In verses 1-5, Paul explained his authority. Now, he is ready for a second step as he begins this battle for the liberty of the Christian.
Conspicuous by its absence is Paul’s usual expression of thanksgiving to God for his readers. Instead he vented his astonishment and anger over the Galatians’ defection. When compared with the opening of 1 Corinthians this is even more striking, for despite the Corinthians’ deep moral defection Paul nonetheless expressed commendation. But here in the face of theological departure he did not express thanks, thus emphasizing the more serious nature of doctrinal apostasy.
God had called the Galatians in His grace, and saved them from their sins. Now the Galatians are moving from grace back into Law. They are abandoning liberty for legalism!
The grace of God is a basic theme in this letter (Gal. 1:3, 6, 15; 2:9, 21; 5:4; 6:18). Grace is simply God’s favor to undeserving sinners. The words “grace” and “gift” go together, because salvation is the gift of God through His grace (Eph. 2:8–10). The Galatian believers were not simply changing churches but were actually abandoning the very grace of God! To make matters worse, they were deserting the very God of grace! God had called them and saved them; now they were deserting Him for human leaders who would bring them into bondage.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (ESV)
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Christ’s completed work is enough. Nothing else is needed. It stands on its own.
- A works-based, human-effort driven gospel is no gospel at all. It has no good news in it.
- Grace is involved in much more than our salvation. We are to live by it, stand in it, be strengthened by it for victory, and it enables us to persevere
CLOSER LOOK:
Verses 6–7: Paul’s astonishment was over an almost inconceivable turn of events—the Galatian believers were in the process of turning away (“deserting,” metatithesthe, as in a military desertion) from the truth. This is the first reason for Paul’s anxiety: the Galatians were deserting the grace of God (The verb indicates they were in the process of deserting and had not fully turned away.) Part of the apostle’s amazement was because it was happening “so quickly” after his last visit to them, or so soon after the false teachers began their sinister work. The use of the word “astonished” (or “amazed” or “marvel”) reveals Paul’s ongoing shock at the Galatians’ defection from the gospel of God’s undeserved grace. The departure was not simply from a system of theology but from God Himself, the One who had “called” them by “the grace of Christ” (the dominant theme of the epistle).
In exchange they were embracing a “different gospel,” one that was false. The Galatians had unwittingly fallen for a different message, one which was not another true message of salvation at all. Paul insisted that a gospel of legalism which adds work to faith is not the same kind of gospel that he preached and by which they were saved. It was actually an attempt “to distort the gospel of Christ.” And Paul was aware of the fact that at the very time he was writing this epistle the false teachers were at work troubling or throwing the Galatians into confusion (cf. Acts 15:24; 20:29–30). Those causing the trouble were guilty of seeking to distort the gospel of Christ, not to present a better alternative. The word translated “distort” in Galatians 1:7 (again, may see it translated as “pervert”) is used only three times in the New Testament (Acts 2:20; Gal. 1:7; James 4:9). It means “to cause a change in state or condition, change, alter.”[1] The word could be translated “to reverse.” In other words, the Judaizers had reversed the Gospel-they had turned it around and taken it back into the Law! Later in this letter, Paul explains how the Law was preparation for the coming of Christ, but the Judaizers had a different interpretation. To them, the Law and the Gospel went together. A works-based, human-effort driven gospel is no gospel at all. How is a demand for impossible human achievement good news? Anyone who presents a way of salvation that depends in any way on works, rather than God, has contaminated the gospel message.
We must remember that God’s grace involves much more than a believer’s salvation. We not only are saved by grace, but we are to live by grace (1 Cor 15:10). We stand in grace; it is foundational for the Christian life (Rom 5:1–2). Grace gives us the strength we need to be victorious (2 Tim 2:1–4).[2] Grace enables us to suffer without complaining, and even to use that suffering for God’s glory (2 Cor 12:1–10). When a Christian turns away from living by God’s grace, they must depend on their own power. This leads to failure and disappointment.
We are reminded here of how fragile young believers are, how susceptible to the blandishments of the Evil One. Nothing delights the devil more than to disrupt and destroy, insofar as he can, a true work of God. Whenever there is a genuine moving of God’s Spirit or a major advance in missionary outreach, we can be sure that Satan and his minions will have a vested interest in casting doubts, sowing discord, and wreaking havoc.
Verse 8: In verses 8-9, Paul denounces the Galatians’ perversion of the gospel. To emphasize the fact that the true gospel of the grace of God cannot be changed, Paul first stated a hypothetical case. This hypothetical example shows the seriousness of legalism’s perversion of grace. If he (a divinely called apostle) or an angel (a heavenly messenger) were to alter the gospel message—a highly improbable situation—then let him be accursed or eternally condemned (anathema).[3] A teacher who requires others to obey the law as a requirement for salvation is leading others to a Christless eternity. Paul uses strong language because he is dealing with a life-or-death situation. You must choose: the gospel of grace Paul preached or the gospel of works the perverters preached.
Verse 9: In this verse, Paul seemed to repeat himself, but he actually advanced his thought. Paul and Barnabas had given a warning of judgment when they had preached to the Galatians. Now Paul repeated it. A zealous champion of the purity of the gospel of grace, Paul said it again: If anyone were preaching a contrary or different gospel (which the false teachers were), they would come under God’s eternal judgment. That being the case, anyone who proclaimed a perversion of the message the Galatians had received from Paul fully deserved eternal destruction. It is not difficult to understand why Paul reacted so strongly because the Judaizers were challenging the Cross; for if works were necessary for salvation, then the work of Christ was not sufficient (cf. 2:21). Furthermore, a great deal is at stake for lost people. When the gospel message is corrupted, the way of salvation is confused and people are in danger of being eternally lost. Paul’s concern for the purity of the gospel message is revealed by his assertion that he would condemn to destruction anyone who taught a false gospel.
Verse 10: Apparently the Judaizers had charged Paul with teaching freedom from the Law in order to curry the Gentiles’ favor. They claimed Paul watered down the gospel, by omitting the law, to increase his popularity among the Gentiles. But the tone of this letter, specifically the harsh language Paul had just used, was hardly calculated to win the “approval of man.” To “please man” was neither Paul’s motivation nor the source of his authority. Paul continually sought the approval of God. He did not base his decisions on the opinions of other people. Instead, he single-mindedly aimed at pleasing God (Phil 3:14). People-pleasers simply do not hurl anathemas against those who proclaim false gospels. Indeed, if the apostle had wanted to please people, he would have remained a zealous Pharisee and promoter of the Law rather than becoming a servant of Christ. Elsewhere Paul affirmed his purpose to please God, not others (cf. 6:12; 1 Thess. 2:4). As an apostle, Paul was a leader, but he was always a servant of Christ.
[1] Or “to turn about, to change into an opposite character”
[2] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1997) n.p.
[3] Donald K. Campbell, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 591.