Galatians Chapter 5

Sam O’Neal: “The apostle Paul concluded Galatians 4 by urging the Galatian Christians to choose the freedom offered by Christ rather than enslave themselves to following the law. That theme continues in Galatians 5 -- and culminates in one of the more famous passages of the New Testament. … Paul’s major theme here is a continued attack on the idea that people can earn their way into a relationship with God by obeying the Old Testament Law.”

Alfred E. Bouter: “ In verse 1 “Stand fast”, that is our position, then as believers we go on and we are “running” (verse 7). … To run the race, we need training and diligence. In Hebrews 12, for example, we are running in the race of faith, and we need to look steadfastly on the Author and Finisher of the race of faith. Also. Paul said that the Galatians had run well. Further in Galatians 5, the other key word is in verse 16, “Walk in the Spirit.” This is the Christian walk. There is not a contradiction between these terms, rather they highlight certain truths, the position in which to stand firm, to go on running the Christian race, and the Christian experience to walk, which implies behaviour, attitudes, practice. Then the fourth key word we find in verse 25, “Let us walk by the Spirit.” There the word “walk” is a different word in the Greek text. It means “to walk in order” so that we are not out of step. In verse 16, it means the Christian walk, the Christian practice, which includes our daily lives in which He wants us to be overcomers, but when it comes to verse 25 the emphasis is walking in order. It is more like a military term so that we do not walk out of step, causing others to trip over us. In chapter 6, we will see seven points about walking in order. So: we stand, we run, we walk and we walk in order. These are the four key words that I just wanted to highlight.”

Galatians 4:30-31: But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

(1) So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

• So:
  • Therefore, (we are the children of the free woman).
  • Boice: “Before plunging into this third section of his letter, Paul interjects a verse that is at once a summary of all that has gone before and a transition to what follows. It is, in fact, the key verse of the entire Epistle. Because of the nature of the true gospel and of the work of Christ on his behalf, the believer is now to turn away from anything that smacks of legalism and instead rest in Christ’s triumphant work for him and live in the power of Christ’s Spirit. . . . The appeal is for an obstinate perseverance in freedom as the only proper response to an attempt to bring Christians once more under legalism.”
  • Wiersbe: “One of the tragedies of legalism is that it gives the appearance of spiritual maturity when, in reality, it leads the believer back into a ‘second childhood.’”
• Truly set us free:
  • John Karmelich: “Christians are free to sin all that we want to. The key is how much do we want to. In fact, the key to living the Christian life is to realize that as totally free people, we should then chose to live like slaves under bondage to how God wants us to live. I call it volunteer slavery. … We tend to think of freedom as the idea of “doing what we want when we want to do it”. However, if one is truly living as a slave, or even living with cancer or living in a wheel chair, it is tough to think of one’s self as having that type of freedom. However, it is that concept of total freedom that Paul is preaching to us in this verse. To explain what we are or were in bondage to, think about our lives before we did trust in Jesus for our salvation. We may have tried to be a good person, or we may have followed a bunch of rituals throughout the year or throughout our lives in order to prove our value to God. In other words, we were slaves to the concept of trying to work hard to please others and please God. That is what Jesus frees us from. My simple point here is that Jesus frees us from trying to prove our worth to God the Father based on how we live our lives.”
  • Zach Adams: “Grace yields freedom and the results are incredible. And yet, how this word “FREE” is so rarely used by the world to describe Christians! Sadly, “Legalistic” is how many perceive the followers of Christ. Many view Jesus and Christianity as being restrictive, a kill-joy, limiting as opposed to freeing, amazing, and liberating. But this ought not be so! Can anyone honestly look at the life and ministry of Jesus and reach such a conclusion?”
  • Don Fortner: “Believers are not under the law. This fact cannot be stated more emphatically, or more constantly than it is throughout the New Testament. Every reference to the law of God as it relates to believers declares that we are dead to it and it to us, because Christ has fulfilled it for us. There is not a single passage to be found in the New Testament in which believers are motivated by law to do anything. “Christ is the end of the law.” No, he did not destroy the law. He fulfilled it, finished it, and brought it to an end. He was made under the law, that he might fulfill it for us. Now, he is free from the law. And we are free from the law in him, in exactly the same sense and to exactly the same degree. We are free from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13-14), the condemnation of the law (Romans 8:1), and from the covenant of the law (Galatians 4:24-31) … Almost all who profess to believe that salvation is by grace agree that we are free from the ceremonial law, that we are free from circumcision, feast days, sacrifices, and all the burdensome, carnal rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation. But many try to impose upon us the rules of the moral law (the ten commandments), vainly attempting to divide the moral law from the ceremonial law. Such a division does not exist in the Word of God. Those who would teach us to live by the moral law, were they consistent, must also demand that we observe and keep all the carnal ordinances of the ceremonial law. It is impossible to keep a sabbath day without a sacrifice! (Read what the law says, and see — Numbers 28:9-10.).”
  • John Stanko: “This freedom can be likened to a train on its tracks. When it stays on its tracks, it is free to move. But if it jumps its tracks, it is no longer free. Our freedom track is righteousness. We are free to move about freely on that track, but if we jump that track to go our own way, then there is a train wreck and we are no longer free. Does that make sense to you?”
  • John 8:34-36: Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
  • Romans 8:2: And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
  • 2 Corinthians 3:17: For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
• Stay free:
  • Stand fast in the KJV.
  • Zach Adams: “By the very implication of Paul’s exhortation to “stand fast in the liberty,” it’s clear that while this freedom exists for the believer there are forces seeking to snatch this liberty away. The implications of this statement imply that it’s entirely possible for the person freed by grace to revert again to bondage.”
  • Zach Adams: “First, Jesus has freed us from the resulting bondage of moral-expectations. Whereas the law (all religious systems) bind us to a merit-based process that demands we earn and maintain God’s favor, it is grace alone, provided through Jesus, that frees us from this expectation by declaring us to be permanently right with God apart from our involvement. While the law enslaves you to the pursuit of measuring up, it is grace that removes these shackles allowing you the opportunity to simply enjoy a relationship with God! Secondly, Jesus has freed us from the resulting bondage of self-rule. Sadly, as Americans, it’s so easy for our political context and traditional understanding of freedom to warp our comprehension of what Paul is actually referring to when he mentions “liberty.” As a matter of fact, it is this misunderstanding that fosters so much legalism within the church … no one reading this letter to the Galatians in the first-century, Roman world would have processed “liberty” as living life void of authority. There was no such thing. They rightly understood what we’ve so easily forgotten… Everyone has a master! … the freedom to do whatever we want in the pursuit of whatever makes us happy doesn’t yield liberty, but instead yields servitude to these very pursuits!”
  • Don Fortner: “During the days of our Lord’s earthly ministry there was a custom among the Greeks and Romans. When a man died, if he left slaves they became the property of his eldest son. If the son said, “I proclaim these slaves, left to me by my father, free men”, those slaves were forever free and could never be taken into slavery again. Under Greek and Roman law, that was the one, certain way by which a slave could obtain his liberty. If the son proclaimed freedom, the slave must go free. … Do you see the illustration? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the great Heir of promise. If he, the Son of God, makes you free, you shall be free indeed!”
• Tied up again:
  • Wommack: “The word “entangled” in Greek carries the idea of being “ensnared or held in a net” (Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament).”
• Slavery:
  • Sam O’Neal: “The contrast between freedom and slavery continues to be his major thrust in the first half of Galatians 5. Paul goes so far as to say that, if the Galatians persisted in their attempts to follow the Old Testament law, including the ritual of circumcision, then Christ would not benefit them at all (verse 2). He wanted them to understand that the more they pursued righteousness through their own actions and their own attempts to “try harder,” the more they would alienate themselves from the righteousness of Christ. Obviously, this was a big deal.”
  • John Schultz: “There is ultimately only one real form of slavery, which is the slavery of sin; and one only form of tyranny, which is the rule of the devil. … The only way to real freedom is in understanding the truth of the Gospel. … The freedom Paul preaches is freedom from the power of sin over human life. He expressed this in Romans as: “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. (Romans 6:6-7)”
• The law:
  • The Jews would say this included 613 commandments (mitzvot) .
  • Dr. Constable: “What is the Christian’s proper relationship to the Mosaic Law?
    Calvin and many reformed theologians have answered this question this way. They have said the ceremonial laws (e.g., animal sacrifices, dietary restrictions, feast days, etc.) are no longer binding on Christians because of the death of Christ. Nevertheless, the moral laws (the Ten Commandments) are still binding. God has done away with the moral laws only in the sense that they no longer condemn us (Romans 8:11).
    The problem with this explanation is that it makes a distinction between two parts of the Law that the text does not make. The text simply states that Christ is the end of “the Law” (Romans 10:4), not the ceremonial part of the Law. Furthermore, if the Ten Commandments are all still binding on us, why have Christians throughout history (Acts 20:7; cf. 1 Corinthians 16:2) met to worship on Sunday, rather than on the Sabbath (Saturday)?
    Some reformed theologians, following Calvin, believe that God abolished Sabbath worship along with the ceremonial laws. This seems somewhat inconsistent. Others, following the Westminster Confession, regard Sunday worship as a continuation of Sabbath worship. Nevertheless it is, of course, very different.
    Dispensational theologians have suggested another answer to this question that, to me, seems more consistent with what Scripture says. They say that God did away with the Mosaic Law completely: the civil, the ceremonial, and the moral parts. He terminated it as a code and has replaced it with a new code: “the Law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Some commandments in the Law of Christ are the same as those in the Law of Moses (e.g., nine of the Ten Commandments, excluding the command to observe the Sabbath day).
  • Romans 6:14-15: Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!
  • Romans 7:4-6: So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
  • Galatians 2:16: Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
  • Galatians 3:10: But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”
  • Galatians 3:23-25: Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
  • Galatians 5:4: For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
  • Galatians 6:2: Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
  • 1 Timothy 1:8: We know that the law is good when used correctly.

