The Ten Commandments and the Galatian Heresy

The book of Galatians has been a stumbling block for many Christians when it comes to understanding the truth about the eternal nature of the Ten Commandments. Many have interpreted parts of Galatians as meaning an end to the Ten Commandments or the fourth Commandment, the Sabbath. The Galatians had wandered from the truth that Paul had first taught them in favour of listening to some judaizing teachers from Jerusalem who insisted that they should still be observing all the rites of the Jewish religion such as the ceremonial law and circumcision etc. These teachers taught that Paul was inferior to the other Apostles where they had come from and insisted that the Law of Moses was still binding and was necessary for justification. This is where most of the confusion originates. Several Commentaries on Galatians will also be given by some of the late, great theologians as this will be harder to refute for those who teach against the clear instructions of Jesus that we are not only to obey the Ten Commandment law of God but teach it also. See Matthew chapter 5 for more information on this topic and the misunderstandings on fulfilling the law.

As you will soon see, the question of which law is being referred to in Galatians is not really relevant to the issue of whether the Ten Commandments are still binding in regards to being justified by faith and not by the works of the law. However, the law spoken of all through Galatians is the Law of Moses which is also called the “Book of the Law”, the “Mosaic law” and “Book of the Covenant.” In chapter 2 Paul had to instruct the Galatians again that they are not saved by keeping the “Law of Moses” and in chapter 3 he exhorts that they are placing themselves back under the curse of the law (Mosaic Law) by trying to observe everything that was written in the “Book if the Law.” In chapter 4, Paul asks them, why do you desire again to be in bondage by observing days, months and years, (feast days, monthly new moon festivals, yearly ceremonial sabbaths) which were all part of the ceremonial law or what was written in the “Book if the Law.” In chapter 5 Paul says that they are being “entangled with a yoke of bondage” by keeping circumcision. These were all rites of the Jewish religion that were written in the “Book of the Law” and all ended at the cross. The “Book if the Law” is also called the “ordinances” and Paul found himself also having to write to the Colossians telling them the same thing, in that these days, months and yearly festivals had ended and were bondage, that is, they were contrary to them and against them. See also Albert Barnes and Adam Clarke Commentaries.

Colossians 2:14-16 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; … 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink [offerings], or in respect of an holyday [feast day], or of the [monthly] new moon, or of the [yearly] Sabbath days:” Parenthesis are added.

What was written in the Book of the Law was “against us, which was contrary to us” and why Paul calls this law bondage. The Ten Commandments on the other hand is the “perfect law of liberty” and liberty of course means freedom, which is the opposite to bondage. Since the Bible does not contradict itself, this also identifies what law is being spoken of. If Paul is calling it bondage, he is speaking of what is written in the “Book of the Law.”

James 1:25 “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

For clarity and confirmation on which law James is referring to.

James 2:10-12 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you are become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak you, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.”

The curse and the Book of the Law
Galatians 3:13 informs us that Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, that is, everything that was written in the Book of the Law. So was this the Ten Commandment law? The key to this question is found in Galatians 3:10 that has the clear phrase “the Book of the Law.” The following verses demonstrate that the “Book of the Law” is definitely not the Ten Commandments. Here are just two of many that could be quoted.

Joshua 23:6 “Be you therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you turn not aside there from to the right hand or to the left;”

Deuteronomy 31:24-26 “And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the SIDE of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.”

This now obsolete part of the law and the Old Covenant was written by the hand of Moses in a book and stored in the SIDE of the Ark of the Covenant and so was also called the “Book of the Covenant.” Exodus 24:7 “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD has said will we do, and be obedient.”

The Old Covenant also included the Ten Commandment Covenant. Exodus 34:28 “And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables [stone] the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.” The Ten Commandment Covenant was stored on the INSIDE of the Ark under the mercy seat. Deuteronomy 10:5 “And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables IN the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me.”

Now that Jesus has become our sacrificial lamb and ended the worldly sacrificial sanctuary system, the New Covenant now only has the Ten Commandment Covenant which God now writes in our hearts. Hebrews 9:1 “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.” Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:”

Now note one of the main verses in contention. It is speaking of the “Book of the Law,” not the Ten Commandments. The issue is still the same in that we are not justified by the works of either law which you will soon see does not make the Ten Commandments null and void through faith as Paul explains in Romans 3. Regardless of this, it is clear that the law being spoken of in the following passage is the Law of Moses which can be seen from the phrase the “Book of the Law” in verse 10.

