The Epistles to the Galatians
Chapter 5

Christian Liberty

As we have learned, the Judaizers were Jewish believers in Christ who insisted the Gentiles had to be circumcized, in which they would agree to proselyte themselves into Judaism, meaning they would become a Jew in every respect and a slave to the Law.   That very painful rite of circumcision was like a contract where the male head of the household was agreeing to obey all the Written and Oral Law, along with the 613 Laws and its traditions. You were thus indebted to the Law.  That then nullifies his and his household's belief in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.  In other words, one could not come to Christ without obeying the Law.  They worked together.  These Gentile believers were now confused.  Who do they believe?

• These Judaizers maliciously followed after the Apostle Paul wherever he went, having their own agenda on who a true believer in Christ must be. 
• Just as soon as the apostle left a town or city, they would creep in after he left to defile what he had preached that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  These Judaizers called the Apostle Paul a false teacher, insisting that he was wrong.  The Judaizers then preached that these Gentile believers had to obey the Law, along with having faith in Christ Jesus. 

Now having to backtrack to re-inforce his teachings from city to city, the Apostle Paul begins this part of his letter, which to us is chapter 5 of his letter, by re-emphasizing that through Christ, we live in freedom. 

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.  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. 

We have been given the gift of freedom through our faith in Christ Jesus.  As such, we don't need to struggle in our own strength anymore.  We are free from the Law and its traditions, plus, we are free from the deeds of our flesh.  The Lord is assuring us to take His strength and live in that freedom.  Stand firm in that precious gift of freedom.

The apostle was emphatic when he told the Galatian churches that the rituals and sacraments of the Law cannot save anyone.  We are saved through our faith in Christ Jesus - we are free from the Law.  While the Law did reveal their sinfulness, (and our sins today), it cannot provide a way out of our sinful nature and the sins that come because of it.   That's where Jesus comes in.  He died to pay the penalty for our sins so we can live in freedom - freedom from the bondage of sin.  He gave us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us to be that compass to show us when we have drifted away, and points us in the right direction. So then, those who continue to follow the Law (or legalism), in order to be right with God, makes themselves slaves to their own sin. 

• The apostle keeps emphasizing over and over - "You do not need to follow after Judaism, as the Judaizers are demanding.  Listen to what I have been preaching to you.  Don't take on that yoke of bondage.  God does not want His Church to live like that." 

 We all live under that bondage of the flesh - even today.  Our sinful nature brings out sins in us that we know are wrong.  Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, and by believing and trusting in Jesus, He gave us His Holy Spirit to live within us to help us overcome these sins.  The Holy Spirit is our compass, showing us where we have gone off on the wrong track, and how to get back on the right track.  As such, we live in freedom from our sins because Jesus has set us free.  Don't fall from grace by nullifying everything Christ did for you.

Paul then presented them with the truth - "if you become circumcized," he was telling these Gentile believers, "you will have chosen to put yourself under bondage - for not only will you think you have to keep all those 613 laws and its traditions, your sin nature with its sin will continue.  You don't have to live like that" - he insists.  "Circumcision is strictly for those bound under the Law.  That act will not bring you closer to God, and, in fact, you will be indebted to then follow after the Law and that will draw you away from Christ."  In other words, the apostle says, "you will fall from the grace of God when you follow after the Law."

Don't Follow After the Oral Law

The Old Covenant = Bondage, sin and death - under the Law
The New Covenant = Freedom, righteousness, and life under the Gospel of Christ

Free in Jesus

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.

The hope of righteousness by faith comes to us by the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. Without Christ's indwelling power, we would be no different than unbelievers operating out of their own flesh.  In other words, we cannot be free from the bondage of sin and live a righteous life in Christ without the power of the Holy Spirit living and operating within us.  

Love Fulfills the Law

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.

The apostle compares growing in faith to running a race.  He was careful to state that these Galatian believers began their race of faith well.  Their race, however, came to an abrupt halt.   Paul asks the question:  "Who hindered you from obeying the truth?"  Knowing it was the Judaizers who came in to change their faith by spreading lies regarding what is the true Gospel, the Apostle Paul tells them that even a little lie added to their faith turns the full truth into a lie.  "A little leaven leavens the whole lump."

The Apostle then encouraged them by saying he had confidence in them that "in the Lord," meaning staying close to their relationship with Jesus, they will not leave their faith, and those who are trying to change and pull down their faith, they will bear their own judgment by God.  

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!

Paul then stated:  "Why then would I suffer persecution by these Jewish Judaizers if I still preached circumcision?  If then I told you that you needed to be circumcized, they would stop persecuting me.  That, however, woud nullify everything that Jesus did for you on the cross.  Paul was telling them they were free from the Law and its tradition, and that included being circumcized.  Circumcision does absolutely nothing for you spiritually.

Personal Application:  The same applies to us today.  We are free from the Law of Moses, the Oral Law and its traditions.  Traditions can be deadly in our lives as well.  Even in Christianity, there are many different denominations, having various traditions or laws.  There is nothing wrong with having traditions as long as it has nothing to do with your eternal salvation. 

