Suppose a man desires to become a naturalized subject of a country and carefully carries out all the rules and regulations of that country as they affect naturalization. Galatians 5:1-15 focuses on what those in Christ should do with our freedom in Christ. Those that were used of Satan, both to oppose the apostle in person, and also to distrust that testimony which they had not spirituality enough to appreciate, busily insinuated doubts into the minds of these Gentile brethren, and found too ready an ear among them. Nevertheless, there never was one that had a deeper sense of the importance of walking, if need were, alone with God. And mark how the Holy Ghost turns Abraham into an additional and most unexpected proof of the grace of God and the truth of the gospel. Reckon that to be. The readiest way to destroy the spirituality of a church, and to annihilate the influence of religion, is to excite a spirit of contention. In other words, if the believer simply were one forgiven by grace, without having either life in Christ or the Holy Ghost dwelling in him, he might, perhaps, plead that he could not avoid sinning. The apostle states it with perfect calmness, and without comparing others. They danced and laughed and sang his praises. Secular Greek uses it of the virtue of an Emperor who never lets his private interests influence the government of his people. If you are circumcised, Christ is no value to you. When Jerusalem is humbled by the mercy of God, and betakes herself to her Messiah and the new covenant, she will "hear the law," and the prophets will be accomplished in her blessing, and in the largeness of love the present children of promise (even Christians, as being in a certain mystical sense children of Jerusalem) will be her boast. then is the offense of the cross ceased ( Galatians 5:10-11 ). There is no approach to a vaunt about his dignity. And this directly follows his censure of their observance of times and seasons. Instead of being under a slave, with rigorous and humiliating discipline, there is now the place of a child before his Father; the Christian stands by faith of Jesus in direct relationship to God. The glory which comes from men is vain-glory, which, instead of being desirous of, we should be dead to. His theology always ran one danger. Acts 15:1, 5 ). The readers ( Galatians 1:2b ) c. The greeting ( Galatians 1:3-5 ) i. And devour one another - As wild beasts do. Do I seek to please men? I. Circumcision is part of the old law that enslaves us. All therefore becomes a matter of the pure grace of God; and He is pleased to bless the Gentiles in the Seed, even Christ dead and risen. "Because ye are sons." "As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." To have been with the Messiah, the hearer of His words and the witness of His work, up to His departure, was ever a condition to those who were accustomed to the twelve apostles. "Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. But, in point of fact, he did not see the twelve. You cannot weaken his apostleship without endangering the very gospel that you have received yourselves. All question of natural ties drops in death; as the cross is the disproof of any right to Christ in either. Thus it is evident that the legal system is a parenthesis. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. I have not. Selfishness in the end does not exalt a man; it destroys him. Along with the cross goes a new creation. This the Jews are destined to have by-and-by; for the promises to Abraham are not exhausted yet. His is an apostleship to itself, as real as that of the twelve, but of another order, not at the same time, nor in the same manner. He revealed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Nor this only. The gospel had brought in before God this double conclusion, founded on the first Adam and the last. of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God ( Galatians 5:21 ). And of course, that's exactly what the temptation led Adam to is fleshly domination. Therefore, that righteousness is perfect. You got to keep the law. Paul ends with a very blunt saying. They were, after all, Gentiles, and as such ought to have had nothing to do with the law. Christianity brings everything to a climax; it also settles all questions. In its own proper sphere and blessings Christianity knows nothing of the sort, but denies it in principle. Born and bred in the abominable idolatries of the heathen, they were strangers to the institutions of Israel. Thence he advances to another point of his argument. It cannot and ought not to spare sinners. provoking one another, envying one another ( Galatians 5:26 ). He granted that persons might indulge in some such thoughts about him. The oneness of the saints with Christ Himself is, as we all familiarly know, clearly intimated. Tender and comprehensive as Christianity is, it is also the most exclusive thing that can be. . I get an attitude that is not of the Lord. He who bites has exhausted his angry passion, but he who devours has given a demonstration of