Live Free in Christ (preaching resource for 6/29/25, third Sunday after Pentecost)
This post exegetes Galatians 5:1-25, providing context for the Epistles reading on 6/29/25. the third Sunday after Pentecost. Insights are drawn from "The Message of Galatians" by John Stott, "The IVP New Testament Commentary" by G. Walter Hansen, and "The Expositors Bible Commentary."
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| "Walk in Step with the Spirit" (from Christianity.com) |
Introduction
In Galatians chapter 5 Paul warns believers to turn away from legalism and license and instead rest in Christ’s triumphant work on the cross—living in the power and provision of the Holy Spirit. This is the life of Christian freedom. This is the gospel.
An assertion and a command
The chapter begins with a focal verse of the Epistle, which contains a profound assertion and a distinctive command. The assertion sums up what Paul has proclaimed about the gospel in chapters 3 and 4, while the command points toward how our lives will express this truth:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
1. The assertion
‘Christ set us free, to be free men’ (NEB). Once we were slaves, but Jesus Christ has liberated us. Our conversion to Christ was an act of emancipation and the Christian life is a life of true freedom: freedom from a guilty conscience and from the dreadful struggle to keep the Law of Moses (or any other law, for that matter) in order to win God’s favor. It is the freedom of open and free access to and acceptance with God through our union with Christ. In Christ, we are truly free. That is the gospel.
2. The command
‘Stand firm—never allowing ourselves to be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.' We must live out the freedom Christ has secured for us. Because we are accepted by God through Christ, we must cease all legalistic religion that seeks to earn God’s favor through our own efforts. Such legalism is religious slavery. To seek God’s favor through adherence to the Law of Moses is to place ourselves under the ‘yoke of the law’. But Christ has freed us from that yoke by meeting the demands of the Law for us. He died for our disobedience and thus bore our condemnation in our place. He has 'redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us' (Gal. 3:13). And now he has removed the yoke from our shoulders and set us free to take upon ourselves his yoke (Mat. 11:29-30), which is ‘easy’ (perfectly fitted) and ‘light’ (free of crushing burdens). Under Christ’s yoke—which is true freedom—we can stand upright.
Contrasting legalism and grace
To emphasize and illustrate his assertion and command, Paul makes several contrasts between life under the yoke of the Law and the life of freedom in Christ. He begins by contrasting legalism and grace.
1. Legalism (2-4)
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole Law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
The false teachers (Judaizers) were declaring that Christian converts had to be circumcised—in essence to become Jews to become Christians. Why did Paul make so much fuss about this issue? Because of its doctrinal implications. For the false teachers, circumcision was a theological symbol. It was the primary symbol of salvation by good works in obedience to the Law of Moses. The slogan of the false teachers was: 'Unless you are circumcised and keep the Law, you cannot be saved' (cf. Acts 15:1, 5). They were thus declaring that faith in Christ was insufficient for salvation—that one must 'be justified by Law' (verse 4). And he warns the Galatian Christians that by listening to them—by receiving circumcision (verses 2, 3), they would be ‘obligated to obey the whole Law’ (verse 3) including observance of days, restrictions of diet, etc. The assertion of the false teachers was tantamount to saying that Moses must be allowed to finish what Christ had begun.
What does Paul say to the Galatians? He makes a most solemn assertion, beginning *Mark my words!* (verse 2). He warns them in three phrases of the serious results of their receiving circumcision: *Christ will be of no value to you at all* (verse 2), you are *alienated from Christ* and *have fallen away from grace* (verse 4). They cannot have it both ways. It is impossible to receive Christ, thereby acknowledging that you cannot save yourself, and then take on the yoke of the Law claiming that you can. You have to choose between a religion of law and a religion of grace—between Christ and circumcision. You cannot add circumcision (or anything else, for that matter) to Christ as necessary to salvation, because Christ is sufficient for salvation in Himself. If you add anything to Christ, you lose Christ. Salvation is in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone.
2. Grace (5-6)
But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
In verses 5 and 6 the pronoun changes from 'you' to 'we'. Paul has been addressing his readers and warning them of the danger of falling back into legalism. But now he includes himself and describes true believers who stand in the gospel of grace. The emphasis in these verses is on faith. Two statements are made about it:
First, 'by faith we eagerly await…' What we are waiting for is 'the righteousness for which we hope'. Paul’s focus here is the future righteousness which is ours when God completes his work in us by his Spirit. By depending on the Spirit we can expect to reap the harvest of eternal life in the future (see Gal. 6:8). Our righteousness in every aspect is Christ’s which, by faith, we share through the work of the Holy Spirit. This righteousness is credited to us at justification; it is produced in us through sanctification, and perfected in us by glorification. In all aspects it is a gift received from God by faith. We do not *work* for it, rather we *wait* for it—trusting in Christ crucified.
Secondly, 'in Christ’…’ the only thing that counts is faith' (verse 6). Again Paul denies the false teaching. When a person is in union with Christ by faith, nothing more is necessary. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision can improve our privileged position with God. All that is necessary in order to be accepted with God is to be in Christ, and we are in Christ by grace alone through faith in Christ alone.
Contrasting false and true teachers
Galatians 5:7-12
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Paul now contrasts the false teachers—identified here as 'the one who is throwing you into confusion' (verse 10b) because he is teaching legalism—with himself—the 'I' who is teaching the truth of God, the gospel. Paul asks them: *You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?* Paul loved to liken the Christian life to a foot-race. Notice that to run a good race in the Christian life is not just to believe the truth (as if Christianity were nothing but correct doctrine), nor just to behave well (as if it were just moral uprightness), but to 'obey the truth', applying behavior to belief. Only he who obeys the truth is an integrated Christian. What he believes and how he behaves are all of one piece. His creed is expressed in his conduct; his conduct is derived from his creed.
Now the Galatians had begun the Christian race, and at first they ran well. They believed the truth that Christ had set them free, and they obeyed it, enjoying the liberty which Christ had given them. But someone had hindered them; an obstacle had been thrown on the track to deviate them from the path. False teachers had contradicted the truth they had first believed. As a result they had forsaken Christ and fallen from grace.
He notes that the false teachings are not from God (verse 8). The effects of which are confusion and agitation (verses 10, 12), effects that were spreading in the churches of Galatia just as ‘a little yeast leavens the whole lump’ (RSV). Paul is ‘confident in the Lord’ that they will see it his way, and that the false teacher, however exalted his rank, will fall under the judgment of God.
So concerned is Paul about the damage which the false teachers are doing, that he expresses the wish that they 'would emasculate themselves' (verse 12) or 'make eunuchs of themselves' (NEB). His sentiment sounds to our ears both coarse and malicious. We may be quite sure, however, that it was due neither to an intemperate spirit, nor a thirst for revenge, but to his deep love for the people of God and the gospel of God.
With verse 11 Paul turns from the false teachers hindering the Galatians to himself (their true teacher sent from God). It seems that these teachers had dared even to claim Paul as a champion of their views. They were spreading the rumor that Paul also preached and advocated circumcision. The apostle flatly denies it, and goes on to give evidence of the falsity of their claim: *If I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case [i.e. if I were still preaching circumcision] the offense of the cross has been abolished* (verse 11).
Thus Paul sets himself and the false teachers in stark contrast. They were preaching circumcision; he was preaching Christ and the cross. To preach circumcision is to tell sinners that they can save themselves by their own good works; to preach Christ crucified is to tell them that they cannot and that only Christ can save them through the cross. The message of circumcision is quite inoffensive, popular because flattering; the message of Christ crucified is, however, offensive to human pride. People hate to be told that they can be saved only at the foot of the cross. So to preach circumcision is to avoid persecution; to preach Christ crucified is to invite it. Now since he was being persecuted, Paul argues that he was not preaching circumcision. On the contrary he was preaching Christ crucified, and the offense of the cross had not been removed. It was the false teachers who were pressing the Galatians to be circumcised, in order to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ (see Gal. 6:12).
Contrasting freedom and license
Galatians 5:13-15
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
1. Freedom
Paul tells the Galatians that they had been 'called' to freedom in Christ. Our Christian life began not with our decision to follow Christ but with God's call to us to do so. He took the initiative in His grace while we were still in rebellion and sin. In that state we neither wanted to turn from sin to Christ, nor were we able to. But He came to us and called us to freedom. 'Called to be free'! (v 13a) is the Christian manifesto, and it is tragic that the average person does not understand it. The popular image of Christianity today (even among some Christians!) is not freedom at all, but a cruel and cramping bondage. But Christianity is not bondage; it is a call of grace to freedom. Nor is this the exceptional privilege of a few believers, but rather the common inheritance of all Christians.
2. License
Paul adds a word of caution about the exercise of this freedom: *But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature…* (13b). The ‘sinful nature’ (‘flesh', AV), is our fallen human nature, which we inherited from our parents and they inherited from theirs, and which is twisted with self-centeredness and therefore prone to sin. This nature remains in us following conversion, so we must be careful not to use our new-found freedom as an ‘opportunity’ (NRSV) to indulge the sinful nature. The word translated 'opportunity' is a military term referring to a place from which an offensive is launched. It therefore means a base of operations, and thus an opportunity or pretext. Paul’s point is that our freedom in Christ can, if we let it, become a pretext for self-indulgence.
