Galatians 1

For those of you who want to read the chapter before going on, you can find it here. For simplicity, clarity and brevity's sake I will not share all the things I found, but I will list some of the more noticeable observations I saw alongside the references.

1:1: Paul is the author of this letter, and clearly sees his apostleship as not being given to him by men, but as a divine appointment from God. He states, quite clearly at the beginning of his epistle, that his authority doesn't come from men but from God. This is an interesting point when it comes to this and other writings of Paul: do I read them as words from God, or from a man?

1:3-4: The use of the words 'gave himself for our sins' speaks to me of two things; sacrifice and substitution. Jesus gave himself willingly and deliberately of his own free will. But he gave himself for my sins, to take their penalty - which is therefore my punishment - on himself in my place, as my replacement and my substitute. For those of us aware of the current discussion about Penal Substitution, this is an interesting verse.

But why did Jesus do this? The verse tells me: 'to deliver us from the present evil age.' 'Deliver' can mean 'to release or to set free.' One reason Jesus gave himself was to set me free and release me from this present evil age. His death was self-sacrificial and the ultimate demonstration of love, because he wanted me to be rescued from the darkness of the world. Clearly, this verse shows me that the world is an evil, dark place and has always been - and will always be. As a Christian, I should no longer feel at ease here - it is no longer Home for me. Do I still have an affinity for some things in this world? Yes. Am I too earthly focused and not heavenly minded enough? The answer must be yes!

This is all 'according to the will of our God and Father' - the Cross was God's idea, to rescue us from our ourselves.

1:6 I find the phrase 'him who called you in the grace of Christ' fascinating. The person who calls another takes initiative - they make the first move. So God made the first move towards me, when He called me! The grace of Christ - the undeserved, unearnable kindness of God - means that when it came to my salvation it was God's idea, his initial action and he came to me. God Himself pursued me! The Cross was his idea, to win me. He made the way possible, then ran after me to win and woo me!

1:15 I was set apart before I was born! This is amazing - in God, I've always had an eternal destiny! In a mystery I shall never understand, he chose me to always be with Him. Nothing I did influenced this decision, because I wasn't even born! So my salvation is nothing to do with me, and everything to do with God. Of course, this throws up many questions about people who have not been chosen. But it also raises up another I can overlook: why did He choose me? Its a wonder, and something that amazes me.

Paul also comes back to this theme of 'calling.' He clearly has a high view of his destiny, and the sovereignty of God. Do I? Its amazing how often when things go pear-shaped that I begin to doubt God's will for me, or God's ability to bring his will about.

1:16 This verse suggests that for salvation to happen, God must reveal His son to us. Salvation comes from revelation, not from education. As much as research, study or questions are good, ultimately spiritual birth comes from the spiritual unveiling of eyes. In my evangelism, maybe if I did more praying for revelation and less arguing, things might go a different way.

I love Paul's logic - he was saved, so he could tell others. This is such a challenge to me in my cosy eternal blanket. I've been saved for mission!

 

Of course, there is much else in this chapter about the nature of religion, Paul's ministry and his revelation. But the main thread of this chapter alongside these themes seemed to be that our salvation is a gift of kindness from a loving God, who despite our darkness and ignorance chose to send his Son as a replacement for the consequences of our evil. We didn't ask or earn this, but he chose to do it because he wanted friendship with us. Even on its own, this theme in this chapter has enough to ponder, pray and praise through!

But enough of what I think. What do you guys see?

Currently listening to: Jason Upton - He Had To Have You from Key Of David