Monday 01 October 2012

Background

The apostle Paul was responsible for writing a large chunk ofthe New Testament in the form of letters to different churches orindividuals. His letter to the Galatians is believed to be hisearliest, and it addresses some of the issues which the earlyChurch was facing as it spread through the Greek and Roman world,and emerged as more than simply a sect within Judaism. Paul writesin a carefully-crafted argument to address a particular issue andencourage the churches along the way.

One of the great things about emails today is that you can tracethe history of a conversation. Simply by scrolling down you canremind yourself what was said in both sides of the correspondence.Unfortunately, with Paul's letters we have lost the letters ormessages to which he was responding, so we read only one side ofthe conversation. So we have to deduce what the issue was for thechurches he was addressing. When we do this, we find that Galatiansis a vastly important, densely-packed, practical-theologicaloutworking of early Christian faith. And, nestled in along the way,there are some classic gems that we may have heard (and sung) manytimes before!

Shortly after Christ's resurrection, Paul met Jesus and wasconverted from a zealous Pharisee, persecuting Christians, to azealous evangelist commissioned to spread Christ's gospel to theends of the earth (Acts 9:1-22). Around 47AD, he set out on hisfirst major missionary journey, after several years of preparation.On this journey he travelled from Antioch to Cyprus, and then tothe south east corner of what is now Turkey, visiting cities suchas Iconium, Lystra and Derbe in the Roman province of Galatia (Acts13-14). There he preached the news of Christ's resurrection anda message of forgiveness and liberation from sins through him (Acts13:38-39). No longer need God be known only by God's chosenpeople: the chosenonehad opened God's love up toall, inaugurating aworldwide kingdom. Paul and his companion Barnabas saw a largenumber of both Jews and non-Jews (Gentiles) come to believe intheir message, but there was also considerable opposition andpersecution. As they left the Galatian province, Jewish-Christianmissionaries came from Judea and began teaching the converts thatthey should also follow in the rituals and law of the Jewish Torah(Law), including for the men to be circumcised as a mark ofbelonging to Israel's God. This was a major testing point for theChurch in its infancy: preaching God's salvation for all, butliving with the tension of a Jewish heritage that was so deeplyingrained. Could it really be that faith in Christ alone wassufficient for salvation, above the stipulations of the Law? Thiscontention is the subject of Acts15:1-2, and Galatians is part of that debate. All of whichresulted in … what else, but a Church Council Meeting!

The letter starts off with an urgent and somewhat irritatedtone. Amidst words of grace and peace to Paul's dear children inthe faith, he also stamps his authority as an apostle sent by Jesushimself - without any middle-man - and moves quickly into theshocking nub of his letter: they are turning to a different gospel!Such an assertion could be seen as 'a little bit over-the-top' -after all, weren't they just adding a few necessary rules andpractices to their new-found religion? But Paul's answer,throughout this letter, is NO! If you think such things are neededfor acceptance by God, then you've completely missed the point.

To Ponder

• What 'additional things' in our churches today threaten toovershadow our gospel message today?

• Paul's teaching has always carried a great deal of weight andinfluence throughout the history of the Church, and yet he was notone of the original disciples. How important is it to us today thatPaul was indeed sent by Jesus? And to what extent is he stillregarded by some with suspicion?

• We might say Paul puts his message in a nutshell in verses 3and 4. How would you sum up the gospel in a tweet or text (144characters or less)?