Reference: Galatians, The Epistle to the
Fausets
Written by Paul, as the style proves. The heading and allusions to the apostle of the Gentiles in the first person throughout confirm his authorship (Ga 1:1,13-24; 2:1-14). Irenaeus (Adv. Haer., 3:7, sec. 2, referring to Ga 3:19), Polycarp (Philippians 3, quoting Ga 4:26; 6:7), Justin Martyr (Orat. ad Graecos, alluding to Ga 4:12; 5:20), Tertullian (De Praescr., 60), uphold his authorship. The character of the Gallic Celts given by Caesar (B. G., Ga 4:5) accords with that described in this epistle: "the infirmity of the Gauls is, they are fickle in their resolves, fond of change, and not to be trusted." So Thierry: "flank, impetuous, impressible, eminently intelligent, but extremely inconstant, fond of show, perpetually quarreling, the fruit of excessive vanity." This description is not altogether inapplicable to their descendants in France and Ireland.
They received Paul at first with all affection, but soon wavered in their allegiance to the gospel, and hearkened as eagerly to Judaizing teachers as they had before to him (Ga 4:14-16). Many Jews resided in Ancyra (Josephus, Ant. 16:62); among these probably, as elsewhere, he began his ministry, and from them perhaps emanated the Judaizers who almost induced the Gentile Christians (Ga 4:8-9), who constituted the majority of the Galatian church, to undergo circumcision (Ga 1:6; 3/1/type/goodspeed'>3:1,3; 5:2-3; 6:12-13). Accustomed, when pagan, to the mystic worship of Cybele prevalent in the neighboring Phrygia, they the more readily were led to believe that the full privileges of Christianity could only be attained by submitting to elaborate ceremonial symbolism (Ga 4:9-11; 5:7-12).
They even gave ear to the insinuation that Paul himself observed the law among the Jews though he persuaded the Gentiles to renounce it, and that he wished to keep his converts in a lower state of privileges, excluded from the high Christian standing enjoyed by the circumcised (Ga 4:16; 5:11; compare Ga 2:17), and that in "becoming all things to all men" he was but a men-pleaser, seeking to form a party for himself; moreover that he was not, as he represented, an apostle divinely commissioned by Christ, but a mere messenger of the twelve and the Jerusalem church, and that his teaching now did not accord with that of Peter and James, the acknowledged "pillars" of the church, and ought therefore to be rejected. This design in writing then was:
(1) To maintain his apostolic authority (Ga 1:11-19; 2:1-14.
(2) To counteract the Judaizers (Galatians 3-4), and to show that their teaching undermined Christianity itself by lowering its spirituality to external ceremonialism.
(3) To strengthen Galatian believers in faith toward Christ and in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5-6); already he had testified against the Judaizers to their face (Ga 1:9; 4:16; Ac 18:28), and now that he has heard of the increase of the evil he writes to cheek it, "with his own hand" (Ga 6:11), a labor which he usually committed to an amanuensis. His sketch of his apostolic call and course confirms the history in Acts, and proves his independence of human authority however exalted. His protest against Peter's Judaizing dissimulation disproves the pope's, and even Peter's, supremacy, and shows that Peter, except when especially inspired, was fallible as other men (Ga 2:14-21). There is much in common between this epistle and that to the Romans; but the epistle to the Romans discusses justification by faith only, not by the law, in a didactic, logical mode; the epistle to the Galatians controversially, and with special reference to the Judaizers.
The style combines sternness (Galatians 1; Ga 3:1-5) with tenderness (Ga 4:19-20), betraying his strong emotions, and well adapted to move an impressible people such as the Galatians. He begins abruptly, as is suitable to the urgency of the subject and the seriousness of the evil. A tone of sadness too appears, such as is natural in an affectionate teacher who has just learned that his loved disciples are abandoning his teachings for those of others who pervert the truth and calumniate himself. The time of writing was after the visit to Jerusalem recorded in Ac 15:1 (i.e. A.D. 50), if that visit be identical, as is probable, with that in Ga 2:1. Moreover, as allusion seems to be made to his seceded visit to the Galatians (in autumn A.D. 54) in Ga 1:9, "as we said before," and Ga 4:16, "have I become your enemy?" the epistle must have been later than A.D. 54.
Ac 18:23 implies that at his second visit the Galatians were well established in the faith, which made their speedy declension the stranger. Ga 4:13, "ye know how I preached at the first" (Greek at rite former time), implies that Paul at the time of writing had been twice in Galatia; and Ga 1:6, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed," implies that he wrote not long after having left Galatia the second time, possibly (Alford) soon after he began his residence at Ephesus (Ac 18:23; 19:1), which lasted from autumn A.D. 54 to Pentecost A.D. 57. However, the resemblance of this epistle to the epistle to the Romans favors the view (Conybeare and Howson) that it was not written until his stay at Corinth (Ac 20:2-3, during the winter of A.D. 57-58), from whence he wrote the epistle to the Romans.
It seems unlikely that 1 and 2 Corinthians, so dissimilar, should intervene between those so much alike as Galatians and Romans, or that Galatians should intervene between 2 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians. Even three years would be "soon" for their apostasy, they having betrayed no symptoms at his second visit (Ac 18:23). A sudden exigency (tidings of Galatian Judaizing having reached him at Corinth from Ephesus) apparently called forth this epistle, for it maintains Christian liberty from carnal ceremonialism, and justification by faith only, in an admonitory and controversial tone.
That to Romans written subsequently, more systematically and deliberately sets forth the same truths for a church which as yet he did not personally know. The manner suits his relations to the two churches respectively; in writing to the Galatian church, which he had founded, he rests upon his authority; to the Roman church, whom he did not know personally, wholly upon argument: an undesigned coincidence and propriety confirming the authenticity. Reproof in Galatians predominates over praise and thanksgiving. Division. There are two controversial parts and a closing hortatory one.
I. He defends (Galatians 1-2) his apostolic authority and independence of the twelve.
II. He polemically by argument (Galatians 3), appeal (Ga 4:12-20), and allegorical illustration (Ga 4:1-7,21-30), maintains justification by faith and not by the deeds of the law.
III. He warns (Ga 4:31-5:12) illustrates the true fulfillment of the law by the walk in the Spirit, in contrast to the flesh (Ga 5:13-26), practically instructs, and recapitulates (Galatians 6).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved.
After spending some time there, he started out again, and traveled systematically through Galatia and Phrygia, reassuring all the disciples.
After spending some time there, he started out again, and traveled systematically through Galatia and Phrygia, reassuring all the disciples.
After spending some time there, he started out again, and traveled systematically through Galatia and Phrygia, reassuring all the disciples.
for he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, and showed from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the interior, reached Ephesus. Finding some disciples there,
After traveling through those districts and giving the people a great deal of encouragement, he went on to Greece where he stayed for three months. Just as he was going to sail for Syria, the Jews made a plot against him, and he made up his mind to return by way of Macedonia.
Paul, an apostle not from men nor sent by any man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead??2 and all the brothers who are here with me, to the churches of Galatia;
I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the mercy of Christ, to some different good news??7 not that there is any other, only that there are some people who are trying to unsettle you and want to turn the good news of the Christ around.
I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the mercy of Christ, to some different good news??7 not that there is any other, only that there are some people who are trying to unsettle you and want to turn the good news of the Christ around.
We have said it before, and I repeat it now??f anyone is preaching to you good news that contradicts the good news you have already received, a curse upon him!
We have said it before, and I repeat it now??f anyone is preaching to you good news that contradicts the good news you have already received, a curse upon him!
For I tell you plainly, brothers, that the good news that I preached is not a human affair. I did not receive it from any man, and I was not taught it, but it came to me through a revelation of Jesus Christ. read more. You have heard of my former conduct when I was attached to the Jewish religion??ow furiously I used to persecute the church of God and ravage it,
You have heard of my former conduct when I was attached to the Jewish religion??ow furiously I used to persecute the church of God and ravage it, and how I surpassed many of my own age among my people in my devotion to Judaism, I was so fanatically devoted to what my forefathers had handed down.
and how I surpassed many of my own age among my people in my devotion to Judaism, I was so fanatically devoted to what my forefathers had handed down. And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit
And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach the good news about him to the heathen, immediately, instead of consulting with any human being,
to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach the good news about him to the heathen, immediately, instead of consulting with any human being, or going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off to Arabia, and on my return came back to Damascus.
or going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off to Arabia, and on my return came back to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem, to become acquainted with Cephas, and I spent two weeks with him;
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem, to become acquainted with Cephas, and I spent two weeks with him; but I did not see any other apostle, except James, the Lord's brother.
but I did not see any other apostle, except James, the Lord's brother. (In writing you this, I call God to witness that I am telling the truth!) read more. After that, I went to the districts of Syria and Cilicia. I was still personally unknown to the Christian churches of Judea; they only heard people say, "The man who once persecuted us is now preaching the good news of the faith he tried to destroy," and they praised God for me.
Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me.
Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me.
Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me. It was in obedience to a revelation that I went. I laid before them the good news that I preach to the heathen, presenting it privately to the leaders, for fear my efforts might be or might have been futile.
It was in obedience to a revelation that I went. I laid before them the good news that I preach to the heathen, presenting it privately to the leaders, for fear my efforts might be or might have been futile. But they did not insist that even my companion Titus, although he was a Greek, should be circumcised,
But they did not insist that even my companion Titus, although he was a Greek, should be circumcised, to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again.
to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again. But we did not submit to them for a moment, in order that the truth of the good news might remain yours.
