Galatians Study Series – Page 3
Authority, Identity, and Covenant Belonging
This phrase is widely misunderstood. Many assume that “under the law” means obeying God’s instruction. That interpretation creates a false contradiction and makes Paul appear opposed to the very Torah he lived by, honored, and taught.
That is not what Paul is addressing.
Paul is not confronting obedience to God’s instruction.
He is confronting misplaced trust and false foundations for covenant belonging.
The historical issue in Galatia was specific: Gentile believers were being told that faith in Messiah was not sufficient and that they must undergo religious conversion through circumcision in order to truly belong to God’s people.
“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1)
Paul rejects this idea because covenant belonging has always been grounded in faithfulness to God, not in religious status, ethnicity, or external identity.
Major Issue Paul Was Confronting: The Thread We Will Unravel Throughout Each Galatians Study
Core pressure in Galatia: Torah was treated as Israel’s exclusive inheritance, so Gentile believers were pressured to convert in order to fully belong.
Later Jewish sources reflect the belief that Torah belongs uniquely to Israel and that Gentiles should not fully observe it unless they formally convert.
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 59a: “Torah is an inheritance for Israel, not for them.”
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 10:9–10: Gentiles are obligated only in the laws of Noah.
While these sources are later than Paul, they reflect a framework that helps explain why Gentile believers were pressured to convert.
Being “under the law” does not mean walking in God’s instruction. If it did, Scripture would be contradicting itself.
It is not obedience: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)
It is not delighting in God’s instruction: “I shall walk in freedom, for I seek Your precepts.” (Psalm 119:45)
It is not faithful covenant life: “The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” (Romans 7:12)
Paul does not oppose Torah.
He opposes replacing covenant trust with religious structure.
In Scripture, to be “under” something refers to authority, jurisdiction, and foundation.
Paul uses “under the law” to describe a person who is grounding their standing before God in system, identity, or legal status rather than in covenant relationship with God through Messiah.
Circumcision itself was given by God as a covenant sign (Genesis 17:10–11). The act itself is not condemned by Paul. What he confronts in Galatia is what circumcision had come to represent.
It was being used as a marker of religious conversion and covenant status, not merely as a sign of obedience to God. Gentiles were being told that faith in Messiah was insufficient and that they must enter the covenant through submission to a man-defined system of belonging.
“For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6)
“If an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? … But a man is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit…” (Romans 2:26, 29)
Paul’s point is not that circumcision is meaningless.
His point is that external identity without inward faithfulness has never been sufficient.
Circumcision had become, in this context, a symbol of conversion into a religious identity and reliance on covenant status itself, rather than on living trust in God. People were being taught to place confidence in belonging to the system rather than in walking faithfully with the One who gave the system.
The issue was never obedience.
The issue was trusting in identity, possession of Torah, and religious standing apart from genuine faith and submission to God.
Belonging to God has never been established by labels.
It has always been established by covenant allegiance of the heart.
When someone places themselves “under the law” as the basis for acceptance, they are trusting the structure itself rather than the God who gave it.
Paul explains this clearly: “Israel pursued a law of righteousness but did not attain it. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith.” (Romans 9:31–32)
The problem is not Torah.
The problem is the heart that substitutes identity for relationship.
This issue was already addressed by the prophets: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” (Isaiah 29:13)
Covenant has always required sincere faithfulness, not mere proximity to religious structure.
Paul’s use of Hagar and Sarah is often misunderstood. He is not condemning Hagar, nor is he presenting Torah versus grace. He is drawing from a real historical moment that illustrates a spiritual principle.
God made a promise to Abraham.
Years passed.
Sarah remained barren.
So they began to reason through their own solution.
“Now Sarai said to Abram… ‘Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.’” (Genesis 16:2)
This was not rebellion. It was impatience mixed with sincere belief. They trusted the promise, but they struggled to trust God’s timing and method.
God later clarified His intention: “Sarah your wife shall bear you a son…” (Genesis 17:19)
The child of promise would come through God’s power, not human strategy.
Paul uses this moment to teach that covenant belonging is not secured through human safeguards, added requirements, or religious strategies. It is secured through trusting God’s promise and walking faithfully within it.
Just as Abraham and Sarah were tempted to “help” the promise along, the Galatians were being tempted to “secure” their standing through conversion rather than resting in God’s provision through Messiah.
The lesson is not against obedience.
The lesson is against adding human methods where God has already spoken.
Scripture consistently reveals the same order:
We see this clearly in the Exodus: Israel is redeemed at Passover before receiving instruction at Sinai.
Torah was never given as a ladder to climb into covenant.
Torah was given as the path to walk once already brought into covenant.
“And now, Israel, what does Yehovah your God require of you, but to fear Yehovah your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve Yehovah your God with all your heart…” (Deuteronomy 10:12)
The Torah itself includes the faithful sojourner within covenant life.
“You shall have one law for the native and for the stranger who dwells among you.” (Exodus 12:49)
“The assembly shall have the same rule for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.” (Numbers 15:15)
Sojourners were not required to adopt an ethnic identity. They were called to covenant allegiance.
Ruth’s words capture this perfectly: “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)
Belonging came through devotion to Yehovah, not through bloodline or religious conversion.
Paul’s concern is not obedience.
His concern is presumption.
He confronts the belief that covenant standing can be secured through identity, system, or external markers rather than through living faithfulness to God.
“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked.” (Galatians 6:7)
“Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)
Scripture consistently teaches:
“Under the law” does not mean obeying God’s instruction.
It means placing one’s trust in identity, system, or status as the basis for belonging rather than in covenant relationship with God.
Paul does not oppose Torah.
He opposes replacing living trust in God with religious structure.
God’s instruction remains righteous.
Messiah remains the foundation for belonging.
Faithfulness remains the evidence of genuine covenant life.
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