Galatians 1:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

NIV: and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia:

NASB: and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

CSB: and all the brothers who are with me:To the churches of Galatia.

NLT: All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.

KJV: And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

NKJV: and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

Scholars believe Paul wrote this letter from Antioch, in Syria, sometime after his first missionary journey. During that journey (Acts 13—14), Paul carried the "good news" of the gospel of Jesus to cities in the southern region of the Roman province of Galatia, in Asia Minor. He helped set up churches of brand new Christians, in cities that included Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and another city called Antioch of Pisidia.

Paul is writing his letter to those churches in Galatia. The intent of a "circular" letter like this one is that it will be passed around the region to be read aloud in each of the churches there. Many of those receiving the letter would know Paul personally from the time he spent with them when they believed in the message of Jesus and joined the Christian community; this community is what is meant by "the church."

Paul emphasizes that those who are with him as he is writing this letter stand with him, as well. This may include all of those listed in Acts 13:1: prophets, teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, and a man named Manaen. Paul likely mentions that his letter comes from these other men in Antioch in Syria to demonstrate that they, too, stand for the gospel as Paul preaches it and stand with Paul as a genuine apostle.

Galatians 1:1–5 begins Paul's letter to the Christians in Galatia with a brief greeting. Paul immediately defends the fact that he has been made an apostle of Jesus Christ by the same God that raised Christ from the dead. He is not a ''man- made'' apostle, as his accusers are saying. His authority is genuine. Next, Paul gives a quick, beautiful explanation of the trustworthy gospel that he preaches: Jesus gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from this age of evil according to God's will.

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.