Galatians 1:6-9 — Why the ‘Different Gospel’ in Galatians Still Matters for Your Spiritual Life

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We continue to explore the “gospel” that Paul delivered to the Galatians by reading what is recorded of his messages to those congregations and his parallel explanations in letter to other congregations. Today, we explore Ephesians 2-4 and its discussion of the “new man” and “old man.”

Galatians 1:1-9 notes

Introduction and Context

Galatians 1:6–9 raises the danger of “a different gospel” that distorts “the gospel of Christ” (Gal 1:6–7, NASB 1995). This concern frames a broader examination of the new covenant, the role of תּוֹרָה torah (law/instruction), and the transformation from the “old self” to the “new self.”

Paul’s writings connect these themes across Galatians, Ephesians, Romans, and 2 Corinthians. Read in light of the Hebrew Scriptures, these letters present continuity between God’s promises to Israel and the work of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) in forming a renewed people who walk in obedience by the Spirit.

New Covenant Promises in the Prophets

The starting point lies in the prophetic promises of the בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה berit chadashah (new covenant).

Jeremiah records:

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
(Jer 31:33, NASB 1995)

Ezekiel expands this promise:

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you… I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
(Ezek 36:26–27, NASB 1995)

These texts bind together three elements:

• An internalized תּוֹרָה torah (law/instruction).
• The gift of the Spirit.
• A transformed people who walk in God’s statutes.

The new covenant does not present a rejection of Torah. It presents the inscription of Torah on hearts by the Spirit.

Fear of God, Condemnation, and the “Old Person”

The discussion of the “old self” begins with the fear of God and the reality of judgment. Proverbs states:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.”
(Prov 1:7, NASB 1995)

Exodus 34 and the giving of the Ten Commandments highlight the seriousness of disobedience. Violation of God’s core commands places a person under His wrath. Paul describes this condition as being “dead in your trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1, NASB 1995).

This condition marks the “old person”. The old life lives under:

• Condemnation arising from transgression of God’s commandments.
• Bondage to desires described as “lusts of our flesh” and “desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph 2:3, NASB 1995).

The “ministry of condemnation” in 2 Corinthians 3 reflects this function of the written code against a disobedient people.

Ministry of Condemnation and Ministry of the Spirit

Paul contrasts two ministries in 2 Corinthians 3. He writes:

“But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory…”
(2 Cor 3:7, NASB 1995)

and

“For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.”
(2 Cor 3:9, NASB 1995)

The contrast focuses on function, not on the moral value of God’s law. The same revelation that condemns sin also points forward to a greater glory. This greater glory comes through the ministry of the Spirit, in which the law is written on hearts and produces obedience from within.

The new covenant therefore removes the condemningfunction of the law against those in Messiah, without discarding God’s righteous standard.

Ephesians 2 and the “One New Man”

Ephesians 2:10–18 presents a central passage for the “new man” and the unity of Jew and Gentile. Paul writes:

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
(Eph 2:10, NASB 1995)

Believers in Messiah do not receive salvation by works, but they are created for good works. These works align with God’s revealed will.

Paul then addresses Gentile believers who were once:

• “Separate from Christ.”
• “Excluded from the commonwealth of Israel.”
• “Strangers to the covenants of promise.”
• “Having no hope and without God in the world.”
  (Eph 2:12, NASB 1995)

Through the blood of Messiah, these “far off” ones “have been brought near” (Eph 2:13). The language echoes prophetic themes such as Isaiah 57:19, which speaks of peace “to him who is far and to him who is near” (NASB 1995).

The Dividing Wall and “Abolishing” in His Flesh

Ephesians 2:14–15 states:

“For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances…”
(Eph 2:14–15, NASB 1995)

This text often serves as a proof that Torah has been abolished. A closer reading, in light of the prophets and Paul’s wider teaching, points in a different direction.

The key term is ἔχθρα echthra (enmity/hostility). The passage describes a “dividing wall of hostility” separating Jew and Gentile. This hostility arises not from Torah itself, which Paul elsewhere calls “holy and righteous and good” (Rom 7:12, NASB 1995), but from sin, pride, and misuse of the law as a boundary marker for boasting.

Messiah removes:

• The enmity between Jew and Gentile.
• The condemnation that the law pronounces on transgressors.

In doing so, He forms “in Himself one new man” (Eph 2:15, NASB 1995). This “new man” is a united body composed of natural and grafted-in members of Israel’s commonwealth.

Identity Markers: Circumcision and Uncircumcision

In the first-century context, “circumcision” and “uncircumcision” functioned as strong identity markers. Ephesians 2:11 recalls:

“Remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘Circumcision’…”
(Eph 2:11, NASB 1995)

Circumcision distinguished Jews from Gentiles at a social and national level. Over time, this sign of the covenant became intertwined with ethnic pride and separation.

Paul confronts any teaching that makes circumcision a prerequisite for salvation. Acts 15:1 summarizes this error:

“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
(Acts 15:1, NASB 1995)

The Jerusalem council rejects that requirement and gives Gentile believers four immediate prohibitions (Acts 15:19–20). These instructions address idolatry, blood, strangled meat, and sexual immorality. The council also notes that “Moses… is read in the synagogues every Sabbath” (Acts 15:21, NASB 1995), implying ongoing growth in understanding God’s ways rather than a static minimal ethic.

