The Apostle Paul’s Teaching on Justification in the Book of Galatians cbcg.org

Many use Galatians 5:18—“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law”—to argue that Christians are no longer required to keep God’s commandments. But this interpretation is based on poor translation and misunderstanding. The original Greek lacks the definite article “the,” meaning it should read, “not under law.” But what kind of law is Paul referring to?

Paul consistently upheld God’s commandments. He taught that believers, once justified by faith, must not continue in sin, which is the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4; Romans 6:1-2). God’s law is holy, righteous, good, and spiritual (Romans 7:12, 14), and Paul never preached against it.

The phrase “works of law” refers broadly to all systems of religious law—whether God’s law, Jewish tradition, or pagan rituals. Paul argued that no law can justify a person before God; only faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice can (Galatians 2:16, Romans 5:17).

In Galatians 2, Paul rebukes Peter for reverting to Jewish customs that separated Jews from Gentiles, calling such traditions “works of law.” Observing such customs could never bring justification.

Paul’s argument in Galatians 3 is clear: the law cannot impart eternal life or forgive sin; it defines sin and leads us to Christ. Once justified, the believer is no longer “under a tutor” (Galatians 3:24-25), but is led by the Holy Spirit, which writes God’s law in the heart (Hebrews 10:16).

The “yoke of bondage” Paul warns against in Galatians 5 is not God’s commandments—it’s the man-made traditions and requirements added by false teachers, often rooted in Judaism mixed with pagan ideas.

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