GalatiansStudy 1.Introduction and ThemeContents page Introduction Theme Paul an Apostle Not of men But by God Survey 1. IntroductionMany of
the NT
letters were
written to counter wrong practice, wrong
doctrine or both; Galatians is one such and although a small letter it
has a very big message for the believer. The message of the epistle is
well known, but yet many believers still, unwittingly perhaps, fall
into the trap of ‘Galatianism’: following a
legalistic framework in
order to try and live the Christian life, instead of by the
Spirit and remaining in the liberty of Christ.
2. Theme
The
opening verse sets the scene for us:
2.1 Paul an apostle If we
compare this opening with the way Paul opens
his
other
letters we see something interesting. The words in italics are not in
the original Greek.
All the epistles just have Paul stating the fact that he was an apostle, a servant or whatever, but here in Galatians we are given some extra information: he was an apostle by Jesus Christ and God the Father; he did not received his apostleship from men or by any man made authority, it was from God Himself. It was of God - not men: it was of the Spirit - not of the flesh. This opening verse sets the tone for the whole of this epistle. For, as we read on, we find that the Galatian Christians, having begun well, had fallen back into the flesh. And this is always the danger for the Christian. We may have started well, but ‘how are we continuing?’ Look at Church history, past or recent, and see how many men of God or moves of God, having begun in the Spirit have fallen into fleshly ways by trying to live the life by their own efforts, trying to ‘keep’ what God gave in the first place by methods of the flesh, or of the world. This is the danger and sadly many fall into this way. 2.2 Not of men
Then
again
we note that Paul
did not make himself an apostle, nor
was he made one by men’s authority but by Jesus and God the
Father. Many people make themselves something, or thinking they can appoint
others by some ritual to an ‘office’, this is all
of the flesh and not
of the Spirit. Such systems and claims inevitably lead to a
control system; either from an organisation called a
‘church’, or
whatever, or by individuals claiming to be something special,
either by outward proclamation or by their actions. This is exactly how
cults begin and operate. What needs to be understood is that labels, such as apostle, pastor etc in scripture, are not titles of jobs, but descriptions of what a person does in the body of Christ. In the true church these men are not appointed by some ritual, they become recognised by the body that they have a particular gifting from God. No need to pass exams, complete a course or have a vote: God’s ways are not men’s 2.3 But by God
The
final part of the verse
declares that God raised Jesus
from the dead, that was a work of the Spirit. All works of the Spirit
bring life,
those of the flesh brings death. Paul's appointment by God to His Apostleship
brought life indeed; one only needs to read Paul's
life and writings in the NT to see this. This opening
verse is a clear statement as to the
message of the letter: the life of the Spirit or the works of the flesh. The one
produces life and the other death. As we go through
this letter we will examine this theme, comparing
and contrasting life in the Spirit as opposed to
life in the flesh. 3 A survey of Galatians
The
message of
Galatians is: we are to stand in the freedom Christ has given to us and
not allow anyone, or anything to draw us back into the works of the
flesh. For example: modern Judaisers, religion of any sort, external
do's and don'ts or anything else that gives an occasion for the flesh. Having begun in the Spirit we are to continue therein and not go back to live in the flesh once more. |