Galatians 3:1

Foolish Galatians. The Galatians had shown their lack of understanding by yielding to the influence of the false teachers. There was no valid reason for their decision to renounce salvation by faith.

Bewitched you. They had been grossly misled. Paul now writes them in the hope that they will see their inconsistency and turn from the evident error into which they have fallen. They must have been subjected to some influence besides reason, for reason would condemn such a course. Their choice cannot have been the result of sober judgment based on facts.

That ye should not obey the truth. Textual evidence favors (cf. p. 10) the omission of this clause.

Evidently set forth. Gr. prographo, “to portray openly.” The word was commonly used in Paul’s day of public notices or proclamations. The Galatians could not profess ignorance of the truths of the gospel, for Paul had made these so plain that it was as though they had seen Jesus with their own eyes.

Crucified. Not crucified among them, but represented among them as crucified. Paul gloried in the cross of Christ and made it the center of his preaching (see 1 Cor. 1:23; 2:1, 2; 15:3). The Galatians had understood the significance of Christ’s death, it had been made as real to them as though they had witnessed it with their own eyes. They had accepted this sacrifice as being necessary for their justification. How could they now turn to the false doctrines they had recently accepted, as though all Paul had taught them was sheer fantasy?