Chapter 1

Introduction

Who are the Galatians? During the course of European history after the breakdown of the Roman empire there was a tremendous surge of various races across the Euro mountains, out of the Mongolian perimeter of that area of Asia. Great hordes of barbarians moved into Europe. There were the Goths, the Huns, the Germans, and other groups. One of these groups is known generally as the Celts. They are actually part of a greater organisation. When this particular group finally reached the English channel in their momentum they stopped and regrouped. At this time they broke up into three organisations. One group crossed the English channel and these are the ones we know as the Celts today. The Celts fostered several races in the British Isles. They were later moved back by other invasions and the finally wound up in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The main body of them survived in Ireland.

The second group decided to stay in France, which was not at that time “France.” They became known as the Gauls.

A third group of them decided they didn’t like Europe and they were going home. So they did something that was most unusual for that day, they started to go east. After fighting everyone along the way they finally decided to move into Greece. They moved into the Greek peninsula and when they came to the great city of Delphi they were opposed by the Greeks and in 290 BC they fought a tremendous battle. As a result of this battle they were driven out of the Greek peninsula. So they had to pick another spot and they moved on east and finally they came to Asia Minor. There they conquered everyone around them and settled down. They became known as the Galatians. They are first cousins to the Irish and to some of the people who settled in France.

There were actually three tribes but they welded into a very strong kingdom. They sat on their plateau and on the plains below and they held out against everyone who came along. No one was able to conquer them. Then one of their kings came along by the name of Amyntas. he was quite a fighter but decided to remain a bachelor. Consequently he didn’t have any crown prince to whom he could pass on the kingdom of Galatia. After spending most of his life and his people’s time fighting he finally decided that when it time for him to die to the Roman empire, which he did. So when Amyntas died the Romans took over this kingdom and it became a Roman province in the empire known as the province of Galatia. It is in this particular area that the apostle Paul came in the southern part of Galatia on his first missionary journey. The full details of his evangelisation in this area are given in Acts chapter 13 and 14. As a result many wonderful churches were established. After Paul left this particular area the Judaisers followed and they immediately tried to discredit the apostleship of Paul, and then they immediately taught the exact opposite of what Paul had preached: a. That salvation is by works; b, Spirituality is by works. Consequently the book of Galatians is written to these people to straighten out these two great points, and as a result it is one of the greatest attacks against legalism.

In the Greek of this book we have the most forceful, strong statements in the entire Word of God. Paul is not only sarcastic but he is absolutely brutal with the Galatians. In very clear Greek he calls them suckers, stupid, and ignoramuses plus many other things which we will see as we go along. He also points out how quickly they departed from doctrine and fell into the debater’s technique of the legalists. It is to this day one of the greatest monuments to the grace of God. In a polemic way the subject is the same as Ephesians: grace. But Ephesians approaches it from the standpoint of positive statements whereas Galatians is very negative in its approach. Paul is very angry as he writes to the Galatians and he often leaves out verbs and there are many types of syntax which are used to show that all of the time he wrote Galatians he was “pounding the pulpit,” shouting at them. And he doesn’t let up until the last chapter.

Paul wrote the epistle from Corinth. News came that the Galatians were going legalistic, that the legalisers (the Judaisers) came in from Palestine and persuaded the Gentile Galatians that they couldn’t be saved until they were circumcised. Apparently thousands of Galatian Gentiles decided that they weren’t really saved by receiving the gospel and many of them were circumcised. The news came to Paul in Corinth and he sat down and wrote them this message. They thought, in addition to that, that they had to keep the Mosaic Law for spirituality. They were very confused.

Verses 1-5, the salutation.

In verse one we have the identification of the human author. It is declared to be Paul. The word means “little.” Paul was undoubtedly the greatest Christian who ever lived right up to this moment and also the greatest of all the apostles and therefore the greatest leader of the Christian church. Yet his name means “little” and it reminds us once again that whatever we are we are by the grace of God.

Next, after his name, we have his rank. He is an absolute spiritual dictator — “an apostle.” The word has often been construed to mean one who is sent. That isn’t quite true. The word means one sent all right but it must be understood how the word was originally used. The Athenians had the finest navy of all. They couldn’t trust their naval officers, however, because the Spartans were bribing the admirals of Athens to throw the naval battles. After this happened a couple of times the Athenians got tired of it. So they would have about five or six of the highest ranking Athenian admirals sitting in a room and they would then give orders for the fleet to set sail. Just as the fleet was leaving the harbour they would finally appoint one of the admirals to be the admiral of the fleet and would personally escort him down to the harbour and send him out to his flagship. In this way they forestalled any possibility of bribing him. Therefore they finally got around to calling the admiral of the fleet the one who is sent to command so he won’t be bribed on the way. That is the word apostle. Eventually the word apostle comes to mean one who holds the highest rank in an organisation. And that is the connotation of the word as we have it here: “Paul and apostle” which means that he had the highest rank anyone has ever held in the Church Age. Apostleship is a spiritual gift and there are very few people who have ever held this particular rank.

The word “apostle” is also used in connection with the disciples before the Church Age began. This is found in the tenth chapter of Matthew, but the apostles there were sent specifically to the house of Israel and they had nothing to do with the apostles of the Church. This all occurred before the Church Age. However, eleven out of the twelve disciples to Israel became apostles. Judas, of course, was not. In addition to that there were five or possibly six other people who became apostles. In all not more than seventeen men have ever held this great gift of apostleship. In addition to the eleven who became disciples we have Paul, mentioned here; Barnabas, mentioned in Acts 14:14; Galatians 2; James, the Lord’s brother who wasn’t even a believer until after the resurrection; Apollos also was an apostle, according to 1 Corinthians 4:6, 9; Silas and Timothy, mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6 as possibly being apostles.

Notice the source of apostleship — “not of men”. “Not” is an obvious negative; “of” is not of at all, it is literally, “not from men.” “Of” is a)po, the preposition of ultimate source. The negative in front of the preposition means that man is not the source. Man does not assign spiritual gifts, all spiritual gifts are the appointment of God.

“Neither by means of man.” The principle behind that phrase is that no apostle ever perpetuated his office by appointing a successor.

1. Apostleship came after the ascension. Matthew 16:18 is before the ascension and the keys of the kingdom passage has nothing to do with Peter’s authority in the Church.

2. For anyone to claim apostleship today they would have to be the recipients of direct revelation from God and no one today is the recipient of direct revelation from God. All divine revelation is confined to the Word of God. God reveals Himself through the Word. In addition to that, to be an apostle one had to personally see the resurrected Christ and the resurrected Christ is not revealing Himself any more.

3. According to 2 Corinthians 12:12 no one today or in Church history has achieved apostolic stature, it was an appointment of the Holy Spirit and along with it went the gift of miracles which means that the individual could perform miracles at will. There is no born-again member of the human race who can perform miracles at will today.

