Galatians
Introduction
Paul’s letter to the Galatians was addressed to a group of churches in Galatia, a region of present-day Turkey. Paul had preached the gospel in these churches. He wrote to counter those who taught that Christians must be circumcised in order to be accepted by God. Paul began with a defense of his apostolic authority (chs. 1–2), then made it clear that all believers, Jew and Gentile alike, enjoy complete salvation in Christ (chs. 3–4). In chapters 5–6 Paul showed how the gospel of grace leads to true freedom and godly living. Perhaps the central message of Galatians is “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (2:16). Paul wrote this letter sometime between a.d. 48 and 55.[1]
Many scholars believe that Galatians was written in the late 40’s or the early 50’s. An approximate date of A.D. 50 is often given. It seems that Paul wrote this letter before the Jerusalem Council mentioned in Acts 15, because although he mentions several trips to Jerusalem, he makes no mention of the council. Because the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 dealt with the exact issues Paul writes about, it would seem strange if the Council had already happened, yet he made no mention of it. If it is true that Galatians was written around A.D. 50, then Paul would have been a Christian for about 15 years, being converted on the road to Damascus around A.D. 35.
1:1–5 The letter to the Galatians was written around ad 48–55 by the Apostle Paul, perhaps with contributions from some of his fellow missionaries (Gal 1:1–2).
Of Paul’s 13 letters, Galatians features one of the most elaborate openings (compare 1 Thess 1:1; Col 1:1–2). Here, Paul introduces the themes addressed throughout the letter: the divine origin of his calling as an apostle, which he affirms in Gal 1:1, and the gospel message, which he summarizes in v. 4. He then addresses the legitimacy of his apostleship, the gospel, and its implications (respectively discussed in chs. 1–2; 3–4; 5–6).[2]
Introduction to Galatians
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul discusses what it means to be God’s people. Although many groups have special conditions for membership, the family of God is open to everyone. As Paul explains, there is incredible freedom in Christ—yet, at the same, His followers are called to live like Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has set us free, and we are to use our freedom to love others (Gal 5:1).
Background
The opening verses of Galatians identify Paul and several of his traveling companions as the authors of the letter, although Paul was probably the main writer (1:1–2). The letter’s recipients are described as the churches of Galatia—which were planted by Paul during his missionary journeys—but these churches’ locations are debated.
Galatia was a region in central Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). According to one theory, the Galatians Paul addressed were in the southern part of Galatia, primarily in the cities Acts 13–14 records him visiting: Antioch in Pisidia, Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe (Acts 13–14). Paul would have written to these churches during ad 48–51—either before or shortly after the Jerusalem Council, held circa ad 49 (or 51).
Another theory places the Galatian churches in the northern part of the region, corresponding to the mentions of Paul visiting Galatia in Acts 16:6 and 18:23. In this case, Paul’s letter would have been written during his second or third missionary journeys (circa ad 49–57), but likely before he wrote Romans (mid-50s ad).
Regardless of their location, the Galatian churches consisted mostly of non-Jewish (Gentile) believers. Paul taught them that they were free in Christ and that they did not need to start following Jewish law once they became Christians. However, after Paul left the area, some outsiders arrived and disputed his teaching (Gal 1:6–7). According to them, it simply wasn’t possible to be God’s people without observing the Jewish laws. Much of Galatians is Paul’s response to this claim.
The debate about the letter’s recipients and date arises partly because of a connection to the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). At this critical meeting, church leaders settled the issue that dominates Galatians: deciding that non-Jewish Christians should not be required to keep Old Testament laws and regulations (outside of a few; Acts 15:22–29). In Galatians, Paul may be articulating the council’s decision. Paul could also be offering the same viewpoint, prior to the council; this would mean that Paul’s description of his time in Jerusalem and Antioch in Galatians 2:1–14 likely correlates with Paul’s time in Antioch (Acts 11:19–30), but not the events of Acts 15. (If this is the case, Paul visited Jerusalem an additional time not recorded in Acts.)
Structure
After a customary greeting (Gal 1:1–5), Paul challenges the Galatians’ movement away from the gospel he preached (1:6–10), and he defends his apostleship (1:11–2:21). Paul argues that those in favor of non-Jewish people practicing Jewish law have a flawed understanding of the gospel.
In the next major section (3:1–5:12), Paul aims to correct the misunderstanding by contrasting his gospel and the false teaching. Relying on the law to secure a place among God’s people is foolish, he says; that approach leads only to slavery. In the final part of the letter (5:13–6:18), Paul outlines the practical implications of his gospel. Believers are to live by the Spirit in freedom. If they do this, then sin and divisions will cease.
Outline
- Paul’s defense of his apostleship (1:1–2:21)
- Paul’s defense of his gospel (3:1–5:12)
- Application of his viewpoint (5:13–6:18)
Themes
In Galatians, Paul explains what holds the Church together as God’s people: accepting God’s grace and living in step with His Spirit. The good news Paul preaches is that Christ Jesus has reconciled us to God and thus freed us from having to keep Old Testament law (2:19–21).
Paul says that Christians have to choose between the law and faith (3:10–14). A person who relies on keeping the law has thrown away the need for Jesus. Being right with God doesn’t have anything to do with our own actions; salvation is all about Jesus—His sacrificial death for our sins and new life taking hold in us (2:19–21; 5:16–24).
