Galatians 5
August 29
Reading: Galatians 5
1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
In Galatians 5:1-12 we discover that the aspect of living under Torah, the Old Testament Law, that was being taught was circumcision. In the early church circumcision came to be a word that represented keeping the whole Law. The Judaizers taught that to be a good Christian you had to be circumcised.
There are legalists today who will tell people, “In order to be saved here is what you have to do.” And then they will say that you must be baptized in their church, or you must speak in tongues, or you have to read the King James Bible, or you have to vote Republican. The list goes on. We have many legalisms today. Even a little legalism can be poisonous. (vs. 9)
In Jesus Christ, all that matters is “faith working through love.” (vs. 6) But does that mean that we can live however we want? Absolutely not! (vss. 13-15) When we are in Christ, we must learn the law of love, and it does take learning. How is it that I can possibly keep the command of Jesus, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself?”
Verse 16 answers that question. “Walk by the Spirit.” The rest of the chapter helps us to understand this command, to see what it looks like and does not look like.
Walking by the Spirit is obedience to God but not living under the Law. Walking by the Spirit is living in freedom and not slavery to the flesh (like Hagar’s son). It is important to see that freedom in Christ does NOT mean that I live by my own rules or desires. It means that I do not do the deeds of the flesh (vss. 19-21) but that I bear the fruit of the Spirit. (vss. 22-23) In order to live this way, I must die to myself and “keep in step with the Spirit.” (vss. 24-25)
You let the Holy Spirit take the words of Jesus and use them to guide your life. When you do, you will bear the fruit of the Spirit. That’s how it works in this relationship with God.