Galatians 5 verses 1 to 12

 

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.  Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.  For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.  For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.  Ye did run well, who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?  This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.  A little leaven leaventh the whole lump.  I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded; but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.  And I brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.  I would they were even cut off which trouble you."

Galatians 5 verses 1 to 12

Feels like I am never going to finish Galatians but have arrived at chapter 5. From argument to application, from doctrinal to practical.

The Christian who lives by faith is not going to become a rebel - quite the contrary, he is going to experience the inner discipline of God that is far better than the outer discipline of man-made rules. No man could become a rebel who depends on God's grace, yields to God's Spirit, lives for others and seeks to glorify God. The legalistic is the one who eventually rebels because he is living in bondage, depending on the flesh, living for self and seeking the praise of men and not the glory of God.

Legalism seeks to change the old nature and make it obey the laws of God. The surrendered Christian who depends on the power of the Holy Spirit is not denying the law of God or rebelling against it. Rather the law of God is being fulfilled in him through the Spirit.

Notice the thought behind these last 2 chapters ...

I have been set free by Christ, I am no longer under bondage to the law.

But I need something or rather someone to control my life from within - the Holy Spirit.

Through the Spirit's love, I have a desire to live for others not for self.

This life of liberty is so wonderful I want to live it to the glory of God for he is the one making it possible.

I have been so convicted as I have looked at the whole idea of legalism in these chapters in Galatians. 

Consider the person who chooses to live under the idea of the law or a leader ...

If I obey these rules I will become a more spiritual person. I am an admirer of this leader so I now submit myself to his system.

I believe I have the strength to obey and improve myself. I do what I am told and measure up to the standards set for me.

I am making progress, I don't do some of the things I used to do. Other people compliment me on my obedience and discipline. I can see that I am better than others in my fellowship. How wonderful to be so spiritual.

If only others were like me. God is certainly fortunate that I am his. I have a desire to share this with others so they can be as I am. Our group is growing and we have a fine reputation. Too bad other groups are not as spiritual as we are.

All these steps can be clearly seen in our world - politically, educationally and dare I say it in religious and even Christian circles, yes even the churches we attend. I thought of myself and how easy it is to fall into this trap just by reading God's word, posting on social media. It is so very dangerous!

I love the apostle Paul's use of comparisons throughout the book of Galatians. In chapter 3 he has used the idea of a schoolmaster or guardian, something the Jewish families understood as they appointed them to look after sons in the home and with their education. Then he used the whole idea of a bond woman in relation to the story of Hagar and Sarah in chapter 4. Now he uses the image of a slave and bondage in chapter 5. 

In verse 1 he talks of "the yoke of bondage". Yoke represents slavery. Someone who has control over another. But equally it can refer to willing service and submission to someone else.

Immediately we can think of the Israelites in Exodus when they were under the slavery of the Egyptians. When God delivered them the yoke was broken. Similarly the farmer used a yoke to control and guide his oxen because they would not willingly serve if they were free.

Paul is saying to these believers - you lost your yoke of service to sin and put on Christ's yoke when you trusted Christ. But this is an easy yoke.  This frees us to fulfil his will. It does not enslave us as the law does. This yoke of Christ sets us free. Christ freed us on Calvary's tree. We no longer need the external force of law to keep us in God's will because we have the internal leading of the Holy Spirit of God. If we go back to the law we would be going back to a series of do's and don'ts. We would be like little children again.

No wonder Paul says "stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

I cannot believe I am only on verse 2 of chapter 5 but that last post on slavery and bondage is something that really resonates with me!

Now in verses 2 to 6 Paul focuses on the idea of a debtor and losing your wealth. Paul uses 3 phrases to describe what a Christian loses when he turns from grace to law ...

Christ shall profit you nothing vs 2

A debtor to do the whole law vs 3

Christ is become of no effect unto you vs 4

And the conclusion ... ye are fallen from grace vs 4.

Imagine being robbed of our spiritual wealth in Christ.

Remember the chorus ...

"I owed a debt I could not pay ..."

Jesus told a story of 2 debtors in Luke 7 - one owed 10 times more than the other, neither could pay but the creditor forgave them both.

No matter how much morality we have we still come short of the glory of God. God in his grace because of the work of his son Jesus on the cross is able to forgive sinners - no matter how large the debt is. When we accept Christ for ourselves we become spiritually rich. We have all we need to live the kind of Christian life God wants us to live. The Judaisers in this church thought they were missing something. They thought by practising the law they would be more spiritual. 

Paul makes it clear - nothing else can be added. To live by grace means to depend on God's abundant supply of every need. To live by the law means to depend on my own strength and getting by without God's supply.

Is Paul suggesting in Galatians 5 that these believers had lost their salvation? No it actually means "fallen out of the sphere of God's grace." You cannot mix law and grace. These believers had been bewitched by false teachers. They actually had robbed themselves of all the good things Jesus Christ could do for them.

In verses 5 and 6 Paul talks about this sphere of grace. When you live by grace you depend on the power of the Spirit but under the law you must depend on yourself and your own efforts. Faith works through love for God and love for others.

When a believer walks by faith he is depending on the Spirit of God, he lives in the sphere of God's grace and all his needs are provided. He experiences the riches of God's grace. And he has something to look forward to - Jesus shall return to make us like himself in perfect righteousness.

The believer who chooses legalism robs himself of spiritual liberty and spiritual wealth - he deliberately puts himself into bondage and bankruptcy.

I cannot begin to imagine losing all the wealth and riches God has given me through Christ. There is one word in verse 5 that lept out at me - it is the word hope. We can always have hope .... how many times have we not heard that expression. And what hope there is in Christ today! Sins forgiven, the Holy Spirit living within and one day a home in heaven. This is what I understand by riches in Christ.

In Galatians 5 verses 7 to 12 we see another image or comparison - a runner who loses their direction. This is an image that Paul uses a lot in scripture. His readers were familiar with the Olympic games and other Greek contests that included foot races. Paul never uses these images to tell people how to be saved. He is always talking to Christians about how to live the Christian life. A contestant in the games had to be a citizen before he could compete. We become citizens of heaven through faith in Christ, then God puts us on our course and we run to win the prize. We are not running to be saved, we run because we are already saved and want to fulfill God's will in our lives.

Paul says "ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" In the races each runner was to stay in their lane but some cut in to try and put others off. This is what the Judaizers had done in this fellowship. They forced them to change direction and go on a spiritual detour. It was not God who did this because he had called them to run faithfully in the lane marked grace.

As I thought of this, my mind goes back to times in my Christian race when I have detoured off the path. People said things and I took things to heart, seeing them as personal attacks when in fact they were trying to get me out of the way of running to God's glory. It is sad to realise that these were believers in Christ who thought they were acting on behalf of Christ when really they were disguised as Satan's own army. And then my mind thought of those times when I did the same - put people off from running in their lane. What a challenge and rebuke these words are.

In Galatians 5 verse 9 Paul changes the comparison again - this time to cooking. Leaven is really yeast. In the Old Testament leaven is generally used a symbol of evil. Remember back to the first Passover night in Exodus when no yeast was allowed in the house. Paul used this same illustration in writing to the church in Corinth as a symbol of sin. Yeast is small but if left alone it grows and envelopes the entire loaf. The doctrine of the Judaisers was introduced to these believers in a small way but it grew and eventually took over.

The motives that encourage legalism are good but the methods are not scriptural.

It is not wrong to have standards in our churches but they don't make us spiritual. Nor are they evidence of spirituality. How easy it is to let it grow. It actually puffs up the dough - we can become "puffed up" and think ourselves more spiritual than someone else.

We have the responsibility (all of us) to watch for the signs of legalism. Paul.says "I am suffering persecution because I preach the cross but these false teachers are popular celebrities because they preach a religion that pampers the flesh and feeds the ego. Do they want to circumcise you? I wish that they were cut off."

Circumcision is only a physical operation since Christ's death and resurrection. Paul wished they were cut off so that they could not produce any more children of slavery.

The only way to become a winner is to purge out the leaven - the false doctrine that mixes law and grace and yield to the Spirit of God.

Warren Wiersbe's final thoughts from Galatians 5 verses 1 to 12.

"God's grace is sufficient for every demand of life. We are saved by grace and we serve by grace. Grace enables us to endure suffering. It is grace that strengthens us so that we can be victorious soldiers. Our God is the God of all grace and we can find grace to help in every need. As we read the Bible, which is "the word of his grace", the Spirit of grace reveal to us how rich we are in Christ."