“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:3-4).
“Grace” was a typical Greek greeting. “Peace” was a typical Hebrew greeting. By using both of these terms together (v. 3), Paul suggests a single community in which Gentiles (non-Jews) and Jews together are part of the same family of God.
In his commentary on Galatians, Martin Luther reflects on the simple phrase “who gave himself for our sins” (v. 4). First, Luther emphasizes the verb “gave.” Jesus is the giver, not demander or judge. And what does Jesus give? Not a new law, but the gift of himself!
Next Luther emphasizes the pronoun “our.” It’s not enough just to say that Jesus gave himself for the sins of the whole world. That’s true, but it doesn’t go far enough. For Luther, this message – this gift – is very personal. Jesus gave himself for “our” sins – for yours and for mine.
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “Galatians: Christian faith and Christian freedom” by Kathryn A. Kleinhans in the January/February 2017 Gather magazine.
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