Galatians 5

When I go to do a teaching and I am doing a chapter the first thing I do is I read the section tonight I am tackling Galatians 5 so that is where I start.

Galatians 5

I used the King James Version not because I am a King Jimmy only but because verse one is translated it is very powerfully in the KJV.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Here is the NIV

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.

Here is the ESV

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Here is the NASB

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Here is the Aramaic Into Plain English Version

Stand therefore in that liberty with which The Messiah has set us free, and do not be yoked again in a yoke of bondage.

Lamsa translates it from Aramaic like this:

Stand firm therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and be not harnessed again under the yoke of servitude

All versions contain the word therefore. Therefore is a conjunction which ties the verse it is in back to what was said before. If you check the context you will see as I have said in the previous teachings goes back to Galatians 2:16

NASB Gal. 2:16

nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

There are, as I have said many verses that, say we are not justified by the works of the law. Here is another one I have not used in these Galatians teachings.

Acts 13:39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

So we have well established you are not justified by works of the law. So let us continue on in chapter 5.

This is from the REV bible The REV

Galatians Chapter 5  

1  For living in freedom Christ has set us free! Therefore, keep standing firm, and do not be subject again to a yoke of bondage.2 Look!, I Paul say to you, that, if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.3 Indeed, once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised, that he is obligated to do the whole law, 4 You have cut yourselves off from Christ, you who are trying to be made righteous by the law. You have fallen away from grace.

Remember these are Gentiles so they have not been circumcised Only the Jews did that because those Jews were under the law. Circumcision was used here to represent the entire law. The The Companion Bible notes that verse 2 says that they were being told they had to undergo circumcision to be saved. This was being taught by the group of religious Jews that followed after Paul. This same group was trying to get these new Christians to follow the law.

Paul then tells these people if they follow this teaching of circumcision “Christ will be of no benefit to you”. This is a truth many have not still realized that if you follow the law then Christ has become of no effect to you. We are not saved by any actions we may take or do we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:5,8). Man wants to save himself and he can’t because he is not good enough. It is nothing but arrogance for a man to think he can save himself. It will always sound good and be very religious sounding but it cannot be done we needed a savior that is why God sent Jesus Christ to save us.

5For we, through the spirit, by trust, eagerly wait for the righteousness for which we hope. 6For in union with Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value, but trust working through love.

The NIV translates verse 6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from the one who calls you. 9 “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

We might say One bad apple spoils the whole barrel.

10 I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will not think otherwise, but the one who is troubling you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.

The word judgement is the Greek word krima It means:

(a) a judgment, a verdict; sometimes implying an adverse verdict, a condemnation, (b) a case at law, a lawsuit.

So whoever it was Paul was confident that they would be judged guilty when they have to stand before God and explain themselves.

11 But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.

There were these zealous Jews who were following Paul around and trying to undo all that he was doing and persecuting him. Then they would say that this is what Paul was teaching.

12 I wish those who are unsettling you would castrate themselves!

They translate the word castrate, in the KJV it is rendered cut off, however amputate is the actual word used in the text. If you use cut off it almost becomes a bit of humor the near subject is circumcision. It is the figure of speech Metonymy I believe.

13 For you, brothers, were called to freedom, only do not use the freedom for an opportunity to indulge the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, in the command, Love your neighbor as yourself. 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Good sound advice let us not consume one another.

16 Now I say, walk by the spirit, and you will absolutely not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; indeed, these oppose each other, with the result that you are not doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, unrestrained behavior, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, 21 envyings, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Now does that mean you can lose your salvation? NO it does not. Read the first four verses of Galatians and you will see that the book is to the churches. It says inherit which means you have to be a family member to begin with ergo you have to already be saved. We also have a new context we are no longer dealing with salvation by works. We are dealing with works of the flesh vs fruit of the spirit.

22 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 Those who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

I already did a teaching on fruit of the spirit vs acts of the flesh where I went into great detail about this section and it can be found in the Galatians playlist. There is however one word I think we need to take a brief look at and that is the word sorcery. It is translated witchcraft in the KJV. It is the Greek word  pharmakeia. It means the use or the administering of drugs, sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it. It does invole drugs so don’t let anyone tell you there is nothing about drug use in the bible. So we will pick this up in the second half tonight.