Galatians Chapter 5

Galatians 1:1-5:12 have largely dealt with Christians who have been saved by grace not going back to the Law.  This really describes the seed sown on stony ground from Jesus’ parable of the sower.  This person hears the gospel and receives it and is born again.  But he is not rooted in righteousness apart from our works.  When tribulation or persecution arises because of the gospel, he stumbles or falls away from grace back to law.  

Starting in Galatians 5:13, Paul describes the seed sown among thorns in the parable of Jesus.  This person receives the gospel and is born again.  But the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires or lusts of the flesh enter in and choke the word and the person is unfruitful.  He does not experience the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy and peace that he is meant to experience.  The pain and sting of these things choke out the love, joy and peace.  

 

Galatians 5:1-6 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. ² Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. ³ And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. ⁴ You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. ⁵ For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”

Paul wrote this book to both Jews and Gentiles who had become Christians in the region of Galatia.  He told them to stand fast in liberty or grace and not to be entangled again in the law.  Paul told them that if they were circumcised, Christ would profit them nothing.  This would have been highly offensive to the Jews who wanted to mix the Old Testament law and grace under our Lord Jesus.  If we attempt to be justified by the Old Testament law, we have fallen from grace back to the law.  He did not say they fell from grace back to sin.  Falling from grace means we have fallen back to the Old Testament law in an attempt to be justified before God.  Falling from grace also does not mean we have lost our salvation. This falling away in Galatians chapter 5 is the same "fall away" described in Hebrews chapter 6.  Many have taught that Hebrews chapters 6 and 10 show how a mature believer can lose or reject their salvation and go to hell.  Those who teach this do not recognize that Hebrews 6 and 10 are discussing this same falling away from grace back to an Old Testament law mindset.   

Whether we are circumcised or not, the important thing is trusting in Jesus and His death on the cross for our sins.  It is of utmost importance that we receive the life of Christ in our hearts, not whether we have been circumcised or not.  

When we see how much God loves us and has forgiven the sins of our entire lifetime by grace, our faith will be effective.  Faith works by understanding God’s love and grace for us.

Galatians 5:7-12 “You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸ This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. ⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰ I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.  ¹¹ And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. ¹² I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!”

Paul said that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  He meant that when we try to mix grace and law, it is no longer grace.  If we have to add circumcision or any other part of the Old Testament law to what Christ did upon the cross, then we are no longer saved by grace alone.  Persecution arises because people who are self-righteous are offended by righteousness by faith apart from our works.  That is why the cross is offensive to some people.  They think they should be accepted by God because of their good works.  This is prideful and not dependence upon God and His grace and love.

Paul made a crude reference to circumcision when he wished that those who preach circumcision would even cut themselves off.  It demonstrated how strongly he felt about trusting in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ alone instead of in our own works or religious rituals.   

Galatians 5:13-15 “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!”

Paul will now switch to describing the seed sown among thorns in Jesus’ parable of the sower.  We are called to liberty or grace, but we are not to use grace as an opportunity for the flesh.  Even though Jesus bore the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime, we are not to use this grace as an excuse to sin and run wild.  We are to love one another.  Before God, we are justified by His grace apart from our works.  But before men, we are justified by our works.  Men will reject us and our message of God’s love and grace if we don’t walk in love and holiness.  

Galatians 5:16-18 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Walking denotes action.  Our actions are to be guided by who we are in the Spirit.  If we walk in love and holiness, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  Our spirit has been born again and is made in the likeness of God.  Even though Jesus has paid the price for the redemption of our body, our body is not yet redeemed.  The body still has lusts and sinful desires.  The flesh and the spirit are contrary to one another, so that we should not obey the dictates of our flesh.  We should be led by the Holy Spirit within us and learn to walk in love and holiness.  

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  

These verses have been used to say that we, as Christians, can lose our salvation and will not go to heaven if we practice the works of the flesh.  Most all ministers have tried to make a difference between do and practice.  If you do one of these sins and get it confessed, you are safe.  If you persist in practicing the works of the flesh, you will not go to heaven.  What is the truth?  