(2) Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.

• Listen!:
  • Behold or therefore.
• I, Paul:
  • Whom do you want to believe? Paul the apostle who introduced you to Christ and freedom in Christ or the Judaizers who want to bring you under the law?
• Circumcision:
  • Wommack: “Paul was referring to trusting in some external action to produce justification with God instead of just faith in Christ. The false teachers in Galatia had taught that circumcision and the keeping of the Old Testament Law were necessary for salvation.”
  • David Guzik: “The legalists among the Galatians wanted them to think that they could have both Jesus and a law-relationship with God. Paul tells them that this is not an option open to them – the system of grace and the system of law are incompatible. “Whoever wants to have a half-Christ loses the whole.” (Calvin)”
  • Zach Adams: “In Romans 4:11, Paul would later write that Abraham “received the sign of circumcision (14 years after being declared righteous by God), a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also”… While the Jews had come to see circumcision as an external act that brought with it God’s acceptance and entry into the lineage of Abraham (which is why they wanted Gentile Christians to become circumcised), the reality is that circumcision represented the opposite reality. As David Guzik remarked, “Circumcision is a cutting away of the flesh and an appropriate sign of the covenant for those who should put no trust in the flesh.””
  • Acts 16: so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.
  • Romans 4:11: Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous - even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith.
  • Galatians 2:3: And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.
• No benefit:
  • Wommack: “It doesn’t matter if it is circumcision, water baptism, holiness, or any other religious act; trust in anything except Christ voids the saving effects of Christ in our lives. A simple way to detect what our faith is in is to imagine ourselves standing before God, giving a reason that we should be allowed into heaven. If we pointed out our church attendance, giving receipts, acts of holiness, or anything else, then that is what our faith is in. Those of us who would do that are no different than Muslims or Buddhists. We would be trusting in our own efforts to produce salvation. The proper response would be to say, “The only thing that makes me worthy to enter heaven is what Jesus did for me. My total faith and trust is in Jesus.””
  • Zach Adams: “Paul’s point is that since the Savior had already come in the person of Jesus, partaking in a physical act (“circumcision”) that represented faith in a coming Savior would now signify unbelief (a failure to recognize Jesus as your Savior). This explains why he then says, “Christ will profit you nothing” or literally “Christ will not be able to assist you.” It’s like Paul is saying, “Who cares about faith in a coming Savior when the Savior has already come.”

(3) I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.

• I’ll say it:
  • Greek - marturomai.. In the Greek, “I speak in the presence of a witness.” And that witness is Christ!
• Obey every regulation:
  • Bouter: “You cannot divide the law into a moral part or a ceremonial part or a ritual part, the law is one package, you are either under it, or not at all. This is why Paul said, “If you view circumcision as part of the law, then you are a debtor to the whole law.” A debtor means you are in debt. To the believers who were considering being circumcised, Paul said, ‘If you do that, you will be in debt, you will lose your walk, you will lose all your riches in Christ, you will not be able to enjoy them, you will be a debtor.’”

(4) For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

• Cut off:
  • Gotquestions.com - What does it mean to 'fall from grace' (Galatians 5:4)?: “The two most important words in Galatians 5:4 are katargeó (severed) and ekpipto (fallen). The word katargeó does not require the “harsh” implications that come with “sever” in the English language, though it should not be taken lightly. In light of Paul’s words in Galatians 5:2 and how Paul uses the term in verses such as Romans 3:3, 4:14, and 1 Corinthians 1:28, a good way of understanding the term katargeó is “nullify” or “done away with.” While the word ekpipto can undoubtedly mean to fall away from a previously held position, as those who deny the eternal security of true believers assert, in the context of this verse and how it is used in passages such as Acts 27, a good understanding of the phrase in Galatians 5:4 is that of “estranged” or “separated from.””
• Fallen away:
  • Wommack: “The expression “you are fallen from grace” should be understood not in the sense that grace has been taken away from them, but in the sense that they have turned their backs on it. One may also say ‘you have put yourself in a place where God cannot be good to you, or show you His goodness’. “Fallen from grace” is not speaking about the Armenian doctrine of losing salvation by one’s sins; rather, it is speaking of turning from the method of salvation (grace) to seeking salvation by another way.”
  • Karmelich: “Is Paul saying the Galatians have lost their salvation by them trying to prove their worth to God by being obedient to His laws? No. Paul is just saying that one is wasting one’s time when one tries to prove one’s worth to God. It is like when we sin. We haven’t lost our salvation, but we are at that moment wasting the greatest asset God has given us: our time, when we do use it for some sort of sinful purpose. I can just hear someone say, “I know some religious Jewish folks. They are good people.” I know some too and I agree. The issue is not whether or not one is a good person or if one is trying to live a good life. The real issue is one perfect in God’s eyes or not? None of us would argue that we are perfect people, which is why we preach about being perfectly forgiven of our sins. To put it simply, when we are trying to prove what a good person we are by trying to be obedient to God’s laws, we are at that moment, not trusting in His grace alone.”
  • Boice: “The phrase does not mean that if a Christian sins, he falls from grace and thereby loses his salvation. There is a sense in which to sin is to fall into grace, if one is repentant. But to fall from grace, as seen by this context, is to fall into legalism… Or to put it another way, to choose legalism is to relinquish grace as the principle by which one desires to be related to God.”
  • Wiersbe: “Certainly he is not suggesting that the Galatians had ‘lost their salvation,’ because throughout this letter he deals with them as believers. At least nine times he calls them brethren, and he also uses the pronoun we (Galatians 4:28, 31). This Paul would never do if his readers were lost. He boldly states, ‘And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father‘”’ (Galatians 4:6). If his readers were unsaved, Paul could never write those words.”
  • Dr. Robert L. Dean Jr.:
    ““You have been severed from Christ” has been misunderstood and mistranslated by some and misapplied by others into teaching that we can lose our salvation. The verse begins with the verb katargeo, aorist passive indicative. It means to leave, to occupy, to nullify, to make of no effect. So Paul is saying, “You have nullified Christ, been severed from Christ, or made your relationship with Christ of no effect.” The point that he is making is not that their salvation has disappeared but that all that God has done for them in salvation is not benefiting them at all in their spiritual lives as long as they are operating on the principle of legalism. He says in conclusion, “you have fallen from grace.” There are so many people who take this passage in the sense of losing their salvation, and what they are doing is making the mistake of interpreting grace as some sort of status, and if you are in this status of grace you are saved and that of you fall from grace then you are no longer saved. That is not what the passage is saying at all. The verb here that is translated “fallen” is the Greek pipto. It means to fall, to be removed, and it was a nautical term which means to be driven off course. What Paul is saying is that they have been driven off course from grace, diverted from grace by the false teaching of the legalists. … What is the solution? It is through restoration, and restoration comes through confession of sin. Confession means to acknowledge or to admit your sin privately to God the Father. 1 John 1:9.”
    
    Today when we come to this issue of eternal security, we face three different problems and three different approaches to this doctrine. The first is what is usually associated with Arminianism. Arminianism is a system, it starts with a definition of the nature of man as being totally free. That is an important concept, that man is born totally free in the same sense that Adam was free ion the garden. Adam was created free in the garden because he was created righteous. He had the perfect righteousness of God because he was created in the image and likeness of God. So Adam had a sense of freedom that we do not have. He was created free from sin; he was not in bondage to sin. But the problem with Arminianism is that it says that every single person is born in that same condition: that we do not inherit a sin nature from Adam; that we are sinners because we sin. That is not what the Bible says. The Bible says we sin because we are sinners; we sin because we are born with a sin nature we inherit from Adam; that Adam’s original sin was imputed to that sin nature, and we also commit personal sins. But our condemnation is based upon Adam’s sin and its imputation to us, and it is not based upon our individual acts of sin. Arminianism falls apart here because it puts all the emphasis on human volition and says every human being is absolutely free and man can choose for God, and when you trust Christ as saviour that is the issue. They will say that salvation is the result of faith in Christ but they will also say that God did all he could do for you at the cross and now the rest is up to you. God is going to save you but it is up to you to keep that salvation. Therefore, any kind of security is based on your works. Frankly, that is not security at all. You never know if you are saved.”
    
    The second approach is what we call front-loading the gospel with works. It is not really faith alone in Christ, it is faith plus works. It is works that keeps you saved. But if you can do something to lose your salvation that means you had to do something to gain your salvation. A more subtle form today is what is known as Lordship salvation. It is called that because in its most extreme form it is saying that the salvation message is that you must believe Jesus died for you and accept Him as Lord of your life. Sometimes it defines faith as making a commitment to Jesus. Faith does not mean to make a commitment. There are more subtle forms of Lordship salvation. What is inherent in it is the idea that somebody can have faith in Christ and they say that when you believe and have true “saving faith” it will necessarily produce works. How do you know you are saved in the Lordship system? They would say that you can have a faith in Christ that is non-saving. Their hidden assumption is that something happens at regeneration to limit, reduce or nullify part of the sin nature so that after salvation you won’t be as bad as you were before you were saved. Yet regeneration doesn’t say anything about getting rid of the sin nature and says everything about acquiring a new nature. But the old sin nature is still there and is just as powerful as it was before we were saved.”
    
    In the Calvinist solution in the Lordship crowd says that you can be justified by faith alone but “the faith that saves is never alone,” is what they say. The problem there is the same. You can’t know you are saved until you die. Think about this: if real saving faith produces works then the only way you are going to know that you had saving faith instead of having non-saving faith is if you have works. So the Lordship crowd is not based on the Word of God, assurance is based on your lifestyle. And you don’t know if you have persevered in good works until you die. That is heresy. 1 John 5:13 NASB “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Paul says in Galatians that justification is by faith alone - faith plus nothing. …”
    
    Eternal security is the work of God which guarantees that God’s free gift of salvation is eternal and cannot be lost, terminated, abrogated, nullified or reversed by any thought, act or change of belief in the person saved. It guarantees something so that we can know with certainty that we have eternal life. God does not take back what He has once given, so eternal security is an unbreakable relationship with the integrity of God.”
    
    God the Father’s purposes in salvation cannot be overridden. Romans 8:29 NASB - “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined {to become} conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” Here we have one group of people called “whom.” These He foreknew and He also predestined. He doesn’t leave anybody out and doesn’t acquire anybody else. Predestined means that we have the destiny of Jesus Christ; it is a future concept. Those whom He foreknew have a destiny with Christ, to be conformed to His image. Then “those whom He predestined” - no more and no less; the same group - these He called. And “whom” [the same group of people] He called [the same group of people He predestined] He justified. It is the same group of people; He doesn’t lose any; he doesn’t gain any. “…and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” That tells us that everyone that God justifies is glorified. The Scripture says that if you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ at that instant you were justified. This verse tells us that everyone who was justified will be glorified. So you can’t lose your salvation.”
    
    God the Father’s omnipotence is more powerful than human attempts to negate their salvation. Therefore, He is able to keep the believer secure. Jude 1:24 NASB “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.” It is Christ who keeps us, not we who keep ourselves. John 10:28-29.”
    
    God is omniscient; that means that God knows all the knowable. God is eternal; that means that God has eternally known all the knowable. Since God has eternally known all the knowable and since God never changes, God has known all the knowable simultaneously forever. This is linking together immutability, eternal life and omniscience. That means that when God planned salvation in eternity past He knew all the facts. He knew what would happen and he is not surprised, and because He is omnipotent he was able to devise a plan that was large enough and complex enough to cover every single contingency and to deal with every single sin in human history. So there is no sin or evil that we can commit that is too great for the power and the knowledge of God. He could provide a perfect plan for us.”
    
