What
was the gospel that Paul preached (Galatians 1:8)?
‘But
even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to
you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be
accursed!’
Paul’s
distinctive
way of expressing the gospel owes much to his extraordinary conversion
on the
road to Damascus. (Acts 9:1-19) Prior
to
that Paul, a Roman citizen born in Tarsus, had been a harsh critic and
active
persecutor of the fledgling Christian church.
He was a Pharisee who had been through a long and detailed
training on
Jewish Law and who observed it to the very best of his ability. He was
incensed
by the claims that Jesus was the fulfilment of the Law and felt it his
duty to eradicate
the blasphemers who supported this view.
This starting point made his personal encounter with Jesus
all the more
remarkable. He was
converted
intellectually as well as emotionally and spiritually.
The verse
referred
to in the question, taken together with the two verses immediately
preceding it,
suggest that Paul had visited the Galatians at least twice before
writing his
letter; the first time to preach the gospel and the second to discover
that
they had turned away from it. This
implication is central to a long dispute amongst scholars about the
location of
the churches to whom the letter was addressed and the year in which it
was
written.
The term
‘Galatians’ was first used to describe a group of
Celtic people who settled in
the area around what is now Ankara, the capital city of modern Turkey. However, the Roman
province of Galatia
extended much further south to include the cities of Iconium, Lystra
and Derbe
where, according to Acts 14:1-23, Paul and Barnabas founded churches. Some scholars believe that
it was to these churches
that Paul was writing but others believe that it was to churches in the
north.
The
dating of the
letter is closely linked to where the churches were as a later date is
required
to allow Paul time to have made two visits to churches in the north. A further key issue is
whether or not the
meeting in Galatians 2:1-10 is the ‘Council of
Jerusalem’ as described in Acts
15 which is generally held to have taken place around 50 AD. Majority opinion considers
that it was and
that Paul’s letter was written to churches in northern
Galatia sometime in the
mid to late 50s AD after the Council of Jerusalem.
Whichever
of these
views is correct the use of the past tense ‘proclaimed’
in Galatians
1:8 implies that Paul had visited the Galatians before writing his
letter to
them on which occasion he preached his gospel to them.
It is not possible to deduce very much about
the tenets of his gospel by reference to his letter to the Galatians
alone as
it is both short and highly focused. I
shall therefore attempt to draw them out by reference to all
of Paul’s letters, not just Galatians.
On the
surface Paul’s letter to the
Galatians is about a single issue – whether or not Christians
need to be
circumcised. Just
as with the two
current so-called ‘single issue’ debates in the
Church of England on the
ordination of practicing homosexuals and women bishops the debate was,
in
reality, about far deeper and more fundamental issues.
Paul had
discovered
that since he originally founded the churches in Galatia some Jewish
Christians
had visited them and told them that Christians must be circumcised
(5:2-12). Furthermore,
they appear to
have told them that Christians must follow other aspects of Jewish Law
such as
observing the Sabbath and Jewish Festivals (4:10).
Paul was very angry about this as can be
deduced by the intemperate language he used in 1:8 as quoted above and
4:12
“I wish those who unsettle you would
castrate themselves!”
Righteousness comes from faith in
Christ alone
The
reason for
Paul’s anger was that these un-named Jewish Christians had
failed to understand
a central tenet of his gospel that righteousness (having a
‘right’ relationship
with God) depends, not on the observance of Jewish Law but by faith in
Christ
alone:
Romans 3:28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
Galatians 2:16 Yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.
So
important does
Paul hold this tenet to be that he restates it in Galatians and
elsewhere using
the metaphor of Christ’s crucifixion.
