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Introduction to Galatians Part 2

We have begun to get a sense of this letter of Paul to the Galatians. This is a letter of reproof, for the
Galatians were being taken in by some false teachers who had come into their assemblies. These false
teachers were Jews who professed to believe into Jesus as the Messiah.
Nonetheless, they did not truly believe in Him, for they believed that the death and resurrection of Jesus
was insufficient for salvation. The false teachers began to instruct the Gentile believers that it was
additionally necessary for them to be circumcised in order to be saved (Gal 5:2); it is implied that they
even asserted that these Gentile believers must also keep the Law of Moses (Gal 4:10).
Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians to correct this heretical thinking for it was nothing less than that; to
believe that righteousness can be acquired through the Law would mean that Christ died in vain (Gal 2:21).
To a man like Paul, who had himself been delivered by Jesus, not just from sin and death, but from the
Law, such thinking about the Savior was horrifying. To deny the reality of what Jesus did for mankind was
to deny Jesus Christ Himself to apostasize from the one and only name under heaven given among men
by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
Pauls distress was compounded by the fact that he was the one who had established these assemblies. It
was Paul himself who had brought the gospel into Galatia (Gal 1:8). It had seemed at the time that this
good news had set so many free; yet now, it seemed that they were becoming entangled again with a yoke
of bondage (Gal 5:1).
That is why the tenor of Pauls letter is urgent; emphatic you can hear his distress, his concern even
anger and frustration as you read it. These were his precious Galatians, whom he had brought to Christ
who now seemed to be in danger of turning away from Christ.
Not only that, but the Galatians seemed to be in the dark as to just what it was that they were doing. And
so, through this letter, what we see Paul doing is turning on the light in Galatia the light of the Word of
God. He does so in order that the Galatians may definitively know the truth the truth that will make them
free (Jn 8:32).
Now, as Paul begins his letter to these assemblies, we will see that he lays out a historical perspective of his
own conversion experience and calling, as well as some of his interactions with the other apostles in
Jerusalem. But notably absent in this historical perspective is Pauls missionary experience among the
Galatian assemblies. That makes sense, since the people to whom Paul is writing know all about that,
being the recipients of Pauls ministry.
But for our purposes, it will be useful to review Pauls encounters with the assemblies in Galatia, as well as
the time period in which he sent this particular letter. This will equip us with the proper perspective on the
letter, as the Holy Spirit enlightens us to its meaning.
First of all, lets recall where these assemblies in Galatia are located, and how it came about that Paul
traveled there. Galatia occupied a region of Asia Minor which is today part of the country of Turkey (see
maps), north of the Mediterranean Sea, and northwest of the land of Israel.
Now, in Pauls day, the word Galatia actually had two distinct meanings. In a strictly ethnic sense,
Galatia was the region in central Asia Minor to which the Celtic people had migrated back in the third

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century BC. Another name for the Celts was the Gauls and that is what the word Galatia is derived
from it was the land of the Gauls Galatia.
The Romans conquered Galatia in 189 BC, but allowed them to have a measure of autonomy until 25 BC,
when the king of Galatia bequeathed his kingdom to Rome, and it was made a Roman province. When that
happened, Rome incorporated into the new province some regions to the south not inhabited by ethnic
Galatians parts of Lacaonia, Phrygia and Pisidia making Galatia one of the largest provinces in Asia
Minor.
So in a political sense, Galatia came to mean this entire Roman province, which included these southern
regions. The southern regions were more ethnically mixed than the northern regions.
The case is strong that the assemblies to which Pauls letter was sent occupied the southern regions, and
were part of provincial, not ethnic Galatia. First of all, it was the custom of Paul to use the title of a Roman
province to describe an area and its inhabitants, rather than using the name of ethnic groups that lived there.
In addition to this, Scripture records several assemblies that were established in the southern region
Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. These assemblies were the fruit of Pauls first missionary trip; we will
be looking at that more closely today in the book of Acts. Scripture is silent regarding any churches being
established in the northern region, where the ethnic Galatians lived.
Finally, it would have been uncharacteristic of Paul to have gone to the region in the north. It would have
meant that he traveled across difficult terrain, along indirect routes with poor roads. Paul was inclined to
follow the direct routes of a region as you would expect of one who was unfamiliar with a given territory.
Also, Paul tended to evangelize the main cities of a region, as this would facilitate the spread of the gospel
you can see the Spirits leading in that. The main cities of the province of Galatia were along the direct
routes both of which are found in the south.
It is therefore safe to assume that Pauls letter was sent to the very assemblies in southern Galatia that are
described in Lukes account in the book of Acts. There may have been additional assemblies in other cities
nearby which received the letter, but which are not mentioned in Acts, but we can rely on the Scriptural
account to glean a general understanding of the people to whom Paul was writing, and their circumstances.
Turn to Acts chapter 13. It has been about a decade and a half since the death and resurrection of Jesus, and
the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Body of Christ in Jerusalem. Persecution eventually drove many
of the believers out of Jerusalem, principally those who were former Hellenist Jews those who originated
from a Greek culture.
Greek was the language of the empire, spoken by the vast majority of its inhabitants, in addition to their
native language. The Greek-speaking former Hellenist Jews became the evangelists, spreading the good
news of Jesus Christ wherever they were scattered by the persecution.
One of those places was Antioch in Syria, where many Gentiles came to believe in the Lord. The apostles
in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch in order to teach the new converts. Barnabas was a former Hellenist
Jew, who was well established with, and trusted by, the church in Jerusalem. He was a prophet and a
teacher.

