TITLE: GRACE WORKED FOR IS NO GRACE AT ALL
Galatians 1:1-10
MIT: Paul is writing to the Christians in Galatia in order to rebuke and correct the heresy of legalism that has crept in by way of Judaizers.
Introduction
It is widely accepted that the apostle Paul is the author of the epistle to the Galatians. Not only does Paul claim authorship at both the beginning and the end of the letter, but in studying Galatians, as a whole, one sees that the letter comes across as clearly autobiographical. There is such a personal note to the comments regarding Galatia’s unique history that only the founder of the mission could write in such a way.
The book can be easily divided into three sections, not including the greeting. In chapters 1:10-2:21, Paul defends his apostleship and ends with the argument of justification through Christ. In the second section, chapters 3-5:12, Paul shows clear support for his earlier argument of justification by faith, pointing out examples related to Abraham. He shows conclusively that the believers must trust in the promise of God, just as Abraham trusted in the promise of God. The final section, chapter 5:13 through 6:10, contains Paul’s appeal to live by the Spirit and “not lose their spiritual freedom by giving in to sin.”
The letter to the Galatians has been called the Magna Carta of Christian liberty, and John MacArthur has called it the Charter of Freedom. However, these “titles” don’t show themselves readily when one is just examining the first few verses of chapter one. Through a thorough examination of the greeting, however, in chapter 1:1-10, freedom is still clearly proclaimed.
1Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. (NASB)
In this opening passage, verses 1-5 give us Paul’s greeting; verses 6-10 his quick, stern reprimand of the Christians in the region. It is hard to be precise in pinpointing to which part of Galatia Paul was writing: the original northern territory or the southern Roman province which bears the same name, Galatia. I believe Paul was writing to those cities in the Roman province which Luke recorded Paul visited during his missionary journeys. Regardless, the epistle that would become a call for freedom starts with an examination of a gospel devoted to destruction.
Paul begins with a standard greeting: his name, the name of those to whom he is writing, and an expression of blessing on the recipients. Although it is just a few verses, Paul brings out several key ideas that must be understood in order to feel the brunt of his reprimand which begins in verse 6.
In the first verse, Paul begins by calling himself an apostle. Many of us today would have no problem accepting that Paul was an apostle, but these churches had some who were divisive and challenged Paul’s apostleship. The word apostle, as Paul uses it here, refers to a delegate, an ambassador, or someone who has been officially commissioned. So, Paul says he has been sent officially to them, with the authority of the One who sent him, Jesus Christ. He points out that no man or council has given him his marching orders or his message, but that it was Jesus and the Father who gave Paul his mission. His mission is from God and of God; his message is not based on man, but on God and is authoritative, as if God Himself were saying it.
It is also important to note that not just anyone could be an apostle. There were two main criteria set down in the book of Acts. In chapter 1, verses 21-26, there were those apostles who were eyewitnesses of Christ’s ministry, from his baptism through his resurrection. These were primarily the disciples. Second, Acts 9: 15-16 shows that one could be chosen specifically for the office by the risen Lord. And truthfully, we must acknowledge that even the disciples in the aforementioned passage were also chosen by the Lord—either verbally or by lot, in the case of Matthias. Thus, Paul establishes his authority, being called to deliver God’s message, the gospel, to God’s people, the church in Galatia.
Paul, in Galatians chapter 1, verse 2 not only tells us to whom he was writing, but he also mentions “all the brethren which are with me.” This phrase is easy to overlook, but important to note. Paul’s statement tells these believers that there are others who not only affirm but also endorse the message Paul is preaching. There was apparently a report concerning the problems in Galatia, and Paul—as well as others—believed that there needed to be correction. Paul does not mention any of these brethren by name, and this could be because he wants the Galatians to know that the gospel he has preached is what is being received in all of the Christian churches.
