Grace triumphs over law.
Christian history offers countless examples of attempts to add requirements for salvation that go beyond the message of the gospel. These claims almost always include an appeal to Scripture, but whether they are well-intentioned or not, they inevitably distort the faith and damage those swayed by false teaching.
The first-century Galatians faced this threat from Judaizers, false teachers who insisted that belief in Jesus was inadequate for salvation. They taught that people could not please God without also keeping the Law. To the Judaizers, this point made perfect sense. For centuries, Jews had held to the Law as the path to favor with God (compare Deut. 6:1–9; 30:15–20; Mark 12:28–34; Luke 10:25–28). The Judaizers perceived Jesus as building on the Law but not replacing it.
Their teaching disturbed new Christians in Galatia who had responded to Paul’s message (Acts 13:13—14:26). If what the Judaizers said was true, Paul was wrong and Christ alone did not really make a person right with God. Paul was outraged and zealous to defend the integrity of the gospel. So he composed the letter we now call Galatians (Gal. 1:1, 2).
The Book of Galatians emphasizes that only Christ—nothing more and nothing less—is sufficient for salvation. Centuries later, after the church had once again embraced add-ons to the faith, a young priest named Martin Luther claimed Galatians for his own, calling it the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. His work helped begin a reformation of faith that taught salvation by grace rather than as a reward for human effort (see here for an article on the life of Martin Luther).
Every generation is tempted to classify Christians by their outward expressions of faith. Some are considered better believers than others. This segregation of the church nearly always results from add-ons to the simple, pure gospel of Christ. But it is only when we hold to Christ alone that we can expect real growth as individuals and communities, living by “the fruit of the Spirit” rather than by the Law (5:18, 22, 23).
The Book of Galatians is one of our best sources of information about Paul’s life immediately following his conversion (1:11—2:14). The date of the epistle depends on its recipients—a difficult issue to settle because the name Galatia (1:2) is ambiguous. It could refer to a people (Celts living in northern Asia Minor) or to an area (the Roman province of Galatia in southern Asia Minor, a region that included other ethnic groups). We are not sure if Paul ever traveled to northern Galatia, but we do know that he visited southern Galatia (Acts 13–14; 16:1–5).
It seems likely that Paul’s letter was circulated among these southern Galatians, which implies that Galatians was written before the council at Jerusalem (c. A.D. 49; Acts 15). If it had been written after that gathering, Paul probably would have cited the council’s decision to accept Gentiles into the faith as support for his argument. Given this timing, Galatians may be Paul’s earliest surviving letter, written perhaps around A.D. 48.
Key Verses in Galatians
• “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
• “The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24).
• “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
• “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).
• “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22, 23).
• “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7).
• “Let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10).