Victory Over Sinful Habits – Galatians 5:16-21 Commentary

Posted on November 4, 2024 by dkoop

If Christ’s summary of the law—”Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (see Matthew 22:34-40)—provides the goal of the Christian life, then what provides the motivation and strength to do it? Paul’s answer: Live by the power available through the Holy Spirit.

By his extended argument during much of this letter, Paul had refuted those who insisted on a law-centered life. But in 5:13, following his pattern of reserving the final parts of his letters for practical application, Paul turned to the personal, spiritual lives of the Galatians. He had warned them not to follow the teaching of the Judaizers. Here he warned them about following their own wishes and desires. Slavery was a threat from the outside influence of the false teachers, but it was an equal threat from the inside desires of the flesh. Paul began with the warning in 5:13, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature” (niv), and he immediately contrasted it with the second part of Christ’s summary of the law, “Serve one another in love” (niv). Paul wanted them to replace self-indulgence with loving service to others.

In this section, Paul explained that the secret to loving our neighbor as ourselves is by living in the Spirit and not giving in to our sinful human desires. He contrasted the characteristics of a life motivated by the sinful nature and a life motivated by the Spirit.

5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.NIV The word so ties in with verses 13-15. The strategy for removing the divisiveness that marred the Galatian church was to serve one another in love, but that too was humanly impossible. People cannot, in their own power, show love to all people at all times. But God has provided the means to meet his commands—the Holy Spirit.

 LIFE APPLICATION – SPIRIT LED
If you want the qualities listed in 5:22-23, then you know that the Holy Spirit is leading you. At the same time, be careful not to confuse all of your subjective feelings with the Spirit’s leading. Being led by the Holy Spirit involves the desire to hear and the readiness to obey God’s Word so that you can discern between your feelings and God’s promptings. Live each day controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Then the words of Christ will be in your mind, the love of Christ will be behind your actions, and the power of Christ will help you control your selfish desires.

God sent the Holy Spirit to be with and within his followers after Christ had returned to heaven. The Spirit would comfort them, guide them to know his truth, remind them of Jesus’ words, point out when they did not obey, give them the right words to say, and fill them with power to do good (see John 14-16).

At Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), God made the Holy Spirit available to all who believed in Jesus. We receive the Holy Spirit (are baptized with him) when we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior. We must understand the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the light of his total work in Christians:

  • The Spirit marks the beginning of the Christian experience (Ephesians 1:13-14). We cannot belong to Christ without his Spirit (Romans 8:9); we cannot be united to Christ without his Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17); we cannot be adopted as his children without his Spirit (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:6-7); and we cannot be in the body of Christ except by baptism in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).
  • The Spirit provides power for our new lives. He begins a lifelong process to make us more like Christ (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). When we receive Christ by faith, we begin an immediate personal relationship with God. The Holy Spirit works in us to help us become like Christ.
  • The Spirit unites the Christian community in Christ (Ephesians 2:19-22). The Holy Spirit can be experienced by all, and he works through all (1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:4).

The phrase live by the Spirit (pneumati peripateite) conveys the meaning of the literal translation “by the Spirit keep on walking.” Walking means “living” in this context, and it emphasizes the moment-by-moment contact with and guidance by the Holy Spirit for daily decisions and activities. Living “by the Spirit” should be a daily, continuous action by Christians. He is always present, but we must be in touch with him and stay open to his guidance and correction.

We live the Christian life “by the Spirit“—meaning that he gives us the power we need to follow God when his will goes against our nature or desires. Expressed negatively, we cannot live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. Expressed positively, we experience the truth that “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13 niv). The tense of the verb is present continuous action, so it conveys “keep on living” or “keep on walking” by the Spirit, portraying the Christian life as a process. We do not obtain salvation by works; neither can we obtain sanctification (growing in the Christian life) by works.

The result? You will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. When we become believers, our sinful nature still exists. But God asks us to place our sinful nature under the control of the Holy Spirit so that he can transform it. This is a supernatural process. We must never underestimate the power of our sinful nature, and we must never attempt to fight it in our own strength. Satan is a crafty tempter, and we have a limitless ability to make excuses. Instead of trying to overcome sin by our own willpower, we must take advantage of the tremendous power of Christ. God provides for victory over our sinful nature—he sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and give us power. But our ability to restrain the desires of the sinful nature depends on how much we’re willing to “live by” the Holy Spirit. For each believer, this daily process requires moment-by-moment decisions.

 LIFE APPLICATION – CHOICE
Paul described living by the Holy Spirit as more of a choice than a complex process. Some believe that this part of the Christian life is a mystery. While the actual nature of Christ’s saving work may in fact border on the mysterious (see Colossians 1:27), our role is very clear—we must simply trust in him. Living “by the Holy Spirit” means that we submit to his authority, welcome his guidance, accept his correction, live under his restraint, rely on his power, and allow him to unify us with other believers.
Living by the Spirit does not mean a casual part-time relationship. We must treat his control like a shower. If we stand back and stick a hand or foot into the stream of water, we may guess the temperature of the water, but we will never get clean. We must be immersed in the Holy Spirit as if stepping fully into the shower’s cleansing and invigorating stream, letting it cover us.

5:17 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.NIV While believers live in this world, they face constant tension between their sinful human desires and their new spiritual life. These two are in conflict with each other. We must not infer from Paul’s words that our personality has two selves, nor that we have two equal and opposite forces struggling to gain control. In Christ and in the Holy Spirit, we have a victorious new resurrection life. The Holy Spirit in us guarantees our future total redemption and change. Sarx, translated as “sinful nature,” gives that impression. However, it is better to understand it as “sinful human desires.” Though we have new life in Christ, we still have a mind and body prone to rebel and enticed by sinful desires. We must resist those desires.

Paul expands upon this conflict in other letters; for example:

  • For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. . . . But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Romans 8:5, 9 nrsv)

(For more refer to:  Romans 8:5-9, 12-17; Ephesians 4:21-24; and Colossians 3:3-15.) The conflict described in Romans 8 and in Galatians 5 differs from the conflict described in Romans 7:7-25. In Romans 7, Paul described how the power of indwelling sin keeps the person under the law from doing what the law requires. He did not mention the Spirit until later in the letter.

We shouldn’t be surprised that the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit. We often experience resistance when we follow the Spirit’s leading.

Satan serves as a persistent teacher of rebellion, and humanity has had centuries of practice. Whatever path we choose, we will hear the whispers of opposition. Whenever we set out to do what the Holy Spirit instructs, we can expect  the flesh to flare up in opposition. The greatest of all evils is not to be tempted, because there are then grounds for believing that the devil looks upon us as his property.

John Vianney

 
 LIFE APPLICATION  HOW TO DEAL WITH THE SINFUL NATURE
Admit that you do have a selfish, sinful human nature. Jeremiah put it well, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 niv). Don’t be shocked by your tendency to selfishness.
Surrender your selfish nature, with all its tendencies, to Christ. Ask God to do whatever it takes in your life to bring you to say, with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ” (2:20).
Commit your actions, thoughts, passions, and capabilities to Christ. Jesus described this ongoing, daily action as “denying self” (see Luke 9:23-25). Knowing that your sinful nature desires to hinder the Spirit, ask the Spirit to help you deny those desires.
Make service to others a top priority for your life. The Bible even speaks of this process as training in holiness (see 1 Timothy 4:7). Loving and serving others helps restrain our selfish desires.

When we decide to share the gospel, our sinful human nature will make us feel foolish. When we decide to commit ourselves to some service, the flesh hinders us with evil desires. The flesh relentlessly tries to thwart the leading of the Spirit.

Conversely, each time we follow our sinful human nature, we will receive (through our consciences, God’s Word, or even other believers) reminders not to follow those sinful desires.

