Galatians 5:1-12 = March 1

There Is Freedom In Christ,                 5:1-6:18

A Call To Hold Fast To Freedom,                     5:1-12

Synopsis:         Paul continued to teach about the freedom which is in Christ.  The Galatian Christians should stand fast in the freedom in Christ.  They should not try to combine both principles.  If they seek to combine the law of Moses with the gospel, they would find themselves severed from Christ, fallen from grace.  They needed to practice faith working through love.  They were doing well; who diverted them from obeying the truth?  Paul was convinced they would see things as he does.

1          For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.

This verse was the connecting link between chapters four and five. Freedom implied deliverance. Freedom in Christ was a deliverance from the power of sin (Romans 6:18).  Freedom included also the deliverance from the law of Moses (Galatians 3:13, 22-26; 4:1-7).  What the law could not do God accomplished through Christ (Romans 8:3-4).  Freedom to Paul was walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) and producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).  In Christ, freedom was freedom plus.  Not only are Christians free from sin and the law, but they are sons of God with the rights of an heir (Galatians 3:26).  The Galatian Christians were exhorted to persevere and to stand fast. They must remain firm in the faith and obedience of the truth.  The yoke of bondage was the law of Moses.  Peter referred to the law of Moses as an unbearable yoke (Acts 15:10).  For Christians to turn to the law of Moses was not progress; it was regression. It was sin.  It would cause them to be eternally lost.

2          Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.

Men are saved by Jesus Christ and him alone.  One must believe in Jesus, trust in him and obey him.  If they consented to be circumcised, they would be trusting in the law of Moses instead of in Jesus Christ.  Christ would profit them nothing.  The Judaizing teachers were teaching one had to be circumcised in order to be saved (Acts 15:1).  This was saying Christ alone cannot save.  It was a perverted gospel.

3          Yea, I testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

Circumcision was considered the sign of the covenant of the law of Moses.  If they insisted upon Christians being circumcised in order to be saved, then in order to be consistent they would have to keep the entire law of Moses.  They could not separate circumcision from all of the obligations of the law.

4          Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace.

Those who insisted upon circumcision and obeying the law of Moses as a means of salvation had apostatized from the truth of the gospel.  They are severed from Christ. One cannot be saved in two ways, by Christ and the law of Moses.  After one has known Christ and obeyed the gospel and he turns back to obeying the law of Moses, he has fallen from grace.  He is no longer saved.  Salvation was in Christ alone (Acts 4:12).  These Galatians had obeyed the gospel and were faithful Christians.  This verse clearly showed one saved could fall from grace if they did not continue in the doctrine and teachings of Jesus Christ.

5          For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.

It was by the Spirit, not the law of Moses, that one by faith waited for the hope of righteousness.  In the Galatian letter, Paul taught that God’s new covenant comes by the Holy Spirit.  Notice the law produced death (Romans 7:10;         8:2); however, the Spirit made alive (Galatians 4:29; Romans 8:3). The law created fear and wretchedness (Romans 8:15); however, the Spirit brought hope and assurance (Romans 8:16; Ephesians 1:13).  The law enslaved (Galatians 3:23; 4:24, 25); however, the Spirit brought about freedom (Galatians 4:29-5:1). God worked through the Spirit in giving the gospel.  The Spirit guided the inspired men as they spoke and confirmed the word by the miracles he worked through them.  By faith meant salvation was by faith in Christ and obedience to the gospel, not by works of the law. In this, Christians wait for the hope of righteousness wherein all are the blessings in Christ.  Hope looks forward to the great blessing in Christ at the end of time.  These blessings are not in the law. These blessing are in Christ alone.

6          For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.

It did not matter to God if one was a circumcised Jew or an uncircumcised Gentile.  The things which matter are belief in Jesus Christ and loving obedience to his will.  The faith that saves is the faith that obeys motivated by love.

7          Ye were running well; who hindered you that ye should not obey the truth?

The Galatian Christians were living the Christian life well in faith, love and obedience.  However, someone had thrown them off the course.  Who is this?  The path they were now on would lead to spiritual ruin if they continued on it.  They needed to stop and think who diverted them from obeying the truth.  The truth was God’s revelation which was revealed to them by Paul and the inspired men of the first century.  The truth could be understood.  The truth must be understood, believed and obeyed.

8          This persuasion came not of him that calleth you.

This diverting from the truth did not come from God.  It came from Satan and his agents (Matthew 13:24-30). 

9          A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Leaven is a symbol of the perverseness of evil and the pervasiveness of good.  It was a symbol of putting away of sin as in the putting way of the yeast in the feast of the unleavened bread and the passover.  Paul used this proverbial statement to remind them an evil unchecked can permeate and contaminate the entire church. The evil must be corrected before it permeates the entire church.

10         I have confidence to you-ward in the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whoever he be.

Paul had confidence in the Galatian churches that they would not be carried away by the Judaizing teachers.  Paul believed they would remain true to the gospel. He who troubled them and sought to lead them away from the gospel, would stand before God in judgment and receive his reward.  Whosoever he be indicated there was one ringleader who was leading them astray.

11         But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? then hath the stumbling block of the cross been done away.

The accusation must have been made against Paul that he had taught circumcision as a necessity for salvation because he had Timothy circumcised.  If this were true, why are they still persecuting him? If Paul preached circumcision was essential to salvation, the false teachers would praise Paul, not persecute him.  Concerning the circumcision of Timothy see Acts 16:3.  It was one thing to circumcise Timothy who had a Jewish mother so he could preach the gospel to the Jews more effectively; however, it was another thing to insist all Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be saved.  There was no parallel between these two.  Paul always preached salvation was in the crucified Christ and him alone.  If Paul taught circumcision, the stumbling block of the cross for the Jews would be removed.  The cross was a stumbling block to the Jews for three reasons: (1) First, Christ on the cross was the only way of salvation.  This meant the Old Covenant and all its ordinances have been "nailed" to the cross and are no longer needed. (2) The burden of obedience to the law had been lifted.  Men are saved by faith and obedience to Christ, not by the law of Moses. (3) The middle wall of separation between the Jews and Gentiles was broken down.  Christians are all one in Christ. Paul preached the crucified Christ.  The Judaizing teachers were seeking to undermine him.  The charge was untrue.

12         I would that they that unsettle you would even go beyond circumcision.

They that unsettle you are the Judaizing teachers who insisted circumcision and keeping the law were necessary to salvation.  Would even go beyond circumcision meant they would make eunuchs of themselves or castrate themselves as the eunuch priests of Asia Minor did in honor of their pagan gods.  Circumcision had no effect on a person’s spirituality or salvation in the Christian age.  Therefore, the false teachers might as well go further and mutilate themselves as this would show they were cut off from Christ and not seeking to follow him.  If the false teachers did this, it would be seen clearly they were cut off from the church, which they should be.