September 14

Isaiah 15:1-18:7; Galatians 1:1-24; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 23:12

Today we get to start Galatians. And you know I can’t pass up the opportunity to give some contextual background and theme information whenever we start a new book. So here we go with Galatians!

As you probably know, it was written by Paul. He likely wrote it from Antioch in 48 or 49, so fairly early in his ministry, definitely during his first missionary journey. As we’ll read in the next few days, Paul’s purposes for writing are pretty clear – to counter the threat to the Galatian churches (namely, false teaching); to defend himself and his ministry; to give a doctrine of law-free gospel (in this we’ll see some similarities to Romans); and to remind his readers of the dos and don’ts of Christian living.

This book has four major themes (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, 265):

• Faith and freedom, both of which are found in Christ.
• The centrality of the cross for salvation and the life of believers.
• The role of the Holy Spirit.
• An explanation of how the Old Testament example of Abraham points forward to Christ and his people.

When Paul writes in verse 2 “to the churches in Galatia,” this term encompassed a large area in Asia Minor, covering a large portion of modern day Turkey. He also writes in verse 7 that “there are some who trouble you” – there has been lots of discussion about who these trouble makers are. It seems most likely that these folks are the Jewish-Christian emissaries (maybe from Jerusalem? [see Gal. 2:2]) who are set on teaching that Paul’s gospel of faith alone (meaning no Jewish identity markers such as circumcision are necessary) is insufficient. Basically, they are conducting a smear campaign against Paul, which is why he has to defend his ministry (as previously mentioned as one of the reasons he wrote the letter). Paul will stand firm, though, in his commitment to a law-free gospel, a truth that we are beneficiaries of today.

So as we read Galatians in the next few days, let’s be on the lookout for these themes, and the truth that we are free, truly free, because of our faith in Christ.

I want to also comment briefly on the Proverbs verse: “Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge” (23:12). Isn’t that just what we’re all doing as we faithfully read the OYB each day? (Or in clumps, as sometimes happens to me when I get behind!) What we’re doing, day after day, week after week, month after month (and, hopefully, year after year!) has great meaning and such an amazing ability to form our hearts and shape our lives. I hope you’ve seen that already this year.

Press on!

- Esther McCurry

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