What is the book of Galatians all about? After several weeks of study, one theme has risen to the top again and again: freedom in Christ. Paul has passionately argued that we are not saved by works or the law, but through faith in Jesus alone. And in this section, Paul pushes the conversation deeper—beyond just how we’re saved—to what it means to live free and why we’ve been given this freedom.

Slavery or Freedom?

Paul begins with a story from Genesis that every Jewish listener would know well: Abraham’s two sons—one born from the slave woman Hagar, the other from the free woman Sarah. The contrast is sharp. Ishmael was born because Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands. Isaac was born by God’s promise. Paul interprets this story allegorically: Hagar represents the old covenant, the law, and slavery. Sarah represents the new covenant, freedom, and promise.

The message? You can live like children of the slave woman—always trying to earn your place with God—or like children of the free woman—trusting in what God has already done. Paul is urging the Galatians (and us): Don’t go back to slavery. Don’t go back to trying to earn God’s love through works. If you’re in Christ, you are already free.

Why Go Back?

Paul writes in Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Imagine someone stuck in modern-day indentured servitude. They’re making just enough to survive, but they’re buried under a debt they can never repay. One day, a wealthy person comes and pays off their debt entirely and invites them to live freely, cared for, and loved. Wouldn’t it be foolish for that person to one day say, “I’d rather go back and try to pay it off myself”? Yet this is exactly what we do when we try to earn what God has already given us freely through Jesus.

We were once enslaved to sin, guilt, and the impossible task of self-salvation. But Jesus has set us free—not because we earned it, but because He loves us.

You Can’t Mix Grace and Law

Paul warns the Galatians: If you choose circumcision (or any work of the law) as a requirement for salvation, you’re rejecting grace. “If you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you” (Gal. 5:2). It’s all or nothing. You can’t mix grace with works. Trusting in your performance means you’re no longer trusting in Jesus.

He’s clear: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6).

What Is Freedom For?

This brings us to a critical question: What is our freedom for? Paul anticipates the objection: “If we’re free, won’t people just live however they want?” And his answer is powerful: No—freedom in Christ leads us to love.

“You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).

True freedom doesn’t produce selfishness. It produces love. When we know we are fully accepted and loved by God—not because of what we’ve done but because of what Jesus has done—we are free to stop focusing on ourselves. We don’t have to worry about earning God’s favor. We already have it. And that security allows us to pour out our lives in love.

Paul writes, “The whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:14). Love is not the path to salvation—it’s the fruit of it. We love because we are already saved, not to be saved.

Don’t Forget

You might be thinking, “We’ve heard this already.” And Paul would agree! But the reason he repeats it is because we so easily forget. Every day, we’re tempted to believe the lie that God’s love must be earned. We slip back into old habits of self-reliance. That’s why Paul says: Stand firm. Remember the gospel. Fight the lie of slavery with the truth of freedom. Don’t go back to slavery.

You are loved. You are accepted. You are free.

Now live like it—by faith, through the Spirit, and in love.