Book Of Galatians
Galatians, more than any other single book, became the manifesto of freedom and revival of Biblical truth of the Reformation era: “the Magna Carta of spiritual emancipation.” Few books have had a more profound influence on the history of mankind than has this small tract, for such it should be called. Christianity might have been just one more Jewish sect, and the thought of the Western world might have been entirely pagan had it never been written. Galatians embodies the germinal teaching on Christian freedom which separated Christianity from Judaism, and which launched it upon a career of missionary conquest. It was the cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation, because its teaching of salvation by grace alone became the dominant theme of the preaching of the Reformers. — Merrill Tenney
Galatians, more than any other single book, became the manifesto of freedom and revival of Biblical truth of the Reformation era: “the Magna Carta of spiritual emancipation.”
Few books have had a more profound influence on the history of mankind than has this small tract, for such it should be called. Christianity might have been just one more Jewish sect, and the thought of the Western world might have been entirely pagan had it never been written. Galatians embodies the germinal teaching on Christian freedom which separated Christianity from Judaism, and which launched it upon a career of missionary conquest. It was the cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation, because its teaching of salvation by grace alone became the dominant theme of the preaching of
the Reformers.
— Merrill Tenney
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Review
· For Paul it all began on the Damascus Road, and there was no road back. We all need
to take the same road: any other road leads to “another gospel.”
· He spoke of his conversion in Hebrew before the crowd at the Temple in Jerusalem
(Acts 22:1-21. Cf. Acts 9:1-19); and before King Agrippa in Caesarea (Acts 26:1-32). In
both addresses—before both friend and foe—he offers his conversion as the greatest
proof of his discipleship and the truth of the doctrine that a man is saved by faith and
not by works.
· In his first letter to Timothy he again referred to his conversion as epitomizing the
validity of the Gospel which he expounded in Galatians (1 Timothy 1:13-16). His most
effective use is in Galatians itself: Galatians 1:11-17.
· After several years being alone with his Lord in Arabia, he returns to Damascus (34, 35
A.D.?). But it is enemy territory now: former friends make the fiercest enemies. A plot to
take his life caused him to seek shelter in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-28; Galatians 1:18).
· After a short visit of two weeks, his enemies tried to kill him again, but his brethren
whisked him away to Caesarea where he boarded a ship to his hometown of Tarsus
(Acts 9:26-31; Galatians 1:21-24).
· All this strife for new converts against his former “friends” is the core of the Galatian
letter and gives it the light and heat of new-found freedom in Christ. The years spent in
Tarsus and Cilicia—on the fringe of Galatia into which he pushed his first missionary
journey—comprised more spiritual and mystical preparation for the road ahead.
[In his so-called “silent years” it is likely that he preached and defended this Gospel in
Cilicia between 36-43 A.D. since the Apostolic Council sent communications to the
Gentile brethren in Antioch and Cilicia (Acts 15:24). In Acts 15:41 Luke writes that Paul
was going to the brethren of Syria and Cilicia.]
The Judaizers
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