The Liberty of Love. Galatians 5:1-15 The words “So then” at the end of chapter four mark the conclusion of the section in the book of Galatians that teaches the “Superiority of the Gospel.” Chapter five begins with “Stand fast, therefore,” which indicates the spiritual truth Paul taught that applies to the Galatian believers and also serves as a lesson for us. The last two chapters describe the blessings of the “Freedom of the Gospel,” which the Gospel grants to those who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul finished the practical part of Galatians by reminding the believers in Christ of their true identity, not just what the Judaizers claimed they were. We must remember that we are born free to serve our risen Lord with joy and faith. We are not bound by rules and regulations to be saved, which would force us into serving God just to earn salvation. The Christian life is lived through the power of God's Spirit.
This chapter reminds us that we are awaiting future blessings through the Spirit. During this waiting period, we walk in the Spirit to produce its fruit. When we live according to the Spirit, we can sow to the Spirit and reap its blessings. Christ died to set us free so we can do what is impossible with our own strength. We can live for God without the legalism that the law imposes on those who are under it. The freedom to serve God comes from His liberating grace.
The message of the book of Galatians is summarized in verse one of chapter five. We have been freed from the slavery of the "schoolmaster" and are free to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. We are free from the law and free to serve with love.
Physical circumcision itself does not bother Paul. It is worthless on its own. However, when people claim it is necessary to be right with God, it becomes a way for them to think they earn salvation. This challenges God Himself and His ability to do what He says He will do. It suggests that Christ is not enough for them. To submit to circumcision as a way to gain favor with God means they must keep the law perfectly in every detail. This is completely opposite to trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, because relying on law-keeping separates a person from Christ and salvation by grace alone.
If circumcision were a requirement for acceptance by God, the Christian life would depend on obeying the entire law, which is a unified system. Submitting only to part of the law is essentially breaking the whole law. Those who rely solely on their efforts outside of grace are often described as “fallen from grace” and are outside the scope of divine favor. Following the law or accepting God’s favor through grace are mutually exclusive — they cannot coexist.
The false teachers promoted the idea that being circumcised was necessary for salvation. If they claimed that being circumcised as a religious duty was required, it would undermine what Christ has accomplished and diminish Christ Himself as the Savior of sinners. This shift would change the very basis of salvation from a gift of God's grace to something earned through human effort. If that were true, then a person would have to fulfill every law perfectly and constantly, without ever failing. But anyone honest knows they fall short because the law demands perfection—God's own perfect righteousness. He gave us His law to reveal our sins and lead us to Him for forgiveness, which is found in "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Those who believe the law justifies them are separated from Christ. Choosing the law cuts a person off from any hope of salvation. Believers in Christ are justified by His grace and must clearly understand this truth. Otherwise, even those who are genuinely saved might start to doubt their security in Christ. Those claiming the law justifies them are not saved and never have been. It isn't easier for God to save moral law-keepers than anyone else because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." In fact, it is often harder for a morally upright person to see their need for God's grace than it is for someone living with guilt due to a sinful lifestyle.
Salvation is not just an intellectual agreement with teaching but a living, vital trust in God. Faith reveals itself through love for God and others. In verses five and six, the three core elements of Christianity are highlighted: faith, hope, and love. The believers in the churches of Galatia initially did well in their Christian walk. They obeyed the truth and behaved rightly until someone led them astray with false teachings. Children of believing parents often struggle to trust Christ for salvation because they already live like Christians and believe everything they've been taught about Him. They know He died for their sins. Their moral conduct has already set them apart from many of their friends' unrighteous ways. God's grace reaches the righteous person living correctly in the same way it does to those who recognize their need because of a sinful life. Every individual must acknowledge their own sinful nature before they can rely on God's grace for salvation. That "hope of righteousness" is the declaration of the righteousness imparted to us through Christ, which has been given to us and will last forever. The "we" here refers to believers, not the "you" in the previous verse. Genuine faith in Christ shows itself in love for God and others when we are free to serve—not just free from sin.
