GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:1–9 Opening. Paul offers a greeting (vv. 1–5). He then addresses the crisis in the Galatian church (vv. 6–9).
Paul’s letter to the Galatians was likely written to the churches he established in the southern part of Galatia during his first missionary journey (Acts 13:1–14:28). He probably sent the letter from his home church in Antioch, sometime before the Jerusalem council (see Acts 15:1–31).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:1–5 Many of the typical elements of Paul’s greetings appear here (e.g., “grace and peace”), but there is no thanksgiving for or reference to the Galatians’ faith, hope, or love.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:1 apostle. Paul was sent by God to proclaim the gospel. On apostleship, see notes on Matt. 10:2; Acts 1:20; Rom. 1:1. False teachers have evidently raised questions about whether Paul should really be called an apostle (Gal. 2:7–9). not from men nor through man. Paul stresses both here and in 1:11–12, 16–17, 19 that he received the gospel directly from the Lord, not from others.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:2 all the brothers . . . with me. Those with Paul agree with the gospel he proclaims. The Galatians are wrong to accept a gospel that demands circumcision for salvation.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:3 Grace means God’s unmerited favor. Peace is not just the absence of conflict. It echoes the OT concept of blessing, in which the person and community are well and whole in all aspects of life. Such blessing comes especially in a right relationship with God (e.g., Num. 6:24–26).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:4 gave himself for our sins. Christ’s saving work on the cross is central in this letter. Jesus saves Christians from their sins and sets them free from slavery to this present evil age (3:22–26; 4:1–11).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:6–9 The Galatians are abandoning the true gospel because of the false teachers. so quickly. It was a short time between Paul’s first preaching to the Galatians and their present confusion. there are some who trouble you. Visiting preachers have taught them that circumcision and obedience to the whole law are essential to justification (see also 4:17; 6:12–13).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:10–2:21 Indirect Appeal: Paul’s Ministry and the Gospel. Paul received the gospel directly from Jesus Christ (see Acts 9:1–19a; 22:3–21; 26:12–23). James, Peter, and John approved his ministry (Gal. 2:9). Paul had enough authority as an apostle to correct Peter (2:11–21).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:10–24 Paul’s critics say he teaches a gospel received from man, not from God. They also say he wants to please man rather than God. Paul does not simply defend himself but shows a pastoral concern. He wants to reassure the Galatians that the gospel they received was authentic. It was not a false message delivered by an untrustworthy messenger (e.g., 2:5).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:13–14 Paul distances himself from his former life in Judaism, but he does not reject his identity as an Israelite (see Rom. 11:1). Rather, he has broken with the life of seeking righteousness through the Law of Moses. the traditions of my fathers. In the first century A.D., rabbinic teaching was the foundation of Jewish life, particularly for the Pharisees (see Mark 7:3–5).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:16 that I might preach him among the Gentiles. This was Paul’s specific mission.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:17 The journey to Arabia and back to Damascus occurs between Acts 9:25 and 9:26. On the city of Damascus, see note on Acts 9:3. Roman Arabia included much of modern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and southern Syria.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:18 after three years. If Paul was converted in A.D. 33 (an approximate date), then this visit occurred around A.D. 36. It is probably the visit to Jerusalem described in Acts 9:26–29. Cephas. Peter.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:19–20 none of the other apostles except James. This implies that James was among “the apostles,” though he was not one of the original 12 (see note on 1 Cor. 9:4–5).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:1 after fourteen years. Could refer to an additional 14 years after the three years mentioned in 1:18. The 14 years could also start from Paul’s conversion and include those three. The latter seems slightly more probable, placing this visit around A.D. 47. It probably corresponds to Acts 11:29–30 (see note on Acts 11:27–30).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:2 Those who seemed influential probably includes James, Peter, and John (see v. 9).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:3–4 The Jerusalem apostles agreed that Titus, a Gentile, did not need to be circumcised. Thus, says Paul, they agreed no Gentile needed to be circumcised. But some false brothers continued to disagree. (On circumcision, see Acts 15:1–35; Rom. 2:25–29; 4:9–16; Gal. 5:2–12; 6:12–15.)
