Letter 4 of 14 · Overview available
Galatians
We are justified by faith in Christ, not by works of the Law — and Christ has set us free to live by the Spirit in love.
Galatians is Paul's most urgent letter — it skips the usual thanksgiving and opens with astonishment (1:6). Teachers had told Gentile converts that to belong fully to God's people they must be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law.
Paul answers with autobiography (his gospel came by revelation, and the Jerusalem apostles recognized it, 1:11–2:10), his confrontation with Peter at Antioch (2:11–14), and Scripture: Abraham was counted righteous by faith (Gen 15:6), and the promise to bless the nations comes through Christ (3:6–14).
Freedom is not license: "through love serve one another" (5:13). The fruit of the Spirit (5:22–23) contrasts with the works of the flesh.
- Date
- c. AD 48–49
- Written from
- Syrian Antioch
- Recipients
- The churches of Galatia
- Chapters
- 6
- Stage
- After the first journey (or third)
- Author
- Paul the Apostle
Written to the churches Paul founded in southern Galatia (Acts 13–14), shortly before the Jerusalem Council — Paul's earliest letter.
Scholarly note: A minority view addresses the letter to ethnic Galatians in the north and dates it c. AD 53–55. See Longenecker, Galatians (WBC). Sources
Why Paul wrote it
Agitators were "troubling" the Galatians with a different gospel (1:7; 5:10–12).
Why it matters today
It safeguards the heart of the gospel — that Christ's work, not ethnic or ritual identity, makes us God's children.
Related Acts passages
- Acts 13–14
- Acts 15
- Acts 16:6
- Acts 18:23
The World Behind the Letter
"Galatia" can mean the ethnic territory of Celtic Galatians in north-central Anatolia or the larger Roman province including Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. This drives the dating debate.
Purpose and Problems
Literary Structure
- 1
No other gospel · 1:1–10
Astonishment and curse.
- 2
Paul's gospel and history · 1:11–2:21
Revelation, Jerusalem, Antioch.
- 3
Faith, Law and promise · 3:1–4:31
Abraham, the curse, sons and heirs, Hagar and Sarah.
- 4
Freedom and the Spirit · 5:1–6:18
Walk by the Spirit; bear one another's burdens.
Key passages
Verse-by-verse deep study
Read the full NLT text and tap any verse for explanations, Greek insights, cross-references and church tradition.
Passage-by-Passage
Theological Themes
My Notes
Sources
- Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians (WBC, 1990)
- Douglas J. Moo, Galatians (BECNT, 2013)