Outline of Galations

Paul wrote this epistle to meet the error that the Galatians had fallen into. Judaizing teachers had deceived them into receiving “another gospel,” which involved keeping the Law of Moses (Galatians 1:6; Acts 15:1). They were Jews who professed conversion to Christianity, but Paul does not admit them as being true believers, calling them “false brethren” (Galatians 2:4). They had crept in among the saints unawares, and having infiltrated the Christian ranks, they gained a footing among the Galatian assemblies, and did their work of undermining the gospel of the grace of God.

These “false apostles” and “deceitful workers” (2 Corinthians 11:13) taught that a person needed the keep the Law to secure his acceptance with God (justification) and to have practical holiness in his life (sanctification). To insist on law-keeping for salvation is essentially saying that man in the flesh can obtain the righteousness of God by his own efforts. Moreover, to insist on law-keeping as the means for holy living is to misunderstand God’s way of holiness by walking in the Spirit. The effect of these things was devastating. Hence, there was an immediate need for correcting these errors, and to set forth the truth of Christian acceptance and liberty.