Galatians 1: Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
“‘Paul, an apostle,’ — “False teachers who were stealing the Galatians away from the truth were challenging Paul's apostleship, making it most appropriate that he should have so vigorously stressed it here.” (Coffman Commentary)— “‘not of men’— not commissioned by any assembly or council of the apostles.” (Adam Clarke)—“‘nor through man, but through Jesus Christ...’ “he had received his commission directly from the Lord Jesus.” (Albert Barnes)— ‘and God the Father who raised Him from the dead.’ None of this would be possible without the resurrection of Christ- the firstfruits. Unlike the other apostles, Jesus called Paul after He had been bodily resurrected. He did it on the road to Damascus. Thus, neither had Paul received "his apostleship through any man; his authority was neither successional nor derived...” (Arno Gaebelein), as Popish authority comes. Paul's authority came from the Great Apostle of our faith.
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (NIV) In John 14:8, Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father to satisfy them... and Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." (John 14:9-11)
By referring to the Father and Lord Jesus Christ, Paul is here “emphasizing two roles of God and the importance of accepting Him in both roles. Not only must we believe in God as our Creator and Father, but we must accept Him as manifested in the flesh through Jesus Christ. Everyone [wanting to be saved] must acknowledge that Jesus is come in the flesh and that He is both Lord and Christ (Messiah). Consequently, the salutations [here and other places like Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 2:2; II Thessalonians 1:12; I Timothy 5:2; Titus 2:13; II Peter 1:1 and Jude 4] emphasize belief not only in God, which the Jews and many pagans accepted, but also in God as revealed through Christ…
[The word translated ‘and’ is from the Greek word ‘kai’. It can be translated as 'and’ or as ‘even’ (in the sense of ‘that is’ or ‘which is the same as’). For example, the KJV translates kai as ‘and’ in II Corinthians 1:2 but as ‘even’ in verse 3. Verse 2 says, ‘from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Verse 2 could properly appear as, ‘ from God our Father, even from the Lord Jesus Christ.’ The KJV translates 'kai' as ‘even’ in several other places including the phrases ‘God, even the Father’ (I Corinthians 15:24; James 3:9) and ‘God, even our Father’ (I Thessalonians 3:13). So the greetings could read just as easily, ‘ from God our Father, even the Lord Jesus Christ.’ To further support this, the Greek does not have the definite article (‘the’) before ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ in any of the salutations. Thus, even if we translate ‘kai’ as ‘and,’ the phrases literally read, ‘from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.]’”
(The Oneness of God by David K. Bernard)
Galatians 1: The Gospel
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert [distort] the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be [anathema] accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
“‘I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you in the grace of Christ,’—… But mutability itself has not a more apt subject to work upon than the human heart;... the Word of God, not the sayings of men, should alone be consulted in the concerns of our salvation.” (Adam Clarke)—“‘to a different gospel, which is not another’; another doctrine it is, but another doctrine or glad tidings of salvation, or another gospel of Christ, it is not; for there is no other.” (Matthew Poole) It will be properly defended in this epistle.—‘but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert [distort] the gospel of Christ.’ “Hendriksen pointed out that it was Paul's manner to commend before he began to condemn; but there is nothing like that here. In the very place where commendation was usually written, Paul thundered his indignant astonishment at a fully developed and continuing apostasy of his beloved converts among the Galatians. As Wesley said, ‘The Greek word here rendered marvel usually expressed surprise at something blameworthy.’” (Coffman Commentaries)
Not “faith only” but “the Christian religion only”— “Learn hence that the addition of any thing to the Christian religion, as necessary to be believed and practiced in order to salvation, is a perverting the gospel of Christ…” (William Burkitt) Surely, proper teaching is needed. Bad doctrine from “some artful, and zealous, and plausible teachers of error seduce the mind, corrupt the heart, and alienate the affections. Where there is the ardor of the first love to God, there is also an effort soon made by the adversary, to turn away the heart from him; and young converts are commonly soon attacked in some plausible manner, and by art and arguments adapted to turn away their minds from the truth, and to alienate the affections from God.” (Albert Barnes)
“A sample of the erroneous and irresponsible comment foisted upon this passage is the following: ‘The false teaching was surely a teaching according to which men are saved through faith plus law-works, a perversion of the true gospel which proclaims the glad tidings of salvation by grace through faith alone.’