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After working in Antioch for a short time, Barnabas realized that the work that the Spirit was doing there
was more than he could handle alone. So Barnabas went out to find someone who was uniquely suited for
working among new Gentile believers Saul, who later went by his Roman name - Paul.

We will be looking at Sauls story as we get into the account in Galatians, for Paul uses it to make a point to
those assemblies. For now, we will just say that Paul was a young Pharisee that had, with misplaced zeal,
severely persecuted those who believed in Jesus but after Jesus appeared personally to Paul, Paul became
one of His most devoted followers.
Pauls newfound zeal for Jesus found voice in Paul preaching the gospel, which caused his former Jewish
brethren to seek his death; and for quite a time, Paul had to take refuge in the city of Tarsus, the place of his
birth. It was in this area that Barnabas located Paul, and brought him back to Antioch to help in the work
there.
[Acts 13:1-5]
v. 1-3 The Holy Spirit spoke, most likely through one of the prophets in the assembly, indicating to them
that Barnabas and Saul (thats Paul) were to be separated to Him for a particular work to which He was
calling them. That work was a continuation of the charge that Jesus had given His disciples, to witness to
Him to the outermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).
It was the Holy Spirit who would do the sending, but first, the assembly must agree to release Barnabas and
Saul to Him, which they willingly do; a freewill offering to their Lord. The laying on of hands was a
symbolic gesture to show that these men were being set apart to this work; it also reflected that the
assembly in Antioch would be in the work with them, in support and prayer.
v. 4-5 You can see their course on your map. Cyprus was the ancestral home of Barnabas; but do you
suppose thats why they went there? No; they would have been following the leading of the Holy Spirit;
He would have revealed to them where to go. We see this borne out on later missionary journeys (Acts
16:6-10).
There were many Hellenist Jews on the island of Cyprus. In just the city of Salamis, there were apparently
several synagogues, and they preached the gospel in them. The Holy Spirit had given this pattern to Paul,
when he entered a new city: to begin preaching in the synagogues, since visiting Jews were invited to
participate in the exhortation of the assembly, following the reading of the Scriptures.
Paul would use this as an opportunity to share the gospel in the synagogue. This message would reach any
Jews who were willing to hear it, as well as God-fearers and proselytes. God-fearers were Gentiles who
followed the God of Israel, but had not been converted to Judaism, which required circumcision.
Proselytes were Gentiles who were full converts.
After Paul had preached in the synagogues, some Jews and Gentiles responded in faith to the message they
heard, and became believers. The Gentiles who believed gave Paul a platform from which to preach the
gospel to the pagan Gentiles in the community, as well. This approach gave Paul the opportunity to reach
as many in the city as possible, in the shortest time.

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Notice that John accompanied Barnabas and Paul as their assistant. This is John Mark, a close relative of
Barnabas; either a cousin, or more likely, his sisters son; his nephew. John Mark would one day write the
second gospel. Although he was not specifically commissioned by the Spirit for this work, you can be
certain that his inclusion had been submitted to the Lord in prayer. He was to be a helper to Barnabas and
Paul on their mission.

After their work in Salamis, the men traversed the island, to Paphos. There they were invited by the Roman
governor of the island to share their message with him. A Jewish sorcerer who had influence over the
governor withstood the missionaries. Through Paul, the Spirit brought a temporary blindness on the
sorcerer, and the governor became a believer through hearing the Word Paul taught, and seeing the Lords
power in the judgment on the sorcerer.
From Paphos, the missionary team set sail for the mainland of Asia Minor.
[Acts 13:13-14]
v. 13 So Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark left Paphos and sailed to Perga, which is in the Roman province of
Pamphylia, in Asia Minor. This marked their entrance into fully pagan Gentile territory.
Unlike Antioch in Syria and Cyprus, with their large Jewish populations, Jews were very much in the
minority in Perga, and most cities of Asia Minor. That fact was emphasized by the large pagan temple
marking the entrance to Perga, dedicated to the goddess Artemis, known as the queen of Perga.
It was at this point that John Mark departed from Paul and Barnabas, and returned to Jerusalem. A later
passage in the account makes it clear that John Mark was deserting the mission (Acts 15:38).
The most likely reason for his desertion was the Jewish aversion to contact with Gentiles, which rendered a
Jew ceremonially unclean. The presence of Jews in places where John Mark had previously ministered in
Antioch and Cyprus buffered his exposure to the Gentiles.
But in fully pagan Perga, John Mark discovered that, although he thought he had a heart for missions, he
lacked the faith to overcome his traditional prejudices against the Gentiles. We know that this was only a
temporary failure; eventually, John Mark grew in his faith, and would prove useful on the Gentile mission
field (2 Tim 4:11). Meanwhile, Paul and Barnabas were compelled to carry out the mission on their own.
v. 14 Now, the way this is worded makes it sound like they just went from one town to the next; but in fact,
they went into the next province, north of Pamphylia, in the region of Phrygia. This was Paul and
Barnabas first incursion into the province of Galatia.
The journey was arduous. The word for depart in this verse means to pass through. Paul and
Barnabas passed through a range of mountains to reach Pisidian Antioch (not to be confused with Syrian
Antioch, from which they originated).
Pisidian Antioch was in the lake district of the Taurus mountains, about 100 miles and 4000 feet in
elevation above Perga. The men would have undoubtedly taken the Roman military road to get there, the
Via Augusta. The journey would have taken them at least a week or more.

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Pisidian Antioch was a very cosmopolitan city. It had a predominant native population of Galatians (Celtic
heritage), as well as native Phrygians, Greeks, Jews and also Romans quite a mixture. From the account,
it sounds as though there was just a single synagogue in the city, which would suggest that the Jewish
population in Pisidian Antioch was small; but as we shall see, they were influential. This appears to be the
first Galatian city where Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel.

In Pauls letter to the Galatian assemblies, he says to them that they know that it was because of physical
infirmity that he preached the gospel to them at the first (Gal 4:13). This would suggest that Paul may have
contracted a debilitating illness in the low-lying area of Perga, and sought out the healthier, cooler climate
of the lake region to aid his recuperation. It was through the circumstance of this trial in Pauls flesh that
the Holy Spirit brought the gospel to the Galatians.
Paul and Barnabas followed their usual pattern, preaching at first in the synagogue. Paul used the
opportunity given to exhort the assembly to share with the Jews and Gentiles in attendance the good news
of Jesus being Israels Messiah.
In Lukes summary of his words, we see that Paul showed how Jesus was the fulfillment of Israels
Scriptures, specifically showing Him forth as the promised seed of David whose kingdom will be
established forever (2 Sam 7:12-13).
But, Paul pointed out, this King would bring more than physical deliverance to Israel; He would deliver
them from their sins. Jesus is the Savior the one, and only one, who can justify those who are willing to
come to Him, believing. I want to read with you some of Pauls final words to this assembly in the
synagogue.
[Acts 13:38-39] By the Spirit, Paul spoke these words on his first occasion in Galatia. It is remarkable that
he summed up his address to them on the note of forgiveness of sins; of being justified by faith in Jesus as
they could never be justified by trying to keep the Law of Moses.
To be justified is to be declared righteous; it is to be freed from all charges of sin and guilt. From the
earliest time, then, the Spirit was revealing to these people in Galatia both Jew and Gentile listeners here
that they cannot be justified by the works of the Law.
This is precisely the thought of which the false teachers will try to persuade the Gentile believers in Galatia
after Pauls departure that they not only can, but they must practice the works of the Law, and be
circumcised, in order to be justified before the Lord.
After Paul quotes a warning from Scripture concerning those who despise the work of God, we read of the
response of the people to Pauls words.
[Acts 42-52]

