Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LXIV)

Maclaren offers a homily on this text. He says that when groups or Churches insist on including external rites as essential for justification, or, elevate any rituals and ceremonies as an accompanying source of grace, attaching them to the bond which fastens our souls to Jesus so that it becomes another channel of grace, as well as the bond of union, then it is time to arm for the defense of the spirituality of the Anointed One’s kingdom and to resist the attempt to bind on freed shoulders the iron yoke of legality. Maclaren says that we should let groups and churches do as they please, so long as they do not turn their optional forms of dedication into essential molds for justification.

 Maclaren notes, in the broad freedom of expression and spirituality, which holds fast to the one central principle of not being troubled by less important matters – we exhibit tolerance for other opinions on this subject of grace alone. But this does not arise from casual differences but a clear understanding of our perception, and from the strong commitment we have for the basic essential for living the Christian life, let us be guided by the significant, calm, lofty thoughts which these verses spread out clearly before our eyes.^[1]

Marvin Vincent (1824-1922) comments on Paul’s inference here in verse four that those who reach for the Law will fall from Grace. The Apostle Peter makes the same point.^[2] Paul’s declaration is aimed squarely at the Judaizers, who taught that joining the freedom of Grace and the obligation of the Law make it legal. They are mutually exclusive, making this impossible.^[3] Vincent notes that the Greek verb ekpiptō means “to fall from a thing, to lose grip of it.” ^[4] Vincent says that in classic Greek writings, they used it in case an insubordinate seaman was ordered off the ship, banished, and deprived of any office. It described actors booed off the stage.^[5] I believe that Paul used the strongest of words, says Vincent, to warn the Galatians of what they faced if they rejected the Anointed One as their sole source of salvation.

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) sees Paul eliminating any trust in the external rituals of religion, which has always been a common temptation. Circumcision was a great thing with the Jews, and frequently they trusted in it, but Paul declares that it adds up to nothing gained. There might be others who were glad that they were not Jews, but Paul says that by them not being circumcised, it did not give the Jews any advantage over others. Certain matters connected with godliness are external, and yet they are only useful for the purpose assigned to them, especially in the case of water baptism and the Lord’s supper, the assembling of ourselves together, the reading of the Word, and public prayer and praise. These things are proper and profitable, but none of them must be made in any measure or degree to serve as the grounds of our hope of salvation. This text sweeps them all away, and plainly describes them as availing nothing if established as foundations of our trust in God’s saving grace.^[6]

George G. Findlay (1849-1919) says that the Galatians faced two roads to follow on their way to justification and salvation. One is called the Roadway of Law, the other, the Highway of Grace. If they chose to follow the Highway of Law, they cease to be Christians. They will leave behind the light and joy of the heavenly Zion; they will find themselves wandering around in the gloomy desolate wilderness of Sinai. So, look at this picture. There are the Galatians all in an uproar about which Hebrew feasts to celebrate and what rites to perform, totally absorbed in the details of Mosaic ceremonial law. On the other side is Paul with the Church of the Spirit, walking boldly in being right with God by faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit, joyfully awaiting the Savior’s final coming and the hope laid up in heaven.^[7] When putting it this way, how could anyone choose any other way than the Way of the Cross?

Findlay goes on to say that these two sentences (verses five and six), sums up faith in the Anointed One. Verse five gives us the dynamo; verse six gives us its dynamics. It is a condition, an occupation, a grand outlook, and an intent pursuit, a Divine hope for the future, and a sovereign power for the present with an everlasting fountain of energy in the love of the Anointed One. These are the active and passive elements of the Christian life we must balance appropriately. Christians and the Church committed many errors because of one-sidedness.  Some just sit with folded hands, patiently waiting until the Lord returns; others are too busy to think of His coming at all. Waiting can degenerate into laziness; serving in a hectic hurry and anxiety can become a mechanical routine, says Findlay. Hope is what gives us calmness and dignity, bubbliness, and brightness to our work. Let us all have Jesus find us working for Him as we await His coming.^[8]

Alvah Hovey, (1892-1903) adds to what he said in the previous verse about being separated from the Anointed One because of forsaking Him in favor of the Law, by noting how it affects a person’s hope of being right with God. The fact is any believer that awaits by faith, the fulfillment of their expectation is evidence that they have turned to religious legal works for salvation and abandoned the method of grace. The “hope” spoken of here cannot mean having the feeling of hope because Christians are not “waiting” for that; they already possess it. It must rather signify that which is hoped for, the object of trust. But it is not the “faith” that provides the substance of that for which we hope.^[9]

But this hoped-for good, says Hovey, is in some way defined by the words “of righteousness.” What then does the term righteousness signify? It may denote a perfect moral character for which we hope by obeying the Law, or it may denote acceptance with God through the Anointed One, which is the down payment of our hope for eternal life. In other words, it may signify either self-righteousness based on Law and Works or justification based on Faith and Grace. Paul’s previous arguments all show it is Faith and Grace. With this said, then this verse teaches that eternal life, for which Christians wait in hope, belongs to justification and will eventually flow from it. However, that justification and hope are dependent on faith in Jesus the Anointed One, and that this faith itself is due to the work of the Holy Spirit provided the Galatians with an exceedingly rich cluster of truths, every one of which is a protest against the Judaistic movement among the Galatians.^[10]