Galatians 3:9-11 “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law [Law of Moses] are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law [Law of Moses] in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” Parenthesis are added.

After Moses read from the “Book of the Law” to the Israelites in the final chapters of Deuteronomy, he explained that if they obeyed everything written in the Book of the Law that they would receive God's blessing, but if they disobeyed they would receive God's curses (punishment). The following verse in Joshua is a much clearer verse then could be quoted from Deuteronomy and sheds some light here without having to go into a lot more detail.

Joshua 8:34 “And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.”

Under the Schoolmaster
Moving towards the end of Galatians chapter three, we find another misunderstood passage. The Commandments that say “Thou shalt not kill” or “Thou shalt not worship idols” did not bring us to Christ. Nor did any of the Ten Commandments. However, the ordinances that are written in the “Book of the Law” such as Passover did bring us to Christ and was a schoolmaster. Passover taught Israel that one day the true Lamb of God would come and take away the sins of the world and then Passover would be gone, nailed to the cross, and no longer their schoolmaster and this and the other feasts with their different meanings would also no longer be their schoolmaster.

Galatians 3:23 “But before faith [Jesus] came, we were kept under the law [Mosaic Law], shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law [Mosaic Law] was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith [Jesus] is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Parenthesis are added.

Days, Months and Years that were bondage
Some have concluded that since the Sabbath of the Lord is a day and Galatians 4:9-10 uses the word day and Paul speaks of bondage here, then the fourth Commandment must be bondage and done away with. To begin with, as we have already covered, the Ten Commandments are the perfect law of liberty, where the Law of Moses is what was bondage. Paul is not just referencing days, but also months and years and he is referring to something that includes all these things. These were all part of what was written in the Book of the Law. There were various ceremonial feast Days, Monthly new moon festivals and Yearly ceremonial sabbaths that all ended at the cross. Not so with the Ten Commandments which are to last as long as Heaven and Earth. Compare this passage with Colossians 2:14-16 that Paul also wrote. See also Albert Barnes and People's New Testament Commentaries.

Galatians 4:9-10 “But now, after that you have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn you again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days, and months, and times, and years.”

Colossians 2:14-16 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; … 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink [offerings], or in respect of an holy day [Holy days], or of the new moon [months], or of the Sabbath days: [years eg; Passover sabbath]” Parenthesis are added.

The bond woman and the free woman
Some have again confused which covenants are being referred to in Galatians chapter 4. As we have already seen, there were two parts to the Old Covenant made at Sinai. One was the “Book of the Covenant” comprising the “Law of Moses” or the “Book of the law” etc, which was stored on the outside of the Ark of the Covenant, and the other was the Ten Commandment Covenant that was stored on the inside of the Ark of the Covenant. As Paul points out many times, the “Book of the law” was bondage but the Ten Commandments are the perfect law of liberty (freedom). James 1:25; 2:10-12. Thus the Covenant that Paul refers to as bondage here is the Jewish “Book of the Covenant” that had the ceremonial days, months and years just described above. Paul is continuing to demonstrate that this law was bondage by now using this allegory.

Note the first two verses of the passage below. Paul is still on the subject of bondage which the Mosaic Law was, and this is the law that Paul is still referring to. Again the context and the issue remains the same all through Galatians.

Galatians 4:21-26 “Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”

For further confirmation on what Law Paul is referring to in verse 21 above, note the following from this late famous theologian.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.S.A., (1762-1832).
Galatians 4:21 - Ye that desire to be under the law - Ye who desire to incorporate the Mosaic institutions with Christianity, and thus bring yourselves into bondage to circumcision, and a great variety of oppressive rites.
Do ye not hear the law? - Do ye not understand what is written in the Pentateuch relative to Abraham and his children. It is evident that the word law is used in two senses in this verse. It first means the Mosaic institutions; secondly, the Pentateuch, where the history is recorded to which the apostle refers.

To give clarity to the remainder of this passage, the following Commentary has been used as it is not long winded.

