Galatians Study - Messianic Literary Corner

The   second piece of writing which emerged from the general controversy  over  keeping the Torah (Mosaic Law) was Paul's epistle to the  Galatians, As  James was written from the standpoint of a strict Torah  observant Jew  who worked to avoid all semblance of looseness and  license in the use of  ethical freedom, "the perfect law of liberty"  (Jas. 1:25), so Galatians  was written by a champion of freedom who saw  that neither Gentiles nor  Jews could be delivered from their sins by  self-effort in keeping a set  of ethical principles. Galatians  accordingly has been called "The Magna  Charta of spiritual  emancipation", because it declared that "Messiah  Yeshua (Christ Jesus)  redeemed us from the curse of the law, having  become a curse for us ...  that we might receive the promise of the  Spirit through faith" (Gal.  3:13,14).

Galatia   is the name that was given originally to the territory in north  central  Asia. Minor, where the invading Gauls settled in the third  century  before Christ and maintained an independent kingdom for many  years.  Gradually the Gallic population was absorbed into the other  peoples  living there, and after a number of political changes, the  territory  became the property of Rome in 25 B.C.

The   Romans incorporated this northern section into a larger division of   land which they made a province and called by the name of Galatia.   Galatia, then, under Roman rule, could mean Galatia proper, which the   Gauls had founded, or it could be applied to the whole province which   included the southern cities of Antioch, Iconium, Derbe, and Lystra.   Biblical scholars assume that Paul's visit to Galatia proper began on   the second journey when he left the southern territory of Derbe,  Lystra,  and Iconium, and traveled through "the region of Phrygia and  Galatia."  mentioned in Acts 16:6. According to this view, Paul  traversed the  territory of old Galatia, including the cities of  Pessinus, Ancyra, and  Tavium, and finally reached Troas after a long  journey. A second similar  trip on the third journey is stated in Acts  18:23.

Their  theory supposes that "the churches of Galatia"  were those of Antioch of  Pisidia, Iconium, Derbe, and Lystra which Paul  established on his first  missionary journey. They were subsequently  revisited on the later  journeys (Acts 16:1-6, 18:23). The second tour  of these southern  churches did not preclude completely a northern swing  in his last  itinerary, for the language of Acts 16:2, 4, and 6 shows  that Paul  covered the territory around Derbe and Lystra, and then that  he went  along the Phrygio-Galatic border to Mysia and Bithynia, at  which point  he turned westward to Troas.

If   then, this theory be adopted, it means that Paul and Barnabas on their   first tour preached in the cities of southern Galatia, and on their   return trip organized the converts into church groups (Acts 14:21-23),   closing their mission about A.D. 48. After their return to Antioch,   Peter paid a visit to the city, and openly fellowshipped with the   Gentile converts. He had not been there long before some men came down   from Jerusalem who professed to follow the strict observance of the law   that James practiced, and who argued that unless the converts were   circumcised, they could not be saved (15:1). Peter, overawed by their   attitude, withdrew from eating with the Gentiles. In the meantime the   same controversy had broken out in Galatia, agitated perhaps by local   Messianic Jewish influences which were quite strong (14:2). Paul   therefore on the eve of the council wrote this letter to the Galatians   churches, in order to settle for them by correspondence the question   which he expected to debate in the coming assembly in Jerusalem. This   conclusion is confirmed somewhat by a comparison of Peter's speech in   Acts 15:7-11 with the structure of Galatians as a whole. His emphasis  on  his personal calling and experience, on theological argumentation,  and  on the practical development of grace parallels the general outline  of  Galatians and also reflects Paul's conversation with him as  reported in  Galatians 2. If Galatians can be fitted into this  situation, it was  written from Antioch, just prior to the council in  A.D. 48 or 49.