Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LV)

English Baptist minister John Foster (1770-1843), in response to what Paul says here about falling from grace, states since Satan cannot hinder the birth of virtues, then he has designs to be the death of virtues. This is so ordinary, to see a Christian lose their first love, and to fall from their first works. This love that was formerly an ascending flame always glittering up to heaven is now, like a little spark, almost suffocated by the world’s ungodly haze. The devout sorrow that was once a swelling torrent, like the Jordan River overflowing its banks, is now like Job’s summer brook,[1] which makes the traveler feel letdown. His battles against sin, once furious, like the march of King Jehu against the tyrant Ahab,[2] are now like Samson sleeping in Delilah’s lap while she steals away his strength.[3] Before, he could not give rest to his eyes till God had given rest to his soul; but now he can lie down with sin in his heart, and wounds in his conscience. At first, his zeal for God devoured them; but now, spiritual decay is swallowing up his zeal.^[4]

Marvin Vincent (1834-1922), in his Word Studies, makes the point that circumcision is the sign of subjection to the Jewish “yoke” – the methodology of the Law. But for the Galatians, it was being offered as a condition for salvation.^[5] So now they must decide between redemption by the Law or salvation by Grace. If they choose salvation by the Law, they must relinquish their union with the Anointed One.^[6] They cannot retain both at the same time. So, it’s one or the other. According to Chrysostom, said Vincent, those who receive circumcision do so out of fear for the Law. But when they fear the Law, they lose trust in the power of Grace. And no one gains anything from that which they distrust.^[7]

In George Barker Stevens’ (1854-1906) exposition of verse two, he writes in such a way that it cannot be overlooked that when Paul uses the term “circumcision” in this verse, he is not specifically referring to the rite itself, but its ties to the commandments. In other words, circumcision represents a law-system which is contradictory to the grace-system. These two systems have very little in common. So, you cannot faithfully follow them together; it’s one or the other. Not only that, but a commitment to one is a renouncing of the other.^[8] In today’s world, some countries allow for dual citizenship. But in God’s Kingdom, that is not plausible or possible. Therefore, either you pledge allegiance to the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of this World.

Kenneth Wuest explains that the statement in verse two, “if you are circumcised,” is on a hypothetical basis. In other words, the Galatians did not yet submit to that rite but were on the verge of doing so. The words “the Anointed One will profit you nothing,” must be interpreted in their context. Paul is not speaking here of their standing in grace, but as believers who are justified and not facing the death sentence for sin. He is speaking of the method of living a Christian life and of growth in that life. Thus, if the Galatians submit to circumcision, they are putting themselves under the Law, and are depriving themselves of the ministry of the Holy Spirit which the Anointed One made possible through His death, resurrection, and ascension, which ministry was not provided for under the Law.

During the First Covenant period, the Spirit came upon or in believers so that they might perform a certain service for God and then left them when that mission was accomplished. He did not dwell in them for purposes of sanctification. The great Apostle Paul taught the Galatians that God’s grace guaranteed their everlasting retention of salvation. So they understood that he was speaking of their Christian experience, not their Christian standing. In other words, there is standing in grace and living in grace. Paul’s interest at this point was their living in grace.

Wuest then goes on to say in verse three that it continues the argument of verse two. Not only would the Galatians lose the aid of the Holy Spirit in living their Christian lives, but they would be assuming the burden of the entire religious legal system. Paul warns them that the acceptance of circumcision would be, in principle, the adoption of all the Levitical rites, rituals, and regulations. They were now asking the Galatian Christians to accept circumcision as a rite by which they would become sons of Abraham and thus participants in the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. It appears that the Judaizers already persuaded them to approve celebrating the Jewish cycle of feasts.^[9]

Jewish Christian scholar Mark D. Nanos also notes that Paul is attempting here in verse two is to make sure that the Gentile Galatians understand that they are equal in union with the Anointed One to the Jewish Galatians. Perhaps the Judaizers were making such a statement, but Paul tells them it is not so.^[10] Paul points to the fact that when they were converted, they received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which was their guarantee that they belonged to the spiritual family of Abraham as children of God.^[11] Paul also mentions the miracles the Holy Spirit performed through them,^[12] as well as their shared experiences with the Apostle himself.^[13] So why are they letting themselves be fooled into thinking that they need the Jewish ceremonial laws added to all this?  Nanos also makes another point that may be influencing the Galatians, and that is, that the Law was the first gospel, and the teachings of Paul were an addendum to that gospel. So, since Paul encouraged them to live by the Gospel he preached, it was not meant to replace the Law but to increase it into a full gospel that combined both.^[14]

Christian Jewish writer Ariel ben Lyman points out that back to what Paul already stated in 2:21, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the Law, then the Anointed One died for no purpose” (ESV). The contest in the mind of the Galatians used the argument of the Anointed One versus the Law. Now here in verse two, the contest uses the indwelling Spirit of the Anointed One versus Circumcision. When Paul used the word Law in 2:21, he did not mean just the observance of the Torah. By the same token, using the word circumcision here in verse two does not simply mean the physical cutting away of the foreskin of the male reproductive organ. In both passages, Paul states that if the Galatians wish to continue down the road constructed by the Judaizers – the road described by the 1st century Judaism as “the Law,” “under the Law,” “works of the Law,” and “circumcision” – and reject the free offer of genuine and lasting covenant membership into the family of Israel as offered by God and outlined in the TaNaKH (Jewish Bible), then, using the language of our verse here, the work was done by Yeshua on the cross on their behalf will indeed have no value for them at all, or His death will have been purposeless.^[15]

Another Christian Jewish scholar, Tom Hegg, reports that recently, some in the Messianic movement have adopted what they call the “Divine Invitation” teaching.^[16] In a nutshell, this teaching maintains that Jews and those with “legal Jewish status” as Gentile converts to Judaism are obligated to keep the whole Torah, while Gentiles, who did not first convert to Judaism but are believers in Yeshua are under no such obligation. While everyone must abide by the enduring moral commandments of the Torah, Gentile believers are given a “divine invitation” to keep those parts of the Torah that are generally considered to pertain particularly to Jews and proselytes (Sabbath, Festivals, kosher foods, wearing of tzitzit,[17] etc.).

If Gentiles accept the invitation which God extends to them, says Hegg, they will be blessed. But if they do not accept, they are not living in disobedience since Gentiles are not obligated to the whole Torah. In explaining their view of “Divine Invitation” for Gentiles, they put forth what Paul says here in verse three as the coup de grâce (“death blow”) for the “One Law for All” position, which holds that all of God’s family, regardless of their ethnic status, are equally obligated to the whole Torah because they are equally covenant members.^[18]

Christadelphian^[19] speaker Duncan Hester feels strongly that Paul was writing to a Jewish readership in Galatia,^[20] so he thinks that omission would be helpful here, we should remove any suggestion that circumcision is required for salvation. Circumcision alone is not sinful nor ungodly. What Paul is driving at is that circumcision does not add anything for which a person could expect special treatment by the Anointed One. He certainly was not against Gentiles being circumcised to live more comfortably among the Jews. But to think that this would add anything to their status before God as a believer in His Son is being misled. It adds nothing. Believers are saved by Grace, not trying to charm God so He’ll love them more. How much of the rules and regulations of the church a person may ascribe to, it doesn’t affect their sanctification. That’s why, says Heaster, every part of our thinking and living becomes subject to our driving passion of gratitude and joy being a child of God.^[21]

[1] See Job 6:15

[2] 2 Kings 9:20

[3] Judges 16:19

[4] John Foster: Biblical Illustrator, op. cit., Vol. 48, (Kindle Location 14426)

[5] See Galatians 2:3, 5; Acts of the Apostles 15:1

[6] See Galatians 2:21

[7] Marvin R. Vincent: Word Studies in the New Testament, op. cit., pp. 155-156

[8] George Barker Stevens, Exposition of Galatians, op. cit.,  pp. 199-200

[9] Kenneth Wuest: Word Studies, op. cit., loc. cit.

[10] See Galatians 2:2-5, 8, 14; 3:8-9, 14; 3:26-4:9; 6:12-13

[11] Ibid. 3:1 – 4:7

[12] Ibid. 3:5

[13] Ibid. 4:12-16

[14] Mark D. Nanos: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 82, 142

[15] Ariel ben Lyman HaNaviy: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 150

[16] Hegg mentions Michael and D. Thomas Lancaster, “‘One Law’ and the Messianic Gentile,” Messiah Journal 101 (August 2009), pp. 46–70

[17] Tzitzit are the strings, or fringes, tied to each of the four corners of a tallit (prayer shawl). They are widely considered a reminder, not unlike a string around one’s finger, to think of God at all times.

[18] Tim Hegg: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 215 [p. 182]

[19] The Christadelphian religious group traces its origins to John Thomas (1805–1871), who emigrated to North America from England in 1832. They are primarily a Unitarian group but believe in the infallibility of the Bible and Jesus as the expected Messiah.

[20] Cf. Galatians 4:8

[21] Heaster, Duncan. On Galatians (Kindle Location 1355-1362).

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LIV)

5:2-3 Listen to what I, your good friend Paul, am trying to tell you: the moment you give in to being a slave to these religious rituals and regulations, everything the Anointed One did for you will be forfeited. Please hear me, if you try to meet God’s requirements through these religious rituals and regulations, you must observe every single one of them to perfection.

