galatians one

We began a series on the book of Galatians today by understanding a little of what was going on in Galatia when Paul wrote this letter. Why does Paul seem so fired up and emotional? Why does he skip right over his usual affirmations and compliments and jab them with "astonished" criticism?

A large part of it, we discovered, had to do with a group of people stirring up trouble. They were referred to as Judaizers. They were Jewish Christians, with an emphasis on JEWISH and they held strongly to the belief that the rites and ceremonial practices of the Mosaic Law were still binding on the New Testament Church. Their biggest concerns had to do with circumcision, not fraternizing with "Gentile sinners," and kosher living. They were frustrated by Paul's approach to evangelism and ministry because it seemed to possess loose morals and too much religious freedom.

They were legalistic in the fullest sense of the word. When we think of legalism we think of people who hold tightly to a set of rules, perhaps dogmatically, and we are right, but these folks took that to another level. They believed that the Mosaic Law was their hope of salvation and their means of earning God's approval. Their "rightness" (justification) before God hinged on their ability to stick to the 613 laws that made up the Mosaic Law (Law of Moses). So, their legalism wasn't just a love for rules, it became their god...they put their trust and hope in it. Consequently they gave Jesus' role and the Holy Spirit's role much less importance. While they believed in Jesus and the Spirit to some degree, their real allegiance and worship belonged to the Law and their ability to keep it, while placing judgement on those who did not.

You can imagine what a "life of the party" they were!

Paul's livid and says impassioned things like, they are "throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." He accused the Galatians of "deserting the One who called you" and "turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all" (1:6-7). He  even goes so far as to say that "if anyone is preaching to you something different than what we first preached to you, let that person be cursed by God!"

So, why is Paul so upset about this? Keep reading and we'll find out.