Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the theme from Gal 5:1 and following. Indeed, this emancipation includes not only deliverance from the yoke of the law, but from the yoke of sin. But it is rare to meet Christians who achieve such deliverance. Most of them confine themselves to knowing the value of Christ’s death, of his blood shed on the cross, to erase our sins in God’s eyes, so that it is never again discussed between Him and us. Precious assurance and which gives us access to justice before the face of our God.
But emancipation as the epistle to the Romans and the one we are studying at the moment present it to us, goes much further than that. For it is based not only on the fact that Christ died for us, but that we died with him, dead to the law that exhausted on Christ crucified all his power of condemnation; died of sin in the flesh, since this judgment was performed on Christ when he was made sin for us and we were crucified with him; finally died in the world, as we will see later, when the world was definitively judged by the resurrection of Christ that he had caused to die.
Now and above all a religion of the flesh has lost its raison d’être, any religion based on the principles of man, which the apostle has begun to rid us of definitively, has no value. For emancipation has placed us in freedom. Thus true freedom is acquired for us, freedom to surrender ourselves to God (Rom 6:13; Rom 12.1). We are no longer under any obligation to sin in the flesh; he no longer has any rights over us. It is an exhortation to remain faithful to the principle that has been shown to us that we are not children of the servant, but of the free woman.
Paul exhorts these Galatians to stand firm against the enemy who would like to enslave them again. How so? By committing them to be circumcised. This one act seemingly insignificant to Christians, and which the enemy sought to make them believe was a mere formality, or a proof of condescension towards their Jewish brethren, deprived them of all the benefit of Christ, so that Christ did not benefit them from anything. For circumcision was the solemn commitment to fulfill the whole law; it placed the Gentile under the obligation to take on a yoke that no man, starting with the Jew, had ever been able to carry. Let us now see what the Galatians, these Gentiles, would have gained. They separated themselves by circumcision from all the benefit that there is in Christ. For them more freedom, but obligation, under threat of death, to fulfill the whole law. Justification by law and therefore abandonment of grace, because the two things cannot subsist together. What, then, was the Christian state? The regime most diametrically opposed to that of the law: “For us, it is from faith that we expect, through the Spirit, the hope of justice.” (Gal 5:5).
If the law is a regime based on the flesh, in which one is born according to the flesh and which leads to judgment which, moreover, persecutes what is born according to the Spirit while holding man under a yoke of servitude, the regime of grace has its source in Christ. It is summed up entirely in His work and in His adorable person. For it is the regime of freedom, and has nothing to do with the sinful man, with the old man, whose final condemnation and death he proclaims. It puts an end to the flesh which engenders only slavery, sterility and judgment, and from which one must be delivered by the cross, by the death of Christ.
Now this is the beginning and the end of all this new order of things that Christianity brings us. In the first place faith, which entirely sets aside any other means of salvation. Second, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of the promise by which we are sealed after we believe. Third, the divine justice that we possess forever by grace, “having been justified on the principle of faith” (Rom 5:1). What can be seen more complete, more independent of man, more exclusively dependent on God than such a state? But still this justice has hope and this hope of justice is the glory, the glory of God, the glory of Christ himself. “We glorify ourselves in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom 5:2). But in fact, freedom from the law is the crucial subject of the epistle to the Galatians and this subject resulted in the death of the old man, the condemnation of the flesh to the cross of Christ, and death in the world. The epistle to the Romans (which we have seen recently) presents us with the struggle that leads to emancipation; not the Galatians, but rather the consequences of non-emancipation. Here, as in Rom 5:1-11, we can say: What more do we need? Can we add or subtract something from our deliverance? Does uncircumcision or circumcision have any value for those who possess “Christ Jesus?”
No! In Christ Jesus, the only effective thing is faith operating through love (Gal 5:6). Faith introduces us into what love has prepared for us: into the enjoyment of God’s favor. This same love makes us, as we shall see, servants of one another.
