Bible Question: What was the whole book of Galatians in the Bible really about |
Bible Answer: Excerpt from .... Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology Galatians In the original context of the letter, the Judaizing heresy threatened to undermine the work of the gospel among the Gentile churches and thus destroy the unity of God's people. In the second century, as the Christian church struggled with the Marcionite heresy, Galatians played a central role in the controversy. Much later, at the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, the Protestant leaders identified in this letter the key to the fundamental theological problems facing them. Just what is the teaching of Paul's letter to the Galatians? If we wish to answer that question accurately, we must not dissociate the theology of the letter from the historical setting in which it was written. All of Paul's letters were written to deal with specific problems, but in the case of Galatians the situation was especially urgent. The crisis was so great that Paul begins the letter, not with the kind of thanksgiving he normally used, but with an expression of amazement that the churches of Galatia had been persuaded by certain teachers to follow a false gospel (1:6). These teachers argued that Gentile Christians, if they wanted to share in Abraham's blessing, must be circumcised and submit themselves to the Old Testament Law. Because this requirement contradicted the message Paul preached, the false teachers also claimed that Paul did not have proper authority. ... The concluding statement (2:21) reveals Paul's true motivation: if our actions indicate that justification can be reached by the observance of the Law, then Christ's death must have been unnecessary and the doctrine of grace is subverted. ... The world of the Spirit, however, is a world of faith, not of works of the law. If the Galatians really want to share in the Abrahamic inheritance—if they really want to be regarded as Abraham's children—they must live by faith as Abraham did (3:6-7, 29). Perhaps the Judaizers claimed that Paul created a contradition between the Abrahamic promise and the Mosic Law. In fact, says the apostle, it is the Judaizers who oppose these two principles. When God gave the Law four centuries after Abraham, he could not have intended that Law to alter the promise. But if the Judiazers were right, that is, if the inheritance could be received by the works of the Law, then the Law would be against the promise, which can only be had by faith (3:12-21). ............ Whatever the precise circumstances behind the Galatians' problem, Paul's answer suggests that the Law does indeed represent accurately God's will for them (5:14); however, the Law gives no power to fulfill the divine will (as suggested by 5:18; cf. 3:21; and Rom 8:3; elsewhere Paul points out that the Law actually abets sin, Rom 7:7-13; 1 Col 15:56). The only way to conquer the impulses of the flesh is to "walk" in the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit, to bear the fruit of the Spirit, to "keep in step" with the Spirit (5:16, 18, 22, 25). ........ Today, no less than in the first century, Paul's letter to the Galatians reminds believers about the inseparability of theology and life. By setting forth in clearest terms what is "the truth of the gospel, " the apostle was able, under divine direction, to preserve the glorious doctrine of salvation by grace. Moisé Silva Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Edited by Walter A. Elwell Copyright © 1996 by Walter A. Elwell. Published by Baker Books, a division of Baker Book House Company, PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516-6287. All rights reserved. Used by permission. |