately, we then read in Acts 15 that some Hebrews were coming down and teaching these Gentile churches that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved. This caused a lot of disagreement between these newcomers and Paul which led the newcomers to challenge Paul’s authority as an apostle to spread the ideas. So Paul went to Jerusalem to straighten out the issue with the apostles there.

It was decided at that council that while circumcision had been the seal for the Jews and Israelites, the Holy Spirit and become the new seal for the Gentiles and so they did not need to be circumcised in order to be saved.

Paul then writes this letter some time later, hearing that this is still an issue amongst them. There were still some arguing that adherence to the Torah was needed for salvation and continuing to challenge Paul’s authority as an apostle.

Galatians 1-2 - Paul defends his apostleship and the gospel that he brought

Galatians 3-4 - Paul unpacks the theology of his gospel

Galatians 5-6 - Paul unpacks what this gospel means in practice

In this we can find many of the same ideas and issues that we saw in Romans, but less developed. We cover the relationship between the law, the Torah of the Old Testament, and the gospel. We also get the contrast between the role of the law and role of the Spirit.

Paul needs the Galatians to understand they are not saved by following rules or behaving in a particular way. They are saved by faith in Jesus. That’s not to say that how they live does not matter, just that it’s not the source of their salvation but the outworking of their salvation.

In this, all believers, both Jew and Gentile are united and one in Jesus. They should then seek to maintain this unity and remove anything that would be a stumbling block to that unity.

Galatians 1-2

Paul introduces himself as one sent not by humans by God the father and Jesus. Paul describes Jesus as the one “who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age” (Galatians 1:3). In the Old Testament, we saw multiple references to a new, future age, when God will intervene and make creation right again (see Isaiah 2:2-4, Daniel 7:13-14; Ezekiel 36:24-28).

Paul recognises that what the Old Testament saw as one age, one step, was actually two. That God intervened through Jesus on the cross, but we still wait for the future time when all creation will be made right again. In the meantime, while we exist in ‘the present evil age’, we have been freed by Jesus’ work on the cross.

Paul then jumps directly into the issue at hand. He cannot believe that the Galatians had turned from the gospel he brought them so quickly. Anyone who brings a new gospel that doesn’t line up with the one they heard from him first, whether that be a human, an angel, or even he himself then they should be suspicious of it.

The different gospel is the one that was spread around that salvation is still found in being faithful to the law, the Torah. Anyone who preaches this gospel or accepts them should be considered cursed. Paul knows that some who had already accepted this new gospel would be offended by that, but he points out he’s not in the business of pleasing people.

So Paul goes on to defend the gospel he first brought to them. He did not get this gospel from others. It’s not some human tradition he is passing down. Jesus revealed himself to Paul directly.

Paul was previously a loyal Jew. He was committed to the Torah, and the traditions passed down, even more so than any of those who have come down to spread circumcision amongst the gentiles. But then God revealed Jesus to Paul so that he could proclaim Jesus to the Gentiles. Paul argues this had been God’s plan before he was born.

While he did go up to Jerusalem briefly where he met Cephas (Peter) and James, the brother of Jesus, he did not spend time with other believers to be influenced by their thinking and baggage. His gospel was direct from Jesus and hadn’t been influenced by others. That’s important for Paul. He doesn’t want the Galatians thinking that his gospel was merely some human invention.

Then after fourteen years Paul went back up to Jerusalem to discuss with the leaders there the gospel that he had been proclaiming to the Gentiles. Paul wanted to make sure he was on the right track. Initially, he had hoped to just bring it before the leaders, but some others snuck into the meeting and tried to argue that Paul and his team should be held accountable to the Torah and teach other to do the same.

Paul describes the leaders in Jerusalem as influential and so their input was worth getting. But that doesn’t make them more important or official than Paul. God doesn’t have favourites. As it was, they had no comments or extra input to make on Paul’s gospel. They did, however, recognise Paul’s clear call to the Gentiles, just as Peter had a clear call to the Jews.

Paul is trying to strike the balance of showing the support he had from these leaders, while also pointing out that these men are not infallible. This is important, because it seems like at some point Peter had fallen into old habits and stopped associating with Gentiles that had not been circumcised.

Apparently, he did so out of fear of those who were promoting circumcision, and his actions caused others to believe and act the same way. Paul had to challenge had to challenge Peter. If he couldn’t keep every letter of the Torah and therefore was clearly no different from a Gentile, how could he expect the Gentiles to follow every letter of the Torah?

So Paul comes back to himself and his team. They are Jews, not Gentiles. But even as Jews, they recognised that salvation doesn’t come from following the rules and customs of the Torah. Instead, it comes from faith in Jesus. So as Jews, they chose to believe in Jesus because they recognised that the rules and customs of the Torah could not justify them.

But if to break from the customs of the Torah was considered sin, and now as believers, Paul and his team no longer hold to the Torah, does that mean Jesus promotes sin? Quite the opposite. If Paul continued to try to hold up the Torah, then he would be holding up the very thing that declared him a sinner. No one can fully hold to the Torah completely.

But Paul has died to the law, and is now alive in Jesus. This means that the life he lives is shaped and determined by Jesus and faith in him. If Paul were to continue to follow the Torah believing that would save him, then Jesus is not needed. Whenever we fall into the trap of believing we are saved by leaving a particular way, we are making what Jesus did meaningless. It is not how we live that determines our salvation. It is our salvation in Jesus that determines how we live.

That is the gospel that Paul has been preaching, and the one that many of the members of the churches in Galatia have turned their backs on.

Psalm 3

This psalm is attributed to king David when he had to flee from his son Absalom (2 Samuel 15-19). This idea is that either David wrote this psalm, or someone else wrote it as they were meditating on this story. A poem, working through the emotions David must have been feeling at the time. 

The psalm is categorised as a Lament Psalm, which make up over a third of all psalms (see Psalm 22, 44, 88, 90, 141 for examples of other Lament Psalms). Biblical lament is whenever a person takes their pains, hurts, and frustrations before God. It tends to include four steps; turning to God, bringing the complaint, making a request of God, and then declaring trust in God. We see this in the structure of Psalm 3.

Psalm 3:1-2 - The complaint

Psalm 3:3 - Declaring trust in God

Psalm 3:4-5 - Remembering what he has done before

Psalm 3:6 - Declaring trust in God

Psalm 3:7 - Asking God to rescue them and defeat their enemies

Psalm 3:8 - Declaring trust in God

This psalm was typically sung in the morning. It opens with a reminder that sometimes it seems like we are surrounded by opposition. Opposition that is declaring there is no hope for us. The response to this is to declare the truth of who God is. We can support this with reminding ourselves of his goodness to us in the past. We do not need to be afraid, because God has answered us and sustained us in the past and he will do it again.

The psalmist invites God into this pain and struggle. To rescue them and strike down this opposition. Finally the psalmist ends, challenging the lies their enemies had spoken over them. In Psalm 3:2 the opponents declared there is no salvation for them, but in Psalm 3:8 they respond that ‘salvation belongs to the Lord’.