The letter of Paul to the churches of Galatia is no doubt a significant document. Some commentators hold that this letter to the Galatians is one of the most important letters ever written. And, in light of its inclusion in the canon of Scripture, that surely seems to be true. In a way like no other, Galatians clearly separates Christianity from all other religions, including Judaism. It is unrelenting in its resistance to any compromise of the gospel of God’s grace, both for justification initially and sanctification subsequently. It is a letter well worth any time and effort we expend on it.

The letter, simply stated, centers on the subject of “the gospel of Christ.” For Paul, with regard to salvation of sinners, past and present, this gospel is the true and only gospel. Any supposed alternative is inferior and to Paul is not good news in any sense. In this letter to the Galatians he defends this gospel of grace against a rival “gospel” that had been brought into the churches there. This gospel is the good news of a salvation that includes freedom from bondage. This freedom relates not only to justification, the initial coming to that salvation, but also to sanctification, the ongoing living out of that salvation. Paul wants these believers to understand the gospel as it relates to both of these aspects of their salvation. He knows he is writing to those who have already been justified. So he is most concerned to help them in the area of their sanctification. He now needs to make sure they live in accord with the gospel of liberty that he taught them when with them. His primary concern is for their sanctification. Paul’s letter is a call for these believers to remember that “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (5:1).

Underlying Paul’s defense of “the gospel of Christ” is the important subject of grace (1:6). It is God’s grace that distinguishes the true gospel message from all others. And when it comes to our salvation, this grace is manifest in both our justification and our sanctification. And it is the basis for the liberty about which Paul writes.

Many commentators speak of the central theme of Galatians as Christian liberty. The letter has been called “the charter of Christian liberty,” “the Magna Charta of the Christian faith”, and the like. However, David Moore entitles his lesson series Galatians: Grace Alone (Regular Baptist Press, 1979). For him the theme is simply “grace alone.” I like that! The point of the letter seems to be simply this. Having been saved by grace through faith, living by grace through faith is more consistent than living by law through sight. As Christians, keeping law does not save us (it never has) and keeping law does not perfect us (it never will). That is the true message of the gospel.

This being said, there is no doubt that liberty or freedom is also a major subject in this letter. The believer has been freed from legal bondage. However, even so, Paul makes it clear that we are not at liberty to do as we please. God has expectations for how we use the liberty he has granted us. God wants us to use that liberty to grow. Unfortunately, there is a danger with freedom and we must ever be vigilant that it does not get out of control. Paul will address this as well.

Writers have expressed overviews of this letter variously. However, there is a recurring theme among them. It is that Paul is addressing two aspects of our salvation: justification and sanctification. However, his greater concern and the reason for writing it relates to the latter. Paul is concerned with how these Galatian believers, having come to their salvation, now continue in their salvation, in their approach life under grace.

Here are some example overviews.

• The Galatian churches were facing a double threat, involving purity of doctrine and purity of conduct. Certain individuals had come into the area. … They insisted that, while salvation was of Christ, works were also necessary for salvation. … Paul overwhelmingly destroys all arguments in favor of mixing the law with faith. … The apostle answers the complementary error—that a believer is made spiritually mature by keeping the law—by setting forth the truth of the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. (NSRE, Introduction to Galatians.)
• The theme of Galatians … is that true freedom comes only through Jesus Christ. In this letter Paul deals with spiritual freedom on two fronts. The first front (chaps. 3-4) is that of salvation, through which Christ sets a person free from bondage to sin and the law. … Paul’s second front in Galatians (chaps. 5-6) is that of sanctification, the freedom God gives His children to live out lives of faithfulness and genuine righteousness, free from sin’s control and legalistic bondage. (MacArthur, Galatians, p. xi.)
• [Galatians] proves that the believer is free from the law both as a means of justification and sanctification. (Schafer, BA314 class notes, DTS, 1978, p. 1.)
• [The theme is] justification by faith issuing in Christian liberty in the realm of sanctification. (Williams, NT310 class notes, BBST, 1974, p. 51.)
• There can be no doubt that the central topic of Galatians is the question as to how and why we are accepted to God initially, and how and why we continue to be acceptable to God thereafter: both of these have been challenged by the Judaizers. (Cole, Galatians, p. 43.)

As we study this letter with the help of the Holy Spirit, by God’s grace we will come to better appreciate His means for both justification and sanctification. Hopefully that will sharpen us so that we ever live as those who have been “liberated from this present evil age” and that we never find ourselves compromising the gospel of the grace of God.

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