Chapter 1

1:1: Paul was an apostle sent by Christ. An apostle is "one sent with the authority of their sender". Paul was sent with the authority of Christ to preach the gospel. His apostle-ship was confirmed by the Twelve. Paul's statement here is that he was not made an apostle because of the confirmation of any man but he was made an apostle and sent by Jesus Christ and God the Father. His call was from God, not from man. The importance of his statement here is that there were false teachers claiming that Paul had commissioned himself as an apostle or set himself up as an apostle but Paul makes it very clear in this epistle the falsehood behind the false teachers lies. Again, his authority came from God, not from men. "Apostle" literally means "sent one" but here we are using the word in the highest sense, putting Paul as equal with the Twelve. He was not sent from man or even through man. He was not sent even from the ones in the Church. He was sent directly from Christ.

1:2: It is typical of Paul to include a greeting and designation in His epistles. Here he mentions "the brothers" with him but does not list a certain group of men or certain individuals. His mentioning of the "brothers" being with him also shows that he was supported in the words he was writing, he was not alone, further backing his authority as an apostle and further backing the words he was speaking to the Galatians. We are not given a clue as to how many churches were in Galatia.

1:3: A typical greeting used in all of Paul's letters.

1:4: Christ gave Himself not for our sins alone but also that He might rescue us from the present evil age, that we might no longer walk as the world walks or speak in the terms and language of the world but that He might set us apart as His holy ones. He has done this that we might be "holy unto the Lord". This was done according to the plan which has been set in place from eternity from God the Father.

1:5: The glory for our rescue and the glory for the eternal plan is to be given to none other than God. The glory belongs to the Lord.

1:6: Paul had hoped better things for them and was in shock at their quickly brought about state of "exchanging the truth of God for a lie". They were deserting the call that had been granted to them from God the Father. This call that was granted to them was one of grace and was the same call and gospel they were deserting. They were no longer "standing firm" being girded with the truth but were fleeing and deserting this truth in the distortion of the gospel which was being presented to them.

1:7: There were false teachers disturbing them and distorting the gospel of Christ among them. It is apparent that there is not another gospel because there is only one truth presented in Christ. This "gospel" they were presenting was not another truth but only a distortion of the truth. These false teachers were likely the Judaizers.

1:8: Paul uses two high standards here in contrast to the false teachers when using the word "but". Even if Paul himself and those among him proclaimed a gospel contrary to what they had proclaimed, let him be accursed! He even takes it to the standard of an angel. Even if an "angel of light", with the highest standard of authority next to God preaches a gospel contrary to the gospel that they themselves had been proclaiming, let him be accursed! Paul is confident in the message he and those among him had previously proclaimed, even to the point of damning those who had proclaimed a different gospel. If a new revelation contradicts the previous, confirmed revelation, even if that revelation appears to come from an Angel or an Apostle, is not to be received as from God. It is impossible for God to contradict Himself as He is unchanging in being and mind and thought.

1:9: It appears when previously visiting the Galatians, Paul had preached that same message of cursing whoever tampered with the gospel. Paul was very confident in the pure gospel he had previously put into the hands of the Galatians.

1:10: In the Gospel message that Paul was preaching, he was not preaching to please men but rather to please God. In the same way, when we preach the Gospel, we must preach the full truth, not a partial truth or a partial message, but the full message of the Gospel of Christ. He was not striving to please men, for if his heart had been set on pleasing men, that would make him out not to be a slave of Christ. We cannot be a slave to God if we are a slave to men. Just as the fear of the Lord trumps the fear of man, our slave hood to Christ must not consider the pleasure of ourselves or those around us. That does not mean we should go out of our way to hurt people or anything of that sort but rather that our priority and our master is Christ alone.

1:11: Again, Paul appeals to the fact that not only was he not sent by or through men, but also that the message he had preached was also given to Him by God. This message is not according to the pleasure and delight of men, for it condemns those who do not believe. This message is good news to all who believe and was the same message that Paul had been preaching. This message did not take into account the thoughts of man. It was given by God.

1:12: Unlike the Judaizers who received their message and teachings from tradition, Paul did not receive this message from man, nor was he taught it from men but it was received by revelation of Jesus Christ.

1:13-14: Paul was previously the "Pharisee of Pharisees" and was far beyond his counterparts and associates as well as far more zealous for tradition than those around him. This had led him to persecute the true Church of God which is in Christ.

1:15-16: God had elected Paul for this very purpose and time. He had set Paul apart from his mother's womb, and was to use him as a vessel for proclaiming Christ among the Gentiles and furthering the kingdom of God. God had called Paul to Himself according to His good will and pleasure, not according to merit, and was pleased to reveal Christ through him.

1:16-17: Following Paul's conversion, he did not consult with any man or any of those who were apostles before him, but went away to Arabia, and later returned to Damascus.

1:18: Three years after returning to Damascus, He went up to Jerusalem. The purpose of this visit was to get acquainted with Peter, not to learn from Peter. Paul's use of "three years" here further backs the claim that he was not taught it by any apostle or man, for he had not consulted with anybody for a period of time after he was called. He only stayed with Peter fifteen days, yet again contrasting with the idea that he had learned his message or gospel from any of the apostles.

1:19-20: While staying with Peter, he had seen no one but Peter and James. Paul's assurance to the Galatians that he had seen no other man is yet another claim of the purity of the gospel he had been preaching. The phrase "I am not lying" implies that there were accusations against Paul that he was taking the right to refute in this Epistle.

1:22-24: Although Paul was unknown in the flesh to the churches in Judea, when those in Judea had heard that Paul, the one who previously had persecuted them, had believed and started preaching the gospel that he had persecuted, praised God and glorified God because of the good work done in Paul.