Books of the Bible

The Book of Galatians

New Testament · Pauline Epistles · Genre: Epistle · Author: The apostle Paul · Chapters: 6

Galatians is Paul's passionate defense of the gospel of grace against those who insisted that faith in Jesus was not enough. Its message rings out that we are justified by faith alone, not by keeping the law, and that in Christ we are truly free.

Start reading: Galatians chapter 1

A key verse

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.Galatians 2:20 (KJV)

The setting and background of Galatians

Galatians is one of Paul's earliest and most passionate letters, written to a group of churches he had founded in the region of Galatia. It was prompted by a crisis: after Paul left, certain teachers had come insisting that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the Jewish law to be truly accepted by God, and Paul saw that this struck at the very heart of the gospel.

Unusually, the letter opens without a word of thanksgiving, plunging straight into astonishment that the Galatians are deserting the gospel of grace. Paul defends the divine origin of his message, argues that justification comes by faith and not by works of the law, and then shows that true freedom in Christ expresses itself not in license but in love and in the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians is sometimes called the charter of Christian freedom, and it played a decisive role in the Reformation as its message of justification by faith alone was rediscovered. In the sweep of Scripture it is a shorter, more urgent cousin of Romans, drawing a sharp line around the gospel and guarding it against every attempt to make God's acceptance depend on human performance.

The story and structure of Galatians

Paul wrote Galatians in alarm and urgency, having learned that the churches he had planted were abandoning the gospel of grace for a different gospel. Certain teachers had come insisting that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the Jewish law to be fully accepted by God, and Paul saw at once that this struck at the very heart of the good news.

Unusually for Paul, the letter opens without thanksgiving, plunging straight into astonishment that the Galatians are so quickly deserting the one who called them. He defends the divine origin of his gospel, received not from men but from Christ, and recounts how he even confronted Peter to his face when Peter's conduct compromised the truth that all are accepted on the same basis, by faith.

Paul argues that no one is justified by the works of the law but only through faith in Jesus Christ. He points to Abraham, who was counted righteous by faith long before the law was given, and insists that to add law-keeping to grace is to fall from grace and to make Christ's death pointless, for if righteousness came by the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Yet Paul is equally clear that freedom in Christ is not a license to sin. The whole law, he says, is fulfilled in one word, love your neighbor as yourself, and true freedom expresses itself in loving service. Believers are to walk by the Spirit, who produces a harvest of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The letter's watchword is that Christ has set us free for freedom, and that we should stand firm and not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Paul's own testimony captures its heart: he has been crucified with Christ, and the life he now lives he lives by faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave himself for him.

The great themes of Galatians

Key passages in Galatians

Galatians in the sweep of Scripture

Galatians is sometimes called the charter of Christian freedom, and it played a decisive role in the Protestant Reformation as Luther and others rediscovered its message of justification by faith alone. It is a shorter, more urgent cousin of Romans, forged in the heat of controversy, and it draws a sharp line around the gospel, guarding it against every attempt to make God's acceptance depend on human performance. Its teaching on grace, freedom, and the fruit of the Spirit remains a bulwark of Christian faith and life.

Where Christ is in Galatians

Galatians proclaims that Christ crucified sets us free, so that we no longer live by law-keeping but by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. His cross alone makes us right with God, and his Spirit produces in us the fruit that the law could never create, so that the whole Christian life, from beginning to end, rests on grace.

How to read Galatians well

Read Galatians whenever you are tempted to earn God's love or to measure your standing by your performance, and let it root you again in the freedom that comes by grace alone. Guard the gospel jealously, as Paul did, against anything that would add human works to the finished work of Christ. Then live out your freedom not as license but in love, walking by the Spirit and bearing his fruit, remembering that you have been crucified with Christ and now live by faith in him.

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