Verse by Verse

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

fruit — result of the power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers. Fruit, unlike works, draws on the inward power of the Spirit.

love (agape) — self-sacrifice for the benefit of the one loved. (1 Corinthians 13)

peace — peace of God in our hearts — not peace with God (that comes with justification) — tranquility based on knowing one is in a right relationship with God.

longsuffering — the opposite of short-tempered — restraint in the face of provocation

kindness — goodness in action — expressing goodness with deeds

goodness — very similar to gentleness, but perhaps with more of an edge — intervention for someone’s sake

faithfulness — trustfulness — believing the best about God and others — not suspicious

gentleness — not self-assertive or self-interested — not elated or depressed because not occupied with self at all

self-control — in all things — denying appetites for the sake of the prize — mastery of one’s desires

The first three fruits are directed God-ward, the second three toward others and the last three toward self

against such (v.23) — things like these — the list is not exhaustive

there is no law (v.23) — The law has no place, and no scope, for action in one who is walking in the Spirit.

As the believer takes account of things true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, the worthy things and the pleasing things, he is taking account of Christ, for the things that were to be seen in Paul were the things that Paul had seen in Christ (Philippians 4:8-9; 1 Corinthians 11:1). The ideal Christian life is an extension of the life of the Lord Jesus; the things that in the days of His flesh He manifested in His own way among men, He manifests now by the power of His Spirit in the lives of His people. — Vine, page 254

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Verse 16 describes the inner desires of our sin nature. These verses describe the effects — the outward expressions of the character of the flesh.

evident (v.19) — open, where everyone can se. Lust is hidden, its effects are outward and visible.

adultery — not listed in the best Greek texts

fornication — specific sin

uncleanness — impurity of mind, sensual impurity

lewdness — insolent disregard for decency — contempt for public opinion and shameless outrage of public decency

sorcery — Greek pharmakia — drugs associated with occult powers. Drugs used in witchcraft, but also witchcraft without drugs

hatred — the opposite of love

wrath — result of jealousy

dissensions — connected to jealousy, taking sides, one party against another, divisions, standing apart

heresies — sedition advanced to a spirit of enmity — choosing an opinion contrary to the Word of God, perhaps in reference to the Judaizers.

envy — desire to have what another has (whereas jealousy only desires to deprive another)

revelries — the consequence of drunkenness

and the like (v.21) — things similar to these

tell you … told you (v.21) — Paul repeats his warning of the inevitable consequences

do such things (v.21) = practice — not isolated acts but course of conduct. Practice until they become characteristic, second-nature

The word do is from prasso which means “to do, to practice.”  It is durative in action, thus speaking of the habitual practice of such things, which indicates the character of the individual. The Word of God bases its estimation of a person’s character, not upon his infrequent, out-of-the-ordinary actions, but upon his habitual ones, which latter form a true indication of character. Such people, the apostle says, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. — Wuest, page 158-159.

inherit (v.21) — birthright by virtue of sonship

kingdom of God (v.21) — sphere of God’s rule

In context — these things cannot be avoided by obeying a law, but only by walking in the Spirit.

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

walk (v.16) — the whole span of activities of our lives

Spirit (v.16) — as in Galatians 5:5, Romans 8:11

fulfill (v.16) = complete or end

When the Spirit is in control, His power will not fail (v.16). This verse isn’t a command but an assurance.

lust (v.16) — great desire. Greek word epithumeo can be good or bad depending on context.

flesh (v.17) — human body and human spirit — our human Adamic nature

against (v.17) — has the idea of supression

contrary (v.17) — set in opposition to — mutually antagonistic and impossible to reconcile.

to one another (v.17) — reciprocity of antagonism

you do not do (v.17) — should be “may not do”

Verse 18 — Romans 6:14: For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

led (v.18) — willingly and intelligently

not under the law (v.18) — neither as a way of life or a means of justification, nor as a rule of conduct

The law is a provoker of transgression. The Judaizers claimed that if one didn’t obey the law, he would fall into sin. Paul says that if one walks in the Spirit, he won’t fall into sin.

Romans 6:14 is closely parallel. The believer is assured that the lordship of sin over him is no longer of necessity, inasmuch as he is no longer under law, which demands obedience, but which cannot supply the power without which obedience is not possible. On the contrary, he is under grace, where inherent weakness is met by sufficient and instantly available strength (Ephesians 3:16) — Vine, page 246.

With the Spirit, we have the power to not do the sins our flesh desires. But the conflict is constant and the flesh is ready to step in whenever we stop yielding to the Spirit.

