By this he plainly means free from law. No person can intelligently read the New Testament without perceiving the utter fallacy of such a system; for Peter was expressly, as the next chapter of this epistle tells us, apostle of the circumcision. Had Paul gone up to present his credentials to the others, he would have lowered, obscured, and done as far as in him lay to destroy the special blessedness and peculiar glory of his apostleship. Drunkenness; in the ancient world this was not a common vice. Born and bred in the abominable idolatries of the heathen, they were strangers to the institutions of Israel. It is interesting to note that Chara and Eirene both became very common Christian names in the Church. That's the position where we stand. "To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed.". Hairesis was not originally a bad word at all. Strong expressions of partisan hatred exerting itself for mutual injury. The apostle Paul himself, inRomans 14:1-23; Romans 14:1-23, insists upon the forbearance of a Gentile even towards the Jew that might be still encumbered by his days, meats, and so on. The "Israel of God," I apprehend, would mean, that the only part of Israel whom God owns now consists of those that really are of faith those that .received Jesus. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" ( John 4:24 ). Indeed, we may say that now he thunders on the Galatians that were dragging in the law. The allusion is to beasts of prey falling upon and devouring one another: for wolves or dogs to worry sheep is not strange; but for sheep to distress one another is unnatural. In Galatians 5:1-15, the apostle Paul discusses the nature of Christian freedom, beginning with an admonition to "stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1, NKJV).Paul contends that Jesus Christ came to set believers free from a burdensome, legalistic existence as slaves to the law. But where the Gentiles are mentioned, God only speaks of seed without reference to number. The apostle does not say, if grievous So the stumbling-block of the Cross is removed, is it? Paul urged his readers to live unbound to the Law of Moses (Galatians 5:1-12). Under law all is lost; under grace all is saved. Again it is worth while to look at each word separately. and devour one another -- As wild beasts do. Writing was a somewhat laborious task in those days, and it was a kind of profession to be a writer or scribe, before printing, of course, was known. What Satan aims at is, that people should not count themselves what they are, and that they should be always slipping into what they are not. This is best seen by turning to Genesis 22:1-24, where both facts are found in the same context. The fate of any group permitting such a development issues inevitably in that of "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat": The apostle said as much in this very passage. Love is the sum of the whole law; as love to God comprises the duties of the first table, so love to our neighbour those of the second. And that's the message here in Acts 14:8-20. After all their vapouring about the law, they were biting and devouring one another. 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. One of the encouragements, as we know, which God furnished to Abraham was, that he should have a seed like the sand of the sea, and like the stars of the sky. Can anything prove that it is not an old creation better than this that there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, which last at least is an absolute necessity for the perpetuation of the race? But the moment you bring in the law, you have two parties; and, strange to say, instead of the greater party being God, it becomes man, whose responsibility is to God. That is just another way of saying that the essence of Christianity is not law but a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. In other words: "You have gained liberty through Christ, i.e., You are above all laws as far as conscience is concerned. That's where God touches me. Accordingly the apostle lays stress on the fact that he was "unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ: but they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. Well, then, it stands written in it that Abraham had two sons; one was the son of the slave girl and one was the son of the free woman. The Galatians did not think of this; people that are thus blinded by the enemy never do. salvation; which were managed with great heat and bitterness, The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN. Let us never confound the two. It is therefore a feeling of the mind as much as of the heart; it concerns the will as much as the emotions. Then he gives a closing blow to those who doted about the law. The offense of the cross would cease." Their main support then, as they thought Abraham, had two sons; but they stood, according to Scripture, on wholly different principles. And I can just go and pass it by.And so, another issue arises in five minutes. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 13:3.). For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself ( Galatians 5:14 ). In his case the breach with man was evident; the association with heaven, and not Jerusalem, was too plain to be disputed or evaded. it. take heed that ye be not one of another utterly destroyed. and how do they affect each other? To excite Christians hereunto, and to assist them herein, the apostle shows. It isn't a liberty to live after my flesh. Her child was born free and according to God's promise--and all his descendants must be free. "Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. "Here we have the Gentiles expressly named, and to this the apostle refers. 