When Paul opens Galatians chapter five, he takes direct aim at a dangerous spiritual trap: trying to earn salvation through religious performance. The Galatians were being persuaded by false teachers that faith in Christ was not enough—they also needed to keep the Law of Moses, starting with circumcision. Paul’s response is so strong you can almost hear the urgency in his voice. “Look,” he says in verses two and three, “if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.” Some translations sharpen the warning: “Christ will profit you nothing!” That is a staggering statement. Imagine standing at the foot of the cross, watching Jesus die for your sins, and somehow walking away without benefit—no forgiveness, no peace, no eternal life—because you decided His work was not enough and tried to add your own. John Gromacki explains it this way: “No merit of the Savior’s death and resurrection would be reckoned to the account of any person who believed that circumcision was essential for justification. A man is not saved by faith in what Christ has done and by faith in what he can do.” Salvation is received, not achieved.
It would be comforting to dismiss circumcision as an ancient issue, but the truth is, people still add baggage to the gospel today. Some insist you must be baptized to be saved. Others add good works, church membership, speaking in tongues, wearing certain clothing, voting for a particular political party, or using the right translation of the Bible. Humanity has a strange habit of turning grace into a to-do list. But whenever anyone adds anything to faith in Christ as a requirement for salvation, the gospel is no longer good news—it becomes bad math. Faith plus anything equals nothing. Gromacki puts it plainly: “Saving faith trusts Christ only and repudiates any attempt of man to produce a meritorious work.” David Guzik described the tragedy: “Jesus, dying on the cross, pouring out His blood, His life, His soul, His agony, His love for us—and it will profit you nothing!” Two men hung beside Jesus on crosses. One put his faith in Christ and received eternal life. The other trusted in himself—and it profited him nothing.
Paul’s logic in verse three is devastating. “Every man who accepts circumcision… is obligated to keep the whole law.” If you choose law-keeping as your path to God, you do not get to pick your favorite rules. You must keep all of them, all the time, perfectly. Slip once—and it is over. James echoes this in James 2:10: “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” It is like telling the police officer who pulls you over for speeding, “But I give to charity and recycle!” None of that matters—you broke the law. Salvation by law demands perfection, and perfection is an exclusive club with exactly one member: Jesus Christ. That is why Paul pleads in Galatians 5:1, “Stand firm in your freedom, for it was for freedom that Christ has set us free!” Grace is not just a better way—it is the only way.