THREE POEMS ON GALATIANS 1:1-2

Lectionary Passage: Galatians 1:1-2 - Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the members of God’s family who are with me, 
To the churches of Galatia:

PAUL:  TO THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA

Of the books in the New Testament whose authorship is sure                        
there is none about which Bible
        students can feel more secure
than Paul’s Letter to the Churches of Galatia, in which he
is defensive, confrontational, as only Paul can be.
It is personal and autobiographical as well,
and it coincides with what Acts and Paul’s other writings tell,
with no language or historical or time discrepancy
to discredit or cast doubt upon its authenticity.

SENT BY CHRIST

An apostle is “one who is sent.”
        Very clearly it was Paul’s intent
to make clear at the start that his mission
        was from Christ —not a human commission.
The Galatians could be assured
        Paul’s authority was from the Lord.
Would that all those who speak in Christ’s name
       could as truthfully make such a claim!

WHICH GALATIA?

Paul’s authorship is not the issue of this letter, though,
there is a question as to whom the letter was to go.
To the churches of Galatia the letter is addressed,
and scholars differ as to which one better meets their test.
There was a geographic territory by that name
in the north of Asia Minor, and a province called the same
by the Romans, which was farther south, and modern scholars say
it’s the latter one that Paul was likely writing to, and they
mention towns and cities to which Paul and Barnabas had come
in that region, such as Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium,
most likely on Paul’s “missionary journey number one.”
The South Galatia theory wins, when all is said and done.