Galatians 5 – Devotional & Commentary
Posted on December 21st, 2009 by debbiefitz in Devotions, SyndicatedDevotional Sharing Submitted by Chris Lee, Gracepoint Berkeley.
Galatians 5:1-6
- Reflect on the words: “It is for freedom that Christ set us free.” To what extent have I recognized this as true in my life? List the ways in which Christ has set me free.
I recognize these words as true in that these are ever more relevant and needed in my life. In the midst of serving God, I recognize how easily I can drift into the mode of trying to earn good standing before people and God. Even when I start out doing something to please God or to benefit others, I can quickly turn what is good into something that I use to prove that I am worthy of acceptance and approval. Such efforts lead to rapid downward spiral – becoming self-seeking, being burdened by things that used to bring joy, and feeling insecure, knowing that based on merit I really am not worthy of anyone’s acceptance or approval. This is indeed a life of imprisonment, and God does not want me to dwell there. God’s amazing grace of taking a sinner like me and calling me righteous because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus is what enables me to be grateful to Him, to love Him, and to want to obey Him. How amazing it is that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ, and that we are counted as righteous.
I am thankful that because of Christ, many things that used to have grip on me no longer do. I am thankful that God set me free from trying to make something of myself through career. I do remember a time when the title associated with my work felt very important, but thankfully that’s a distant memory. I know that my identity is not defined by what I do or by my title. My true identity is that I am a sinner forgiven by God, a child of God, His servant. I am thankful that I am becoming free from wanting to control things that I thought were mine, such as time. Growing up, I was used to having a lot of time at my disposal. As I started to follow Christ, and consequently had less free time for myself, initially I thought I was losing something. I am thankful that over the years, I have clearly seen that I am not capable of using time productively to benefit either myself or others, but time surrendered to God is always redemptive and edifying. I am also thankful that God is helping me to turn to his grace more and more to find the answer to this fundamental problem of striving to establish my own righteousness.
Galatians 5:16-18
- What do these verses teach me about the nature of Christian life and how I can combat my sinful desires?
These verses teach me that the nature of Christian life is a choice between whether to obey my sinful nature or the Spirit of God living in me. The only way I can truly be free is by serving and loving others. However, my sinful desires stand in the way. I must combat my sinful desires by choosing to live by the Spirit. For me, this means I must constantly ask what the Spirit desires and what the Bible says regarding different things I encounter throughout the day. The moment I stop asking, by default I am living according to my sinful desires. When I do ask what the Spirit desires, I must intend to obey what God reveals to me. A part of sincerely asking is the readiness to immediately follow through with obedience, and not to decide at that moment whether I am going to obey or not.
Devotional Questions:
Galatians 5:1-6
- Reflect on the words: “It is for freedom that Christ set us free.” To what extent have I recognized this as true in my life? List the ways in which Christ has set me free.
- To what extent have I embraced the truth that “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love?”
Galatians 5:16-18
- What do these verses teach me about the nature of Christian life and how I can combat my sinful desires?
Galatians 5:19-25
- Identify the acts of the sinful nature that reside within my heart or manifest in my life. What do I need to do to crucify the sinful nature with its passions and desires? How can I nurture the growth of the fruits of the Spirit?
- Reflect on the fruit of the Spirit listed in this passage. Have I been growing in these areas?
Additional Questions:
Galatians 5:13-15
- How is the use of freedom for Christians radically different from the way of the world?
- Reflect on how I’ve been using my God-given freedom. In what ways can I increase in loving my neighbor as myself? How will this lead to greater freedom?
Commentary:
v.4 “Paul is not discussing here the question of whether a genuine believer can lose his or her salvation. He is only saying that people who may once have made a profession of faith, if they now are truly seeking to be justified by the law, must not really have a relationship with Christ and have fallen away from the grace that was offered and available to them.”[1]
v.5-6 “This is the clearest statement in the letter that the rectification in which we trust remains a future hope. We look to the future, trusting that God will set all things right in the end. The apocalyptic language of ‘eager expectation’ characterizes our longing for God’s new world, a world that we hope for but do not yet see. And yet, at the same time, we already find ourselves living into that new world, for in Christ circumcision and uncircumcision have ceased to be valid categories. The tension between 5:5 and 5:6 is the dialectical tension between the ‘not yet’ and the ‘already’. This tension is a fundamental truth about life in Christ, as we live in the strange time between his resurrection and his coming again in glory.”[2]
vv.13-15 “Far from the Christian life being enslaving, it is the only way to resist the various slaveries offered by the world. But this does not mean that Christians can do whatever they feel like doing (which itself is just another form of slavery). Rather, serving and loving others is the route to escaping bondage and fulfilling the ultimate content of the law.”[3]
[NOTE: The NIV translates “flesh” as “sinful nature.”]
vv.16-18 “The expression, ‘the desire of the flesh’ describes the fleshly evil impulse that underlies and empowers human sin. It is important to recognize that ‘desire of the flesh’ does not refer only to sexual passions. Indeed, the list of ‘works of the flesh’ in 5:19-21, though it begins with three terms designating sexual misconduct, gives far more emphasis to other offenses (idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy). ‘The flesh’ is a comprehensive term for the sphere of autonomous fallen humanity, conceived as standing in opposition to God. ‘Flesh’ asserts itself anywhere that self-seeking human desire opposes itself to the divine will and the wholeness of the community. […] Paul goes on to explain that the Spirit and the flesh are fundamentally opposed. The singular desire of the Flesh imagined as a malevolent power is to oppose the Spirit of God, while the Spirit is fundamentally set against the Flesh. The two are, as Paul explains, set in opposition to each other, like soldiers lined up in opposing ranks on a battlefield. Given this opposition, there is no doubt in Paul’s mind about the eventual victor: God will finally overcome all enemies. Those who walk by the power of God’s Spirit will receive the empowerment necessary to subdue the Flesh.”[4]
vv.19-21 “The NIV’s translation in v.21, ‘those who live like this,’ refers to the continuing action over time, not to a single violation. Paul is not saying, for example, that a single outburst of anger will result in exclusion from the kingdom of God. This is not the first time, Paul indicates, that he has warned the Galatians about these nasty competitive behaviors. This list functions as an eschatological warning: Those who practice the works of the flesh ‘will not inherit the kingdom of God.’ Paul only occasionally refers to the ‘kingdom of God’, which was a major theme of Jesus’ teaching. To ‘inherit’ the kingdom means to receive the ‘eschatological blessings’ (i.e. the blessings that come with the fulfillment of the end times that Jesus predicted would come to pass) promised to those who are God’s children.”[5]
vv.22-23 “In contrast to the multiple and various ‘works’ of the flesh, the Spirit produces the singular ‘fruit’ of a community characterized by the gracious qualities listed in these verses. We should not interpret this fruit as referring only to character qualities of the individual; Paul is primarily concerned with the way in which the Spirit’s work is made manifest in community. This list should be understood as illustrative as well rather than comprehensive. (Paul lists different lists of gifts in Rom 12:6-8, 1 Cor 12:7-11). Here in Galatians, his emphasis is on the peaceful and community-building character of the Spirit’s work.”[6]
[1] ESV Study Bible, Notes for Galatians (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008) 2253.
[2] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 318.
[3] ESV Study Bible, Notes for Galatians (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008) 2255.
[4] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 325-26.
[5] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 327.
[6] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 328.
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