Galatians: One Gospel, One Family

For anyone who has ever had the shine of their shoes, or tint of their nylons corrected...in the name of Jesus....this series is for you.

For anyone who has ever felt on the outside - not included by God or in the people of God.....this series is for you.

The book of Galatians is about finding the centre of the gospel in Christ by the power of the Spirit.

It’s about threading that needle between Irreligion and Over Religion.

Its about how God has always, always been about creating a new family and how that has happened in Christ and you are invited.

I don’t think I’ve ever taught right through Galatians before and I think it’s probably because, at first glance its a bit unapproachable with all of its references to arguments about the rules and requirements of Judaism and whether non-Jewish Christians were going to be required to participate. It’s also a bit confrontational.

The Apostle Paul lauches into argument mode right from the begining of the letter - clearly defensive about events that have occurred that he will reference and comment on. It’s heated.

And that’s because what he’s fighting for is so important.

It’s the gospel.

The simple message that Jesus has entrusted him with.

What it is and what it isn’t.

Paul’s work of translating Jesus as Lord to diverse people and cultures is an ongoing work that we in the Church are still charged with today - in our ever shifting culture.

Galatians is about what is essential - what never changes - but it’s also about how God’s heart is open to welcome anyone who lives by faith a new life in Jesus.

Who are the Galatians?

Galatians is probably the earliest letter - written shortly after 49 AD. It was written down even before the first gospels were written (though of course after the events they describe).

Dear Galatians

It’s a particular letter written to a particular people to address a particular problem. So - as we read it we’re sort of eavesdropping on one side of a conversation - and Paul will reference people and situations that the Galatians understood but we might have to do some digging on to understand - and some things we never will.

This is the nature of the biblical epistles. They aren’t written as theological textbooks - certainly we’ll see moments where Paul or others will expound on their understanding of the gospel and as we put them all together we start to get a more rounded view of what was taught and understood by the earliests disciples and churches as they took the message Jesus left with them and learn to live it out in context and culture by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

So first, let’s just get a sense of who & where we are:

The area known as Galatia was in modern day Turkey - occupied of course by Rome at the time. The region was named after the large contingent of Gauls who moved into the region in the 270’s BC.

The Gauls were a collection of Celtic tribes that migrated from what is now Central Europe - the areas we now call France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and into Northern Italy.

They have their own story as a group of people with military and technological might - who were a major power in the region for a time notably sacking Rome in its infancy 390 BC

Julius Caesar led extensive campaigns against them known as the the Gallic Wars (58-50 BC) which you may have encountered in contemporary culture in the comic strip Asterix & Obelix which depicts a Gaulish village in 50 BC resisting the encroaching Roman Empire.

Eventually the Gauls were overcome by Rome and their territories seperated into Roman States.

So by the time Paul reaches Galatia what he is encountering is a diverse populous. Close to regions of Syria and within the Mediteranean state there are strong Greek & Roman influences, but also this large contingent of Celtic Gauls - for those of us with Celtic and European roots Galatia may have been a first contact point for our ancestors with the gospel.

What all this means though is that Paul is translating the gospel for a culture without the foundational assumptions of the Jewish story.

As in the Roman world, Paul is navigating established understandings of how the spiritual world works, gods - idols - worship that are deeply integrated into their culture.

And his message that Jesus’ Lordship is for them too as part of God’s renewal of the whole world in Christ means that he will be exorting them to put their faith in Jesus and reliquish their ties to their gods and discover that themselves in the story of God’s redemption that started with a promise to Abraham - and has been carried by the Jewish people through the ages until this very pivotal point in history that was unfolding RIGHT NOW where God reclaims all peoples and reunites us under his Son.

The Gospel to the Galatians in Acts

Acts 13-16 is where we see the narrative of Paul’s time in the Galatian territories.

After the church in Antioch lays hands on Paul (still known as Saul at this time) and Barnabas they are sent out as apostles to bring the gospel to the Gentiles (non-jews).

They head from there to Cyrus - then on to Paphos, Perga, Pamphylia and Pisidia.

Here in Acts 13 Paul enters a a synagogue and preaches the good news of Jesus starting with the story of Israel.

