Years ago, I knew a man whose son had fallen in with the wrong people. This family had done everything to raise their son in the ways of the Lord. They prayed with their child, read Scripture with him, and took him to church. But as the child grew older, he fell in with the wrong crowd. This father was devastated. After all his efforts to raise his son the right way, a group of friends had come between him and his son and was leading his son astray. He felt helpless. He felt sorrow. But he was also angry at these friends.
Have you ever watched people lead someone you love toward danger? If so, you can understand something of what the apostle Paul felt. He’s writing this letter, the book of Galatians, because he’s angry and alarmed. He’s writing to Christians who’ve become confused about issues of first importance.
Paul had preached the gospel and planted churches in Galatia. He did everything by the book. He raised his children—these new believers—the right way. But after he left, new preachers came. They began teaching things contrary to what Paul had taught: a different gospel, a different message.
This new group of teachers were probably Jewish Christians from Jerusalem. Paul calls them “the agitators” (Gal. 1:7). They’re troubling the Galatians, saying, “If you really want to be a part of the family of God, you need to obey the Old Testament ceremonial laws. You need to be circumcised if you’re a male. You need to obey the food laws. If you’re struggling with holiness, all these rules are really going to help you.” These teachers also cast doubt on Paul’s apostolic ministry. They wanted the Galatians to think Paul wasn’t a legitimate apostle.
If you get this background, you can see why Paul opens his letter the way he does: “Paul, an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father” (Gal. 1:1). Is there a more powerful way to start a letter? Apostle means “a sent one.” He says, “I am sent by God.” He wants the Galatians to know—and he wants us to know—“What you’re about to hear in this letter is from the Lord.”
Having reminded them of his authority, he then immediately reminds them of his message—his gospel. This is what’s at stake. He writes, “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins” (Gal. 1:3). The sixteenth-century German Reformer Martin Luther said, “Those two terms, grace and peace, constitute Christianity.” The gospel announces God’s grace—his unmerited favor. Through God’s grace we experience mercy, forgiveness, and peace. And this peace with God isn’t what we might think at first. God doesn’t say, “I hope you have a nice, relaxing weekend.” It’s more like Armistice Day. Because of the cross, God lays aside his divine anger. God’s peace ends the war between sinful human beings and a holy, all-powerful God.
What did Jesus give himself for? Our achievements? Our righteousness? Our law-keeping? No, Jesus gave himself for our sins. But that word our—“our sins”—can be hard to believe. Maybe God gave himself for the apostle Peter’s sins, or the martyrs’, or the sins of people who volunteer in the church nursery. But did he die for me? Has God made peace with me? This verse can greatly encourage us. Jesus died for broken, weak sinners. God’s grace is for the hopeless.
This gospel message of grace and peace is personal, but it’s also cosmic. Paul refers here to an idea prominent among Jews in his day that the world is divided into two ages: this “present evil age” of sin and death, and the age to come of peace and the forgiveness of sins. Paul says, “The cross was God’s rescue mission, snatching you out of this present evil age and bringing you into the new age of the Spirit.” A new epoch of cosmic history has begun, where God reigns in peace over his people.
We live in this present evil age of sickness, sin, and death. We experience it all around us. But we’ve been snatched out by Jesus. He’s brought us into a new age of righteousness and the hope of eternal life. This is probably why the apostle Paul appeals to the resurrection of Jesus: “Paul, an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God who raised him from the dead.” The new age is here. It began with Jesus's death and resurrection.
This is an excerpt from Core Christianity’s Bible Study, Galatians, by Adriel Sanchez. The full study is available here: Galatians Bible Study
Footnotes
Martin Luther, A Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, trans. Theodore Graebner, at Galatians 1:3, https:// ccel.org/ccel/luther/galatians/galatians.iv.html.
