Galatians 1:1-2

PART ONEANALYSIS
PAUL'S DEFENSE OF HIS APOSTLESHIP AND HIS GOSPEL 1:1-2:21

A.

INTRODUCTION. Galatians 1:1-10

1.

Personal Greeting. Galatians 1:1-5

a)

Source and Agency of his Apostleship. Galatians 1:1

b)

His Association in the Gospel. Galatians 1:2

TEXT 1:1, 2

(1) Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead), (2) and with all the brethren that are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

PARAPHRASE 1:1, 2

1 Paul an apostle, not sent forth from any society of men, neither appointed by any particular man, but by Jesus Christ, and by God the Father, who raised him from the dead, and after his resurrection sent him from heaven to make me an apostle;
2 And all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia. These brethren, by joining me in this letter, attest the truth of the matters I am going to relate.

COMMENT 1:1

an apostle

1.

MeaningOne Sent Forth.

a.

They were chosen by Christ and ordained by God.

b.

They had power to work miracles.

c.

They were inspired. Cf. John 16:13

2.

Qualifications.

a.

They were to be a witness of the resurrection. Acts 1:21-22

b.

Their office ceased with their death.

3.

Work.

a.

Their work was pre-eminently that of founding churches.

b.

They were sent to preach and make disciples.

not from men, neither through man

1.

It was urged against Paul that he was just a messenger of other apostles.

2.

Paul claimed he received his apostleship from the Lord. Cf. Acts 20:24; Galatians 1:12; Galatians 1:17; Acts 9:6; 2 Corinthians 11:5.

but through Jesus Christ

1.

It was from Jesus on the Damascus road; hence, there was no human mixture.

2.

He was not to be known as a preacher from Tarsus but an apostle of Christ.

and God the Father

1.

Requests are to be made of God for workers. Matthew 9:37-38

2.

And God hath set some in the church; first apostles, second prophets, thirdly teachers. 1 Corinthians 12:28

who raised him from the dead

1.

The ability to raise the dead identifies the true God.

2.

The God that would raise Jesus would sanction the calling of an apostle from heaven.

3.

The Resurrection won victory over law, sin, flesh, world, devil, death, and hell.

4.

Paul does not say the God who created heaven and earth, but God who raised Jesusthis is His most important work.

WORD STUDY 1:1

An apostle (apostolosah POSS tah loss) is literally one sent forth. Early usage included a wide variety of applications, such as: a ship sent on a mission, a bill of lading, a personal written message. An interesting passage in Herodotus mentions the apostolos as a herald of the king sent to conclude a truce. What these all have in common is that they carry the authority of the sender.

In the New Testament a very special application is made of apostolos. Jesus chose the Twelve and gave them power and authority, sending them out as ambassadors plenipotentiary (with full power to act in behalf of their king) John 20:21-23. These men, including Paul, were chosen and sent forth by Jesus himself. In the early church their authority was accepted as final and their writings as inspired. Paul will spend two full Chapter s of Galatians establishing the fact of his apostleship in this sense.

There was also a general use of apostolos which corresponds to our word missionary. Several men are called apostolos in this general sense: Barnabas in Acts 14:14, Andronicus and Junias in Romans 16:7, Silas and Timothy in 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:6. Such men were sent forth by the church, instead of by Jesus himself.

COMMENT 1:2

all the brethren

1.

A probable list would include Titus, Timothy, Silas, and Luke.

2.

And there accompanied him as far as Asia, Sopater of Beroea, the son of Pyrrhus; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. Acts 20:4 See also Acts 21:16.

a.

In these days we can hardly afford to have even one evangelist for more than two weeks.

b.

Paul took crews with him and stayed until the work was established.

c.

Today, evangelism is done on the basis of How long can we, the church, stand his preaching and what can we afford?

3.

The brethren are not named probably because the Galatians were familiar with Paul's co-workers, either through personal visits or through correspondence.

unto the churches of Galatia

1.

Some things are conspicuous by their absence.

a.

No single word of praise.

b.

No commendation.

2.

This is unlike the Roman epistle.

WORD STUDY 1:2

A church (ekklesiaek lay SEE ah) is literally a called-out assembly. This word was in common usage to refer to the town council of the Greek city-state. Each citizen had equal vote and full freedom of speech in this earliest form of democracy. See Acts 19:32.

The word was also common in the Greek Old Testament for the total community of Israel, whether they were actually assembled or not. In this context it acquired the special sense of the people of God.
In the New Testament ekklesia is used of the church in two different senses. There is the universal church, consisting of every child of God, as in Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 1:22, and Colossians 1:18. Most of the time, however, ekklesia is used of the local congregation. The plural usage in this verse points to all the congregations or assemblies throughout the province of Galatia.

STUDY QUESTIONS 1:1, 2

10.

What did Paul claim for himself?

11.

Define the term apostle.

12.

Was Paul's call a divine one?

13.

Was Paul merely a preacher from Tarsus?

14.

Tell who sent Paul.

15.

Tell what God did to Christ to establish His authority to send apostles.

16.

Find other scriptures that tell of the Apostle's call.

17.

Give a probable list of brethren with Paul when he greeted the Galatians in the letter.

18.

How does this compare in size to our modern day evangelistic teams?

19.

How does this salutation differ from other greetings in other epistles?