What Is the Galatian Heresy?
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A well-known definition says insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That definition fits heresy. Generating, following, or perpetuating a heresy never gets the result hoped for — self-rule apart from God (where the traditions of men and/or judgment supersede biblical doctrines). The Galatian Heresy stems from infiltrators who said that to be saved, works must be added to faith in Jesus Christ.
Biblically speaking, a heresy signifies “self-chosen doctrines not emanating from God.” In laymen’s terms, a heresy is a belief and practice not based on the doctrines of the Bible.
Titus 3:10 tells us a “heretical person” is one who aligns with “his own self-willed” ‘questions.’” Heresy is also equated with “crimes and seditions” (Galatians 5:20), and infers “divisions or schisms in the church (1 Corinthians 11:19). In Acts, heresy denotes a sect (Acts 5:17; 15:5; Isaiah 24:5, 14; 26:5).
What Is the Galatian Heresy?
The Apostle Paul wrote what is called his “angry letter” to the church in Galatia. The heresy he addresses was foisted upon the Gentile Christians in the Galatian church by Judaizers who claimed salvation comes from Jesus, yes, but a person must submit to circumcision and the Mosaic Law to be truly saved (Galatians 3:1-6; 5:1-12; 6:12-15). In it, he addressed concerns about Judaizers who’d infected the church with false teaching — that a believer must be circumcised to be righteous before God.
That’s the whole of the heresy, but its implications and damage are far-reaching, even to this day.
2 Peter 2:1-3 states, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
The heresy happened, but Peter warns more will come.
What Did the Church Do to Counteract the Galatian Heresy?
The Galatian heresy was not the only heresy to affect the early church. False teachers attacked the church from its start. We need to remember the devil and his powers are the ones who produce heresies within the church. Doctrines are attacked and believers were (and are) tossed about by strong false teachers who try to, as Paul said, bewitch them (Galatians 3:1). Twentieth-century Welsh Pastor Martyn Lloyd Jones said in “The Christian Warfare,” “The main heresy is always justification by works.”
Of course, the epistles were written partly to counteract the heresies. We can see a perfect defense of the faith as put down in Scripture (which is perfect because Christ is the Author of Scripture).
The church also responded to the ongoing threat of the heresies rampant in the church by convening councils. From them stemmed great creeds written to define the Christian faith, underscore the truths of Scripture, and teach solid biblical doctrine.
The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) directly addressed the Galatian heresy and is the first church council convened.
A list of other early church councils may be found here, and the creeds, confessions and catechisms of our faith may be seen here.
All in all, the creeds, catechisms, and confessions of our faith buttress our belief and trust in God’s Word. It’s always a good idea to read through them with your Bible alongside.
Does the Galatian Heresy Still Affect Us Today?
The devil has always been in rebellion against God. His objective, obviously, is to disrupt the life of the church, to unsettle the assurance of Christian people, and to spoil God’s work in Christ (and therefore, Christ’s work in and through Christians). As we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18), we grow in the ability to recognize truth and error. God’s Word is our lens through which to view the world and all it teaches.
Although we no longer call this disruption the Galatian Heresy, it’s still with us, yet in a morphed form. As we learned, the Galatian heresy claimed salvation involves, “Jesus plus…” Since Paul wrote much about heresies within the church, we can easily (and ignorantly) think Paul took care of that issue when he wrote to the Galatians (and Ephesians and Colossians, and Philippians, etc.). But his admonitions, directions, and cautions to the Christians to believe the gospel and follow Christ didn’t stop the devil’s schemes (John 8:44). The heresy is still with us, even though it’s been addressed and corrected by many Christ-followers (including the Reformers, like Luther and Calvin).
As Grace Reformed Network pastor Jeremiah Hurt teaches, “Our default wiring remains, Jesus Christ plus our works. It’s not the law of God. It’s the law of man — our own law, and because we cannot keep His law, it’s lowered to meet our standard instead of God’s.”
Legalism came in like a raging storm (the Pharisees were great at legalism) and this continued until it was pushed out by Pietism, which is just another form of the Galatian Heresy. Piety in and of itself is good because it speaks to one’s godliness and devotion to the Lord (1 Timothy 4:7; 2 Peter 1:3). Piety is the outflow of our fruit in accordance with the Spirit’s ministry within us.
Pietism, however, puts the emphasis of a Christian’s life on his performance and obedience. Pietism throws Christ in the background and points us inward to what we are doing (or not doing). Therefore, a person’s assurance of salvation is thwarted by a man-centered, works-based salvation and sanctification, which we know is wholly a work of the Holy Spirit. And Christianity is not about us. It’s about Christ and what He’s done for us. As we gather for communion to remember what Christ has done, we remember he said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). Jesus didn’t say, “Do this in remembrance of what you do or don’t do.”
Pastor Jeremiah adds, “And so even though most of us in this room are not struggling with the Galatian heresy. We are struggling with its ugly second cousin, Pietism. And pietism is constantly looking inward and being pointed inward by yourself, by the enemy, even by the preacher man, to determine whether or not you're actually saved.
You are not on parole, alright? You have been justified by the free grace of God. He loves you and His Son. You're united to Him. You are a son and daughter. You have the perfect righteousness of Christ. You have eternal life. You have forgiveness of sins. Christ is interceding for you. Christ is coming back for you. God is our Father. He didn't save you and then say ‘fly, birdie, fly. Let's see if you can make it home.’ Sanctification is not a threat. It's a promise. Better say that again. Sanctification is not a threat, it's a promise. The Christian life is not a threat. It's not ‘you better make it. you better do this or you might hear, ‘Get away from me. I never knew you.’ That's not what the Christian life is. The Christian life is a promise we will grow.”
The insidious danger of the Galatian heresy in its modern form — Pietism.
How Should Christians Respond to Heresies?
Most of us have seen the bumper stickers with symbols of all major faiths and beliefs emblazoned upon them. Some people say the church should unite with other faiths to promote world unity. Knowing what we do about the purity of God’s Word, how then can we even consider uniting with heretical beliefs? Christians are told to “get over” ourselves for the sake of world unity. World unity is unity with Satan, and he is a thief who only seeks to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). Thank the Lord Jesus He came to give us abundant life in Him.
Our main concern is our relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).
If you are not a Christian, know this: God loves you so much that He sent Christ Jesus to die in your place to atone for your sins (and we are all sinners — even Christians). We cannot save ourselves by any works we do. But Jesus lived the perfect life we cannot, and He died the death we deserve. His work on the cross secured the salvation of all who believe in Him (Romans 10:9). And He rose from the grave and is now at the right hand of the Father, building His church and interceding for Christians.
We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for His glory alone according to Scripture alone. Our works to try to get saved give us no standing before God — the only thing we supply is our sin. It’s what Christ has done that bears us up.
As we interact with and counteract the lies sown in others’ (and our own) lives, we need to be strong ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). We also need to act with gentleness and love (2 Timothy 2:22-25).
Heresy, as noted above, is an attempt at self-rule apart from God. The Bible disqualifies any success at self-rule. Ephesians 2:1-3 reminds us who we were before Christ saved us, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
Pastor Jones (quoted above), also said, “If you go wrong in your doctrine, you will go wrong in all aspects of your life” (Martyn Lloyd Jones, Christian Warfare, 113). True doctrine is always urgently relevant.
The very best action we Christians can take is to get involved in a church that teaches the whole counsel of God and bases all they teach on Scripture. Join the church each Lord’s Day and hear the Word and gospel taught (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 10:24-25), pray together, and celebrate the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis.
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