Paul does not mince words when it comes to legalism. In Galatians 5:12, he drops what may be the most shocking statement in the entire New Testament: “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” That line would get a preacher fired from most churches today—and probably banned from Christian radio forever. But Paul is not being crude for shock value. He is deadly serious. Legalism was not just a theological nuisance—it was soul poison. These false teachers were insisting that Gentile believers had to be circumcised in order to be truly saved. Paul’s response? If cutting a little makes you holy, why not go all the way like the pagan priests of Cybele in nearby Phrygia who castrated themselves in religious frenzy? Maxie Dunnam notes that the Galatians knew exactly what Paul was referencing. His sarcasm was not subtle—it was a scalpel, cutting deep to expose the absurdity of salvation by ritual.
Yet, almost as if he realizes how sharp his tone has become, Paul shifts immediately in verse 13. He softens his voice with a pastoral word: “Brothers.” You can almost hear him take a breath. His goal was never to embarrass the Galatians but to rescue them. “You were called to freedom, brothers,” he continues. That is the heart of Galatians—freedom in Christ. But Paul quickly clarifies: freedom is not a license for selfishness. “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,” he warns, “but through love serve one another.” Legalism enslaves the soul. But libertinism—using grace as a hall pass for sin—corrupts it. Grace frees us from the chains of performance, but not so we can turn around and live like rebels. Real freedom is not the ability to do whatever we want—it is the power to do what pleases God.
Some people panic at the idea of radical grace. “Won’t people just go sin crazy?” they ask. But here is the truth: people sin whether they believe in grace alone or grace plus works. Adding rules never cures the heart; it only hides the disease. Sin does not flow from too much grace; it flows from too little dependence on the Holy Spirit. During our failures, we are not “carried away by grace”—we are carried away by self. That is why Grant Richison wisely says, “The Christian life is freedom from sin, not freedom to sin. If we use grace as an excuse to sin, we do not understand the essence of freedom through grace. God never issues a license to commit sin.” Grace does not make sin safe. Grace makes holiness possible. And that is a truth Paul would defend—even if it took a shocking sentence to get our attention.