Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Mar 11 2020 - Introduction to Galatians

We interrupt our reading in Acts to look at Galatians, probably the first of the many letters of Paul and a letter which was written at about this point in the narrative of Acts.

Paul's letters are not abstract theological treatises, they are letters written from the heart and addressed to churches for which Paul had an intimate concern. They formed a vital part of Paul's ministry, representing one element of the pastoral oversight of the apostle for churches founded through his ministry. They reflect much of the man and his passion for Christ while equally reflecting the situation and concerns of the congregations to which they were written.  Of none is this more evident than his letter to the Galatians.

When Paul and Barnabas returned to their home church at Syrian Antioch they shared with the church all that God had done through them and particularly the remarkable response of the Gentiles to the gospel (Acts 14:27). Paul and Barnabas then remained for some time ministering in Antioch. It was during this extended period of ministry at Antioch that the events occurred which prompted Paul's letter to the Galatian churches of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.

There seem to have been some tensions between the church in Jerusalem and the church at Antioch. The church at Jerusalem viewed itself as the centre of the Christian movement. It was the church of the apostles, the 'mother church' to other churches and it viewed itself as having some responsibility towards other congregations. This much is seen in the sending of Barnabas to Antioch, the visit of Peter (which we shall consider below), and the subsequent Council of Jerusalem. But the church at Antioch was developing in a manner independent of and distinct from the church at Jerusalem. It was a single church of both Jews and Gentiles and had become the centre for outreach into the Gentile world. Some among the church in Jerusalem seem to have been suspicious of and unhappy with the developments at Antioch and of the growing Gentile churches.  Gentile converts in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium and Lystra had resulted in a Jewish backlash with the consequent persecution of Christian believers. Maybe they feared a similar backlash in Jerusalem. Their chief concern seems to have been to persuade Gentile Christians to fully identify with Judaism (Gal 2:3-4,12).

In Galatians 2:11-21 we read of a visit by Peter to Antioch. At first he was content to eat with the Gentile believers, conforming, one would assume, with the general practice of the church at Antioch where believers, Jew and Gentile, enjoyed full fellowship with one another. No doubt Peter recalled the lesson he had been taught through his vision on the housetop in Joppa and his visit to the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-11:18). However, when "certain men came from James" Peter withdrew and would no longer eat with the Gentiles.

The church at Jerusalem under the leadership of James, identified strongly with its Jewish roots, carefully keeping the law both as a matter of practice and as a basis for mission to its own community. The Jerusalem church would not have been in the habit of eating with Gentiles. The visitors from James were acting in accordance with their culture and practice when they scrupled at eating with Gentiles. They may also have been concerned that close fellowship with Gentiles might provoke zealous minded Jews in Jerusalem to fresh persecution of Jewish Christians.  Peter, placed in the difficult position of having to side with those from Jerusalem or with those at Antioch decided to eat with the those who had come from James, leading other Jews at Antioch, including even Barnabas, to follow his example.

Paul publicly and roundly condemned Peter for his actions. For Paul the issue lay at the heart of the gospel and amounted simply to this: on what basis were Gentiles to be accepted as part of the covenant community of the people of God? Was it on the basis of entry into Judaism with its lawkeeping or simply on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ?  We are not told of the outcome of this rebuke. Did Peter and the visitors from James subsequently eat with the Gentile believers? Longenecker suggests that the issue was still not resolved when Paul wrote to the Galatians (see Gal 2:11-14).

At much the same time it would seem that there were 'Judaisers' who were creating problems for the Gentile Christians of the new churches in Galatia. They were seeking to persuade them to observe the Jewish law, arguing particularly that they should be circumcised. The teaching of these Judaisers seems to have included the following elements:

• The Jewish persecution being experienced by these Galatian Christians could be averted if only they would identify themselves with the Jewish community by being circumcised (Gal 6:12-13)

• They suggested that Paul lacked apostolic authority, or at least that his authority was secondary to and derived from that of the Jerusalem apostles

• They insisted that to be part of Abrahamic covenant community a person must be circumcised and must keep the law

• They suggested that the adoption of the whole gamut of Jewish legal code was the only way to avoid the sinful lifestyle common among the Gentiles, the only way to curb the flesh.

It would seem that when Paul heard news of this propaganda among the Galatian churches the believers had not yet been won over by it (the appeal to "stand firm" in 5:1 suggests that they had not yet been circumcised), but clearly they were being swayed. It may even have been that Paul heard of the problem because they sent to Antioch asking his advice.

At much the same time we read in Acts 15:1 that "Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: 'Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.'". It is tempting to speculate concerning the relationship between the three groups mentioned above, the 'certain men' who came from James, those who were troubling the Galatian churches and these 'men [who] came down from Judea to Antioch'. Is there one party who travelled from Jerusalem through Antioch and on into Galatia before returning to Antioch, or are there two or three groups? We can at least suppose that all were part of a common movement which was fomenting a crisis for the churches, even if we conclude that the various groups occupied differing positions within that movement.

The crisis provoked a twofold response: Paul dashed off his Letter to Galatians seeking to call them back to the simplicity of the gospel he had preached to them; Paul and Barnabas, along with other believers from the church at Antioch, were sent off to Jerusalem to meet with the church there and to resolve the issues once and for all. On their way to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas travelled through Phoenicia and Samaria telling the various churches of the conversion of the Gentiles – almost as if they drummed up support for their cause as they travelled to the Council.

The decision of the Council supported the ministry of Paul and Barnabas who carried back to Antioch a letter outlining the decision of the Council, accompanied by Judas and Silas, two leaders from Jerusalem. When the message was conveyed to the church it was the cause of much rejoicing.

The Council put an end to the formal question of whether Gentile converts should be circumcised. It also endorsed the legitimacy of different patterns of church life such as the Jewish church at Jerusalem and the predominantly Gentile churches of the Diaspora. It emphasised the mutual obligation of Christians one to another and also of separate churches one to another.

This is the background to Paul's letter to the Galatians: a letter written in about 48 AD in the heat of a crisis which threatened Gentile mission and indeed challenged the very character of the Gospel. It is a passionate letter, written in defence of the Gospel of Grace and written to save the Galatian Christians from a return to slavery.

Richard Longenecker sums up its significance when he writes, "Historically, Galatians has been foundational for many forms of Christian doctrine, proclamation and practice. And it remains true today to say that how one understands the issues and teaching of Galatians determines in large measure what kind of theology is espoused, what kind of message is proclaimed, and what kind of lifestyle is practised."

Peter Misselbrook