What Is Distinct about the Theology of Galatians?
This article is part of the Distinctive Theology series.
The Gospel in Galatians
One way to think about Galatians is to sketch it in three movements. These three movements roughly map onto chapters so that chapters 1–2 are the first movement, chapters 3–4 the second, and chapters 5–6 the third. The three movements can be described as the 1) the truth of the gospel (chs. 1–2); 2) the content of the gospel (chs. 3–4); and 3) the result of the gospel (chs. 5–6).
The truth of the gospel takes center stage in chapters 1–2. Jewish teachers accused Paul of proclaiming a false gospel since the latter argued that one didn’t need to keep the law or be circumcised to be saved. Paul strikes back by emphasizing that the gospel of free grace that he preached was revealed to him by Jesus himself on the road to Damascus. Anyone who departs from the good news declared by Paul, whether it was an angel, an apostle, or even Peter himself, would be condemned (Gal. 1:8–9). We learn from this that the gospel found in Galatians is the very truth of God, and we depart from it to our eternal peril. No compromise can be accepted or tolerated when it comes to the gospel, and all teachings and teachers must be evaluated and measured by the gospel revealed to us by Jesus Christ himself.
Christ Crucified
Thomas R. Schreiner, Thomas R. Schreiner, Brian S. Rosner
This addition to the New Testament Theology series focuses on the specific teachings of Galatians to remind readers of the truth of the gospel and the only possible path to salvation—Jesus Christ.
In the second movement, chapters 3–4 of Galatians, the content of the gospel is unfolded. The most important question in life is how we are justified before God. In other words, what does it take for a person to be declared in the right before God at the final judgment? The answer is that righteousness before God doesn’t come by the works of the law. We are not right before God by our works since, as the one who is infinitely holy, God demands perfect obedience. Our works will only lead to judgment since we are all sinners, since we all fall short in many ways. The good news, however, is that Jesus, as the God-man and as the crucified and risen Lord, has died for our sake, taking the curse upon himself that we deserved (Gal. 3:13). We do not receive the Spirit nor are we justified by our works but by faith alone. Justification is not based on doing but believing, not by performing but by resting on God’s work in Christ, not by achieving but by trusting. We see in the gospel the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. How freeing and liberating it is to know that we stand before God not based on our goodness but his grace, not because of our virtue but God’s great sacrificial love.
Our new life with God is based on the work of Christ, our crucified and risen Savior.
The third movement is found in chapters 5–6. If we are justified before God by his grace and apart from our works, then does it follow that it doesn’t matter how we live? Does the gospel lead to a life of wild ungodliness and evil? Certainly not. Those who have received and known God’s great love and grace in Jesus Christ are transformed because of his love. God has given us his Spirit by faith, and the Spirit works powerfully in us as believers so that we are now liberated to live in a new way. It doesn’t follow, of course, that our lives are perfect or that there is no struggle or no failures in our lives (Gal. 5:17; 6:1). We don’t experience perfection but a new direction. We aren’t yet in the new creation, but we are a members of the new creation on our way to our final destiny (Gal. 6:15). As we live our our lives, must make choices to follow either the Lord or our own sinful inclinations. We are exhorted to walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), to be led and directed by the Spirit (Gal. 5:18), to march in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), and to sow to the Spirit (Gal. 6:8). By God’s grace and because of his great love, we produce the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). The fruit of the Spirit manifests itself in a life of love for others (Gal. 5:14, 22). Paul describes in these chapters what love looks like. Those who love serve others, flee from idolatry, sexual sin, drunkenness, and drugs. Most important, we live in harmony with others. All the goodness in our lives, however, is not the basis of our relationship with God. Our new life with God is based on the work of Christ, our crucified and risen Savior. The message of Galatians fits with what the apostle John says, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Thomas R. Schreiner is the author of Christ Crucified: A Theology of Galatians.
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