Galatians 1:1-10

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: Galatians

Rusty's Notes

Galatians 1
1 Paul, an apostle—not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead --
 - The word “apostle” had a rich and varied history prior to its assuming a New Testament meaning.
 - As the noun form of the verb apostellein, meaning “to send” or “to dispatch,” an apostle is literally an envoy or ambassador, one who has been sent in the service of another.[1]
- Paul establishes his authority is from God
2 and all the brothers who are with me:
To the churches of Galatia.

• Listen to Memorial Day Podcast
• Paul is considered the founder of the Church at Galatia. He has a bond with them.

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. 5 To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

• At this point in his letters, Paul typically offers a prayer of thanksgiving for his audience (Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; 2 Cor 1:3). But with the Galatians, there is no cause for thanksgiving—they have turned to a different gospel.[2]
• You can tell immediately that something is radically wrong.
• 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.[3]
• “Liberty in Christ” is the dominant theme of Galatians. (Check the word bondage in 2:4; 4:3, 9, 24–25; 5:1.)
• The Judaizers wanted to lead the Christians out of the liberty of grace into the bondage of Law.
• Paul knew that bondage was not a part of the message of the Gospel, for Christ had died to set men free.[4]
• To God be the glory forever – Paul was not looking for ownership or bragging rights.
• Judaizers wanted them to be circumcised like them… almost as a branding to say “this one is ours.”

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
• Evangelism – Get our numbers and not disciple them.   vs
• Discipleship – Teach them and they will believe.
• They are in the process of turning… haven’t turned yet.
• One foot in and one foot out.

7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to change (pervert) the good news about the Messiah.

• 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?

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

•  Warren Wiersbe: “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.”[5]
• 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.[6]

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

• 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.
• If Paul had a Twitter handle…
• Churches today market specific groups
• Marketing
• I have one thing to promote… Jesus is enough.

11 Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on human thought. 12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I persecuted God’s church to an extreme degree 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. 15 But when God, who from my birth set me apart and called me by His grace, 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. 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.
18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed with him 15 days. 19 But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 Now I am not lying in what I write to you. God is my witness.
21 Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches in Christ; 23 they simply kept hearing: “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me. [7]

[1] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 78). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 1:6–10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 682). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 683). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 683–684). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 684). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ga 1:1–24). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.