“For me, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? So the scandal of the cross is gone! May they be entrenched, those who put trouble among you!” (Gal 5:11-12)
It is to be assumed that, according to some antecedents (Acts 16:3), the false brethren said that Paul, on occasion, still preached circumcision. If this was so, why was he still persecuted by the Jews, which proved his entire history. We saw in Gal 4:29 that this was the only thing waiting for those who were born in the Spirit. Didn’t Paul himself provide the best example of this? Persecutor as long as he was in the flesh, persecuted as long as he had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17, 23). And wasn’t that still the case? Was the scandal of the cross annihilated for the apostle, or was it still entirely on him? The apostle would like those people who upset souls under the pretext of holiness to go so far as to become eunuchs to obtain more. We would see where this mutilation would lead them.
“Brethren, you have been called to freedom, only do not make this freedom a pretext for living according to the flesh; but make yourselves, by charity, servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this one: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you are not destroyed by one another.” Gal 5:13-15)
Here we enter the third great subject of this epistle. The first dealt with what man is in the eyes of God; the second showed us what the law is. Instituted by God in relation to man, it can only condemn him. The third deals with the flesh in contrast to the Spirit and gradually leads us to see the absolute and definitive condemnation of the flesh, as well as that of the world that is its domain. This freedom was in no way to serve as a pretext for the flesh, which legal and worldly Christians have always accused truly freed Christians, but it should, on the contrary, push for the manifestation of love in the service of God’s family. What the law commanded: love, the Spirit of God fulfilled it. This is what everything ended up with under the regime of grace. So it’s possible that we bite and “devour each other.” What will be the consequence? The absolute reversal of the testimony entrusted to us.
“So I say, Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires contrary to those of the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires contrary to those of the flesh; they are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you would like. If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Gal 5:16-18)
As long as we walk by the Spirit, the lust of the flesh is impossible. One of these things excludes the other: they are and will always remain in antagonism and struggle with each other “so that you do not practice the things you would like”. In addition to these two principles: the flesh and the Spirit, there is the individual, the man who contains them both, so that he can succumb or be victorious in the struggle undertaken.
“Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, they are immodesty, impurity, dissolution, idolatry, magic, enmities, quarrels, jealousies, animosities, disputes, divisions, sects, envy, drunkenness, table excesses, and the like. I tell you in advance, as I have already said, that those who commit such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:19-21)
The law (and this shows its divine origin) opposes all works of the flesh that are manifest. It does not exclude any of them, because the apostle adds to his list “things like these”. It never provides the means to resist them, it condemns them. These works are the corruption of morals, pagan idolatry, hatred and violence, intrigues and divisions, murders, corruption of the flesh. To all these things, indicated by the law, but as we see by the Old Testament, far from being exhausted by it, in our passage, God responds by excluding himself from his kingdom. They have no right to subsist in the sphere of divine blessings, even on earth. The Spirit has nothing to do with all of this.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, benignity, faithfulness, meekness, temperance; the law is not against these things. Those who are to Jesus Christ crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not seek vain glory, provoking one another, envious of each other.” (Gal 5:22-26)
The Spirit has nothing in common with the works of the flesh. Its fruit is quite different; it forms a block where everything stands. Against its fruit, there is no law. First, there are His results in us relative to God, 3 in number; then relative to men, 5 in number; finally, relative to ourselves, only one result: temperance. Against such things there is no law. The latter cannot oppose it; it can probably recognize them, but not produce them.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Fallen from grace:
- Self-justification, impossible
Jb 9.2 I am well sure that this is the case; How would man be righteous before God? Jb 25:4 How would man be righteous before God? How would the one who was born of the woman be pure? Ps 143:2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant! For no living person is right in front of you. Jer 2:22 When you wash yourself with nitre, When you use a lot of potash, Your iniquity will remain marked before me, says the Lord, the Lord. Ez 14:14 and if there were in his midst these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they would save their souls by their righteousness, said the Lord, the Lord. Rom 3:20 For no one shall be justified before him by the works of the law, since it is by the law that the knowledge of sin comes. Gal 5:4 You are separated from Christ, all of you who seek justification in the law; you are fallen from grace.
