Commentary On Galatians

Galatians reveals how Christ changes everything. Matthew S. Harmon traces the argument of Paul's most polemic letter. In Galatians, Paul defends his authority and attacks his opponents' arguments--and in both cases, the decisive factor is the Gospel. History and Scripture must be interpreted in light of Christ's arrival. The new creation has broken in, leaving nothing unaltered. Harmon plumbs Galatians' theological depth, including its view of sin and exile, apocalyptic antitheses, the Trinity, Isaiah's servant figure, the law, righteousness, and faith(fulness). The Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary series locates each biblical book within redemptive history and illuminates its unique theological contributions. All EBTC volumes feature informed exegetical treatment of the biblical book and thorough discussion of its most important theological themes in relation to the canon--all in a style that is useful and accessible to students of Scripture.

The first major biblical commentary from the pen of N. T. Wright While full of theological import, Paul’s letter to the Galatians also captures and memorializes a significant moment in the early history of Christianity. This commentary from N. T. Wright—the inaugural volume of the CCF series—offers a theological interpretation of Galatians that never loses sight of the political concerns of its historical context. With these two elements of the letter in dialogue with each other, readers can understand both what Paul originally meant and how his writing might be faithfully used to respond to present questions. Each section of verse-by-verse commentary in this volume is followed by Wright’s reflections on what the text says about Christian formation today, making this an excellent resource for individual readers and those preparing to teach or preach on Galatians. The focus on formation is especially appropriate for this biblical letter, in which Paul wrote to his fellow early Christians, “My children—I seem to be in labor with you all over again, until the Messiah is fully formed in you!”

An introduction situating Paul’s letter in time and space is followed by a detailed discussion of each section of the letter, verse-by-verse commentary, and a theological discussion with challenging ques­tions for individual or group study.

In this addition to the award-winning BECNT series, highly regarded New Testament scholar Douglas Moo offers a substantive yet accessible commentary on Galatians. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, Moo leads readers through all aspects of the book of Galatians--sociological, historical, and theological--to help them better understand its meaning and relevance. As with all BECNT volumes, this commentary features the author's detailed interaction with the Greek text and an acclaimed, user-friendly design. It admirably achieves the dual aims of the series--academic sophistication with pastoral sensitivity and accessibility--making it a useful tool for pastors, church leaders, students, and teachers.

Galatians deals with the concern of the Christian's relationship to the Mosaic Law.

The modern mood is that we do not want to argue about religion. We do not want to quarrel, but to be comfortable with each other. Galatians is not that kind of a letter. Paul argues with other Christians, not with unbelievers, and his message in the letter has in turn caused many arguments. Arguments can be good. If Luther had not been willing to get into an argument, the Reformation would not have occurred. When we come to Galatians, we are handling some of the biggest issues of all. There are fundamental issues without which you lose the Christian gospel, so, I am afraid, fighting is involved. Many of the biggest battles that Christians have to face are inside the church, not outside it. That is painful. Who likes a family that is arguing? Whenever the devil attacks the church from the outside, the church gets stronger and bigger. His attacks are much more successful when they come from the inside, and one of the quickest ways to do that is to pervert or corrupt or erode the gospel. If he can do that, he knows that he has destroyed the church from the inside. Legalism and licence are still with us. But so is true liberty. We must stay and walk with others along the narrow path, the wind of the Spirit blowing in our faces and the blessing of God’s grace upon us. We are free not to sin and free to be bold, if we will only walk in the Spirit. Galatians is one of the most powerful letters you will ever read.