The evil nature is not eradicated. Its power over the believer is broken, and the believer need not obey it. But it is there, constantly attempting to control the believer as it did before salvation wrought its work in his being. — Wuest, page 153.

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The will of the person has been liberated from the enslavement to sin which it experienced before salvation, and is free now to choose the right and refuse the wrong. The Holy Spirit has been given him as the Agent to counteract the evil nature, but He does that for the saint when that saint puts himself under His control, and by an act of his free will, says a point-blank NO to sin. In other words, there must be a cooperation of the saint with the Holy Spirit in His work of sanctifying the life. The Holy Spirit is not a perpetual motion machine which operates automatically in the life of the believer. He is a divine Person waiting to be depended upon for His ministry, and expecting the saint to cooperate with Him in it. Thus the choice lies with the believer as to whether he is going to yield to the Holy Spirit or obey the evil nature. The Spirit is always there to give him victory over that nature as the saint says a point-blank NO to sin and at the same time trusts the Spirit to give him victory over it. —Wuest, page 154.

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The Galatian Christians had up to the time of the Judaizers’ entry into their churches, lived their Christian lives in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, in accordance with the teaching of the apostle Paul. The Power of the sinful nature had been broken, the divine nature had been implanted, and the Spirit had entered their hearts to take up His permanent residence. The conflict spoken of in verse 17 had been going on in them, and the result had been that they were living victorious lives over sin (4:19). But now a new factor had entered, the law, and with it, their dependence upon self effort to obey that law. The Galatians were still trying to live Christian lives, but they were going about it in the wrong way, with the result that they were failing. The entrance of these new factors meant that the Spirit had no opportunity to minister to their spiritual lives. The mechanical set-up of spiritual machinery which God had installed, had become ineffective by reason of the monkey-wrench of self-dependence which the Galatians had thrown into it.

Paul here presents to them a third way of life, distinct from that of a person under law, and also from that of a person who, because he is not under the restraining influences of law anymore, thinks that that leaves him without restraint of any kind, and thus yields to the impulses of the evil nature. That third way is not a middle road between the these two, but a highway above them. It is a highway of freedom from statutes and from the sinful nature, a highway which is a faith way, a dependence upon the Spirit.

The exhortation is therefore, to be led by the Spirit. The assurance is given those who do so, that they will not be living their lives on the principle of legalism. The Spirit and the law are here contrasted, and are shown to be methods of living a Christian life that are diametrically opposed to one another. The law is not only no safeguard against the flesh, but rather provokes it to more sin. Therefore, the believer who would renounce the flesh, must renounce the law also. Thus, the flesh and the law are closely allied, whereas the flesh and the Spirit are diametrically opposed to one another.

Again, the law finds nothing to condemn in the life of the person who is led by the Spirit, for that person checks every wrong desire which is brought to him by the evil nature, and so he fulfills the law. This is the blessed moral freedom of the person who is led by the Spirit. He is in such a condition of moral and spiritual life that the law has no power to censure, condemn, or punish him. This is the true moral freedom from the law to which Paul refers (Romans 8:1-4). — Wuest, page 155-156.

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

Verse 13 takes up the point begun in verse 1.

to (v.13) = for, with a view to

do not use liberty as (v.13) = unto, with this end in view

opportunity (v.13) — a military term = base of operations

flesh (v.13) — the seat and organ of sin in man

through love (v.13) = by means of love

serve (v.13) = let it be your habit to serve

The Galatians had been slaves to sin and paganism. They were set free by grace. The Judaizers were trying to enslave them to the law. Paul urges them not to give up their freedom but, willingly, by means of love, to be servants to each other (1 Corinthians 10:23-24).

In verse 14, Paul explains that they can resist slavery to the law and yet, through love, accomplish all the law demands.

law (v.14) — not in the legal sense but the principle (based on God’s character) that makes up the right conduct for man.

fulfilled (v.14) — the tense indicated “completed in the past and continuing” — fully-obeyed

The quote in verse 15 is from Leviticus 19:18.

bite/devour (v.15) — consume — used to describe attacks by wild animals

Paul doesn’t mention the specific cause of the Galatians’ strife. It was probably disagreement regarding the teaching of the Judaizers.

freedom (v.13) — eleutheria; slavery, established and regulated by law, was an integral element in the social fabric of the apostle’s day. Provision was made, among other things, for the liberation of the slave, and this was effected by a legal fiction according to which he was purchased by a deity, Apollo or another; the purchase money was in fact provided by the slave who, as he had no legal standing, no civil rights, could not purchase himself. To meet this difficulty the sum appointed was paid into the temple treasury, whither master and slave proceeded. There, when the money was paid over, a document was drawn up and duly attested, to the effect that so-and-so had been purchased by the deity at such a price; in some of these documents the same words that are used by the apostle here, “for freedom,” i.e., “with the object of setting him free,” were inserted. Henceforth the erstwhile slave is his own master, and may do “the things that he will,” nor may any man bring him into bondage again inasmuch as, in theory at least, he is now the property of the god who purchased him.