Works, Grace, and Boasting

Ephesians 2:8–9 often supports the conclusion that Torah has no ongoing role:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
(Eph 2:8–9, NASB 1995)

The concern here is boasting. Salvation does not arise from human effort, religious performance, or ethnic status.

The expression “works of law” appears in Greek as ἔργα νόμου erga nomou (works of law) (e.g., Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16). The phrase reflects not simple obedience, but reliance on law-based observance as a boundary of covenant membership and a ground for boasting.

Justification comes “apart from works of the Law” (Rom 3:28, NASB 1995), yet those who are justified receive the Spirit and walk in transformed obedience.

Under the Law and Freed from Condemnation

Paul often contrasts being “under law” with walking by the Spirit. The phrase “under law” translates ὑπὸ νόμον hypo nomon (under law) (e.g., Rom 6:14; Gal 3:23; Gal 4:4–5).

Ephesians 2:3 describes humans as “by nature children of wrath” (NASB 1995). Romans 6:23 states:

“For the wages of sin is death…”
(Rom 6:23, NASB 1995)

To be “under law” in this sense is to stand under the law’s penalty and condemnation. Messiah’s death removes this penalty for those who trust in Him. Romans 8:1–4 captures the reality:

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did… so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
(Rom 8:1–4, NASB 1995)

The law’s righteous requirement stands. Condemnation for its violation no longer falls on those in Messiah, because He bears the death penalty. Freed from wrath, believers now walk in the Spirit and begin to live out the very righteousness the law described.

Good Works and the Purpose of Humanity

Ephesians 2:10 states that believers are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (NASB 1995).

The Hebrew Scriptures portray humanity as designed for such works from the beginning. Deuteronomy 4:5–8 shows Israel’s obedience to God’s statutes as a witness to the nations. The Torah offers a pattern of life intended to display wisdom, justice, and the nearness of God.

The new covenant restores this design. The Spirit enables obedience from the heart. The people of God no longer live in slavery to sin and wrath but walk in the good works God prepared.

Fruit of the Spirit and Torah

Galatians 5 contrasts “the deeds of the flesh” with the “fruit of the Spirit.” Paul lists:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
(Gal 5:22–23, NASB 1995)

The phrase “against such things there is no law” underscores harmony, not conflict, between the fruit of the Spirit and תּוֹרָה torah. Torah, rightly understood, aims at these very qualities.

Yeshua summarizes the Torah and the Prophets in two commands:

“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD…” and “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
(Matt 22:37–40, NASB 1995, citing Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18)

Paul echoes this connection:

“For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’”
(Gal 5:14, NASB 1995)

Thus the Spirit’s fruit expresses the heart of the Torah. Obedience arises not from external pressure but from an internal transformation.

Internal Battle and Taking Thoughts Captive

Believers still experience a tension between the old patterns of the flesh and the new life in the Spirit. Paul describes an inner struggle in Romans 7, then shows victory in Romans 8 through the Spirit.

Practically, this struggle requires discernment between competing inner “voices.” The standard for this discernment is God’s revealed instruction. Any impulse that contradicts Torah cannot come from the Spirit of God.

2 Corinthians 10:5 describes this process:

“We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
(2 Cor 10:5, NASB 1995)

Thoughts, desires, and feelings submit to the Word. In this way, the implanted law guides both inner life and outward behavior.

Circumcision, Titus, and the Different Gospel

The circumcision of Gentile believers became a flashpoint. Paul sharply opposes any demand that Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved.

Galatians 2:3 notes:

“But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.”
(Gal 2:3, NASB 1995)

In the Galatian context, circumcision had become part of a “different gospel” (Gal 1:6–9). Submitting Titus to circumcision under those pressures would have signaled agreement that circumcision was necessary for justification. That action would grant false teachers leverage to boast in his flesh and reinforce their authority.

The apostolic response distinguishes sharply between:

• Any work of law used as a condition for salvation.
• Ongoing growth in obedience as a fruit of salvation and the Spirit’s work.

Salvation rests on Messiah’s atoning work and God’s declaration of righteousness. Obedience follows as a result, not a prerequisite.

Old Self, New Self, and Final Transformation

The old self represents life under sin, wrath, and condemnation. The new self reflects the renewed image of God in Messiah. Colossians 3:9–10 describes this change:

“…you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.”
(Col 3:9–10, NASB 1995)

This transformation involves:

• Release from the ministry of condemnation.
• Indwelling of the Spirit.
• Internalization of Torah’s instruction.
• Growth in the fruit of the Spirit.

Believers stand before God not on the basis of their performance, but on Messiah’s atonement. Yet the same grace that justifies also trains and empowers a life of obedience (cf. Titus 2:11–14).

Conclusion

Read in light of the Hebrew Scriptures, the new covenant unites Jew and Gentile into one people, removes the law’s condemning penalty, and inscribes God’s instructions on hearts by the Spirit.

The “one new man” of Ephesians 2 lives no longer under wrath but in reconciled fellowship with God and with one another. The Torah’s righteous standard remains, now fulfilled in those who walk by the Spirit.

Faith in Messiah brings freedom from condemnation. That freedom does not discard God’s commandments. It restores the original purpose for humanity: to walk in good works prepared beforehand, displaying God’s wisdom, justice, and mercy to the world.

Reader: Bill K. Speaker: Jeff.