GALATIANS 1
NO OTHER GOSPEL
Galatians 1:1-5 – Paul explains his authority
Paul expresses his anxiety:
An example of what the Church in Galatia might have heard:
Dear brothers of Galatia, we greet you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ! We have heard how through the ministry of Brother Paul you have been converted from the worship of dumb idols to serve the true and living God of Israel. We are glad you have made such a good beginning, but we are afraid that there are some very important things about the gospel Paul has omitted to tell you. We ourselves come from the church at Jerusalem which is directed by the very apostles Jesus called and ordained. Paul though is an upstart. Why, he never even knew Jesus while he was on earth and was certainly never commissioned by him as an apostle. True, Paul did visit Jerusalem just after he stopped persecuting us, and there he learned the ABCs of the Christian faith from the true apostles. But the message he now preaches bears no resemblance to theirs. I don’t imagine he even told you about circumcision! Why, this is the very way God has made it possible for you Gentiles to become a part of the New Israel. Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Circumcision is just as important as baptism—nay, more important, for it will introduce you to a higher plane of Christian living. If you will observe this holy ordinance of the law, God will be pleased with you. We are just now forming a new association of law-observant churches, and we would love for Galatia to be represented! We are the true Christians. Jesus, our great example, pleased the Father by fulfilling the law and so can you![1]
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--

• Astonished, surprised, marveled
• The Galatian believers were not simply “changing religions” or “changing churches” but were actually abandoning the very grace of God!
• To make matters worse, they were deserting the very God of grace!
• God had called them and saved them; now they were deserting Him for human leaders who would bring them into bondage.
• We must never forget that the Christian life is a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
• A man does not become a Christian merely by agreeing to a set of doctrines;
• He becomes a Christian by submitting to Christ and trusting Him (Rom. 11:6).
• You cannot mix grace and works, because the one excludes the other.
• Salvation is the gift of God’s grace, purchased for us by Jesus Christ on the cross.
• To turn from grace to Law is to desert the God who saved us.[2]
• What about James 2? – Faith without works is dead.

7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort (pervert – to reverse) the gospel of Christ.

• The term Judaizer refers to people who zealously promote a Jewish lifestyle according to the law and Jewish tradition.
• Paul insisted that a gospel of legalism which adds work to faith is not the same kind of gospel that he preached and by which they were saved.[3]
• In this case, they were persuading the Galatians to practice circumcision (6:12), as well as observe food laws (2:12) and certain calendar cycles (4:10).[4]
• We not only are saved by grace, but we are to live by grace (1 Cor. 15:10).
• We stand in grace; it is the foundation for the Christian life (Rom. 5:1–2).
• Grace gives us the strength we need to be victorious soldiers (2 Tim. 2:1–4).

 

• Baptism – Say an oath or sign a commitment to church membership.
• Why wouldn’t the evil one use something that seems good and right to defeat the Church.
• Why isn’t this “grace message” proclaimed more widely?
• Nothing delights the devil more than to disrupt and destroy, insofar as he can, a true work of God.
• Whenever there is a genuine moving of God’s Spirit or a major advance in missionary outreach, we can be sure that Satan and his minions will have a vested interest in casting doubts, sowing discord, and wreaking havoc. [5]

Paul exposes his adversaries:
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him! 9 As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!

• To be anathematized then means far more than to be excommunicated.
• It means nothing less than to suffer the eternal retribution and judgment of God.
• The GNB comes close to capturing the essence of Paul’s tone in this passage, “Let him be condemned to hell!”[6]
• How do you know if you are hearing a different Gospel?
• Grace always leads to peace, but the believers had deserted grace and therefore had no peace in their hearts.
• Grace enables us to suffer without complaining, and even to use that suffering for God’s glory (2 Cor. 12:1–10).
• When a Christian turns away from living by God’s grace, he must depend on his own power.
• This leads to failure and disappointment.[7]

10 For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

• Paul was being accused of easing the requirements of obedience to the law for Gentile believers (non-Jewish people who believed in Jesus).
• For example, while circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen 17), Paul did not require that Gentile believers be circumcised.
• This made his message more appealing to Gentiles while opening him to the charge of seeking to appease people.[8]
• if the apostle had wanted to please men, he would have remained a zealous Pharisee and promoter of the Law rather than becoming a servant of Christ.[9]
• The test of a man’s ministry is not popularity (Matt. 24:11), or miraculous signs and wonders (Matt. 24:23–24), but his faithfulness to the Word of God.[10]
• “Become all things to all people” - He was willing, if not always happy, to make such adjustments and concessions whenever the missionary situation required that kind of flexibility so long as the foundational principles of the gospel were not being compromised.[11]
  
