Galatians 6:1-18

What is the theme of this chapter?

Justification by faith applied continued.

What is the key verse(s) of this chapter? Verses 2 and 5

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

For each will have to bear his own load.

What can I apply to my life from this chapter (things to do/avoid)?

Verses two and five are not contradictory, but complimentary.  I must tell myself to courageously bear my own burden, and yet sympathetically help bear the burdens of others also.  Paul always puts emphasis on Christian brotherhood, on members of the Body of Christ being one in Christ.  None of us live as isolated units.  We are bound together in Christ and have certain obligations to each other.

I must remember too that I will reap what I sow.  If I sow to my old nature, I will reap corruption; if I sow to the Spirit, I will reap the blessings of the eternal life which God has given me. Though I may receive some of these in this life, the full harvest will be the rewards I receive when Christ returns.
 
Additional observations/questions:


 

Galatians 6:11-18

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.


with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand - "Paul took the pen from his scribe to write this closing section in large letters for emphasis (though some think this indicates that his illness was in his eyes; cf. Gal 4:15)." (Ryrie)

"Paul was in the habit of dictating his epistles to an amanuensis, writing the concluding words himself, and signing his name.  Tertius, for instance, was the secretary who wrote the letter to the Romans as Paul dictated it to him (Rom 16:22).  These two things, the concluding words in his own handwriting and his signature, constituted the evidence that he was the author of the letter (2 Thes 3:17; 1 Cor 16:21; Col 4:18).  There had been a case of forgery where someone had written a letter to the Thessalonian church to the effect that the Great Tribulation was upon them, and had signed Paul's name (2 Thes 2:1-2)." (Wuest)

only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ - "The Judaizers were attempting to escape persecution from their Jewish brethren who had rejected Jesus as Messiah and as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world ... They had identified themselves with the visible church, and therefore were looked upon by their Jewish brethren outside the church as having joined an organization that taught grace as against law.  They did not believe in grace, but instead, in works as a means of salvation.  Now, to keep from being persecuted by the rest of Israel on the charge that they had embraced salvation through faith in the Cross of Christ, they were attempting to foist circumcision and finally the entire Mosaic economy upon the Gentiles in the Church for the Cross of the Lord Jesus had put an end to the Mosaic law, and anyone who accepted the law, rejected the Cross.  The Judaizers wished to remain good standing with the Jewish community." (Wuest)

"—what was the motive at work in the minds of the part of the circumcision?  It was certainly not concern for the spiritual welfare and eternal safety of the believers.  On the contrary, the motive the apostle discerned behind their zeal was that they themselves might escape the consequences inseparable from the preaching of the Cross, which pronounces accursed not only man the sinner, the lawbreaker, but man the religious law keeper as well.  The Cross is thus an offense to Jew and Gentile alike.  The addition of something as a means to, or as a condition of, salvation (such as circumcision in apostolic days, or the sacraments in later times) to the free unmerited grace of God mediated by faith in Christ alone, has proved the most effect way of avoiding that offense.  But to preach a gospel without the Cross is to preach what is not a gospel at all; see at Gal 5:11." (Vine)

they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh - "The Judaizers not only attempted to impose circumcision on the Gentiles in order to placate their Jewish brethren outside of the Church and win their confidence and regard in spite of the fact that they were identified with the body of people who taught grace, but also to cover up their own laxity in fulfilling all the requirements of the Mosaic law.  In their act of forcing, if possible, circumcision upon the Gentiles, they would cover themselves with glory in the eyes of their Jewish brethren, and demonstrate to them how zealous they were of the law after all." (Wuest)

"Paul had proclaimed the finished work of Christ and with it the abolition of physical circumcision.  Yet even believers in Christ kept reverting from the substance to the shadows, from the reality to the rituals.  They even sought to persuade each other that circumcision was 'necessary,' though they did not always make clear what they thought it was necessary for.  The Judaizers had persuaded some of the Galatian believers that they should submit to circumcision, even though they were already saved.  As a result we have Paul's stern letter of rebuke, in which he points out to them how much is involved in adding the rite of circumcision to the finished work of Christ; he said that logically this would make Christ's work of none effect (Gal 5:2) and make them debtors 'to do the whole law' (Gal 5:3)." (Stam)

to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ - "In contrast to the judaizers who gloried in human attainment and self effort as a means of salvation, Paul boasted in the Cross of Christ.  The world of which Paul speaks here is the world Paul knew before he was saved, the world of Philippians 3:4-6, his Israelitish ancestry, his Pharisaic traditions, his zeal for the law, in short, the world in which he had lived.  To all this now he was dead.  He had been separated from it by the Cross of the Lord Jesus.  It had no more appeal to him nor influence upon him." (Wuest)

by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world - "Paul was separate (crucified) from this world system with all its attractions and religions and separated to Christ." (Ryrie)

but a new creation - "Only becoming a new creation through faith in Christ matters (2 Cor 5:17)." (Ryrie)

"Paul gives his reason for glorying in the Cross of Christ.  It is because, while circumcision is of no avail to the Jew, nor the lack of circumcision of any avail to the Gentile, yet the Cross has power to make of believing Jew and Gentile a new creation which results in a radical transformation of character." (Wuest)

all who walk by this rule - "The word 'walk' is from stoicheo which means 'to direct one's life, to order one's conduct.'  Rule is from kanon which here means 'a principle.'  The principle here is the Cross and all that goes with it in the New Testament economy, including of course the ministry of the Holy Spirit which is so much in evidence in this last section of Galatians." (Wuest)

"—kanon, a measuring rod of any kind, and hence, by metaphor, of anything that determines or regulates the actions of men, a standard, or principle ... The reference is to the doctrines of grace which the apostle has been expounding to, and enforcing upon, them.  Those who 'walk by this rule,' who make the principle of vv. 14, 15 their guiding line, seek for themselves, and preach to others, salvation through faith in Christ alone, apart from works.  1 Philippians 3:16, where, however, kanon is omitted, the reference is to the course pursued by the believer who make the 'prize of the upward calling' the object of his ambition." (Vine)

the Israel of God - "I.e., Christian Jews, those who are both the physical and spiritual seed of Abraham.  The church is not equated with the new Israel of God; rather two groups are mentioned here—all believing Galatians and especially believing Jews in that group." (Ryrie)

[My note:  Interesting that Vine's interpretation "the Israel of God" below is different than Ryrie's above]

"—the words suggest a contrast between a true and a false Israel.  Circumcision could not transform a Gentile into a Jew; faith makes of any man, Jew or Gentile, an Israelite indeed, one of the true people of God, see 1 Peter 2:10, and cp. Romans 2:28, 29; Philippians 3:3.  The circumcision party would have had the Galatians become Jews by submitting to a Jewish rite; let them rather by faith in Christ become of the Israel of God.  But the apostle does not apologize for the Gentile converts.  His challenge to the Judaizers rings out in this exultant climax—they are the very Israel of God!" (Vine)

let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus - "I.e., scars suffered in persecution, which spoke more eloquently than the mark of circumcision that the Judaizers sought to impose." (Ryrie)

"The sufferings which he endured for the sake of the Lord Jesus and the gospel of grace, should deter the Galatians from adding more sufferings to the already full complement of suffering which the apostle had already borne, by again precipitating a situation like the present one which severely taxed the energies of the aged apostle as he sought to save his beloved Galatians, and the Christ Church for that matter, from a spiritual catastrophe, the evil effects of which would work havoc for the cause of Christ." (Wuest)

"Little wonder that Paul said in verse 17:  'Henceforth let no man trouble me.'  (Don't bother me any more.)  Paul's words could be paraphrased as, 'If all I have said fails to persuade, you do not want to be persuaded.  No matter what you say, you are retreating from grace and losing the spiritual victory ... Yet Paul closed his letter to the Galatians very tenderly, 'Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Amen." (Stam)

Galatians 6:6-10

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.


