GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:1–9 Opening. Paul’s brief opening includes a greeting (vv. 1–5), after which he addresses the crisis in the Galatian church (vv. 6–9).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:1–5 Greeting. Many of the familiar elements of Paul’s greetings are present here (e.g., “grace and peace”), but this is probably the most muted of all of Paul’s greetings to churches: there is no thanksgiving or reference to the Galatians’ faith, hope, or love.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:1 apostle. This indicates Paul’s authority as one commissioned by God (“apostle,” lit., “one who is sent”) and entrusted with the sacred deposit of the gospel. On apostleship, see notes on Matt. 10:2; Acts 1:20; Rom. 1:1. Paul’s apostleship is especially important in Galatians because the false teachers have evidently raised questions about whether he 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 secondhand.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:2 all the brothers … with me. Those with Paul agree with the gospel he proclaims, and hence the Galatians are mistaken if they accept the false gospel that demands circumcision for salvation. the churches of Galatia. This probably refers to the churches of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. (See Introduction: Purpose, Occasion, and Background, and the map.)
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:3 Paul, as he often does in his letters, wishes his audience grace (God’s unmerited favor) and peace (God’s positive blessing of well-being). See notes on John 14:27 and Rom. 1:7.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:4 gave himself for our sins. The saving work of Christ on the cross is in the forefront of Paul’s mind and therefore shows up here at the very beginning of the letter. Jesus not only saves Christians from their sins but also sets them free from being slaves of this world. Paul will later explain that in wanting to be under the law, the Galatians are effectively wanting to stay anchored in this present evil age (3:22–26; 4:1–11), which is the state of the world apart from Christ until his return.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:5 to whom be the glory. This is not just a formulaic expression but reveals Paul’s concern to defend and preserve this central truth of Scripture: that God chose Israel and the church for his own name’s sake, redeemed his people in Christ for his praise and glory, and calls believers to declare his majesty in the world. Those who have led the Galatians astray are doing so to “make a good showing in the flesh” (6:12), whereas Paul will conclude the letter by stating that his sole desire is to give all the glory to Christ (6:14).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:6–9 Initial Rebuke. Paul addresses the problem of the Galatians abandoning the true gospel and coming under the sway of the false teachers.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:6 so quickly. It was a remarkably short time between Paul’s first proclamation to the Galatians and their present disarray (see Introduction: Date). The phrases deserting him and different gospel show that these are not issues over which Christians might legitimately disagree. The Galatians are questioning the very gospel itself, and Paul is a model of forthright frankness when central gospel issues are at stake.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:7 there are some who trouble you. Visiting preachers who have tried to persuade the Galatians that they should require circumcision and obedience to the whole law as a means of justification before God (see also 4:17; 6:12–13).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:8–9 a gospel contrary. The gospel is unchanging. Thus Paul pronounces a curse of final judgment on those who proclaim or receive a different gospel. Even if he himself, or an angel from heaven, were to preach such a gospel, the Galatians should reject it. Mormonism is an example of a religion that is based on revelation supposedly given by an angel and that teaches a gospel different from justification by faith alone in the substitutionary death of Christ.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:10–2:21 Indirect Appeal: Paul’s Career with the Gospel. Paul received the gospel directly from Jesus Christ on the Damascus road. His gospel was not derived from Peter or any other human authorities. His gospel was validated by the “pillar” apostles (2:9) in Jerusalem. The authority of Paul’s gospel is evident in his rebuke of Peter when he failed to live in accord with the gospel (2:11–21).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:10–24 Paul’s Defense of Himself and the Gospel. Paul apparently is responding to criticism that he is peddling a gospel received from man, not from God, and that he is doing so simply to please man rather than God. Paul does not simply defend himself out of resentment or wounded pride but shows a pastoral concern: to reassure the Galatians that the gospel they received was the authentic one, not a false message delivered by an untrustworthy messenger (e.g., 2:5).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:10 Paul poses two absolutely incompatible goals: pleasing man, or pleasing God. There is no possibility of combining the two.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:12 Paul received the gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ on the Damascus road (see Acts 9:1–19a; 22:3–21; 26:12–23).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:13–14 Paul distances himself from his former life in Judaism, although he does not in any sense renounce his status as an Israelite (cf. Rom. 11:1). Rather, he has broken with the life of seeking righteousness through the Law of Moses. He underlines the shame of this former life by noting his persecution of the church (cf. 1 Cor. 15:9; 1 Tim. 1:13). the traditions of my fathers. This rabbinic teaching was the foundation of Jewish life in the first century A.D., particularly for the Pharisees (cf. Mark 7:3–5).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:15 set me apart before I was born. The emphasis is again on God’s initiative: Paul was not called because of anything he himself accomplished.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:16 to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. Paul was converted in order to preach primarily to non-Jews (cf. Acts 9:15). This was revolutionary because God’s dealings in the OT had been focused on Israel as his chosen nation. Now, with the coming of Christ, there was no distinction (Gal. 3:28): all must come to faith in Christ.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:17 The journey to Arabia and back to Damascus takes place in the gap between Acts 9:25 and 9:26. On the city of Damascus, see note on Acts 9:3. Roman Arabia included much of what is modern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and southern Syria. Therefore, while Paul may not have traveled far from Damascus here, he can also speak of distant Mount Sinai as being in Arabia (Gal. 4:25).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:18 after three years. If Paul’s conversion was in A.D. 33 (an approximate date), then this places the first Jerusalem visit c. A.D. 36. It probably corresponds to the stay in Jerusalem in Acts 9:26–29. Cephas here is Peter.
