A Verse-By-Verse Commentary

GALATIANS

A Verse-by-Verse Commentary

Thomas W. Finley

Galatians

A Verse-by-Verse Commentary

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All Scripture is quoted from the New American Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (

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Scripture quotations marked HCSB ® are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. HCSB ® is a federally registered trademark of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked “Darby” are taken from the “New Translation” Bible by J. N. Darby.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Background to Galatians

Galatians – Outline of the Book

Chapter One - The Gospel of Grace

Introduction - 1:1-5

The gospel of grace distorted - 1:6-10

Paul defends his ministry – 1:11-24

Chapter Two - Paul’s Defense of Grace in Personal Experience

Paul’s second visit to Jerusalem – 2:1-10

Cephas opposed by Paul for the truth of the gospel – 2:11-16

Paul’s testimony: He lives by the life of Christ, not by law – 2:17-21

Life Application

Chapter Three - The Supremacy of Faith over Law

Tracing the flow and meaning of Paul’s arguments in chapters three and four

Works of law contrasted with the Spirit by faith – 3:1-5

Life Application

The example of Abraham – 3:6-14

The law contrasted with life and sonship in Christ – 3:15-29

Life Application

Chapter Four - Law Superseded by the Spirit

Now sons and no longer slaves – 4:1-7

Do not return to bondage to the elemental things - 4:8-11

Life Application

Paul’s personal appeal – 4:12-20

Two covenants representing bondage and freedom – 4:21-31

Chapter Five - Living in Freedom by the Spirit

Seeking righteousness through law contrasted with grace living – 5:1-6

Living in freedom means living by the Spirit to love one another - 5:7-15

Life Application

The flesh and the Spirit – 5:16-26

Life Application

Chapter Six - Sowing to the Spirit

Sowing and reaping - 6:1-10

Life Application

Closing remarks stressing the cross of Christ and the new creation – 6:11-18

Appendix A

Law and Grace Principles

Appendix B

The 1,000 Year Kingdom in God’s Plan

Appendix C

The Birthright

Appendix D

Eternal Security

Two Great Principles of Truth

About the Author

Acknowledgments

The final version of this book was made possible through the gracious input of several people. Special thanks is extended to James Fazio, Norman Young, Donnie Preslar and Jody Dillow for their critical review of the content of the book. I am also very grateful to Robert Conrad, John Reid, Mae Young, Bobby John, Bill Dunleavy, Christie Carman and Rick Hearn, who worked with the manuscript in various ways in order to prepare it for publication.

I am particularly grateful to Norman Young for his important insights on the Greek text. He has an expert knowledge of the Greek language of the New Testament, whereas I do not.

It is always a joy to work together with others in the body of Christ for the edification of the saints.

Foreword

Grace is one of the great and glorious themes of the Scriptures. Yet, many believers do not realize the full effect and power of God’s marvelous grace. While believing that a person is saved by grace through faith, many fail to understand that the new life begun by grace is also lived by grace. They understand the “unmerited favor” aspect of grace as it relates to their initial justification, but they do not know of the power of grace by which they are enabled by the Holy Spirit to live victorious Christian lives. This is why so many believers, who know they are delivered from the penalty of sin by grace, mistakenly think they must now live the Christian life under the demands of law-keeping to be delivered from the power of sin presently. You can be sure that there are many teachers who promote this distorted view of living the Christian life.

The believers in Galatia had come under the influence of just such teachers. The teaching of law-keeping for a believer’s present sanctification was producing in the Galatian believers and their assemblies the devastating effects of legalism, resulting in a life characterized by the works of the flesh. It is for this reason that Paul wrote the letter to the assemblies in Galatia that we call the book of Galatians.

Tom Finley has written a wonderful and very helpful commentary on the book of Galatians in which he explains that the Christian life begun by grace through faith is lived in the same way. This commentary is both insightful and practical. Brother Tom gives an excellent treatment of the truth contained in Galatians as he traces and explains the message in Paul’s letter. From the background of the letter to its conclusion, Tom gives helpful thoughts about the importance of and practical ways to use basic and sound principles of Bible interpretation. The “Life Application” sections give useful and practical help for living the Christian life. I found the footnotes and appendices to be interesting, helpful and filled with important information that contributes to understanding the book of Galatians. In writing this commentary of Galatians, Tom Finley has done a great service to all believers who desire to know the truth of Scripture.

