Galatians 1
Readings for this week January 29 - February 2
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Day 1 – Welcome to Galatians
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Galatians 1:1-5
Today we’re beginning a series of readings on Paul's letter to the Galatians. Over the next six weeks these readings will be serving as background to the messages in our Gatherings, some of which will address the text of the letter directly, others of which will take a more thematic approach, using the letter’s themes (its main theme especially) as a jumping off point. Paul’s letter is addressed "to the churches in Galatia," an area in what we know today as modern Turkey. This is an area that Paul travelled to early on in his missionary journeys. And Paul knows these churches, he has been intimately connected with them and their history. The book of Acts tells us that the churches of Galatia were founded by Paul himself on his early missionary journeys.
So, Paul is not writing to people he has no connection with. He is not some far off famous name writing to these churches just because he’s heard they are having problems and he thinks they could benefit from his advice. He knows these churches and these people, he is familiar with their story – indeed he is a part of it and is writing to them because of his concern for them and the issues they are having. And it is what he is hearing about the most recent turn in their story that has occasioned this letter to them. They seem to have forgotten the basics of what it means to follow Jesus together. They’ve fallen back into old habits, embraced false teaching and forgotten about the heart of the gospel: God’s grace.
Questions to Consider
Why does Paul begin most of his letters by identifying himself as an apostle? Why might this be especially important in this letter?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, guide me through your word, through this series. Give me the wisdom to hear what you are saying to me personally and to my community as well. Guide us all together. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – Straying from the Gospel
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Galatians 1:6-10
As always with Paul, he is quick to get to the point. The main issue that he has with the churches in Galatia was that the people had turned away from the true gospel. After Paul's departure, the churches were led astray from Paul's faith/trust centred teachings by people preaching a "different gospel" from what Paul had taught. As he writes quite cuttingly in verse 6: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all.
The Galatians appear to have been receptive to the teaching of a group of Jewish Christians who were teaching a gospel based around salvation through the Law, teaching that in order for pagans to belong to the people of God, they must be subject to some or all of the Jewish Law. Later in the letter we read about controversy over circumcision, Sabbath observance, and the Mosaic Covenant. A classic example of Law versus Grace. The epistle is Paul's response to what he sees as their willingness to turn from his teaching, and their questioning of his credentials. Much of the first chapter of the letter, and the opening part of chapter two, is Paul retelling his story, reminding the Galatians of his conversion, his calling by Jesus Christ himself, and the work he has done for the gospel since that time. He’s experienced God’s grace in abundance and pointedly reminds the Galatians not to forget that they have too.
Questions to Consider
What warnings did Paul give the Galatians about what they were doing? What can we learn from those warnings?
Prayer
Lord God, help me stay on the path of the gospel, not straying, not being enticed by false claims and alternative gospels. Keep me close to you; give me people around me to keep me focused on you. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – The True Gospel
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Galatians 1:11-12
So, this gospel that the Galatians have so badly strayed from, this message that they have ignored and turned away from: where does it come from? Where did Paul get it from? Did he make it up? Is it a human creation, and therefore easily exchanged for a seemingly better version? Why should all other ‘gospels’ be measured against the gospel that Paul passed on to the Galatians? Because, says Paul, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the one true gospel, the one true revelation of who God is and what he has done. The gospel that Paul had preached to them was not an invention (no human mind, however fertile, came up with it); nor was it a tradition (as if the church had handed it down to him). It was a revelation – God himself had made it known to him.
The Galatians cannot claim that they are turning away towards a better gospel, a more perfect gospel, a Godlier gospel. They are turning away from the true gospel, the revelation of Jesus Christ as Messiah and Lord. Anything else is a human invention that can only ever be the false shadow of the true light of Jesus. Paul’s message is not his own message, but God’s; the gospel is not his but God’s. And, as Paul will go on to show them, if there was ever going to be anything that illustrated the divine nature of the gospel and showcased its power for transformation, it would be the life of Paul himself. To follow Jesus properly, deeply, and honestly is to be properly, deeply and honestly transformed.
Questions to Consider
Why is it important that the gospel is from God and not from man? Why is Paul so adamant about this? What is at stake in this?
Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for all you have given us. Thank you for the transforming power of the gospel and the hope that you offer to all people. Thank you that we don’t have to rely on our own strength. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Before and After
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Galatians 1:13-17
Paul’s opponents had been accusing him of custom making his gospel to please people, to be popular and so he would appear to be successful. Perhaps Paul’s insistence on Gentiles not having to be circumcised was simply a short cut he had made in order to make following God seem more attractive. No, not at all, says Paul. Quite the contrary: the gospel I preach comes straight from God. And if you want proof, just look at my life before and after. Before my encounter with Jesus, I was full of fire, hounding and persecuting the followers of Jesus, doing everything I could to cleanse Israel of the pernicious heresy of Christianity and its false, dead ‘Messiah’. I was zealous, I was devout, I was one of the best of the best.
But after meeting the risen Jesus on the road everything changed. Everything became new for me, everything was revealed in a new light, the light of Jesus. I’m still full of fire, I’m still zealous for the Lord, but now I’m preaching Christ crucified and resurrected; now I’m preaching that God himself has finally done what he always said he would do, sending his Messiah to redeem Israel and the world. Everything about me – my life, my calling, my vocation – is now shaped by this divinely revealed gospel. Look at who I was and look at who I am now. There’s no way I made it up. Paul’s story is now irrevocably linked to that of Jesus. It’s Jesus who set the tone, Jesus who was the one revealed, Jesus who calls the shots – Jesus who is the agent of transformation.
Questions to Consider
What was Paul zealous for? What should we be zealous for? How do we stay zealous without becoming overbearing and heavy-handed?
Prayer
Loving Lord, fill me with passion and zeal. Help me do all that I do inspired by your Spirit and by giving all that I am to you. Help me hold nothing back, help me offer the deepest parts of myself back to you. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – The Same Gospel
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Galatians 1:18-24
In a worst case scenario (something Paul was trying very hard to avoid happening), if it came down to it, Paul would rather the Galatians choose the gospel over loyalty to him. But his point is that this shouldn’t be a choice they need to worry about. Because the gospel he is preaching and the gospel the Jerusalem leaders are advocating is the same gospel. It is ironic that in order to advocate for the unity that he and the church leaders have, he has to affirm his own independence. He may be an independent apostle, but the message he is preaching is the same as them, maybe with some different emphases here and there (Gentiles don’t need to hear exactly the same things the Jews do), but it is the same. It’s his trouble-making accusers who have got things wrong.
The proof of Paul’s bona fides is in what he has been doing and the fact that the churches in Judea, who had never met Paul and only knew him as the relentless persecutor of the church, were not proclaiming that he was preaching an insipid, twisted version of the gospel. Instead, they were heralding the miraculous grace of Jesus that saw this dangerous nemesis of the early church now transformed into a zealous preacher of the gospel. Yes, he was independent of the Jerusalem church; Paul’s path to Jesus had not been the same as many others. But the unity of believers is greater than the differences paths that might bring us to him or the different calls he makes to each of us.
Questions to Consider
What was Paul’s testimony? What does his testimony teach us about God and about how he calls, shapes and transforms people?
Prayer
Heavenly Lord, thank you for calling us all, from so many places, so many backgrounds. Help us remember that however different our paths might be, you bring us together and bind us as your people. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)