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. Take heed that ye be not consumed - As wild beasts contend sometimes until both are slain. But what about the Gentiles? Christianity brings everything to a climax; it also settles all questions. 18 but if you are led by (verse 16-18) the spirit, you are not under law. The Lord did stamp the testimony of Peter as being truly the revelation of His Father. Paul did not stand alone. If a person is living by right principles, he doesn't need any laws. But this was not all. You see, I don't always do the things that I would. When in the garden, or when on the cross, Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" 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). I call your attention particularly to this, brethren, that an act apparently so simple as Peter's ceasing to eat with the Gentiles had such a solemn character in the eye of the apostle Paul, that he considered it a question of the truth of the gospel. The word Paul uses for goodness (agathosune, G19) is a peculiarly Bible word and does not occur in secular Greek ( Romans 15:14; Ephesians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:11). That they should not strive with one another, but love one another. You have fallen from grace. Let him alone. Do you know what happens? And you will observe the immense importance attached to this simple account; for all here is plain matter of fact, but pregnant with the weightiest consequences as long as the church and the gospel last here below. The law brings man in his nothingness into evidence, it proves that he is only a poor lost sinner. So here it is said that God was pleased to reveal His Son in him, that he might preach the good news of Him among the heathen. This shows us the exceeding seriousness of a step apparently so trifling as his abstaining from further intercourse with the Gentiles in mere ordinary life. If you are circumcised, Christ is no value to you. And this is of immense moment to remember. They are acting like animals, satisfying their own desires of the flesh, in order to get back at those who differ with them. How do they stand related? Fifteen days. But they drank it in the proportion of three parts of water to two of wine. And facts tell on their mind. Some guy comes up and says, "Hey man, I got a watch, genuine made, you know. People were trying to add to it. Paul begins chapter 5 with a bold slogan of spiritual liberty: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.". It was partly directed to the hearts and consciences of the Jews, partly in view of the approaching rupture of all ties with Israel. The argument is founded upon the unity of the seed of promise in this connection. Is it against the promise of God? Paul says, "If you go on in this way, of which circumcision is the beginning, you might as well end up by castrating yourselves like these heathen priests." I choose the best facts; for I have no wish to rake up abuses. To Paul all that mattered was faith which works through love. has an affinity for both. And this comes up every day in many situations, and I have actually the choice in this situation. Thus, the idea is, in their contentions they would destroy the spirituality and happiness of each other; their characters would be ruined; and the church be overthrown. They spring from unbelief from undue thoughts of self, from ignorance of God, from slight thoughts of Christ. The contents of the greeting ( Galatians 1:3a ) ii. Not at all, says the apostle, you are returning straight into your old heathenism without knowing it yourselves. You can see the Santa Rosa and San Miguel and San Nicolas and say, "Hey, hey, all right, we're right on course." 25 Mar 2017 23:00:00 -0500 1896 sunday full false Wednesday Night | Galatians 5:5-6 Part 2 | Dr. Jimmy Young He revealed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. The writer ( Galatians 1:1-2a ) i. Paul, the Apostle ( Galatians 1: 1 ) ii. There is such a thing as, by patient continuance in well doing, to seek for eternal life. Judaizers were saying that Gentiles had to join the old covenant if they wanted God's blessings and salvation (cf. Their ears were heavy, and their eyes blinded by their legalism. And I can choose whether or not to walk in the flesh, or then again, to commit it and walk after the Spirit. And mark the difference. For it is by the Spirit and by faith that we eagerly expect the hope of being right with God. Flesh and blood had not revealed it. Plutocracy means government by the wealthy and is justified by the claim that those who have the biggest stake in the country have a logical right to rule it. Just let our books explain for you." But if you snap at one another, and devour one another, you must watch that you do not end up by wiping each other out. But then there is another point of exhortation too; and surely we ought not to forget that there are not only the common links of love, and the willingness to succour one another, as we see, beginning with a most extreme case and ending with a general one; but still further, "Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things;" and not only that, but also the general responsibility of the saint and in a solemn manner. Practical Godliness Enforced; Works of the Flesh and of the