Paul's Letter
to the Galatians - Part 4
Galatians 5:1-12
by Paul George
Christian liberty. Christ set the Galatians free
from the bondage of darkness they were in and they must not permit the Judaizers
to bring them into the bondage of the law. Paul has shown the Galatians and
today’s Christian we are not under any obligation to submit to the demands of
the law. We entered a state of liberty under the gospel, set free from the
burden of the ceremonial law and the curse of the moral law. Jesus Christ set us
free by His merits; He satisfied the demands of the broken law and by His
authority as a king has relieved us of the obligation of the law. Submitting to
the demand of the law is a contradiction of the gospel. We forfeit the liberty
provided by Jesus Christ when we submit to the law. Does this mean we are not to
obey the law to the best of our ability? No. We are not to submit to the law for
the wrong reason, which is as a means of justification as the Judaizers were
advocating. Submitting to the law or obeying the law for the wrong reason can
and will cause us to fall away from the gospel. It will cause us to fall back
into the darkness we were in before Christ lifted us out of the darkness into
light. Paul told the Galatians Christ would profit them nothing if they
submitted to the gospel on the grounds advocated by the Judaizers.
What are the Christians looking for and desiring? Paul answers the question,
“the hope of righteousness” (Galatians 5:5). This is the hope of Christians, it
is the great object of their hope, which they are above every thing else
desiring and pursuing this hope. The hope of righteousness is founded on
righteousness, not of their own, but that of our Lord Jesus. We obtain this
righteousness through faith and not the law. Through the righteousness of Christ
alone, that He has procured for us. Through the influence of the Holy Spirit and
His assistance, we are able to believe on Christ, and to look for the hope of
righteousness through Him. Christ is the end of the law, now it is not whether a
man submitted to the ceremonial law but has he believed in Christ to be
justified. The requirement submission to the ceremonial law or any other ritual
is an unreasonable requirement.
When in danger of backsliding Christians need to remember how they began their
relationship with God. The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run,
and hold on, if he wants to win the race. It is not enough that we run in this
race, by a profession of faith, but we must run well, by living up to that
profession. This is what the Galatians did for a while, but they encountered an
obstruction just as we do. Either they quit running or they slowed down. Paul
asked the Galatians a question we need to ask when we encounter an obstacle and
either quit the race or slow down. “Who hindered you?” (Galatians 5:7). Paul
knew what it was that hindered them; but he wanted them to answer the question.
He wanted them to determine if they had a good reason to forfeit the liberty
they had obtained. He wanted them to offer sufficient evidence to justify their
present conduct.
Many who begin the race run well for a while but a hindrance in their progress
quiet the race and forfeit their liberty. Christians must always be aware of
the fact that Satan will lay obstacles in their way. He will do all he can steal
the liberty they have obtained and put them in bondage. Whenever they find
themselves in danger of falling away from the gospel and forfeiting their
liberty, they need to determine what or who is hindering their progress in the
race. The Galatians were falling away from the gospel and forfeiting their
liberty because they listened to the wrong people. It is heartbreaking when we
see thousands of people who began the race and ran for a while following
millionaire supposed men and women of God, and falling into their web of deceit
and darkness.
The gospel Paul preached and they accepted and professed was the truth. It was
the only true way of justification and salvation and in order to enjoy the
advantage of the gospel preached it must be obeyed. The truth is not only to be
believed, but also obeyed, to be received not only in the light of it, but also
in the love and power of it. Those who do not obey the truth, who do not
steadfastly adhere to it, forfeit the liberty obtained.
The obstacle to the liberty that they have in Christ did not come from Christ.
