He had derived the gospel that he preached from the Lord, and not from any of his fellow-servants who had been engaged in the work before him. There are times when I lapse into the flesh. But, further, he refers in a very affecting manner to some personal circumstances how in his own body he was a witness of having nothing to do with flesh; for what God had been pleased to put upon him as serving Him in the gospel was not great power of nature, but that which made him contemptible in his preaching. And you will observe the immense importance attached to this simple account; for all here is plain matter of fact, but pregnant with the weightiest consequences as long as the church and the gospel last here below. And so, the people of Galatia understood exactly what Paul was talking about. The meaning is that you never can get stability in blessing until you have simply God putting forth His own power according to His own grace. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. take heed that ye be not consumed one of "But there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." It is for this freedom that Christ has set us free. Nor this only. It was an offence in the eyes of the Jewish Christians, and perhaps specially of the Christians that Judaize, that the apostle had been so little at Jerusalem that his intercourse was so scanty with the twelve. Besides, we have a more daily duty: "Bear ye one another's burdens." If I sow to the flesh, I shall of the flesh reap corruption; if I sow to the Spirit, I shall reap life everlasting. But I have confidence in you that you're not going to be persuaded by this. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" I really like to say that to the Jehovah Witnesses that come to my door. 25 Mar 2017 23:00:00 -0500 1896 sunday full false Wednesday Night | Galatians 5:5-6 Part 2 | Dr. Jimmy Young done his duty; but it was precisely what he could not do, because he was a sinner. For what the law is actually saying to you is that you should love God supremely and love your neighbor as yourself. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Idolatry; this means the worship of gods which the hands of men have made. If the world were the great enemy at Corinth, the law perverted is that against which the Spirit of God raises up the apostle in writing to the Galatians. It was the ungrateful heart of man that, in its avidity after something that would bring an appearance of strength and unity, would sacrifice that, which was of heaven for what was after all connected with the earth and the flesh. "The theme of love . (I mean by this, of course, exclusive of sin and falsehood.) The new creation is a present blessing that the soul already enjoys. How apt the illustration for exposing the judaizers! It is the characteristic of the man who is reliable. 50.]. He saw that the tree was pleasant to look upon, it was tasty to eat and it would make him wise as God. How distressing, how mad is it, that we, who are members of the same body, should be leagued together, of our own accord, for mutual destruction! Naughty Paul. Do not abuse your freedom (13-15) I. Christ has set us free (1-6) Discussion Questions What has Christ set us free from? All therefore becomes a matter of the pure grace of God; and He is pleased to bless the Gentiles in the Seed, even Christ dead and risen. Why, that though there were "false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage," Paul did not give place by subjection even for an hour, "that the truth of the gospel might continue with them." Do your souls go along with Paul's decision? And so Paul is standing against this teaching in his letter to the Galatians, and in chapter five, he said. By-and-by will be fulfilled the promised earthly blessing, and power, and glory for Israel like the sand and the stars. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith ( Galatians 5:5 ). It was they who had changed, not he. One of the encouragements, as we know, which God furnished to Abraham was, that he should have a seed like the sand of the sea, and like the stars of the sky. "But of these who seemed to be somewhat." Arabia was regarded as the land of slaves where the descendants of Hagar dwelt. 18 but if you are led by (verse 16-18) the spirit, you are not under law. And facts tell on their mind. What did hinder you? Thus the apostle had to link together the gospel of grace with his own apostolic dignity; and we do well to take heed to this remarkable fact. Their predicament would only become worse, as evidenced by the fact that already they are biting and devouring one another instead of growing closer to one another. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do." Thus, going up with Barnabas, he took Titus, a Gentile, along with him; and even so by revelation. Law is gone and grace ensures forgiveness anyway." Strange as all this may seem to us, it enshrines one great truth. He habitually measured things not so much by their bearing on Jews or Gentiles as by their effect on Christ's glory. "Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1) "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. If, instead of acting like men and Christians, they would behave themselves more like brute beasts, in tearing and rending one another, they could expect nothing as the consequence of it, but that they would be consumed one of another; and therefore they had the greatest reason not to indulge themselves in such quarrels and animosities. That all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,Galatians 5:14; Galatians 5:14. Partisan strife will be fatal to the Christian community as a whole. Glory, the glory of man is indeed empty; it's vain. The apostle takes notice of the latter here, because he is speaking of their behaviour towards one another; and, when he makes use of this as an argument to persuade them to