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v. 42-43 These Gentiles would be the God-fearers and proselytes in attendance at the synagogue. Paul
encouraged those with an interest to keep on coming, keep on believing until they pass from death to Life
everlasting.
v. 44 The whole city here is referring to the Gentiles of the city the majority population of Pisidian
Antioch. They gathered at the synagogue, where Paul had spoken the previous week.
v. 45 The Jews were envious because they viewed the Gentiles as their mission field even though they
always thought of the Gentiles as inferior to themselves. Here were the Gentiles of their city flocking to
the synagogue, not to learn about Judaism, but to hear some sensationalist message about yet another false
Messiah so they had made up their minds.

This was more than the Jews could bear. The response of the Gentiles caused the Jews to harden their
hearts all the more to the gospel, and they blasphemed the Savior of whom Paul spoke Jesus
contradicting Pauls claim that Jesus was Israels Messiah.
v. 46-47 What Paul was saying is that, in rejecting their Messiah, the Jews were pronouncing judgment on
themselves. As the Jews would not receive the light, the missionaries would hold the light out to the
Gentiles who would receive it.
v. 48-49 So the gospel spread through the Gentiles into the surrounding region.
v. 50-52 The Jews managed to use their influence to get the Gentile administration to cast out Paul and
Barnabas from the city. But the light of the gospel was retained by those Gentiles who believed, and they
could then hold it forth to others in their city, to share their Good News.
The sense here is that not many of the Jews in Pisidian Antioch believed into Jesus as their Messiah; the
vast majority of believers were Gentiles. But the unbelieving Jews did respond to the gospel; they actively
opposed it, raising up persecution against Paul and Barnabas.
This would become a regular pattern in most cities that Paul evangelized. And once the missionaries left,
what do you suppose would have happened to those few Jews and many Gentiles who had placed their faith
in Jesus as their Messiah? The persecution would turn on them as we saw it did at Thessalonica (1 Th
1:6, 2:14-15, 3:3-4; 2 Th 1:4-7).
Meanwhile, Paul and Barnabas walked another 80 miles or so to the southeast, where they came to the
Galatian city of Iconium. This was a smaller city than Pisidian Antioch, and less cosmopolitan, but with
the same melting-pot of cultures: Galatians (Celts), the native Phrygians, Greeks, Jews and Romans.
[Acts 14:1-6]
v. 1-3 Following their usual pattern, Paul and Barnabas located the synagogue in Iconium and shared the
Good News of Jesus Christ. A great multitude believed in Iconium both Jews and Gentiles. Meanwhile,
those Jews who did not believe stirred up the unbelieving Gentiles against these new believers. But this did
not cause Paul and Barnabas to leave; instead, the Lord added power to their witness, by enabling them to
do miracles before the people signs and wonders.

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v. 4-6 The gospel continued to polarize this city, until the unbelievers resorted to violence, plotting to stone
Paul and Barnabas to death. Hearing of the plot, the missionaries departed from the city, continuing to the
southwest this time, to Lystra only about 20 miles from Iconium.
Now, Lystra was even less cosmopolitan than Iconium; it might more properly be called a town. But it was
considered the sister city of Pisidian Antioch, in that both were Roman colonies.
It seems that Paul and Barnabas preached in public in Lystra, perhaps in the marketplace. Apparently,
there was no synagogue in Lystra, indicating that the Jewish population there was either very small or nonexistent. This would be the first purely Gentile city to hear the gospel.
Paul miraculously healed a man who was lame from birth, which prompted the crowd that had gathered to
chatter with excitement in their local dialect, the Lycaonian language.

