Galatians 5:1-3

My Bible has chapter 5 verses 1 through 15 titled, “Freedom in Christ”. Paul continually battled with the new Christian churches who were former Jews. It is estimated that Paul wrote to the church in Galatia from Syrian Antioch in the year AD 49. So this is almost 50 years after Jesus's resurrection. That makes Paul’s zeal and passion make sense as he was trying to help churches grow in the right way and keep the Gospel alive.

These churches were trying to make men & boys who believed in Jesus get circumcised. That was a common Jewish tradition that was developed way back in the Old Testament in Genesis 17:10. God told Abraham that every male must be circumcised. This was a sign of their covenant. At 8 days old, they would do this, no matter how they came into the family. Please note: this is NOT one of the 10 Commandments. It's a covenant. The Jewish people turned it into a requirement aka law.

Now, you have “Gentiles” (non-Jewish people) in Galatia getting saved, but Jewish people are pushing for this circumcision because they think it’s still a “law” that must be followed. Paul is saying that Jesus came and made a New Covenant. (Luke 22:20) Therefore, circumcision is not a requirement to be saved.