 LIFE APPLICATION – RESIST!
Our resource for resisting “the desires of the sinful nature” is the Holy Spirit. We can ask God to expose and help us contradict our sinful desires. Remember, these desires include more than sexual desires. In fact, in Galatians, Paul was responding to debates about the law, not sexual immorality. Christians were enflamed with anger against those on the other side.
Because of who we are, depending on the Spirit’s help becomes essential. He can be the warning signal that alerts us that we have gone against or are about to violate the Father’s will. The world will encourage us to “listen to our hearts” or will try to drown out the Spirit’s guidance with other sounds—but we will receive dependable guidance by listening carefully to him.

True believers realize the deadly power of sin. No longer their master, sin now attacks like a powerful enemy. Sinful desires still pop up, like guerrilla forces, attacking us when we least expect it. And when we attempt to follow the Spirit’s desires, we find the attacks growing in intensity, indeed they “war against [the] soul” (1 Peter 2:11 niv). In other words, having wrong desires doesn’t always mean we have sin in our life. If we are in tune with the Holy Spirit, sinful human desires will attempt to block his leading.

Because of this conflict, believers do not do what [they] want. This phrase has one of three possible meanings: (1) The sinful nature keeps believers from doing the good that the Spirit desires; (2) the Spirit keeps believers from doing the evil that their sinful nature desires; or (3) the sinful nature and the Spirit work against each other, hindering each’s desires. The third explanation seems likely. If we function normally, our desires and the Spirit will counter each other’s moves. So we must realize this warfare, claim the Spirit’s victory, focus on Christ’s help, and rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

What does our sinful nature desire? And what does the Holy Spirit desire? Paul will answer these questions in the following verses.

 LIFE APPLICATION – ONLY THROUGH HIM
Paul describes the two forces conflicting within us—the Holy Spirit and the sinful nature (our evil desires or inclinations that stem from our bodies; see also 5:16, 19, 24). Paul is not saying that these forces are equal—the Holy Spirit is infinitely stronger. But having a superior ally doesn’t help us if we refuse to depend on him. If we rely on our own wisdom and strength, we will make wrong choices and take the wrong actions. If we try to follow the Spirit by our own human effort, we will fail. Our only way to freedom from our evil desires is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:9; Ephesians 4:23-24; Colossians 3:3-8).

5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.NKJV Some might have wondered if Paul was moving into a form of legalism all his own. So he reiterated that believers are not under the law. Yet freedom from the law does not imply freedom to do whatever one pleases (5:13). Neither do we live in the Spirit in some sort of “middle ground.” Instead, we live on another plane altogether—we have truth as opposed to falsehood; we have grace as opposed to works; we act out of love as opposed to keeping laws; we are supervised by the Spirit as opposed to being supervised by the law.

So what does a Christian do? How does a Christian live? The “works” of Christianity come from the Spirit indwelling the believer. The Christian is led by the Spirit. But the Christian must make up his or her mind to follow where the Spirit leads, especially when the sinful nature constantly rebels, in order to do the acts described in the next three verses. For more on the Holy Spirit’s leading, see 5:16 and 5:25.

 LIFE APPLICATION – HOUSE RULES
When Paul says that those under control of the Spirit are not under control of the law, he’s talking about accountability for Christians. Paul does not invalidate the law; he only states that the law is no longer in charge—the Holy Spirit takes control.
Most parents establish certain house rules when raising their children. These “laws” cover such things as who gets in the house when Mom and Dad are away, where kids can and can’t go without having specific permission, additional responsibilities when a parent is not present. But when parents are there, the “laws” take on a secondary function. Mom and Dad still have the rules, but they supervise personally. The Holy Spirit’s presence means that we are free from having to worry about measuring up to the law; now we have the freedom to even go well beyond the law because we have a direct link with the Holy Spirit himself.

5:19-21 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious.NIV Paul contrasted the works of our sinful human desires and the works of the Spirit-filled life in 5:19-21 and 5:22-23. Paul’s use of the word obvious (phanera—self-evident, manifest) probably did not mean readily visible, for some of the sins listed are private (although may well manifest themselves at some point—as with hatred or jealousy). Instead, the word means that these sins obviously come directly from sinful human desires. In other words, once the behavior has been identified, we know its source.

 LIFE APPLICATION – DENIAL
We use the term denial to describe the all-too-frequent habit people have of overlooking problems in their lives, refusing to accept responsibility, and neglecting to take required action. Denial fits well with Paul’s warning that acts of the flesh are clearly identifiable. Denial does not mean the inability to see something wrong; rather, it means the unwillingness to see what is wrong. Denial must be overcome before we can repent. The psalmist’s prayer can help us be honest in our relationship with God: “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:12-13 niv).

Paul’s list of sins falls into four categories. These particular sins were especially prevalent in the

pagan world, and the Galatians would have readily understood them. With few exceptions, we recognize these sins as present in our own time as well. (The following word list is quoted from niv.) The true Christian’s nostril is to be continually attentive to the inner cesspool.

C. S. Lewis

 

In the first category three sexual sins are mentioned:

Sexual immorality (porneia—fornication)—Any form of illicit sexual relationship. The term serves to spotlight forbidden sexual behavior between people or indirect participation as an audience. We derive our term pornography from this Greek word.

Impurity (akatharsia)—Moral uncleanness. Perhaps no sexual act has taken place, but the person exhibits a crudeness or insensitivity in sexual matters that offends others and leads them to false conclusions about the other person’s character. An example today would be the excessive use of sexual humor (or what is supposed to be humor), where people make statements with a sexual double meaning.

Debauchery (aselgeia—licentiousness)—Open and excessive indulgence in sexual sins. The person has no sense of shame or restraint. Debauchery is the outworking of sexual immorality and impurity.

The next two sins are religious sins particular to pagan culture:

Idolatry (eidololatria)—Worship of pagan idols. A person creates substitutes for God and then treats them as if they were God. This person is giving in to sinful human desires.

Witchcraft (pharmakeia)—Involvement with the powers of evil, at times using potions and poisons. With idolatry, a person acts in a submissive role in relation to evil; with witchcraft, the person is an active agent who manipulates the powers of evil.

The next eight sins pertain to conduct toward people (inter-personal relations) that has been motivated by sinful desires:

Hatred (echthrai)—A condition of fixed enmity between groups. This may be real, unresolved conflict whose cause has been forgotten but which has yielded a harvest of bitterness toward one another.

Discord (eris)—Competition, rivalry, bitter conflict—the seeds and the natural fruit of hatred.

Jealousy (zelos)—A feeling of resentment that someone else has what another feels he or she deserves. The negative aspect of jealousy depends on its context. This word has also become the English word zeal. Earlier, Paul used the verb forms three times, referring to two forms of zeal—one negative, one positive (4:17-18). Zeal, then, intensifies any of the other characteristics in this list.

Fits of rage (thumoi)—Outbursts of anger for selfish reasons. The plural form conveys the meaning of continual and uncontrolled behavior.

Selfish ambition (eritheiai)—The approach to life and work that tries to get ahead at other people’s expense. Not only might this refer to what we call “workaholism,” it also implies a mercenary, aggressive attitude toward others in the pursuit of one’s goals.

Dissensions (dichostasiai)—Strong disagreements or quarrels. The attitude that can quickly develop between people when a disagreeable attitude prevails. Whatever the topic or issue, as soon as one side states its opinion, the other party immediately champions the opposing view, as a matter of “principle.”

Factions (haireseis)—Divisions created among people because of dissensions. This describes the tendency to look for allies in conflict, to form power blocks. The almost spontaneous generation of cliques demonstrates this characteristic of sinful human desires.

Envy (phthonoi)—A desire to possess something awarded to or achieved by another. Or even the twisted logic that cries “Unfair!” about another’s circumstances and expresses the wish, If I can’t have that, they shouldn’t get it either! It’s sad to note, but many of these social sins are often seen in our churches today.

