ONLY ONE GOSPEL St. Paul starts his epistle with an introduction that embraces a salutation. This salutation reflects the theological thought of the whole epistle. Then he shows the occasion of its writing, exhorting them to return to the gospel of Christ and to get rid of “Judaism”, assuring the authenticity of his apostolic authority. 1. Salutation 1-5. 2. Occasion of writing 6-10. 3. Defense of his Apostolic Authority 11-2:14. 1. SALUTATION [1-5] G. A. Lightfoot says, [The two threads which run through this epistle -the defense of the writer’s own authority, and the maintenance of the doctrine of grace-are knotted together in the opening salutation]. 1. “Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by men, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father”[1]: Thus from the first word he claims the fullness of the apostolic authority as he has not been commissioned by men nor received his instructions through human channels, but has been as directly and as divinely appointed by the Lord as have any of the Twelve. It was Ananias who baptized him, but it was not he who delivered him from the way of error and initiated him into the faith; but Christ Himself sent from on high that wondrous voice, whereby He enclosed him in His net... Luke declares in the words, “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 13:2). From this passage it is manifest that the power of the Son and Spirit is one, for being commissioned by the Spirit, he says that he was commissioned by Christ1. St. John Chrysostom 2. As the letter concentrates on the practical liberty in Christ he refers to it here: I. He is appointed by our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father [1], there fore he was never subject himself to the bondage of pleasing men. II. He refers to Jesus who was raised from the dead [1]. Christ grants us freedom from death by His resurrection. The Father who raised the Crucified Christ for our sins raises us from our sins [the source of eternal death]. Through the risen life in Christ we enjoy the sanctified body which is not subject to the bondage of carnal lusts. His apostleship was through a call from the risen Christ; indeed he was not chosen by our Lord while He was on earth but the same Lord chose him after His resurrection, as a true witness of the resurrection. III. He refers to the present evil age [4], for our Redeemer grants us freedom from the bondage of the worldly values. According to St. Chrysostom the apostle does not complain of time itself, but of actions and circumstances. [He shows that Christ has both delivered us from our offenses, and secured us for the future... For neither of these did the law avail, but grace was sufficient for both.] IV. He points to God as our Father [4] whose glory is eternal [5]. For liberty is 1 Chapter 1. 2 realized through our adoption to Him, that we may find a place in His glorious bosom, to live with Him eternally. Thus everywhere, even in his introduction, he scatters traces of the goodness of God and we may conceive him speaking thus: “O you who were lately slaves, enemies and aliens, what right have you suddenly acquired to call God your Father? it was not the law which conferred upon you this relationship; why do you therefore desert Him who brought you so near to God, and return to your tutor? Not simply “the Father,” but “our Father,” which he does in order to affect them by showing that Christ has made His Father our Father1. St. John Chrysostom V. Christian liberty is love, therefore he speaks in the spirit of the community. He sends his salutation together with all the brethren who were with him, perhaps the whole congregation which he was serving when he was writing, or the group of companions with whom he was traveling. This is the only salutation in which he mentions this phrase, perhaps to declare that what he writes here is not his personal idea, but the church doctrine. St. John Chrysostom says, [Wishing therefore to remove their suspicion (that he was singular in his preaching), and to show he had many to support him in his doctrine, he has associated with himself “the brethren,” to show that what he wrote was with their accord2.] VI. Freedom is the outcome of divine grace, the manifestation of divine love to believers, which grants inner peace, as a state of mind resulting of that love. He points to grace then to peace. St. Chrysostom says that the Galatians [were in danger of falling from grace therefore he prays that they may recover it again, and since they had come to be at war with God, he beseeches God to restore them to the same peace.] VII. Through the Cross [4] we became free. For it is the one and only bridge of reconciliation between God and man. He left His glory-lit throne to liberate our sinstained souls and grant us His righteousness, paying the price for men. No man is righteous before God. Righteousness is a divine gift which cost the Father His Son. “For our sins,” says the apostle; we had pierced ourselves with ten thousand evils, and had deserved the gravest punishment; and the law not only did not deliver us, but it even condemned us, making sin more manifest, without the power to release us from it, or to stay the anger of God. But the Son of God made this impossibility possible for he remitted our sins, He restored us from enmity to the condition of friends, He freely bestowed on us numberless other blessings3. St. John Chrysostom VIII. “amen” [5]. He concludes the salutation with a doxology which reveals the ever lasting character of God’s kingdom as a contrast with the present evil age. We never find the word “Amen” placed at the beginning of an epistle, here however, he has it in his beginning, to show that what he had already said contained a sufficient charge against the Galatians, and that his argument was complete, for a manifest 1 Chapter 1. 