View this chart online at http://kindle.esvsb.org/c182
| Galatians | Event | Acts | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:15–17 | Paul’s conversion | 9:1–25 | Paul’s conversion |
| 1:18 | three years after conversion, first visit to Jerusalem | 9:26–30 | with Barnabas in Jerusalem |
| 2:1–10 | 14 years after conversion (or after first trip?), Paul meets with “pillars” of the church | 11:29–30 | famine relief visit to Jerusalem |
| 2:11–14 | dispute in Antioch | 15:1–2 | dispute in Antioch |
| Paul writes Galatians | |||
| 15:2–29 | council in Jerusalem |
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:19–20 None of the other apostles except James almost certainly implies that James is counted among “the apostles,” even though he was not one of the original 12 (see note on 1 Cor. 9:4–5). Acts 9:27 refers to Barnabas introducing Paul to “the apostles” in Jerusalem. Paul’s statement here means that “the apostles” in Acts 9:27 refers to Peter and James.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:21 Syria is to the north of Judea and Galilee, and Cilicia is to the north and west (cf. Acts 9:30).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:22 Paul is presumably unknown to them because of the short and narrowly focused stay referred to in vv. 18–19. Furthermore, he refers to the province of Judea as a whole, not just Jerusalem.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 1:23 The faith is the Christian faith, the message of the gospel.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:1–10 Paul’s Gospel Recognized by the Jerusalem Apostles. Paul is not simply telling a story from his past. All this is highly relevant to the Galatians, who are being influenced by ideas that go against the consensus of the apostles.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:1 after fourteen years. There is debate as to whether this visit took place an additional 14 years after the three years mentioned in 1:18 or whether the 14 years starts from Paul’s conversion and includes those three. The latter seems slightly more probable, placing this visit c. A.D. 47. It probably corresponds to Acts 11:29–30 rather than to the Jerusalem council visit in Acts 15. (See note on Acts 11:27–30.) taking Titus along. Titus was a Gentile, so some have seen this as Paul issuing a challenge to the Jerusalem leaders. This interpretation is unnecessary, but Titus was certainly a “test case,” as Gal. 2:3 shows.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:2 Those who seemed influential probably includes James, Peter, and John (see v. 9). in vain. Paul is not seriously imagining that he has actually been preaching a false gospel, but he would regard his work as in vain if it were to result in a divided church—a Gentile half and a Jewish half.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:3–4 There is agreement: Titus—and so by implication all Gentiles—does not need to be circumcised. Or at least Paul, James, Peter, and John agree on this. There is, however, a group of false brothers who continue to disagree. Paul regards the imposition of circumcision on Gentile Christians as a slavery producing betrayal of the freedom Christ has given. (On circumcision, see Acts 15:1–35; Rom. 2:25–29; 4:9–16; Gal. 5:2–12; 6:12–15.) The presence of these “false brothers” within the church in Jerusalem shows that churches will sometimes have unbelievers in their midst who seek to harm the church.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:5 Paul’s response to the false brothers was of huge importance, because if he had yielded, Gentiles such as the Galatians would not have been brought the true gospel.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:6 influential. See note on v. 2.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:7–8 As an apostle, Paul was in no way inferior to Peter. It was merely a division of labor, with Paul assigned to evangelize the uncircumcised (Gentiles) while Peter was sent to the circumcised (Jews). What Paul wants to establish for the Galatians, however, is that his own apostleship is just as genuine as Peter’s, and therefore the Galatians should not view themselves as inferior to any other group of believers.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:9 If the church is God’s temple (e.g., Eph. 2:21), some had apparently made Peter, James, and John the pillars. Significantly, these “pillars” had given the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and Paul, signifying that they approved the message of the gospel as preached by Paul as well as his ministry to the Gentiles. Thus they validated Paul’s apostleship by putting him on an equal footing with these other apostles in Jerusalem. This is significant, because it shows that neither Paul nor the Jerusalem apostles had to change their gospel message, but they were fully in agreement, and this “right hand of fellowship” gave clear expression to that agreement.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:10 Verses 7–9 mark out the division of labor between Peter (to the Jews) and Paul (to the Gentiles). But there was one area of overlap: Paul was to organize collections for the poor, probably referring mainly to poor Christians in Jerusalem, who were Jewish. It is recorded elsewhere that Paul did, in fact, undertake a major relief effort on their behalf (see Rom. 15:25–26; 1 Cor. 16:1–3; 2 Corinthians 8–9). Paul’s concern for the poor as evidenced here is in accord with the broader principle demonstrated throughout Scripture that genuine preaching of the gospel in every age must be accompanied by the meeting of physical needs as well, just as Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons along with his preaching ministry.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:11–21 Paul’s Opposition to Peter, to Preserve the Truth of the Gospel. Paul had said that he was not a people-pleaser (1:10), and his confrontation with Peter as reported here bears that out. It is unclear when Paul’s speech to Peter stops and his direct address to the Galatians begins again, but 2:15–16 (“We ourselves are Jews by birth”) was surely addressed to Peter.
