What does Galatians 1:3 mean?

Paul finally arrives at his official greeting. He has already staked out part of the purpose for this letter: to defend his authority as a genuine apostle of Jesus Christ and, therefore, to defend the truthfulness of his message.

"Grace and peace to you" was a standard greeting for many people writing letters during this era. Paul includes the words in all of his New Testament epistles. Paul's letters, however, almost always include the true source of both grace and peace. In this case, he states outright that grace and peace come from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the following verse, Paul will use that standard greeting to quickly describe exactly what the simple gospel message, or "good news," of Jesus Christ is.