It seems fitting to expand upon our last series which focused upon the identity of God’s people in the scriptures with a detailed look at the book of Galatians. When you take in the substance of this epistle, it becomes impossible to miss the vivid portrayal of their defining characteristics—and just how desperately people were attempting to muddy that identity for the sake of their traditions.
One might be thrown off by my series title but rest assured that it’s quite fitting. This letter from the apostle Paul could just as easily been titled “The Epistle to the Gauls”. Galatians were initially called Gauls and originated from a territory that bore that same name. “Gaul” is today what we know as France, but also included parts of Belgium, Germany and Italy. They eventually migrated (about 20,000 of them) into a place called Anatolia in central Asia Minor (which today is known as Turkey) around the 3rd century B.C. Another name that they went by was “Celtae” or “Galli” where we get our modern terms Celtic or Gaelic. They were known to be very tall men with red hair and exceptionally barbaric tactics when in battle. They were eventually conquered by the Romans but not without giving Augustus’ soldiers a round for their money. According to 1 Maccabees 8:2, they had fought the romans with heroic acts. It seems that they also had severe conflicts with the ancient Jews, according to 2 Maccabees 8:20, whereas the latter defeated 120,000 of these ferocious Galatians in battle. The land these Gauls came to inhabit in Asia Minor eventually became a Roman province, and it was ultimately named “Galatia” because of the sheer predominance of their numbers in that region. We see this provincial reference in 1 Peter 1:1 where Galatia is among other Roman provinces such as Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
Paul in Galatia
Galatia is mentioned in all three of the apostle Paul’s missionary journeys and hence was a significant area for the spread of Jesus and His gospel. On his first missionary journey, he travelled the southern cities (Acts 13-14) which included such as Pisidian, Antioch, Lystra, Iconium and Derbe. Paul went through those cities to evangelize both local Jews and Gentiles. These two chapters describe the progress of the apostle’s message in this region, yet it wasn’t without its opposition. While in Lystra, Jewish hostility that the apostle experienced in Antioch and Iconium followed him there. He riled up the crowds to the extent where they stoned him to the point where they were under the impression that he had gone to meet his maker. So, we see that there was a constant Jewish opposition right from these evangelistic beginnings. There was success but, as always, a violent opposition.
On his second missionary journey, he seems to have passed through the region but was forbidden from speaking a word to them (Acts 16:6). He then went through a third time during his 3rd missionary journey in the south. These were the same churches that were erected during his first missionary journey (Acts 18:23). There is a hint in Galatians 4:13 that Paul would have visited the church twice, and we do get this sense when we read Acts 18:23. Some argue that the 3rd missionary endeavour was to the north, but it is hard to justify this interpretation.
Incidents & Events Behind writing the epistle
The Epistle to the Galatians is a very personal letter in comparison to Ephesians. Paul is much more passionate and pointed in this communication and relates many personal details and events to connect his message to these churches. One of the central reasons for penning this epistle is clearly that false teachers were perturbing the essence of the gospel. It was being muddied to the extent that Paul will call it another gospel. This letter is meant to clear up confusion caused by false teachers. While these false teachers are not named, details of their mission and their motives are revealed.
Firstly, these false brethren weren’t attempting to persuade the Galatians of their message out of a concern for them but because they wanted to draw them to themselves (4:17). They were essentially looking for a following! They’re central focus in accomplishing this was to bring a different message than the apostle. We are told that they mingled Jewish elements with the pure gospel because they were trying to avoid the persecution from their Jewish countrymen that came with boasting in the cross of Christ (6:12). When Paul left the region, some Christians of Jewish descent began teaching that they were not justified by faith alone but needed to ascribe to the demands of the law found in the Torah. This is why Paul places so much emphasis on the contrast between the law and the gospel. To the extent where he even assigns a radical distinction between covenants and even introducing two Jerusalem, one that is earthly while the other heavenly (4:25-26). If the Galatian Gentiles held Jerusalem in high esteem, then the fact that these Christian‑Jewish agitators came from that city could easily have amplified the force of their arguments.
Paul spills much ink chastising the Galatians for beginning in the Spirit but then trying to perfect themselves with the flesh (3:3). Gentile believers in Galatia were being told by their Jewish counterparts that Old Covenant legal submissions, especially circumcision, were to be added to the gospel to authenticate their position in Christ. Paul contrasts this with living in the Spirit which was the nature of the New Covenant. These agitators also preached that the Gentile Galatians could not be genuine children of Abraham and heirs to the covenant promises of God unless they took the sign of circumcision. They may have argued that Abraham had faith but then was required to take the sign of the covenant which his descendants were also commanded to follow. Paul will counter this by arguing that Jesus is the true heir of Abraham and only by being in Him can anyone inherit those promises. As Paul argues elsewhere:
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. (Romans 2:28-29)
Paul contends that receiving circumcision entails responsibility for observing the whole law, thereby placing one under its legal requirements and in return a form of bondage. He even, in some sense, disassociates the covenant of Abraham with the Sinai Covenant saying that it came 430 years after Abraham, the intent being that this Old Covenant would only have effect until the time of Yahweh’s Messiah would come (3:19, 24-25). He chastises them on how they found freedom in Christ and suddenly were willing to place the chains of the law back on. This was like the Jews of old wanting to return to Egypt after they’d been freed. Those who promulgated these tainted good tidings were doomed under the judgment of God. According to Paul, were worthy of the anathema. He says of these false teachers that their leaven leavens the whole lump and that they will bear judgment for what they’ve done (5:10). Paul goes as far as to say that those who were teaching this false gospel should cut themselves off (5:12- NKJV).
These false teachers were also in all likelihood attacking Paul’s character and authority. Paul defends his authority throughout the letter because these false teachers were causing the Galatian believers to question it. It is an age-old tactic where if you discredit the messenger, you’ve succeeded in disputing the message. Paul will use his own experiences to authenticate his arguments about his authority, the gospel and the law.
God used the false teachers in Galatians to allow Paul to clearly present the gospel and most importantly preserve a record of its content. If it were not for this contention in the churches of Galatia, we would not have received such an open understanding of the theology behind the New Covenant era.