The 'hope of righteousness” here does not refer to our right standing before God, because the righteousness of Christ has been credited to those who believe in Him. That was secured when we were justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In this scripture passage, it pertains to living rightly before God in this life. This will not be fully accomplished until we see the Lord and are free from fleshly bonds to the earth. When we see Him as He is, we will become like Him. We experience this to some extent when, through faith, we live and walk in the Spirit who empowers us to please God.
It is sad that many believers start out well, but under peer pressure, especially when they are young, or the pressures of ambition and materialism as they grow older, they slow down and sometimes even stop in their Christian growth. As Christians, their effectiveness comes to a halt. One has said, "In the Christian life, if one isn't moving forward, they are going backward. There is no neutral position in the Christian life." So, why is this persuasion so appealing to believers? When we begin our lives in Christ, we are fully aware of our inability to please God in our flesh. But it isn't long before we feel we lack the enthusiasm and commitment we once had.
False teachers take advantage of that and tell people they are missing something. They haven't "got it all." The believers in the assemblies of Galatia had done well in the early part of their Christian life. They obeyed the truth and acted on what was right until someone stopped them with false teaching. The Judaizers, “hindered,” broke up the road of faith they were running on. They had been running a good race. Paul appealed to them to believe in no other plan of salvation apart from the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
Leaven symbolizes evil. Doctrinal leaven infects many with its deceptive, subtle, evil teachings that spread and can influence an entire group of believers with its corrupting power. To add human works to God's work as necessary for salvation is just as wrong as adding anything to the message of the Gospel we first heard.
The "offense of the cross" declares God's unearned grace and eliminates the reliance on human works as a way to gain salvation. A moral, upright, good person is just as lost as the worst of people if they depend on the law for salvation. Even if he lives a righteous life, he has fallen from grace and its blessings. The Galatians initially ran the race of Christian testimony well, but now they are not doing so at all.
Some teach today that infant baptism corresponds to circumcision in the Old Testament. So, they baptize children at eight days old, as the Jews did with their baby boys in Israel. This is the false idea that has misled millions into believing they are "a child of God and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven." Some sincerely think they will go to heaven when they die because they have been baptized. There is no link between the cross and circumcision. One represents all of God, and the other reflects men's desire to add their own righteousness to Christ's work on the cross.
Many who call themselves Christians often react to the preaching of the cross and salvation by grace alone with persecution, rejection, animosity, and opposition. We can expect this as a common response to sharing the Gospel because people want to be saved in their own way. False teachers frequently attack God's truth by denying the verbal inspiration of the scriptures in the original language. They also attack the Person of Christ by denying His eternal Sonship, His preeminence over all things, His equality with the Father, His human and divine natures in one Person, and His authority with "all power in heaven and in earth."
Paul was confident that truth would prevail, that the saints would be restored, and that God would handle the false teachers in His way. His duty was to reveal their true nature. It's important for us to remind believers of our liberty in Christ. As false teachers sometimes suggest, our freedom isn't the freedom to sin whenever we want and escape punishment. Instead, it is the freedom to serve the Lord and others, driven by Christian love. Paul hoped those disrupting the believers in Galatia would leave and realize they have no power to spread their false teachings.
The public practice of the priesthood of all believers is offensive to them also because it puts all believers on the same level before God and men. The silence of women in public meetings of the assembly and head coverings as a sign of submission to the headship of Christ are strongly challenged. The giving and use of spiritual gifts for the reason God gave them are dismissed, and the clear presentation of the Gospel—man's ruin, God's remedy, and man's responsibility—is diluted until the Gospel they preach is nothing more than verbal agreement with what people want to hear. Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ are rarely mentioned and are replaced with modern terms like "forming a new relationship with God" and other "seeker-friendly terms."
All the law is summarized in one statement that describes God's grace to us and through us to others. We are free to serve God acceptably and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what He leads us to do in love. By doing so, we fulfill the purpose of the law. As a result, we will not turn against each other but will love the Lord's people and desire the best for everyone. This freedom in Christ has liberated us from the legalistic bondage of the law, allowing us to serve with joy, love, and grace.