 For most Gentiles, they were somewhat mystified as to why the rite of circumcision for male Jews was so critical. They were, no doubt, uninformed as to how it began and what it was for. It was the mark given to Abraham, who administered it to Isaac as a physical sign of their covenant agreement. It identified any circumcised male as being an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham. We could say it was their personal ID to show that they were legal heirs of God’s promises to Abraham and God’s chosen people. But by the time of Paul, it became the physical mark that they were genuine followers of the Law and, therefore, right with God.^[1]

Jewish scholars tell us that it was the sign by which a person was either allowed in or kept out of the Promised Land. It also guaranteed that those who are circumcised will see God.^[2] It guaranteed to keep them out of Gehenna (Hell).^[3] And in another writing, we find that the existence of the covenant is called “the work of our hands.” This is followed by the statement where it says that “the heavens declare the work of His hands,” Their inclusion of God’s great work in the heavens will confirm the work of their hands here on earth. This will certainly identify them as a righteous person.^[4]

This certainly should help us understand why the Apostle Paul was so adamant about letting both the Jewish and Gentile believers in Galatia know that circumcision would profit them nothing. In fact, instead of it helping them to earn any merit from one law, it will only put them in debt to the whole Law. Indeed, Moses told the children of Israel that once they crossed the Jordan River, they were to stand on Mount Gerizim, and the Levites would recite a number of curses on those who failed to follow the mentioned commandments. Included was the one that went, “Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this Law by carrying them out. Then all the people shall say Amen!”^[5] The Apostle James echoed the same truth to his readers.^[6]

Early church writer Augustine tells us that as he sees it, this Epistle breathes an indignant spirit, obvious to everyone even on initial examination, but Chrysostom feels he must explain the cause of Paul’s anger against the Galatians. It cannot be as insignificant and unimportant as it might seem to be; otherwise, he would not have used such forcefulness. For to be exasperated by common matters is part of little-minded, miserable, and irritable individuals, just as it is for the more suggestive and sluggish to lose heart in trying to understand weighty issues. Such a one was not Paul.

What then was the offense which rattled him? It was severe and momentous, one which was many Galatian believers from the Anointed One, as he says here in verse two, “Listen to me! I, Paul, tell you that if you have the religious act of circumcision done on you, the Anointed One will be of no use to you at all,” – which he repeats in verse four. So, what’s going on here? It must be explained more clearly. Some of the Jews who believed, being held down by the captivation of Judaism’s ceremonial laws, and at the same time intoxicated by vain-glory, and desirous of obtaining for themselves the dignity of teachers, came to the Galatians and taught them that the observance of circumcision, Sabbaths, and new moons were necessary and that Paul in abolishing these things was not to be listened to.^[7]

Gregory the Great wrote an interesting letter to the believers in Rome and told them that it came to his attention that certain determined men of a stubborn spirit were spreading certain teachings that are wrong and opposed to the holy faith. For instance, forbidding any work being done on the Sabbath. What else can I call these, but Antichrist preachers, asks Gregory? Who would want Saturday as well as Sunday the Lord’s day to be kept free from all work? Gregory continues by pointing out that these Antichrist preachers wanted to win over the Jewish believers so that they can bring back the Ceremonial laws and have the Jewish believers on their side. But this is exactly what happened. Even today, in most Christian nations, Saturday and Sunday are free weekends for most workers.

As Gregory sees it, they base this upon what the prophet Jeremiah said, “You will not carry in loads of goods through your gates on the Sabbath day.”^[8] This then would allow the practice of the Law to continue so that it could be observed according to the letter. But after that the grace of Almighty God, our Lord Jesus the Anointed One appeared, the commandments of the Law which were spoken figuratively cannot be kept according to the letter. For, if anyone says this about the Sabbath being kept, charges Gregory, they must also say that sacrifices are to be offered. In essence, they must say too that the commandment about the circumcision of the body is still to be retained. But let them hear the Apostle Paul saying in opposition to them here in verse two: “If you insist on being circumcised, then knowing the Anointed One has profited you nothing.”^[9]

Anglican Bible commentator John Trapp (1601-1669) makes a point on what Paul says about how hanging onto the Law will make the Anointed One of no use to those who do so. Does not the Apostle say that only those that are found in Him, not having their “own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of the Anointed One, the righteousness which is of God through faith?”^[10] Moses was sure that Pharaoh would say of the Israelites, “The Israelites are confused. They are trapped in the wilderness!”^[11] The same thing could be said of many nominal churches today, they are so entangled in the affectionate vanities of their self-righteousness that they cannot commune with Jesus the Anointed One. A person will never truly desire the Anointed One until they are soundly shaken.”^{[12] [13]}

English Bible expositor William Burkitt (1650-1703) puts Paul’s words of admonition, here in verse two, to those Galatians who went over to the side of the Judaizers the same way we would expect it to sound as if they were spoken today. Paul wrote them: “As your Apostle I’m telling you Galatians, without mincing words and right to your face, that you or any others that were converted by me to Christianity, that if you join the Judaizers and allow yourselves to be circumcised, knowing that the Gospel is the only thing that has the power to bring justification and salvation, all that Jesus the Anointed One did on your behalf will do you no good.

That’s not all that Paul warns about. He makes it clear that going back to the old Jewish way of finding salvation after the Anointed One’s arrival to bring salvation, is virtually denying and disowning the fact that He came to save. In effect, this results in renouncing and abandoning Him because by His coming, the promise was fulfilled, and the requirement of circumcision as a sign of being part of the family of God was no longer required.

So learn this, says Burkitt, that for people to religiously observe any of the rites, rituals, regulations required by ceremonial laws in obedience to any divine rule, or to combine them, or anything else, with the Anointed One to have faith in Him for justification as a sinner before God, is a plain denial of the Anointed One, and contempt for His ability and sufficiency to justify and save us. As Paul said so clearly, if you try to work this out on your own, then what the Anointed One on the cross will be of no use for you.^[14] When was the last time you recently heard anything like this in a sermon?

I like the way James Macknight (1721-1800) illustrates this in his translation.^[15] It would be like an individual going into debt to purchase a house or land, and then after they paid their first and second installments, they quit paying. So, when the bank calls, they inform them that they must pay the whole amount to be debt-free. It was the same with the Law. Just keeping one or two or even a dozen was not enough to be declared debt-free. That’s why Paul could not understand the Galatians’ reasoning. Jesus paid the whole debt so they could be free. So why in the world did they decided to try and pay it back themselves? Why not just payback Jesus with love, service, dedication, and faithfulness? Especially when they knew that by failing to pay the total debt, they were bound for eternal incarceration as punishment. Justin Edwards (1787-1816) agrees with Macknight: By circumcision, they profess their dependence on their works for salvation, and must, therefore, perfectly obey the whole law. Salvation, if obtained, will then be of debt, not of grace.^[16]

Methodist minister Thomas Jones (1761-1831) says, it is not uniformity that we see in the works of God, but unity in variety or diversity. The tree has branches large and small, but the tree is one. Every plant, flower, or bush on the landscape has full freedom to unfold itself according to its nature, and yet the landscape is one. The many members of the human frame form one body. The many nations of the earth form one human race. The twelve tribes of Israel constituted one “peculiar people.” The same law is true about the Church. Christians are many and differ in natural powers, gifts, education, and opinions, but they all have faith in one Master, one Redeemer, one Lord, one Savior, one king – Jesus the Anointed One. And they all worship the one true God and love their fellow believers as part of one Body, and, therefore, form one spiritual brotherhood and Church.^[17] That’s why today, it is important for Christians to put “unity” back into “community.”

[1] Ibid. 9:31-32; 10:2-3

[2] Job 19:26

[3] Midrash Rabbah: Genesis in Two Volumes, Translated by Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman, The Soncino Press, London, 1939, pp. 349, 406, 409

[4] The Zohar: by Rav Michael Laitman, Published by Laitman Kabbalah, 2007, pp. 288-289

[5] Deuteronomy27:26

[6] James 2:10

[7] Augustine: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 16

[8] Jeremiah 17:24

[9] Gregory the Great: Selected Epistles, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 13, op. cit., Bk. 13, Epistle 1, To the Roman Citizens, p. 202

[10] Philippians 3:9

[11] Exodus 14:3

[12] Haggai 2:7

[13] John Trapp: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 584

[14] William Burkitt: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 330

[15] James Macknight: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 191

[16] Justine Edwards: On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[17] Thomas Jones: Biblical Illustrator, op. cit., loc. cit.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LIII)

In the Jewish Annotated New Testament, we find that the term “yoke” was not new to Jesus or Paul. It can be found in a number of places in Jewish literature. For instance, in speaking about services in the synagogue, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha says before saying the Shema, “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One,” ^[1] followed by the v’hayah im shamoa (a prayer with a hidden meaning), “And it shall come to pass if you surely listen to the commandments…” ^[2] one should first accept the “yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven,” and then take upon themselves the “yoke of the commandments.” ^[3]

We see this repeated by the Rabbis in the Talmud where Rabbi Joshua ben Korhah said: It is right that “listen” should come before “and it shall come to pass,” because the former mentions both teaching and doing, whereas the latter mentions doing only. Then Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai gave an additional reason. One is that a person should first accept upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of heaven and then accept the yoke of the commandments.^[4] How well this fits Paul’s argument that these Galatians first accepted the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, but now the Judaizers were telling them to accept the yoke of the commandments in the ceremonial laws. The yoke that Jesus offered is much lighter and easier because it eliminates the second yoke of the ceremonial laws.^{[5] [6]}