2 Chapter 1. 3 Chapter 1. 3 offense does not require an elaborate crimination. Having spoken of the cross, resurrection, redemption from sin and security for the future, the purpose of the Father, the will of the Son, of grace and peace and His whole gift, he concludes with an ascription of praise1. St. John Chrysostom Thus, in his personal greeting the apostle declares indirectly our Christian freedom from man-pleasure, death, sin, carnal lusts, the wicked world and Satan. “Unto the churches of Galatia” [2]. Thus it appears, that the flame of wrongdoer had spread over not one or two cities merely, but the whole Galatian people. Consider too the grave indignation contained in the phrase,...he does not say “to the be loved” or “to the sanctified,” and this omission of all names of affection or respect, and this reference to them as a society merely, without the addition “churches of God,” is strongly expressive of deep concern and sorrow2. St. John Chrysostom 2. THE OCCASION FOR WRITING [6-10l 1. The apostle is astonished that his converts in Galatia are so quickly turning away from the gospel of free grace to another, which is not another, for it adds that the literal observances of the laws are a source of our salvation. He preaches the only one true gospel (the good news), to the circumcised and to the uncircumcised. He means “another” as to the conduct it prescribes, not in respect of its worship; “another” as to the discipline it teaches, not in respect of its divinity; because it is the office of Christ to call men from the law to grace3. Tertullian They had, in fact, only introduced one or two commandments, circumcision and the observance of days, but he says that the Gospel was subverted, in order to show that a slight adulteration vitiates the whole... A want of zeal in small matters is the cause of all our calamities; and because slight errors escape fitting correction, greater ones creep in. As in the body, a neglect of wounds generates fever, mortification, and death; so in the soul, slight evils over looked open the door to graver ones... Now you will under stand why Paul calls circumcision a subversion of the gospel4. St. John Chrysostom 2. The most striking feature of the opening of this letter is the absence of the apostle’s customary “thanksgiving” to God for the faith and love of his readers. Perhaps to declare that he is upset not only with the false teachers but also with his readers. 3. In contrast with Philippians 9:20-23, where he rejoices that his opponents are preaching Christ, St. Paul here shows not the least willingness to be tolerant. The Philippians’ opponents preach the true gospel even though they are insincere. These opponents, however do not preach the true gospel and -whether they are sincere or not, no 1 Chapter 1. 2 Chapter 1. 3 Against Marcion, 5:2. 4 Chapter 1. 4 matter what their personal status and credentials should be accorded no hearing. 4. “But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema” [8,9]. See the apostle’s wisdom; to obviate the objection that he was prompted by vainglory to applaud his own doctrine, he includes himself also in his anathema; and as they betook themselves to authority, that of James and John, he mentions angels also... The phrase “of heaven” is purposely added, because priests are also called angels (Mal. 2:7) 1. St. John Chrysostom He mentioned himself first (in the anathema). It is by way of an example that he has expressed himself. If even he himself might not preach any other gospel, then neither might an angel2. Tertullian There is no fellowship whatever between the words of the saints and the fancies of human invention, for the saints are the ministers of truth, preaching the king of heaven, but those who are born in the opposite direction have nothing better than to eat, and think their end is that they shall cease to be...3 St. Athanasius of Alexandria 5. “For am I now persuading men or God? or am I seeking to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ” [10]. St. Paul acknowledges our Lord Jesus Christ as his Liberator from the bondage of the desire of human applause and vain-glory. By such liberty he speaks to them not to please any creature but His own Liberator and Savior. Granting, says he, that I might deceive you by these doctrines, could I deceive God, who knows my yet unuttered thoughts, and to please whom is my unceasing endeavor? See here the apostolic spirit, the evangelical loftiness!... For since he is compelled to justify himself to his disciples, being their teacher, he submits to it... It is plain that I have thus written to you not from the love of rule, or to gain disciples, or to receive honor at your hands. My endeavor has been to please God, not man. Were it otherwise, I should still consort with the Jews, still persecute the church. I who have cast off my country altogether, my companions, my friends, my kindred, and all my reputation, and taken in exchange for these, persecution, enmity, strife, and dailyimpending death, have signal proof that I speak not from love of human applause4. St. John Chrysostom The apostle says, “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ [10], while he says in another place, “Please all men in all things, even as I also please all men in all things” (1 Cor. 10:32, 33)... He has said he does not please men, because he was accustomed to act rightly, not with the express design of pleasing men, but of pleasing God, to the love of whom he wished to turn men’s hearts by that very thing in which 1 Chapter 1. 