Paul transitions from his greeting right into a blessing, as was traditional for him. In verse 3, Paul uses the words “grace” and “peace,” but instead of using them as verbs, he uses their noun form. This is notable because it is followed with the expression, “…from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul is saying to those in the church, “May you have the grace that comes from God, that is, may you receive God’s unmerited favor on your life.” He continues, “May you have God’s peace, that is to say, the quietness, rest, or oneness that comes with being reconciled to God.” So, Paul is asking two things: (1) that God will grant His mercy and grace on those who are arguing against and struggling with the sufficiency of salvation by grace, and (2) that God would also bring them peace and reconciliation to Himself which comes only from Him through His Son, Christ Jesus.
Verses 4-5 set up the true gospel, and verse 5—being a doxology—“serves as centering the gospel in the preeminence of the Lord Jesus and His work above any human criticism or praise.” So, looking at verse 4, Paul gives the gospel, and in it, he points to four aspects.
First, Paul talks about the nature of Christ’s death. He says that Christ gave Himself. According to Strong’s Concordance, this means that He offered up Himself as a sacrifice. For what? He offered himself up for our sins. Christ’s work was rooted in God’s grace to bring peace and a right relationship between us and God. Our sins separated us from Him and must be judged, so Christ gave Himself as the atoning sacrifice, the payment, the substitute, and the ransom for our sins. Paul makes it clear that everyone is in need of Christ’s work when he says, “Christ died for our sins.” No one is innocent; all can be free through Christ. This theme of grace, Paul will revisit later in this epistle.
Next, Paul points to the object of Christ’s death. The nature of Christ’s death is that He died as a sacrifice; the object of His death is that He might rescue us from this present, evil age. The word “rescue” means to deliver, but it has a very strong connotation. It could also be said that Christ died, so that He might “tear us out” or “pluck us” from this evil age. It is a complete removal from sin and death to peace, by grace into life. Jesus removes us from this age, or world. This means we are moved out of the morally corrupt and failing system that has been set in motion, and we are free. This is why Jesus says in John 17 that Christians are “in the world but not of the world.” The believer’s home is in heaven, but until it is reached, the believer will live out the ideals of the future age in the present, evil one.
Paul has pointed out the nature and the object of Christ’s death. Next, he emphasizes the third aspect of Christ’s death: the source. The source of Christ’s death is rooted in the will of God the Father. It should be a cause for both great joy and humility to know that God planned the salvation of all who would believe in Christ and His finished work on the cross. The grace of salvation comes from the Father, while the means of salvation comes through His Son. That is why Jesus prayed in the garden, “Father, not my will but Yours be done.”
Paul brings the greeting to a close with a benediction in verse 5, but he also notes the fourth aspect of the gospel: Christ’s motive in His death. Jesus gave Himself for our sins (the nature), rescued us from this present, evil age (the object), doing all according to the Father’s will (the source), so that all glory would be “to [God the Father] … forevermore.” That was the motive. Christ did all that He did to glorify the Father. Likewise, Paul was called to preach this message from God, in order to bring glory to God.
II. Paul rebukes the letter’s recipients, the believers in Galatia.
6I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! 10For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. (NASB)
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary points out that usually in his epistles, Paul moves from a blessing “to some sort of expression of praise for those Christians receiving his admonitions. But here, instead of an expression of praise, there is an abrupt and indignant cry of astonishment at what seems to be happening among the Galatians.” In verses 6-10, Paul begins his reprimand of the Galatian church. Verse 6 addresses their turning away. In verse 7, he takes a look at the false gospel. In verses 8-9, Paul talks about the fate of those who follow this false gospel, and—ultimately—of those who preach it. Finally, in verse 10, Paul will explain who they are truly to be pleasing.
Paul is clearly angered and agitated by their turning away, and this is evident in his language in verse 6. He says they are deserting Christ. This word “deserting” is used in connection with military revolts as well as changing of the mind. Paul is saying that they haven’t just turned away, but there has been a revolt in their thinking, and that they have abandoned Christ altogether. It is emphasized here that this turning away happened quickly. In one of his other epistles, Paul referred to this type of believer as unstable, being tossed to and fro like waves crashing on the shore (Ephesians 4:14). These people have been rescued from sin and, instead of living in freedom, they quickly run back to the dungeon that held them imprisoned.
