a)  Paul was writing to the Galatians in order to scold them, and correct them in their behavior and change in belief. Apparently someone else came to them preaching a contrary message to Paul’s, and Paul is “astonished” at this (1:6). Paul then goes on to defend his own authority as a true apostle, and as one who stayed with the true faith during another time of disagreement within the church in the past, which involved a similar argument over the importance of circumcision. He recounts this episode in (2:11-14). In (4: 9-11), it seems that Paul is also admonishing the Galatians for “observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years”, by which he means their observance of the Jewish calendar, as explained in the footnote. In (4:17), we learn that the Galatians are being “excluded” by these new apostles, who are refusing to eat with those Christians who do not observe the Jewish law. Another detail we learn from (6:13) is that these new apostles want the Galatian men to be circumcised. So basically, Paul’s letter to the Galatians is to reprimand them for being so easily led astray by other missionaries, who tell the Galatians they need to follow Jewish law in order to please God, which includes getting circumcised for the males. However, Paul firmly impresses upon them that their special position as the children of Christ, through the power of their faith, exempts them from the confusing and impossible Jewish law, for “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” (5:18).

b) In (1:6-9), after a nice introduction in which he wishes grace and peace upon the recipients of the letter, Paul expresses astonishment at the Galatians for “deserting the one who called [them] in the grace of Christ”. He then says that if anyone, even an angel, should proclaim to them a gospel contrary to the one he first preached them, then that person or angel is cursed. With this powerful message, Paul is trying to impress upon the Galatians that he is the authentic messenger of Christ, that he came to them with the correct teaching of Jesus first, and that what he taught is all that there is to be accepted. If anyone else comes in contradiction to Paul’s original gospel, then surely they are not from God.

c)   Paul defends his status as an apostle by declaring his history—how at first he zealously upheld the Jewish law and tried to destroy the Christian movement, but then was called through God’s grace to know the truth about God’s son (Jesus), and to take on the role of spreading his message. He even says that his role as God’s chosen missionary was appointed to him before he was born, that it was his pre-ordained mission in life (1:15). Paul states that his position is unique because he did not receive the gospel from any human origin (like those who are trying to mislead the Galatians), but he received it “through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:12). So Paul’s main point in this letter is that the Galatians should listen to him, not those missionaries trying to get them to follow Jewish law, because his authority is not from human origin, like the authority of those Jewish missionaries, who only rely on law and have no faith or spirit in them. Paul’s authority does not come from this dead law, but from the living Spirit of God, which was appointed to him specially by divine revelation, and therefore, what he says supersedes any written law.