Book of Galatians NLT
Summary of the Book of Galatians
This summary of the
book of Galatians provides information about the title, author(s), date of
writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the
chapters of the Book of Galatians.
The opening verse
identifies the author of Galatians as the apostle Paul. Apart from a few
19th-century interpreters, no one has seriously questioned his authorship.
The date of Galatians
depends to a great extent on the destination of the letter. There are two main
views:
- The North Galatian theory. This older view holds that the letter was
addressed to churches located in north-central Asia Minor (Pessinus,
Ancyra and Tavium), where the Gauls had settled when they invaded the
area in the third century b.c. It is held that Paul visited this area on
his second missionary journey, though Acts contains no reference to such a
visit. Galatians, it is maintained, was written between a.d. 53 and 57
from Ephesus or Macedonia.
- The South Galatian theory. According to this view, Galatians was written to
churches in the southern area of the Roman province of Galatia (Antioch,
Iconium, Lystra and Derbe) that Paul had founded on his first missionary
journey. Some believe that Galatians was written from Syrian Antioch in
48-49 after Paul's first journey and before the Jerusalem council meeting
(Ac 15). Others say that Galatians was written in Syrian
Antioch or Corinth between 51 and 53.
Judaizers were Jewish
Christians who believed, among other things, that a number of the ceremonial
practices of the OT were still binding on the NT church. Following Paul's
successful campaign in Galatia, they insisted that Gentile converts to
Christianity abide by certain OT rites, especially circumcision. They may have
been motivated by a desire to avoid the persecution of Zealot Jews who objected
to their fraternizing with Gentiles (see 6:12). The Judaizers
argued that Paul was not an authentic apostle and that out of a desire to make
the message more appealing to Gentiles he had removed from the gospel certain
legal requirements.
Paul responded by
clearly establishing his apostolic authority and thereby substantiating the
gospel he preached. By introducing additional requirements for justification
(e.g., works of the law) his adversaries had perverted the gospel of grace and,
unless prevented, would bring Paul's converts into the bondage of legalism. It
is by grace through faith alone that people are justified, and it is by faith
alone that they are to live out their new life in the freedom of the Spirit.
Galatians stands as an
eloquent and vigorous apologetic for the essential NT truth that people are
justified by faith in Jesus Christ -- by nothing less and nothing more -- and
that they are sanctified not by legalistic works but by the obedience that
comes from faith in God's work for them, in them and through them by the grace
and power of Christ and the Holy Spirit. It was the rediscovery of the basic
message of Galatians (and Romans) that brought about the Protestant
Reformation. Galatians is often referred to as "Luther's book,"
because Martin Luther relied so strongly on this letter in all his preaching,
teaching and writing against the prevailing theology of his day. It is also
referred to as the "Magna Carta of Christian Liberty." A key verse
is 2:16 (see note there).
Outline
- Denunciation (1:6-10)
- The Galatians' Experience of
the Gospel (3:1-5)
- The Experience of Abraham (3:6-9)
- The Curse of the Law (3:10-14)
- The Priority of the Promise (3:15-18)
- The Purpose of the Law (3:19-25)
- Sons, Not Slaves (3:26;4:7)
- The Danger of Turning Back (4:8-11)
- Appeal to Embrace the Freedom
of God's Children (4:12-20)
- God's Children Are Children of
the Free Woman (4:21-31)
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