Galatians 5:1-15

content/bible_journal/galatians_5:1-15.md

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