Galatians: In Defense of Grace
Background
Map
GALATIA
The
ancient ethnic kingdom of Galatia located in the N of the great inner plateau
of Asia Minor, including a large portion of the valley of the Halys river.
A great population explosion in central Europe brought Gauls
(Celts) into this area during the 3rd
century BC. Although never in the majority, the Gauls gained the upper hand and
ruled over the more numerous tribes of Phrygians and Cappadocians. Ultimately
the Gauls separated into three tribes, each inhabiting a separate area: the
Trokmi settled in the E which bordered on Cappadocia and Pontus, with Tavium as
their capital; the Tolistobogii inhabited the W bordering on Phrygia and
Bithynia, with Pessinus as their chief town; and the Tektosages settled in the
central area with Ancyra as their principal city.
The Roman province of Galatia.
In 64 BC Galatia became a client of the Romans and, after
the death of Amyntas, its last king, was given full status as a Roman province
(25 BC). The new province of Galatia included not only the old ethnic territory
but also parts of Pontus, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Pisidia, Paphlagonia and Isauria.
Within the provincial Galatia were the towns which the apostle Paul evangelized
on his first missionary journey, viz. Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe (Acts
13-14). The latter two cities were Roman colonies, and the former two had been
Romanized by the emperor Claudius. Large numbers of Romans, Greeks and Jews
were attracted to these population centers because of their strategic
geographical location.
A particularly difficult question arises out of Paul's use
of the word 'Galatia' in the Epistle to the Galatians (1:2). Does Paul use the
term in its geographical sense, i.e., to denote the ancient ethnic kingdom of
Galatia, or in its political sense, to denote the Roman province by that name?
NT scholars are almost evenly divided on this question (*Chronology of the New
Testament).
It is clear from the account in Acts 13-14 that Paul visited
S Galatia and established churches there. Did he ever conduct a mission in N
Galatia? Two texts especially have been used to support such a ministry. The
first (Acts 16:6) reads: 'And they went through the region of Phrygia and
Galatia. . ..' N Galatian proponents understand 'Phrygia' here to be the
territory in which Antioch and Iconium were located, whereas 'Galatia' refers
to the geographical or ethnic kingdom by that name. Ramsay, however, takes the
phrase te„n Phrygian kai Galatike„n cho„ran to be a composite term describing a
single area—the Phrygian—Galatic region. The word cho„ra, 'territory', was the
official word used to describe one of the regions into which Roman provinces
were divided. Part of the old kingdom of Phrygia belonged to the Roman province
of Galatia and another part belonged to the province of Asia. Thus Acts 16:6
refers to the parts of Phrygia which had been incorporated into the Roman
province of Galatia. This interpretation is supported by the following
statement in the Acts account, 'having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to
speak the word in Asia'. The plan of the missionary party apparently was to
strike out directly in a W direction from Antioch of Pisidia, which would have
taken them into the province of Asia. Instead they went N towards Bithynia,
crossing only a part of Asia.
The other passage is Acts 18:23. Here the order of the words
is reversed: '. . . and went from place to place through the region of Galatia
and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples'. The 'region of Galatia' here is
probably 'Galatic Lycaonia, so called to distinguish it from eastern Lycaonia,
which lay, not in the province of Galatia, but in the territory of King
Antiochus' (F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, 1954, p. 380). 'Phrygia' then
would probably include both Galatic and Asiatic Phrygia, since on this occasion
there was no prohibition to prevent Paul preaching the word in Asia. In neither
of these passages in Acts does there seem to be any good reason to suppose that
Galatia means N Galatia. It is doubtful that Paul ever visited the ancient
kingdom to the N, much less that he conducted an extensive mission there.
(*Galatians, IV).
There are three other occurrences of 'Galatia' in the NT. 2
Tim. 4:10 (which has the variant 'Gaul') and 1 Pet. 1:1 are almost certain
references to the Roman province, while a decision on 1 Cor. 16:1, 'the
churches of Galatia', will depend on one's view of the passages discussed
above.
Bibliography. W. M. Ramsay, An Historical Commentary on St.
Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, 1899, passim; SPT, pp. 89-151, 178-193; The
Church in the Roman Empire3, 1894, pp. 74-11 1; HDB; HDAC; IDB; K. Lake, BC, 5,
1933, pp. 231ff.; G. H. C. Macgregor, IB, 9, 1954, pp. 213f., 247, 252; R. T.
Stamm, IB, 10, 1953, pp. 435ff.
Author
Paul (Galatians 1:1)
Written to the churches of the region of of Galatia (1:2,
3:1). Some of the first churches that Paul and Barnabus had established on
their first missionary journey.
Paul's Missionary Journey: AD 47-49
Mission to the
Galatians
1 Paul and Barnabas sent out by the Antioch church, with
John Mark (Acts 13:1-3).
2 They encounter Bar-Jesus, false prophet and friend of the
governor. Bar-Jesus is struck blind. The governor believes (Acts 13:4-12).
3 John Mark leaves to go back to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13).
4 Paul preaches to Jews and Gentiles. The Jews are jealous
and stir up opposition (Acts 13:14-52).
