NOTES for Gal 1:1-10

Paul's words about ‘another gospel’ may at first seem excessively sharp and harsh, especially in the context of his mention of ‘an angel from heaven’. If even God's messenger is better not trusted when he brings some other good news, whom can one trust at all? Yet here, whether intentionally or not, Paul illustrates through a particular situation in the Galatian church an extremely important law of spiritual life, which might be called the law of spiritual self-identity. This law operates both where an individual is concerned and where a whole community, large or small, is involved. The law of spiritual self-identity links the fullness and reliability of a revelation received with the spiritual integrity of the human person.

As we know, the problem of the observer exists in many different spheres of human activity and manifests itself differently depending on what a particular person is doing. But it is especially acute in spiritual life. Here each person can see exactly as much as they are able to perceive. Of course, sometimes someone is shown more than they can take in. In that case, however, the person usually either subsequently forgets what was shown or reinterprets what was seen, adapting it to their own level of perception. What is reliable becomes unreliable—not because the revelation was incomplete or limited, but because the person does not measure up to what has been revealed.

For the reliability of revelation depends not only on the One who reveals, but also on the person who receives. For revealed truth to be perceived as not subject to revision, the person must remain inwardly true to themselves and be in keeping with the revelation received. If that correspondence is lacking, a person who has received a revelation often soon begins to look for something else that would allow what God has revealed to be ‘adapted’ to the customary and familiar human level.

This is how ‘other gospels’ appear, seemingly only supplementing the one first heard, but in fact distorting or limiting it. Then even a message from God's messenger will no longer be perceived adequately: it is wanted not for its own sake, but as a means of ‘adapting’ what was heard earlier. It is this very serious spiritual danger that Paul warns the Christians of Galatia about, hence the sharpness of his language: the situation was too serious to speak of it gently and evasively.

Certain unnamed people troubled the Galatians by telling them that the freedom in Christ proclaimed by the apostle Paul was an illusion and that they had to follow the thorny road of Old Testament legislation toward God. What mattered, they said, was not whether you loved God and other people, but whether, for God's sake, you washed the dishes correctly and observed the other rituals. Therefore, at the very beginning of the letter, the apostle says that Christ gave Himself for our sins. Among other things, this means that what the apostle proclaims is not religion. By definition, religion is our human path toward reunion with an infinitely distant God. The point is not even that the law, like everything else in human religiosity, is no such path (the apostle writes about this at length to the Romans). Against his opponents he sets the fact that God Himself has already crossed the path that separated us; He Himself has overcome that distance.

We cannot help sharing the apostle's astonishment at how easily our human nature bows beneath the yoke of an impersonal law, distancing itself from the God who has drawn too close. Such is the psychological difference between faith and religiosity. This is important to keep in mind, because each of us needs to examine ourselves: do you live by faith or by religion?

The apostle Paul writes the letter to the churches of Galatia that we begin reading today because of a rather unpleasant situation. Certain unnamed people have troubled the Galatians by telling them that the freedom in Christ proclaimed by the apostle Paul is an illusion and that they must approach God along the thorny path of Old Testament legislation. What matters, they said, is not whether you love God and other people, but whether you wash dishes properly for God’s sake and observe the other rituals. That is why, at the very beginning of the letter, the apostle says that Christ gave himself for our sins. Among other things, this means that what the apostle proclaims is not religion. By definition, religion is our human path towards reunion with an infinitely distant God. The point is not even that the law, like everything else in human religiosity, is not such a path (the apostle writes about this in detail to the Romans). Against his opponents he sets the fact that God himself has already travelled the path separating us, has himself overcome that distance.

We cannot help sharing the apostle’s astonishment at how readily our human nature bows beneath the yoke of an impersonal law, distancing itself from a God who has come too close. Such is the psychological difference between faith and religiosity. It is important to bear this in mind, because each of us needs to examine ourselves: are you living in faith or in religion?

Once again, Paul reminds us who matters most and who comes first. How often we really do seek people's favor and do things so that they will speak well of us. But Paul speaks plainly and sternly: “If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” We keep trying to combine the incompatible: to please both God and people, to follow our heart while still being liked by everyone around us. We fear human condemnation. We look over our shoulders: what will they say? What will they think? Paul does not look back. He has chosen his path and knows that he is following the path God appointed for him. Everything else is unimportant. Whatever anyone may say, we will be servants of Christ only if we give up the idea of pleasing each and every person.