Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

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Galatians 5

Christian Liberty

Galatians 5:¹ Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free (For freedom Christ has made us free; stand fast therefore), and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:² Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.

Galatians 5:³ And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor (obligated) to keep the whole law.

Galatians 5:⁴ You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

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

Galatians 5:⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

• In the Old Testament and the Gospel of circumcision was a covenant between God and the Jews. It differentiated between Jew and Gentile and therefore worked as a spiritual sign in the physical realm. Like most things, over time, commands can overflow their original meanings. In the case of circumcision, Jews began to believe that circumcision and the law was the basis for their salvation, when in reality it symbolized a sign that they walked with God by cutting off the desires of the flesh and the appetites of this world. The belief in its salvation became so strong that they became blind to the arrival of the One, the Messiah, who would be their Salvation, and who, through the Holy Spirit, would redirect man’s desires and appetite from this world to the world to come. They were to understand that Their Messiah was their Salvation, not just in the physical world but more importantly in the spiritual realm.
• Jesus, whose name means Salvation, repeatedly told them He was the source of eternal life using the term Living Water.
• Jesus also stressed there was no other way to the Father, and eternal life, except through Him who is THE TRUTH, THE LIFE, AND THE WAY.
  • Matthew 5:17 – Christ Fulfills the Law – “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
• The purpose of the law stands and scripture reports that LOVE fulfills the law. Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself (Imperfect for sinful man). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of LOVE (Perfect for sinful man) and be sealed by the Holy Spirit. This is the focus of the Good News, ie The Gospel.

• Circumcision is profitable for one’s health; but not for spiritual salvation.

Love Fulfills the Law

Galatians 5:⁷ You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

Galatians 5:⁸ This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.

Galatians 5:⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

• Pride inflates men in the same way that leaven causes bread to rise. It is easier for men to believe salvation is under their control by an act of circumcision or following laws without love than giving oneself to Jesus and others.

Galatians 5:¹⁰ 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.

Galatians 5:¹¹ And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.

Galatians 5:¹² I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off (mutilate themselves)!

Galatians 5:¹³ 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.

To be chosen means “Chosen to Serve”

Galatians 5:¹⁴ For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

To love your neighbor as yourself is the fulfillment of the Law

 Galatians 5:¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

Walking in the Spirit

Galatians 5:¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Galatians 5:¹⁷ 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.

Galatians 5:¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

• The Spirit teaches, leads, and transforms men from the glory of the law to the GLORY OF CHRIST AND GRACE.

Galatians 5:¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication (sexual immorality), uncleanness, lewdness,

Galatians 5:²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

Galatians 5:²¹ 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.

Galatians 5:²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Galatians 5:²³ gentleness (meekness), self-control. Against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:²⁶ Let us not become conceited (puffed up with pride), provoking one another, envying one another.