Galatians 1.1-5 KWL - 1 The apostle Paul—
- not sent by people nor through people’s agency,
- but by Christ Jesus,
- and by God the Father
- who raised him from those who are dead—
- 2 and all the Christian brethren with me,
- to the churches of Galatia.
- 3 Grace to you all, and peace
- from God our Father,
- and from master Christ Jesus—
- 4 Jesus who gave himself for our sins
- so he might pluck us from the present, evil age,
- consistent with the will of God our Father—
- 5 glory to Jesus in the age of ages, amen!
No doubt Paul of Tarsus wrote hundreds of letters over his lifetime, but we only have 13 of them in the New Testament. All of them were written within about 15 years:
- Paul was still “a young man”
Ac 7.58 —what we’d today call a teenager—when Stephen was killed, and became a Christian shortly after that. This happened within a year after Jesus’s death and rapture in 33, so figure around then. - After this he went to Arabia (probably Mt. Sinai) about three years; then went to Jerusalem to see the apostles.
Ga 1.18 Figure the years 33 to 36. - Then to Syria and Cilicia for 14 years,
Ga 2.1 during which time he got to know Barnabas, got involved in the Antioch church, and went on what’s popularly called his “first missionary journey.” Figure 36 to 50. - Then Barnabas, Paul, and Titus went to
the Council of Jerusalem in the year 50. - Ultimately Paul was arrested, tried, and beheaded during the Neronian persecution—round the year 65.
It’s a rough timeline, but you get the gist. Paul’s two earliest letters were both written after the Council of Jerusalem: Galatians makes reference to the council and its aftermath, and 1 Timothy was co-written by Timothy,
Anyway. Today I’m picking apart Galatians’s introduction, which was written Roman-style: Whom it’s from, whom it’s to, and salutations. Letters were written on papyrus (’cause parchment, i.e. sheepskin, is expensive!) and ink tends to bleed through, so rather than write the address on the outside of the scroll, Romans put it at the top and permitted people to unroll the scroll just enough to see the addressee. Paul, taking advantage of the fact just about anyone might read this, threw in a lot of Christian stuff. It’s never just “Paul to Timothy,” or “Paul to the church of Cilicia,” but “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus,” or “Paul, to the church of God the Father and our master Christ Jesus.” Evangelists gotta evangelize.
(I should mention that number of 13 letters does not include Hebrews. I realize plenty of Christians claim Paul wrote it; no he didn’t. The New Testament’s letters are bunched by author, and listed in order of length: Paul wrote the longest letter, Romans, and the rest of his letters follow, in order of length (except when, like 1–2 Corinthians, they’re bunched by recipient). The next-longest epistle was Hebrews, and if the ancient Christians believed it was Paul’s they’d’ve put it before Galatians, but they didn’t. We don’t know who wrote it, and the only reason people presume Paul is… well, if it’s not named for the author it must be Paul’s, right? Um, no.)
Galatians may be Paul’s earliest letter. It’s to the churches of central Asia Minor (now Turkey), called “Galatia” because it was settled by Celts, whom Romans called “Gauls.” The Celts invaded Bulgaria in 279
Other historians think 1 Thessalonians was written first, ’cause Paul wrote it with Silas and Timothy, so they speculate it was written in the middle of one of their missions, and Galatians once that mission was over.
The apostle introduces himself.
Me, I figure Galatians came first, in part because Paul introduces himself to Christendom in this letter. He starts with his mini-autobiography.
Many followers of Jesus knew a little about Paul of Tarsus—or had at least heard the rumors that the Lord Jesus had flipped a persecutor, and made him an evangelist.
See, then as now, people assume you can’t be an apostle unless Jesus personally appoints and sends you.
Except it turns out
Acts 9.3-7 KJV - 3 And as [Saul] journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Christians might still claim Jesus will only appear at his second coming… but make an exception for Paul, ’cause it’s in the bible. Ignoring the fact this is hardly Jesus’s only special appearance in the bible; he also appears to Ananias, John, and even Paul again. Each of these appearances reiterates the fact Jesus is Lord and can do as he wants. Including appear to people. And send ’em on missions.
So in Galatians—and in his other letters, ’cause has to keep saying this!—Paul explained he’s an apostle, sent by Christ Jesus, same as the Twelve. Maybe with a slightly different mission, but still.
And the core of Paul’s mission is the same as that of the Twelve:
Popular pagan belief presumes any way we earnestly approach God—with or without Jesus—is totally fine with God, ’cause he’s flexible and forgiving like that. But this profoundly confuses theological apathy with
Hence the only way to get to the Father is via the door, the road, the truth—that is, Jesus. He’s the king, and holds the keys, of God’s kingdom.
Problem was, people were totally telling the Galatians different. And it was working on them. Hence Paul’s letter.
Which I oughta start expounding upon, huh?
An apostle sent by Jesus.
Paul didn’t simply give himself the title “apostle,” like so many Christians do nowadays. Nor is it an official title conferred by a church body. He was sent by Jesus, ’cause
Galatians 1.1 KWL - The apostle Paul—
- not sent by people nor through people’s agency,
- but by Christ Jesus,
- and by God the Father
- who raised him from those who are dead—
Now yeah, certain churches do claim they have every right to make apostles; that when they lay their hands on a minister, and identify him as someone God commissions to do a certain work, this makes ’em an apostle. They claim it’s not so much that they make apostles;
And likewise lots of people claim to be apostles, and claim Jesus sent ’em to do this or that… and no he didn’t; they’re dirty liars. Fake apostles. There were fake apostles in the bible, y’know:
2 Corinthians 11.13-15 KJV - 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Jesus says we can identify such people
Galatians 1.8-9 KJV - 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Is Paul a legitimate apostle? Well you’ll know Christians by our fruits, and Paul was the right kind of fruity. Not just because he taught about
Further, Paul preached
Galatians deals more with
Plucked from this age, into the age to come.
In the scriptures, God’s kingdom is synonymous with the age to come. That’d be the next age. Right now we’re in the Christian era,
The odd thing about the Christian era is we now kinda live in two ages. That is, we live in our current age: We live in
Jesus “gave himself for our sins so he might pluck us from the present, evil age,” Paul wrote.
