Edited by moderator adding the source for the material in this post. See rule 4d.
PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS
bible.org
The Mosaic law-or the curse from the Mosaic law?
5:1 "It was for freedom" The first phrase of Gal. 5:1 should probably go with 4:21-31 or start a new paragraph (NKJV, TEV, NJB). This may be a play on "freewoman," 4:30,31; "freedom," 5:1, and "free," 5:1.
The purpose of the gospel is to free people from the curse of the Mosaic Law so that they might willingly and appropriately respond to God in a way similar to the promise of God to Abraham.
Therefore, believers are free not to sin and free to live for God (cf. Gal. 2:4 and Romans 6, especially Gal. 5:11).
The NOUN "freedom" is fronted and the VERB form of the same root is used ("freed," AORIST ACTIVE INDICATIVE) to emphasize the concept!
"that Christ set us free"
Christians are truly free in Christ (cf. John 8:32, 36; 2 Cor. 3:17). As Martin Luther said so well, "A Christian man is the most free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, subject to all." Believers are free from the Fall, free from the tyranny of self, free again to serve God and others!
NASB "therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery"
NKJV "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage"
NRSV, JB "Stand firm therefore, and refuse to submit again to the yoke of slavery"
TEV "Stand, then, as free men, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again"
Peshitta "and be not harnessed again under the yoke of servitude"
Paul issued two admonitions in light of believers' true freedom in Christ:
that they persevere (cf. Rom 5:2 and 1 Cor. 16:13; see Special Topic: Perseverance)
that they stop turning back to different forms of legalism or self-effort
Both of these are
PRESENT IMPERATIVES,
however, the second has the NEGATIVE PARTICLE which usually means to stop an act which is already in process.
A good parallel for the "yoke of slavery" can be found in Acts 15:10. Jesus also has a yoke but His is easy (cf. Matt. 11:29-30)
.
The rabbis used "yoke" as a metaphor for the stipulations of the Law. The "law of Christ" is completely different from the law of Judaism or human merit (cf. James 1:25 and 2:8, 12).
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: GALATIANS 5:2-12
2Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. 7You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. 12I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.
5:2
NASB "Behold I, Paul, say to you"
NKJV "Indeed I, Paul, say to you"
NRSV "Listen! I, Paul, am telling you"
TEV "Listen! I, Paul, tell you this"
NJB "It is I, Paul, who tells you this"
This is the IMPERATIVE form of "behold" with the strong, PERSONAL PRONOUN (egō). "I, Paul" shows the authoritative emphasis of Paul's remarks. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is giving revelatory information!
NASB "that if you receive circumcision"
NKJV "that if you become circumcised"
NRSV "that if you let yourselves be circumcised"
TEV, NJB "if you allow yourselves to be circumcised"
This is a THIRD CLASS CONDITIONAL SENTENCE meaning potential action.
This would suggest that the Galatian Christians had not yet been circumcised but were tending to submit to the new prerequisites for obtaining salvation (or at least perfection, cf. Gal. 3:1) given by the Judaizers.
Yet circumcision was not the fundamental issue (cf. Gal. 5:6; 1 Cor. 7:18-19). Circumcision was only one aspect of the entire Jewish system of works righteousness. Paul circumcised Timothy in Acts 16:3 in order that he might minister to Jews. But Paul reiterated that true circumcision is of the heart (cf. Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4), not the body (cf. Rom. 2:28-29; Col. 2:11). The issue was not circumcision but how a person is brought into right standing with God (cf. Gal. 5:4).
"Christ will be of no benefit to you"
Paul is contrasting two ways of being right with God:
human effort
free grace
The theme of the entire paragraph is that these two ways are mutually exclusive: to choose human effort is to negate free grace; to choose free grace is to exclude human effort. One cannot mix them as a basis of salvation as Gal. 3:1-5 clearly shows.
5:3 "he is under obligation to keep the whole Law" If one chooses the way of human effort, then he must adhere perfectly to the Law from the age of moral responsibility (bar-mitzvah, age 13 for boys, bath-mitzvah, age 12 for girls) to death (cf. Deut. 27:26; Gal. 3:10; James 2:10). The Bible asserts that since no one has ever done this (except Jesus), everyone is in the category of law breakers, sinners (cf. Rom. 3:9-18,22-23; 6:23; 5:8 and 11:32).
5:4
NASB "You have been severed from Christ"
NKJV "You have become estranged from Christ"
NRSV "You. . .have cut yourselves off from Christ"
TEV "have cut yourselves off from Christ"
NJB "you have separated yourselves from Christ"
Peshitta "You have ceased to adhere to Christ"
This Greek VERB (an AORIST PASSIVE INDICATIVE of katargeō) is translated in many ways:
to render useless
to render powerless
to render unproductive
unprofitable
empty
cancel
make null and void
bring to an end
annihilate
sever from
It was used by Paul more than twenty times. One can see some of its flavor from Gal. 3:17 (to abolish) and 5:11 (to annul). If one tries to be right with God through human effort, he/she cuts himself/herself off from grace righteousness as a means of salvation (cf. Gal. 5:12):
in an initial salvation (when the Galatians first received the gospel)
in a works-oriented life
(when the Galatians were thinking of now pursuing the Mosaic Law) Link
5:4 "who are seeking to be justified by law" The theological theme of chapters 3 and 4 is that our acceptance by God is based solely on His character, the empowering of the Spirit, and the work of His Messiah. This is the essence of Paul's radical, new gospel of justification by grace through faith alone (cf. Romans 4-8).
NASB, NKJV, NJB, Peshitta "you have fallen from grace"
NRSV, NET "you have fallen away from grace"
TEV "You are outside God's grace"
REB "you have put yourselves outside God's grace"
Those who seek God by human performance have lost the free grace approach which is found in the finished work of the crucified Messiah. This context does not deal primarily with the modern theological question about the possibility of those who had salvation and have now lost it, but how humans find salvation. However, notice that salvation involves an initial and an ongoing response. It is a point and a process, both of which involve grace and faith. Both are crucial (cf. Gal. 5:7).
Paul was dealing in this letter with a legalism connected to salvation. Today most legalism within the church relates to the Christian life (cf. Gal. 3:1-3).
Most legalistic Christians are similar to the "weak brothers" of Rom. 14:1-15:13. They are unable to accept the freedom and liberation of the gospel. They are not trusting in their performance for salvation, but are afraid they will somehow offend God.
This attitude, however, issues in judgmental criticism toward other believers. This disruption of fellowship occurred in the Galatian churches and is still occurring in the churches of our day.