Kenneth Wuest (1893-1961) gives his view of the righteousness he feels Paul is talking about here in verse five. It is not justifying righteousness, and for three reasons. First, it is a righteousness that finds its source in the operation of the Holy Spirit. Justifying righteousness is a purely legal matter and has to do with a believer’s standing before God. The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with that. That is a matter between God, the Father, and God the Son. The Father justifies a believing sinner based on the work of the Son of God on the Cross. Second, the context is dealing with the Christian’s experience, not their standing, with the method of living a Christian life, not the relation of that person to the laws of God. Third, love is a Fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian spoken of in verse six, which verse links up with verse five. Again, this shows that the grace spoken of in verse five is sanctifying grace, of which the Galatian saints were depriving themselves by their act of depending upon self-effort in an attempt to obey the Law.^[11]

Current Bible commentator Grant R. Osborne notes that Paul explains here in verse six why the rite of circumcision is not enough to make us right with God. The truth is that “any union with Jesus the Anointed One does not depend on being circumcised or uncircumcised of any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Faith appropriates that right standing with God that the Anointed One made possible that guides our responses throughout the Christian life. We are first justified by faith (not by the Law, verse 4) when God declares us to be right with Himself in His court of grace. Then we continue to live by faith through the process of sanctification. Living right before God, by faith, makes this happen.

Circumcision is not a part of this process. Along with the Law, it has been removed from the equation by the Anointed One and no longer counts as part of the covenant process. It does not matter whether one is circumcised (like Jews) or not (like Gentiles). Both groups of believers stand before God by grace through faith, not by works. So, we can see the link between the “saved” life and the “sanctified” life with its Fruit of the Spirit.^[12]

I like the way Messianic Jewish writer Avi ben Mordechai approaches this strong statement by Paul here in verse six about circumcision and uncircumcision, amounting to nothing compared to love and faith. He points back to the Apostle’s words in the first-century period after the coming of the Anointed One, whose teachings were the counter alternative to the Rabbi’s teachings. Mordechai offers an amplified paraphrase of what he believes Paul is saying. How you religious Jewish leaders define the terms circumcision or uncircumcision is of no consequence to me because what really matters is not its legal definition based on oral law and rabbinic tradition; rather, circumcision is always defined within the context of what it means to keep faith with Yahweh which is fulfilled through our love for Yahweh as Yeshua already say, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” ^[13] which is restated in many places of Scripture.^[14] In other words, circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is everything.^[15]

Dutch Bible scholar Alfred E. Bouter notes another consequence is switching from Grace to Law. He notes that if the Galatians placed themselves under the Law or want to be justified by the Law, there would also be a conflict with the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit acts on the principle of faith. So just as they would lose their profit from being in union with the Anointed One, they also lose the help of the indwelling Spirit. Here, Faith connects with Hope. Paul contrasts the impossibility of justification by the Law with the hope of righteousness through grace. True believers are justified based on faith, and they have real hope, the hope of righteousness. Here faith, hope, and love are linked together. Through faith, we benefit from the help of the Spirit, and we have the right kind of hope, the hope of righteousness; but if we are under the law, if we want to be justified by the Law, our hope is gone.^[16]

[1] Maclaren, Alexander: Expositions on the Holy Scriptures, Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[2] 2 Peter 3:17

[3] Cf. Romans 4:4, 5, 14, 16

[4] See Acts of the Apostles 12:7; James 1:11

[5] Vincent, Marvin R., Word Studies on Galatians, op. cit., p. 157

[6] Spurgeon, Charles H., The Luther Sermon at Exeter-Hall, on Sunday evening, Nov. 11, 1883, Sermon Num.  #1750

[7] Findlay, George G., On Galatians, op. cit., pp. 309-310

[8] Ibid. pp. 314-315

[9] Hebrews 11:1

[10] Hovey, A., On Galatians, op. cit., p. 65

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

[12] Osborne, G. R: Galatians, op. cit., pp. 165–166

[13] John 14:15

[14] See Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10, 7:9, 11:1, 22; 30:16; Joshua 22:5; Nehemiah 1:5; |Daniel 9:4

[15] Mordechai, Avi ben: On Galatians, p. 68

[16] Bouter, Alfred E., On Galatians, op. cit., p. 68

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LXIII)

Chrysostom did not live long enough to read the Reformers’ works. But one wonders what he would have thought of Calvin’s commentary on verses five and six. He claims there would be no difficulty in understanding this passage, were it not for the dishonest manner in which it was twisted by those who uphold the righteousness of works. When they attempt to refute the doctrine that we are justified by faith alone, they use this argument: If the faith that justifies us is by works done out of love, then faith alone does not justify on its own. Calvin answers, they do not comprehend their silly talk, and even less do they comprehend our teachings.

