[OBW]

So let's show how Galatians fits into the whole of the administration/plan of God.

Ch 1: Paul spent the first chapter laying out that Christ was the gospel, not the law. He also provided his credentials to speak on the subject.

Ch 2: He continues his standing among the apostles by telling of his acceptance by the other apostles, and his stature to even put Peter in his place for duplicity.

Cn 3 & 4: Paul lays out how salvation is because of faith in the works of Christ and not because of our own works of any kind. This carries on through both chapters.

Ch 5: Paul states that we are free and to not allow themselves to become enslaved. Without saying anything about all aspects of our freedom, this passage is talking about freedom from the ritual, dietary, etc., laws of Judaism. Then he turns to living by the Spirit, providing both negative and positive evidence.

Ch 6: Helping each other when temptations arise. Doing good, living in the new creation.

Within most of this, Paul makes reference to the reasons that we can stand strong. For example, he notes that he is crucified with Christ. The implication is not to encourage the Galatians to work at becoming crucified with Christ, but to understand that it is the truth and that they can rely on that as a means to succeed. As Peter would put it, to recognize that we have what it takes for life and Godliness.

The point of the letter was not to provide a bunch of spiritual things they needed to work at, but a bunch of spiritual truths that they could rely on to live and follow in the manner Christ desired.

Short enough? (I thought that the overview of the book would be worth the extra words.)

One the whole, my observation is that the inner-life teachings are too engaged in dealing with the spiritual and too disengaged from dealing with life and Godliness