In beginning his letter to the Galatians Paul first of all announces and declares his apostleship--that he is an apostle, not in a secondary or accommodated sense (as the title was sometimes applied to messengers of the churches, for instance); not an apostle appointed by a man, or as one sent forth from men, or through any human meditation. He had received his apostleship directly through Christ Himself, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead. Paul declares himself to be Christ's fully empowered ambassador, and authorized representative, and spokesman for Jesus Christ, commissioned by the Lord in person, according to the will of God the Father; and (as stated to the Corinthians, among whom Judaizers had also been working, though not as successfully as in Galatia) "not a whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles" (2 Cor. 11:5).

      This is exceedingly important. If this claim is true, then Paul's word is indeed the word of Christ (1 Cor. 14:37). To receive such it one is to receive Jesus Christ; to reject him is to reject Christ (Luke 10:16; John 13:20). The Galatians had ample evidence for knowing whether Paul's claims were true. As in other places, he had shown the credentials of his high office in Galatia also (Gal. 3:5; 2 Cor. 12:12; Rom. 15:18, 19). If to others he were not an apostle, surely to the Galatians he was, for they themselves were the seal of his apostleship in the Lord. Not the supernatural gifts only, but the truth and power of his message bore witness to his Divine ambassadorship (2 Cor. 4:2)--his manner of life among them also, his labor and travail, his sufferings; in every way the source and character of his ministry had been demonstrated to them. As elsewhere (in Corinth, 2 Cor. 6:4-10; in Thessalonica, 1 Thess. 2:1-12) so he had lived and labored in Galatia also; and the "exceeding greatness of the power" which worked through the frail earthen vessel of the apostle bore its witness to the apostleship he had received from Christ. In view of all the evidence they had of the Divine source of Paul's message, it was no wonder that he "marvelled" because the Galatians were so quickly removing from Him who had called them in the grace of Christ unto a different, a base, worthless, counterfeit gospel! (Gal. 1:6.)

      In his greeting to the churches of Galatia Paul associates with himself all the brethren that were with him. From the outset the Galatians could understand that all Paul's companions shared with him in his love and concern for them. The greeting is Paul's usual one: "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." But this was not just a customary salutation: it was a real benediction, meaningful in its every word. Grace first--else no peace. For by grace we are saved and justified freely. (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 3:24); and till sin is cancelled there can not be peace. Now this grace and peace comes from the only source from which grace [5] and peace can come to sinful man--namely, "from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ."

      To the name of Jesus Christ he adds a note of highest importance: it is that He "gave himself for our sins"; and that in order that he "might deliver us out of this present evil world"; and all of this was "according, to the will of our God and Father." As once Moses led the people out of Egypt through the Red Sea, so Christ has led His people in an exodus through the waters of death "out of this present evil world."

      It is to be noticed that the word translated "world" is "aion" which strictly and literally means "age." It is stated here that this present age is an evil age. In his standard lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Thayer refers to this passage, and defines the character of "this present evil age" thus: "Ho enestos aion, Gal. 1:4 . . . the time before the return, or truly Messianic advent of Christ (parousia), the period of instability, weakness, impiety, wickedness, calamity, misery"; as contrasted with "aion mellon, the future age, i. e., the age after the return of Christ in majesty, the period of consummate establishment of the divine kingdom, and all its blessings, Matt. 12:32; Eph. 1:21." "Hence," he goes on to say, "the things of 'this age' are mentioned in the N. T. with censure." Now we came into this age by birth; we can get out of it only by death, our own, or (if we have been brought into union with Christ, Rom. 6:3, 4) by Christ's death for us. Christ "gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us out of this present evil age."This is not only a future, but a real present deliverance.The Christian, though yet in the world, is no longer reckoned as belonging to the children of this age. He has been translated into the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Col. 1:13). As we are "not of this world" (kosmos) so neither are we of "this present evil age." The "sons of this age" stand in contrast to "the sons of light" (Luke 16:8).

      Back of Christ's sacrifice of Himself, is "the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen." For it is He that so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and sent His Son into the world, and made Him to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

      Very abruptly, and without the usual words of commendation and encouragement, the apostle now begins the body of his epistle. He marvels that so quickly they are removing from God (for it was God, not the apostle, who had called them in the grace of Christ; cp. 1:16; 5:8; and 2 Tim. 1:9) unto a different (heteros) gospel; which is not another (allos) but a perversion of the true.

      Solemn words follow: If Paul himself should come back (for the apostles themselves had no right to alter the message committed to them--Rome, take notice!)--yea, if an angel from heaven (Satan himself may sometimes come disguised as an angel of light, 2 Cor. 11:14) "should preach unto you any gospel, other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema"--that is, "accursed." He is not speaking here of such differences of view and understanding [6] as may commonly arise among free children of God in their study of God's word, but of teachings that alter the essential character of the gospel itself. The false teaching to which the Galatians were lending their ears was of this nature, as we shall presently see. Again, he repeats--"If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema." Now (he goes on to add) will anyone still accuse me of trying to curry favor with men? If I were seeking to please men I would certainly never have chosen to be a servant of Christ.

      We are shocked at the severity of Paul's language. More vehemently than he rebuked the carnal sins of the Corinthians does he condemn the doctrinal failure of these Galatians. A man guilty of fleshly sin may be brought back to repentance and forgiveness; but if the saving gospel itself is forfeited, what is there left for him? It must have been an exceedingly grave matter, the danger of which may not be clear to modern eyes, that provoked such stern words from Paul. He knew what was at stake, and no language would have been too strong to warn them against so deadly an error as that into which these Galatians were about to fall. What was this fatal error? We may be sure that whatever it was, it concerns us also. Would God have preserved this epistle for us, if it had been only of a local and temporary interest to a people of long ago? The danger of the Galatians besets Christians of today; and the warning and correction written for them is of equal weight and importance to us in our day.

      A perverted, corrupted gospel had been preached to the Galatians by the Judaizing emissaries. The gospel can be despoiled of its saving power in two ways: (1) by mutilation; (2) by adulteration. In the one case one or more of its fundamental truths is denied and repudiated--as today in the schools of "modernism," and among various cults (such as "Christian Science," the "Unity" cult, the "New Thought" and "Truth Centers," and other Theosophic sects and cults) which do away with the atoning death, deny the value of the Blood, and the actual reality of Christ's bodily resurrection, substituting their respective philosophies and "interpretations" in place of the basic facts of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Another, and more subtle method of destroying the gospel is by the addition to it of human doctrines and traditions as flagrantly practiced by Rome and not a few Protestant denominations.

      The false teachers in Galatia would not have denied the Deity of Christ, or His atoning death, or His resurrection. No, no, they professed and all the more loudly proclaimed all this. But (and this was the fatal but) they taught that in addition to that a man must also be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. With other words, the work of Christ was not sufficient in itself--it must be supplemented on our part by the observance of the Law. A righteousness of our own (Phil. 3:9) must be acquired by our law-keeping, in order to make the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-24) complete and effective. This, in essence, was the Galatian error. [7]

[PLG 5-7]