Study of Galatians (Part 1)

It is a tremendous opportunity that God gives us to come and study His Word, and my prayer is that all of us would be encouraged and transformed by this study of the book of Galatians. By way of introduction, let me say a word or two about the letter itself. Galatians, together with Paul's letter to the Romans, has long been considered a window through which we come to understand Paul. These two letters are not easy, and people often neglect their main message. A casual reader of the Bible is comfortable with the stories and parables of the Gospels, but the shift to the epistles can feel difficult. That is exactly where a study like this helps us, for we take the time to go slowly through the letter — most probably one of the earliest Christian writings we possess.

Consider the timeline. In our Bibles, Matthew's Gospel is arranged first, but Matthew was not the first book written, nor even the first Gospel written. Paul's letters were written well before the Gospels. If we draw a rough timeline, the cross, the crucifixion, and the ascension of Jesus fall around AD 30. For the next couple of years there are no writings. Paul's letters — Galatians, for example — come around AD 49 or 50. The dates are debatable, and we need not fight over them; I am only giving you a rough idea. The Gospels are written later, around AD 55, 60, or 65. So the Gospels were written some twenty-five to thirty years afterward, while here, in Galatians, we have one of the very first Christian writings.

That places great importance on understanding the struggle of the early church. The Gospel writers are passionate about presenting the life and teaching of Jesus; everything revolves around the person of Jesus. Matthew, for instance, presents Him as the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. But when you come to the letters, you suddenly realize what the early church was actually like — and what trouble it faced. We sometimes say we must 'go back to the first century' without knowing the struggles of those first-century churches. Most of us mean Acts 2, with the tongues of fire, the rushing wind, and the speaking in tongues. Yet very soon after Acts 2 there were many changes and many challenges. There were misinterpretations; church leaders and pastors were contending with other gospels. Galatians, very probably the first Christian writing of all, introduces us to precisely such a troubled environment in one of the early churches.

To whom was the letter written? For that we need a little background, and the book of Acts. The title 'to the Galatians' does not refer to one church but to at least four congregations that Paul pioneered in the region of Galatia. Galatia was a Roman province, just as Achaia was a province in which Corinth was a city. The Galatian province had many important towns, and from the book of Acts we know at least four places Paul visited. Turning to Acts, we can map his journeys: chapters 13 and 14 record Paul's first missionary journey; chapter 15 is the Jerusalem Council, which happened right after that first journey; chapters 16 to 18 are the second missionary journey; and chapters 19 and 20 are the third. The province of Galatia was visited during the first missionary journey.

We can locate the four congregations in Acts. In Acts 13:14, 'From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down' — that is the first place, Pisidian Antioch, in the province of Galatia. In Acts 13:51, 'they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium' — the second place. In Acts 14:8, in Lystra there was a man who was lame — the third place. And in Acts 14:19–21, we read of Derbe — the fourth. So when we speak of Paul's letter to the Galatians, it is not addressed to a single congregation but to at least four that Paul founded during his first missionary journey.

When was the letter written? After much reading on the matter, I am persuaded of this: having finished the first missionary journey around AD 47 to 49, Paul was on his way to Jerusalem for the council of Acts 15. He knew there was a great deal of trouble that needed to be resolved there. He could have waited, completed the council first, and only then written a letter — but he did not. On the way he learned that the churches he had pioneered in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe were all in deep confusion. If you open your Acts there, somewhere between chapters 14 and 15, around AD 49, this letter was written — before the Jerusalem Council, which historical data places around AD 50. That is why we say Galatians is one of the first letters Paul ever wrote.

We should not be surprised by the confusion we see in Christendom today; it was there from the very beginning, for confusion is always one of Satan's tactics. And look at a man like Paul. He is on his way to Jerusalem. He could reason within himself: 'I pioneered these churches, there is confusion, but it is alright — let me deal with the council first and perhaps write later.' He does not do that. Before he reaches Jerusalem he writes, because he takes the matter with utmost seriousness and addresses it at once.