extreme cruelty. Chrysostom. You have fallen from grace. If I am a Christian, I am responsible according to that position and privilege. Only we must carefully bear this in mind, that in the epistle to the Galatians we never rise exactly to church ground. "The scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. The apostle's discerning eye at once judged by Christ and by that gospel which he had learned from Him. Let's use an opposite word, intemperant. The true link is with Jerusalem above, as our prototype is Isaac, the child of the freewoman. At first he prayed the Lord to take it from him; but no! My very nature is dealt with. And Jesus talked to him about the spiritual rebirth, which takes place when a person by faith receives Christ as his Savior. Coveting is a sin which is almost never considered a crime. They thought that Christianity would be all the better for adopting the ancient forms and beautiful figures of the law. Do your souls go along with Paul's decision? On the other hand, the spirit (the renewed part of us) strives against the flesh, and opposes the will and desire of it: and hence it comes to pass that we cannot do the things that we would. Galatia was near Phrygia and the great worship of that part of the world was of Cybele. Paul had a characteristically practical mind. Her child was born free and according to God's promise--and all his descendants must be free. Christ is your liberty and life. As in the previous verses Paul set out the evil things characteristic of the flesh, so now he sets out the lovely things which are the fruit of the Spirit. But there was no sense of union then. But when one is miserable, does not every duty, even where it may be as light as a feather, feel as if it were an iron chain on you? Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. II. It describes what in regency England would have been called a rout. The particulars he specifies are of various sorts; some are sins against the seventh commandment, such as adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, by which are meant not only the gross acts of these sins, but all such thoughts, and words, and actions, as have a tendency towards the great transgression. Therefore, no wonder that he says, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.". How distressing, how mad is it, that we, who are members of the same body, should be leagued together, of our own accord, for mutual destruction! Far too short a time, if it were a question of due initiation into the testimony of the twelve. For as the first epistle had put down man in every form, and more particularly man as an expression of the world in its pride, so the second epistle breathes the comfort of God's restoring grace, and is characterized therefore by the strongest emotions of the heart; for he ardently loved these saints. The Christian's faith is founded not on a book but on a person; its dynamic is not obedience to any law but love to Jesus Christ. And so Paul is standing against this teaching in his letter to the Galatians, and in chapter five, he said. But now I have liberty in Christ Jesus, for I don't have to follow after the flesh anymore. If we are living in the Spirit let us also keep step with the Spirit. One of these covenants--the one which originated on Mount Sinai--bears children who are destined for slavery--and that one is represented by Hagar. And so, the people of Galatia understood exactly what Paul was talking about. But if ye bite and devour one another: Such actions are the opposite of loving their neighbor as they ought. Now, it is evident and to this I call your particular attention that the apostle here binds together his gospel with his apostolic place. . It will create a lot of envy and a lot of provocation. It is the sin in which material things have taken the place of God. Walk on the spiritual side of your nature. Idolatry; this means the worship of gods which the hands of men have made. The law forbids these things, but the law of love also forbids them. I am crucified with Christ: consequently all that remains for me is living this new life which Christ is in me. How wholesome is the language here, "Every one shall bear his own burden!" Galatians 5:1-15 New International Version Freedom in Christ 5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Now these things are an allegory. All that I have as a living man in the world is gone, not, of course, as a mere matter of fact, but, what is far more important, as a matter of faith. 