"The Galatian saints who have deserted grace for law, are exhorted to put themselves under the ministry of the teachers who led them into grace, and are warned that it they do not, they will reap a harvest of corruption." (Wuest)

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. - "In verse 6, the apostle exhorts the Galatians to continue to hold fellowship with their teachers who taught them grace, the implication being that they were not availing themselves of their ministry because they were going over to the Judaizers and their teachings.  In this verse, Paul tells the Galatians that they must not think that it is not a matter of importance whether their fellowship be with their former teachers who taught them the truth, or with the Judaizers who were teaching them error.  He said to them, 'Stop deceiving yourselves, God is not mocked.'  The construction is present imperative in a prohibition, which forbids the continuance of an action already going on.  The Galatians were saying to themselves already, 'It is not important which teachers we list to, Paul and his associates, or the teachers of the law.'  Thus, they were already deceiving themselves, and leading themselves astray." (Wuest)

[NOTE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO INTERPRATIONS BELOW TO WUEST'S ABOVE; Wuest interprets within context, Ryrie and Vine do not, suggesting that a new unrelated topic is being introduced.] 

"I.e., share material things." (Ryrie) [Eph 4:28; my note, not necessarily a cf.]

"...by fellowship in 'good things' temporal supplies are intended, cp. the same word as used in Luke 1:53, 'the hungry he hath filled with the good things,' and 12:18, 19, of the rich fool's 'goods,' cp. 16:25.  The apostle here introduces a new subject, one not arising out of the preceding section, nor yet with any apparent relation to it, though both are immediately concerned with the responsibilities of church life.  It may be that the messengers who had acquainted him with the major trouble among the Galatians had informed him also of these relatively minor, though still very important, matters." (Vine)

God is not mocked. - "The thought which Paul wishes to press home to the Galatians is that it is vain to think that one can outwit God by reaping a harvest different from that which a person has sown.  The figure of sowing and reaping used for conduct and its results is a frequent one.  In the Greek classics we have, 'For he that is furnished the seed, is responsible for what grows.'  Paul therefore warns the Galatians against being led astray by the Judaizers, and reminds them that they cannot outwit God in doing so, for it will lead to disaster in their lives..." (Wuest)

"—mukterizo, 'to turn up one's nose at,' i.e., to treat with contempt." (Vine)

to his own flesh...to the Spirit - "Sowing with a view to the evil nature refers to the act of a person choosing those courses of conduct that will gratify the cravings of the totally depraved nature.  In this context, these words refer to the Galatians who in following the teachings of the Judaizers, catered to the desires of the evil nature ... The teachings of the Judaizers catered to the fallen natures of the Galatians...their teachings stressed a salvation-by-works religion, which glorifies man, not God, and which allows him to go on in his sin while seeking to buy the favor of God by his so-called good works.  This could only lead, Paul says, to corruption in their lives ... The one who sows with a view to the Spirit, that is, the one who chooses his courses of conduct with a view to fulfilling the wishes of the Holy Spirit, is the Christ who reaps the blessings of the eternal life which God has given him." (Wuest)

the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life - "Let me first explain what this does not mean.  It has nothing to do with salvation.  It does not mean that if a Christian does not live the life he should, he will be lost again and die the second death.  The context here in Galatians 6 shows that Paul considered the people to whom he wrote, although they were failing Christians, to be children of God.  He called them saints and brethren.  No, he did not mean that if you live after the flesh, you will die, in the sense that you will be lost again.  This is what Paul meant:  as far as your Christian life, your testimony, and your Christian experience are concerned, you may flourish like a blooming plant that is showing its beauty, or you may wither and die, as far as your spiritual experience is concerned.  Paul wrote to the believers at Rome, at Corinth, and at Ephesus:  'Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light' (Eph 5:14).  He was not talking to the unsaved; he was speaking to believers who were asleep and dead as far as their spiritual experiences were concerned.  How many Christians are like that today!  They fill our churches.  Hundreds of born-again people have come to Christ in tears for forgiveness and have been justified freely by His once-for-all sacrifice.  The Devil cannot keep them from eternal life.  But he will make them miserable Christians and poor testimonies if he can.  This is what the apostle was speaking of when he said that if you are going to sow to your flesh, not thinking of the things of God, you are going to die as far as your Christian experience is concerned.  How blessedly true it is that 'to be spiritually minded is life and peace.'  That is what God wants us to experience and enjoy.  We know that the happiest Christian are the ones who set their minds on the things of God.  We are most at peace and most greatly used when we sow to the Spirit, that is, when we do those things that will naturally bring forth the fruit that only the Spirit can produce." (Stam) 

let us not grow weary - "Let us not slacken our exertions by reason of the weariness that comes with prolonged effort in habitually doing that which is good.  For in a season which in its character is appropriate, we shall reap if we do not become enfeebled through exhaustion, and faint." (Wuest)

"Believers will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ ...you will reap the fruit of living after the Spirit.  Being occupied with the things of God, speaking to others of the things of God, and living a life that please God, will bring a harvest of spiritual fruit—if you faint not." (Stam) [Own note:  We may receive some return in this life, but the full harvest is the reward we will receive when Christ returns.]

let us do good to everyone - "The exhortation is not merely to do good to others when the opportunity presents itself, but to look for opportunities to do good to others.  The word 'do' is from ergazomai, which word emphasizes the process of an action, carrying with this the ideas of continuity..." (Wuest)

household of faith - "=believers.  Concern for this group is a special obligation of the children of God." (Ryrie)

"None of us lives to himself as an isolated unit among his fellowmen.  We are bound together in a racial group which we have certain obligations to them.  The word 'household' acquired in a connection like the one in this verse, the general sense of pertaining or belonging.  The definite article precedes the word faith.  The expression refers to those who belong to the Faith..." (Wuest)

"Do you notice how Paul always put an emphasis on Christian brotherhood, on members of the Body of Christ being one in Christ (Gal 6:10)." (Stam)

Galatians 6:1-5

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.


 if anyone is caught - "...apprehended, taken by surprise, caught red-handed." (Ryrie)

"This verse [verse 1] is closely connected with the contents of chapter 5.  In the latter chapter, two methods of determining conduce and following out that determination with the appropriate action, are presented.  One is in dependence upon the Holy Spirit for the supply of both the desire and the power to do the will of God.  This method results in a life in which the fruit of the Spirit is evident.  The other method is that of putting one's self under the law, and by self effort attempting to obey that law.  This results in a defeated life full of sin, for the law gives neither the desire nor the power to obey it, and on the other hand, uses the evil nature as a means by which to bring sin into the life, since the evil nature is aroused to active rebellion by the very presence of the law.  Those Galatians who were adopting the latter method in conformity to the teaching of the Judaizers, were finding that sin was creeping into their lives.  Since they were most earnestly zealous of living a life of victory over sin, and in conformity to the ethical teachings of the New Testament dispensation, the presence of sin in their lives was a course of surprise to them." (Wuest)

"Notice the first word 'if.'  If a man be overtaken—first, be very sure that the brother is in fact taken in a fault.  Do not get your mental exercise by jumping to conclusions, as many people seem to do.  1 Corinthians 13 fits well here, for there we read that love believeth all things for the good.  Love is very thoughtful; it is not suspicious.  'Brethren, if a man be overtaken...'  Has someone come to you with gossip?  Has someone said to you, 'Oh, did you hear what so-and-so did?'  Be very slow to believe it.  Be slow even to listen to it.  But suppose it is true?  Suppose the accusation is proved to be completely true?  Then what?  Paul went on '...ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.'  Restore him.  Do not rake him over the coals.  Do not try to make things worse for him.  Do not condemn him; that will not help him.  Seek b God's grace to restore him to fellowship..." (Stam)

you who are spiritual - "...namely, those who were still living their lives in dependence upon the Spirit..." (Wuest)

"—pneumatikos, a word which always connotes the ideas of invisibility and of power.  It does not occur in the LXX, nor in the Gospels, it is in fact an after-Pentecost word." (Vine)

