Bible Discussion Thread

Why did Paul write to the Galatians

As with many of these epistles, the authors were wanting to impart both teaching & warning about intruders into the Church. Paul's letter to the believers in Galatia (whether to the Churches in the north or south of Galatia can't be ascertained) also came as both a warning & teaching.

The Church there had false teachers among them (1:6-9). They were teaching that Paul's teaching was false & that he wasn't a genuine apostle of Christ (Paul gave a defence of this in 1:11-24). So their teaching, as with Judaizers, brought in a merit-based salvation, i.e. that there needed to be a strict obedience to Mosaic Law as well as faith in Jesus. Paul's answer to them, as it is to us now, that salvation in Christ can only be by God's Grace through faith in Jesus' death & resurrection, chapters 3-5.

So Paul preached that we are justified only by faith in Christ plus absolutely nothing else. If anything is added to faith, then faith ceases & it becomes works (making justification by human effort or contribution or even cleaving to the old Law which failed). Paul even had to rebuke the Apostle Peter (2:11-21) who suddenly stopped eating with the 'uncircumcised Gentile believers' when pressured to do so by some Hebrew Christians. This was hypocrisy that Paul took Peter to task over as Peter & others weren't practising the Truth when they also identified with Jewish requirements.

This Book, along with Romans, gives much theological teaching on this matter of Law & Grace though Faith & they form much of what we know & teach, so that others in the Church may know how important it is to separate the two (only because of Christ's death).