Romans 3, What advantage has the Jew?

Paul now answers some anticipated questions about True Religion.  This section involves a dialogue -- a conversation between the Jew skeptical to the gospel, and Paul.  It includes four questions and their answers.

Romans 3: 1-8, How can Jews, who are part of God's plan, be judged?

What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?  Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?  Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge." 

But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?

Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?"  Why not say--as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved.

Paul first question is "What is the advantage of being a Jew?".  Paul begins an answer and then seems to get sidetracked.  He will return to that question in chapters 9-11.  (I don't find Paul's answer all that helpful.  The Jews have the words of God -- but that also brings responsibility.)

Question 2 from Paul:  What if some did not have faith?  Can God be blamed for that?  
Answer: No, God still keeps his word. 

Question 3:  How can God be against unrighteousness, when it makes his righteousness clearer?  At one level, this is an empty question -- that God can turn evil into good is not an attribute of evil, but of God.  But underlying that question is the problem of evil -- why does there have to be any evil at all?  Certainly not to just make God look good!  Paul's phrase, "…[or else] how could God judge the world" does not answer the question -- one human response would be: "Exactly my point -- He shouldn't judge the world."

Paul Question 4 (verses 7-8) is an extension of question 3.

The quote in verse 4 is from Psalm 51:4.

Romans 3: 9-18, Sin is universal
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better [9]? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.  As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit."

"The poison of vipers is on their lips."

"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."

"Their feet are swift to shed blood;  ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know."

"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

This passage I understand.  It is so un-American, but true.  The appearance of goodness is often a result of societal pressure and personal calculation.  We are nice and friendly and helpful because it makes people like us and helps us feel good.  Self examination makes me aware that much of my "friendliness" helps me get past my own feelings of guilt and inadequacy.  After such self-examination, I revel in the strength and harshness of this passage.  Yes, yes!  Apparently everyone (not just me!) is selfish and dishonest, deep down!  And then we lie to ourselves in order to hide it all!

Opposition to this passage is, itself, a result of sin -- we try to convince ourselves that we are really not like this, by lying to ourselves -- one more sin on top of the others.

Paul hammers home his points -- familiar to knowledgeable Jews -- with a rapid-fire string of Old Testament quotations. Those quotations, in verses 11-17 are, in order, from Psalms 14:1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Psalms 5:9, Psalms 140:3, Psalms 10:7, Isaiah 59:7-8 and Psalms 36:1.

Romans 3: 19-20,  Summary

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.  Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

So the law just brings consciousness of sin -- it doesn't correct it.  It is a thermometer, helping us see we have a fever.

Romans 3: 21-26, God's righteousness!  (A solution!)
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

We boast in Christ; we must rely on Him.  There is no other choice.

Romans 3: 27-31, More questions

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

What does "boasting" mean here?  Why can't one boast before God?  Why would one be able to boast before God, if salvation were based on works?

Romans 2, God's impartiality

Paul's introductory chapter of the letter to the church in Rome claims an inherent conflict between God and all humankind.  The next passage is a "diatribe" against the "religious" person.

Romans 2: 1-4, And you (Jewish leaders) are no better

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.  Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.  So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

Some questions from the text:
How do the religious people react?  Behave?

How are we supposed to react to God's kindness?

What is implicitly acknowledged, when people judge others?

Romans 2: 5-10, Rewards for good and evil

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.  God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.  But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

According to verse 5, there will indeed be a judgement day.  The quote in verse 6 is from Psalm 62:12 or Proverbs 24:12.

Q.

Isn't salvation one of "works" here, based on actions?

What is the connection between our "works" and the heart?

God's impartiality is at stake here.  Notice how we go back and forth between Jews and Gentiles.

Romans 2: 11-16, The impartiality of God

For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.  For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law,  since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)

This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Verse 11 is the theme of the section, that ultimate obedience to God is the only issue, whether trained by the Law or not.

Q.
How will God judge men's hearts, in verse 16?  (Through whom?)

In verse 16, that day is mentioned again?

Romans 2: 17-24, Religious hypocrisy
Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;  if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;  if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,  an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth--  you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?

You who preach against stealing, do you steal?  You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?  You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 

As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

The Jew is not spared in Paul's attack.  (This passage vaguely reminds me of Jesus's parable of the sheep and the goats. in which Jesus says, "in how you treated others, you have treated me.")

The quote in verse 24 is similar to Isaiah 52:5 or  Ezekiel 36:22.

Romans 2: 25-29, Circumcision of the heart
Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.  If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?  The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.  No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

A clear message – it is the heart, the inside, which matters.  This will lead to right action.  