The following is taken from “The People's New Testament (1891) by B. W. Johnson”
“Galatians 4:21-31 - Tell me, ye that desire, etc. What troubled him was their tendency to accept the obsolete law of Moses. He now addressed all such a question. Will they hear the law itself?
A bondmaid. Hagar, whose child was Ishmael.
A freewoman. Sarah, whose child was Isaac.
Was born after the flesh. The son of the bondwoman was born in the ordinary course of nature.
Was by promise. The son of Sarah was a child of promise, born when she was long past the age of bearing children. See Genesis 18:10, Genesis 18:14; Genesis 21:1-2; Hebrews 11:11.
Which things are an allegory. Though literally true, the facts had an allegorical interpretation. The two women and their children were types.
Are two covenants. One, the bondwoman, represents the covenant given at Sinai, the covenant of bondage. The other, the freewoman, represents the covenant of Christ, the gospel.
For this Agar is Mount Sinai. Represents Sinai. This Mount Sinai is in Arabia, the very home of Ishmael and his race. Some also add that one name of the mountain is Hagar, but this is not certain.
Answereth to. Represents the earthly Jerusalem, under bondage, bondage to the law herself, and also her children, as Hagar and her child were under bondage.
But Jerusalem which is above is free. The freewoman and her free child represent the heavenly Jerusalem, the church of Christ.
Our mother. The mother of those in Christ.
For it is written. Isaiah 54:1. In that connection the prophet speaks of the Babylonian bondage, of Abraham and Sarah, and then of the deliverance, looking onward to the glorious deliverance in Christ. Chapter 53 is all concerning Christ, and chapter 54 speaks of the great deliverance.
Thou barren. Sarah, the type of the church, long childless.
The desolate. Sarah, or rather the church, that has more children by far than the children of the old covenant.
Now we, brethren. As Isaac was the child of promise, so are we, Gentile and Jewish Christians, of the promise to Abraham of a Seed in which all nations should be blessed.
As he then that was born after the flesh persecuted. See Genesis 21:9. Ishmael persecuted Isaac. So the Jews still persecuted God's spiritual children, the heirs of the promise. Paul "of the Jews had five times received forty stripes save one."
Cast out the bondwoman and her son. The allegory will hold good still further. Abraham, when it was impossible that the two families should get along in peace, cast out the bondwoman and her son. See Genesis 21:10. So, too, the Jews, the children of the old covenant, had lost the divine favor, and the children of the promise, whether Jews or Gentiles, made heirs.
So then, brethren. This, then, is the conclusion. We Christians are not children of the bondwoman, and are not under the bondage of the law. [Mosaic Law]” Parenthesis are added, See Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible previously on verse 21 for confirmation of the law referred to here.

Having now adequately covered the relevant passages on Galatians chapters 2, 3 and 4, it really only leaves the issue of chapter five and circumcision. I don't believe it is necessary cover this chapter as I am sure everyone is aware that this was a yoke of bondage and once again was part of the Mosaic law. Circumcision is now that of the heart as Paul informs us in Romans 2:28-29. The following commentary will now fully clarify and confirm what we have just discussed on all of the above points and should leave no doubt that the entire context of this book is that the Galatians had returned to the Mosaic Law due to false judaizing teachers. Albert Barnes is a much respected late, great theologian. After this we will give a conclusion on this topic.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1798-1870)
“It is easy to discern from the Epistle itself that the following circumstances existed in the churches of Galatia, and that it was written with reference to them.

(1) That they had been at first devotedly attached to the apostle Paul, and had received his commands and instructions with implicit confidence when he was among them; Galatians 4:14-15; compare Galatians 1:6.
(2) That they had been perverted from the doctrine which he taught them soon after he had left them; Galatians 1:6.
(3) That this had been done by persons who were of Jewish origin, and who insisted on the observance of the rites of the Jewish religion.
(4) That they claimed to have come directly from Jerusalem, and to have derived their views of religion and their authority from the apostles there.
(5) That they taught that the apostle Paul was inferior to the apostles there; that he had been called more recently into the apostolic office; that the apostles at Jerusalem must be regarded as the source of authority in the Christian church; and that, therefore, the teaching of Paul should yield to that which was derived directly from Jerusalem.
(6) That the laws of Moses were binding, and were necessary in order to justification. That the rite of circumcision especially was of binding obligation; and it is probable Galatians 6:12 that they had prevailed on many of the Galatians to be circumcised, and certain that they had induced them to observe the Jewish festivals; Galatians 4:10.
(7) it would seem, also, that they urged that Paul himself had changed his views since he had been among the Galatians, and now maintained the necessity of circumcision; Galatians 5:11. Perhaps they alleged this, from the undoubted fact that Paul, when at Jerusalem Acts 21:26, had complied with some of the customs of the Jewish ritual.
(8) That they urged that all the promises of God were made to Abraham, and that whoever would partake of those promises, must be circumcised as Abraham was. This Paul answers, Galatians 3:7; Galatians 4:7.

