The rituals and rules of religion have entrapped many sincere seekers of God, burdening them with guilt and a false sense of obligation. This essay explores how the true Gospel offers liberation from legalistic practices, empowering believers to live in the freedom of grace. Drawing from the Apostle Paul’s teachings, especially his letter to the Galatians, we’ll uncover how salvation is not achieved through works of the law but received through faith in Christ.
Paul’s defense of Christian liberty in Galatians refutes the addition of legalistic requirements, such as circumcision, to the Gospel of grace. Through vivid examples and Old Testament references, Paul dismantles the argument for works-based righteousness, affirming that believers are justified by faith alone and not by adherence to the Mosaic Law or man-made regulations.
This essay also highlights the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, who indwells believers, enabling them to live out their faith in love. True freedom in Christ results in a life motivated by grace, not compulsion—serving others out of genuine love rather than duty. From the historical context of Galatia to the practical application of Gospel truth, this essay serves as a guide to understanding and embracing the simplicity of salvation by grace through faith.
Finally, we’ll examine how legalism sets traps of pride and guilt, contrasting the freedom found in Christ with the bondage of human effort. Whether you’ve struggled with rigid religious expectations or seek clarity on the true nature of the Gospel, this essay will inspire you to rest in God’s grace and live out your faith with love and joy.
Words: 3174 / Time to read: 17 minutes
The rituals and rules of religion have trapped many who are seeking to find favor with God. This is an unfortunate situation since the true gospel offers freedom from the constraints of legalistic religious practices. Believers who know and understand the Apostles’ teaching of the New Testament letters are free from these bonds because we have been given a new standing in Christ, are empowered by the Holy Spirit and live a life of love serving others without limit. True religion recognizes freedom from the guilt of sin and freedom from the endless keeping of religious laws, rituals and ceremonious posturing. Believers that have embraced the apostolic concept of freedom have no attraction to such restraints. Free Christians practice a much simpler form of worship based on salvation by grace. We have received the love of Christ and in turn share it with others. The result is a life of love demonstrating a deep devotion to God and others above self. Serving others based on love is not done out of compulsion or obligation, but done willingly, compassionately and brings a quiet inner peace. The major difference between motivation by love and ritualistic good works is the understanding that the full blessings of salvation are imparted by grace through faith, apart from any compliance to legalistic requirements.
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
Titus 3:4-7
Some churches make up their own moral regulations. Some rely heavily on the 10 commandments given to Moses. Others mix and match portions of Scripture and come up with a convoluted system of what is expected of their members. But what we must remember is that when Christ rose from the dead, the usefulness of the law code ceased and Christians were not obligated to abide by the law code given to Moses or any other system which supposedly gains favor with God. Christians, by believing the gospel, have been justified by God which is greater than any status imparted by man. We have become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. We are considered sons and daughters of God with full rights and privileges to all of what God has to offer. He has already given us the most costly gift of all –Salvation by the death and resurrection of Christ. He has dispatched the Holy Spirit to indwell believers and enlighten the truth of the gospel in increasing measure. The Holy Spirit has provided a library of 66 books in the canon of the Bible to provide a complete revelation of God and his love, justice, mercy and grace. We are given the freedom to live, love and serve using our divinely distributed spiritual gifts.
The New Testament book of Galatians is a great reference to understand the freedom we have in Christ. A decade or two after resurrection of Christ, the Apostle Paul had established some Christian churches in Galatia, an ancient province in the Roman Empire in what is modern-day Turkey. Paul’s habit was to travel to a region and share the gospel with the residents of the various areas, normally beginning with the Jews but ultimately and especially to the Gentiles. In many cases a number of Jews would turn from their long established rituals and believe that Jesus was the Messiah who rose from the dead. Gentiles would end their idol worship and immoral practices and learn the ways of the true and living God. Paul would spend an appropriate amount of time in each area, establish church leaders and move on. Sometimes he would double back and revisit or send another established leader to provide assistance and encouragement to the believers. Many of the New Testament books are actually letters from the Apostle Paul to these type of churches in various locations.
The theme of the letter to the Galatians is to encourage them to break free from the rituals of Judaism. The problem stemmed from some Jews who had come in after Paul had moved on and were lying to the Christians in order to force them to practice the act of religious circumcision. God had established the practice of circumcision through Abraham in ancient times. The mark of circumcision was included in the law code provided to Moses and carried on through the dispensation of the Law. God’s intention was to set apart the Israelites from the other nations of the world. He did this through a series of social, political and religious standards known as the Law of Moses. Circumcision was a distinguishing mark of the Israelites who practiced Judaism.
Christians did away with all the practices and rituals of the law of Moses. When Christ died, the veil of the Temple was torn in two which signified that the way to God was now available through Jesus, not the temple which was another major element of the law of Moses. The physical mark of circumcision along with animal sacrifices, sabbath observance, and all the other 600 or so laws were replaced with faith in Christ and the distinguishing mark was love which encompassed the entire realm of the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).”
