Galatians 5:

[Chapter Synopsis: falling back to rely again on circumcision brings slavery to rule-keeping, but faith in Christ has set us free to live and love as led by the Spirit, expressing Christ.]

• v.1-12 Freedom in Christ
• v.13-26 Life by the Spirit

v.1-12 Freedom in Christ

v.1 The Principle: Christ died to make us free so don’t get enslaved by rules again

v.1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

v.2,3 A wrong reliance: if you rely on circumcision, Christ won’t mean anything to you; if you rely on circumcision you have to rely on the whole Law

v.2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

v.3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

v.4 A wrong outcome: if you now rely on the Law to be justified, you’ve become self-reliant, not Christ-reliant

v.4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

v.5,6 Spirit, faith, righteousness, love

v.5 (the Spirit in us looks forward to the fulness of the righteousness that is our inheritance) For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.

v.6 (whether or not you’re circumcised is irrelevant, it’s faith in Christ’s love in that counts) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

v.7,8 What happened? You were doing so well, whatever happened to you? It wasn’t from God.

v.7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?

v.8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

v.9 Warning: one wrong thought, one wrong sin, soon spreads

v.9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

v.10 Beware: I’m sure you’ll see this, and those deceivers will have to pay

v.10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.

v.11,12 Realize the truth: I’m not preaching circumcision anymore, but the Cross, which is why I get persecuted by them. I wish these deceivers would cut themselves to pieces

v.11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

v.12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

v.13-26 Life by the Spirit

v.13,14 Your calling: you were called to freedom but not to indulge your desires, but to love others. The Law is summed up in ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ [Lev. 19:18]

v.13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

v.14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

v.15,16 If you constantly argue you’ll destroy yourselves. so be led by the Spirit, not by carnal desires.

v.15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

v.16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

v.17 Flesh versus Spirit: the two things are against each other

v.17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

v.18 Spirit versus law: if you let the Spirit lead you don’t need to worry about rules

v.18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

v.19-21 Bad flesh life: the selfish-centred-desires life of the world is obvious and stops anyone entering the kingdom

v.19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

v.20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

v.21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

v.22,23 Good Spirit life: the fruit of the Spirit is quite opposite, expressing the goodness of Christ

v.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

v.23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

v.24-26 The new way: ‘in Christ’ we have died to that desires-based-life. So, living in the Spirt, let Him lead you, and let’s be at peace with one another

v.24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

v.25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

v.26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: