Seeing the churches of Galatia, which were planted by the apostle through the preaching of the Gospel, Acts 16:6, etc., and Acts 18:23, etc., permitted themselves to be distracted from the purity of doctrine by some false apostles who taught that the ceremonial law and especially circumcision must still be observed, and moreover that a man is justified before God not only by faith but also by the works of the law, therefore the apostle with the brethren who were with him, thought it needful to reprove them for it by this epistle, and to confirm them in the truth of the Gospel against such errors. To this end, after the superscription contained in the five first verses, chapter 1, he proves by several reasons that they ought not to permit themselves to be led away from the doctrine which he had preached unto them, forasmuch as there can no other Gospel be preached for salvation, and that he had received the same not from men, but from CHRIST Himself out of heaven, which he proves by an account of his first state in Judaism, and of his marvelous conversion and calling, for which cause also he had spoken with none of the apostles about it, but immediately departed into Arabia. Testifies that afterwards the most important apostles gave him the hand of fellowship, unto a sign of unity in doctrine and ministry, that he himself also had reproved the apostle Peter, when he did not dare to remain with the use of christian liberty, because of certain Jews, chapter 1 and chapter 2 unto verse 15. Proves afterwards against the doctrine of the false apostles by many powerful reasons and examples out of the Holy Scriptures, that a man is justified before God only by faith in JESUS CHRIST, and not by the works of the law, neither of the law of the decalogue, nor of the ceremonial law, which he teaches to be abolished in the New Testamentwith a confutation of the principal objections of the false apostles, from the 15th verse of the 2nd chapter to the end of the 4th chapter. To which he adjoins an earnest exhortation to the Galatians to remain in the christian liberty, yet that they must not misuse it for carnal security. And further he exhorts them to lay aside the works of the flesh, and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, chapter 5, and mainly the works of love and liberality both to poor believers and to the ministers of the Word. And afterwards he concludes with a serious warning to the false apostles, whose covetousness and hypocrisy to this end he describes, and on the contrary he testifies his uprightness, chapter 6.