So then I say:  If you attend a churches that claim their tradition plays a part in your salvation, that is in violation of the Word of God.  So then, if you find yourself trying to obey a church tradition (law) in order to be faithful to God, you need to go back to the Word of God to see what is Truth. 

Ask yourself:  "Do I find this tradition in the Bible?"  Remember, the Word of God is all Truth.  You are FREE from any church law or tradition outside of the Word of God when it comes to salvation in Christ Jesus!

Liberty in Christ

Real liberty

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!

The Apostle Paul now begins to explain what liberty is.  He is stating that we are free from the law of sin and have been called into liberty.  We live by the Word of God and we are free to walk in that liberty as long as it does not violate the Word of God.  We must be careful, however, that we do not use this freedom to act by the flesh. 

The deeds of the flesh, which will be explained in the next section, goes against the Word of God.  Instead, we are to love our fellow believer as ourselves.  "Love" in the King James Version Bible is "charity."  In other words, love is an action word - it is a giving kind of love.  What is it then that you can DO for your Christian neighbor?

"Neighbor" does not mean unbelievers around you.  As a rule, "neighbor" means your brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Our focus for unbelievers should be to evangelize them to the Lord, and as such, our behavior toward them needs to reflect that.   Now, I am not saying "not to befriend your neighbor - we are talking about fellowshipping with them."   Look to the Bible to see how Jesus responded to those that needed to be saved.  He was kind and giving, but also spoke the truth on how to be saved.  Loving your "neighbors," on the other hand, does refer to other believers around us, and our response should be to love them as we love ourselves. 

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.

What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?  It means being obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit that lives within us.  Remember, He is our teacher (or compass) to show us right from wrong.  So then, whatever the Holy Spirit tells us, will always confirm what the  Word of God says.  He will bring to our remembrance when temptations comes. 

• Being tempted to sin is not the same as sinning, but a temptation does bring you to a point of decision.  That decision then takes the action to obey the Holy Spirit who then gives you the strength to obey.
• The sinful nature of mankind wants to do evil because we were all born with a sinful nature.  This, however, is the opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants us to do. 

The battle begins in the mind.  While we have a free will and not forced to obey, our true freedom comes by being obedient to the Spirit of God that dwells within us - which is in accordance with the Word of God. 

• There is always a battle going on within a believer and even an unbeliever.  They, however, are different battles.  An unbeliever will surcumb to the deeds of the flesh, and therefore, become its slave.  A believer may be tempted; however, he or she has the ability to overcome whatever our flesh tells us to do, thus walk in victory.  The deeds of the flesh wants to do just the opposite of what the Spirit wants us to do. They are contrary to one another.  We are free, however, to do what the Spirit of God within us tells us to do because that will always line up with the Word of God.  The Holy Spirit then gives us the strength to overcome whatever that deed of the flesh may be.

Deeds of the Flesh

Let's now look at the deeds of the flesh:

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.

• Any sex outside of the marriage is a sin - and in the eyes of God, considered one sin. , Adultery, fornication, uncleanness (homosexuality) lewdness (all other forms of sexual behavior outside of marriage) are all works of the flesh.  These kinds of sins can have a lifetime of problems in a person's life.
  • By following after the voice of the Holy Spirit, we don't have to fall into this kind of temptation that is so prevalent in our society.
  • Once we understand, we see that it is God's protection over us against all kinds of trouble down the road.
• Idolatry is idol worship or putting other things first in our life that replaces our relationship with God.
  • Idolatry is anything we put before the Lord.  It can be habits, addictions, and terrible things that we can get ourselves into.
• Sorcery is divination - a form of devil worship.
• Hatred, Contention, jealousies, Outbursts of wrath (anger) eats away at your soul and therefore a sin.
• Selfish ambition and dissensions is not loving others as yourself, and therefore a sin.
• Heresies - cultish beliefs that claim to be Christian is not true faith in Christ.
• Envy, murder (which are two sides of the same coin) 
• Drunkenness, revelries, and the like.

God is trying to protect us from the deeds of the flesh so that we don't live with regrets, following after Satan's plans for us.

Numb 32:23  Be sure, your sin will find you out

That's almost a guarantee - your sins will find you out.  What is in your heart, the Bible says, will eventually come out of your mouth and be put to action.  Then it is out there.  Then you've got to live with regrets of what you have done or said.

Luke 12:3  What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

Again, the heart eventually speaks out in words/and or actions, and generally both. What has been hidden in the dark (confines of your heart) will always come out in the daylight, and gossiped by everyone around.  So then, if you sin in any of these catagories, don't try to cover it.  Let the Holy Spirit be your compass as you continue eto fellowship with the Lord in His Word and in prayer.  Go to God in repentance, confess it as a sin, and then turn from that sin.  When that is done sincerely, God forgives, and fellowship with Him is then restored. 

Now, let me clarify something here.  We all do sin from time to time.  Not that we intended on sinning - hopefully anyhow....but for one who has come to a true belief in Jesus, accepting Him as their Lord and Savior, we simply do not "practice sin."  Our hearts tell us we are sinning.  Remember the compass?  Notice here that it says that those who "practice" these sins cannot inherit salvation.

