1:6-10. The one Gospel
Paul's very strong, even angry language, shows how
extremely upset he was because of what was happening in the churches in
Galatia. He had thought that the Galatians had a firm grasp of the Gospel which
he had preached to them but now he has heard that they think that what he told
them about Jesus Christ is not the full or true Gospel. Paul seems to have been
accused, by the Judaizers, of trying to please the Galatians by preaching a
deficient or 'watered down' gospel to them. The implication is that the
Galatians had been deceived by Paul and cheated out of the full knowledge of salvation
which Paul could have given them. What comes later in the letter shows that
Paul had been criticized by the Judaizers for not telling the Galatians that
they must follow the Jewish Law and accept circumcision, the badge of those who
followed the Law, to find full salvation. Paul's Gospel-the Good News of the
salvation which God offers to the sinner through Christ's incarnation, death,
resurrection and living power-was not considered to be enough by the Judaizers.