Commentary: Letter to Galatians

Indian Bible Commentary

Paul’s Letter to Galatians

Introduction

Book of Galatians has profoundly influenced Christian history. It is considered the "the Magna Carta" of Christian freedom. The epistle to Galatians pictures the early church's struggles to free itself from the so called "Judaizers" who would have made the Christian Church a Jewish sect had they been successful. The Judaizing faction, based in Jerusalem, had their missionaries sent to Pauline congregations to teach them the necessity of observing the Mosaic law for their salvation. They had the support from the Jerusalem Church headed by James, brother of Jesus Christ. Even Peter and Barnabas were misguided by their arguments and stopped eating with Paul's gentile converts. Paul defended the freedom and equality of the gentiles and argued that no law is applicable to them for their salvation as they are justified by faith in the Christ of God. The Judaizers on their turn attacked the authenticity of Paul’s apostleship. In the letter to the Galatians Paul defends his credentials as a true apostle of Jesus Christ and upholds that the freedom the gentiles enjoy is on account of their faith in Christ and not based on any observance of rituals or the Law. In discussing his theological position with regard to the Gospel of God in Christ Paul touches upon the equality of races and genders well as the significance of religious traditions like Judaism. The major themes selected for study in this article are the meaning of Gospel, importance of faith for salvation, meaning of God's promise or covenant, place of non Christian traditions in relation to Christian faith, the question of circumcision and baptism, and human freedom. To continue readingAlemmax: Indian Bible Commentary Paul’s Letter to Galatians