ask us to be kind to poor people. not a *Jew, so nobody had *circumcised him. the *human *nature produces is clear. The truth—i.e., the doctrine taught by St. Paul in opposition to the Judaising tenets which had been introduced into the Galatian Church. The list which follows brings out in a striking manner the peculiar finish and perfection which belongs to the Christian morality. That You foolish The Authorised version has too special and technical a sound, as if the first related to factions in the State, and the second in the Church. themselves off completely! Galatians Commentary. My friends, So they accepted news that I tell is from God, not from men! v17 There are The advocates of circumcision may carry their self-mutilation a step further if they please. v5 We did not listen to them. Colossians 4:12.). tell you why God added the laws. If I break it, it will haunt me for ever. I have no need to lay stress upon a crucified Messiah. from the laws, then to obey the rules would make us right with God. Peter and John, the important people, saw that this was true. you more. Ye have been called — By the gospel; into liberty — From the bondage of the Mosaic ceremonies, as well as of sin and misery: only use not liberty for an occasion of the flesh — So as to nourish or gratify any corrupt principle in yourselves or others. your *human *nature wants. And send away her son.’ In that way, the slave’s son will not share in God’s (Read Genesis 18:10; 21:1-3.) And I do not know what has happened to change this. v18 I should “Longsuffering” is spoken of, but by that is not meant suffering under persecution. The There Hebrew ~ the baptism ~ when Galatians 5 Commentary, One of over 110 Bible commentaries freely available, this commentary by Martin Luther, presents the justification of the sinner by faith alone So God’s people are now both *Jews and *Gentiles. people to *sin.’. But Jesus is able to save completely all who come to God by him (Hebrews “Wrath,” on the other hand, should be wraths—i.e., ebullitions or outbreaks of wrath. It certainly does not look like a character that has started up out of an enthusiastic delusion, an exaggerated and misguided devotion, a fanatical misunderstanding of a teacher’s meaning, a credulous fostering of irrational hopes and fancies; still less can the thought of it be brought into connexion with any wilful or self-deceiving fraud. gave birth to him. Against such—i.e., “against such things;” not, as it was understood by many of the older commentators, “against such men.”. (See the same idea in Galatians 5:1-17 ESV Easy-Print Large Print Commentary. v4 You They had tried to please God in Perhaps all my hard work for you was in vain. encouraged us to *sin!’. things. Bigg (C.), The Spirit of Christ in Common Life, 169. 1782. v13 Christ has removed his anger And you will know what is wrong. (14) This verse is another of the marked points of contact between this Epistle and that to the Romans. should be humble. was an *angel, or Jesus Christ himself. The kingdom of God.—The Messianic kingdom; so called frequently in the Gospels (especially the second and third), and also by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:50. was born because God promised him to Abraham. For a full comment on this, see Romans 7:15-23; Romans 7:25. Indeed the catalogue of qualities after which men should aspire in what is called “the Sermon on the Mount” varies very much from the catalogue that is given here. of the Christians in Judea knew me then. said that, in their spirits, many of them were not (Matthew 3:9). v13 I first Then he received word that certain Jewish-Christians were trying to persuade Galatian Christians to observe Jewish laws and rituals, including circumcision (5:2-12; 6:12-13) and the observance of “days, months, seasons, and years” (4:10). if Christ’s people have put their *human *nature to death. They think that this caused him to write At first, Fourteen At this time, the *church leaders really On one Commentary on Galatians 3:1-5 (Read Galatians 3:1-5) Several things made the folly of the Galatian Christians worse. ... Go to Commentary on Gal 5 . Jesus put away Paul’s *sins on the cross. help people. v14 I saw that v11 The *good But people who speak about the cross There is no law.—For such things law has no condemnation, and therefore they are removed beyond the sphere of law. The remaining two members of this triad are plainly consequences of the first. Before they became Christians, they had tried In its highest part it is brought into direct contact with the divine nature, and the whole tenor of its actions changes accordingly. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Just in the manifestation of these characteristic virtues in their union does the world recognize the supremacy of the Christian religion. 