The Problem in Galatia

Galatians 1:6-7~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.

The basic gospel found in Scripture can be understood by even the most uneducated person. There are portions of Scripture that are hard to understand because they were written in a different time and in a different culture. Sometimes it is easier to understand these portions if we understand why they were written in the first place.

Galatians 1:6-7 clearly explains why Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians. The churches of Galatia were “turning to a different gospel”, a false gospel, while Paul was gone. So they needed correcting, thus the letter. Paul knew that if the churches in Galatia didn’t get the gospel right, it would be a spiritual death sentence for them. So Paul wrote this letter to reaffirm the simple truth of the gospel that he had taught them previously and to call out the false teachers.
Back in verse 4, Paul states the gospel as plainly as can be. That’s it, there’s nothing more to it! I can see why he was “astonished.” What he taught them all boils down to what he said in this verse.

The Galatians were not only “turning to a different gospel” but they were “deserting him who called them”. God called them to believe and they were turning their backs to Him.

Let us as Christians be careful to not allow false teachers to confuse us. The only way to do that is to be grounded in Scripture. Read 1 Timothy 4:1-10. Check out Jeremiah 28 to find out what God did to a false teacher. Church leaders please read Acts 20:28-35.