In the New Testament men are declared to be in bondage, the Jews to law (Galatians 4:3; Romans 7:1), the Gentiles to idols (Galatians 4:8; 1 Corinthians 12:2), and all to sin (Romans 6:6, 17); therein, too, the way to freedom is declared in language which is largely that of the manumission from social slavery just described. The seed from which this conception of salvation as deliverance from bondage afterwards developed is found, however, in the words of the Lord Jesus, (Matthew 20:28), “the Son of Man came … to give His life a ransom for many,” and (Luke 21:38), “your redemption draweth nigh,” and (John 8:36), “If … the Son shall make you free [lit., free you], ye shall be free indeed.” Thus men are set at liberty by Christ who purchased them at a price (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23), which is His own blood (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:18-19), for He actually did at His own cost what the god did fictionally with money provided by the slave. Thus those who were in bondage to law, idols and sin, become the bond servants of Christ, of God and of righteousness. — Vine, pages 240-241.

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It is quite characteristic of the apostle to introduce such a paradox. He has been pleading for liberty; he now insists upon law [v.14]. He has been reminding Christians of their freedom; he now declares they must be slaves. “Through love be servants one to another.”

This apparent contradiction, however, solves the whole problem of the relation between law and gospel, between works and faith, between legalism and Christian liberty. The gospel does not discredit moral law; it shows how this law can be fulfilled. “Faith” does not make “works” unnecessary; it produces “works.” Christian liberty does not make one free to sin, but it enables one to attain the righteousness which the law demands. For faith works through love. The gospel, which brings the good news of free grace and pardon, awakens love in the heart toward the Lawgiver, and makes one rejoice to do the will of God as revealed by Christ.

Those who accept the free grace of God in Christ Jesus obey their divine Master, not that they may be saved but because they have been saved. Gratitude and devotion inspire love for God and love for men. — Erdman, page 107

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To those who have been accustomed to regard law as the only controlling factor that stands in the way of self-indulgence and a free rein in sin, and to those who have not been accustomed to a high standard of ethics, the teaching of Christian liberty might easily mean that there is nothing to stand in the way of the unrestrained indulgence of one’s own impulses. Paul often during his ministry, had his hearers react in this way to his teaching of grace. The questions in Romans 6:1 and 6:15, Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? and, Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? were asked by someone who did not understand grace. Paul answers these questions in Romans 6, by showing that the control of the sinful nature over the individual is broken the moment he believes, and the divine nature is imparted, and therefore he hates sin and loves the right, and has both the desire and power to keep from sinning and to do God’s will. In Galatians he shows that the believer has come out from under whatever control divine law had over him, and in salvation has been placed under a superior control, that of the indwelling Holy Spirit  who exercises a stricter supervision over the believer than law ever did over the unbeliever, whose restraining power is far more effective than the law’s restraining power ever was, and who gives the believer both the desire and power to refuse the wrong and choose the right, a thing which law never was able to do. — Wuest, page 148.

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The antidote against using their liberty from the law as a pretext for sinning, is found in the exhortation, “By love serve one another.” The Greek word for love here is agape, which refers, not to human affection but to divine love, the love produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit, and the love with which that believer should love his fellow-believers. This love is a love whose chief essence is a self-sacrifice for the benefit of the one who is loved. Such a love means death to self, and that means defeat for sin, since the essence of sin is self-will and self-gratification. — Wuest, page 150.

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The statutes of the law, the believer will incidentally obey so far as love itself requires such a course of action of him, and in no case will he obey them as statutes. Thus, the individual is released from one law consisting of a set of ethical principles to which was attached blessing for obedience and punishment in the case of disobedience, a law that gave him neither the desire nor the power to obey its commands, and is brought under another law, the law of love, which is not a set of written commandments but an ethical and spiritual dynamic, produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit, who gives him both the desire and the power to live a life in which the dominating principle is love, God’s love, which exercises a stronger and stricter control over the heart and is far more efficient at putting out sin in the life than the legalizers think the thunders of Sinai ever were. — Wuest, page 151.

7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.

9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.

11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.

