Dr. Pothana's Teaching

1. Pauline Epistles
COACH Institute of Intercultural Studies
Hyderabad

2. Galatians 1
Jesus rescues from “this present evil age”;
Another Jesus, A Different Gospel, A
Distorted Gospel; Anathema, accursed,
condemned to hell; Arabia, Pella, Jordan;
James, The Lord's Brother, adelphos not
Cousin anepsios

4. Galatians General Outline
• 1–2: Autobiographical/historical section
• 3–4: Doctrinal section, Justification
• 5–6: Practical section, Freedom in Justification

5. Who Wrote Galatians?
• Pauline authorship is universally acknowledged.
• Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle…
• Gal 1:8…we preached to you…
• Gal 4:13…I first preached the gospel to you…
• Gal 4:13…I am again in the pains of childbirth…
• Gal 5:2…I, Paul, tell you…
• Paul founded the churches of Galatia;
• Ac 16:6 Paul and his companions traveled
throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia,
having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching
the word in the province of Asia.

6. When Was It Written?
• Galatians was most likely written shortly
after Paul's 1st or 2nd visit to Galatia.
• Ac 18:23 After spending some time in
Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled
from place to place throughout the region of
Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the
disciples.
• About A.D. 49-55
• Possibly Paul’s 1st. Epistle written
• Before the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15).

7. Who Was It Written To?
• Galatian believers who formerly were
idolaters;
• Gal 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know
God, you were slaves to those who by
nature are not gods.

8. Who Were The Galatians?
• The Celtic people, who were later called Gauls (Gaels, then Galatians),
conquered and migrated from Western Europe through Italy and
Greece, finally settling in Asia Minor.
• The Gauls (Latin: Galli; Ancient Greek: Γαλάται, Galátai) were a group
of Celtic peoples of Continental Europe in the Iron Age and the
Roman period (roughly from the 5th century BC to the 5th century
AD). The area they originally inhabited was known as Gaul
• Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe were some of the
major cities.
• Andy Woods says Galatians were; “fickle, quarrelsome, boastful,
immoral, loveable, and exasperating”.
Gauls Warriors

10. Where Was It Written From?
• Most probable locations; Syrian Antioch,
Macedonia, or Ephesus.

12. The Purpose
• Galatians counteracts the Judaizers false
teaching of a sanctification by works;
• Gal 3:2-3…Did you receive the Spirit by
observing the law, or by believing what you
heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning
with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain
your goal by human effort?

13. What Doctrine Is Emphasized?
• Sanctification is attained the same way as
justification. By the Spirit, not by the Law or
flesh.
• The word “Law” is used 25 X’s in Galatians
• 25 of the 214 NT . uses = 1/8 of NT uses
• 0 uses in 2 Cor., Colossians, 1&2 Thess.,
Philemon., 1&2 Pet., 1&2&3 John, Jude, Rev.
• 1 use in Eph., Titus, 3 uses in Philippians.
• Galatians says we have been freed from the
Law!

14. Galatians 1
Christians Are Free!

15. Gal 1:1, Paul Apostleship
• Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle — sent not from men nor by
man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father…
• Paul was suffering an “Ad hominem” attack concerning
his apostleship.
• Acts 1:21-22 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of
the men who have been with us the whole time the
Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning
from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken
up from us. For one of these must become a witness
with us of his resurrection."
• 1 Cor 15:8-9 and last of all he appeared to me also, as
to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the
apostles and do not even deserve to be called an
apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

16. Gal 1:2, Churches
• Gal 1:2…To the churches in Galatia:
• It’s an encyclical. Galatians and the book of
Revelation are the only epistles written to
churches plural.
• Rev 1:4…To the seven churches in the province
of Asia…
• Paul omits his usual blessings and praises in
the beginning and end of the letter.
• He gets right to work on the problem.

17. Gal 1:3 Grace and peace
• Gal 1:3 Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
• There is no peace without grace first;
• Ro 5:10 For if, when we were God's enemies,
we were reconciled to him through the death
of his Son, how much more, having been
reconciled, shall we be saved through his life
• Col 1:21 Once you were alienated from God
and were enemies in your minds because of
your evil behavior.

18. Gal 1:4, “this present evil age”
• Gal 1:4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue
us from the present evil age, according to the
will of our God and Father,
• 2 Cor 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the
minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God.
• Eph 2:2, John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, Colossians 1:13, Ephesians
6:12, 1 Peter 5:8

19. Gal 1:6-9, A Different Gospel
• Gal 1:6-9 I am astonished that you are so quickly
deserting the one who called you by the grace of
Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7
which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some
people are throwing you into confusion and are
trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if
we or an angel from heaven should preach a
gospel other than the one we preached to you, let
him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have
already said, so now I say again: If anybody is
preaching to you a gospel other than what you
accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

20. Gal 1:6, A Different Gospel
• Gal 1:6…a different gospel…
• Is equated with “deserting” the one True God
• Gal 1:6…deserting the one who called you by
the grace of Christ…
• When cults and false religions have a
“different gospel” they by default (according
to this verse), have a different god also.

21. Gal 1:6, A Different Gospel
• Gal 1:6…a different gospel…
• 2 Co 11:4 For if someone comes to you and
preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we
preached, or if you receive a different spirit
from the one you received, or a different
gospel from the one you accepted, you put up
with it easily enough.