But we did not submit to them for a moment, in order that the truth of the good news might remain yours. Those who were regarded as the leaders??hat they once were makes no difference to me; God takes no account of external differences??he leaders contributed nothing new to me.
Those who were regarded as the leaders??hat they once were makes no difference to me; God takes no account of external differences??he leaders contributed nothing new to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.
On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.
Only, we were to remember the poor, and that I have taken pains to do.
Only, we were to remember the poor, and that I have taken pains to do. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, for his own conduct condemned him.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, for his own conduct condemned him. For until some people came from James, he used to eat with the heathen, but after they came, he began to draw back and hold aloof, for fear of the party of circumcision.
For until some people came from James, he used to eat with the heathen, but after they came, he began to draw back and hold aloof, for fear of the party of circumcision. The other Jewish Christians followed his example in concealing their real views, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their pose.
The other Jewish Christians followed his example in concealing their real views, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their pose. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas, right before them all, "If you live like a heathen, and not like a Jew, though you are a Jew yourself, why should you try to make the heathen live like Jews?"
But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas, right before them all, "If you live like a heathen, and not like a Jew, though you are a Jew yourself, why should you try to make the heathen live like Jews?"
But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas, right before them all, "If you live like a heathen, and not like a Jew, though you are a Jew yourself, why should you try to make the heathen live like Jews?" We who are Jews by birth, and not sinful heathen, read more. but who know that a man is not made upright by doing what the Law commands, but by faith in Christ Jesus??ven we believed in Christ Jesus, so as to be made upright by faith in Christ and not by doing what the Law commands??or by doing what the Law commands no one can be made upright. If through our efforts to be made upright through Christ, we have ourselves been proved as much "sinners" as the heathen, does that make Christ encourage sin? By no means.
If through our efforts to be made upright through Christ, we have ourselves been proved as much "sinners" as the heathen, does that make Christ encourage sin? By no means. I really convict myself of wrongdoing when I start to rebuild what I tore down. read more. For it is through the Law that I have become dead to the Law, so that I may live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. The life I am now living in the body I am living by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I refuse to nullify the mercy of God. For if uprightness could be secured through law, then Christ died for nothing!
You senseless Galatians! Who has bewitched you, when you had Jesus Christ shown crucified right before your eyes?
You senseless Galatians! Who has bewitched you, when you had Jesus Christ shown crucified right before your eyes? This is all I want to ask you: Did you receive the Spirit through doing what the Law commands, or through believing the message you heard? read more. Are you so senseless? Did you begin with the Spirit only to end now with the flesh?
Are you so senseless? Did you begin with the Spirit only to end now with the flesh? Have you gone through so much, all for nothing???f it really is for nothing! read more. When he supplies you with the Spirit and works wonders among you, is it because you do what the Law commands, or because you believe the message you heard?
Then what about the Law? It was a later addition, designed to produce transgressions, until the descendant to which the promise was made should come, and it was enacted by means of angels, through an intermediary;
I mean this: As long as the heir is a minor, he is no better than a slave, although he is the owner of all the property, but he is under guardians and trustees until the time fixed by his father. read more. So when we were minors, we were slaves to material ways of looking at things, but when the proper time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, and made subject to law, to ransom those who were subject to law, so that we might receive adoption.
to ransom those who were subject to law, so that we might receive adoption. And because you are sons, God has sent into our hearts the spirit of his Son, with the cry, "Abba!" that is, Father. read more. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir, made so by God. But formerly, in your ignorance of God, you were slaves to gods that really did not exist, but now that you know God, or rather have come to be known by him, how can you turn back to the old, crude notions, so poor and weak, and wish to become slaves to them again?
but now that you know God, or rather have come to be known by him, how can you turn back to the old, crude notions, so poor and weak, and wish to become slaves to them again? You are observing days, months, seasons, and years! read more. I begin to be afraid that perhaps the labor I spent on you was wasted. Take my position, I beg you, brothers, just as I once took yours! You took no advantage of me then;
Take my position, I beg you, brothers, just as I once took yours! You took no advantage of me then; though you know that it was because of an illness that I preached the good news to you that first time;
though you know that it was because of an illness that I preached the good news to you that first time; and yet what must have tried you in my physical condition, you did not scorn and despise, but you welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus himself.
and yet what must have tried you in my physical condition, you did not scorn and despise, but you welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus himself. What has become of that satisfaction of yours? For I can bear witness that you would have torn out your very eyes, if you could, and given them to me!
What has become of that satisfaction of yours? For I can bear witness that you would have torn out your very eyes, if you could, and given them to me! Have I turned into an enemy to you, by telling you the truth?
