OBJECTIVES

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1) Identify the context of Paul’s letter to the Galatians
2) Outline Paul’s letter to the Galatians
3) Apply the themes in Galatians in light of the contemporary Caribbean context

GALATIANS

The Churches in Galatia

- The region of Galatia is a part of modern Turkey. It was named after the Gauls (or Celts) who came
from the north to settle north-central Asia Minor.
- Romans then established a province named Galatia which consisted of a larger area which included
lands from the original Galatian kingdom.
- There is a debate among scholars about who Paul was writing to, whether it was those in the southern
part of the Roman province of Galatia (these would be Galatians but not the people traditionally known
as Galatians), or those in the northern parts (the people’s tribal and ethnic origin was known as
Galatian).
- According to Acts 13 – 14, Paul started churches in four towns in the south of Galatia: Pisidian Antioch,
Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe on his first missionary journey.
- There is no record in Acts about Paul starting churches in northern Galatia. The only reference would be
that on his second journey when it is said that he visited the region of Phrygia and Galatia.
- There is also debate about when the letter was written, some say it was written early and others say in
the mid-fifties.

Paul’s preaching to the Galatians

- Paul found the Galatian churches from a sickbed. He became sick while going through Galatia. He was
nursed back to health by the local people (4:13-16).
- Paul preached to the Galatian Gentiles about their adoption as children of God. He said that they no
longer needed to be slaves of the hostile, demonic powers of the world (4:8-9). The crucified one and the
gift of the Holy Spirit can enable them to be liberated from their pagan gods.
- The Galatians responded well to Paul’s preaching.
- They formed a deep bond of loyalty and devotion to Paul (4:15).
- Paul preached Christ crucified and that one is joined to Christ by faith trusting in Christ’s death to join
the people to God.
- In addition to faith they needed to be totally loyal and obedient to Jesus. They need to respond to Christ
in gratitude and thus turn away from all their idols and trappings.
- As a result of their response of trust to Paul’s preaching, they received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
(3:1-5).

Opposition to Paul
- When Paul left he thought that his work among the Galatians rested on a firm foundation.
- Later Paul learnt that the Galatians were adopting another version of the Gospel.
- Paul’s apostleship was being attacked and the church was in turmoil.

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 - The converts learnt that God’s promises belonged to the children of Abraham and that one becomes a
child of Abraham through circumcision. The Galatians therefore might have felt that as spiritual
descendants of Abraham, they needed to be circumcised. Since the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were
practicing circumcision, this would have strengthened the belief among the Galatians that they should be
circumcised. By the time Paul wrote the letter, the Galatians were requiring all baptized males to be
circumcised (5:2, 11; 6:12-13). They were also keeping other parts of the law (3:2; 4:21; 5:4, 18).
- The rivals who were preaching this different gospel wanted to preserve the integrity of the covenant;
hence they set the work of Christ within the context of the covenant (Torah). Hence they were indicating
that Christ would bring light to the Gentiles, but he would accomplish this by bringing the Gentiles into
the Jewish people through circumcision.
- Paul’s rivals were motivated by their zeal for the Torah and wanting to keep God’s people distinct from
all the other peoples of the earth. It was being rumored in Jerusalem that Paul was leading the Jews to
abandon the Torah and forsake the covenant (Acts 21:20-21). Hence they considered Paul’s activity to
be a threat to the Jewish people.

Identity of Paul’s Opponents

There are 3 views held by scholars about the identity of Paul’s opponents (Roetzel, 1991):
1) Jewish Christians from Jerusalem, probably from Peter’s or James’ circle who went from place to place
where Paul preached in an effort to correct Paul’s misrepresentation of the gospel. The theory here is
that the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem kept the law and sought to impose it on Paul’s congregations
since they believed in justification by grace apart from the law. This is not supported in Paul’s letter. He
reported that the Jerusalem Christians endorsed his gospel (2:9-10). Therefore, it is not likely that they
would have opposed it. The Galatians would not charge Paul with being dependent on Jerusalem if the
Jerusalem Christians were opposing him.
2) Members of the Galatian church – according to Johannes Munck, Paul referred to the troublemakers as
“those who were being circumcised” (6:13). This would not refer to Jews in Jerusalem since they would
have been circumcised a long time ago.
3) Walter Schmithals – They were syncretists who combined features from Jewish practice (like
circumcision) with aspects of their own folk religion and they tried to accommodate Paul’s gospel to
their own religious and social context.
There is no consensus on the identity of Paul’s rivals.