Finally Paul lists two sins, common to pagan cultures, that are often connected with the rituals of idol worship:

Drunkenness (methai)—Excessive use of wine and strong drink. Later Paul used this tendency to highlight the contrast between living by the flesh and living by the Spirit: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18 niv).

Orgies (komoi)—Drunken, carousing “parties,” often filled with sexual promiscuity, were associated with festivals of some pagan gods. The feasts in honor of Bacchus were particularly infamous for their immorality.

And the like—Paul added an “etc.” to show that the list was by no means complete.

 LIFE APPLICATION – FAMILY FEUDS
In the life of almost any local church one will find evidence of how sinful desires have affected relationships. Lasting feuds go on between certain families or groups. The hostility exists under a thin cover of civility, but from time to time it erupts. Often those directly involved may have inherited the feud from others (grandparents, family friends, former members, etc.). They no longer even understand why they feel the way they do toward that group or family, but the feelings run deep.
Because sinful human desires work so powerfully, we need the Holy Spirit’s help. The conflict exists because it continues to be fed by both sides. If repentance and the laying down of weapons happens on both sides, they can agree to peace. Such healing may open the way for a remarkable new receptivity to the gospel in that community.

I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.NIV Paul repeated his warning. The phrase as I did before enlightens us, for it reveals that while Paul was spreading the gospel to Gentile congregations across the Roman Empire, he was applying the gospel to morality. He gave his listeners certain guidelines to follow as “standard Christian behavior.” The freedom he preached was not a moral wilderness of “easy believism” but a guided tour of life under the influence of God’s Spirit.

Those who live like this will not inherit refers to the lifestyle of people who habitually exhibit these characteristics. This does not mean that believers who lapse into any of these sins will lose their salvation. People who habitually exhibit these characteristics reveal themselves to be enslaved to sinful human desires. They are not children of God; thus, they cannot have any part in the inheritance. The priceless gift had been offered, but they had refused to receive it. The gift had not been withheld from them; they simply had withheld themselves from the gift (see also 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:5). People who have accepted Christ and have the Holy Spirit within them will manifest that new life by making a clean break with such sins as listed above.

The kingdom of God has two aspects: (1) its presence in human hearts at conversion, and (2) its future coming at the end of the age. Paul was most likely thinking of the future kingdom promised to all believers. However, as long as a person insists on the habits of the flesh, he or she will not experience even those aspects of the kingdom of God that are possible in this life.

 LIFE APPLICATION – MAKE A BREAK
We all have evil desires, and we can’t ignore them. In order for us to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we must deal with them decisively (see 5:24). These desires include obvious sins such as sexual immorality and witchcraft. They also include less obvious sins such as selfish ambition, hatred, and jealousy. Those who ignore such sins or refuse to deal with them reveal that they have not received the gift of the Spirit that leads to a transformed life.

We will close out chapter 5 in the next post, The Fruit of the Spirit.

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Source: Bruce B. Barton et al., Life Application Bible Commentary – Galatians, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1994), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “GALATIANS 5:2-26”.

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Freedom to Choose – Galatians 5:13-15 Commentary

Posted on November 4, 2024 by dkoop

5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. In 5:1, when Paul spoke of freedom, he included himself: “Christ has set us free.” In this verse, he applied his words directly to the Galatians and his ministry to them. The word you builds on his confidence that they would return to the faith that had saved them (5:10). When Paul ministered among the Galatians, he did not give his converts a new set of rules

to obey (as the Judaizers had done), for that would have made them slaves to the law. Instead, the Galatians were called to freedom. Paul was the messenger, but they “were called” by God himself, the author of the gospel. The apostle wanted them to “stand firm,” to run their race in that very freedom that only Christ can give. Obedience is the perfection of the religious life; by it man submits to man for the love of God, as God rendered Himself obedient unto men for their salvation.

Thomas Aquinas

 

This verse includes an important shift in emphasis. Paul had expressed his harshest wishes to the Judaizers in 5:12. Then he turned to a practical concern he had for the Galatians. If they overcame the attacks of the Judaizers, they would immediately face a different threat to their freedom. Besides legalism, they must avoid giving in to the “flesh” (Greek, sarx—translated as “self-indulgence” in nrsv). All people are subject to this type of slavery, for every human being has a sinful human nature, inherently bent toward sin. The context determines that Paul is not denigrating the human body or our identity as made in the image of God. But this verse also makes clear that freedom in Christ does not mean elimination of the sarx, for it continues to urge us to indulge ourselves rather than pursue the true purpose of freedom: the opportunity to practice genuine love in service to others.

Paul has already used the Greek term sarx eight times in this letter to describe physical life (see 1:16; 2:16, 20; 3:3; 4:13, 14, 23, 29). But at this point, he used sarx with a decided negative flavor. Translating the word as “sinful nature” (niv) or “self-indulgence” (nrsv) reminds us that “flesh” can be an inherent source impelling us to sin. “Flesh” does not mean just a weakness but an almost insatiable, self-oriented power in human nature. Our fallen nature rebels against God and resists his Spirit, producing what Paul called the “works of the flesh” (5:19 nrsv). The demands of our human nature present a constant threat to our real freedom in Christ. We need his ongoing help to keep our “flesh” under control.

 LIFE APPLICATION – GALLERY OF FALSE MASTERS
Although we may be trusting Christ as our gracious master, we must be aware of the ongoing attacks by previous “masters” to reassert their power in our lives. The master called Legalism continues to appeal to our belief that we can work our way into God’s favor without any outside help. The master called Hypocrisy offers lip service to Christ, while promoting pride of ownership in having the right beliefs and right connections. And the master called Sinful Human Nature continues to woo us to simply indulge ourselves in whatever might offer pleasure at the moment. These masters vary in their approach, but they never take very long vacations from their efforts to enslave us.

Some commentators have suggested that after dealing with the Judaizers and their adherents in the previous sections of this letter, Paul turned his attention to another faction in the Galatian church—those who wanted to cast aside all restraint. They understood Christian freedom as freedom from the law, but they went too far in that direction, casting aside all moral restraint and living in self-indulgence. This view has some validity, though it underestimates how all believers struggle with their own human nature. Temptation to indulge our flesh provides a greater problem than can be explained by a “faction.” In any case, the very lifestyle of pagan cultures would have been a constant temptation to these newly “freed” converts. Opportunities to “indulge the sinful nature” have rarely been in short supply!

Some of Paul’s critics may have condemned his preaching of Christian freedom, saying that it would lead to people living without restraint or guidelines. Paul had an immediate and forceful answer, explaining that freedom was not to be used as an opportunity for self-indulgence (see also 5:16-17, 19, 24). The Greek word aphorme literally means “a starting point, a base of operations for a military mission.” We might even use the word springboard. Christian freedom is not meant to be the base of operations, the springboard and pretext for indulging in everything one’s sinful nature desires. The irony, then, would be that Christian freedom would be used to return to slavery to sin—for to fulfill every desire is to be enslaved to those desires. Satan and the flesh use our freedom from law as an opportunity to enflame our desires. Sinful human desires lead to the problems mentioned in 5:26 (conceit, provoking one another, and envy) and to the lack of mutual help described in 6:1-10. When we indulge the sinful nature, we open the door to these kinds of behaviors and attitudes (see 1 Peter 2:16; 2 Peter 2:8-10; Jude 4). The antidotes for indulging the flesh are living in the Spirit and serving one another.

 LIFE APPLICATION – LIBERTY’S LIMITS
Christian freedom cannot be defined as permission to do anything we want. Rather, it is the opportunity to do what Christ wants, without fear that our performance will be counted against us. We are free from endless ceremonial laws, sin, and fear. But we are not free in the sense of totally governing ourselves or being totally autonomous from Christ. We are under the restraint of the Holy Spirit and the constraint of the higher law, the law of love. Freedom must be used to glorify Christ and serve others, not just to fulfill our personal desires.