  
• I make decisions every day about this ministry. That is what a leader does.
• I am not really concerned about what people are thinking or saying about me.
• It’s not that I don’t hear it. I just don’t give it any attention.
• But I will not be distracted by nay-sayers and negative people.
• This is only a distraction by the evil one.
• Churches today market specific groups
• Marketing

I have one thing to promote… Jesus is enough.
 

1. Paul’s early Christian experience and his first encounter with church leaders in Jerusalem (1:11–24)
2. The summit meeting between Paul and the Jerusalem leaders over the scope and sphere of his missionary work (2:1–10)
3. The confrontation with Peter at Antioch leading to the central pronouncement of justification by faith (2:11–21).[12]

PAUL DEFENDS HIS APOSTLESHIP
11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin.

• “I want to make this perfectly clear”

12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation of Jesus Christ.

• Paul’s enemies pointed to his nonconformity as proof that his message and ministry were not really of God.[13]
• Paul did not write the Gospel
• Nor did Paul receive the Gospel from men.

13 For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

• Acts 22 1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” 2 When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter. 3 He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail, 5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

PAUL’S TESTIMONY

• “As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
• “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
• “I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’
• “Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus. 12 Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there, 13 came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth, 15 since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
• “After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
• “But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten. 20 And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’
• “He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”[14]

• Paul was like a modern day hip hop artist who radically came to understand the saving grace of Jesus.
• Everyone was skeptical!
• But the believers were pretty excited!

 
15 But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace,

• The OT prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah described their callings in similar ways (Jeremiah 1:5 - I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.; Isaiah 49:1 - The Lord called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.[15]).

was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.

• What I have preached, I have experienced myself.
• This is the true Gospel and any other is counterfeit.
• God did it.
• God did it by grace. (not man’s effort or character)
• God did it through His Son.
• God did it for the sake of others.

17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus.

• Paul is offering support for his claim that the apostles did not teach him the gospel in Jerusalem; rather, his revelation of the gospel came directly from Jesus Christ.[16]

18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

• James became the leader of the Church in Jerusalem.
• The point of Paul’s declaration is clear.
• He formed his theology not by consulting with others, but independently as he sought God’s guidance.[17]

20 I declare in the sight of God: I am not lying in what I write to you.

• Acts 9
• When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. 27 Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.[18]

 
21 Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

• Syria lies directly north of Galilee and includes the cities of Antioch (Acts 11:19–30), Damascus (Acts 9:1–19), and Caesarea Maritima.
• Cilicia is the region west of Syria, and includes Paul’s home city of Tarsus.[19]
• Acts 9
• Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.[20]
• Historians have concluded that he remained there perhaps seven years, until Barnabas recruited him for the work in Antioch (Acts 11:19–26).

22 I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches that are in Christ. 23 They simply kept hearing: “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.”

• Modern-day “Judaizers,” like their ancient counterparts, reject the authority of Paul and try to undermine the Gospel which he preached.
• In Paul’s day, their message was “the Gospel plus Moses.”
• In our day it is “the Gospel plus” any number of religious leaders, religious books, or religious organizations.
• “You cannot be saved unless …” is their message (Acts 15:1); and that “unless” usually includes joining their group and obeying their rules.
• If you dare to mention the Gospel of grace as preached by Jesus, Paul, and the other Apostles, they reply, “But God has given us a new revelation!”[21]

24 And they glorified God because of me.[22]
This was a telling blow to the false teachers. The Jewish Christians in Judea rejoiced in the same gospel the Judaizers sought to undermine.[23]

[1] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, pp. 95–96). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 683–684). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 590). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 1:7). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 90). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[6] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, pp. 98–99). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[7] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 684). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[8] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 1:10). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 591). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[10] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 684). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[11] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 101). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[12] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, pp. 105–106). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[13] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 686). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[14] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 22:1–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Is 49:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 1:18). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[17] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 592). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[18] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 9:26–27). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[19] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 1:21). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[20] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 9:28–30). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[21] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 689). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[22] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 1:1–24). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[23] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 592). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books

Peter Visits Antioch

• Peter pays the church in Syrian Antioch a visit.
• While he is there, he enjoys table-fellowship with the Gentile believers. When the church in Jerusalem discovers that Peter is eating with Gentiles, some of the circumcision party in Jerusalem head to Antioch to visit Peter. The circumcision party arrives in Antioch with approval letters from James (the Lord’s half-brother). The members of the circumcision party are legalists. They are Judaizers—outrageously zealous to keep the Jewish customs and the Law of Moses and to persuade others to do the same.
• When they arrive in Antioch, Paul is not present.
• The Judaizers persuade Peter to no longer enjoy table-fellowship with his Gentile brethren. They tell Peter the following: “We in Jerusalem have heard that you are habitually having table-fellowship with Gentiles. This is causing a huge scandal to our more conservative brethren in the church. It is also becoming common knowledge outside the church, and it is seriously hindering our attempts to evangelize our fellow Jews. More seriously, your actions are putting the other apostles in Jerusalem in danger, since the militant Jews in Jerusalem view any fraternization with Gentiles to be the conduct of traitors.”
• Fearful of offending his brethren in Jerusalem, Peter begins to eat exclusively with the Jews. The rest of the Jews in Antioch follow suit.
• Even Barnabas, who had originally come to Antioch from Jerusalem, stops eating with the Gentiles.
• When Paul returns and takes note of the situation, he is angered and publicly rebukes Peter for his hypocrisy.

 
The Judaizers Visit Galatia

• Peter returns to Jerusalem and shares the incident with some in the church. He also gives the church a report on the new Gentile churches that Paul and Barnabas have planted in South Galatia.
• Upon hearing this, some of the Judaizers in Jerusalem head out to Galatia and visit all four churches that Paul and Barnabas planted.
• The Judaizers are headed up by one unnamed man.
• Galatians 5:7-10 - You were running well. Who prevented you from being persuaded regarding the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough. 10 I myself am persuaded in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.[1]
• Paul will later refer to this man as his “thorn in the flesh.” On three separate occasions, Paul will ask God to remove this “thorn” from his life. The Lord will respond by saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” That is, the Lord chooses not to remove the thorn from Paul’s life, but He will deliver Paul through all the suffering that it will bring him. The thorn—this unnamed Judaizer who will seek to destroy Paul’s work—is given to Paul to keep him humble amid the glorious revelation of Christ that he has received.
• When the Judaizers arrive in South Galatia, they introduce themselves as brothers from the Jerusalem church.
• They tell the new converts in Galatia the following:
• 1) Jerusalem is the center of God’s work on earth. The twelve apostles are the only authority for what the true gospel is, and they were commissioned by Christ Himself.
• 2) Paul did not come from Jerusalem, and he was not commissioned by Christ. Paul visited Jerusalem shortly after his conversion and spent some time with the apostles there. The apostles instructed him in the basic principles of the gospel and authorized him to preach the gospel he had learned from them. But when he left Jerusalem and returned to Cilicia, Paul modified his gospel to make it more acceptable to Gentiles.
• 3) Paul’s gospel is deficient. The Jerusalem leaders believe in the God-given practice of circumcision and observing the Law and the traditions. These are the “hard” parts of the gospel. Because Paul is a man-pleaser, he is preaching a gospel that omits these parts. This Law-free gospel that he proclaims is not supported by the apostles or the Jerusalem church. Believing in Jesus coupled with obeying the Law of Moses justifies and sanctifies a man before God.
• 4) Peter is the chief apostle among the Twelve. Paul had the arrogance to rebuke the apostle Peter to his face! This proves that Paul is a freelancer who is engaging in an independent work apart from the ministry of the Twelve.
• 5) Paul is inconsistent in his views. While he does not preach circumcision to the Gentiles, he preaches it to the Jews. Paul is a trimmer. He adapts his gospel to his environment.
• When the Judaizers leave, the Galatian converts are troubled and confused. Some of them depart from the gospel that Paul gave them and seek to be justified by the Law.
• Some in the church write a letter to Paul asking him why he failed to tell them the “whole gospel,” which includes circumcision.
• Paul, who is still in Antioch, Syria, receives the letter from the Galatian churches. The news from Galatia both angers and perplexes him.