From here, Paul talks about the false gospel the people are embracing. He addresses the fact that their gospel is no gospel at all. Customarily, Paul, when entering a city, would preach in the synagogue if possible. As both Jews and Gentiles received the gospel of Jesus Christ, there developed a struggle for control among them. Judaizers, Jews who insisted that Christians adhere to the Mosaic law, sought a place of prominence. According to Henry Sheldon, “these men insisted on adherence to the law, rejected the apostolic office of Paul, [and] later would use Matthew’s gospel exclusively and would lower the view of Christ to that of a mere man, conceived in the ordinary way, and distinguished only by His righteous walk and superior endowment of the Spirit.” We can see then, that the doctrine of these men was a dangerous one, and Paul was right to speak out in warning against them.
Paul argues with these types of men in his ministry in other epistles as well, stating that he is a true Jew, and—in relation to them—a superior Jew (Philippians 3:5, Galatians 1:13-14). “But for Paul, a true Jew is one who believes that Jesus is the Messiah and relies on God’s grace and not his own works of the law to be saved.” Paul states that this gospel of works and this view of Christ is not a gospel that saves, and is—in fact—not “good news” at all. In the preaching of this doctrine, these men are purposefully causing great disruption among the believers.
In the next two verses, Paul moves from explaining to the believers the danger of the false gospel to warning them all about the consequences that will face the false teachers themselves. Paul says in verse 8 that the true gospel is not to be perverted. He emphasizes that the person who is preaching is irrelevant. No matter who changes the gospel of Christ—even if Paul or an angel from heaven were to do this—that one is to be cursed, literally damned or condemned. Concerning this, John MacArthur points to the Greek word anathema, and states, “God has set certain things apart for cursing, for destruction…one is false teachers.”
Paul repeats this curse in verse 9, changing the way it is stated slightly, bringing a specific rebuke to the Galatian Church. First he alters the phrase “the one we preached,” changing it to “what you have received.” This change effectively states that the gospel of grace that he preached and that the Galatians first accepted was the true gospel. Therefore, any teaching apart from what was first brought to the Galatian believers is a false teaching, worthy of destruction. Secondly, Paul changed the words, “we or an angel from heaven” to “anybody.” He was pointing out that the believers must examine the teachers and discern who among them are the false teachers. There are those among them who have purposefully perverted the gospel. His last change is the removal of the phrase, “if we…should preach,” leaving an unspoken but clearly implied accusation that there are some of their own teachers who are preaching the false gospel. Again, he points out that these teachers are set apart for destruction. So, in these verses, Paul has effectively shone (1) that there has been a desertion of the true gospel, (2) that the gospel of the law is not a gospel unto life but unto death, (3) that those who teach and follow this false gospel will face the most severe consequence—destruction.
Paul, who must have been accused of trying to please men and exalt himself at the expense of Christ, says that this allegation is completely false. He states in verse 10 that, if he were seeking only please men, he would not be concerned with being a bondservant of Christ. The argument for the sake of the true gospel is all that is important to him in this situation; he makes himself of no importance.
Paul is not important, but the truth of Christ is. His strong comments in verses 8 and 9 show that he understood the gospel’s place, which is evidence of his great concern for the advancement of biblical truth. Paul knows that from the beginning, he has been commissioned to do one thing and one thing only: bring glory to God by fulfilling his calling in the exalting and preaching of Christ.
The apostle Paul, in just these ten short verses, exalts Christ, glorifies the Father, denounces sin and false doctrine, and points to the gospel of grace in Christ Jesus. He does all this in order to allow the Galatian church—and the church of the present day—to understand what true liberty is, and that it can be found in Christ, and in Christ alone.
How many of you like to run? I use to run all the time but now that I’m older my running is only to the fridge or to the store to refill the fridge. On our retreat we read the book of Jonah and we saw that He too was a runner. But he was running to get away from what he thought was unpleasant and unfair—the will and work of God.