| Identity | Beliefs | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Gentile (professing) Christians | The law has absolutely no claim on their lives. (Presupposed in Rom. 6:1, 16.) | |
| Jewish and Gentile Christians | Christians are not under the law covenant even though they are certainly not free from God’s demands. Kosher food laws could be observed and circumcision practiced as pastoral wisdom dictated. (Compare 1 Cor. 9:19–23.) | Paul |
| Jewish Christians | They understood and accepted Paul’s position, but their personal “comfort zone” was to be observant Jews, at least most of the time. Circumcision and kosher food laws are not necessary for salvation or maturity, and they shouldn’t be imposed on Gentile believers. | |
| Jewish Christians | Jewish Christians should observe the traditions of the Mosaic code, even if it was acceptable for Gentile believers not to see themselves as under its stipulations. | Certain men from James? (Gal. 2:12a) |
| Jewish Christians | Jewish Christians should observe the Mosaic code, and Gentile believers can come to Christ through faith alone. However, the really spiritual should want to obey the Mosaic law code (even if it wasn’t strictly necessary for salvation). | |
| Jewish (professing) Christians | The new covenant was a renewal of the old covenant; Jesus is the Messiah, but his life, death, and resurrection restored God’s people to faithfulness to the Mosaic covenant. Therefore, if Gentiles want to come to the Messiah, they must first become Jews (and be circumcised, observe kosher and Sabbath laws, etc.). (Compare Acts 15:1–35; Titus 1:10.) | “Judaizers” |
| Devout, non-Christian Jews | Christians are mistaken about the identity of Jesus, and the Jewish boundaries should not be opened to the Gentiles. (Compare Acts 21:27–23:11.) | The circumcised (Rom. 4:12a) |
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:7–8 As an apostle, Paul was not inferior to Peter: Paul was assigned to evangelize the uncircumcised (Gentiles), while Peter was sent to the circumcised (Jews). Therefore the Galatians should not consider themselves inferior to any other believers.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:9 pillars. Peter, James, and John were clearly leaders in the early church. Significantly, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and Paul. This showed that they approved of the gospel Paul preached and of his ministry to the Gentiles.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:10 the poor. This probably refers mainly to poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Paul led an effort to help them financially (see Rom. 15:25–26; 1 Cor. 16:1–3; 2 Corinthians 8–9).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:11–21 Paul was not a people-pleaser (1:10). His confrontation with Peter proves this.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:11–12 The situation behind this passage is likely that the men who came from James (from the Jerusalem church) encouraged Jewish Christians to eat separately and follow kosher dietary laws. Peter decided to go along with this, perhaps not realizing that his example would make the Gentile Christians feel like second-class Christians.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:12 Although it was allowed by Scripture, eating with the Gentiles would have broken Jewish dietary traditions. The circumcision party required keeping the Mosaic covenant law regarding circumcision, food, and special days.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:14 force the Gentiles to live like Jews. Peter was guilty of hypocrisy (v. 13). He had not been observing food laws previously. Now he was requiring Gentile Christians to observe Jewish food laws in order to eat with him.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:16 “Justified” means “counted righteous” or “declared righteous” by God (see esv footnote). If people obeyed all of God’s perfect moral standards, they could be justified by their own merits. But Paul says that this is impossible for anyone to do (see Romans 1–2). Works of the law means any human effort to be justified by God by obeying a moral law. We also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ implies that justification is the result of saving faith. and not by works of the law. No human effort or merit can be added to faith as a basis for justification (see Acts 13:39; Gal. 3:10–14; Heb. 10:1–14). On justification, see also notes on Rom. 4:25; Phil. 3:9; James 2:21.
