Open English Translation GAL Introduction

Introduction

At the time when the preaching of the good message about Yeshua began to spread and it started being accepted by non-Jews, an important question arose: whether or not it’s necessary for a person wanting to accept the message to also obey the Law of Moses. Paul argues that it’s not necessary because it’s by faith that we can receive life from the messiah, and it’s by faith that a person is considered guiltless in God’s eyes. But there among the groups of believers in Galasya (a province of Rome in Asia Minor, now part of modern Turkey), there were people who disagreed with Paul and believed that it’s still necessary for a follower of Yeshua to still obey all of Moses’ laws in order to become righteous in God’s sight.

In Paul’s letter to the assemblies in Galatia, he wrote so that people who had started to follow deviant teachings might return to the true faith. He began this by explaining the reasons that he himself became a missionary. He showed that his becoming a missionary wasn’t because he was selected by the people, but that God himself spoke to him, and what’s more, he was specifically sent by God to the non-Jews. As a result of that, he strove to ensure that people understood that there’s only one way to restore our relationship with God, and that’s through faith in God’s son.

Nearer the end of his letter, he answered those who say that it’s wrong not to obey Moses’ law. Paul stated that he would be afraid to leave behind God’s goodness and mercy just to become a slave of Moses’ rules. Again he advised that it’s necessary for them to listen to God’s spirit so that they’re changed and don’t follow the sinful desires of their own bodies.

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