"Here is the test of true spirituality (Eph 4:32).  You claim to be spiritual, but you are not very spiritual if you act holier-than-thou and say in a haughty tone, 'How could he do that?  I will not associate with him any more.'  That is pure pride and selfishness.  It is very different from true spirituality.  The truly spiritual person realizes the pit from which he has been dug.  The truly spiritual person realizes that it took the death of Christ to save him, and he is going to be tenderhearted, forgiving, and sympathetic toward his brother, knowing that God has forgiven him for Christ's sake." (Stam)

restore - "Used of setting broken bones and mending fishing nets." (Ryrie)

"The word 'restore' is from katarizo.  This word has the following meanings:  'to repair, to restore to a former good condition, to prepare, to fit out, to equip.'  It is used of reconciling factions, of setting bones, of putting a dislocated limb into place, of mending nets, of manning a fleet, of supplying an army with provisions.  It is used by Paul usually in a metaphorical sense of setting a person to rights, of bringing him into line.  Those Galatians who had not abandoned their dependence upon the Holy Spirit, now are asked by Paul to set those Galatians right who had been seized unawares by sin because they had deprived themselves of the ministry of the Spirit.  The primary thing that they needed to be set right about was not the act of sin which they committed, but that they had wandered off the right road of grace and were stumbling in the quagmire of self-dependence and legalism.  To set the sinning brother right with reference to his act of sin would be helpful, but that would still leave him on the wrong road with the result that he would go on being surprised at the entrance of sin into his life."  (Wuest)

Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. - "—i.e., in like circumstances, for you may find yourself situated as he is someday ... When a believer has realized his responsibility to an erring brother, he is in danger of thinking of himself as the other's judge, rather than as being one with the delinquent in natural tendencies and in liability to sin.  If this thought is harbored spirituality departs, and with it all hope of succoring the fallen brother.  Hence the apostle does not say 'lest thou also fall,' but 'lest thou also be tempted,' as though to suggest that the difference between the two men is not that both were tempted, that one resisted and one fell, but that one was tempted and fell, the other did not fall only because he had not been tempted.  Therefore the man of true spirituality will say under such circumstances, 'but for the grace of God I had been in his place,' thus encouraging that spirit of meekness in himself without which he may make mischief and cannot do good." (Vine)

burdens - "I.e., the excess burdens that we need to share with one another, in contrast to the 'load' (different Greek word) in verse 5, which means the normal amount each must carry for himself." (Ryrie)

"The word 'burdens' has the following meaning:  either 'a burden that is desirable' as in 2 Corinthians 4:17 (weight), or 'one which is hard to bear' (Acts 15:28; Rev 2:24).  The context indicates the specific meaning.  The burdens in this context refer to the responsibility each saint should feel for the spiritual welfare of his fellow-saints, especially when they have sinned.  In this particular instance, the Spirit-dominated saints should feel the responsibility of rescuing their brethren who have put themselves under legalism, from an abject slavery to law, and of transferring their dependence again upon the Spirit..." (Wuest)

the law of Christ - "Living under grace is not license; it is a life of love and service (Gal 5:6, 13)." (Ryrie)

if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself - "If one has the conceited idea that he is morally and spiritually superior to what he actually is, this tends to make him unwilling to take the burden of responsibility for the restoration of a sinning fellow-saint.  A Christian of that character, so far from fulfilling the law of Christ, is deceiving himself as to his true status in the Christian experience." (Wuest)

"Do you recall what the law of Christ was?  Jesus said:  'A new commandment, that ye love one another...' (John 13:34).  If we want to practice the words of Christ, there is one law that is perfectly compatible with the dispensation of grace (Gal 5:14).  This is the rule as far as our contacts with each other are concerned.  Do not say, 'I would not have denied Christ if I had been Peter.'  Do not say, 'If I had been Jacob, I would not have been so dishonest.'  do not say, 'If I had been in this brother's place, I would not have fallen into his temptation.'  You do not know all of the circumstance.  You cannot say that you would not have stumbled over the same stone.  Let us fulfill the law of Christ then and truly love each other ... Do you think that you would not have sinned like your fallen brother?  'Be careful,' Paul admonished.  'You are only deceiving yourself." (Stam)

let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor - "Here is the case of the self-deceived man of the previous verse, who boats of his own superiority when he compares himself with the Christian brother who has fallen into sin.  He has a ground for boasting only in respect to his much-vaunted superiority to his inferior brother.  But the man who puts himself to the test without comparing himself with others, bases his appraisal of himself on an absolute rather than a relative foundation ... The exhortation is therefore to Christians not to form an estimate of themselves by comparing themselves with others, but to put themselves to the test to find out what there is in their characters and in their lives which would merit approval.  The word rejoicing is from kauchema which means 'that of which one glories or can glory, matter or ground of glorying.'  The word is not connected with the word glory (doxa) which is used of God's glory.  It means glory in the sense of exultation, self-congratulation.  It does not however have the idea of an excessive or unjustified estimate of one's self that the English word boasting has." (Wuest)

each will have to bear his own load - "The word 'burden' in Galatians 6:2 is baros, and in this verse [5], phortion.  While these words have their distinctive meaning in the secular usage of the early centuries, and while synonyms in juxtaposition should usually be carefully distinguished, yet we cannot draw a fine distinction between these two words in this passage.  There is no use burdening the English reader with the various meanings of the two words, since they would have no bearing upon our study.  In Galatians 6:2 the apostle exhorts the Galatian saints to bear the burdens of their fellow saints, namely, to assume the responsibility of giving that saint spiritual aid in case he has allowed sin to come into his experience.  Here he exhorts the saints to bear their own burdens.  This is doubtless an intentional paradoxical antithesis on the part of the apostle.  It is the Christian who knows that he has a burden of his own, namely, a susceptibility to certain sins, and who has fallen himself, who is willing to bear his neighbor's burden.  Again, when each man's self-examination reveals infirmities of his own, even though they may not be the same as those of his neighbors, he will not claim moral and spiritual superiority to other.  Furthermore, each saint should bear his own burden in the sense that he must recognize his personal responsibilities towards God and man.  He is responsible for the life he lives." (Wuest)

"Verses two and five are not contradictory; they are complimentary ... Each of us should say to himself, 'I must courageously bear my own burden, and yet sympathetically help to bear the burdens of others also ... There is an even further and fuller explanation.  The words for 'burden' in Galatians 6:2 and Galatians 6:5 are not the same in the Greek.  In verse two the word which in English would be spelled 'baros' gives us our English word 'barology,' the study of weights and gravity, the downward pull to the earth.  We also have the word 'barometer,' an instrument by which we determine the atmospheric pressure, the weight of the atmosphere.  The apostle use this word also in his second letter to the Corinthians (2 Cor 1:8).  The word 'pressed' is the same derivation translated 'burden' in Galatians 6:2.  And again is 2 Corinthians 5:4 Paul used the same word in reference to just living here when he said: 'We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened...'  It is the same word, so the word 'burdened,' in Galatians 6:2, where he told the believers to bear one another's burdens, has to do with those weights that oppress and bear down upon us.  Sometimes they are seemingly too heavy to bear, are they not?  But the other word 'burden' in Galatians 6:5 is different entirely.  It is the Greek word 'phortion' and it means a designated load or cargo.  'Every man shall bear his own burden.'  This word is used for example of the soldier's knapsack.  That is his load; heavy or light, he is expected to carry it.  It has to do with the personal responsibility before God.  Each one has his own designated load or burden and must be ready to bear it." (Stam)

"If a man thinks himself to be something when in fact he is nothing, he only deceives himself.  'But let every man prove his own work.'  Do not condemn your brother.  Prove your own work and then you will having rejoicing in yourself, for every man at the final day will 'bear his own burden' as he stands before God." (Stam)

Galatians 5:1-26

What is the theme of this chapter?

Justification by faith applied.

What is the key verse(s) of this chapter? Verse 16

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

What can I apply to my life from this chapter (things to do/avoid)?

Spend more time in the Word and prayer.  That is the secret to overcoming the old nature and what it means to walk in the Spirit.  NOTE:  It is only in the measure that I walk in the Spirit, that I will not fulfill the desires of my flesh.

Additional observations/questions:

Excellent the way Stam explains 'walking in the Spirit.'