From this description of the state of things in the churches of Galatia, the design of the Epistle is apparent, and the scope of the argument will be easily seen. Of this state of things the apostle had been undoubtedly apprised, but whether by letters, or by messengers from the churches there, is not declared. It is not improbable, that some of his friends in the churches there had informed him of it, and he immediately set about a remedy to the evils existing there.

I. The first object, therefore, was to show that he had received his commission as an apostle, directly from God. He had not received it at all from man; he had not even been instructed by the other apostles; he had not acknowledged their superiority; he had not even consulted them. He did not acknowledge, therefore, that the apostles at Jerusalem possessed any superior rank or authority. His commission, though he had not seen the Lord Jesus before he was crucified, he had, nevertheless, derived immediately from him. The doctrine, therefore, which he had taught them, that the Mosaic laws were not binding, and that there was no necessity of being circumcised, was a doctrine which had been derived directly from God. In proof of this, he goes into an extended statement Galatians 1, of the manner in which he had been called, and of the fact; that he had not consulted with the apostles at Jerusalem, or confessed his inferiority to them; of the fact that when they had become acquainted with the manner in which he preached, they approved his course Galatians 1:24; Galatians 2:1-10; and of the fact that on one occasion, he had actually been constrained to differ from Peter, the oldest of the apostles, on a point in which he was manifestly wrong, and on one of the very points then under consideration.

II. The second great object, therefore, was to show the real nature and design of the Law of Moses, and to prove that the peculiar rites of the Mosaic ritual, and especially the rite of circumcision, were not necessary to justification and salvation; and that they who observed that rite, did in fact renounce the Scripture method of justification; make the sacrifice of Christ of no value, and make slaves of themselves. This leads him into a consideration of the true nature of the doctrine of justification, and of the way of salvation by a Redeemer.

This point he shows in the following way:
(1) By showing that those who lived before Christ, and especially Abraham, were in fact justified, not by obedience to the ritual law of Moses, but by faith in the promises of God; Galatians 3:1-18.
(2) By showing that the design of the Mosaic ritual was only temporary, and that it was intended to lead to Christ; Galatians 3:19-29; Galatians 4:1-8.
(3) In view of this, he reproves the Galatians for having so readily fallen into the observance of these customs; Galatians 4:9-21.
(4) This view of the design of the Mosaic Law, and of its tendency, he illustrates by an allegory drawn from the case of Hagar; Galatians 4:21-31. [See the section on the bond woman and the free woman above]

This whole discourse is succeeded by an affectionate exhortation to the Galatians, to avoid the evils which had been engendered; reproving them for the strifes existing in consequence of the attempt to introduce the Mosaic rites, and earnestly entreating them to stand firm in the liberty which Christ had vouchsafed to them from the servitude of the Mosaic institutions, Galatians 5; 6.

The design of the whole Epistle, therefore, is to state and defend the true doctrine of justification, and to show that it did not depend on the observance of the laws of Moses. In the general purpose, therefore, it accords with the design of the Epistle to the Romans. In one respect, however, it differs from the design of that Epistle. That was written, to show that man could not be justified by any works of the Law, or by conformity to any law, moral or ceremonial; the object of this is, to show that justification cannot be obtained by conformity to the ritual or ceremonial law; or that the observance of the ceremonial law is not necessary to salvation. In this respect, therefore, this Epistle is of less general interest than that to the Romans. It is also, in some respects, more difficult. The argument, if I may so express myself, is more Jewish. It is more in the Jewish manner; is designed to meet a Jew in his own way, and is, therefore, somewhat more difficult for all to follow. Still it contains great and vital statements on the doctrines of salvation, and, as such, demands the profound and careful attention of all who desire to be saved, and who would know the way of acceptance with God.” Bold parenthesis are added.

The Question of justification by faith now answered
As you can see, the book of Galatians can be a difficult book to understand at times and so many have thought that Paul was speaking of the Ten Commandments rather than the Mosaic law. Regardless of this, the main issue that Paul is emphasizing and trying to make clear is that we are justified by faith and not by the works of any law whether it be the everlasting Moral law or the Mosaic Law that ended at the cross. In the first part of chapter 4, Paul points out that observance of the ceremonial Holy days was bondage and has ended. To still observe these Holy days is justification by works of the law; the ceremonial law in this case. Since we are not justified by the works of the law, the question that remains is; does this bring an end to the Ten Commandments? The following two verses demonstrate this issue which is justification by faith and not by works of the law.

Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Galatians 3:9-11 “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”

In Galatians the law being referred to as we have now seen is the Mosaic Law and in Romans chapter three, Paul is referring to the Ten Commandment law, however, as already stated the issue remains the same. In Romans chapter 3, Paul gives total clarity to this question as to if being justified by faith and not by works of the law removes our obligation to obey the Ten Commandment law and the answer is a definite NO! Firstly, note what the following commentary has to say on the book of Galatians.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
“The churches in Galatia were formed partly of converted Jews, and partly of Gentile converts, as was generally the case. St. Paul asserts his apostolic character and the doctrines he taught, that he might confirm the Galatian churches in the faith of Christ, especially with respect to the important point of justification by faith alone. Thus the subject is mainly the same as that which is discussed in the epistle to the Romans, that is, justification by faith alone. In this epistle, however, attention is particularly directed to the point, that men are justified by faith without the works of the Law of Moses.”

Below is the prominent part of Romans 3 in regards to justification by faith and not by the works of the law. Note especially the answer to our very important question in verse 31 as to does justification by faith bring an end to the law.

Romans 3:19-31 “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. … 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? No: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yes, we establish the law.”

Just for extra clarity on this pivotal question from the easier to understand New King James Version.

Romans 3:31 NKJV “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”

We are indeed justified by faith and not by the works of the law and thankfully Paul makes sure there is no misunderstanding by finishing this chapter and clarifying that the Ten Commandments are NOT made null and void by faith and that we do still uphold the law. You cannot uphold and obey a law that is gone! And just for even further clarity; who is it that are justified before God? It is those who do obey the Ten Commandments of God.

Romans 2:13 “For NOT the hearers of the law are just before God, but the DOERS of the law shall be justified.”

The Ten Commandment Galatian heresy Conclusion:
In conclusion, the Ceremonial law or Mosaic law was bondage and ended at the cross. See Colossians 2:14-17. The Ten Commandments on the other hand are not made void through faith and are eternal. Clearly this letter of Paul's is greatly misunderstood but there can be no doubt that the Ten Commandments are still binding. If they were not, then we would have major contradictions with the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 as well as many other writings of Paul and John just for starters. All scripture must line up and if it does not we know we are in error somewhere. For those interested, more detail can be found below by some more of the late but best theologians.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, LL.D., F.S.A., (1762-1832)
“From the complexion of this epistle it appears to have been written to the Jews who were dispersed in Galatia; see Acts 2:9. And although in Galatians 4:8, it is said that the persons to whom the apostle writes did not know God, and did service to them which by nature were no gods; this must be understood of those who had been proselytes to the Jewish religion, as Galatians 4:9 sufficiently shows; for, after they had been converted to Christianity, they turned Again to the weak and beggarly elements.

These Galatians were doubtless converted by St. Paul; see Acts 16:6; Acts 18:23; but, after his departure from them, some teachers had got in among them who endeavoured to persuade them, and successfully too, that they should be circumcised and keep the Mosaic law. See Galatians 1:6; Galatians 4:9, Galatians 4:10, Galatians 4:21; Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:2; Galatians 6:12. And the apostle labors to bring them back from the errors of these false teachers.