2 Against Marcion, 5:2. 3 Festal letters 2:7. 4 Chapter 1. 5 he was pleasing men. Therefore he was both right in saying that he did not please men, because in that very thing he aimed at pleasing God, and right in authoritatively teaching that we ought to please men, not in order that this should be sought for as the reward of our good deeds; but because the man who would not offer himself for imitation to those whom he wished to be saved, could not please God1. St. Augustine He ceased to please men when he became Christ’s servant, Christ’s soldier marches on through good report and evil report (2 Cor. 6:8), the one on the right hand and the other on the left. No praise elates him, no reproaches crush him. He is not puffed up by riches, nor does he shrink into himself because of poverty. Joy and sorrow he alike despises. It is a monk’s first virtue to despise the judgments of men2. St. Jerome Having been wedded to Christ, do not dishonor Christ. Being perfected by the Spirit, do not make the Spirit your own equal. If I yet pleased men, says Paul, I should not be the servant of Christ... I honor Peter, But I am not called a Petrine; and Paul, but have never been called a Pauline. I cannot allow myself to be named after a man, who am born of God. So then, if it is because you believe Him to be God that you are called a Christian, may you ever be so called, and may you remain in both the name and the thing; but if you are called from Christ only because you have an affection for Him, you attribute no more to Him than other names which are given from some practice or fact3. St. Gregory of Nazianzen 3. DEFENSE OF HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY The Judaizers said that Paul was not a real apostle; he had not seen Jesus nor been with Him; only the twelve were real apostles, and they had said nothing about the repeal of the law by Christ. Paul had received no mission from Jesus, he was only an agent of the original apostles from whom he had learned and on whom he was dependent4. St. Paul defends his apostleship, not from any feeling of wounded pride, but for the sake of his readers, whose acceptance of his doctrine hinges upon their confidence in his apostolic position. 1. His teaching was authorized by God Himself [11-24]. Only God could have changed him from a persecutor to a preacher, in a very short time. He received his gospel directly from the Lord, condescended to reveal to him all knowledge, without any human intervention. St. Paul is quite blunt. Those who are presently daring to present a gospel different from the one he preached on his first and founding visit to these churches deserve to be abandoned, indeed, condemned by God. What he preached was the good news, no other news is good news! If he was asked for his proof that God Himself thus immediately revealed to him these 1 Sermon on the Mount, 2:1:3. 2 Ep. 52:13; 66: 6. 3 Oration 37:17. 4 C. Normann Bartlett: Galatians and You, 1948, p.13. 6 ineffable mysteries, he would instance his former manner of life, arguing that his conversion would not have been so sudden, had it not been by divine revelation1. St. John Chrysostom 2. St. Paul reminds his readers of his thoroughly Jewish background, his way of life prior to his category-shattering experience on the road to Damascus. He himself had once been a foremost protagonist of the Jewish religion, which legalistic foes were trying to mix with the gospel of grace. Truly he was a persistent and thorough persecutor of Christians. He was recognized by fellow Jews as far advanced among his peers in practice as well as in zeal, but he had left it for something better. He had divinely received the revelation of grace and proclaimed it long before he saw any of the other apostles. This is his argument; -if my efforts against the church springs not from human motives, but from religious though mistaken zeal, why should I be actuated by vainglory, now that I am contending for the church, and have embraced the truth? ... As soon as I passed over to the doctrines of the church I shook off my Jewish prejudices, manifesting on that side a zeal still more ardent; and this is a proof that my conversion is sincere, and that the zeal which possesses me is from above. What other inducement could I have to make such a change, and to barter honor for contempt, repose for peril, security for distress? none surely but the love of truth2. St. John Chrysostom 3. Truly his conversion was on the road to Damascus while he was persecuting the Church of Christ, but Christ Himself, on behalf of his “Judaism,” called him to the divine grace while he was in his mother’s womb [15]. As God did to Jeremiah (1:5) and Isaiah (42:1), He devoted him for a special task, called him, and then revealed to him who the Son really is and His redeeming work on the Cross, so that he might preach to the non- Jewish world3. Why does he say, “to reveal His Son in me” [16], and not “to me?” it is to signify, that he had not only been instructed in the faith by words, but that he was richly endowed with the Spirit; -that the revelation had enlightened his whole soul, and that he had Christ speaking within him. “That I might preach Him among the Gentiles” [16]. For not only his faith, but his election to the apostolic office proceeded from God... It was necessary to preach differently to the Jews and to the heathen4. St. John Chrysostom Origen sees in the words of the apostle that God separated or devoted him since he was in his mother’s womb [15] as an argument that God sends angels as guardians even before our birth5. 