It is not our doctrine that faith alone justifies, says Calvin. We maintain that faith leads to good works. We only contend that faith alone is sufficient for justification, which is then accompanied by good works. The Vatican itself is accustomed to ripping up faith in a perverse fashion, sometimes presenting it all out of shape and unaccompanied by love, and at other times, in its true character. We, again, refuse to admit that, in any case, we cannot separate faith from the Spirit of regeneration. However, when the question comes to be in what manner we are justified, we then set aside all works.^[1] One example to prove Calvin’s point is the thief on the cross. Since he did have faith, he had no opportunity to add good works for complete justification.

John Bunyan (1638-1688) is speaking on the subject here in verse six that being a Jew or Gentile makes no difference in how one gains faith that comes by God’s Love. Take note, says Bunyan, it does not say here that faith acts lovingly, or that faith’s fruit is Love. True faith is a consequence of pure Love. So then, since faith is the offspring of Love, faith then believes and acts out of love. God’s Love is the basis for justifying one’s faith in the work of Jesus the Anointed One on the cross, which then results in justification in God’s sight as being right with Him. It starts with Love, the Love of God, who gave His Son to be our Savior and the Love of the Savior in sacrificing Himself on our behalf. Therefore, Love working in us stirs up a holy boldness in taking hold of all things that concern the Anointed One and providing all our affection for His wonderful and blessed redeeming Love.^[2]

Charles Simeon (1759-1836) noted that there were some who, like the Apostle Paul, considered themselves the worst of sinners,^[3] and some who are so highly moral that salvation seems to be an easy thing for them. But the truth is, salvation is simply by faith in Jesus the Anointed One. That’s why some who might think it is very presumptuous on their part to entertain any hope of receiving that they don’t even think it’s possible and push the offer away, and some who feel that they can access it at any time with little effort.

Simeon says that both high and low attitudes come based on false humility and self-pride. Who possesses any worthiness to think they would be content to receive salvation from God’s hands? And who feels they have no worthiness and so would never qualify to receive such a free blessing. But both of these views greatly dishonor God and are a grievous insult to our Lord Jesus the Anointed One. Anyone should be content to receive all things freely from God, just as they receive the light from the sun, and the very air they breathe.

Remember, says Simeon, that the more unworthy you feel yourself to be, the more will His grace be exalted and magnified. There is righteousness already bought for you, and ready to be imparted to you. It is appointed to be received simply and solely by faith. It is “the hope laid up for you in heaven:” and you are to “wait for” it, in the exercise of earnest and continual prayer. O! beg the Holy Spirit to reveal it fully to your soul, prays Bunyan, and to overcome all your doubts and all your fears; and so impute faith into your heart, that you are filled with peace and joy in this world, and attain, in a better world, “the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” ^[4]

J. N. Darby (1800 -1882) says that this life, produced in us by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word, is led by the Spirit given to believers; its rule is also in the Word. Its harvest is the Fruit of the Spirit. The Christian’s new life and walk with the Anointed One manifested their relationship with Him for all the world to see. If we follow this path – the way of the Anointed One – if we walk in His steps, we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. That way, sin is avoided, not by having the Law to compel a person to do what they do not like; the Law has no power to compel a person to obey, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be.

The new life loves obedience, loves holiness, and the Anointed One is its strength and wisdom by the Holy Spirit. The flesh is indeed there; it envies the Spirit, and the Spirit is jealous of the flesh. Together they prevent a believer from living as they want. But if we walk in the Spirit, we are not under the Law; we are not as the person in Romans, chapter seven, compelled by the new nature to do good, but being captive to sin, they find no way of doing what they desire. The Law gives neither strength nor life. Under Law, even if life is there, there is no strength: humankind is the captive of sin.

But sealed by the Holy Spirit, says Darby, the believer is free, they can perform the good they love. If they are in union with the Anointed One, the body no longer has control. The old self gets crucified with the Anointed One. The Spirit is life, and that Spirit, as a divine and mighty Person, works in them to bring forth good fruit. The flesh and the Spirit are in their nature opposed the one to the other. Still, if we are faithful in seeking grace, the power of the Spirit in the Anointed One enables us to treat the flesh as dead, and to walk in the footsteps of the Anointed One, bringing forth the fruit that pleases Him.^[5]

Englishman Charles J. Ellicott (1819-1905) would be frustrated today if he entered into some churches, especially Messianic Jewish fellowships, to see how people, with good intentions, are trying to marry the ceremonial law of Judaism with the freedom of grace in Christianity. As far as Ellicott was concerned, there can be no compromise between Christianity and Judaism. If you accept the one, you must give up the other. Circumcision is a pledge or engagement to live by the rule of the Law. That whole rule must be observed. Out of obligation, you are committed to the practice of the entire Law, and in that way, and only that way, seek justification.

