all sin must be corrected in that church .
Galatians
1:9 Condemning Opponents?
Paul’s curse in Galatians 1:9 is a hard saying for two reasons: it does not seem to be in
agreement with some other statements of Paul, and it seems diametrically opposed to the
teaching of Jesus with regard to our attitudes and actions toward those who are opposed to us.
In Romans 2:1–4 Paul lays down the principle that judgment passed on others is in some
sense “reflexive”;
that is, when we pass judgment on others, we condemn ourselves at the
same time.
For only God knows the truth about us, and only he is able therefore to pass
judgment. We are mere creatures, limited with respect to both the truth about others and the
truth about ourselves. We, like all others, are sinners (Rom 3:23); that is the ultimate reason
we ought not to pass judgment.
This same sentiment is expressed again in a context where there is mutual judging going
on within the congregation (Rom 14:1–13). Here the admonition not to judge others in respect
to certain practices and beliefs considered inappropriate or wrong is based on the assertion
that each disciple is accountable ultimately to the Lord (Rom 14:4), and all will equally “stand
before God’s judgment seat” (Rom 14:10).
The larger perspective which ought to guide
Christians’ attitudes toward opponents is derived by Paul from the teaching of Jesus. Thus,
echoing Matthew 5:44
, Paul says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse”
(Rom 12:14). Our task as Christians is to “overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21).
The overall teaching, attitude and life of Jesus stand also in apparent conflict with Paul’s
word of condemnation. Jesus’ radical imperative on the matter is
“Do not judge, or you too
will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged” (Mt 7:1–2).
The
reason given for this imperative is that our own vision may be so impaired that it is sheer
hypocrisy to try to remove the sawdust particle in the other’s eye (Mt 7:3, 5).
The proper
response to those who are opposed to us is to love them and pray for them (Mt 5:44). Beyond
these words, Jesus’ entire life is a demonstration of his words’ validity. He did not come into
a world opposed to God to condemn it but to save it (Jn 3:17).
Because of his deep
compassion he weeps over Jerusalem (Lk 19:41), the city that kills the prophets and those
(like Jesus) sent to it (Lk 13:34). To the adulteress he speaks the word of forgiveness rather
than judgment (Jn 8:10–11); to the criminal hanging on a cross next to him he speaks the
word of grace (Lk 23:39–43).
As Paul’s words against judging seem to stand in conflict with his harsh words in
Galatians 1:9, so the larger picture of Jesus’ teaching and life, characterized by love and
compassion, by humility and forgiveness, stands in apparent conflict with another dimension
of his life.
Jesus’ words and actions could be uncompromisingly harsh toward those who
opposed him and his ministry and whose “piety” excluded the redemptive work of God. He
calls the religious leaders of his own people “sons of the devil,” whose desire they carry out
(Jn 8:44).
Those who oppose his ministry of releasing the possessed from bondage are called
“an evil generation” (Lk 11:29 RSV), who will be judged and condemned (Lk 11:31–32).
Those who oppose the work of the Spirit of God in and through his life (Mt 12:28) will be
condemned eternally; for them there is no forgiveness (Mt 12:31–32). Words of bitter
denunciation are spoken against the teachers of the law and Pharisees, whom he calls
“child[ren] of hell” (Mt 23:15 RSV), “blind fools” (Mt 23:17), “whitewashed tombs” (Mt
23:27), “snakes” and a “brood of vipers” who cannot “escape being condemned to hell” (Mt
23:33).
When we carefully compare this radically harsh tone in Jesus’ teaching with that strand in
his life which exudes compassion and forgiveness, we recognize where the essential
difference lies. He came as the incarnation of God’s redemptive love, and wherever there is
openness to it, forgiveness is given, grace is experienced, sin is overcome. But where there is
absolute rejection of that redemptive love, where the work of God is identified as demonic,
where truth is trampled underfoot, there condemnation is pronounced. It is within this latter
context of the rejection of God’s redemptive love that this hard saying must be understood.
In Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, the central issue addressed is this: the core of the gospel
which Paul had preached and on which their faith was based is that we are justified, brought
into a right relationship with God, solely by his grace and through faith, not by gaining a
standing before God on the basis of obedience to the law (Gal 2:15–21). That gospel was
being challenged by the so-called Judaizers; namely, Jewish Christians who demanded that
Gentile Christians observe the Mosaic law, including ritual observances such as special days,
kosher foods and circumcision (Gal 3:1–7; 4:8–11, 17, 21–22). Those who respond to their
teaching, who are led away from the truth (Gal 5:7), who now seek “to be justified by law,
have been alienated from Christ” and have “fallen away from grace” (Gal 5:4).
For Paul the conflict between the gospel which he preached and the teaching of the
Judaizers is a life-and-death struggle. Why?
Because legalistic obedience, life before God
based on religious achievement, does not bring one into right relationship with God (Gal 2:16;
3:3) but to alienation from him (Gal 5:4), to rejection of God’s grace (Gal 2:21), to a life of
legalistic bondage (Gal 4:9, 21; 5:1), to the curse of death (Gal 3:10–13).
Those who teach this way are “false brothers” (Gal 2:4) who oppose the “truth of the
gospel” (Gal 2:5, 14), confuse the believers (Gal 1:7), “pervert the gospel of Christ” (Gal 1:7),
bewitch the saints (Gal 3:1).
Therefore, let anyone who does this “be eternally condemned”
(Gal 1:8–9). This strong language shows how serious the matter was for Paul. George Duncan
puts it well when he calls these words “an imprecation such as we cannot imagine him using
had it been merely his personal prestige … anything, in fact, but the gospel of Christ which
was at stake.”1
It is clear then that Paul is not calling for the condemnation of his opponents (that is, the
Judaizers) because they are opposed to him, but rather because they are enemies of the gospel.
That gospel is of divine origin, not of Paul’s invention (Gal 1:11–12). Therefore, those who
pervert it subvert God’s redemptive purpose. On those who thus act and teach, the judgment
of God is justly pronounced. Thus there is here no real conflict between Paul’s general call for
a nonjudgmental spirit and his strong word of judgment here, just as there is no real conflict
between Jesus’ teaching on love for one’s opponents and his words of judgment. In both
cases, where the work and truth of God is at stake, those who reject it stand under judgment.
F.F. Bruce-Hard Sayings.
