The Early Church · c. AD 48–55
Chapter 12
A Letter to Galatia
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
For parents
Paul writes about circumcision all through this letter (its card explains the word plainly), and he tells how he once persecuted the assembly of God and wrecked it (1:13, 23). He uses strong words about those troubling the Galatians: anyone who preaches to them another “good news” is to be cursed (1:8–9), and he wishes they would cut themselves off (5:12). He lists the works of the flesh, among them adultery, sexual sin, murders, drunkenness and wild parties (5:19–21).
This is a letter from , an , and all the brothers who are with him, to the of . Paul writes that he is amazed: they are turning away so quickly to a different “good news”. Some people, he says, are troubling them and want to twist the Good News of .
The letter begins: “Paul, an apostle, and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia. I am an apostle not from people or through any human being, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. He gave himself for our sins, to free us from this present evil age, as our God and Father willed. To him be the glory forever and ever. .
“It amazes me how quickly you are deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ, to follow a different ‘good news’. But there isn’t another ‘good news’. It is only that some people are troubling you and want to twist the Good News of Christ.
“Even if it were we ourselves, or an angel from heaven, who preached to you any ‘good news’ other than what we preached to you, let him be . As we have said before, so I now say again: if anyone at all preaches to you any ‘good news’ other than the one you received, let him be cursed.
“Am I now looking for the favor of people, or of God? Or am I working to please people? I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ if I were still pleasing people.”
Then Paul tells them where his message came from. “Brothers and sisters, I am telling you this about the Good News that I preached: it is not a human message. I didn’t receive it from any person, and I wasn’t taught it. It came to me through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
“You have heard about the way I lived back when I was in the Jews’ religion: how I persecuted the assembly of God beyond all measure and wrecked it. I went further in the Jews’ religion than many people my own age among my countrymen, and I was far more passionate about the traditions of my ancestors.
“But from my mother’s womb God had set me apart, and he called me through his grace. It pleased him to reveal his Son in me, so I could preach him among the . When that happened, I didn’t go straight off to talk it over with anyone. I didn’t go up to to those who were apostles before me, either. I went away into , and then I returned to .
“Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit , and I stayed fifteen days with him. But of the other apostles I saw no one except . As for the things I am writing to you, look: before God, I’m not lying.
“Then I came to the regions of and . The assemblies of that were in Christ still didn’t know me by sight. All they heard was this: ‘The man who once persecuted us now preaches the faith that he once tried to destroy.’ So they gave glory to God because of me.”
Paul goes on with his story. “Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with , and I took with me too. I went up because of a revelation. I laid out for them the Good News that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did it in private, in front of those who were respected. I was afraid that I might be running, or had run, for nothing.
“Titus, who was with me, was a Greek, but not even he was forced to be . This was because of the false brothers who had been brought in secretly. They crept in to spy on the liberty that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. We didn’t give in to them or submit to them, not for an hour, so that the truth of the Good News would stay with you.
“As for those who were thought to be important, whatever they were makes no difference to me. God doesn’t play favorites. Those who were respected added nothing to me. Just the opposite. They saw that I had been trusted with the Good News for the uncircumcised, as Peter had been with the Good News for the circumcised. The one who worked through Peter as an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me with the Gentiles.
“James and and John were thought of as pillars. When they saw the grace that was given to me, they shook hands with Barnabas and me as partners, agreeing that we would go to the Gentiles, and they would go to the circumcised. They only asked us to remember the poor, which I too was eager to do.”
“But when Peter came to , I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned. Before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and held himself apart, because he feared those who were of the circumcision.
“The rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. When I saw that they weren’t walking straight according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter in front of them all, ‘If you, a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you force the Gentiles to live like the Jews?
“‘We are Jews by birth, and not sinners from among the Gentiles. Yet we know that people aren’t by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no human being will be justified by the works of the law.
“‘But suppose that while we were seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves turned out to be sinners too. Is Christ then a servant of sin? Never! If I rebuild the things I tore down, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. Through the law, I died to the law, so I could live for God.
“‘I have been with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. I don’t reject the grace of God. For if is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!’”
Then Paul turns to the Galatians themselves. “Foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, so that you don’t obey the truth? Jesus Christ was openly shown among you as crucified, right before your eyes!
“I just want to learn this from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Are you that foolish? You began in the Spirit. Are you now being made complete in the flesh? Did you suffer so many things for nothing, if it really is for nothing? So the one who gives you the Spirit and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
“It is just as it was with : he ‘believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.’ So understand this: the people of faith are Abraham’s children. The Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. So it told Abraham the Good News beforehand: ‘In you all the nations will be blessed.’ So the people of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
“All who are of the works of the law are under a curse, since it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who doesn’t keep on doing all the things that are written in the book of the law.’ It is plain that no one is justified by the law before God, for ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not of faith. Instead, ‘The man who does them will live by them.’
“Christ us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. As it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’ This was so the blessing of Abraham could come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, and so we could receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
“Brothers and sisters, let me put it in human terms. Even when it is only a man’s , no one cancels it or adds to it once it has been confirmed. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his . He doesn’t say, ‘To descendants’, as if speaking of many, but speaking of one: ‘To your offspring’, which is Christ.