Our position is something entirely different, says Ellicott. We are accepted into a state of righteousness through the action of the Spirit on God’s side, and through faith on our own. The Christian owes any righteousness attributed to Him, not to circumcision, but to a life of which faith is the motive and love the Law.^[6]

Ellicott says for the Jews, good works represented the credibility of their commitment to the Law based on their outward appearance. It awarded them with self-righteousness, something they could experience here and now. The Christian, and the genuineness of their service to God, involved their inward, future, and salvation through faith in the Anointed One. Therefore, water baptism should transpire with the same intensity and loyalty to the Kingdom of God. More than being a suggestion, it is a rule. Furthermore, it is not complied with out of obligation, but out of love for the One who took our sins to the cross and died on our behalf. The Law would not let you choose when, where, and how to carry out your responsibilities, but Grace set us free so that we could seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in fulfilling a vow to serve the Lord out of love.^[7]

William A. O’Conor (1820-1874) continues what he said in verse four about the Anointed One being of no effect to those who choose to be saved through the Law and focuses on being right with God through faith. He notes that religious legalists and formalists aim at immediate and perfect obedience, either moral or sacramental. This method does not admit gradual advances through failures and victories, for they deal with a rigorous law that allows for no noncompliance. Christians live spiritual lives, in the breadth and freedom of spiritual principles, as opposed to the obligations of a compact with the Law.

They do not work and then wait for the hope of righteousness through faith. Instead, they hunger and thirst for righteousness and believe the promise that they will be satisfied. Such righteousness is not challenged and measured by the Law. It springs from faith in the work of the Anointed One, not their works. It is in Him through Him. Faith is placed in Him for His sake. Yes, He who was found perfect and whose power to forgive both their present and future imperfections is complete.

For Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910), the whole tenor of the Epistle shows that the Apostle viewed the attempts of the Judaizing party with indignation. At this point, his language takes a more than usually stern and imperative tone. He speaks with the full weight of his apostolic authority and warns the Galatians that no half-measures will avail, but that they must decide, once for all, either to give up Judaism or the Anointed One. Some scholars use such passages to show direct antagonism on Paul’s part with other Apostles. Anyone who enters into the thinking of the Apostle, and follows the course of his intense reasoning, will see how unnecessary any such assumption is.

Nothing is more harmonious with human nature than that the same man should at one time agree to the amicable compromise of Acts 15, and at another, some years later, with the field all to himself, and only his converts to deal with, should allow a freer scope to his convictions. He is speaking with feelings highly roused, and with less regard to considerations of policy. Besides, the march of events had been rapid, and the principles of the system themselves changed naturally.

This will help us, says Maclaren, to graciously believe that people may love Jesus, and be fed from His living water and bread of life, whether they are on one side of this controversy or the other. Let us watch the tendencies jealously in our hearts to trust in our forms of worship or our freedom. And whenever or wherever these less important things become essentials to justification, and the ordinances of the Anointed One’s Church are elevated into the place which only belongs to loving-trust in His love, then let our voices be heard on the side of that mighty truth that “in union with Jesus, the Anointed One, being circumcised or uncircumcised does no help at all. It is faith alone which works by love.” ^[8]

[1] Calvin, John: On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[2] Bunyan, John: A Discourse Upon the Pharisee and Publican, op. cit., Ch. 8, pp. 253-254

[3] 1 Timothy 1:15

[4] Simeon, Charles: On Galatians, op. cit., Sermon (2079), p. 201

[5] Darby, J. N. Notes on Galatians 5, loc. cit.

[6] Ellicott, Charles: On Galatians for Christian Readers, op. cit., loc. cit.

[7] Ibid. Critical and Grammatical Commentary, On Galatians, op. cit., p. 120

[8] See verse 6

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LXII)

5:5-6a You must remember, it is only through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit that we have hope of being right with God. For when we place our faith in the Anointed One, it doesn’t matter if you are Jew or Gentile; the most important thing is that your faith in God expresses itself in the form of love.

If the Galatians still didn’t understand the dual components of salvation – the Law versus Grace – he now brings in another factor that spells out that through God’s grace and faith in Jesus, the Anointed One, the power of the Holy Spirit must be considered. To put this in simple terms, God calls, Jesus chooses, and the Holy Spirit does the work of regeneration and transformation. Paul sent this same message to the Ephesians.^[1]

Since the Galatians shunned their faith in the Gospel and the work of the Anointed One’s on the cross, Paul wants them to know that it is only with the help of the Spirit that faith can rise to the level of becoming the substance of things for which we hope. In this case, being justified as right before God. King David certainly knew what it meant to wait for God to prove that faith in Him is worthwhile. He emphatically states that putting one’s faith in God will never lead to disappointment.^[2] Such faith will bring peace to one’s soul.^[3] The pilgrims sang as they walked toward Jerusalem for the feast of Passover: “I am waiting for the Lord to help me. My soul waits for Him. I trust what He says.” ^[4]

Paul gave the Roman believers the same message when he told them God saved them so they might have faith in such hope. If they could see what they were waiting for, that is not hope. People don’t hope for something they already have. But everyone is hoping for something they don’t have yet, and they are waiting for it patiently.^[5] Depending on the strength of our resolve or by the encouragement of others will not help us confront every force that comes against us. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit are we able to endure until the end. For that very purpose, Paul told the Thessalonians that he prayed the Lord would cause them to feel God’s love and remember the patience of the Anointed One and how He endured the cross.^[6]