    No one, angelic or human, can bring a charge or condemn those who are saved. Why is that? a) Christ’s death paid the penalty for every single sin in human history; b) Christ’s righteousness was imputed to every believer at the moment of faith alone in Christ alone. Therefore, because the basis for our acceptance is with Jesus Christ, no charge can be brought against us because the issue is not us, the issue is Christ and no charge can be brought against Christ. His payment was sufficient. Now what we can reason is that if any sin can undo a believer’s salvation then either a) Christ’s death did not pay for that sin, or b) Christ’s payment was not enough and so we have to add something to it. Both are blasphemy. Romans 8:3-34 NASB “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.””
    
    To think that you can help God out is nothing but arrogance. God doesn’t need our help; we need God’s help. That is the grace policy of God. Man’s character does not cancel the integrity of God. God’s plan is not based upon our success but upon His success. Man’s weakness cannot negate God’s strength. Lack of integrity in the believer cannot nullify the integrity of God. Failure to live out the plan of God in our life does not cancel our eternal salvation. The problem is we are more impressed with our failures than with the integrity of God and the grace of God…”
    
    Jesus Christ prays continuously for us to be kept in salvation. He is our high priest. He uttered the model high-priestly prayer in John 17:11-16.”
    
    Christ is the head of the body. That is the imagery of 1 Corinthians 12:13, 21. To say that we can lose our salvation is to say that we can be severed from the body of Christ.”
    
    The character of God means that God keeps His promises. God is faithful, immutable; He never changes; He always keeps His Word. Therefore, He cannot cancel or take back something once He has given it. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 NASB “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.””
    
    The Holy Spirit seals us at the moment of redemption. This is our guarantee of protection in salvation. Ephesians 4:30 NASB “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.””
    
    Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  In the Greek. the main verb is eimi [e)imi] which is a present active indicative. It is the “to be” verb, is or are. But the participle for saved is a perfect participle from sozo [swzw]. Whenever there is a main verb linked with a participle that is called a periphrastic construction. The reason they did that was to intensify the participle. Whenever a present tense is combined with a present tense main verb with a perfect participle the meaning is like a perfect verb. The perfect verb means the emphasis of a present reality of a past act. So it is translated in the NASB “you have been saved (in the past with results that go on)”. So it is emphasizing the present reality of their salvation on the basis of a past act, a past completed act; it is not a process.”
    
    Our position in Christ protects us. Romans 8:38 NASB “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
    
    Retroactive positional truth means that at the moment of salvation through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit (the baptism by means of the Holy Spirit) we are identified with Jesus Christ. It is irreversible. The issue is understanding faith. Faith is non-meritorious; all the merit is in the work of Christ.”

(5) But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us.

• We who live by the Spirit:
  • In contrast to those who instead live by the law and works in verse 4.
  • Dean: ““For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” This begins with the particle gar which always introduces an explanation. No, Paul is going to explain the principle underlying his statement in verse 4. “For we,” i.e. believers who are advancing and maturing in the spiritual life; “through the Spirit,” translates just one word in the Greek pneuma in the dative case. It could be a reference to the human spirit, to thinking or an attitude, or it could be a reference to the Holy Spirit. Here it is a reference to the Holy Spirit. The dative case indicates instrumentality or means. What Paul is saying here is: In contrast to those of you who are seeking to be justified by means of the law, there are those of us who are advancing by means of the Spirit. The translators of the NASB who translated this dative as “through” really missed the boat here because in the English we can’t see what Paul is saying. There is one crowd who is seeking by law to be justified but Paul is saying we are seeking by the Spirit. There is a direct contrast; it is one or the other. We should translate this “by means of the Spirit.” This is a reference to the filling of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:18”
• Eagerly wait:
  • Wuest: “The word speaks of an attitude of intense yearning and an eager waiting for something. Here it refers to the believer’s intense desire for and eager expectation of a practical righteousness which will be constantly produced in his life by the Holy Spirit as he yields himself to Him.”
• Righteousness:
  • Dean: “Dikaiosune has a double meaning in the Greek. On the one hand it can means righteousness and on the other hand it can mean justice. Righteousness refers to the absolute standard of the law, of God’s perfect character; justice is the application of that absolute standard… The problem in man’s relationship to God is that man fails to measure up to this absolute divine standard. … Isaiah 64:6 NASB “…And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment…” Man by man’s efforts can do nothing good enough to measure up to God’s standards, and man cannot gain the approval of God either for the purpose of salvation or the purpose of sanctification, based on works that have their origin in his own sin nature.”

(6) For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

• Circumcised … uncircumcised:
  • Wommack: “Paul so conclusively disproved that circumcision was essential for salvation that nobody argues that point today. However, the same legalistic thinking that Paul countered in these verses lives on today in the doctrine of water baptism, church membership, and other acts of holiness that some preach are necessary for salvation.”
  • Don Fortner: “In Christ, law-work means nothing. Everything Paul says about “circumcision” is equally applicable to everything men attempt to join with Christ for righteousness. Though circumcision was the solemn ordinance of God in the Old Testament, those who observe that rite or do anything else to obtain righteousness before God are saying that Christ is not enough, that he has not fulfilled all righteousness, and that his obedience and death were meaningless. They do, in effect, make Christ to be of no effect. They have totally departed from the gospel of the grace of God. Like the Jews of old, they, being ignorant of the righteousness of God in Christ, go about to establish their own righteousness and refuse to submit to Christ alone for righteousness. They have not yet learned the sweet meaning of that blessed assertion of the gospel — “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth” (Romans 10:3-4).”
  • Romans 2:28-29: For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
  • 1 Corinthians 7:18-19: For instance, a man who was circumcised before he became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was uncircumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now. For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s commandments.
  • Galatians 6:15: It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.
• Faith expressing itself in love:
  • Wommack: “There are two ways of looking at the phrase “faith which worketh by love.” One way is to say that true, saving faith always expresses itself through love. That is certainly true. A God-kind of faith will always have actions that conform to the commands of God’s Word. … It is also accurate to say that love produces faith or is what makes faith work. We naturally trust those who we know love us. A revelation of God’s unconditional love for us will make faith naturally abound in us. Anyone who is struggling with faith has a deficiency in understanding how much God loves them.”
• In love:
• Schultz: “The purpose of this freedom is that we serve one another in love. This brings us back to the theme of the bond slave in Exodus who says: “I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free.” - Exodus 21:5 … Our freedom is a freedom for service. Our position of freedom in Christ is characterized by the words “faith expressing itself through love.” With the call to freedom comes
  the word “serve one another in love.” That is fulfilling the law, not submit to circumcision. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is a quotation from Leviticus. In His answer to a question by a teacher of the law, Jesus combined this statement with the one from Deuteronomy, which states: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” In doing so, Jesus erased any qualitative difference between both commandments. It will be impossible to love our neighbor as ourselves if we do not love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. We must love God more than ourselves and be willing to give our life for our fellowmen. The Apostle John writes: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.””

(7) You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?

• Dean: “The point that Paul is making in these next six verses is that legalism destroys spiritual life. In verses 7-10 he talks about how legalism hinders and reverses spiritual life, and in verses 11 & 12 he shows how legalism removes the offence of the cross, so it is obviously false.”
• Were Running:
  • Just considering circumcision and allowing themselves to be placed under the law was enough to bring their good run to a complete halt. In fact, they were in the process of falling from grace (not the same as losing their salvation). They have taken their eyes off the prize for the high calling in Christ.
• Race:
  • James Hastings: “This race is appointed for the follower of Jesus. He also finds that he cannot choose his own way to the goal; the race is set before him, marked out for him, measured and staked in by a power not his own. His birth, his natural condition, temperament, and talents, his opportunities, the vicissitudes of fortune he encounters are all arranged for him - that is the course set before him, and he must win the prize by running in it. He may not leap the ropes, and try a short cut; he may not demand some softer course, some more elastic turf; he may not ask that the sand be lifted and a hard beaten surface prepared for him; he may not require that the ascents be leveled and the rough places made smooth; he must take the course as he finds it. In other words, he must not wait till things are made easier for him; he must not refuse to run because the course is not all he could wish; he must recognize that the difficulties of his position in life are the race set before him. The Christian must open his eyes to the fact that it is in the familiar surroundings of the life we now actually lead that God calls us to run; in the callings we have chosen, amid the annoyances we daily experience, where we are, and as we are, from the very position we this day occupy, our race is set before us.”
  • 1 Corinthians 9:24-27: Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
  • Galatians 2:2: I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing.
  • Philippians 2:16: Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.
  • Philippians 3:13-14: No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
  • 2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
  • Hebrews 12:1-2: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
• Held you back (hindered you):
  • Karmelich: “It would be like running in race on a track with marked lanes. All of a sudden another runner cuts into our line right in front of us and causes us to fall. The idea is that the Christians living in Galatia were at one time living their lives by trusting that Jesus died for their sins and had faith that because of what He did, they didn’t have to prove themselves to God.”
  • Steve Lewis: “Egkopto (cut in) = a term describing what runners do in order to take the lead in a race. Also used of “hindering” by breaking up the road to prevent an oncoming army from moving forward.”
  • Zach Adams: “Here’s why legalism ultimately hinders spiritual growth… It robs you from the power of God’s transforming grace because it promotes the enthronement of self over Jesus”

(8-9) It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!

• Yeast (Leaven):
  • Adam Clarke: “They might have argued, “It is a small thing, and should not be made a subject of serious controversy, whether we be circumcised or not.” Granted, that in itself it is a small matter; but, as every man who is circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law, Galatians 5:3, then your circumcision leads necessarily to your total perversion; as the little portion of leaven, mixed with the batch, soon leavens the whole lump.”
  • Dean: “This proverb reminds us that it doesn’t take much if somebody comes in and teaches principles of legalism, emphasizing morality over spirituality, emphasizing do-goodism as a means of gaining favour with God, to begin to permeate everything in the local church. We can see historically how legalism has destroyed the witness of Christians in our culture.”
  • 1 Corinthians 5:6-7: Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.

(10) I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.

• Trusting:
  • Dean: “He is confident that they are going to get straightened out and are going to come back to grace.”
• That person … confusing you:
  • Philippians 3:2: Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.

(11) Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised - as some say I do - why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended.

• If I were still preaching that you must be circumcised:
  • Dr. John Sewell: “Paul had not circumcised Timothy, so that Timothy would be in better standing with God. He had done it, because the group of people Timothy would be ministering to were Jews, and they would not have let Timothy preach.”
  • Bob Deffinbaugh: “Some today teach the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. To those who hold this doctrine, salvation cannot be obtained other than by means of baptism. Apart from changing the rite from circumcision to baptism, this teaching does not differ from that of the Judaizers (cf. Acts 15:1,5).”
  • Acts 16:3: so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.

(12) I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.

• Troublemakers … mutilate themselves:
  • Apokopto = to cut from, to amputate.
  • Or, castrate themselves, or cut themselves off from you; Greek reads cut themselves.
  • Schultz: “Baptism and circumcision can be used as a means to put our ego back on the pedestal. Paul suggests that those who insist upon the rite of circumcision follow the practice of the pagan priests and have themselves castrated.”
  • Dean: “He has been talking about circumcision and he says here that he wishes that those who were teaching the false doctrine would just castrate themselves. He is very blunt. The reason he does this is that he picks up the analogy from the local Phrygian priests of Sybille who as part of their initiation rites would castrate themselves so that they would not propagate. That is the thrust of Paul’s sarcasm. He doesn’t want these legalists to propagate their false teaching. This is how seriously we need to treat legalism. It is destructive to the spiritual life.”
  • Galatians 6:12-13: Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.
  • Philippians 3:2: Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.

(13) For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

• Called to live in freedom:
  • Dean: “In the garden of Eden, sin destroyed freedom. It began by destroying life. Adam had perfect and unlimited freedom in the garden, he was going to live forever, he had access to the tree of life and he was never going to die. Obviously, the first consequence of loss of freedom is to lose the ability to live forever. Secondly, it created a cursed environment. Third, the problem is primarily a spiritual problem; therefore, the solution must begin with a spiritual solution. … Bondage to sin destroys capacity for life, for happiness, and to appreciate freedom. So the more the sin nature goes unrestrained in society the more the capacity for life and happiness is destroyed and people lose the whole concept of personal responsibility and accountability… God has called us to freedom. We are free from sin nature control; we do not have to obey the desires and lusts of the flesh. We have all been called to spiritual freedom. God has given this to us as part of the package that we received at the moment of salvation.”
  • Ray Pritchard: “Our freedom is first and foremost a spiritual freedom that opens up a new and everlasting relationship with God. But freedom does not mean that we do not struggle with sin any longer. We are not yet free from the presence of sin. That won’t happen until we stand face to face before Jesus Christ. Nor are we free from the pull of the flesh that leads us into sin. We are free from the bondage of trying to please God through ancient ceremonies and religious rituals, and we are free from the overwhelming guilt of sin that was like a mighty weight around our necks, pulling ever downward. But sin itself remains with us and even in us.”
• Don’t use your freedom:
  • Don Fortner: “Whenever religious legalists hear or read about the blessed liberty God’s saints have in Christ from the law of Moses, red flags immediately arise in their minds. When we assert, in Bible language, that “Christ is the end of the law,” that “we are not under the law, but under grace,” and “ye are dead to the law,” they are terrified that such gospel declarations will lead people professing godliness to live in licentiousness. Because they know that they are ruled and motivated by legal threats and rewards, because their religion is nothing more than mercenary duty, they presume the same is true of God’s children. Shall we, therefore, refuse to assure God’s saints of their liberty in Christ? Perish the thought! Instead of that, Paul asserts, “Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty.” Then he gives us this admonition, “only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh.” We must take care that we do not use (or abuse) our liberty in Christ to indulge the lusts of the flesh.”
  • Dean: “Liberty is not licence. If we follow the flesh then we will be in what the Bible calls carnality, and that produces carnal or temporal death which is the result of following the lusts of the sin nature, according to James chapter one: “when sin is conceived it brings forth death.” The opposite is, “…but through love serve one another.” What is interesting here is the connection that Paul brings together. In opposition to licentiousness which is self-centredness, he brings forth the mandate to love which is not self-centered. The problem here is that most people do not understand love. We think of love in terms of emotion, in terms of romantic ideas, in terms of sentimentality. But that is not how the Bible thinks of love. We are not to turn “our freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love [we are to] serve one another.”
  • Romans 6:15-16: Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.
  • 1 Corinthians 8:9: But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.
  • 1 Peter 2:16: For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.
  • Jude 4: I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
• Satisfy (indulge):
  • Ray Pritchard: “The word “indulge” is a military term that refers to a base of operations that an army establishes in enemy territory. From this base of operations, the army can then launch attacks in various directions. You can misuse your freedom by allowing the flesh to have a “base of operations” in your life from which all sorts of sinful actions spring.”
• Sinful nature:
  • Ray Pritchard: “Exactly what is the “flesh” (translated in the NIV as “sinful nature”) that may lead us into sin? The term does not refer to our literal, physical flesh and bones. It refers to the fallen human nature that all of us inherited from Adam. We are born with this fallen human nature and it stays with us in one form or another until the day we die. Even though we are redeemed and made new creatures by Christ Jesus, the flesh is always with us, pulling us down, dragging us back to the world, and enticing us to every sort of moral and spiritual compromise. It is the flesh that pulls us toward lust, anger, hatred, bitterness, violence, cheating, adultery, perversion, malice, envy, greed, and every other sin we can think of. One writer defines the flesh as “the inner desire for selfish gratification at the expense of God and others.” That’s a good definition because it focuses on the selfishness of the flesh. There is something in all of us that says, “Go ahead. You deserve this. You’ve earned it. No one can stop you,” even though we know the thing itself is sinful. The flesh loves to be pampered and it whines like a little baby when it wants something. When our flesh throws a tantrum, we quickly give in to it. But that giving in leads to sin, compromise and eventually to outright evil behavior.”
  • Bouter: “Christian liberty does not mean license; we will see in chapter 6 that we are under the law of Christ. This is a new law, a new order of things, the law of Christ relates to the new nature. God does not force us to obey His commands; rather, he has given us a nature that desires to do exactly what He wants us to do. … We will see in the next chapter that we are under a new rule, we are not in bondage, but it is a system of things that we can now serve one another by love.”
  • Wommack: “This liberty is not freedom TO sin but freedom FROM sin.”
  • Guzik: “The great fear of the legalist is that liberty will be used as an opportunity for the flesh. The idea is that people will just go out and sin as they please, then say to a spineless God, “I’m sorry, please forgive me,” and then go on doing whatever they want again. Paul recognized the danger of this attitude, so he warned against it here… Paul has in mind using our freedom in a way that tramples on the toes of others… It is easy to think liberty is “the right to sin,” or “the privilege to do whatever evil my heart wants to do.” Instead, this liberty is the Spirit-given desire and ability to do what we should do before God.”
  • Jude 1:4: I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
• Instead:
  • Ray Pritchard: “Let’s pause for a moment and learn a new word. The word is “antinomianism.” It doesn’t sound very good, does it? Well, it isn’t good at all. The prefix “a” means “against” and “nomos” means “law.” Literally, an antinomian is someone who is “against the law.” In church history, the term has come to refer to one of the most ancient Christian heresies, a virulent strain of false teaching that has recurred in every generation and is widely held in evangelical churches today. An antinomian is a person who believes that salvation by grace means that he is free to do whatever he likes and God won’t care. Such a person excuses evil by saying, “God will forgive me.” He claims that God’s grace allows him to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and without paying any consequences. … It’s a convenient theology because you can claim to be a Christian and yet ignore the moral teachings of the Bible. It says, “Accept Christ and then live as you like.” It’s pure, undiluted hedonism dressed up in a Christian costume. How easy it is for all of us to “justify” our sin. We use grace as a cloak to cover our sinful behavior and then dare God not to forgive us. … To indulge the flesh is to live in slavery to it. You are not free at all.… Biblical freedom is never freedom to sin; it’s freedom from sin. It’s the power to overcome, to get up and fight the battle again and again and again.”
  • Don Fortner: “This dual nature of the believer is plainly taught in the Word of God. It is utterly impossible to honestly interpret this portion of Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, the 7th chapter of Romans, and 1 John 3 without concluding that both Paul and John teach that there is within every believer, so long as he lives in this world, both an old Adamic nature that can do nothing but sin and a new righteous nature, that which is born of God, that cannot sin, that can only do righteousness. The Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification is not the improvement of our old nature, but the maturing of the new, steadily causing the believer to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and bring forth fruit unto God.”

(14) For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

• Love your neighbor as yourself:
  • Leviticus 19:18: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
  • Matthew 22:36-40: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
  • Romans 13:8-10: Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

(15-16) But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

• Holy Spirit guide your lives:
  • KJV: Walk in the Spirit.
  • Wommack: “The Greek word “PERIPATEO,” translated “walk” here, means “to tread all around, i.e. walk at large... figuratively, to live, deport oneself, follow” (Strong’s Concordance) … He was speaking of living by, conducting our actions according to, and following the leading of the Holy Spirit.”
  • Wommack: “When we let the Holy Spirit control us, He breaks the power of the flesh… One of the true differences between Christianity and other religions is that God provides us with His power through the Holy Spirit to enable us to perform His will. Other religions preach that God will accept us in proportion to how we overcome sin. What a difference!”
  • Guzik: “When someone walks in the Spirit, they listen to what the Holy Spirit says as He guides us in the path and nature of Jesus.”
  • John Piper: “But the $60,000 question is, How do you walk by the Spirit? All of us have heard preachers say, “Let the Spirit lead you,” or, “Allow the Spirit to control you,” and have gone away puzzled as to what that means practically. How do you allow the Spirit to control you? I want to try to show you that the answer is, You allow the Spirit to control you by keeping your heart happy in God. Or to put it another way, You walk by the Spirit when your heart is resting in the promises of God. The Spirit reigns over the flesh in your life when you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you and now is working everything together for your good.”
  • Tim Schoap on walk by the Spirit - “Picture a man who needs a cane to get around with. He walks by that cane, he depends upon it. In the same way, we are to walk by the Spirit. We are to depend on the Spirit, to need him. What is the result of walking by the Spirit? Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. In other words, don’t walk by the Spirit and you will! In 5:22-23, fruit results from walking by the Spirit. Walk by the Spirit and be fruitful, don’t walk by the Spirit and be fruitless. Whose responsibility is “walking?” Ours again. This command is also continuous – we are to continually be “walking by the Spirit.” Walking by is not the same as being nice, or not having any particularly ugly vices. It is specifically a life that is totally dependent upon the Spirit. How do we do this? Both “filling” and “walking” result from mind sets, mental attitudes, conscious patterns of thought. How much “let go, let God” is there in walking/filling? Not much, both are pretty active. Both filling and walking entail a turning from something and a turning to something (Someone). Turning away from self. Turning to the Spirit. Both are absolutely vital to the spiritual life. Filling brings the Spirit’s control, walking by maintains the Spirit’s control. In filling we yield to the Spirit, in walking we depend upon the Spirit. “Be filled with” and “walk by” are the two positive commands in regards to the Spirit. There are also two negative commands, two things we are to avoid.”
• Sinful nature craves:
  • Bruce Hurt: “This verse makes the point that every translation has the potential to add their bias to the passage. In other words, every translation is to some degree an “interpretation” of the original Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic, and this is a good reason one should use one of the more literal translations as their primary text.. Now, did you see the subtle twist the RSV gives this verse. Look again -- how many “commands” are suggested by the RSV rendering? Two, right? One positive (“Walk”) and one negative (“Do not gratify”). The Greek has only one -- walk. Why is this significant? The RSV reading might give someone the false impression that they need not only to walk by the Spirit but also not gratify their desires. That is not what the verse says -- it commands us to walk by the Spirit (a command that frankly we can only obey as the Spirit gives us the desire and power -- we need to learn continually to surrender to His leading, filling, empowering presence.) When we obey that command and walk by the enabling power the Spirit of grace supplies, then and only then will we be enabled to not carry out the desire of the flesh [which does necessitate us making that choice, but again it is a choice empowered by the indwelling Spirit!]. … The point is that not gratifying the flesh is a supernatural result or product or fruit of walking by the Spirit and it simply cannot be accomplished in by fleshly effort.”

