Useful Bible Studies > Galatians Commentary > chapter 1
Galatians 1:1-5
Paul begins his letter
Today, people use the word ‘apostles’ to mean the first leaders of the Christians. But the word ‘apostle’ really means a servant who takes a message. Usually, an important man sent his servant to take the message. But the message that Paul brought was not from any man. It was not from the church leaders in Jerusalem or anywhere else. God had given that message to Paul.
And so Paul wrote his letter. He was telling God’s message to some Christians. These Christians lived in a country called Galatia. So we call them the ‘Galatians’. Today, Galatia is part of the country called Turkey. There were several churches in Galatia. Paul had worked there. He knew the Christians well. And he knew about their problems. Some teachers there were teaching wrong ideas to the Christians. Paul wanted to help those Christians.
What Paul was praying
Paul was praying for those Christians. And he told them what he was praying. These wrong ideas were causing them troubles. They felt confused. Paul asked God to be kind to those Christians. And Paul asked God to help them.
We know that Paul usually prayed these things for Christians. But here he explained why he prayed this. Jesus had died for them. He died so that God would save them. There are many bad things in this world. But God has chosen to save his people from all these things. He is such a great God!
Next part: God’s good news
See the word list for explanation of words with a *
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© 2015, Keith Simons.