Galatians 1:4 Commentary and Bible Study

This is the heart of the gospel. Here are the sole grounds of our salvation, the grounds on which all else rests. Let the Galatians not talk of adding anything to this, for how can anything be set alongside the work of the Son of God. How can anything be added to what is already perfect? Paul goes beyond his normal greeting when he adds these words in verses 4 and 5; his awareness of the special needs of this church are behind every word he writes.Can Christ have done so much for his people, can he have so perfectly finished the work of atonement, and are they still arguing about the necessity of circumcision? Paul glories in the work of Christ alone, and will not allow anything to overshadow the glorious achievement of the Son of God. He knows that the cross totally undermines the false teaching of the Judaizers.Christ ‘gave himself’. He did it voluntarily. No one forced him to do it (John 10:17-18), but he consented with all his heart to the will of the Father. ‘For our sins’, that is, for the removal of our sins, on account of our sins. They were the obstacle that barred us from coming to God. Christ’s death was essential, because it was the only way redemption could be accomplished and therefore the Lord did not hesitate to go to the cross although it would mean suffering the eternal punishment of his people. By his work our sins were removed for ever from the sight of God and divine justice was satisfied, so that God is able to forgive us. ‘That he might deliver us from this present evil world.’ Before conversion we belong to the world. We approve of it, and of those who conform to it. We defend it, and are angry and offended when anything is said against it. We allow all our hopes to the bound up with it. ‘This present evil world’ – In giving it this name Paul certainly has in mind that there is a world to come, which is altogether different to this present world, a world not corrupted by sin. Our delivery from this present evil world is entirely for the purpose of bringing us into that future incorruptible world.The Father is glorified in this deliverance, for it was by his will that the plan of redemption was conceived. Therefore Christ says to his disciples that they should not think that he has saved them in opposition his Father’s will to destroy them, for the plan originates with the Father. Christ’s coming to earth reveals the Father’s willingness to save us, for he was sent by the Father for this very purpose. Without the will of God, none of us will escape hell, for it required nothing less than God’s infinite wisdom to find a way to save us and his infinite power to execute it. But if God is for us, who can be against us? How can any plan that God puts into execution fail?