Greeting
1Paul, an aapostle—bnot from men nor through man, but cthrough Jesus Christ and God the Father, dwho raised him from the dead— 2and all ethe brothers1 who are with me,
To fthe churches of Galatia:
3gGrace to you and peace hfrom God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4iwho gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present jevil age, according to the will of kour God and Father, 5to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
No Other Gospel
6I am astonished that you are lso quickly deserting mhim who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to na different gospel— 7onot that there is another one, but pthere are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or qan angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, rlet him be accursed. 9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, rlet him be accursed.
10For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying sto please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a tservant2 of Christ.
Paul Called by God
11For uI would have you know, brothers, that vthe gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.3 12wFor I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it xthrough a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13For you have heard of ymy former life in Judaism, how zI persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely azealous was I for bthe traditions of my fathers. 15But when he cwho had set me apart dbefore I was born,4 and who ecalled me by his grace, 16was pleased to reveal his Son to5 me, in order fthat I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;6 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18Then gafter three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19But I saw none of the other apostles except James hthe Lord's brother. 20(In what I am writing to you, ibefore God, I do not lie!) 21jThen I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22And I was still unknown in person to kthe churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24And they glorified God because of me.
Footnotes
- 1 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 11
- 2 1:10 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
- 3 1:11 Greek not according to man
- 4 1:15 Greek set me apart from my mother's womb
- 5 1:16 Greek in
- 6 1:16 Greek with flesh and blood
The Glory of the Cross
Galatians 1:4, Isaiah 53:1–12 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 28:28 • ID: 2675
A Study in Galatians, Volume 1
Right with God Galatians 1:1–5:12 Series • ID: 14801Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.