Galatians 5:1-5 – Don’t Give Up Your Freedom
The Galatians were Gentiles who had come from paganism. But Paul’s argument in Galatians is that if they accept circumcision — if they accept Jewish rituals — they’ll in effect be going back to paganism. Because it will be Christ-less religion. That’s how serious the issues here are.
Paul says in v2 that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. He was writing to people who had accepted Jesus — who had believed in him — but who thought that by himself he wasn’t enough. If you live as if your standing before God is based on your performance, then all that Jesus has done on the cross will be no good to you. Faith and works are like oil and water. They just don’t mix. They’re completely separate ways of trying to get right with God.
Paul goes on to say in v3: ‘I testify to every man who accepts circumcision that he’s obligated to keep the whole law’. He’s asking: do you really know what you’re letting yourself in for? If you go down that road of law-keeping, you’re going to have to walk down it all the way to the end. If you’re going to rely on your works to please God, then you’re going to have to keep the whole law. That’s something you just can’t do.
In v4, he couldn’t be any more clear as to what’s at stake. To seek to be justified by the law is to be severed from Christ. It’s not that a true Christian can lose their salvation — the Bible makes it clear that they can’t. But there are many who seem for all the world to be Christians who then do things which show that they aren’t. That’s what Paul’s talking about here. If you persist in this, it will show that you were never a true believer to begin with.
In v5 Paul says that the righteousness of law-keeping and the righteousness of faith are fundamentally different. If you ask someone who believes in salvation by works whether they’ll be good enough to spend eternity in Heaven, they’ll point to the things that they’ve done, and compare themselves to others. If you ask someone who believes in salvation by faith whether they’ll be good enough to spend eternity in Heaven, they’ll say no! Their hope is that they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Questions
- Why would Christ be no advantage to those who accept circumcision?
- What is the difference between the righteousness of law-keeping and of faith.
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.