Ministry of Grace Church

 

Galatians 1:2

and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

Truth to Learn

We all need to learn about doctrinal error so we can spot it and resist it in any church.

Behind the Words

The word translated “brethren” is adelphos, which is made up of the connective particle a, denoting unity and delphus, which means “the womb.” Hence, it means those who are united through the womb, or those who come from the same womb. Hence, though it is usually thought of as implying males who have the same mother or father, it really means all those, male and female, with a common mother or father. In the New Testament it is used of all those who are members of the church and, therefore, all who are children of God.

Meaning Explained

In this verse Paul includes the fact that there were others with him in support of what he was about to say. It was common for Paul to include others in the salutation of his letters (see 1Corinthians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; and 1Thessalonians 1:1). He also indicates who this letter was written to, ‘the churches of Galatia.’

Galatia was a Roman province in the interior of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) directly north of the island of Cyprus, extending nearly all the way to the Black Sea. Since the borders of Galatia were somewhat ill defined and were often changed, it is difficult to say exactly which churches were included in ‘the churches of Galatia.’ It is possible that they included the churches at Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe, which were churches that Paul and Barnabas visited on the first missionary journey (see Acts chapter 14), although these are referred to as being in Lycaonia according to Acts 14.

There were several cities in Galatia proper such as Ancyria, Tavia, and Pessinus. It is quite possible that a church had been established in each of these cities, and, since they were not far distant from each other, could have been referred to as the churches of Galatia.

Whatever the specific churches were, it is clear that they all had a similar doctrinal error that Paul was intent on correcting. This error had begun to creep into the churches from the very beginning, as converted Jews who had been brought up under the Law of Moses were insisting that all converts to Christianity also keep the Law of Moses. This was the subject of the very first church council recorded for us in Acts chapter 15. We will get more into the details of their doctrinal errors later.

The thing to note is that Paul would not tolerate bad doctrine in the church. To many Christians today, doctrine is a dirty word. They believe that learning doctrine is not nearly as important as loving one another, but Paul would strongly disagree. Doctrine is important and correct doctrine is of paramount importance!

Application

Though this letter was specifically written to the churches in Galatia, it has truths that are pertinent to all Christians. As we go through this letter let us, each one, consider how these truths apply to our own Christian walk.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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