4. The gift of apostleship died in the first generation of the Church. No provision was ever made for successors. That means that the purpose of apostleship was to take up the slack until the canon of scripture was completed. God’s revelation to us is confined to the Word, to the canon of scripture. Therefore, the apostles took the place of the canon until the canon was completed. The canon is the absolute authority. The apostles exercised that same absolute authority until the canon was completed.

No serious claim was ever made to apostolic succession for several hundred years. In fact the first serious claim to apostolic succession was made by Leo the 1st who was bishop of Rome or pastor of the Roman church. He claimed to have power over other churches around him and therefore he made the claim that he was an apostle and that Peter had passed it on and on, and so the pastor of the Roman church was automatically the apostle. In 1 Peter 5:1-4 Peter only recognised himself as a fellow pastor or fellow bishop. He did not claim any superiority over any of the other bishops.

There is another interesting gap in history here. There is no real historical proof that Peter was ever in Rome and therefore Peter was never the bishop of Rome. Peter did his greatest ministry in Alexandria in Egypt, and in other places as indicated in the book of Acts. He operated out of Jerusalem for a long time, out of Antioch. He founded a great church in Alexandria, but there isn’t any proof that he was ever the bishop of Rome in the first place. If any of the churches of the first century have a right to claim that their pastor was the leader over the other churches it would have to be first of all Jerusalem, and James was the presiding bishop there, not Peter. After Jerusalem Antioch became the centre, then Corinth, Ephesus, and later on Constantinople could claim some fame along that line. It was not until 500 years after the founding of the Church on the day of Pentecost that it was established or anyone was persuaded that the bishop of Rome or the pastor of the Roman church had any superior powers, at which time Gregory the Great claimed papal infallibility, and along with that apostolic succession.

Romanism has made some assumptions which can never be answered. First of all, why did all of the other apostles stand independently of Peter. They have never answered this. If Peter had the highest authority why did Paul brace him? Why did Peter himself say that he didn’t have any superior authority in 1 Peter 5:1-4, and why in 2 Peter chapter 3 did Peter say that Paul’s epistles were the highest and most important of all. and why in 1 Peter chapter 2 did Peter say that every believer is a stone in the building and that Peter is not a rock? There is nothing in history and nothing in scripture to prove that Peter ever even visited Rome.

Another very important point: The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not passed on. They are not perpetuated through physical birth and they are not perpetuated through some system. So there is no possible way to pass on a spiritual gift to someone else, only the Holy Spirit can do that.

If anyone has a real claim to papacy on the basis of the first century we have to admit it is Antioch. Peter was just a peon at Antioch as illustrated by Galatians chapter two. If the papal concept is true we would have a perfect historical record from the time of Peter right down to 590 when Gregory made this claim. But for 300 years only four Roman bishops are known.

Next in our verse we have “but” which introduces a conjunction of contrast, and we have the third declaration in source. First source: “not of men”; second source: “neither by a man”; third source: “by Jesus Christ.” Paul is an apostle because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “by” here is the same preposition dia plus the genitive and it means “through the instrumentality of Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ is an instrument in the appointing of Paul as an apostle. It was Jesus Christ who met Paul on the Damascus road and had the first conversation with Paul.

But that isn’t all, he is not only an apostle by the instrumentality of Christ but by God the Father who is mentioned next, because God the Father of the divine plan. Phase two began historically on the day of Pentecost and therefore God the Father who is the author of the plan must have a say on who will be an apostle when the Church starts and, until the canon of the scripture is completed, who will occupy that highest of all offices. And noticed that God the Father is mentioned here as having raised Jesus Christ from the dead. We have an aorist active participle here, He raised Him in a point of time. The Holy Spirit was also involved in raising Christ from the dead — Romans 8:11; 1 Peter 3:18. One person is not mentioned here in the appointment of the apostleship and that is the Holy Spirit. But He is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:11. All spiritual gifts are the appointment of the Holy Spirit as well as the Son, as well as the Father. So technically the Bible recognises that every spiritual gift is an appointment of the Trinity.

This is in great contrast to the Judaisers, the legalists, who have now infiltrated the Galatian cities and the churches there. Their appointment is man-made. They are representing the Jews back in Jerusalem, the Judaisers, and they are not appointed by God at all. This is, of course, the first answer that Paul has to the legalists. The legalists attack the apostleship of Paul, they claimed that he didn’t have the authority and now Paul is proving that he does.

In verse 2 we have the identification of the recipients of this epistle. Later on they will be called suckers; now they are called brethren. “And all the brethren” — this is a reference to those on his own staff — “who are with me, unto the churches of Galatia.” The brethren refer to the Pauline team and this is a great reminder that no man serves the Lord by himself, and that there is no such thing as a “great Christian” in the Lord’s service as if he did it all by himself. Some Christians are obviously more prominent than others but behind any Christian who receives historical recognition, publicity, or credit for being a great Christian, there is always a team of believers - “which are with me” — Paul recognises the existence of the team — “unto the churches at Galatia.’ The word “churches” is dative plural of advantage. It is to the advantage of Christianity to have organised local churches.

What are the advantages of the local church?

1. The teaching of God’s Word. That is the primary purpose. A local church should have in its pulpit a man who has the gift of pastor and teacher. Everyone needs Bible teaching.

2. Worship. A local church is provided for worship under the proper use of spiritual gifts.

3. Fellowship with other believers.

4. Evangelism, but the primary emphasis on evangelism is believers going out and doing it day by day.

5. Edification.

6. Organised prayer.

Verse 3 — the pattern of God’s plan. Notice always the principle: Grace comes before peace. You cannot have peace before grace. Peace is always the result of grace. Phase one of God’s plan for the human race is salvation. The executor of phase one is the Lord Jesus Christ. Phase two is the believer in time. The executor is the Holy Spirit. Phase three is the believer in eternity. The executor is God the Father. In each phase grace always precedes peace. Phase: Grace — Christ died on the cross for our sins. We believe in Christ and immediately we have peace with God — Romans 5:1. So in phase one grace comes before peace. Christ died for our sins, He provided salvation, and the peace comes as a result of receiving it. In phase two grace comes before peace. Grace is the sum total of the divine operating assets for the believer and when we utilise these assets then we have peace. In phase three God has provided after death for every believer many wonderful things. As a result of these things we have peace — Revelation 21:4.

Remember that grace is the absence of human merit. We cannot earn it, we cannot deserve it. “to you” is dative of advantage, it is to the advantage of the human race to have God’s grace. Peace is always the result of grace, and notice, “peace from” — we have that preposition of ultimate source again — a)po. The ultimate source of peace is “God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ”; God the Father because He planned the plan, God the Son because He executed the plan.

