Galatians 1:1-9

 1:1 Paul was an apostle, of whom there are many self-appointed people nowadays. 

Biblically, 'apostle' isn't some demigogical office, it simply means messenger. Obviously being a messenger of the King of kings and the Lord of lords is a big deal. Paul wasn't some self-appointed messenger, he was directly commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

2. Paul wasn't some lone ranger however. He was part of a ministry team. But it wasn't Paul Ministries, serving Paul. It was the Lord Jesus Christ's ministry. Paul and Co. were ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ. They had planted churches in the Galatian region of Asia Minor in the eastern Roman Empire, modern day Turkey, and it was to these that Paul and Co. wrote. 

The fact that often Paul refers to cosignatories of his letters suggests that his letters weren't just some personal opinions, but a collaborative effort.

3. Maybe we shouldn't just say 'hi', or 'ey up' if we're from Yorkshire. Maybe we should say 'grace and peace' etc. Paul was meaningful in his greetings. He wasn't careless or superfluous in his greetings. The Holy Spirit might not be explicitly mentioned here, but He is the means by which the Father God and Son of God apply salvation to our hearts. 

4. Christ has given Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. We remain in this age until we sleep in death, or else Christ returns. So there's a sense of 'now and not yet' in salvation. Yes, we're saved the moment we believe. Jesus continues to save us from our ongoing sins. And ultimately we will be completely saved from this present evil age and become part of the age that is to come.

Did Jesus have to plead with a begrudging Father God for our salvation? No. It was the Father God's will to save us, in partnership with the Son and the Spirit.

5. Did God save us because we are entitled to salvation, or worthy of it? No, He did so for His glory. Does that make Him an egotist? No, because He is worthy, because He gave of Himself for us, unworthy though we are. Christianity isn't about us, it's about Christ, His worthiness and His glory, amen.

6. Who called the Galatian churches into the grace of Christ? The triune God ultimately, but he used His apostle Paul and his team as His messengers to do that. So this was very personal for Paul that the Galatian churches were going off the track he had set them off on.

7. There is no other gospel than that of Christ. There is no good news out of Jesus. Circumcision, baptism, any manner of religious things or even irreligious idols like a vaccine to save us from covid cannot save our souls. We find it hard to accept free gifts: 'there's no such thing as a free gift'. We think there's some small print somewhere, whether that be circumcision, baptism, or whatever else. But the gospel is purely about Christ delivering us from the penalty our sin demands, by His death and resurrection. Anything we try and add to that is to detract from that to make it null and void. Jesus= salvation + works; not Jesus + works= salvation.

8. A number of people down through the ages have claimed angelic messages, Mohammed and Joseph Smith, the founders of Islam and Mormonism most notably to me. But even if the Pope in Rome says something contradictory to God's Word, Paul says he should be accursed by God, condemned by Him to an eternity in hell, unless they repent.

9. The Bible didn't have bold/italics/underlining as such. If God wants to emphasise something in His word, He often repeats it. The free gift of eternal life is through Jesus Christ the Lord alone. Anything above and beyond Him spiritually would have us condemned to hell.