I like what Jewish scholar, Mark D. Nanos, a lecturer at the University of Kansas, has to say about what Paul meant by telling the Galatians to “stand fast.” First of all, Paul is bringing to an end his use of the allegory of Hagar – the slave-woman, and Sarah – the free-woman, as representing followers of the Law and followers of the Cross. Some think Paul is telling the Galatians, here in verse one, to throw out the Judaizers.^[7] But actually, when Paul focuses on the loyal believers, there is no evidence that this is what was on his mind. Instead, he tells them to “stand fast” and do not submit to the “yoke of slavery” that these Judaizers were offering. In the case of the Jewish believers, it would mean they having been freed from this yoke are now putting it back on again. So, Paul is calling for secondary resistance, says Nanos. And what Paul says from now on is a clear call for the Galatians not to argue about the authority that these Judaizers were claiming to have, but reject their insistence that they must become converts to Judaism so that their Christianity grows complete.^[8]

British Biblical scholar and Methodist minister Charles Kingsley (C. K.) Barrett feels that verse one is so important that it cannot be skipped over. The positive assertion at the beginning is fundamental to our faith, it underlines the solus Christus (Latin, for “the Anointed One alone.”) that Paul repeats again and again in this Epistle. There is no mistaking that the sole agency of the Anointed One is the process of salvation. It was He who set us free, as it was, He who loved us and gave Himself for us. The real difficulty comes in the rest of verse one. There we find the spectacle of freed Galatians, allowing themselves to be enslaved again by the weak and beggarly elements of legal religion.^[9] Sadly, the Gentiles who were never under the ceremonial laws of the Jews were also being told to something they had never done before.^[10]

Professor of Theology at the Theological Community of Mexico, David A. Brondos, notes that Paul’s argument in his letter to the Romans,^[11] and now in Galatians, that for the Jews telling the Gentiles to seek to be right with God through works were going against the model of Abraham. Abraham obtained his right standing by faith, not works. So why are they asking the Gentiles to reject their salvation by faith, which would require rejecting the Anointed One? Our right standing with God is a gift of grace given through the Anointed One. God is more than willing to accept those who come to Him based on faith, but not based on their self-righteous efforts. True believers are saved by the power of God, not by their own strength.

Jesus the Anointed One fulfilled the requirements of the Law to God’s specifications, so why were the Galatians trying to replace His work with their work? There’s a big difference in doing things God’s way instead of man’s way. It isn’t a matter of trying to get what God has to offer, it is a matter of receiving what God has to offer. Salvation and justification mean being spared from sin’s death penalty by faith alone. It isn’t a question of trusting one’s efforts, but simply putting trust in God to make that happen. That’s why Paul couldn’t understand why the Galatians were persuaded to return to the Law and accept the Jewish formula for salvation, which, more or less, makes them beggars instead of receivers of God’s grace and mercy. No one had to beg God to send His only begotten Son to die on the cross on our behalf, He did so out of love. That makes our salvation possible only through love and trust in the One who loved us while we were yet sinners.^{[12] [13]}

Another Jewish writer, Tim Hegg, who studied theology at a Baptist Seminary, notes that there is a great divide between scholars as to what the Apostle Paul meant by saying that the Galatians were set free from the Law. His words are construed as saying that the Messiah has forever liberated His people from the slavery of the Torah, and thus the Gentile believers are foolish to consider submitting to its tyrannical rule. But such an interpretation cannot be reconciled with Paul’s statements elsewhere regarding the Torah, nor does it fit the overall message of Galatians. For instance,^[14] Paul writes to the Romans, “Do we then nullify the Torah through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah.” One is at a loss to understand how he could make such a statement there, but be teaching the Galatians here that the Messiah has liberated them from the “yoke of slavery” defined as the Torah?^[15]

Hegg references what German/American scholar of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of Chicago, Hans Dieter Betz, said. As Betz sees it, the duty of Christian ethics is “to preserve” freedom. As such, Paul did not share the Jewish concept of “ethics” as the prevention of transgression and the fulfillment of the demands of a ritual code of Law, namely, the Torah. Nor does Paul share the Greek concept of ethics as the improvement of sinful human nature by training and gradual development of virtues. So, says Betz, “For the Apostle, there is no longer any Law, and, therefore, there are no transgressions: The Anointed one is ‘the end of the Law.’” ^[16] This means that the Law is completed in the Anointed One. Therefore, further transgressions are not against the Law, but against the Anointed One.

And Messianic writer Ariel ben Lyman HaNaviy (1967-2018) expresses his feelings about how Galatians 4:31 and 5:1 is coupled together with the words “free” and “freedom.” He explains it can be easily seen and understood by the words “free” and “freedom” that share the same root Greek noun eleutheria. This is no mystery, and it does not require seminary training to notice the link between the two verses. The obvious sense is that Paul is continuing his thoughts from the last chapter as he sets up an intense warning against letting oneself be influenced by a fake-gospel that promises covenant membership and right standing with God in Israel (the message of the Judaizes, but in reality will not deliver on the goods. Or, on the surface, all might appear to be “fine and dandy,” but in point of fact, a conversion to Judaism (or legal Jewish status for those already born Jewish) will do nothing to change the will of an individual, outside of also allowing the Holy Spirit to write the Torah on their heart. Don’t misunderstand what I am stating here, says HaNaviy. Jewish identity is a good thing to have. Even more, notes HaNaviy, I am not stating that conversion to Judaism is the “unpardonable sin.” Rather, all too often, our outward actions reveal our true inner motives, and when it comes to the object of saving faith, we must place our focus exclusively on Yeshua – God’s resource of making a person justifiably righteous – if we ever hope to be truly saved by grace.^[17]

So, the question for Paul is, will the Galatians recognize that their freedom in the Messiah liberated them from the condemnation of sin and was brought into a place of right standing before the Almighty? Those who opposed the message of the Gospel were teaching a different way of covenant membership – a different “gospel.” Here, then, is the issue: will the Galatian believers stand firm in their acceptance of the Gospel or not? Will they show a genuine faith (something Paul is convinced they did), or will they abandon their faith in favor of seeking covenant membership based on their “good works?” Thus, “slavery” is bondage because it ties one to the Law to show their sinfulness. This puts them in the status of still being under the penalty of their transgressions, while “freedom” is the position of having been declared right in His sight by the Father founded on the Messiah’s atoning sacrifice. For Paul, the choice presented to the Galatians was not one of “faith with the Torah” versus “faith without the Torah,” but between salvation and condemnation, between genuine faith and false faith.^[18]

William Fremantle (1831-1916) said long ago that when we speak of freedom, we often think only of the removal of restraints. But though it is important to get rid of all needless restraints, it is much more important that we should possess and train the powers that are put into effect once the restraints are taken away. If there is no life, the removal of restraints will be of no use. If the life is feeble and tied down by inward restraints like those of superstition or of fear, the removal of outward restraints will not set it free. But if there is vigorous life, it needs for its development a constantly expanding freedom: and this spiritual power has in itself both its proper energy and its proper boundaries. It is a tree that has an innate capacity for growth. Give it air and light; remove whatever confines and overshadows it. It may need pruning and guiding, but it can provide its own symmetry for itself.[19] The same is true of spiritual life. Once the restraints of rites, rituals, and regulations were removed, because of it being attached to the True Vine – Jesus, it can experience unlimited growth as it is given nutrients, stays in the Light, and does not become covered again with the umbrella of legal, religious ceremonies.

[1] Deuteronomy 6:4

[2] Ibid. 11:13-21

[3] Jewish Mishnah, Zeraim, Berakoth, Ch. 2:2

[4] Babylonian Talmud: Seder Zera’im, Masekhet Berakoth, folio 14b

[5] Matthew 11:29-30

[6] Levine, Amy-Jill; Brettler, Marc Z. The Jewish Annotated New Testament, op. cit., p. 637

[7] Cf. Verses 28-30

[8] Mark D. Nanos: Irony of Galatians, op. cit., p. 157

[9] See Galatians 4:9

[10] C. K. Barrett: Freedom and Obligation, A Study of the Epistle to the Galatians, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1985, p. 60

[11] Romans 9:30-10:13

[12] Ibid. 5:8

[13] David A. Brondos. Paul on the Cross: op. cit., p. 80

[14] Romans 3:31

[15] Tom Hegg: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 207, [p. 175]

[16] Hans Dieter Betz: Galatians, A Commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Christians in Galatia, Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1979, p.257

[17] Ariel ben Lyman HaNaviy, op. cit., p. 148

[18] Tom Hegg: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 208

[19] Canon William Freemantle: The Biblical Illustrator, Vol. 48, On Galatians, op. cit., (Kindle Location 14131-14346)

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LII)

Greek word study specialist Kenneth Wuest (1893-1961) notes that the liberty spoken of here in verse one does not refer to the kind of life a person lives, neither does it have reference to their words and actions, but it has to do with the method by which they conduct themselves. The Judaizers existed by depending on self-effort in a failed attempt to obey the Law. The Galatian Christians survived because they relied on the indwelling Holy Spirit for guidance and strength. Their hearts were occupied with the Lord Jesus, the details of their lives being guided by the ethics that emerged from the teaching of the apostles, both doctrinal and practical. Now, however, in swinging over to the side of the Law, they were losing that freedom of action and that flexibility of self-determination which one exercises while doing what is right. And when one does right, not because the Law forbids the wrong and commands the right, but because it is proper, because it pleases the Lord Jesus, and because of their love for Him. Paul exhorts them to remain standing fast in freedom from the Law.^[1]

When speaking about the yoke as a burden, Paul knew from personal experience what he meant. From the time Moses received the Ten Commandments until Paul’s day, Jewish Rabbis added 603 more laws for a total of 613. Of this total, 248 are “do’s,” and 365 are “don’ts.” Their desire to please and impress God with slave-like obedience led them to cover every area of life from how far they could walk on the Sabbath; not mingling olive oil with the meal-offering of a suspected adulteress; keep priests with disheveled hair from entering the Sanctuary, or eating bread made from the grain of a crop grown in a new field. These may sound trivial to us, but when you grow up believing God requires obedience to these restrictions for you to receive His favor and everlasting life, you can understand why they become so enslaving.

