A Guide to the Book of Galatians

If you came to Galatians to find some good ‘ol New Testament messages about love and hope and a pat on the back for following Christ, you may have come to the wrong place! Before you read Galatians, you must prepare yourself for a good tongue lashing. Paul takes of a very different tone in Galatians, the result of interesting circumstances in Galatia where the Christians are struggling with navigating their spiritual lives between The Law and Faith. Many of the Christians feel the need to earn their salvation through The Law by doing things like becoming circumcised, mostly at the behest of some other Christians and Jews who are leading them astray. This could not make Paul angrier!
In Galatians, Paul addresses the crux of Christianity and one of the most compelling as well as slippery aspects of our religion. We as humans, cannot possibly earn our salvation. There is no possible way for us to live a life worthy of God’s perfection. It literally doesn’t matter how much good you do or how much bad you do. Even the smallest sin is cause enough for our eternal separation from a perfect God. Yet, He still offers us forgiveness and mercy, not on our own accord, but for Christ’s, who did live the perfect life that God’s magnificence demands. After re-explaining this to the Galatians, he drives home his final point: God doesn’t want us obsessing or even worrying about our sins. We always have and will sin. He wants us to devote ourselves to loving and serving Him, then he will do the rest.