Things which were once a mystery and I couldn't understand are now very understandable. Far from wishing to gain credit, either for the gospel or for his own apostolic place, in consequence of being linked with those that had been apostles before him, he insists on that very independence which they counted a reproach. And then they started to rail on me and prophesy my death and things of this nature. you've taken a position Jesus is the only One. Thus is seen sovereign grace, and nothing else, as well as a heavenly link instantly formed between the Lord in glory and His servant on earth. Who put up a road-block to stop you obeying the truth? On the contrary, "the Scripture hath concluded all under sin" not under righteousness by law. But its most suggestive use is that katharos ( G2513) is used of that ceremonial cleanness which entitles a man to approach his gods. Are you prepared for this searching judgment of what looked a small and indifferent matter? Up to this point it has been theological; now it becomes intensely ethical. Nor this only. That died with Christ. Oligarchy means government by the few and can be justified by arguing that only the few are fit to govern. (4) Coveting is a sin which best illustrates Paul's statement, "I would not have come to know sin except through the Law" (verse 7). "Are ye so foolish? Ours is Jerusalem above, not a city on earth. What he preached was the truth as to this matter. Such was the will of God the Father that had raised Christ from the dead. He saw Peter; but "other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother." Consequently, without further preamble, and with an ominous silence as to their state (for, indeed, it could not be spoken of), he at once breaks the ground. Self-seeking; this word has a very illuminating history. Thus, whatever may be the energy that seeks souls in love, there is nothing after all like Christianity for maintaining individual responsibility intact. The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Here they might flatter themselves were plain tangible facts; here the amplest testimony on the Lord's part that the twelve are really His chosen apostles. It was a very unusual circumstance. If you're looking to that as a righteous standing before God, then you are not experiencing the grace of God in your life. "But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me; but contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter," etc. Thus, clearly, in the law man becomes the prominent and responsible party, not God. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. By this he plainly means free from law. Rare in N.T. "We, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world; but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." At first sight it seems most extraordinary, if the apostle referred to such a Scripture for the proof of the importance of one seed; because, if there is anything that lies on the surface of the passage, it is the multiplicity of the seed a seed expressly said to exceed all reckoning. You ought to be circumcised, you know." But if ye bite and devour one another, [you better] take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. And devour one another - As wild beasts do. The Christian needs that goodness which at one and the same time can be kind and strong. Promise was before the law, and flowed out of the grace of God. You do not want to become the children of Abraham in that sense, which would be the revival of the flesh. Not so; it is exclusively of grace by Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. The readers ( Galatians 1:2b ) c. The greeting ( Galatians 1:3-5 ) i. And then he, indignant at such a thought, makes his most solemn appeals. "We had ten thousand souls saved last week. . That is, the most simple and most obvious truth is just the last thing a man thinks about. Or literally, "I wish they were castrated who trouble you. And so, Paul is picking up, now, the same phrase. He intimates also how vain a thing is legalism, because those that were pleading for circumcision in no case carried out their own principle. He shows that God would give us a deliverance from self-importance; and what a mercy it is to be so blessed, that one can afford to forget one's self! Our Christianity obliges us not only to die unto sin, but to live unto righteousness; not only to oppose the works of the flesh, but to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit too. You never come to believe in what the Mormons believe through reading the Bible. It was exactly what Christ was on earth; and the expression of Christ is the prime call of the Christian. On the other hand, the spirit (the renewed part of us) strives against the flesh, and opposes the will and desire of it: and hence it comes to pass that we cannot do the things that we would. These things are not allowed in the kingdom of God. Whom did their principle make them resemble? From the beginning Hagar had been inclined to triumph over Sarah, because barrenness was a sore shame to a woman; there was an atmosphere charged with trouble. The apostle accordingly now turns to the great argument of his epistle, and the discussion of those grand principles that are characteristic to Christianity, and in full agreement with the facts that have already been brought before you. Which son represented them? It is used of the athlete's discipline of his body ( 1 Corinthians 9:25) and of the Christian's mastery of sex ( 1 Corinthians 7:9). It was Paul's position that the way of grace and the way of law were mutually exclusive. Mark it well. Some are sins against the first and second commandments, as idolatry and witchcraft. provoking one another, envying one another ( Galatians 5:26 ). Freedom, though, requires resistance against a return to bondage. For Jew and Gentile were alike guilty of crucifying Him. A komos was a band of friends who accompanied a victor of the games after his victory. What makes you righteous before God is your faith, which works in love within your heart and life.Now, it is interesting to me how that those who opt for rules, those who opt for laws, those who want to lay down the laws upon the people, or those who want to live under the laws that are laid down upon them, always seem to be striving. Anything else would have been imperfect; but still it had essentially a transitional character. "Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1) "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. And how true all this is! And they ate, giving over to their fleshly appetites and in so doing, the