The obstacle came from the Judaizers. The Judaizers are like “a little leaven
leavens the whole lump of dough” (Galatians 5:9). The dough represents
Christianity that can be tainted and corrupted by one such erroneous principle,
or one member of it may infect the Christian society, and this is what the
Galatians will do if they yield to the teachings of the Judaizers. It is
dangerous for Christian churches to encourage those among them who propagate
destructive errors. This was the case here. The doctrine, which the false
teachers were teaching and which some in these churches accepted as the truth
was subversive of Christianity itself, as the apostle had before shown. If these
false teachers are permitted to teach their false doctrine it might spread
further and wider and result in the utter ruin of the truth and liberty of the
gospel. There is only one way to remove the obstacle, remove the source.
Paul told the Galatians they should stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ
had made them free. They should be very careful that they did not use the
liberty to indulge themselves in any corrupt affections and practices that might
create quarrels and contentions among them. They should love and serve each
other, maintain a mutual love and affection so that any minor differences there
might be among them, would not affect the respect and kindness to each other.
The liberty we enjoy as Christians is not a licentious liberty. Though we ought
to stand fast in our Christian liberty, we should not use it as an occasion of
strife and contention with our fellow Christians but should always maintain an
attitude of love. This is what Paul is trying to convey to the Galatians. They
are to love their neighbor as themselves. Love is the sum of the whole law; as
love to God comprises the duties of the first table, so love to our neighbor is
the duties of the second. The apostle takes notice of the latter because he is
speaking of their behavior towards one another. This would be evidence of their
sincerity in their relation to God and the most likely means of rooting out
those dissensions and divisions that were among them.
The sad and dangerous tendency of a contrary behavior. Instead of acting like
men and Christians, they would behave more like beasts. Mutual strife among
brethren, if persisted in, is likely to prove a common ruin. Christian churches
cannot be ruined if Christians help one another and do not act like beasts,
biting and devouring each other. What can be expected when Christians act like
beasts? The God of love will deny His grace to them, the Spirit of love will
depart from them, and the evil spirit, who seeks the destruction of them all,
will prevail. The best antidote against the poison of sin is to walk in the
Spirit. Commit ourselves to the guidance of the word, wherein the Holy Spirit
makes known the will of God.
Paul identifies the works of the flesh are sins against the seventh
commandment, such as adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. Some
are sins against the first and second commandments, as idolatry and sorcery.
Others are sins against our neighbor, and contrary to the royal law of brotherly
love, hatred, variance, wrath and strife. Others are sins against ourselves,
such as drunkenness and revellings. Paul gives us fair warning these sins will
separate us from God. They will shut men out of heaven if they have not been
washed and justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will never admit
them into His presence.
Paul specifies the fruits of the Spirit, or the renewed nature, which as
Christians we are to bring forth. The sins that shut men out of heaven are
called the works of the flesh because the flesh, or corrupt nature, is the
source of these sins. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control are evidence of the renewed nature of
men. They are called the fruits of the Spirit because they proceed from the Holy
Spirit, as the fruit does from the tree.
The works of the flesh, which are not only hurtful to the individual, they tend
to make an individual hurtful to others. The fruits of the Spirit have a
tendency to make Christians agreeable one to another. Those in whom these fruits
of the Spirit are found, the apostle says, there is no law condemning them.
These fruits of the Spirit, in whomsoever they are found, plainly show that that
person is led by the Holy Spirit. It also reveals the person who is led by the
Holy Spirit have crucified the flesh with all its affections and lusts. Our
relationship with God requires us not only to die unto sin, but also to live
unto righteousness; not only to oppose the works of the flesh, but also to bring
forth the fruits of the Spirit. This must be our sincere desire, to be like
Jesus. "If we profess to have received the Spirit of Christ, or that we are
renewed in the Spirit of Christ, or that we are renewed in the spirit of our
minds, let us show it by the proper fruits of the Spirit in our lives.
Paul concludes this chapter with a caution against pride and envy. Now, as a
means of encouraging them he cautions them against being desirous of vain-glory,
or giving way to an undue affectation of the esteem and applause of men, because
this, if it were indulged, would certainly lead them to provoke one another and
to envy one another. The glory that comes from men is vainglory, which, instead
of being desirous of, we should be dead to it.
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