Steel is one of the strongest metals but it only becomes strong when it is forged in the fire. A blacksmith places it in the furnace, pulls it out, strikes it, and returns it again and again to the heat. Instead of the fire destroying it, the fire strengthens it. Left alone, steel cools, weakens, and becomes brittle. But under heat and pressure, it is shaped into something durable and useful.
In the Christian life, God’s family is the forge. The church is where freedom is strengthened. Christ wins our freedom, but He forges that freedom through His people. And that is evident in Galatians 1:2. Here, the apostle Paul turns from those with him to those before him—the believers in Galatia, where freedom was being forged.
“To the churches of Galatia.”
Galatians 1:2b
This verse introduces the recipients of one of Paul’s most urgent and passionate letters. To understand his tone, we must understand the people—who they were, where they lived, and the pressures that shaped them. Luke’s account in Acts retraces Paul’s steps, showing how the gospel first entered Galatia through conflict, suffering, and perseverance. These believers were not gathered in ease, but forged through opposition—assemblies of freedom formed by grace and tested by fire.
The Foundation of Freedom
During his first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas planted the Galatian churches (Acts 13-14). Having been set apart by the Holy Spirit in Antioch of Syria (Acts 13:1-3), they crossed into southern Galatia, the rugged and diverse heartland of the Roman province. There they proclaimed Christ in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, cities strategically located along Roman trade routes in what is now south-central Turkey.
In Pisidian Antioch, Paul preached in the synagogue, tracing salvation history from Abraham to Christ. When the Jewish leaders rejected the message, he declared, “We are turning to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). The gospel ignited joy among the nations, even as persecution forced them out of the city.
In Iconium, “a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed,” yet opposition once again arose (Acts 14:1-2). Paul and Barnabas fled to the next city, Lystra, where Paul healed a crippled man. The crowd’s wonder quickly turned to idolatry—they called the missionaries “gods” (Acts 14:11–12)—then to violence when Jewish agitators arrived. Paul was stoned and left for dead outside the city gates (Acts 14:19). Yet, he rose and continued to Derbe, strengthening the disciples and appointing elders in every church (Acts 14:21–23).
Freedom, once received, must be protected. The church still gathers today as the assembly of freedom.
These were the first assemblies of freedom—communities gathered (ekklesiai) not by law, but by grace. The term ekklesia (translated “church”), used in Greek culture for a public gathering, carried sacred meaning in the Old Testament for the people assembled before the Lord (Deut 4:10; 1 Kings 8:14). Paul applied it to the new covenant community—those called out of darkness into Christ’s marvelous light. The true church, then, was not a building or a hierarchy—it was a people redeemed and gathered by the gospel.
The Frontier of Freedom
Unlike letters written to single congregations—such as Ephesus or Philippi—Galatians was addressed to a region, not a city. “Galatia” referred to a vast area, roughly 175 miles by 250 miles, whose identity shifted with political borders. The name was derived from the Gauls or Celts, northern tribes who migrated centuries earlier from western Europe and settled in central Asia Minor. By Paul’s time, Rome had absorbed their territory and expanded it southward to include cities like Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe—forming what historians call southern Galatia (F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles, 273–76).
This region was culturally diverse and religiously complex. Greek language and Roman law mingled with local superstitions and Jewish traditions. Archaeological and literary sources, such as Josephus (Ant. 14.10.8), reveal that Jewish colonies had long existed across Asia Minor. Synagogues were common in these cities, which explains Paul’s pattern of beginning his preaching there (Acts 13:14; 14:1). From those gatherings, Gentiles who feared God also heard the gospel.
But diversity bred tension. Jewish believers struggled with the sudden inclusion of Gentiles. Traveling teachers from Judea—later called Judaizers—insisted that Gentile converts must be circumcised and observe the Mosaic Law to be fully accepted (Acts 15:1, 5; Gal 2:4). Their message struck at the heart of Paul’s gospel. If the Galatians accepted these demands, grace would be nullified. As Paul would later write, “If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Gal 2:21).
At the same time, unbelieving Jews continued to persecute the believers. In Lystra, they followed Paul from city to city to silence him (Acts 14:19). The young churches thus faced pressure from both outside and within—from those who hated the gospel’s freedom and those who sought to dilute it with legalism. They were learning that the liberty of Christ must be guarded, not taken for granted.
The Fight for Freedom
Paul’s relationship with these believers was deeply personal. He had seen their faces, felt their hospitality, and nearly died among them. He later reminded them in this letter, “You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first” (Gal 4:13). They had once received him “as an angel of God,” but now were being bewitched by false teachers who undermined both his apostleship and the gospel he preached (Gal 3:1; 1:6–9).
The letter to the Galatians is, therefore, a battle cry. It is Paul’s urgent defense of freedom in Christ against every form of spiritual slavery. He calls them back to the grace that first gathered them:
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1
The phrase “to the churches of Galatia” thus carries more than geography. It carries memory, affection, and warning. These churches were living proof that the gospel can break through cultural barriers and birth communities of grace. Yet they were also proof that freedom, once received, must be protected.
Conclusion
The story of Galatia is the story of the church in every generation. Freedom is always forged under pressure. When the heat of persecution rises or the hammer of false teaching strikes, the church is tested—not to destroy it, but to reveal what truly holds it together. Assemblies that remain anchored in grace are strengthened; those that retreat from the fire grow brittle.
Paul’s words remind us that the assemblies of freedom still gather today. Every time believers come together around Christ crucified and risen, they enter the forge God has designed for their good. The law cannot save. The world cannot define. Sin cannot enslave. And grace—when guarded together—cannot be overcome. The church remains what it was in Galatia: a people forged by truth, strengthened through endurance, and called to stand firm in the freedom Christ has already won.
