Galatians
INTRODUCTION
GALATIANS
RALPH P. MARTIN
“The Epistle to the Galatians is spiritual dynamite, and it is therefore almost impossible to handle it without explosions.” History has confirmed this striking judgment of R.A. Cole, who goes on to illustrate the part this letter played in Luther’s spiritual awakening and John Wesley’s assurance of faith. There are three questions on which some guidance may be given.
Who were the Galatians?
This is no easy question to answer, because Galatia was a wide area of Asia Minor, embracing the modern country of Turkey. The term, as used in Acts 16:6; 18:23, refers to the southern part of the territory and included such place names as Antioch and Iconium, where Paul preached during his first missionary journey and where churches were then formed, according to Acts 14.
Another possibility is that the Galatians lived in the northern area as inhabitants of the imperial Roman province which was established in 25 BC. This “northern Galatia” view was the general opinion of the early church fathers, but leaves us in complete ignorance as to who the Galatian Christians were, because Acts contains no record of Paul’s penetration so far north.
A number of good reasons have persuaded scholars to locate the first readers in southern Galatia, and it is this view that is accepted here, although the matter is still debated. One apparently small point, the present author believes, tips the scale. Barnabas is spoken of (in 2:9,13) as though he were well known to these churches, and this fact ties in with the view that 4:13 refers to Paul’s south Galatian mission when Barnabas was with him.
When was the letter written?
Here again there is no complete certainty, and how we answer the question of the Galatians’ identity in part affects our fixing a date to the letter.
Once a “south Galatian” destination is agreed, it becomes possible to suggest a dating as soon as possible after the first missionary journey (Acts 14); and before the Apostolic Council of AD 49 (Acts 15).
The alternative proposal, on the view that the events of Galatians 2 are the same as those recorded in Acts 15, is that the letter must then be dated at a later period of Paul’s ministry, and the usually accepted view, on the ground of a community of ideas and a common terminology, is to put Galatians in the period of 2 Corinthians, ie between Acts 19:1–20:2.
The first-mentioned and earlier dating is, however, most attractive, and has the supreme merit of harmonizing the history of Acts and the chronological data which Paul supplies.
On this earlier dating, which makes the letter Paul’s earliest composition in the New Testament canon, the following identifications may be suggested: 1:2 refers to the churches founded on the first missionary tour (Acts 13:1–14:21). Paul’s second visit to the area is that of Acts 14:21-23 and the mention of a preaching of the gospel “at first” (Galatians 4:13) looks back to the early days of his evangelization.
The visit to Jerusalem, spoken of in 1:18, is that of Acts 9:26, and the consultation in 2:1ff. is the same as his visit in Acts 11:30. 2:2 speaks of a private visit (so there is no explicit allusion in Acts), but the mention of a coming to the city in response to a “revelation” (2:2) fits in with Agabus’ prophecy (Acts 11:28).
On this endeavor to harmonize the cross-references, the letter is dated about AD 48 and was probably written from Syrian Antioch, en route to the Apostolic Conference of Acts 15.
Who were the troublers of the Galatians?
The traditional view—and the most satisfactory—is that Paul’s opponents were Jewish-Christian emissaries from Jerusalem (2:12) who arrived on the scene, insisting that “by faith alone” was insufficient for full salvation. Paul’s gospel, they maintained, was only half the truth, and circumcision—the badge of a full Jew’s relationship within the covenant and a necessity for all male converts to Judaism from the pagan world—was necessary. Acts 15:1 gives a concise statement of their teaching and so the implication was clearly made, once Paul had moved on, that he had left behind only “half Christians” who still lacked a full status within God’s covenant.
Alongside this doctrinal controversy—and indeed as part of it—they conducted a smear campaign against Paul, alleging that he was no true apostle, was dependent on (and so inferior to) the Twelve. Moreover, he spoke with a double voice over circumcision, not requiring it in Galatia, but permitting it on occasion (Acts 16:3 may have had an earlier precedent) because he wanted some easy converts and so wished to avoid persecution (1:10; 5:11).
Paul’s response to these insinuations is warmly written around the twin themes of faith and freedom. With forthright indignation, because so much is at stake (1:7-9; 2:5; 4:11; 5:4,7), he refutes all charge of dependence on human authority, presses home the need of justification by grace alone without human merit-seeking or religious ceremonies and through faith as a sinner’s simple acceptance of all that God offers in Christ, and sets the law in its right perspective as a preparation for the gospel. Moreover, he declares, not only is the law’s regime finished as a way to salvation; its prescriptions as obedience to an external code and the mechanical observance of religious institutions (4:10) are powerless to enable someone to gain the victory over sin’s controlling power. The Holy Spirit’s grace and power are needed for this, and he too is God’s gracious gift (3:5; 5:18,25).
The sufficiency of Christ and his atoning work, and the dynamic of the Spirit: these are the leading themes of this letter and give it a timeless relevance as much needed in our present century as in first-century Galatia.