Justification by faith alone. False teachers were trying to persuade the Galatians that they needed to practice circumcision and other outward ceremonies of the Mosaic law in order to be right with God. But Paul explains that only through faith in Christ can one be right with God (2:16).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:18 I would prove myself to be a transgressor. Ironically, the one who is most clearly seen to be a sinner is not the one outside of the law (the Gentile), but the one who is under the law.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:19 through the law. The law taught Paul that he could not be saved by works. Paul has died to the law. He no longer tries to gain justification by obeying the law. so that I might live to God. Paul has gained God’s acceptance through justification in Christ. He has an amazing new freedom to live a life devoted to God.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:20 It is no longer I who live does not mean that Paul has no personality of his own. It means that he no longer controls his own life. Rather, Christ who lives in me now directs and empowers all that he does. the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. As Paul trusts Christ moment by moment, Christ works in and through him in all he does. who loved me and gave himself for me. The crucifixion is a personal expression of Christ’s love for people as individuals.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:21 Christ’s death would have been pointless if righteousness were through the law. Then people could earn justification by their obedience. But they can never do this. Sin is so serious that only the substitutionary, atoning death of God’s Son can deal with the problem.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:1–5:12 Direct Appeals to the Galatians. Paul gives several reasons why the Galatians should resist false teachers.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:1–5 Paul asks the Galatians five questions. He is disappointed that they have listened to the false teachers. So he returns to their experience of how they first came to know Christ.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:1 Who has bewitched you? Paul uses the language of pagan magic to describe the false teachers’ activities. publicly portrayed. Paul’s presentation of the gospel to the Galatians was so vivid that it was as if they had been eyewitnesses of the crucifixion.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:2 Let me ask. Using rhetorical questions, Paul shows that it is illogical for the Galatians to seek a fuller Christian life by keeping the law. Receive the Spirit refers to the new covenant activity of the Holy Spirit that comes after saving faith. From the beginning of the Christian life, the Spirit sanctifies and empowers believers.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:6–9 Paul issues a second direct appeal to the Galatians: it is not just their own experience of receiving the gospel by faith that should teach them that salvation is not by the law but by grace. Rather, the OT example of Abraham also teaches that it is through genuine faith, not the law, that one is counted righteous (see Gen. 15:6).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:10 Those who rely on works of the law are under a curse. They are “cursed” (“condemned”) because they break the law (2:18).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:11 Habakkuk 2:4 shows that righteousness cannot be achieved through the law.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:12 Paul uses Lev. 18:5 to show that the law is not of faith. Paul probably means the same thing here as in Rom. 10:5 (where Lev. 18:5 is equated with “the righteousness that is based on the law”; compare Phil. 3:9). The one who does them shall live by them. See note on Lev. 18:5.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:13 The divine curse is the result of disobedience (v. 10). But the burden of the curse has been lifted by Christ’s work on the cross.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:14 The coming of the powerful Spirit—the living presence of God— is a key benefit of the new covenant (see Isa. 44:3; Galatians 5–6).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:15–18 A covenant or a will cannot be changed. The promises made to Abraham and to his offspring were not changed when God gave Moses the law.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:16 God spoke promises to Abraham on several occasions. Paul probably refers to Gen. 13:15 and 17:8. And to your offspring. Here Paul sees that the truest fulfillment of these OT promises comes to one “offspring,” Christ.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:17 came 430 years afterward. Paul is apparently referring to the Septuagint translation of Ex. 12:40, “The dwelling of the children of Israel . . . in Egypt and in Canaan was 430 years.” This would mean 430 years from Abraham to the exodus (the Hebrew text does not include “and in Canaan”). Another explanation is that Paul is not counting the time from the first promise to Abraham; instead he is counting from the last confirmation of that promise to Jacob before he went to Egypt in Gen. 46:3–4. This would then count the time in Egypt as the entire time from the “promise” to the “law.”
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:19–4:7 The law was never intended to last forever. Now that the promised Messiah has come, those who believe in him are sons of God.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:19 the law . . . was added because of transgressions. This probably means the law was put in place to reveal people’s sinfulness and need for a savior. put in place through angels by an intermediary. Deuteronomy 33:2 states that God gave the law “from the ten thousands of holy ones” (compare Acts 7:53). Moses was God’s “intermediary” (Lev. 26:46).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:20 Because God is one, his ultimate revelation comes not through an intermediary but from him alone. This assumes that whatever comes from Christ comes from the one true God, for Christ is fully God.
