THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE GOSPEL. Galatians 1 and 2 As the Gospel began spreading across the Roman Empire from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and then to the “Uttermost part of the earth,” a whole new understanding of God’s salvation had to be learned, especially by the Jews. The main question for the first-generation Jewish Christians was, “Does a person have to become a Jew before they could be a Christian?”
Peter had a vision at Joppa that opened his mind to the fact that whoever God cleanses from their sins is not common nor unclean. Paul received a divine revelation that the Gentiles could be delivered by the power of God through the Gospel being preached, “To the Jews first and also to the Gentiles.” Those worthy chosen apostles who got their messages directly from the risen Lord Jesus Christ did not convince some influential Jews who held the “God loved us most” mentality. In the Book of Galatians, Paul goes to great lengths to revisit what he had taught the believers in the various churches of Galatia. He was deeply concerned that the Judaizing Christians, who believed the ceremonial practices of the law were binding on Christians, were gaining influence among the believers, and some were inclined to accept the false teachers. Therefore, in the first part of this letter, he verified his personal authenticity as an apostle through the liberty and faith he received from the Lord and practiced. By the time he wrote this, he was probably a Christian for about fifteen years, and he recounts his early activities as a Christian, including his first visit to Jerusalem when the believers were skeptical about him. His rebuke of Peter was based on the very issue the Galatians were dealing with. The core question was, is the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ enough to save us from our sins? Is He unable to save us without our help? If so, how can He be the Savior of sinners at all? God’s salvation is offered to all people everywhere, by God’s grace alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing else. That grants us true holy freedom and opens the door to the abundant life our Lord promised He would make available to all who trust in Him. Christ is the Deliverer from the bondage of the law and formal, external religion. He has given us liberty that is in Him and from Him. This epistle focuses on the power of faith alone. Abraham was a man of faith without the law. The cross and faith are connected because Christ died to free us from the curse of a broken law by fulfilling all its demands for us. “Abraham rejoiced to see My day. He saw it and was glad.” When we trust in Him and understand that Jesus died in our place, His substitutionary work fully satisfies God’s holy standards of justice and judgment for sin. “We are justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Returning to law-keeping is a step backward into immaturity and spiritual infancy. The Holy Spirit, who dwells within every believer, reveals the law to us as a standard for personal righteousness and provides the boundaries that allow us to live by that standard. The ceremonial law of Judaism is not a path to liberty but a trap and a yoke of bondage that no longer serves to make us righteous. Believers in Christ started in the Spirit and are called to remain in a state that enables us to enjoy the spiritual riches, a preview of the treasures stored up in heaven for us.