Galatians

About Paul's letter to the Galatians

Paul wrote this letter to the Christians who lived in Galatia. Galatia was a part of the country that we now call Turkey. Paul had visited many towns in Galatia. As a result of his visits, many people there had become Christians. Most of these Christians were not Jewish. They were Gentiles. But after Paul had left Galatia, certain Jewish believers visited them. They told the Gentile Christians, ‘You cannot really be God's people unless you let someone circumcise you, as we Jews do.’
Paul was angry because those Jewish believers had been teaching wrong ideas to the Christians. He was sad that the Christians in Galatia had accepted those wrong ideas. In his letter he told them more clearly why they did not need to obey the Jewish rules, like circumcision. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, his sacrifice was enough to save us from our sins.