What Is The Purpose Of The Book Of Galatians? A Bible Study

Why did Paul write the Book of Galatians? What timeless truths in this book still apply for us today?

The Author

The Book of Galatians is clearly written by Paul as he wrote “Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia” (Gal 1:1-2). This book wasn’t written to just one church but several as Paul says “to the churches of Galatia” which was a considerably large area within the Roman Empire. In writing this book around AD 49-54, Paul to the church at Galatia, you can already sense what his focus is; Jesus Christ! He is more than enough and the law is never enough.

The Purpose

Paul was astonished that the Galatians would start to believe another gospel so soon (Gal 1:6) and slip back into legalism. He warns them that if “anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Gal 1:9) because “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Gal 2:16), something that Paul frequently emphasizes (Eph 2:8-9). Paul’s conclusion is a great one; “if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Gal 2:21). Why, if we could do anything, did Jesus have to die? As it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them” (Gal 3:10).

The Focal Point

The central focus of the Book of Galatians is that “no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith” (Gal 3:11) so we should thank God that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Gal 3:13). It wasn’t that the law was bad, in fact “the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (Gal 3:24) and it pointed us to our need for the Savior. The law convicted us, Jesus blood freed us.

Fruit Inspection

The Book of Galatians may be our best look at the fruits of the Holy Spirit but also a view of the fruits of the flesh. Jesus says we can know them by their fruits (Matt 7:16) so what fruits are evident? The fruits are not human produced, wax fruits which look good on the outside but are worthless in value. The fruits the Holy Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23). These fruits should be visible but so should the “the works of the flesh [be] evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:19-21). A good tree will not bear bad fruit (Gal 5:19-21) because it cannot. On the other hand, it is impossible for a bad tree to produce good fruit (Gal 5:22-23). One thing for certain is “the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal 6:8) and to be sure Paul makes this point; “ I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:21).

Conclusion

The Book of Galatians gives us the knowledge we need to now that we can’t be saved by works. It isn’t about what we do but about what Christ has done. We can only repent and trust in Christ and receive eternal life. It is a completely free gift (Eph 2:8-9) but at an infinitely costly price (John 3:16).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.