"The fruit of the Spirit cannot be works. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?  The Word of God was written by the Spirit.  Get more interested in it.  It is in the Spirit and through the Spirit that we approach God in prayer.  Spend more time in prayer.  That is what it is to walk in the Spirit, and to be led by the Spirit.  It does not mean that you hear voices or  have strange compunctions or hunches.  It means to spend more time in the Word of God and prayer, and in that measure, beloved, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  If you will be like a tree taking in the sunshine and rain that God graciously gives, you will bear the precious fruit of the Spirit.  Do not struggle to try to overcome the old nature, but become occupied more and more with the things of God.  That is the secret."

Many of the other commentaries I used stressed that it was a joint effort between me and the Holy Spirit; that I need to practice saying NO to sin and that it will become easier to do over time (self-effort) because the Holy Spirit will help me say NO. But it's not a joint effort, it's all the Spirit. The ONLY part I have in it is to let Him lead (yield - put off the old, put on the new) — by being wrapped up in the things of the Spirit (the Word of God, prayer, the throne of grace). The more time I give to studying the Word and prayer, the more I will find my old nature being overcome.

The spiritual virtues listed in verses 22-23 do not come from any goodness in us, but from the Spirit of God dwelling within us. They are not the product of human effort. Rather, they are fruit, and fruit is the natural product of life and growth. In fact, the fruit of the Spirit is contrasted with the works of the flesh in verses 19-21, and these are all bad.

It is also interesting to note that the fruit the Holy Spirit produces in yielded believers is not that which the world admires. The world admires self-confidence, self-respect, self-made people, with intellectual prowess, personal magnetism, authority, etc., while the Spirit produces "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Someone may have self-confidence, intellectual acumen, political or other power — and may still be very difficult to live with, but this is not true of the virtues which the Spirit produces. Of those who possess these qualities the Apostle says: "against such things there is no law." 

Galatians 5:16-26

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.


walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh - "The word walk is from peripateo which means literally 'to walk about,' but when used in a connection like this, refers to the act of conducting one's self, or ordering one's manner of life or behavior.  The word lust is from epithumia which refers to a strong desire, impulse, or passion, the context indicating whether it is a good or an evil one.  The word flesh refers here to the totally depraved nature of the person, the power of which is broken when the believer is saved.  Therefore, the lusts of the flesh refer to the evil desires, impulses, and passions that are constantly arising from the evil nature as smoke rises from a chimney.  The evil nature is not eradicated.  Its power over the believer is broken, and the believer need not obey it.  But it is there, constantly attempting to control the believer as it did before salvation wrought its work in his being.  The word fulfill is from teleo which here means 'to bring to fulfillment in action.'  The verb is future, and is preceded by two negatives.  Two negatives in Greek do not, as in English, make a position assertion.  They strengthen the negation.  We have here an emphatic promissory future.  It does not express a command, but gives a strong assurance that if the believer depends upon the Spirit to give him both the desire and the power to do the will of God, he will not bring to fulfillment in action, the evil impulses of the fallen nature, but will be able to resist and conquer them." (Wuest)

"How many people have tried in vain to overcome fleshly desires by other methods!  They have repented in tears and promised never to fall again.  They  have made new resolutions.  They have tried to exert more will-power.  They have become very religious.  They have spent more time praying and going to church.  They have put themselves under the law.  They have subjected themselves to deprivation and pain.  How many methods have been tried!  Man must have the Spirit of God within him in order to live a godly life ... You have the Spirit within you.  When you believed in Christ, the Spirit came to dwell in you.  Now let Him lead; let Him be the master in your life.  Walk in the Spirit.  Be all wrapped up in the things of the Spirit, of the Word of God, of prayer, and of the throne of grace.  Give time to the study of the Word and prayer and you will find that the old nature will be overcome.  It is only in the measure that we walk in the Spirit, that we shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh.  I would like to call your attention to the word 'walk,' and emphasize it.  Paul said, 'WALK in the Spirit.'  Having the Spirit is not enough.  There are many believers who have the Spirit dwelling within, yet they are worldly and carnal in their behavior.  There is no final, complete victory over sin in this life.  Just because the Spirit has taken up His residence in the believer does not mean that the believer will automatically overcome all sin.  We must walk in the Spirit; we must seek His help step by step, for we are not sinless yet!" (Stam)

these are opposed to each other - "...has the idea of suppression ... There is a reciprocity on the part of the flesh and Spirit.  Each reciprocates the antagonism which the one holds for the other.  The translation is as follows: 'For the flesh constantly has a strong desire to suppress the Spirit, and the Spirit constantly  has a strong desire to suppress the flesh.  And these are entrenched in an attitude of mutual opposition to one another, so that you may  not do the things that you desire to do.'  When the flesh presses hard upon the believer with its evil behests, the Holy Spirit is there to oppose the flesh and give the believer victory over it, in order that the believer will not obey the flesh, and thus sin.  When the Holy Spirit places a course of conduct upon the heart of the believer, the flesh opposes the Spirit in an effort to prevent the believer from obeying the Spirit.  The purpose of each is to prevent the believer from doing what the other moves him to do.  The choice lies with the saint.  He must develop the habit of keeping his eyes fixed on the lord Jesus and his trust in the Holy Spirit." (Wuest)

to keep you from doing the things you want to do - "I can almost hear someone say, 'That does not sound like victory to me; that sounds like defeat.  It sounds like the believer cannot do what he wants to do to please God.  He will constantly fail and fall into sin.'  This last phrase, 'Ye cannot do the things that ye would' is not meant to show our weakness or our helplessness.  It does not offer excuse for sin, as though we could say, 'I could not help it.'  There are Christian people who constantly argue for the weakness of the flesh.  They never seem to argue for the power of the Spirit within them.  I say that this phrase, 'Ye cannot do the things that ye would,' is not given to show how weak we are, but how depraved we are by nature.  Thank God, Christ died for our sins and He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.  We stand before Him perfect, 'accepted in the Beloved One,' and 'complete in Christ.'  'Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?' (Rom 8:33).  That is our standing in Christ.  But as to our experience in ourselves, we are still inherently sinful, as bad as we ever were.  We can never relax and say that sin is gone and that we will never be troubled again with temptation to sin.  This is what the apostle meant when he said, 'These are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.'  You cannot take a vacation from sin and say that you have no problem with it any more.  The old nature, and our adversary the Devil will see to that.  So Galatians 5:17 is just simply saying that the Spirit of God and the old nature within us are constantly at enmity with each other, so that we cannot do what we would like to do.  We must be constantly on our toes, constantly alert against temptation.  This is a simple statement of facts.  If any many would deny it, let him ask himself, 'Have I found complete personal victory over myself?'  Let him ask himself, 'Do I have no more trouble with temptation?'  Of course he does.  Therefore we all must 'walk in the  Spirit.'  Paul did not say, 'If you have the Spirit within you' — But 'If you walk in the Spirit.'" (Stam)

if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law - "The Galatian Christians had up to the time of the Judaizers' entry into their churches, lived their Christian lives in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, in accordance with the teaching of the apostle Paul.  The power of the sinful nature had been broken, the divine nature had been implanted, and the Spirit had entered their hearts to take up His permanent residence.  The conflict spoken of in verse 17 had been going on in them, and the result had been that they were living victorious lives over sin (Gal 4:19).  But now a new factor had entered, the law, and with it, their dependence upon self effort to obey that law.  The Galatians were still trying to live Christian lives, but they were going about it in the wrong way, with the result that they were failing.  The entrance of these new factors meant that the Spirit had no opportunity to minister to their spiritual lives.  The mechanical set-up of spiritual machinery which God had installed, had become ineffective by reason of the monkey-wrench of self-dependence which the Galatians had thrown into it.  Paul here presents to them a third way of life, distinct from that of a person under law, and also from that of a person who, because he is not under the restraining influences of law anymore, thinks that that leaves him without restraint of any kind, and thus yields to the impulses of the evil nature.  That third way is not a middle road between these two, but a highway above them.  It is a highway of freedom from statues and from the sinful nature, a highway which is a faith way, a dependence upon the Spirit ... Again, the law finds nothing to condemn in the life of the person who is led by the Spirit, for that person checks every wrong desire which is brought to him by the evil nature, and so he fulfills the law.  This is the blessed moral freedom of the person who is led by the Spirit.  He is in such a condition of moral and spiritual life that the law has no power to censure, condemn, nor punish him.  This is the true moral freedom from the law to which Paul refers (Rom 8:1-4)." (Wuest)