12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!

hindered (v.7) — cut off, break up, cutting in on, slowing down a runner in a race. Who broke up the road you had begun to travel so well?

obeying (v.7) = persuaded, won over. Obedience resulting from persuasion, not from submission

persuasion (v.8) — influence (of the Judaizers)

Him who calls you (v.8) — God

So … You weren’t persuaded by the truth but  you are persuaded by those who hinder you, who do not come from God.

Leaven (v.9) — the pervasive power of evil. One person in an assembly can persuade all to follow a wrong path — or — One bit of law allowed can send a person down the wrong path. Leaven is always a symbol of evil in the Bible.

I have confidence (v.10) — Paul had hope based on his argument and the power of the Lord, that the Galatians would resist the influence of the Judaizers.

in the Lord (v.10) — Paul’s confidence wasn’t in the Galatians but in the Lord, that He would accomplish His purpose in them.

other mind (v.10) — to form an opinion and take action upon it.

bear his judgment (v.10) — burden with the decision resulting from judgment

whoever he is (v.10) — no matter the troublemaker’s authority or position (James?)

if I still preach circumcision (v.11) — Paul is meeting a charge of inconsistency or insincerity by the Judaizers (1:6-9)

The apostle turns suddenly to meet a charge of inconsistency, perhaps of insincerity, made against him by the Judaizing party, one to which indeed he had already somewhat indirectly referred (1:8-9). His action in regard to Timothy may have afforded ground for this charge. But the case of Timothy differed from that of Titus (2:3) in an important particular. Titus was a Gentile born of Gentile parents; Timothy’s mother was a Hebrew, his father a Gentile—he was therefore the offspring of a union plainly prohibited by the Mosaic Law. It may have seemed expedient to the apostle on this account to circumcise Timothy in order to conciliate some who through ignorance, or through weakness in the faith, were sensitive on the point. However that may have been, the apostle soon learned that any attempt to conciliate the Judaizers was foredoomed to failure, and would probably involve the church in disaster. The time arrived when it became necessary to oppose them at all points, and to attack their hybrid system of salvation by works and faith with every legitimate weapon available. The pressure in favor of circumcision was renewed when Titus came to Antioch, but now the apostle did not yield. So long as he hoped to further the interests of the gospel by conciliating the Judaizers he endeavored to conciliate them, perhaps even hoped to win them; now he saw clearly that these interests could be preserved and furthered only by bold and insistent attack upon those who opposed them.  — Vine, page 237-238

still (v.11) — (1st use) a thing that formerly went on but has been changed.

still (v.11) — (2nd use) logical opposition to a point

why do I still suffer persecution (v.11) — If, as the Judaizers claimed, Paul was preaching circumcision, then why would they, who also preached it, persecute him?

offense (v.11) — stumbling block — part of a trap to which bait is attached — metaphorically, anything that causes another to fall (but not always in a bad way — the hindrance can be good which causes the wicked to fall)

Chrysostom commenting on this same thing said, “For even the cross which was a stumbling block to the Jews, was not so much so as the failure to require obedience to ancestral laws. For when they attacked Stephen they said not that he was worshiping the Crucified, but that he was speaking against the law and the holy place.” Saul, the Pharisee, persecuted the Church for the same reason (1:13-14). The Cross was offensive to the Jew therefore because it set aside the entire Mosaic economy, and because it offered salvation by grace through faith alone without the added factor of works performed by the sinner in an effort to merit the salvation offered. All of which goes to show that the Jew of the first century had an erroneous conception of the law of Moses, for that system never taught that a sinner was accepted by God on the basis of good works.  — Wuest, page 146.

offense of the cross (v.11) — If Paul’s gospel of the cross and what it meant, was identical with what the Judaizers were saying, they would have no issue with it and wouldn’t be opposing Paul.

All his labors, his sufferings, and his distresses could be traced to his fidelity to the gospel of Christ and to his insistence upon justification by faith in Him alone. “Then hath the stumbling-block of the cross been done away,” adds the apostle. If, indeed, man can be saved by rites and ceremonies, then there is no need of the death of Christ. This painful and ignominious death had been a stumblingblock in the way of the Jews. If now salvation depended on Jewish rites and ceremonies, then this stumblingblock no longer remained. It is, indeed, a fact that at the foot of the cross we realize the  weakness and impotence and worthlessness of our own deeds of righteousness, our own efforts to secure salvation. “For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nought.” — Erdman, page 104.

