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Paul and Barnabas had just completed their first missionary journey. They had visited Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, cities in the Roman province of Galatia. Upon returning to Antioch, Paul was accused by some Jewish Christians of simplifying the gospel in order to appeal to the Gentiles. These Jewish Christians disagreed with Paul’s statements that Gentiles did not have to follow many of the religious laws that the Jews had adhered to for centuries. Some of Paul’s accusers even followed him to the Galatian cities and had told the Gentile converts that had to be circumcised and follow all the Jewish laws and customs. To these people, the Gentiles had to become Jews in order to be to become a Christian. In reponse to this threat with all these accusations, Paul wrote this letter to the Galatian churches. He emphasizes that following the Jewish laws and customs will not bring salvation. Paul wrote this letter around A.D. 49, shortly before the meeting of the Jerusalem council, which settled the law verses grace controversy in Acts 15.

Galatians 1:1
Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—