Galatians 1

The Letter to the Galatians churches is the oldest of Paul’s letters in the Bible. I think it will be helpful to get a clear understanding of what Paul meant by ‘Good News’ (or Gospel, depending on which translation you are using) and by apostle. He uses these terms many times in this letter.

The Good News is the announcement that God has won victory over sin and death. The Good News includes what God has done in Christ and how God accomplished this victory. The victory is through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. The good news about the Good News is that all people, everywhere, may partake of God’s victory through faith that Jesus is the Risen Son of God. And, when people accept Jesus as God’s Messiah, they are adopted into God’s own family.

The word apostle means a person who is sent to proclaim the Good News. At the time of Paul the title Apostle was reserved for those people who had personally been with Jesus when He was on earth. Some people accused Paul of not being an Apostle because Paul was not one of Jesus’ followers before Jesus was crucified. Others suggested Paul was only a ‘junior’ Apostle because he was sent by the real Apostles like Peter and John. Paul makes the point in chapter one that he is qualified to be an Apostle because He has been with Jesus and that it was Jesus who called him to proclaim the Good News.

Two other points will be helpful to understand Paul’s message to the Galatians, and to us. Why do we do the things we do in church? The Galatian churches had started requiring the keeping of Jewish law in order to earn or maintain their relationship with God. Paul wants the church to be grounded in the Good News that our relationship with God is first, last and always based on faith, not works.

In verse 10 Paul states he is a ‘servant’ of Jesus. That word has lost something in translation. Earlier versions of the Bible translated the word as ‘slave’ of the Messiah. This is important because a slave bore the marks, or scars, of a slave. False apostles are not prone to suffer for their cause. If our faith costs us nothing, others will value it as nothing.

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?