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.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Paul begins his letter with a strong reminder that he is an apostle appointed through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead. He writes with heavenly authority, not the authority of man.
He is writing this letter to all the churches in Galatia, probably the churches in the cities of Antioch, Pisidia, Lystra, Iconium, and Derby (Acts 13-14).
In his greeting, Paul wishes them grace and peace and reminds them that grace and peace come from God the Father and Jesus Christ who is the one who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. They needed reminding because they had begun to drift from the gospel Paul had preached to them.
Paul confronts the churches on how quickly they had strayed from the truth of the gospel and turned to a different gospel—but there isn’t one. There is only one good news, that Jesus died for our sins to give us eternal life which we receive through faith alone (Eph 2:8-9). They were being taught that they needed to keep to the works of the law of Judaism as part of their salvation. When the gospel message is corrupted, then the way of salvation is confused and people are in danger of being eternally lost. For this reason, Paul says that anyone who preaches a false gospel should be accursed. It doesn’t matter who it is, whether himself or even an angel from heaven—anyone who preaches a false gospel should be cursed.
The gospel is such an incredible gift, so costly that Jesus had to give Himself for our sins, and yet freely given with absolutely no requirements on us!