As Paul nears the end of his letter to the Galatians, he begins to wrap up his thoughts expressed previously, with a big "therefore" to start chapter 5. The exhortation is centered on standing firm in the freedom which came to them through belief in Christ alone, while avoiding the temptation of doing something to make themselves acceptable to God.
They began their journey in the Spirit until some "bewitchers" came along to steer them into a mixture of the Mosaic law and grace. Paul reveals that attempting to be justified by law and works instead of faith working through love will send them in the opposite direction of grace. This is the good news gospel. If Paul had written and suggested that they need to do more to prove outwardly they are Christians—starting with circumcision and other works of the law—that would have been a burdensome epistle and quite a "different gospel."
When Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, he was astonished at how quickly they had been turned by others who invaded their turf after he had been there ... and these seemed to want to distort the gospel of Christ. These Gentiles had previously been given the pure message of the grace of Jesus, but were now being told they needed to mix some aspects of the Mosaic law with faith in Christ.
Paul referred to it as a different gospel (although it was really no gospel at all). He had some strong words against those delivering this contrary message and it launched the rest of his "Galatians" letter, where he would expound on the differences between a ministry of bondage under works, compared to a New Covenant of Faith.
The Apostle Paul declared over and over again that the law which came through Moses was something Gentiles had no part of and Jews had also been freed from its impossible demands. It could not bring life, but had a purpose of death and condemnation, having been replaced by a more glorious ministry of the Spirit. James and the elders from the Jerusalem church had very little problem with Gentiles not being required to try to keep most of the law—because they had never been under it. But James and his council viewed Jews differently and with an attitude of superiority, even after the cross, which resulted in believing they had a different gospel with a different set of rules which were rooted in that law for justification.
They rejoiced that Gentiles were coming to Jesus, but stumbled over Paul’s teachings that the Jews who lived among the Gentiles should also “forsake Moses.” James and the elders ordered Paul to publicly denounce the accusations against him by saying he believes in keeping the law … and to do this by participating in an old covenant purification ceremony—as if the blood of Jesus was not enough. In other words, they wanted Paul to deny what he had been teaching about grace through faith, apart from works of the law.
