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Today's Pathway: Galatians 1:1-3 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

Paul opens his epistle to the Galatians by stating that he is an apostle. While this is a standard opening in most of his letters, he then adds additional information, probably because the churches of Galatia were being infiltrated by false teachers. He wants to establish his credentials right away lest there be any doubt about both his knowledge of the truth and also his authority to teach it. More than likely the false teachers were accusing Paul of not being a "true" apostle because he was not one of the original twelve. Paul wants to make it very clear that he is indeed an apostle, and he proves it by stating,

"not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father".

"I am an ordained minister from men and through men. I was told that I had to finish seminary and obtain certain degrees before I could be ordained. I did that. That was from men. Next I went before a church body that examined me. Their decision was that I should be an ordained minister. I knelt, and a group of men put their hands on me and said, 'You are now an ordained minister.' That is the kind of minister I am. Paul said, 'I am not that kind of an apostle. Men had nothing to do with it. I am an apostle directly by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead.'"

In verse 2 Paul mentions that there are other brethren with him. While it was not unusual for Paul to have traveling companions on his missionary journeys, the fact that he mentions them here probably is designed to let the Galatians know that Paul is not alone in his views, and that others believe the same things that he is about to teach. In fact, he says that his letter is coming from "all" the brethren. Richard Lenski wrote,

"All these brethren are at Paul’s side, all of them know about the situation in Galatia, all of them know what Paul is writing, all of them agree with him and support him in all that he is writing. The Galatians are not to suppose that Paul is alone and writing by himself in a sort of private way. All the brethren with him, down to the last one (and 'all' implies a goodly number) are backing Paul."

"Grace and peace" is a typical Pauline greeting. However, this probably has special relevance for the Galatian churches. The false teachers in Galatia were the Judaizers. These men taught that faith in the Gospel message of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection was not sufficient for salvation. A Judaizer believed that in order for a Christian to truly be right with God, he must conform to the Mosaic Law. Circumcision in particular was necessary for salvation. Basically, they taught that Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes first, and then they could come to Christ. Their doctrine was a mixture of grace (by receiving Christ) and works (by keeping the Law). Acts 15:1, 5 shows this:

"And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved...But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."