Slavery to sin comes with being human (Psalm 51:5; Romans 7:18). Slavery to the law comes as a choice, but a foolish one, for it requires hard labor without any hope of freedom. Paul called the believers to “serve one another in love” (niv). This was freedom at its deepest level, for it allowed people to submit voluntarily to slavery to one another (the Greek verb douleuete translated “serve” actually refers to the service of a slave). Serving in this way gives the believer deep joy.

This teaching forms the very heart of Christianity, but it presents a paradox. We are freed from slavery to sin to become slaves to one another. Worldly people cannot understand this—joy in slavery? They don’t realize they are enslaved either to sin or to some religious system. People enslaved to sin are not free to live righteously. The other slavery that Paul described comes with the freedom given in Christ. Love for other believers flows outward from what God has done in each believer’s heart. The Greek word for love (agape) refers to selfless, self-giving love. Christian freedom does not leave believers wandering through life without laws, rules, restraints, or guidelines. Instead, they freely live according to God’s standards and glorify God through loving service to others.

5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”NRSV In fact, Christian servanthood ultimately does what slavery to the law cannot do—it fulfills the law! Quoting from Leviticus 19:18 (from the Torah, the book of the Law), Paul explained that a single commandment summarizes the entire law. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you’ll find yourself fulfilling God’s law. Jesus made this same point (Matthew 22:35-39; Luke 10:25-28).

The Greek word translated summed up could also mean “fulfilled.” Thus Paul’s sentence has two meanings: (1) This law sums up all the others, and (2) this law is fulfilled. In fact, the entire law is fulfilled as the Christian community acts in love toward one another through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul made it clear through this letter (and others) that the law cannot save anyone. But he did not cast aside the law as worthless. Believers must still be concerned with it; otherwise Paul would not have made this statement. No one could ever completely fulfill the law; but if someone could, the Christians (not the Judaizers) would most resemble that person. Amazingly enough, one person did completely fulfill the law, and Christians (when they act as they should) do indeed resemble him. Their likeness to Christ depends upon the Spirit working in them, developing “fruit” (5:22-23).

 LIFE APPLICATION – DIRECTION
We cannot love our neighbor without being in Christ. Our flesh (sinful human desires) takes our freedom in Christ and uses it to create insensitivity and disregard for our neighbor. We may show love at times and to a few, but it’s very difficult to maintain a loving attitude in our own strength. As Christians, we have two indispensable helps: (1) the Holy Spirit (he empowers us to grow in love for God and our neighbor), and (2) Christ’s compassion and forgiveness (when we fail to love and serve as we should, Christ forgives us). Express your gratefulness to God for his merciful salvation, and you will discover that his love for others is growing in you.

5:15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.NRSV Paul used the present tense in these verbs, indicating that these problems were occurring as he wrote. Such conflict threatened to tear the church apart. The verbs increase in intensity—daknete (biting, or striking like a snake), then katesthiete (devouring, destroying), leading to the real danger of analothete (consuming, annihilating) each other. In direct and horrible contrast to the command to love their neighbors as themselves, the Galatians were becoming adept at destroying one another’s reputations. Paul’s concern as shown in his figurative description of escalating hostility reminds us of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:21-26): “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:22 niv).

 LIFE APPLICATION – A MATTER OF FOCUS
When we believers lose the motivation of love, we become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. Soon we lose our unity. Have you talked behind someone’s back? Have you focused on others’ shortcomings instead of their strengths? Remind yourself of Jesus’ command to love others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:39). When you begin to feel critical of someone, make a list of that person’s positive qualities. When problems need to be addressed, confront in love rather than gossip.

The source of the conflict went back to the false teachers and the confusion they were causing among the believers (5:10). The presence of the conflict supports the theory that factions were developing in the church—some people going with the law-centered teachers, some staying with Paul and the gospel, and some deciding to pursue their every sinful whim based on the “freedom” they had in Christ. Such continued confusion would ruin their faith, their testimony, and ultimately the church itself. While some differences of opinion would be natural, the Galatians had gone beyond that. They disagreed on foundational issues. Like piranhas, they were destroying one another.

 LIFE APPLICATION – TEETH MARKS
We must guard against using destructive criticism. Paul described a church where people were harming one another rather than helping or healing. Criticism can destroy a person’s inner resolve to remain faithful. It can actually weaken physical health, undermine character, and drain personal resources. These unnecessary attacks often occur during times when a person needs strength and support to face real challenges. For example, a family in crisis doesn’t need to be criticized about sporadic church attendance; they need the support and care of the church.
When we are critical toward others, we are not demonstrating our freedom; we are showing that we may be slaves to our feelings. We must find nondestructive ways to deal with these thoughts and feelings. We must be willing to admit wrongdoing when we do leave “teeth marks” on others by our treatment of them. Love, respect, and honor for other believers work as strong antidotes to the bites of destructive criticism.

In the next post, we’ll continue through Galatians 5.

www.Upwards.Church

Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/watch-now/leander-campus-videos

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

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Read Along Daily Bible Reading: YouVersion (https://www.bible.com/organizations/370f8a6e-16bc-464f-8c43-0b7623fd2952)

Source: Bruce B. Barton et al., Life Application Bible Commentary – Galatians, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1994), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “GALATIANS 5:2-26”.

 

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God’s Family – Galatians 4:1-7 Commenatry

Posted on October 29, 2024 by dkoop

Faith in Christ means we are adopted into God’s family

Paul continues Chapter 4, explaining that  faith in Christ makes us God’s heirs or children with a an inheritance., but Jewish law is a form of bondage.

4:1 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property.NRSV To further illustrate the spiritual immaturity of those who insist on remaining under the law, Paul used an example from Roman law and custom. In ancient times, the “coming of age” of a son carried tremendous significance. This did not occur at a specific age (such as twelve or thirteen), as it did among Jews and Greeks; rather, the “coming of age” was determined by the father. In Rome this event was usually marked on March 17 by a family celebration known as the Liberalia. During this event, the father formally acknowledged his son and heir. The son received a new “grown-up” toga and entered into adult responsibilities.

Paul pointed out, however, that while this son and heir was still a minor (not yet of age), he really was no better off than a slave, for he had no rights and little freedom. Although he was the future owner of an estate and a fortune, while he was young, he had no claim to it nor any right to make decisions regarding it. In the eyes of the Roman law, the young heir was no different from a slave. We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.

John Stott

 

Paul’s application of the illustration reveals that when we were under the law, we were no better off than slaves. Though the law regards the child as the kurios (master, owner) of the estate, his experience resembles that of the servants. He lives under rules and discipline until he has achieved adulthood.

4:2 But they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father.NRSV In this analogy Paul focused on the legal rights and status of the son, so he used the words epitropous (guardians, those who watch over the child) and oikonomous (trustees, those who watch over the inheritance), instead of pedagogue, as in 3:24. But Paul’s meaning was the same. The law performed its function of “keeping us out of trouble” and disciplining us during our “immaturity” until God offered us “maturity” through our acceptance of salvation by grace. Paul’s words imply that the time of this “coming of age” differed for every son. In Rome, the father set the time for his son’s coming of age and adulthood. So, too, God set the time for terminating our guardianship under the law and making us his children and heirs by faith. The date is the time of Christ’s coming into the world.

Faith, then, initiates the believer into maturity and full rights. Paul was dumbfounded that the Galatians would choose to revert to the state of discipline when Christ had given them freedom. They were behaving like a child who had inherited an estate but still insisted on remaining in a dependent, servile role.

 LIFE APPLICATION – SLAVERY
Religious slavery (trying to please God by legalism or works) is particularly devastating to people because it offers false hope. Thinking they will gain freedom, they instead get trapped in a cycle of effort and failure leading to more effort and failure.
Opportunities to return to religious slavery occur almost every day. When we have fallen short of our expectations, we are tempted to try harder and be more disciplined. But when we fail in the Christian life, we should apply grace, not renewed effort, as the primary means for becoming right again.