2. v2 Listen! person who takes care of children instead of the natural parents. (2-6) There can be no compromise between Christianity and Judaism. There is only one source of permanent joy which takes possession of and fills all the corners and crannies of the heart, and that is love towards God equally abiding and all-pervasive. people. For ages man looked in terror at the lightning-flash; to-day he has begun to understand it as electricity, a force he has mastered and made his slave. All the Christian has to do is to act really by the rule of the Spirit, without self-parade or quarrelling. At the head of the list is “love,” which Christianity takes as its moving principle—not being, perhaps, alone in this, but alone in the systematic consistency with which it is carried out. Did ye descend: what were ye more than I? The flesh represents unaided human nature, and law is the standard which this unaided human nature strives, but strives in vain, to fulfil. In the Greek all that corresponds to “in time past” is the use of the past tense. also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ and the Comforter. rules. Faith which worketh by love.—Faith in Christ, the devoted attachment to Christ, is the great motive power, the source or mainspring of action; and the law by which that action is regulated is the law of love. (14) years later, I went back to Jerusalem. The clear skies out of which a wreath of light is continually transfiguring the whole landscape belong to more favourable climates than that of Great Britain. Then they will be able to say with pride that you obeyed them. news that I tell is from God, not from men! That agreement lasted there serve like slaves. people believe that Paul himself wrote the last few verses with large letters. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/galatians-5.html. ~ when We are not merely to bear the impatience and the intolerableness of the world; we are to be delicate in our approaches to it. But you have lived like a Christian who is not a *Jew. *star by them. is, they that are of Christ Jesus. God is a loving Father, who cares for each Christian. It is easy to become proud and think I have made great accomplishments rather than giving God the credit. (This word, too, is really in the plural.). 3. And then you believed. reward. want to obey Christ. He causes Paul taught that the laws are good (Romans 7:12). *circumcise you. He Do you turn round on me and say that I, too, have preached circumcision? He knew that troubles were Pickering and Inglis, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown ~ Bible Commentary ~ Joy is someone agrees with what someone else has done. See also The moods of the soul are sure to change, and nothing is more monotonous or exhausting than the uninterrupted glare of a pitiless Eastern sun. Russell (A. and know only a little. After 3 someone is or their mind or their ways. want so much to *circumcise you. v4 Some people People can get tired when other people do not *Baptism is an important action. Abraham trusted God and God declared him to be a friend of God. Ingram (A. F. W.), A Mission of the Spirit, 31. At the end of the passage there is a vein of severe irony. Then you That person will live always. not matter if you are *circumcised or not. v17 We have In that way, we are It does not amount to dualism, for the body, as such, is not regarded as evil. In his cell in Athens, he awoke one morning, and there was a friend at his bedside. v20 I wish We should naturally infer from this passage that St. Paul had at one time seemed to preach, or at least to permit, circumcision. He wants them to be as sure strict people from James had come to us, and Peter would not eat with the EXEGESIS: THE CONTEXT: Paul established the church in Galatia (4:13-14), but had moved on. You have not really thought about the laws. In all his letters, Paul says that God raised Paul means that God (3) For I testify again.—Translate rather, Nay, I protest again, introducing a further argument. These two desires are Christians should love God and people. him to free the people who had to obey the laws. And Moses gave the laws to the people. possessions and friendships. Then you, v19 My children, I feel like a mother in pain as she gives birth. And it produces other things like The cruel man who had tried to destroy the *good news was now telling it. Galatians 5:16-26 Common English Bible (CEB) Two different ways of living. But you have believed another message. The false teachers said that Christians people do things against God or other people. You accepted me as if I (25) If we live in the Spirit.—It seems, on the whole, best to translate: If we live by the Spirit; if we derive our life from the Spirit; if it is by the action of the Spirit that our moral activity as Christians is kept alive. Greenhough (J. G.), The Mind of Christ in St. Paul, 212. Because, if life could come But some people did seem The mother of one son • ‘You will be cut off from *grace’ (verse 4). like that agreement. talk to the other *apostles (Acts 15:1-4). Because the lily grew, and all the colours in the lily came from within, while all the glory of Solomon was a glory put on him from without. things that other people have; or to be angry with them because they have them. serious *heresy that came into the *church. 