 
PAUL WRITES GALATIANS
Year: A.D. 49
From: Antioch of Syria
To: The churches in South Galatia: Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (these churches are between 1-2 years old)
Provocation: This is the first piece of Christian literature ever penned.

• The letter is a monumental statement against legalism. Paul answers every argument that the Judaizers used to persuade the Galatians into following the Law of Moses.
• Galatians is the Magna Carta of the Christian faith.
• Justification and sanctification are by grace through faith and not by the works of the Law.
• In this letter, Paul will connect with the Phrygian slaves who populate the Galatian churches. He will use the word “slave” (or its derivative) a total of sixteen times. Many of his metaphors contrast with freedom: “bondage,” “confinement,” “custodianship,” “minor child,” and “slavery.”
• Further, Paul will remind the Galatians that they are free from all Law and are holy in Christ without blemish in His sight.
• In Paul’s zeal to preserve the Law-free gospel of Jesus Christ, he writes this letter using bitter metaphors and scathing indictments against the Judaizers. (Example: Paul describes circumcision as being “severed” from Christ and adds his wish that those who insist on circumcision “mutilate” themselves!)
• It is evident that Paul is angry when writing this letter, for he omits the thanksgiving prayer that marks all of his other letters.
• Paul is confident that the Galatians will receive the letter and “adopt no other view.”

 
Sharpening the Focus:

• Most letters are written on sheets of papyrus. (Those who are too poor to afford papyrus write on broken pieces of pottery called ostraca.) Papyrus is a light and tough material made from the stalks of the papyrus plant woven and pressed together. A normal sheet is about the same size as a standard sheet of American paper.
• For longer documents, the papyrus sheets are glued side-by-side on a stick to form a roll (also called a scroll). Once the scroll has been written upon, it is rolled up and tied with pieces of thread. One roll is called a volume (from the Latin volumen, “something rolled up”) and is typically 35 feet long. (Authors write to fit volumes. Luke will produce a two-volume work called Luke-Acts.)
• Important documents are normally sealed with hot wax on top of the threads. Then a seal is placed on the scroll to reserve its contents for its proper recipient.
• Parchment is also used for letter writing (see 2 Timothy 4:13). Parchment is made from animal skins and is more expensive than papyrus.
• While most or all of the New Testament authors will use scrolls, a few of them may use codices (plural for codex, a book with pages bound together in the modern style).
• Writers use a reed pen and black ink that is made of soot, gum, and water. Words are usually written in all capital (uncial) letters.
• Word divisions, punctuation marks, chapters and verses are all lacking in the original writings (these will be added to the NT by editors much later).
• Ordinary people cannot use the imperial postal system. Thus they must rely on messengers who can deliver their letters to their recipients.
• Paul’s letters (as well as the rest of the NT) are written in Koine Greek—the common trade language of the Roman world used by the masses, the merchants, and the marketplace. [2]

 
GALATIANS 1 (49 AD)

• Written before Romans but considered to be a “short Romans”.

GREETING

• As you begin to read Paul’s letter to the Galatian Christians, you can tell immediately that something is radically wrong, because he does not open his letter with his usual praise to God and prayer for the saints.
• He has no time! Paul is about to engage in a battle for the truth of the Gospel and the liberty of the Christian life.
• False teachers are spreading a false “gospel” which is a mixture of Law and grace, and Paul is not going to stand by and do nothing.
• From beginning to end its six chapters of 149 verses bristle with passion, sarcasm, and anger.
• True, there is a touch of tenderness as well; once in the midst of the letter Paul referred to the Galatians as his “dear children” (4:19).
• In frustration he dubbed them, as J. B. Phillips translates it, “my dear idiots” (3:1 – “foolish Galatians”).[3]
• How does Paul approach the Galatian Christians in his attempt to teach them the truth about the Gospel? In these opening verses, the apostle takes three definite steps as he prepares to fight this battle.[4]

Paul expresses his authority:
Paul’s ministry:
1 Paul, an apostle—not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead--

• There is an abruptness about the opening words which plunges the reader immediately into one of Paul’s major concerns, namely, that his apostolic credentials had been challenged.
• Though not one of the original Twelve, Paul claimed equality with them as an apostle.
• The word apostolos connotes authority and refers to a person who has a right to speak for God as His representative or delegate.[5]