I could wish (v.12) = “would that” — an exclamation

those who trouble you (v.12) — continuous tense — “are attempting to unsettle you.”

cut themselves off (v.12) — amputate

The words cut off are from apokopto. The word refers to bodily mutilation. Paul expresses the wish that the Judaizers would not stop with circumcision, but would go on to emasculation. The town of Pessinus was the home of the worship of Cybele in honor of whom bodily mutilation was practiced. The priests of Cybele castrated themselves. This was a recognized form of heathen self-devotion to the god and would not be shunned in ordinary conversation. This explains the freedom with which Paul speaks of it to his Galatian converts. In Philippians 3:2, the apostle speaks of the Judaizers as the concision, that is, those who mutilate themselves. Vincent expresses his conception of Paul’s words as follows: “These people are disturbing  you by insisting on circumcision. I would that they would make thorough work of it in their own case, and instead of merely amputating the foreskin, would castrate themselves as heathen priests do. Perhaps this would be even more powerful help to salvation.” — Wuest, page 146-147.

5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

for (v.5) — Paul is about to present the grounds on which what he just said (verses 2-4) is based.

we (v.5) — Christians who aren’t attempting to gain justification by works

through the Spirit (v.5) — pneuma is here without the article; it does not on that account follow that the Holy Spirit is not intended and that the capital initial is wrong, for the article is sometimes absent where the person is certainly means, as in Acts 19:2, and is sometimes present where that is not the case, as in John 6:63. If “in spirit” should be read here, then the meaning is that whereas the Jew sought justification in the flesh, i.e., by the observance of ordinances and obedience to moral precepts, the Christian is justified by an act of the spirit, i.e., through faith, as indeed the apostle states. If, however, as is equally possible, “through the Spirit” is to be read, then the meaning is “through the agency of the Holy Spirit,” i.e., the believer is quickened by Him, and is taught by Him to cherish this hope, and is maintained by Him to continue therein. The Holy Spirit is received by an act of faith, and by the continued exercise of this receptive faculty, faith, the blessings He brings are appropriated. Thus the whole spiritual life of the Christian is a life of faith, life through the Holy Spirit.

Whichever view of the passage is taken, it is important to remember that the sphere of the operations of the Spirit of God is the human spirit (Romans 8:16; 2 Corinthians 1:22). Every impulse along the line of obedience to the will of God in the spirit of a man is the result of His operations. — Vine, page 231.

wait (v.5) — with expectancy — intense yearning. We wait by faith.

hope (v.5) — the object of our happy anticipation of future good

righteousness (v.5) — the character or quality of being right

hope of righteousness (v.5) — Looking forward to the return of Christ when we will be glorified and conform completely to the will of God — “the hoped-for righteousness”

neither circumcision nor uncircumcision (v.6) — All are sinners and stand on an equal footing of ungodliness, enmity and weakness (Romans 5:6-10) before God. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything, but faith, which expresses itself in love, accomplishes all things.

avails (v.6) — capable of producing results — to have power

working (v.6) — is energized by

through love (v.6) — Faith expresses itself in love. Paul isn’t speaking of how faith is obtained but how it expresses itself.

2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.

3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.

4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

I, Paul (v.2) — probably to remind them of his authority, to counter what others were misquoting him as saying and/or to remind the Galatians of their former love for him.

if you become circumcised (v.2) = receive circumcision. The tense indicates a present, continuous, ongoing action. (Galatians 3:10).  Paul’s warning (based on the text) is not to one who has been circumcised, but to one who is contemplating it as a means of gaining justification.

Those who had been circumcised, whether in infancy, as in his own case (Philippians 3:5) or voluntarily in later years, as in the case of Timothy (Acts 16:3) are not thereby shut out from Christ, they are warned of the danger of pursuing the practice in the case of new converts and of maintaining the teaching of which circumcision is the symbol.

It is plain that “receiveth” is not to be understood of the performance of the rite itself, for that could be done but once. There is here a metonymy: to “receive” circumcision is to acknowledge it to be of divine authority and of Christian obligation, and in like manner to acknowledge all that for which it stood in the mind of the Jews. — Vine, page 229

Christ will profit you nothing (v.2) — If the law can save, there was no reason for Christ to die. If you rely on anything else, His death can’t save you.

testify again (v.3) = affirm, protest —  as in the previous verse.

debtor (v.3) = one who is bound to do a certain thing.

whole law (v.3) — If you rely on part of the law, you are obligated to keep the whole law, which none can do (Matthew 5:18; James 2:10-11). Nobody who seeks to be justified by works is saved because nobody can keep the whole law.

estranged (v.4) — severed. Christ must be all or nothing. The KJV has “Christ is become of no effect unto you.” Not position but experience. To be without effective relation to — a loss of some effectual element of life.