As a boy growing up in Germany, we lived in a village where only one farmer owned a horse. The rest pulled their wagons with regular milk-cows. I remember one day I saw him beating his horse severely because it wouldn’t pull his heavily loaded cart. I overheard one of the villagers say that the stallion used to be a racehorse and was not strong enough for work like that. In like manner, Paul tried to get the Galatian believers to see they weren’t oxen anymore, pulling around the heavy load of Mosaic Law. Now they were thoroughbreds, ready to run the race before them. So, if they get hooked up again to the heavy wagon load of Mosaic Law, they’ll be unable to pull it.

In one of his sermons, the great German reformer Martin Luther used oxen in an illustration. He pointed out that after oxen toil in the yoke all day, they are turned out in the evening to graze. However, when they can no longer pull a wagon, they are marked for slaughter.  He goes on to compare these oxen with those who seek to be justified by Mosaic Law and become “entangled with the yoke of bondage.” Once they grow old and broken-down in the service of Mosaic Law, they are then marked for judgment to receive God’s wrath and everlasting torment.[2]

In one of his sermons on Romans, chapter six, Dr. David Martin Lloyd-Jones used an illustration drawn from the days of slavery in the Southern United States. Before the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln, slaves had no rights. Any white person could attack them and even kill them without penalty. If a slave went alone into town to shop for the plantation owner’s wife, when a white person told them to do this or that and was abusive to them, they had to drop everything and do what they commanded. Slaves were always frightened and obeyed without question.

But after the Emancipation Proclamation was published, they now had rights. They didn’t have to obey every white person’s ridiculous demands. However, when many of them walked into town and a white person started yelling at them, even though they knew they were free and had all the rights this white person had. Nevertheless, they were still scared and acted like a slave anyhow. Being a child of the 1930s, I saw this myself many times.

Lloyd-Jones then points out that this is exactly how many Christians still act. They know one thing, but they don’t know the other. They know that they have been redeemed from sin’s slavery and that they are free in union with the Anointed One. If they believed in their hearts what they knew in their head, they wouldn’t still be a slave to their sinful heart’s desires or what others think of them. While technically and in reality, you are no longer a slave to sin, since God freed you from your sins, why do you remain a slave to sinful tendencies? So, let go of those inclinations, says Lloyd-Jones, and grab hold of Jesus your Savior, He will be more than enough to keep you free.

How many times have we seen a young Christian try to pull the heavy load of church membership requirements, but just couldn’t make it? Or an elderly believer who, after years and years of faithful obedience to religious rituals and regulations, being let out to pasture because they are no longer useful to the church as an asset; they have become burdensome? Paul’s heart bled for these Galatians who didn’t see the real value of freedom in the Anointed One.  It allowed them to serve God without the taxing load of “should I or shouldn’t I; can I or can’t I; will they like it, or will they hate it?” Didn’t they realize that their freedom in our Anointed One allowed them to get closer to God than any rite could do? Didn’t he tell them that their liberty in our Anointed One gave them more excellent options to please God than any ritual could provide? Didn’t they remember when Paul taught them that their immunity from these things offered them more opportunity to give themselves to God for divine service than any regulation could allow?

Dutch Bible Scholar Alfred E. Bouter makes a good point on what Paul says here in verse one about “remaining steadfast in one’s faith.” This Christian liberty is a precious thing, and it is constantly under attack. Many forces seek to move saints away from the center by either pushing them towards strict legalism to abstain from doing what pleased them or steering them towards an open license to do as they please. That’s why we must keep our focus based on what we see in our connection with this liberty, and that is why Paul says, “Stand firm.” When it comes to the enjoyment of these precious Christian truths, there is always this challenge to stand firm, so we will not lose them, but that we will enjoy this position of liberty in true fellowship with God. In every epistle, Paul encourages us in this sense: to hold fast.^[3] In his translation of verse one from the Aramaic Version, Andrew Roth renders it: “Therefore, you stand in the liberty of the Messiah, liberty and not subjugation, turned from the yoke of servitude.” ^[4]

Current Messianic Jewish writer Thomas Lancaster attempts to point out how Paul’s words were so easily misunderstood, even by early non-Jewish Christian leaders such as Ignatius of Antioch. He points to an epistle written by Ignatius to the Magnesians.^[5] Ignatius told them not to become insensible to God’s kindness. For if He were to treat us for the way we are acting, we would indeed be lost and undone. Therefore, upon becoming His disciples, we should learn to live in a way appropriate to Christianity. Those who say they were called to live by a specific code of conduct by any other name than Jesus the Anointed One, is not of God.  So, don’t even fool around with such things. Instead of the Bread of Heaven, what they feed you will be stale and bitter. Be salted by Him, that no one among you waxes corrupt, for, by your Savior, you will be tested. Lancaster tells us, “It is outrageous to utter the name of Jesus our Anointed One and live in Judaism. A Christian cannot remain in Judaism and remain Christian, but Jews can come into Christianity remain Christian even though they are still Jewish. For it is in Christianity that people of every tongue can believe and be gathered to God.^[6]

Lancaster responds to what Ignatius wrote by saying that this early church scholar misinterpreted the words of Paul because he misunderstood Judaism. Lancaster says to Ignatius, I beg your pardon, but this is not exactly what Paul meant. In the first place, says Lancaster, Paul spoke only to Gentile believers on this subject, not Jews. As far as Paul is concerned, it is only to the Jews that one spoke about keeping the whole Torah. Paul did not speak against the Torah or Judaism; rather, as we have learned, he addressed Gentiles who were considering undergoing a legal conversion to become Jewish. Lancaster then says to Ignatius, I beg to differ. As a Gentile, you never lived under the law to be set free from something, you never experienced like the burden of a yoke.

But in doing so, Lancaster contradicts himself. True, Paul warned the non-Jews not to become tied to the yoke of slavery produced by the Law, and by using the term “again” he equated the Jewish Law to the heathen ways to which there were formerly enslaved, but at the same time why should the Apostle only warn the non-Jews when the Jews themselves were saddled to the same yoke. And Paul makes that clear by what he says in verse two about the enslavement represented by circumcision.

American theologian and Presbyterian minister Philip G. Ryken has an interesting way of explaining our freedom from the Law through the Anointed One. Paul is concerned that the Galatians might misinterpret this freedom as being set from the moral laws that God gave to Moses and that Jesus reinforced.^[7] This is God’s eternal will for His people. The Law that the Anointed One freed us from is the one that leads to condemnation and death. But the Gospel replaced this Law because we receive forgiveness and justification by faith and grace. So that Law no longer has any control over our future with God. Not only that, but Jesus paid the price for our freedom so that we need not fear eternal punishment anymore. If we stay in union with the Anointed One and He stays in union with us, neither Satan nor the Law can touch us. The Anointed One kept the Law we could not keep, He paid the penalty we could not pay, He won the victory we could not win. Therefore, we can say with confidence that the Spirit of Life has set us free from the law of sin and death.^{[8] [9]}

[1] Wuest, Kenneth: Word Studies, op. cit., loc. cit.

[2] Luther, Martin: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 192

[3] Alfred E. Bouter: On Galatians, op. cit., pp. 65-66

[4] Andrew G. Roth, Aramaic Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[5] Magnesians were residents of an area in Greece on the eastern coast of the Pagasetic Gulf in the Aegean Sea.  It is part of the larger region of Thessaly.

[6] The Epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch by Rev. J. H. Srawley, Second Edition, Revised, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1910, Chapter 10, pp. 67-68

[7] Matthew 5:17-20

[8] Romans 8:2

[9] Ryken, Philip Graham. On Galatians, op. cit., (Kindle Location 3420-3429)

When it comes to earning a reputation for being a person of their word, someone who will be there no matter what, and being known for never giving up, the words of King Solomon ring loudly, especially in our day and age: “Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person is hard to find.”[1]

Tony A. Gaskins Jr., Author, Celebrity Life Coach, and Professional Motivational Speaker, has found several sterling qualities come with being faithful. One of the first, says Tony, is peace beyond one’s imagination. And because of this abiding peace, it brings chronic happiness. You don’t need anything, in particular, to make you happy. Because you are a faithful person, your heart and mind are always at ease. And when a person is at ease, then happiness is a natural feeling.

Along with peace, a faithful person has an uncontrollable sense of pride. Not egotism, self-love, boastfulness, haughtiness, or being braggadocios, but delight, dignity, honor, and self-respect. Such a sense of happiness with one’s behavior and conduct builds up the assurance of strong confidence in one’s ability to stay faithful. You don’t end up second-guessing yourself on whether or not it is worth it.

When this is the case, then what others may consider as ordinary or routine becomes exciting. Tony says that for him, being in love is like a fairy tale. You don’t wake up each morning wondering if you love your life’s companion, or how much you love them. Instead, you wake up saying to yourself, “I can’t believe being in love like this is really true!” This then will have a reciprocal benefit because the one you love so deeply and faithfully will be just as in love with you. Your marriage will not be a script for a daily soap opera. You will experience a drama-free love life; no daily ups and downs; no worries about what tomorrow may bring.

In that type of setting, for the first time, you will experience a genuine core connection with another human being. Sad to say, some people love their pets more than they love their partner. This real bonding takes away any questions about them being faithful to you or any doubt of your being faithful to them. As someone once said, you can do more working together than you could ever do alone. With this comes an unexplainable and uncontainable sense of success. Once you commit yourself to build an unbreakable connection with another person, you’ll never want to trade it for something or someone else. And it all starts with the virtue of faithfulness.