In the end, Paul comes full circle back to the argument of whether Law or Grace is the preferred way to be right with God and inherit His gift of salvation. He told the Philippians; I want to belong to God. In the Anointed One, I am right with Him, but my being right does not come from following the Law. It comes from believing in God through faith. God uses my faith in the Anointed One to make me right with Him.^[7] Not only did being right with God prove to be a blessing here on earth, but it put Paul on the path to receiving a crown of being right, which God will bestow on him, not the Law.^[8]

So, the Galatians must decide what is right: Following Moses’ way to righteousness by works, or being led to the Anointed One’s way by grace? In Paul’s mind, there was no doubt. As he told the Romans, if you follow the Law, then your circumcision has meaning. If you break the Law, then it is as if you were never circumcised at all. Even the Gentiles, if they follow the Law without being circumcised, they will be counted among real Jews. Yet, although you have the written Law and circumcision, you still break the Law. So, the Gentiles who are not circumcised in their bodies, but always obey the Law, will show how guilty you are. That means you are not a spiritual Jew if you are only a religious Jew in your physical body. Spiritual circumcision is not only on the outside body; a spiritual Jew is one who is a Jew on the inside. Their spiritual circumcision is of the heart. It is done by the Holy Spirit, not by the written Law. While you may not praise a Gentile, who is not circumcised on the outside, but by following God’s Word with the help of the Spirit, he gets praise from God.^[9]

The important thing, says Paul, is not whether you are circumcised or not. What is important is that you are obeying what God says is important.^[10] That allows for both Jews and Gentiles to belong to the Anointed One. It is not essential as to what country you live in, but that the Anointed One lives in you.^[11] And this requires “faith.” Jesus, the Anointed One, died on your behalf to pay the ransom for your release from the curse caused by the Law.^[12] Any works that you do as a result of your faith must bring praise, honor, and glory to God the Father. They must be done out of love while looking to Jesus as our example of endurance and hope.^[13] Even though a person may claim to have active and robust faith, without anything done for God and the Anointed One to back it up, it shows your faith is worth nothing.^[14]

“So, what’s your point?” we can hear one of the Galatians ask as they listen to Paul’s letter read. Paul is quick to answer that rhetorical question. Everything right with us and pleasing to God we received as a gift by way of the Holy Spirit, because we believe it’s everything we hoped for and the evidence of what we cannot see; in other words, by faith. Paul goes on to explain that for those in union with the Anointed One, whether one keeps the religious rituals and regulations or not, the only thing that counts is that we express our faith in what God did for us through the Anointed One with love. Love for God, love for His Word, love for His Son, love for His Spirit, love for His children, and love for His will, plan, and purpose for our lives. Paul told the Corinthian church that three major things must be visible in every true believer’s life: faith, hope, and love. And the most important of these three is love.[15]

Early church theologian Augustine gives his summation of these two verses. For him, Paul is showing us that it is the things we wait for spiritually rather than those we long for physically that are affected by our faith in the Anointed One. It is for the sake of such promises that spiritual submission is necessary because we are not looking at the things we can see but at unseen things. If we can see it, it will only last for a short time, but it’s what we can’t see that’s eternal.^[16] Then Paul adds: For the Anointed One, Jesus, whether one received circumcision, or not, does not matter at all. The only problem is when we depend on circumcision to bring us salvation. That’s why Paul tells the Galatians that it’s by faith that works done through love matter. That’s because we perform works done under slavery to the Law out of fear.^[17]

Living for the Lord is to obey His Gospel and purpose for our lives. This helps Him carry out His will for our lives. So, it is not unreasonable to imagine that when we cross the finish line, a bill will be placed in our hands. It will demand payment for everything given to us through grace. It will also include charges for all the work He, the Son, and the Holy Spirit did for us. But at the bottom, it will be the stamped “Paid in Full.”

Ambrosiaster shares his view that what Paul is saying here is clear; the hope of justification is in faith by the Spirit and not through the works of the Law. For it is by faith, we serve God spiritually through the devotion of our minds and the purity of our hearts. For this reason, neither uncircumcision nor circumcision is of any value, but only faith in love is what brings justification.^[18]  What this Catholic layman did not add is that such devotion, purity, and trust in love must be directed toward the Anointed One, not to our works or accomplishments to please Him.

Early medieval church writer Marius Victorinus sees Paul giving the Galatians a message. That as Christians who follow the Anointed One, we have hope in spirit, in faith, and God’s justification for us being right with Him. Hope in God does not depend on good deeds. The full power of the mystery of His love and mercy allow His leniency with our sinful tendencies sins to exist. It is through His grace and mercy, and eternal life will be given to us, not based on works or merits. But this is possible only through the Holy Spirit. Yet, when one hopes for justification based on one’s good works, it is not based on the Spirit. It is hope based on the Spirit that we await, and this is what it means to follow the Gospel of the Anointed One.^[19] Such a message in the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches today is much needed.

Does that mean the believer is off the hook for attending church, paying tithes, observing communion, praying, and reading God’s Word?  No!  As Jesus said to the rich man, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and your entire mind.  A second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The entire Mosaic Law and all the demands of the prophets remain grounded on these two commandments.” Paul preached the Gospel of the Anointed One. Still, these Galatian believers allowed themselves to be fooled and drawn away from God’s grace, love, and mercy, to become slaves again to wasted efforts already replaced by the work of the Anointed One.

