2005 Bible Reading

Galatians

This page is not a commentary, nor an outline. It is something to bear in mind in this kind of reading. These materials I learnt from two books by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart (How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth; How To Read The Bible Book By Book). You could consult these books if you are interested.

(Pastor Raymond)

Readers of Galatians most likely wonder, “What ticked off Paul?” Surprisingly Paul does not begin this letter with his usual thanksgiving prayers. Instead, he goes right into a cursing mode! The reason is that Paul is fighting for the Gospel, conducting warfare with those who are instigating the Galatians.

The Gospel is accessible to Gentiles not because of observing works of the Law. Neither is it necessary for Gentiles to firstly become Jews, fulfilling all the demands of the Mosaic Law. Paul insists that grace does not need the merits of the works of the Law, but is a matter of faith guided by the Holy Spirit. Therefore the entire letter speaks on Jewish legal requirements of circumcision, food laws, and observance of the calendar, contrasting the promise granted to Abraham by faith. The following typical Jewish terms repeatedly appear in the letter:

Law, flesh, works, circumcision, Christ, Spirit, faith, grace, justification, Abraham, promise, seed, liberty, slave, Gentiles.

Paul maintains, against those perpetrators in the church, that Gentiles, as long as they believe as Abraham did, have become the true people of God, heirs to the promise. They are free men, no longer slaves. On the contrary, anyone who still relies on justification by works of the Law, remains in slavery. Since he still depends on his own merits, he has separated himself from the Cross.

The above argument apparently sounds convincing to present-day Christians. But how convincing was it 2000 years ago to Jews? What were Paul’s arguments? To be able to follow Paul’s argumentation, one must watch how he deals with the records of Abraham in Genesis. In this letter, Paul clearly aims at the foundational text of those who insist that Gentiles too need circumcision—Genesis 17:1-22. Paul emphasizes that Chapter 17 comes after Chapter 15, and that Genesis 15:6 clearly sets the faith of Abraham forward much earlier than the institution of circumcision. Furthermore, Genesis 12, which is even earlier than Genesis 15, states unequivocally that all nations, not just Jews, are to be blessed. Paul observes that justification that is based on the later Mosaic Law is unwise and unbiblical.

Paul reiterates the work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of Gentiles, and that the Holy Spirit, not the Jewish Law, must be the source of power of Godly living for all of God’s people, including Gentiles.

Accordingly, it will then become obvious why Paul, in the first couple of chapters, appears to distance himself from Jerusalem and to insist on his direct commissioning in the work of the Gospel by the Lord. Paul’s intent is to distinguish himself from those perpetrators, many of whom might come from Jerusalem.

Because of the above reasons, and perhaps also because of his youth, the tone of the letter is more belligerent and blunt. But also because the letter is so, Galatians often is more appropriate for young Christians to get a good grasp of the doctrine of justification by faith and the teaching on living according to the Spirit, compared to the lengthy 16-chapter Romans.