OVERVIEW
Ancient letters customarily began with an introductory greeting that identified the sender and the addressees and expressed good wishes for health and prosperity for the letter’s recipients. Paul’s letters mostly follow this pattern, which he expands to include in general terms some of what he will write about later in the letter itself. He does so briefly here, stressing his apostolic identity as commissioned by God the Father and the Lord Jesus and the fact that deliverance from this present evil age comes through God’s sovereign redemptive activity in the person of Jesus Christ. This becomes a precursor to his defense of the gospel, which he will thoroughly develop in the letter body.
What is missing in Galatians, however, is Paul’s usual thanksgiving and praise section, in which he renders thanks to God and praise for the churches. Such sections are found in many of his other letters (Romans; 1 and 2 Corinthians; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; 1 and 2 Thessalonians). The fact that Paul forgoes this normal practice speaks to the urgency he feels as he confronts false teaching and the very real threat to the Galatians’ faith understanding. He gets right to the heart of the matter, moving immediately into his reason for writing. In this introductory salutation, Paul is careful to ascribe everything to the grace and sovereign activity of God.
1Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—2and all the brothers with me,
To the churches in Galatia:
3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
COMMENTARY
1 Paul immediately identifies himself as an apostle (apostolos, GK 693), one commissioned and sent out by the risen Christ to proclaim the gospel, the message of Christ’s person, word, and work. This is an identity disputed by the opponents of Paul and his gospel message, and one he will vigorously defend throughout the first portion of the letter (1:11–2:14). The question of Paul’s authority and of the truth of his gospel message is central to the issue with which the Galatian churches are struggling as a result of his opponents’ teaching “another” gospel.
But Paul asserts that his identity as an apostle is one assigned to him by Jesus himself and by the Father who raised Jesus from death. The implication of such a statement is that the power that worked effectively to raise Jesus from the dead is the power that lies behind Paul’s apostolic commission. Thus, he is not sent “from” (apo) men or “by” (dia) any man. Paul’s use of these prepositions is instructive, for he is by these words separating himself from his opponents, who certainly were not commissioned by God but evidently presented themselves to the Galatians as sent out by a group perceived as being authoritative (perhaps the “mother church” in Jerusalem; cf. 1:18–2:14). At the same time, Paul is identifying himself with the twelve apostles, who were, as he was, commissioned by the Lord Jesus. Lightfoot, 71, writes, “In the first clause he distinguishes himself from the false apostles, who did not derive their commission from God at all; in the second he ranks himself with the Twelve, who were commissioned directly from God.” Thus Paul’s authority, and the authority of his message, is divine in origin.
2 The divine origin of Paul’s authority is subtly underscored here by the fact that he does not mention his companions by name, which he often does in his writings (1 and 2 Corinthians; Philippians; Colossians; 1 and 2 Thessalonians). Since his authority and message are not of human origin, he carefully avoids naming the others who are with him, as any such reference may be perceived as diluting his stature as an authoritative apostle with a divine message. Nevertheless, there are “brothers,” most likely fellow missionaries, with Paul. His gospel has divine approbation and does not require additional support; yet he is not alone in its proclamation. This is the gospel that Christian missionaries have preached from the beginning, the gospel that had earlier been preached to establish the Galatian churches, the gospel they believed and received as the truth of God.
3 The greeting of “grace and peace” (charis, GK 5921; eirēnē, GK 1645) is Paul’s customary greeting to his churches (used in this same form in Ro 1:7; 1Co 1:3; 2Co 1:2; Eph 1:2; Php 1:2; Phm 3). These words represent the character of the relationship between God and humanity that is now possible in Christ. The word “grace” connotes the Old Testament concept of God’s taking the initiative to remedy humanity’s greatest need, as realized in the New Testament narrative of the person and work of Christ. C. E. B. Cranfield (Romans [Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1975, 71]) notes with respect to this expression that “this . . . part of the epistolary prescript [is made] a vehicle of profound theological and evangelical meaning” as it suggests God’s undeserved love revealed in Christ. The term “peace” deepens this notion of grace in that it refers to the cessation of enmity and hostility between God and fallen humanity on the basis of the person and work of Christ. It is also possible that in combining these two terms Paul has adapted for Christian use the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24–26.
4 Paul now develops further what he means by referring to God and the Lord Jesus as the source of “grace and peace.” Jesus “gave himself for our sins.” It is of note that Paul does not elsewhere include a description of Jesus’ sacrifice as part of his epistolary introductions (though at Ro 1:4 he does mention Jesus’ “resurrection from the dead”). But the character of Jesus’ sacrifice and its sufficiency apart from “practical Judaism” are what is at issue in the Galatian churches. So here Paul stipulates in abbreviated form the content of the gospel message he preaches.
