The theme of Galatians is “law verses grace”. The churches in Galatia were started by Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. After Paul and Barnabas left, some other “Christian Jews” visited the churches and caused problems. These Jews had been raised to believe they were special people because they descended from Abraham and their religion was the one true religion and Christ was icing on the cake. They could not understand what began with Abraham and Moses were pictures of Christ. Those Jewish Christians were telling the churches that they (the men) had to be circumcised before they could be fully Christians.
Paul vehemently opposed that teaching. The key verses are: “Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed”. Galatians 1:8-9 NLT. In chapter 2, Paul gives an account of his visit to Jerusalem after the first missionary journey and then of his encounter with Peter in Antioch. In chapter 3, Paul explains how God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled by Christ, was meant to bless the whole world, and was based on faith and not on the flesh. In chapters 4, 5, and 6, Paul
continues with his explanation of God’s plan for those who put their trust in Christ.