The Letter of Paul to:
THE GALATIANS
Date:
50-55 AD. This letter is SIGNED BY PAUL. The
evidence for Paul's authorship is conclusive. The style is
characteristically Pauline. The Galatians are actually part of the
lost tribe of Israel, some of whom migrated here, others went to
Ireland and Britain!
Galatians 1:
1 From Paul, whose call to be an apostle did not come through man, but from Jesus Christ and God (Theos) the Father, who raised Him from death,
No mention of the Holy Spirit as a part of this Godhead.
No mention of the Holy Spirit as a part of this Godhead.
4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might save us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
A DIFFERENT GOSPEL:
6 I am shocked at you that you are turning away so soon from Him, who called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ, that you are already following a different Gospel.
another--rather, as Greek, "a second and different gospel," that is, into a so-called gospel, different altogether from the only true Gospel.
7 Actually, it's not “another gospel," but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
another--A distinct Greek word from that in Galatians 1:6 . Though I called it a gospel ( Galatians 1:6 ), it is not really so. There is really but one Gospel, and no other gospel.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be cursed eternally.
9 We have said it before, and now I say it again: if anyone preaches any other Gospel from the one you accepted, may he be eternally cursed.
10 Obviously, you can see that I am not trying to win human approval. No indeed! What I want is God's approval! If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's slave.
12 I did not receive it from any man, nor did anyone teach it to me. It was Jesus Christ himself who revealed it to me.
Paul says that Jesus Himself taught him!
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God and did my best to destroy it.
14 I was one of the most religious Jews of my own age, and I tried as hard as possible to follow all the old traditions of my fathers.
15 But God (The Father) in His grace chose me even before I was born, and called me to serve Him. And when He decided
16 to reveal His Son to me, so that I might preach the Good News (Gospel) about Him to the Gentiles, I did not go to any flesh and blood person for advice,
PAUL IN ARABIA-- THE HOME OF THE REAL MT SINAI:
17 nor did I go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me. Instead, I went at once to Arabia, and then I returned to Damascus.
This journey (not recorded in Acts) was during the whole period of his stay at Damascus, called by Luke ( Acts 9:23 ), "many [Greek, a considerable number of] days." It is curiously confirmatory of the legitimacy of taking "many days" to stand for "three years," that the same phrase exactly occurs in the same sense in 1 Kings 2:38 1 Kings 2:39 . This was a country of the Gentiles; here doubtless he preached as he did before and after ( Acts 9:20 Acts 9:22 ) at Damascus: thus he shows the independence of his apostolic commission. He also here had that comparative retirement needed, after the first fervor of his conversion, to prepare him for the great work before him. Compare Moses ( Acts 7:29 Acts 7:30 ). His familiarity with the scene of the giving of the law, and the meditations and revelations which he had there, appear in Galatians 4:24 Galatians 4:25 , Hebrews 12:18 . on earth in the days of His flesh communed with the other apostles.
It appears that Paul studied with Jesus at Mt Sinai for some 3 years.
This is James, the real ½ brother of Jesus (who was not a believer in the time of Jesus' ministry, but because of his nearness to Christ, became the leader of the church. Peter was not a “Pope” nor was he the head of the church. He would have to see James in order to gain his approval! James, the Lord's brother-- This designation, to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee, was appropriate while that apostle was alive. But before Paul's second visit to Jerusalem ( Galatians 2:1 , Acts 15:1-4 ), he had been beheaded by Herod ( Acts 12:2 ). Accordingly, in the subsequent mention of James here ( Galatians 2:9 Galatians 2:12 ), he is not designated by this distinctive epithet:
23 All they knew was that everyone was saying, "The one who used to persecute us now preaches the faith he tried to destroy!"
Galatians 2:
HIS AUTHORITY AS AN APOSTLE:
2 I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. I wanted them to understand what I had been preaching to the Gentiles. While I was there I talked privately with the leaders of the church. I wanted to make sure they did not disagree, or my ministry would have been in vain.
4 Even that question wouldn't have been a problem except for some so-called false Christians -- who came to spy on us and see our liberty in Christ Jesus. They wanted to force us, like slaves, to follow their bondage.
5 But we did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the Good News would always continue to be with you.
6 Those who were recognized as important people didn't add a single thing to my message. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.)
7 In fact, they saw that I had been entrusted with telling the Good News to people who are not circumcised as Peter had been entrusted to tell it to those who are circumcised.
8 For He who made Peter an apostle to circumcised also made me an apostle to people who are gentiles.
9 James, Cephas, and John (who were recognized as the most important people) gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
10 The only thing they asked us to do was to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians, who were not circumcision. But afterward, when some church leaders came, Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore because he was afraid of what these who promote circumcison would say.
13 The other Jewish leaders {in the church} also joined him in this hypocrisy. Even Barnabas was swept along with them.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas (Peter) in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
16 And yet we Jewish Christians know that we have become right with God, not by doing the works in the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, and not because we have obeyed the Law. For no carnal man will ever be saved by obeying the Law."
The simple answer to the question here is that no carnal person CAN obey the Law, and it is foolish to wrap ones salvation by trying to find salvation that way. Only by Christ can we be saved!
17 If we, the same people who are searching for God's approval in Christ, are still sinners, does that mean that Christ encourages us to sin? That's unthinkable!
