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GALATIANS, LETTER TO THE

One of Paul’s major letters. Galatians has played a central role in Christian theology because it provides one of the NT’s most explicit teachings on justification by faith. This teaching, however, is Paul’s response to a serious crisis in the churches of Galatia rather than a systematic or doctrinal presentation of justification.

Background

There is no unanimity among scholars as to the identity of the Galatians or the dating of this letter. Some argue that Paul was writing to the congregations of Antioch in Pisidia, Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe (in the Roman province of Galatia), which he established on his first missionary journey according to Acts 13–14. Others maintain that he was writing to the ethnic Galatians of Ancyra, Tavium, and Pessinus (in the old territory of Galatia), which Paul supposedly evangelized on his second and third missionary journeys (cf. Acts 16:6; 18:23). The first theory is called the South Galatian hypothesis and dates the letter ca. 49-50 c.e., making it the earliest of Paul’s extant correspondence. The second is called the North Galatian hypothesis and dates the letter in the mid-50s, a period when Paul found himself in conflict with some elements of the Corinthian church.

An understanding of the situation that occasioned Galatians is more important for its interpretation than the questions discussed above, and in this regard there is some agreement, even though scholarly theories differ in detail. The background is as follows.

Paul was the first to preach the gospel to the Galatians, and they received him as if he were an “angel of God,” at a moment when he was physically ill (Gal. 4:13-14). Since the Galatians were Gentiles, Paul did not require them to undergo circumcision or observe “works of the law” such as dietary prescriptions and sabbath observance. But sometime after his departure, other missionaries came to Galatia and preached a “different gospel” (1:6) which required the Galatians to have themselves circumcised and observe these “works of the law.”

The precise identity of these missionaries is disputed, but they were most likely Jewish Christian missionaries who had a strong connection to Jerusalem, and perhaps to James. Although Paul castigates their false and deceitful motives (6:12-13), there is a logic to their position. If the Galatians wish to share in the blessings of the Jewish Messiah, then they must become children of Abraham by accepting circumcision, the sign of the eternal covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 17). Circumcision, in turn, requires the descendants of Abraham to do the works of the law.

Paul’s understanding of the gospel, especially in light of his call, led him to a deeper appreciation of Christ’s work in God’s salvific plan. While Jewish believers need not renounce their Jewish heritage, it was not necessary for gentile believers to adopt Jewish customs and practices in order to be justified before God. It is God’s salvific work in Christ, rather than the law, which accomplishes justification and righteousness (2:21; 3:21). Therefore the Galatians are already Abraham’s descendants since they belong to Christ (3:29), whereas those who seek justification through the law separate themselves from Christ (5:4).

Content

Aside from its introductory and concluding remarks (1:1-10; 6:11-18), Galatians comprises three major sections: an autobiographical section in which Paul defends the truth of the gospel that he preached to the Galatians (1:112:21); an intricate argument drawn from Scripture in which Paul explains that people of faith are Abraham’s descendants (3:15:12); a moral exhortation in which Paul shows the Galatians that if they love their neighbor as themselves and walk by the Spirit, they fulfill the law of Christ (5:136:10). Each of these sections is an integral part of Paul’s argument and is intended to persuade the Galatians not to submit to circumcision.

Truth of the Gospel (1:112:21)

Since his circumcision-free gospel to the Gentiles was severely criticized, Paul provides the Galatians with a brief autobiographical statement in order to demonstrate the truth of the gospel (2:5, 14) that he preaches to the Gentiles. Thus he reviews his former life as a persecutor of the Church, his apostolic call, his dealings with the church at Jerusalem, and the incident at Antioch (1:112:14). He then concludes with an important statement on justification by faith apart from the works of the law (2:15-21).

This biographical information supports the truth of the gospel in several ways. First, Paul did not receive the gospel from other human beings, nor did others teach it to him. The gospel that he preaches came through a “revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:11-12), i.e., Paul received the gospel when God revealed his Son to him (v. 16). Previous to his apostolic call, Paul was zealous for the traditions of his ancestors, even to the point of persecuting the church of God. But when God called him and revealed his Son to him, Paul understood that the one whom he persecuted as cursed by God (3:13) was none other than God’s Son.

Paul immediately knew that he had been called to preach a circumcision-free gospel to the Gentiles, and he did so without any need to consult with those in Jerusalem (1:17). When he did go to Jerusalem, ca. three years after his call, he met only with Cephas (Peter) and James. His gospel came directly from God at the moment of his call, not from Jerusalem.

Fourteen years after his first visit Paul went to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus to make sure that he was not preaching in vain (2:1-10). Despite opposition from “false brethren,” the pillar apostles (James, Cephas, and John) clearly approved of Paul’s gospel to the Gentiles. However, when certain partisans of James came to the church of Antioch, they were not prepared for what they saw: Jewish and gentile believers sharing table fellowship, Peter among them. When Peter withdrew from this table fellowship, Paul rebuked him for betraying the truth of the gospel (2:11-14).