The law did have a purpose, though. It guarded God’s people until faith was revealed in Christ (3:24–25). But now, God’s people have the Spirit. We are full heirs of the promise of salvation and true children of God, having inherited what was promised to Abraham (3:23–29; Gen 12:1–3). Now, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to be there for one another and to do good for others (Gal 5:25–6:10).[3]
Galatia (Γαλατία, Galatia). Territorial designation for central Asia Minor (also known as Anatolia, now modern Turkey). Roman province created by Augustus Caesar in 25 bc. Galatia covered a large territory that included ethnic Galatia as well as parts of Phrygia, Pisidia, Lyconia, and other regions in southern Asia Minor.
“During the third century BC some Celtic peoples (or Gauls) migrated to this area and, after fighting with the people they encountered, they settled into the northern part of Asia Minor. In due course they came into conflict with the Romans, who defeated them, and from this time they remained under the authority of the Romans as a dependent kingdom. The name ‘Galatia’ covered the territory settled by the Gauls.” (Morris)
Overview
After Galatia was annexed into the Roman Empire in 25 bc, the Romans initiated an extensive urbanization program in both the northern and southern parts of the province that involved building cities, constructing roads, and establishing the imperial cult.
Northern Galatia
Shortly after Galatia’s annexation, new cities were established at Ancyra, Pessinous, and Tavium (Mitchell, Anatolia, 1.86). Anycra became the seat of the governor and capital of the province. Excavations have uncovered baths, stadium, theatre, temple to Augustus, and numerous other public buildings (Kadioğlu, et al., Roman Ancyra; Bennett, “Ancyra”). At Pessinous, there was an important cultic center for the worship of Cybele, the mother of the gods in the Anatolian pantheon, whose devotees (called galli) were reputed to have castrated themselves (Strabo 12.5.1–3; Roller, In Search, 227–232, 341).
Elliott (Cutting Too Close, 253–57) connects Paul’s rhetoric against circumcision in his letter to the Galatians with the self-castration practices of the galli. Martyn (Galatians, 16) posits that Paul wrote his letter to churches in Ancyra and Pessinous, while de La Vallee Poussin argues that he wrote it for churches in rural areas in the north of the province. He might have gone there to enjoy the benefits of thermal springs in the area (de la Vallee Poussin, “Paul’s Illness,” 104).
Southern Galatia
The most notable Roman colony in Southern Galatia was at Pisidian Antioch, a city built in the third century bc. The imperial sanctuary and nearby Tiberia plateau were excavated early in the 20th century (Mitchell and Waelkens, Pisidian Antioch, 25–30). Recent field work has revealed the layout of the streets (Ossi and Harrington, “Urban Infrastructure”), the aqueduct system (Owens, “Water Supply”), the theater (Mallampati and Demirer, “Architecture”), and the nearby sanctuary of the Anatolian god Mên Askaênos (Raff, “Architecture”).
Other colonies were established along similar lines at Lystra and Apollonia, and later, during the time of Claudius, at Iconium (Mitchell, Anatolia, 1.95). Acts depicts Paul and Barnabas passing through several of these cities in the late 40s ad. Breyenbach (Paulus und Barnabas) utilizes recent archeological discoveries combined with the testimony of Acts to defend the hypothesis that Paul passed through these South Galatian cities.; Rothschild, however, argues that the depiction of Paul in Pisidian Antioch in Acts is a literary construction of the author (Rothschild, “Pisidian Antioch”).
Roads
The most important road in Galatia was the Via Sebaste, which was built in 6 bc to connect the various colonies and help pacify the south. Numerous milestones are still standing that indicate the route and extent of the road as it cut across the south of the province (French, Roman Road-system, 707; Levick, Roman Colonies, 39; Mitchell, Anatolia, 1.70). If they traveled as recorded in Acts 13 and 14, Paul and Barnabas would have traveled on the Via Sebaste when journeying in the province from Pisidian Antioch to Iconium, to Lystra, and back again (Mitchell, Anatolia, 2.11; Wilson, “Route,” 482).
Imperial Cult
Impressive temples devoted to the worship of the emperor and other members of the imperial family have been excavated at Ancyra, Pessinus, and Pisidian Antioch. The temple at Ancyra, dedicated to Augustus and the goddess Roma, was built between 10 bc and ad 20 (Mitchell, Anatolia, 1.103). The antechamber is still preserved today and contains a large Latin inscription recording the achievements of Augustus (Kadioğlu et al., Roman Ancyra, 92–93). At the temple in Pessinous, built shortly after the death of Augustus, only the foundations remain (Strubbe, “Imperial Cult,” 108). The temple at Antioch, probably erected during the lifetime of Augustus, was in a distinctively Roman style (Mitchell and Waelkens, Pisidian Antioch, 113–173; Rubin, Ruler Cult).
These buildings, which were the largest buildings in Roman Galatia, indicate “the purely physical impact that emperor worship had on provincial cities” (Mitchell, Anatolia, 1.107), and they evoke patterns more fully defined in documentary evidence and remains found elsewhere in the province. Kahl describes how the imperial cult worked its way into every aspect of life for Roman subjects in Galatia, forming the backdrop to understanding Paul’s letter to the Galatians (Kahl, Galatians Reimagined, 182–88).[4]
Paul’s 1st letter according to DeFazio. Or 1 Thess. Late 40’s written to Paul’s own church plants. Acts 13-14. Logical argument for our beliefs, very passionate. Starts out in fighting mode.
Chapters 1-2 Biographical defense of the gospel
Chapters 3-4 Comparative defense of the gospel
Chapters 5-6 Practical defense of the gospel
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ga.
[2] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ga 1:1–5.
[3] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016).
[4] John A. Egger, “Galatia,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).