“Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11, ESV)
The apostle Paul
What is the gospel message? In simple terms it is salvation through Jesus. And that salvation is freely given. There is nothing that any human being can do to obtain salvation accept through God’s plan. So what were the first-century Judaizers trying to do by teaching that compliance to the law of Moses was still mandatory for salvation? There are potentially several answers to that question which we will explore in this commentary, but to begin with, they would not accept Jesus because He did everything, leaving no room for their own self-righteousness, something which they probably thought they excelled in. So when the apostle Paul heard that these people were teaching a form of legalism to people he led to Christ, he wrote this epistle.
Since legalism is the primary subject addressed in the book of Galatians, many question is the lesson still valid today? Yes, as we quickly fast-forward to present day, we see that Christianity has many fractures, splits, and varying beliefs with an abundance of different rituals, protocols, traditions, and procedures that man has processed and rendered God’s perfect Word into obscure and confusing concepts, and then they have the audacity to call it theology, the study of God! So, yes, the lesson of this epistle is still pertinent, and the warnings given are still valid.
Where and What is Galatia?
This epistle is addressed to the churches (plural) in Galatia. The name is used to describe both a region, and later, a larger Roman province that encompassed this and other regions in Asia Minor (today’s Turkey). During the time period of the book of Acts and Paul’s epistles, the name Galatia pertains mainly to the smaller region. In the course of Paul’s first missionary journey, he and Barnabas established at least four churches in Galatia, including: Iconium (see Acts 14:1-7), Lystra (see Acts 14:8-18), Derbe (see Acts 14:19-20), and Antioch (although technically in the region of Pisidia, but since the regions of Pisidia and Galatia were for a while governed as one province, Antioch is typically included, not to be confused with the Antioch in Syria, see Acts 13:13-52). The epistle does not specifically identify any of the churches.
Since Paul only references “the churches in Galatia” and not a specific church, many question Paul’s timing of his visits and which cities were involved, often bringing in the debate of when this epistle was written. Regardless of dates, cities, churches, people groups, etc., the message of this epistle is unaffected.
Any Other Gospel is Wrong
The central message of this epistle is about exclusivity, a word that is “frowned upon” (Okay, hated!) by society today. Perhaps more important now than any other time in the past, the message is clear, there is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus.
It didn’t take long for the gospel message to be distorted by false teachers as Jesus and every epistle writer had warned. The churches in Galatia had been influenced by those that taught that in order to be saved a person must first embrace Judaism, they were called “Judaizers.”
Galatians
A Commentary on the Book of Galatians © 2026 by David A. Heywood. All rights reserved. Published by Rediscover the Bible Ministries, Inc.
Unless otherwise noted or verses marked ESV, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001, 2016, 2025 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
All sections and chapter of this book were written using the following reverse interlinears as the primary source of the original Scriptural texts:
Old Testament
McDaniel, C. (2009). The English-Hebrew Reverse Interlinear Old Testament English Standard Version. Lexham Press. This reverse interlinear aligns the ESV Old Testament with the Lexham Hebrew Bible. Copyright 2009 Lexham Press.
New Testament
Schwandt, J. (2009). The English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament English Standard Version. Lexham Press. This reverse interlinear aligns with the ESV New Testament with the SBL Greek New Testament. Copyright 2009 Lexham Press.
I. Greeting and Introduction (Galatians 1:1–5)
II. A personal defense of the gospel (Galatians 1:6–2:21)
A. The exclusivity of the gospel (Galatians 1:6–10)
B. Paul’s personal testimony of his apostolic calling (Galatians 1:11–24)
C. Agreement in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1–10)
D. Conflict with Peter (Galatians 2:11–14)
E. The gospel as justification through faith in Jesus alone (Galatians 2:15–21)
III. A reason through the Scriptures defense of the gospel (Galatians 3:1–4:31)
A. The Holy Spirit as proof of his gospel (Galatians 3:1–5)
B. Justification through faith alone as central to the Scriptures (Galatians 3:6–4:7)
1. The example of Abraham (Galatians 3:6–9)
2. Faith, not the Law, for connection to Abraham (Galatians 3:10–4:7)
C. Encouragement to return to the true gospel (Galatians 4:8–20)
D. Analogy from Abraham’s sons (Galatians 4:21–31)
IV. The gospel applied in action (Galatians 5:1–6:10)
A. Freedom as central (Galatians 5:1)
B. Warning against returning to slavery under the Law (Galatians 5:2–12)
C. The multifaceted outworking of the gospel in community (Galatians 5:13–6:10)
1. Freedom in community (Galatians 5:13–15)
2. Guided by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16–25)
3. Practical concern for others (Galatians 6:1–10)
V. Closing (Galatians 6:11–18)