Galatians 5:19-21 (Zerwick-Grosvenor Notes)

Greek: φανερὰ δέ ἐστιν τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκός, ἅτινά ἐστιν πορνεία, ἀκαθαρσία, ἀσέλγεια, 20 εἰδωλολατρία, φαρμακεία, ἔχθραι, ἔρις, ζῆλος, θυμοί, ἐριθεῖαι, διχοστασίαι, αἱρέσεις, 21 φθόνοι, μέθαι, κῶμοι, καὶ τὰ ὅμοια τούτοις, ἃ προλέγω ὑμῖν καθὼς προεῖπον ὅτι οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα πράσσοντες βασιλείαν θεοῦ οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν. (SBLGNT)

Galatians 2:11-14 ( Adaptation of a Talk)

What lessons can we learn from Paul's inspired letter to the Galatians?

Read Galatians 2:11-13.

Did you notice why Peter refused to associate with his gentile brothers when circumcised Christians were around? Peter trembled at men, thereby giving way to the snare mentioned in Prov. 29:25. Despite his firsthand knowledge of Jehovah’s thinking on the matter, Peter feared the opinion of circumcised Jewish brothers from Jerusalem (men from James). So Paul resisted him face-to-face (κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῷ ἀντέστην). What possibly accounted for Peter's fear of the men from James?

Ronald Y.K. Fung offers this suggestion:

Peter's "fear" may have been no more than a genuine concern lest he, who was head of the "home mission" work of the Jerusalem church (cf. 2:7), should appear to be (and be reported as) apostatizing from Judaism and thus prove a stumbling-block to those whom he was seeking to evangelize. But the actual term used ("he was afraid"; phoboumenos) suggests a rather stronger emotional reaction and makes it plausible that there was more to the message from James than was suggested above: if that message had also appealed to Peter's concern for the physical safety of the Jewish Christian churches in Judea, which were already in considerable jeopardy from nonChristian Jews (cf. 5:11; 6:12) as a result of the increasing rumors of Jewish Christian fraternizing with uncircumcised Gentiles in Antioch and Galatia, this would provide further explanation for Peter's behavior.

Whatever caused Peter's fear, Paul felt the need to correct Peter because he avoided the non-Jewish brothers when the circumcised brothers were around. How would Peter respond to Paul's strong counsel?

Please notice Galatians 2:14

Although Peter demonstrated the fear of man sometimes, he never forsook Jehovah or Jesus. For example, Peter publicly denied his Master, not just once, but three times. (Luke 22:54-62) Later, Simon Peter treated gentile Christians as if they were somehow less than circumcised Jewish Christians. But the apostle Paul did not tolerate such class distinctions in the congregation (compare James 2:1-4). Before Peter's conduct could spoil the brotherhood, Paul summoned up the necessary boldness to counsel Peter directly, that is, face-to-face--and he counseled Peter in front of all the brothers at Antioch. (Gal. 2:11-14)

How did Peter respond to Paul's strong rebuke? Did he take offense and decide to quit being a Christian?

We know that Peter seriously considered Paul’s counsel, applied it, and kept running in the race for life. See Proverbs 19:20. May we imitate his fine example.

Galatians 4:6-Potential Readings

Ὅτι δέ ἐστε υἱοί, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν κρᾶζον· αββα ὁ πατήρ. (Galatians 4:6 NA28)

"And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" (ESV)

Ὅτι δέ ἐστε υἱοί ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν κρᾶζον Αββα ὁ πατήρ (TR)

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (KJV)

Hence, should the verse read "our hearts" or "your hearts"?

Douglas J. Moo explains:

"The one variant worthy of comment in this verse is the variation in pronoun after εἰς τὰς καρδίας. This variant is one of the more common ones found in the NT, the difference being of only one letter, with both pronouns often making perfectly good contextual sense. The earliest and best MSS (𝔓⁴⁶ א B et al.) read the first-person plural ἡμῶν, 'into our hearts.' But other MSS (𝔐 along with D², Ψ, 33) have the second-person plural ὑμῶν, 'into your hearts.' In addition to having the stronger external support, the former reading, because it involves a shift in person in midverse—'because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts'—is the more difficult reading. It is rather clear, then, that it should be preferred (Metzger 1994: 526; for the contrary opinion, see Witherington 1998: 289–90)."

See Moo, Galatians, 519-520.

P46 just states that God has sent "his spirit into our hearts." It omits τοῦ υἱοῦ. See Howard Eshbaugh, "Textual Variants and Theology: A Study of the Galatians Text of Papyrus 46," JSNT 3 (1979): 60-72.

The potential date for P46 is ca. 200-225 CE.

See http://www.bible-researcher.com/links19.html

The link above contains images of P46.