Paul and Barnabas couldnt understand them, but as someone began to translate what was being said into
the Greek language, the missionaries were horrified to learn that the Lystrans thought they were gods
Barnabas was Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, the Greek messenger god thats because Paul was the one
speaking. Not only that, but the Lystrans intended to offer sacrifices to them.
Paul and Barnabas ran among the people, tearing their clothes to show their distress over what they were
doing, and then proceeded to address them in the Greek, telling them of the living God, who was
responsible for the miraculous healing they had just witnessed. It is interesting to note the more general
nature of their message, to this purely Gentile audience.
While Paul and Barnabas tried to restrain the crowd with their words, another factor came into play which
served to destabilize the multitudes instead. Some of the unbelieving Jews came down from Antioch and
Iconium. They took advantage of the emotionally charged crowd and redirected their misplaced religious
zeal into an act of violence against Paul.
One moment they wanted to worship Paul; the next, they stoned him, and dragged him out of the city,
leaving him for dead. If there was ever a need for proof that one must be cautious in trusting emotional
responses, it can be found here!
Well, Paul was not dead, much to the relief of his companions; and after a night of recuperation in the city,
he and Barnabas left Lystra, knowing that there could be no further ministry there at this time. Still, Paul
and Barnabas had made disciples in that city; it was these disciples who gathered around the seemingly
dead body of Paul, after he was stoned (Acts 14:20).
One of these disciples was the lame man, who had been healed. Two others were a mother and her
daughter, whose son would later join Paul, on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-2, 2 Tim 1:5). And
who is that? Timothy. But for now, the missionaries had to part from these new disciples, leaving them
behind in that hostile environment.
Paul and Barnabas continued another 60 miles or so to the southeast until they came to the town of Derbe.
There is no record of the missionaries preaching in a synagogue there; perhaps this was another purely
Gentilic town, like Lystra.

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But unlike Lystra, the unbelieving Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium did not follow the missionaries
to that city; thats because they probably thought Paul was killed when he was stoned in Lystra.
Apparently, the gospel did not encounter any opposition worth noting at Derbe, and the missionaries made
many disciples there. After the missionaries had thoroughly evangelized Derbe, they retraced their steps,
revisiting the cities they had passed through.
[Acts 14:21-28]
v. 21-23 So Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, where Paul had been stoned, and left for dead; and then
back to Iconium, where both Paul and Barnabas were almost stoned; and back also to Pisidian Antioch,
where they had been run out of town. They did this within months of when they had been so fiercely
persecuted in these cities. Why?
Because they understood that it was vital that they strengthen the disciples who had just placed their faith in
Jesus, even if it put them in personal danger which it did.

How do you think they strengthened the believers? By continuing to teach them the Word of God so that
they had a strong foundation in the faith. They also told the new believers that tribulations were to be
expected; this suggests that they had already begun to experience persecution at the hands of the
unbelieving Jews in their cities, and maybe even the Gentiles.
But Paul wanted them to know that those persecutions were a trial of their faith, a proving that they were
worthy to enter the kingdom of God (2 Thes 1:5). This put tribulation in right perspective for them; for the
believer, tribulations can serve to strengthen faith (2 Thes 1:4).
With the disciples in each city, Paul and Barnabas spent time in prayer and fasting to know the will of God
for that assembly. The elders appointed were the Lords appointments, as He showed which men had the
wisdom, patience and humility to teach, guide and nurture the new assembly under His direction. Finally,
Paul and Barnabas placed each assembly into the hands of the Lord as they departed, trusting them into His
care.
v. 24-28 This first missionary journey had taken about a year to complete. Paul and Barnabas remained in
Antioch an additional year before they set out again on separate trips.
[Return to Galatians]
It was during that year in Antioch that some Jews came down from Jerusalem and tried to suggest to the
Gentile believers there that they needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. This caused Paul, Barnabas
and several other brethren from Antioch to go up to Jerusalem to discuss the issue with the assembly there,
and come to a resolution about the basis for salvation (Acts 15).
Now, Paul will be discussing this episode in his letter to the Galatian assemblies. What I wanted you to
realize is that this incident gives us a marker for when the letter to the Galatians was written; in fact, there
are several markers, which help us to see when Paul may have written this letter.
Is this a critical thing to know? Not critical, but helpful. We gain a greater understanding of the
circumstances under which the letter was written by Paul, and the condition in the assemblies to which it
was written.

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As we have established that the letter was intended for these assemblies in the south of the province of
Galatia, the letter clearly would have been sent after Paul completed his first missionary trip there, and had
passed back through the assemblies, visiting them a second time.
It also would have to have been sent after the discussion in Jerusalem about the basis of salvation, because
Paul writes about this discussion (Gal 2:1-10). He then writes about a later incident involving Peter, which
tells us that the letter was written after that occurred, in Antioch.
So we understand that the letter was written after the first missionary trip; but could it have been written
after the second or third trips? Paul will pass through Galatia on these trips, as well. Again, we find clues
in the letter to the Galatians.
There are only two people whom Paul mentions in this letter, who had accompanied him at some time on
his missionary journeys Barnabas and Titus. From the context, it would seem that the Galatians do not
know Titus; Paul mentions that Titus is a Greek, here meaning a Gentile (Gal 2:3), something that, if they
knew him, the Galatians would have been sure to already know.
But unlike Titus, it is clear that Paul expects the Galatians to know who Barnabas is, in his letter. And of
course, they do, because he was with Paul when he established those assemblies.
During Pauls second trip, Timothy became part of the missionary team. Timothy was from Lystra, in
Galatia. He also accompanied Paul on his third trip. If Paul was writing the letter after he visited the
Galatians the second or third time, he could not neglect to mention Timothy to them, whom they would
know. As a fellow Galatian, Paul could not possibly fail to write of him. Yet there is no mention of
Timothy in the letter.
Nor is there any mention of Silas, who accompanied Paul on his second trip, and would have been a
familiar figure to the Galatians. What this infers is that the letter was almost surely written before Paul left
on his second missionary trip; this means he would have written it from Antioch.
Pauls opening words in the body of this letter are, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him
who called you in the grace of Christ (Gal 1:6). The Galatians turned away so soon, because the false
teachers came so soon after Pauls first departure the enemy ever so quickly sowed his tares amidst the
wheat, to ruin the harvest.
But Paul must have received this bad news about the Galatian assemblies after the letter drafted by the
Jerusalem assembly. Why? Because the Galatians are not mentioned in the prescript of that letter. Turn
back to Acts chapter 15.
[Acts 15:23] This letter would have been addressed to all of the brethren where it was known that this false
teaching was being disseminated in Antioch, which is in Lukes account; and apparently, in the
assemblies in Syria and Cilicia also. If it were known at the time that the Galatians were also experiencing
the problem, they would be in this prescript, as it personalizes the message to them, giving it added
authority.
What this means is that Paul only got word concerning the corruption of the Galatian assemblies after the
conclusion of the meeting in Jerusalem, when Paul had returned to Antioch. This would also help to
explain the note of urgency in his letter.

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But why didnt Paul just quickly arrange to go to Galatia himself, and straighten out the problem,
personally? It would not have been expedient to do this quickly. Paul had other assemblies that were
subject to the same false teaching, beginning with Antioch, followed by the assemblies in Syria and Cilicia,
before he could get to Galatia.
In all of these places, Paul needed to refute the false teaching and reestablish the true basis of salvation.
This would take time; and so Paul sent a letter on ahead of his arrival to the Galatian assemblies, hoping to
stay the corruption which had come into their midst.
This dates the letter right after the meeting in Jerusalem, at about 49-50 AD. This means that the letter to
the Galatians may in fact be Pauls earliest letter in Scripture even earlier that those to the Thessalonians.
The exact date is not especially important, but the timing gives us more of an understanding of the
circumstances surrounding the letter.
Look again in Acts 15. This is what transpired after the meeting in Jerusalem.

[Acts 15:30-33]
v. 30 They Paul and Barnabas, with other brethren from Antioch.
v. 31 The letter showed that the brethren in Jerusalem agreed with Paul and Barnabas that salvation is by
faith in Jesus alone, and that it was unnecessary for the Gentiles to be circumcised or keep the Law. They
merely needed to abstain from conduct that would offend their Jewish brethren.
v. 32-33 Judas and Silas were leading men from the assembly in Jerusalem, sent to reinforce the fact that
the Jewish brethren in Jerusalem fully supported this decision.
Verse 34 is not in the best manuscripts. Silas returned to Jerusalem with Judas.
v. 35 Paul and Barnabas spent time reinforcing the teaching.
v. 36 Now they will take the letter from the brethren in Jerusalem on the road, and strengthen the other
assemblies.
v. 37-40 Barnabas and Paul split up at this point, in a contention over John Mark. After Barnabas left with
John Mark, Paul chose Silas for his second missionary journey.
v. 41; 16:4-5 So as Paul went through Syria, Cilicia, and Galatia, he read the letter from that meeting in
Jerusalem, and strengthened the believers in the Word of God, so that they became established in the faith
a faith based on salvation by Jesus Christ alone.
Now that we have filled in the picture a little bit on Pauls letter to this assembly, we can begin to read the
actual letter next week.
Read Galatians letter; Acts 8:1-4, 9:1-30, 11:19-26.

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