Jesus is Jehovah in Galatians

Jesus is Jehovah in the New Testament: Index

1. INTRODUCTION
This is my "Jesus is Jehovah in Galatians" being the second part of my series "Jesus is Jehovah in the New Testament." It consists of

[Above (click to enlarge): Galatia: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. I assume the South Galatians theory is correct and so:

"'Galatians' would then be the converts of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, [and] 'Pisidian' Antioch" (Cole, 1989, "Galatians," p.22-23).]

verses in the Book of Galatians which teach that the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament is Jehovah (Yahweh) of the Old Testament, that I studied in my morning "quiet time"in January 2009.

As previously mentioned, I had completed my web page, "Jesus is Jehovah" as far as the Gospels and Acts, but then I had decided to continue by posting to this blog those verses by each book of the New Testament. So I am now in parallel: 1) converting that web page into blog posts, "Jesus is Jehovah" for each of the four gospels and Acts (of which my "Jesus is Jehovah in Matthew" has now been completed); and 2) posting my completed studies of each further book of the New Testament in chronological order, as per Gundry, 1970, in which Galatians is the earliest.

See `tagline' quotes below on the topic of Jesus is Jehovah in Galatians.

2. JESUS HAS NAMES & TITLES OF JEHOVAH
God. Jesus is not just a "man" (Gal 1:11), nor is He an angel (Gal 1:8; Heb 1:4-13), therefore He must be God. The church of Jesus (Mt 16:18; Ac 20:28) is the "Church of God" (Gal 1:13. Cf. Ac 20:28; 1Cor 1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; 2Cor 1:1). The Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of his [God's] Son" (Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15); the "Spirit of Christ" (Rom 8:9; 1Pet 1:11); the "Spirit of Jesus" (Ac 16:7; Php 1:19), who is the "Spirit of God" (Mt 3:16 = Lk 3:22; Rom 8:9; Eph 4:30), and God (Mt 12:31 = Mk 3:29 = Lk 12:10; Ac 5:3,9).

Son of God. Jesus is "the Son of God" (Gal 2:20 Cf. Mt 4:3-7; 14:33;26:63-64; 27:43,54; Mk 1:1; 3:11; 15:39; Lk 1:35; 4:3-4; 9-12; 4:41; 22:70; Jn 1:34,49; 5:25; 9:35-37; 10:36; 11:4,27; 19:7; 20:31; Ac 8:37; 9:20; Rom 1:4; 2Cor 1:19; Eph 4:13; Heb 4:14; 6:6; 7:3; 10:29; 1Jn 3:8; 4:15; 5:5,10,12-13,20; Rev 2:18).That is, He is equal in nature with God the Father (Jn 5:17-18; 10:30-33; 19:7). Jesus is "his [God's] Son" (Gal 1:15-16; 4:4,6), meaning that Jesus is God the Father's one and only Son (Jn 1:18; 3:16,18;1Jn 4:9). That God is distinguished as "God the Father" (Gal 1:1,3. Cf. Eph 6:23; Php 2:11; Col 1:3; 3:17; 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:2; 1Tim 1:2; 2Tim 1:2; Tit 1:4; 1Pet 1:2; 2Pet 1:17; 2Jn 1:3; Jude 1) implies that Jesus is God the Son.

Lord. Jesus is "the Lord" (Gal 1:19; 5:10); "the Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:3; 6:14,18). But "Lord" (Gk. kyrios) was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), to render the Hebrew YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah). The application of Kyrios ("Lord") as a title of Jesus, especially in early creedal statements like "Jesus is Lord" (Rom 10:9; 1Cor 12:3), means that to the early Christians, Jesus was Jehovah:

"[Gal 1:3] ... Kyrios varied in meaning from the polite 'sir', ... to the full sense of 'Lord', in confession of the deity of Christ. When the early Christians used the phrase, 'Jesus is Lord' [Rom 10:9; 1Cor 12:3 ... they cannot have meant less than this." (Cole, 1989, Ibid., p.70).

"[Gal 6:18] ... For the Christian, this link between Christ and God is ... calling Jesus Lord, the great title of God in Old Testament times." (Cole, 1989, Ibid, pp.239-240).