Romans 1, Conflict between God and Humanity

Many people--even those who think of themselves as followers of Jesus--believe being a Christian is mostly a matter of avoiding bad things and doing good, religious things, good things that will make God happy.  Jesus didn’t think that way, though.  Neither did the Apostle Paul.  

Paul wrote his letter to the Romans to explain that being a Christian is not about being religious.  In fact, trying to be good to make God happy won’t get a person very far at all.  Instead, God uses his great power to save those who are not--who cannot be--good by forgiving them and making them his children.  We don’t become a Christian by being religious, and we don’t remain a Christian by being religious.  We become and remain Christians by following Christ in faith.  That is much different than being religious.

Paul's letter to the Romans is an attempt to lay out carefully what that means.  In this first chapter, I will comment less and simply includes some questions about the text.

Romans 1: 1-7, Greeting

 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-- the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God  by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.  To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the text, some questions:
What can we tell about the readers of this letter?

How was Jesus proven to be the Son of God?

How does this salutation differ from the ones in Galatians, Philippians, other epistles?  (In general, it is longer.  Why?)

Romans 1: 8-12, Your involvement in the Gospel
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.  God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you. 

Q.
What is the state of the church in Rome?  
Has Paul met the people in the church of Rome?

Why is Rome such an important location for a church?

The last quarter of the book of Acts describes Paul long journey to Rome, fulfilling an expectation given him in an earlier vision.

Romans 1: 11-13, My longing for you
I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong-- that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.  I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

Paul hopes to see the church in Rome strengthened, just as churches in southern Turkey and Greece grew during the visits described in Acts.

Romans 1: 14-15, Paul's desire to preach the gospel (transition)
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.

Romans 1: 16-17,  The power of the Gospel
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

The quote in verse 17 is from Habakkuk 2:4.

Q.
How does Paul describe the gospel?

Which people groups does the gospel benefit?  In what order?

What is revealed in the gospel?  Who is the source?

How is Righteousness distributed?

Romans 1: 18-23, God's wrath
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Q.
What is the opposite of God's righteousness?  (What attribute of God makes righteousness so important?)

Does mankind need God's righteousness?  Why?

Describe mankind's response to God.

This passage has a famous assertion, that God's work is visible in creation, displayed in the universe around us.

Romans 1: 24-27, God's reaction
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.  

Q.
According to Paul, how did God respond to mankind's response?

Romans 1: 28-32, The depravity of mankind
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Q.
What is the "natural" result of not being interested in God?

This passage is, in some ways, very depressing.  It claims active conflict between God and humankind.  Paul starts with this as his thesis and then builds his arguments towards a solution.

My notes on the letter to the Romans comes from an Adult Bible Study at Mt. Pleasant Community Church in Michigan, with friend and colleague, Dr. Tim Hall.  (Tim, I miss our times together!)

Galatians 6, Some practical things

Paul begins to wrap up his letter with some short instructions, similar in style to the proverbial statements of Jewish wisdom.  Among the instructions are some personal concerns and comments.

Galatians 6: 1-8, Humility and compassion
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,  for each one should carry his own load.

Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Paul's instructions express concern about caring for others and carrying their burdens.  Compassion and humility are important characteristics.  So is patience, as implied in the agricultural metaphor about "reaping".  

Galatians 6: 9-10, Do good!
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

I am encouraged by the fact that good actions lead to good results, a "good harvest", but the process may take some time.

Galatians 6: 11, My signature
See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

This is a strange verse.  Presumably Paul has been dictating the letter but now takes the pen and writes a personal note.  If we believe (see Galatians 4:15) that Paul had bad eyesight, then one can image Paul picking up a pen, squinting over the text and scrawling, in large letters, the sentence above.

Galatians 6:12-16, Live more than "good impressions"!
Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.

Outwardly, legalism and asceticism will appear to be "religious", appear to meet some type of high discipline.  But this is only an outward appearance.  Following Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit, living in love and compassion, that is a much more subtle life.  It is deeper and, in some ways, much less visible.

Galatians 6: 17-18, The marks of Jesus
Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,brothers. Amen.

Amen. ("So be it!")

Some time after writing the letter to Galatians, Paul pens a more careful theological treatise to the church in Rome.  That letter will be the subject of our next study.

Galatians 5, Christian Life: Love in the Spirit

Paul has argued that the contribution of the Jewish Law was to lead people to the Messiah.  Now Paul moves on to practical applications of this truth.

Galatians 5:1-3, Stand up to legalism!
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

Paul insists that the believer must stand up to legalism.

Galatians 5: 4-6, Faith through love
You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

It is not works or circumcision that matter, but an active faith.  (Active faith involves love!)

Galatians 5: 7-12,  Legalism is dangerous
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Paul confronts, in harsh words, the Judaizers who want to push the new believers into the strictures of Judaism.  A deeper principle is that legalism drains joy and truth out of the believer.  It is this book that led me, as a college student, to realize that Christians cannot accept legalism, but must (in various ways) confront it when it occurs.

Galatians 5: 13-15, Love one another
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

The quote in verse 14 is from Leviticus 19:18.  But Jesus also gave that summary of the Law; see for example Mark 12:30-31 or John 13:34.

The phrase "sinful nature" in verse 13 is literally, "in the flesh" (NIV footnotes.)

Galatians 5: 16-21, Live by the Spirit

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

We meet the expectations of the Law when we live guided by the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5: 22-26, Children of God
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

After the "acts of sinful nature" in verses 19-21, Paul switches over to the more positive results of living a life in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

In the next chapter of Galatians, Paul wraps up his instructions with some personal, almost private, comments.

Galatians 4, The Law a Tutor

Paul continues his theological argument on the contribution of the Jewish Law.

Galatians 4: 1-5, Children of God
What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

In this metaphor we are children in a rich estate, waiting for the privileges of adulthood. During our childhood, we are tutored by other adults and we have no standing in the family, other than the eventual inheritance.  The Tutor represents the Old Testament Law, a temporary thing replaced (here) by adulthood. Paul stresses the dramatic difference between the slave and the child; early on they are not distinguishable, but adulthood separates them dramatically.

This metaphor is clearly cultural and does not fit today. The closest we might come today would be to recall the "downstairs" servants and "upstairs" masters of Victorian English society (eg., Dowton Abbey.)

All of this was planned. Jesus arrived to fulfill the Law "when the time had fully come."

Galatians 4: 6-10, Live as God's Children!
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, <"Abba>, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God--or rather are known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

Abba (verse 6) is Aramaic for "Father", closer to "Daddy," the phrase a young child might babble at his dad.  It is an intimate word.

Paul argues that when one becomes an adult, it is silly to try to return to the childhood days when others took care of you and told you what to do.  (These old safe things apparently included a legalistic calendar?  I don't understand verse 10.)

What does it mean, "by nature are not gods"? Now, through the Holy Spirit, are we "gods"?

Galatians 4: 11-16, You Lost Your Joy!
I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

One sign of living in the Holy Spirit, unshackled by legalism, is Joy.  Paul reminds the Galatians that they were once indeed joyous about the Gospel.  But they have changed, as they bow to legalism.

I have found "joy" to be a good test of whether I am living by legalism or by grace.

Paul had a serious illness when he first arrived in Galatia; some see verse 15 as indicating the illness had something to do with Paul's eyes.  Maybe he had poor eyesight?  The Galatians original love for Paul was so strong that they would have given him their own eyes if they could.

Verse 16, ("Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?") is beautiful expression of concern by Paul. But it is much abused these days. There are a lot of strangers on the internet eager to "Tell the truth", using this verse as their excuse.

Galatians 4: 17-20, Grow, dear children, Grow!
Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you [from us], so that you may be zealous for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

Paul oscillates between scolding and concern.

Galatians 4: 21-27, Hagar and Sarah
Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.

Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband."

In Genesis 12:1-3, God promised Abraham that he would become a great nation.  When decades passed and Abraham had not had a single child, Abraham had a child by Hagar, a servant woman, in hopes that this would bring about the promise of God.  Abraham's impregnation of Hagar is a vivid Old Testament example of Abraham's lack of faith. His eventual child, later by Sarah, is on the contrary, evidence that God is trustworthy.  The metaphor is clear: we can try to work out our own salvation through the mechanism of the Law or rely on God.

The quote at the end of this passage (verse 27) is from Isaiah 54:1.  All of this passage is very Jewish; it would make little sense to the untrained Gentile.

Galatians 4: 28-31, Children of Promise
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son." Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

The quote in verse 30 is from Genesis 21:10. Paul returns to his call for freedom from legalism.

This strange metaphor continues – the people of Galatia are to toss aside Jewish legalism just as Abraham tossed aside Hagar!

For further thought: This chapter emphasizes that believers are children in a family, not followers of some religious dogma. Think on that.  In your relationship with God, you are a silly, naive, childish, vulnerable being who is loved regardless of his/her immaturity and frailty!

Next time: In the next chapter, Paul begins to provide practical applications of this freedom.

