We have learned a bit about the culture and the first missionary journey of Paul into Asia Minor, now referred to as Galatia. For previous sessions, please refer to the Session Outline.
Before we dive right into the scripture for the week, we want to begin with a reality check of our own.
Have you ever had a situation where you shared information with a person or a group and you thought the information was accurate, but you came to understand there were errors in your information. Be specific and explain your initial feelings and how you responded to those involved.
When we started the series we spent one session Defining Galatia and reviewing the prodigal son that went his own way. Typically, when we make a mistake and we truly want to remedy the situation, we go back to where we began. This is very typical in many aspects of our life. This is the same situation and remedy for the Galatian churches, that Paul offers.
Paul’s message was “You’ve made a mess of things, but all’s not lost! Go back to where you began; go back to grace. And there you’ll find just what you need—everything you need, the only thing you need. There you’ll find grace.” Yet Paul knows the Galatians will have a tough time going back to grace because they’ve lost confidence in the gospel he preached.
The letter is not only to the gentiles that were new converts to the church but to the religious pharisees that continued to run to their own safety of the law. These pharisees were hypocrites because they thought that what God would do for them depended on what they did for God.
Here’s what happened. After Paul left Galatia, his converts came under the influence of certain individuals who discredited his apostleship, called into question the validity of his gospel, and insisted his converts were only half-baked and needed to go all the way and get circumcised, if they were going to shore up their status of children of God.
As a result, Paul’s once enthusiastic converts were now ambivalent at best. They’d developed misgivings about whether Paul had told them the whole story and whether his gospel could get them to where they needed to go spiritually. Thus they were suffering from a bad case of buyer’s remorse, the upshot of which was to turn away from the one who called them in the grace of Christ and turn to a different gospel, the one the Judaizers preached.
Some of us find ourselves or have found ourselves in a similar situation to the Galatians. We embraced the gospel with great enthusiasm at first, but we’ve found out that living the Christian life isn’t what we expected. As a result, we too wrestle with a bit of buyer’s remorse, wondering whether something more is needed to get us to where we want to go in life.
What was your initial hopes and dreams when you first grasp the idea of being a “Christian”? How the the reality check when you came to understand you needed to follow Jesus way of life? What has been some of your struggles in faith?
This week we begin with the opening of the letter that Paul wrote to the Galatian churches.
1Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. – Galatians 1:1-5 ESV
What are some of you thoughts or insights to how the letter opens? Does it seem similar to other letters written by Paul and others?
One thing we can notice that since Paul is concerned about these churches he does not immediately defend the message, but he solidifies the messenger. Paul does not do this out of insecurity? No, he does that to confirm the validity of the message. If there was doubt about him then they could more easily doubt what message he was sharing. He also states that it is not all about him, when he states with “all the brothers who are with me”.
After Paul left Galatia, the Galatians came under the influence of certain teachers who were promoting the Jewish law as an effective way to advance spiritually. In addition, we can assume the Galatians themselves had probably found the Jewish law appealing because of the promise it held out for spiritual help. No doubt they also found themselves frustrated and fatigued with the same thing we often find frustrating and fatiguing: the continuing presence of sin in our lives.
Unlike Paul’s other letters, this one contains no commendation of the church, no evidence of grace among them, and no expression of thanksgiving for them.
This letter is not to one specific person or one church. It is a letter to a region because it is intended to address a behavior of the region.
Let’s compare some other introductions to Paul’s letters and we see if we can notice how the book of Galatians is very unique.
- 1 Corinthians (1:1-9)
- 2 Corinthians (1:1-7)
- Ephesians (1:1-8)
- Philippians (1:1-8)
Now with those insights, reviewing some of similarities and differences… What stands out to you?
Now that we can get an insight that this book is truly different and what the recipients are like, we can now really appreciate the writing more than just reading it like another book in the bible by Paul.
Until we meet next time, review how other letters in the bible are introduced by other authors. See if there is similarities (Peter, James, Jude, etc.)
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ga 1:1–5). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
Beckham, L. (2015). Live in Liberty: The Spiritual Message of Galatians (Study Guide). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.