48 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
48 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Galatians 5:1–15"
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date = "2023-08-18"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians5.1-15)
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On the heels of the allegory of the slave woman and the free woman, Paul
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declares that Christ has set us free for the purpose of freedom and that we
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should not, therefore, put the slave collar back on. The rite of circumcision
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has been used by both Paul and the Judaizers as a shorthand for the whole law
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of Moses. Now, though, Paul is saying that it's more than a representation, but
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inseperable from the rest of the law. One can't just become a Jew only in the
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body, but in one's whole life. And if one thinks becoming a Jew is what counts
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as righteousness, then it is not the one obvious distinctive that makes it
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count, but a whole lifestyle. But again, it isn't keeping the law that saves
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anyone, and anyone who thinks it does is saying to Christ, "No, thanks. I'll
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handle this justification thing on my own." Of course, doing the works of the
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law out of love for the Lord is not a bad thing, either.
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Paul encourages the Galatians to say they had been living out the Christian
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life well. They just needed to not listen to the agitators who were causing
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divisions. It sounds as if Paul believes that it is the work of only a very
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small group. Leaven, or yeasted flour, is often a metaphor for sin in
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Scriptures, and just as yeast makes bubbles throughout the dough, a little bit
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of sin gets into everything it touches.
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Again Paul refutes the accusation that he has been changing up his message for
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different audiences, and this time pointing out that it contradicts some of the
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other things he had been accused of. Either he's a rogue apostle who's going
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against the leaders in Jerusalem, or he's trying to please them by preaching
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the need for circumcision to Jewish audiences and preaching something else to
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Gentile audiences in order to please them, but he can't really be both. Of
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course, neither one is true, and Paul is just so fed up with these people
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leading Christians astray. If circumcision makes someone holy, maybe they
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shouldn't settle for just the tip, he says.
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As believers we have been freed from the laws demands, but the freedom we have
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is not a freedom to please our sin-loving flesh. Instead it is a freedom to
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serve God and His church. The divisions that have sprung up in the churches of
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Galatia are nearly as important as the division between God and His people.
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There is a danger that the churches could collapse under the strain.
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* * *
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You empower us to do Your will so that Your church may be built up and Your
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kingdom is advanced.
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