gal_gal5

GALATIANS 5:2-12.
2. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.  3. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.  4. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.  5. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.  6. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any strength, but faith working through love.  7. You were running well; who hindered you so that you are not to be persuaded by the truth?  8. This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.  9. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.  10. I am persuaded in regard to you in the Lord, that you will think no other way;  but the one who is disturbing you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.  11. But I, rethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted?  Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.
12. I would that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.

5:2. “Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.”

Paul now turns to the dangers to Christian freedom. He dramatically calls their attention to this danger: “Behold, I, Paul, say to you.” Then he states the danger. Circumcision is the danger; not just the act of circumcision, but what it had come to mean as part of Jewish legalistic teaching. Circumcision was the first step to earning salvation by the works of the law. Thus Christ would be of no benefit to them.

5:3. “And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.”

Now Paul gives the other side of the danger of circumcision. They would be obligated to keep the whole law. They could not pick and choose what part they wanted to keep; they would be debtors to do the whole law. What this means is that they have lost all their freedom and now were enslaved to the law; the law would now have complete control of their lives. As James says, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10). The failure to do one thing brings the curse of law. One transgression of the law and they would loose their supposed salvation by the law. This is what receiving circumcision would mean.

5:4. “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”

In this verse, Paul amplifies further his statement in verse two. All who would be justified (saved) by the law, are severed from Christ. The Greek word, katargeo, translated “severed” means “to make idle, inactive, inoperative.” With the preposition apo it means “to be separated, discharged or loosed from.” Salvation by the law means to be separated from Christ. It implies that there is no middle ground between salvation by the law and salvation by grace through faith; it is either one or the other; the two cannot be mixed. Paul states another result of one trying to be justified by law: they have fallen from grace. Salvation by Christ is salvation by the grace of God. To be separated from Christ is to fall from grace. The works of the law and grace of God are incompatible; salvation is either earned by the works of the law or is a gift of the grace of God. As Paul will say later in his letter to the Romans, “Now to the one who works, his reward is not reckoned according to grace [as a gift], but as his due [he has earned it]” (Rom. 4:4). “And if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Rom. 11:6). Receiving circumcision meant that one was attempting to be justified by the law and that meant the loss of Christ and of the grace of God.

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

Paul now turns to the advantages of the freedom in Christ. In this and the next verse he shows what it means to be in Christ. He explains that through the Spirit by faith we eagerly expect the hope of righteousness. In contrast to the works of the law, that is, the righteousness of the law, Paul speaks of the Spirit of God who works through faith in the believer to eagerly expect the hope of righteousness. The righteousness here hoped for is the righteousness of faith which will be consummated and fully realized when Christ comes for those who eagerly expect Him. This hope is not something which might happen but that which will happen. For it is grounded in the will of God and the promise of God.

5:6. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any strength, but faith working through love.”

Paul continues to show the advantages of the freedom in Christ. He explains that in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any strength nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love. Paul is saying that circumcision and uncircumcision do not have any strength. The Greek verb, ischuo, which is here translated “to have strength,” means “to be strong” in body, hence “to be powerful, have power, prevail.” In contrast to the physical weakness of the physical ritual, faith has energy, working through love. The Greek verb, energeo, which is translated “working,” means “to work in,” hence “to be in action, to operate.” Our English word, “energy,” comes from this Greek word. Faith in Jesus Christ is not just intellectual belief but it is a trust in God and His love; it receives His love and in turn gives that love to others. As the apostle John says, “We love because he first loved us” (I John 4:19).

5:7. “You were running well; who hindered you so that you are not to be persuaded by the truth?”

In the rest of the verses of this section (vv. 7-12), Paul focuses on the person or persons who are troubling the Galatians. These persons as well as their teachings were a danger to Christian freedom. In this verse, Paul uses the figure of a foot race. He has used this metaphor previously in this letter ( Gal. 2:2) and will use it in later letters (I Cor. 9:24-27; Phil. 3:13-14; II Tim. 4:7). Paul observes that the Galatians were running well. He asks them who hindered or obstructed them. The Greek word, enkopto, which is translated “hinder” is a military term referring to setting up an obstacle or breaking up a road. Here it refers to a runner “cutting in” on another runner causing him to stumble. The result of this hindrance was that the Galatians were not persuaded of the truth. The leader of the Jewish legalists was impeding their progress in the Christian faith by persuading them not to be persuaded by the truth, that is, the truth of the gospel of the grace of God.

5:8. “This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.”

The leader of the Jewish legalists had persuaded the Galatians not to be persuaded by the truth of the gospel that Paul had preached. Paul tells them that persuasion did not come from Him who called them. The God who called them to faith in Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God was not now persuading them to turn to the works of the law to complete the work that He had begun by His Spirit.

5:9. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.”

In this verse, Paul introduces a proverb which he use again in his first letter to the Corinthians (I Cor. 5:6). By this proverb, Paul warns the Galatians that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. He may be referring to the false doctrine of Jewish legalists; observing the law in a few points would lead to observing the whole law. Or he may be referring to the influence of the Jewish legalists; once they are accepted into the Christian fellowship they could affect the whole fellowship. The latter is more probable, since he is speaking in these verses of the leader of the Jewish legalists. Paul is implying by this proverb that the leaven should be eradicated from their midst before it spreads widely.

5:10. “I am persuaded in regard to you in the Lord, that you will think no other way;  but the one who is disturbing you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.”

In this verse, Paul indicates his confidence in the Galatians because his confidence is really in the Lord, who is able to make his arguments persuasive to them. Paul expects them to think no other way than he has indicated in this letter: that they will eradicate the Jewish legalism from their midst. Paul is indirectly calling for the Galatians to act without commanding them to do so. And that the person or persons that they remove from their fellowship should accept their decision.

5:11. “But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted?  Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.”

Paul now contrasts himself with the leader of the Jewish legalists. Apparently Paul was being accused of preaching circumcision and the law. Paul’s toleration of Jewish practices made it appear that Paul was preaching circumcision. He does not here try to answer that accusation with another theological argument but simply confutes it with a question: how is it that he is still enduring persecution the Jewish legalists if he is still preaching circumcision? If he were preaching circumcision, then the stumbling block of the cross would be removed. On the contrary, Paul was not preaching circumcision but Christ crucified; the offense or stumbling block of the cross thus remained (See I Cor. 1:18,22-23).

5:12. “I would that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.”

Paul ends this section with a great outburst against those were troubling the Galatian believers. The Greek word, anastatoo, which is translated “trouble,” means “to stir up, excite, unsettle.” It implies riotous and seditious conduct (Acts 17:6; 21:38). It is a strong word and Paul reacts strongly to those are upsetting the Galatian believers. He says that he wishes they mutilate themselves. The Greek verb, apokopto, which is translated here “mutilate,” means “to cut off.” The Greek verb is in the middle voice, “to cut themselves off.” Some commentators see here a reference to circumcision and that Paul is expressing the wish that they complete the process of circumcision and castrate themselves.