The Epistle to the Galatians is my epistle, to which I am betrothed.
It is my Katie von Bora.
-Martin Luther, at table
Luther wasn’t one to mince words, and he has many insights to share with us in his 1535 lectures on Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. Although Paul’s epistle is only 6 chapters long, it wonderfully explains how we become righteous in God’s sight by grace through faith. When speaking of our salvation, we do not perform, but receive; we do not have, but accept. In modern words:
The difference between other religions and Christianity is the difference between “do” and “done.”
In Luther’s day, the Catholic church had wandered from the acceptance of God’s free salvation, to a doctrine of accumulation of merits to earn God’s favor. For that reason, when Luther read Paul’s denunciation of the Judaizers (teachers who demanded that in addition to belief in Christ, Christians also needed to follow the Mosaic Law), it spoke to him powerfully. He gave a series of lectures on Galatians in 1519 and in 1531. The 1531 lectures were published four years later, and Luther considered it the best of his writings. In contrast to Paul’s 6 short chapters of Galatians, Luther’s commentary is about 600 pages long!
Please join us as we study Paul’s letter and (selections from) Luther’s commentary on Sunday mornings, beginning in January and finishing by April. Discover with us what made this letter Luther’s favorite… And what does God have to say to you through Paul’s letter today?
