Galatians 1

If righteousness could have been attained by our good deeds and obedience to the Law Jesus Christ would not have died. It would not have been necessary for God to use His own right arm, His only begotten Son, all God and all man to give His sinless life in exchange for ours. We are incapable of saving ourselves; we are incapable of changing ourselves into the image of His Son that He sees in those who place their trust in Him. In His agape love, His mercy and His grace He looked down on His creation and provided a way in Christ Jesus to receive redemption and the power to be changed precept upon precept into the temple of the Holy Spirit.
To God be all the glory, honor and praise.

Galatians 1

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Only One Gospel

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Call to Apostleship

11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Contacts at Jerusalem

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. 20 (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)

21 Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. 23 But they were hearing only, "He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy." 24 And they glorified God in me

The NKJV Study Bible says this: Paul calls himself an apostle to assert his divinely given authority to speak to the problem confronting the Galatian churches. Through Jesus Christ and God the Father refers to Paul's unique call to be an apostle, which came to him at the same time as his salvation on the road to Damascus. Galatians is a circular letter, intended for several churches. Paul commonly combines the two ideas of grace and peace in the introductions of his letters. The true message of salvation is based solely on God's grace received by faith, and it provides peace with God. Christ's death is for you. Christ "has delivered us from the power of darkness" into His kingdom. The Galatians had unwittingly fallen for a different message, one which was not another true message of salvation at all. Those causing the trouble were guilty of seeking to pervert the gospel of Christ, not to present a better alternative. To please men was neither Paul's motivation nor the source of his authority. Paul continually sought the approval of God. He did not base his decisions on the opinions of other people. Instead he single-mindedly aimed at pleasing God. As an apostle Paul was a leader, but he was always a bondservant of Christ. There was no human creativity flavoring the gospel Paul preached. Paul knew it only because he received it by special revelation from Jesus Christ at his conversion. Paul's conduct before his conversion had greatly distinguished him in Judaism in two ways: (1) He painstakingly kept the law and traditions, certainly more so than the Judaizers in Galatia. (2) He persecuted the church of God in order to destroy it, doing so under the authority of Jewish religious leaders. Paul relates that God had chosen him to be an apostle before his birth. Paul, like the Judaizers in Galatia, had previously tried to earn his salvation by works. However, his apostolic call and conversion both came through God's grace, His undeserved favor. Paul's "revelation of Jesus Christ" enabled him to see that Christ was God's Son, the sole object of our faith, and the unique source of oneness of all believers—whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female. Paul received his knowledge by special revelation. Paul was thus an independent witness to the gospel; and although he had received no instructions directly from the apostles but only from the Holy Spirit, his teachings agreed with theirs.