22. Galatians 1:6, A Different Gospel
• C. S. Lewis, “I need Christ, not something that
resembles Him.”
• Augustine, “If you believe what you like in the
gospel, and reject what you do not like, it is
not the gospel you believe, but yourselves.”
• 1 Corinthians 15:1

23. Galatians 1:7 A Distorted Gospel
• . Galatians 1:7 which is really not another;
only there are some who are disturbing you
and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

24. Galatians 1:8, A Passion To Preach
• 1 Corinthians 9:16 For if I preach the gospel, I
have nothing to boast of, for I am under
compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach
the gospel.
• “Every life without Christ is a mission field;
every life with Christ is a missionary.” Author
Unknown
• Dorothy Day, “To be a witness means to live in
such a way that one’s life would not make
sense if God did not exist.”

25. Gal 1:8, What Is Paul’s Gospel?
• Gal 1:4= Short version of Paul’s Gospel
• 1 Co 15:3-8 For what I received I passed on to you as of
first importance: that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5
and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of
the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still
living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he
appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last
of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally
born.

26. Gal 1:8-9, Anathema
• Gal 1:8-9…let him be eternally condemned!
•…accursed
• …a curse be on him!
• …let him be condemned to hell!

27. Gal 1:8-9, Anathema
• 331 ἀνάθεμα anathema {an-ath'-em-ah}
• Meaning: 1) …. 2) a thing devoted to God
without hope of being redeemed, and if an
animal, to be slain; therefore a person or thing
doomed to destruction 2a) a curse 2b) a man
accursed, devoted to the direst of woes…

28. Gal 1:10, Man Pleaser?
• Gal 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of
men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I
were still trying to please men, I would not be a
servant of Christ.
• Ac 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of
a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of
persons: KJV
• Rom 14:17-18…righteousness, peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in
this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
• Pr 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare…

29. Gal 1:10, Man Pleaser?
• 1 Thess 2:3-6 For the appeal we make does
not spring from error or impure motives, nor
are we trying to trick you. 4 On the contrary,
we speak as men approved by God to be
entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying
to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5
You know we never used flattery, nor did we
put on a mask to cover up greed — God is our
witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from
men, not from you or anyone else.

30. Gal 1:10, Man Pleaser?
• Gal 1:10…am I trying to please men? …
• The German philosopher Schopenhauer wrote,
"We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order
to be like other people.“
• “I spent 2/3rds. Of my life worrying about what
people thought of me, and the rest of my life
with the realization that
• they didn’t.” Author unknown

31. Gal 1:11-12, Revelation From Jesus
• Gal 1:11-12 I want you to know, brothers, that
the gospel I preached is not something that
man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any
man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by
revelation from Jesus Christ.

32. Gal 1:12, Revelation From Jesus
• Luther's Commentary on Galatians says, “Paul
received his Gospel on the way to Damascus when
Christ appeared to him. St. Luke furnishes an
account of the incident in the ninth chapter of the
Book of Acts. "Arise," said Christ to Paul, "and go
into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou
must do." Christ did not send Paul into the city to
learn the Gospel from Ananias. …. Paul did not
receive instruction from Ananias. Paul had already
been called, enlightened, and taught by Christ in
the road. His contact with Ananias was merely a
testimonial to the fact that Paul had been called by
Christ to preach the Gospel.”

33. Gal 1:13, Persecuted The Church
• Gal 1:13 For you have heard of my previous way
of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the
church of God and tried to destroy it.
• Ac 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church.
Going from house to house, he dragged off men
and women and put them in prison.
• Ac 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out
murderous threats against the Lord's disciples…

34. Gal 1:13, Intensely Religious
• Gal 1:13 …in Judaism, how intensely I
persecuted the church of God…
• Ro 10:2-4 For I can testify about them that
they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not
based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not
know the righteousness that comes from God
and sought to establish their own, they did not
submit to God's righteousness. 4 Christ is the
end of the law so that there may be
righteousness for everyone who believes.

35. Gal 1:14, Zealous & Religious
• Gal 1:14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond
many Jews of my own age and was extremely
zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
• Php 3:4-6…If anyone else thinks he has reasons
to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5
circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as
for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic
righteousness, faultless.

36. Gal 1:15-16
• Gal 1:15-17 But when
God, who set me apart
from birth and called me
by his grace, was pleased
16 to reveal his Son in me
so that I might preach him
among the Gentiles, I did
not consult any man,
• Why did God save Paul?
• Why did God save you?

37. Gal 1:17, Went To Arabia
• Gal 1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see
those who were apostles before I was, but I
went immediately into Arabia and later
returned to Damascus.
• For a long time I thought that meant he spent
3 years in the desert, like John the Baptist.
• Roman Province of Arabia

38. Gal 1:19, James, The Lord's Brother
• . Galatians 1:19 But I did not see any
other of the apostles except James, the
Lord's brother [adelphos].

39. Gal 1:20, Legal Testimony
• Gal 1:20 I assure you before God that what I
am writing you is no lie.

40. Christians Are
Free!

41. CONTACT @ +91-8309511427
coachinterculturalstudies@gmail.com