Paul’s Response
- Paul opens with an angry outburst instead of his usual friendly thanksgiving (1:6).
- He calls down a curse from heaven on the rivals preaching another gospel (1:7-9).
- He suggests that those who were circumcising others should mutilate themselves (5:12).
- He said that those who received circumcision are severed from Christ (5:4).
- He warned that those who attacked him were opposing Christ (6:17).
- The Galatians accused Paul that his gospel was from the leaders of the Jerusalem church (1:11). Paul
insisted that he had been independent of the Jerusalem church. Even when he went up to Jerusalem he
maintained his independence and gained acceptance for his gospel. He was commissioned by Christ and
not the Jerusalem leaders (1:18 – 2:21).

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 - Paul used scripture to defend his gospel. He centered his discussion around Abraham. Abraham and his
descendants were commanded to be circumcised after Abraham received the covenant (Gen. 17:9-11).
Anyone who was uncircumcised would “be cut off from his people” (Gen. 17:14). However, Paul points
to Genesis 15:6 which says that Abraham “believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as
righteousness.” Paul concluded therefore that Abraham was made righteous due to his faith before he
was circumcised; therefore, it is faith, and not circumcision that links the children of promise with
Abraham.
- Paul opposes the efforts to supplement his gospel with observance of the law for 2 reasons:
1) It reveals distrust in the adequacy of the gospel and of God who gave it. In Jerusalem Paul had
defended his right to offer full salvation to Gentiles. Gentiles are equal members of the people of
God. His critics are now saying that Gentiles, who enter the church through grace, are second-class
citizens.
2) Paul reminds the Galatians that they cannot be selective about keeping the law. He reminded them
that everyone who is circumcised is bound to keep the entire law (5:3). He says this to encourage his
listeners to claim full membership in God’s kingdom by grace.
- For Paul, righteousness does not come through the law but God makes people righteous through the
Spirit. God sends the Spirit into both Jew and Greek so that all who believe may be brought to conform
to God’s character and will be transformed into the image of Jesus (Gal. 2:20; 4:19) (DeSilva, 2004).
- Paul speaks of the proper and positive use of freedom (Gal. 5:13). The freedom given by Christ is not
for the flesh to take control leading the person into vice, but rather for the Spirit to guide the believer
into all virtue. In other words, it is a freedom not to please self but to please God from a relationship of
love. This is writing of the law on the heart spoken of by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and the
circumcision of the heart in Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6.
- The Spirit-led ethic is governed by love (Gal. 5:6, 13) (DeSilva, 2004).
- Paul focuses on how the Spirit transforms human community.

Outline of Galatians
Address and Salutation 1:1-5
Expression of Astonishment (instead of thanksgiving) 1:6-9
Paul’s Defense of his apostleship 1:10 – 2:21
Paul’s Defense of his Gospel 3–4
a) Spirit comes through gospel not law 3:1-5 (appeal to experience)
b) Law and faith
Example of Abraham as father of promise and
a discussion of the nature of law and its relationship
to faith. 3:6-29 (3:6-14 – appeal to scripture & tradition;
3:15-25 – appeal to scripture, tradition, reason, promises, experience)
c) Law and grace
Adopted children are not slaves to the law.
Inferiority of the way of law to the way of grace
for Gentiles as illustrated by the allegory of
Hagar and Sarah. 4
The Gospel Applied: the Responsible use of Christian

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Freedom 5–6
a) Stand fast in freedom 5:1-12
b) Freedom to love 5:13-25
c) The law of Christ 5:26 – 6:10
Personal Exhortation and Conclusion 6:11-18

BIBLIOGRAPHY
DeSilva, D. A. (2004). An introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, methods & ministry formation.
Downers Grove/Nottingham: IVP.
Horrell, D. G. (2015). An Introduction to the study of Paul (3rd ed.). London: T & T Clark.
Roetzel, C. J. (1991). The letters of Paul: Conversations in context (3rd ed.). Louisville, KY: Westminster John
Knox.

FOR DISCUSSION
1) Explain the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer according to Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
2) Discuss Paul’s understanding of freedom in Galatians. How can this understanding of freedom be relevant
in the Caribbean context?

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