Galatians 5
5:1 a Paul succinctly summarizes his message to the Galatians, decrying their foolish behavior and offering a positive alternative—freedom.• So Christ has truly set us free: Christians are free to walk by faith in Christ alone (cp. Rom 8 b).
• don’t get tied up (literally don’t take on a yoke): In Judaism, it was a duty and an honor to “take the yoke of the law.” God’s children in Christ are not called to bear this heavy burden (see Luke 11:46 c; Acts 15:10 d); instead, they enjoy Christ’s yoke of freedom (Matt 11:28-30 e).
Summary for Gal 5:2-6: 5:2-6 f The Judaizers taught that keeping the law would earn God’s favor (cp. Acts 15:1 g), but that path actually leads to alienation from God. Real righteousness comes to those who live in Christ by the power of the Spirit. 5:2 h Paul reminded the Galatians of who was talking to them: the apostle of Christ who represented the Lord to the Gentiles and who had first proclaimed the Good News to them.
5:3 i Those who seek righteousness through the law must obey every regulation of it (see 2:15-16 j; cp. Jas 2:10 k).
5:4 l People who think circumcision is necessary for salvation are putting faith in the law and in themselves, not in Christ. Such people are cut off from Christ, outside of his grace (cp. Rom 5:2 m); they are under the judgment of the law. They have fallen away from the benefits of God’s grace (cp. Gal 1:6 n; 1 Pet 5:12 o).
5:5 p The alternative to living by faith in the law is to live by complete reliance on the Spirit to make us pleasing to God.
• eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us (or eagerly await by faith the hope that righteousness gives us): We receive God’s righteousness at our salvation (Rom 5:9-11 q; 10:10 r), in an ongoing way through the Spirit’s sanctification (Rom 8:1-14 s), and fully at the resurrection when Christ returns (Rom 8:18-30 t). It is God’s power that provides righteousness, and he fulfills his promise (Gal 3:14 u, 22 v).
5:6 w Faith in Christ Jesus provides access to all of God’s favor and grace, so no further benefit is available through human effort. Faith is expressed by exercising love toward others (cp. Rom 13:10 x; 14:17-19 y; 2 Cor 8:8-13 z).
5:7 aa The life of faith is like running a race (cp. 1 Cor 9:24-27 ab; Phil 3:13-14 ac; 2 Tim 4:7-8 ad). The law became a hindrance to the Galatians in this race rather than a help (cp. Luke 11:52 ae).
5:8 af The Galatians thought that their commitment to the law would please God, but God wasn’t calling them to this slavery. God called them to freedom.
5:9 ag This verse was apparently a well-known adage (literally A little yeast makes the whole loaf rise; cp. Matt 13:33 ah; 16:6 ai, 11-12 aj; 1 Cor 5:6-7 ak). A little reliance on the law for acceptance by God soon results in forgetting that Christ saves by his work alone.
5:10 al that person, whoever he is: Perhaps Paul did not know who the false teachers were, or perhaps he meant that their credentials were unimportant (cp. 2:6 am).
• confusing you: The false teaching distorted the Good News, so Paul wrote to clear up their thinking.
5:11 an if I were still preaching: This statement probably refers to Paul’s preaching as an ardent zealot of Judaism before his conversion to Christ (1:13-14 ao; Acts 7:58–8:3 ap). As a Christian, Paul had never preached that Gentiles must be circumcised.
• why am I still being persecuted? If Paul had been preaching a law-based religion, the zealous Jews would not have been persecuting him wherever he went. They found the rejection of the necessity of their laws to be scandalous (cp. Rom 9:33 aq; 1 Cor 1:23 ar).
5:12 as mutilate themselves (literally cut themselves off; cp. Phil 3:2 at): Paul uses biting sarcasm and wordplay with multiple levels of meaning: (1) Paul might be alluding to pagan priests in the province of Galatia who castrated themselves in devotion to pagan gods. An insistence on circumcision for Christians is essentially no different. It involved cutting the flesh to become acceptable to God by physical deeds rather than by faith in Christ. (2) Depending on circumcision mutilated the false teachers’ standing before God, so they might as well mutilate themselves physically. (3) In the old covenant, emasculated men were not allowed to enter the congregation (Deut 23:1 au); similarly, those who rely on circumcision have no place in the new covenant community. Paul probably wished that the Judaizers would cut themselves off by removing themselves from the community.
Summary for Gal 5:13-26: 5:13–6:10 av Having shown that justification comes by faith alone, Paul now addresses the question, “If we don’t keep the law, then what will guide our conduct?” His answer is that righteousness comes from the Spirit. The Judaizers probably warned that Paul’s message of freedom (5:1 aw) would put believers on a slippery slope to moral ruin. Paul argues that freedom is not a license to sin, because love guides Christians. Liberty should be used to serve one another in love (cp. 2:20 ax; 2 Cor 5:14-15 ay).
5:14 az the whole law can be summed up (or the whole law is fulfilled): Christ’s followers fulfill the law by exercising love toward every neighbor (Lev 19:18 ba; see Matt 7:12 bb; Luke 6:27-36 bc; 10:25-37 bd; John 13:34-35 be; 15:9-17 bf; Rom 13:8-10 bg).
5:15 bh The opposite of love is biting and devouring one another (cp. Ps 35:25 bi; Prov 30:14 bj; Jer 8:17 bk). People who do not love are characterized by strife and bitterness. They will end up destroying one another. By contrast, love gives life to others (John 3:16 bl; 15:12-13 bm).
Summary for Gal 5:16-26: 5:16-26 bn A law-free faith will not lead to moral ruin because having the Holy Spirit to guide people’s lives changes their hearts to follow the will of God and not sin (cp. Jer 31:33 bo; Heb 8:10 bp).
5:17 bq We cannot simply decide to keep the law and not sin: A war rages between God’s Spirit and our sinful nature (see Rom 7:14-25 br; 1 Pet 2:11 bs; cp. Gen 4:7 bt). The answer is not human effort at law-keeping, but living by God’s Spirit. When we are resurrected, we will finally be freed from sin (see Rom 8:18-25 bu).
5:18 bv Those who are directed by the Spirit are under the Spirit’s authority and not under obligation to the law. They do not answer to the law but to the Spirit of God. It was not Paul’s intent to justify civil disobedience (see Rom 13:1-7 bw; Titus 3:1 bx; cp. 1 Pet 2:13-17 by). He was addressing the means of obtaining spiritual righteousness before God.
Summary for Gal 5:19-26: 5:19-26 bz These two lists contrast life dominated by the sinful nature (5:19-21 ca) with life led by the Spirit (5:22-26 cb). Living by the Spirit means observing a higher ethical standard than can be achieved under the law. 5:19 cc When you follow ... the results are (literally The works of the flesh are): An emphasis on law-keeping and sinful actions both flow from trying to live apart from the power of God’s Spirit.
• very clear: Basic understanding of right and wrong is universal (cp. Rom 1:32 cd; 2:14-15 ce; 1 Cor 5:1 cf), though some people suppress this awareness (Rom 1:18-21 cg).
• The list begins with sexual immorality; in contrast, the list of Christian virtues begins with love (Gal 5:22 ch). All kinds of sexual misconduct were common (cp. Rom 1:24-27 ci; 1 Cor 5:1 cj; 6:15-18 ck; 2 Cor 12:21 cl; 2 Pet 3:10 cm, 18 cn). Sexual immorality was connected in paganism with fertility worship (cp. Rev 2:14 co, 20 cp).
• Moral impurity removes holiness and makes fellowship with a holy God impossible (see Matt 23:27 cq; Rom 6:19 cr; 2 Cor 12:21 cs; Eph 5:3 ct; Col 3:5 cu; 1 Thes 4:7 cv).
5:20 cw Idolatry, the worship of false gods, was common in Galatia and was often accompanied by sorcery (see Acts 19:19 cx; cp. 1 Sam 15:23 cy; Rev 9:21 cz; 18:23 da; 21:8 db; 22:15 dc) and sexual immorality (cp. 1 Cor 6:9 dd, 15-20 de).
• Hostility arises from angry pride rather than the Spirit’s humility and love (Gal 5:22-23 df).
• Quarreling refers not to standing up for what is right, but to stirring up discord and looking for a fight (1 Cor 3:3 dg; 2 Cor 12:20 dh; 1 Tim 6:4 di; Titus 3:9 dj). Those who are guided by the Holy Spirit seek to speak the truth in love with a peacemaking attitude (Gal 5:22 dk; Eph 4:15 dl; 2 Tim 2:23-26 dm).
• Jealousy (Greek zēlos, “zeal”) has both a positive sense (“passionate commitment”) and, as here, a negative one (“intense desire for another’s things”); cp. Jas 3:14-16 dn.
• Outbursts of anger (or fits of rage) contrast with self-control (Gal 5:23 do; see, e.g., Acts 19:28 dp; 2 Cor 12:20 dq; 1 Tim 3:3 dr; Titus 1:7 ds).
• Selfish ambition (or Selfishness) is the antithesis of Christian love (cp. Rom 2:8 dt; Phil 2:3 du; Jas 3:14 dv, 16 dw).
• Division (Greek haireseis, “heresies, factions, sects”) refers to people using differing beliefs or practices to divide the community (cp. 1 Cor 11:17-19 dx; 2 Pet 2:1-3 dy).
5:21 dz Drunkenness has no place in the Christian life (see Luke 21:34 ea; 1 Cor 11:20-22 eb; Eph 5:18 ec).
• wild parties: Festivals in honor of pagan gods were often accompanied by drunken orgies (cp. 1 Pet 4:3 ed).
• other sins like these: This list is only representative of the vices of the sinful nature (cp. Mark 7:20-23 ee; Rom 1:29-31 ef; 1 Cor 6:9-10 eg; Eph 5:3-5 eh; Col 3:5-8 ei; 1 Tim 1:9-10 ej; 2 Tim 3:2-5 ek; Jas 3:13-18 el; Rev 21:8 em). People living that sort of life are not living by the Spirit, and thereby demonstrate no relationship with God by faith. Such people will not inherit the Kingdom of God: They are still slaves of their sinful nature (Gal 4:8-9 en, 22-25 eo; cp. Rom 6:16-22 ep; 1 Cor 6:9-10 eq) and are not under God’s rule.
5:22 er Unlike following the sinful nature (5:19-21 es), letting the Holy Spirit guide (5:16 et) produces a life pleasing to God, which human effort and the law cannot do (cp. John 15:1-8 eu).
• These virtues directly address the issues in the church of Galatia.
• love: The greatest Christian virtue encompasses all the others (1 Cor 13:4-7 ev). Only the Spirit of God can produce in us love for those who hate us (Matt 5:43-48 ew; Luke 6:35-36 ex).
• Joy produced by the Spirit does not depend on circumstances (Rom 15:13 ey; 2 Cor 6:10 ez; 8:2 fa; 1 Thes 1:6 fb).
• Peace with God creates internal well-being (Rom 5:1 fc; Eph 2:15 fd; Phil 4:6-7 fe; Col 1:20 ff) that spills into our relationships with others so that we become peacemakers (Matt 5:9 fg; Rom 8:6 fh; 12:18 fi; 14:17-19 fj; 2 Cor 13:11 fk; Eph 4:3 fl; 6:15 fm).
• Patience (or tolerance, or long-suffering) gives us forbearance toward other people and endurance under unfavorable circumstances (Eph 4:2 fn; 2 Tim 4:2 fo; Jas 5:10-11 fp). God is patient with us (Exod 34:6 fq; Ps 103:8 fr; Rom 2:4 fs; 9:22 ft; 1 Tim 1:16 fu; 2 Pet 3:15 fv) and promises his presence with those who are patient with others (Isa 57:15 fw).
• Kindness connotes generosity, a giving spirit that reflects how God treats us (Rom 2:4 fx; 11:22 fy; Titus 3:4-6 fz).
• goodness: Cp. Rom 15:14 ga; Eph 5:9 gb; 2 Thes 1:11 gc.
• Faithfulness (or faith) means exercising good faith and fidelity in our relationships, just as God does with us (1 Cor 1:9 gd; 10:13 ge; 2 Thes 3:3 gf).
5:23 gg Gentleness is antithetical to the vices of 5:20 gh and requires strength (see Prov 15:1 gi, 4 gj; Matt 11:28-29 gk; Eph 4:2 gl).
• self-control: The Holy Spirit does not give moral license but empowers people to avoid sin (cp. Gal 5:13 gm; Rom 6:14-18 gn; 1 Thes 4:3-7 go; 1 Pet 2:16 gp; see also Acts 24:25 gq; Titus 1:8 gr).
• There is no law against these things! Paul is stating the obvious, but also making the point that those who are virtuous by the Spirit do not need law to govern them.
5:24 gs Those who have faith in Christ are crucified with him (cp. 2:19-20 gt; Rom 6 gu) and become new people (Rom 6:1-2 gv; 2 Cor 5:17 gw; Col 3:5-15 gx): They have died to their sinful nature and to the law (Gal 2:19 gy; Rom 7:4-6 gz; 2 Cor 5:14 ha; Col 3:1-4 hb).
• passions and desires: As in 5:19-21 hc.
5:25 hd Christians do not live by the law but follow the Spirit’s leading.
5:26 he The Galatian church was apparently having trouble with factions (see also study note on 5:20; cp. 1 Cor 3 hf) instead of following the Spirit’s leading.
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