No wonder God gave Moses this word of encouragement for His people: if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.”[2] And King Solomon advised: “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. That way, you will find favor and success in the sight of God and man.”[3]

But who can forget what our Lord told His disciples:  One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?[4]

As a husband, father, pastor, teacher, and leader, I was not overly concerned whether or not my spouse, children, members, students or subordinates did everything perfectly, I was more interested in their being faithful to the cause in performing their assigned duties. And I set the same standard for myself. Was I always perfect? Heaven’s no! But I didn’t use that as an excuse to stop trying to improve. The one thing I worked on most of all, was faithfulness, which is beautifully expressed by that grand old hymn, “Great is They Faithfulness, O God my Father.[5]

I once had a church member tell me that they loved my preaching, but my bedside manners were severely lacking because I didn’t do enough visiting. I responded by telling them that I knew I would disappoint people in one way or another, but I would rather disappoint them with my visiting than to disappoint God with my preaching. After all, His greatest compliment to anyone will be when He says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” – Dr. Robert R Seyda

[1] Proverbs 20:6

[2] Deuteronomy 28:1

[3] Proverbs 3:3-4

[4] Luke 16:10-12

[5] Written by Thomas Chisholm (1866–1960) with music composed by William M. Runyan (1870–1957) in Baldwin City, Kansas, U.S. The phrase “great is thy faithfulness” comes from the Old Testament Book of Lamentations 3:23.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE BIBLE

We used to hear Israel Houghton sing this song that he wrote when we attended Lakewood Church in Houston, TX: “Jesus at the Center of it All.” We often look for the center of things so we can get a better perspective of how far we’ve come and how far we need to go. Out of the books in the Bible, have you ever thought of what is the center verse in the center book in the center of the Bible? It is a compelling verse in its own right. PSALM 118 is the middle chapter of the entire Bible.

PSALM 118 is preceded by Psalm 117, the shortest chapter in the Bible.

PSALM 118 is followed by Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible.

PSALM 118 is preceded by 594 chapters and followed by 594 chapters. If you add the 594 preceding and 594 following chapters, the sum is a total of 1188 chapters. That puts Psalm 118:8 right in the middle of the entire Bible.

And what is this central verse of the Bible? “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. – Psalm 118:8

It’s simple math. How many books are there in the Bible? What is the center Book? How many chapters to the middle?

Rather than quibble over the precise exactness, let us consider the message of Psalm 118:8 again:

“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.”

That’s a great statement to think about in-depth. It will end up changing your life. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LI)

The woman’s accusers were stunned. The Law never raised such a question. But the Anointed One brings in power and comprehensiveness and searching of character which was never shone before, which can now be seen only in and through Him. The Law simply said, punish adulteresses with stoning. But it never said, “He that is without sin should throw the first stone.” The Law knew there were no sinless people? He alone who came not to condemn was without sin. The Law might denounce, but with this fact, there were none to execute the sentence. So they retired in hopeless confusion, and the woman was left in the presence of the Son, who shines as the Word of God, as light upon the soul.^[1] Jesus did not excuse her sin, but by grace forgave her sin and told her to go and never do it again. We can only imagine the freedom she felt in her heart and soul.

James Nisbet (1823-1874), in his commentary, quotes Anglican priest James Vaughan, the Dean of the diocese of Achonry in Ireland (1662-1683), who observed what Paul says here about the freedom by which believers are set free and what this situation was in England at that time. Everyone has things in their past, says Vaughan, that they drag around like chains. There are things in a person’s life which they can scarcely dare look back on, and when they do, they see what they are chained to. They feel that so long as those things stay there, it is of little or no use to try and live a better life. They see nothing in their future that can break those chains.

However, says Vaughan, just to remove those chains, they must go to the Cross of the Anointed One and have Him cancel all the guilt because He paid the penalty in full. The moment a person believes and accepts their pardon, the chains are cut off from all their sinful past! It is placed out of God’s sight. It is cast into the depths of the sea. It is as though they never existed. They can start life afresh and anew. No shadow, no fear, need come up from the years gone by. They stand a liberated person! Now they can go as a freed slave by the Anointed One. The God of their terror is now the God of their love! And that’s because they’ve been liberated from the past by His purchase of the freedom on the cross.^[2]

Well-known English writer, translator, and theologian, J. B. Lightfoot (1828-1889) makes the point that Paul assumes a very severe tone in condemning the Galatians for returning to the Law. Not only because it was a useless imposition or even a very heavy burden, but it was a harmful and fatal mistake. But there was another side to Paul’s tough talk. He was not speaking on behalf of a Church or Council, but he was called of God and commissioned by Jesus the Anointed One to take the Gospel to these people, and he was willing to suffer for the Gospel’s sake. So, the Galatians needed to know that the Good News was not cheap, it was bought with the blood of the Son of God and brought to them with great strain and inconvenience. For that reason, don’t throw away such a precious gift.^[3]

In one of his sermons, the great evangelist D. L. Moody (1837-1899) told a story from his era that illustrates this confusion over freedom, when he quoted a former slave from the South right after the Civil War.  She confessed to being very confused over her change in status.  “Am I free, or am I not?” she asked.  “When I go to my old slave master, he says I’m not really free, but when I ask my fellow slaves, they say I am, so am I free or not? My people tell me that Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation to free me, but my old slave master says Lincoln didn’t have the right to sign such a thing, so am I free or not?”  Paul is trying to tell the Galatian believers they are indeed free; Jesus, our Anointed One, signed their Emancipation Proclamation with His own blood.  So, don’t listen to these Judaizers; they are only working for your old slave master under Mosaic Law, who doesn’t want you to be free.

Frederic Rendall (1840-1906) looks back at verse thirty-one in the previous chapter and notes that when properly translated, it reads: “Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid, but the Anointed One set us free with the freedom of the freewoman.” He believes that Paul made this threefold alliteration to emphasize the importance of this Christian birthright that supports his statement in the first verse of the fifth chapter that we were born to live in freedom. Paul did this to show the stark difference between the liberty granted to Christians in contrast to the bondage which the Jews inherited.^[4] So it should be easy to see how the freedom of being born again to serve God freely out of love cannot be matched by the slavery of sin in which hold every sinner hostage until they are freed by the Anointed One.

Ernest DeWitt Burton (1856-1925), proposes that this first sentence of chapter five is “the epitome of the argument of the whole letter.”^[5] Thus, Paul cautioned the converted Jews in Galatia not to become encumbered again in the dictates of the Law with its rites and rituals designed to earn salvation. But unfortunately, we find a parallel among some Christians today. It is a shame that so many having been set free by our Anointed One voluntarily re-chain themselves to the post of religious habits! Our Anointed One broke the shackles, and yet many put them right back on, out of tradition. This then leads to the resurrection of the desires of the flesh, as well as the habits of the sinful nature and its corrupt mind. This is voluntary slavery, so when the Anointed One beckons for us to follow Him in order to do His will, we cannot. Oh, that believers once set free and allowed themselves to go back into slavery will offer themselves as unchained servants of the God Most High.

Not only did the blood of the Passover lamb in Egypt set the Jews free from slavery under Pharaoh, but Paul reminds the believers in Galatia that the blood of the Passover Lamb on Calvary set them free from slavery under Mosaic Law.  That way, their salvation will no longer be based on faith in their own efforts but based on their faith in the works of our Anointed One.  As Jews, they were not born free down in Egypt but needed to be set free by the miraculous power of God through Moses.  Likewise, as believers, they were not born free under Mosaic Law but needed to be set free by the miraculous power of God through the Messiah.

In both cases, they did not earn their freedom by merit, righteous living, or bargaining; it came as a result of an innocent lamb being slain. But the first lamb involved the offspring of an animal, while the second Lamb is the Son of the Living God.  In the first sacrifice, whose calculated value came in the form of silver shekels, but in the second sacrifice, the value of the Lamb is priceless. After freedom through the first lamb in Egypt became the sacrifice, many more lambs died in a reenactment of that first sacrifice. However, after freedom through the Lamb of God became a reality, no more lambs are needed to be sacrificed because this Lamb said, “It is finished!”

Could anyone give the Jewish people any credit for coherent reasoning were they to decide to go back into Egyptian slavery and bondage?  No!  They’d be the laughingstock of the world. So why should the Galatian believers even consider returning to slavery and bondage under ceremonial law? That’s why Paul almost screams at them, “Make sure you stay free and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the old Mosaic Law!” Paul uses two words in this challenge that help us understand the impact of his demand.  The first is the Greek verb stēkō, which means to “stand firm, to be persistent, to persevere; don’t give in easily to words that criticize with the intent of lowering one’s resistance, or words of enticement with the intent on lowering one’s standards.” In other words, don’t let them intimidate you.

The second is the Greek noun zygos that refers to a yoke used to bind two animals together so that they are forced to go in the same direction. Paul uses these words to tell the Galatian believers to resist with all their might any effort to break their commitment to staying in the freedom given to them by our Anointed One. Don’t let these Judaizers yoke you together again with ceremonial laws and make slaves out of you. You are free, put on the shoulder yoke of the Anointed One so you can carry the Living Water. Perhaps Paul remembered his discussion before the Council in Jerusalem when he asked them, “So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?”^[6]

In speaking about free will, Paul touches on a subject that’s all the rage in our world today. People all around us seem to be in a race to obtain independence, but what kind of independence? When you listen to them, you get the distinct impression that what they want is the freedom to do whatever pleases them without censure or wise counsel and to satisfy any desire they have no matter what the outcome. They don’t realize that this is not being liberated to live above dependency and debauchery, but the freedom to surrender to it. How can you consider yourself free when you’ve chained yourself to powers you can’t overcome? This is not freedom; this is forfeiture.