What Paul understood by “the truth of the gospel” is stated in the final verses of this section (2:15-21). A person is not justified on the basis of “works of the law” but through faith in (or perhaps “through the faith of”) Jesus Christ. This is why Paul and other Jewish Christians now believe in Christ since they have come to realize that no one will be justified on the basis of “works of the law.” If righteousness could be obtained through the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.

Children of the Promise (3:15:12)

Having explained the origin of the circumcision-free gospel he preaches, Paul embarks upon a rather technical argument to show that people of faith, baptized into Christ, are Abraham’s descendants. The argument supposes that the promises God made to Abraham are more important in the history of salvation than the giving of the law. God had already announced the gospel to Abraham by promising that all the nations would be blessed in him. Consequently, people of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham (3:7-9). In his exegesis of Gen. 12:7, Paul argues that these promises were made to Abraham and his seed. Focusing upon the word “seed,” which is in the singular, he argues that Abraham’s seed is Christ (3:15-16). Consequently, all who are baptized into Christ are descendants of Abraham and children of the promise, even if not circumcised (3:26-29).

Since the law was given 430 years after the promise, it does not alter the original conditions of the promise, which depends on faith (3:17-20). The law was added later to make people aware of their transgressions, and so it functioned as a disciplinarian until the full blossoming of faith. But of itself, the law could not give life. Otherwise, righteousness would have come through the law (3:21).

Since the Galatians have not understood this and are on the verge of circumcision, Paul reprimands them for returning to the period of their religious infancy (4:1-11). He calls them to imitate his example (4:12-20). He shows them that they are the true descendants of the free woman and her son Isaac (4:21-31), and warns them to avoid circumcision lest they separate themselves from Christ (5:1-12).

Living by the Spirit (5:136:10)

Although Paul has shown the Galatians that they are descendants of Abraham because they have been incorporated into Abraham’s singular descendant, Christ, his argument is not complete. Paul must explain how the gentile Galatians can live a moral life if they are not “under the law,” otherwise his gospel will be hollow and of no avail. The parenesis or moral exhortation of this letter, then, plays an integral role in Paul’s argument that the Galatians should not submit to circumcision.

In Paul’s view, the moral life is a matter of living by the Spirit (5:16), being guided by the Spirit (v. 18), and following the Spirit’s lead (v. 25). People who are led by the Spirit are not “under the law” (v. 18), nor do they do the works of the flesh, which Paul catalogues in great detail (vv. 19-21). Rather, the Spirit produces its fruit in them (vv. 22-23). But if believers are no longer under the law, will they really live a moral life by following the Spirit?

Paul argues that the whole law is fulfilled in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (5:14, quoting Lev. 19:18). Consequently, the Galatians must serve each other through love (5:13). If they bear one another’s burdens they will fulfill “the law of Christ” (6:2). This expression, which occurs only in Galatians, probably refers to the law as it was lived by Christ, i.e., in accord with the principle of self-sacrificing love (cf. 1:3-4; 2:20). To summarize, the Galatians will fulfill the law if they live in the realm of the Spirit in accord with the law of Christ.

Contemporary Discussion

Current discussion of Galatians focuses upon three areas: the social dimension of justification by faith; the faith of Jesus Christ; and the nature of Pauline ethics.

The historical context of Galatians indicates that Paul’s teaching on justification was a response to a social problem: how Jewish and gentile believers should relate to each other. Do people stand in the proper covenant relationship to God on the basis of “works of the law” that identify them as Jews (circumcision, dietary prescriptions, sabbath observance), or on the basis of God’s work in Christ? More than a polemic against an attempt to gain one’s righteousness through good works, Paul’s teaching on justification in Galatians seeks to integrate Gentiles and Jews without compelling the former to adopt a Jewish way of life.

When we ask how people are justified, the traditional answer is through faith in Jesus Christ. But in recent years a minority of scholars has argued that the important statement of 2:16 refers to the “faith of Jesus Christ.” Accordingly, believers are justified on the basis of Christ’s faith, i.e., Christ’s faithfulness and obedience to God as demonstrated by dying on the cross. Thus Gentiles are in the proper covenant relationship to God on the basis of Christ’s faithfulness, not because they have adopted a Jewish way of life. This faithful obedience of Christ, in turn, is the basis for faith in Christ.

Finally, new insights into the role that moral exhortation plays in Paul’s argument have encouraged scholars to give greater attention to the ethical dimensions of Galatians. The integral role of the parenesis in this letter indicates that Paul’s teaching on justification does not undermine the moral life of believers. Justified by what God has done in Christ and no longer under the law, believers must follow the Spirit’s lead and fulfill the law of Christ through the love commandment.

Bibliography. J. M. G. Barclay, Obeying the Truth: Paul’s Ethics in Galatians (Minneapolis, 1991); J. D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians (Cambridge, 1993); R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ: An Investigation of the Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:14:11. SBLDS 56 (Chico, 1983); R. N. Longenecker, Galatians. WBC 41 (Waco, 1990); F. J. Matera, Galatians. Sacra Pagina 9 (Collegeville, 1992).

Frank J. Matera







Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)

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