mutual love, he intimates both that this would be a good evidence of their sincerity in religion and also the most likely means of rooting out those dissensions and divisions that were among them. "For I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all." you've taken a position Jesus is the only One. Christianity is the only true democracy, because in a Christian state everyone would think as much of his neighbour as he does of himself. He does not say that it is the complement of it; but most decidedly it flows from the same divine spring of grace. And I encourage you to just read your Bible.Now, why is it that Jehovah Witness can't tell you that? It supposed, and went forth to every creature on the ground of the total ruin of Jew and Gentile. Again it is worth while to look at each word separately. Certainly not God, nor His plain and precious word. Thence he advances to another point of his argument. Not so; it is exclusively of grace by Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. He acts on this in faith; he understands it with an energy and a brightness that increased even in his Roman prison. Hence the effect of the law in all its ramifications on man is the same. consequences of a contrary spirit and conduct. You can see the Santa Rosa and San Miguel and San Nicolas and say, "Hey, hey, all right, we're right on course." The result of this is, that neither God has His place, nor they. Fidelity; this word (pistis, G4102) is common in secular Greek for trustworthiness. Ours is Jerusalem above, not a city on earth. What throws most light on its meaning is that the adjective praus ( G4239) is used of an animal that has been tamed and brought under control; and so the word speaks of that self-control which Christ alone can give. And what is the end of them? They had fallen from the grace of the Gospel; and, as Christ no longer dwelt in their hearts by faith, pride, anger, ill-will, and all unkind and uncharitable tempers, took possession of their souls, and they were in consequence alternately destroying each other. It is the spirit which has mastered its desires and its love of pleasure. Thus the law was ordained by angels in the hands of a mediator. "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another. The works of the flesh. See Luke 9:54. the Christian dooms himself to such hard labour instead of resting in the faith of Christ, whom has he to blame? What gives power is the heart surrendering itself in everything, and thus set at liberty by Christ. For it is by the Spirit and by faith that we eagerly expect the hope of being right with God. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If I am walking in the Spirit, if I am walking in love, then there can be no law to regulate my life. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Therefore, it came to pass that there was nothing the apostle had not learned of which they boasted. So, joy is love's consciousness. "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.". If Peter was acting rightly now, this had all been a mistake, and consequently the gospel nay, solemn to say, Christ Himself would be thus a minister of sin. The apostle Paul interferes in no way with the work which God had given the others to do. Thus the two totally opposite roads of grace and law would have been leading to the same result. The inheritance, therefore, depends on the grace of God fulfilling His promise, not on man's accomplishment of the law, even if possible. At any rate, the Galatians, naturally fickle, were quick to take up prejudices. Either Luke, as a doctor, did not use or have access to pharmaceuticals, which would then require that Galatians 5 says nothing of medicine, or Dr. Luke administered pharmakeia, which, the argument goes, is medicine sorcery. The Stoics defined it as "grief at someone else's good." They danced and laughed and sang his praises. . All sprang, no doubt, from the same God, from the same Lord Jesus Christ; but even so from God and from the Lord in other relationships. In this case it was God that gave the promise; it was He that confirmed the covenant to Christ, without saying a word about the law till four hundred and thirty years after. The whole concept is: how do I establish a righteous standing before God? We know how feeble and slow the heart is, and how apt disciples in general are to narrow the riches of the grace and truth of God. When God gives a pledge not of possessing the gate of enemies, when He speaks of the blessing of the nations, instead of the overthrow of Israel's foes, then he speaks simply of "thy seed." His testimony was characteristically though not of course exclusively heavenly, as it was also the witness of grace to the fullest. And of the priest of this pagan god. The man who makes law the principle of his life is in the position of a slave; whereas the man who makes grace the principle of his life is free, for, as a great saint put it, the Christian's maxim is, "Love God and do what you like." Those who lived in Jerusalem were too prone to preserve the clothes and the cradle which had their place and use at first, but had no claim to be kept up among the Gentiles. It is the law of Christ. To depart from this was fatal. "They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision." Eternal life is spoken of in this double way in scripture (Romans 6:22-23); and I also press this as a truth of no small importance and but too much forgotten. We are free, but our freedom loves its neighbour as itself. Paul adds a grim bit of advice. THE INTRODUCTION ( Galatians 1:1-10) 1. You remember as Paul defined love for us in I Corinthians chapter thirteen, he uses longsuffering. The work which God had given the others to do. sin and falsehood. their effect on 's... Upon, it came to pass that there was nothing the apostle had not of! 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