Unfortunately this frequently exposes one of
Paul’s greatest weaknesses
as an evangelist – the use of tortuous prose that is
extremely difficult to
follow. The
following quotation has
therefore been taken from The Message
in which the authors have made a valiant attempt to unravel
Paul’s meaning:
Galatians 2:19-21 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not ‘mine,’ but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
This tenet of Paul’s gospel runs against
the traditional belief that Jews
could accumulate merit before God by doing good deeds and keeping the
law, an
idea that Jesus himself apparently contributed to on more than one
occasion,
for example:
Luke 18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’
The
concept of
righteousness (or justification) coming from faith alone is closely
tied to
another important tenet of Paul’s gospel:
Christianity is for all
If righteousness does not depend upon the keeping of Jewish Law then it is open to Gentiles as well as Jews. Coming to terms with this fundamental concept was a major pre-occupation of the early church with many references to it in both Acts and the Epistles. Two examples are:
Romans 10:12..For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13 For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Galatians 3:28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Paul was
quite
clear that he was specifically commissioned by Jesus himself to take
the gospel
to the Gentiles referring back to his encounter on the road to Damascus:
Galatians 1:11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. ... ...15 But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles
Jesus was the son of God
Throughout
his
letters Paul refers to Jesus as ‘the son of God’.
(See examples in Galatians
1:16 and 2:20 quoted above) He
also frequently
uses the phrase ‘Jesus is Lord’, a title reserved
exclusively for God in the
Old Testament but used as a proclamation of faith by the earliest
converts to
Christianity in Jerusalem. This
testament to the status of Jesus once again stems from his personal
encounter
with him and must have had a major impact on those who heard him preach.
Jesus died to save us from our
sins and rose again
The
belief that Jesus
died to save us from our sins and that he rose again is a central tenet
of
Paul’s gospel. Two
examples are given
below:
Romans 5:8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.
Yet
again, these
firmly-held beliefs can be traced back to Paul’s dramatic
personal encounter
with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, the single incident that
shaped
the whole of his ministry.
The importance of Love
No
description of
the gospel preached by Paul could be complete without reference to his
recurring theme of the importance of love.
Galatians5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
Paul’s ‘Hymn of Love’
in 1 Corinthians: 13:1-13 is arguably the best
known and most loved passage from all of Paul’s letters. However, doubts have been
cast over his
authorship of this passage based upon the marked difference in style
between it
and the rest of his letters. Perhaps
it
was written by someone else or perhaps he did have a gentle,
non-combative side
after all!
Conclusion
To draw these disparate threads together to present
a coherent picture
of Paul’s gospel is extremely difficult and it is something
that, to the best
of our knowledge, he never did himself.
He imparted his gospel to those whom he encountered as a
personal verbal
testimony of which unfortunately we have no record but from the
evidence of his
success in spreading the Word it must have been compelling listening. From what we can learn
from his letters the
framework of his testimony may have been something along the following
lines:
Brothers and Sisters, I bring you Good News. We have been freed from
the slavery of sin
and death. For
5,000 years we and our
forefathers have struggled to prove our righteousness in the eyes of
God by
following his law only to fail time and time again.
Through our failure we have been condemned to
eternal damnation but now we have been set free!
How can this be?
God has been watching over us through all these
years of our
failure. He has
grieved for us and wept
for us and finally, through his great love for us he has sent his only
son to
save us – Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
“But wait,” I hear you cry,
“this Jesus was condemned to die a
blasphemer’s death on the cross.
He was
no Messiah.” That
is where you are wrong
my friends, for this Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
It is true that he died upon the cross, but
on the third day he rose again and sits today on the right hand of God
the
Father Almighty. How
do I know
this? Because he
appeared to me,
wretched and sinful as I am, on the road to Damascus and spoke to me in
person. What is
more, he gave me the
task to bring the Good News of his message to you; not to my brother
Jews, for
his message is for all people.
So why did Jesus have to die on the cross? As I have told you my
friends, he died as the
perfect sacrifice to save all who believe on his name from the slavery
of sin
and the snare of death. For
years we
have struggled to keep God’s laws but always we have failed
and we know that he
who lives by the law must die by the law.
But I tell you this.
In the new
way, salvation comes not from doing good works but by faith in Christ
Jesus
alone. If you put
your faith in him;
give your whole to him as I have, you will be raised up to heaven as he
was
raised up and you will have eternal life.