4:3 So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.NIV Paul alluded to slavery in order to show that before Christ came and died for sins, people were in bondage to whatever law or religion they chose to follow. Thinking they could be saved by their deeds, they became enslaved to trying—and failing—to follow even the basics. Applying the illustration directly to the Galatian believers, Paul pointed out that when they were immature spiritually (when they were nepioi—children, infants), they were like slaves (see 4:8).The basic principles of the world (stoikeia tou kosmou) has also been translated “elements of the world” (nkjv). This phrase has three main interpretations:

  1. Some have interpreted “basic principles” to refer directly to the law of Moses, for Paul’s focus in this letter has been on the law and the believers’ relationship to it. While this interpretation agrees with Paul’s view that the law taken by itself leads only to slavery, the meaning must be much broader. As in Romans 2:12-16, Paul pointed to the conscience as a general means for God to reveal his standards. The Galatian believers had come from heathen backgrounds and had not grown up under the Jewish law. Although they had not been in slavery, they were becoming enslaved by turning from grace to the law.
  2. Others have interpreted “basic principles” or “elements” to mean the four basic elements of Greek philosophy—earth, air, fire, and water. Later, these elements became associated with the gods and then with the stars and planets as well. Many pagan religions (and, at times, the Jewish people) worshiped stars and planets because of their supposed effect on human destiny. Thus, Paul may have lumped both pagan and Jewish religions under one banner by saying that when the people followed these “principles” or “elements” of the world, they were actually in slavery under Satan’s influence. This idea would parallel Paul’s claim regarding the real source of our struggles in the Christian life (see Ephesians 6:12). Yet this view is unlikely because of the context. Paul spoke about people who are under the law.
  3. A third interpretation explains “basic principles” or “elements” as the elementary stages of religious practice, whether under the law of the Jewish religion, or the rites and rituals in any heathen religion (see also 4:9 and Colossians 2:20). In other words, the statement referred to any religious experience prior to accepting Christ as Savior.

The third interpretation seems most plausible. Paul was pointing out that trying to reach God through any religion or any worldly plan brings failure. The “basics” of the world (whether religious or moral) suggest that a solution is needed, but do not offer that solution. In fact, these “basics” can be used by demonic powers to give slavery a strong “religious” flavor. Paul compared religious rituals to slavery because they force a standard that people can never achieve. But, with the proclamation of the gospel, grace in Christ replaced those worldly religious practices.

 LIFE APPLICATION – GROWN-UPS
The illustration of slavery demonstrates that the law, apart from Christ’s death for our sins, keeps us in bondage. It holds us accountable to a standard we can never hope to meet on our own. But, as Paul wrote in 3:26, through faith in Jesus Christ we who were once slaves become God’s very own children. Because of Christ, we no longer have any reason to fear our heavenly Father. We can approach him as his treasured children, not as cringing slaves. What is your relationship with the heavenly Father? Have you experienced the freedom he wants you to have?

4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.NKJV Everyone was enslaved under the “basic principles of the world,” but . . . That little word offered hope to humanity. God’s intervention into human history changed the world.

When the fullness of the time had come, God sent Jesus to earth. Why did Jesus come when he did? The “why” may be unanswerable, except that God knew it was the right time, the “fullness.” Several factors present in the Roman Empire certainly aided the quick spread of the message of the gospel. The Greek civilization provided a language that had spread across much of the known world as the main language for all people. The Romans had brought peace throughout their empire and built a system of roads that made land travel quicker and safer than ever before. The Jews were expectant, eagerly awaiting their Messiah. Messianic fervor was at its height. Into this world came Jesus.

Ultimately, the term “fullness of time” refers more clearly to the time of Christ’s arrival rather than to a climate caused by other events that somehow made Jesus’ birth inevitable. Just as a Roman father would set the date for his son to reach maturity and attain freedom from his guardians (4:2), so God had set the date when he would send forth His Son to free people from the law, to become his children (see 4:5). Guided by a sovereign God, historical events worked in harmony to prepare for the predecided moment of Jesus’ arrival on earth. God chose the exact time (see also Psalm 102:13; Mark 1:15; and Ephesians 1:10).

 LIFE APPLICATION  – TIMING IS EVERYTHING
For centuries the Jews had been wondering when their Messiah would come—but God’s timing was perfect. We may sometimes wonder if God will ever respond to our prayers, but we must never doubt him or give up hope. At the right time he will respond. Are you waiting for God’s timing? Trust his judgment, and trust that he has your best interests in mind.

The reference to Jesus as “sent” indicates his preexistence as well as his endorsement by God in the overall plan of salvation. The sending also clarifies the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. The former lovingly sends, while the latter obediently goes. This act of divine sending is mentioned forty-one times in the Gospel of John (for example, see John 3:16-17; 17:18; see also Romans 8:3-4 and 1 John 4:9-10). At the conclusion of that mission, Jesus prefaced his own “sending” of us into the world by claiming, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go . . .” (Matthew 28:18-19 niv). Jesus successfully submitted to his Father’s authority. Therefore, God gave him authority over us, both to rescue us and to send us out into the world.

Jesus was born of a woman—he was God yet also human (Genesis 3:15; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1, 14). Paul balanced his amazing claims about Jesus’ divine nature with his reminder of Jesus’ human character. Born under the law, Jesus was a human; thus he was voluntarily subject to the structured universe that he had created (John 1:3-5) and that had been marred by human rebellion. More significantly, Jesus lived as a Jew, subject to God’s revealed law. In keeping with this, Jesus was both circumcised and presented at the temple (Luke 2:21-32). Yet while no other human being has been able to perfectly fulfill God’s law, Jesus kept it completely (Matthew 5:17; Hebrews 4:15). Thus, Jesus could be the perfect sacrifice because, although fully human, he never sinned. His death bought freedom for us who were enslaved to sin, offering us redemption and adoption into God’s family.

4:5 To redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.NIV Jesus was himself born “under the law” (4:4) so that by his living and dying he could accomplish two purposes: (1) to redeem those under the law and (2) to allow those “redeemed” people to receive the full rights of sons.

To “redeem” means “to buy back” (see 3:13). “Redemption” was the price paid to gain freedom for a slave (Leviticus 25:47-54). Through his life, Jesus demonstrated his unique eligibility to be our Redeemer. Through his death, Jesus paid the price to release us from slavery to sin. When Christ redeemed “those under the law,” he did not redeem the Jews alone. His death set people free from bondage to any law or religious system (see 4:3)—offering, instead, salvation by faith alone. But because the law was God’s clearest revelation of his justice, being born under the law and keeping it perfectly proved that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. He took upon himself the curse the law required in order to set believers free of that curse.

In these verses, Paul continued to respond to the foolishness of the Galatians. If Christ had fulfilled the law, taking upon himself the curse of the law, and had freed people from the law, why would the Galatians try to keep requirements already fulfilled by Christ? The question appears again plainly in 4:9. Meanwhile, Paul was building a case that would make the question entirely rhetorical.

 LIFE APPLICATION – FULL RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES
The scope and value of our “sonship rights” in Christ accumulate almost beyond our comprehension. These rights, given to us freely through faith in Christ, include:
We are no longer debtors, nor cursed (3:13).
 We have received “new life” (2:20).
 We are part of a new family (4:5).
 We have received the Spirit (4:6; 5:25).
 We have experienced a supernatural birth (John 1:12-13; Galatians 4:28-29).
 We have the promise of future resurrection of our bodies (Romans 8:23).
 We have the promise of a place in the future (John 14:2).
 We will be with Christ in eternity (John 14:3).
 We enjoy the same special relationship with God previously limited to Israel (Romans 9:4; Galatians 3:28).
We receive inestimable riches predestined for us by God through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5).
Do you know your rights? In your relationship with God through Jesus Christ, they are yours to claim.

