К Галатам послание Апостола Павла

Galatia is a Roman province in Asia Minor. The Christian church in Galatia was founded by the Apostle Paul, apparently around 51 A.D., during his second journey (Acts 16:6). Three years later, during his third journey, he visited Galatia, confirming the disciples. The first time he preached, he was seriously ill, but he met with a warm reception and aroused heartfelt devotion in his disciples (Gal. 4:13-15). But after his departure, they began to cool little by little, and rumors reached him that new teachers from Jerusalem were seducing them, convincing them to be circumcised and keep the Jewish Law. It was dangerous that, under the influence of such a teaching, the new faith in Christ in spirit would not turn into a confusion of Christianity with Judaism. The Epistle to the Galatians was written with this fear. Paul is an Apostle, not from men and not through man, but from Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead. And all the brethren who are here with me, to the churches of Galatia. Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ gave Himself for our sins. according to the will of our God and Father, may he deliver us from the present evil age. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. I am surprised that you are so quickly moving from the one who called you by the grace of Christ to a different gospel. It is not different, only there are people who confuse you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But if we, or an angel from heaven, began to preach to you something other than what we preached to you, let him be excommunicated (anathema). As we said before, so now I will say: if anyone preaches to you anything other than what you have accepted, let him be anathema. Am I speaking straight to men now or to God? Or maybe I don’t want to please people? But even if I still pleased people now, I would not be a servant of Christ. The Special Calling of an Apostle And again I will tell you, brethren, the Gospel, that I did not preach the gospel according to man, for I received it and learned it, not from man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Have you heard about my former life in Judaism, that I cruelly persecuted the Church of God and destroyed it. And he succeeded in Judaism more than many of his peers in my family, being an immense zealot of my fatherly traditions. When God was pleased, who chose me from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach His gospel to the Gentiles, I did not then seek advice from flesh and blood (people) and did not go to Jerusalem to the Apostles who were before me, but went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then, three years later, he went to Jerusalem to see Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days; I saw no other of the Apostles except James, the brother of the Lord. And what I write to you, I say before God, I do not lie. Then I went to the countries of Syria and Cilicia. My face was unknown to the churches of Christ in Judea; They only heard that those who once persecuted us are now preaching the faith that they previously destroyed, Chapter 2. His independent activities Then, fourteen years later, I went to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, taking Titus with me. I walked by revelation and offered the Apostles the gospel that I preach to the pagans; especially the most significant of them - am I somehow struggling or struggling in vain? But Titus, who was with me, although a Greek, was not forced to be circumcised. False brothers crept in here, coming to spy on our freedom, which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us; but we did not yield or submit for an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved among you. And those who consider themselves famous - no matter what they once were, I don’t see any discord with myself in them - God does not look at a person’s face; but they didn’t put anything on me either. On the contrary, they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, as Peter was to the circumcision: After all, He who favored Peter to be an apostle to the circumcised also gave me grace to be in tongues. Thus, recognizing the grace given to me, James and Cephas and John, venerated as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the tongues, and they to the circumcision. If only we remembered the poor, which I always did with zeal. But when Peter came to Antioch, I confronted him in person, because he was subject to reproach. For before certain men came from Jacob, he ate with the foreigners; and when they arrived, he began to hide and went away, fearing the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews were hypocrites along with him, so that Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not walking upright in the truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in front of everyone: if you, being a Jew, live like a pagan and not like a Jew, then how do you force the pagans to live like a Jew? We are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the tongues. But having seen that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ, we also have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh will be justified. If, in striving to be justified in Christ, we ourselves turned out to be sinners, then what? and is not Christ the servant of sin? no it won't. But if I have ruined something, then I create it again, showing myself as a criminal. Through the law I died to the law, that I might live to God; I was crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and what I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not reject the grace of God; if righteousness comes from the law, then Christ died in vain. O foolish Galatians! Who deceived you not to obey the truth, when Christ was depicted before your eyes, as if crucified among you? I want to know this one thing from you: whether you received the Spirit from the works of the law, or from the instruction of faith. Are you so foolish that, having begun by the Spirit, you are now ending in the flesh? Have you really experienced so much in vain? And is it just in vain? Who gives you the Spirit and works in you, whether by works of the law or by hearing faith? Heirs by faith, not by law As it is written, Abraham “believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15). Know, then, those who are of faith, these are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the tongues through faith, preached ahead to Abraham: “all nations will be blessed because of you” (Gen. 12). Therefore those who are of faith will be blessed with faithful Abraham. And those who are from the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the precepts of the books of the law, fulfilling everything” (Deut. 27). And that by works of the law no one will be justified before God is clear, because “the righteous shall live by faith” (Hab. 2). The law is not of faith. The law says: whoever fulfills these commandments will live in them (Lev.18). Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Deut. 21). Let the blessing of Abraham be in all languages ​​in Christ Jesus, so that we may receive the promise of the Spirit by faith. Brethren! I will say in the image of man: no one cancels a will approved by man or adds to it. Promises were given to Abraham and to his seed. It is not said: “and to the seeds,” as if about many, but as about one: “and to your seed,” Who is Christ (Gen. 12). This is what I say, that the law that came four hundred and thirty years later could not abrogate the covenant that God had established in Christ, so that the promise would be abolished, For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no longer from the promise; Abraham was rewarded by God through a promise. What is the law for? He was pre-established against the wickedness of men 33 until the seed to whom the promise was given came, and was given through angels, by the hand of a mediator. There is no mediator with one, but God is one. So the law is contrary to the promises of God? It won't happen. If a law had been given that could give life, then indeed righteousness would come from the law. But the Scripture has concluded all under sin, so that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe. And before the coming of faith, we were imprisoned and regulated by the law until the predestinated revelation of faith. And so the law was for us as a teacher in Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. And when faith came, we were no longer under a teacher. But through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus. All of you, because you were baptized into Christ, and put on Christ. Here there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, but all are one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. I will also say: as long as the heir is young, he will not differ in anything from the slave, although he is the master of all. But he is under guardians and stewards until his father's appointment. So we too, while we were young, were enslaved to the elements of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His only begotten Son, born of a woman, who was under the law, that he may redeem those under the law, that we may receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ. But then, not knowing God, you served imaginary, non-existent gods. Now, having known God, or, moreover, Having been known by God, how do you turn again to the powerless and poor elements, and again want to enslave them? And you sort out the days and months and deadlines. I am afraid for you, whether I worked for you in vain. Be like me, for I am like you. Brethren, I pray to you: you have not offended me in any way. You yourselves know that when I first preached the gospel to you, I was in the weakness of the flesh, and you did not despise my trial in my flesh, and did not reject me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What did your happiness mean at that time? I testify about you that, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. Did I really become your enemy because I told you the truth? They are not jealous of you for the good, but they want to give you credit so that you will be jealous of them. It is good to be jealous of good things always, and not only when I am with you. My children! Here I am again in the throes of birth for you, until Christ is imagined in you. I wish I could be with you now and change my voice, because I am perplexed about you. Allegory of Law and Gospel Tell me, you who want to be under the law - do you not listen to the law? It is written that Abraham had two sons: one from a slave, the other from a free woman. (Gen.16). But whoever is of a bondwoman is born according to the flesh, and whoever is of a freewoman is born according to promise. Everything here is allegorical. These two are two covenants: one from Mount Sinai, giving birth to slavery, this is Hagar. For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and is compared to the present Jerusalem: he slaves with all his children. And Jerusalem above is free; he is the mother of us all. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who beareth no child; Shout and cry, O you who have no sick children: the lonely woman has many children, more than the one who has a husband” (Is. 54). We, brothers, according to Isaac, are the promises of a child. But just as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was according to the Spirit, so it is now. But what does Scripture say: “Cast out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will not inherit with the son of the free woman” (Gen. 21). And we, brothers, are not slaves, but free. Chapter 5. Christian Freedom Therefore, stand in the freedom into which Christ has set us free, and do not put upon yourselves the yoke of slavery again. Hear, I, Paul, tell you: if you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. Again I testify to every person who is circumcised that he is obligated to fulfill the whole law. All of you who justify yourselves by the law are alienated from Christ; you fall from grace. And we in spirit long for the hope of justification—from faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision can do anything, but faith driven by love. You walked well: who stopped you from not submitting to the truth? This delay is not from Him who called you. A small starter ferments the entire solution. I have confidence in you in the Lord that you too will think no differently, and whoever troubles you, no matter who he is, will suffer condemnation. But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do we also persecute me? This would eliminate the temptation of the cross. Oh, that those who trouble you would be removed! You, brothers, have been called into freedom. Only your freedom is not to indulge the flesh, but so that you serve each other out of love. And the whole fullness of the law is in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev.19). If you gnaw and devour each other, be careful that you do not destroy each other. Life according to the spirit and the fruits of the spirit I tell you, walk in the Spirit, and you will not do the will of the flesh. The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: they oppose each other, so that you do not do what you want. If you are led by the spirit, then you are not under the law. The works of the flesh are known; they are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, jealousies, envy, anger, intrigues, strife, schisms, hatred, murder, drunkenness, riotous feasting, and the like. I warn you about this, as I told you before, that whoever does such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control: there is no law against such. And those who belong to Christ crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live by the spirit, then we must walk by the spirit in our deeds. Let's not be vain, irritate each other, envy each other. Brethren, if a person falls into any sin, you who are spiritual, correct him with the spirit of meekness, looking after yourself, lest you too fall into temptation. Bear each other’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks to be something while being nothing, he deceives himself. Each one test his own work, and then he will have his praise only in himself, and not before others: each one will bear his own burden. He who learns the word, let him give fellowship to the student in all his benefits. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. He who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; and whoever sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good: in due time we will reap, so long as we do not become weak. So, while we have time, let us do good to everyone, and especially to our own by faith. You see how much I wrote to you with my own hand. Those who want beauty according to the flesh force you to be circumcised. just so that they do not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. And those who are circumcised do not keep the law, but want you to be circumcised so that they can boast in your flesh. Let me not boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: by the cross the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision means anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And whoever follows this rule, peace and mercy will be on them and on the Israel of God. However, no one should trouble me, for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus on my body. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. The words of the Slavic text “for the sake of crimes” are not clear. When you hear the word crime, you ask: crime of what? not a law, because it did not exist yet, and the law was given for the sake of a former “crime”. One must think that, of course, a violation of conscience, evil deeds, wickedness. Wed. Rom.2:14–15. You might be interested in: