26 February 2005
Chapter 5
Review
Outline of Galatians:
I.
Salutation (1:1-5)
II.
The problem in Galatia: another Gospel from false teachers
(1:6-9)
III.
Defense of Paul’s apostleship (1:10 – 2:14)
IV.
Paul’s defense of the Gospel (2:15 – 6:10)
V.
Conclusion (6:11-18)
(New Geneva Study Bible)
(Matthew Henry’s Concise
Commentary on the Whole Bible)
In the first six verses of the
chapter we find a reiteration of what the consequences of turning away from the
Gospel and turning to the Law for the perfection of one’s salvation are. In verse 3, Paul revisits a point we have
seen in chapter 3:10 and, that is, that one who attempts to gain God’s favor by
obeying the Law must obey it perfectly.
Otherwise, as we read in chapter 3, verse 10 (which is actually a quote
from Deuteronomy 27:26): Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. In verse 4, we see the
actual dire consequences of the Galatians’ foolish forsaking of the true
message of the Gospel. Paul says that
their actions have much more serious consequences than the destruction of the
Galatians’ relationship with their teacher.
Rather, by their following the false doctrines of the Jewish agitators
and by their turning to the Law they have drifted away from Christ and by
drifting away from Christ they have fallen from His grace. They were drifting away from Christ by denying
the sufficiency of Christ’s death for salvation (a very serious matter,
indeed). The Galatians should have realized here how mistaken they were. Paul shows them that they were becoming
estranged from Christ, from God, in other words. They were becoming estranged from the very One whose favor they
were trying to gain by their works.
This is the pitfall into which they had been drawn.
Here is what my study Bible says
– New Geneva Study Bible. (I agree with what it says and I could not have put
it better, so here it is, word by word.)
Fallen from grace, that is, they would be renouncing God’s grace
by no longer relying on it. Those who
are chosen in Christ will be kept from such a renunciation of the Gospel, and
Paul continues to have confidence that this warning will be heeded (v. 10).
There may be those, however, who appear to us to be true members of Christ who
will abandon the Gospel (Romans 11:22, 1 John 2:19). Scripture admonishes us, therefore, to be “diligent to make [our]
call and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10) by living in a way that demonstrates the
reality of the Spirit’s presence within us (5:16-6:10; Hebrews 10:26, 27; 2
Peter 1:5-11).
In verse 6, Paul draws the clear
conclusion of what he has said so far both in this chapter and the previous
ones. He shows what truly matters in
Christ’s economy. Circumcision or
uncircumcision avail nothing (just like we read at the end of chapter 3 that
ethnicity and social status avail nothing). What is truly important is
faith. Is this all? Of course not. What is truly important is faith working
through love. Faith is not
something that exists in a vacuum.
Faith must manifest itself in what we do – in our actions toward God and
toward those around us. This verse in
echoed in St. James’ Epistle chapter 2 verse 26 where we read that faith
without works is dead. These works
are not done in order to gain God’s favor (because God’s favor was gained by
Christ and, by faith, we rely on that) but are works that we do out of
love for God and out of gratitude.
The imagery invoked here is that
of a race. It is a metaphor for
Christian life that Paul employs elsewhere as well – 1 Corinthians 9:24. The same image is used by the author of
Hebrews in the famous Hebrews 12:1. I
do not mean to read to much into this verse, but I believe that here (aside
from regretting that the Galatians’ healthy spiritual life was declining), Paul
makes a connection with the previous verse which talks about faith working
through love. A race implies effort,
effort during the race, but, also, great effort while preparing for the
race. In or lives of Christians we are
called to work (make the effort) for God’s glory, again not to try to merit our
salvation but rather out of gratitude for the salvation that God already
accomplished for us.
In verse 10, Paul shows his confidence
that his letter would not be without result among the Galatians. It is interesting to notice that the source
of his confidence is not his flawless logic or skillful rhetoric but rather he
says he has confidence in you, in the Lord. He knows that his words alone would
have no power of persuasion unless the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, worked in
the minds and hearts of the Galatians.
As Christians we are no longer
bound by some of the provisions of the Old Testament Law, but the ethical and
spiritual requirements remain. We must still obey them. One of these commandments that is still in
effect is the one in Leviticus 19:18 which says You shall love your neighbor
as yourself. Paul says that all the
Law is fulfilled in this one word. I am
sure that what he meant was not that all that we ever have to do as Christians
is show love towards those around us and we are off the hook as far as
obedience. What he did mean is that in
showing love toward those around (not indiscriminately, but rather to those
close to us, brothers and sisters in Christ, family, neighbors) we prove our
obedience. Also, if we do this we also
obey most of the other requirements regarding inter-personal relationships; if
you love somebody (not in the sense of romantic love) you will most likely not
do any of the things in commandments V-X to them.
In the last passage of the
chapter (vv. 16-26), we see that constant conflict between the Spirit and the
flesh (our sinful nature). Our sinful
nature, as Paul mentions in verse 24, is a defeated enemy. However, it is an enemy that will be with us
until we enter Heaven. The Spirit
within us is the driving force in our battle against our sinful nature.
Verses 22, 23 give us the list
of the fruit of the Spirit. It is an
interesting way to put it – the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit is the result of a process, a
growing process. Notice that the works
of the flesh mentioned in the previous verses do not require any effort; we are
born with a sinful nature and according to this nature it is no effort to
perform these sinful acts. However, in
the case of the acts of the Spirit they are the fruit of the work of
sanctification done by the Holy Spirit in our lives.