Redemption had an ongoing purpose—”that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Until Christ redeemed us (that is, paid the ultimate price by taking the penalty for our sins), we could never have been acceptable to God. In our sinful state, God could have nothing to do with us. Even our good works or religious rituals could bring us no closer to a relationship with him. But when Christ “bought us back,” he gave us freedom from the slavery we faced before and brought us into a new relationship with God the Father. Our new position in Christ goes beyond mere acceptance by God. So close is that relationship that Paul called it huiothesian (sonship) or “adoption as children” (nrsv) or “full rights of sons.” In Roman culture, a wealthy, childless man could take a slave youth and make that slave his child and heir. The adopted person was no longer a slave. He became a full heir to his new family, guaranteed all legal rights to his father’s property. He was not a second-class son; he was equal to all other sons, biological or adopted, in his father’s family. That person’s origin or past was no longer a factor in his legal standing. Likewise, when a person becomes a Christian, he or she leaves the slavery of trying to please God through works and gains all the privileges and responsibilities of a child in God’s family.

4:6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”NIV This verse and the next are central in the apostle’s entire argument. Focusing again on the Galatians, Paul added you are sons, that is, God’s children, part of God’s family. Paul almost seems to say, “Because you’re God’s kids, start acting that way!” Despite their doubts and confusion at that time, God still regarded the Galatian believers as his children. How did Paul know this? How could the Galatian believers claim this?

Because God sent the Spirit of his Son into their hearts. As God had sent the Son, so he had sent the Spirit (Paul used the same Greek word for “sent,” exapesteilen, in 4:4). God sent his Son to bring redemption (4:4–5); God sent his Spirit to mark us with his seal as “the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people” (Ephesians 1:14 nrsv). The Spirit cannot be earned or obtained, as if he were the result or reward of some system of works or discipline. Instead, God sends the Holy Spirit as a gift. It is through the Spirit that Christ can live in believers’ hearts: There is often a sense of failure among professing Christians that is sadly out of keeping with their rightful position in Christ. Do not be overanxious. Live in your Father’s house in constant freedom of heart. Remember that you are under the same roof as Christ, and are therefore allowed to avail yourself of all his grace and help. Refuse no task, however irksome, that God sets before you; and do not worry about irksome rules or petty vexations.

F. B. Meyer

 
  • But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:9-11 nrsv)

Having the Spirit of Christ means that we belong to Christ. Faith in Christ includes the reception of the Holy Spirit as part of the same transaction between us and God (see Ephesians 1:13-14). We do not experience Christ’s redemption apart from receiving his Spirit. “The Spirit of his Son” is a unique expression for Paul. It appears only in Galatians and shows Christ’s full deity and the total interaction of the Trinity.

 LIFE APPLICATION – WE HAVE THE SPIRIT
When Jesus described the Holy Spirit to his disciples during the Last Supper (John 13-17), he used the term parakletos (comforter, counselor, encourager). The actual ministry of the Spirit outlined in John 15:26-16:15 also shows his work as a “discomforter”—convicting the world of sin. But in Galatians we see the Spirit in his strengthening, helping, indwelling role.
He confirms our identity (4:6).
 He comes into our hearts, bringing the character of Christ (4:6).
 He assists in the control of our human nature (5:16).
 His presence creates certain by-products: steadfastness, intimacy with God, unity, and those character traits called the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23).

A person cannot have a personal relationship with laws or rituals. But believers have an intimate relationship with God. *Abba is an Aramaic word for “father.” It was a very familiar, endearing term used by a child when addressing his or her father at home, perhaps like the English “Daddy.” Christ used this word in his prayer in Mark 14:36. Paul may have added pater (Father) simply as a translation of the word Abba, but he may have also been pointing to deeper issues than simply the freedom to be familiar with God. Before, when we were enslaved to the “principles” (4:3), we had no access to God. But now, as God’s adopted children, we can approach him with love and trust. Notice that it is the Holy Spirit, not we, who calls out Abba, Father. The Spirit cries out to the Abba on our behalf (Romans 8:26-27), and we cry to the Abba with the Spirit (Romans 8:15). Taken together, the  two terms convey the delightful fearlessness of a little child with the honor of a respectful son. He gives us the Spirit, not for us to display our spirituality, but so that we may witness to our adoption into his family. As God’s adopted children, we share with Jesus all rights to God’s resources. As God’s heirs, we can claim what he has provided for us—our full identity as his children.

How do the sending of the Spirit and adoption work together? Neither one occurs logically or chronologically prior to the other. God’s work of adopting us and sending his Spirit is an inter-woven relationship, reciprocally entwined.

 LIFE APPLICATION – THE FEAST
A young missionary couple with several children boarded an ocean liner, traveling economy fare on their way to a South American country. Finding their way to the dining room the first evening, the family was astonished at the sumptuous feast that was laid out on the serving tables. The family felt out of place; they were certain that there must be an “economy” dining room, or that perhaps they needed to look at a menu to decide if they would be able to eat at all. A discreet question to the purser produced a chuckle and an explanation. “You folks aren’t the first to be impressed by our cook. But everything you see here is for you. It’s all part of the ticket when you sail with us.”
How many Christians look for meager fare when God has already given us the best of everything?

The doctrine of the Trinity implicit in these verses must not be missed. Salvation is accomplished through the work of all persons of the Trinity. God the Father sent both God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God the Son, by his death on the cross, allowed us to have the position as God’s children; God the Holy Spirit, by entering into believers’ hearts, gives us the assurance of that experience. The Galatians were being encouraged by the Judaizers to pursue what they in fact already had. No wonder Paul was astonished. It was as if the Galatians were believing door-to-door salesmen who were offering to sell them tiny shares of the inheritance they had already received!

4:7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.NRSV To conclude his argument from this analogy, Paul explained briefly that each Galatian believer was no longer a slave to any law or religious ritual or even to Satan. Instead, each person had entered into God’s family, being adopted as a child. Belonging to God as his child also means being an heir, for God has promised the inheritance of eternal life and his riches and blessings to all his children. We need no further preparation. No system can fill in or stand in for Christ. Being a child and being an heir are inseparable realities in God’s family. Paul wrote to the Romans:

  • For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:15-17 nrsv).

Note the change from the plural in 4:6 to the singular in this verse. The focus on each individual believer drives the point home. Not the Galatians only, but all believers, including you who read these words, can claim this incredible promise: You are no longer a slave but a child, and an heir of all God’s promises! For a Galatian to follow the Judaizers would be the same act as if a son and heir removed his birthright and returned to slavery.

The two words through God emphasize Paul’s source for his teaching and his assurances. The promises come through God and God alone. Paul’s teaching of these doctrines also came through God and God alone. Believers who trust in Christ’s sacrifice have the Holy Spirit and thus can have the same assurance. Our privileged position comes through God.

 LIFE APPLICATION – FREE!
When by faith we receive Christ, God gives us everything we need to be fully saved. We need no further act of repentance or submission to complete our salvation. Christ does all the work to redeem and cleanse us, and none of our work adds anything.
Some teach that sin has so polluted our nature that even the death of Christ cannot cleanse us. They imply that Christians must continually work to achieve a greater degree of righteousness and acceptability before God. But this is false. Because of our love for Christ and as a grateful response for his saving us, we serve him and battle the world, the flesh, and the devil—but none of these efforts contributes an ounce to our salvation. Salvation comes completely and utterly free!

Thank you Jesus!

 

www.Upwards.Church

Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/watch-now/leander-campus-videos

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

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Read Along Daily Bible Reading: YouVersion (https://www.bible.com/organizations/370f8a6e-16bc-464f-8c43-0b7623fd2952)

Source:  Bruce B. Barton et al., Life Application Bible Commentary – Galatians, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1994), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “GALATIANS 3:1-4:7”.

