Galatians

Galatians. The Holy Bible. New King James Version. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

The church at Galatia was another founded among the Gentiles by Paul. The apostle kept up with the churches, revisiting and corresponding with them, and sent to them letters, like the one we call Galatians, to encourage and correct his fellow believers.

As with his other letters, Paul encouraged the church to stay true to the Gospel as they were taught by faithful messengers, firstly himself. There were people and sects who were trying to reshape Christianity in their own fashion. The same is true today. Paul defended the received faith.

The particular group active in Galatia are called Judaizers. They sought to institute Mosaic Law in the church, especially amongst the new Gentile believers. This included all manner of laws, ceremonies and traditions. The primary practice, symbolic of them all, was circumcision.

To strengthen their case, the Judaizers attempted to undermine Paul. Paul devoted part of his letter to defending his authority and teachings. The main point is this: Paul taught the same Gospel that the other apostles taught and he taught with the approval of the other apostles, though he did not necessarily need it. In addition, the point on circumcision in particular was long settled among the apostles.



As far as I know, advocates of circumcision for religious purpose aren’t active in or around the church today. There are major religions that have borrowed superficially from Christianity to build religions of laws that depart from the Gospel of grace. The Jehovah’s Witnesses and Latter Day Saints come to mind, though they both depart from orthodox Christianity on almost every major point. Even working within the church are those who teach some kind of law or ethic that binds men with hardly a meaningful mention of the liberating grace of God.

Paul sets up this contrast in his letter: law or grace. It depends on us or it depends on God. God’s law is perfect, as is His justice. Imperfect and sinful Christians can’t keep even a portion of the law and can’t compare to the spotless character of God. A person who looks to the law will only find himself condemned by it. The purpose of the law is to push us to the grace and mercy of God, which is revealed in full in Jesus Christ.

The hymn “Jesus Paid it All” sums up the idea of grace. Jesus fulfilled the law, so in Him, the faithful are no longer condemned by the law, but they are made righteous in God’s sight. In Jesus, we are remade as children of God and given God’s Spirit. As children and heirs of God’s, we are not bound, constrained, and coerced by laws. Instead, we are free to live a new life, quickened by a new Spirit, and having faith in the unshakable work of God and not our flimsy works under the law.

Though the Judaizers attempted to undermine Paul’s teaching as aberrant, he shows himself to be both true to the Gospel and a master of scripture. His arguments are substantially founded on exposition of the Old Testament.

Paul presents the question to the church. If we can trust God, having faith in Christ that He has worked out everything to save us from the destruction of sin and gave us a new life of liberty, why on Earth would we trust ourselves to somehow earn God’s approval by submitting ourselves to laws we don’t keep except though self-delusion? If we truly believe the Gospel, how could anything else turn our heads?

Paul also wrote
First Corinthians
Romans
Second Corinthians

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Acts
Genesis
The Gospels
The Pentateuch

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Pauline Letters

The apostle Paul wrote most of the New Testament.  His letters to the early churches mix doctrine, biography, advice, and personal messages.  Paul was Jewish and belonged to a sect of zealots called the Pharisees.  He was an up-and-comer with a prestigious education and leadership roles beyond what was typical for a man his age.  He prosecuted the early church, especially congregations of Jewish converts to Christianity.  He gave it all up, though, after having a vision in which he was confronted by Jesus Christ and he eventually became a missionary and apostle to the Gentiles, planting churches in Europe and Asia.

Several themes recur in Paul’s letters.  Some of these are: the Gospel and doctrinal purity, Christian living, and relationships.

The Gospel

Paul was a preacher of the Gospel.  He frequently reminded people to remember and stick to the Gospel he taught with directness and simplicity.  There were a lot of false teachers who taught alternatives, often to draw followers and enrich themselves.  In Paul’s teaching, everything depended on Christ and what He accomplished through His life, death and resurrection; nothing could be added or subtracted from it.

Of course, some tried to add or subtract.  Some of the teachings Paul opposed were Judaizers, Gnostics, and legalism.  Judaizers proposed that to be Christian, one must be Jewish first.  This included conversion to Judaism, including circumcision, and observance of the law of Moses.  According to the Gospel, everything needed was satisfied in Christ.  The Gnostics came from the tradition of mystery religions, taught “secrets” and proposed a Christ who was resurrected as a spirit.  Paul would have none of that either.  The Gospel was plain and all significant events of Christ’s life for our salvation were publicly known, including his physical resurrection.  Both of these groups touched to some degree on legalism.  People wanted to establish rules to live by, either to control people or to aggrandize themselves or to suggest people had a part in their own salvation.  Paul’s Gospel asserted that Christ is all, His sacrifice atoned for our sins and His power in us enables us to do good.

Christian Living

If Christianity wasn’t about following rules, how were we to live?  Could we do whatever we wanted?  Of course, it is silly to think that God would save us from our sins just so we could do whatever evil came to us.  It was equally naïve to think we could, on our own, live up to any rule that is truly pure and perfect.

Instead, a Christian life should be typified by love, humility, gratitude, and obedience to God.  We are to honor Christ our rescuer by imitating Him.  This isn’t to win his favor, but to return the love He showed us and express gratitude for the mercy we did not deserve.  Christ empowers us to live in a new way, knowing Him and doing good instead of sinning and becoming more estranged from God.