(17) The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

• Two forces fighting each other:
  • Romans 7:18-24: And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life - that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
  • Romans 8:7: For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.

(18-19) But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,

• Sinful nature … results:
  • Wommack: “Paul categorizes these actions in four areas:
    (1) Sensual results - fornication or prostitution; uncleanness, meaning moral impurity (including homosexuality … and lasciviousness (promiscuity such as premarital or extramarital sexual relationships, and things of that nature).
    (2) False worship - idolatry and sorcery or witchcraft.
    (3) Personal and social relations - hatred (personal animosities), variance (strife, rivalry, and discord), emulations (jealousies of an unnatural kind), wrath, strife (factions and division within the body), seditions (divisions among individuals and between married couples), heresies, and envyings. These are personal and social results of walking in the flesh.
    (4) Intemperance - drunkenness, and revelings or orgies.”
  • Mark 7:21-23: For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
  • Romans 13:13: Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.
  • Ephesians 4:19, 30-31: They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. … And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
  • 1 Peter 4:3: You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
  • 2 Peter 2:2,7,18: Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. … But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. … They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.
• Sexual immorality:
• Fornication in the KJV. Greek - porneia. This is a broad word, and covers all types of sexual deviancy, including homosexuality.
• Impurity:
  • Uncleanness in the KJV. Greek - akatharsia. From a (not) and katharós (clean, unmixed, pure).
  • 2 Corinthians 12:21: Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.
• Lustful pleasures:
  • Lasciviousness in the KJV. Greek - aselgeia. Strong’s Greek #766: “Outrageous conduct, conduct shocking to public decency, a wanton violence), wantonness, lewdness.”

(20) idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,

• Idolatry:
  • Greek: Eidololatria. Strong’s Greek #1495: “From eidolon (image) and latreia (worship or service); image-worship (literally or figuratively) -- idolatry.” This would include praying to saints and statues hoping that god will hear you through them.
• Sorcery:
  • Greek: Pharmakeia. Strong’s Greek #5331: “The use of medicine, drugs or spells.” Witchcraft, practicing magic using demonic powers.
• Hostility:
  • Greek: Echthrai. Strong’s Greek #2189b: Enmity, hostility.
• Quarreling:
  • Greek: Eris. Strong’s Greek #2054: Quarrel, strife; properly, a readiness to quarrel (having a contentious spirit), affection for dispute.
  • 1 Corinthians 1:11: For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters.
  • 1 Corinthians 3:3: for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?
  • 2 Corinthians 12:20: For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.
• Jealousy:
  • Greek: Zelos. Strong’s Greek #2205b: Zeal, jealousy.
• Outbursts of anger:
  • Greek: Thumoi. Strong’s Greek #2372: An outburst of passion, wrath, rage, intense anger, wrath.
• Selfish ambition:
  • Greek: Eritheiai. Strong’s Greek #2052: Rivalry, ambition, self-seeking, a feud, faction.
• Dissension:
  • Greek: Dichostasiai. Strong’s Greek #1370:Standing apart, dissension, used of divisions which wrongly separate people into pointless (groundless) factions.
  • Romans 16:17: And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them.
• Division:
  • Greek: Aireseis. Strong’s Greek #139: A self-chosen opinion, a religious or philosophical sect, discord or contention.

(21) envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

• Envy:
  • Greek: Phthonoi. Strong’s Greek #5355: Envy, a grudge, spite, jealously.
• Drunkenness:
  • Greek: Methai. Strong’s Greek #3178.
• Wild parties:
  • Greek: Komoi. Strong’s Greek #2970: Feasting, reveling, carousing, orgies.
• Living that sort of life:
  • Boice: “The tense of the verb (present) indicates a habitual continuation in fleshly sins rather than an isolated lapse, and the point is that those who continually practice such sins give evidence of having never received God’s Spirit.”
  • Guzik: “Christians also fall and perform the lusts of the flesh. David fell horribly into adultery. Peter also fell grievously when he denied Christ. However great as these sins were, they were not committed to spite God, but from weakness. When their sins were brought to their attention these men did not obstinately continue in their sin, but repented. Those who sin through weakness are not denied pardon as long as they rise again and cease to sin. There is nothing worse than to continue in sin. If they do not repent, but obstinately continue to fulfill the desires of the flesh, it is a sure sign that they are not sincere.” (Luther)
• Not inherit:
  • Wommack: “These are characteristics of unsaved people. However, Christians can commit these acts also. Does this mean that any Christian who is guilty of something listed here has lost his or her salvation? Definitely not! The phrase “shall not inherit the kingdom of God” may be rendered as “‘will not enjoy having God rule over them’ or ‘will never have the joy of God ruling them’” (UBS Handbook, p. 139). It may also be that “Paul is dealing with that which is habitual practice as over against that which a believer simply falls into on an occasional basis.””
  • 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people - none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.