"Romans 6:14 is closely parallel.  The believer is assured that the lordship of sin over him is no longer of necessity, inasmuch as he is no longer under the law, which demands obedience, but which cannot supply the power without which obedience is not possible.  On the contrary, he is under grace, where inherent weakness is met by sufficient and instantly available strength, Ephesians 3:16." (Vine)

the works of the flesh are evident - "Paul's purpose in enumerating the various manifestations of the evil nature, is to enforce the exhortation of verse 13 to the effect that Galatian Christians are not to use their liberty from the law as a base of operations from which to cater to the flesh, but instead, are to rule their lives by divine love.  Such a catalogue of sins would act as a repellent and thus cause them to turn away from sin ... As the repulsiveness of the works of the flesh would deter the Galatians from yielding to the evil nature, so the attractiveness of the fruit of the Spirit would influence them to yield themselves to the Spirit." (Wuest)

there is no law - "As the believer takes account of things true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, the worthy things and the pleasing things, he is taking account of Christ, for the things that were to be seen in Paul were the things that Paul had seen in Christ; see Philippians 4:8, 9 and cp. 1 Corinthians 11:1.  The ideal Christian life is an extension of the life of the Lord Jesus; the things that in the days of His flesh He manifested in His own way among men, He manifests now by the power of His Spirit in the lives of His people." (Vine)

"Notice, please, that over against the works of the flesh we have the fruit of the Spirit.  Do you see, beloved, that it is not by struggling and trying that we overcome sin?  That is just putting ourselves under another kind of bondage.  Men who have not taken Christ as personal Savior have certainly proved that they break their best resolves.  The fruit of the Spirit cannot be works.  If only we would be more occupied with the things of the Spirit!  What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?  The Word of God was written by the Spirit.  Get more interested in it.  It is in the Spirit and through the Spirit that we approach God in prayer.  Spend more time in prayer.  That is what it is to walk in the Spirit, and to be led by the Spirit.  It does not mean that you hear voices or  have strange compunctions or hunches.  It means to spend more time in the Word of God and prayer, and in that measure, beloved, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  If you will be like a tree taking in the sunshine and rain that God graciously gives, you will bear the precious fruit of the Spirit.  Do not struggle to try to overcome the old nature, but become occupied more and more with the things of God.  That is the secret." (Stam)

those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires - "Christians crucified the evil nature with its affections and lusts, in the sense that when they put their faith in the Lord Jesus as Savior, they received the actual benefits of their identification with Christ in His death on the Cross, which benefits were only potential at the time He was crucified.  The Christian's identification with Christ in His death, resulted in the breaking of the power of the sinful nature over the life.  This victory over sin which the Lord Jesus procured for us at the Cross, is made actual and operative in our lives as we yield to the Holy Spirit and trust Him for that victory." (Wuest)

let us also keep in step with the Spirit - "The word Spirit is dative of reference.  The word if is the conditional particle of a fulfilled condition.  That is, 'in view of the fact' or 'seeing that' we live with reference to the Spirit.  The Galatians were living with reference to the Spirit in the sense that the new divine life resident in their beings, was supplied by the Spirit.  Now, Paul says, 'in view of the fact that you Galatians have a new life principle operating in your beings, then walk by the Spirit.'  The word walk is from stoicheo which means 'to walk in a straight line, to conduct one's self (rightly).'  Thus, the exhortation is to the Galatians who have divine life resident in their beings, to conduct themselves under the guidance, impulses, and energy of that life.  The responsibility of the saint is to desire to live a Christ-like life, to depend upon the Holy Spirit for the power to live that life, and to step out on faith and live that life.  This fulfilled, will bring all the infinite resources of grace to the aid of the saint, and put in operation all the activities of the Spirit in his behalf." (Wuest)

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. - "...means 'having a conceit of possessing a rightful claim to honor.'  It speaks of that state of mind which is contrasted to the state of mind which seeks God's glory.  There were two classes of Christians in the Galatian churches.  One class thought that they had attained to freedom in the absolute sense, freedom from any restraint whatsoever.  These were in danger of turning liberty into license.  This class took pride in their fancied liberty from all restraint.  The other class was composed of the more scrupulous and timid brethren.  The former class would be tempted to dare the latter group to do things which the law forbids, insinuating that they were afraid to do them.  The former class thus would be guilty of vain glory, empty pride, provoking the latter group to do things which it did not think right.  On the other hand, the latter group would be tempted to regard the spurious liberty of the former class as something to be desired, and thus would envy them their liberty, wishing that they felt the same way about their freedom.  It is like the case of the strong Christian and the weak one who has scruples. Romans 14:1-15:3 and 1 Corinthians 8 deal with this subject.  The strong Christian should bear the infirmities of the weak, Paul said.  This would be the cure for the situation in the Galatian churches." (Wuest)

"In the latter part of Galatians the Apostle Paul concluded his great argument for Christian liberty, that is, the liberty of believers in Christ.  Only believers in Christ have true liberty.  The unsaved are in bondage to their own sinful natures and to the Devil, who the Scriptures say leads them captive at his will (2 Tim 2:26).  Their bondage might take on different forms.  They may indulge in gross sin, depraved drunkenness, and debauchery.  Or their bondage may take the form of proud self-righteousness, which can be ever worse.  In any case, the unsaved are in bondage.  They have nothing with which to overcome either their own sinful natures or the Devil, the adversary of their souls.  I do not mean to say for a moment that believers never sin or fall; they do, of course, but the point is that they need not.  God has given us the Holy Spirit with whom we may overcome every single temptation.  He dwells within us and is always ready to help.  No longer in bondage to the law, to self, or to the Devil.  We are truly free!" (Stam)

Galatians 5:7-15

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.


Who hindered you from obeying the truth? - "The Galatian Christians were running the Christian race well, but the Judaizers cut in on them and now were slowing up their progress in their growth in the Christian life.  They had deprived the Galatians of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the latter had been thrown back upon self effort in an attempt to obey a set of legal restrictions, with the result that their lives had lost the fragrance of the Lord Jesus and the enabling power for service which the Spirit formerly gave them.  The question Paul asks is rhetorical not for information.  The great apostle knew well enough who had slowed up the Christian growth of the Galatians." (Wuest)

"Many Christian people entertain the notion that apostasy from the truth begins with a denial of one or more of the fundamentals of the faith (such as the infallibility of the Bible, the deity of Christ, or the efficacy of His redemptive work).  The moral aspect of apostasy, they suppose, comes about in much the same way.  This view is not wholly correct, for apostasy generally begins not with the believing spiritual or moral error, but with condoning it.  Eve fell into sin, not by denying what God had said, but by listening to Satan ... Some doctrine or practice, clearly unscriptural and subversive of spiritual blessing, had been condoned when, like the little foxes of Solomon's song (Song of Solomon 2:15), they should have been caught and disposed of.  It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine from Paul's Epistle to the Galatians just what the Galatian believers thought the rite of circumcision would accomplish for them spiritually.  We doubt that they knew themselves, but the Judaizers had come in among them and had captured their attention so that they now 'desired to be under the law' (Gal 4:21).  They did not deny the efficacy of the finished work of Christ, but they were interested—just interested—in submitting to a religious ceremony which would in itself be a denial of the all-sufficiency of His redemptive work (Gal 3:1; 5:2-4).  Result:  the blessing was already vanishing (Gal 4:14) and the apostle had to warn them:  'A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump' (Gal 5:9)." (Stam)