In verses 4 and 5 we have the key to God’s plan. The key, of course is the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross.

Verse 4 — “Who” is a relative pronoun referring to the Lord Jesus Christ — “gave himself.” The word to give is an aorist tense — “who once and for all gave himself.” This is an active voice, the subject produces the action of the verb. The Lord Jesus Christ is the subject and He gave Himself — concept grace; “for our sins.” The preposition “for” is a preposition of substitution. He gave Himself as a substitute for our sin. There are two prepositions of substitution, this means “on behalf of.”

“that” introduces a purpose clause. This is why Christ gave Himself for our sins — “he might deliver us,” an aorist tense again. The word to “give” that we have just seen is an aorist participle. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb, the main verb: “that he might deliver.” He gave Himself first before He delivered us. Principle: There is no deliverance for the human race apart from the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from the work of Christ on the cross there is no deliverance for the human race.

“He might deliver” is in the aorist tense which means once and for all; middle voice, a middle voice of personal interest: Jesus had a personal interest in the deliverance. The subjunctive mood means that this deliverance is only potential. It depends on whether you believe in Jesus Christ or not. it recognises the existence of man’s volition. The fourth thing about this verb is that it means to rescue, to pluck someone out of the burning, as it were.

“from” — means out from; “this present evil world.” The present evil world stands for the domain of Satan. Satan is the ruler of this world. The word “present’ is a perfect active participle, means that Satan continues to rule this world until the second advent of Jesus Christ, which means there is no hope for this world or the world system, and that the solution to man’s problem is to be rescued from it, to be plucked out of the fire, and this can only be accomplished by regeneration, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore organisations which are trying to change up the world and improve the world are useless. The only solution to man’s problem is a personal solution: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” All other solutions will be useless because Satan will continue to be the ruler of this world; perfect tense of the word “present,” present with the result that it will keep on being evil until the second advent.

The word “world” is age, which refers to the fact that there will come a time when Satan will lose his rulership over this world. if you want to solve the world’s problems there are only two ways you can do it. One: get rid of Satan; two: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The former is impossible; the latter is very much the possibility.

“according to the will of God” — according to the standard, according to the norm of the will of God. The will of God refers to the divine plan; “and our Father” reminds us that we are in the solution. “Our” is a personal pronoun, the Father is the first person of the Trinity, the one who is the author of the plan is now our Father because we have received the solution.

Jesus Christ is the key to the Father’s plan; the cross is the central point of the plan; the cross is the only solution to man’s problems.

Verse 5 — “To whom” is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. To Christ be the glory. Notice something: The Mosaic law is omitted from this deliverance. You will notice that there is not one reference to being delivered by circumcision, deliverance by keeping the ten commandments, deliverance by being good, by being baptised, by joining a church, etc. Therefore, since Christ is the only solution to man’s problems and since Christ is the only answer then he is the only person who can receive glory — “To whom be glory.”

God’s plan is designed to save man and glorify Christ at the same time.

“forever and ever” — everyone who is in Christ will share that foreverness. W are in union with Him; He has eternal life; we share His eternal life, and therefore we are going to have the privilege of living in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ under environment which is perfect beyond description forever and ever.

The last word in verse 5 is “Amen” in which Paul says, “I believe it.”

In verses 6-9 we have the denunciation of the Galatian believers.

In verse 6 they are said to have gone absent without leave from grace. “I marvel” — present linear aktionsart. The word means to be amazed. Paul was constantly amazed at the defection of believers. It is interesting to note that usually when Paul left a newly organised church they were strong in the matter of doctrine. Paul had taught them a little basic doctrine and had given them information, and usually he left them in good spiritual condition. Then after he had been gone for awhile the Judaisers came along, and as they came along the first thing they did was to confuse everyone, and then after that there was spiritual defection. The Galatians are a perfect pattern of this particular picture. They were in good spiritual condition when Paul left them and then along came the legalists, the Judaisers from Jerusalem, and they began to tell them that they needed something beside faith for salvation and they began to teach spirituality by works. The result was that many of these Galatians defected. Apparently Paul was shock proof on most things but there was always one thing that did shock him: he could never understand how anyone could get even a little doctrine and then fall apart. He expresses his shock here by the words “I marvel,” which means literally, “I keep on being amazed.” The indicative mood indicates the reality of this shock and surprise. The active voice: the subject produces the action of the verb when Paul himself was shocked at the activity of the Galatians since his departure.

“that ye are so soon removed”. “Ye are removed” is a military word which means to go absent without leave, to desert in the face of the enemy. It is in the present tense which means linear aktionsart, but this is a different type of linear aktionsart. It is called connative which means they had begun to desert and were now in the place of carrying out the process of desertion. So they have begun their desertion by defecting from doctrine and they are continuing in that general direction. The middle voice here is a little different from the usual one. It does not mean the subject being benefited by the action of the verb, it simply means that the subject is responsible for the action of the verb by its own volition. So of their own volition the Galatians were deserting grace, they were leaving of their own volition. They had heard the truth, understood grace, they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and now all of a sudden they were going overboard. They had turned to legalism and were now following the Judaisers. The indicative mood, again, indicates the reality of the situation.

“from him” means from God the Father, the author of the divine plan and therefore the author of concept grace; “that calls you” — this refers to election. Wherever you find the verb to call in the New Testament it generally refers to election. There are a few exceptions. It is in the aorist tense: called in a point of time, the moment we believe in Christ. The active voice: God actually did the calling. The word “you” refers to the Galatians. The Galatians are in the election of God, they can never get out of it. Legalism is a deviation from God’s Word, God’s grace, and therefore God’s election. But even though they have joined the legalists there is a sense in which they cannot join the legalists and that is the sense that they will always will be in the family of God. They will never be able to change that.

The verb to call is connected with a preposition — “into the grace.” This particular verb is always used with three different prepositions in the doctrine of election. The word “in” here is the preposition. The word to call followed by the preposition “in” gives us the sphere of divine election. By going through the New Testament and finding the verb to call and noticing the preposition that follows it we can get a very wonderful understanding of some of the principles in the doctrine of election. In this verse we have “called in grace.” “In” is the preposition of sphere, which means that when it comes to the doctrine of election it is always in the sphere of grace. The sphere of grace means that God does it for us, we don’t earn it or deserve it. We cannot possibly merit it in any way of human activity, and therefore election is something that God does for us, not something that we do for God.

The next reference is Ephesians 4:4 where we have the verb “to call” again, followed by the preposition “in” [in the sphere of]. This time we learn that election is in the sphere of hope. In other words, the doctrine of election has a past and it has a future. The past of the doctrine of election is the plan of God billions of years ago whereby we now have eternal life. The future is said to be hope: a resurrection body, eternal life, sharing the destiny of the Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever.

