Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. (vs. 3-5)
He greets the Galatians with Grace and peace; though his letter will be stern, Paul’s aim is to restore the Galatians to a place of peace as they choose to live out God’s Grace (favor), rather than submit to the Mosaic Law, which can’t save them or produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 3:2-4, 5:5-16).
In the first five verses of this letter, Paul has already established his gospel (good news) message: that God the Father sent His Son JesusChrist who died for our sins, then God raised Him from the dead to rescue us from this present evil age. All according to the will of our God.
Paul presents his gospel message upfront. It was the Lord Jesus Christwho gave Himself for our sins; this refers to Jesus of Nazareth, who was revealed to be God’s Christ (anointed servant prophesied in the Old Testament), was also God’s own Son, being a servant to mankind as well as our Lord. Jesus Christ submitted His life, He gave Himself to the Romans to be crucified for our sins; His death on the cross fulfilled the punishment required for our sins, so that by believing in Jesus’s death and resurrection, God counts us righteous in His sight and we are washed clean, and raised to a new resurrection life which we share in Jesus (Mark 10:45,Colossians 2:13-14,Romans 4:22-25,1 John 1:7).
In John 3:14-16, Jesus referred to the trial in the wilderness where the wandering Israelites were dying from venomous snake bites. God commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent and tell everyone that whoever looked upon the snake would not die. God healed everyone who had sufficient faith in God's promise to simply look, hoping to be rescued from the venom (Numbers 21:4-9). Similarly, all that is required to receive forgiveness of sins is simply enough faith to look upon Jesus, hoping to be delivered from the deadly venom of sin.
To be born again spiritually requires that we recognize we are dying from the deadly venom of sin, then to look upon Jesus raised on the cross, hoping to be delivered from death through the promise of God. To believe in Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins and was resurrected (1 Peter 1:3). Those who believe are given a new spiritual birth and life (John 3:3,2 Corinthians 5:17).
This is the gospel Paul had preached to the Galatians, which they had received in faith. They believed in Jesus. Then, after Paul went home to Syrian Antioch, some competing Jewish “authorities” began to tell the Galatian Gentiles that their salvation was insufficient, that God required them to become circumcised and submit to the Jewish Law. This is what Paul is addressing throughout this letter.
In the next verse, Paul will chastise the Galatians for abandoning the gospel message. But Paul does not lead with the rebuke; he leads with the gospel. By stating the true gospel in verses 3 through 5 before naming the false one in verse 6, Paul reminds his readers of the truth (which he first preached to them) against which the competing message will be measured.
As we will see in later chapters, Paul is fighting back against the false gospel message that holds living by rules and laws (specifically the Mosaic Law) in place of walking by faith in Christ and His death on the cross. The rules and laws Paul will engage with specifically in this letter include circumcision, food restrictions, and Jewish calendar observance (Galatians 6:12, 2:12, 4:10)—the same points of controversy settled at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. At that Council, it was decided that the Gentiles did not need to convert to Judaism, but salvation comes through Jesus: “we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are” (Acts 15:11).
Paul's phrase He might rescue us from this present evil age (v. 4) will carry throughout the letter as a rebuke against the competing gospel. The competing Jewish "authorities" cannot rescue anyone from this present evil age by adding more rules and rituals to our lives; only following the Holy Spirit which indwells believers grows us up spiritually. Following the Spirit leads us away from sin and towards fulfilling God’s purpose for us (Galatians 4:6).
The power of the cross rescues us from this present evil age. It rescued us from our dead state of fallen sinfulness (Ephesians 2:5), and it can rescue us from the power of sin in our daily lives. We are empowered to follow the Holy Spirit and live out our new resurrection life, if we choose to. This word rescue is translated from the Greek “exaireō,” which can also be translated “deliver.” Jesus delivers us, like a firefighter grabbing someone out of a burning room. The Law was never able to do that.
Believers have received the power of God the Son (Philippians 4:13) and the Spirit (Ephesians 3:16,1 Corinthians 12:11) to lead us to walking in fellowship and obedience with God. It is this great power from faith in Christ’s resurrection that delivers us from the pressures, values, and temptations of the sinful world system around us. Trying to keep the six hundred Mosaic laws will not rescue us from the penalty or power of sin.
Jesus’s death and resurrection was according to the will of our God and Father. This was God’s plan to rescue us from sin. If His plan was for Gentiles to convert to Judaism, He would not have needed to send His Son to die. As Jesus Himself said,
“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” (John 10:18)
Paul will emphasize in this letter to the Galatians that it is walking by faith in the power of the Spirit that is the proper outworking of the gospel of grace. This is the will of our God and Father, to be rescued from the penalty as well as the power of sin in our lives. As we will see, following religious rules holds no such power. Verse 5 closes the gospel with a statement of praise to God: to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
The Amen signals that the truth that Christ gave Himself, rescuing us from this evil age, according to the Father's will, is the foundation of our faith in Him and the forgiveness of our sin. And by extension, our faith walk of living obediently and rightly before God in this life. The conclusive praise to Jesus and God the Father also frames the rest of the chapter: any "gospel" that competes with this one is undermining Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross as being insufficient. The glory belongs to God forevermore because of His plan of love and rescue when He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins.