attempt to be justified by law (v.4) — those who submit to circumcision. present continuous tense — “are being justified.”

you have fallen (v.4) — “you fell away” (aorist tense). The initial act. They chose the path of the law for justification and so surrendered any choice of justification by grace — 2 Peter 3:17 (except that Paul is talking about doctrine, Peter of morals)

These statements must be understood as explicit denials of salvation to those who, in the face of the apostle’s statements of what was involved, persisted in acknowledging circumcision, and so committed themselves to the works of the law as necessary to justification. Only by grace, and that the grace of the Lord Jesus (Acts 15:11), can any man be saved. How then could they be saved to whom Christ was of no advantage, who had been severed from Christ, who had fallen away from grace? All such as turn to the law for blessing find in it only a curse (3:10), condemnation and death (2 Corinthians 3:7, 9), for the law of God “worketh wrath,” (Romans 4:15), but the grace of God brings salvation (Titus 2:11). — Vine, page 230.

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One could translate “you have become unaffected by Christ,” or “You have become without effective relation to Christ.” The idea is that the Galatian Christians, by putting themselves under the law, have put themselves in a place where they have ceased to be in that relation to Christ where they could derive the spiritual benefits from Him which would enable them to live a life pleasing to Him, namely, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thus, Christ has no more effect upon them in the living of their Christian lives.

In depriving themselves of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the living of a Christian life, they have fallen from grace. The words “fallen from” are from ekpipto which means “to fail of, to lose one’s hold of.” The Galatian Christians had lost their hold upon the grace for daily living which heretofore had been ministered to them by the Holy Spirit. God’s grace manifests itself in three ways, in justification, sanctification, and glorification. The context rules. All through chapter five, Paul is talking about the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the believer. Therefore grace here must be interpreted as the daily grace for living of which the Galatian Christians were depriving themselves.

But because they had lost their hold upon sanctifying grace, does not mean that God’s grace had lost its hold upon them in the sphere of justification. Because they had refused to accept God’s grace in sanctification is no reason why God should withdraw His grace for justification. They had received the latter when they accepted the Lord Jesus. That transaction was closed and permanent at the moment they believed. Justification is a judicial act of God done once for all. Sanctification is a process which goes on all through the Christian’s life. Just because the process of sanctification is temporarily retarded in a believer’s life, does not say that his justification is taken away. If that were the case, then the retention of salvation would depend upon the believer’s works, and then salvation would not depend upon grace anymore. And we find ourselves in the camp of the Judaizers, ancient and modern. — Wuest, page 140-141.

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

This verse should come at the end of chapter 4 — “therefore”

liberty — freedom from bondage to the law, or anything else

again — the Galatians were formerly in bondage to paganism

yoke — binding two things together so neither can move independently

John 8:36 — Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

2 Corinthians 3:17 — Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Christian liberty is:

• imperiled by legalism (5:1-12)

• perverted as license (5:13-26)

• perfected in love (6:1-10)

In the present passage the bondage immediately contemplated is to those rites and ceremonies prescribed in a law that could not give either freedom in the present or hope for the future (Hebrews 7:18-19); but the principle is of the widest application.

Human freedom, eleutheria, that in which man was originally created, is not liberty to do wrong or to indulge oneself, it is liberty to obey God. Man is so constituted that only as he pleased God can he be happy in the higher, the spiritual, part of his nature, and efficient for the great ends for which he was created. The essence of the Fall lay in this, that man used his endowment of freedom against the giver of it. Instead of enhancing and extending his freedom by his disobedience, however, man’s first exercise of his will apart from God brought him into bondage to a new master, sin (Romans 6:17-18; 7:14) working through a threefold agency, the world, the flesh, and the devil (1 John 2:16-17; 3:8). Thus sin is not the true master of men, but a usurper, ruling with rigor, albeit the rule is disguised so that not even the wisest seems capable of recognizing it apart from the teaching of the Spirit of God.

Christian freedom is secured for men in the redemption of Christ, which is to reach its full fruition at His coming again (Romans 8:21; 7:24-25). Meanwhile the believer is to claim, to assert and to enjoy, the freedom that is his in Christ, but in so doing he will encounter many opposing forces, and these the apostle Paul usually sums up in the word “flesh.” Christian freedom is not liberty to the Christian to please himself; it is liberty for the new life which is his in Christ to develop in the leading of His Spirit (Romans 8:14), and according to its own nature despite the antagonism of the flesh, for “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” i.e., the Spirit of Christ. — Vine, page 227.