Then in 1 Corinthians 7:15 we have this same verb followed by the preposition “in” again, and this time is means “called in the sphere of peace.” So election is based upon peace or the doctrine of reconciliation. Peace means simply this: that there is a barrier between man and God, and the Lord Jesus Christ removed this barrier by the cross so that man now has fellowship with God on the basis of the work of Christ. Peace means the removal of the barrier between man and God and/or the doctrine of reconciliation — Romans 5:1. So election is based upon the removal of the barrier between man and God, or the doctrine of reconciliation.

There is one other reference to this particular structure found in 1 Thessalonians 4:7 where again we

have the verb to call plus the preposition “in.” In each case it is “in the sphere of.” Here it is called in the sphere of holiness. Election is always in the sphere of holiness. Holiness refers simply to positional truth. The moment we believe in Christ we enter into union with Him. Christ is elected from all eternity past; we share His election and therefore the sphere of election is holiness. Holiness means separated unto God. Jesus Christ in His resurrection is separated unto God by being seated at the right hand of the Father. So understanding this phrase means you should be cognisant of the doctrine of session. Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father in the realm of His humanity. Therefore, in the sphere of the Lord Jesus Christ [in the sphere of holiness] we have our election. Election and holiness or positional truth are synonymous terms with a different emphasis. We get the word “sphere” from the preposition which follows the verb in each case.

Then next preposition is found once, it is kalew the verb to call, plus the preposition dia. Dia usually means through. It all depends on what case we have as the object, of the preposition. When you have dia plus the genitive case it means through or by instrumentality of. When it is dia plus the accusative case it means because of. In this particular case we have dia plus the genitive which means instrumental. Our reference is 2 Thessalonians 2:14 — “the means or the instrument of our calling.” “Whereunto he called you by our gospel.” The word “by” is our preposition dia, and we have dia plus the genitive which means by means of or through instrumentality of. So giving it a correct translation “Whereunto he called you by means of our gospel, or through the instrumentality of our gospel.” So the means of election is the gospel. Our election is based upon our response to the gospel. This is the other side of the doctrine of election. This is the side that you very rarely ever hear from what is known of hyper-Calvinism. Here is volition being included in the doctrine of election. It means simply that the gospel is the means or the instrumentality of divine election. By our response to the gospel we enter into the sphere of election.

The verb kalew, to call, is used with one other preposition — e)ij. This preposition gives us the purpose and we have a number of references whereby the purpose of election is given by having this verb “to call” followed by the preposition e)ij. The verb is used with 1 Corinthians 1:9. The purpose of our election is fellowship. God has called us to fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. The second purpose of election is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:12 — “that we might be a part of His kingdom.” The third purpose is found in 1 Timothy 6:12 - “he has called us to eternal life.” So the purpose of the doctrine of election is to provide eternal life for members of the human race. 1 Peter 2:9 — the enjoyment of light, the blessings which come to us after faith in Christ. In 1 Peter 2:21— suffering, which is confined to phase two. When you take this little verb kalew, to call, and check out the preposition with it you can develop a picture of the doctrine of election.

Conclusion: This verb plus the preposition indicates that God only elects or calls in the sphere of grace. No one can be under God’s election until he gets into the sphere of grace, and no one gets into the sphere of grace apart from personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why does Paul put it this way? He says, “I am shocked that you are so quickly absent without leave from Him that called you into the grace.” The point that he is making is this: When you received Christ as saviour you entered the grace pipe. The grace pipe includes divine election. You are elected, nothing can ever change that. Yet God who has elected you forever — election emphasises the volition of God — but you are the one who has deliberately chosen to go absent without leave from the one who has elected you. So Paul is shocked. So this particular combination of the verb plus the preposition indicates that God only elects or calls those who are in the sphere of grace. He never elects or calls those who are in the sphere of works, in the sphere of human merit, in the sphere of energy of the flesh, or in the sphere of human ability. Hence, God never calls in the sphere of the Mosaic law and one of the great points which will be made in Galatians: Believers are not under the law for salvation or spirituality. Notice that the Galatians have deserted grace and in their legalism they have gone to the Mosaic law. They have deserted to an area which can never provide life for them.

“unto another gospel” — “another” is a Greek word which means another of a different kind. In this verse and the next verse we have two words translated “another.” The first word is e)teroj and the second is a)lloj. In verse 6 we have e(teroj, translated “another”; in verse 7 a)lloj is translated “another.” The first word here means another of a different kind; the second means another of the same kind. So verse six concludes with “the grace of Christ unto another of a different kind of gospel which is not another of the same kind.” The point is that they started with the gospel of grace. They started by personally trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as saviour under the ministry of Paul. They understood grace and they began to operate on that principle. Then after Paul left and the Judaisers came around the Judaisers said that to be saved they had to keep the law, you can never get away from the Mosaic law, you must work, you must do something for your salvation. That is another of a different kind of gospel, it isn’t the gospel that Paul preached.

In verse 7 the word “but” is literally “except” — “except there be some that trouble you.” The reason that they have this false gospel in the Galatian cities is because “there be some that trouble.” The words “there be” is present linear aktionsart, they keep on existing, the trouble makers are still there; “and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” “Would pervert” is actually two words in the Greek. The first word expresses volition. It is their purpose, their volition, their desire to pervert the true gospel. The word for volition here is a present active participle, this keeps on being their volition. It is always the purpose of the Judaisers, of the legalists to pervert the gospel, to twist and to distort the grace of God. The second verb is an infinitive. It is translated here to pervert but it means to twist, to distort. It is an aorist infinitive which expresses purpose. It is the purpose of the legalist to distort, to twist, to corrupt the gospel and to introduce legalism to do it.

There is a principle here that Satan has always been active in the operation of twisting or distorting the gospel. In chapter two we will see some of the distortions which Paul brings out.

Verse 8 — “But though we.” The word “though” is literally a third class condition, or “if we” — maybe we will and maybe we won’t. The third class condition indicates the possibility of preaching the gospel — “or an angel from heaven.” The reason that Paul mentions an angel from heaven is sort of to chide the Galatians. When Paul first went to the Galatian cities they accepted him as a god or as an angel; now they are accepting the legalists as being true. All that Paul is saying by this word “angel in heaven” is, I want to remind you that you have been suckers before. Remember when you accepted me as an angel or as a god! In that, of course, they were suckers and it took Paul and Silas quite a while to persuade them that they were men with the gospel rather than some kind of a superior being. This is just a little left-handed way of reminding them of that fact.

These people who are in the Galatian cities now are not angels, they are legalists. They have accepted the legalists and again they are suckers. This is an inferential analogy.

