Galatians

Part One: Introduction to Galatians

The Author

"Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia" (1:1-2). Paul's authorship has never been seriously doubted. The letter is intensely personal, and he wrote at least its closing lines "with mine own hand" in large letters (6:11).

The Recipients and Date

Galatians was sent to several churches in the region of Galatia, in central Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Scholars hold two main views about which churches these were:

Many conservative scholars favour the South Galatian view, since Acts records Paul's founding of churches there in detail and the letter does not mention the decision of the Jerusalem council (Acts 15), which would have settled the very issue Paul was addressing. Either way, the message is the same.

The Problem

After Paul left, certain teachers, often called "Judaizers," came to the Galatian churches. They taught that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be fully accepted by God (5:2-4; 6:12-13). They also attacked Paul's authority, suggesting that he was a second-hand apostle dependent on the Jerusalem leaders and that he had watered down the gospel to please Gentiles (1:10-12). Many Galatians were being persuaded, beginning to observe Jewish days and seasons (4:10) and considering circumcision (5:2).

Purpose and Theme

Paul wrote to defend the gospel of God's grace: that sinners are justified by faith in Christ alone, apart from the works of the law, and that believers live in freedom by the power of the Holy Spirit, not under the bondage of the law. Galatians has been called "the Magna Carta of Christian liberty." Martin Luther loved it so much that he called it his "Katie von Bora," after his wife.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ... for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Galatians 2:16

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

The Tone of the Letter

Galatians is the most urgent and severe of Paul's letters. Every other letter Paul wrote to a church begins with thanksgiving for the readers; Galatians does not. He goes straight to the crisis: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed... unto another gospel" (1:6). He pronounces a curse on anyone who preaches a different gospel (1:8-9), calls the Galatians "foolish" and "bewitched" (3:1), and fears he has laboured for them in vain (4:11). Yet he also writes with deep tenderness: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" (4:19). The issue at stake was nothing less than the gospel itself.

Galatians and Romans

Outline of Galatians

Part Two: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Section I: Personal — The Gospel Defended (Chapters 1-2)

Chapter 1 — No Other Gospel

Greeting (1:1-5). Paul immediately asserts his authority: he is an apostle "not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father" (1:1). He summarises the gospel: Christ "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever" (1:4-5). Christ's death is the complete provision for our sins; nothing needs to be added.

The crisis (1:6-10).

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Galatians 1:6-7

Turning from the gospel of grace to a gospel of works is not merely a change of doctrine but a desertion of God Himself, "him that called you." The false gospel is "not another," because there is only one gospel; it is a perversion.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:8-9

The repeated curse shows the seriousness of the matter. The test of any message is not the messenger's credentials, even an apostle or an angel, but its agreement with the gospel once delivered. Adding any human work to faith in Christ as a condition of salvation destroys the gospel. "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (1:10).

Paul's gospel came by revelation (1:11-24). "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:11-12). Paul proved this from his life story:

• Before conversion (1:13-14): he persecuted the church of God and "profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals... being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers." No one had less reason to invent a gospel of grace.
• His conversion (1:15-16): "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen." His conversion and calling were entirely God's work.
• After conversion (1:16-24): "immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." He went into Arabia and returned to Damascus. Only after three years did he go to Jerusalem, and then only to visit Peter for fifteen days; he saw no other apostle except James, the Lord's brother (1:17-19). Then he went to Syria and Cilicia, unknown by face to the churches of Judea, who only heard that "he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me" (1:21-24).

Paul did not receive his gospel from the Jerusalem apostles; he received it directly from Christ.

Chapter 2 — The Gospel Confirmed and Defended

The right hand of fellowship (2:1-10). Fourteen years later, Paul went to Jerusalem "by revelation" with Barnabas and Titus, and privately set before the leaders the gospel he preached among the Gentiles (2:1-2). (This may be the famine visit of Acts 11:30 or the council of Acts 15.) Titus, an uncircumcised Greek believer, was not compelled to be circumcised, a test case proving that Gentiles need not keep the law (2:3). "False brethren unawares brought in... came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (2:4-5). Paul would not compromise for a moment.

