Live By What You Believe

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Opening Prayer

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, by Your power may I live this day, faithful to You and to Your Word.

Read Galatians 5:1-15

^[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. ^[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. ^[3] Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ^[4] You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ^[5] For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ^[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 a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ^[8] That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ^[9] “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” ^[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. ^[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. ^[12] As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! ^[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. ^[14] For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ^[15] If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Meditate

“True freedom is not freedom from responsibility to God and others in order to live for ourselves, but freedom from ourselves in order to live for God and others” (John Stott, 1921–2011).

Think Further

The first is that the Galatian men should not undergo the Jewish ceremony of circumcision (2). Some of them clearly thought that if they trusted Israel’s Messiah they should take on this physical mark of Jewish belonging: “If we’re going to join the covenant people, let’s do it properly.” Paul, however, disagreed. He has explained earlier that in Jesus the ancient covenant is opened up to Gentiles too. God loves them, invites them and includes them—as Gentiles. They are adopted. The era of the Law, which separated Jew and Gentile and defined the Jew by physical signs of circumcision, kosher food and ceremonial days, is past. So if the Galatians “are trying to be justified by law” they are in danger of falling “away from grace” (4).

The second piece of advice is to concentrate on love. Love enables the Law to live on, but with a new purpose: to unite, not to define and divide. Its whole meaning is captured in one far-reaching command: “love your neighbor as yourself” (14; Lev. 19:18), so if the Galatians will deal lovingly with one another and not destroy their church by quarrels and disputes, they will realize and reflect all that the Law most truly intended. The Law will live in them, without them having to live in it.

The main point this letter makes is at 2:16: being right with God depends on Jesus, rather than on Israel’s ancient Law. In chapters 3 and 4 we met some quite dense arguments to emphasize and explain this point. In chapter 5 the letter moves on, to talk about response. How should the Galatians react to this message? What does it require of them by way of action and attitude? Paul gives two strong pieces of advice.
The first is that the Galatian men should not undergo the Jewish ceremony of circumcision (2). Some of them clearly thought that if they trusted Israel’s Messiah they should take on this physical mark of Jewish belonging: “If we’re going to join the covenant people, let’s do it properly.” Paul, however, disagreed. He has explained earlier that in Jesus the ancient covenant is opened up to Gentiles too. God loves them, invites them and includes them—as Gentiles. They are adopted. The era of the Law, which separated Jew and Gentile and defined the Jew by physical signs of circumcision, kosher food and ceremonial days, is past. So if the Galatians “are trying to be justified by law” they are in danger of falling “away from grace” (4).
The second piece of advice is to concentrate on love. Love enables the Law to live on, but with a new purpose: to unite, not to define and divide. Its whole meaning is captured in one far-reaching command: “love your neighbor as yourself” (14; Lev. 19:18), so if the Galatians will deal lovingly with one another and not destroy their church by quarrels and disputes, they will realize and reflect all that the Law most truly intended. The Law will live in them, without them having to live in it.

Apply

What do you need to do to keep your Christian life on a sure footing? Are there choices to avoid? Are there habits and values to focus on?

Closing prayer

Lord Jesus, I desire to seek Your kingdom above all else, to love You and others as I love myself.

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