Are people today still affected by legalism like the Galatians were?
Yes. Legalism still affects people today, because most of Christendom is saturated with legalism and many find it hard to break away. Human nature remains ingrained with legalism of one sort or another, so the message that believers are not under law but under grace is just as appropriate now.
Les explains that the little letter to the Galatians was written with this in view: you're not under law, you're under grace. He says it is still appropriate today because most of Christendom is so saturated with legalism that it is hard for people to break away. He uses a tongue-in-cheek illustration, asking why the Lord took three years to show Paul the things of grace in Arabia, and suggesting it probably took three and a half years to get Judaism out of him. The point is that human nature is such that when people are brainwashed with religion and tradition, as Paul was in Judaism, everyone today is ingrained with legalism of one sort or another. Therefore the letter is just as appropriate for us today as when written, declaring that we are not under law but under grace. Grace means total freedom and total liberty.