Acts 13:16–42 ESV

So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore he says also in another psalm, “ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: “ ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ” As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.

So - I have always read these long gospel explanations and wondered thought:

Why are they taking so long to get to the real gospel - the Jesus part??

I could understand the desire to appeal to the Old Testament scriptures and prophecy for the sake of the Jews - to kind of warm them up to the idea that the Messiah had come and Jesus was a continuation of their story with God...but why should the Gentiles care about all of that? They just need faith in Jesus right?

Ahhhh - this is where I was wrong.

Because the Old Testament isn’t just a story for the Jews - it’s the story of the redemption of all of God’s people.

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Paul is going to tell the Galatian church that:

Galatians 3:6–7 ESV

just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

He is going to redefine what it is to be Abrahams children - and live under that blessing and say that anyone who lives by faith in God (as Abraham did) are children of that promise.

This is good news for the Gentiles. God’s promise to Abraham’s seed is realised for all in Jesus. (So much more here but we’ll get there in the coming weeks.)

If you carry on in that Acts 13 text you’ll see Paul quote Psalms and Isaiah to reference how God foretold that salvation would come to the whole world through Israel.

What’s the problem with the Judaizers?

Acts 13:44–50 ESV

The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

So - all this talk of everyone being included in Abraham made the Jews concerned for more reasons than just religious ideology.

This is not a good guy vs. bad guy scenerio - although historically it’s often been interpreted that way and has led to some anti-semetic sentiments in the church at various points in history.

But to give you some context.

The social cultural world of Rome that the gospel goes out from and that Paul is preaching in was a pagan world and a pluralistic world. There were idols and fesitvals to gods and sacrifices to gods involved in every aspect of cultural and social life. And the more gods the better - because you kind of covered your bases by making sure all the gods were pleased.

Invoke a libation to Mars before heading into war, Celebrate a festival to Pomona at harvest, make an offering to Artemis in thanks for the hunt, worship at the temple of Aphrodite for fertility. Every meal, every holiday, every major life circumstance was entered into with some kind of ceremonial offering to the gods. And they believed that in return these gods protected them, provided for them.

So to not enter into the worship of idols was to forsake your civil service.

If you neglected your worship and a plague came, or an army destroyed your city...well - we know who to blame.

So, you see these conversations in the letters to the early church about whether you can eat meat sacrificed to idols are not acedemic. They are really important as these people try to live in a way that is true to Jesus but still be citizens in a pagan world.

Now, the Jews had an exemption. Rome, and many Empires before them, had discovered that the Jews were extremely serious about their one God. And historically anyone who had tried to force them to assimilate into pagan worship was in for some major civil unrest.

So at this point in history the Jews and the Romans had worked out a deal....ok - you can belive in your one God and we won’t make you participate in all the requirements of civil worship. Just make sure you pray to your one God on behalf of the Empire and we’ll keep the peace...let sleeping dogs lie.

But the Jews, of course, were a relatively small group and scattered throughout the Empire so letting them slide under the radar was manageable.

Now, all of a sudden the whole Roman world is exploding with this news that Jesus the Jewish Messiah has come and people are turning from idols to Jesus and causing quite the stir in to their way of life (read Acts for a taste of the drama).

So as people like Paul preach that EVERYONE can be a child of Abraham and share in the promise of God for salvation all these new Christians are wanting to claim these civil worship exemptions required by the Empire.

The Jews are very concerned that this will mean that their special status will be in jeopardy and that Rome might require compliance from everyone.

So they resist - for the sake of protecting their people. They have to draw lines around what it means to be a Jew to distinguish themselves from all the rest of these Gentile believers in Christ. So, as we go through the book of Galatians you will see that things like circumcision become a major deal because it can be used a marker for “real Jews” vs whatever this new expression of Messianic Jew is.

This is actually a huge pivotal moment in the history of the gospel. And we’ll see Paul argue against these Judiazers and for the inclusion of Gentiles in the promise of Abraham. More on that to come.

All this to say...the social context of this letter matters. It is not written to us....but it is written for us. The things Paul is advocating for in the gospel here reappear at different times in history in different forms.

Martin Luther’s famous preface to Galatians translated these issues in his time in the Medievil period as the clash of the Catholic Church and justification by grace.

