Of all Paul's letters, the epistle to the Galatians is undoubtedly his most fiercely-worded, more so even than the two Corinthian letters. The problem in the churches in Galatia was that they had heard the gospel from the great apostle Paul, but then proceeded to modify it. A little poison in the cup may be all that is needed for the cup to be toxic. To be specific, the Galatians began to listen to the Judaizers who were telling them that they needed to be circumcised, keep the Jewish holy days, and, by implication, maintain Jewish food laws which prevented them from eating with Gentiles. These agitators bewitched, persuaded, and even compelled the Galatians into following their views. Paul is not particularly specific as to their identity. They almost certainly had some professed link with Jerusalem, and made claims for the Jerusalem apostles at the expense of the new boy on the block, Paul. The Galatians were coming to add to the finished work of Christ by retaining the ceremonial law.

Peter Barnes is the pastor at Revesby Presbyterian Church in Sydney, Australia, and also the lecturer in Church History at the Presbyterian Theological Centre in Sydney.