The respected leaders "added nothing to me" (2:6). They recognised that "the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter" (2:7). God was at work in both. "And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship" (2:9). There was one gospel, with two spheres of mission. Their only request was to "remember the poor," which Paul was eager to do (2:10).

Paul rebukes Peter (2:11-14).

But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Galatians 2:11-12

Peter had freely eaten with Gentile believers, as God had taught him (Acts 10-11). But when strict Jewish believers arrived, Peter, afraid of their criticism, withdrew from table fellowship with the Gentiles. Other Jewish believers followed, "insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation" (2:13). Peter's behaviour implied that Gentile believers were second-class unless they kept the law. "But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" (2:14). Even an apostle could err in conduct, and public inconsistency that threatened the gospel required public correction. (Peter later showed no resentment, calling Paul "our beloved brother," 2 Peter 3:15.)

Justified by faith (2:15-21). Paul's words to Peter flow into a summary of the gospel:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Galatians 2:16

Three times in one verse Paul says justification is by faith, not by works. Does this make Christ a promoter of sin, since Jewish believers abandon law-keeping as a way of righteousness? "God forbid" (2:17). The real transgressor is the one who rebuilds the law-system he tore down (2:18). "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God" (2:19).

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. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Galatians 2:20-21

The believer died with Christ; the old self is gone. The new life is Christ living in him, lived by faith in the Son of God, whose love is personal: "who loved me, and gave himself for me." If law-keeping could make us righteous, Christ's death would have been pointless.

Section II: Doctrinal — The Gospel Explained (Chapters 3-4)

Chapter 3 — Faith, the Law and the Promise

The Galatians' own experience (3:1-5).

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Galatians 3:1-3

Paul had preached Christ crucified so vividly it was as if they had seen it. They had received the Holy Spirit by believing the message, not by keeping the law. How foolish to think that the Christian life, begun by the Spirit through faith, could be completed by human effort and rituals. The God who gave them the Spirit and worked miracles among them did so through faith (3:4-5).

Abraham justified by faith (3:6-9). "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (3:6; Genesis 15:6). "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham" (3:7). The Judaizers claimed that Gentiles must become Jews to be Abraham's children; Paul says faith makes them Abraham's children.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Galatians 3:8-9

The gospel of justification by faith for the Gentiles was announced to Abraham two thousand years earlier (Genesis 12:3).

The curse of the law and Christ's redemption (3:10-14).

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Galatians 3:10-11

The law demands perfect, continual obedience in "all things" (Deuteronomy 27:26). Anyone who relies on law-keeping must keep it perfectly, and no one does, so all who rely on the law are under its curse. Scripture says the righteous live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4), and the law operates on a different principle, "The man that doeth them shall live in them" (3:12; Leviticus 18:5).

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Galatians 3:13-14

Christ bought us out from under the law's curse by becoming a curse in our place. The law declared that anyone hanged on a tree was under God's curse (Deuteronomy 21:23); on the cross, Christ bore that curse for us. As a result, the blessing promised to Abraham, justification and the gift of the Spirit, comes to Gentiles who believe.

The promise came before the law (3:15-18). Even a human covenant, once confirmed, cannot be cancelled or added to (3:15). God's promises were made "to Abraham and his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ" (3:16). The promise of blessing to the nations centres on one Seed, Christ (Genesis 22:18). The law came 430 years later and cannot cancel the earlier covenant of promise (3:17). "For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise" (3:18).

The purpose of the law (3:19-25). "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made" (3:19). The law was given to reveal sin as transgression, to restrain it, and to show the need for a Saviour, and it was temporary, "till the seed should come." It is not against God's promises, but it could never give life (3:21). "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe" (3:22).

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Galatians 3:24-25

The "schoolmaster" (Greek paidagogos) was a household slave who supervised and disciplined a child until he came of age. The law guarded and disciplined Israel until Christ came; it shows every sinner his guilt and drives him to Christ. Once faith in Christ has come, believers are no longer under its supervision as a system.