A little leaven leavens the whole lump - "Leaven is always a symbol of evil in the Bible.  The Jews before the days of unleavened bread, would remove every particle of leaven from their homes.  Leaven, which operates on the principle of fermentation, is an apt symbol of moral and spiritual corruption.  A very small lump readily permeates the entire bread dough." (Wuest)

if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? - "The Judaizers said that Paul was still preaching circumcision when it suited his purpose.  Paul answers this charge by calling the attention of the Galatians to the fact that he was still being persecuted, implying that it was for his anti-legalism ... The Book of Acts records the fact that he was continually being persecuted by the Jews because of his break with the Mosaic economy.  It was as a Pharisee that he had preached circumcision ... The idea is, 'If I am still preaching circumcision, why am I in spite of that fact being persecuted?  The persecution of Paul had its basis in the fact that the Cross was an offense to the Jew.  What made the Cross an offense to the Jew?  Paul tells us in the words, 'If I yet preach circumcision, then is the offense of the cross ceased.'  That is, if circumcision be preached as one of the prerequisites of salvation, then the Cross of Christ would cease to be an offense.  Thus, the offensiveness of the Cross to the Jew lay in the teaching that believers in the Lord Jesus are free from the Mosaic law ... The Cross was offensive to the Jew therefore because it set aside the entire Mosaic economy, and because it offered salvation by grace through faith alone without the added factor of works performed by the sinner in an effort to merit the salvation offered." (Wuest)

"—the apostle turns suddenly to meet a charge of inconsistency, perhaps of insincerity, made against him by the Judaizing party, one to which indeed he had already somewhat indirectly referred, 1:8, 9, above.  His action in regard to Timothy may have afforded ground for this charge.  But the case of Timothy differed from that of Titus 2:3 in an important particular.  Titus was a Gentile born of Gentile parents; Timothy's mother was a Hebrew, his father a Gentile, he was therefore the offspring of a union plainly prohibited by the Mosaic Law.  It may have seemed expedient to the apostle on this account to circumcise Timothy in order to conciliate some who through ignorance, or through weakness in the faith, were sensitive on the point.  However that may have been, the apostle soon learned that any attempt to conciliate the Judaizers was foredoomed to failure, and would probably involve the churches in disaster.  The time arrived when it became necessary to oppose them at all points, and to attack their hybrid system of salvation by works and faith with every legitimate weapon available.  The pressure in favor of circumcision was renews when Titus came to Antioch, but now the apostle did not yield.  So long as he hoped to further the interests of the gospel by conciliating the Judaizers he endeavored to conciliate them, perhaps even hoped to win them; now he saw clearly that these interests could be preserved and furthered only by bold and insistent attack upon those who opposed them." (Vine)

"If we can preach something for man to do in addition to all that Christ has done, then the offense of the cross will cease.  The cross is an offense to the world.  The unbeliever asks, 'Am I so bad that someone had to die for me?'  Paul said that was why he was suffering persecution—because of 'the offense of the cross.'  He was preaching the truth that the cross is the only thing that God will accept for salvation." (Stam)

freedom - "—eleutheria; slavery, established and regulated by law, was an integral element in the social fabric of the apostle's day.  Provision was made, among other things, for the liberation of the save, and this was effected by a legal fiction according to which he was purchased by a deity, Apollo or another; the purchase money was in fact provided by the slave who, as he had no legal standing, no civil rights, could not purchase himself.  To meet this difficulty the sum appointed was paid into the temple treasure, whither master and slave proceeded.  There, when the money was paid over, a document was drawn up and duly attested, to the effect that so-and0so had been purchased by the deity at such a price; in some of these documents the same words that are used by the apostle here, 'for freedom,' i.e., 'with the object of setting him free,' were inserted.  Henceforth the erstwhile slave is his own master, and may do 'the things that he will,' nor may any him into bondage again inasmuch as, in theory at least, he is the property of the god who purchased him.  In the New Testament men are declared to be in bondage, the Jews to the law, 4:3, Romans 7:1, the Gentiles to idols, 4:8, 1 Corinthians 12:2, and all to sin, Romans 6:6, 17; therein, too, the way to freedom is declared in language which is largely that of the manumission from the social slavery just described.  The seed from which this conception of salvation as deliverance from bondage afterwards developed is found, however, in the words of the Lord Jesus, cp. Matthew 20:28, 'the Son of Man came ... to give His life a ransom for many,' and Luke 21:38, 'your redemption draweth nigh,' and John 8:36, 'If ... the Son shall make you free [lit., free you], ye shall be free indeed.'  Thus men are set at liberty by Christ who purchased them at a price, 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23, which is His own blood, Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:18, 19, for He actually did at His own cost what the god did fictionally with money provided by the slave.  Thus those who were in bondage to law, idols and sin, become the bond servants of Christ, of God and of righteousness, Romans 6:18, 22; 1 Corinthians 7:22." (Vine)

"In the light of the Word of God, we have no right to forgo our liberty in Christ.  We would be disobeying the truth as well as being foolish if we left out standing in grace to go back under the law.  God tells us that Christ died to deliver us from the curse of the law so that we no longer need to be under that curse.  Therefore, it is a sin to put ourselves back under it.  We may forgo our rights for the welfare of others, but we have no right to forgo our liberty and allow men or theologians or religious leaders to entangle use with the yoke of bondage.  God tells us to 'Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.'  If we were to forgo our liberty and put ourselves under the law again we would be poor representatives of Christ who died to save us from the law.  We would be in a poor position to preach the gospel of the grace of God.  That is why the apostle, all through this epistle, emphasized so strongly that we are not under the Mosaic law with it Ten Commandments.  Galatians 3:13 says very clearly that 'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.' Galatians 3:25 says that 'after faith is come, we are no longer under the schoolmaster.' Galatians 4:4,5 says that 'when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son...to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption [placing as full-grown] sons (Gal 5:4).  Did you get that?  It does not mean that after you are saved you can be lost again.  But Christ profits you nothing if He does not profit everything.  He must be all or nothing, and as we just read in verse 13, 'Brethren, we have been called unto liberty.'" (Stam)

an opportunity for the flesh - "The antidote against using their liberty from the law as a pretext for sinning, is found in the exhortation, 'By love serve one another.'  The Greek word for love here is agape, which refers, not to human affection but to divine love, the love produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit, and the love with which that believer should love his fellow-believers.  This love is a love whose chief essence is self-sacrifice for the benefit of the one who is loved.  Such a love means death to self, and that means defeat for sin, since the essence of sin is self-will and self-gratification.  The word serve is from douloo which means 'to render service to, to do that which is for the advantage of someone else.'  It is the word Paul used when he spoke of the slavery that is imposed by the law upon the one who is under the law.  The Galatian Christians were rescued from the slavery which legalism imposed, and brought into a new servitude, that of a loving, glad, and willing service to /god and man which annihilates self and subordinates all selfish desires to love.  This is the secret of victory over the totally depraved nature whose power over the believer was broken when God saved him, when that nature attempts to induce the Christian to use his liberty as a pretext to sin." (Wuest)

"It is true that there are people who say that if we are under grace we can do anything we desire.  Theoretically this may be true.  It is true that when the Lord gave the blind man his sight again, He said, 'Go thy way; they faith hath made thee whole' (Mark 10:52).  But you know what the man did; the very next phrase tells us that he 'followed Jesus in the way.'  There you have it exactly.  God has redeemed us from the condemnation of sin, redeemed us 'by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,' and there are no strings attached.  He says, 'Your faith has made you whole, go your way.'  'Whomsoever the Son shall make free shall be free indeed.'  Our liberty is real.  Ah, but the result of this grace is that the recipient wants to live for the Lord Jesus Christ, and he offers himself as a bond-slave to Christ, as Paul did.  Paul wrote of himself again and again as the servant, the bond-slave, of Christ.  The believer wants to follow Christ in the way and obey Him.  I know that there are always ungodly men who want to 'turn the grace of God into lasciviousness,' (Jude 4).  But we are not following them; they know nothing about grace.  If they  have come to Christ at all, perhaps in some intellectual sense, they did not come to be freed from sin; they came to be freed to sin.  They accepted God's grace intellectually, in order to have a license to sin1 Peter 2:15-16 put its beautifully.  Free, but not using our liberty for a cloak.  If we do that, we are all hypocrites, and we show clearly that we do not understand the grace of God." (Stam)

the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” - "The normal mother does not need laws to make her take care of her child.  She loves that child; she nurses it, washes it, dresses it, cares for it, protects it, feeds it.  Why?  Because the law says that she must?  No, because she loves the child.  In just the same way love will motivate us to right living far more than the requirements of the law could ever do.  Yes, my unsaved friend, you may try until Doom's Day to keep the law, but you will go out of this world lost in your sins if you reject God's grace.  'For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Rom 6:23).  May all of us who know Him as Savior seek by His grace to live in ways that will please and honor Him." (Stam)

Galatians 5:1-6

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.