Think what Paul is saying! We are not encouraged to sin, even though we are saved from the damnation of not following the Law perfectly. We are to try not to sin. SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; but Christ now lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by the Law, then there was no need for Christ to die.
Galatians 3:
FAITH AND WORKS:
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ's death as clearly as though I had shown you a signboard with a picture of Christ dying on the cross.
2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Or by hearing the gospel and believing it?
5 Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you do what the Law requires or because you hear the gospel and believe it?
8 The scripture predicted that God would put the Gentiles right with himself through faith. And so the Good News was made known to Abraham: "In you all the nations shall be blessed."
10 Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, "Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God's curse!"
11 Now, it is clear that no one is put right with God by means of the Law, because the scripture says, "Only the person who is put right with God through faith shall live."
12 The Law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”
One can follow the Law, and receive the blessing of the Law, even if they do not believe or have faith! You do not have to believe in gravity, but if you follow it's law, you won't fall and die. The Law is physical, with physical blessings, FAITH is spiritual.
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”
14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
15 Friends, I am going to use an everyday example: when two people agree on a matter and sign an agreement, no one can break it or add anything to it.
16 Now, God made his promises to Abraham and to his seed. The scripture does not use the plural "seeds," meaning many people, but the singular "seed," meaning one person only, namely, Christ.
17 What I mean is that God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to keep it. The Law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, cannot break that covenant and cancel God's promise.
18 For if God's gift depends on the Law, then it no longer depends on his promise. However, it was because of his promise that God gave that gift to Abraham.
19 Why, then, was the Law given at all? It was added because of the transgressions of all, until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The Law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.
21 Does this mean that the Law is against God's promises? Not at all! For if mankind had received a law that could bring life, then everyone could be put right with God by obeying it.
22 But the scripture says that the whole world is under the power of sin; and so the gift which is promised on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ is given to those who believe.
23 But before the time for faith came, the Law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed.
24 And so the Law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith.
27 You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.
28 So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.
Galatians 4:
1 Think of it this way - the son who will receive his father's property is treated just like a slave while he is young, even though he really owns everything.
2 While he is young, there are men who take care of him and manage his affairs until the time set by his father.
4 But when the right time came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Law,
6 To show that you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who cries out, "Father, my Father."
7 So then, you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are his child, God will give you all that he has for his children.
9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly physical elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
12 I beg you, my friends, be like me. After all, I am like you. You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you.
14 But even though my physical condition was a great trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
15 You were so happy! What has happened? I myself can say that you would have taken out your own eyes, if you could, and given them to me.
17 Those other people show a deep interest in you, but their intentions are not good. All they want is to separate you from me, so that you will have the same interest in them as they have in you.
18 Now, it is good to have such a deep interest if the purpose is good - this is true always, and not merely when I am with you.
19 But oh, my dear children! I feel as if I am going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.
20 How I wish I were with you now, so that I could take a different attitude toward you. I am so worried about you!
23 His son by the slave woman was born by sexual relations, but his son by the free woman was born as a result of God's promise.
MT SINAI IN ARABIA:
24 These things can be understood as symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar--
25 Hagar, who stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, is a figure of the present city of Jerusalem, in slavery with all its people.
So, we know from here were the real Mt Sinai is. In Arabia. We know it's location today. Right in the land of Midian, where it is supposed to be. The Mt Sinai in the Sinai peninsula, is not the correct mountain.
27 For it is written: "Be happy, you childless woman! Shout and cry with joy, you who never felt the pains of childbirth! For the woman who was deserted will have more children than the woman whose husband never left her."
29 At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.
30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”
James, actually refutes this argument, using the same example to show that it was by works, and not faith alone that Abraham was blessed. There was an obvious division in the church, as there is to this day. Jesus says in Matthew 5, that we are to fall between both viewpoints and we will be alright.
Galatians 5:
FREEDOM IN CHRIST
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not become entangled in slavery again.
2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to save you with God, then Christ cannot help you.
3 I'll say it again. If you are trying to save yourself with God by being circumcised, you must then obey all of the regulations in the whole law of Moses.
4 For if you are trying to justify yourself through the Law, you will be cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from grace.
6 For in Christ Jesus being circumcised or uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
10 I am confident in the LORD that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.
11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching that circumcision is necessary, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the cross wouldn't be offensive anymore.
13 For you have been called to live in freedom -- not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
THE LAW SEEMS TO BE IN FORCE!
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Just a note hear that I guess most who want to use Paul to prove the Law was abolished, what about this list of sins he says we cannot do! It seems to me, that Paul thinks we are under the Law when it comes to the list above. I count Commandments #1, 2, 5, 7 and 10! Think about that and try to explain it. Then maybe again, Paul thinks that these are the only important Commandments. Does this imply we can break the other 10? How about using the LORD's name in vain?
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their corrupt nature along with its passions and desires.
Galatians 6:
Doing Good to All
1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore them gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the Law of Christ.
What Law? THE LAW! Written by Christ with His own finger.
3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,
5 for each one should carry his own load.
6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
9 So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Not Circumcision but a New Creation
11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!Paul is signing this letter
12 Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
13 Not even those who are circumcised obey the Law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.
14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
