Galatians 1

==Galatians 1:1-3==
1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) 2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 
Paul opens up this letter with an immediate defense of his apostleship by declaring that he is an apostle not by the choice of humans, but selected out directly by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. There is more to the wording of the opening than might first appear. Remember that there were those who declared that Jesus had not risen from the dead, a doctrine Paul addressed in his letter to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 15). He declares his apostleship by affirming the resurrection of Christ and thus the resurrection of the dead in general.
He then includes all those who travel with him in his greeting. As is well known by most who read this letter, this letter was to a group of congregations in the region of Galatia. Geographically, the province of Galatia includes Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe in the south and Ankyra, Pessinus, and Gordium in the North.
He then adds his typical greeting from God the Father and Son.
==Galatians 1:4-5==
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
The meaning of verse four might come into conflict depending on what you believe when you start reading the book, but as always, context is the key. Jesus Christ gave Himself for the sins of the whole world, not just those Paul is writing to and from. The giving of Jesus' life was not to deliver the church of the first century from the evil of the age of Judaism. The giving of Jesus was much broader than that and to relegate it to just the first century diminishes the sacrifice of Jesus to be statistically meaningless.
I believe that Paul is being general here as to what Jesus gave His life for, to deliver mankind from the evil then and always present in the temporal plane of existence. This is important to understand because it shows that Paul can and does use language usually found in the "end of days" type language referring to the end of the Jewish state to refer to more general aspects. We saw this in 1 Corinthians 15 and we will see it again in 1 Thessalonians 4.
==Galatians 1:6-9==
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel 
unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 
Lot's of arguments have been made about phrases of timing in the New Testament, especially concerning that in the book of Revelation. Here, though, I think is an excellent key to understanding those phrases. It was said that Revelation could not have been written in the mid-60's because it would have been too soon for the 5 wayward congregations to have gone into apostasy. Yet here Paul admonishes the congregations in the Galatia region for just that very thing, falling into error rapidly. It can happen in a few years, certainly within a decade of time. All it takes is a person with leadership and charisma to come in and overthrow a sound congregation in a very brief amount of time.
===Verse 6===
# Paul marvels that they are removed so rapidly from Jesus. This is the first statement of importance in this section. They have removed themselves entirely from Jesus by their error.
# Paul says it is Jesus who called them into the grace of Christ. We know we are called by the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14) and so we understand that it is the gospel of Christ that calls us.
# Paul then says that they were removed from Jesus, from His Grace, unto another gospel. In my article defining grace I showed how this is literally defining God's grace as the gospel of Jesus. If we look at (John 1:1) and understand how Jesus, the Word, and Grace are all intertwined and inseparable, then we can correctly move forward with the foundation of Christianity firmly settled in our hearts. If we misunderstand what Grace is, as so many in the world do, then our end of the covenant, obedient faith, is nearly impossible to fully understand.
===Verse 7===
Paul points out that there are some who are trying to teach a different gospel, a different 'good news' that is not different at all, but a perversion of the true gospel. We will see in the rest of this letter that this perversion is the Judaizing teachings of those who followed him around during his missionary trips and caused him no end of trouble, his thorn in the flesh.
===Verses 8-9===
In an admonition worthy of repeating, Paul says that if anyone, even a messenger from Heaven, preached anything other than what had already been preached, that they had already received from the Apostles, then that person should be cursed. But how did they know the difference? The gospel had not been fully written down at this time and the Apostles and other prophets were preaching new stuff to these Gentiles all the time. How could WE know the difference today?
The answer lies in miracles. Remember that the purpose of miracles was to confirm the Word (Mark 16:20; Heb. 2:4). If a person came preaching something that was allegedly from God, that preaching would be supported by real miracles. Furthermore, it could be tested by comparison to the scriptures already written down, including the OT.
We today have a more sound method. We have the whole gospel written down. Ours is the greater tool because we don't need children's toys (1 Corinthians 13:11). We just compare what is being preached with what is written and if it doesn't match up, its the doctrine of men and worthless (1 John 4:1; Matt. 15; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; etc.)
==Galatians 1:10-12==
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. 
Paul continues to defend himself and the gospel he preaches. In so doing, he gives one of the tests that they can know which gospel is the truth. The Judaizers were seeking to please the Jewish leaders (men). In so doing, they show that they are the servants of men. Yet Paul's preaching was from God and directing the Christians toward pleasing God according to God's Word. Paul had certified to them through the miracles that he wrought among them that what he had preached to them was not of himself, not from men, but from Jesus Christ himself. He will go on to explain this further.
==Galatians 1:13-14==
13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, now that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. 
It is important for Paul to note his past not only because it shows that he is not preaching from men, but to show the contrast between the true gospel and what was being taught in perversion of the gospel, the Judaising doctrines, that men had to go to the Law of Moses before they could become a Christian. He has every human reason to believe and teach as the Judaizers, but he does not, because Paul is actually called by Christ to teach Christ, not Moses.
Paul was well known (as Saul) as the premier persecutor of the church of Christ. He was zealous of the Jewish religion, he laid waste to the church, more so than many others of equal authority in the Jewish religion than himself. If anyone had the power and draw to be a Judaizer, he did. However, Paul denounced all of that for Christ. In claiming that the Jewish system was over, that Moses was not enough, and that folks should turn to Christ instead, Paul made enemies of the Jewish state, the Judaizers, and all those who had once admired him as a persecutor of the church. That the gospel was powerful enough to drive such a man to do this should be evidence for Paul's case and against the Judaizers, who taught the very thing Paul had given up.
==Galatians 1:15-19==
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: 17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. 19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. 
Given the context here, we must understand what the phrase "separated from my mother's womb" means here. It is weird for Paul to say this right here if he is referring to his physical birth. Instead, he is speaking of his conversion event. Within that context, his "mother's womb" is a matephor for being Jewish. Paul was persecuting the church as the Jew of Jews. God separated Paul from this in order to be a preacher of the gospel. He had to be separated from the persecution and other Jewish ideas he carried first in order to do what Jesus called him to do. This separation represents Jesus telling Paul on the road to stop persecuting the church, to leave everything behind, and come serve me. Paul then repented and by the grace of God taught to him first by Ananias he was immersed into Christ and became a Christian instead of a Jew by faith.
How was Paul called? By God's grace. What is God's grace? It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is taught over and over in the New Testament and yet so many still miss it.
Paul was called to preach Christ, to reveal Jesus to the Gentile nations. Instead of going immediately to confer with humans, to Jerusalem and to the other Apostles, Paul went to Arabia. There Jesus taught Paul directly all that Paul needed to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Then Paul returned to Damascus. After three years, Paul finally goes to Jerusalem to see only two apostles: Peter and Jesus' brother, James (who wrote the book with that name). He stays with Peter for fifteen days then he was off to the lands of the Gentiles to preach.
==Galatians 1:20-23==
20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. 21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; 22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: 23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. 24 And they glorified God in me.
Paul calls on God to witness that he is not lying about what he has said. He explains that he heads up into Gentile lands, Syria and Cilicia, and avoids the churches in the Judean province. He explains why in the next chapter, that Peter and the others were the apostles to the Jews, but he was given a different ministry, that of the Gentiles. Though they had heard that Paul, who had at one time persecuted them, was now a preacher for Christ, they did not hear him preach.
In Truth and Love.
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Galatians 1
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Galatians 3
Galatians 4
Galatians 5
Galatians 6