Jesus said in Luke 17:20-21 that the kingdom of God is within us when we are born again.  So inheriting the kingdom of God is not talking about going to heaven when we die.  What Paul meant was that if we practice the works of the flesh, we will not inherit or walk in or experience the kingdom of God which is within us when we are born again.  We will not experience the love, joy and peace that God has for us.  The pain and sting of sin will choke out the joy and peace we are meant to inherit.  That is why the next verse describes the fruit of the Spirit that is within us when we are born again.  This is exactly what Jesus meant in the parable of the sower when he described the seed sown among thorns.  The cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires or lusts of the flesh choke out the word and we are unfruitful.  Paul was saying the exact same thing that Jesus said.   

  

Galatians 5:22-26 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

The first three fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace.  This is what takes place on the inside of us when we hear and believe the gospel.  Jesus bore the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime and set them all aside.  When we believe this, it produces love for God, joy and peace on the inside of us.  When we see how much He loves us and has forgiven us, we extend that same grace to others.  The rest of the fruit is then manifested in our lives over time.  We begin to be longsuffering, kind, good, faithful and gentle toward others.  Lastly, we learn to exercise self-control.  We learn to no longer live by the passions and desires of our flesh, but allow His nature of love to be expressed through us to others.  We do live in the Spirit after we are born again.  Let us learn to also walk in the Spirit in our outward actions.  

This is all a process in the lives of believers.  It first begins with understanding His grace toward us.  If we believe our past sins are forgiven, but our present or future sins are somehow held against us by God, we will not be secure in our relationship with God.  We will struggle with understanding His love for us.  These types of ideas will lead us to think that God is harsh with us; therefore we will be harsh toward others.  Let us settle in our hearts that Jesus made one sacrifice for sins forever, past, present, and future sins.  God is not counting our sins to us.  This will cause us to relax and love God because He first loved us and gave us His Son to pay for our sins.  We will experience the joy and peace of God.  We will learn to love others as He loved us.  It is difficult to do this if we feel like we could lose our salvation as some have taught.  It is difficult to love God when we are told that we are out of fellowship with Him each time we sin.  These ideas are not scriptural and will leave us insecure.  

Keith Oliver

Galatians Chapter 4

Galatians 4 will continue with the same theme of adoption as in the previous chapter.  It is not our western idea of adoption.  In Greek culture, when a child was born into a family, even though it was a full heir to the inheritance of the family, the child was put under a tutor to learn until he reached a level of maturity.  At age 13-14, the child went through the rite of adoption.  This rite of passage showed that the son or daughter was now an adult in the eyes of the family and took on the rights and responsibilities of the other adults.  He became a fellow-heir with the other adults.  He was no longer under the tutor.

Galatians 4:1-7 “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, ² but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. ³ Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. ⁴ But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Paul uses adoption as an analogy to explain how we were put under the law as a tutor.  The law taught us that we had a problem with sin and needed a Savior.  The law served as an outward restraint until God could send Jesus into the earth to redeem mankind.  Now we can be born again and the Holy Spirit can come to live within us.  That is the kingdom of God in us.  We no longer need the outward restraint.  We are to be led by the Holy Spirit on the inside of us.  God will lead us and teach us to love.  We are now the children of God and the heir of God through Christ.  

Galatians 4:8-12 “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. ⁹ But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? ¹⁰ You observe days and months and seasons and years. ¹¹ I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.  ¹² Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all.”

Paul told them that before they were born again, they served and worshipped idols as Gentiles.  He said that now that we are born again, why would we go back to being under the Old Testament Law with its rules and regulations?  Paul called the law the weak and beggarly elements.  The Old Testament law is based upon do good, get good; do bad, get bad.  The law could not set them free from sin.  It only shows us we have a sin problem; it actually leaves us in bondage to sin.  Notice that Paul said if we go back and observe the customs of celebrating days and months and seasons and years under the Old Testament, we are in bondage.  Yet there are parts of the body of Christ doing exactly that today.