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We can best approach the study of this verse by offering the translation at the start. For this aforementioned freedom, Christ set us free. Keep on standing firm therefore, and stop being held again by a yoke of bondage.

The liberty spoken of here does not refer to the kind of life a person lives, neither does it have reference to his words and actions, but it has to do with the method by which he lives that life. The Judaizers lived their lives by dependence upon self effort in an attempt to obey the law. The Galatians Christians had been living theirs in dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit. Their hearts had been occupied with the Lord Jesus, the details of their lives being guided by the ethics that emerged from the teaching of the apostles, both doctrinal and practical. Now, in swinging over to law, they were losing that freedom of action and that flexibility of self-determination which one exercises in the doing of what is right, when one does right, not because the law forbids the wrong and commands the right, but because it is right, because it pleases the Lord Jesus, and because of love for Him. Paul exhorts them to keep on standing fast in that freedom from law. — Wuest, pages 136-137.

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.

23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,

24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar —

25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children —

26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.

27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.”

28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.

29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.

30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”

31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

hear the law (v.21) — the Old Testament. The Galatians were listening to the Judaizers who were pushing the Old Testament requirements. Paul asks them if they’ve stopped to listen to what the law really says.

Abraham’s two sons (v.22) were Ishmael, by Hagar, and Issac, by Sarah.

bondwoman (v.22) — Hagar, an Egyptian servant (slave) to Sarah.

freewoman (v.22) — Sarah, Abraham’s wife (and half-sister)

Not only do the two sons have different mothers, but they were born of different circumstances. Ismael resulted from the plan of Abraham and Sarah, relying on their own wisdom (Genesis 16:1-2). Isaac, the son promised by God, came by faith in God.

symbolic (v.24) — allegory. A true account of history, but also containing spiritual principles. Paul doesn’t reach this conclusion on his own, but is guided by the Spirit to do so (Galatians 1:11-12).

these (v.24) — Hagar and Sarah

covenants (v.24) — obligation taken on by God.

from Mount Sinai (v.24) — received on Mount Sinai

Hagar was a slave, and so her son was too — and so are those under the law. Hagar/Mount Sinai = where the law was given.

which is Hagar (v.24) — which is represented by Hagar in this allegory

corresponds to Jerusalem (v.25) —The earthly Jerusalem was in literal bondage (to Rome) and spiritual bondage with her children, the Jews.

Paul is comparing the law, represented by Sinai with the promise represented by the heavenly Jerusalem (v.26).

free (v.26) — not subject to the law

Jerusalem … which is the mother (v.26) — The city is where God chose to reign with His people, and where He someday will reign. It is where man’s redemption occurred. It would have been God’s dwelling place if Israel had accepted the offered kingdom. It is the representation of promise by faith. Sarah is the mother of those who are children by faith (v.31).

The quote in verse 27 is from Isaiah 54:1. Sarah was barren, so Abraham turned to Hagar, but later this was reversed and Hagar was exiled and Sarah returned to her rightful place.

we (v.28) — Gentiles, children by faith and not by flesh (not Jews)

As Ismael mocked Isaac, so all who seek salvation by faith will be mocked by those who seek it by law (v.29).

The quote in verse 30 is from Genesis 21:10. Sarah would not allow Ismael to inherit with Isaac and cast Hagar and Ismael out. So, those who follow the law won’t inherit spiritually with those who believe by faith alone.

we (v.31) — Paul and the Galatians are children of faith and free to inherit.

the handmaid (v.31) — should be a handmaid — there are many ways of spiritual slavery. The free woman — there is only one true way

Paul has appealed to the pride and to the affection of his readers; he now appeals to their intelligence. He addresses in particular those who were inclined to yield to the Judaizing party. They claim to understand the Mosaic law and are willing to be bound by its precepts. Surely, then, they can see the force of an illustration drawn from the books of Moses. The case of Abraham furnishes an admirable parallel to that of the Galatian Christians who are hoping to be saved by adding legal observances to faith in Christ. Thus Abraham attempted to secure the promised blessing by the fleshly expedient of taking a slave girl in marriage in addition to Sarah his wife; but his real heir proved to be not the child of the slave girl but the son of the freewoman. The child of the slave was rejected; the child of the freewoman obtained the inheritance. So those who trust in Christ are the true sons of God, not those who seek His blessing by placing themselves under bondage to the law. The promised inheritance can be received by faith alone. — Erdman, page 92.

