Introduction to Galatians

How do we live as believers in Jesus Christ? If the Christian life begins when we put our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, how do we express this faith in our daily lives, including our work?

For many of us, the answer to these questions lies in ordering our be­havior according to certain basic rules. Thus, for example, when it comes to the workplace, we might adopt the following to-do list: (1) Show re­spect to colleagues; (2) don’t use inappropriate language; (3) don’t gossip; (4) be guided by biblical values when making decisions; and (5) speak of faith in Christ if possible. Although this list could easily be much longer, it contains valuable guidance that reflects biblical priorities.

But there is a danger for Christians in such a list, whether in the workplace or elsewhere. It’s the danger of legalism, of turning the Chris­tian life into a set of rules rather than our free response to God’s grace in Christ and a network of relationships centered in Christ. Moreover, those who approach the Christian life legalistically often tend to put on their to-do list items that are inessential or perhaps even incorrect.

Paul and the Galatians

This is exactly what happened with the believers in Galatia in the mid-first century. In response to the preaching of the Apostle Paul, they had put their faith in Christ and began living as Christians. But, before long, they started shaping their lives according to a list of do’s and don’ts. In this effort, the Galatians were influenced by outsiders who claimed to be Christians and who insisted that the Christian life required keep­ing the Law of Moses as understood by certain contemporary schools of thought. In particular, these “Judaizers” were persuading the Galatians to live like Jews in matters of circumcision (Gal. 5:2–12) and the cer­emonial law (Gal. 4:10).

Paul wrote the letter we call “Galatians” in order to get the Christians in Galatia back on the right track. Though he did not address workplace issues directly, his basic instructions on the nature of the Christian life speak incisively to our interests in faith and work. Moreover, Galatians contains work-related imagery, especially drawn from the first-century practice of slavery. Christians, according to Paul, are to live in freedom, not in slavery to the Law of Moses and other earthly powers (Gal. 4:1–11). Yet, ironically, those who exercise their freedom in Christ should choose to “become slaves to one another” through love (Gal. 5:13).

Biblical scholars almost unanimously agree that Galatians was writ­ten by the Apostle Paul to a group of churches in the Roman province of Galatia, in what is now central Turkey, sometime between AD 49 and 58.[1] Paul was writing to churches he had founded through the preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ. These churches existed in a culturally and religiously diverse environment and had recently been influenced by Judaizers (Jewish Christians who argued that all Christians must keep the whole law if they want to experience the full Christian life).

Paul underscores the freedom we have in Christ in his response to the Galatians and the Judaizers who were corrupting them. Applied to the workplace, Galatians helps us understand and engage in our work with a freedom that is essential to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

After introducing himself, Paul greets the Galatians, referring to Christ as one “who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the pres­ent evil age” (Gal. 1:3). Thus he introduces the theme of freedom, which is central to the letter to the Galatians and to living as a believer in Jesus.

Understanding Life in Christ (Galatians 1:6–4:31)

Paul begins by identifying the problem among the Galatians. They “are turning to a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6). This “gospel” requires Gen­tiles “to live like Jews” (Gal. 2:14). In order to show that this “gospel” is really not a gospel—that is, good news—at all, Paul presents a variety of arguments, including his autobiography (Gal. 1:10–2:21), the receiving of the Spirit through faith (Gal. 3:1–5), the offspring of Abraham through faith (Gal. 3:6–29), the analogy of slaves and children (Gal. 4:1–11), a personal, emotional appeal (Gal. 4:12–20), and the allegory of the slave woman and the free woman (Gal. 4:21–31).

At several points in chapters 1–4 in his explication of the Christian life, Paul uses the language and imagery of slavery to fortify his under­standing of life in Christ. Slavery, which in Galatians signifies primar­ily the absence of freedom, is that from which the Galatians had been delivered by their faith in Christ. “You are no longer a slave but a child” (Gal. 4:7). Their desire to follow the Law of Moses rather than to rely on their faith is, in effect, a senseless return to the bondage of slavery (Gal. 4:8–10). Even the Law of Moses, when understood properly, commends freedom rather than slavery to the law itself (Gal. 4:21–31).

So we see that Paul uses workplace imagery (slavery) to illustrate a spiritual point about religious legalism. Yet the point does apply directly to the workplace itself. A legalistic workplace—in which bosses try to control every motion, every word, every thought that employees have—is contrary to freedom in Christ. Workers of all types owe obedience to their legitimate superiors. And organizations of all types owe freedom to their workers to the full extent compatible with the true needs of the work.

Living in Christ (Galatians 5–6)

Galatians 5:1 completes the crescendo of the first four chapters with a roaring call to freedom. “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Yet this does not mean that Christians should do whatever they please, gratifying their own sinful desires and neglecting those around them. On the contrary, Paul explains, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another” (Gal. 5:13). Christians are free in Christ from slavery to this world and its power, including the Law of Moses. Yet in this freedom, they should choose out of love to serve one another with humility. Such “slavery” is not bondage, but an ironic exercise of true freedom in Christ.

Summary & Conclusion to Galatians

In his concluding use of crucifixion language (Gal. 6:14), Paul echoes what he had said earlier in the letter: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:19b-20). Faith in Christ is not only believing certain facts about his life, death, and resurrection, but also dying with Christ so that he might live in us. This “Christ in us” reality does not disappear when we enter our offices, warehouses, shops, and boardrooms. Rather, it urges and empowers us to live for Christ, in the power of the Spirit, every moment, in every place.

The Christian life is based upon faith. But faith is not passive as­sent to the truth of the gospel. Rather, in the daily experience of the Christian, faith becomes alive and active. According to Paul, faith can even be said to be “working through love” (Gal. 5:6). Thus faith at work in our lives energizes loving actions, even as the Spirit of God helps us to be more loving both in heart and in action (Gal. 5:22). We reject the slavery of trying to justify ourselves by our work. However, when we embrace our freedom in Christ through faith, our work leads to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentle­ness, and self-control. We see our work as a primary context in which to exercise our freedom in Christ so as to love others and “work for the good of all” (Gal. 6:10). If we do not see the fruit of faith in our places of work, then we are cutting off a major part of our life from Christ’s mastery.