Galatians Talk 7 Galatians 5:1-13
Let’s begin with a reminder of why Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians. It was through Paul’s ministry that they had become Christians, and they had believed his message that salvation was by faith in Christ and not by trying to obey the law of the Old Testament. However, since his departure, others had taught them that faith in Christ was not enough, and that circumcision was necessary for salvation.
So Paul writes to them to correct this error, and so far he has said:
· The message he preached he had received from God and not from man
· The Galatians had accepted it.
· The apostles in Jerusalem had endorsed it.
· The Galatians knew from their experience of receiving the Spirit that the way God worked in their lives was in response to faith and not to obedience to the law.
· The law itself teaches that justification is by faith and not by works.
· The law had had a purpose – it was to demonstrate our need of Christ.
· Once Christ had come, there was no further need for the law.
And as we saw last time, at the end of chapter 4 Paul uses Abraham’s two sons to illustrate the difference between the old covenant God made with Israel at Sinai (the law) and the new covenant made with all who are justified by faith in Christ. Ishmael’s mother, Hagar, was a slave. Isaac’s mother Sarah was free. So, by analogy, Paul argues that, as the spiritual descendants of Abraham, because like Abraham we are justified by faith, we are free from the bondage of the law.
And the theme of freedom continues at the beginning of chapter 5 where he says:
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Paul reminds them of the state they were in before they became Christians. The law was their slave master. In it there was no hope of salvation because they were unable to keep it. But when they put their trust in Christ, they were set free from the bondage of the law. They were justified by faith, not by works. Christ had set them free, and Paul pleads with them not to go back to trying to be right with God by putting themselves under the requirements of Old Testament law again. He now addresses the serious implications of letting yourself be circumcised:
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
First, note the certainty of Paul’s words. Mark my words! (Read my lips!)
Secondly, notice their seriousness – Christ will be of no value to you at all.
The next verse gives us Paul’s reason for saying this:
3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
To be circumcised implies that you’re looking to the law to save you, but, as Paul has already pointed out (3:10), the law requires obedience to it in its entirety. It’s all or nothing. If you’re looking to the law to save you, you’ve got t obey all of it! Salvation through the law, if that were possible, would require TOTAL OBEDIENCE to it. Salvation through faith in Christ requires TOTAL TRUST in him. So Christ is of no value to you at all, because your trust is not total. So in verse 4 he says:
4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Why does Paul say this? Because circumcision shows that you believe that Christ’s death was not enough. You are no longer trusting in his grace, but in your works to save you. And salvation is by faith from first to last (Romans 1:17). We must continue to trust him for our salvation.
Paul’s warning in these verses is so strong that it’s hard to believe that it is purely hypothetical. To seek to be justified by our good works means that:
Christ is of no value to you at all (2)
You are alienated from Christ (4)
You have fallen from grace (4).
Now as we turn to verse 5, please note that the first phrase should read For by faith… not But by faith… (as in NIV).
5 FOR by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
The reason that you’ve fallen from grace is that by being circumcised you’re trying to be saved by obedience to the law, but it’s by faith that we are saved. Our only hope of the righteousness that’s necessary for salvation is through the work of the Spirit. This happens in response to faith and not to works.
But why does Paul say that we’re waiting for righteousness? Haven’t we already received it? Yes, when we trust Christ to save us we are justified (counted as righteous). Our faith is accounted to us as righteousness. But salvation has implications for the future as well as the present.
· When we first trusted Christ we were saved.
· As we continue to trust him we are being saved.
· And when our time on earth comes to an end we will be saved.
The righteousness we already have though faith in Christ will find its ultimate fulfilment when we finally stand before God clothed in the righteousness which by his grace we have received by faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Once we became Christians it no longer mattered whether we had been circumcised or not. It’s irrelevant to our salvation. Faith is all that matters, and this is expressed through love.
Love is the fulfilment of the law. As Paul says in verse 14:
The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
(Compare Romans 13 where he expands on this).
So we’re not saved by obedience to the law, but by faith. Nevertheless, genuine faith will result in good works, works of love which fulfil the essence of the law.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.
Paul often compares the Christian life to a walk or a race. The Galatians had made a good start and at first were running well but had been put off course by the Judaizers whose teaching did not come from the Lord. The one who calls you could refer to Paul himself (cf. 1:6), but since Paul had received his teaching directly from the Lord, it amounts to the same thing. The teaching of the Judaizers was out of harmony with Paul’s preaching and with the gospel the Lord himself had given him to preach. (Compare 1 Corinthians 14:37).
9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”
10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.
The danger with false doctrine is that it can spread very quickly. Paul warns them of the danger, which in the light of verses 2-4 was very real, but it’s not too late for the Galatians (who he still refers to as brothers – vv11, 13) to return to the truth, and Paul is confident in the Lord that they will do so.
However, the person who is causing the problem will pay the penalty for doing so. Paul does not specify what that penalty might be, but there are serious consequences for those who pervert the truth. There are eternal consequences for those who persist in their error.
11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
To understand this verse, we need a bit of imagination. Why does Paul say, If I am still preaching circumcision? Presumably because some of the Jews were saying that he was doing so. But why would they say that? Perhaps some of the Judaizers were telling the other Christians that Paul was preaching circumcision in order to back up their own argument.
Of course, Paul was not. So why does he say, if I am still preaching circumcision? This implies that at some time he had preached it. But when? There is no evidence that it had ever been part of his gospel. In his earliest recorded sermon (Acts 13) he clearly proclaimed the forgiveness of sins through Christ and that through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain through the law of Moses (vv 38-39).
In my view, the clearest and most likely explanation is that he is referring to his pre-conversion days when he would have fervently proclaimed the need for circumcision.
The fact that now, as a Christian, he was teaching that circumcision was no longer necessary, was probably one of the main causes of his being persecuted by the Jews. So, if it were true that he was preaching circumcision, it was natural for him to ask, Why am I still being persecuted? Compare Galatians 6:12-14 where he says:
Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
To the Jews the message of the cross was an offense or stumbling-block (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23) because, among other things, it made circumcision unnecessary. And it remains a stumbling-block to all those who are trying to be justified by their own self effort.
12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves (cut themselves off)!
In verse 10 Paul talked about one person who was throwing them into confusion. Now, as previously in 4:17, he refers to them in the plural. Perhaps the individual he refers to was the ringleader. Paul wishes that they would cut themselves off. This is literally what the Greek says and in my view is best left ambiguously. Paul’s intention may well have been what the NIV translation suggests, but it could it simply mean that he wished they would cut themselves off from the fellowship of believers so that their evil yeast might not spread throughout the whole church? He could well have meant both.
So, to summarise, in today’s passage Paul has encouraged the Galatians to stand firm in their faith in Christ and not to get entangled again with the burden of the law. If you’re trying to be justified by obeying the law, you are alienated from Christ. Christ is of no benefit to you. You have fallen from grace. So avoid the teachings of the Judaizers who will pay the penalty for teaching a false way of salvation. In Christ circumcision means nothing. All that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
And that leads us to the second part of the chapter, the theme of which is summarised in verse 13:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature (the flesh); rather, serve one another in love.
He then goes on to contrast the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit, the first of which is love. But that’s something for next time.