Day 54: Galatians 1-2: You Stupid Galatians!
The book of Galatians in short (only 6 chapters) and Paul doesn't have time to be subtle. so, after brief, perfunctory greetings, he gets right to the point:
What the heck is wrong with them?
Why are they abandoning the gospel he preaching to them?
That's what he has been hearing. Since Paul has left the church in Galatia, others have come, and have been telling the Galatians that trust in Jesus death and resurrection is not enough to be considered a follower of Jesus. They also need to be circumcized, and keep the law. This Paul emphatically rejects. And he is angry that it is so easy for them to desert the gospel, and cling, instead, to the law.
These false teachers are often called "Judaizers." While Paul is careful not to tell the Galatians that the law is bad, he wants them to know that the law does not save them. (this was actually never the point of the law.) Paul tells the Galatians that the other apostles agreed with him on this (including Peter, who is called "Cephas" in this letter) and he feels that they were cowardly and hypocritical to cave in when opposition hit. (he is talking specifically about Peter here, but others follow Peter's lead.)
Paul is not going to do this. He tells the Galatians a little of his own history, about how he, a zealous Pharisee, came to believe in Jesus, and how he came to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Even though he is writing to Gentile Christians, he appeals to his fellow Jewish believers: they know that the law is good, he argues, but they also know that the law can't save us. They know that it is only by participating in the death and resurrection of Christ that we are made new. So these two chapters end with the magnificent verses, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer *I* who live, but Christ who lives in me."
How do you experience and understand these verses? What does Paul mean when he says, "It is no longer "I" who live? I think it is something like we are no longer "self" conscious in what we do, but we are instead conscious of Jesus' life in us and with us.
Martin Luther said that this kind of dying was not a one-time only event. Our baptism is only once, but daily we die to sin and rise to life in Christ. What do you think?
What the heck is wrong with them?
Why are they abandoning the gospel he preaching to them?
That's what he has been hearing. Since Paul has left the church in Galatia, others have come, and have been telling the Galatians that trust in Jesus death and resurrection is not enough to be considered a follower of Jesus. They also need to be circumcized, and keep the law. This Paul emphatically rejects. And he is angry that it is so easy for them to desert the gospel, and cling, instead, to the law.
These false teachers are often called "Judaizers." While Paul is careful not to tell the Galatians that the law is bad, he wants them to know that the law does not save them. (this was actually never the point of the law.) Paul tells the Galatians that the other apostles agreed with him on this (including Peter, who is called "Cephas" in this letter) and he feels that they were cowardly and hypocritical to cave in when opposition hit. (he is talking specifically about Peter here, but others follow Peter's lead.)
Paul is not going to do this. He tells the Galatians a little of his own history, about how he, a zealous Pharisee, came to believe in Jesus, and how he came to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Even though he is writing to Gentile Christians, he appeals to his fellow Jewish believers: they know that the law is good, he argues, but they also know that the law can't save us. They know that it is only by participating in the death and resurrection of Christ that we are made new. So these two chapters end with the magnificent verses, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer *I* who live, but Christ who lives in me."
How do you experience and understand these verses? What does Paul mean when he says, "It is no longer "I" who live? I think it is something like we are no longer "self" conscious in what we do, but we are instead conscious of Jesus' life in us and with us.
Martin Luther said that this kind of dying was not a one-time only event. Our baptism is only once, but daily we die to sin and rise to life in Christ. What do you think?
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