• Whatever you do, don't practice sin by deliberately doing the same sin over and over again without repentance.  That's a road you don't want to travel down.
• That's called carnality - or fleshly living.  It's a steep road that only leads to death.
• Eventually, that road - if you keep traveling it could bring on devasting consequences.

Again, we know that we are saved by our faith in Jesus.  There is nothing we can do to earn our way into eternal salvation.  That then would mean that to lose our salvation, it would come by the same way we came into faith in Jesus - our sincere heart belief.

• So then can a Christian commit one of these fleshly sins?  Absolutely.  Probably not all of them, because your heart knows it is wrong.   
• You see, Christians who live by - or practice - the fleshly sins -  know in their heart they are sinning.  And if that person truly believes in Jesus, he or she will put away that sin - or - live in continuous guilt.
• You see, Christians have the Holy Spirit living in their heart to keep reminding them (us) what is right and what is wrong in the eyes of God.  Remember the compass?  A war keeps on going inside us until it is dealt with.  And God has made it quite clear in these verses here what is sin.

A person can actually keep practicing sin - whether it be one or many sins - to where his heart gets hardened to the things of God.  Eventually, your heart can get so hard to where you no longer believe in Jesus - or God, and you simply turn to be an unbeliever by turning your back on God and don't want anything to do with Him.  You don't want to travel down that road.

Can we judge someone else who is practicing any or some of these sins, as to whether they are Christians or a Christian who turned their back on Jesus and has left Him?  

• No, the Bible is clear that we are not to judge anyone.  Yes, we can recognize their behavior by the fruit in their life, but to be so bold as to say, or even think, they are no longer a Christian is also a sin on our part.  Only God knows the heart!
• We have no idea what the Lord is doing in one who claims to be a Christian but lives in one or more of these fleshly sins on a regular basis.  
• Leave that up to God - He is already dealing with them - but pray for them who have entered into the "practice" of a fleshly sin.

I want to briefly talk about the next scripture, which is in the next chapter that is so fitting here. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yoursel f lest you also be tempted.  Gal 6:1.

• If, and only if the Holy Spirit nudges you to lovingly speak out to another believer on what the Bible specifically calls a sin, you who are more spiritual, lovingly confront them with the purpose of reconciling them back to God - not convict them of sin.  They Holy Spirit is already convicting them. 
• If we come across to them as more spiritual, or holier than Thou, or lord their sin over sin, we lost it, and then we need to repent.
• We are there to help them come back to God in repentance.  Simply help them see that what they are doing is grieving the Lord.
• But, as this verse says, be careful so that you too won't get caught up in that sin.

I'll say one more thing here:  If you have someone in your life that claims to be a Christian and is "practicing" a deeds of the flesh sin regularly, chances are, you are not going to reach them.  They know they are sinning, but is choosing to be rebellious toward God.  Just know, God is working in their life, even though you can not see anything happening.  Keep praying for them!

Fruit of the Spirit

Let's now look at the operation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit within you.  As such, you have the capability to perform these fruits by allowing the Holy Spirit to perform them within you.

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. 

• Love (charity - a giving kind of love)
• Joy (not happiness, but an inner joy)
• Peace (a peace that passes all understanding)
• Longsuffering (Patience)
• Kindness (even toward your enemies)
• Goodness
• Faithfulness (to God and His Word)
• Gentleness
• Self-Control (Being controlled by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit)

There is no law that you would be violating by obeying and walking in the Spirit - by allowing the fruit of the Holy Spirit to be operative in you.

So then, if we are to approach a believer (carefully) who has slipped away into the practicing of certain fleshly sins, wouldn't it be just as important to encourage each other as we each, as believers, live out the actions of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives?

• We all need encouragement, and by all Christians supporting one another when we see how their actions are helping them and the body of Christ, doesn't it make sense to encourage one another for our fruit of the Spirit actions that are pleasing to the Lord and helpful to each other?

Live By the Spirit

24  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Because we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and LORD, that means we have chosen to make Jesus the LORD of our life.  Yes, we may struggle from time to time, but that's where repentance comes in....so then, we then choose to put to death the deeds of the flesh - we crucify our fleshly desires.  Because we live in the Spirit, the Spirit lives within us to help us overcome those sins - so then that means we have the Holy Spirit  in us for us to choose to walk according to the Spirit.

Gal 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the fhesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Personal Application: Our actions are a choice.  We choose how we are to behave.  Knowing that we have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit within us guiding us like a compass, we also can be assured by Scripture that we are able to do whatever He, according to the Word of God, is asking of us.  We then are free from the deeds of the flesh, because we are walking in the Spirit.

In closing, we are not to become conceited in our good works (the active good fruit in our lives), but we are to encourage other believers to live according to the Spirit as well.  And by all means, never envy other believers on how they are walking in the Spirit.  They are walking and living as the Holy Spirit is directing them.  They are following the compass of the Holy Spirit in their life.  So then, you walk and live how the Holy Spirit is directing you.

Click here for Galatians, Chapter 6
Galatians (Epistle) - Chapter 6 / Galatians (Epistle) / Bible (NT) / Believers Bible School

Pastor Joyce Erickson
Believersbibleschool.com