Galatians:
A Penetrating Preview

Dr. Richard L. Strauss
September 23, 1979

Some of you like to swim, I presume. Did you ever notice how different people enter cold water different ways, when they go swimming? One of my parents likes to get adjusted to it by slowly by getting toes wet, then knees, and so on, gradually. The other likes to run and dive right in.

In some of Paul's epistles, he gets the folks adjusted to the cold water slowly, with a salutation, and a word of thanksgiving, and accommodation of them for something or other, and a blessing. Then he tells them of the fault he has heard about them--usually in a gradual fashion. That's what he does in most of his letters.

But when we come to Galatians, we run and dive right in. Paul was concerned about the deadly, destructive heresy of legalism, which threatens their very existence. He didn't have time to find an amanuensis to whom to dictate the letter. He wrote it himself (Galatians 6:11). In all probability he had an eye disease and it was difficult for him to see, but he wrote this epistle himself regardless of that problem. He didn't have time for extra material in his introduction. He wants to get right to the problem. And he does.

In the first nine verses of the letter, he previews the entire book. Last week we saw that in this book, Paul is defending himself and he's defending the gospel. In these nine verses, that's exactly what he's doing. We find the seed thought of just about everything he is going to say later. And it's a piercing preview. It's a passionate, penetrating, and powerful preview.

In verses 1-2 there is a preview of the composer, a quick look at Paul and his apostolic authority. In verses 3-5 we find a preview of his convictions, a quick look at the doctrine which finds fuller amplification in chapters 3 and 4. And in verses 6-9 we find a preview of their confusion, a quick look at the error which called forth this epistle.

Let's do what Paul did, and jump right in.

1. A Preview of the Composer (Galatians 1:1-2)

"Paul, an apostle." That's how he begins.

"Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and the Father who raised Him from the dead)" (Galatians 1:1).

In a few of Paul's letters he begins, "Paul, a servant." In the majority he begins, "Paul, an apostle." There is no question about which one he should use in this occasion. These rebellious Galatians need to be reminded that Paul was a man with apostolic authority. Furthermore, they needed to be reminded of the source of that authority. It was not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father.

One of the accusations being made against the apostle Paul was that he was not of equal authority with the Twelve who walked with Christ during his earthly ministry, and were chosen by Him while he was yet present in His flesh. His apostleship a secondary; it came through the Twelve , not Christ Himself, and therefore was less authoritative. Paul wants to set the record straight immediately. His apostleship was not from men. The instrumentality through which it was received was not human, but divine. He received it through Jesus Christ.

"And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace" (Galatians 1:14-15).

When did that happen? Turn to Acts 26, where the apostle Paul reveals what happened in his speech before King Agrippa.

"And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me'" (Acts 26:14-18).

Paul, then called Saul, was near Damascus on the road into that town when the light shined and Jesus Christ spoke to him and gave him his commission. The authority Paul had did not come from the church. The message he had did not come from the Apostles. It came through Jesus Christ.

I think every person who is serving the Lord in our day can say this. We ought to have that same confidence of a call from God. I had a group of pastors lay their hands on me and ordain me to the Christian ministry in the Highland Park Baptist Church in Michigan in May, 1958. But my ministry wasn't received through them. I was called of God, and my ministry was received through Him.

What use then is ordination? In the Scripture, it is no more than the church's recognition of what the Lord has already done, and what the Lord has already given. When Spirit-directed men recognize that a man has been set apart by God and gifted to do His work, then they make that fact publicly known by the laying on of hands. But they do not communicate any unusual powers, nor pass on any so called apostolic authority from generation to generation, as some groups within professing Christendom would teach us. The leadership of God's church is chosen and ordained by God.

Paul was an apostle, by the will and by the power of God. He was a man qualified to deliver the gospel message of truth.

But notice what else Paul adds in the introduction to the letter to the Galatians. His apostolic authority came not only through Jesus Christ, but through God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead. I wonder why Paul added this.

Could it be to demonstrate that Jesus who died and now is raised from the dead and is alive, can call him, even though He did not call him in the days of His flesh, when He called the Twelve? What difference does it make that Paul did not accompany Christ in His earthly ministry? Christ is alive; God has raised Him from the dead.

"And this risen Christ has appeared to me, and chosen me to be one of His apostles," says Paul. Why this seems to be an even more privileged position which he enjoys. How then can his authority be questioned with credentials like that?

2. A Preview of His Convictions (Galatians 1:3-5)

Paul follows this preview of his own apostolic authority with a preview of the doctrine his is going to expound in the book. This comes in the form of a greeting--the kind of greeting which was commonly used in letter writing of Paul's day.

"Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen" (Galatians 1:3-5).

Paul combines the common Greek greeting (grace) with the common Hebrew greeting (peace), but as we know, he fills them with rich meaning far beyond what the Greeks or Hebrews ever imagined. Grace to Paul was more than a greeting. Grace is an attribute of God, a characteristic of all God's dealing with men, the source of man's salvation, a whole way of life. Grace is unmerited favor, God's best bestowed on those who deserve it the least.