In the Latin text used by the great Chrysostom, verse six reads this way: “nam in Christo Iesu neque circumcisio aliquid valet neque præputium sed fides quae per caritatem operatur.” [“For in the Anointed One Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working by love.”] So, he asks, “What is the meaning of ‘working through charity?’” ^[20] Says Chrysostom, it’s Paul’s way of giving the Galatians a hard slap on the face by showing that this error crept in because the love of the Anointed One was not firmly rooted in them. To believe is not all that is required, but also to do everything in love. It is as if Paul said: If you had loved the Anointed One as you should have, you would not have deserted Him to go back into the bondage of the Law, nor would you have abandoned Him who redeemed you, nor treated Him with disrespect who gave you freedom. Chrysostom feels that Paul is hinting at those who plotted to mislead the Galatians, implying that they would not have dared to do so if they truly loved them as fellow believers. He also wishes, by these words, to correct even these Judaizers’ course of life.^[21] 

[1] Ephesians 2:18

[2] Psalm 25:2, 3

[3] Ibid. 62:5

[4] Ibid. 130:5

[5] Romans 8:24-25

[6] 2 Thessalonians 3:5

[7] Philippians 3:9

[8] 2 Timothy 4:8

[9] Romans 2:25-29; 3:29-31

[10] 1 Corinthians 7:19

[11] Colossians 3:11

[12] 2 Corinthians 5:14

[13] 1 Thessalonians 1:3

[14] James 2:14-26

[15] 1 Corinthians 13:13

[16] 2 Corinthians 4:18

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

[18] Ambrosiaster, op. cit., p. 28

[19] Marius Victorinus, op. cit.

[20] The Greek noun agapē used here in verse six is translated “love” (86x) and “charity” (28x) in the KJV who chose “love” instead of “charity” as the Latin Vulgate did.

[21] Chrysostom, On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LXI)

Catholic writer George Haydock (1774-1849) offers his view of the church’s stance on this subject. It is evident that in Galatia, false teachers insisted on the observance of circumcision and a few other rites only as necessary for salvation. Paul warns those receiving circumcisions are openly professing faith in Judaism to save them. They are binding themselves to the observance of every part of the Law. Furthermore, a curse awaits those that do not keep it in all its parts. If then circumcision is necessary for salvation, the whole Law is also required. If you think that justice can be obtained only through the Law, you renounced the justice of the Anointed One: His mediation becomes of no use to you.^[1]

As a courtesy to Haydock, it would be nice to hear how this interpretation affects the good work’s policy of the Church. Ask any Roman Catholic today, do you think you will be saved by submitting to baptism as an infant, confession, and penance, receiving the Eucharist, confirmation, marriage, anointing of the sick, and Holy Orders by becoming a priest. There is also saying the Rosary, reading the missal, participating in a novena, and devotion to Mother Mary and the other saints through prayer. Their answer will inevitably be, “Yes.” That’s how we attempt to merit salvation through these sacraments. But that makes Grace a reward, not a gift.

Heinrich A. Meyer (1800-1873), German protestant theologian, in commenting on what Paul says here in verse four about Justification, points out that Justification by the Law and Justification by Grace in Latin is called a contrarium, meaning “exact opposites.” The one excludes the other; they cannot exist or work together. So, it comes down to choosing one over the other. No one can claim that they are justified to be free of sin’s death penalty by faith and then depend on their observance of certain rites, rituals, and ceremonies to add to that justification. Predictably, said the Apostle Paul, when a person chooses justification by the Law, they are rejecting Jesus the Anointed One.^[2]

Johann P. Lange (1802-1884) writes about how seeking salvation through works of the Law ends up causes a fatal separation between them and the Anointed One. How could anyone speak more powerfully against the Law, asks Lange? What can or will anyone bring up against this mighty clap of thunder? The Gospel and the Law cannot dwell and rule in a person’s heart simultaneously. Out of need and necessity, either the Anointed One must yield to the Law or the Law must yield to the Anointed One.

Therefore, says Lange, no one should accept the illusion that trust in the Law and faith in the Anointed One might dwell together in collaborative harmony in their heart. They need to know for sure that the spirit behind this is not the Spirit of the Anointed One but the spirit of the Evil One who has taken up residence in what was once the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Soon it will erect idols to worship and establishes its rule as the power to appease. Not only that, but this evil spirit will terrify that person with demands that through the Law and their good works, they make themselves righteous. Even if someone who cannot swim falls overboard from a ship, says Lange, they will certainly drown in the sea unless they are rescued. Whosoever falls away from Grace is condemned and lost unless saved by the Love, Grace, and Mercy of a compassionate God.^[3]

Englishman William Anderson O’Conor (1820-1894), a graduate of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and St. Andrew’s Theological College in Birkenhead, Scotland, makes it understandable that we cannot be justified by the Anointed One and Law at the same time. To seek justification through Law is to cut oneself off from the Savior. Our justification with God through the Anointed One is the Father’s merciful acceptance of our living faith because of what His Son did on the cross on our behalf. Having found justification in this way as a gift, we fall from this favored status if we seek to justify ourselves by perfect obedience to the Law. Attempts to conquer life’s endless battle with sin through perfect obedience to the Law remains a delusion. Unavoidable defects and failures are already atoned for. Faith that strives in our minds is counted as righteousness. To fall from grace is to refuse the atonement, which covers the shortcomings of faith.^[4]

