Michael's Abbey Bible Study - Galatians Chapter 5

1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. There is no transition language from the previous section. This emphasizes what is a central characteristic of the gospel and theme throughout this letter, that Christ set us free. The dative tense of freedom in this context is from the sacred release from slavery procedures. This means it is the destiny of the one receiving it. Therefore we should not give that up, especially considering the sacrifice Jesus gave for us to be free.
2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. Paul is saying, "Mark my words!" The circumcision was the first sign of the covenant, and predated the law. But it was the beginning and not the destination. If one seeks to align oneself with a nomistic identity ritual, one is rejecting Christ and his sacrifice.
3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. The law is not a pick-and-choose buffet. You either keep all or none of it. Even today there are Judaizers that try to impose some part of the law on others, like the sabbath or not eating pork and shellfish. Every few years someone makes a new "discovery" that gets repeated by Christians who don't read their Bibles. (This phenomenon predates social media.)
Circumcision was often used as a euphemism for the entire law in Jewish writings, and in many places in the New Testament as well. Paul is overtly making that connection for the Galatians.
4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. Paul makes it clear that to seek to justify oneself by following the law is to reject Christ. And to reject Christ is to reject grace. That is to put oneself outside salvation.
5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. This is an abbreviated repeat of what Paul had written earlier in the letter. That we are waiting in hope of righteousness makes it clear that we have not achieved it. This contradicts some versions of the doctrine of sanctification that claim we are righteous at conversion. As any Christian knows from their own experience, we continue to fail and sin after conversion. We are a work in progress.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. Circumcision, or any other part of the law, is irrelevant, unless one is trying to achieve justification by it. Justification by the law was never possible. And the nomistic following the law as identification as God's chosen people is no longer the standard. We are identified as Christians by operating in love.
This is the first mention of love in Galatians, and the only time it is connected with faith in any of Paul's letters.
7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This running metaphor alludes to a bad actor cutting in and blocking the way to slow them down or even stop the runner. Cutting in was against the rules of sport then as it is now.
8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. Contrary to the claims of the Judaizers who undoubtably used scripture to back their arguments, their message was not from God. We should use wisdom and discernment, checking everything against scripture, to be sure that what we accept is really from God.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. This was also used in 1 Corinthians 5:6. It is likely this was a common proverb of the time. In scripture it is almost always used negatively in that a small evil can corrupt everyone if it is allowed in. Although Jesus did use it in a positive sense regarding the influence of the kingdom of God in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:21.
10 I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. Paul usually expresses confidence in this manner regarding the Lord. Considering the warning and chastisement that he wrote before this verse, it the Lord that is the source of Paul's confidence and not the Galatians themselves.
The second half of the verse refers to those who have disrupted the church bring guilt upon themselves, and they will have to answer for it in God's judgement. The inference is that this is God's judgement at eschaton rather than some time sooner. While it is possible that God will bring justice sooner, we should not look to that or require it for our own peace of mind. God's timing should be enough for us.
11 But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. Pre-conversion, Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees. Thus, he taught and advocated for the law including circumcision. It may be that Paul is countering a charge, or the possibility of a charge of hypocrisy here. For example, he circumcised Timothy in Acts 16:1-3, he approved of Jews continuing to follow the law as they always had in 1 Corinthians 7:17-20, and he followed the law himself when preaching the gospel to Jews. However, Paul always and strongly opposed imposing the law on Gentiles.
Some translations use "stumbling block" for skandalon which is more often translated as offense. The cross is an offense to those who reject Jesus as the Messiah, just as it was to Paul pre-conversion.
12 I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves. While most English translations tend to soften the language here, Paul was deliberately offensive in Greek. In effect he was saying, I wish those who are agitating for circumcision in others wouldn't stop at the tip but would cut their own off entirely. Emasculate as in remove the masculine.
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. We are called to freedom. But that freedom isn't a license to sin. Instead we are to serve each other out of the motivation of love. We are of split motivation. Paul refers to the sinful desires as the flesh and the Godly desires as the spirit throughout his letters. A preventative treatment for the desires of the flesh is to keep busy with the desires of the spirit.
14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Word as used in the Greek here means a statement, not a literal single word. For example, if we have something to tell someone we might say, I have a word for you.
This may seem like Paul is turning to the law after spending all these words denouncing it. However, this isn't an inconsistency. Paul is pointing to the underlying principle upon which the whole law it based, not the law itself. In essence, Paul is writing that freedom from the law is not a contradiction of the law. Instead, it is an embrace of the true foundation of the law. Thus, the gospel really is the fulfillment of the law.
This is from Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 7:12, 19:19, 22:40, John 13:34, Romans 13:18, and Galatians 6:2.
15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. This is a sarcastic warning against taking the liberty of the freedom in Christ to enable selfish desires. The analogy is that being selfish is like wild animals consuming each other selfishly instead of selflessly serving each other like Christ.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Paul is the primary instructor on the role of the Holy Spirit. Paul and John both frequently use the metaphor "walk" to refer to a manner of living.
The dative tense of pneumati, Spirit, indicates that the Spirit is both the origin and the means of walking by the Spirit. And the present active imperative tense of peripateite, walk, means that the Galatians and all Christians are to continue to walk in the Spirit as they have done, and are commanded to do today.
That this is a free-will choice for Christians is clear. But when a Christian chooses to walk in the Spirit, it is by the Spirit's power that it is possible. Implied is that we are not capable of doing this on our own.
The promise of making this choice is that we will not carry out the sinful, (implied,) desires of the flesh.