“What I mean is this. The law came four hundred thirty years later. It does not cancel a covenant that God had confirmed beforehand in Christ, and it does not make the promise empty. If the inheritance comes from the law, then it doesn’t come from a promise anymore. But God has given it to Abraham by a promise.
“Then what is the law for? It was added because of wrongdoing, until the offspring came, the one to whom the promise had been made. It was laid down through angels, by the hand of a . Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.
“Is the law against God’s promises, then? Never! If there had been a law that could give life, then righteousness really would have come from the law. But the Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, so the promise by faith in Jesus Christ could be given to those who believe.
“Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, shut in to wait for the faith that would be revealed later. So the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
“You are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. All of you who were into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and according to promise.”
“Here is what I mean: as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, even though everything belongs to him. He is under guardians and until the day his father has set. It is the same with us. When we were children, we were held as slaves under the elemental principles of the world.
“But when the time had fully come, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, and so that we might be adopted as children.
“And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, calling out, ‘, Father!’ So you are not a slave anymore, but a son; and if you are a son, then you are an heir of God through Christ.
“Back then, when you didn’t know God, you were in slavery to those who by nature are not gods. But now you have come to know God, or rather, to be known by God. So why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles? Do you want to be their slaves all over again? You keep days, months, seasons, and years. I am afraid for you. I may have wasted my work on you.
“Brothers and sisters, I beg you: become like me, because I have also become like you. You did me no wrong. It was because of a weakness in my body, as you know, that I preached the Good News to you the first time. Something in my body was a temptation to you, but you didn’t look down on it or reject it. Instead you received me as you would an angel of God, as you would Christ Jesus.
“What was that blessing you enjoyed? I tell you truly that if it had been possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me. So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
“They are eager for you, but not in a good way. They want to cut you off, so that you will be eager for them. It is always good to be eager in a good cause, and not only when I am there with you.
“My little children, I am in the pains of childbirth over you again, until Christ is formed in you. But I would like to be with you now, and to change my tone, because I am at a loss about you.”
“Tell me, you who wish to be under the law: don’t you listen to the law? It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant and one by the free woman. The son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.
“These things contain an : these are two covenants. One is from , bearing children into slavery, and that is . This Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and she matches the Jerusalem that exists now, because she is a slave along with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free; she is the mother of us all.
“As it is written, ‘Rejoice, you who are childless, who don’t give birth! Break out and shout, you who don’t feel the pains of labor! The women who are left alone have more children than the woman who has a husband.’
“Brothers and sisters, we are children of promise, as was. Back then, the one born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, and it is that way now too. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Throw out the servant and her son, because the son of the servant will not share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.’ So, brothers and sisters, we aren’t children of a servant, but of the free woman.
“Stand firm, then, in the freedom with which Christ has made us free, and don’t get tangled up again in a of slavery.
“Look: I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no use to you. Yes, I say it again to every man who receives circumcision: he is bound to do the whole law. You who want to be justified by the law are separated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace.
“Through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision amounts to anything, but faith working through love does.
“You were running well! Who got in your way and stopped you from obeying the truth? This persuading isn’t from the one who calls you. A little yeast grows through the whole lump of dough. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will think no other way. But the one troubling you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.
“As for me, if I still preach circumcision, brothers and sisters, why am I still persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the has been taken away. I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off.”
“Brothers and sisters, you were called to freedom. Only don’t use your freedom as an opening for the flesh, but through love be servants to one another. The whole law is fulfilled in one saying: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you don’t consume one another.
“But I say this: walk by the Spirit, and you won’t carry out the cravings of the flesh. The flesh sets its desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. These two are opposed to each other, so that you may not do the things that you desire. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
“Now the works of the flesh are plain to see: , sexual sin, impurity, lust, worshiping , sorcery, hatred, fighting, jealousy, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, factions, envy, murders, drunkenness, wild parties, and things like these. I warn you ahead of time, as I warned you earlier, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and cravings.
“If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.
“Brothers and sisters, even if someone is caught doing something wrong, you who are spiritual must restore that person gently. Watch yourself, so that you aren’t tempted too. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
“If anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he is fooling himself. Each one should examine his own work, and then he will have reason to boast in himself, and not in someone else. Each one will carry his own burden.
“Whoever is taught the word should share every good thing with the one who teaches him.
“Don’t be fooled: God is not mocked. Whatever someone sows, that is what he will also reap. If someone sows to his own flesh, he will reap decay from the flesh. But if he sows to the Spirit, he will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
“Let’s not tire of doing good. If we don’t give up, we will reap when the time comes. So then, whenever we have the chance, let’s do what is good toward everyone, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith.”
Near the end, Paul writes: “Look how large the letters are that I write to you with my own hand.
“Everyone who wants to make a good impression in the flesh is pressing you to be circumcised, only so that they won’t be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the ones who receive circumcision don’t keep the law themselves, but they want to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.
“But I will boast in nothing but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. In Christ Jesus, circumcision isn’t anything, and neither is uncircumcision. What matters is a new creation. Peace and mercy be on all who walk by this rule, and on God’s Israel.
“From now on, let no one cause me any trouble, because I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus branded on my body. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.”