Commentary - Galatians 5:1-15

Bird's-eye view

In this pivotal chapter, the Apostle Paul brings his theological argument from the preceding chapters to a white-hot, practical point. Having demonstrated that justification is by faith alone apart from works of the law, he now defines the nature of the freedom that this gospel produces. This is the great charter of Christian liberty. Paul places two ways of life in stark contrast: the freedom of the Spirit and the slavery of the flesh, which is marshaled by legalism. He begins by commanding the Galatians to stand firm in their Christ-bought liberty and not to return to the yoke of slavery represented by the Judaizers' demands for circumcision. This is not a minor issue; he argues that to seek justification through the law is to be severed from Christ and to fall from grace. True Christianity is not found in external rituals but in faith that works through love. Paul then turns his attention to the false teachers themselves, identifying their teaching as a corrupting leaven and pronouncing a severe judgment upon them. He concludes this section by clarifying that gospel freedom is not a license for self-indulgence but rather the empowerment to fulfill the law through loving service to one another.

This passage is a master class in dealing with legalism. Paul shows that adding anything to the finished work of Christ is not an innocent mistake but a fundamental abandonment of the gospel. He establishes the great antithesis: you can have Christ, or you can have your works-righteousness project, but you cannot have both. The freedom he champions is not an abstract concept but a robust, active, and loving reality that stands in opposition both to the chains of legalism and the chaos of licentiousness.

Outline

Context In Galatians

Galatians 5 is the application that flows directly from the argument Paul has been building since the first chapter. He has defended his apostleship, recounted his confrontation with Peter, and, most importantly, systematically dismantled the false gospel of the Judaizers. In chapters 3 and 4, he used Scripture, logic, and allegory to prove that justification is by faith alone. He has just concluded the powerful allegory of Hagar and Sarah (Gal 4:21-31), contrasting the slavery of the old covenant, centered on Sinai and earthly Jerusalem, with the freedom of the new covenant, centered on the heavenly Jerusalem. We, he says, are children of the free woman, not the slave. This passage, therefore, begins with a triumphant "Therefore." It is the great conclusion: because you are free, live like it. This chapter serves as the bridge from the deep doctrinal exposition of the first four chapters to the practical ethical instructions that will follow in the remainder of the epistle.

Key Issues

The Gospel of Liberty

At the heart of the Christian faith is a radical declaration of freedom. But we must be careful to define this freedom as God defines it, not as our fallen hearts would define it. The modern world thinks of freedom as autonomy, the right to do whatever one pleases without constraint. The Bible defines freedom as liberation. It is not freedom to create your own reality, but freedom from the tyrannical realities of sin, death, and the devil. Christ did not die to give us options; He died to rescue us from bondage. The freedom Paul speaks of here is, first and foremost, freedom from the condemnation of the law. The law demands perfect obedience, and pronounces a curse on any failure. Christ, by His perfect life and substitutionary death, has met the law's demands and exhausted its curse for us. We are free. This freedom then extends to the dominion of sin. Because we are no longer under the law's condemnation, we are no longer under sin's authority. This is the glorious liberty of the children of God, and it is this liberty that Paul commands the Galatians, and us, to defend at all costs.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, stand firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Paul begins with the thesis statement for the entire chapter. The purpose, the goal, the very telos of Christ's redemptive work was our freedom. He did not die to move us from one form of slavery to another, from paganism to a Christianized rule-keeping. He died to make us free men. On the basis of this glorious fact, Paul issues a command in military terms: stand firm. Hold your ground. Do not retreat. The position to be defended is freedom, and the enemy is a "yoke of slavery." This yoke is specifically the legalistic system of the Judaizers, which sought to place Gentile believers under the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic law as a condition of their justification. To return to that is to return to slavery.

2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

Here Paul puts his full apostolic authority on the line. "Behold I, Paul." This is not just his opinion; this is an authoritative declaration. The issue is circumcision, but we must understand what it represented in this context. It was not a matter of hygiene or cultural identity. For the Judaizers, it was the entrance rite into a system of justification by law. Paul's statement is shocking and absolute. If you adopt this system, Christ will profit you nothing. You cannot have Jesus plus your own righteousness project. The moment you add your work to His, you have nullified His. It is a package deal. You either take Christ and His righteousness alone, or you are left with your own works and no Christ.

3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.

He reinforces the point with a solemn testimony. If you choose to be justified by the law, you cannot pick and choose which parts you like. Circumcision is the sign of the whole covenant. If you take the sign, you take on the whole obligation. You must keep all 613 commands, perfectly, from the heart, your entire life. If you stumble in one point, you are guilty of all (James 2:10). Paul is showing them the terrible and impossible burden they are taking upon themselves. The legalist's gospel is a gospel of damnation because no one can meet its terms.

4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace!

The consequences are stated in the starkest possible terms. To seek justification by law is to be "severed from Christ." The Greek word means to be rendered inoperative or nullified. Christ is no longer your operating principle. You have unplugged yourself from the source of life. "You have fallen from grace" does not mean you have lost your salvation in an Arminian sense. It means you have fallen out of the entire sphere or system of grace and have landed in the system of law. You have abandoned the field of grace and are trying to play on the field of legal merit, where no one but Christ has ever won.

5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness.