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God’s Family – Galatians 3:26-29 Commentary

Posted on October 28, 2024 by dkoop

Our faith in Christ means we are adopted into God’s Family

At this point in the letter,  Paul shifted from using legal illustrations to an institution that God created that we are all familiar with:  Family.   It’s a universal message about what faith in Christ can do for relationships:  once we have gained a right relationship with God, our dealings with people will be entirely different. While maintaining that the law was useful, Paul pointed out what a severe taskmaster the law could be for those who failed to learn about grace received through faith.

3:23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.NIV This faith refers to the faithfulness of Jesus Christ and to our response of faith in Jesus Christ. Clearly, Paul was not claiming that the capacity to believe had originated with the arrival of Christianity—people have managed to “believe” many things. They have also managed very often to be wrong in what they believed. Faith, as spoken of in the Scriptures, does not refer to some innate human power that, when used to its greatest capacity, gives us merit with God no matter what the actual content or object of that faith. The central point of the gospel is not belief, but who we believe and how we believe in him. Paul did not hesitate to display the vulnerability of Christianity in the claims about Jesus Christ. The system proves true or false in its foundational statement: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17 niv). Abraham was justified by his faith and, along with other Old Testament believers, had to trust in God’s grace without knowing much of God’s plan; but “this faith” was faith in what should be revealed—Jesus Christ.

We were held prisoners by the law means that the law held people in bondage. Not only was the whole world “a prisoner of sin” (3:22), but the law also held all people as prisoners. The phrase could also be interpreted to mean that the law guarded us, or held us in protective custody.

In a sense, the law kept us out of trouble, kept us away from the evil into which our natures might otherwise have led, until faith in Christ would be revealed. That faith then sets us free from the law but leads us into the desire to obey God wholeheartedly out of love for him. Man, blinded and bowed, sits in darkness and cannot see the light of heaven unless grace with justice comes to his aid.

Bonaventure

 

3:24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.NRSV The Greek word paidagogos is difficult to translate into English, but educational terms like pedagogue (tutor or basic instructor) and pedagogics (the science of teaching) have been derived from it. The niv renders the word as “put in charge,” and the nkjv says the law was a “tutor,” while the nrsv best translates it disciplinarian. In Greek culture, a “pedagogue” was a slave who had the important responsibility for the children in a family. A wealthy family might have one pedagogue for each child. This slave strictly disciplined the child, conducted the child to and from school, cared for the child, taught the child manners, and gave the child moral training. He reviewed “homework” but was not a teacher as such. Or to put it another way, the ancients understood better than we that a child needs far more direct instruction in life skills than merely learning educational content. The pedagogue’s role was temporary—he or she was responsible for the child until the child reached adult age (probably age sixteen).

The picture of the law serving as a “pedagogue” shows that the law was a temporary measure meant to “lead us to Christ” (niv). Paul summed up the role of the law in this verse with a single word, eis (“to,” or “until”). The word could be used in Greek to refer to both place and time. Thus, the phrase eis Christon forces a translation choice between stating that the “law instructed us until Christ” or that the “law guided us to Christ.” Paul may well have meant to include both nuances, although the context leans more strongly in the direction of the law’s temporal and supervisory (not educational) work. This leading was meant in the sense of the law watching over us until we could receive our “adulthood,” our full relationship with the Father, through Christ’s coming.

What was the ultimate purpose of the law? Paul repeated it in the last phrase, that we might be justified by faith. The law, through imprisonment and discipline, taught us (though negatively) that justification with God really is through faith alone. Paul did not hesitate to repeat crucial facts, and justification by faith was one of his constant themes. In fact, it represents in brief what he offered to the Galatians as the alternative to any other “gospel” or system that might appeal to them. The law had its usefulness in pointing out the wrong and providing constant reproof.

3:25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.NIV The supervision of the law is like the supervision given by the pedagogue to the young child (3:24). Once the child came of age, he or she no longer needed the preparatory services of the pedagogue. After Christ arrived, offering salvation by faith alone, people no longer needed the supervision of the law. The law teaches the need for salvation; God’s grace offers us that salvation.

The Old Testament still applies today. In it God has revealed his nature, his will for humanity, his moral laws, and his guidelines for living. The law still serves as a demanding instructor to those who have not yet believed. But we cannot be saved by keeping that law; now that faith has come, we must trust in Christ. The word now is important. The law supervised us until Christ came; but Christ has come, so we can now respond to God through faith. We are no longer bound by legalism or guilt-ridden by perfectionism.

As Paul will immediately demonstrate, the arrival of faith was not a static experience. Living does not come to an end when we are no longer under the authority of the law. Faith comes first, then we lay aside the supervision of the law. Many would like to do away with the supervision of the law, but they also don’t want the requirements of faith. Now we must live by faith in Christ. Paul had already addressed this issue in 2:20-21.

Faith had its most basic work in our being “crucified with Christ,” but it immediately pursues its ongoing task: “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God” (2:20 niv). This living by faith will be the theme of much of the remainder of this letter. We must take care lest, by exalting the merit of faith, without adding any distinction or explanation, we furnish people with a pretext for relaxing in the practice of good works.

Ignatius of Loyola

 

3:26 For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.NRSV The change to you shows Paul’s return to focusing on the Galatian believers. They did not need to be children under the care of the pedagogue (the law); instead, they are all children of God. They received this status in Christ Jesus and through faith. Those who are truly God’s children have been justified by faith in Christ and receive a new relationship with God—that of adopted children.

 LIFE APPLICATION – LAW BREAKING
One reason that we fail in our attempts to present the gospel to others is our hesitancy to bring the law to bear on their lives. We assume that their consciences will admit to sinfulness enough to lead them to acknowledge their need for a divine solution. So we end up debating with someone whose confidence rests on the hope that they are not nearly as bad as many other people whom they are willing to name. They may even claim that their understanding of God assures them that they are making a passing moral grade.
But going through the Ten Commandments, one at a time, asking them to measure their lives against God’s standard, may well create a new openness to the gospel. People are often not ready for freedom in Christ until they have a deeper awareness of their slavery to sin and judgment under God’s law.

The phrase “in Christ Jesus” strikes a dominant responsive chord for those who are trusting him as Savior and Lord. In this context, the phrase expresses the alternative to being

“under the supervision of the law” (3:25 niv). Just as the use of a life instructor in the ancient Greek world assumed a distance between the slave and the child under his care, the alternate arrangement “in Christ Jesus” assumes a personal relationship. Paul made this clear by reminding the Galatians that their relationship with Christ means that they are “children of God.” Being “in Christ” is the essence of Christian proclamation and experience. One may discuss legalism, nomism, and even justification by faith, but without treating the “in Christ” motif we miss the heart of the Christian message.

Richard Longnecker

 

The actual expression “in Christ” appears eight times in Galatians. Paul used the expression in every one of his letters to churches. He found it just as easy to say, “Christ lives in me” (2:20). For some, the idea of being “in Christ” contradicts the idea of Christ being “in us.” But the terms describe a relationship like no other. They help us understand much without allowing us to claim that we understand everything. The picture of being “in Christ” establishes the reason or basis of our relationship with God. Christ’s righteousness, sacrifice, and faithfulness are all regarded by the Father to stand in our place. From the perspective of grace, when God views us who are “in Christ,” he sees Christ. The picture of Christ being “in us” identifies the actual experience of relationship. To the Colossians, Paul spoke of Christ being “in you” as the essence of the mystery of God revealed in the gospel—”Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27 niv). Yet in the next verse he wrote of his goal to “present everyone perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1:28 niv). Or perhaps to put it another way, “in Christ” and Christ “in us” convey two aspects of our family relationship. Our membership in the family of God flows from being “in Christ,” just as our biological connection with our earthly family derives from having been literally “in” our father and mother. Our constantly changing experience of having Christ “in us” varies as much as the fellowship that flows from day to day among the various members of an earthly household.

