I spent the last month reading about Paul, specifically the relationship between Galatians and Romans.

Two letters. Same author. Same core message: justification by faith, not works. But different tone, different audience, different depth.

Galatians is urgent and passionate. Romans is measured, systematic, comprehensive.

The difference matters. And the reason for the difference teaches us something about formation.

Galatians: The Loving Wake-Up Call

Paul wrote Galatians early, probably around 48-49 AD, just a few years after his conversion. The churches in Galatia were being infiltrated by Judaizers, people who taught that Gentile converts needed to follow Jewish law, including circumcision, to be saved.

Paul's response is direct: "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?" (Galatians 3:1)

This isn't anger. It's urgency born from love. The gospel is at stake. If salvation requires works, then Christ died for nothing. Paul is reminding them of what they already know: God chose them. The Holy Spirit is already at work in them. They don't need to earn what they've already been given.

The letter is short, direct, and passionate. Paul lays out his argument: the law was a guardian until Christ came, but now that faith has come, we're no longer under the guardian (Galatians 3:24-25). We're justified by faith, not by works of the law. Let the Spirit guide you, not the law.

It's a powerful argument, but it's not fully developed. Paul is writing in the heat of the moment, responding to a crisis with the truth he knows but hasn't yet had time to fully articulate.

Romans: The Systematic Letter

Paul wrote Romans later, probably around 57 AD, nearly a decade after Galatians. He's writing to a church he didn't found, in a city he hasn't visited yet. He's not responding to a crisis. He's laying out his theology comprehensively.

Romans covers the same ground as Galatians, justification by faith, the role of the law, the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, but with more nuance, more depth, more care.

Where Galatians is urgent, Romans is patient. Where Galatians is polemical, Romans is pastoral. Where Galatians argues, Romans explains.

Paul has had time to think. Time to refine his arguments. Time to anticipate objections. Time to develop the implications of his theology.

The result is one of the most important theological documents in history.

The Difference: Time in the Wilderness

What changed between Galatians and Romans? Paul spent years in the wilderness.

In Galatians 1:17-18, Paul mentions that after his conversion, he went to Arabia for three years before returning to Damascus. Then he went to Jerusalem briefly, then to Syria and Cilicia for fourteen years before going to Jerusalem again.

That's seventeen years of formation. Seventeen years of thinking, praying, studying, wrestling with what it means that Jesus is the Messiah and that salvation is by faith.

Paul didn't write Romans immediately after his conversion. He wrote it after nearly two decades of reflection.

What We Can Learn

The difference between Galatians and Romans teaches us something about formation: depth takes time.

Paul's early theology was correct. Galatians is Scripture. The core message is true. But it's not fully developed. It's reactive, not reflective.

Romans is what happens when you take the same truth and sit with it for years. You see the implications. You anticipate the objections. You understand the nuances. You develop the depth.

Most people don't give themselves time in the wilderness. They have an insight and immediately try to build something around it. They have a conviction and immediately start preaching it. They have a calling and immediately start executing it.

But formation requires time. Time to think. Time to wrestle. Time to let the truth settle into your bones.

Paul could have written Romans in 49 AD. He didn't. He spent seventeen years in relative obscurity, working, thinking, teaching in small churches, developing his theology.

By the time he wrote Romans, he wasn't just repeating what he'd been told. He was articulating what he'd lived.

The Wilderness Today

We live in a culture that values speed over depth: launch fast, ship early, iterate publicly. This works for software, but it doesn't work for formation.

You can't iterate your way to wisdom or A/B test your way to depth. You have to spend time in the wilderness.

This doesn't mean you do nothing. Paul was working during those seventeen years, planting churches, teaching, writing letters. But he wasn't in the spotlight. He wasn't building a platform. He was building a foundation.

Most people skip the wilderness. They go straight from conversion to platform, turning one insight into a brand or one experience into a ministry. The result is shallow theology, shallow leadership, and shallow impact.

Paul's example is different: get away, spend time thinking, let the truth marinate. Develop depth before you develop reach.

Galatians and Romans in Your Life

You need both Galatians and Romans in your life.

You need Galatians moments: urgent, clear, direct responses to immediate crises. When the gospel is at stake, you don't have time for nuance. You have to be clear.

But you also need Romans moments: patient, systematic, comprehensive articulation of what you believe and why. You need time to develop depth, to anticipate objections, to understand implications.

Most people only have Galatians moments. They're always reacting, always urgent, always in crisis mode. They never develop the depth that comes from sustained reflection.

The goal is to move from Galatians to Romans. To take the truths you know and sit with them long enough that they become not just beliefs but convictions. Not just ideas but frameworks. Not just reactions but reflections.

What You Should Do

Read Galatians. Then read Romans. Notice the difference. Notice how the same core message gets developed, refined, deepened.

Then ask yourself: what truths am I living in Galatians mode? What truths need Romans-level development?

Where do you need to spend time in the wilderness? Where do you need to step back, think deeply, let the truth settle?

You don't need to disappear for seventeen years. But you might need to disappear for seventeen days. Or seventeen weeks. Or seventeen months.

Time in the wilderness isn't wasted time. It's formation time.

Paul's greatest work came after his longest silence.

Maybe yours will too.