God’s promises to Abraham. When Abraham believed God’s promises to him, God counted his faith as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). Paul uses this precedent to show that God’s promises to Abraham are for all who “hear with faith,” not just the people of Israel (Gal. 3:1–29).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:22 The law (the Scripture), instead of giving “life” (v. 21) with God, imprisoned everything under sin (compare Rom. 3:9–20). Rather than enabling all Israelites to receive the promise, the law was given so that the single “offspring,” Christ, would receive the blessing. Therefore the blessing is obtained by faith in Christ, not by obedience to the law. God was certainly not surprised that the Israelites were unable to obey the law. In fact, at the end of the giving of the law, Moses foretold that the Israelites would not obey it (Deut. 31:24–29). Thus the law confirmed the promise to Abraham, that justification would come only by faith (Gal. 3:6–9, 14, 18).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:23 before faith came. By “faith” Paul means new covenant faith in Christ (see v. 22). Since Paul uses Abraham as an example of justification by faith (vv. 6–9, 14, 18), he cannot mean that there was no saving faith before Christ came. He means that OT believers did not have knowledge of Christ’s finished work.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:24 The law, as guardian, had positive functions. It restrained and exposed sin and promised Christ’s coming.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:26 you are all sons of God. Life under the law was slavery. Life in Christ is marked by the freedom that comes from being God’s “sons.” The Greek word used for “sons” is a legal term used in the adoption and inheritance laws of first-century Rome. Here and elsewhere in Paul’s letters (compare 4:5–7; Rom. 8:14–16, 23), this term refers to the status of all Christians, both male and female. Having been adopted into God’s family, they now enjoy all the privileges, responsibilities, and inheritance rights of God’s children.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:27 Having been baptized, believers have gone down into death. They have died to the old era of law, sin, and death (Rom. 6:3–4; Gal. 2:19; 6:14). They have come up out of the water as participants in the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). put on Christ. As one puts on clothing. This suggests taking on a new life and purpose through being spiritually united to Christ.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:28 neither Jew nor Greek. In the new creation, the distinction between Jew and Gentile is removed (see Eph. 2:11–22). Certainly these Galatians do not have to become Jews to be Christians (see Gal. 3:14). There is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female does not imply that there are no differences in how these groups should relate to each other, for Paul elsewhere teaches slaves (“bondservants”; esv footnote) and masters differently (Eph. 6:5–9), and husbands and wives differently (Eph. 5:22–33). Rather, he teaches that old divisions and wrongful attitudes of superiority and inferiority are abolished, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. The verse teaches unity within diversity, but not sameness.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:1–3 When a son is too young to receive his inheritance, he has no more status than a slave. (On Roman slaves, or bondservants, see note on 1 Cor. 7:21.) This was the situation of Paul and his fellow Israelites under the old covenant.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:3 elementary principles. Both here and in v. 9, these principles for Jews would be the Mosaic law. For Gentiles it would be the basic concepts of their pagan religions. They were, in terms of their mind-set and life situation, enslaved.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:4 when the fullness of time had come. God sent his Son at the right moment in human history. God directed world events and prepared peoples and nations for Christ, and for the proclamation of the gospel.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:5 Paul’s adoption imagery probably picks up the OT concept of God calling Israel his “son.” He combines this with the Roman notion of adopting a son (who was usually already a grown man) in order to make him the heir to the family wealth (see also note on 3:26).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:6–7 because you are sons. Because Christians are now sons, they may receive the inheritance. This begins with the promised Spirit of his Son. Abba is the Aramaic word for “father” (compare Rom. 8:14–17).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:8–11 The Galatians are in danger of forfeiting sonship and abandoning the true God. They risk returning to false gods (v. 8) and to worldly ways of life (vv. 9–10).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:8 those that by nature are not gods. Demonic spirits that controlled the Galatians’ former religion (compare 1 Cor. 10:20).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:9 To know God . . . to be known by God implies a personal relationship with God. elementary principles. See note on v. 3.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:10 Days and months and seasons and years were all part of the ceremonial laws of the Mosaic covenant (see Lev. 23:5, 16, 28; 25:4). To require Christians to follow such OT laws is to forfeit the gospel of justification by faith alone, in Christ alone.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:12–20 As in 3:1–5, Paul reminds the Galatians of what happened when they heard the gospel. He also contrasts his own ministry with that of the false teachers.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:12 as I am. Paul is free from following Mosaic ceremonial regulations. He lives by faith in Christ. as you are. Paul had become like the Gentiles by not living under Jewish law when ministering to them.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:13 because of a bodily ailment . . . I preached the gospel to you. The exact nature of this illness is not known. “Because” apparently means that Paul had to stay in Galatia because of this illness. He took that opportunity to preach to them.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:17 The false teachers flatter the Galatians, but only to receive flattery from them in return. to shut you out. They want to form an exclusive club of people who observe Jewish ceremonial laws.