For freedom Christ has set us free - "The liberty spoken of here does not refer to the kind of life a person lives, neither does it have reference to his words and actions, but it has to do with the method by which he lives that life.  The Judaizers lived their lives by dependence upon self effort in an attempt to obey the law.  The Galatian Christians had been living their's in dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Their hearts had been occupied with the Lord Jesus, the details of their lives being guided by the ethics that emerged from the teaching of the apostle, both doctrinal and practical.  Now, I swinging over to law, they were losing that freedom of action and that flexibility of self-determination which one exercises in the doing of what is right, when one does right, not because the law forbids the wrong and commands the right, but because it is right, because it pleases the Lord Jesus, and because of love for Him." (Wuest)

"Christ died to set us free from sin, the law, religious tradition, and every form of bondage.  He wants us to serve Him as the Galatians had once freely served Him—from glad, thankful, grateful hearts.  To deny by our actions that Christ died to set us free is ingratitude indeed.  This is why the apostle wrote that the Galatians were disobedient to the truth [v.7] ... People want to do things; they want to become accepted in the sight of God by doing their part, and the motive behind this is pure pride.  They want to have the credit themselves.  In their subconscious minds is the thought of being self-made men.  Pride if the condition of the unsaved and it is always a temptation to man—even to the saved man.  After men have been saved, after they have been justified completely and fully by the grace of God and the finished work of Christ, how often, like the Galatians to whom Paul wrote, believers desire to go back under the law again and to be in bondage." (Stam)

do not submit again to a yoke of slavery - "In the present passage the bondage immediately contemplated is to those rites and ceremonies prescribed in a law that could not give either freedom in the present or hope for the future, Hebrews 7:18, 10; but the principle is of the widest application.  Human freedom, eleutheria, that in which man was originally created, is not liberty to do wrong or to indulge oneself, it is liberty to obey God.  For man is so constituted that only as he pleases God can he be happy in the higher, the spiritual, part of his nature, and efficient for the great ends for which he was created.  The essence of the Fall lay in this, that man used his endowment of freedom against the giver of it.  Instead of enhancing and extending his freedom by his disobedience, however, man's first exercise of his will apart from God brought him into bondage to a new master, sin, see Romans 6:17, 18; 7:14, working through a threefold agency, the world, the flesh, and the devil; see 1 John 2:16, 17; 3:8.  Thus sin is not the true master of men, but a usurper, ruling with rigor, albeit the rule is disguised so that not even the wisest seems capable of recognizing it apart from the teaching of the Spirit of God.  Christian freedom is secured for men in the redemption of Christ, which is to reach its full fruition at His coming again, cp. Romans 8:21 with 7:24, 25.  Meanwhile the believer is to claim, to assert and to enjoy, the freedom that is his in Christ, but in so doing he will encounter many opposing forces, and these the apostle Paul usually sums up in the word 'flesh.'  Christian freedom is not liberty to the Christian to please himself; it is liberty for the new life which is his in Christ to develop in the leading of His Spirit, Romans 8:14, and according to its own nature despite the antagonism of the flesh, for 'the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,' i.e., the Spirit of Christ." (Vine)

if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you - "The words 'Christ shall profit you nothing,' must be interpreted in their context.  Paul is not speaking here of their standing in grace as justified believers.  He is speaking of the method of living a Christian life and of growth in that life.  Thus, if the Galatians submit to circumcision, they are putting themselves under law, and are depriving themselves of the ministry of the Holy Spirit which Christ made possible through His death and resurrection, and which ministry was not provided for under the law.  In the Old Testament dispensation, the Spirit came upon or in believers in order that they might perform a certain service for God, and then left them when that service was accomplished.  He did not indwell them for purposes of sanctification.  The great apostle had taught the Galatians that God's grace guaranteed their everlasting retention of salvation, and so they understood that he was speaking of their Christian experience, not their Christian standing." (Wuest)

"Those who had been circumcised, whether in infancy, as in his own case, Philippians 3:5, or voluntarily in later years, as in the case of Timothy, Acts 16:3, are not thereby shut out from Christ, they are warned of the danger of pursuing the practice in the case of new converts and of maintaining the teaching of which circumcision is the symbol.  It is plain that 'receiveth' is not to be understood of the performance of the rite itself, for that could be done but once.  There is here a metonymy: to 'receive' circumcision is to acknowledge it to be of divine authority and of Christian obligation, and in like manner to acknowledge all that for which it stood in the mind of the Jews." (Vine)

you have fallen away from grace - "In depriving themselves of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the living of a Christian life, they have fallen from grace.  The words 'fallen from' are from ekpipto which means 'to fail of, to lose one's hold of.'  The Galatian Christians had lost their hold upon the grace for daily living which heretofore had been ministered to them by the Holy Spirit.  God's grace manifests itself in three ways, in justification, sanctification, and glorification.  The context rules.  All through chapter five, Paul is talking about the Holy Spirit's ministry to the believer.  Therefore grace here must be interpreted as the daily grace for living of which the Galatian Christians were depriving themselves.  But because they had lost their hold upon sanctifying grace, does not mean that God's grace had lost its hold upon them in the sphere of justification.  Because they had refused to accept God's grace in sanctification is no reason why God should withdraw His grace for justification..  They had received the latter when they accepted the Lord Jesus.  That transaction was closed and permanent at the moment they believed.  Justification is a judicial act of God done once for all.  Sanctification is a process which goes on all through the Christian's live.  Just because the process of sanctification is temporarily retarded in a believer's life, does not say that his justification is taken away.  If that were the case, then the retention of salvation would depend upon the believer's works, and then salvation would not depend upon grace anymore  And we find ourselves in the camp of the Judaizers, ancient and modern." (Wuest)

"These expressions must be understood as explicit denials of salvation to those who, in the face of the apostle's statements of what was involved, persisted in acknowledging circumcision, and so committed themselves to the works of the law as necessary to justification.  Only by grace, and that the grace of the Lord Jesus, Acts 15:11, can any man be saved.  How then could they be saved to whom Christ was of no advantage, who had been severed from Christ, who had fallen away from grace?  All such as turn to the law for blessing find in it only a curse, 3:10, above, condemnation and death, 2 Corinthians 3:7, 9, for the law of God 'worketh wrath,' Romans 4:15, but the grace of God brings salvation, Titus 2:11." (Vine)