Sons of God, one in Christ (3:26-29).

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:26-29

Faith makes believers God's sons. Baptism into Christ (the Spirit's work of uniting us to Him, pictured in water baptism) means being clothed with Christ. In Him, every barrier of race, social status and sex is removed as far as standing before God and access to His blessing are concerned; all believers are equally sons and heirs. (This does not abolish the distinct roles of men and women taught elsewhere, but it denies that any believer is spiritually inferior.) Every believer, Jew or Gentile, belongs to Christ and is therefore Abraham's true seed and heir.

Chapter 4 — Sons, Not Servants

The coming of age (4:1-7). An heir who is still a child is no different from a servant; he is under guardians until the date set by his father (4:1-2). "Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world" (4:3), the basic religious principles of law and ritual.

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Galatians 4:4-7

At exactly the right moment in history, God sent His eternal Son. He was "made of a woman," truly human and virgin-born (the woman's Seed of Genesis 3:15), and "made under the law," fully subject to it and keeping it perfectly. His purpose was to redeem those under the law and give them the full rights of adopted sons. Then the Father sent the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, so that they cry "Abba, Father," an intimate address. All three Persons of the Trinity are active in our salvation.

Turning back to bondage (4:8-20). Before conversion the Galatians served false gods. "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain" (4:9-11). Exchanging grace for a religion of rules and calendars is like returning to slavery.

Paul made a personal appeal. He first preached to them because of an illness, yet they received him "as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus" (4:13-14). "For I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me" (4:15), perhaps hinting at an eye condition. "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" (4:16). The false teachers courted them for their own ends (4:17).

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you

Galatians 4:19

Paul felt like a mother in labour again, longing for Christ's character to be fully formed in them.

The allegory of Hagar and Sarah (4:21-31). To those who wanted to be under the law, Paul said, "do ye not hear the law?" (4:21). Abraham had two sons: Ishmael by Hagar the slave woman, born "after the flesh" by human scheming, and Isaac by Sarah the free woman, born "by promise" through God's miracle (4:22-23; Genesis 16; 21). Paul draws an allegory:

"Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise" (4:28). As Ishmael mocked Isaac (Genesis 21:9), "even so it is now" (4:29): those relying on the flesh persecute those born of the Spirit. Scripture says, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman" (4:30; Genesis 21:10). Law and grace cannot be mixed; legalism must be put out. "So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free" (4:31).

Section III: Practical — The Gospel Applied (Chapters 5-6)

Chapter 5 — Liberty and the Spirit

Stand fast in liberty (5:1-12).

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

Christ has set believers free from the law as a means of righteousness. To accept circumcision as necessary for salvation would mean that "Christ shall profit you nothing," and would obligate them "to do the whole law" (5:2-3). "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace" (5:4). "Fallen from grace" does not mean losing salvation by sinning; it means abandoning the principle of grace for the principle of law as the way to be right with God. Grace and law-righteousness cannot be combined. "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love" (5:5-6). Genuine faith is never idle; it works through love.

"Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" (5:7). "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (5:9): a little legalism corrupts the whole gospel. Paul expressed his indignation at the troublers with a biting remark: if they were so keen on cutting, he wished they would go further and cut themselves off (5:12).

Liberty for love, not licence (5:13-15).

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Galatians 5:13-14

Freedom from the law is not freedom to sin, but freedom to serve one another in love, which fulfils what the law aimed at (Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:8-10). "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another" (5:15).

Walk in the Spirit (5:16-26). How then do believers live holy lives without the law?

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Galatians 5:16-17

The "flesh" is the sinful nature that remains in the believer; the Spirit indwells him and opposes it. The answer to the flesh is not the law, but walking moment by moment in dependence on the Spirit. "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (5:18).

The works of the flesh are plural, varied and chaotic; the fruit of the Spirit is singular, a unified character that grows naturally as believers abide in Christ (John 15:4-5). The fruit describes the character of Christ Himself. Those whose lives are characterised by the works of the flesh show that they do not belong to God's kingdom.

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:24-26

Believers have life by the Spirit; they must now keep in step with Him.