The arguments which the apostle uses to prove the truth of the Christian religion, as well as the nullity of the Mosaic institutions, are the following: -

1. That himself, immediately after his conversion, without having any conference with any of the apostles, preached the pure doctrines of Christianity doctrines strictly conformable to those preached by the genuine disciples of the Lord; and this was a proof that he had received them by immediate inspiration, as he could have known them no other way.
2. That he was led to oppose Peter because he had withdrawn himself from communion with the converted Gentiles, and thereby gave occasion to some to suppose that he considered the law as still binding on those who believed; and that the Gentiles were not to be admitted to an equality of religious privileges with the Jews.
3. That no rites or ceremonies of the Jewish law could avail any thing in the justification of a sinner; and that faith in Christ was the only means of justification.
4. That their own works could avail nothing towards their justification: -

(1.) For the Spirit of God was given them in consequence of receiving the Christian doctrine, Galatians 3:2-5.
(2.) That the works of the law cannot justify, because Abraham was justified by faith long before the law of Moses was given, Galatians 3:6, Galatians 3:7.
(3.) That the curse of the law, under which every sinner lives, is not removed but by the sacrifice of Christ, Galatians 3:8, Galatians 3:9.

5. That it is absurd for the sons of God to become slaves to Mosaic rites and ceremonies.”

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)
“…But after his departure from them, the false teachers got among them, and insinuated, that he was no apostle, at least that he was inferior to Peter, James, and John, the ministers of the circumcision; and these seduced many of the members of the churches in this place, drawing them off from the evangelical doctrine of justification by the righteousness of Christ, persuading them that the observation of the ceremonial law, particularly circumcision, was necessary to their acceptance with God, and justification in his sight: wherefore the occasion and design of this epistle were to vindicate the character of the apostle as such; to establish the true doctrine of justification by faith, in opposition to the works of the law; to recover those who were carried away with the other doctrines; to exhort the saints to stand fast in the liberty of Christ, and to various other duties of religion; and to give a true description of the false teachers, and their views, that so they might beware of them, and of their principles.”

The People's New Testament (1891) by B. W. Johnson
“The Epistles of Paul were mostly called out by evils in the churches which he had planted which called for correction. That to the Galatians is not an exception. At a period not long after his second visit tidings came to him that excited his alarm and indignation. That restless wing of the church which clung to Judaism as well as Christianity, which had troubled the church at Antioch (Acts 15:1), which had made necessary the council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:5-30), whose evil work at Corinth we note in both Epistles, but especially in the second, whose continual warfare made one of Paul's sorest afflictions "perils among false brethren," had sent its emissaries into Galatia and had taught that it was needful that the Gentile Christians be circumcised and submit to the law of Moses in order to be saved. In order to carry their end they also insisted that Paul was not a true apostle, or was at least inferior to the original Twelve who had seen Christ and been instructed by him in person. It is true that in the Council at Jerusalem they had been defeated, but they kept up their work, and it required a life long struggle on the part of Paul to emancipate the church from Judaism. These men seemed to follow him everywhere, and a considerable part of his epistles is devoted to correcting the errors due to their influence.

The Galatian letter is an indignant protest against and refutation of the Judaizing teachers. In the first two chapters he shows that his apostleship was not derived from the other apostles, but from Christ; that the gospel that he taught was not revealed to him by them, but by his Lord; that he had never met them as an inferior, but on an equal footing; that it was agreed between them that Peter, James and John would devote their labors to the Circumcision, while he and Barnabas should go to the Uncircumcision, and that on one occasion it was needful for him to rebuke and correct Peter on the very question of the proper attitude towards Gentile Christians.

In the Second Part of the Letter, chapters 3 and 4, he contrasts the free gospel salvation by a living faith in Christ with the slavish legalism of the false teachers who would virtually place Moses in the stead of Christ. The Third Part, the 5th and 6th chapters, is devoted mainly to practical duties which grow out of the gospel.

The Place where written and the Date of the Epistle can be determined only approximately. It must have been written after Paul's two visits to Galatia, the last of which was in A.D. 54 or 55. See note on Galatians 4:13. It must have been written not very long after the second visit. See note on Galatians 1:6. There are many points of resemblance between Epistle and that to the Romans which indicate that they were written nearly at the same time; since this epistle is the less elaborate, it was probably written first. There are also points of resemblance to Second Corinthians which indicate that they belong to the same period. All these facts point to the last year of the Third Missionary Journey, or about A.D. 57. As we learn from Acts that this period was spent in Ephesus, Macedonia and Corinth, it must have been written at one of these places.”