"Christ's work was a finished work and it was all-sufficient for the payment of sin.  If you are going to do something yourself for salvation, that indicates that Christ's death at Calvary was not sufficient.  Then how do you know that any of His works satisfy for any of your sins?  My friends, Christ is either everything or He is nothing!  It is not partly His work and partly your work that saves you; it is all His work, as we saw in the strong argument about Hagar and Sarah.  Paul asked, 'Do you not see that what was born of the salve girl could only produce bondage?  The son of a slave girl could be only a slave boy, and there would always be that relationship.  It must be a free son, a legitimate son, the son of Sarah.  So it is with law and grace.  The law can only produce bondage, and trying to keep the law can only produce slavery.  Paul said that salvation is not bondage, but grace.  It is not partly the result of your keeping the law and partly the result of Christ's work.  You do not have to help God as Sarah and Abraham tried to do, to their own confusion and frustration.  Christ paid the whole price for sin ... You received Him by grace, now go on in grace.  You came to Him just as your were, at the end of yourself.  You said, 'I give up; I believe Christ died for my sins, and I accept Him as my Lord and Savior.'  All right, now continue the same way.  You are no better in yourself now than you were when you were first saved.  The old nature has never improved, so Paul said in Romans 6:11.  The old man, the old nature, has died in Christ.  Consider the old man dead, for this is how God views him.  Put him out of your mind.  Ignore the old nature and live unto God.  Be all wrapped up in Christ, praising Him for His grace and the spiritual blessings He gives you in the heavenlies ... Paul had said of himself in Galatians 2:20 that he was 'crucified with Christ.'  In Colossians 2:10 he said, 'Ye are complete in Him.'  Our crucifixion, the putting off of the old man, the old body of sin, was done in the circumcision  not made with hands when our blessed Lord and Savior was 'cut off' out of the land of the living.  It is therefore through the operation of God, through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, that we are saved and sanctified and accepted in the Beloved One, and pronounced complete in Him.  Everything we need has been given to us in Christ." (Stam)

through the Spirit - "—pneuma is here without the article; it does not on that account follow that the Holy Spirit is not intended and that the capital initial is wrong, for the article is sometimes absent where the person is certainly meant, as in Acts 19:2, and is sometimes present where that is not the case, as in John 6:63.  If 'in spirit' should be read here, then the meaning is that whereas the Jew sought justification in the flesh, i.e., by the observance of ordinances and obedience to moral precepts, the Christian is justified by an act of the spirit, i.e., through faith, as indeed the apostle states.  If,  however, as is equally possible, 'through the Spirit' is to be read, then the meaning is, 'through the agency of the Holy Spirit,' i.e., the believer is quickened by Him, and is taught by Him to cherish this hope, and is maintained by Him to continue therein.  The Holy Spirit is received by an act of faith, and by continued exercise of this receptive faculty, faith, the blessings He brings are appropriated.  Thus the whole spiritual life of the Christian life is a life of faith, life through the Holy Spirit.  Whichever view of the passage is taken, it is important to remember that the sphere of the operations of the Spirit of God is the human spirit, Romans 8:16; 2 Corinthians 1:22.  Every impulse along the line of obedience to the will of God is the spirit of a man is the result of His operations." (Vine)

we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness - "Paul says that it is through the agency of the Spirit that we can hope for the presence of an experimental righteousness in the life, not by self effort.  The word we is emphatic.  It is, 'as for us, we (Christians) through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith,' not as the Judaizers who attempted to live a righteous life by self effort rather than dependence upon the Holy Spirit.  The phrase 'the hope of righteousness,' is a construction of the Greek text called an objective genitive.  It can be translated 'the hoped-for-righteousness.'  It is that righteousness which is the object of hope.  The words 'by faith,' are to be construed with 'wait.'  We wait for this hoped-for righteousness by faith.  The word wait is from apodechomai.  The same word is used in Philippians 3:20, and there translated look.  The word speaks of an attitude of intense yearning and an eager waiting for something,.  Here is refers to the believer's intense desire for eager expectation of a practical righteousness which will be constantly produced in his life by the Holy Spirit as he yields himself to Him." (Wuest)

"Here Paul is speaking of our desire for perfect personal righteousness.  We all wish we were more righteous.  Thank God that we are perfectly righteous in Christ, and now God wants us to live for Him out of gratitude.  We live for Him because we love Him." (Stam)

neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love - "In the case of the one who is joined to Christ Jesus in that life-giving union which was effected through the act of the Holy Spirit baptizing the believing sinner into the Lord Jesus (Romans 6:3, 4), the fact that he is circumcised or is not circumcised, has no power for anything in his life.  The thing that is of power to effect a transformation in the life is faith, the faith of the justified person which issues in love in his life, a love produced by the Holy Spirit." (Wuest)

Galatians 4:1-31

What is the theme of this chapter?

Justification by faith alone explained further.

What is the key verse(s) of this chapter? Verses 4-5

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

What can I apply to my life from this chapter (things to do/avoid)?

Same as last chapter:  I must be on my guard against telling others, or even smiling and agreeing with others, that salvation is through faith plus works, not faith alone.  So EASY to slip up on this!  

Additional observations/questions:

Interesting what Stam says about Lent.  And yet Lent seems to be a practice that is slowly creeping back into the evangelical church.  Not entirely sure why.  Probably because people always want to be DOING SOMETHING, whether it is denying themselves something for a limited period of time OR "giving themselves over to period of introspection and self-reproach."  But nowhere in Scripture do we find that the apostles or disciples ever observed, much less instructed to observe, Lent, or any comparable period of fasting and/or penitence, after the dispensation of grace was ushered in.  In fact, Paul condemns this lack of appreciation of Christ's all-sufficient redemptive work (Gal 4:9-11, 20; Col 2:20-22; cf. Heb 10:1-14).

Galatians 4:22-31

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.


"Without denying the historicity of these accounts from Genesis, Paul draws lessons from them.  Hagar stands for the Mosaic Law, slavery, Mount Sinai, Jerusalem then under the slavery to Rom, and flesh.  Sarah and Isaac stand for the Abrahamic covenant, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Spirit, and freedom." (Ryrie)

one by a slave woman and one by a free woman - "Isaac was born of a free woman (Sarah) in a miraculous way.  Ishmael was born of the slave (Hagar) in the ordinary way." (Ryrie)

this may be interpreted allegorically - "—allegoreo, to speak allegorically, i.e., not according to the plain sense of the words, but applying the facts of the narrative to illustrate principles.  The presence of an allegorical meaning does not deprive the narrative of its literal meaning.  Indeed, while it is at least conceivable that any given narrative may be capable of more than one allegorical meaning, it is plain that but one literal meaning can attach to it ... Much caution is necessary in any attempt to apply the apostle's method of treatment of the story of Sarah and Hagar to other narratives of Scripture.  Imagination and ingenuity are poor substitutes for apostolic guidance." (Vine)

But the Jerusalem above - "—the apostle does not express all the terms of the antithesis; the complete parallel, with its double symbolism, may be thus set out: Hagar the bondwoman with her son Ishmael, born in the course of nature, points to the actual Jerusalem in Palestine with its inhabitants, in bondage, whether political or spiritual; and they in turn point to the Jewish people, whether in the land or of the Dispersion, in bondage to the law, and with them all such Gentiles as put themselves under the law.  Sarah the freewoman, with Isaac, born in fulfillment of a promise, point to the heavenly, the ideal Jerusalem with its inhabitants, under no control of this world; and these, in turn, point to those Jews and Gentiles who have trusted Christ and who are free from the law in Him." (Vine)

So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. - "In Galatians 1:11-2:21, Paul shows that he was divinely commissioned as an apostle and as such was not answerable to the Twelve in Jerusalem.  In chapters 3 and 4, he defends his doctrine of justification faith alone, against the Judaizers who added works to faith as the necessary conditions for salvation.  In Galatians 5:1-6:10, the inspired apostle presents practical teaching and exhortation designed to correct the havoc which the teaching of the Judaizers in the personal lives of the Galatian Christians.  In Galatians 4:19 Paul expresses the wish that the Lord Jesus might again be outwardly expressed in their lives.  The Galatians had lost His beauty which before the coming of the Judaizers had been so prominent in their experience.  The Lord Jesus was not being expressed in their lives as heretofore.  This was the direct result of the Judaizer's legalistic teachings.  The Galatian Christians, instead of depending upon the indwelling Spirit to produce in their live the beauty of the Lord Jesus, now were depending upon self-effort in an attempt to obey law.  Accordingly, Paul's practical teaching emphasizes the ministry of the Spirit, and the Galatians are exhorted to put themselves again under His control." (Wuest)

"In Galatians 4 Paul uses this example, declaring that Hagar, the slave girl, speaks to us of the Law and its bondage and represents Jerusalem of that day, 'in bondage with her children' (Ver 25).  Sarah on the other hand, speaks of grace, and represent 'Jerusalem which is above, [which] is free, which is the mother of us all' (Ver 26).  Ah, many people, religious people, think that the Law produces greater results than grace.  How wrong they are!" (Stam)