Day 257

Isaiah 15:1–18:7; Galatians 1:1-24; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 23:12

TODAY WE BEGAN a revered letter from the apostle Paul —the letter to the Galatians. In Paul’s time, Galatia was a province of the Roman Empire, but the area is now contained within the modern-day country of Turkey. In previous eras, the Galatians were known as Gauls, or Celts.

We know of five different churches in Galatia established during Paul’s first missionary journey. These were the churches in Pisidia, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Since Paul addressed this letter to the “churches in Galatia,” we can safely assume Paul wrote to these communities.

We will soon see why this is such an important document in New Testament theology, but we will also notice that the issues Paul was dealing with in 2 Corinthians —the letter we just concluded —were also issues in Galatia: People had visited these churches after Paul and taught what Paul considered another gospel. Specifically, the Galatians were being told that they must obey Jewish customs and practices in order to follow Jesus, including male circumcision and adherence to the Mosaic law —something Paul stood staunchly against because in Paul’s view, Jesus had fulfilled the law, and a new covenant had been initiated. Paul used his letter to the Galatians as a way to passionately dispel the inaccuracies.

We’re not clear whether Paul wrote Galatians before the Jerusalem council or after. Some hold the view that Paul wrote this letter before the council. If this is the case, visitors to the Galatian churches were undermining Paul’s message in an attempt to align the teachings of Paul with those of the Jerusalem church before they had wrestled with the issue —and Paul was not happy about it. This would make Galatians one of the very earliest Christian writings, and it may be Paul’s first letter to any church.

If Paul wrote Galatians after the Jerusalem council, then Paul was using this letter to forcefully reiterate what the council had decided —that non-Jewish believers (or Gentiles) did not need to convert to Judaism in order to be saved. Logically, it would seem that Paul would use the document issued from Jerusalem (and preserved later in the book of Acts) to support his argument if this were the case, but there has been much debate over the centuries.

The argument Paul lays out in Galatians —and the underlying issues that prompted it —were very weighty issues at that time for several reasons. Whereas Judaism was an exclusive religion for Jews, allowing faith in Jesus without the cover of Judaism opened up salvation through Jesus Christ to everyone in the world. Once this decision was made, it clearly separated what we now know as Christianity from Judaism, which ultimately brought persecution from the Jews and Romans alike.

The content in Galatians has become foundational in New Testament theology. The gospel of freedom, grace, and justification through faith are all outlined in this little letter. Let’s reacquaint ourselves with these core truths as we journey through Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

MEDITATION:

Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge.