Paul Urges the Galatians to Reject the Judiazers and
Stand fast in their freedom in Christ
Galatians
5:1-6 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
anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. KJVPaul has now begun to turn away from revealing to them the correct teaching or Doctrine of the Gospel of Grace and faith in Christ, to the actual, factual, and practical way true believers are to apply their reception of God’s Grace through Christ Jesus our Lord in our daily lives as we sojourn down here on the earth. The Grace of God motivates the newly born child of God to desire the Glory of God. No amount of Jewish rites or ceremonies can put that desire in the heart of its strictest follower. Paul begins by exhorting them to “Stand fast” and this English phrase is translated by the Greek word steko which means to be stationary, that is, figuratively to persevere or continue. Paul is reminding them that when they received Christ as Lord and Savior, they received His Resurrection Life which when they are yielded to Him (through the Holy Spirit) they are loosed or freed from trying to obey external laws in their own strength, but through their love for Christ Jesus our Lord they are enabled and empowered by His Spirit to do what they in themselves could never do.
It is the releasing of the Grace of God supplied to them through the Holy Spirit that works out salvation in their daily lives and not observing Jewish rites and ceremonies. Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers to understand all they had “in Christ” with these words which surely can be applied to these Galatians and to us today, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:18-21). This is why Paul is here urging them to continue and remain in the only liberty they have by abiding in Christ alone. Paul had lived his entire life (before he met Christ) trying to keep every detail of these Jewish rites and ceremonies and he never experienced the freedom he has now found “in Christ” alone.
Paul wants them to pay close attention to what he is writing to them here in this section of his letter as we see with the word he uses “Behold”. Paul wants them to see that if they submit to circumcision with the intended outcome that they will be justified before God the Father by doing so, then they will find themselves severed, detached, or cut off from the Resurrection Life of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ is the only One who has satisfied the Jewish rites and ceremonies as well as the Moral Law of God by His Perfect Sinless Life, therefore, for these Galatians to remove themselves from their freedom “in Him”, then obliges them to accomplish satisfying every detail of the Mosaic and Moral Law in their own human strength without the Life of Christ operating in them and through them. Paul warns them that if they venture down this path of seeking justification by the law then “ye are fallen” from grace. “Ye are fallen” is the English phrase translated by the Greek word ekpipto which means to drop away; specifically to be driven out of one’s course; figuratively it means to lose or to become inefficient. Paul is very serious with these Galatians when he declares to them that they will forfeit all their benefits of the Grace of God through Christ if they become circumcised. It will be as if they were renouncing their “faith in Christ” for justification and choosing to be justified before God the Father by desiring to observe, obey, and operate under the Jewish Mosaic Laws.
Paul wants them to see the clear impossibility of this endeavor as the Apostle James wrote in this manner, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10) and likewise as he has already written to them in this same letter with these words, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.’” (Galatians 3:10). In great contrast to those who came from Judea (Galatians 2:3-5) teaching these Galatians that they must also be circumcised in order to be truly saved (Acts 15:1), Paul declares to them that it is not through adding to the Gospel the keeping of Jewish Law that gives them and us confidence and assurance before God the Father, but instead it is through the testimony and operation of God the Holy Spirit in theirs and our “inner man” that we have truly received the righteousness of God through “faith in Christ” alone (Romans 4:4-9) and He (God the Holy Spirit) is enabling us to work out our salvation day by day with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).
Paul declares that “in Christ” all are on equal footing Jew and Gentile. Neither the circumcision of the Jews nor the uncircumcision of the Gentiles gives any advantage before God the Father. The English word “availeth” Paul uses is translated by the Greek word ischuo which means to have or exercise force, power, and strength. Literally circumcision renders no spiritual power whatsoever to its recipient. The faith these Galatians and we received at salvation works through love and love for God and to God produces obedience to His Will or His Word and love endeavors to do no wrong to all of humanity and especially to our brothers and sisters in Christ as Paul wrote so eloquently with these words to the Roman believers, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10).
My own Personal Note: Legalism is like someone being trapped at the bottom of a 100 foot well being able to see the freedom above, but without a rope or other climbing gear their own human efforts never getting them to the top of the wells opening into freedom. However, grace is that same person trapped at the bottom of the same well, but someone outside of himself reaches down to him with a rescue rope and safety harness and bids him to strap it on and hold on to the rope as they proceed to pull him up to the top and freedom.
“He who is circumcised is circumcised as fearing the law: but he who fears the law distrusts the power of grace: and he who distrusts gains nothing from that which he distrusts.” John Chrysostom, 349 A.D. – 407 A. D.
“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. Paul’s doctrine of Christian liberty through grace is not the dangerous doctrine. It is legalism that is the dangerous doctrine, because legalism attempts to do the impossible: change the old nature and make it obey the Laws of God.” Warren Wiersbe
“We are free. The Son has made us free, and we are free indeed, though not free to disobey the dictates and promptings of our new nature. We are set free from minute prescriptions, from priestly rules and requisitions, from all that would cramp and hinder our spiritual development; but we are still under the law of Christ, who will see to it that the essential righteousness of the Mosaic law is fulfilled in us, ‘who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,’ (Romans 8:1).” F. B. Meyer
“This declaration is no less authoritative and judicially threatening than the anathema of Chapter 1. That former denouncement declared the false teachers severed from Christ. Those who yield to their persuasion, will be also ‘severed from Christ.’ They will fall into the same ditch as their blind leaders. The Judaisers have forfeited their part in Christ; they are false brethren, tares among the wheat, troublers and hinderers to the Church of God. And Gentile Christians who choose to be led astray by them must take the consequences. If they obey the ‘other Gospel,’ Christ’s Gospel is theirs no longer. If they rest their faith on circumcision, they have withdrawn it from His cross. Adopting the Mosaic regimen, they forego the benefits of Christ’s redemption. ‘Christ will profit you nothing.’ The sentence is negative, but no less fearful on that account. It is as though Christ should say, ‘Thou hast no part with Me.’” Expositor’s Bible Commentary
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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