‘Wherefore, brothers, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free-woman. Christ set us free with a view to our freedom, therefore stand fast continually, and do not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage.' The consequence of what had been said is that we are not to be children of slavery bu... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision Christ will be of no benefit to you. Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole Law. You are estranged from Christ, you who would be justified by the Law. You are fallen away from grace... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.' For those who are Christians walk through the Spirit by faith. And they are waiting for the final hope when they will be presented holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight (Colossians 1:22). This is the Christian Gosp... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through (or ‘by') love.' For in Christ it matters not whether a person is circumcised or uncircumcised. Circumcision makes no difference to a man's inner life. What matters is faith working in response... [ Continue Reading ]
‘You were running well. Who hindered you that you should not obey the truth?' Their progress and growth had been fully satisfactory, who was it now then who was hindering them from obeying the truth? The illustration is from the games. They were putting in a good performance, and then someone had c... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL IS PUZZLED BY THEIR FAILURE AND ANGRY AT THOSE WHO HAVE LED THEM ASTRAY (GALATIANS 5:7). Paul now again expresses his deep puzzlement at their behaviour. He just cannot understand how they can be so foolish, when what they had received was so wonderful... [ Continue Reading ]
‘This persuasion is not of him who calls you.' Whoever it is who is speaking to persuade them, who is hindering them, is not doing it at God's command. For the One Who is calling them longs for them to be truly free in Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘A little leaven leavens the whole lump.' They must therefore beware. For a small amount of yeast will spread through and affect the whole lump of pastry. So also will a small amount of false teaching affect a large number so that in the end all are affected. Or it can enter the individual mind and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I have confidence towards you in the Lord that you will not be of another mind, but he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.' But Paul now assures them that he is confident that they will come well out of this because they are in the Lord's hands. His confidence is primarily in t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But as for me brothers, if I still preach circumcision why am I still persecuted? Then the stumblingblock of the cross has been done away.' Some may have pointed at cases like Timothy's where he had allowed circumcision. And he no doubt still allowed Christian Jews to circumcise their sons if they... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I would that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off.' NEB puts this in this way, ‘as for these agitators, they had better go the whole way and make eunuchs of themselves' (i.e. like the eunuch priests of Cybele who might have been well known to the Galatians). For if they made eunuchs... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For you, brothers,were called for freedom. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity (a base of operations) for the flesh to express itself, but through love be servants to one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”.' As he... [ Continue Reading ]
FREEDOM IS NOT TO BE MISINTERPRETED AS LICENCE. THEY MUST WALK IN LOVE AND BY THE SPIRIT (GALATIANS 5:13). Paul now goes on to deal with the charge that the Gospel he is presenting gives men licence to do as they like. What he is teaching, he points out, will not result in licentious living, but ra... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you are not consumed one by another.' On the other hand, if we bite and devour each other by what we say and do, and there appears to be a hint that possibly some Galatian Christians were doing this, then we need to beware that we do not cons... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But I say, “Walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfil the longing of the flesh. For the flesh longs against the Spirit, and the Spirit longs against the flesh. For these are contrary, the one to the other, that you may not do the things that you would.' But how different that is from being a Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But if you are being led by the Spirit you are not under the Law'. This is the crux of the matter. Those who submit to the Spirit's prompting, with the help of the Spirit's power, will live positive lives of Christian love, for they are ‘being led by the Spirit', a continual process which includes... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now the works of the flesh are openly revealed, which are these, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, fits of anger, factions, divisions, party feeling, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like, of which I forewarn you that they who prac... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness (consideration for others), goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no Law.' In contrast to the works of the flesh is the fruit of the Spirit. And now he outlines the ‘fruit' of the Spirit. We no... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For those who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires'. Inevitably, we come back to the cross, for that is the centre of all God's working. We live like this because we have been crucified with Christ, and thus we have died to sin. In intent we have therefore put... [ Continue Reading ]
‘If the Spirit has given us life, let us also walk step by step with the Spirit.' So those who claim to have received life from the Spirit, will reveal it by a daily walk under His guidance and control. They will constantly look to Him for power, and each step will be taken hand in hand with Him. T... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.' In contrast there are things, which are ever a danger, and are in direct opposition to the Spirit, regardless of how we seek to justify them. If we think much of ourselves and are self-satisfied, if we are provocati... [ Continue Reading ]