2 and all the brothers who are with me:
To the churches of Galatia.
Paul’s message:
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

• Thus Paul had already drawn the lines of battle by touching on two vital concerns.
• He had affirmed his own apostleship and…
• had declared that the basis of man’s salvation lies solely in the work of Christ and not in any human works.[6]

Paul’s motive:
5 To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 5:7–10). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Viola, Frank. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Guide to Understanding the New Testament (pp. 82-86). Destiny Image. Kindle Edition.
[3] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 22). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 682). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 589). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 590). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Romans 7:17 - So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

Romans 7:20 - But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

Romans 8:1 -   Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:8 - ​Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Acts 14 ( 47-48 AD)
GROWTH AND PERSECUTION IN ICONIUM

• As the blood dries on their backs, Paul and Barnabas travel 90 miles southeast to the frontier town of Iconium. (still modern Turkey).
• This is roughly a five-day walk.
• The two men take the Roman military road called the Via Sebaste (Sebastian Way), which will eventually lead them to Lystra and Derbe.[1]
• The Via Sebaste was built under Augustus in 6 BC. It connected six military colonies, including Antioch of Psidia.

1 In Iconium

• Greek city that speaks Greek & Phrygian.
• Some Romans had begun to settle here.

they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders.

• Faith is not based on miracles.
• Miracles support faith.

4 But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and others with the apostles.

• As the apostles continued their witness, the city became more and more polarized into those who supported them and those who opposed them.
• It is noteworthy that Luke used the term “apostle” here to refer to Paul and Barnabas.
• Here and 14:14 are the only places where he applied the term to anyone other than the Twelve disciples.[2]

5 When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them,

• This was more a mob mentality rather than an official city decision by authorities like in Antioch.

6 they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside. 7 There they continued preaching the gospel.

• Another “church” was started in Iconium.

 
MISTAKEN FOR GODS IN LYSTRA

• Paul and Barnabas take the Via Sebaste and travel eighteen miles southwest to a Roman colony called Lystra.
• Lystra is a very primitive town that is built on a small hill.
• The old Lyconian language is still spoken here, as well as Greek.
• Since Lystra is a Roman colony, the language of the courts and the Roman soldiers is Latin.
• There is no synagogue, indicating there are hardly any Jews present.
• There is an old legend that says that the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes once visited Lystra (as told by the poet, Ovid).
• They appeared as humans looking for a place to stay.
• After they were rejected by the people, an elderly couple took the gods into their home.
• The gods turned their home into a palace.
• That palace became the temple of Zeus.[3]

8 In Lystra a man was sitting who was without strength in his feet, had never walked, and had been lame from birth. 9 He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And he jumped up and began to walk around.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes (herald, messenger of the gods), because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.
14 The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting: 15 “People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way, 17 although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18 Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.
19 Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

• 2 Corinthians 11:24-25 - Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea.[4]

20 After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town.

• Timothy being one of those who watched and gathered.
• 2 Timothy 3:10-11 - But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, 11 along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured—and yet the Lord rescued me from them all.[5]
• Timothy’s faith came through his mother Eunice and his Grandmother, Lois.
• 2 Timothy 1:5 - I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also. [6]
• These women are both Jews but Timothy’s Dad is Greek.
• Acts 16:1 - Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek. [7]
• Paul was miraculously healed but deeply scarred.
• Galatians 6:17 - From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.[8]​
• If the Bible says, “the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy.”, it doesn’t matter if it is referring to the Pharisees or the evil one.
• The intent is to “steal, kill and destroy” with the root of that evil coming from the evil one.
• Paul is doing all things good (sharing the Gospel) but comes to the edge of death.
• Miraculously he survives… but the scars remain.
• Ever been there?
• Do you have scars as a result of your goodness?
• Maybe you’re still in the midst of being wounded.
• Maybe you’re in the midst of healing.
• Don’t ever give up on your faith, your calling… your goodness that comes from the Lord.
• Near death… miraculously healed… got up and went and got their “stuff” and then…

The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

• Another “church” was started in Lystra.
• The two apostles head 60 miles southeast to a tiny frontier town called Derbe.