J. L. Nye (1881-1965) tells us about the great English writer John Milton (1608-1674), who was the chief of poets and held the post of Latin Secretary under Oliver Cromwell, who was Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. After the English Civil War (1642-1646) and peace was restored, he was dismissed from his office by King Charles II for his political views on freedom. By that time, he was blind and fell into poverty. King Charles, nevertheless, fined and ordered his writings on liberty to be burned in public. This great poet then withdrew from public life and retired to the countryside. Not being discouraged by all the fierce and multiplied trials he was forced to go through, he ended up writing his now masterpiece, “Paradise Lost.”

King Charles then had a change of heart and offered Milton the opportunity to resume his former post with all its honors, compensation, and court favors. But Milton knew that the price of accepting this honor would require that he remain silent on the great question of human liberty. So, without hesitation, he decided to graciously refuse the offer despite it being a strong temptation and excellent bribe. For him to remain silent on liberty, he was guaranteed honor, an abundant compensation, and a high position instead of remaining in poverty, persecution, and neglect.

But this venerated poet loved truth too much. His soul was too noble, too sincere, too firm in its allegiance to God and liberty that he was not willing to exchange it for membership in King Charles’s court of tyranny and the promise of gold that could be rightly called fool’s gold. So, he turned down the royal offer and clung to his principles and his poverty up until his death. That’s when his freed soul was called to enter his welcoming place of rest to await the resurrection.^[7]

[1] William Kelly: On Galatians, op. cit., pp. 119-120

[2] James Nisbet: Church Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., loc. cit.

[3] J. B. Lightfoot: On Galatians, p. 284

[4] Frederic Rendall: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 183

[5] Ernest DeWitt Burton: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit., p. 270

[6] Acts of the Apostles 15:10

[7] J. L. Nye: Anecdotes, p.117

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson L)

I like the way Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) renders this verse: “God grant us grace to stay in grace! God grant us faith enough to live by faith, even to the end, as the freeborn children of God, for His name’s sake! Amen.” Spurgeon goes on to remind each believer that they are no longer following the legal mandates of the Law but living for God in the freedom of grace. So, do not subject yourselves, therefore, to religious legal principles. Do not live as if you were working for wages, and were earning your salvation. Do not submit yourselves to the rituals and commandments of mankind, which would rob you of your liberty in many ways. You have become a free child of God, never again wear the chains of a slave.^[1]

To this group, we can add George G. Findlay (1849-1919), author of the Expositor’s Bible and Professor of Biblical Languages at the training college for Methodist ministers at Headingly, Leeds, England. He is straight forward in assessing why verse one, here in chapter five, being separated from chapter four above, was ill-judged. This is Paul’s application of the allegory of Hagar and Sarah, the slave-woman and the free-woman. Findlay calls it a triumphant assertion of liberty, a ringing summons to its defense. Through chapter and verse numbering, it was separated from chapter four, making it run counter to the ancient divisions of the Epistle.^[2] Then we can add Presbyterian theologian of Yale Divinity School George Baker Stevens (1854-1906), who says without hesitation that this verse belongs to the last part of chapter four to understand its full meaning.^[3]

However, Don Garlington disagrees. For him, this first verse’s summons to freedom is, in its own right, the high watermark of the Epistle.^[4] On the other hand, Chinese Bible scholar Ronald Y. K. Fung takes the middle road and says that this independent verse – with no connective particle to mark its relation to what precedes or follows – serves as a “bridge verse” or “transition paragraph.” ^[5] It is, on the one hand, a summary of 4:21–31, if not also of chapters 3–4 as a whole, or even of 2:14–4:31 or 1:6–4:31,54 and serves as an introduction to the exhortations of chapter five.^[6] And the writers of the Christ-Centered Commentary say that this verse functions as a transition verse between what was said before and what is being said now.^[7]

The English transitive verb “enfranchise” means, to set free (as from slavery), to endow with the rights of a franchise: such as, to admit to the privileges of the owner, the freedom to choose. So, we can see in Edmunds’ thinking, the Anointed One set us free from the slavery of sin so that we can live in the freedom of choosing to follow Him as our Lord and praise Him as our Savior. And by saying that those who are now free should not become “enthralled” with their old way of living. The Greek verb enechō (“entangled” KJV) that Paul used means to become captivated with something. That’s why Edmunds chose “enthralled,” which means to be bewitched, fascinated, mesmerized, preoccupied, enraptured. It’s like being lured back into an addiction. This fits well with what Paul expressed to the Galatians in 1:6-7.

Edmunds suggests that this happens when a person does not feel that their Christian way of living is bringing them the same thrill and excitement they experienced in sin. Therefore, they start looking back at their old life and become desirous for their former lifestyle. That’s when their sinful tendencies start calling them to go back. Paul is trying to tell them there is a lot more for them up ahead if they just apply themselves to serving their Savior out of love and reverence. Don’t become discouraged because things don’t go the way you want them to go. Just being free should be enough to make a person happy.^[8]

German theologian Johann P. Lange (1802-1884) draws a line between freedom from the moral law of men and the divine law of God. Regarding the idea of Freedom, which Paul in this Epistle maintains and justifies for Christians,^[9] we are to consider that it does not primarily mean freedom from the accusations and the curse of the Law. In other words, although a person may be born again, they are still subject to condemnation were they to return to their sinful life. The Apostle is speaking about freedom from the claims (requirements) of the Law, from the obligation of attaching oneself to it so that by the works of the Law, a person can earn salvation.

For Lange, he feels that Luther runs too headlong and with little caution into declaring this liberty, which the Anointed One secured as freedom from all the laws of Moses. In doing so, says Lange, he praises being Law-free as the greatest benefit in the Anointed One’s sacrifice. There is no doubt that freedom from all that the Law’s demands to earn salvation, does, in fact, bring freedom from all the ceremonial laws.  In the first place, because by the very fact that the Anointed One delivered believers from the curse of the Law by paying for it Himself. So, Christians need to realize it is only in Him and through Him, they are made free from the Law itself. And when it comes to keeping the Ten Commandments and other moral laws, they are satisfied by our service to our Lord. Thus, it is only to those who do not give themselves any more to bondage under the Law does freedom from its curse also remain guaranteed. And in the same manner, those who give up their freedom in fulfilling the Law through the Anointed one loses that freedom as well as the liberty they had from the Law’s condemnation and fall into double bondage.^[10]

Not only does Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian Philip Schaff agree with others that this first verse should have been attached to the last part of chapter four, but that as an exhortation that provides the end to the reasoning in the argument of Hagar and Sarah representing God’s children under the Law and those under Grace, but it is also a suitable beginning of the encouraging action spelled out in this fifth chapter. Therefore, these chapters contrast Jewish bondage with Christian freedom. This is clearly seen beginning this fifth chapter in verse two.

When seen this way, says Schaff, “freedom” is the outcome of the previous discussion with Paul’s encouragement on letting go of the old and grasping hold of the new way. That’s why he feels that the term “for freedom” is the right way of expressing what Paul was saying. And this is speaking of “spiritual” freedom, not “carnal” freedom because once you are free, you should remain free. That’s because this freedom implies the consciousness of the full pardon of sin, ready and direct access to the throne of grace, and all the privileges and responsibilities of a child in their father’s house.^[11] Remember, the devil is roaming around outside, searching for anyone he can devour.^[12]

Baptist theologian Alvah Hovey (1820-1903), long-time professor and President of Newton Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, feels that the standard translation of the KJV does not properly give the meaning of what Paul says here in verse one, because most readers put the emphasis on the believer’s freedom instead of on the work of the Anointed One. He prefers the Revised English Version: “With freedom did the Anointed One set us free; stand fast, therefore,” etc. Still better, says Hovey, is the note in the margin that says: “For freedom, He set us free.”

Hovey goes on to point out that the word “freedom” is emphatic. The Anointed One brought us freedom, He did not free us just to be a pupil or elementary learner. How else were we to grow up in Him? His delivering us from restrictions of the Law was for the purpose of establishing us in the family of God as His children and heirs. Paul is evidently referring to the liberty of which he has been speaking in the previous chapter – that is, Christian liberty. So says Hovey, perhaps the rendering “For this freedom did the Anointed One set us free,”

That’s why, says Paul, keep that freedom and don’t let yourselves become entangled again in a yoke of unnecessary restrictions. Formerly they had been in bondage to the superstitious fears and rites of heathenism; now, they were in danger of accepting the useless and burdensome rituals of Judaism. They were moving in the wrong direction, away from spiritual liberty into spiritual slavery, and the Apostle’s heart is deeply moved with anxiety to preserve them from so great a calamity.^[13]

Irish Plymouth Brethren writer William Kelly (1821-1906), points to what he believes is a remarkable illustration of the different ways in which the Holy Spirit brings out the liberty which the believer now enjoys. John’s Gospel finds a story that is attributed to the Son of God operating in the truth, and both points of view are in contradistinction to the Law.^[14] There we have the case of a woman discovered in the very act of adultery. So, a certain group of village elders attempts to avoid judging to serve some selfish purposes, trying to be religious men. They put themselves, as one might suppose, on God’s side, to judge the gravest, plainest, most positive guilt, and this without mercy, but with self-judgment.

 It was the obvious effort of the village elders to see this woman’s sin and shame, according to God’s Law, not only to exalt themselves and claim righteousness, which was not theirs but to dishonor God’s Son with their confrontation. However, as John points out, it brought out triumphantly the glory of the Anointed One. He did not come to defile the Law, but to let them see that there was a glory that came, which surpassed the glory of the Law. In fact, in the light of this glory, the dignity of the Law grew pale; and the Anointed One showed it most clearly. Not that He uttered one word to lower the Law. Instead, He proved the utter powerlessness of the Law to meet the sinner’s need, except to properly bring condemnation on those who willingly disobey it.

