Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
Comment: The letter states, as all Paul’s do, with him emphasizing that he writes as an apostle – by which he means someone who has met Jesus, knows the truth of Jesus’ message and one who has been appointed by God to share Jesus’ message with all of God’s authority. He underlines that his authority has been stamped on him by Jesus Himself and by God the Father who raised Jesus from the the dead. He includes those who are working with him, as sending their greetings. He says grace and peace, which is a very holistic way of saying may the shalom, the well-being of a right relationship with God, be yours. After all Jesus has delivered His followers from the evil results of being part of the world which has been separated from God by sin. Understanding this introduction is so important as he is going to challenge the readers of deserting the true faith!
And the punchline of his accusation is that they have deserted the truth, the guts of the gospel, for something different. There is no new or other gospel, what these people are bringing and teaching he claims is a distortion into a false doctrine. These are blunt and hard hitting words!
Prayer: Help me to be unwavering in my stand in your good news, Jesus.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. The Apostle Paul always put himself in the position of a servant of Jesus Christ. He always placed Jesus above himself, and made sure that his qualifications were shown to be given to him from God, and from no-one else. We too need to have a humble spirit before God, and before others. We too, need to be very careful, even today, not to distort the message of the Gospel. We need to know the Scriptures and make sure that we are following Jesus and doing what He has commanded us to do. God bless you.
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Your replies encourage me!
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