Galatians 1:3-5
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Set to dark mode
Galatians 1:3-5 meaning
In Galatians 1:3-5, Paul clearly explains the true gospel:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. (vs. 3-5)
He greets the Galatians with Grace and peace; though his letter will be stern, Paul’s aim is to restore the Galatians to a place of peace as they choose to live out God’s Grace (favor), rather than submit to the Mosaic Law, which can’t save them or produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 3:2-4, 5:5-16).
In the first five verses of this letter, Paul has already established his gospel (good news) message: that God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ who died for our sins, then God raised Him from the dead to rescue us from this present evil age. All according to the will of our God.
Paul presents his gospel message upfront. It was the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our sins; this refers to Jesus of Nazareth, who was revealed to be God’s Christ (anointed servant prophesied in the Old Testament), was also God’s own Son, being a servant to mankind as well as our Lord. Jesus Christ submitted His life, He gave Himself to the Romans to be crucified for our sins; His death on the cross fulfilled the punishment required for our sins, so that by believing in Jesus’s death and resurrection, God counts us righteous in His sight and we are washed clean, and raised to a new resurrection life which we share in Jesus (Mark 10:45, Colossians 2:13-14, Romans 4:22-25, 1 John 1:7).
In John 3:14-16, Jesus referred to the trial in the wilderness where the wandering Israelites were dying from venomous snake bites. God commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent and tell everyone that whoever looked upon the snake would not die. God healed everyone who had sufficient faith in God's promise to simply look, hoping to be rescued from the venom (Numbers 21:4-9). Similarly, all that is required to receive forgiveness of sins is simply enough faith to look upon Jesus, hoping to be delivered from the deadly venom of sin.
To be born again spiritually requires that we recognize we are dying from the deadly venom of sin, then to look upon Jesus raised on the cross, hoping to be delivered from death through the promise of God. To believe in Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins and was resurrected (1 Peter 1:3). Those who believe are given a new spiritual birth and life (John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17).
This is the gospel Paul had preached to the Galatians, which they had received in faith. They believed in Jesus. Then, after Paul went home to Syrian Antioch, some competing Jewish “authorities” began to tell the Galatian Gentiles that their salvation was insufficient, that God required them to become circumcised and submit to the Jewish Law. This is what Paul is addressing throughout this letter.
In the next verse, Paul will chastise the Galatians for abandoning the gospel message. But Paul does not lead with the rebuke; he leads with the gospel. By stating the true gospel in verses 3 through 5 before naming the false one in verse 6, Paul reminds his readers of the truth (which he first preached to them) against which the competing message will be measured.
As we will see in later chapters, Paul is fighting back against the false gospel message that holds living by rules and laws (specifically the Mosaic Law) in place of walking by faith in Christ and His death on the cross. The rules and laws Paul will engage with specifically in this letter include circumcision, food restrictions, and Jewish calendar observance (Galatians 6:12, 2:12, 4:10)—the same points of controversy settled at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. At that Council, it was decided that the Gentiles did not need to convert to Judaism, but salvation comes through Jesus: “we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are” (Acts 15:11).
Paul's phrase He might rescue us from this present evil age (v. 4) will carry throughout the letter as a rebuke against the competing gospel. The competing Jewish "authorities" cannot rescue anyone from this present evil age by adding more rules and rituals to our lives; only following the Holy Spirit which indwells believers grows us up spiritually. Following the Spirit leads us away from sin and towards fulfilling God’s purpose for us (Galatians 4:6).
The power of the cross rescues us from this present evil age. It rescued us from our dead state of fallen sinfulness (Ephesians 2:5), and it can rescue us from the power of sin in our daily lives. We are empowered to follow the Holy Spirit and live out our new resurrection life, if we choose to. This word rescue is translated from the Greek “exaireō,” which can also be translated “deliver.” Jesus delivers us, like a firefighter grabbing someone out of a burning room. The Law was never able to do that.
Believers have received the power of God the Son (Philippians 4:13) and the Spirit (Ephesians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 12:11) to lead us to walking in fellowship and obedience with God. It is this great power from faith in Christ’s resurrection that delivers us from the pressures, values, and temptations of the sinful world system around us. Trying to keep the six hundred Mosaic laws will not rescue us from the penalty or power of sin.
Jesus’s death and resurrection was according to the will of our God and Father. This was God’s plan to rescue us from sin. If His plan was for Gentiles to convert to Judaism, He would not have needed to send His Son to die. As Jesus Himself said,
“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
(John 10:18)
Paul will emphasize in this letter to the Galatians that it is walking by faith in the power of the Spirit that is the proper outworking of the gospel of grace. This is the will of our God and Father, to be rescued from the penalty as well as the power of sin in our lives. As we will see, following religious rules holds no such power. Verse 5 closes the gospel with a statement of praise to God: to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
The Amen signals that the truth that Christ gave Himself, rescuing us from this evil age, according to the Father's will, is the foundation of our faith in Him and the forgiveness of our sin. And by extension, our faith walk of living obediently and rightly before God in this life. The conclusive praise to Jesus and God the Father also frames the rest of the chapter: any "gospel" that competes with this one is undermining Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross as being insufficient. The glory belongs to God forevermore because of His plan of love and rescue when He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins.