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| Chapter 5 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I, Paul, say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man who is circumcised, that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 Christ then becomes of no effect unto you, whosoever of you claim justification by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5 For we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. 7 Ye were running well; who hindered you, that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not from Him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you through the Lord that ye will be not otherwise minded; but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why then do I yet suffer persecution? Then would the offense of the cross cease. 12 I would that they were even cut off which trouble you! 13 ¶ For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion of the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye not be consumed one by another. 16 This I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, and they are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, quarreling, rivalry, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 envying, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. About these things I tell you again, as I have also told you in times past: that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another and envying one another. |
Many in Paul’s time, and still today, feel it is dangerous to teach the "liberty in Christ," they feel it is replacing ‘law’ with ‘license,’ they say it means "forget all rules and do what you like." These people are not understanding God’s grace, and in the final chapters Paul puts the teaching into practice. The Judaizers were the dangerous ones, they were attempting to make the "old nature" into a "new nature" which obeys God in all ways, the flesh is against God, it will always turn against God. However, a Spirit filled believer will follow the law in love, for his Saviour. v1 Keep your liberty in Christ do not become a slave. See Acts 15:10. The picture of a yoke shows slavery. The ‘yoke’ was used by farmers to control the oxen or horses, it fits across the neck of the animal, without it the farmer has difficulty in controlling the animals direction. The Galatians had lost the "yoke" of serving sin and taken on the "yoke" of Christ Matt 11:28-30; Rom 6:11-14 but were now going back to the old yoke. v2-6 Paul refers to what they were losing:- v2 "Christ will profit you nothing." You will lose the spiritual riches of Christ:- Grace Eph 1:7; glory Eph 1:18; Phil 4:19; wisdom Rom 11:33; Col 2:3. We have all we need in Him Col 2:10. v2-4 If you submit to circumcision then you have to obey the whole law. This is where the Judaizers were falling down, they were only selecting parts of the law. The curse of the law is that all of it must be obeyed, Gal 3:10. v4 "fallen from grace" does not mean that they had lost their salvation, see Gal 4:6, an unbeliever could not have that. No, it means that you have fallen out of the control of grace, law and grace cannot live together. v5,6 The life of a believer should be in grace, the power of the Spirit is in control, bringing love for God and others. One day that will lead to us to being perfect and right in God. v7-12 Paul uses the image of a runner in the games, he had to be a citizen before he was allowed to run. Once running, nothing should be done to slow down the runner, Paul said that someone was getting in the way. See Phil 3:13-21, we run to serve Him not obtain salvation. Paul now turns to cooking, reminding them that a little leaven (yeast) can spread through food. In the Old Testament yeast was a symbol of evil Exodus 12:15-19; Exodus 34:25. Yeast is small but can soon affect the whole loaf, just like sin. v10 The believers should be watching out for any "leaven of sin," "he that troubleth you" must be judged. v11,12 Paul points out that if he preached that they should be circumcised then he would not be persecuted anymore, I preach Jesus crucified on the cross, and this is what is objected too. v13-26 The work of the Spirit. v13-15 By the power of the Spirit we are called to the liberty of God, we are free from guilt of sin, free from the punishment of sin, but we must not use this liberty for old nature desires, we should love one another, v13, not hurt each other for our own gain. The Galatians were "bite and devour one another" and Paul warns that this will destroy the church. Just think how many of the problems of life would disappear if we "Loved one another ." Rom 13:8-14. v16-21 The Spirit allows us to beat the desires of the flesh. v16,17 The Spirit and our old nature are at war, our physical body is not full of sin, it is how we use it that produces bad or good. If flesh mind controls the body it will sin, if the Spirit controls the body then we walk in the Spirit. Consider : 2 Peter 2:19-22; Rom 8:1-17. v17 We are unable to control the old nature on our own "you cannot do the things that you would." Rom 7:15,19. v18 We should let the Holy Spirit take control, give Him full control. v19-21 Paul now lists the "works of the flesh," see also Mark 7:20-23; Rom 1:20-32; 1 Tim 1:9-10; 2 Tim 3:2-5. v22-26 In contrast Paul now lists the fruit of the Spirit. v24 A believer must have "crucified" their old nature to Christ. This does not mean to physically die on a cross, it is not possible to crucify yourself physically, but to hand over your life and desires to Jesus. To produce the fruit of the Spirit can only be done through the power of the Spirit. It is important to separate "works" and "fruit," anything can by ‘work’ produce an object or effect, but to produce ‘fruit’ needs something living. The "life" for a believer comes from the Holy Spirit,v25, This fruit can produce more fruit. v26 Finally Paul reminds the Galatians not to do "works" for pride or praise. What ever we do must be to the Glory of God and His Son. |
Easy English Translation
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