But, says Kelly, the Law destroys the guilty hand as if wielding a sword, as well as the one against whom it is aimed. Yet, it is a two-edged sword in its character when the Anointed One speaks. And in this case, her accusers were forced to feel its keenness in their efforts to condemn this embarrassed adulteress. It was not her, but they who drew back in absolute confusion from the presence of the Anointed One. But mark this, notes Kelly, Jesus was not using the Law. He was showing the weakness of the Law by the divine light within Him. In doing so, He completely exposes the folly and sin of their misuse of Law. He showed that one without sin could alone righteously throw the first stone.

[1] Charles H. Spurgeon: Exposition of Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[2] George G. Findlay: On Galatians, op. cit., pp. 299-300

[3] George Barker Stevens: Exposition of Galatians, op. cit., p. 198

[4] Don Garlington: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 139

[5] Cf. KJV, RSV, NEB, NIV.

[6] Ronald Y. K. Fung: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 215

[7] Platt, David; Merida, Tony: Exalting Jesus in Galatians, op. cit., p. 96

[8] John Edmunds: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 71

[9] Galatians 3:25

[10] James P. Lange: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 129

[11] Philip Schaff: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 341

[12] 1 Peter 5:8

[13] Hovey, Alvah: On Galatians, op. cit., pp. 63–64

[14] John 8:32-36

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson XLIX)

Martin Luther’s concept of freedom is our conscience. This is borne out in his expanded rendition of this verse. It reads: “It is for such freedom that the Anointed One set us free. Therefore, make sure that you stay free, and stop becoming slaves to your consciences, connecting it with God’s Law.”^[1] This same thought may have been in Paul’s mind when he spoke about the renewing of our minds in overcoming any temptation to become once more conformed to or taking on the yoke of the world.^[2] So we can say that Paul is talking here about the difference between laboring for God as a slave and serving Him as a son.

Another great Reformer, John Calvin, gives his defense of a renewed confidence in adhering to the Gospel instead of the Law. He leaves no doubt that this liberty obtained for us by the Anointed One, with its blessings on the cross, is bestowed on us through the Gospel. Paul does the right thing to warn the Galatians not to become entangled again with the worldly yoke of bondage – that is, not to allow a trap to be laid for their consciences. For if a person has a burden laid on their shoulders, even one that is not necessarily right for them to carry, they can decide whether or not to do so. However, if there is an attempt to burden their conscience with unnecessary rules and regulations, they are to resist with all their might, even to death.

Once we allow others to control our conscience, we will be deprived of the invaluable blessing in deciding what the Spirit leads us to do, and at the same time, we insult the Anointed One, the Author of our freedom. So, what is the purpose of Paul’s admonition here for the Galatians, not to be entangled again with the legal yoke of bondage? As far as the [Gentile] Galatians who never lived under the Law are concerned, it simply means that they were not to become entangled since they were redeemed by the grace of the Anointed One from such slavery. And although the Jews received the Law, not the Gentiles, yet, apart from the Anointed One, neither the Jew or Gentile enjoys any freedom, but absolute imprisonment to the Law’s demands.^[3]

English Puritan theologian Matthew Poole (1624-1699) makes an important point in understanding what “liberty” should mean to the believer. Liberty is a right which a person has to do what he or she wants to do without any interference or censure by critics as long as it doesn’t impose on the rights of others. This is what we find in those things of a civil or social nature. But that’s not the “liberty” Paul is speaking of. He clearly says there “the liberty with which the Anointed One set us free.”

So, what did Jesus the Anointed One set us free from? It was not the lawful commands of the government, or children to be free from the laws of their parents, or employees to be free from the rules of their employers. There is no book in the Final Covenant where obedience of this nature is proposed. Nor is it exemplified as a believer’s duty in union with the Anointed One and those over them in the Lord. The liberty that Paul speaks of here is that freedom from the Law’s demand for obedience in order to secure salvation, of which the Apostle has been speaking all along this Epistle.

This includes trusting in moral laws and ceremonial laws to justify a right standing before God. This is the liberty which the Anointed One purchased for us, and in which the Apostle Paul desires all believers to stand fast; not being again burdened with a legalistic yoke which God lifted off their necks. The Apostles agreed that this same yoke was on their forefather’s necks, and was so heavy that even they could not carry it without falling.^{[4] [5]} So why would the Galatians want to be tied up in that? Paul shook his head in bewilderment at the very thought of such foolishness.

Scottish minister and theologian James Macknight (1721-1800), in his new translation, has Paul saying this here in verse one: “…be not again held fast in the yoke of bondage.” He intends to point out that Paul was saying that they were once before held under such domination, the Jews by trusting in their ceremonial laws for salvation, and the Gentiles by their heathen worship to please and appease their angry gods.^[6] It’s not like they were encountering anything new. It would be like an animal being set free from a trap by a compassionate human being, only to turn around and run back into the same trap. No wonder Paul was so upset and despondent when he heard the news of their turning around and going back to the same old way of earning salvation. Think of it this way, the word “conversion” means to “turn around,” which they did upon accepting the freedom offered by Jesus the Anointed One. Therefore, by “turning around” again and going back to the prison of rites and ceremonies, they are not unconverted or reconverted, but falsely convinced they were going the wrong way.

As Wesleyan theologian Adam Clarke (1760-1832) points out, what Paul is not saying is connected to what he just said in the last chapter. Since the Galatians believers are not children of the slave woman, they are children of the free woman, they should now think, act, and behave like they are free. To go back into Judaism meant spiritual bondage to the Law. So, they should hold fast to their newfound life in the Anointed One who came just for that reason, to set them free. This should not have been shocking news, even to the Jews. After all, even they believed that when the Messiah came, He came to liberate them.

George Haydock (1774-1849), a Catholic commentator, links this bondage to what Paul speaks of here to what he wrote back in chapter four, verse nine. But on this occasion, says Haydock, Paul’s language is not as precise. Remember, the Galatians converted from paganism, and of course, never were subject to the Law of Moses. But the Apostle, by these words here in verse one, entreats them not to begin now to serve these weak and useless elements, (as he calls the Jewish rites).^[7] So it appears that Haydock took this freedom to be one wrought by works, not by faith in the liberator, Jesus the Messiah.

Look at the way English academic John Edmunds (1801-1874) paraphrases verse one: “For freedom has the Anointed One enfranchised us. Stand fast, therefore, and be not again enthralled in a yoke of bondage.”^[8] He feels that verse one actually should be the last verse of the preceding fourth chapter. It accounts for the free condition in which we find ourselves and is a sure motivation for us to remain free. As free Christians, it would make no sense to give up that liberty brought by God’s grace and sell our souls to Satan and the world.[9] That would be like being pulled out of the quicksand and saved from death, only to walk back in because we were told it wouldn’t harm us.[10]

Professor of Ancient Languages at Wesleyan University Daniel D. Whedon (1808)-1885) agrees with Edmunds that the separation of this verse from the previous chapter is unfortunate because the “therefore.” at the beginning of the verse is key to understanding the freedom of which Paul is speaking.^[11] And Scottish theologian John Eadie (1810-1876) agrees.^[12] Also, English theologian Charles Ellicott (1819-1905), says that verse one gives us the logical conclusion of Paul’s persuasive argument in the preceding chapter.^[13] George Whitefield Clark (1831-1895) defines verse one as the connecting link between the doctrinal and practical portions of this Epistle, as well. That’s because it contains the conclusion of the preceding discussion and the start of Paul’s practical application of those principles of Christian liberty in contrast to the restrictions of the Law.^[14]

Charles J. Vaughan (1816-1897), presents his thoughts in a very academic way to inform us that it is necessary that we first see in general what “liberty” Paul is talking about here in verse one. No one can be “free,” so long as their own conscience locks them up into the prison of fear, punishment, and death. There are subjects that the mind is afraid to touch; it cannot expound on everything and cannot explore all things. Therefore, it is never “free.” It is the sense of being pardoned that provides a person’s perception of liberation. Have we not all felt the difference in doing our work in order to be loved, or doing our work because we are loved; to be motivated by circumstances, or be moved by conscience; to be distracted by anxiety, or to be attracted by affection?

But, again, says Vaughan, to obey only one law, no matter how good that law may be, and however we may admire and love the Lawgiver of that Law, it may still carry with it a feeling of being limited and restrained when it comes to doing His will. Whether we do or not do any small part what our Lord commanded us to do is not enough, we must surrender our will to His will, because it is the will of the One we love – to have understood His mind, to breathe His Spirit, to be bound up with His glory – that has in it no littleness; with no limiting confinement there, and these are the freedoms of unshackled abilities to match our God-given purpose and destiny.

And yet, once more notes Vaughan, we are talking about the soul of mankind who on all they see on their horizon falls within the scope of time, however long – or of a present life however full – that person’s circle being small, compared to their consciousness of their capability. Because of such an imbalance, they feel restricted in their ability to comprehend their present status in light of eternity. But let a person once look, as they may, and as they must, on that great world which lies beyond them as their scope and their home, and all that is here as only the discipline and the school-work by which they are being trained, and immediately everything contained in its entirety.