By His grace God saves us. By His grace He keeps us. By His grace He provides all we need. We do not earn these blessings by doing good works. The best we can do is far below what it would take to earn them. We except them with thanksgiving and live in obedience to Him out of the gratitude of our hearts.

G - God's
R - riches
A - at
C - Christ's
E - expense

This is the theme of the whole epistle to the Galatians, wrapped up in one word in the greeting: grace.

We can stop worrying about pleasing Him and start growing in our spiritual lives. So many Christians worry about this. They want God to be good to them. They want God to be nice to them. So they worry about doing enough to please Him so He will be nice. No! Don't do that. We merely trust His grace, and let Him work through us to will and to do His own good pleasure, as Paul said to the Philippians.

"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

He's at work in us whether we deserve it or not. And to learn to live that kind of a life brings peace.

"Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ." And to this greeting Paul adds a thought, elucidating the doctrine of grace. It comes in the form of a relative clause, describing Jesus Christ--He is the one, "Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father" (Galatians 1:4).

Now what does Paul mean here?

Some have said that he refers to the future glory we have with Christ at His second coming, when we will be delivered out of this world. But the word used here is "age," which refers to the atmosphere of darkness and bondage in which we live. And the word "deliver "does not mean so much rescued out of, as it means "rescued from the power of."

It is true that Christ died for our sins, that ultimately we might be taken out of this realm of darkness to the glories of heaven. But what is just as blessed is the fact that we have already been delivered from the realm of darkness, as Paul told the Colossians.

"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love" (Colossians 1:13).

We have been rescued from the power of this age already. We have been delivered by the power of Christ from the curse and corruption of this age. We've been translated into another sphere, into the family of God, into the kingdom of God in its present expression.

There's no struggling and striving left for us, in order to enjoy victory over sin. There's no fear and frustration over how we can please God. There's no long detailed list of intricate details to which we must slavishly and superstitiously submit, in order to earn the favor of the Almighty. There is simply surrender to a glorious and wonderful Person who lives within our hearts, and who has accomplished a wondrous deliverance for us by His grace. God sent His Son to the cross for us. Now we choose to submit ourselves to His Lordship.

My deliverance comes not by struggling with things, but through my blessed relationship with Jesus. Oh, there will be things that I will not do any longer, lusts that will vanish from my life, expressions of self that now must be destroyed. But these things will go, not because some man told me they were wrong, or some group forced me to give them up, or because I'm trying to gain favor with anybody, God or man. They will go because my Lord and Savior claims my all and I have yielded myself totally to Him, and He has shown me through this blessed relationship things that are not pleasing to Him, and in His grace He has provided a great deliverance for me through His death. Oh, how the legalistic Galatians needed to learn this lesson. This was the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen.

It was just a brief salutation, but the Galatians got a whole course in theology in it. The key to victorious Christian living is not gritting your teeth, struggling and striving, and giving it the old college try. It's claiming what Jesus Christ has provided for us on the cross of Calvary by His grace.

They will hear more as they read on. The doctrine will be amplified and explained, and applied to their lives with power. But their minds were prepared through this piercing preview.

3. A Preview of Their Confusion (Galatians 1:6-9)

The preview continues in verse 6. Normally at this point in Paul's letters we find the word of praise or commendation to those to whom he is writing. But it is missing. It is at this point some of his letters that we find a word of thanksgiving to God for them, and a prayer to God for them. But all that is missing here. Listen to this penetrating comment:

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel" (Galatians 1:6).

"I marvel," says Paul. "I am absolutely astonished. This is a sudden and unexpected turn of events that astounds me: that you are so quickly after your conversion are removing yourselves from the gospel of God's grace, which you heard and believed, and by which you were saved."

I think Paul must have been trembling when he penned those words. His converts were precious to him. He cared about their spiritual welfare. They were a source of joy to him. To the Thessalonians whom he had won to Christ, he wrote that they were his hope, his joy, and his crown of rejoicing (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

And I think that the Galatians were defecting from the truth was about more than his heart could bear. He was not concerned that any truly born-again person would become unsaved again. He was concerned lest they should become stagnant and fruitless in their spiritual lives through this Judaistic legalism that was creeping in. He was furthermore concerned about others who should come into contact with them, and be completely mislead as to the way of salvation. I wonder whether in his own heart, he even doubted their salvation, however, because of their proneness to fall into error.

But there is hope: that defection is not complete. The tense of the verb Paul uses reveals that it is even then going on. There is the possibility that the Galatians may be spared, and that is why the letter is being speeded on its way.

In verses 6 and 7, Paul called it "a different gospel, which is not another ." In verse 6, he uses the word that means "another of a different kind." We don't really have an English word that means that, but the word that Paul uses in verse 6 means "another of a different kind."

The gospel, the good news those Judaizers are preaching, is not really good news. It's something altogether different. It's not even a gospel. It's not "another of the same kind" (the word he uses in verse 7). It's a perversion of the gospel of Christ, with which these false teachers were troubling them. It's a twisted, warped, perverted, distorted, garbled, falsified message, which should not even be honored with the title, "good news." Paul feels rather strongly about this subject. And if you're not yet convinced, listen to him as he continues.

