A SUMMARY OF THE BOOK OF GALATIANS
Written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Galatia (Galatians 1:1, 5:2), the book of Galatians was written to correct the misconceptions about the faith, and to attack the erroneous doctrines, which were, at the time, prevalent in the church. The prevailing mindset in the Galatian church was that salvation came by works, especially the false belief that circumcision was a prerequisite for salvation. Paul’s epistle to the Galatians however debunked this and other legalistic beliefs. This summary of the book of Galatians will be presented as a summary of each of the six chapters.
Chapter 1
Apostle Paul identifies that the Galatian Christians had turn away from the gospel which they had received from him to a different gospel, which obviously, was not from the Lord (Gal 1:6-9). Paul stressed that the gospel he had presented to them was directly from the Lord Jesus and not from man. He also emphasized that he was called by grace and not by works, a fact that is central to the theme of the entire epistle. He also highlighted that upon receiving the revelation of Jesus; he did not require the approval or advice of any man but set out to do the work off the ministry. He would later advise the Galatians to be like him in this manner (Gal 4:12).
Chapter 2
The demand had been placed on the Gentile Christians in Galatia to ‘live as do the Jews’ (Gal 2:14) and this was not only burdensome to the Gentiles, but also trivializes the work of grace in the salvation of the saints. Apostle Paul then recounts how he had rebuked Peter in Antioch for separating himself from Gentile Christians, due to the arrival of certain Jewish Christians from Jerusalem. He argues that our justification is by faith and not by our works (Gal 2:16) stressing that if salvation came by works, then the death of Jesus on the cross would be in vain.
Chapter 3
Paul wonders why the Galatians could believe that their works could result in justification, considering that they had been saved and had received the Holy Spirit, not by works but by faith. Paul reminded us that even Abraham, whose children we are, was justified by faith and not by works of the law, long before the laws of Moses were enacted. It was the faith of Abraham that made him righteous not. On the contrary, the law does not make any righteous, rather it brings us under a curse because failing in one law results in a curse. As such, the righteous lives by faith and the law is not faith.
It is therefore clear that human effort, in the form of works and legalistic adherence to laws, only results in a curse and ultimately death. However, Christ came to redeem us from this curse. He bore the curse for us so that we may have access to the blessings of Abraham. Our faith in the work, which Christ did is what gives us access to the blessing. The blessing of Abraham is a covenant made by God to Abraham and his seed (singular). If accessing the blessing of Abraham was through works, then the blessing cannot be regarded as a covenant. The Law of Moses, which came after the covenant of blessing, did not nullify the covenant. Rather, it was a temporary arrangement meant to serve man until the ‘seed’ of Abraham (Jesus), who would inherit the promise, was revealed. The law kept humanity in captive to sin, and only faith in Christ could bring the deliverance from sin. We need not continue with the law since the way of faith has come and we are made sons by faith. Faith in Christ gives us the identity of Christ. Hence, we lose all other forms of identification be it our race, class, or gender; our new identity is Christ. As a result, we can inherit Abraham’s blessings.
Chapter 4
Just as an heir when he is a child, is no different from a servant, has tutors and guardians, we had the laws of Moses as our tutor, and we were slaves to gods. But when the heir comes of age and becomes a son, he does not need the tutors and hence we no longer under the law, or subject to gods because we now know God. All we need for our ‘Sonship’ is the Holy Spirit in us crying, ‘Abba, Father’. The Galatians had reverted to the previous state of slavery/bondage and Apostle Paul wonders why. They began to engage in legalistic rituals. Evidently this change had been instigated by other spiritual leaders who appeared to care about the Galatians but only wanted to alter their belief system.
Paul goes on to clarify the distinction between the law and faith using the case of Sarah (covenant of freedom) and Haggai (slavery). Isaac was the seed of promise although Haggai had a child for Abraham. Scriptures however made it clear that the seed of bondage cannot live with the seed of promise, the former must be cast out.
Chapter 5
Paul encourages the Galatians to stand in the freedom that come in Christ rather than going back to the bondage of legalism as this only separates the believer from the grace of God and from Christ. When we are one with Christ, circumcision means nothing, but faith means everything. We have been called to freedom, but this is not an excuse for losing self-control. Rather we must walk in love, for this is the summary of the law. In order to do this, we must walk in the Spirit so that we will not be under the law. Belonging to Christ simply means that we no longer are subject to the flesh. Since we have been made Christ’s by the Spirit, we must also allow the Spirit to control our lives.
Chapter 6
We must help to strengthen weak brethren so that we can all grow together in love. Each individual has a personal responsibility to develop spiritually. Sowing to the flesh in sin brings death and sowing to the spirit brings life. We must not get tired of sowing to the spirit because the harvest will come only if we do not give up. While we are not saved by works, we must bear fruits of the sprit and live a righteous live by the Spirit of God.
The backward change of the Galatians from freedom to slavery was caused by those who want to take the glory for their outward change, and are not willing to bear the persecution of preaching the gospel of faith and grace. Following legalistic laws is not profitable, rather becoming a new creature I Christ – that has immense reward.
Conclusion
The book of Galatians demonstrates the subtleness with which a Christian might be held in bondage due to ignorance. The Galatians, to whom the epistle was written, were easily enticed by a doctrine that ignored and made to no effect, the grace of God, and began to promote the justification through works of the law. Paul highlighted that it was easier to succumb to the doctrine of justifications by works because persecution was minimal, as the world system also believes this; and the flesh is satisfied in the process. The epistle makes it clear that the walk of Christian must be based on justification by grace only. To maintain this state, Christians must walk in the Spirit i.e. we must be controlled by the Spirit of God at all times. We must forget the triviality of walking under the law and enjoy the grace that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the only way to enter into our inheritance in God.
