Gal 1:1-5

Gal 1:1 Sha’ul, an emissary – not from men, nor by a man, but by יהושע Messiah and Elohim the Father who raised Him from the dead –

Gal 1:2 and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia:

Gal 1:3 Favour to you and peace from Elohim the Father and our Master יהושע Messiah,

Gal 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins, to deliver us out of this present wicked age, according to the desire of our Elohim and Father, Gal 1:5 to whom be the praise forever and ever. Amĕn.

 

We have met Paul or Shaul and how he became a believer in Yahshua Messiah on the road to Damascus.  Paul and Barnabus were set aside to be missionaries, ambassadors or emissaries for the believers in Antioch and Jerusalem to the gentiles.  They were not chosen by men or any denomination of believers but by Yahshua and  Elohim.  Here in these first 5 verses of the book of Galations we find the introductory statement to an assembly that was begun by Paul and Barnabus on their first journey as ambassadors.   

1:2 ­ Paul is not alone in his position concerning the gospel of Yahshua Messiah. He indicates that he "and all the brethren who are with me" are sending this concerned correspondence to the Galatians. This reference probably includes his fellow ambassadors, perhaps Barnabas, Timothy, Silas and Sosthenese (depending upon where he was when the letter was written) who were his colleagues and associates in the ministry. "All the brethren" could also refer to all of the believers who were in the local assembly in the community where he was residing at the time of writing.
   We don't know where Paul was when he wrote this letter. If this letter is the earliest of Paul's epistles.  It may have been written from Antioch of Syria between the first and second missionary journeys.
   The import of Paul's including his co-laborers and/or the local congregation in this greeting was probably to indicate that he was not working on his own, as may have been the charge of the infiltrating teachers (wolves in sheeps clothing) in Galatia. Paul had the solid support of many others who endorsed what he taught and lived. Obviously, "all the brothers" did not participate in the writing of this letter, but they stood with him and what he taught.
"to the assemblies of Galatia"  there are two primary interpretations of the identity of "the churches of Galatia": [(1) the "north Galatia" interpretation which prevailed for eighteen centuries of church history, identifying the Galatians according to their ethnic settlement in the north of Anatolia, in conjunction with the early (pre 25 B.C.) and later (second and third century A.D.) borders of the Roman political province of Galatia, and (2) the "south Galatia" interpretation which has predominated in modern nineteenth and twentieth century biblical interpretation, which takes into consideration the well-documented southern extension of the Galatian political province in 25 B.C. to include the cities of Lystra, Derbe, Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia, making this the proper designation of the territory when Paul wrote this letter in the middle of the first-century A.D. The historical evidence, as well as the biblical evidence of Paul's having visited these southern cities on his first missionary journey (Acts 13,14), with no record of his having established churches in the northern part of the province, combine to present a most reasonable option of identifying the recipients as the Christians of the churches in the aforementioned southern cities.]   James A. Fowler
This letter, as it was addressed to all the assemblies was sent from one assembly to another in the area of Galatia.
  Favor and Peace only come from Yahshua and Elohim through the atoning and sacrificial work of Messiah on the stake. 

Eph 2:8 For by favour you have been saved, through belief, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of Elohim,

Eph 2:9 it is not by works, so that no one should boast.

Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah יהושע unto good works, which Elohim prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Eph 2:11 Therefore remember that you, once gentiles¹ in the flesh, who are called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called ‘the circumcision’ made in the flesh by hands, Footnote: 11 Cor. 12:2.

Eph 2:12 that at that time you were without Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Yisra’ĕl and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no expectation and without Elohim in the world.

Eph 2:13 But now in Messiah יהושע you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.

Eph 2:14 For He is our peace, who has made both one, and having broken down the partition of the barrier,

Eph 2:15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity – the Torah of the commands in dogma – so as to create in Himself one renewed man from the two, thus making peace,

Eph 2:16 and to completely restore to favour both of them unto Elohim in one body through the stake, having destroyed the enmity by it.

We praise Yahweh for the work He has done in our lives in bringing us peace and His favor. we remember our former estate as slaves of this world and without hope.  Next we will consider the reason for Paul's letter.