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§2 Paul’s Astonishment, Condemnation of the Agitators, and Self-Defense (Gal. 1:6–10)

1:6–9 / Paul’s abrupt expression of astonishment—I am astonished—right after the letter opening (1:1–5) signals, like his his terse address (1:2b), that he is seriously concerned about his converts. He wastes no time pretending otherwise. At this juncture in Paul’s letters, after the wish for grace and peace, Paul typically gives thanks to God for the faith of the recipients of his letter (see Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 1:4; Phil. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Thess. 1:3; Phlm. 4) or blesses God (2 Cor. 1:3). Galatians stands out because there is no thanksgiving or blessing and also because of these words, “I am astonished.” Paul opens the main body of his letter by pronouncing judgment on the Galatian believers’ willingness to believe a gospel other than the one he preached to them.

Paul chooses the strong word deserting (metatithesthe) to signal to the Galatian believers that their reception of the rival evangelists’ message is equivalent to becoming apostates. The same Greek word occurs in 2 Maccabees 7:24, where it refers to “turning from the ways of one’s fathers.” The word here is in the present tense, indicating that the action is ongoing, with particular stress on the present—the Galatians are turned away from the one who has called them, and their present life demonstrates their choice.

Paul charges that the Galatian believers are deserting the very one who called them (cf. 5:8). He begins his rebuke by focusing on their relationship with God. In their turning to a different gospel they are transferring their allegiance away from the one who wanted to deliver them from the present evil age. The Galatian believers and Paul know themselves to be called by grace (1:15), and Paul appeals to the Galatians’ understanding of themselves as those who have been called by the grace of Christ—a grace that resulted in their being rescued (v. 4). The phrase “grace of Christ” refers to the gospel in a nutshell, in a manner similar to his statement in 3:1b. Christ’s gift of himself in his crucifixion is central to the gospel Paul preached and in which the Galatians believed. Paul is incredulous that they are turning toward a different gospel. In rejecting his gospel they are also rejecting the one who called them through Paul’s gospel—God.

Paul uses one Greek word for “different” in the phrase different gospel (heteron, v. 6) and another word also meaning “different” (allo) in the phrase translated really no gospel at all (v. 7). Some scholars have argued that the word in verse 6 has the nuance of “difference within the same kind,” whereas the one in verse 7 has the sense of “difference of kind.” Paul’s use of these two words meaning “different” in 1 Corinthians 15:39–41 is taken as evidence for such an interpretation. It is possible that Paul had this nuance in mind, in which case in verse 6 he would be appealing to the Galatians’ conviction that they thought they were adopting a variation of the gospel, whereas, as he says in verse 7, they are trying to find something that does not exist—another gospel. There is, according to Paul, only one gospel.

Paul then turns the spotlight onto those who are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. His ire at the opening of the letter is directed toward those who are teaching the Galatians that there is another gospel. Paul does not name the troublemakers here or anywhere throughout the letter. This may be either because he does not know their names or because he does not want to dignify them by naming them. The discrepancy about whether Paul is concerned with one (1:8, 9) or a number of opponents (e.g., 1:7) is probably due to the context in which his opponents are mentioned. There were a number of them, but when Paul wishes to clarify the problem they cause he focuses on the offense of one person, perhaps to locate the trouble in a single opponent whom he, the true apostle, stands over against.

When Paul first identifies the people behind the false teaching he describes them as people who are throwing you into confusion. Their intention is that of “trying to pervert” the gospel of Christ. The Greek word for “pervert” (metastrepsai) has the sense of changing from one thing or state to another. In this context, in which Paul thinks of his gospel as that which is good, the sense of distortion or change for the worse is given.

The idea of change dominates verses 6–7. Paul’s own life demonstrates that he is not afraid of change, but he thinks the changes that the Galatian converts are making are dangerous. Paul feels so strongly that his gospel must not be changed that he says that anyone who proclaims a gospel other than Paul’s—even if it is Paul himself, one of those with him, or an angel out of heaven—should be accursed. Paul further underlines this point by self-consciously repeating himself in verse 9, using almost the same wording. In verse 9 he moves from a future to a real present condition: someone is proclaiming a gospel contrary to that which the Galatians accepted. The Galatians already gave their allegiance to the gospel Paul preached, and Paul warns them not to change.

Paul refers to his original preaching in which he already said that the Galatians were not to believe anything other than what they were told by Paul. This may suggest that even at the first Paul knew his gospel would be opposed. The first person plural might be Paul’s way of referring to himself, which he goes on to do (1:11). At other places in his letters Paul uses the first person plural self-referentially (e.g., 1 Thess. 2:18).

Twice Paul curses the one who is preaching a gospel other than the one we preached to you. Paul’s solemn curse (let him be eternally condemned, vv. 8–9) indicates how serious a deception he believes is being perpetrated on the Galatians. Someone who preaches this false gospel can deserve only eternal damnation. There is only one gospel—the gospel of Christ that Paul preached and they believed. Paul reminds the Galatians that they have already been told, presumably in his missionary preaching, that they should not give credence to any gospel other than the one they accepted. Paul’s equating of his gospel with the gospel of Christ is another way to impugn the rival evangelists’ message.

Paul seems to expect that his hearers will know what he means when he refers to the “gospel,” which suggests that he may have characterized his message this way when he was with them. Christians very early on could hear the word “gospel” and invest it with a range and depth of meaning. The word must have connoted for them the story of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and the salvific significance of that story for those who believe. When Paul refers to the gospel of Christ (v. 7) he emphasizes that what he preaches is Christ’s gospel; in this way he affirms that there is no gospel but the one the Galatians heard from him.

Furthermore, he sets up a contrast not only between his opponents’ gospel and his own but also between the opponents’ gospel and the Galatians’ previous stance in which they accepted his gospel. In verse 9 Paul reminds the Galatians that they have received as true his gospel, thereby underscoring first that to turn to a different gospel is to turn away from what they have already accepted and second that if they already know his to be true, it is self-evident that the rival evangelists’ gospel cannot be combined with the one they accepted from him.

1:10 / Paul continues in verse 10 by defending himself against what is likely a charge against him—that he is a people pleaser. Those who have come into his churches to teach that observance of the law is essential may have been presenting Paul’s law-free gospel as a sign of his weakness, saying that he wanted to make the gospel as palatable as possible and so to win the approval of men. Paul says to the contrary that he is a servant of Christ. This, as he makes clear at the end of the letter (6:17), is not a role that curries favor with people but rather it entails suffering. Paul insists that he is not one to bend his shape in order to gain favor from others, saying that what he has just now said proves that he cares only about the truth. He implies that his former way of being did concern itself with trying to please men but now being a “servant of Christ” makes such a stance impossible. For Paul, serving Christ is about only being for the gospel. As his gospel is not of human origin it will be offensive or discomfiting to people.

In other letters as well (1 Thess. 2:4) Paul claims that his focus is on pleasing God. In some instances Paul says that pleasing other people is appropriate (1 Cor. 10:33), but concerning the integrity of his gospel Paul sees things in either/or terms. To be a servant of Christ is mutually exclusive of pleasing people.

In the opening of his letter (1:1–10) Paul has emphasized the divine origin of his apostleship (1:1), signalled his disapproval of the current faith of his converts (1:2b), expressed his bewilderment at their actions (1:6–7), denounced his rivals (1:8–9), and taken umbrage at unfair criticisms of himself. Before we modern readers even know exactly what Paul is upset about, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the apostle’s emotions are raw as he writes to his Galatian churches.