Galatians 5

New International Version (NIV)

Freedom in Christ

 ¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  ² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
 ⁷ You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸ That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹ “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” ¹⁰ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. ¹¹ Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. ¹² As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

So what is Paul talking about here?  He is addressing, as he does in the whole book of Galatians, the different approaches to God, law or grace, and the consequences of each method.  He had preached the gospel of grace to the Galatians and they received it, but then something happened.  Through the influence of Jewish adherents, the Galatian believers began to turn to their performance to please God.  The problem with doing that is then you are relying on your good behavior to save you and if you bring your behavior into the mix then all of it counts, good and bad.  You don't get to cherry pick the good stuff to present to God.  As Paul says, you are "obligated to the whole law."

If you are relying on anything other than Christ for righteousness, he can not help you.  His work means nothing for you.  You see, you can't have law AND grace.  They are exclusive of each other.  If you count on the law or some religious behavior to prove your worthiness to God, then you have to keep all the law.  You get served a great big LAW sandwich and have to swallow every bite and you better fall short anywhere .  OR you can choose Grace and trust completely on the finished work of Christ to save you and make you right in God's eyes therefore restoring you into the Kingdom of God's Son with all the rights and privileges of a son of God.

Now, does this mean our behavior doesn't matter?  Of course not!  There are obviously societal consequences for our actions and life rewards good decisions, but Christians seek good works to demonstrate the inward life that's already present not to earn or prove they deserve eternal life.  It's a completely different outlook.