Second Person of Trinity. The "Son" is mentioned in the same verse as co-equal with the other Persons of the Trinity, the "Father" and the "Spirit" (Gal 4:6. Cf. Mt 3:16-17; Mk 1:10-11; Lk 3:21-22; Jn 1:32-34 & Mt 28:19; 2Cor 13:14; 1Pet 1:2).

Jehovah. The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of his [God's] Son" (Gal 4:6); the "Spirit of Jesus" (Ac 16:7; Php 1:19), the "Spirit of Christ" (Rom 8:9; 1Pet 1:11), the "Spirit of God" (Mt 3:16 = Lk 3:22; Rom 8:9; Eph 4:30). But the Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of the Lord" (Ac 5:3,9) who is the "Spirit of Jehovah" (Lk 4:18; Isa 61:1), who is Jehovah (2Cor 3:17; Heb 3:7-11 = Ps 95:7-11), and God (Mt 12:31 = Mk 3:29 = Lk 12:10; Ac 5:3,9).

3.OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES ABOUT JEHOVAH ARE APPLIED TO JESUS
Paul quotes Gn 15:6:

"And he [Abram] believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness."

in Gal 3:6:

"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness."

But only a dozen verses earlier Paul had stated that it was through faith in Jesus that one is justified:

"a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ" (Gal 2:16). Cf. Rom 4:3; 3:22,26.

4. JESUS HAS ATTRIBUTES OF JEHOVAH
Omnipresence. Christ lives in Paul (Gal 2:20) and in all Christians (Gal 4:19. Cf. Rom 8:10; Col 1:27; 2Cor 13:5; 1Jn 4:4). Yet it is Jehovah who is with His people always (Ex 3:12; Dt 31:6 = Heb 13:5; Jos 1:5).

5. JESUS DOES WORKS OF JEHOVAH
Law. Jesus established "the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2; 1Cor 9:21. Cf. Gal 5:14; Mt 7:12; 12:12; Jas 2:8), by fulfilling the Law of Moses (Mt 5:17-20; Rom 13:8-10), thus abolishing it (Eph 2:14-15; Col 2:13-14).

Grace. Jesus is the giver of grace (Gal 1:3,6). But God is the giver of grace (Gal 2:21; 6:8). Both Jesus and God are co-givers of grace (Gal 1:3; 1Cor 1:3; 2Cor 1:2; Eph 1:2; Php 1:2; 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:2; 2:16; 1Tim 1:2; 2Tim 1:2; Tit 1:4; Phm 1:3; 2Jn 1:3).

"[Gal 6:18] ... Christ is .. the very grace of God become incarnate." (Cole, 1989, Ibid, pp.239-240).

6. JESUS RECEIVES HONOR & WORSHIP DUE TO JEHOVAH
Glory. To Jesus "be glory for ever and ever" (Gal 1:3-5; 2Tim 4:18; Heb 13:21; 1Pet 4:11; Rev 1:5-6); "be glory for ever" (Rom 16:27; 2Pet 3:18). But to God "be glory forever" (Rom 11:36; Jude 25); "be glory forever and ever" (Php 4:20; 1Tim 1:17). To both Jesus and God "be glory forever and ever" (Eph 3:20-21; Rev 5:12-13).

" [Gal 1:5] To any Jew ... after the mention of the name of God, it is natural to add to whom be the glory for ever and ever ... Just as in old days the name of Yahweh ... stirred a Jew to praise, so now the name of Jesus Christ stirs Paul to similar response ." (Cole, 1989, Ibid, p.72).

Faith. Justification is by faith in Jesus (Gal 2:16. Cf. G al 3:22,26; Rom 3:22,26. Yet Jehovah alone was to be believed in (Gn 15:6; Ex 14:31; Num 14:11; Dt 1:32; 9:23; 2Ki 17:14; 2Chr 20:20; Isa 43:10). Christians are to live by faith in Christ (Gal 2:20. Cf. Gal 3:11; Rom 1:17; Heb 10:38; Hab 2:4). Christians are all sons of God through faith in Jesus (Gal 3:26).

OBJECTIONS TO JESUS BEING JEHOVAH
Only one God. God is one (Gal 3:20; Dt 6:4; Rom 3:30; Jas 2:19). That is, there is only "one God" (1Cor 8:6; Eph 4:6; 1Tim 2:5). But that does not preclude God being a compound tri-unity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19; 2Cor 13:14; 1Pet 1:2). The same Heb. word 'echad "one" in "God is one" (Dt 6:4) can be a compound unity of "one flesh" of husband and wife (Gn 2:24); "one people" of many individuals (Gn 11:6; 34:16,22); " one voice" of "all the people" (Ex 24:3); "one cluster of grapes" (Num 13:23); and "one stick" joined to "another stick" making a compound "one stick" (Eze 37:16-17).