View this chart online at http://kindle.esvsb.org/c183
| 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. (Cf. 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.). (Cf. 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. (Cf. Acts 21:27–23:11.) | The circumcised (Rom. 4:12a) |
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:11–12 The setting of Paul’s confrontation with Peter was Antioch, Paul’s missionary base for a number of years. Peter had been participating in meals where Jewish and Gentile Christians ate together, but then he drew back and separated himself, eating only with Jewish Christians. Interpreters differ in their explanations of this situation in this passage. One view is that the men who came from James (probably sent from the Jerusalem church by the apostle James) 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 citizens in the church unless they followed Jewish ceremonial laws (such as dietary laws [vv. 12–14], circumcision [v. 3; 5:2–12; 6:12–15], and holidays and festivals [4:10]). Paul saw that Peter’s behavior threatened the gospel of justification by faith alone because it implied that all Christians had to “live like Jews” (2:14) in order to be justified before God.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:12 Eating with the Gentiles would mean not eating according to Jewish dietary restrictions. The circumcision party advocated following the ceremonies of the Mosaic covenant law at least regarding circumcision, food, and special days (see note on vv. 11–12).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:13 Not only was Peter guilty of hypocrisy; as an influential leader, he also led astray the rest of the Jewish Christians, even Barnabas.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:14 force the Gentiles to live like Jews. Peter was guilty of hypocrisy (v. 13) because, though he had been happily living like a Gentile (i.e., not observing food laws), he was now requiring Gentile Christians to observe Jewish table regulations if they wanted to eat with him. Such a requirement, however, would undermine the gospel itself by making justification depend on “works of the law” rather than “faith in Jesus Christ” (see v. 16). before them all. Because Peter’s sin was a public sin that was setting a bad example for the church, Paul confronted him publicly (compare the different procedure that Jesus commands regarding a private sin against an individual person, which hopefully can be corrected privately; cf. Matt. 18:15–20; James 5:19–20).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:15 Gentile sinners, that is, Gentiles who do not even attempt to follow the OT laws and therefore clearly do not live up to them.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:16 “Justified” means “counted righteous” or “declared righteous” by God (see esv footnote). If people were sinless and perfectly obeyed all of God’s perfect moral standards, they could be justified or “declared righteous” on the basis of their own merits. But Paul says that this is impossible for any Gentile or even for any Jew to do (cf. Romans 1–2). we know that a person is not justified by works of the law. Paul saw that Christ had taught justification by faith, and so he called God the one “who justifies the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). Paul will soon show that this view was taught even in the OT (see Gal. 3:6–18), though it was not the view of most of first-century Judaism. (For example, a 1st-century-B.C. Jewish writing states, “The one who does righteousness stores up life for himself with the Lord, and the one who does wickedness is the cause of the destruction of his own soul” [Psalms of Solomon 9.5]). In Gal. 2:16, “works of the law” means not only circumcision, food laws, and Sabbath, but any human effort to be justified by God by obeying a moral law. faith in Jesus Christ. Some contend that the Greek means the “faithfulness of Jesus Christ.” But “faith in Jesus Christ” seems much more likely since “faith in Jesus Christ” is synonymous with the next phrase, “we also have believed in Christ Jesus.” “But through faith in Jesus Christ” is the opposite of depending on one’s own good deeds for justification, since justification comes through faith in Christ alone. 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. The contrast and not by works of the law shows clearly that no human effort or merit can be added to faith as a basis for justification. (This verse was frequently appealed to in the Reformation by Protestants who insisted on “justification by faith alone” as opposed to the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification by faith plus merit gained through the “means of grace” administered by means of the Roman Catholic sacraments such as penance and the Mass.) Paul concludes decisively: by works of the law no one will be justified (cf. 3:10–14; Acts 13:39; Heb. 10:1–14). On justification, see also notes on Rom. 4:25; Phil. 3:9; James 2:21.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:17 found to be sinners. Paul has just discussed how Gentiles are known among Jews as “sinners” (v. 15). When Jewish Christians associate with them, they are liable to the charge from traditionalist Jews of becoming “sinners” themselves. Paul firmly dismisses any such charge.
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 (i.e., the Gentile), but the one who is under it. So, if Paul were to reintroduce the edifice of the law, he would merely prove that he stands condemned.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:19 through the law. Paul is not talking about a conscious experience of being dissatisfied with the law, but about how he was unknowingly caught up in God’s plan in which the law actually pronounced the sentence of death on Paul’s old way of life. Paul has died to the law, probably meaning that he no longer lives in the realm of trying to gain justification by obeying the law and that therefore the law can place no demands on him. Paul died to the law, he says, so that I might live to God. That is, since he no longer is under the impossible burden of trying to earn acceptance with God through his own efforts, he has gained God’s approval through the justification that is in Christ, and in this new relationship with God he has found an amazing new freedom to live a life devoted to God. Thus Paul is always seeking to live in a way that pleases God, yet not at all depending on his own actions for justification.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. Paul’s former “self,” the person Paul was before he trusted Christ, with all of his sinful goals and proud, self-exalting desires, came to a decisive end—he “died.” It is no longer I who live does not mean that Paul has no personality of his own (all his writings show that he does) but that his own personal interests and goals no longer direct his life; rather, Christ who lives in me now directs and empowers all that he does. How then does he, as a “crucified man,” gain any strength to go on living? the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. Paul seems to be saying that, as he trusts Christ moment by moment, Christ then works in and through Paul to give spiritual effectiveness to all that he does. who loved me and gave himself for me. The fact that on the cross Jesus bore believers’ sins as their personal, individual substitute (“he … for me”) shows that the crucifixion was not an impersonal, mechanical transaction, but a personal expression of Christ’s love for people as individuals.