The book of Galatians is important and needs to be correctly understood. This commentary will help you as you pursue that goal.

Donnie Preslar

Teaching Elder

Grace Bible Church

Charlotte, North Carolina

U. S. A.

Introduction

This book is not a typical Bible commentary like one might find in the United States or the western world. A typical Bible commentary in the United States would present truths of the Bible portions covered and argue in favor of certain theological positions. It may also offer some devotional thoughts, inspiring and helping people to live godly lives. This commentary, however, has been specifically designed for other countries, especially those which do not have much Bible literature. America, where I live, is really overloaded with Christian literature. I just recently received a catalog from a large Christian book distributor here in the U. S. The catalog contained over 60 pages of merchandise available for the Christian, most of it books. There were thousands of books listed as available for order and delivery within a matter of days. Yet, in most places where the church is really growing, places like Asia and Africa and the Middle East, there is not that much literature available. What is available may not be of excellent spiritual and theological quality. Thus, there is a great need for quality Christian literature in many countries outside North America.

This commentary will be different because of the intended audience. Firstly, of course, this book will aim at presenting the truth of the Scriptures in a way consistent with sound interpretation principles. The interpretation method used is the “grammatical-historical” method, which may also be understood as the literal interpretation of a passage. More will be said later on these principles. In addition to my own personal study of the text, I have used existing Bible commentaries written by others as resources in order to discover and present the truth as accurately as I can.

Secondly, this book contains scattered helps throughout the text to help students in other lands know and use some basic principles of Bible interpretation. The main purpose of this commentary is not to teach a course on hermeneutics (the art and science of Bible interpretation) as that would comprise at least a booklet in itself. But, the knowledge of some basic principles should prove a help to my brothers and sisters in other countries in employing recognized principles and avoiding common interpretive errors. Thirdly, but very importantly, this book will contain some spiritual help for living and growing in the Christian life. Galatians is an excellent Bible book for introducing the believer to some fundamental helps for living the Christian life. In fact, Paul wrote it to the saints in Galatia exactly for that reason. Most of these helps will be highlighted in sections titled, “Life Application.” However, there are also helps in other scattered places in this volume.

Some may wonder how this commentary came about and how the author was prompted to write it. A few months ago I was spending some devotional time in the book of Galatians and became interested in doing an in-depth study of the book. Soon after I began the study I was asked to consider returning to a Bible college in Asia to teach a short course there. I felt that the Lord was opening up this opportunity and was leading me to share on the vital truths in this epistle to the students there. As I began to work on this, I realized the great need for quality literature in countries outside of the U. S. and had the desire to help meet this need by writing a commentary on Galatians. This book will serve as a textbook for the course at the Bible college, but it should also be useful to many other saints in other lands. The style will be less formal than most commentaries written for a western audience. May God use it for His kingdom and His glory.

Background to Galatians

There is a difference of opinion among Bible teachers concerning which churches are addressed in this letter and when it was written. There is no absolute proof for which of the theories is correct, but this issue does not impact the overall teaching of the epistle or its application to our lives today.

Gal. 1:2 reads, “To the churches of Galatia.” The problem is that the term “Galatia” was used in a couple of different ways in the first century. In one use the term Galatia described a geographicarea in the northern part of Asia Minor, which was populated by certain ethnic tribes (you can see this use in Bible maps). The other use of the term was in a political sense, as there was a Roman province termed Galatia which contained territory that extended into the southern part of Asia Minor, an area where Paul visited on his first missionary journey. Thus, the “southern Galatian theory” says the epistle was written to churches in the southern part of Asia Minor, and includes cities visited in Paul’s first missionary journey (Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe – Acts 13, 14).

The “northern Galatian theory” holds that the letter was written to churches possibly established (but never explicitly mentioned in Acts) during his second missionary journey. Supporters of the northern theory point to Acts 16:6, which states that Paul and his band “passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region.” However, the reference here to the “Galatian region” does not necessarily equate to the northern area. It is argued that instead the reference in Acts 16:6 speaks of one area – the Phrygian-Galatic area within the Roman province. The “southern Galatian theory” currently holds more weight among Bible scholars.