And so we need to be warned that though Christian freedom is freedom from the awful bondage of having to merit the favor of God it is not freedom from all controls. It is an unrestricted liberty of approach to God as His children, not an unrestricted liberty to wallow in our own selfishness. The New English Bible puts it well: 'You...were called to be free men; only do not turn your freedom into license for your lower nature.' Indeed, unbridled license is not true liberty at all; it is another dreadful form of bondage. It is slavery to the desires of our fallen nature. So Jesus said to the Jews: 'every one who commits sin is a slave of sin' (John 8:34), and Paul described us in our pre-conversion state as 'slaves to various passions and pleasures' (Titus 3:3).
3. We are not free to exploit our neighbor
The life of Christian freedom involves *faith expressing itself through love* (Gal. 5:6). Indeed, the calling of Christian freedom is to *serve one another in love (Gal. 5:13). Thus Christian freedom is no more freedom to do as we please irrespective of the good of our neighbor than it is freedom to do as we please in the indulgence of our sinful nature. It is freedom to approach God without fear, not freedom to exploit my neighbor without love. Christian liberty is service, in love, not selfishness. If we love one another we shall serve one another, and if we serve one another we shall not 'bite and devour one another' (verse 15) in malicious talk or action. For biting and devouring are destructive while love is constructive; it serves. And Paul goes on later (in Gal. 5:22 and in Galatians chapter 6) to identify and describe that love.
4. We are not free to live selfishly
When we use our freedom in Christ by expressing his love to others, the whole law has been fulfilled: *The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself"* (14). Christians have been set free from the law—they are not ‘under the law’ (18), yet Christians are not free to live a life of selfishness which ignores the ethics (the moral precepts) on which the Law is grounded. Paul is not saying that Christians are to regulate their lives by the Law of Moses (with its hundreds of commands), but they are, through the Spirit, to fulfill the Law’s intent which is love. In New Testament terminology, although our salvation in every respect (justification, sanctification and glorification) depends not on the law but on Christ crucified, yet our life in Christ is expressed through our works of love which fulfill the law. Paul makes this point in 6:2: 'Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ’.
Contrasting the sinful nature and the Spirit
Galatians 5:16-25
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
The basis of Christian freedom is the cross of Christ and the means for receiving and expressing this freedom is the Holy Spirit. This section is therefore full of the Spirit. He is mentioned seven times by name. He is presented as our Sanctifier who alone can oppose and subdue our flesh (verses 16, 17), enable us to fulfill the law so that we are delivered from its harsh dominion (verse 18), and cause the fruit of righteousness to grow in our lives (verses 22, 23). So the enjoyment of Christian liberty depends on the Spirit. True, it is Christ who sets us free. But without the continuing, directing, sanctifying work of the Spirit our liberty is bound to degenerate into license and bondage.
Paul tells us that the sinful nature and the Spirit are in sharp ‘conflict with each other’ (17b). Some teachers maintain that the Christian has no inner conflict because (they say) the sinful nature is taken away at conversion or with some sort of ‘second blessing’. This passage contradicts those views. Certainly, as we learn to walk in the Spirit, the sinful nature becomes increasingly subdued. But the sinful nature remains until our glorification, and thus there is an ongoing conflict (warfare, really) between the sinful nature and the Spirit—a conflict that is fierce and unremitting. Indeed, one may go further and say that this is a specifically Christian conflict. Certainly there is moral conflict in non-Christians, but it is fiercer in Christians because they possess the sinful nature and the nature (mind) of the Spirit - in irreconcilable opposition. We must consider now the kind of behavior (‘works’) to which each nature is prone.
1. The acts of the sinful nature
*The acts of the sinful nature [‘works of the flesh’, AV] Paul says, *are obvious*. The sinful nature is secret and invisible, but its works—the words and deeds in which it erupts—are public and evident. What are they? Paul provides a representative list. It is not exhaustive, for he ends it in verse 21 by saying 'and the like'. Those he includes seem to belong to four categories of human activity: sex, religion, society and leisure. None of these are wrong in themselves, but when misused by the fallen nature, they become sources of enslavement to sinful thoughts and behaviors.
a) Sex: *sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery* (verse 19). The word for 'immorality' is normally translated 'fornication' (so AV, NEB), meaning sexual intercourse between unmarried people, but may refer to any kind of unlawful sexual behavior. Perhaps 'impurity' should be rendered by 'unnatural vice' and 'debauchery’ by 'indecency' (NEB), alluding to 'an open and reckless contempt of propriety'. These three words are sufficient to show that all sexual offences, whether public or private, whether between the married or the unmarried, whether 'natural' or 'unnatural', are to be classed as acts of the sinful nature.
b) Religion: *idolatry and witchcraft* (verse 20). It is important to see that idolatry is as much a work of the flesh as sexual immorality, and that thus the acts of the sinful nature include offences against God as well as against our neighbor or ourselves. If 'idolatry' is the brazen worship of other gods, 'witchcraft' is secret tampering with the powers of evil.
c) Society: Paul now gives us eight examples of the breakdown of personal relationships, which the New English Bible translates 'quarrels, a contentious temper, envy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions (or 'temper tantrums' and 'canvassing for office'), dissensions, party intrigues, and jealousies' (verses 20, 21).
d) Leisure: *drunkenness, orgies* (verse 21). The reference here seems to include parties gone wild. Leisure activity is fine, even necessary. But it can become an opportunity for sin rather than healthy release.
To this list of the acts of the sinful nature, Paul adds: *I warn you as I did before* (when he was with them in Galatia), *that those who live like this* (the verb refers to habitual practice rather than isolated lapses) *will not inherit the kingdom of God* (verse 21). Since God's kingdom is a kingdom of godliness, righteousness and self-control, those who practice as a way of life these acts of the sinful nature will be excluded from it. For such lifestyles give evidence that they are not in Christ. And if they are not in Christ, then they are not Abraham's seed, nor 'heirs according to the promise' (Gal. 3:29).
2. The fruit of the Spirit
Paul contrasts with the works of the sinful nature the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is a cluster of nine Christian graces (virtues) listed in what seems to be three thematic triads:
a) *Love, joy, peace* relate to a believer’s attitude toward God. A Christian's first love is his love for God, his chief joy is his joy in God and his deepest peace is his peace with God.
b) *Patience, kindness, goodness* are social virtues. 'Patience' is longsuffering towards those who aggravate or persecute. 'Kindness' is a question of disposition, and 'goodness' of words and deeds.
c) *Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control* address inner virtues. ‘Faithfulness’ if commitment and constancy. 'Gentleness' is the humble meekness which Christ exhibited. And both faithfulness and gentleness are aspects of self-control, which concludes the list.
These nine virtues appear in the lives of Spirit-led Christians. No wonder Paul adds: *against such things there is no law* (23b). The function of the Law is to curb, to restrain and to deter, but it is helpless to do what only the Spirit can—produce in the believer positive, Christ-like virtue. Indeed this work of the Spirit in a believer’s life negates the need for law as the governor of a Christian’s life. For a Christian that governor is the Holy Spirit.
3. Crucify the sinful nature
Paul concludes this section using additional military metaphors to describe the conflict between the sinful nature and the Spirit. He begins with the gruesome imagery of crucifixion—telling believers that they are to ‘put to death (crucify) the sinful nature’ (24). It’s important to note that this statement is in the active voice. Believers are called to cooperate actively in the Spirit’s sanctifying work in their lives by putting to death their sinful nature, ‘with its passions and desires.’ This means that they are to repudiate the claim of their sinful nature to rule over them. Paul’s use of the past tense here (‘have crucified’) is probably a reference to baptism when the believer publicly professes allegiance to Christ and renounces evil. However, this renunciation of evil is more than a one-time baptismal vow; it is a practical everyday discipline as we continuously shout a defiant ‘no’ to our sinful nature’s ‘passions and desires’.
4. Keep in step with the Spirit
To say ‘no’ to the sinful nature is essential, but it is only the first step, opening the door for us to embrace and cooperate with the sanctifying work of the Spirit: *Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit* (25). There are two parts here: first there is God’s gift to us of the life-giving Spirit (‘since we live’). Then there is our responsibility to ‘keep in step with the Spirit’. ‘Keep in step’ is a military command to make a straight line or to march in ordered rows. The Spirit sets the line and the pace. Keeping in step with the Spirit takes concentration and discipline. We constantly see many alternative paths to follow; we reject them to follow the Spirit. We constantly hear other drummers who want to quicken or slow down our pace; we tune them out to listen to the Spirit.
The Scripture says we are to 'set our minds on the things of the Spirit', to 'seek the things that are above', to 'set our minds on things that are above', to 'think about these things' (i.e. whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and gracious) (Rom.8:5, 6; Col.3:1, 2; Phil.4:8). This will be seen in our whole way of life. To ‘keep in step with the Spirit,’ means occupying ourselves in spiritual things. It is not enough to yield passively to the Spirit's control; we must walk actively in the Spirit's way. Only so will the fruit of the Spirit be dominant in our lives by which Christ will be glorified in and through us.
Conclusion: live free!
Indeed, it if for freedom that Christ has set us free. This is the freedom to renounce life dominated by the sinful nature and directed by legalistic religion in order to live the free, Spirit-filled, Spirit-enabled, and Spirit-led life. This alone is what expresses the mind of Christ and thus ultimately fulfills the Law of Christ. Adherence to the Law of Moses can never provide this freedom—in fact, for Christ-followers, it is a denial of that freedom. Let us run instead to Christ—let us follow him, taking up his yoke, and experiencing and expressing his way—his freedom. Let us walk in step with the Spirit. As we do, it will be a blessing to us and to those we encounter.