What was the issue? Those who study Paul's letters systematically say that Galatians is the most polemical letter he ever wrote — the most argumentative, the most given to self-defense. You feel the intensity from the very opening. Look at Galatians 1:1: 'Paul, an apostle — sent not from men, nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ.' Have you seen another letter begin like this? When you compare it with his other letters you might almost wonder whether the same person wrote it. Elsewhere he writes, 'Paul, an apostle, together with Sosthenes,' or 'with Timothy,' and adds, 'thanks be to God.' This is the only letter with no thanksgiving at all. Straight away, in verse 1, he insists: 'I am not sent by any man, but by Jesus Christ.' In our own day, when we see the Word of God distorted, perverted, or diluted, what is our response? Paul does not rest content that God blessed his first journey and that four congregations were established despite some confusion. He takes it seriously and addresses it immediately.

Now look at the issue itself in Galatians 1:6: 'I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ' — mark those words, the grace of Christ — 'and are turning to a different gospel.' From this verse we might conclude that the issue is simply 'another gospel.' But to understand it more fully, look at the fruit of that other gospel in Galatians 3:28. If you understand 3:28, you have understood the letter, for that verse, set in the middle of the letter, captures its whole message: 'There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' The issue of Galatians is disunity.

It is easy to fasten on a verse or two in chapter 2 and say the main issue is justification by faith. But I would say Paul brings justification by faith in order to answer this deeper problem — the problem of division. The same is true of Romans, the other great pillar among Paul's letters. What is the issue in Romans? The same: when you come to Romans 14, the call is to accept one another. Disunity was like a virus in the early church, and the apostles were not blind to it. They did not say, 'These people are filled with the Holy Spirit; that is enough; God will reveal it to them in time.' They were restless. They stood up and said, in effect, 'You cannot go on like this — you are leaving Christ.'

The disunity surfaced after Paul left. In that congregation there were Jewish believers and Gentiles together. The Jews claimed to be heirs and descendants of Abraham, and they boasted in three identity markers. Outside the New Testament we read that a Jewish man would pray every day, 'Lord, thank You that I am a Jew and not a Gentile.' That was the prejudice, the exclusivism: circumcision, the observance of special days and the Sabbath, and the food laws. Because they kept these things, their pride and prejudice ran deep. You can imagine a Jew in the church Paul founded standing up to say, 'Praise the Lord that Paul was sent our way — but thank God that I am a Jew, that the law of Moses was given to us, that we are the people of circumcision, that we have the dietary laws.' And whose head would drop? The Gentiles — half the congregation — would lower their heads, feeling they had nothing to say. That Jew–Gentile conflict is the disunity at the heart of the letter.

Why do we dwell on Paul's relationship with the Galatians? Because it shows us who is liable to be led astray — not bad people, but often the most genuine and innocent. Only last week I met someone like that: sincere, dedicated to studying God's Word, yet lately drifting onto another track altogether. Deception happens to innocent people. And the Galatians were an amazing congregation. Look at Galatians 4:13–14. 'As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.' That is hard to understand at first, but the Greek word translated 'because of' can also mean 'in spite of,' and that is the better sense: in spite of an illness, Paul preached. He was sick in his body. That alone cuts against much popular preaching that expects the herald of good news to be glorious and impressive.

When the Galatians first saw Paul, his appearance did not make them feel like accepting the message. You could not look at his face and exclaim, 'How glorious is Christ!' — it may have been disfigured by his sickness. It was a trial to them. In another letter Paul says his gospel is veiled; when people look at the messenger they see no glory in his dress or his face, and he is not appealing. If Paul stood here today it would be scandalous, especially set beside our modern-day 'apostles.' The very person of the man would shake us — 'He is an apostle? He does not seem to be one.' Yet this sick, unimpressive man could say that his illness was a trial that tested whether they would believe the gospel or not.

Consider also 1 Corinthians 2:4, which is often misread. We picture Paul striding in triumphantly, as if singing, 'No devil can stand before me.' There are many songs today that give us that feeling — the way-maker, the miracle-worker, the promise-keeper who cannot be stopped. We imagine Paul singing such a song, yet when you look at him the way is not made; he is sick. He writes, 'My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.' Popular preachers say that demonstration is about miracles. It is not limited to miracles; it is the transforming power of the gospel. When Paul preached, lives were transformed — despite his appearance. You would look at him and not want to accept the gospel, yet he preached and lives were changed. That is the meaning of those words.

