Galatians 5:1-12 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Galatians 5:1-12. Let’s go!
Galatians 5:1-2 (NIV)
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
On verses 1-2: Throughout his letter to the Galatians, Paul has been making this point to the Galatian Christians: you used to be slaves to the idea that you need to work for your righteousness, but now Jesus has set you free from that slavery, giving you a righteousness that is not earned by your works but received by faith in God’s promise. Here in verse 1 Paul reminds the Christians in Galatia why Christ set them free in the first place: so that they could stay free (v1). What is the point of Christ setting us free if we choose to go back to being enslaved again? Yet by trying to add circumcision as a pre-condition to being fully accepted by God, the believers in Galatia were going back to a “works by righteousness” slavery and in so doing, treating Christ as if he is “of no value to you at all” (v2).
When we think we can earn our righteousness on our own, we make Christ’s death on the cross out to be meaningless and worthless.
Galatians 5:3 (NIV)
3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
On verse 3: Paul is telling the Christians in Galatia: “If you get circumcised and think that in so doing you will be justified by God, think again. For ‘every man who lets himself be circumcised…is obligated to obey the entire law.’ (v3)” In other words, if you’re trying to be justified by God on the basis of how well you obey God’s law, then circumcision is not enough; you need to obey all of the Jewish law — all 613 rules found in the Old Testament. This of course is impossible for anybody. All of us have sinned against God. As James 2:10 says, “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
But praise God! While all of us have broken God’s laws, Jesus Christ came and fulfilled all of God’s laws perfectly. Then Jesus died on the cross in place of lawbreakers like us. He paid the penalty for our sins. Then He rose again from the grave to conquer sin and death. So while trying to be justified by our own good works is a dead end, in Jesus Christ there is justification, righteousness and eternal life.
Galatians 5:4-5 (NIV)
4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
On verses 4-5: Those who think they can be justified by their own good works separate themselves from God’s grace and Christ’s saving power (v4). It’s like hopping off Jesus’ back and saying, “Jesus, I don’t need you to carry me. I can reach God by myself.” But you can’t. As Jesus Himself says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). It’s this righteousness by faith that is our hope (v5).
Galatians 5:6 (NIV)
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
On verse 6: By thinking that they needed to be circumcised to be saved, the Galatian Christians were treating Christ’s sacrifice as if it had no value (v2), no power to save. But here Paul says that actually it’s circumcision that has no value and no power to save. As Paul writes, when your faith is “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value” (v6). What matters is not whether or not a person is outwardly circumcised. What matters is whether that person inwardly has faith in Christ, which expresses itself through love.
Galatians 5:7-12 (NIV)
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.
9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”
10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.
11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
On verses 7-12: Paul passionately warns the churches in Galatia against being influenced by the wrong crowd. He says that God, the one who calls them, is not the one trying to persuade them that circumcision is necessary (v8). He says that those who are leading them astray will pay the penalty (v10). And in case anyone thought that Paul was among those teaching that circumcision is necessary, Paul reminds his readers that the very reason he is still being persecuted, the very reason why his message about the cross is so offensive to some, is because Paul’s message of the cross is that circumcision is not necessary, only faith in Christ is (v11). Passionately and even humourously, Paul suggests that those who preach that circumcision is necessary, or who say that Paul preaches this as well, should “go the whole and emasculate themselves” (v12); that is, they should remove that entire part of their bodies completely. Why stop at the foreskin! That is how heated Paul is about this problem. It’s because nothing is more important than preaching the gospel and nothing is more destructive than leading people away from it.
Similarly, be careful who you let influence your life. Have a discerning heart, for even a little yeast can work its way through a whole batch of dough.
Father, I pray that we would all be careful about who we let influence our thinking and our decision-making. Since it is for freedom that Christ has set us free, may we not slip back into being slaves again. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