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 2:21 Paul returns to the hypothetical situation raised in v. 18 of imagining that the law was back in force again as a means by which he was trying to earn justification. In that case, if righteousness were through the law, then Christ’s death would have been pointless, for people could earn their own justification by their obedience. But in fact, this is something they can never do. This highlights the depth of the human problem: it cannot be remedied by the God-given law. Sin is so serious that only the substitutionary, atoning death of God’s Son can deal with the problem. God’s grace in the gospel must therefore be humbly and thankfully accepted as the only way of salvation.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:1–5:12 Direct Appeals to the Galatians. Paul offers a variety of reasons why the Galatians should resist the seductive teaching of the people troubling them.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:1–5 The Galatians’ Experience of Conversion. Paul interrogates the Galatians, with five questions in as many verses. He despairs that they have come under the spell of the false teachers, and 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 characterize the pernicious activity of the false teachers and the perilous situation of the Galatians. publicly portrayed. Paul believes that his proclamation of the gospel was so vivid in the Galatians’ presence 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 how illogical it is for the Galatians to seek a fuller Christian life through observance of the law. Did God give them the Spirit and work miracles in their midst (v. 5) because they observed the law? No, it was the result of their hearing the gospel and believing it. Receive the Spirit refers to the new covenant work of the Holy Spirit that comes after saving faith, at the beginning of the Christian life, to sanctify and to empower the believer in life and various kinds of ministry. Paul knew this experience was so real for the Galatians that they would remember it.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:5 supplies the Spirit … works miracles. In v. 2 Paul mentioned the Holy Spirit’s work at the beginning of the Galatians’ Christian lives; here he mentions an ongoing, day-by-day work of the Spirit. Though Paul had left these churches, and there were no other apostles present, the Holy Spirit was still present and was still working miracles in their midst. By hearing with faith is not only the way to start the Christian life but is also the way to continue it day by day.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:6–9 The Gospel in the OT (1): Abraham. 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 3:7–8 Abraham is the father of God’s people not because he is the biological ancestor of the Jews but because he has a family of spiritual children who follow in his footsteps by believing as he did. God promised Abraham that he would bring life from his dead body (see Romans 4). Thus Abraham is a living OT prophecy of the gospel: he was not an Israelite but a pagan, and God justified him by faith.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:10–14 The Gospel in the OT (2): Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Habakkuk. Any attempt to be justified by the law leads to a curse, for righteousness comes only by faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. All those indwelt by the Holy Spirit enjoy the blessing of Abraham.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:10 Paul has just spoken in v. 7 about “those of faith”; now he moves to those who rely on works of the law. They are in the situation that Paul talked about in 2:18. Had Paul rebuilt the house of “law,” its demands and condemnation would have confronted and confounded him. Those still attached to law-observance are in exactly this position. They have failed to obey the law, and so they stand under the curse on unfaithful Israel. They stand in contrast to Abraham and all believers, who are blessed (3:8–9). The history of Israel and human experience demonstrates that all fall short of what God demands (cf. Rom. 1:18–3:20; 3:23) and that all are therefore under the “curse,” because no one is able to keep everything commanded in “the law.”
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:11 The OT itself points out that righteousness cannot be achieved through the law, as Hab. 2:4 illustrates.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:12 Paul uses Lev. 18:5 to show that the law is not of faith. It is likely that Paul means the same thing here that he meant in Rom. 10:5, where Lev. 18:5 is equated with “the righteousness that is based on the law” (cf. Phil. 3:9) in contrast to the “righteousness based on faith” (Rom. 10:6). Some interpreters argue that the one who does them shall live by them (cf. Lev. 18:5) in its original context had to do with the temporal blessing and fullness of life that would come to the one who “does” the law. But it also seems to be a conditional promise within the law indicating that obedience would lead to righteousness (cf. Deut. 6:25); this promise, however, remains unfulfilled because it relies on the fulfilling of a condition that could never happen: i.e., it relies on a human “doing of the law” in a complete and sufficient way. Others argue the original context of Lev. 18:5 (see note) mainly concerns the means of enjoying life under God’s pleasure by keeping God’s statutes and rules. Because some think the meaning of Lev. 18:5 in the original context is incompatible with the negative way in which Paul is using the verse here, they believe Paul is citing it as a misused slogan of the Judaizers. It seems better, however, to understand Paul as reading Lev. 18:5 typologically—that is, as seeing life in the land of Israel as a typological reference to eternal life. In the Mosaic covenant, salvation was through faith in God’s promise and his atonement, culminating in the Messiah. But now that the new covenant has come, those who insist on the entrance requirements of the old covenant do not have the benefit of sacrifices, so they must “do” all that the Mosaic law requires in order to “live” eternally (cf. Gal. 5:3).
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. Paul talked in 2:20 of Christ’s death for him personally; now he focuses on Christ’s substitutionary work for others.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:14 Christ hanging on a tree (v. 13) not only brought blessing to Israel but took place so that … the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles. The coming of the Spirit in new power is one of the central benefits of the new age brought in by Christ (see Isa. 44:3). Believers not only have forgiveness of sins, but also the living presence of God with them. Paul explains more of what it means to have the gift of the Spirit in Galatians 5 and 6.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:15–18 An Illustration from Human Law. The Sinai covenant was an interim covenant that did not contradict the promises of the Abrahamic covenant.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:15–17 Paul uses an everyday example to explain the place of the law in God’s scheme. A covenant or a will cannot be changed, and neither can the promises made to Abraham and to his offspring be changed just because a law has come into the picture.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:16 God spoke promises to Abraham on several occasions, but probably Gen. 13:15 and 17:8 are particularly in view. And to your offspring. Paul knows that the singular (Hb. zera‘) can be used as a collective singular that has a plural sense (he interprets it in a plural sense in Rom. 4:18). But it also can have a singular meaning, and here Paul, knowing that only in Christ would the promised blessings come to the Gentiles, sees that the most true and ultimate fulfillment of these OT promises comes to one “offspring,” namely, Christ. Paul’s willingness to make an argument using a singular noun in distinction from its plural form (which occurs in other OT verses) indicates a high level of confidence in the trustworthiness of the small details of the OT text.
