Galatians 1:6-7 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ for a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
Most typical letters next give a short thanksgiving. Many of Paul’s letters have such a section of praise to God or the mention of prayer. This letter skips this section and replaces it with a strong statement of warning and criticism of the situation in the Galatian churches. Verse 6 gives the clue as to why Paul is writing this letter. He is astonished, surprised, aghast, that they have departed from the gospel he preached to them. The word quickly shows that it was not long since Paul had been there and preached to them. They had not put the roots of their faith deep with understanding. To say one believes or is a Christian because one goes to church is not good enough because it is too easy to be led astray. We must have deep understanding and knowledge to support our faith.
The Galatians had deserted or departed from their calling. The subject of the substantial participle the one who called you is not stated. Paul may have been the instrument of this calling but the calling of the gospel truly comes only through the Holy Spirit who speaks into our hearts, minds, and lives, calling us to faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, it was none other than the sovereign, triune God who called them to faith in the gospel. This was simply a change of interpretation of the gospel, a difference of opinion, or minor theological differences. This was a matter of orthodoxy and truth.
This calling by God was in the grace of Christ. The preposition in here could have an instrumental sense to it. God calls us to salvation “by grace” and this grace is only available through Christ. There is no other source of salvation than through the grace provided through what Christ has done for us on the cross.
The problem is further defined in the last prepositional phase of v. 6: they have departed for a different gospel. The word different is the related to the English word “heresy.” They had gone for an imitation. It was not an innocent departure or a simple misunderstanding. This was deception and a wrong interpretation all together of what the gospel teaches. Paul will describe this error in this letter and attempt to help the Galatians correct the wrong path they are following.
Paul clarifies what he means by different and why he can use such a strong word related to “heresy.” The bottom line is that there is no other gospel that the one he preached. He will drive that point home in the rest of this chapter. Any other interpretation is wrong. There are different nuances to the gospel and different ways to understand and apply it, but the core of this message is non-negotiable. There is no room for opinions when it comes to the gospel.
There were people who had come to Galatia with this wrong interpretation. Paul simply labels them here with the generic “some.” We will get more hints of their teaching throughout the letter. These people are confusing the churches with their teaching by distorting the true gospel. The genuine gospel is simple and clear. Even a child can understand and believe. Somehow these false teachers were making things complicated and confusing. The word distort implies some intention on their part. This was no accident. They came with their own interpretation with some degree of assertion and possibly assumed authority.
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