“Galatianism” Is Not a New Phrase—And Its Error Is Not a Minor One

“Galatianism” is not some novel term or recent theological fad. For nearly two centuries, it has named a deadly error that persists in the church. Any pastor trained in a dispensational seminary, anyone who has ever read the notes in an old Scofield Study Bible, knows exactly what this term means. Yet today, some would have you believe that the error Paul exposes in Galatians is only about how a person gets saved, not about how a Christian lives. This is not just a mistake—it is a distortion that strikes at the heart of the gospel.

The Two Forms of Galatian Error

Let’s be clear: the Galatian error comes in two forms, and both are lethal to the gospel. The Scofield Reference Bible, which many of these same pastors quote, spells it out plainly:

“The Galatian error had TWO FORMS, both of which are refuted. THE FIRST is the teaching that obedience to the law is mingled with faith as the ground of the sinner’s justification; THE SECOND, that the justified believer is made perfect by keeping the law. Paul meets the FIRST form of the error by a demonstration that justification is through the Abrahamic Covenant…and that the law…cannot disannul a salvation which rests upon the earlier covenant. Paul meets the SECOND AND MORE SUBTLE FORM by vindicating the office of the Holy Spirit as SANCTIFIER… The rule of the believer’s LIFE is gracious (GRACE), not legal… SANCTIFICATION is through the Spirit, not the law.”
—Scofield Reference Bible, Introductory Notes to Galatians

The first error is obvious: teaching that justification requires law-keeping alongside faith. This is the old heresy of works-righteousness, and Paul demolishes it by rooting justification in God’s covenant with Abraham—a covenant of promise, not performance. The law, given centuries later, cannot overturn what God established by promise.

But the second error is more subtle and, in many churches, more prevalent: teaching that, having been justified by faith, believers are then perfected—sanctified—by keeping the law. This is not a secondary issue. It is a direct assault on the office of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Christ. To claim that the Christian life is maintained or matured by law-keeping is to deny the very principle by which we were saved.

What Is Lost If This Error Is Accepted?

If you accept the Galatian error—whether in its blatant or subtle form—you lose everything that makes the gospel good news. Justification is no longer the ground of your moment-by-moment standing before God; it becomes a mere entry ticket to heaven, irrelevant to your daily life. The Spirit’s ministry is sidelined, replaced by the weary treadmill of self-effort. Inheritance, sonship, and the enjoyment of Christ as your very life are all forfeited. The gospel is reduced to a system of religious maintenance, and the blessing of the Christian life is placed out of reach, available only to those who can perform.

This is not a theoretical loss. It is the practical reality in churches where law and grace are mingled. The result is bondage, not freedom; condemnation, not assurance; fleshly striving, not the fruit of the Spirit.

The True Rule of Life: Grace, Not Law

Paul’s answer is uncompromising:

• The law was never given to justify or sanctify, but to reveal condemnation.
• The promise to Abraham—justification by faith—predates and supersedes the law.
• The Christian life is lived by the Spirit, not by the flesh.
• The rule of life is grace, not law.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
(Galatians 2:20)

You do not begin in the Spirit only to be perfected by the flesh. The same faith that justified you is the faith by which you live. The Spirit is not an optional add-on; He is the very means by which Christ’s life is manifested in you. To return to law-keeping is to return to slavery, to forfeit your inheritance, and to distort the gospel itself.

The Modern Face of Galatianism

Let’s not pretend this is a distant problem. Protestant theology, as Scofield observed, is “thoroughly Galatianized.” Law and grace are mingled in pulpits and seminaries, producing incoherent systems that neither condemn nor liberate. Pastors, motivated by the need to secure tithes and maintain control, replicate the bondage of circumcision in the church. They demand obedience to law as the price of blessing, while calling it “discipleship” or “sanctification.” This is not spiritual maturity—it is spiritual infancy masquerading as authority.

If a seminary-trained pastor tells you that Galatian error is only about “getting saved,” or that Paul’s concern was only with “ceremonial law,” or that justification is just about “going to heaven,” he is not merely mistaken. He is either deceived or deliberately lying. The apostles preached the promise of the Spirit, not a ticket to heaven. The blessing of the Christian life—sonship, inheritance, the Spirit Himself—is secured by justification and enjoyed by faith alone. To put anything between you and that blessing, to make you work for what Christ has freely given, is to preach an accursed gospel.

The Only Answer: The Word of the Cross

The answer to Galatianism is not more effort or better law-keeping. It is the word of the cross: you have died to the law, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. The Spirit, not the flesh, is your sanctifier. The blessing of Abraham—the promise of the Spirit—is yours by faith, not by works.

Do not let anyone—no matter their credentials—bring you back under the yoke of slavery. Do not surrender your inheritance for the empty promise of fleshly perfection. Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made you free.

This is not a secondary issue. It is the dividing line between gospel and anti-gospel, between sonship and slavery, between life and death. Let no one rob you of your crown by mingling law with grace. The finished work of Christ is enough—both for your justification and for your sanctification. Anything less is not the gospel.