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,” which would mean 430 years from Abraham to the exodus (the Hb. text does not include “and in Canaan”). Another explanation is that Paul is not counting the time from the first statement of the promise to Abraham but from the last affirmation of that promise to Jacob before he went to Egypt in Gen. 46:3–4. This method would then count the entire time in Egypt as the time from the “promise” to the “law.” If this is so, then Paul is relying on the Hebrew text of Ex. 12:40 to affirm a 430-year stay in Egypt.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:18 In 2:21 Paul said that if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing. Here he says similarly, if the inheritance comes by the law, the promise is not the basis for it.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:19–4:7 Passing from Slavery to Sonship. The law was never intended to be in force forever, and now that the promised Messiah has come, those who believe in him are sons of God.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:19 Why then the law? The question then arises: If the law has no impact on God’s plan rooted in his promise, why was the law ever given? Because of transgressions might mean (1) “to provide a sacrificial system to deal temporarily with transgressions,” (2) “to teach people more clearly what God requires and thereby to restrain transgressions,” (3) “to show that transgressions violated an explicit written law,” or (4) “to reveal people’s sinfulness and need for a savior” (cf. Rom. 3:20: “through the law comes knowledge of sin”). All four senses are theologically true, but the last is probably uppermost in Paul’s mind. put in place through angels by an intermediary. Deuteronomy 33:2 talks about God coming from Sinai, where he gave the law, “from the ten thousands of holy ones,” so the angels were present with God on that occasion (cf. Acts 7:53; Heb. 2:2). Moses was God’s “intermediary” in the gift of the law to Israel (Lev. 26:46; John 1:17). The Mosaic law was part of a temporary covenant never intended to last forever. Now that Jesus has come as the true offspring of Abraham, the Mosaic law is no longer in force. Therefore, circumcision is no longer required, since it is part of the Mosaic covenant.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:20 There was more than one party involved in the presentation of the law to Israel, which involved an intermediary, Moses. 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). This lies behind Paul’s protest in ch. 1 about the gospel coming to him not from or through a human being but directly from God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ (1:1).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:21 The law is certainly not contrary to the promises of God: Paul regards the law as “holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12). But because of human sinfulness, the law was never able to give life (see Rom. 8:3).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:22 The law (the Scripture), instead of giving “life” (v. 21) with God, imprisoned everything under sin (cf. Rom. 3:9–20). So rather than enabling all Israelites to have access to what was promised, the law was given so that the single “offspring,” Christ, would receive the blessing. The blessing is obtained by faith, not by their own obedience. God was certainly not surprised by the fact 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 (cf. v. 22). Thus he is saying, “before Christ came and along with him new covenant faith in him.” Since Paul is using 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 (cf. note on John 3:18) but only that there was no new covenant faith resting on the knowledge of Christ’s finished work.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:24 The law, as guardian, had the positive functions of highlighting and restraining transgressions and also of foretelling the coming of Christ.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:25 faith has come. See note on v. 23.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:26 you are all sons of God. This is the crucial difference between old covenant and new covenant believers: life under the law was slavery; life in Christ is marked by the freedom that comes from being God’s “sons.” Both men and women are here characterized as having the rights of “sons,” because with sonship comes the right of inheritance. The Greek word huioi (“sons”) is a legal term used in the adoption and inheritance laws of first-century Rome. As used by Paul here and elsewhere in his letters (cf. 4:5–7; Rom. 8:14–16, 23), this term refers to the status of all Christians, both men and women, who, having been adopted into God’s family, now enjoy all the privileges, obligations, and inheritance rights of God’s children.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:27 In addition to sonship (v. 26), Paul adds two more pictures of what is involved in this new age. Being baptized, believers have gone down into death, dying to the old era of law, sin, and death (Rom. 6:3–4; Gal. 2:19; 6:14) and have come up out of the water as participants in the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). put on Christ. The language of “putting on,” as used of clothing, suggests taking on a new life and purpose through being spiritually united to Christ.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:28 neither Jew nor Greek. The fact that the Mosaic law has been left behind in the old age means that, in the new creation, the distinction between Jew and Gentile is broken down (see Eph. 2:11–22). Certainly these Galatians do not have to become Jews in order to be Christians (cf. Gal. 3:14). There is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female does not imply that there are no distinctions in how these groups should act, for Paul elsewhere commands slaves (“bondservants,” esv footnote) and masters differently (Eph. 6:5–9), and husbands and wives differently (Eph. 5:22–33). Paul clearly is not advocating the elimination of all distinctions nor the acceptability of same-sex marriage or homosexual relations (see Rom. 1:26–27). Rather, he teaches that old divisions and wrongful attitudes of superiority and inferiority are abolished, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. He does not take away the distinction between men and women but says they are “united,” joined together in “one” body, the church. The verse teaches unity within diversity but not sameness.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 3:29 Abraham’s offspring. Paul states the main point of his argument: those who belong to Christ are part of Abraham’s family, and hence they do not need to be circumcised to become part of God’s people.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:1–3 When a son is a minor and too young to receive his inheritance, he might as well be a slave. (On Roman slaves, 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 the expression refers to the elementary principles the Galatians previously followed, which for Jews would be the Mosaic law and for Gentiles the basic concepts of their pagan religions. But the additional overtones of demonic bondage in this phrase should not be ignored; they were, in terms of their mind-set and life situation, under a legalistic system and enslaved, and Paul explains in v. 8 that this enslavement was “to those that by nature are not gods.” Legalistic superstition and demonic domination are closely linked.