Paul now contrasts the frantic, hopeless striving of the legalist with the confident waiting of the believer. Notice the Trinitarian shape of our salvation. We wait "through the Spirit," not through our own fleshly efforts. We wait "by faith," not by works. And what we wait for is the "hope of righteousness." This hope is the final public vindication at the judgment seat of Christ, the open declaration of the righteousness that is already ours by faith. We are not trying to achieve it; we are eagerly waiting for its consummation because it is a settled matter in Christ.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

This is the great summary statement. In the new creation, "in Christ Jesus," the old boundary markers are gone. The things that men use to establish their righteousness, their ethnic identity, their religious rituals, are all rendered meaningless. Circumcision is nothing. Uncircumcision is nothing. What counts? What is the evidence of being in this new creation? Faith working through love. This is a crucial definition. Saving faith is not a dead, intellectual assent. It is a living, active, vibrant trust in Christ that inevitably and necessarily expresses itself in love for God and neighbor. It is not faith plus works. It is a faith that works.

7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

Paul shifts his tone to that of a concerned coach. He reminds them of their good start in the faith. They were running the race with vigor and joy. But someone has cut in on them, thrown an obstacle in their path. The question "who hindered you" is meant to make them identify the source of the problem: the Judaizers. Their false teaching is not just a matter of intellectual error; it is a direct hindrance to obeying the truth of the gospel.

8 This persuasion is not from Him who calls you.

The source of this new teaching is identified clearly. It is not from God. God called them into the grace of Christ (Gal 1:6). This new message, this "persuasion" to legalism, comes from another source entirely, be it demonic, worldly, or from the flesh. Paul draws a sharp line; there is no middle ground. A teaching is either from God or it is not.

9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

He employs a common proverb to warn them of the danger. Leaven (yeast) in Scripture is almost always a symbol of corrupting influence. You do not need a truckload of heresy to ruin a church. A little bit of legalism, a small compromise on the gospel of grace, will eventually spread and corrupt the entire community if it is not dealt with swiftly and decisively. Doctrine matters immensely.

10 I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view. But the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.

Paul expresses his pastoral confidence, but notice the ground of his confidence: it is "in the Lord," not in the Galatians' own strength. He trusts that the Lord will preserve His people and bring them to repentance. At the same time, he pronounces a certain judgment upon the false teacher. It does not matter if he is a prominent figure from Jerusalem or a no-name agitator. "Whoever he is," he will face God's judgment for troubling the church and distorting the gospel.

11 But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross would have been abolished.

Paul addresses a slander that was likely being spread about him, probably that he preached a different gospel depending on his audience. His defense is simple and brilliant. He points to his own suffering. The reason he is persecuted is precisely because he preaches Christ crucified as the only way of salvation. The cross is a stumbling block because it tells proud religious people that their works, their heritage, and their rituals are worthless for salvation. If Paul had been preaching a "cross plus circumcision" message, the offense would be gone, and so would the persecution.

12 I wish that those who are upsetting you would even mutilate themselves.

This is one of the most severe statements Paul ever makes. It is a raw expression of holy indignation. The Judaizers were obsessed with cutting the flesh (circumcision). Paul says that he wishes they would go all the way and make themselves eunuchs. This is not just a crude insult. Under the Mosaic law (Deut 23:1), a man who was castrated was excluded from the assembly of the Lord. Paul is effectively saying that these men who are so keen on the law should have the ultimate sanction of the law applied to them. They should be cut off, excommunicated, from the people of God.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Paul anticipates the libertine objection. If we are free from the law, does that mean we can sin as we please? Absolutely not. He clarifies the purpose of our freedom. It is not a license, an "opportunity for the flesh." The word for opportunity is a military term for a base of operations. We are not to use grace as a forward operating base from which to launch sinful raids. Instead, the proper use of freedom is to "serve one another." The one who is truly free from the law's condemnation is now free to love, and that love expresses itself in slavery of a different kind: joyful, willing service to our brothers and sisters.

14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

Far from abolishing the law, the gospel of freedom is the only way to actually fulfill it. Paul shows that the entire moral thrust of the Mosaic law is summed up in the command to love your neighbor. This is not a new idea; Jesus taught the same thing. The legalist, with his external rule-keeping, can never fulfill the law because the law demands a love he does not have. The believer, indwelt by the Spirit, is now enabled to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law as he walks in love.

15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.

He concludes with a stark warning. The opposite of serving in love is a savage, animalistic existence. When a church abandons the gospel of grace, it does not become more holy. It becomes a place of strife, factionalism, and conflict. The legalistic spirit is always a contentious spirit. Paul uses the imagery of wild animals tearing each other apart. If they continue down this path of factionalism introduced by the Judaizers, the result will be mutual self-destruction. A loveless church is a dying church.

Application

The message of Galatians 5 is a perennial word to the church. The temptation to add to the gospel is always with us. The Judaizers may be gone, but their spirit is alive and well. We add to the gospel whenever we say that to be a true Christian, you must have faith in Jesus plus the right political affiliation, the right schooling choice for your children, the right diet, the right view on a thousand secondary matters. Whenever we make our personal standards a test of fellowship or a basis for our righteousness, we are becoming modern Judaizers.

We must stand firm in the glorious truth that we are justified by faith alone in Christ alone. Our standing before God depends entirely on His finished work, not our faltering performance. This truth does not lead to laziness or licentiousness. It leads to love. Because we are secure in His grace, we are freed from the self-centered project of saving ourselves. We are liberated to forget ourselves and to turn our attention to serving others. A church that understands this freedom will be a place of joy, peace, and mutual service. A church that forgets it will become a place of biting and devouring, a collection of Pharisees checking each other's credentials. Let us therefore stand firm in the freedom for which Christ has set us free, and use that freedom to love and serve one another, for in this the whole law is fulfilled.