Galatians Notes

How to Destroy the Gospel

The desertion of the Galatians (Gal. a)

  • Paul is utterly amazed - they defected so quickly!
  • metatithemi (deserted, turned themselves) - this word was used for military desertion (punishable by death), for altering a treaty, for moving from the sphere of influence of one thing into another. They were removing themselves from the sphere of the gospel of grace.

The gospel's attachment to God Himself (Gal.

  • The Galatians were not simply turning from a common opinion or even from a system of theology - they were turning away from God Himself!

How different is different? (Gal. )

  • There are two Greek words translated "another" and used for comparison.
    heteros = "another of a different kind altogether"
    allos = "another of the same kind"
  • Paul uses both of these words here for emphasis:
    "deserting Him for a different (heteros) gospel"
    "which is not another of the same kind (allos)"

The character of the false teachers (Gal. )

  • "There are some troubling you" - parassontes (troublers, disturbers, unsettlers).
    This participle shows the character of the ones who were confusing the Galatians. These false teachers were habitual "troublemakers" who thrive on creating controversy.

The destruction of the gospel (Gal. c)

  • The result of their activity was that the gospel was "perverted" (metastrepsai = to turn something into its opposite).
  • The false teachers were not denying Christ, they simply wanted to add circumcision and Jewish rituals to the gospel. But law-keeping and self-effort are not just slight a contamination of a gospel that teaches salvation by God's effort alone - they actually reverse the gospel and cannot coexist with a message of salvation by God's grace apart from works.

Paul emphasizes the cursedness of this action (Gal. )

  • Paul is not being redundant in these two verses.
  • See the following side-by-side comparison:
Verse Verse
But even IF As we have before said, and now again I say, IF
we or a heavenly angel should preach a gospel to you anyone is preaching a gospel to you
besides that which we preached besides that which you received
let him be accursed. let him be accursed.

Paul might ask, "Does this sound like man-pleasing language to you?" (Gal. )

  • "For" introduces Paul's explanation for such severe language - he had been accused of "man-pleasing"
  • He is not trying to win them over with concilliatory words - he is being direct and honest about the truth of the gospel.

Paul is a CPA - "Certified Public Apostle" (Gal. )

  • "For I make known to you, brothers" = a very strong word: "I certify to you with certaintly"
  • The gospel Paul preaches is not according to man - it is not another of the man-made religious systems.
  • Paul did not receive it from a human being - no person taught him the true gospel.
  • Paul received his gospel message directly through a revelation from Jesus Christ.

High Peaks Bible Fellowship
Our primary purpose is to uphold the truths of God's Word.
"I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God,
which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth." (1 Timothy )

Our primary responsibility is to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ." (Ephesians )

We meet regularly for verse-by verse teaching from the Word of God;
for encouragement and support as we grow in faith;
for prayer and service to advance God's work in our own time.