Professor Alvah Hovey (1820-1903) stresses that being separated from the Anointed One should be given more emphasis. He admits that it is difficult to make a satisfactory translation of the first clause here in verse four. The English Revised Version^[5] reads: “Ye are severed from Christ.” The Bible Union Version:^[6] “Ye are separated from Christ.” It is better, says Hovey, to render the Greek verb in this clause in the perfect tense: “Ye have been separated from Christ,” – that is, your separation from the Anointed One is a completed act in the case of those who seek to be justified by the Law.

That’s why Paul employs the completed action tense in the next clause: “Ye are fallen from grace.” And this constitutes your first movement toward the religious legal system, toward reliance upon works of the Law for acceptance with God. You have, in principle, surrendered your confidence in the Anointed One as a basis for hope. The Apostle has in view their standing before God as fixed by a logical assessment of their conduct. Behavior like that will turn a person away from salvation through Grace.  They then sink back into the condition of sinners who are seeking to work out righteousness on their own. What the Anointed One Himself may yet do for them in His great mercy is not revealed, but the attitude which they are taking toward His work for them is brilliantly shown. Hence, the Apostle is not teaching in this passage, the modern doctrine of “falling from grace.” ^[7]

Frederic Rendall (1840-1906) notes that in the Greek text, the phrase “You are deprived of all effect, “translated by the NIV as “You have been alienated,” suggests that the Greek verb ekpiptō be understood as a comprehensive force meant to destroy any growth or life. In this case, it is the Galatian’s spiritual life under attack. Furthermore, it denotes the loss of some essential element of life by the severance of a previous intimate relationship. Today we might liken it to removing a 12-volt battery from an automobile. Once the battery is gone, the car has no power to operate. For believers, that would be the power of the Holy Spirit. Once that is detached by being disrespectful to God and denying Him the leadership of one’s soul, then Jesus the Anointed One is dismissed as Lord of one’s life. This produces a deadening effect on a person’s whole spiritual nature.^[8]

George G. Findlay (1849-1919) does not mince words when he describes Paul’s message to the Galatians here in verse four concerning their turning traitors to the cause of the Anointed One. He finds the Greek phase [απο καταργεο Xηριστοσ] apo katargeō Christos) is hard to translate. The literal translation is: (“to destroy Christ.” This is evident when examining the various English translations of today. But the general consensus is that it implies your relationship with the Anointed One is destroyed. The force of what Paul says means, “You were eliminated from union with the Anointed One – brought to nothing by being cut-off from Him because you are seeking justification through the Law.” To put this more in today’s language: “To those of you who seek right standing with God, your union with the Anointed One is invalidated, you are reduced to being nothing.” ^[9] Some interpret this as aimed at the Judaizers and serves as a warning to the Galatians. It also asserts this severing occurred in the past. So, as soon as the Galatians endorse the principle of legal justification, it will happen to them.

British Bible teacher Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952), points out that the central issue raised in Paul’s letter to the Galatians is not what is the proper standard of conduct for the believer’s life, but on what grounds does a sinner based their salvation. Paul already asserted that the Judaizing troublemakers were out to pervert the Gospel of the Anointed One by adding things that didn’t belong and taking out something that should stay.^[10] Furthermore, Paul was adamant about the fact that in the eyes of God, no one is justified by the Law.^[11] This clearly shows where Paul is saying in his argument. And then, Paul did not hesitate to declare that every person that is circumcised in obedience to the Law is a debtor to do the whole Law.^[12] It should be evident by now to everyone where the Judaizers made their biggest mistake.

So, Paul says here in verse four that the Anointed One no longer has any effect on their salvation because they are trusting the Law to justify them in the sight of God. Consequently, they are fallen from grace. To “fall from grace” does not mean Christians shouldn’t obey the Ten Commandments, but to feel required to do the works of the Law (moral and ceremonial) in order to be justified. The Law and the Gospel are irreconcilable. Every attempt to combine them strikes equally at the majesty of the Law and the Grace of the Gospel. It is like asking a one-arm man hanging onto a tree branch to clap his hands. What results is an imitation Gospel and an imitation of the Law.^[13]

In any case, Paul’s teaching here conflicts with the doctrines of eternal security, eternal insecurity, or earned eternal security. The point he’s making to the Galatian believers clearly warns them that returning to earning grace by their efforts instead of receiving grace by faith is a losing proposition. Besides, who would want to try such a thing in the first place? By wholeheartedly receiving the love of God through the Anointed One and embracing His blessings through grace, we forego losing something we cannot gain by our efforts.  Nor can we merit or gain something we cannot later forfeit, because grace is not added by labor or as a reward. The believer should not concentrate on how little he or she needs to do to inherit eternal life, but how much he or she can do to show how grateful they are to be called the children of God.

