Grace to you, and peace, from God [the] Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul opens this letter to the churches of Galatia with the greeting he repeats through his letters: grace and peace. What is striking here is everything he leaves out. No thanksgiving. No praise. Nothing but the bare minimum, sent to people who were turning back to law.
One commentator asks why the warmth disappeared.
Why is it that to the disorderly Corinthians Paul used such strong expressions of affection, and none to the Galatians? Writing to them, he says the very least that it is possible to say about Christians together here below. Not a word about their being in Christ or in God the Father! Not a word about their being saints in Christ Jesus and faithful brothers. He speaks of them as "the churches of Galatia"; he does not link them with any others, but sets them, so to speak, apart as naughty by themselves.
Another writer notices the same silence, and points to what was at stake in Galatia.
He does not add, "beloved of God," as he does to the Romans, nor "to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus," as to the Corinthians. It is the shortest address he could write, and unlike his usual warm style. How could it be otherwise? These people were toying with the very foundations of Christianity. What could he say for them?
One writer finds a lesson in the missing titles.
In spite of their fleshly walk and spiritual decline, the Spirit of God addressed the Corinthians as the church of God, sanctified in Christ, called to be saints. The Galatians were giving up the essential truths of the gospel of grace. They were leaving it and going back to the law as a means of justification. So in writing to them, the Spirit of God does not use these distinguishing terms. He does not recognise as the church of God those who fall away from grace. From this we may learn that doctrinal evil is an even more serious matter than moral evil.
Paul had nothing to praise. One writer notes what he could still send.
Though Paul cannot praise them, he can still offer them "grace and peace." Perhaps they will refuse grace and choose law, turn from peace and receive a curse. Still, grace and peace are sent to them. That grace and peace come from the highest source, even "God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." It is very beautiful to see the Father and the Son linked together in their loving care of believers.
One writer weighs how much this greeting carries, and what was blocking the Galatians from it.
This greeting is especially important, if only because it is repeated so constantly in the New Testament. But the Galatians could not enjoy either grace or peace while they were trading in law. These are the precious fruits of the work of Jesus, and they are for the enjoyment of our souls day by day.
One writer draws out how far "grace to you" reaches, and why two names stand behind it.
"Grace to you" is not only that you stand on the foundation of grace. "Grace to you" means you live from moment to moment in the resources of God's grace. This letter will unfold those resources of grace, in contrast to the resources of the flesh or the resources of the law… The source is one, but there is also a distinction. The name God the Father brings out the family aspect; the name Lord Jesus Christ brings out the kingdom aspect, or His authority.
One writer warns against skimming these words, and notes when a third word is added.
Sadly, we pass over these gracious words very lightly. The apostle felt what he said in the power of the Spirit: favour and peace from the Father and the Son. Mercy is added only in the letters written to individual believers. When believers are looked at as a whole, they are seen as the fruit of mercy already shown — God sees them under the influence and energy of the love and grace that had saved them. But as individuals they need mercy every moment.
- Silence. Paul withholds every usual title — no saints, no beloved, no thanksgiving. He says the least anyone can say of Christians, because these people were toying with the foundations.
- Seriousness. The missing titles teach a lesson. Doctrinal evil is more serious than moral evil: Corinth kept the titles, Galatia lost them.
- Gift. With no praise to give, Paul still sends grace and peace, whether or not the Galatians take them. Mercy belongs to letters written to individuals.
- Source. Father and Son stand together as the one source of the blessing. The first name marks family, the second marks authority.
- Supply. Grace is not only the ground you stand on. It is the resource you draw on moment by moment — and law shuts off the enjoyment of both grace and peace.
who gave himself for our sins, so that he should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
to whom [be] glory to the ages of ages. Amen.
Paul moves straight from Christ's self-giving into praise, and only then begins his rebuke. The verse raises three questions: what "for ever and ever" means, whose glory Paul has in view, and why the letter stops to praise here.
The phrase is not a vague nod at a long time. Writers who trace the Greek word for "age" through the New Testament point to a doubled form here:
The third expression is a doubled form. It gives a much greater sense of vastness: "to the ages of ages." It is used five times of the life of God Himself… and ten times in expressions of glory to God (Gal. 1:5; Phil. 4:20…).
The name closest to these words is the Father. One writer says the praise does not stop there, and points back to verse 3:
Note too that the brief praise in verse 5 does not belong to the Father only. It stands in a closer relation to that name, but it belongs to the Son as well. Verse 3 gives us its double object. Glory always matches grace.
Where does the credit go? This praise leaves man nothing to claim:
In this brief greeting, Paul speaks of God as Father three times, "to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen" (v.5). Every word is full of meaning: not one shred of glory attaches to man's capabilities or accomplishments. The will of God the Father has triumphed gloriously.
Verses 4 and 5 form one chain, and each link faces a different direction:
The passage in Galatians links three things together: Christ giving Himself for our sins, our deliverance from this present evil world, and the eternal glory of God the Father. The first looks back, the second relates to the present time, and the third looks forward… Christ did not give Himself for our sins to leave us tied to this world. He did it so that we might be here for His own pleasure and for the Father's will.
This verse explains the heat of everything that follows. If glory to God is the goal, then the false teaching in Galatia was not a small difference of opinion but a threat to that goal:
That God may receive glory is the final goal, and also the motive. It certainly was the motive of Paul's service. He was so concerned because he knew this: if the Galatians came under the influence of these false teachers, there would be no glory to God the Father. If we are under the influence of Satan's reasoning in the religious world, then there will be no glory to God the Father.
The praise is short. Paul does not develop it, because something urgent presses him on:
There is a remarkable abruptness in the way the apostle enters at once into his subject… But now he turns at once to the great matter he had in hand. His heart was too full of it, so to speak, to spend more words than were needed.
The ages named in the verse are still running, and ours is one of them. So this praise is something we are meant to join:
Our deliverance cost the blessed Lord all that the cross involved, and the end in view is the glory of God the Father… If the mighty work that freed us from bondage brings glory to God the Father in every age, then our own age should have its own blessed part in a response of praise and worship.
- Cause. The Father's will stood behind the cross. The praise gives Him all the credit: "not one shred of glory attaches to man's capabilities or accomplishments."
- Gift. Grace and glory match each other. The praise goes to the Father. Commentators note it takes in the Son too, since verse 3 names both as the source of grace.
- Reach. "For ever and ever" renders a doubled Greek phrase: "to the ages of ages." It is the strongest form the language has for endlessness.
- Result. Verses 4 and 5 look back to the cross, out at the present rescue, and forward to eternal glory. Deliverance was never meant to leave us settled in the world.
- Response. Glory to God was Paul's motive, and that is why he wrote so sharply. The praise spans every age, so ours has a part to add.