The People of Galatia

North Galatia, South Galatia

Galatia appears to have been a general area in what is now central Turkey.  Tribes of Celts (Gauls) moved into the area around 278 BCE, after the death of Alexander the Great.  Later, a Roman administrative colony was named after the Gauls and was called Galatia by the Romans.  South of Galatia were the administrative districts of Phrygia, Cappadocia, Pisidia and Laycaonia.  (Here is a map from a Wikipedia article.  Another good article, from Wikipedia, of course, is on "Celtic Galatia", here.)

Apparently the entire region of central Turkey was sometimes loosely called "Galatia" and this leads us to a problem regarding the recipients of Paul's letter "to the Galatians".  In Luke's letter, the book of Acts, we are told of Paul's first missionary journey.  This account is in Acts 13 & 14 and is then followed (Acts 15) by a description of a meeting in Jerusalem to decide what it meant to be a Gentile Christian.

Paul's first missionary trip was an important time in the growth of the new Jewish sect of Jesus followers.  It led to an important dispute and decision in Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem (about 49 CE.)

Paul's first missionary trip 

I'll summarize here chapters 13 &14 from the New Testament book of Acts:
     During a time of worship and fasting in Antioch, the Holy Spirit told the church there to set aside Saul (Paul) and Barnabas for a special work.  With that appointment, they were sent to Cyprus, and then to Perga in the region of Pamphylia (see the map above) and then on to Pisidian Antioch where they spoke in a Jewish synagogue, describing how Jewish history had culminated in the Messiah, Jesus, and had been demonstrated by Jesus's resurrection.  The two were generally well received, with many converts.
     Acts 13:49-14:1 says,

"The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed." (NIV)

Iconium (now the city of Konya in Turkey) was in the Lycaonia province.  (Iconium was apparently the home of Tertius, a convert who would be Paul's scribe for his letter to the Romans.)

Note Paul's practice of always going to Jewish synagogues, reaching out to his fellow Jewish.  Occasionally there are Gentile converts (loosely called "Greeks") but most of the converts are Jews and all of the worship and speaking occurred in the synagogues established by Jews in this portion of the Roman empire.

In Iconium, some Jews resisted Paul's message.  Threatened by violence, Paul and Barnabas fled to Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and "to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the gospel" (Acts 14:6-7.)  There in Lystra, after Paul is seen healing a man, there is an attempt to proclaim Paul and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus, an act of idolatry that was frightening to devout Jews like these two apostles.

Eventually Jews opposed to Paul's message arrive in Lystra.  Paul and Barnabas were attacked and so left Lystra, retracing their travels back through the churches they had started, returning eventually to Antioch.

This trip is usually called "Paul's first missionary journey" and concludes (Acts 14:27-28) with the arrival back in Antioch.  There Paul and Barnabas report on God's work in Cyprus and Asia Minor and mention, especially, God's work among the Gentiles.

Because of this trip, the church in Jerusalem is faced with the question, "How Jewish is a Gentile (Greek) convert?"  This is resolved in Acts 15, at least for the time being, with the general decision that Gentile converts need not become Jews but should be sensitive to Jewish beliefs.  (I've greatly summarized the decision of Acts 15.)

Who were the recipients of Paul's letter to the Galatians?

Who were the recipients of Paul's letter to the Galatians?  One view is that Paul's letter easily fits into the seam between Acts 14 and Acts 15.  At the end of Acts 14 the churches in Asia Minor are growing and everyone is excited about Paul's trip; at the beginning of Acts 15 we see "Judaizers" going to churches and telling converts, "You must become full Jews and practice all of the Jewish Law".  Paul's letter could have been written as a response to those visits, in prelude to the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15.

The one problem with this view is that we don't have a record of Paul visiting the Roman province of Galatia.  He visits the provinces just south of Galatia.  There are several ways to reconcile this issue.

The "Southern Galatia" hypothesis says, "Well, at times this area was loosely called Galatia" and we need not require that Paul use the term "Galatian" in the Roman technical sense.  The term "Galatian" (or "Galatia") could refer to the general region of central Turkey (Anatolia).  People also point out that in a number of places the Acts account says that Paul and Barnabas went into "nearby regions" and so they may have, in fact, also visited (administrative) Galatia in those travels.

The "Northern Galatia" hypothesis assumes that Paul is using the term "Galatian" in the Roman technical sense (else he might have also listed the other regions) and that Paul's visit to (administrative) Galatia probably occurred during a later missionary trip.

We may debate these two viewpoints (I've grossly oversimplified them!) but the assumptions as to the audience also tend to lead to different dates of the epistle.  In the first case, if Paul is writing this letter enroute to Jerusalem in Acts 15, then the letter was probably written around 48 CE.  In the second case, it was written later, maybe around 52 CE?

Regardless, the letter to the Galatians is clearly one of Paul's earliest letters.