What does it mean to be “children of God“? As he did in most of his letters, Paul was moving from the initial section of teaching passages to the application of what he had been developing. Here the first application is unmistakable: Our relationship with each other has its common principle in how we are related to God. We are children of the same family if we have the same heavenly Father. Paul wrote to the Romans, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17 niv). What a privilege! Because we are God’s children, we share in great treasures as co-heirs. From this point, Paul will first develop applications regarding how we should see ourselves and others. Later in the letter he will discuss how we should treat each other.

3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.NIV The reference to baptism here does not mean that Paul was replacing the rite of circumcision with baptism. Baptism does not save anyone any more than circumcision would. If Paul was referring to water baptism, he was recognizing the fact that, in the early church, new converts usually were baptized (see Acts 2:41; 8:36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; and 16:33 for some examples of new converts being baptized). Baptism demonstrated their faith—people “believed and were baptized”—not the other way around. It also demonstrated identification with the body of believers, the Christian church.

Paul may have been referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When a person believes, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within. Jesus promised this: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. . . . He lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17 niv). The Holy Spirit also supernaturally makes us a part of the body of Christ: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 niv).

Most likely Paul referred to the theology behind water baptism expressed as an early form of liturgy. Paul restated for emphasis his claim to the Galatians that they were children of God. The purpose of baptism ultimately confirms the connection between us and Christ. We are “baptized into Christ.” Those who would use a text like this as proof that babies who have been baptized are somehow acceptable to God (unlike babies who are not baptized) must do so with caution. The context certainly implies an active, informed faith whose object is Jesus Christ. Our faith rests, not on any form of baptism, but in Christ.

 LIFE APPLICATION – NEW CLOTHES
In order to grasp the long-term effects of “putting on Christ,” we might be helped by seeing the robe he gives us as a full-size, adult set of clothing. It is a seamless robe of characteristics, attitudes, and intentions modeled by Jesus himself. At first, because we are no more than spiritual children, the clothing doesn’t fit. The more we grow, the better we fit into what Christ has already given us.
However, we carry out the disciplines of the spiritual life or train in holiness, not under the threat of failure or judgment, but under the loving guidance of God’s Spirit. We do not seek merit with God; rather, we desire to experience fully all that God has given to us in Christ. In what areas of spiritual life do you find your “clothing” still not fitting? What parts of God’s Word have you found that give you directions for growth in those areas?

The expression enedusasthe (put on, clothed yourselves) recalls a specific ancient rite of passage. In Roman society, a youth coming of age laid aside the robe of childhood and put on a new toga. This represented his move into adult citizenship with full rights and responsibilities. Likewise, being “in Christ” leads to our ongoing experience of clothing ourselves with Christ. Paul combined this cultural understanding with the concept of baptism. By becoming Christians and being baptized, the Galatian believers were becoming spiritually grown up and ready to take on the privileges and responsibilities of the more mature. Paul was saying that they had laid aside the old clothes of the law and had put on Christ—that is, Christ’s robe of righteousness (see 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 4:23-24). The person who did so became a “new” person, with a new lifestyle and new aspirations. Clothing ourselves with Christ is not passive; it is an action we must take. Have you put on the attitudes, characteristics, and intentions of Jesus Christ?

 LIFE APPLICATION – UNITY
Christians do not have permission to discriminate against other believers. The emphasis must always be, not on unity for unity’s sake, but on unity in Christ. Where Christ is not recognized as Lord, all unity will be superficial, if present at all. But remarkably divergent people who recognize in Jesus their common life will find deep unity and fellowship.
Those who seek unity as their only goal will find their objective elusive. Those who seek others who also name Jesus as Lord will find themselves yoked with any number of unusual characters. Unity flows out of being “in Christ,” not the other way around. Where do you tend to discriminate (culture, background, gender, racial issues)?

3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.NKJV In the first part of this verse, discrimination and barriers are eliminated. In the second part, unity is established. If all believers have put on Christ, if all believers have professed faith and joined the body of Christ, then this unity sets aside all other superficial distinctions. While it is true that in the body of Christ, Jews, Greeks (meaning Gentiles), slaves, free people, men, and women do still have individual identities, Paul exalts their unity in Christ Jesus. All labels become secondary among those who share Jesus in common.

Some Jewish males would greet each new day by praying, “Lord, I thank you that I am not a Gentile, a slave, or a woman.” The prejudice toward all three categories was real and strong. As discussed throughout this letter to the Galatians, a Jew who believes in Christ is no different from a Gentile who believes. Unity in Christ transcends racial distinctions. Next is the barrier of social status. Slaves and free persons treat each other like brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. To take it even further, when it comes to faith and God’s promises, there really is no gender distinction. Both male and female alike are acceptable in the body of Christ. Women were not treated well in Paul’s day. Both the Gentile and the Jewish culture placed women in inferior positions—almost as property. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus pointed out that “woman is inferior to man in every way” (Against Apion 2.24). Christianity liberated women as God’s creations with worth and abilities that could be used for God’s kingdom. Just to announce that barriers have been removed does not mean that all prejudice has been overcome. This requires faith and being clothed with Christ. More than tolerance and superficial harmony, it requires a real change of heart and actions.

Christians have debated the application of this verse. Some would contend that the equality applies only to salvation. They interpret the verse to mean that we all have equal access in Christ to God’s grace without discrimination. They would limit the application of equality to salvation and not see it as a basis for social equality in the life of the church (such as allowing women to hold offices). Others see this verse to mean the stripping away of all barriers to God’s use of people to do his will based on their position in Christ. Thus, it does clear the way to full equality for all people. Paul seems to imply both. Our equal standing in Christ gives us equal access not only to salvation but to the full gifts of the Spirit and to all avenues of service.

The barriers broken down in this verse may not seem so radical to our day, but they were astounding in ancient Roman culture. This made Christianity unique and attractive—it valued each individual, yet it provided a unified body. All believers are one in Christ Jesus. All are equally valuable to God. Differences arise in gifts, in function, in abilities, but all are one in Christ (Ephesians 2:15).

 LIFE APPLICATION – COMMON GROUND
It’s natural to feel uncomfortable around people who are different from us and to gravitate toward those who are similar. But when we allow our differences to separate us from our fellow believers, we are disregarding clear biblical teaching. Make a point to seek out and appreciate people who are not just like you and your friends. You may find that you have a lot in common with them.

3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.NKJV Besides becoming God’s children (3:26) and one in Christ (3:28), believers (those who are Christ’s) also become Abraham’s seed. Abraham was the prime element in Jewish thought about salvation. Jews believed that they were automatically God’s people because they were “Abraham’s seed.” Paul concluded that Abraham’s spiritual children are not the Jews, nor are they those who have been circumcised. Abraham’s children are those who respond to God in faith as Abraham had done. The only difference is that our response is to Christ as Savior. Because we have responded, we are heirs according to the promise.  Since they are “the body of Christ,” they are heirs to God’s eternal kingdom.

 LIFE APPLICATION – WHO ARE YOU?
Christians often fail to live up to the identity they have been given in Christ. They live passive, defeated lives, appearing in almost every respect to still be living with the curse of the law hanging over their heads. We may be heirs in Christ, but we appear to have missed the reading of the will.
God’s Word inspires us to confidence—not in our own ability to live the Christian life, but in God’s infinite ability to help us grow into Christ. If you believe in Christ, then you are in him and truly belong as a member of his family.

By responding to Christ in faith, we have followed in the ancient way of Abraham, one of the early ones justified by faith. He trusted God, and so do we. But to us has been added the opportunity to appreciate what price Christ paid to ensure our share in the promise.

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Source:  Bruce B. Barton et al., Life Application Bible Commentary – Galatians, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1994), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “GALATIANS 3:1-4:7”.

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