Spirit; The Fruits of the Spirit. One of the most dangerous errors in Christendom is, that these two things are lumped together. Ignorant or false men had made them hanker after circumcision. Was this then a reproach? And so, Rev 21:8 if you want the reference on that. It, too, is commonly translated goodness. What comforts the soul, what strengthens and keeps it up, is that He "loved me, and gave Himself for me.". of I am perfectly delivered, and the measure of my deliverance is Christ, and Christ raised from the dead. That's just my old flesh that's upset. It's the operation of God's Spirit within our heart that works through love. And how the Holy Spirit had come upon those of the house of Cornelius who had known nothing really of obedience to the law. Ours is Jerusalem above, not a city on earth. "Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1) "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. This they never thought of doing. Thus it appears that the Galatians as well as the Corinthians had been similarly affected. He gives us a catalogue of evil things. This then is what the law brought in. It is the quality, not so much of the jealous, but rather of the embittered mind. Man had his duty to God, and be ought to have. What were they doing? 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But the son of the slave girl was born in the ordinary human way, whereas the son of the free woman was born through a promise. Why can't the Mormons tell you that? So "stand fast in that liberty wherein Christ has made you free." This closes the course of the apostle's argument. How apt the illustration for exposing the judaizers! In Paul's case the Holy Ghost could go a step farther, and that step He seems to me to take. And sometimes they'll lie to me. Take heed that ye be not consumed - As wild beasts contend sometimes until both are slain. After one of his great victories Nelson attributed it to the fact that he had the happiness to command a band of brothers. "Christian freedom is not licence [sic] for the simple but tremendous reason that the Christian is not the man who has become free to sin, but the man, who, by the grace of God, has become free not to sin." Now, evidently these Paul people were saying, "Well, Paul was circumcised and he's preaching circumcision. Impurity, then, is that which makes a man unfit to come before God, the soiling of life with the things which separate us from him. Now, it is evident and to this I call your particular attention that the apostle here binds together his gospel with his apostolic place. But if you bite -- By an improper use of the tongue. It was the practice that priests and really devout worshippers of Cybele mutilated themselves by castration. Hence the effect of the law in all its ramifications on man is the same. Christian freedom is not licence, for the simple but tremendous reason that the Christian is not a man who has become free to sin, but a man, who, by the grace of God, has become free not to sin. Galatians 5:1-15 focuses on what those in Christ should do with our freedom in Christ. They are now controlled by Gods Spirit (24-26). Who in times past you walked according to the course of this world. "Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are." You're talking nonsense. He shows that God would give us a deliverance from self-importance; and what a mercy it is to be so blessed, that one can afford to forget one's self! For the Jew leaven nearly always stood for evil influence. He does not deny that others preached it; but if so, they preached the same truth. to His Father. Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like ( Galatians 5:21 ): So, the such like covers a lot of things. And in these are all the law and the prophets" ( Matthew 22:37-40 ). Whatever might be the apostle's tenderness toward his nation elsewhere, not an earthly link but must be snapped. Those that are of faith, not those who pretend to the law and do it not, are blessed with their father. It is the virtue which makes a man so master of himself that he is fit to be the servant of others. God reserves to Himself this great blessedness in the gospel; whereas under the law there was nothing of the kind. We saw the second of Corinthians characterized by the most rapid transitions of feeling, by a deep and fervent sense of God's consolations, by a revulsion so much the more powerful in a heart that entered into things as few hearts have ever done since the world began. It is not the joy that comes from earthly things, still less from triumphing over someone else in competition. Heretical division; this might be described as crystallized dissension. "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.". By biting and devouring (89) he means, I think, slanders, accusations, reproaches, and every other kind of offensive language, as well as acts of injustice arising either from fraud or violence. The fleshly desires will not be dominating your life, but your life will be dominated by the Spirit, and thus, by God. His Father had made a revelation to Peter. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. #1 "It is for freedom" By "freedom," this verse means that we can serve others in the name of the Lord and reap the reward of joy that comes from it (Galatians 5:13-15). Now, there are two ways that I can be righteous. 