Grace Institute: The Pauline Epistles: Galatians: Introduction

Galatians Survey of the New Testament: The Pauline Epistles Winter 2006

Introduction (1:1-10)

Greeting (1:1-5)

Author (1:1-2)

As with his other letters, Paul announces himself as the author of this epistle. Paul's authorship of this epistle has never been seriously questioned. However, already in verse 1 Paul is defending his apostleship as having divine origins rather than human origins. This becomes the theme of the chapters 1 and 2.

Audience (1:3-5)

Paul is writing this letter to the churches in Galatia . There is substantial dispute as to the exact region Paul is referring to by the title Galatia . Galatia proper was located in north central Asia Minor , and for centuries bible commentators assumed this was the region to which this letter was directed. However, during Paul's day, the Roman Empire included a region in south central Asia Minor as part of the province of Galatia . This included the cities of Lystra, Iconium, Derbe and Psidian Antioch, which Paul visited during his first missionary journey. By the second century AD the Roman Empire had readjusted the boundaries of Galatia to exclude this region.

In the late 19 th century, William Ramsey [1] first put for the argument that Paul actually was writing to the churches in this south-central part of Asia Minor . His arguments included the following:

• Paul's travel itineraries clearly show visits to southern Galatia , while there is no specific proof that Paul visited northern Galatia .
• Paul preferred using Roman provincial titles when referring to churches in his epistles. If Paul had wanted to address his letters to Lystra, Iconium, Derbe and Psidian Antioch, there would be no other name than Galatians which he could have used to collectively identify them.
• There is no historic evidence that there were any churches in northern Galatia at this time. In contrast the book of Acts and other historic evidence points to a well established church in southern Galatia.

While Paul's intended audience can not be conclusively determined, the churches in southern Galatia are the most likely recipients.

Occasion for the Writing (1:6-9)

Paul had learned that the Galatians had been infiltrated by false teachers who were teaching a “different gospel.” Paul is writing this letter to refute this false teaching and to remind the Galatians of the roots of their faith, and to condemn the false teachers in the strongest manner possible.

Based on the content of this epistle, there seems to be three issues which these false teachers were promoting:

• Paul was not a true apostle and had did not have the full backing of the church in Jerusalem . However, these false teachers claimed to have been credentialed by the apostle James himself.\
• While Paul brought the Galatians the gospel of Jesus Christ, he had failed to give them the full gospel. Once you have received forgiveness through the sacrifice of Christ, now believers be circumcised and begin holding to the Jewish law.
• Without adherence to the Jewish Law, the church would have no ethical guidelines and would fall into immorality. Therefore, adherence to the Jewish Law was necessary to keep the church from falling back into sin.

These issues highlighted a greater issue facing the entire first century church. More and more Gentiles were entering the church, threatening the Jewish roots of the church. Would these Gentiles need to follow the Jewish traditions to be part of the church, or were they excused from these traditions? This was of paramount importance in this early age of the church.

As seen in Acts 22, the expansion of the promises of God to Gentiles had become the major stumbling block to the Jews. For the believers in Jerusalem already facing harsh persecution by the Jews, if the church could show that the expansion of the church to the Gentiles was enlarging Judaism, they would not face criticism at home.

Theme of the Book

Galatians is a book about freedom from the slavery of the Law. Salvation comes by faith in Christ alone, and we can not earn favor from God through our works.

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, NASB95)

Structure of the Book

The book of Galatians addresses the three issues promoted by the false teachers:

• In Chapters 1 and 2 Paul defends his apostolic authority, rejecting the need for affirmation from the Jerusalem church.
• In Chapters 3 through 5 Paul defends his gospel, rejecting the premise that the Law is necessary to complete the work of faith in Christ.
• In Chapters 5 and 6 Paul demonstrates that by living in the Spirit results in a morality which is greater than can be obtained by attempting to follow the Law.

Footnotes

1. James Montgomery Boice. “Galatians.” The Expositor's Bible Commentary . Frank E. Gaebelein, ed. ( Grand Rapids MI : Zondervan, 1998. Electronic edition, STEP file)

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