Such a view is untrue, misleading, and anti-Scriptural. A New Testament writer flatly declared that people are not justified ‘by faith alone’ (James 2:24); and no scholar has a right to contradict the New Testament. Note the expression ‘law-works,’ used to make it appear that Paul belittled the Christian ordinances; but it is not Christian ordinances and commands which Paul was denouncing, but works of the Law of Moses [—the Old Testament rituals of circumcision and sacrifices, as we will soon see, certainly not the Commandments of God]. We have reason to be thankful for brilliant scholars like R. E. Howard who spoke out against the heresy that people attempted to import into this passage, saying: ‘The logical implication of justification by faith alone is antinomianism, against which Paul vehemently objected... His repeated warning that wrong living excluded men from God's kingdom should leave no doubt as to his attitude... The new faith provided the only adequate means for ethical conduct, rather than absolving men from that responsibility.’.. Any person familiar with the meaning of ordinary words must know that salvation ‘by faith alone’ means salvation without obeying the Christian ordinances, without holiness, without moral conduct, without respect for any Christian duty, without the church and without the new birth or anything else. Such is the meaning of the word ‘alone’ or its equivalent ‘only.’” (Coffman Commentaries)
The Good News of the Gospel is that yes “the wages of sin is death” (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23). But Jesus came and lived a perfect life. He alone is just— the holy One of Israel. And He died, paying the wage of sin for those who trust in Him for salvation. He becomes their Justifier, even as they walk in obedience of the faith. And God has established Jesus as the propitiation or mercy seat for our sins. “To reject the moral law as a rule of life, tends to dishonour Christ, and destroy true religion…[but] while we are zealous for good works [even good moral conduct as revealed by the Commandments], let us be careful not to put them in the place of Christ's righteousness, and not to advance any thing which may betray others into so dreadful a delusion.” (Matthew Henry)
God set forth Jesus as a mercy seat for sinners, according to the pattern of the tabernacle in the wilderness- Romans 3:25.
The mercy seat was the cover for the Ark of the Covenant in the holy of holies. "In the ark were the tablets of the Law which Israel had broken. The broken Law demanded judgment and death for the transgressors. The Law could not save them; it could only condemn them. It could not take away sin; it could only reveal sin. It could not give life to sinner; it could only kill the transgressor." (M. R. Dehaan) But the mercy seat was over the ark, above the broken Mitzvah, between it and God, who came down upon it in the shekinah pillar of holiness and fire. The mercy seat is a perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mercy seat was made of beaten gold— which represents deity in Scriptures. Christ was beaten prior to His death on the cross. Upon this mercy seat was sprinkled the blood from the special sacrifices on the annual Day of Atonement.
Yes, God gave Himself for our sins. “Not gold, or silver, or paschal lambs, or an angel, but Himself. What for? Not for a crown, or a kingdom, or our goodness, but for our sins... The heavy artillery of these words explodes papacy, works, merits, superstitions. For if our sins could be removed by our own efforts, what need was there for the Son of God to be given for them? Since Christ was given for our sins it stands to reason that they cannot be put away by our own efforts.” (Martin Luther)
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven,”— no matter his position— “preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be anathema.” — “devoted to destruction.”
