Galatians 1:1-5

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Scripture Passage:

1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

3 Grace 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, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. [1]

 

Commentary:

          Each of Paul’s letters begin with a salutation written especially for that church (or in this case a group of churches). Paul here is very terse and to the point. Not so with other churches he had written to for example. “In his other letters Paul lavished compliments on the churches to whom he wrote. It was “the church of God in Corinth … sanctified … and called to be holy.” The Colossians were “holy and faithful brothers in Christ.” The Philippians were his partners in the gospel; the Thessalonians, a “model” to all other believers. Even when addressing the church at Rome, which he neither had founded nor visited at the time of his writing, he rejoiced because their faith was being reported all over the world. Not so the Galatians![2]” These congregations seemed to Paul to be on the brink of deserting the faith he had sought to plant in them.

            Paul begins by claiming his right to be called an apostle. His enemies in Galatia were saying that Paul had no claim to be an apostle as the twelve did. Paul counters their argument by saying his authority came directly from Jesus who had appeared to him on the road to Damascus. And he was recognized as an apostle by all the brothers that were there with him.

            Then begins Paul’s salutation to the churches. As already noted, Paul would here usually praise the church for whatever he found admirable in them here Paul says none of that. Instead he goes directly to wishing “grace and peace”. Two things Paul wanted especially to instill in the churches to whom he was writing. Grace because they were in danger of being trapped again by the legalists who were his enemies in Galatia. Peace because they were being stirred up against him and the gospel and it was causing restlessness in their souls.

He prayed for this in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to make it plain that this was an urgent plea on their behalf. Paul then completes his thought by praising Jesus by whom the Galatians had won their freedom in Christ. The final Amen is an emphatic “let it be so” to end the introduction to his letter.


[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ga 1:1–5.

[2] Timothy George, Galatians, vol. 30, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 83.


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