Chapter 6 — Bearing Burdens, Sowing and Glorying in the Cross

Restoring and bearing (6:1-5).

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:1-2

Spiritual believers do not condemn a fallen brother but restore him gently, like setting a broken bone, remembering their own vulnerability. "The law of Christ" is the law of love (John 13:34). Pride deceives: "if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself" (6:3). Each should test his own work (6:4). "For every man shall bear his own burden" (6:5): a different word from verse 2, meaning one's own load of personal responsibility before God. We help carry heavy burdens that crush others, while each carries his own pack of duty.

Sowing and reaping (6:6-10). "Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things" (6:6): support those who teach God's Word.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Galatians 6:7-8

This law is as certain in the spiritual realm as in farming. What we invest our lives in determines what we harvest.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:9-10

Glorying in the cross (6:11-18). "Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand" (6:11): Paul took the pen himself, writing in large letters, perhaps for emphasis or because of poor eyesight. The Judaizers wanted to "make a fair shew in the flesh," avoiding persecution for the cross and boasting in the number of Gentiles they had circumcised (6:12-13).

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Galatians 6:14

Paul's only boast was the cross, where Christ died for him and where his relationship to the world's values ended. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" (6:15). What matters is not religious ritual but the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (6:16), meaning either Jewish believers or all true believers as God's people. "From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (6:17). The Judaizers boasted of circumcision marks; Paul bore the scars of beatings and stoning for Christ, the brands of a slave belonging to his Master. "Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen" (6:18). The letter begins and ends with grace.

Part Three: Christ in Galatians

Portraits of Christ

The Purpose of the Law

Part Four: Prophecies Fulfilled

Part Five: Key Passages in Depth

Galatians 1:6-9 — No Other Gospel

There is only one gospel: salvation by God's grace through faith in Christ's finished work. Any message that adds human works as a condition of salvation is a perversion under God's curse, whoever preaches it.

Galatians 2:11-14 — Standing for the Truth of the Gospel

Even Peter's fear of man led him into hypocrisy that undermined the gospel. Faithfulness to the gospel sometimes requires loving, open confrontation, even of respected leaders.

Galatians 2:16, 20 — Justified by Faith; Crucified with Christ

No one is justified by keeping the law; justification comes only through faith in Christ. The believer has died with Christ, and now Christ lives in him. The Christian life is lived by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 3:10-14 — Redeemed from the Curse

All who rely on law-keeping are under its curse, because no one keeps it perfectly. Christ became a curse for us on the cross, so that Abraham's blessing and the promised Spirit might come to all who believe.

Galatians 3:24-29 — From Schoolmaster to Sonship

The law guarded and disciplined until Christ came. Now, by faith, believers are sons of God, clothed with Christ, all one in Him, and heirs of Abraham's promise.

Galatians 4:4-7 — The Fulness of Time

At God's appointed moment, the Son came, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem and adopt. The Spirit makes believers cry "Abba, Father." We are sons and heirs, not slaves.

Galatians 5:1 — Stand Fast in Liberty

Christ has freed believers from the yoke of law-keeping as a way to earn God's favour. They must not return to bondage.

Galatians 5:13-26 — Walking in the Spirit

Freedom is for loving service, not self-indulgence. Victory over the flesh comes by walking in the Spirit, who produces in believers the fruit of Christlike character.

Galatians 6:1-2 — Restoring the Fallen

Spiritual believers restore the fallen gently and humbly, and carry one another's burdens.

Galatians 6:7-9 — Sowing and Reaping

Every choice is a seed. Sowing to the flesh reaps corruption; sowing to the Spirit reaps everlasting life. Don't grow weary in doing good.

Galatians 6:14 — Glorying in the Cross

The believer's only boast is the cross of Christ, which separates him from the world and its values.

Part Six: The Major Teachings of Galatians

1. The One True Gospel

There is no other gospel; any addition to grace perverts it (1:6-9).

2. The Divine Origin of the Gospel

Paul's gospel came by revelation from Christ (1:11-12).