“They” in 4:17 refers to the false teachers who were trying to persuade the Galatian believers that Paul was wrong about certain important issues. They avoided persecution and gained favor from the Jews by requiring circumcision (6:12–13).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:19–20 The Galatians, like little children, have not been growing. Paul’s deep concern for them is like the pain of childbirth.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:21–31 Paul again emphasizes the difference between being a free child of God and being a slave to the law, sin, and false gods. Abraham’s son Ishmael—technically the firstborn—represents the slave sons of Abraham and thus the enslaving Sinai covenant. Isaac represents the free sons of Abraham (see Genesis 16–17; 21; Gal. 3:7, 29).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:21 law . . . law. Paul plays on the different meanings of “law”: it can mean the commandments given by Moses (all of which the Galatians mistakenly want to obey), but it can also mean the first five books of the Bible as a whole.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:23 Ishmael was the son born when Abraham and Sarah tried to have a child through Hagar. The promise is the absolute opposite of the flesh. A promise is a word from God that will be fulfilled by God (see Rom. 4:18–21), just as Isaac was born by God’s miraculous work.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:25 Arabia. See note on 1:17. in slavery. The majority of the people in Jerusalem are Jews who have not turned to Jesus. As a result, the city is enslaved.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:26–27 All those who believe in Christ belong to the heavenly Jerusalem. They are the true Israel. As Isaiah prophesied (Isa. 54:1), God will bring about the birth of children where there are none, even among the Gentiles.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:29 so also it is now. Ishmael persecuted Isaac (suggested by Gen. 21:9). Now the Jews who seek justification by human effort persecute Christians, who trust God’s promise of justification by faith.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:30 Cast out the slave woman and her son implies also the casting out of all who seek justification through their own efforts instead of through faith.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:1–12 Those who turn to the law for salvation cut themselves off from salvation.
To walk by the Spirit means making decisions and choices based on the Holy Spirit’s guidance (5:16, 25). It also involves relying on the Spirit’s power to conquer sinful desires (5:17–18). The Spirit will produce “fruits” of godliness in the believer’s life (5:22–23).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:5 we . . . wait for the hope of righteousness. Christians do not try to produce perfect righteousness in their lives by their own efforts. Instead, they wait for God to complete righteousness in them when they die (Heb. 12:23) or at Christ’s return (1 Cor. 15:49).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:11 If Paul still preached that people had to be circumcised, then the offense of the cross would be removed. Jesus’ work on the cross reminds people that their efforts to be right with God outside of Christ are useless.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:13–6:10 Life in the Spirit and Love. Freedom from the law does not lead to lawless behavior. By the power of the Spirit, believers live a new life characterized by love.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:13 freedom. From Mosaic laws, as represented by circumcision. Opportunity for the flesh means “opportunity to follow your fallen, sinful desires and act contrary to God’s moral laws.”