The Apostle Paul’s concern was that the church in Galatia was struggling with the false teachings of the Jews who were trying to convince them to be Christians and follow certain aspects of the Law of Moses, especially circumcision. Paul wrote them a letter and scolded them for failing to embrace their freedom from the law. In Galatians chapter three, he outlines several points starting with their own experience. The first argument centers on the indisputable presence of the Holy Spirit which started when they first believed. The thrust of this point is that the Holy Spirit’s presence and miracles were not a result of law obedience or good works, but a gift as a result of their professed belief in the gospel. Furthermore, since this miraculous blessing was received by the act of believing, why then would they consider the idea of maintaining it by works of the law, specifically circumcision? That would make no sense. If it started by faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, a work of the Holy Spirit, then it will remain by faith in the gospel of grace – not by works. A strong argument indeed.
“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?”
Galatians 3:1-5
The Jews and the Hebrew-Christians both had a deep respect for their heritage which began with Abraham. The Apostle Paul brilliantly emphasizes the fact that God’s covenant with Abraham officially began when Abraham believed God, not when Abraham was circumcised (Genesis 15, 17 respectively). This distinction from Moses’ account was a direct blow to the lying Jews who had infiltrated the Galatian church requiring law obedience. Abraham lived and died long before the law was ever in place. This critical reminder was a tremendous support to the Hebrew-Christians who were holding fast to their faith. It also put the Gentiles at ease regarding the imposing requirements associated with the law code. Faith was all that was required.
“So also Abraham ‘believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Galatians 3:6-9
The idea of law obedience to find favor with God is inherently flawed due to the fact that it must be done perfectly, consistently, and perpetually. Paul again refers back to the mutually respected writings of Moses and pinpoints a verse from Deuteronomy 27:26 which contains stunning hyperbole. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law (Galatians 3:10).” Then he masterfully contrasts it with an equally respected word from the Prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:4) who said “The righteous will live by faith.” Faith is the opposite of works or law obedience. Law obedience will result in curses or blessing as recorded extensively in Deuteronomy 28, a concept the Jews were all too familiar with because they had toggled back and forth between both for so many generations.
“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’”
Galatians 3:10-12
The Israelites thought the Law given to Moses would lead to blessing and life but they found out that because they could not keep it properly it turned into a great curse. The entire human race has the same problem. Because of our sinful nature, any attempt to perfectly keep a standard of any type will result in failure. This is a result of the sin nature which is inherent in all of us. It is in fact, a curse of the greatest caliber. This curse resulted in the death of the only one who kept it perfectly, Christ.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
Galatians 3:13-14
Next Paul changes gears and gains great momentum with a basic example familiar to all. It is important to note that the account from Moses as recorded in Genesis spanned hundreds of years. It started with creation and covered select events from many generations, such as the flood of Noah, the call of Abraham, Issac, Jacob and wrapped up with the account of Joseph in Egypt. Jacob’s family moved to Egypt as a group of about 75 and over the course of several hundred years grew into a nation which walked away after the 10 plagues with about 600,000 men, plus women and children. After all this, they received the 10 commandments at Mount Sinai and later the entire law code. The point is that God established a covenant promise with Abraham and he died prior to its fulfillment (Genesis 15:12-15). God established the law to guide the Israelites to remain set apart from the sinful world over the course of several hundred years. This was all leading up to the promised redeemer, Christ, who was the key to the fulfillment of the covenant promise made with Abraham. Since Christ fulfilled the holy requirements of the law perfectly and took the penalty of the law upon himself in his death, then the need for the law ended and was replaced with faith in the object of law, Jesus Christ.
“Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.”
Galatians 3:15-18
The Apostle Paul had made a convincing argument that God’s covenant promise with Abraham had nothing to do with the Law given to Moses. The natural question which remains is why then did God establish the Law? He reminds them that the law was necessary because of their transgressions, the natural result of the sinful nature. The law taught the idea of substitutionary sacrifice, the requirement to approach God on his terms, and definitively proves the attributes of God’s Holiness, Justice, Mercy and Love. The law shows the weakness of mankind and our need for a Savior. The law helps us understand how Christ fulfilled God’s Holy standard as an acceptable and final sacrifice for the sin of the world. He points out the weakness of the law in that it did not, and can not impart righteousness or life, but rather curses and death. The Apostle answers it succinctly comparing the Israelites to a child needing guardianship compared to Christians who were free from such restraints and lived as adult sons of God with full rights and privileges.
“Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.
“Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.Galatians 3:19-25
“Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”
One major element of Christianity is that it is open to all regardless of ethnicity, previous religion, economic class, or any other qualifying factor apart from faith in the gospel. The act of understanding and believing the gospel is within reach of each of us and that alone binds us together in complete unity as the body and bride of Christ Jesus our Lord.
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3:26-29
Summary on the teaching of Galatians 3
The ground is level at the foot of the cross. The equalizing factor is our sin and the recognition of our need for a Savior, Christ. By our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ we receive forgiveness of sin, we are set apart from the world and justified by God. We receive the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit and are granted unique spiritual gifts. We become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. We gain the full benefits of salvation the moment we believe. We are saved by grace through faith. All this is apart from any law obedience, probationary period or good works. We are saved based on the finished work of Christ on the cross. It isn’t about what we have done but rather what has been done for us. Consider this word of wisdom, legalism sets a trap: it leads to pride when you think you’ve earned righteousness and to guilt when you fall short. True righteousness isn’t achieved by our efforts but received through faith in the Gospel.
So remember that in your journey through life, be on guard against those who desire to add elements to salvation or insist on performing religious acts to maintain what the Lord has already granted us. Study the Apostles Teaching and be free from legalistic religion.
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
Galatians 5:6
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
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