Paul, as a Jew, became like the Gentiles in that he was no longer under the Law but was living in the grace of God.  He urged the Gentile believers to reject being under Old Testament law and instead live in the grace of Christ. 

Galatians 4:13-15 “You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. ¹⁴ And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.”

So many people have taught that Paul had some incurable eye infection or disease from these verses.  In the Book of Acts chapter 14, when Paul preached in the region of Galatia, he was stoned with rocks and they dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.  The disciples prayed for him and he arose up.  But he would have been left with cuts and bruising from this incident.  This is the physical infirmity or weakness that Paul spoke about, not some incurable eye disease.   

Galatians 4:16-20 “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?  ¹⁷ They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. ¹⁸ But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you. ¹⁹ My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, ²⁰ I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you."

The Jews were zealously courting the Gentile and Jewish believers in Galatia to go back under the Law.  Paul told them to reject their attempts to put them back under the Old Testament law.  Paul said that he would labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.  This is not a reference to losing your salvation as some thought.  Paul meant he would be praying and teaching them until they understood again the idea of Christ living in them.  This should be our mindset: Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Galatians 4:21-27 “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. ²³ But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, ²⁴ which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— ²⁵ for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— ²⁶ but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. ²⁷ For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”

Paul used the analogy of Abraham having two sons, one from Sarah, the freewoman, and one from Hagar, the bondwoman, to describe the law and grace.  The law and grace are two different covenants and cannot be mixed.  Once you mix grace with works, it is no longer grace.  The Old Testament law puts people in bondage.  It shows us we have a sin problem.  It cannot deliver us from sin.  Only Jesus can do that.  Paul quoted an Old Testament verse to prophesy that the New Testament covenant of grace would produce many more children than the Old Testament law.  

Galatians 4:28-31 “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. ²⁹ But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. ³⁰ Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” ³¹ So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.”

Paul said that those who are pushing the Old Testament law would persecute those who are born of the Holy Spirit and are under grace.  So it is even today.  Nevertheless, what did Paul say to do?  We are to cast out the teaching of the Old Testament law under the New Testament of grace.  Teaching the law will not bring about freedom and will not bring us into our inheritance in the kingdom of God which is within us at the new birth.  Strong words; not from me but from the apostle Paul.

Keith Oliver

Galatians Chapter 3

The third chapter of Galatians is dealing with being made right with God through faith.  When Adam and Eve sinned, they died spiritually.  The Holy Spirit no longer dwelt within them like He did in the garden of Eden.  Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit dwelt with people but was not in them.  God’s plan of redemption was to have Jesus pay for our sin so that the Holy Spirit could once again live in us.  This is the promise of the Spirit through faith.  

 Galatians 3:1-4 “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? ² This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? ⁴ Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?”

When Paul preached the gospel to them, he clearly declared that Jesus was crucified to pay the penalty for their sins.  When they received the gospel, the Holy Spirit came to live within them.  This blessing came by hearing the gospel and having faith in our Lord Jesus.  Having received the Holy Spirit by hearing the gospel and believing it, will they now be brought to maturity by going back to the Old Testament law and trusting in their own attempts to keep the Law?  Of course not; yet this is exactly what so many believers attempt to do.

Galatians 3:5-9 “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— ⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁷ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

How does God do miracles among us and supply us with the Holy Spirit?  It is by hearing and believing the gospel.  Paul said that Abraham believed the gospel and it was accounted to him for righteousness.  This happened in Genesis 15:6.  This happened before the Old Testament Law and the commandments were given.  God appeared to Abraham and preached the gospel to him.  Abraham believed it.  Then God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15.  As we shall see later in the chapter, this covenant was actually between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Abraham was able to partake of it but could not mess it up or break this covenant.  How would all nations be blessed through this?  The Holy Spirit would be able to come and live within people again.  That is what we are made for: union with God.  