Coming back to Galatians 4:14, 'even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God.' Verse 15 confirms the trouble was with his eyes: 'Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.' These were not bad people; they were willing to do anything for Paul. That is why I keep saying that good people are sometimes deceived. It is not only those who never read the Bible or go to church. Sometimes the so-called good — those who come faithfully to Bible class, to fasting prayer, who read their Bibles — can become candidates for deception if they are not careful.

Notice three things about the Galatians. First, they welcomed Paul. Second, they accepted the gospel. In Galatians 1:9 Paul speaks of 'the gospel you accepted,' and we must read that against 1 Corinthians 1:18: 'the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.' When Paul stood and said, 'Believe in Jesus, who was hung on a cross for you,' and it sounded like foolishness to others, these people said, 'I believe.' They exercised genuine faith; they wanted that crucified Messiah. Third, they received the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 3:2 Paul says, 'I would like to learn just one thing from you: did you receive the Spirit...?' They had received the Holy Spirit — and not another spirit, but the genuine One. And in 3:4 he asks, 'Have you experienced so much in vain?' These were not casual Christians who came merely to have a sickness healed. They accepted the message, were filled with the Spirit, and experienced Him in every walk of life. Full marks. They were serious people.

Here is the signboard I want to hold up from this first Bible class: may it make us humble. Let none of us develop the attitude, 'Devil, you may deceive others, but you cannot deceive me.' That very attitude may be a sign that you are already deceived. Paul warns that the one who thinks he stands should take heed lest he fall. We cannot discern the schemes of the devil by our knowledge of Scripture alone; we need the Holy Spirit together with the Word. Otherwise we build a wall, thinking we are doing very well, only to discover at the end that we are in a prison we cannot escape — and that is possible even for good, church-going Christians.

Now consider the nature of this false teaching, for it is not merely ancient history; it is a message to us. False teaching is a near-universal problem, and it bears certain marks. The first mark is confusion. In Galatians 1:7 Paul writes that 'some people are throwing you into confusion.' That is the signature of false teaching. In Galatians 5:7 he says, 'You were running a good race. Who cut in on you?' — and the same word for confusion appears in 5:10, 'the one who is throwing you into confusion will have to pay the penalty.' So beware of confusion. When something confuses you, go back to God's Word, and you will find clarity there. Do not take your confusion to worldly people or to those who are not scripturally minded, or you will find yourself in a greater mess. Living in a city like Bangalore, we must be especially careful, for these things were happening even in Paul's own day, and all the more now. None of us is immune.

What exactly was the confusion? The false teachers came and said: 'You have believed in Jesus, in the cross; you have the Holy Spirit — but that is not enough. There is a higher level of spirituality, greater heights. To receive the full blessing of God, you must first become like a Jew.' Is such a message appealing? Of course. And is it around today? Of course. People are told, 'You read Scripture and believe in Jesus — but there is another realm, and in that realm there is no Scripture, only revelation, the revelation the preacher receives privately between himself and God.' Some claim astonishing things — 'I have just been to meet Elijah and have returned.' That is the kind of extreme we see today. Always be careful when someone says, 'Come up, come up.' Ask where. Do not climb so high that you lose your foundation, as happened in the Galatian church.

Let me add a word about this confusion. Be very careful when you are enticed by provocative books on so-called new-age spirituality. You may be a good, church-going believer who has sacrificed time to come and study God's Word, and still someone presses a book into your hands — 'Have you read this? My life has been transformed.' Have discernment. Any book you read alongside the Bible, weigh it carefully, especially new-age literature; it is like a slow poison. I am not telling you to read nothing. I am saying, be very careful and pray, 'Lord, guide me to the truth; I do not want to be deceived by what is appealing and attractive.' For in Galatia the deceivers were Jewish teachers saying to the Gentiles, 'We have Abraham as our father and all his blessing. If you want that blessing, you must be circumcised, observe the special days, and keep the dietary laws — you must become a Jew, and then your life will change.'

Let me tell you the message from the Lord: you do not need to do anything extra to gain the favor of God. If you have received Jesus, Christ is more than enough for you. What you need is not another book or another lecture from a man who does not follow Christ. What you need is Christ Himself — that reality and that relationship, grown in prayer and meditation, where you have everything you truly want. This is the sufficiency of Christ. The Galatians were confused because attractive things were dangled before them: 'Abraham's blessing is waiting; to receive it you must become Abraham's descendant through these identity markers.' So mark this well: not every quest for spirituality is a quest for God. These were great people, yet they were deceived when attractive things were presented to them — and presented not in an unspiritual way, but in a seemingly spiritual one.

