Galatians 1:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

NASB: For am I now seeking the favor of people, or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

CSB: For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

NLT: Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

KJV: For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

NKJV: For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Paul began his letter to the Galatian Christians by telling them again the simple gospel message: Jesus died to pay for our sins and to deliver us (Galatians 1:4). Period. As he expressed it in Ephesians 2:8–9, we are saved through faith by grace, not by any works we do. As he will say later in this letter, to suggest that we must do more to be truly saved is to make Jesus' death on the cross meaningless (Galatians 2:21).

A group known as the Judaizers had moved in after Paul left. They had begun to convince the Galatian Christians that more was required. To be truly saved, you must also follow the law of Moses. This raises a question: how did they convince these Gentile (non-Jewish) believers Paul was wrong?

For one, they apparently questioned whether Paul was a "real apostle," something Paul will answer in the following verses. In addition, they seem to have suggested that Paul did not require these Gentiles to follow the law of Moses because he was trying to make everyone happy. They suggested Paul was just a people-pleaser, willing to alter the truth in order to be liked.

Paul now answers that charge: If he were really trying to please men instead of God, would he have just pronounced as cursed anyone who taught a gospel message other than the one he taught them? Look at the evidence, he says. I am not trying to please any man; I am serving Christ and seeking God's approval. Otherwise, Paul implies, he would simply go along with the Judaizers. He clearly is not doing that.

Galatians 1:6–10 is unusual; Paul's letters usually open with some kind of praise or thanksgiving for his readers. Not Galatians. He immediately expresses how baffled he is that these people who received the good news about salvation by God's grace and through faith in Christ have so quickly deserted Christ. Anyone who teaches any other gospel than the one Paul taught to them is cursed and/or will be eternally condemned. Paul points to that harsh statement as evidence that he is not trying to please any men. He serves and lives for the approval of God.

Paul begins his letter to the Galatian churches abruptly, compared to his other writings. He has heard they are deserting the gospel which he preached and they believed: the good news that Jesus died to fully pay for all our sins on the cross. The Judaizers taught that these Gentiles must also follow the law of Moses to be saved and openly questioned Paul's authority. Paul makes the case that he has been made an apostle by Christ, who appeared to him and revealed the truth to him apart from the other apostles.

Galatians 1 begins one of the most-loved books about God's grace in all of Scripture. This and the following chapter detail Paul's biography, as he makes the case that he has been made an apostle by Christ and therefore his message is trustworthy. Chapters 3 and 4 go into depth about exactly what the gospel of God's grace is and why it is true. In chapters 5 and 6, Paul teaches about how Christians should live in the world as people who have received the grace of God through faith in Christ.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.