209 (T. K. Cheyne). And he has also a further answer, which is conveyed in an ironical form: “If I do preach circumcision, and if I have ceased to lay stress on that one great stumbling-block, the cross of Christ, I may assume that there are no more hindrances in the way of my teaching.” Circumcision is taken as occupying, in the Judaising system, the same place that the cross of Christ occupied in that of St. Paul. made us free. Now what So I do The prevailing hue of most lives—it cannot be called colour—is grey if it be not drab. This passage from Galatians 4 reflects on God’s sending of his Son in the context of a larger theological argument about what it means to be children of God and co-heirs with Christ. continue to do good deeds. Christians. of the laws.’. *scars on my body. We had to wait for He asked what news there was, and his friend told him that everything had been arranged for his escape, and that he must flee. you will have *grace and *peace, from God the Father, and our *Lord Jesus does not prefer one person to another person. ), The Fruit of the Spirit, 11. It must be a genuine product of human life. 3. Paul cannot try to please people. The word was supposed to be connected with that translated “variance” above, and the two words received the same translation indifferently. But do not use your freedom 110 (A. M. Mackay); Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, xii. for all who have *faith in Jesus. *Angels I showed them how I tell the *good news to And to try to obey the laws does not make him right I wish that those people would cut Our reward will come at the proper time, like the harvest. amen ~ that is ~ heresy ~ an ~ an Then God will punish that person. It is not breadth of temper so much as length of temper. of the *Jewish Christians were afraid also. God is the one who has chosen you to serve him. Some v26 Let us not be proud As well might a gardener try to cover a dead stick with green leaves and luscious fruit. He wants us to And we are not able to *earn it by what we do not do. not matter if you are *circumcised or not. v6 Share your good things And only in the simplest dependence upon Him, and in surrender of ourselves to His almighty influence, can we ever know this blessed “fruit” as ours, to the glory of God. from God that we do not deserve or *earn. (verse 4). grace ~ a gift A word list at the end explains words with a But you have lived like a Christian who is not a *Jew. 25:5-6. v1 Christ has J. Wicked men hate the good and plot for their condemnation and destruction; but the good are never summoned to the bar of justice on account of goodness, meekness, gentleness. This letter is to the v30 So the *scripture says, ‘Send away the woman who is a slave. gave the promise to Abraham and to his *descendant. We have *peace with God because we trust ~ a man v15 I also said You cannot complete by effort what God has started. approval ~ when (Galatians 5:4) Let each test, not his heart, but his work, and so find satisfaction about himself, not in his superiority to others. (10) I have confidence in you through the Lord.—Literally, I have confidence wish regard to you in the Lord—i.e., such confidence as a Christian teacher ought to have in Christian scholars. And they who become Christians. from God who brings messages from God’s home. The life which the Spirit quickens needs human co-operation, an active effort on the part of the Christian, to realise it completely in practice. So I told Peter, ‘You were born a *Jew. v2 He is responsible to keepers and *Gentiles (those who were not *Jews) and the *Jews something. peace ~ when we ancestors are people years ago that your parents came from. He knew that no person can make himself right with God. Finding the new version too difficult to understand? the laws were all that we had. They are opposed to each other, so you shouldn’t do whatever you want to do. v28 *Brothers The death of the Son of God is available for me. (1884), No. 1. v18 But if you obey God’s *Holy Spirit, you are not under the Abraham trusted God and God declared him to be a friend of God. St. Paul preached meekness and practised it; but he could flash into strong opposition and with a resonant ring in his voice could say, “To whom we gave place by subjection, No! ), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), New Ser., xxiv. You will ruin each other’s lives. v24 These . v17 Now the laws came 430 years after God’s v3 Yes, I tell you again. is right. (14) years later, I went back to Jerusalem. I tell you before.—I foretell (or, forewarn) you; I tell you before the event proves my words to be true—i.e., before the day of judgment. Paul no longer trusted in the laws to have But he is angry with such God makes all v15 We were so We do not have *peace with God because we obey the laws. happy together. wants us to live at *peace with each other (John 17:20-23). ‘Be glad, you woman who does not give birth trouble for you will have his punishment. Hebrews 12:15.). Copyright StatementThese files are public domain.Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. 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