The second mark of false teaching is distortion. If a man came up here, or onto television, and openly closed his Bible saying, 'I am not preaching from Scripture; I have something else to say,' we would all refuse to listen. The danger of false teaching, then and now, is that it distorts the truth while keeping the appearance of truth. Look again at Galatians 1:6 — they were turning to 'a different gospel.' Mark that phrase: different, yet looking almost the same. That is the problem; otherwise the Galatians would never have embraced it. Paul gives the same warning in 2 Corinthians 11:4 — if someone comes preaching another Jesus, a different spirit, a different gospel from the one you received. This troubled not only Galatia but Corinth too.

Notice how the distortion worked in Galatia. Christ was not removed from the gospel, nor the cross, nor the Holy Spirit — and these three are the pillars on which we build the Christian life. The false teachers did not say, 'Tear these pillars down and put up three others.' They said, 'Keep these three — but on top of them, add this as well.' Today the gospel is distorted in the same way: people preach from the Bible, but from selected verses, ignoring what comes before and after, and it can sound very appealing. So stay humble. Whenever you listen to a preacher, ask the Lord, 'Lord, I do not want to be deceived by him.' Be very careful, especially with television and YouTube preachers and the resources you find online.

The third mark of false teaching is dishonest gain. It is driven by personal advantage, and we need discernment to ask, 'Why is he preaching another gospel?' Look at Galatians 4:17: 'Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them.' Paul sees clearly that there is selfish ambition at work; they want to draw the people away — away from Paul, and ultimately away from Christ — and gather a following of their own. Even today there are people who follow an individual so completely that whatever he says is taken as truth, and such people are prime candidates for deception. False teachers always tend this way: they want a crowd after themselves, and they manipulate the people with their words, because at the end of the day it is about how many followers they have.

So do not be dazzled by speakers, preachers, and miracle-workers who gather a great crowd the moment they stray from the truth. Even if a miracle happens, take a step back and do not get carried away. When Paul preached, the Bereans — who were more noble than the Thessalonians — searched the Scriptures to see whether what he said was true. That is the kind of preparation we need in the last days, to keep ourselves from deception. No matter who is preaching, test it: is it in line with Scripture? Whether he says X or Y does not matter; the Scripture does.

Now we come to the heart of the class — Paul's response. Here was a lovely congregation that no one would have guessed could be deceived, yet they were, by an appealing message that brought confusion, distortion, and dishonest gain. How does Paul deal with it? In a word, he is intolerant. He cannot tolerate something being added to the gospel — when it is a gospel issue, not a personal one. Had he merely been criticized personally, he would not go to such lengths. We, on the other hand, often go to any extreme when we are personally attacked — we take it to social media, we may even take it to court. Paul will not do that over a personal slight, but when the gospel is attacked he will not be silent. Paul preached that you are saved by faith — you put your faith in Jesus and you are saved. These teachers came and said, 'Faith in Jesus, plus you must do this, and this, and this.'

See how he answers in Galatians 1:8: 'But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse.' And remember that in Jewish tradition angels were held in the highest prominence. Even an angel — even Paul himself — is cursed if he preaches another gospel. You feel the finality of it, as if Paul is saying, 'This is my last word; I have nothing more to add.' We must be just as careful for the purity of the true gospel if we are to be witnesses in these last days. When a different gospel is preached — for example, a prosperity gospel that says, 'Come to Jesus and He will wipe your tears and give you a Mercedes-Benz and make you the biggest millionaire in Bangalore' — what is our attitude? Do we shrug, 'Let him say it; it does not bother me'? Or will we take steps to educate people, beginning with our own families, through a Bible class and family prayer? Paul does not take a mild approach; he exposes the error and stays on target.

What, then, are the tests of the gospel, even today? Two things: the nature of the gospel and its origin. As to its nature, ask: does this gospel merely address feelings and earthly things, or does it address the real issue of humankind? Is it worldly and material, or is it spiritual? As to its origin, listen to Galatians 1:12: 'I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.' The source of the gospel is Jesus Christ, and its nature is spiritual. With a humble heart, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God, you will be able to discern: if a message does not originate in the apostolic gospel, and if its nature is merely earthly, you can write it off as no true gospel.