Galatians 3:10-12 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” ¹¹ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” ¹² Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

It is evident that people cannot keep the Old Testament Law.  Paul said that by the Law is the knowledge of sin.  The Law reveals that we have a sin nature and we need a Savior.  If we try to approach God by keeping the Law, we will always fail in some aspect or another.  The covenant of the Law was based on performance.  If we keep the Law, then we receive the blessings.  If we break the law, then we will be cursed.  Yet the Bible says that the justified, those who are made right with God, will live by faith.  We live by faith in Christ, knowing that He bore the penalty for our sins so that we are made right with God.  We receive right-standing with God based upon faith in Jesus. 

 

Galatians 3:13-14 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), ¹⁴ that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Christ not only redeemed us from the curse of the law; He redeemed us from the law itself.  What is the blessing of Abraham that will come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus?  We are to receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.  God is able to come live within His creation again.  He dwells within us by the Holy Spirit.  Our sins are put away.  This is the kingdom of God within us.

Galatians 3:15-18 “Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. ¹⁶ Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. ¹⁷ And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”

God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15.  Abraham cut animals in two to make a covenant with God.  Instead, God waited until Abraham fell asleep.  Then, a smoking oven and a burning lamp passed between the pieces.  The oven and the lamp were God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  God did this so that Abraham could not be the weak link in the covenant and mess it up.  The covenant was made between the Father and the Son, who cannot fail and who cannot lie.  God gave this covenant to Abraham by promise, not by his performance.  The Old Testament law was given 430 years after this covenant was made.  The Old Testament Law cannot make the promise of God to Abraham of no effect.  

Galatians 3:19-20 “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. ²⁰ Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.”

What is the purpose of the Law?  It was added because of transgressions or sins.  Paul said in Romans 3 that by the Law is the knowledge of sin.  The Law shows us that we have a problem with sin and need a Savior.  Notice the word ‘till’.  This shows that the Law was a temporary covenant.  It was added only until the Seed (Jesus) should come to whom the promise was made.  God’s original intent was always to deal with people through grace and promise.  So when we see that we need a Savior and call upon Jesus, the law has done its job and is no longer needed in our lives.  The law was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator; that was Moses.  But the covenant of promise was made between God the Father and His Son; they are One. 

Galatians 3:21-22 “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. ²² But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

Romans chapter 7 says that the law is holy, righteous and good.  It is not evil.  It reveals that people have a problem with sin and need a Savior.  The Old Testament law cannot give life.  It only revealed the problem.  Life comes from God through His Son Jesus Christ.  When we trust that Jesus bore the punishment for our sins on the cross and arose from the dead, God gives us His life.  He comes to dwell in us by the Holy Spirit and we receive new life.  

Galatians 3:23-29 “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  ²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

These verses are a reference to the Greek rite of adoption.  This is not adoption in the western sense of the word.  In Greek culture, when a baby was born into a family, they were immediately heirs to the family wealth and name.  But they were put under a tutor, often a slave, to teach and educate them until they reached an age of maturity.  When they reached this age, usually 13 or 14, they went through a rite of adoption.  This meant that they became an adult in the eyes of the family members and became joint-heirs with the rest of the adult family members.  They received the rights and responsibilities of being an adult.  They were no longer under the tutor. 

Paul used adoption as an analogy of how the law worked in our lives.  Before faith came to us, we were under the tutor or the law.  The law was our tutor to show us we had a problem with sin and needed a Savior.  When we understand that and received Jesus as our Savior, we are no longer under the tutor.  We are no longer under the law.  

We become the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  We have put on Christ.  Jesus lives in us and we take His identity.  Our identity is no longer tied to our race or social status or our gender.  We are all one in Christ Jesus.  If we are Christ’s, then we have become Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise that God made to Abraham.  What is that promise?  We have received the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.  He will be with us forever.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Keith Oliver