Still, that person will be free among those who have died because their faith will carry them out above the smallness which surrounds them, to the great, and to the absorbing, and to the satisfying things to come. It will not be difficult to carry out these principles and apply them to the right performance of any of the obligations of life. It needs no words to show that whatever is done in this freedom will not only be itself better done, but it takes from that freedom a character which fits well with a member of the family of God; and which at once makes it edifying to Him, and acceptable and honoring to our heavenly Father.^[15]

[1] Aiyer, Ramsey, The Contextual Bible Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[2] Romans 12:2

[3] John Calvin: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[4] Acts of the Apostles 15:10

[5] Poole, Matthew: On Galatians (Annotated), op. cit, p. 656

[6] James Macknight: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 191

[7] George Haydock: Catholic Bible Commentary, Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[8] See John 8:36; Romans 8:2

[9] See 2 Thessalonians 2:15

[10] Edmunds, John: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 71

[11] Daniel D. Whedon: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 238

[12] John Eadie: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 377

[13] Charles J. Ellicott: Critical and Grammatical Commentary, On Galatians, op. cit., pp. 116-117

[14] George Whitefield Clark: On Galatians, op cit., p. 109

[15] Charles J. Vaughan: The Biblical Illustrator – Vol. 48 – Pastoral Commentary on Galatians (Kindle Location 14112).

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson XLVIII)

Early church theologian, Origen (184-253 AD), proposes that there are certain sins, however, which do not proceed from external forces but originate from their internal sinful tendencies which the Apostle Paul clearly declares in this passage: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you don’t do whatever you want.” If then, the lust of the flesh against the aspirations of the Spirit means we must wrestle against our sinful tendencies on occasions, although we continue to provide for the needs of the body, we are still capable of resisting those temptations that are greater than our human resistance since we are told, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” ^{[1] [2]}

Now, concerning these opinions, says Origen, let us discuss that there are some who hold the opinion that we have two souls. There is some heavenly good one of our souls and no earthly good in our other soul; that the superior soul is implanted within us from heaven, and was what Jacob received while still in the womb. It gave him the prize of victory in replacing his brother Esau, and in the case of Jeremiah was sanctified from his birth, and, as John says here, was filled by the Holy Spirit from the womb.

Now, that which they term the inferior soul is, as they alleged, produced along with the body itself out of the seed of the body, without which, they say, one cannot live or subsist outside the body. Then, they also say it is frequently termed “the flesh.” They take this expression here in verse seventeen, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit,” to apply not to the flesh, but to this soul, which they term the soul of the flesh. It appears that these individuals are trying to delineate between what it says in Genesis about God breathing His breath into Adam, who then became, in Hebrew, nephesh, a “living soul” as well as a “living being.” ^{[3] [4]} The Greeks use the noun psyche as the seat of feelings, desires, affections, likes, and dislikes, and it is often referred to as “the heart.”

Origen goes on to say that some are ready to present, in support of their assertion, the declaration of the Apostle Paul, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, fornication, uncleanness, immorality, idolatry, poisonings,^[5] hatred, contentions, rivalries, wrath, quarreling, dissensions, heresies, sects, envyings, drunkenness, partying, and the like;” ^[6] asserting that all these do not derive their origin from the habits or pleasures of the flesh so that all such movements are to be regarded as inherent in that substance which does not have a soul – the flesh.

Furthermore, the declaration “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth,” ^[7] would require to understand that there is one kind of wisdom, carnal and material, and another divine and spiritual, the former of which cannot be truly called wisdom, unless there is a soul of the flesh, which is wise in respect to what is called human logic. And in addition to these passages, they put forward the following from what Paul says here: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want.” [8]

Then again, we ask them how are we to understand and interpret when Paul says, “that we cannot do the things that we would?” It is certain, they reply, that the spirit cannot be intended; for the will of the spirit suffers no hindrance. But neither can the flesh be meant, because if it has no soul of its own, neither can it assuredly possess a will. It remains, then, their intention is for us to believe that this second soul is capable of having a will of its own, and which certainly is opposed to the will of the spirit.^[9] It does not take much for us to realize that such convoluted interpretation of Scripture by such false teachers was intended to make God’s Word say what they wanted it to say, not what it really said.

Another early church commentator of the medieval period, Marius Victorinus (268-271), believes that Paul is carrying over the theme of the children of the Final Covenant brought through Sarah instead of Hagar, and the eventual Seed of Abraham that brought deliverance. For him, the freedom by which our Anointed One freed us is clearly by that which our spiritual mother – Sarah is a free woman, having been set free by faith. For this is true freedom: to maintain faithfulness in our relationship with God, to believe God, and all God’s promises. It is according to our faith, then, that the Anointed One led us back to freedom, and He freed us by the freedom of faith.^[10] That’s why Paul goes on to plead with the Galatian believers not to allow themselves to be led back into the captivity of the First Covenant, where they serve God out of fear, and maintain their legalistic salvation by good works in obedience to the Law.

Concerning the same subject of submitting to the yoke of the Law, early church scholar Jerome (347-420 AD) feels that Paul uses the adverb “again,” not because the Galatians previously kept the Law, but in their readiness to observe the lunar seasons, to be circumcised in the flesh, and to offer sacrifices. They were, in a sense returning to the cults they previously served in a state of idolatry.^[11] In other words, they were trading a heathen cult for a Jewish cult.

The great preacher of the early church theologian, Chrysostom (349-407), hears Paul asking the Galatians if they found a way to work out their deliverance, and that’s why they ran back again to work in the stone quarry of good deeds as they did before. Or perhaps, Paul surmises, you found another messiah to redeem you, or you found someone else to pay your ransom for you. Chrysostom tells us to observe how many ways Paul leads them away from the error of Judaism by showing, first, that the worst they could do, especially for those who were freed as sons, to remain as slaves. To desire to become slaves again instead of remaining free makes no sense. Secondly, that they allowed themselves to be found guilty of neglect and ingratitude toward their Divine Benefactor – the Lord Jesus. They despised Him, who delivered them and loving Him, who enslaved them. And thirdly, the Law lost its power over them once they were freed by the Grace of God. By using the phrase “stand fast,” says Chrysostom, Paul “indicates that they were wavering in their faith, but were not yet blown over by the gale winds of false doctrine.” ^[12]

Augustine of Hippo (354-430), one of the earliest medieval Christian writers, agrees that by Paul saying “stand fast,” he implies that the believers in Galatia were not yet wholly committed to believing the misrepresentations of the Judaizers. So, he suggests that Paul might have more appropriately said: “Arise.” This might indicate that some of the believers in Galatia were knocked down but not knocked out. So there remained enough time for them to reject the yoke of bondage these false teachers wanted to put around their necks, forcing them to submit to mandatory circumcision and the many laws and ceremonies.^[13] This is a needed warning appropriate to the Church today when man-made rites and rituals are enforced as part of maintaining one’s salvation.

We see this concept developing in the commentary by an early medieval Catholic scholar, Haimo of Auxerre (800-865 AD), who leaves no doubt that in his mind, the Anointed One set us free through His passion and the grace of baptism. Everyone who exercises the faith of Abraham and lives as an imitator of Abraham’s deeds of faith must surely be a spiritual child of Abraham. They are not so by nature but by imitation. Yet anyone who has the sort of faith that remains unequipped to do good deeds for the Lord can hardly be expected to be counted among the children of Abraham, nor receive the heavenly inheritance along with them. That’s why we all must strive to become clothed with the faith we have by doing good deeds that He said we should do and, in that way, become His true imitators.^{[14] [15]}

 Another Medieval writer, Bruno the Carthusian (1030-1101), points out that although the Anointed One came and lived under the Law, the Law did not apply to Him because He was without sin. Whatever our Lord did, He did by the freedom of His will, which was in harmony with God’s plans. Therefore, if we are in union with Him, we too can take hold of His freedom and do not need to consult the Law before we act. Since it is clear, therefore, says Bruno, that people are bound by the Law, it would be madness of those who are free through faith in the Anointed One to reduce themselves to slavery through the Law. So, now that you stand free, that is, persevere in this freedom of faith, do not be constrained again by the yoke of slavery. Do not be worn down by the burden of the Law again.^[16]

Martin Luther has an excellent presentation on the freedom we have in the Anointed One. He, too, asks: “What liberty does Paul mean?” He’s sure it isn’t civil liberty (for which we have the government to thank), but the liberty which the Anointed One procured for us. At one time, the emperor felt compelled to grant the bishop of Rome certain immunities and privileges. This is civil liberty. That liberty exempts the clergy from certain public charges. Then there is also another kind of “liberty,” when people obey neither the laws of God nor the laws of men but do as they please. This carnal liberty the people want in our day. We are not now speaking of this liberty. Neither are we speaking of civil liberty.

Paul is speaking of far better liberty, he is talking about the liberty “by which the Anointed One set us free,” but from the eternal wrath of God. Where is this liberty? In the conscience! Our conscience is free and quiet because it no longer has to fear the wrath of God. This is real liberty, compared with which every other kind of liberty is not worth mentioning. Who can adequately express the blessing that comes to a person when they have the blessed assurance that God will never again be angry with them, but will forever be merciful to them for the Anointed One’s sake? This is indeed marvelous liberty to have the sovereign God for a Friend and Father who will defend, maintain, and save us in the momentary life we have now, and in the everlasting life, we will inherit.^[17]

[1] 1 Corinthians 10:13

[2] Origen: De Principiis, Bk. III, Ch. 2:3

[3] Genesis 2:7

[4] Origen: De Principiis, Bk. III, Ch. 4:2

[5] Latin “Veneficia” meaning “Witchcraft” – KJV

[6] Galatians 5:19-21

[7] 1 Corinthians 1:26

[8] See verse 17

[9] Origen: De Principiis, Bk. III, Ch. 4:2

[10] Marius Victorinus: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[11] Jerome: On Galatians, Edwards, M. J. (Ed.), op. cit., p. 73

[12] Chrysostom: Homilies on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[13] Augustine of Hippo: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[14] John 14:12

[15] Haimo of Auxerre: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[16] Bruno the Carthusian: On Galatians, op. cit., (Kindle Location 2354)

[17] Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.