Galatians 1:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

NIV: which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

NASB: which is not just another account; but there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

CSB: not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

NLT: but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

KJV: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

NKJV: which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

Most of Paul's letters begin with some form of praise for his readers or, at the very least, thanks and praise to God for his readers. He skips right over that in Galatians. Instead, he has launched into the reason for his letter. He has said that he is astonished at how quickly his readers are deserting Jesus by turning to another gospel.

Now he quickly clarifies what he meant by using the phrase "a different gospel." In short, there is no other gospel! There is no other version of the truth that salvation comes through faith alone in Christ alone by God's grace alone. That's the only way sinners can be forgiven and become right with God. To change that message in any way is to "distort the gospel of Christ." Paul leaves no room here for the idea that some may believe one thing about salvation, while others believe differently, and yet all find their way to God.

Where did this other, distorted gospel come from? The Galatians had believed the truth when Paul and Barnabas were with them (Acts 13:43; 13:48-49). Paul points to "some who trouble you." These were called the Judaizers. They opposed Paul's teaching that Gentiles—those who were not Jewish—could be saved by grace, and so the Judaizers undermined his teaching. These men told new Gentile Christians that they were required to follow the law of Moses in order to be truly saved. Paul will have strong words for them in the book of Galatians.

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.