Dating of the epistle – its relationship to the Acts 15 council

Although not critical to its message, the relationship of the Acts 15 council to the epistle of Galatians is an interesting question. Was Paul’s visit to Jerusalem noted in Gal. 2:1-10 the same occasion as his visit to the council in Acts 15? Paul first visited Jerusalem three years after his conversion (Gal. 1:18-19). This visit corresponds to Acts 9:26-30. Gal. 2:1 records a second visit to Jerusalem, taking place after a period of fourteen years, meaning fourteen years after Paul’s conversion. This visit could be the same as that recorded in Acts 11:30, where Paul and Barnabas brought funds to Jerusalem from Antioch for famine relief. Some interpreters say Paul did not mention this visit in Galatians, but only referred to the Acts 15 council visit in Gal. 2 as a second one, not a third one, because it was not related to his argument concerning his apostolic authority (Gal. 2:5-10).

Other Bible teachers note that the Acts 15 council does not correspond to the Gal. 2:1-10 visit because the Galatians record reports only a private meeting with certain apostles, whereas Acts 15 records a public meeting with many present. Also, it would seem strange that the outcome of the conference in Acts 15, with its important bearing on the questions raised in the epistle to the Galatians, would not be noted in the Galatian letter. Those who support the theory that Acts 15 and Gal. 2:1-10 are speaking of the same event argue that the private meeting took place before the public one.

All of this discussion plays into the dating of the epistle. Since we know that the council took place about 50 A. D., the letter could have been written shortly after the first missionary journey in the province of Galatia, but before the council took place. (This view would also line up with the “southern Galatian theory.”) The other view holds that this letter could have been written later, sometime after the council in Acts 15. Those who support a date after the council in Jerusalem usually date the epistle around 54-55 A. D., citing some similarities to other writings of Paul in that time frame.

In conclusion, to me it seems best to say that the epistle was probably written before the council in Jerusalem because the council’s discussions and decisions would have been important in arguing against the Judaizers plaguing the Galatian churches. The letter also, under this view, would have been written to the churches established in Galatia on Paul’s first missionary journey. Since Paul had established a base in Antioch (see Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-4; 14:26-28), it is likely that he wrote this letter to the Galatians from Antioch not long after his first missionary journey to Galatia. This would place the dating of the epistle around 49 AD, and make it the first of Paul’s epistles, and certainly one of the very earliest of all NT books. This seems very significant. I believe the Holy Spirit inspired this epistle at this early date to help the church be clear on the distinctions between grace and law, and to help the church realize how grace is the foundation of the Christian life.

The occasion of the letter

It is clear from the letter that the negative influence of some outsiders (Judaizers) upon the assemblies gave rise to Paul’s writing (Gal. 1:7; 3:1; 4:17; 5:10, 12; 6:12-13). “Judaizers” is a term that has been applied to that group of religious people who mingled among first century believers and promoted the practice of Jewish laws and customs - either as a means for being “saved” or for being “sanctified.” It has its modern counterpart in “legalists” or “legalism,” which will be discussed in this commentary. Paul was writing to combat the false teaching being thrust upon these churches and, in conjunction with this, it seems he was also dealing with some accusations against his own status as an apostle of God commissioned with the truth.

The purpose of the letter

Paul’s purpose was to bring the Galatian believers back to the true track of grace because they were being taken away by the Judaizers to the track of law. The “good news” about grace, as we shall see in detail in the comments on the text, applies both to our eternal salvation (Eph. 2:8-9) and to the progressive sanctification (holiness) of our living as born again believers.[1] Through solid historical and Scriptural argumentation Paul intended to expose the false teachings of the Judaizers and reorient the believers to grace, which we will see later involves the working of the Spirit of God in the believer’s life. He was laboring once again for them - this time not to bring them to a new birth, but to bring them to maturity in Christ – “until Christ is formed in you” (4:19). Paul’s purpose in writing this letter is clearly discernable, and this purpose dominates the letter repeatedly. The purpose of any letter is important for interpretation of the text, and Paul’s definite purpose in this letter must be kept in the front of our minds as we seek to understand what he was saying to his original audience in each section of the writing.

The theme of the letter

The theme of the letter is the grace of Christ as sufficient for both initial justification (imputed righteousness received through faith), and progressive sanctification (increasing holiness) in the believer’s life. Since the recipients of the letter are already believers, the main stress is on grace (as the life and power of the Spirit) for sanctification, instead of law, as promoted by the Judaizers who troubled the Galatians. An important verse of the epistle is Gal. 2:20. When placed together with 2:19, one gets a powerful picture of how Paul lived the Christian life: “For through Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”