The expression “Jesus Christ . . . gave himself for our sins” not only speaks to the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus in behalf of sinful humanity; it also speaks to his willingly laying down his life by commandment from the Father (Jn 10:17–18). Thus, Paul’s words to the effect that Jesus accomplished this “according to the will of our God and Father” is in keeping with Jesus’ own self-understanding of his sacrifice. In addition, Jesus’ sacrifice according to God’s will “rescues us from the present evil age” (cf. Ro 9:16, where Paul says that this deliverance does not depend on human effort or will but on God’s mercy). The reality of human sinfulness is that it results in devastation both in how life is lived in the present and in how death is experienced as a final alienation from God. “Rescue” (exelētai, GK 1975) “denotes not a ‘deliverance from,’ but a ‘rescue from the power of’” (Boice, 426). Thus, defeat of the power of this “age” (aiōnos, GK 172) to incite and exacerbate human sinfulness is included in humanity’s rescue in Christ’s self-sacrifice. God’s power in Christ is available to the believer not only to rescue from eternal death but also to energize an obedient life as a dependent disciple of Jesus (cf. Ro 6:12–14). This notion will be more fully developed later in the ethical section of the letter, as Paul exhorts the Galatians to live out their faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.
5 Paul is moved to doxological praise at the mention of Jesus’ substitutionary death by the will of God. Normally doxologies occur much later in his letters, but Paul includes this word of praise here because deliverance is the essence of the gospel, and it is the truth of the gospel that is at issue in the churches at Galatia. The message of the gospel is a message centering in the person, word, and work of Jesus Christ, and thus is not a matter for human dialogue or discussion, as though there may be “different” gospels or varying perspectives on the validity of the one gospel. And the fact that God will be praised “unto the ages of the ages” (NIV, “for ever and ever”) contrasts markedly with “the present evil age” when humanity struggles with sin and faces sin’s devastation.
NOTES
1 Longenecker, 2–4, discusses the significance of the authority of the apostolic office in the early church; both Lightfoot, 92–101, and Burton, 363–84, develop the significance of the office of apostle in the book of Galatians.
The preposition ἀπό (apo) means “from,” with respect to source; διά (dia) refers to agency and is translated here as “by.” The point Paul is making, then, is that humanity (collectively) is not the source of his apostolic identity, and no human agency (single entity) commissioned Paul or “approved” his message.
The mention here of resurrection (ἐγείρω, egeirō, GK 1586, “raised”) in conjunction with the statement as to the source of authority for his gospel message suggests that Paul intends that his readers understand that the God who powerfully worked to raise Jesus from the dead is the same God who works in Paul’s apostolic ministry (cf. Ro 1:4; 1Co 6:14; 2Co 1:9; Eph 1:19–20; Php 3:10; Col 2:12).
2 Though others attack Paul and “his” gospel, and apparently the Galatians are in danger of following their lead, the use of the emphatic “all” here suggests that there is unanimity with Paul and his message on the part of his group of itinerant missionaries.
3 “Grace” (χάρις, charis) and “peace” (εἰρήνη, eirēnē) are words adapted from the Hellenistic and Hebrew background to the New Testament, respectively. The typical Greek epistolary greeting is χαίρειν, chairein, “greetings”; Paul and other New Testament authors adapted this to χάρις, charis, as the means to express the undeserved favor of God toward us in Christ. The Old Testament šālôm (“peace”) was a common Jewish epistolary greeting, conveying the reminder that their God was a person of mercy and love. Thus the two words used together make a theologically rich evangelical greeting for God’s people in Christ.
4 Paul’s words regarding Jesus’ “giving” of himself (δόντος ἑαυτόν, dontos heauton) reflect Jesus’ own words about his purpose in coming, as recorded in Mark 10:45 (“to give his life [δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, dounai tēn psychēn autou] as a ransom for many”). The words of Jesus, in turn, undoubtedly reflect the fourth Servant Song, found in Isaiah 53.
Jesus gave himself “for” (ὑπέρ, hyper) our sins. This word expresses the fact of substitution, i.e., Jesus’ bearing of sin and his death are in place of our bearing of sin and suffering the righteous wrath of God (cf. Ro 5:6, 8; 1Co 15:3; 2Co 5:14). This also speaks against any form of “works” that might make one presentable before God, a theme that Paul will deal with extensively.
“Age” (αἰῶνος, aiōnos), with the epithet “evil,” refers to the current domination of human cultures and systems by a spirit of disobedience (cf. Eph 2:2–3). It speaks to the dynamic of this present time that is anti-God, anti-morality, anti-good. It will be contrasted in v.5 with the notion of ascribing glory to God “unto the ages” (NIV, “for ever and ever”).