And hear this: true love cares enough to confront. Have you ever confronted a friend who was speaking another gospel? Or are you the kind of person who says, 'I have nothing to do with that; let him believe it; God will reveal the truth to him someday'? That is a dangerous approach. As Proverbs 27:5–6 says, 'Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.' Many preachers only make people comfortable. My prayer for myself is, 'Lord, when I sit in a congregation, confront me with Your Word; show me where I am wrong.'

Paul gives a practical example of how far he will go, in Galatians 2:14. When he saw that they — Barnabas and even Cephas, that is Peter — were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, he said to Cephas in front of them all, 'You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How then can you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?' Imagine the scene: here is Paul, the junior, confronting Cephas, who was senior in ministry, almost a bishop. Paul will not tolerate the other gospel even from such a man. Set 2:14 beside 1:8 and you see it: 'Cephas, you are a great man, but when you violate the truth of the gospel, I have no deference to give you.' The same note sounds in Galatians 2:6: 'As for those who were held in high esteem — whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism.' He is driven by truth and by love, and love confronts; truth is not something to keep to yourself — by its nature it confronts.

Gather three verses — 1:8, 2:6, and 2:14 — and you reach a striking conclusion: even Paul's own apostolic authority is valid only so long as he is faithful to the true gospel. Think about it. If he did not preach the true gospel, his apostolic authority would not stand; that is why he places himself under the curse in 1:8 alongside anyone else. Paul puts himself under the gospel. As Colossians 1:23 says, we are servants of the gospel. Yet these days many preachers make the gospel their servant; they play with the message, distort it, twist it. Paul says the opposite: 'I am a servant of the gospel; the gospel is above me; I cannot play with it. If I play with it, I am no longer an authoritative minister of God.' That is the weight he gives to the message.

So I challenge you: wake up in your workplace and in your family, and stand for the truth of the gospel. When you see a diversion, do not take a 'good' attitude of leaving people to their error; correct them, confront them with Scripture. Here is another sentence worth remembering: the outward person of the messenger does not validate his message; rather, the nature of the message — what he is preaching — validates the messenger. May God give us new spiritual eyesight and discernment to evaluate the trends of our day. You may be a very genuine, innocent person sitting here wanting to learn and to grow, so hear this: not every pursuit of spirituality will take you to God. There are many tendencies and trends; be very careful, mark the boundary with Scripture, and if you hear someone announcing a strange revelation, do not give yourself to it — scan it through the apostles, scan it through Jesus.

Paul is intolerant when it comes to another gospel, and true servants of Christ will never win popularity. In the last days there will be people with itching ears who gather around themselves a great number of teachers to say what they want to hear, and there will be preachers who domesticate the gospel and serve it up to them. Paul will never be found in that large, applauding group. Do not play with the gospel. After all, the gospel is about Jesus coming to rescue you, to redeem you, to adopt you into a new family. It is spiritual in its scope, not material; you are to be a follower of God, not of men or of earthly promises.

Yet we would misread Paul if we stopped at 'confronting' and 'intolerant.' Read the whole letter and another picture emerges: Paul is also burdened. In Galatians 3:1 he says, with what I always imagine is a kind of smile, 'You foolish Galatians!' If a pastor addressed his people like that, the crowd would be halved the next Sunday, or he would have to apologize — but Paul offers no apology. How can he speak this way? The answer comes in Galatians 4:19: 'My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.' This is the real Paul — not an arrogant, unsubmissive leader, but a man so true to the gospel and so burdened for his people that he is in the pains of childbirth to see Christ formed in them. And here is the deal: if you are burdened like Paul, you have every right to confront.

So may this Bible study not breed in us a new kind of pride, but keep us humble. 'Lord, I do not want to be deceived; give me Paul's burden, so that when I see people preaching another gospel and the sheep being led astray, I may confront it — yet always with that burden and pain.' As Ephesians puts it so beautifully, speak the truth in love. May we be driven by truth and never known merely for tolerating error, yet may we carry the burden for souls. The gospel is powerful: Jesus Christ has come to save sinners. Put your faith in Jesus and you are saved; you do not need to do anything extra. The other gospels in Galatia demanded additions, but Paul stands for the truth — faith in Jesus is enough. May God bless you all.