flesh dominated. It is evident that the thorn in the flesh was something which left him open to a slight, and made it difficult indeed for any one to understand how a man who was called to be an apostle should find it hard to convey plainly his mind in preaching. Well, then, it stands written in it that Abraham had two sons; one was the son of the slave girl and one was the son of the free woman. Had they been occupied with Christ, they would have really loved one another, and in other respects too fulfilled the law, without thinking about themselves or it. Accordingly, the language would have been premature and entirely beyond the conscious experience of the saints, or the real truth of the matter in the sight of God. The writer of First Maccabees ( 1Ma_8:4 ) says that it was by makrothumia ( G3115) that the Romans became masters of the world, and by that he means the Roman persistence which would never make peace with an enemy even in defeat, a kind of conquering patience. He tells them that as many as take the ground of law works are under the curse already. It's sort of comforting, you know. That they should not strive with one another, but love one another. He gives us a catalogue of evil things. Tender and comprehensive as Christianity is, it is also the most exclusive thing that can be. They are ideas that have been planted in your mind by men. By the Spirit of God, we're waiting for that hope of righteousness through faith. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage ( Galatians 5:1 ). Do you know what happens? In the case of the twelve, we do find an apostle chosen to supply the gap of Judas chosen, I admit, of God, though after a Jewish sort, as Chrysostom justly remarks, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given. Christianity is the only true democracy, because in a Christian state everyone would think as much of his neighbour as he does of himself. It was Paul's belief and experience that the Christian died with Christ and rose again to a life, new and clean, in which the evil things of the old self were gone and the lovely things of the Spirit had come to fruition. "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Therefore reckon ye yourselves to be dead with Christ, but alive unto God through Him" ( Romans 6:6 , Romans 6:11 ). "Thy seed ( i.e., the numerous seed) shall possess the gate of his enemies." Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? 16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. It, too, is commonly translated goodness. The Fruit of the Holy Spirit (sometimes, incorrectly, referred to as the Fruits of the Holy Spirit) is a biblical term that sums up nine attributes of a person or community living in accord with the Holy Spirit, according to chapter 5 of the Epistle to the Galatians: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, . There is nothing that requires more the power of grace; for even the truth itself, if severed from grace, ceases to be the truth. to bite, N.T.o. He had the faith that could by grace cleave to God if he had not a companion; but God blesses that faith, and acts by it on the conscience of others, even on those that, alas! In short, the man who, occupied with Christ above, enters for that very reason most into the blessedness of the body of Christ here below by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, is the very one that will know in fit season what it is not to confer with flesh and blood. So all of these things fall under the category of works of the flesh, but the "fruit of the Spirit," fruit is singular. He next announces the true secret of it all: "I am crucified with Christ." Do not abuse your freedom (13-15) I. Christ has set us free (1-6) Discussion Questions What has Christ set us free from? Usually in the New Testament eirene ( G1515) stands for the Hebrew shalowm ( H7965) and means not just freedom from trouble but everything that makes for a man's highest good. The most illuminating thing about it is that it is commonly used in the New Testament of the attitude of God towards men ( Romans 2:4; Romans 9:22; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Peter 3:20). He draws particular attention to this fact ere he closes: "You see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand." It cannot and ought not to spare sinners. After all their vapouring about the law, they were biting and devouring one another. Grace alone in such a case brings glory to God. The allusion is to The law is of a wholly different nature, and hence was ordained of angels in the hand of a mediator. That they should all strive against sin; and happy would it be for the church if Christians would let all their quarrels be swallowed up of this, even a quarrel against sin--if, instead of biting and devouring one another on account of their different opinions, they would all set themselves against sin in themselves and the places where they live. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love ( Galatians 5:6 ). She did what any wife would have done in those patriarchal times and sent Abraham in to her slave girl, Hagar, to see if she could bear a child on her behalf. GALATIANS 5:2-12. Christ has set us free! with reproachful words, biting sarcasms, scandalous invectives, an apostle, or at any rate one that says he is an apostle, setting aside what God inaugurated in Jerusalem, not even conferring with those whom the Lord Himself called by His personal summons here below? Just let our books explain for you." Who in times past you walked according to the course of this world. Now the Galatians were unwittingly in danger of giving up the truth. But, I repeat, this simply was revealed to him. Even so we, when we were children," etc. Look at Abraham and his house; look at the maid Hagar; look at Isaac and Ishmael. And we can all see how exactly the phrase falls in with the words of our Lord given in the Acts of the Apostles; for the wonderful truth burst upon the apostle's ear from the beginning, in the Saviour's call to him from heaven. "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." . The Spirit against the flesh. (vss. And you keep dealing with me until I'll finally say, "Oh, God, I'm sorry. The fleshly desires will not be dominating your life, but your life will be dominated by the Spirit, and thus, by God. Either Luke, as a doctor, did not use or have access to pharmaceuticals, which would then require that Galatians 5 says nothing of medicine, or Dr. Luke administered pharmakeia, which, the argument goes, is medicine sorcery. 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