(22) But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

• The fruit of the Spirit:
  • The fruit of the Spirit is singular, not plural.
  • Sam O’Neal: “People often confuse the fruit of the Spirit with the “fruits” of the Spirit -- they believe some Christians have the fruit of love and peace, while others have the fruit of faith or goodness. The truth is that all Christians grow the “fruit” of the Spirit -- singular -- the more we are nurtured and empowered by the Holy Spirit… There are nine fruits of the Spirit which are imparted to believers. These fruits are the obvious evidence that a person has the Spirit of God living inside and ruling over them. They display the character of a life submitted to God…The fruit of the Spirit develops as a result of the Holy Spirit’s presence working in the lives of maturing believers. You cannot obtain this fruit by following legalistic rules.”
  • Schultz: “Jesus depicts this as a branch that is part of the vine. It cannot bear fruit on its own, but it is fruitful if it is connected to the vine and receives the nourishment of the root. The person who understands Jesus’ statement “apart from Me you can do nothing,” is already on the way to fruit bearing. The freedom in which we are placed is the freedom to bear fruit, the freedom of fellowship with the Lord. The first fruit is love. The word Paul uses is agape, the love of God. … Although Paul uses the word fruit in the singular, in reality it is a cluster of various kinds of fruits that belong together. We are not supposed to possess all spiritual gifts available, but we must have the whole cluster of fruit. Our love is inspired by God’s love for us. As the Apostle John writes: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10.”
  • Philippians 1:11: May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation - the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ - for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
• Love, joy, peace - This set of 3 are states that I experience in my own heart - relate to myself.
• Patience, kindness, goodness - This set of 3 are what I reveal to others; i.e., they look toward my neighbors.
• Faithfulness, gentleness and self-control - This set of 3 are attitudes which I am to maintain as the very first essentials of godliness; they have special reference to God.
• Love:
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. … Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love.
• Joy:
• Dr. Richard Patterson: “True joy comes with the believer’s salvation.”
• Psalm 16:11: You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:6: So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you…
• 1 Peter 1:8: You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
• Peace:
  • Numbers 6:26: May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.
  • John 14:27: “I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
  • Romans 5:1: Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
  • Colossians 1:20: and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
  • Colossians 3:15: And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
  • Philippians 4:6-7: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
• Patience:
  • Patterson: “Patience is one of the most difficult areas of the Christian life. Constantly changing circumstances test people’s patience; yet patience is presented in the Scriptures as essential to proper Christian living. Of the several words dealing with patience in the New Testament, one of the most frequent is makrothumia, (or “longsuffering”). It is, perhaps, the key to the several words regarding patience, for it rightly points to the character of God. … A second word group for patience (hypomene and related forms) is customarily rendered by such words as “endurance” or “endure.” … “Endurance” (or patience) is not simply a passive resignation to the inevitable, however, it is, “an unruffled expectancy of God’s salvation, to be fulfilled in the coming of our Lord.” ”
  • Romans 5:3: We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
  • Ephesians 4:2: Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
  • Colossians 1:11: We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,
  • Colossians 3:12: Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
  • James 1:3: For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
  • James 5:7-8: Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.
• Kindness:
  • Patterson: “In secular Greek, the adjective from the same root conveys such meanings as “upright” or “decent,” while the noun could bear such meanings as; “honesty,” “respectability,” “worthiness” and “friendliness” as well a “kindness.”… In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (LXX), this noun regularly appears as the rendering of a Hebrew word for “good/goodness” and with few exceptions was reserved for the character and actions of God.”
  • Ephesians 4:32: Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
• Goodness:
  • Romans 15:14: I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them.
  • Ephesians 5:9: For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
• Faithfulness:
  • Habakkuk 2:4: “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.
• Gentleness:
  • Patterson: “Peter points out that it is not one’s external appearance that is paramount, “but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:4). This kind of heart comes through the believer’s union with Christ who describes his own self as “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29)… James remarks, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works in the gentleness that wisdom brings” (James 3:13). Paul exhorts the Colossian Christians to have a Christ-like heart, which extends itself in a gentleness toward others and, when necessary, reaches out in forgiveness (Colossians 3:12-13). Paul similarly in Ephesians 4:1-3 links gentleness of conduct with such virtues as humility, patience, and a love toward fellow believers which makes “every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.“”
  • Proverbs 15:1: A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.
  • Ephesians 4:2: Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
  • 1 Timothy 6:11: But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
• Self-control:
  • Patterson: “In secular Greek, the noun translated here as “self-control” occurs quite frequently as do the verb “exercise self-control” and the adjective “self-controlled.” All three are derived from a root meaning “strength.” Their common thought involves that of a person’s self-mastery that keeps him from being tempted or drawn away by any enticement, or anything that would divert him from his goal. … The adjective “self-controlled” appears as one of the qualifications of an elder in Titus 1:8. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul uses the verbal form two times. In the first (1 Corinthians 7:9), he urges the need for self-control of sexual desire. Paul’s second employment of the verb is perhaps the most familiar. Under the imagery of an athletic contest, Paul points out that in order to win, each athlete must exercise self-control (1 Corinthian 9:25). As Hodge points out, each Christian can be a victor in the race of Christian living: “In the Christian race there are many victors; but the point of the exhortation is that all should run as the one victor ran in the Grecian games. … If the heathen submitted to such severe discipline to gain a wreath of olive or garland of pine leaves, should not Christians do as much for a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away?””
  • 1 Corinthians 9:25: (NRSV): Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.
  • Titus 1:8: Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life.
  • 2 Peter 1:5-6: … Supplement your faith with … self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,

(23) gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

• No law against these things:
  • Wommack: “The phrase “against such there is no law” is another way of saying “‘The law was never meant for people who demonstrate these qualities’ or ‘there are no laws which speak against people who live in this way’” (UBS Handbook, p. 141).”

(24) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

• Nailed … to the cross:
  • Wommack: ““Have crucified the flesh” is in the aorist tense, suggesting an action that took place in the past. This does not refer to self-crucifixion or self-mortification, but rather to Christians identifying with Christ’s death. A parallel passage may be found in Romans 6:6 and 11, which state, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin … Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”.”

(25-26) Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

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Galatians Chapter 5 Study References

NOTE: While the following sources contain valuable information, I do not necessarily agree with all the information and opinions presented in the sources.

• Adam Clarke Commentary: studylight.org/commentaries/acc.html
• An Outline to the Epistle to the Galatians by Alfred E. Bouter: biblecentre.org/content.php?mode=7&item=292#Introduction
• Andrew Wommack Ministries - Galatians Commentary: www.awmi.net/reading/online-bible-commentary/#/galatians
• Bible Class Lessons - Galatians by Don Fortner: www.donfortner.com/bible_class_lessons/index.php?dir=galatians/
• Bible Commentaries - Galatians by John Schultz: www.bible-commentaries.com/source/johnschultz/BC_Galatians.pdf
• Bible Study - Galatians by John Karmelich: biblestudyemail.com/karmelich_galatians/galatians.php
• Bible Study Workshop by Dr. John Sewell: biblestudyworkshop.com/lessons
• David Guzik’s Commentary on Galatians: enduringword.com/bible-commentary/galatians-1/
• Dean Bible Ministries - Galatians by Dr. Robert L. Dean Jr.: www.deanbibleministries.org/new-testament-menuitem/galatians-menuitem
• Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes - Galatians: www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/nt/galatians/galatians.htm
• Don’t Go Back from Sonship to Slavery by John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/dont-go-back-from-sonship-to-slavery
• Fruit of the Spirit by Dr. Richard Patterson: bible.org/article/fruit-spirit
• Galatians: Broken by His Cross, Healed by His Cross by John Piper: www.desiringgod.org/series/galatians-broken-by-his-cross-healed-by-his-spirit/messages
• Galatians by Sam O’Neal: www.thoughtco.com/search?q=galatians
• Galatians by Steve Lewis: www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/3.htm
• Galatians by Zach Adams: www.c316.tv/archive?tags=galatians
• Galatians Commentary Verse by Verse by Bruce Hurt: www.preceptaustin.org/galatians_commentary_verse_by_verse
• Galatians: The Gospel and God’s Grace by Bob Deffinbaugh: bible.org/series/galatians-gospel-and-gods-grace
• Galatians: Truth on Fire by Ray Pritchard: www.keepbelieving.com/sermon_series/galatians-truth-on-fire/
• “Galatians/Ephesians” by James Montgomery Boice
• “Galatians in the Greek New Testament” by Kenneth S. Wuest
• Gotquestions.com - What does it mean to 'fall from grace' (Galatians 5:4)? - www.gotquestions.org/fall-from-grace.html
• New Testament Bible Study - Galatians by John Stanko: www.stankobiblestudy.com/galatians/
• The Race Set Before Us by James Hastings: biblehub.com/commentaries/hastings/hebrews/12-1.htm
• “The Bible Exposition Commentary” by Warren Wiersbe

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• Except otherwise noted, the Scripture version used is the New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers,Inc., Wheaton, Illinois.
• Index to all our Galatians studies are at paultothegalatianchurch.blogspot.com/2018/11/galatians.html
• Index to all our studies are at oakview-bible-fellowship.blogspot.com/

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