5:22-26 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness, self-control. I was wrong. When once a covenant is "signed, sealed, and delivered," it must not be meddled with. It was not a question of man's wit. Under which type did they fall Ishmael or Isaac? He leaves it to spiritual wisdom to gather what was the evident impression of the truth. People were trying to add to it. Later, and in a far fuller way now, the gospel was the blessed answer to this early grace. Far otherwise is God's way with souls. We can understand a foolish man making a covenant, and the next day repenting of it, which is never true of the divine purposes. In the meantime God had come and promised that Sarah would have a child, which was so difficult to believe that it appeared impossible to Abraham and Sarah; but in due time Isaac was born. Dictionary entry details GALATIANS (noun) Sense 1 Meaning: A New Testament book containing the epistle from Saint Paul to the Galatians Classified under: Liberty comes first, mark; power and love afterwards. She did what any wife would have done in those patriarchal times and sent Abraham in to her slave girl, Hagar, to see if she could bear a child on her behalf. He does not even deign to fill up the sketch. Galatians 5 shows that spiritual liberty comes from knowing the truth. remove, the candlestick out of its place. Self-control; the word is egkrateia ( G1466) which Plato uses of self-mastery. For the world there is nothing yet executed, any more than the great results of grace for the saints as yet appear in their fulness. It describes the deliberate effort--which we can make only with the help of God--never to seek anything but the best even for those who seek the worst for us. 2 Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. But he goes deeply. beware lest you be consumed -- Destroyed. When he declared that the end of the reign of law had come and that the reign of grace had arrived, it was always possible for someone to say, "That, then, means that I can do what I like; all the restraints are lifted and I can follow my inclinations wherever they lead me. I can yield to my flesh and I can blow off steam and I can get in and I can fight and I can get into the striving and the whole issue. Such is the only possible way in which blessing can be brought in, in order that such souls as we are should be blessed and maintained in it. You know, you come up with some heretical teaching, you get everybody excited and everybody's listening, everybody's beginning to discuss what you're teaching. Our conversation will always be answerable to the principle which we are under the guidance and government of: as those that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, so those that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit,Romans 8:5. [Note: Barclay, p. But as in the end the child of the slave girl was cast out and had no share in the inheritance, so in the end those who are legalists will be cast out from God and have no share in the inheritance of grace. Why they thought they were becoming more truly religious, more reverent in their value for Scripture. "Hey, that old nature, that old Chuck is dead. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing ( Galatians 5:2 ). "But the fruit of the Spirit". Why this: "Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, and the other by a freewoman." Because we wait to have our baptisms 'til the water gets warmer.It's because baptism doesn't save. And they ate, giving over to their fleshly appetites and in so doing, the flesh dominated. The works of the flesh. Christ has set us free! Arabia was regarded as the land of slaves where the descendants of Hagar dwelt. The action of biting and devouring is mutual. Why did He do that? It was the ungrateful heart of man that, in its avidity after something that would bring an appearance of strength and unity, would sacrifice that, which was of heaven for what was after all connected with the earth and the flesh. Paul went on to argue that if you accepted circumcision, that is to say, if you accepted one part of the law, logically you had to accept the whole law. If understood, it completely cut all the earthly swaddling-clothes of the heavenly church, and of the Christian. I can say, "Well, this, these are the rules of righteous living. And you can't do this, and this, and this, and this, and this." And facts tell on their mind. That would not be a good example of Christian love. That's the old nature that wants its way, that wants to insist on its own way and all. an apostle, or at any rate one that says he is an apostle, setting aside what God inaugurated in Jerusalem, not even conferring with those whom the Lord Himself called by His personal summons here below? Get Access To 3 Exclusive Articles (for FREE) Want articles like this one delivered straight to your email? Greek and Christian alike would have condemned drunkenness as a thing which turned a man into a beast. He will not hear of any pretended misunderstanding. No man was ever more conscious of the tension in human nature than Paul. Not to the place of being ridiculous. And as, by specifying these works of the flesh and fruits of the Spirit, the apostle directs us both what we are to avoid and oppose and what we are to cherish and cultivate, so (Galatians 5:24; Galatians 5:24) he informs us that this is the sincere care and endeavour of all real Christians: And those that are Christ's, says he (those who are Christians indeed, not only in show and profession, but in sincerity and truth), have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. I'd rather trust and be burned than not to trust. I could quickly get in trouble. Immediately the Spirit speaks to me and says, "That was wrong." They had followed Jesus in His earthly path of presentation to Israel. 