For us....we, like Paul are caught between two worlds. The secular, consumer society - even now in the midst of an evolution that maybe we aren’t quite sure where it will land. And on the other side (and particularly in America) a fading Christian culture that is often more culture than Christian.

And like the Galatians - we need to discern in the midst of that where the actual gospel lies. What is Jesus’ good news to our generation and how will it require us to live differently from both the cultural Christian and the modern secularism that pull at us.

Paul’s authority

So, today is mostly an intro and some context for what we will look at in the coming weeks but we’ll just get started in Galatians with Pauls’ introduction.

Galatians 1:1–2 ESV

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

So, this is a very intentional introduction. Although Paul is not unknown to the church his authority and message are being attacked. Some of the Judiaizers are depicting him as some second rate apostle who wasn’t part of the original crew and so maybe got a few things mixed up.

Paul names himself as an “apostle” (as sent out one) not sent out by man but through Jesus Christ - as we carry on in this book over the next few weeks we’ll see Paul tell his story and flesh out his credentials a bit but for now we’ll say that Paul is an unusual case.

Most of the first apostles were Jesus’ close disciples. They watched his ministry. They were there when he ascended into heaven and gave them the charge:

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

They had their orders.

Paul was different. We’ll go into his story next week but what Paul wants us to know in this introduction is that he too is an apostle because Jesus met with him personally and gave him a charge to carry.

He is one the same mission as the original apostles with the same authority because Jesus was the one who appeared to him and instructed him.

He is not an apostle sent out by man. He is an apostle send directly from the Lord Jesus and so he has the same authority that Jesus gave the other apostles.

He mentions the “adelphi” (brothers) here which actually is just a way of referring to siblings - both male and female in a family group.

Right from the start of this letter he invokes this idea that those in Christ are a new family. A family joined not by the blood of mothers and fathers but by the blood of Jesus by which we are all reborn.

This will become an important theme.

Galatians 1:3–5 ESV

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Here Paul invokes what he is preaching - that in Jesus’ Victory God has inaugurated the Kingdom of God - and the evil age that had represented the past where people and God were distant and sin and law created a barrier between God and people was now defeated.

Messianic texts had often referenced an “age to come” where Messiah would come and God would rule over the whole world resulting in peace, and flourishing and a rebirth of Eden kind of scenerio.

Paul is saying...its happened. This is what the resurrection - and especially the ascension - of Jesus as King over all means.

Galatians 1:6–10 ESV

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Here is the heart behind the letter. Paul is fearful that the gospel he planted is in jeopardy.

That the life of inclusion in Christ, the radical fellowship of Jews and Gentiles at the table signifying the acceptance of all by grace through faith in Jesus would be fractured.

That the message of Jesus as King over all would be watered down to just King of the Jews.

He references the accusations that he is being called a people pleaser - watering down the requirements for holiness before God so that the Gentiles will accept his message.

He sets up for them the reality that to steward the gospel it’s difficult to please all people - and that in all he has said and will say to them he is not trying to please people but be a servant of Christ....and he knows that will cost him.

He is writing because the gospel is so transformative - both personally and socially - and it’s forcing such a different way of looking at the world under Jesus’ rule that it would be so easy to slip back into comfortable norms - both social and religious.

But there is no other name by which we may be saved...than Jesus.

Jesus is King -

So...here we are in 2025. Jesus is still King.

We exist in this moment - this loooong moment - where the Kingdom of God has been inaugurated on earth but has not fully been realised.

What is the good news Jesus has for our neighbours, for our country, for our world?

Do we understand the gospel? Are we living as Kingdom citizens? Little outposts of Jesus’ life and leadership in the world as we go to work and school, as we parent, as we visit the doctor, as we learn to manage pain and suffering, as we steward ourtions resources, as we schedule our days...are these things an extension of the gospel at work in us?

Do these things and the way we exist in the world represent that Jesus is King - and that we are His - our bodies, wills, and days lead by his Spirit?

....or do we too fall prey to competing gospels? Do we quickly believe that the good life is found somewhere else?

This is where I want to leave us today...and as we carry on through this series I hope that we’ll discover together just how good the good news really is.