The book of Galatians is Paul's strong warning against turning the Christian life into a system of human works.
The central issue is simple: Are we justified by what Christ did, or by what we do?
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ...” — Galatians 2:16, KJV
Galatians teaches that salvation is not obtained by keeping the law, and the believer's standing before God is not maintained by establishing his own righteousness through religious performance.
Our confidence is in Jesus Christ.
Paul begins Galatians with a serious warning about another gospel.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:” — Galatians 1:6, KJV
The problem was not that people had stopped being religious. The problem was that they were adding something to the grace of Christ.
Paul's message was not: Christ plus religious performance.
His message was the gospel of the grace of Christ.
Paul explains the difference between justification by faith and justification by works.
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ...” — Galatians 2:16, KJV
Then Paul gives one of the greatest statements concerning the believer's new life:
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me...” — Galatians 2:20, KJV
The Christian life is not supposed to be centered around self-righteousness. It is centered around Christ living in the believer.
The question is not simply, “What can I do?” The question is, “What has Christ already done?”
Galatians 3 contains one of the most important questions in the entire book.
“This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” — Galatians 3:2, KJV
Paul is asking them to remember how they began.
Did they receive the Spirit because they performed enough religious works?
No. They received the Spirit by the hearing of faith.
“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” — Galatians 3:3, KJV
This is a powerful warning against returning to confidence in the flesh after beginning by faith.
If salvation began with faith, why would the believer suddenly think that spiritual maturity comes from trusting in the flesh?
The Christian life does not begin with faith and then become dependent upon human performance.
Faith remains the foundation.
The law itself was not evil. God had a purpose for giving it.
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” — Galatians 3:24, KJV
The law had a purpose, but Christ is the answer.
Galatians 4 explains the believer's position as a son and heir through Christ.
“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” — Galatians 4:6, KJV
The believer is not merely trying to earn God's acceptance. Through Christ, the believer has been brought into a relationship with God.
Paul warns the Galatians about returning to bondage.
Grace changes the believer's position.
We are not working to become accepted. We serve God because, through Christ, we have been given a standing of grace.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” — Galatians 5:1, KJV
Christ makes the believer free.
But what does that liberty mean?
It does not mean freedom to live according to the flesh.
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” — Galatians 5:13, KJV
Christian liberty is not permission to follow the flesh.
It is freedom to serve God without trying to establish our righteousness through religious performance.
“I must do these things in order to establish my righteousness.”
“My righteousness is in Christ, therefore I can serve God from a position of faith.”
That difference is extremely important.
Galatians 5 does not teach that grace produces careless living. Instead, Paul describes what the Spirit produces in the believer.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,” — Galatians 5:22, KJV
“Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” — Galatians 5:23, KJV
Notice the word fruit.
Fruit is produced. It is not manufactured by simply creating an outward religious appearance.
The Christian life is not about putting on a religious costume so that people can see how righteous we are.
The Spirit produces something genuine within the believer.
Grace does not destroy holiness. Grace changes the source of our Christian living.
Galatians 6 brings practical responsibility into the picture.
Paul teaches believers to restore those who have fallen, bear one another's burdens, examine themselves, and do good.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” — Galatians 6:7, KJV
Grace does not mean that our actions do not matter. They matter.
What we sow has consequences.
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” — Galatians 6:9, KJV
The believer is free from legalistic self-righteousness, but he is not free from responsibility.
Do not replace Christ's finished work with human performance.
Paul asked:
“Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” — Galatians 3:2, KJV
“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” — Galatians 3:3, KJV
The answer to legalism is not lawlessness. The believer should walk in the Spirit.
“Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” — Galatians 5:13, KJV
The great issue throughout Galatians is where we place our confidence.
Do we trust Christ or ourselves?
Grace or religious performance?
Faith or the flesh?
The finished work of Christ or our own works?
Paul continually brings the believer back to Christ.
The believer can walk in the Spirit, serve others, love others, bear burdens, do good, and produce spiritual fruit without turning those things into a system by which he attempts to establish his own righteousness.
The progression throughout Galatians can be remembered this way:
That is not permission to live according to the flesh.
It is freedom from trying to establish righteousness through the flesh.
Perhaps the clearest question in Galatians is Paul's question in chapter 3:
“Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” — Galatians 3:2, KJV
That question reaches directly into the heart of the Christian life.
If we received the Spirit by faith, why would we then place our confidence in the flesh?
If Christ saved us by grace, why would we attempt to establish our righteousness through religious performance?
If Christ has made us free, why return to bondage?
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” — Galatians 5:1, KJV
Paul's answer throughout Galatians is to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.
Our confidence is not in ourselves.
Our confidence is in Jesus Christ.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me...” — Galatians 2:20, KJV