4. His church life: St. Paul who accepted the Gospel from Christ Himself did not ignore the Church community, as we will see in his meeting with St. Peter and other church leaders. 5. The authority behind St. Paul’s gospel is shown by his rebuke of St. Peter 1 Chapter 1. 2 Chapter 1. 3 Collegeville Bible Comm., p. 1071. 4 Chapter 1. 5 Comm. on Matt., book 13:27. 7 [2:11-21]. To prove that St. Peter was not a greater apostle than him, he points out how he had openly rebuked him for being two-faced about Jewish customs when he was in Antioch. St. Paul mentions the three meetings with St. Peter and other apostles to prove that his few contacts with them had not been for the purpose of obtaining authorization of his mission from them. a. First meeting with him [1:18-24]: St. Paul emphasizes a kind of independence of the Jerusalem apostles, but not in individual attitude. Only after an interval of three years after his 180-degree turn from Pharisaic Judaism to preaching Jesus as Messiah, he went to Jerusalem to “get to know” Cephas [18]. He says, “Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me” [17]. St. Chrysostom comments, [He thus speaks, not arrogantly, but to exhibit the dignity of his own commission. Because they were repeating that the apostles were before him, and were called before him, he says, “I went not up to them.” Had it been needful for him to communicate with them, He, who revealed to him his commission, would have given him this injunction.] Before his going up to Jerusalem he went away into Arabia [17] and again returned unto Damascus [17]. “Arabia” probably means the country south of Damascus, the kingdom of the Nabataeans, rather than the district of Sinai. We have no record of what happened during these three years, but while the opinion of the Fathers is that he immediately started preaching, many now prefer to think that he devoted himself to a life of prayer and meditation1. Here observe his humility; he speaks not of his success (in Arabia), nor of whom or of how many he instructed. Yet such was his zeal immediately on his baptism, that he confounded the Jews, and so exasperated them, that they and the Greeks lay in wait for him with a view to kill him. This would not have been the case, had he not greatly added to the numbers of the faithful; since they were vanquished in doctrine, they had recourse to murder, which was a manifest sign of Paul’s superiority. Of these successes, however, he says nothing, and so in all his discourses, his motive is not ambition, nor to be honored more highly than the apostles, nor because he is mortified at being lightly esteemed, but it is a fear lest any detriment should accrue to his mission. For he calls himself, “one born out of due time,” and, “the first of sinners,” and the last of the apostles2.” St. John Chrysostom He visited Jerusalem to visit St. Peter [18]. There he saw St. James, the Lord’s brother and the bishop of Jerusalem. His major task was to declare that he was not working with an individual attitude, separated from the church leaders, and to persuade them that his conversion was genuine. Nothing was added to the divine revelation of St. Paul’s gospel of grace by subsequent contacts with the apostles. His apostolic authority and message were fully given by our Lord. St. John Chrysostom presents the following remarks3: I. St. Paul says that he saw St. James [19],and does not say that he had learned from him. We can also say that he went there to know St. Peter [18] and not to learn from 1 A New Catholic Commentary, p. 1176. 2 Chapter 1. 3 Chapter 1. 8 him. II. He honorably mentions St. James, as he adds “the Lord’s brother” [19], so free is he from all envy. III. Throughout the transparent humility of his holy soul; his earnestness in his vindication is as great as if he had to render an account of his deeds, and was pleading for his life in a court of justice [20]. IV. He mentions his trip to evangelize the regions near his native city of Tarsus in Cilicia and around Antioch in Syria [21], to declare that his mission was to the Gentiles and that he was unwilling to build upon another man’s foundation (Rom. 15:20). V. He says, “And I was still unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea, but they only heard say, he that once persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once made havoc” [22, 23]. In his modesty he mentions the fact of his persecuting the church, and in his conversion and preaching they did not admire him, nor did they applaud him or were astonished at him, but they glorified God in him [24], ascribing all to the divine grace. They glorified God, in other words he wants to tell them that there was no enmity between him and the churches of Jewish origin. He didn’t preach them, but they rejoiced for God’s work by him in the Gentile communities. According to St. Augustine they glorified God, for they used to pray for their enemies and persecutors that He may convert them. They asked this of God, before it came to pass1. 1 Sermons on New Testament Lessons, 6:4.
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