Galatians 1:6

In Paul’s other letters, he prayed for the people after his greeting. He usually thanked God for them. He often praised them too. But Paul did not praise the Christians in Galatia in any way. He started to teach them immediately after the greeting. He was sad and angry. He could hardly believe what they had done. It seems that Paul had visited the area only a short time previously. Many people had become Christians. After Paul left, the false teachers arrived. They were skilful at persuading people. The Christians were not yet mature. They probably thought that they had to obey the *Jewish laws to be proper Christians. The situation was very serious.

God loves people and he is kind to them. He knows that people can never live perfectly. They can never obey all the laws that are in the *Old Testament. So God sent Jesus Christ to this world. Jesus died on a wooden cross, and then God made him alive again. Jesus died on our behalf. He died to make people free from their *sins. So God forgives everyone who believes Jesus. God forgives everyone who trusts Jesus. We do not need to obey the rules and traditions of religion. We simply need to trust Jesus. That is the true *good news.

The false teachers were not genuine Christians. They did not teach that only Jesus Christ could save people. They said that Christians had to obey all the *Jewish laws too. When people try to obey the laws, they have to use their own effort. They think that this pleases God. They believe that they have to work hard. They think that then God will accept them. They think that they have to earn God’s love. That is not true. That false message does not give people freedom.

The Christians in Galatia probably did not realise that they were actually refusing Jesus Christ. They just thought that they were adding something to their Christian life. They had not realised that it was a different message. They had not completely refused Jesus at that time. It was not too late to teach them correctly. So Paul wrote very clearly in this letter about the true *good news. He explained why the false teachers were wrong. The Christians in Galatia would have realised that Paul was very serious about the situation.