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. And so with the Mormons. But the whole matter is decided before God. You can't be both. To be consumed, while the tendency of brotherly love is to produce mutual protection and kindness. If God had been a man, he would have wiped out this world long ago; but he has that patience which bears with all our sinning and will not cast us off. Thus, clearly, in the law man becomes the prominent and responsible party, not God. THE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP ( Galatians 5:1-12 ). It's amazing, isn't it, what difference being born of the Spirit really makes. The law, accordingly, never was the truth, either on God's side, or man's. He had before told us that the Spirit of Christ is a privilege bestowed on all the children of God, Galatians 4:6; Galatians 4:6. Get Access To 3 Exclusive Articles (for FREE) Want articles like this one delivered straight to your email? The gospel had led Peter to treat the Jews and Gentiles all alike. ", Mark how nicely every word was suited to deal with their souls. Thus, as he says most emphatically, "I do not frustrate the grace of God;" they did, every one who substituted aught but Christ and His cross. Paul was pleading for the real interests of the Jew just as much as of the Gentile; but he presses this most clenching argument that Peter's conduct involved the making Christ Himself the minister of sin; "for if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.". It was for the chiefs at Jerusalem to judge for themselves, and they did judge to the confusion of the apostle's adversaries. (1.) another; "But though we" Paul himself, or any that were associated with him "though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." But if ye bite - The word used here ( dakno), means, properly, to bite, to sting; and here seems to be used in the sense of contending and striving - a metaphor not improbably taken from dogs and wild beasts. "The things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. ", I have nothing to do with the law any more, even if I had been once under it as a Jew. It is not merely to seek in love a fallen brother, but to be the succourer of others in their difficulties. with reproachful words, biting sarcasms, scandalous invectives, Christianity refuses to be mingled with anything but itself. 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. "Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.". It is the widest word for goodness; it is defined as "virtue equipped at every point." In the New Testament it has three main meanings. Of these and such like, says he, I tell you before, as I have also told you in times past, that those who do such things, how much soever they may flatter themselves with vain hopes, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Who more zealous of the doctrines of his fathers? against such there is no law ( Galatians 5:23 ). The law is of a wholly different nature, and hence was ordained of angels in the hand of a mediator. For ye are all the children of God." And a little leaven soon leavens the whole lump. (b) It means being teachable, being not too proud to learn ( James 1:21). Hagar stands for the old covenant of the law, made on Mount Sinai, which is in fact in Arabia, the land of Hagar's descendants. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai, which is in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem; for she is a slave and so are her children. Don't be entangled again with rules, regulations, a yoke of bondage. Fornication; it has been said, and said truly, that the one completely new virtue Christianity brought into the world was chastity. Note, Mutual strifes among brethren, if persisted in, are likely to prove a common ruin; those that devour one another are in a fair way to be consumed one of another. It is the power of that love, and not the constraint of law, that will keep us right; for love is always more powerful than law. You weren't persuaded to be circumcised because God was speaking to your heart and convicting you of this. The prosperity doctrines of the gnostic heresy of the early church. He who is upsetting you--whoever he is--will bear his own judgment. Immediately, then, as. Hagar had a son called Ishmael. Thus the two totally opposite roads of grace and law would have been leading to the same result. 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. Paul was confident the Galatians would resist the one leading them in the wrong direction. The flesh will not be ruling over you anymore. The salutation ( Galatians 1:1-5 ) a. You are bound to carry it out consistently. Paul was preaching that Jesus paid the complete price for your redemption on the cross. (d) Agape ( G26) , the Christian word, means unconquerable benevolence. The mind of the flesh is death.But if my life is dominated by the Spirit, then I have the mind of the Spirit. May the truth of God sink into our hearts! Can you seize the gravity of this? "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ." But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. That is not the liberty that we have as Christians. It is not a vague general expression for all saints, but implies that fleshly Israel was nothing now. Jesus, the rejected Messiah, was the Son of the living God, the giver of life, the quickening Son of God. Love; the New Testament word for love is agape ( G26) . It needs to be boistered by God's spirit. It was not merely that his apostleship was doubted God's magnifying of His own Son was set at naught. For if a man "keeps the whole law, yet he offends in one point, he is guilty of all" ( James 2:10 ). Galatians 5:14. Such was the case with the Old Testament believers, and many Jewish believers then alive. The apostle was given to preach the truth more fully than any other. Interesting to me that heresies is here mentioned as a part of the works of the flesh. What does Galatians 5:15 Mean? Well, "sensible" help in the meaning of an appeal to nature it is; but it is a sensible help to idolatry, not to living faith. consequences of a contrary spirit and conduct. "Wherefore, thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.". 