Gal 5:1-10 | KingComments | STEP | Now Paul can start with the practical section of his letter. In chapters 1-2 he dealt with a small piece of history and in chapters 3-4 he elaborately dealt with the doctrines that the false teachers brought. In the last two chapters Paul talks about the practical impact of the teachings he presented in the previous chapters. . This verse is suitable to move from doctrine to practice. It concludes the doctrinal section and at the same time it is the introduction to the practical part. Add it to the end of chapter 4 and it sounds like a conclusion. The main idea is this: the Christian is free from all sorts of laws that kept him in bondage. From this point of view, the negative part is in the foreground – that which is put away. also can be seen as an introduction to the next section. From this point of view, the positive part is in the foreground, and that is what Christ had in mind when He set us free: that is freedom itself. He wanted to give us the same freedom which He Himself knew. That is real freedom: to be free as He is. His freedom was and is to accomplish the will of His Father. Our freedom has the same goal: the desire to do the will of the Father. The Lord Jesus obtained this freedom for us on the cross. By doing so, he has made us free from every imaginable kind of slavery, whether it concerns the law or sin. In chapter 3 which also speaks of freedom, the emphasis is on the price He paid ( ). Here the emphasis is on freedom. Whosoever once shared in this freedom is foolish if he let himself be brought again under a yoke of slavery. The yoke of which the Savior speaks in Matthew 11 is a yoke of a totally different order ( ). That yoke testifies to a voluntarily and joyfully accepted assignment. It is also an easy yoke; it does not oppress. . Paul exhorts the Galatians to stand firm in this freedom that Christ has acquired. For them, there was a great danger that they would give up this freedom and fall back under an oppressive yoke. To emphasize his exhortation he uses his position as an apostle when he urgently warns them what the consequence is of adhering to legalistic requirements. A look at the first section of Acts 15 makes clear what was at stake ( ). To require circumcision as a condition of salvation meant a degradation of the work of Christ. Circumcision in this case is not a surgical operation but represents a whole system of salvation by works. By putting yourself under the law, you put yourself into a position which does not give you any profit from Christ and His work. Being under the law, you are separated from Christ and if you are separated from Christ you are deprived of all blessings. . Because of the gravity of the case, Paul again brings this clearly to the attention of the Galatians and of “every man”. It is a matter of general interest with a general validity, an issue which did not concern the Galatians only. It touched and still touches the foundations of Christian faith. It is all or nothing. You cannot say: I do my part by keeping the law and Christ is doing His part by doing what I cannot do. No, either Christ did everything or He has done nothing. Whoever wants to keep the law is bound to keep the law completely. Therein you cannot act selectively. Again Paul emphasizes the incompatibility of the law and grace. . The law sets conditions. No human being is able to meet these conditions; hence he forfeits all the blessing, if he seeks to keep the law. In so doing, you fall away from grace. This falling away does not mean that you can lose your salvation. A passage like in John 10 is a guarantee that that can never happen ( ). Once you are a child of God, you are always a child of God. To fall from grace means that he who seeks to keep the law abandons grace. . After his serious warnings about keeping the law, Paul speaks about the privileges that are connected to grace. In we do not read about the hope for righteousness. If so, this verse would indicate that there is still an uncertainty which results from seeking righteousness out of one’s own efforts. No, we read about “the hope of righteousness”. Every believer possesses righteousness. With that righteousness hope is connected. Again, this hope is not uncertainty but the solid certainty of something that will come – something you expect. Through the Holy Spirit, Who indwells you, you're eagerly looking forward to the glory of God. Isn't that so? Just read the second verse of Romans 5 ( ). The glory of God is the place to which the Lord Jesus ascended after His death and resurrection. The hope of righteousness is looking forward to that very moment when we shall share the glory that Christ already has right now. The Lord Jesus spoke about this to His Father in John 17: “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me” ( ). We will come to this very place when the Lord Jesus comes to take us to Himself ( ). . What the Christian expects is in every way contrary to what the Judaist expects. Judaists expect to be able to keep the law by fleshly, own efforts in order to earn righteousness. The Christian is looking forward – through the Spirit – to what has been earned for him and what will therefore undoubtedly and securely be his part. This is all related to being “in Christ Jesus”. That is the position of the Christian. And whether you are circumcised or uncircumcised, it does not have any effect on your position in Christ. Whoever is in Christ will show his faith, not by works of the law but by love. Love is the driving force behind all acts that are done in faith. Now read Galatians 5:1-6 again. Reflection: In your life as a Christian, is there still (or again) a yoke of slavery, or can you rather say that your faith is working through love?

‏ Galatians 5:1-10

The Christian Freedom

Now Paul can start with the practical section of his letter. In chapters 1-2 he dealt with a small piece of history and in chapters 3-4 he elaborately dealt with the doctrines that the false teachers brought. In the last two chapters Paul talks about the practical impact of the teachings he presented in the previous chapters.

Gal 5:1. This verse is suitable to move from doctrine to practice. It concludes the doctrinal section and at the same time it is the introduction to the practical part. Add it to the end of chapter 4 and it sounds like a conclusion. The main idea is this: the Christian is free from all sorts of laws that kept him in bondage. From this point of view, the negative part is in the foreground – that which is put away.

Gal 5:1 also can be seen as an introduction to the next section. From this point of view, the positive part is in the foreground, and that is what Christ had in mind when He set us free: that is freedom itself. He wanted to give us the same freedom which He Himself knew. That is real freedom: to be free as He is. His freedom was and is to accomplish the will of His Father. Our freedom has the same goal: the desire to do the will of the Father.

The Lord Jesus obtained this freedom for us on the cross. By doing so, he has made us free from every imaginable kind of slavery, whether it concerns the law or sin. In chapter 3 which also speaks of freedom, the emphasis is on the price He paid (Gal 3:13). Here the emphasis is on freedom. Whosoever once shared in this freedom is foolish if he let himself be brought again under a yoke of slavery.

The yoke of which the Savior speaks in Matthew 11 is a yoke of a totally different order (Mt 11:29-30). That yoke testifies to a voluntarily and joyfully accepted assignment. It is also an easy yoke; it does not oppress.

Gal 5:2. Paul exhorts the Galatians to stand firm in this freedom that Christ has acquired. For them, there was a great danger that they would give up this freedom and fall back under an oppressive yoke. To emphasize his exhortation he uses his position as an apostle when he urgently warns them what the consequence is of adhering to legalistic requirements. A look at the first section of Acts 15 makes clear what was at stake (Acts 15:1-10).

To require circumcision as a condition of salvation meant a degradation of the work of Christ. Circumcision in this case is not a surgical operation but represents a whole system of salvation by works. By putting yourself under the law, you put yourself into a position which does not give you any profit from Christ and His work. Being under the law, you are separated from Christ and if you are separated from Christ you are deprived of all blessings.

Gal 5:3. Because of the gravity of the case, Paul again brings this clearly to the attention of the Galatians and of “every man”. It is a matter of general interest with a general validity, an issue which did not concern the Galatians only. It touched and still touches the foundations of Christian faith. It is all or nothing. You cannot say: I do my part by keeping the law and Christ is doing His part by doing what I cannot do. No, either Christ did everything or He has done nothing. Whoever wants to keep the law is bound to keep the law completely. Therein you cannot act selectively. Again Paul emphasizes the incompatibility of the law and grace.

Gal 5:4. The law sets conditions. No human being is able to meet these conditions; hence he forfeits all the blessing, if he seeks to keep the law. In so doing, you fall away from grace. This falling away does not mean that you can lose your salvation. A passage like in John 10 is a guarantee that that can never happen (Jn 10:28-29). Once you are a child of God, you are always a child of God. To fall from grace means that he who seeks to keep the law abandons grace.

Gal 5:5. After his serious warnings about keeping the law, Paul speaks about the privileges that are connected to grace. In Gal 5:5 we do not read about the hope for righteousness. If so, this verse would indicate that there is still an uncertainty which results from seeking righteousness out of one’s own efforts. No, we read about “the hope of righteousness”. Every believer possesses righteousness. With that righteousness hope is connected. Again, this hope is not uncertainty but the solid certainty of something that will come – something you expect. Through the Holy Spirit, Who indwells you, you're eagerly looking forward to the glory of God. Isn't that so?

Just read the second verse of Romans 5 (Rom 5:2). The glory of God is the place to which the Lord Jesus ascended after His death and resurrection. The hope of righteousness is looking forward to that very moment when we shall share the glory that Christ already has right now. The Lord Jesus spoke about this to His Father in John 17: “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me” (Jn 17:24). We will come to this very place when the Lord Jesus comes to take us to Himself (Phil 3:21).

Gal 5:6. What the Christian expects is in every way contrary to what the Judaist expects. Judaists expect to be able to keep the law by fleshly, own efforts in order to earn righteousness. The Christian is looking forward – through the Spirit – to what has been earned for him and what will therefore undoubtedly and securely be his part. This is all related to being “in Christ Jesus”. That is the position of the Christian. And whether you are circumcised or uncircumcised, it does not have any effect on your position in Christ. Whoever is in Christ will show his faith, not by works of the law but by love. Love is the driving force behind all acts that are done in faith.

Now read Galatians 5:1-6 again.

Reflection: In your life as a Christian, is there still (or again) a yoke of slavery, or can you rather say that your faith is working through love?

Called to Be Free

Gal 5:7. When Paul says “you were running well”, he uses the picture of a race. The Galatians made a good start to running the race. Without any reservation they had accepted the gospel. But now obstacles were put on the race course which had tripped them up. They no longer obeyed the truth of the gospel.

Gal 5:8. They had listened to other voices and stopped listening to the voice of God Who had called them through the gospel Paul preached. In that call of God no trace could be recognized of what the Jewish false teachers wanted them to believe.

Paul doesn’t name these people. It is enough to know that what they preached did not come from God. Likewise the Lord Jesus speaks in John 10 (Jn 10:4-5). His sheep know His voice. If a stranger comes, they will not follow him because they do not know that voice. They will flee from him. It is not necessary to examine all kinds of false teachings, unless you have an order from the Lord to do so. If you do not hear the voice of the Lord – that is, if it is contrary to the Word of God – you can reject it immediately.

Gal 5:9. If you allow wrong doctrine, as we see here, or sinful practice, as in 1 Corinthians 5, and don’t judge it, your life and the church where you are, will finally be destroyed. Evil which is not judged works like leaven – it permeates everything.

Gal 5:10. When Paul looks to the Galatians, he is perplexed (Gal 4:20). But when he looks up, to the Lord Jesus, he is confident that He will not abandon His own. Paul knew how to bring his concerns to the Lord. This is an important lesson for me. If I'm worried and there seems to be no way out anymore, I must be aware of the way upward to the Lord.

Paul was convinced that the Galatians in their final evaluation of these things would come to the same conclusion as he had proposed to them from the beginning. As far as those who had brought them into confusion were concerned, he commits them to the judgment of God.

Gal 5:11. Now they had also said something about Paul, which he had to respond to. They said that Paul still preached circumcision. Of course that was a trick of the opponents to deceive the Galatians. Even today it still happens that things are put into Paul’s mouth that he never said or meant that way.

As to circumcision, it was clear that he didn’t preach that practice. Otherwise, why would the Jews chase him like that? And if Paul preached circumcision, it would mean that there would still be something left of own works – and that would be completely contrary to the preaching of the cross.

The cross shows the depravity of man right to the very roots of his existence and it demonstrates that man is an enemy of God. Therefore the cross and the complete salvation by grace are always a stumbling block for someone who wants to give a little credit to the flesh. Anyone who adds something to the gospel of Jesus Christ by giving man the possibility to do something for his salvation, will surely gain appreciation, but not with God nor with those who hold to God's truth.

Gal 5:12. Paul sees here how through the deception of Judaism the gospel is robbed of its power and souls are ruined. That causes his strong exclamation in this verse. But what do we see since the days of the apostle? Legalism has got a grip on a great part of professing Christianity. And where do we hear now the righteous indignation that marked Paul?

The exclamation of the apostle is an allusion to circumcision. Thereby he seems to mean that he wished that the false teachers would cut themselves loose from the Galatians and the Christian churches in general. The attempts to bring God's people back into bondage of any kind of law are still going on.

Gal 5:13-14. Again Paul points to the truth that you are called to freedom. That does not mean you're now free to sin. The Christian may have been freed from the law, but that does not mean that he is no longer under authority. Christian freedom does not allow sin, but rather encourages us to serve through love.

Real freedom can only be found within the limits set by God. The perfect example is seen in the Lord Jesus. If you serve one another through love, you fulfill what the law requires. Now you might think: so I do have to keep the law after all? No, Paul doesn’t return to the law. What he shows is that the law’s demands – which man could not accomplish – will be achieved in the practice of Christian freedom.

Gal 5:15. Love endures weaknesses, does not demand, does not put on conditions and longs to serve. The law knows nothing of mercy; it is not compliant and must condemn anything that is not in accordance with the perfectly righteous requirements. Where the law, or something derived from it, becomes standard in the relationship to God and to each other, the inevitable result is the arising of conflicts.

The law requires us to love one another, but with the Galatians at that time, and in Christianity today, the opposite happens. Whoever keeps the law builds up his own righteousness and cannot have pity on others. It requires a tough attitude; otherwise the law is not law anymore.

The fighting resulting from legalism – and the fighting resulting from countering legalism as well! – leads to destruction. First there is biting, then devouring and finally consuming. It looks like John 10 where the Lord Jesus speaks about the thief coming to “steal”, then “kill” and finally “destroy” (Jn 10:10).

Now read Galatians 5:7-15 again.

Reflection: Do you feel free? How do you use your freedom?