Relationships

One of the most important ways we can show our love for God and be Christ-like is in our relationships with others.  Paul wrote about all kinds of relationships: marriage, parent-child, employer-employee (in those days sometimes master-slave), and fellow in the church.  We should treat others with the love, kindness and generosity that Christ shows to us, especially in the church.

The Pauline Letters appear in most Bibles generally from longest to shortest: Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, First Timothy, Second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.  First and Second Timothy, Titus and sometimes Philemon are called the Pastoral Letters because Timothy and Titus were young pastors.

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Philippians

Philippians.  The Holy Bible.  New King James Version.  Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Compared to some of Paul’s other letters, his message to the church at Philippi jumps all over the place.  Sadly, his more focused an organized letters are organized so out of the necessity of providing teaching and correction to troubled churches.  Happily, the Philippians seemed to need little of this.  Paul writes this letter mostly to share news and encourage a church he had not visited in years.

Paul founded the church in Philippi, a city in what is now Greece, possibly the first European church.  Early on, they had been supporters of his mission, though it appears they had not been in contact for several years.

The arrival of Epaphroditus, a messenger from the Philippian church, prompted Paul to write.  They had heard of his imprisonment and hardships and, though they had long been out of contact with the planter of their congregation, they wanted to take care of him.  Paul doesn’t say what they sent, but it seems that Epaphroditus spent some time in Rome seeing to Paul’s needs before Paul sent him back with Timothy and this letter.

The only note of correction in the book is and admonishment to be humble.  He also wanted a couple of prominent women in the church to settle their differences.

Much of the letter is encouragement.  Paul encourages the Philippians to continue faithfully in the Gospel, assured of their home in heaven.  In spite of his troubles, Paul is joyful and he wants them to be full of joy, too.  He praises their generosity.

A special point of joy is that the Gospel was advancing.  Paul was happy to endure imprisonment because it gave him opportunity to preach the Gospel.  Even people working in Caesar’s palace had become Christians.

The reason for all of this is Christ.  The salvation, assurance, and power to live a new life, for the Philippians and all believers to this day, are from Jesus Christ.  The best a man be on his own is little compared to the perfect righteousness of Christ, which God freely imparts to us His gift.  The temporary hardships of this life, with which Paul was very familiar, were nothing compare to the eternal joy and perfection God has in store for His people.

In many of his letters, Paul opposes those who preach something other than the Gospel.  Often it was Judaizers, but it was sometimes Gnostics or others who would twist the Gospel into something else.  He strongly objected to teachers of false doctrine.  In this letter, though, he mentions people who preach the Gospel for selfish reasons—even to hurt him.  This doesn’t seem to bother him much, his main concern being that the truth of Christ be proclaimed.

Paul also wrote

First Corinthians

Galatians
Romans
Second Corinthians

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First Peter

Peter was the most prominent apostle.  We find in the Gospels and other New Testament references to him that he is typically listed first, indicating his position.  The apostles and the early church looked to him as a leader.  In the Roman Catholic, the office of Pope originated with him.

Peter was not a perfect person.  Though he had received a vision showing that Gentiles would be part of the church, he did not move to proselytize them.  That is probably why we see the shift in attention in Acts from Peter to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.  Peter fell in with the Judaizers until Paul confronted him.

Though he had weaknesses like the rest of us, he was a bold and passionate man.  He was the first to say aloud that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.  He stepped out of a boat to walk on the water with Jesus.

This letter is from a mature Peter.  To the passion of his youth he added gentleness and love.  Love is woven throughout the three themes of this letter to persecuted and scattered Jewish Christians: living before God, living before the world, and suffering.

Living Before God

As Christians, we have been bought out of the world and sin by the blood of Christ, who suffered and died to atone for our sins.  Because of this, we should be thoughtful imitators of Christ, seeking to be pure and love as He was pure and loving.  Instead of being dragged back into the sinful ways we practiced before, we should rely on the grace of God, exhibited in Christ, and do our best to do what is right, knowing we have help from above.

Living Before the World

Our relationship to God in Christ does not negate the importance of other relationships.  They are more important because God want to display uprightness, mercy and love through us.  Paul especially addresses relationships of authority and submission.  He reminds his readers to submit to authorities in government, work, and family.  The implication is that authorities should conduct themselves with similar uprightness, though we should do our best even if the authorities don’t.  Husbands are especially called out to treat their wives with understanding and honor.  In general, we should relate to others with compassion and courtesy.

Suffering

The people Peter wrote to were suffering.  They fled their homes because they were persecuted for their beliefs.  Peter says that if you must suffer, suffer for doing the right thing.  In fact, if you do the right thing you probably will suffer, because worldly people are more interested in satisfying there lusts and they will come against anyone who doesn’t go along.  In this, too, we can look to Christ as a model.  Christ endured suffering for a purpose, to save us and to glorify His Father.  Our suffering can also glorify God and purify us if we trust Him, continue to follow Him, and remember His faithfulness, for our suffering is temporary but our new life in Christ is forever.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Proverbs

First Peter.  The Holy Bible.  New King James Version.  Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

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