- Faith in works
Lk 18:12 I fast twice a week, I tithe all my income. Rom 9.32 Why? Because Israel sought it, not by faith, but as coming from works. They ran into the stumbling blocks; Rom 10:3 not knowing God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness; Gal 3:10 For all who cling to the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written: Cursed is whoever does not observe all that is written in the book of the law, and does not put it into practice.
- Good works are incapable of ensuring salvation
Mt 7:22-23 Many will say to me on this day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by your name? have we not cast out demons by your name? and have we not done many miracles by your name? 23 Then I will say to them openly: I have never known you, withdraw from me, you who commit iniquity. Rom 3:20 For no one shall be justified before him by the works of the law, since it is by the law that the knowledge of sin comes. Rom 9.32 Why? Because Israel sought it, not by faith, but as coming from works. They ran into the stumbling blocks; Rom 11:6 Now, if it is by grace, it is no longer by works; otherwise, grace is no longer grace. And if it is by works, it is no longer a grace; otherwise the work is no longer a work. Gal 2:16 Nevertheless, knowing that it is not by the works of the law that man is justified, but by faith in Jesus Christ, we too have believed in Jesus Christ, that we too may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law. Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace that you are saved, by means of faith. And it doesn’t come from you, it’s God’s gift. 9 It is not by works, so that no one may glorify himself. 2 Tim 1:9 by the power of God who saved us, and gave us a holy vocation, not because of our works, but according to his own purpose, and according to the grace that was given to us in Jesus Christ before eternal times; 3:4-5 But when the goodness of God our Savior and his love for men were manifested, 5 he saved us, not because of the works of righteousness we would have done, but according to his mercy, through the baptism of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit,
- Temperance
Pr 21:17 He who loves joy remains in poverty; The one who loves wine and oil does not get rich. Pr 23:1-2 If you are at the table with a grown-up, pay attention to what is in front of you; 2 Put a knife to your throat, If you have too much greed. Pr 25:16 If you find honey, eat only what is enough for you, lest you be full of it and vomit it. Acts 24:25 But as Paul said about righteousness, temperance, and the coming judgment, Felix, frightened, said, “For the time being withdraw; when I find the opportunity, I will call you back. 1 Cor 9:25 All those who fight impose every kind of abstinence on themselves, and they do so in order to obtain a corruptible crown; but we do it for an incorruptible crown. Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, benignity, faithfulness, meekness, temperance; 2:2 Say that the elderly must be sober, honest, moderate, healthy in faith, in charity, in patience. 2 P 1:6 to science temperance, to temperance patience, to patience piety,
From all of the above, we note that those who are of Christ crucified the flesh with passions and lusts. Here both death and mortification are seen as the result in us of divine energy (Gal 2:20, 21; Col 3:5-7). The apostle concludes in Gal 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” The Spirit is life, He brings us life so that we may walk through it, for these two things are inseparable. In addition to all the fruits of the flesh, there is in man the desire to make a place for himself, to acquire a reputation in the world. This is what the apostle here calls vain glory. The vanity that puts us in antagonism with each other, involves feelings of envy and jealousy against the neighbor. In fact, the subject of the antagonism between the flesh and the Spirit continues here and beyond. Ultimately, true holiness is accomplished without the law, just as justice is not based on it. Now there is no difficulty in judging between what is of the flesh and what is of the Spirit. The apostle lists the sad fruits of the flesh, adding the certain testimony that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The fruits of the Spirit are also evident in their character, and certainly against such things there is no law. If we walk in the Spirit, the law will find nothing to condemn in us. Now those who are of Christ have crucified the flesh and its lusts. That is what they are; as Christians, this is what distinguishes them. If these Galatians really lived, it was by the Spirit; therefore, they had to walk by the Spirit. This is the answer to those who then sought and to those who still seek now to introduce the law as a means of sanctification and as a guide: the power and rule for holiness are in the Spirit. Moreover, Christians must not be eager for vain glory by provoking each other, by enviing each other. Our prayers support you all in your efforts towards this path.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may be shining in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow on “mutual care and humility; we will reap what we have sown.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.