Have I turned into an enemy to you, by telling you the truth?
Have I turned into an enemy to you, by telling you the truth?
Have I turned into an enemy to you, by telling you the truth?
Have I turned into an enemy to you, by telling you the truth? These men are making much of you, but not with honorable intentions. They want to shut you out, so that you will have to make much of them. read more. But it is a finer thing to be made much of honestly and constantly??ot just when I can be with you, my children??ou for whom I am enduring a mother's pains again, until Christ is formed in you.
my children??ou for whom I am enduring a mother's pains again, until Christ is formed in you. I wish I could be with you now, and use a different tone with you, for I do not know which way to turn about you.
I wish I could be with you now, and use a different tone with you, for I do not know which way to turn about you. Tell me this, you who want to be subject to law: Will you not listen to the Law? read more. For the Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by the free woman. But the child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary course of nature, while the child of the free woman was born in fulfilment of the promise. This is an allegorical utterance. For the women are two agreements, one coming from Mount Sinai, bearing children that are to be slaves; that is, Hagar (and Hagar means Mount Sinai, in Arabia), and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For the Scripture says, "Rejoice, childless woman, who bear no children, Break into shouting, you who have no birth pains! For the desolate woman has more children than the married one!" read more. Now we, brothers, are like Isaac, children born in fulfilment of the promise. But just as then the child born in the ordinary course of nature persecuted the one born through the influence of the Spirit, so it is today. Yet what does the Scripture say? "Drive the slave-girl and her son away, for the slave-girl's son shall not share the inheritance with the son of the free woman."
Why, I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ can do nothing for you. I insist again to any man who lets himself be circumcised, that he is under obligation to obey the whole Law.
You were making such progress! Who has stopped your obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion never came from him who called you! read more. A little yeast will make all the dough rise. I am confident in the Lord that you will not take a different view. The man who is unsettling you will have to pay the penalty for it, no matter who he is. And I, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? If that is the case, the cross has ceased to be an obstacle, I suppose!
And I, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? If that is the case, the cross has ceased to be an obstacle, I suppose! I wish the people who are upsetting you would go on, and have themselves emasculated! read more. For you, brothers, have been called to freedom; only do not make your freedom an excuse for the physical, but in love be slaves to one another. For the whole Law is summed up in one saying: "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself." But if you bite one another and eat one another, take care, or you will be destroyed by one another. I mean this: Live by the Spirit, and then you will not indulge your physical cravings. For the physical cravings are against the Spirit, and the cravings of the Spirit are against the physical; the two are in opposition, so that you cannot do anything you please. But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not subject to law. The things our physical nature does are clear enough??mmorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party-spirit,
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party-spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you as I did before that people who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God. read more. But what the Spirit produces is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law against such things! Those who belong to Jesus the Christ have crucified the physical nature with its propensities and cravings. If we live by the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit. Let us not in our vanity challenge one another or envy one another.
Do not be deceived. God is not to be sneered at. A man will reap just what he sows.
See what large letters I make, when I write to you with my own hand! These men who are trying to force you to let yourselves be circumcised want to present a good appearance externally, to save themselves from having to stand persecution for the cross of Jesus the Christ. read more. Why, even those who let themselves be circumcised do not observe the Law themselves! But they want you to let yourselves be circumcised so that they can boast of that physical fact about you!
Smith
Gala'tians, The Epistle to the,
was written by the apostle St. Paul not long after his journey through Galatia and Phrygia,
and probably in the early portion of his two-and-a-half-years stay at Ephesus, which terminated with the Pentecost of A.D. 57 or 58. The epistle appears to have been called forth by the machinations of Judaizing teachers, who, shortly before the date of its composition, had endeavored to seduce the churches of this province into a recognition of circumcision,
seq., and had openly sought to depreciate the apostolic claims of St. Paul. Comp.
Since the days of Luther the Epistle to the Galatians has always been held in high esteem as the gospel's banner of freedom. To it and the Epistle to the Romans we owe most directly the springing up and development of the ideas and energies of the Reformation. --Meyer.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
After spending some time there, he started out again, and traveled systematically through Galatia and Phrygia, reassuring all the disciples.
Paul, an apostle not from men nor sent by any man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead??2 and all the brothers who are here with me, to the churches of Galatia;
For I tell you plainly, brothers, that the good news that I preached is not a human affair.
Why, I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ can do nothing for you.
And I, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? If that is the case, the cross has ceased to be an obstacle, I suppose! I wish the people who are upsetting you would go on, and have themselves emasculated!
These men who are trying to force you to let yourselves be circumcised want to present a good appearance externally, to save themselves from having to stand persecution for the cross of Jesus the Christ.