GALATIANS 5:1–12
Christ Has Set Us Free
Paul has just contrasted two women, two sons, and two covenants.
Hagar represents slavery.
Sarah represents freedom.
The present Jerusalem corresponds to slavery.
The Jerusalem above is free.
Then Paul begins chapter 5 with the conclusion:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” — Galatians 5:1
But freedom from what?
The previous chapters have already given us the context.
“Do Not Let Yourselves Be Burdened Again”
Paul continues:
“Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” — verse 1
What is this “yoke of slavery”?
We don't have to guess.
The next verse tells us.
Paul immediately begins talking about circumcision and the Law.
The Galatians were being persuaded to place themselves under the covenant from which Christ had set God's people free.
Paul tells them:
Stand firm.
Don't go backward.
Circumcision Was Not a Small Matter
Paul writes:
“If you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.” — verse 2
That sounds strange at first.
Paul himself had been circumcised.
Circumcision was not sinful.
So why does Paul speak so strongly?
Because the issue was not merely a physical procedure.
These Gentile Christians were considering circumcision as a way of placing themselves under the Law.
In that setting, circumcision represented something much bigger.
You Cannot Choose Just One Part
Paul explains:
“Every man who lets himself be circumcised... is obligated to obey the whole law.” — verse 3
That is important.
The Galatians could not say:
We'll take circumcision but not the rest.
Paul says if they choose that covenant, they take its obligations with it.
The whole Law.
This helps us understand what Paul means by the controversy over “works of the Law.”
He is dealing with people who are being persuaded to place themselves under the Mosaic covenant.
“You Have Fallen Away From Grace”
Then Paul uses some of his strongest language:
“You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” — verse 4
Notice carefully what Paul says.
He is writing to people who had come to Christ.
Yet he warns that they can become alienated from Christ and fall from grace.
That makes this an important passage whenever someone claims that a believer can never turn away from Christ or fall from grace.
Paul apparently believed the danger facing the Galatians was real.
Otherwise, his warning makes little sense.
What Were They Doing Wrong?
They were not falling from grace because they were trying too hard to obey God.
Paul identifies the problem precisely:
They were trying to be justified by the Law.
They were moving away from Christ as the basis of their standing with God and toward the covenant given through Moses.
Paul says that road does not lead to greater security.
It leads away from Christ.
What Are Christians Waiting For?
Paul contrasts that with Christian hope:
“For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.” — verse 5
Again notice Paul's recurring contrast:
Law and Spirit.
Flesh and Spirit.
Slavery and freedom.
Human effort under the Law and faith in Christ.
Paul is not describing a faith that produces no changed life.
Verse 6 makes that clear.
“Faith Working Through Love”
Paul says:
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.” — verse 6
That is remarkable.
Circumcision does not give someone a superior position before God.
But neither does uncircumcision.
The physical condition is not what matters.
Then what does?
Paul answers:
“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
Or, as some translations put it:
“faith working through love.”
That is an important description of biblical faith.
Paul does not describe saving faith as merely agreeing with facts.
Faith works.
And it works through love.
This Helps Us Understand “Faith Versus Works”
Sometimes Paul's teaching is reduced to:
Faith means doing nothing.
Works means doing something.
But that cannot be what Paul means here.
Paul himself says:
“faith working through love.”
The issue in Galatians is not whether Christians respond to God.
The issue is whether Gentiles must come under the Law of Moses in order to be justified.
Context matters.
“You Were Running a Good Race”
Paul says:
“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” — verse 7
Notice that phrase:
“obeying the truth.”
For Paul, faith and obedience are not enemies.
The Galatians had been following Christ.
Someone had interfered.
Paul wants them back on course.
A Little Yeast Spreads
Paul warns:
“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” — verse 9
A seemingly small addition to the gospel can eventually affect everything.
That is exactly what was happening.
Someone might say:
It's only circumcision.
Paul says no.
If circumcision means accepting the Law as necessary for justification, it changes the basis of their relationship with God.
That is why Paul takes it so seriously.
Was Paul Preaching Circumcision?
Apparently someone may have claimed that Paul himself still preached circumcision.
Paul responds:
“If I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?” — verse 11
Then he adds:
“In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.”
There is the heart of Paul's concern again.
The cross.
If righteousness comes through the Law, the cross loses its necessity.
Paul had already said:
“If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” — Galatians 2:21
His argument has remained consistent.
Paul Uses Very Strong Language
Verse 12 contains one of Paul's sharpest statements:
“As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”
Paul is deliberately shocking.
These teachers were making circumcision the issue.
Paul responds with biting irony.
His language shows just how seriously he regarded what they were doing to these churches.
For Paul, this wasn't a harmless theological disagreement.
The gospel itself was at stake.
So What Is Christian Freedom?
We now have an answer to the question with which we began.
When Paul says:
“Christ has set us free,”
he is not saying:
Christians are free to live however they please.
He is talking about freedom from the slavery he has been discussing:
the Law as the covenant under which God's people live.
But now another question naturally arises.
If Christians are no longer under the Law, does that mean there are no moral boundaries?
Can Christians simply do whatever they want?
Paul knows that question is coming.
And his answer is emphatic:
No.
Freedom Does Not Mean Lawlessness
Paul is about to say:
“Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” — verse 13
That is extremely important.
Freedom from the Law of Moses does not mean freedom from holy living.
It does not mean freedom from obedience to Christ.
It does not mean freedom from loving our neighbor.
Paul replaces neither Moses with lawlessness nor Law with selfishness.
He points us toward something else:
Life by the Spirit.
That is where the argument goes next.
Read the paragraph.
Follow the argument.
Check the context.
Read First. Conclude Later.