Last Sunday, we began our summer study of Galatians, and it was loaded with teachings and warnings for the church of Galatia. The warnings were coming from the apostle Paul to the believers in this region who have given their lives to Christ. An opposing religious group (Judaizers) was coming into the church, bringing with them some fairly strict Jewish customs. They were promoting a false teaching that was producing legalism in the church, and Paul was taking aim at their false teaching. Paul, the missionary who had spent time in this region preaching the hope of Jesus by believing in his life, death, and resurrection as a payment for our sinfulness, was astonished, taken back by the fact that the people in this area were falling prey to the false teaching of the legalistic minded Judaizers. This false teaching was adding rules and restrictions that seemed spiritual, yet was a great temptation for people then, and is still a temptation for us today, because legalism falsely shapes us to believe that we can measure our goodness and religious standing by adding up our acts and works. Let’s face it; it is easier to feel good about our accomplishments than to recognize our need to repent and surrender our sinfulness to Christ. Paul is going to keep lifting up the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, to the Galatian believers. Paul is not giving them advice as some random spiritual leader of the day, but is speaking to them as a man who has experienced a radical, spiritual, emotional, and mental transformation because of this good news. As we look at the scripture reading for this week, we must remember: When God transforms a life, there is always a story; a story that centers on the gospel and what Jesus Christ did for us, not on us and what we do for Him.