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:4 when the fullness of time had come. God sent his Son at the right moment in human history, when God’s providential oversight of the events of the world had directed and prepared peoples and nations for the incarnation and ministry of 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” and combines this with the Roman notion of adopting a son (usually already a grown man) in order to designate him as the heir to all the family wealth (see also note on 3:26).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:6–7 because you are sons. Because Christians are now sons and “of age,” they are in a position to receive the inheritance, beginning with the promised Spirit of his Son. Abba is the Aramaic word for “father” (cf. Rom. 8:14–17).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:8–11 Passing from Idolatry to the True God. The slavery that the Galatians are in danger of embracing again is not just a matter of forfeiting sonship but of abandoning the true God. They would be returning to false gods (v. 8), to worldly principles and structures (vv. 9–10). It would be as if they had never even heard the gospel from Paul (v. 11). For these Gentile Galatian Christians, turning to the Jewish law would be like returning to their paganism.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:8 Those that by nature are not gods refers to the demonic spirits that controlled the Galatians’ former religious practice (cf. 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 (cf. 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. This also clearly implies that Christians are no longer under the Mosaic covenant. Some see “days” in this verse as evidence that the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath commandment was also part of the ceremonial law that Christians, under the new covenant, no longer need to follow (cf. Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Col. 2:16–17). Others believe that the weekly Sabbath command is not temporary but goes back to God’s pattern in creation (Ex. 20:8–11) and that this verse relates only to other days of rest in the Jewish festal calendar.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:12–20 Appeal to the Galatians’ Knowledge of Paul. As in 3:1–5, Paul reminds the Galatians of what happened when they heard the gospel and he 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, and living by faith in Christ. as you are. Paul had become like the Gentiles in that he did not live under the 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 was detained in Galatia by this illness and therefore took the opportunity to preach to them.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:15 Your blessedness probably refers to the sense of joy and divine approval the Galatians had when they believed Paul’s gospel preaching and received the Holy Spirit (cf. 3:2).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:17 The false teachers have been flattering the Galatians, but only to receive flattery back. to shut you out. They want to form an exclusive club of people who observe Jewish ceremonial laws, keeping out any who will not give in to their demands.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:18 Paul’s tribute to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:2–9) is an example of what he means by to be made much of for a good purpose.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:19–20 Though Paul chastises the Galatians for being “foolish” (3:1, 3), he nonetheless has deep emotional feelings of anguish for them—because they, like little children, have not been growing but need almost to be delivered again, and Paul’s feelings about them are as agonizing as birth pangs.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:21–31 The Gospel in the OT (3): Abraham’s Sons. Paul continues to emphasize the chasm between being a free child of God and being a slave to the law, sin, and false gods. The background to this passage is Genesis 16–17 and 21. Abraham’s son Ishmael—technically the firstborn—represents the slave sons of Abraham and hence the enslaving Sinai covenant, because he was Abraham’s son through the slave woman Hagar. Isaac, on the other hand, represents the free sons of Abraham (see Gal. 3:7, 29).
View this chart online at http://kindle.esvsb.org/c184
| slave woman | free woman |
| Ishmael | Isaac |
| according to flesh | through promise |
| Hagar | Sarah |
| slavery | freedom |
| present Jerusalem | Jerusalem above |
| persecuting | persecuted |
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:21 law … law. Paul plays on the different senses of “law”: it can mean the commandments given by God to Moses during the wilderness wanderings (which the Galatians misguidedly want to obey in their totality), but it can also mean the first five books of the Bible as a whole.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:23 Flesh represents human desires, principles, and the sin that contaminates them: Ishmael was the son born when Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands by trying to perpetuate their family line through Hagar. The promise is the absolute opposite of flesh, since it 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 4:24 allegorically. As an illustration that depicts a general principle (see chart).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:25 Arabia. See note on 1:17. in slavery. The city of Jerusalem ought to be the capital city of the “Israel of God” (6:16), but instead it remains a stronghold of Israel according to the flesh, i.e., Jews who have not turned to Jesus. As a result, the city is just as it was when occupied in Isaiah’s day—enslaved.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:26–27 All those who believe in Christ belong to the heavenly Jerusalem and are the true Israel. As Isaiah prophesied (Isa. 54:1), the exile did not spell the end for the people of God. God will again work supernaturally to bring about the (new) birth of children where there are none, even among the Gentiles.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:28 like Isaac. In a way analogous to Isaac’s miraculous birth, the Galatians have become God’s children by an act of God’s gracious and miraculous power, not by human effort.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:29 so also it is now. Just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac (not explicitly mentioned in the OT, but suggested by Gen. 21:9), so now the Jews who seek justification by human effort are persecuting Christians who trust God’s promise of justification by faith. In Gen. 16:4, when Hagar conceived, “she looked with contempt on her mistress.” This too is mirrored in the fact that now non-Christian and pseudo-Christian Jews are persecuting Christians like Paul (as seen in Gal. 6:17). History is repeating itself.