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Hagar and Sarah typically represent the two covenants of law and of grace. “One from Mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar.” The first of these covenants is from Mount Sinai. It was there at the foot of the quaking mountain that the people of God bound themselves to observe the requirements of the law. All those who accepted such bondage are properly pictured as children of Hagar. Thus Hagar rightly stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, the country to which the literal descendants of Hagar belong. Hagar, therefore, rightly represents “the Jerusalem that now is,” those who are still subject to the law, the existing Judaism, the advocates of which are troubling the Galatian church. This present Jerusalem “is in bondage with her children.” On the contrary, “the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother. “The heavenly Jerusalem, the spiritual city of which all Christians are members, is not under bondage of the law, and all its citizens should claim and maintain the liberty secured by Christ. — Erdman, page 94.

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The law and the gospel cannot coexist. The law must disappear before the gospel. It is scarcely possible to estimate the strength of conviction and depth of prophetic insight which this declaration implies. The apostle thus confidently sounds the death-knell of Judaism at a time when one half of Christendom clung to the Mosaic law with a jealous affection little short of frenzy, and while the Judaic party seemed to be growing in influence, and was strong enough even in the Gentile churches of his own founding to undermine his influence and endanger his life. The truth which to us appears a truism, must then have been regarded as a paradox. — Wuest, page 134-135.

19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,

20 I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.

my little children (v.19) — affection of a teacher for students as a tender appeal. The only place Paul uses the term in his writings.

labor in birth again (v.19) — Paul labored first to free the Galatians from idol worship. Now he labors to free them from the law.

formed (v.19) = fashioned, made to resemble — giving outward expression of one’s inner nature.

tone (v.20) = voice. Paul would like to speak to the Galatians without apprehension, severity or appeal, but with confidence in their fidelity to the truth.

doubts (v.20) = perplexity, without a way in which to go, puzzled

When the apostle brought the gospel to the Galatian cities, his aim was not merely to induce men to change their religion, to forsake polytheism, the worship of many gods, for monotheism, the worship of one God; it was that they might receive life in Christ. So now his anxiety on their account was not merely that they should be intellectually persuaded of, and confirmed in, the true nature of the gospel and its conditions, but that the new life therein imparted might grow in them. Doctrine is not something alien from life. What a man believes affects his character and his conduct. Doctrine that exalts Christ makes for holiness; doctrine that detracts from the excellence of His person, or from the completeness and sufficiency of His sacrifice, hinders, or prevents, the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer, which work is carried on by the presentation of Christ, in His essential deity, in His true manhood, in His perfect salvation (John 16:13-15). The fatal defect of the doctrine of the Judaizers was that, by making somethings besides acceptance of Christ necessary to the obtaining of the promises, they presented a defective Savior. That Christ is supreme (Romans 9:5); sufficient (Colossians 1:19); “all and in all” (Colossians 3:11), nothing less than this is the apostle’s claim. But if on this point the Galatians were misled, how could they experience the power of truth they denied? To submit to circumcision, to seek justification by law, was to be severed from Christ and to lose all that the gospel offered (Galatians 5:2-4). To trust Christ, and to trust Him alone, was to be justified from all things indeed (Romans 3:28; 8:31-34); but more, it was to be “a new creation,” (2 Corinthians 5:17), to live in Christ, and to have Christ living in the heart (Galatians 2:20). Growth, moreover, is the evidence of life, and this the apostle desired for his converts that they  might “all attain … unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” that they might “grow up in all things into … Christ,” (Ephesians 4:13-15). How this is to be accomplished may be learned from his prayer that Christ might dwell in their hearts through faith (Galatians 3:7), and from the exhortation of Philippians 2:5, “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” For as the exercise of faith occupies the heart with Christ, the mind of Christ develops in the believer, and as a direct result of these inward processes his conduct is increasingly conformed to the example of Christ.

“That Christ may be formed in you” is, then, the desire of the apostle for the moral conformity of the believer to Christ here and now. The thought is similar to, or identical with, that of Philippians 3:10, “becoming conformed to His death.” But conformity to Christ, though it begins in the moral sphere, does not end there. In due time, that which is now inward and spiritual will extend also to that which is outward and physical, for “the body of our humiliation” will, at the coming of the Lord, be “conformed to the body of His glory” (Philippians 3:21).

The apostle’s mind here, however, is not so much on the future, and the final outcome in them of faith in Christ, as it is that he longs for some present and satisfying evidence to confirm his confidence that God had indeed begun a good work in them; if he were only assured of that the ultimate issue would not be in doubt (Philippians 1:6). But the ordinance of God is that the believer must enter into willing cooperation with Him for his own perfecting into the image of His Son. The formation of Christ in the believer is at once the purpose of God and the ambition, inwrought by the Spirit, of all who are taught of Him — Vine, page 217-218.