8. CONCLUSION
In Galatians, Jesus has the same names and titles as Jehovah; an Old Testament passage about Jehovah is applied to Jesus; Jesus has attributes of Jehovah; Jesus does works of Jehovah; Jesus receives honor and worship due to Jehovah; and there are no valid objections to Jesus being Jehovah; therefore Jesus is Jehovah in Galatians!

PS. The previous (first) post in this series was "Jesus is Jehovah in Matthew" and the next (third) post is "Jesus is Jehovah in 1 Thessalonians."

Stephen E. Jones.
My other blogs: CreationEvolutionDesign & The Shroud of Turin

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"Let us now turn to the South Galatian theory, which seems both simple and neat, and certainly fits such evidence as we have. Again, this does not necessarily prove it to be correct, but it certainly gives it probability. This theory assumes that the 'Galatians' addressed in the letter are those groups in the south of the Roman province who had been evangelized by Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey (Acts 13 and 14), and revisited by Paul and Silas on their second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-16:6). The 'Galatians' would then be the converts of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, 'Pisidian' Antioch, and doubtless other small places whose names are unrecorded. We know the fact of their evangelization from the New Testament; we know of Jewish opposition (Acts 13:50; 14:19); and many other small details in the Galatian letter could be very well explained against this known background. The triple mention of Barnabas in the letter (2:1, 9, 13) might confirm a southern destination, since Barnabas would have been well known to the southern Galatians (Acts 14:12), but quite unknown to the northern Galatians. ... Other supporting points in favour of a South Galatian destination could be made ... For instance, the reference to the reception of Paul by the Galatians as 'an angel of God' (4:14) might possibly be a reference to the way in which he had been hailed at Lystra as Hermes, messenger of the gods (Acts 14:12)." (Cole, R.A., 1989, "The Letter of Paul to the Galatians: An Introduction and Commentary," The Tyndale New Testament commentaries, [1965], Inter-Varsity Press Leicester: UK, Second edition, pp.22-23).

"[Gal 1:3] This grace and peace come from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. It is probable that by the common construction known as chiasmus (which could be translated as an 'x-shaped' construction), the source of grace is seen as Christ, and the source of peace as God the Father. Again, however, the main theological point is the close association of Christ with God. Indeed, the use of the word Kyrios, 'Lord', as a title of Christ would in itself be sufficient to assure this. Much study has been devoted to this Greek word, the one chosen by the early translators into Greek of the Hebrew Bible to stand for the divine name YHWH, which might not be pronounced by the pious Jew, and for which the Hebrew adonai, 'my Lord', had already been substituted. Kyrios varied in meaning from the polite 'sir', used in formal address to a stranger, to the full sense of 'Lord', in confession of the deity of Christ. When the early Christians used the phrase, 'Jesus is Lord' [Rom 10:9; 1Cor 12:3], as a baptismal confession, they cannot have meant less than this." (Cole, 1989, p.70).

"[Gal 1:5] To any Jew, it was natural to slip into reverential berakhah, or 'blessing', after any mention of the divine name. For instance, `The Holy One - blessed be he' is one of the commonest of such blessings used by later Jewish commentators. So here, after the mention of the name of God, it is natural to add to whom be the glory for ever and ever (literally, 'for ages of ages', where the same word aion is used). Just as in old days the name of Yahweh, with its association of salvation from Egyptian bondage, stirred a Jew to praise, so now the name of Jesus Christ stirs Paul to similar response. If the Jew of old was a 'Yahwist', to use modern theological jargon, then Paul and those to whom he wrote were 'Christians', whose whole understanding of God was dominated by the revelation in Christ." (Cole, 1989, p.72).

"[Gal 6:18] ... The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren ... Christ is grace personified; but he is more than that, for he is the very grace of God become incarnate. ... For the Christian, this link between Christ and God is safeguarded in Paul's shorter formula by calling Jesus Lord, the great title of God in Old Testament times." (Cole, 1989, pp.239-240).