Galatians, Freedom in Christ

In the book of James we saw Christians struggling with believing all the right things but not living out that faith. These were Jewish Christians who were used to thinking of themselves as the chosen people who had God's favor (and subsequently salvation) no matter what. James wrote to them to remind them that faith without works is dead and to give them some very practical advice on how to live the Christian life.

The next book that was written in the New Testament was the letter to the Galatians, and here we have a very different story. The Christians living in the region of Galatia, which is mainland Turkey, were primarily Gentiles. They struggled with a different issue than the Christians addressed by James; the Galatians thought they had to earn salvation through works.

Background

The letter to the Galatians was written by Paul, who wrote nearly half of the New Testament books. When it comes to ordering the New Testament books by the date they were written, there will always be some debate. The process of dating a book of the Bible isn't as exact a science as some scholars claim it is. There is always room for interpretation. Still it is universally recognized that Galatians is one of Paul's earliest letters.

Paul probably wrote Galatians after he returned to Antioch following his first missionary journey but before the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. The decisions of that council would have been immensely helpful for Paul as he wrote this letter since it addressed the very issues he was addressing; whether or not Gentiles needed to become Jews in order to become Christians.

There is one piece of overall background information that I want to address. We commonly think that the first century Jewish faith was highly legalistic and therefore first century Jews struggled with legalism while the Gentiles struggled with being too lax. This isn't quite true. As we saw in the book of James, the Jewish Christians he was addressing were struggling with the exact opposite of legalism; they weren't doing anything!

We get this impression from reading about the Pharisees in the Gospels. Now the Pharisees were a very legalistic sect. This much is clear from what we read and what Jesus condemns. The thing is the Pharisees were a relatively small group of Jews. In fact they looked down on the rest of the Jews as being "unclean" BECAUSE they weren't so (legalistically) devoted to God as they were. Most Jews of the time were very lax in their faith because they believed they were God's chosen people and therefore automatically saved.

The Gentiles Christians, on the other hand, did struggle with legalism. This is due to a variety of reasons. First the pagan religions of the day were far more legalistic than Judaism was. Sure there may not have been as many laws, but failure to offer proper sacrifices or participate in the feasts meant immediate retribution from the gods. Second when Gentiles converted to Christianity, they were often told by their Jewish counterparts that they, wrongly, had to become a Jew first. Becoming a Jew was much more strenuous and legalistic than being born a Jew. 

So the prevalent mindset of the day, which Paul is routinely fighting against, is that Jewish Christians are in automatically while Gentile Christians need to work at it. Those born into the Mosaic covenant are saved not just because of Jesus but by their heritage. The Gentiles are not saved just by Jesus but by working to become a part of the Mosaic covenant. One leads to faith without works and the other works without faith.

Themes

Now that the lengthy background segment is over, we can get into the book of Galatians. The theme here is directly linked to what we were just talking about; the legalistic Gentile mindset. The Gentile Christians of Galatia were being told, and apparently were believing, that they needed to become Jews before becoming Christians. 

When Paul heard of this he wrote the letter to the Galatians. This is a letter that lacks the usual formalities and blessings of the other New Testament letters. Paul is not happy and it shows. He begins by defending his status as an apostle, something that had come under attack after he left. He recounts the story of his conversion and how he learned about Jesus.

After that the letter is all about how placing your salvation on works instead of faith in Christ will only lead to ruin. True freedom, Paul argues, is only found in the Holy Spirit as made possible only through the Cross of Christ. 

Theological Point

Freedom is not earned but found only in Christ. The Galatians thought they could earn their freedom, another way of talking about salvation, by working hard and joining the Mosaic covenant. Placing our faith in anything except Jesus Christ is not freedom, but slavery. 

Conclusion

Praise God that freedom is not dependent upon my actions but is wholly based on the person and work of Jesus Christ! As we shall see, this is a major theme throughout Paul's writings as this same issue crops up again and again. Get ready for next week by reading 1 Thessalonians.