In a theater, a dark curtain serves as the backdrop, so the spotlight can draw attention to the main attraction. In Galatians, legalism is the dark backdrop, and freedom is the main attraction. Variations of these concepts are used more than two dozen times in the epistle. And together, they help discover the message of Galatians.
Legalism: The Dark Backdrop
You will not find the word “legalism” in Galatians, or in the entire Bible, for that matter. Instead, you will find words like slave, law, works, captive, bondage, which are used to communicate the conviction of trusting law-keeping for acceptance with God. This is as good a definition of legalism as any other.
Legalism is a dirty word among churchgoers, maybe the most despised. And rightly so. Roman 3:20 tells us, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight.” Romans 3:28 takes it a step further, “For we are justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Galatians combines both ideas, “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”
Legalism is a dirty word, because it is a dirty word—and a dirty truth. It replaces God’s grace with human performance and seeks to earn God’s favor through human actions. It is a self-righteous conviction that makes much of man and little of Christ. It results in pride, entitlement, rigidness, cruelty, impatience, and many other vices.
Yet, with all our disdain and animosity toward legalism, we still find ourselves drifting back into the comforts of its chains. There is something about legalism that appeals to us. Or, to put it more bluntly, legalism is attractive.
Legalism promises control. It makes religion predictable and manageable. It appeals to our sense of fear and impatience as well as our desire for certainty. We like to know that our spiritual standing is in good hands—our hands. By simplifying faith into rules that we can master and predict, legalism promises that we can control our standing with God, which protects us against uncertainty. We simply want to know.
So did the Pharisees. They used human tradition to manage their standing before God, and even used to corner Jesus with contempt, but it didn’t work. In Mark 7:1-13, the disciples sit down for a meal with Jesus without washing their hands. To the Jew, this was dishonorable and sacrilegious. So, the confront Jesus, who led the disciples, and asked for a reason. Jesus, never really answering their question directly, points out, “You honor with your lips, but your heart is far from it,” or in other words, “You abandon the truth of God and hold to the tradition of men” (Mk. 7:6-8, paraphrased). Legalism promises—a false sense of—control.
Legalism creates identity. We are drawn to superiority. We are lured by entitlement. We appreciate moral distinction. It makes us feel good about ourselves. Legalism answers the question of identity by comparison. It appeals to our sense of pride, insecurity, and need for validation. It reassures us that we belong to God’s “good camp” because we perform better, obey more strictly, or separate ourselves more clearly from others. This is the same attitude the Prodigal Son’s brother had.
According to Luke 15:11-32, one of two sons dishonored the father, refused to serve him, and left with his inheritance. After some time in the world, he hit rock bottom and returned to his father, who received him with joy and celebrated his repentance. The other son, who had a performance-based relationship with his father, refused to celebrate and said to his father, “I served you, I never disobeyed you, so I should be celebrated instead” (Lk. 15:29, paraphrased). Legalism creates—a false source of—identity.
Legalism avoids transformation. Growing as a Christian takes patience and work. The Lord has to develop new affections, new ways of thinking, new priorities, and a new reputation. This takes time. Legalism bypasses the process. It offers expedience and moral leverage with easy-to-use checklists. It substitutes visible obedience for inward renewal. Every Christian will admit that forgiveness of others, waiting for God, sacrificing, praying, studying, and surrendering are hard. We want life-change now, in full, our way, and obvious. Legalism provides an artificial transformation through visible actions and never truly touches the heart.
The Pharisees really struggled with this. They were so deep in it that Jesus pronounced seven judgments upon them. Here’s one of them:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
Matthew 23:25–26
This is metaphoric language. Jesus was not talking about cups and plates. He was talking about hearts and souls. Legalism polishes the outside without washing the inside, which makes legalism, not just dirty word, but a dangerous word. “You serpents,” Jesus continued, “You brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Matt. 23:33). Legalism promises heaven, but delivers hell. It’s a dirty and dangerous word, but it lures us with control, worth, and expedience.
Legalism is also subtle. Even true believers can be tempted by it. Grace changes your status long before it changes your reflexes, and legalism still kicks in automatically. It is your second nature. In fact, Christians can be some of the most legalistic people. We turn bible reading into a scorecard, church attendance into a checklist, personal conviction into law, church policy into suppression, and more. Legalism is subtle, and it easily creeps into our lives.
Attempting to refine the definition of legalism, John Piper made a poignant observation. He defined legalism this way:
“Legalism is a disposition of all kinds of behaviors and feelings that are rooted in a failure to be amazed that God has freely saved you by grace.”
He nailed it. The moment we lose the humility and joy that God has freely saved us with grace is the moment we have stepped into legalism. To use his language, if you are not “melted, broken, humbled, and filled with joy because of what God has done,” you are drifting into legalism.
Freedom: The Main Attraction
Galatians was written to true believers who were drifting into the dark backdrop of legalism. Paul is so perplexed by this that he skips his usual opening prayer to express his concern:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
Galatians 1:6–7
Legalism is a dirty and dangerous word because it assaults the gospel. So, Paul is injecting the true gospel to unlock freedom. Freedom is the main attraction.
The churches in Galatia were young in faith. So a group of Judaizers (Jews posing as Christians) swept into the region immediately after Paul left to instruct on how to add Jewish law to Christian grace. They were promising spiritual freedom through legalism. But Paul calls it slavery.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1
You can’t miss this. Paul argues that Christ has set us free for the purpose of living free. If the main attraction of Galatians is “freedom,” then the main verse is Galatians 5:1. It summarizes the teachings of Christ, who said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (Jn. 8:32). The truth that Jesus was referring to was Himself. “Only if the Son sets you free, will you be truly free” (Jn. 8:36).
This is what we call the gospel truth. It goes like this: Law-keeping is impossible for man. So, God provided another way—faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus bore our punishment for not keeping the law, and fulfilled our requirement to keep the law. So, in Christ, we have both punishment and perfection made complete. Therefore, God accepts us because we are in Christ, and that is the truth that sets us free for the purpose of living free. Put differently, freedom doesn’t come to those who keep, but to those who know.
Freedom doesn’t come to those who keep, but to those who know.
Galatians is about freedom that only comes through Christ. It is the freedom from Satan, condemnation, judgment, spiritual ignorance, spiritual death, worldly wisdom, empty rituals, sin, and false religion. All of these will be addressed, in one way or another, by Paul in Galatians.
With the main attraction being freedom. And, the main verse is Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free.” Then, the main message of Galatians is this: We are set free by Christ to live free in Christ.
Galatians will teach us that the gospel is revealed, not regulated (Gal. 1:11-12); righteousness is promised, not earned (Gal. 2:16); identity is received in Christ, not constructed by rules (Gal. 2:20); freedom is governed by the Spirit, not the law (Gal. 3:2-3); God desires sons, not slaves (Gal. 4:1-7); and transformation comes from the Spirit, not the flesh (Gal. 5:16-23). Christ sets you free for the purpose of living free.
Freedom is the great campaign of Galatians. This is why it has historically been called the “Magna Carta of Evangelical Christianity” because it established the foundation for Christian liberty. It has also been called the “Christian’s Declaration of Independence” because it announces the Christian’s separation from the bondage of law. Galatians is all about freedom.
