Galatians -- Law or Grace: The Gospel in one Verse

In the first four verses of this letter Paul establishes two things; his credentials and the work of Jesus on the cross. The rest of the letter is spent developing those two themes. Verses 3-5, (one sentence), give us the Gospel “³ Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.”  If we break the sentence down into parts we first have “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ”, two blessings “grace and peace”  “to you” the reader of this letter. Where does the “grace and peace come from? Jesus Christ and God the Father both give us grace and peace this shows us that they are of one accord.

Paul continues, “our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins” this short statement is the gospel, the good news! It says it all, what man could never do Jesus did! He gave himself as propitiation, for our sins! (Propitiation is a word not often used in new translations or in churches anymore as a part of the dumbing down of Christians going on currently. However in my opinion this word carries a heaver weight than those used to describe what Jesus did on the cross.  It means to appease but also to fulfill the wrath and righteous anger of God.) When we understand that, to God, all sin is sin and that there is no sacrifice mankind can do to absolve himself of sin we become free to rely on Jesus our Lord and Savior to make us righteous before God the Father. We, by our works, no matter how great cannot ever hope to satisfy His righteous anger and wrath toward us. There is no sacrifice; there are no works we could ever do to pay for even our ti,niest sin.  We are, and will always be, deserving of God’s wrath except that Jesus paid our price for sin and redeemed us from the kingdom of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of light, (Colossians Chapter 1). What sin? Every single sin we have ever done and ever will do.   Jesus paid the price for all of them. All we need do to receive God’s grace is to believe in the work of his one and only son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is no wonder that the world hates this! The simplicity of the gospel makes mankind totally rely on the sacrifice of one man. But more than a mere man, Jesus is our creator, (Colossians Chapter 1), He is God very God. He, our creator, became sinless man for the singular purpose of becoming the only sacrifice worthy to absolve sin. He suffered and died that we may become pleasing, righteous and acceptable in the eyes God the Father.

The world wants and needs to take part in its own salvation. Down through history mankind has done unspeakable things in an effort to please God and or gods. Belief in reincarnation, now in revival, is yet another means of making one worthy in the eyes of god or gods.  These poor people hope, after going through this veil of tears over and over again, they will get it right eventually. Yet all these remain in their sins. Today there are several religions that preach a good works gospel that as Paul says is no gospel at all, but a loss of grace.  There is a need in mankind to be able to stand before God or gods and say “I did my part.” “I lived a good life.” But the law of Moses and the law written on our hearts condemns us, (Romans chapter one).    

Chapter 1 and 2 Paul's Credentials

The first verse of Galatians firmly established who Paul is, "Paul, an apostle - sent not from men nor by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead". One translation puts it, "Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ. and God the Father who raised him from the dead.)" There is a subtle difference in translations the key point however is that Paul is not representing men be they apostles or others within the church but Jesus Christ and God the Father.
Today we have ministers who are working for someone, the church council, the bishop or someone else in authority. However, Paul was not sent by the apostles nor by their disciples but was sent directly by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who selected him before he was even born (verse 15).  Therefore Paul was able to speak with authority not because he was well trained, well educated, and well liked but because and only because he was sent by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave him his authority. Paul needed to confirm his office because there where those who were challenging his authority as an apostle. He was called last, he wasn't part of the original twelve, he did not walk with Jesus but was called after the crucifiction therefore according to some he was not as authoritative as Peter, the other apostles or even the disciples of the apostles some of whom walked with Jesus and heard His teachings directly. To this Paul simply refers them back to his calling to apostleship by God and Jesus.

In the Greek the word apostle means, "one who is sent away" or "sent one" the meaning here is like an emissary or ambassador. An emissary or ambassador is not important in and of themselves but because of whom they represent. Paul is representing God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore may demand respect not for him personally but because of whom he represents. Paul spends much of the rest of the chapter giving his history both as a Jew and as an apostle. The main point is that because he is sent directly from God he  is not seeking to get the approval of men for men did not send him but is seeking to please God who did send him. Too often today we in the church are seeking to be pleasing to our culture, our society.   Paul clearly tells us we need to seek to be pleasing to God and God alone. Humans are fickle, changing with every fad,  but our God is constant, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is Lord of all and over all. Men and women and their philosophies pass away but the word of the Lord remains forever.

The third verse is unique to the epistles, "Grace and peace to you from God  our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." The terms grace and peace are important terms because they reflect back to the cross. Christ died for us that by His sacrifice we might be saved from the wrath to come and enter into God's mercy and grace. Grace releases us from the law of sin and death. Martin Luther writes in his commentary on Galatians, "Grace releases sin, and peace makes the conscience quiet. The two fiends that torment us are sin and conscience. But Christ has vanquished these two monsters, and trodden them under foot." What joy! we are no longer subject to the law that points out our sins but under the grace of God who because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross makes us righteous, not by our works but by His work! It is like the old hymn; Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Galatians A Study of Law and Grace

Introduction:

Galatians was written between 53 and 57 BCE by the apostle Paul. He wrote it to combat the Judaizers who were preaching that the ceremonial laws of the OT were still needed for salvation, especially circumcision.

Paul clearly establishes his position as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and his authority as such. He informs how he was called by God. How he was accepted by the original apostles. How he opposed Peter on circumcision and called him out as a hypocrite when Peter came to Antioch.

Having denounced the Judaizers and established his credentials Paul pursues a discussion of law and grace. He discusses how Abraham by faith was used of God and how faith came before the law.  He explains that the only thing that counts is "faith expressing itself through love." He explains the freedom that is in grace and the slavery that is in the law. He describes the life that is in the spirit and the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit and he calls us to live in the Spirit.



He ends with a warning, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." He calls us to live according to the spirit not of the flesh which is the sinful nature.