5 They stay a long time. Many Jews and Gentiles become
believers. A Gentile plot on their lives forces them on (Acts 14:1-7).
6 Paul heals a cripple. They are hailed as gods. Enemies
arrive from Antioch and Iconium—they are almost killed (Acts 14:8-20).
7 Many more disciples won. They return the way they came,
encouraging the young churches (Acts 14:21-26).
8 They report everything to thechurch in Antioch (Acts 14:27-28).
Date of
the letter
Written sometime after the first missionary journey but before
the Jerusalem Council, which took place in 49 AD. It is usually assigned the
year 48 AD.
Chronology of New Testament Books
|
Book
|
Author
|
Place Written
|
Date AD
|
|
James
|
-James
|
Jerusalem
|
45
|
|
Galatians
1 Thess
2 Thess
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Romans
|
-Paul
|
Corinth
Ephesus
Macedonia
Corinth
|
48
52
55
56
|
|
Matthew
Luke
Acts
|
-Matthew
-Luke
|
Jerusalem?
Rome
|
61
|
|
Colossians
Ephesians
Philemon
Philippians
|
-Paul
|
Rome
|
61
|
|
1 Timothy
Titus
2 Timothy
|
-Paul
|
Rome
|
62
67
|
|
Hebrews
Jude
|
-Paul?
Jude
|
|
|
|
1 Peter
2 Peter
Mark
|
Peter
-Mark
|
|
68?
|
|
John
1 John
2 John
3 John
Revelation
|
-John
|
Ephesus
Patmos
|
85
96
|
Purposes
To
expose the false teachings of the Judaizer.
To defend
Paul's apostleship.
To
emphasize that salvation is through faith alone.
To
exhort the Galatian Christians to live in liberty, bringing forth fruit of the
Spirit.
Relation to other New Testament Books
Galatians
is a book concerning soteriology, the study of salvation.
James
Galatians teaches liberation by the gospel.
James teaches compulsion of the gospel.
Romans
Both concern justification by faith.
Galatians, written earlier, is a first draft of the later
and much larger Romans.
Corinthians
Both defend Paul's apostleship
Survey
I. Introduction
1:1-9
A. Salutation 1:1-5
B. Theme 1:6-9
II. Paul's
apostleship defended 1:10-2:21
A. A special apostleship affirmed. 1:10-17
B. Lack of early contact with the apostles at
Jerusalem. 1:18-24
C. Failure of later contact to question his apostleship or
add to his gospel. 2:1-10
D. His independent authority vindicated in the encounter
with Peter at Antioch. 2:11-21
III. Paul's gospel explained. 3:1- 5:1
A. The argument form experience (of Galatians). 3:1-5
B. The argument from Scripture (the case of Abraham). 3:6-9
C. The argument from the Law. 3:10-4:11
1. The curse
of the Law, from which Christ must deliver.
3:10-14
2. The inviolability
of the covenant of promise and its priority to the Law. 3:15-18
3. The
purpose of the Law- temporary in its standing and negative in its
operation. 3:19-22
4. Sonship
not through the Law but through faith.
3:23-4:7
5. An appeal
not to return to bondage. 4:8-11
D. The argument from personal reception by the Galatians.
4:12-20
E. The
argument from the covenant of promise.
4:21-5:1
IV. Paul's gospel practiced.
5:2-6:15
A. The Gospel practiced in liberty. 5:2-12
B. The Gospel practiced in love. 5:13-15
C. The Gospel practiced in the Spirit. 5:16-26
D. The Gospel practiced in service. 6:1-10
V. Conclusion.
6:11-18
A. Closing comments 6:11-15.
B. Closing prayer.
6:16
C. Closing testimony.
6:17
D. Benediction. 6:18.
Survey Chart
Paul's Introduction
Salutation 1:1-5
Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus
Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto
the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you
and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might
deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our
Father: To whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen.
Apostle
Definition: Apostolos,
messenger, one sent forth with orders
Who gave Paul his authority? Jesus Christ
Not of Men
How does this negative set the tone for the following
letter?
The letter is a polemic, an exposure of error to portray the
truth to better advantage - Wycliffe
Grace
Definition: 5485 charis {khar'-ece}
AV - grace 130, favour 6, thanks 4, thank 4, thank + 2192
3, pleasure 2, misc 7; 156
good will, loving-kindness, favour, of the merciful kindness
by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ,
keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection,
and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
In Paul’s salutations grace always precedes peace. Why do you think this might be?
There can be no true peace without first knowing God's
grace.
Peace
eirene {i-ray'-nay}
AV - peace 89, one 1, rest 1, quietness 1; 92
of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of
its salvation through Christ, and so
fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort
that is
Why might Paul choose these words for the Galatians?
The false gospel, being taught to them by the Judizers, denies
grace and takes away the real peace they had once possessed through faith.
From our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins
What was the purpose of Jesus’ sacrifice?
To deliver us from this present evil world
What is this giving us? Deliverance which is ours now.
What is Paul introducing by emphasizing Christ’s
sacrifice? The price of salvation that
has already been paid.
What was the means or origin of our Jesus giving himself?
The will of God our Father.
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