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Monday, November 3, 2025

Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Greeting (Galatians #1)

Bible Verse: Galatians 1:1-5 (DP Bible)

"To the Churches of Galatia, From Paul, an apostle sent, not by mortal men, but by Jesus Christ, and from the brothers who are with me: Grace to you, and peace, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself to rescue us from this evil world, carrying out the will of the Father. All honor and glory to Him, now and forever. Verbatim Bible 1 Paul apostle, not from men nor by man but by Jesus Christ and god father the having-raised him from dead, 2 and the with me all brothers, to the churches of Galatia; 3 grace to you and peace from god father of us and lord Jesus Christ, 4 the having-given himself for the sins of us so that he takes-away us from the present evil age according to the will of the god and father of us, 5 to whom the glory in the age of the ages; amen."

Message: Having just finished a study of 1 Thessalonians, it is a perfect time to take on the more weighty Epistle to the Galatians. These were Paul’s first two epistles and thus share many similarities of style; but the content and tone are enormously different. These differences reflect a fundamental dissimilarity in the audiences to which they are addressed. The church of Thessalonica was thriving, united under the gospel that Paul had recently delivered to them. The churches of Galatia were, in contrast, a theological mess. Everybody seemed to have their own opinion. There were many who preached in partial ignorance, unintentionally augmenting aspects of the gospel with their own thoughts; and, even worse, many charlatans who jumped on the “Jesus bandwagon” and intentionally taught false doctrine, seeking their own glorification, power, and perhaps income. Galatians opens with what will become a pattern greeting of Paul’s epistles. Three elements are consistent: The identity of the immediate intended recipient — immediate, because without fail Paul’s letters were widely circulated and often copied. The long-range intended recipients were all Gentile churches and, ultimately, us. The identity of the author(s); and The blessing, “grace to you, and peace,” the first perhaps intended to resonate more with Greek listeners, and the second with Jews. (Even today, Israelis greet one another with the Hebrew word for peace, “Shalom.” ) All three parts of this pattern opening were subject to considerable amplification and explanation, and in some (especially later) epistles, they grow quite long. photo Jesus above earth|John 3:16, “For God so loved the world” Paul’s description of himself in the very first phrase — “an apostle sent, not by mortal men, but by Jesus Christ” — not only identifies the author, but also introduces the primary topic of Chapter 1. In Galatians, more than any other epistle, Paul lays powerful claim to his status as an actual apostle, appointed and instructed directly by the person of Jesus Christ, of no less stature and authority than Peter. The words may be Paul’s, but the message comes directly from Christ. The last phrase, “from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself to rescue us from this evil world,” sounds like boilerplate Christian doctrine, but it has a specific purpose. Paul is about to launch into a harangue against false prophets and warped doctrine. The people who are promoting such doctrine are a part of this “evil world”; rather than being Christ’s prophets and preachers, they are the very people from whom Christ saved us, suffering death to do so. One last note, on the phrase “rescue us from this evil world.” The primary meaning of the Greek word translated as “world” (aiōnos -- the root of “eon”) is actually “age” rather than “world.” It is important to see that Paul intends both meanings. We see the same word used in the same way in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to the age [or world]”. First, Paul wants us to be rescued from the world we see — “visible reality.” The world is both temporary and full of evil. Christ came to take us out of it and into a permanent “world” of pure goodness. Part of this world, however, is the “age” in which we live. Like the world, the values of secular society at any given time are a mixture of good and evil, but they are a false gospel, even where they seem to parallel a Biblical value. For example, the sin of murder is exactly the same to God in the year 2000 A.D. as it was in the year 50 A.D. But societal ethics change constantly on such issues as abortion, capital punishment, and “just war.” Like the people in Galatia in 60 A.D., people today (and in every period of history) become confused by a morality derived from Christian doctrine mixed with their own opinions. The problems Paul saw, which prompted his Epistle to the Galatians, are identical in nature to the doctrinal problems faced by Christians today. So the starting point for our morality as Christians is to understand that we must take our values from the Word of God, not from our opinions as they are informed by the time when we happen to live. “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8.)