“preach any other gospel.” The word “preach” is in the aorist tense, in a point of time; middle voice: the subject is benefited by preaching the gospel; the subjunctive mood: this is a potential — whether the gospel will be preached or not — “than that which we have preached.” Paul sets up the criterion. What he set up in the first place is the absolute criterion, it was based on the Word of God, it is the Word of God.

“we have preached unto you” — again, an aorist tense, we preached when we came; middle voice: the subject is benefited by the action of the verb, Paul is personally benefited by preaching the gospel to them. The indicative mood: it was a reality. “Unto you” is dative of advantage. It is for the advantage of the Galatians to hear the gospel and to respond to it by believing in Christ. They were saved, they were born again. It is only now, since the legalists came in, that they have again become suckers in the realm of spiritual phenomena.

“let him be accursed” — this is the first curse upon the Galatians. We have a noun and a verb here. “Let him be” is a noun, a present active imperative. It is perhaps a little tame — “Keep on being cursed.” Paul is actually cursing someone. He means that when false doctrine is taught, especially in the line of legalism, that the minister has a responsibility of calling a spade a spade. He doesn’t say associate with it; he doesn’t say to try to win them by love when it has to do with false doctrine, he doesn’t say to keep them around. The noun is the strongest word in the Greek language for cursing someone. It is our English word “anathema.” The Greek word a)naqema means to be set apart for divine destruction. It is the opposite of positional truth. In positional truth the believer is set apart unto God forever. This is the first time he uses the word; he uses it again in verse 9.

Verse 9 — “As we said before” — “we” is a perfect indicative active, “as we said before and we are going to say it again.” The Greek here is very harsh and very strong. This is because Paul is dealing with legalists. “so I keep on saying” — present linear aktionsart; “now again.” These are just a few words in the Greek but you get the idea that he is repeating it. He wants them to understand and he is not pulling any punches. While he speaks harshly he is not angry.

“If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which you have received” — aorist tense, in a point of time when Paul was there; “let him keep on being accursed.” Again we have the present active imperative of the verb to be plus the noun a)naqema. Twice he has cursed him, and there is a reason for it. The phrase is repeated to indicate that Paul has not lost his temper. After thinking over the matter he says exactly the same thing again, which means “I won’t take it back.” Again, the object is the legalist. Paul’s greatest condemnation is directed toward the Judaisers and the legalists — the religious crowd. Their teaching is distorting and perverting the gospel.

In verses 10-24 we have a diversion, a digression. Paul turns away from his condemnation of legalism but he will take it up again in chapter two, verse one, with the Jerusalem incident followed by the Antioch incident. In the meantime in the rest of this chapter Paul must defend his message and his apostleship. The message of Paul has been attacked by the Judaisers and the rest of this chapter is devoted to the defense of the Pauline message of grace.

Verse 10 — the motivation of Paul’s service. The Judaisers have attacked Paul’s motives. They had a hard time doing it because Paul generally did not take an offering. He operated as a missionary and he would take an offering from established churches which understood the principle of giving. He only took money from believers, never from an unbeliever. This is the biblical principle. No one ever has the right to shake down an unbeliever for an offering. Now Paul didn’t take an offering and it was very hard to criticise him, and there really wasn’t anything in his personal life by which they could criticise him. They did criticise his appearance, however. Generally speaking, they spent most of their time criticising his message. Consequently, it is Paul’s message that he defends.

Here he majors on his message. “For do I now persuade men, or God?” In approaching the gospel or in giving any doctrine at all Paul is not simply trying to persuade men. This means that he is keeping himself free from gimmicks. He is not there to persuade men through human means. The word is the Greek means to use some type of a human gimmick. The word has also been used in the Greek to conciliate, to win over by a false means. Paul is not trying to win over the favour of men and therefore persuade them. In other words, he is not using human salesmanship on them. This is quite obvious because he has already cursed the Judaisers twice and the Judaisers are very popular in the Galatian cities at the present time.

Actually, Paul’s preaching as indicated by the word which follows “do I seek to persuade men” — “or God?” Paul’s preaching is done as unto the Lord. Now what does it mean, persuading God? How does one do that? By laying God’s truth on the line. Paul’s approach is to make the truth of God clear. He sticks to the gospel of grace, to doctrine, and he lays it on the line. let the chips fall where they may.

His second question: “Do I seek to please men?” Once again, he is indicating the fact that in presenting the gospel he is not a man-pleaser, he is not entertaining. The word to please here is often used for an audience who was pleased with the eloquence of a public speaker. Paul is doing his job as unto the Lord, he is laying it on the line and people can take it or leave it. With the help of God the Holy Spirit, of course, they will take it. There is a wonderful principle here and in a sense it is a very relaxing one: Don’t ever try to witness for Christ or teach the Word or pass on information of a spiritual nature and use gimmicks and coercion. No matter how badly you want someone to accept the Lord you have to lay it on the line and let the Holy Spirit take it from there. That is the end of the line for you.

“If I yet please men” — “if” is a second class condition — “and I don’t.” “If yet please” is imperfect linear aktionsart — “If I kept on pleasing men, but I don’t, I should not be the servant of Christ”. “I should not be” is another imperfect, which means “I should not continue as the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Principle: No man in the ministry can continue in the ministry as the servant of Christ by pleasing men. You make the issue of what God’s Word has to say. They must use it or not, you cannot make anyone use the Word of God. So the issue is: Here is the information, you can use it, you can apply it, or you can fail to use it and fail to apply it, but it is up to you. This scripture makes it very clear that the ministry must always choose for doctrine, never for pleasing people.

Verse 11 — “”But I certify.” Here is the source of Paul’s message; “you, brethren.” The word “certify” means to make known. Paul is going to lay it on the line and now he goes on to do it. “But I keep on laying it on the line to you,” dative of advantage. It is to the advantage of the Galatians that Paul is going to lay it on the line, that Paul is going to give them the straight facts in this situation. “Brethren” refers to believers, this is a situation where believers had been led astray by legalism and Paul is going to straighten them out; “that the gospel which was preached by me is not after man.” The gospel is a reference to the good news which starts with the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins; “which was preached by me” — aorist tense, reminding them once again that he gave them the good news before the legalists came along. The implication is that the legalists are building on another man’s foundation, that they are leeches, they only go where the gospel has already been preached. “By me” is by instrumentality of me — “is not after man.” The word “after” is the preposition of norm or standard — “not according to the norm or standard of man’s viewpoint.”

Verse 12 — Paul is using his own salvation as an illustration of the pattern. “I did not receive it” means to welcome as a host would welcome a guest, which implies that when Paul finally heard the good news he welcomed the gospel into his life as a host would welcome an honoured guest. “By man” is literally, “from man” or the source of man; “nor was I taught” — aorist tense, in the point when he received the gospel. The passive voice: he received the gospel. Indicative mood. he was not taught but he go it by means of or by instrumentality of revelation, which implies direct communication from God. This confirms the three accounts of the salvation of Paul given in the book of Acts.