Behind this is the argument that living by the Spirit is the right and better way to live, in opposition to the other three options; living by the flesh, legalistically, or nomistically. Implied is that living by legalism or nomism is also living by the flesh. As these are operating under one's own power rather than the Spirit this is logical, and an argument as to why they fail.
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. This is the why for verse 16. That the Spirit and flesh are in opposition is explicitly stated. In this case, this is not just a metaphor for the Spirit versus the sinful nature, but indicates the modes of living. We either operate in the Spirit or under our own power. And we are not capable of success under our own power. This dualism is not a secular or pagan yin and yang view of the universe, but is an ethical dualism of man after sin entered the world through the first Adam.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Being led by the Spirit is living by the Spirit. And this frees us from living under the law, whether it is the legalistic living by the law of the pagan belief systems, or the nomistic living under the law of the Judaizers, (which the Galatians didn't understand and neither do we.)
The present passive indicative tense of agesthe, led, is in agreement with the present imperative of verse 16, but further emphasizes the free-will choice of putting one's own will under the will of the Spirit.
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, That these are deeds / evidence of living in the flesh are evident / commonly known / obvious. One does not need the law of Moses to know these are sinful.
which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, This list is illustrative of living by the sinful nature / the flesh. The first, immorality, is porneia, which is more specifically sexual immorality. Impurity, akatharsia in Greek, refers to being morally loose rather than a ritual impurity in nomistic practice. The third, aselgeia, is sensuality of the kind that is indecent, also referred to as debauchery. This would include things like strip clubs, nudie magazines, explicit romance novels, explicit movies, or anything that strokes that nature. Drunkenness does not mean any consumption of alcohol, unless one is afflicted by a condition where any consumption results in the loss of control. Carousing implies drunkenness, but adds loud public behavior to it.
And things like these means this list is not exhaustive, but is indicative of the things that are obviously from living in the flesh. While murder and adultery are not specified on the list, it should be obvious they are things that are sinful and evidence of living in the flesh. Also, there is no organization or categorization of these vices. Although in Greek, things listed first are first for emphasis.
Living by legalism or nomism does not keep one from doing these things.
of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul is warning now just as he warned before, although the time when the previous warning happened is not specified. The wording in Greek seems to indicate that there was a formal moral teaching that Paul taught to new converts similar to the instruction some denominations give prior to baptism. And this is what Paul is referring to.
To inherit the kingdom of God refers to our inheritance as co-heirs with Christ at eschaton. But it can also refer to God's operating in the world and heaven today. Generally, this means when the new heaven and new earth are brought together for eternity. Since all of us sin, including the sins on this list, Paul's statement that those who do these things will not inherit God's kingdom is problematic. For one thing, Paul also teaches our past and future sins are covered by Christ's sacrifice. In context, this is not a contradiction. Those who live by the flesh will not inherit. But those who live by the Spirit, but still fail, will inherit. Paul's instruction in chapter 5 and throughout his letters is that walking in the Spirit is a choice. This choice is deliberate. And it means that the focus and plan is to walk in the Spirit, constantly correcting back to that path whenever we stray.
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. Unlike the gifts of the Spirit, where the Spirit gives different gifts to different people and no one gift is given to all, the fruit of the Spirit are things that all believers should exhibit.
The fruit of the Spirit is a a direct reference to Matthew 7:15-20, where Jesus uses fruit trees as a metaphor for judging false prophets. Good trees don't bear bad fruit and bad trees don't bear bad fruit. We will know them by their fruits. Paul gives specific examples of the good fruit that walking in the Spirit brings. By implication, these are evidence of a person who is walking in the Spirit, both to themselves and to others. Love is listed first for emphasis in Greek.
A person exhibiting these fruits has a selfless attitude and approach to life. The selfish flesh does not operate out of love for others, with patience, kindness, or gentleness. Self-control is very indicative of walking in the Spirit. A person walking in the flesh is ruled by their emotions. A person walking in the Spirit is self-controlled in action and speech.
The ending of this verse is a rhetorical connection to living under the law, whether legalistically or nomistically. Both are equivalent to living by the flesh. While the law is not against these things, neither can it produce them. The Old Testament also makes this clear:
Hosea 6:6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Both the outward and visible works of the flesh as well as the inward desires and cravings are crucified, that is put to death, in those who belong to Christ. This is part of being crucified with Christ from Galatians 2:20. In Christ, we have a new existence where we live in the Spirit, walk with Jesus, and live for the Father. Remember, the crucifixion of the flesh includes crucifixion of legalistic and nomistic following of the law as well as the misuse of freedom.
Romans 6:5-6 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
2 Corinthians 4:10-11 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Those who claim to live by the Spirit ought to also walk in the Spirit as evidenced by a lifestyle controlled by the Spirit and the production of good fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. Living by the Spirit produces a heart condition where these things flow naturally and are seen by all.
Another way to translate this verse is, "If we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (ESV and NIV are similar to this.) This brings to mind how people march in the military. At the beginning of basic training the recruits are out of step and stepping on each other's boots. At some point they learn to march as a unit, with a precision and unity that is impressive and even intimidating to adversaries especially when they dig in their heels making a sound like thunder. When we walk in step with the Spirit and our brothers in Christ we strike fear in our adversaries.
26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. As a conclusion to chapter 25, this verse is an awkward fit unless there is some specific factionalism Paul is addressing that isn't mentioned. But as an introduction to chapter 6 of Galatians it fits very well. And as a transition between them it also fits. As the chapter and verse division were added in the 12th and 16th centuries, where a verse falls in this added-on system shouldn't trouble us.
Boasting, hostile challenging, and envy are all works of the flesh. These are not how Christians who walk in the Spirit should treat each other. In chapter 6 Paul addresses the proper way to deal with each other when there is sin or disagreement.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.

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