3. Justification by Faith Alone

No one is justified by works of the law, but only by faith in Christ (2:16; 3:11, 24).

4. Union with Christ

The believer is crucified with Christ and Christ lives in him (2:20).

5. Substitutionary Atonement

Christ gave Himself for our sins and became a curse for us (1:4; 3:13).

6. The Purpose of the Law

To reveal sin, to condemn, and to lead to Christ; it cannot justify (3:19-25).

7. The Abrahamic Covenant

The promise of blessing to the nations through Abraham's Seed is fulfilled in Christ (3:6-18).

8. Adoption

Believers are sons of God and heirs, crying "Abba, Father" (3:26; 4:5-7).

9. The Unity of Believers

All believers are one in Christ, without spiritual distinction (3:28).

10. Christian Liberty

Believers are free from the law's bondage, but must use liberty to serve in love (5:1, 13).

11. The Holy Spirit

Received by faith, the Spirit enables believers to overcome the flesh and produces His fruit (3:2-5; 5:16-25).

12. The Conflict Between Flesh and Spirit

The sinful nature and the Spirit are opposed; believers must walk in the Spirit (5:16-17).

13. Mutual Care and Restoration

Believers restore the fallen and bear one another's burdens (6:1-2).

14. Sowing and Reaping

God's moral law of harvest governs every life (6:7-8).

15. The Cross

The cross is the believer's only boast and the end of the world's claim on him (6:14).

Part Seven: Connections — How Galatians Links to the Rest of the Bible

Galatians and the Old Testament

Galatians and the New Testament

Themes That Run from Galatians Through Scripture

Part Eight: Practical Lessons

• Guard the gospel; test every message by it (1:8-9).
• Seek to please God, not men (1:10).
• Remember that God called you by His grace (1:15).
• Never compromise the truth, "no, not for an hour" (2:5).
• Don't let the fear of man lead you into hypocrisy (2:12).
• Confront error lovingly and openly when the gospel is at stake (2:11-14).
• Trust in Christ alone for your justification (2:16).
• Live by faith in the Son of God who loved you (2:20).
• Don't try to perfect by the flesh what the Spirit began (3:3).
• Rejoice that Christ bore your curse (3:13).
• Let the law drive you to Christ (3:24).
• Treat every believer as your equal in Christ (3:28).
• Live as a son and heir, not a slave (4:7).
• Don't return to religious bondage (4:9; 5:1).
• Tell the truth, even if it makes you unpopular (4:16).
• Long for Christ to be formed in others (4:19).
• Let your faith work by love (5:6).
• Use your freedom to serve others (5:13).
• Don't bite and devour one another (5:15).
• Walk in the Spirit moment by moment (5:16, 25).
• Put away the works of the flesh (5:19-21).
• Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23).
• Restore the fallen gently (6:1).
• Bear others' burdens, and carry your own load (6:2, 5).
• Support those who teach you God's Word (6:6).
• Sow to the Spirit; God is not mocked (6:7-8).
• Don't grow weary in doing good (6:9).
• Do good to all, especially believers (6:10).
• Glory only in the cross (6:14).

Part Nine: Key Verses to Memorize

Conclusion

Galatians is Paul's fiery defence of the gospel of grace. When teachers came to the churches of Galatia insisting that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law to be right with God, Paul responded without his usual thanksgiving, pronouncing a curse on any other gospel. He showed that his gospel came by direct revelation from Christ, was recognised by the Jerusalem apostles, and was worth confronting even Peter to defend. He declared that no one is justified by the works of the law but only by faith in Christ, the One who loved him and gave Himself for him. Abraham was justified by faith; the law puts all who rely on it under a curse, but Christ became a curse for us; the law was a temporary schoolmaster to bring us to Christ; and now, through faith, believers are sons of God, one in Christ, heirs of the promise, crying "Abba, Father" by the Spirit of His Son. Like Isaac, they are children of the free woman, not the slave. So Paul calls them to stand fast in the liberty Christ has given, to use it in loving service, to walk in the Spirit and bear His fruit, to restore the fallen, to bear one another's burdens, to sow to the Spirit, and to glory only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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