"As we have said before, so now I say again," I am not now changing my stance on the issue—> "'let him be accursed.’ See 1 Corinthians 16:22 which may respect his excommunication out of the church, and his sentence of condemnation by Christ at the last day; and the sense be this, let him be ejected from the ministry of the Word, degraded from his office, and cast out of the church; let him be no more a minister, nor a member of it; and let him be abhorred of men, and accursed of Christ; let him hear the awful sentence, ‘go ye accursed’, etc.” (John Gill)
“‘For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.’ Is what I have just now said a sample of men-pleasing? His adversaries accused him of being an interested flatterer of men, ‘becoming all things to all men,’ to make a party for himself; so observing the law among the Jews (for instance, circumcising Timothy), yet persuading the Gentiles to renounce it (Gal. 5:11) (really keeping them in a subordinate state, not admitted to full privileges, which the circumcised alone enjoyed). Neander explains ‘NOW:’ 'Once, when a Pharisee, I was actuated only by a regard to human authority (to please men, Luke 16:15; John 5:44); but NOW I teach as responsible to God alone' (1 Cor. 4:3).” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)
Galatians 1: Paul's Direct Revelation of Jesus Christ- 11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
“‘But I make known to you, brethren,’— fellow harvesters—‘that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.’
It “is not human as it comes to you; neither was it human as it first came to me.” (J. C. Ellicott) “‘For I neither received it from man,… but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.’ Lest the false teachers in Galatia should disparage Paul’s apostleship, as being only of a secondary character..." (Justin Edwards) having only been the student of an apostle... and apt to misunderstanding. “Nor was I ‘taught’ it [of man].—There is an antithesis between this word and ‘revelation’ in the next clause… — ’it came through the [direct] revelation of Jesus Christ.’ ‘I did not receive my doctrine from man by a process of teaching and learning, but from Christ Himself by direct revelation.’” (J. C. Ellicott) “The revelation which Jesus Christ gave personally to Paul was exactly the same as that given to the Twelve [including Judas]. Paul did not claim superiority to them but equality with them, and that implies the equality of the revelation to himself with that of the Twelve.” (Burton Coffman)
“‘For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:’ As an enemy’s country with fire and sword.” (John Trapp)
“This unmeasurable persecution is expressed by Luke more particularly, Acts 8:3: He made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison; and Acts 9:1: He breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, etc. He wasted the church like an enemy that useth fire and sword, and all means to destroy.” (Matthew Poole) He was a scholar of the Pharisees in word and deed, but as this was well known among all men and women, so was his sudden change from a Pharisee to an apostle of the Gentiles.
Paul had progressed more rapidly than his fellows in the Jewish religion— because he was exceedingly zealous for "the traditions of his fathers”— the Jewish church fathers or his biological ancestors, who were also Pharisees in matters of religion. The traditions of man are contrasted by Jesus with the Word of God or truth. (Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13)
In this state, Paul was a man pleaser. “The apostle does not mean that he became more exemplary in the love and practice of the pure law of God than any of his countrymen, but that he was more profoundly skilled in the traditions of the fathers than most of his fellow students were, or, as the word συνηλικιωτας may mean his contemporaries.” (Adam Clarke)
Martin luther likewise testified. “We also have come to the knowledge of the truth by the same kindness of God. I crucified Christ daily in my cloistered life, and blasphemed God by my wrong faith. Outwardly I kept myself chaste, poor, and obedient. I was much given to fasting, watching, praying, saying of masses, and the like. Yet under the cloak of my outward respectability I continually mistrusted, doubted, feared, hated, and blasphemed God. My righteousness was a filthy puddle... I tell you I stood in awe of the pope's authority. To dissent from him I considered a crime worthy of eternal death. I thought of John Huss as a cursed heretic. I counted it a sin even to think of him. I would gladly have furnished the wood to burn him. I would have felt I had done God a real service.”