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 4:30 Cast out the slave woman and her son, and, by implication, all those represented by them in this allegory, i.e., those who seek justification through their own efforts. This implies that those who teach the false gospel of justification by works should not be allowed to remain and teach in a church that follows Christ.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:1–12 Judgment for Those Who Turn from the Gospel. Those who turn to the law for salvation will cut themselves off from salvation. Hence Paul warns and encourages his readers not to defect.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:1 Christ has set us free from Jewish ceremonial laws and regulations (see note on 2:11–12) but not from obedience to God’s moral standards (5:14–6:1).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:2 The Galatians may have thought that requiring circumcision would not make much difference, but Paul knows that if they require obedience to any one part of the Mosaic law for justification, then they are committed to obeying all of it perfectly for their justification (v. 3), something none of them can do (cf. 3:10–11, 21). Therefore he says, if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:4 severed from Christ … fallen away from grace. Paul is not discussing here the question of whether a genuine believer can lose his or her salvation. He is only saying that people who may once have made a profession of faith, if they now are truly seeking to be justified by the law, must not really have a relationship with Christ and have fallen away from the grace that was offered and available to them.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:5 We … wait for the hope of righteousness means that Christians do not attempt to produce perfect righteousness in their lives by their own efforts (as Paul’s opponents were futilely trying to do), for their hope is not in themselves; instead, they wait for God to complete righteousness in them—either when they die and are with the Lord (Heb. 12:23) or at Christ’s return (1 Cor. 15:49; cf. Rev. 21:27). An alternative explanation is that “the hope of righteousness” refers to the believer’s hope and expectation that God will declare that the believer is in fact going to be judged righteous at the final judgment.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:6 Paul is not opposed to circumcision in and of itself but only if it is required for salvation. True faith is a living and active thing and produces love.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:11 If Paul was still preaching that people had to be circumcised, then the offense of the cross would be removed because human pride in human effort would return. In other words, there would be no “offense” to humble us by declaring that no work of ours can make us righteous before God.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:13–6:10 Life in the Spirit and Love. Freedom from the law does not lead to libertinism, for believers by the power of the Spirit live a new life characterized by love.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:13–15 The Law of Love. Serving one another in love fulfills the law.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:13–14 Far from the Christian life being enslaving, it is the only way to resist the various slaveries offered by the world. But this does not mean that Christians can do whatever they feel like doing (which itself is just another form of slavery). Rather, serving and loving others is the route to escaping bondage and fulfilling the ultimate content of the law.
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 5:14 When Paul says the whole law is fulfilled in the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself,” and when he uses that command as the reason why the Galatians are to “serve one another” (v. 13), he implies that Christians still have a moral obligation to follow the moral standards found in God’s “law” in Scripture. Obedience is not a means of justification, but it is a crucial component of the Christian life.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:16–26 The Desires of the Flesh vs. the Fruit of the Spirit. 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 sets it against the Spirit. The only way to conquer the flesh is to yield to the Spirit. Walk by the Spirit implies both direction and empowerment; that is, making decisions and choices according to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and acting with the spiritual power that the Spirit supplies. To “walk” in Scripture regularly represents the pattern of conduct of all of one’s life. The desires of the flesh would mean not just bodily cravings but all of the ordinary desires of fallen human nature (see examples in vv. 19–21).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:17 to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Paul acknowledges that the Christian life is a struggle—a war between the flesh and the Spirit (see also Eph. 6:10–18).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:18 led by the Spirit. The verb (Gk. agō) implies an active, personal involvement by the Holy Spirit in guiding Christians, and the present tense (“if you are being led …”) indicates his 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 (cf. 3:2, 5, 14; 4:6).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:19 Works of the flesh means actions flowing out of fallen human nature and its desires. Apart from the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, these are the actions toward which sinful humans instinctively gravitate.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:20 idolatry, sorcery. These are evidences of a desire to be in touch with the spiritual realm through humanly invented means: they supposedly have God as their ultimate object, but they reject the revealed way in which he should be worshiped. Because Christ is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), all other ways to God are false. enmity, strife, etc. When people reject God, they turn in on themselves, and so relationships between human beings are destroyed as well.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:21 Envy comes about when people are not content with what God has given them, longing instead for what he has given others. Drunkenness and orgies are examples of how people misuse God’s good gifts in destructive and sinful ways, in rebellion against God as the gracious giver of all good things. In the OT, wine was associated with joy and celebration (e.g., Neh. 8:10; Ps. 104:15; see note on John 2:3) but when abused was seen as being highly destructive (Prov. 20:1; 21:17; 23:29–35), and drunkenness is consistently condemned throughout Scripture (e.g., Eph. 5:18). Sex is a precious gift for husband and wife, but when abused it also has highly destructive consequences for all involved (1 Cor. 6:18). those who do such things. The present participle (Gk. prassontes, translated here as “do”) refers to those who “make a practice of doing” such things, as a pattern of life. Their outward conduct indicates their inward spiritual status: that they are not born of God, do not have the Holy Spirit within, and are not God’s true children.