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. but for what he can get out of it. To make this evident by transgressions was the object of the law. And Peter said, "I suggest that we not place a yoke of bondage on them which neither we, nor our fathers were able to bear" ( Acts 15:10 ). Grace brings out the faithful promise of God, and His goodness to him that deserves nothing. To this the apostle endeavours to persuade these Christians, and there are two considerations which he sets before them for this purpose:-- (1.) Liberty comes first, mark; power and love afterwards. God promises the final power and glory of Israel in the earth, putting down their foes, and so forth. You got to keep the law. I really like to say that to the Jehovah Witnesses that come to my door. Certainly not God, nor His plain and precious word. Not so. These are sins which will undoubtedly shut men out of heaven. Note, (1.) 50.]. Merge them, as unbelief does, and all is confusion and ruin. Christ lived, died, and was resurrected so that we might be free. (14) An exhortation to the duties of charity, by the profit that follows from it, because no men proved worse for themselves than they that hate one another. We celebrated that today in the observance of the Lord's Supper. You were running well. Monarchy is government by one, and began in the interests of efficiency, for government by committees has always had its drawbacks. (2.) He was saying that we each worship something - we seek to fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts, but our worship is all vain, it's all futile, unless we worship the one true God. Then, bringing in the name of Jerusalem, the Spirit leads him to apply the prophecy of Isaiah, which shows that millennial Israel (in their turn abandoning self-righteousness, and made free by God's grace in Christ) will look back and count as their own those now brought in as Christians, and find far more children begotten by the gospel, in the time of their own desolation, than even when they flourished of old, and had ,all that earthly power and glory could give. ". In the epistle to the Galatians we have another tone and style, a serious and grieved spirit, with feelings not less deep it may be, even more profoundly moved than in writing to the Corinthians; and for this reason, that the foundations were still more deeply affected by that which was working among the assemblies of Galatia. But because they are not born of the Spirit and have no understanding of the spiritual dimension of life, you're talking riddles to them. He acts on this in faith; he understands it with an energy and a brightness that increased even in his Roman prison. He saw that the tree was pleasant to look upon, it was tasty to eat and it would make him wise as God. "Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and," in order to make it still more evident, "by God the Father, who raised him from the dead." We are crucified unto it by grace, as the world is crucified unto us by judgment. Why this: "Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, and the other by a freewoman." . 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. They had somehow become uneasy. But it is not so. Only we must carefully bear this in mind, that in the epistle to the Galatians we never rise exactly to church ground. And they glorified God in me.". Paul takes that old story and allegorises it. And, as this would be the best means of preserving them from fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, so it would be a good evidence that they were Christians indeed; for, says the apostle (Galatians 5:18; Galatians 5:18), If you be led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. And they say, "Oh, well, I was just waiting upon the Lord and reading the Scriptures, and the Lord showed this to me." And the old flesh likes to get people excited and stirred up like that. Be it so: such was true. Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified their own unregenerate selves ;along with all their passions and their desires. Laws are necessary to restrain unprincipled people. When He had anything unfailing to do or say, He loved to appear in grace; He said it Himself, and did it for Himself. They thought that Christianity would be all the better for adopting the ancient forms and beautiful figures of the law. One of the lawyers one day challenged Jesus as to the greatest commandment. For Jew and Gentile were alike guilty of crucifying Him. Let others talk as they will of the law, no law can censure the real fruits of the Holy Ghost, or those in whom they are found. It was not another, as he says. For what has a risen man to do with Israel more than the nations? So he calls on them to be as free of the law as himself. Who would have ventured to say, without express scripture, that the old Jewish forms thus adopted by a Gentile believer have such an idolatrous character?

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