Verses 13-14 — Paul had an hostile past. Paul is trying to tell them not to grab people by the collar and try to jerk them into the kingdom of God. Before his salvation Paul was very hostile to the church. The moment that he heard the gospel he responded. God didn’t try to persuade him. God simply gave him the facts and he responded to them and welcomed them with open arms as a host would welcome and honoured guest. All that is required is to make the information clear and people will respond.

Verse 13 — “For you have heard.” Illustration now, citing his own experience — “my conversation [manner of life] in time past in the Jew’s religion.” Remember that Paul was the greatest sinner who ever lived — 1 Timothy 1:16. Here is the reason for it, the word “religion.” Paul, before salvation, was the most religious man who ever lived and in the name of religion he persecuted the church. It was religion which bred his hostility and therefore it was the strongest type of hostility. It was well-motivated.

“how that beyond measure I persecuted the church.” “I persecuted” is imperfect linear aktionsart which means he kept on persecuting the church, he made it a habit of persecuting the church; “the church of God and wasted it.” Again we have imperfect linear aktionsart, which means to ravage or to sack it. He kept on ravaging the church.

Verse 14 — “And profited in the Jewish religion.” The word “profited” is a third imperfect tense, he kept on profiting. It means to advance. The more he persecuted the church, the more he advanced in the Jewish religion — “above many my equals in my own nation.” He was promoted over those in the same file — “being more exceedingly zealous in the traditions of my fathers.” Notice the description of religion, tradition is the criterion.

Here is one who was more hostile than anyone else and yet when he heard the gospel no one ever responded as he did. The word for his response is a Greek word which means to welcome with open arms or to welcome as a host honouring a guest. All he did was the hear the facts from God. The voice he heard was God’s voice. God spoke to Saul of tarsus on the road to Damascus. He did not persuade, He simply laid the facts on the line and that is what the gospel needs; it needs a hearing, not confusion, not distortion, not legalism.

The apostle Paul has been personally attacked in all of the Galatian cities and he is defending himself and his apostleship in that connection.

In verse 15 we have Paul’s conversion and purpose: the doctrine of election as connected with Paul’s conversion. Notice our key again — “called,” which means to be elected. The word which follows it is “by” which is a preposition.

The verse begins with a very interesting verb. It is “when it pleased God.” There is the doctrine of divine pleasure which should not be ignored. The verb is an aorist tense. The aorist tense refers to an occurrence in eternity past. God was pleased with something in eternity past: the election side of Paul’s life. God saw Paul making a decision and this pleased Him. That is the aorist tense and this is why the aorist tense is really not a part of time but an occurrence, because often the aorist tense has nothing whatever to do with time. Here the aorist tense refers to something that occurred in eternity before time began. God was pleased in eternity before man existed. The indicative mood indicates the reality of God’s pleasure. The active voice: God Himself was constantly pleased by something in eternity past.

The doctrine of divine pleasure as far as we are concerned can be divided into three concepts: a. God is pleased to save those who believe in Christ — 1 Corinthians 1:21; b. God is pleased to appoint His Son as saviour and to reconcile the world to Himself — Colossians 1:19-20; c. God is displeased with Old Testament offerings. Those who lived in the past did because they were able to discern the gospel through them. Every Old Testament offering was the same as if they had a concise, clear written statement of the gospel. They couldn’t read but they could see the gospel every time an animal was sacrificed. But ultimately God could not be pleased with the Old Testament sacrifices and therefore there was the need for a better sacrifice — Hebrews 10:6-8.

So God’s pleasure is connected with salvation and our personal response to it — believing in Christ. God is displeased with the Old Testament sacrifices because they were not efficacious. They could not provide reconciliation, they could only point to the truth, they could only declare the gospel but they couldn’t do the job.

“who separated me” — Paul is talking about himself. “Who” is a relative pronoun referring to the Father, and the word “separated” means to select. Paul was selected for a special job even when he was in his mother’s womb. Why? Because divine foreknowledge knew that Paul would have positive volition. It is hard to recognise why Paul is writing in this vein until it is recognised that Paul is being attacked at the point of his authority. When the legalists came to the Galatian churches they discovered that they couldn’t make much headway because, “Paul said it this way and you say it another way, and we agree with Paul because Paul is an apostle.” So they jumped back in there and attacked his apostleship, they claimed that he really wasn’t an apostle at all. So now Paul says, “Actually, I was appointed an apostle from my mother’s womb. Before I was born I was earmarked for this particular job.” Therefore he is defending the principle of his apostleship.

“and called me by his grace” — again we have the doctrine of election. Note verse 6. “Call” is a verb meaning to elect; “into the sphere of the grace of Christ.” It is exactly the same structure at the end of verse 15 — “called by his grace.” Both times you have the verb to call but each time you have a different preposition. The first preposition means in the sphere of, and the second preposition which is translated “by” means by instrumentality of — dia plus the genitive. We are elected by the instrumentality of His grace. Therefore we conclude from this particular passage that the instrument of divine election is then grace of God, which means that no one ever earns or deserves divine election.

The doctrine of election

1. Christ is elected from all eternity past. The sovereignty of the Father provided election in eternity past. However, the human race is not elected in this situation. If the entire human race were elected that would mean that God was the Father of all members of the human race and that all members of the human race were brothers. That is a lie from the devil’s mouth. There is no such thing as the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. The idea is a Satanic distortion of the truth. God is only the Father of believers. But in the meantime God did not elect any member of the human race, He elected the second person of the Trinity. God the Son was elected to rule the universe in eternity future. One person is elected, Isaiah 42:1, “Behold [focus your attention] my servant [God the Son], whom I uphold, mine elect.” So Jesus Christ is called two things: a servant and “mine elect.” He is called the servant because He has to go to the cross and die for the sins of the world. He becomes the servant of mankind because the saviour must be a servant to be the saviour. No one can save the human race without being the servant of the human race. He has to die, to pay the penalty of sin for the human race. Jesus Christ serves the human race by saving the human race, by providing eternal salvation for it. Christ is the elect of the Father, He is the only one who is elected, and notice the doctrine of divine pleasure: “in whom my soul delighteth.” In order to become a servant Jesus Christ had to become a member of the human race, and so eternal God with all of His essence also became man. This is how He became the servant. Cf. Philippians 2:5-8. “Mine elect” follows “my servant” even though Christ was elected first and then performed the act of service on the cross secondly. Notice that they are reversed in the order here because Jesus Christ is elected as a member of the human race, and He became a servant. Then as a member of the human race He is going to rule the universe forever as the God-Man — doctrine of the hypostatic union. “I have put my Spirit upon Him.” When Jesus Christ became a member of the human race God the Father sent the Holy Spirit to indwell Him and sustain Him during the period of His incarnation. “He shall bring forth justice to the Gentiles” — judgement of the second advent. See also 1 Peter 2:6.

