After some prayer and thought, I believe that God has led us to the Book of Galatians. I challenge you to sit down to read the Book of Galatians, so that you can have a good overview. If you remember from our study of Colossians, Paul’s normal introduction includes the following: 1) states the author(s), 2) states the recipient(s), 3) gives his typical greeting – grace and peace to you from God (and the Lord Jesus Christ), and 4) gives thanks for the believers he is writing to and mentions he is always praying for them. Let’s look how he started the Book of Galatians and see if the pattern holds:
Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. (Galatians 1:1-5 NASB)
At first, it looks like Paul’s introduction holds to his specific pattern. He starts with the author, himself (along with the brethren who is with him.). Notice he said he is an apostle (which means a messenger with authority). However, he wasn’t sent by a man or an agency belonging to man. He was sent by God the Father and Jesus Christ. You want to talk about having authority! Secondly, he states the recipients of the letter: “to the churches of Galatia”. It is not to one church, but to multiple churches in the region of Galatia. Thirdly, he has his typical greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” How do we have peace with God? By His grace – Jesus gave Himself for our sins according to the will of God the Father! Now, we expect Paul to give thanks for the believers in the churches of Galatia and to pray a beautiful prayer over them. However, he doesn’t! Look at verses 6-10:
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-10 NASB)
Paul doesn’t thank God for the believers in Galatia. He doesn’t pray over them. What does he do? He is disgusted with them! Why? They are deserting Jesus Christ. They are deserting the Gospel (good news of Jesus Christ). They were allowing people to come in and teach a different gospel. I remember Dr. Stanley Toussaint, one of my seminary professors, telling our class that the theme of the Book of Galatians is “Not only are you justified (declared righteous) by God through faith, but you are also sanctified (grow in your relationship with God) through faith.” You see, the Galatians, started correctly by faith, but now they were going back to the Law (we will unpack this idea in the upcoming weeks). They were adding things to Jesus Christ. How does Paul respond? Well, in Galatians 3:1, he calls them foolish! He tells them if anyone is preaching a Gospel different than what they received from him, that person should be accursed! The Gospel is not just the starting point, or introduction into your life in Christ, it is also the life itself. As Jesus is quoted in the second part of John 10:10: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Paul wanted the Galatians to have the abundant life, but they were being led astray. I wonder if anyone reading this devotion has added anything to the Gospel message. I am looking forward to studying the Book of Galatians with you. May God convict us and may we repent of anything that we are adding to His Gospel message. See you next week!