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
I too was advanced in the religion of my fathers, inheriting their religion or lack thereof. I too persecuted the seed by my mocking of their claims… and my indifference to their cause. "But when it pleased God," He spoke to me in the Person of Jesus… And by the grace of God, I heard and obeyed to a degree... and have kept listening with a heart to obey. He has spoken to me by revelation, as to Paul on the Damascus road, suddenly; as well as over time, in the lesser known revelation to him in Arabia. Perhaps Paul experience in Arabia was special, regarding "the time of his rapture into the third heaven, when he heard words not to be uttered.” (John Gill)—"'who SEPARATED ME’ [from the world and] individualized me, as the duly endowed and fitting instrument," (C. J. Ellicott) Paul can now testify: "I was once a so-called Pharisee or Separatist; but God had separated me to something far better.— ‘from my mother's womb’— [while in a natural state] thus merit in me was out of the question in His call (Psalms 22:9; Psalms 71:6; Isaiah 49:1; Isaiah 49:5; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:15; Romans 8:30; Romans 9:11).” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)—
“‘and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia,"- about 3 years- "and returned again to Damascus, “independent of Jerusalem.” (Arno Gaebelein)
“To be an apostle he needed to be a Jew; to be an apostle of the Gentiles, he needed to be a Gentilized Jew. He needed a powerful vitality, a piercing intellect, and an iron will. He needed to be one moulded before birth for this wonderful future.” (Daniel Whedon) After my initial instruction, I likewise went through a much longer period, when I was prayerfully searching the Scriptures for myself and deciding what I thought was Torah of God. My doctrine has become more pure in the process and so have I. In the womb, God gave me the wit, as well as the guts and determination to persevere and to be a teacher of His Word, though It is not apparent that any or listening.
Galatians 1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.
“‘Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem “to see Peter, not to learn anything from him..., for I had been taught from above, but merely to see and pay my respect to the chief of the Apostles (Theodoret, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome)” (Lapide's Commentary) or better, perhaps the apostle to the Jews or the church in Jerusalem—
“‘But I saw none of the other apostles’—These were busily attending upon their particular charges and offices, according to Romans 12:7.” (John Trapp)— “‘except James, the Lord’s brother” who served in Jerusalem— “not James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, whom Herod slew with the sword; but James the son of Alphaeus, he who made the speech in the synod at Jerusalem, Acts 15:13 was the writer of the epistle which bears his name, and was the brother of Joses, Simon, and Judas, who are called the brethren of Christ, Matthew 13:55 and that because they were the kinsmen and relations of Christ according to the flesh, it being usual with the Jews to call such brethren.” (John Gill)
“Paul… went to Jerusalem uninvited, not to be instructed, but to visit with Peter….Paul says that he saw Peter and James, but he denies that he learned anything from them.” (Martin Luther)—“‘and abode with him fifteen days’; and even all this time was not wholly spent in conversation with him; for he was, during this time, coming in and going out at Jerusalem, where [Luke tells us Acts 9:29,] he preached boldly in the name of Christ, and disputed against the Grecians.” (John Gill)
“‘Behold, before God, I lie not’—An oath may be lawfully taken to help the truth in necessity, and not otherwise.“ (John Trapp) Paul had previously warned against oaths in everyday matters- “Whether those words, ‘before God’, make this sentence an oath, is not material to determine; they are either an oath, or a very serious asseveration. [He was indeed on trial.] If the apostle designed to call God for a witness, to the correspondence of his words with the truth of the things he had spoken, they make up an assertory oath, which was lawful enough (though privately taken) in so serious a matter as this, where the apostle is vindicating his apostleship...” (Martin Luther)
21 Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. 23 But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God in me.
“‘Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.’ Syria and Cilicia are adjacent countries. Paul traces his movements carefully in order to convince the Galatians that he had never been the disciple of any apostle.” (Luther)— “‘And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.’ So far was I from being a disciple of the Apostles, or tarrying in their company, that the churches of Judæa, where they principally laboured, did not even know me by sight.” (Alford)
“But they were hearing only, ‘He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith'— the doctrine of faith— 'which he once tried to destroy.’” (Geneva Study Bible) “‘And they glorified God in me.’ “Learning that the former wolf is now acting the shepherd's part, they received occasion for joyful thanksgiving to God in respect to me.” (Theodoret) “When persecutors of Christ become His friends, and labor to promote the cause which before they sought to destroy, they strikingly manifest the grace of God.” (Justin Edwards) “This was an evident proof that his ministry was approved by all the churches of Judea, and approved in such a manner, that they broke out into admiration and praise of the wonderful power of God. Thus he indirectly reproves their malice, by showing that their venom and slanders could have no other effect than to hide the glory of God, which, as the apostles admitted and openly acknowledged, shone brightly in the apostleship of Paul.” (John Calvin)