He gave himself for our sins

Says Verse 4 names the one who “gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father”. The printed text has ὑπὲρ (hyper, “for”) before “our sins”; a well-attested alternative is περί, printed by the Byzantine text; on either reading he gave himself for our sins (see ὑπέρ / περί). The goal is that he might rescue us ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος πονηροῦ (ek tou aiōnos tou enestōtos ponērou, “out of the present evil age”). Calvin writes, “Who gave himself for our sins. He begins with commending the grace of Christ, in order to recall and fix on Him the attention of the Galatians” Luther writes, “Paul in a manner, in every word, handleth the argument of this epistle. He hath nothing in his mouth but Christ” Wesley writes, “That he might deliver us from the present evil world—from the Guilt, Wickedness, and Misery wherein it is involved”

Implies The verse names the means and the goal of the rescue and grounds both in the Father’s will. It is stated, not developed into a theory of the atonement; the Romans 1 note on the gospel concerning the Son is pointed to, not taken up again here.

Says The printed preposition and the sense of the rescue are treated in the language note on 1:4 and are not taken up again here.