3. But if I have a whole page of gold stars but yet there's one little point over here where I blew it and I can't put a gold star, then I'm unrighteous. He said, "You've got to be born again." How precious to have done with one's sinful self and to begin a life so perfect as Christ's! Others are sins against our neighbour, and contrary to the royal law of brotherly love, such as hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, which too often occasion seditions, heresies, envyings, and sometimes break out into murders, not only of the names and reputation, but even of the very lives, of our fellow-creatures. For what the law is actually saying to you is that you should love God supremely and love your neighbor as yourself. The allusion is to I once was in horrible bondage to my flesh. Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified their own unregenerate selves ;along with all their passions and their desires. In other words, you did not get this from God. And, you know, I mean, you're having now go to . So, "do not use your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love," the real key is love, "serve one another.". Joy; the Greek is chara ( G5479) , and the characteristic of this word is that it most often describes that joy which has a basis in religion (compare Psalms 30:11; Romans 14:17; Romans 15:13; Php_1:4 ; Php_1:25 ). There it is not traced to God the Father, that raised Christ from the dead; but it descends from Christ ascended to heaven (which, we shall soon see, perfectly fits in with that epistle). They had been lately brought by the grace of God into Christianity, where they found Jewish brethren, now made one, as it is said, in Christ. All of the law is fulfilled. For the law was used with killing power; and, slain as it were in my conscience, I found in that very place Christ Himself by the grace of God, Christ that died for me; and not merely this, but Christ in whom I died. Is it against the promise of God? Consequently we have no allusion to the Lord's coming in this epistle to the Galatians. (I mean by this, of course, exclusive of sin and falsehood.) Is not this just the law for you! But this will be Jerusalem, under not law but promise and liberty, restored by grace after having lost everything by the law, and reduced to utter desolation. Two things especially he presses upon them:--. This is the only sin Paul warned the Galatians to avoid. If Peter was acting rightly now, this had all been a mistake, and consequently the gospel nay, solemn to say, Christ Himself would be thus a minister of sin. The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The history of the flesh its sad and humbling history is soon over; but the history that faith opens into never closes. Self-seeking; this word has a very illuminating history. But he that is spiritual understands these things, though he is not understood. The solemnities of Christ's judgment await men in the day of the Lord. Uh-huh, you did that five minutes. Take heed that ye be not consumed - As wild beasts contend sometimes until both are slain. It is an actual result of the cross of Christ. The law brings man in his nothingness into evidence, it proves that he is only a poor lost sinner. It is eritheia ( G2052) and originally meant the work of a hired labourer (erithos). If I am a mere man, a sinner, the end of that is (for responsibility is not like power, destroyed by sin) the eternal judgment of God. The cross has sentenced the world; and this very sentence of the world is our deliverance from the world. Will I be mastered by the Spirit or will I be mastered by the flesh? Romans 7 indicates that under the very law by which they are attempting to be justified there is no way, once a person sins, for the inner man to gain control of the tendencies of the flesh. The inferior trinity is spirit, soul and body of man. He saw Peter; but "other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother." It is predicated upon the work of God. And this comes up every day in many situations, and I have actually the choice in this situation. Having brought in the true character of the Christian's life as flowing simply and solely from Christ, and from Christ crucified too, so here he takes up the Holy Ghost. So, Peter uses this same phrase to describe the law as a yoke of bondage. This he means here by "faith." It was, of course, altogether just and right in itself. The gospel, not the law, owns its kindred with the promise. He strikes accordingly at the root of all successional or derived authority. End does not even deign to fill up the sketch 's wit history that faith opens into never.... Of gods which the hands of men have made is an actual result the. Allusion is to I once was in horrible bondage to my flesh promise... 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