"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 accursed" (Galatians 1:8).

Those are strong, strong words. Any message, other than the message of God's grace, which he had already preach to them, ought to be condemned. Any messenger who preached any other message ought to be accursed. Paul is so convinced of the truth of the message of grace, that he doesn't even care if an angel from heaven preaches another message--did you see that? An angel from heaven. Even if an angel preaches a different gospel other than the gospel of God's grace, don't you believe it! As a matter of fact, let that angel be accursed! Those are strong words.

And, oh, how the world needs to hear them! There are so many today preaching a message that is directly contradictory to this message from God's word. In countless scores of Protestant and Catholic church today, men and women are hearing this false gospel message of works. Do good, keep the Ten Commandments, work, work, work, and you'll get there. I'm not suggesting that we at this church have an edge on the truth and nobody else is right. It's just that it is wrong to preach a gospel based on works. That isn't "good news" at all.

"Keep this ritual. Submit to that ordinance. And if you try your very best, a nice and loving God wouldn't turn you away." Every messenger who proclaims that false gospel stands under the curse of Almighty God. The Bible doesn't say you can't know whether you've done enough. Rather, the Bible says you can be sure you cannot do enough. No matter how hard you try, how pure your intentions, it's not enough to satisfy a holy God.

"All our righteous deeds are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).

The way of salvation among our friends, the Mormons, is salvation by works. I don't know of any group for whom this verse is more applicable. Joseph Smith said that an angel gave him that message. Paul said, even if an angel preaches another message of a different kind, let him be accursed.

"By grace are you saved, through faith, that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Why is this so important to Paul? Why should he curse any person who preaches salvation by works? I'll tell you why. Because it is impossible for a person to be trusting his own works, and trusting in God's grace, at the same time. They are mutually exclusive. Either you repudiate the value of any good works you have done, or you're not relying upon God's unmerited favor. Unless you are relying completely upon God's unmerited favor, then you are not saved, for salvation is by grace.

Literally millions upon millions are blind victims of the wrong information, information that is sending them straight to hell. Dr. H.A. Ironside tells the story of a woman with her little baby on a train. The train was traveling through one of the northeastern states at the dead of winter, and a fierce storm was blowing outside. It moved slowly behind a snowplow, and all the while the woman fidgeted nervously. She was to get off at a small station along the way, and be met by some friends. She stopped the conductor as he passed and said, "You will be sure and let me know the right station, won't you?"

He assured her that he would, and asked her to remain right there in that seat until he told her it was time to get off. "Don't get off the train until I tell you." Several other times, she reminded him, and he in turn reminded her: "Don't get off the train until I tell you."

There was a man across the aisle who said, "Pardon me, but I know this route well. The conductor may forget to inform passengers because he gets so busy. But I will tell you when to get off, and help you with your baggage. It is the first stop after such and such a city," and he named a big city.

When the name of the city was called, he leaned over to reminder the woman that the next stop was hers. She looked around nervously, but no conductor. The train stopped.

The man said, "This is it!" He helped her down the steps in the blowing blizzard, so fierce they couldn't see but a few steps in front of them. He climbed back in, and the train went on. Several minutes later the train stopped again and the conductor came and noticed the woman was gone. "Where is that woman who wanted to get off at the station?"

The man told the conductor that since he hadn't come to help her, he had seen to it that she got off all right.

"When did she get off?"asked the conductor.

"When the train stopped," replied to help a gentleman. "Just a little bit ago."

"But that was not a station! That was an emergency stop! I was looking after that woman. Why, man, you have put her off in a wild country district in the midst of the storm where there will be nobody to meet her?!"

There was only one thing to do. They reversed the train and slowly moved back to the approximate place of the emergency stop. How many hours later I don't know, but they found them, mother and baby, lying on the ground, frozen.

She was the victim of wrong information.

I don't usually share stories like that. It makes you feel bad. But it graphically represents this point: There are people who are going to experience something far more agonizing than freezing to death; they are going to go to hell because somebody is giving them wrong information. All of our works, no matter how righteous, are not good enough. There is only one way to secure eternal life. Well-meaning friends or family may tell you otherwise, but the only way to heaven is by God's grace, and His grace alone by the substitutionary sacrifice and atoning blood of Christ on the cross.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The world needs to hear this true gospel message, beloved. Don't confuse it when you witness. By all means, witness! But be sure to tell the accurate message of the truth of the glorious gospel of grace.

Trusting Jesus as Your Savior

God offers to give eternal life to those who acknowledge that they have sinned at that nothing they have done is good enough when measured by God's standard. Rather, God provided an acceptable sacrifice through the death of His perfect Son, so that those who accept that gift of grace, receive it by faith, and make Jesus the Lord of their lives will be with God forever.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father help us to make the message clear, that we don't deserve to be forgiven and accepted by a holy and righteous God. Thank you for paying the consequences of our sin through Jesus, and providing a way for our salvation through grace. May our love for your grow and our desire to obey You increase, not so we can earn something from You, God, but so that we can enjoy You. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Continue to GA-2A: Paul's Private Line (transcript not yet available)