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:22–23 The Spirit fights against sin not merely in defense but also in attack by producing in Christians the positive attributes of godly character, all of which are evident in Jesus in the Gospels. Love appears first because it is the greatest quality (1 Cor. 13:1–13; 2 Pet. 1:5–7) in that it most clearly reflects the character of God. Joy comes in at a close second, for in rejoicing in God’s salvation Christians show that their affections are rightly placed in God’s will and his purpose (see John 15:11; 16:24; Rom. 15:13; 1 Pet. 1:8; Jude 24; etc.). Peace is the product of God having reconciled sinners to himself, so that they are no longer his enemies, which should result in confidence and freedom in approaching God (Rom. 5:1–2; Heb. 4:16). Patience shows that Christians are following God’s plan and timetable rather than their own and that they have abandoned their own ideas about how the world should work. Kindness means showing goodness, generosity, and sympathy toward others, which likewise is an attribute of God (Rom. 2:4). Goodness means working for the benefit of others, not oneself; Paul mentions it again in Gal. 6:10. Faithfulness is another divine characteristic; it means consistently doing what one says one will do. Gentleness is a quality Jesus attributes to himself in Matt. 11:29; it enables people to find rest in him and to encourage and strengthen others. Self-control is the discipline given by the Holy Spirit that allows Christians to resist the power of the flesh (cf. Gal. 5:17). Against such things there is no law, and therefore those who manifest them are fulfilling the law—more than those who insist on Jewish ceremonies, and likewise more than those who follow the works of the flesh surveyed in vv. 19–21.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:24 Again, Christ and the Spirit (v. 25) come together as the source of the believer’s life. Christians have crucified the flesh, or died with Christ to sin (see 6:14; Rom. 6:4–6). Now that the old order of things has passed away for believers, their old sinful selves that belonged to that order have crumbled as well—so they should pay no attention to them. “Flesh” here should not be understood to mean physical bodies but rather fallen, sinful human nature with all its desires.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:25 keep in step with the Spirit. A different verb than in v. 16, meaning “walk in line behind a leader” (Gk. stoicheō).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 5:26 Paul is probably referring specifically to attitudes that seem to have become a problem in the Galatian churches (see v. 15). But these sinful attitudes and actions obviously extend beyond one Roman province: Paul has just mentioned enmity, strife, jealousy, and envy as “works of the flesh” in general (vv. 19–21).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:1–10 A Christian Life of Concrete Love. Paul illustrates what he means by the life of love in the Spirit, which he described in more general terms in the previous section.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:1 you who are spiritual. This does not refer to an elite class of Christians but rather to those who have more maturity and experience in the Christian life and who are therefore in a position to help their beleaguered brother or sister. The adjective “spiritual” means “living and walking according to the Holy Spirit” (see note on 5:16; also 1 Cor. 2:15; 3:1; 14:37) and includes, but is not limited to, the qualities listed in Gal. 5:22–23.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:2 To bear one another’s burdens is the supreme imitation of Jesus, the ultimate burden-bearer (see Rom. 15:1–3). He has even gone to the length of taking mankind’s sins (Gal. 1:4) and the curse of the law (3:13) upon himself. and so fulfill the law of Christ. Though Paul insists that the Galatians are free from obeying Jewish ceremonial laws (see note on 2:11–12), this does not mean they are free from all of God’s moral requirements. The “law of Christ” in a broad sense means the entire body of ethical teaching that Jesus gave and endorsed (see note on 1 Cor. 9:21), but in a specific sense here it probably refers to the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Matt. 22:39; John 13:34), which, if followed fully, will result in obeying the rest of God’s moral law (Rom. 13:8–10).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:6 Paul instructs the church to support its teachers materially—with food, money, and whatever good things are appropriate.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:7–8 whatever one sows, that will he also reap. In this context, Paul’s reference to “reaping” is a reference to the blessings of eternal life (rather than to temporal blessings) that the believer will “reap” as the result of “sowing” his life to the Spirit. As Paul argues elsewhere (2 Cor. 4:17), the believer’s expectation and experience in this life will be persecution and affliction, but “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (Cf. Jesus’ words in John 15:18–21; 16:33.)
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:10 While believers await their rewards (vv. 7–9) they should do good. The primary focus should be on serving those in the church, but never to the exclusion of people in the wider world. As Jesus made clear (e.g., Matt. 6:33), the Christian’s primary allegiance is to the kingdom of God, with God as our heavenly Father (Matt. 6:9, 32; 12:50; cf. Matt. 8:21–22), rather than to friends, the workplace, school, sports, or to anything else, even earthly families.
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 dawning of the new creation. Those who belong to the new creation comprise the true Israel.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:11 Paul probably has been dictating the letter to a scribe (see also Rom. 16:22). Now, however, he adds his “signature” to the letter (see 2 Thess. 3:17)—a postscript in his own handwriting, which entailed large letters!
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:14 the world has been crucified to me. Paul is saying that the entire world system in all its glory, but in opposition to God, is dead or destroyed in its power to attract him; it has no influence or power over Paul, no appeal to him. and I to the world. Paul is (similarly) dead to the desires and attractions of the world, for he serves Christ as his new master.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:15 On Christians as a new creation, see 2 Cor. 5:17.
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:16 and upon. “And” (Gk. kai) can also mean “even,” in which case Paul would be equating the church with “the Israel of God.” Which sense is best here must be decided with reference to the larger context of Paul’s thought both in Galatians and in his other epistles. Israel of God. That is, 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), who belong to “Jerusalem above” (4:26–27).
GALATIANS—NOTE ON 6:17 The false teachers, perhaps followed by some of the Galatian Christians themselves, have obviously been slandering Paul to some degree. But Paul insists on the respect that is due to 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.