Jesus Christ is elected from eternity past, but His election includes the concept that He is going become a member of the human race and die for the sins of the world.

2. The election took place in the eternal life conference or the doctrine of divine decrees. Ephesians 1:4 — “According as he hath chosen us” — “he hath chosen” is the verb to elect; “he” is a reference to God the Father. Notice the aorist tense, middle voice: God the Father is benefited by choosing us. This seems to contradict point one. God the Father has chosen “us”; once and for all He has chosen us. How can God the Father choose us when we have just had in point one that only Christ was chosen or elected? Well, the rest of the verse explains how we are chosen — “in him.” Those two words clear up the whole thing. When we believe in Christ we enter into union with Him. We have already seen from Isaiah 42:1 that Christ was elected by God the Father — “mine elect,” and that He was the only one who was elected, but by virtue of being in union with Christ we share His election. We are elected because we are in union with Him, not because there are some who are elected and some who are not, and if you are elected it is fine, if you’re not it’s too bad, there is nothing you can really do about it. That is sheer theological malarkey. You don’t find it in the scripture. One person is elected — Jesus Christ. Before the foundation of the world He was elected; we are in union with Christ, we share His election. Jesus Christ is also eternal life; we share His eternal life by faith in Christ. Because we are in union with Christ we share everything that Christ has — His eternal life, His election, and also His destiny.

The same thing is given in 1 Peter 1:2 — “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God.” God knew that Christ would die for our sins in time. God knew that Christ would remove all the barriers between God and man, and He knew that every person who believed in Christ would be in union with Christ and it refers to everyone who would make that decision. He doesn’t coerce. Every man has his own free will, he can choose for himself. But God knew everyone who would do it. Union with Christ is the basis for our election — “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit.” The word “sanctification” means set apart. God the Holy Spirit is the one who takes us at the moment of salvation and puts us in union with Christ.

Remember that God is sovereign and therefore He elected the Son; He is omniscient and he knows who will choose and who will not. He knows that everyone has a free will and He does not coerce that free will but He knows which way it will jump — positive or negative. There is no such thing as a person being predestined to hell, and there is no such thing as a person being elected to hell. Election and predestination are always tied in with the person of the Son. Man goes to hell by his own negative volition. He chooses for himself. See also 2 Thessalonians 2:13.

3. Election is the present as well as the future possession of every believer — Colossians 3:12. “Put on, therefore, as the elect of God [addressed to believers], holy and beloved, compassions of mercies, kindness, humility of mind, meekness, long-suffering,” etc.

Every believer shares the election of Christ — Romans 8:28ff. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called [election] according to his purpose.” Here is the key to all things working together for good — “His purpose”, God’s plan. God the Father elected God the Son billions of years ago. In time we have received Christ as saviour and as a result of believing in Him we enter into union with Christ, therefore we share His election and we share His destiny, therefore we are right on the beam as far as His purpose is concerned. Even though there are many events in our lives which are not good — in fact there are some that are very bad — ultimately all things work together for good because we share the election of Christ and we share the destiny of Christ. This is His purpose. So then, in spite of every bad thing that we ever do as believers in union with Christ we are going to wind up in eternity fulfilling His purpose as a part of the election and destiny of the Lord Jesus Christ. And, you see, the whole purpose of this plan is: It all depends on who God is and what God is, not who and what we are. If it depended on who and what we are then all things could not work together for good, they could only work together for bad because whatever man does it turns bad because he has a sin nature. But our salvation, including these two phases [election and predestination], does not depend on us. It depends upon who God is, and since God is immutable and can’t change, and since God is eternal life and going, and since God is omnipotent and has the ability to make the plan work, and since He is omniscient and has the wisdom to devise a perfect plan, and since He is perfect a perfect plan emanating from a perfect person can only result in all things working together for good. Please remember that as a believer you are in the plan or the purpose of God.

Verse 29 — “For whom he did foreknow [omniscience]” — It must be remembered that omniscience means that God always knew every decision that every person would ever make. God gave the angels volition and He also gave mankind the same volition. God knew which way the angels and man would jump but He could not coerce that volition which He had created. God created volition to be free from divine coercion. God knew every person who would ever make a decision for Christ — positive volition. He also knew that the first decision of the human race which would destroy man would be negative with regard to a tree. Now man chooses another tree: positive volition, the cross. He knew these things in eternity past and the divine plan is based upon the fact that He knew which way everyone would jump — “he also did predestinate.” Remember, the Bible declares that only the believer is predestinated. Never does it declare that any unbeliever is predestinated. There is no such thing as an unbeliever being predestinated to hell. The believer is predestinated in the sense that he shares the election of Christ. The aorist tense: He once and for all did predestinate, and notice what predestination is: “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” In other words, union with Christ - positional truth — “that” introduces a purpose clause - “he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” The word “firstborn” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. The firstborn had three privileges. First of all he was the ruler or the family sovereign. Secondly he was the priest of the family. Thirdly, he received all the money, called the double portion. In Israel, the firstborn was Reuben. Reuben was set aside because of sin. The rulership went to Judah, the priesthood went to Levi, the double portion went to Joseph — Joseph had two tribes. Christ is the firstborn of the new creation, he is the ruler of the new creation, He is the high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and He has the double portion. Christ is the first portion in that He is elected and predestined and all believers in union with Christ are the second part of the portion. This is amplified in Hebrews 2:14ff. So again, the doctrine of election is tied into positional truth — union with Christ.

Verse 30 — “Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called” — the doctrine of election again; “and whom he called [elected], them he also justified [vindicated. Getting back to the cross, the imputation of +R, God’s righteousness]; and whom he vindicated, them he also glorified.” Two kinds of glorification for believers: a. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, manifest when we are filled with the Spirit; b. Our resurrection bodies and our eternal future with Him. We share what Christ has.

5. Election takes place at the moment of salvation — 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 1:9, 24.

6. Election is the foundation of the Church — 1 Thessalonians 1:4.

7. Election is based on grace — Galatians 1:15.

What does Paul mean when he says that God “elected me by his grace”? He means that first of all he entered into the plan of God apart from any merit of his own. Paul was one of the most religious men who ever lived. His entrance into the plan of God depended entirely upon what God provided and what God had planned, not what Paul had done. In this way he begins his attack upon the legalists who have infiltrated the Galatian churches. “Called me by instrumentality of his grace” — dia plus the genitive which means instrumentality.