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:16–26 Life under the law expresses itself in the works of the flesh, but those who live by the Spirit bear fruit pleasing to God.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:16 Having contrasted the flesh with love (vv. 13–14), Paul now contrasts the flesh with the Spirit. The only way to conquer the flesh is to yield to the Spirit. walk by the Spirit. Making decisions and choices according to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and acting with the spiritual power that the Spirit supplies. the desires of the flesh. Bodily cravings and the desires of fallen human nature (see examples in vv. 19–21).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:18 led by the Spirit. The Greek verb implies an active, personal involvement by the Holy Spirit in guiding Christians. The present tense (“if you are being led . . . ”) indicates the Spirit’s ongoing activity. you are not under the law. The Spirit’s active presence in believers’ lives shows that they are no longer under the pre-Christian system (see 3:2, 5, 14; 4:6).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:19 works of the flesh. Without the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, sinful humans follow wicked desires and actions.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:20 idolatry, sorcery. These are ways to access evil spiritual beings. They reject the way in which God says he should be worshiped (see John 14:6). enmity, strife. Rejecting God destroys human relationships, too.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:21 Drunkenness and orgies are examples of how people use God’s good gifts in destructive and sinful ways. In the OT, wine was associated with joy and celebration (e.g., Neh. 8:10; Ps. 104:15; see note on John 2:3). When abused, however, wine was seen as highly destructive (Prov. 20:1; 21:17; 23:29–35). Drunkenness is consistently condemned throughout Scripture (e.g., Eph. 5:18). Sex is a precious gift for husband and wife. When it is abused it also has highly destructive consequences (1 Cor. 6:18). those who do such things. Those who act in this way as a pattern of life. Their outward conduct indicates they are not born of God. They do not have the Holy Spirit within. They are not God’s true children.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:22–23 The Spirit defends against sin. He also produces in Christians the positive traits of godly character.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:24 Again, Christ and the Spirit (v. 25) come together in the believer’s life. Christians have crucified the flesh. They have died with Christ to sin (see 6:14; Rom. 6:4–6).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:25 keep in step with the Spirit. A different verb than in v. 16. It means “walk in line behind a leader.”
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:26 Paul probably refers to attitudes that are causing problems in the Galatian churches (see v. 15). These also describe all who live according to the flesh (vv. 19–21).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:1–10 Paul illustrates a life of love in the Spirit.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:1 you who are spiritual. This does not refer to an elite class of Christians. It describes mature and experienced Christians. They are able to help their troubled brother or sister.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:2 and so fulfill the law of Christ. In a broad sense this means the entire body of ethical teaching that Jesus gave and endorsed (see note on 1 Cor. 9:21). In a specific sense it probably refers to the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Matt. 22:39; John 13:34).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:7–8 whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Paul’s reference to “reaping” has in view the blessings of eternal life that belong to the believer as the result of “sowing” his life to the Spirit.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:10 While believers await their rewards (vv. 7–9) they should do good. The primary focus should be on serving other believers, but not to the exclusion of people outside the church.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:11–18 Final Warning. Paul summarizes the main themes of the letter and challenges the reader to stay true to the gospel. To require circumcision is to deny the cross and the new creation. Those who belong to the new creation are the true Israel.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:11 Paul probably has been dictating the letter to a scribe (compare Rom. 16:22). Now, however, he adds his “signature” (see 2 Thess. 3:17).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:14 the world has been crucified to me. The world no longer attracts and influences Paul.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:15 On Christians as a new creation, see 2 Cor. 5:17.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:16 Israel of God. In contrast to the children of the “present Jerusalem” (4:25), the true people of God are the believing children of Abraham (3:7, 29). They belong to “Jerusalem above” (4:26–27).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:17 The false teachers, and perhaps some of the Galatian Christians, have been misrepresenting Paul. Paul insists on the respect that is due his ministry. He is a genuine minister of Christ and has the scars to prove it—what he calls the marks of Jesus that resulted from his being persecuted (see 2 Cor. 11:23–27).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:18 Paul’s final prayerful blessing shows that he has not given up on the Galatians. He still refers to them as brothers and calls on Christ and the Spirit to give them grace.