 
CHURCH PLANTING
21 After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples,

• A convert is made in the town whose name is Gaius. (mentioned in Acts 20:4)
• Another “church” was started in Derbe.
• After preaching the gospel in Derbe, Paul and Barnabas retrace their steps.
• Despite the fact that they have been driven out of these cities.

they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” 23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

• In each city, they meet with the church briefly to strengthen, encourage, and warn them of the trials that lie ahead.
• After prayer and fasting, the apostles identify the older men in each church that have matured the most.
• They acknowledge these men as “elders.”
• After commending each church to the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul and Barnabas depart.
•  If we take into account their travel time, Paul and Barnabas spend only three to five months planting each Galatian church.
• This is a pattern that holds throughout Paul’s entire ministry.
• He will spend a short amount of time laying a solid foundation for an infant church.
• Then he will abandon it for a long period of time without human headship or designated leadership.
• Two years will pass before Paul will return to see the Galatian believers.
• Most of the converts in South Galatia are heathen Gentiles.
• There are some God-fearers and some Jews among them.
• The new converts in South Galatia do not have any Bibles. The NT has not been written yet.
• Possibly a Jew in one of the four churches has one or two scrolls of some OT Book. But it is highly doubtful that any of the churches in South Galatia have a complete OT.
• Yet even if every convert had an entire Bible, it would profit them little. For only five to ten percent of the population in the Roman Empire are literate.
• Letter writers, stenographers, occasional poets, and legal scribes make up only four percent of the population at best.
• Those who can write become farsighted by the age of forty. Thus they will need a secretary that serves as a professional scribe to pen their letters.
• For this reason, Paul needed a scribe to write his epistles (e.g., Romans 16: 22). Yet with his own hand he would sign the last part of each letter to confirm its authenticity (Galatians 6: 11; 2 Thessalonians 3: 17; 1 Corinthians 16: 21).
• The average life expectancy for a male is 45. The average life expectancy for a female is 38. (Of all humans born in the Empire, half die before age five.)
• Women usually marry in their early teens and raise families until they have passed child-bearing age. Very little birth control is practiced.
• Twenty-five percent of babies do not survive their first year.
• Half do not live past the age of ten. Three of every ten Jewish children die before the age of eighteen.

24 They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 After they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

• Now 49 AD

27 After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they spent a considerable time with the disciples. [9]

• Meanwhile, back in Rome, Emperor Claudius issues a decree expelling all the Jews from the “Eternal City” (Rome).
• According to the historian Seutonius, the Jews are rioting over their various views about Christ.
• Since Christianity is viewed as a sect of Judaism in the eyes of the Greeks and Romans, all Jews—including Christian and non-Christian—are forced to leave the city.
• Many of the banished Jews flee to the Greek city of Corinth.
• A Roman Jew named Aquila and his wife Priscilla are among them.
• Because Rome has expelled all Jews, Gentiles in all the Roman colonies throughout the Empire regard Jews with even greater suspicion and disfavor than they had before.

 

• For most of the population, first-century Galatia is a thankless, loveless, horrible place to live.
• This is the world into which two apostolic workers from Syrian Antioch come to establish the church of Jesus Christ.
• Keep in mind that these new Galatian churches are surrounded by Gentile immorality and idolatry. Also, there are Jews in their towns who hate the new faith.
• After their brief revisiting trip, the new Christians in Galatia will not see the hair of an apostle for almost two years.
• But the gospel that Paul and Barnabas preach will be rich and high enough to cause the Galatian churches to survive without any outside help.
• What Paul and Barnabas preach cause these once heathen, superstitious, selfish, miserable Gentiles to fall in love with one another, to sing, to smile, and to glow with the joy of Jesus Christ.
• Like the Twelve before them, they were called, trained, and sent.
• And they preach an indwelling Christ that will sustain them through the pressures of life.
• They eat together, work together, greet each other with a holy kiss, raise their children together, take care of one another, and bury one another.

It is this joy and love that the Galatian Christians have one for another that will shake the Roman Empire to its very foundations.[10]

[1] The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Gide to Understanding the New Testament, Frank Viola, Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2004. Chapter 9
[2] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 311). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[3] The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Gide to Understanding the New Testament, Frank Viola, Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2004. Chapter 9
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (2 Co 11:24–25). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (2 Ti 3:10–11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (2 Ti 1:5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 16:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 6:17). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 14:1–28). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Gide to Understanding the New Testament, Frank Viola, Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2004. Chapter 9