Galatians 1:16, The purpose: “To reveal his Son in me.” This was God’s purpose for Paul, this is God’s purpose for every believer. It is God’s purpose to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ in every Christian — Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 3:16,17; Philippians 1:20,21. The purpose: “to reveal”, and aorist active infinitive. The infinitive expresses purpose; the aorist tense: gathers into one point phase two of the plan of God for the believer [the believer in time]. As long as we remain on this earth Christ is to be revealed in us by the filling of the Spirit. Active voice: we do it — operation phase two in the life of the believer. Paul is speaking of himself. This is the purpose for Paul, this is the purpose for every believer. Therefore, in order for Christ to be revealed in me I must be filled with the Spirit, I must know how to be filled with the Spirit. Therefore a principle: No one can fulfill the divine purpose in time apart from a. A knowledge of Bible doctrine; b. The filling of the Spirit.

“To reveal his Son in me that” — “that” introduces a purpose clause; “I might preach.” Four things about this verb: a. It is present linear aktionsart — keep on preaching. That is Paul’s responsibility; b. The middle voice, the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. Paul is personally benefited by preaching to others; c. The subjunctive mood: this is very important. With the subjunctive mood maybe Paul will preach and maybe he won’t, it all depends on his volition. The subjunctive mood means that Paul became a preacher by his own volition, God chose him because God knew which way his volition was going to jump. Every subjunctive mood emphasises human volition. That is why the subjunctive mood is the mood of potential, it all depends on whether the individual gets with it or not. God just happened to know which way Paul’s volition would jump. Then the word means to make an important proclamation. The content of the Word of God is important, it should be proclaimed.

“that I might preach him” — the Lord Jesus Christ, the only saviour of mankind, Acts 4:12 — “among the Gentiles” — dative of advantage. It is to the advantage of the Gentiles to hear the Word - “immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.” Paul is going to give a defense of his theological training. There was no theological seminary then so he had to get his training directly from God. “Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood” is a good way to start the Christian life and it is a good way to live it. Paul didn’t confer with anyone. Flesh and blood refers to any member of the human race. Paul’s theological training, of which the Galatians have been the recipients, came directly from God. He went through a very tough theological school out in Arabia.

Verses 17-21, Paul’s theological training, or his preparation for the ministry.

Verse 17 — “Neither went I up to Jerusalem” — aorist tense: in a point of time; “to them that were apostles before me” — he is conscious of his own apostleship; “but I went into Arabia.” Paul’s visit into Arabia took place between Acts 9:22 and verse 23. He was out there for several years and there God revealed to him the information which became the content of his messages. Here he learned his doctrine, out in the desert just as Moses did; “and returned again unto Damascus” — so Paul was in Arabia for some years.

Verse 18 — “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days,” after he had received his theological training out in Arabia.

Verse 19 — “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother,” a reference to James the half brother of the Lord Jesus Christ who became a believer after the resurrection and who was the leader of the Jerusalem church and is numbered with the apostles also.

Verse 20 — “Now the things that I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.”

Verse 21 — “Afterwards I came to the regions of Syria and Cilicia;

Verse 22 — “and was unknown.” Paul has probably been saved by this time up to thirteen or fourteen years, and he is still unknown. No man can have a successful ministry without preparation. He must go unknown in that preparation. David, watching the sheep out in the Judean hills was unknown. God brought him forth at the right time. Joseph in prison was unknown. God brought him forth at the right time. Elijah was for many years unknown. At the right time God brought him into Israel. For a number of years now Paul has been unknown — “by face.” “Was unknown” is made up of two verbs. First of all the verb to be, imperfect linear aktionsart. In the past he was constantly unknown. Then the verb to be unknown is a present passive participle, which means that in the past he was constantly, habitually unknown and in the present he continued to be unknown. Furthermore, the passive voice of the participle indicates that he received from God this cover so that no one knew him - “in the churches of Judea which were in Christ.”

Verse 23 — “But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preached the faith which once he destroyed.”

Verse 24 — “And they glorified God in me.”

“Persecuted” is a present linear aktionsart, which means that Paul had kept on persecuting these people. This is one of the reasons he was the chief of sinners. He did it in the name of religion.

“Now preached the faith” is literally, “Now keeps on preaching the faith which he once destroyed” — imperfect tense. he kept on destroying it.

You have to remember that Paul is considered by the Bible to be the worst man who ever lived. He is called in 1 Timothy chapter one “the chief of sinners.” He is the chief of sinners because he was the most zealous religious person who ever lived. Consequently, the worst person who ever lived is not only saved but now he is preaching the same faith which he once destroyed. “And they glorified God” — they kept on glorifying God, imperfect linear aktionsart. The word “God” is in the emphatic position in the Greek, which means that they glorified God and only God, and no one else. They didn’t glorify Paul. They didn’t publicise Paul in any way.

When Paul says “in me” he says “in the sphere of my ministry.” If the Judaisers who were infiltrating the Galatian churches at this time were born again Jews from Judea then they also would be glorifying God in the sphere of Paul’s ministry. But instead these same Judaisers who have come from this same Jerusalem, where they were glorifying God in the sphere of Paul’s ministry, were coming and running down Paul. They were doing the exact opposite of glorifying God in the sphere of Paul’s ministry. Therefore Paul points out in this closing verse that the Judaisers who have infiltrated the Galatian church are unbelievers, they are legalists, they are apostates, they are false teachers.

That brings up the great issue of their ministry. What did the Judaisers teach? Then you will see why Paul is going to expose them. First of all, they taught salvation by works — such as believe and repent, believe and feel sorry for sins. No one has ever been saved by feeling sorry for his sins, he is only saved by believing in Christ. Believe and full surrender. There is no such thing as salvation by full surrender. There is no such thing as believe and be baptised. This again is the same type of legalism. It is false. It is believe plus nothing. Baptism does not add anything to salvation. Everything the legalists taught they said, yes you can believe in Christ but you must also must do something else. But the whole issue is this: We can do nothing for salvation, absolutely nothing. If salvation depends on what we do then we are all lost because we must not only do for salvation but we must do to maintain it. Salvation depends upon who God is. God is perfect; God is unchangeable; God is eternal; God is omnipotent; God is veracity. And because of who and what God is our salvation is intact at all times. The legalists imply that we have to help God. God has provided the whole thing, we can add nothing to it now or at any time. It is an insult to grace for any man to try to horn in on the salvation which God has provided. Faith is the absence of works. The legalists were trying to horn in on the grace of God, to take glory away from God. Paul preached the gospel of grace, therefore they glorified God. Now the legalist comes along and he preaches a different gospel, a gospel of works, and this is not a part of the plan of God. Remember that any plan that man devises is no better than the man who devised it. Man is imperfect, therefore his plans for salvation are imperfect.