What did the Galatians experience when they first received salvation?
When the Galatians first received salvation, they entered into a great joy, realizing their salvation was entirely of grace. They had come away from former things, but then experienced relentless pressure to return to their previous condition, the same pattern seen in new believers.
Les explains that the Galatians had entered into such a joy of their salvation, realizing that it was all of grace. Just as Paul's converts in Thessalonica turned from idols to the true and living God, the Galatians came away from all of this other stuff and entered into a salvation by grace. But then, as happens all the time today, they were bombarded with pressure to come back. Les notes this same pattern over and over: whenever a new believer comes under the power of the Gospel, the constant pressure arises to return to where they had been before. He illustrates this with a phone call he received that morning from a man who had come out of false teaching but was beside himself under pressure to go back. This opposition was not new.