David A. Brondos points out that the Gentile believers in Galatia received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon conversion without needing to submit to circumcision and other commandments of the Torah. This means, they were adopted into the family of the right-with-God assembly and that God’s promises came through faith, not as a merit for good works. That’s why submission to the Torah was not a condition for receiving this promise of salvation. To try and do so would end up nullifying what God did through His Son on the cross. They already were “a new creation” of the Spirit through the Anointed One. So, why return to the “old creation” of the flesh? Didn’t they realize they were just about to reject Grace’s hold on them? Instead of trusting in God’s grace to get them through, they were foolish enough to believe they could make it on their own.^[14]

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

[2] Meyer, Heinrich A. W. On Galatians, op. cit., pp. 221-222

[3] Lange, Johann P. On Galatians, op. cit., p. 131

[4] O’Conor, W. A., On Galatians, op. cit., p. 82

[5] The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the Original Tongues, being the version set forth AD 1611, The University Press, Cambridge, 1855, loc. cit.­

[6] The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: An Improved Edition (Based in part on the Bible Union Version), American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1912, loc. cit.

[7] Hovey, Alvah: On Galatians pp. 64–65

[8] Rendall, Frederic: On Galatians p. 184

[9] Findlay, George G. On Galatians, op. cit., pp. 307-308

[10] Galatians 1:7

[11] Ibid. 3:11

[12] Ibid. 5:3

[13] Pink, Arthur W. The Law and the Saint, p. 20

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

Perhaps you have heard, or even been told, “get a hold of yourself!” That’s a hint that you are not practicing self-control over some aspect of your behavior or communication. A simple definition of self-control is: delay short-term gratification in favor of long-term benefits. Resisting temptations, impulses, and habits that can get out-of-hand are involved. Humans are relatively successful at exerting self-control to achieve long-term outcomes as long as they maintain discipline. Self-control is what helps us manage our emotions and impulses, which enables us to adequately behave in socially and spiritually ways.

Danish psychologist Simon Moesgaard offers essential concepts to better understand self-control. One of them is to recognize that self-control is a limited resource. If there are too many things that a person faces while trying to maintain self-control, over time, it can become depleted. Constant resistance can wear out a person’s patience and stamina. That means a person should seek assistance to help them succeed in overcoming these brief flashes of harmful desires.

That means self-control can be improved by following specific ways of thinking. They are designed to keep one’s goal in mind. Actions are a part of a goal. For example, most dieters commit to healthier diets out of overall concerns about health or physical appearance. Also, paying attention to how one’s actions can fulfill one’s goal. For example, a dieter can have an emotional reaction to both the joy of tasting a piece of chocolate cake and the shame and disgust that comes after eating the cake.

It is also important to realize that lack of self-control leads to selfishness. It involves a game between choosing to give into trivial temptations at the expense of more important accomplishments. Think of your lack of self-control as a twin of yourself with self-control. They are constantly offering things to each other for enjoyment and contentment. If either twin refuses what is offered by the other, then there is no exchange. Only when both agree on giving and receiving can the proposal be offered and accepted. The rationale behind this game is to show that people driven by self-interest instead of self-control will accept even the most harmful offer. On the other hand, if they are motivated by self-control instead of self-interest, they will reject any suggestion that does not measure up to their aspirations of being in full control of their lives and habits.

That’s why psychologists link self-control to successful outcomes. They are just as conscious of shame and guilt as they are of admiration and innocence. As a result, they are far less likely to procrastinate on instituting safeguards to help them resist unneeded and unwanted types of personal satisfaction. It makes them less obsessive-compulsive in giving in to binge eating or drinking.  That allows their self-acceptance and self-esteem to grow and promote high self-control, which leads to better interpersonal relationships, namely, better family cohesion and less family conflict. More specifically, it is linked to secure attachment styles, better empathy, and less personal distress. Besides, people with high self-control report better emotional responses with less anger and better anger management.

In the long run, says Moesgaard, self-control is linked to life satisfaction. Self-control may not give instant gratification; instead, it may bring contentment in long-term happiness. Postponing needs and achieving one’s goals is a measure of success, and it provides satisfaction, which is likely to make us happy.

Psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson adds that the first thing you are going to want to do if you are serious about resisting temptation is to make peace with the fact that your willpower is limited.  If you’ve spent all your self-control handling stresses at work, you will not have much left at the end of the day for sticking to your resolutions.  Think about when you are most likely to feel drained and vulnerable, and make a plan to keep yourself out of harm’s way. So instead of thinking about going to eat as a way of calming your nerves, think about going to the library to find a book you’ve heard of, or join a group activity that will help you relax.

The Bible is also very vocal about self-control. King Solomon said that a person without self-control is like a city without walls.[1] In other words, they can be invaded and conquered by a hostile force with very little resistance. And the Apostle Paul states that no temptation can overtake you that is not common to everyone. But God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability to resist. He will help you find a way to escape so that you will able to fight it.[2]  That’s because, having God’s Spirit dwelling within us does not make us afraid of such temptation, but gives us the power of love and self-control.[3]

So, the virtue of self-control extends not only our physical desires but also to our spiritual needs. That’s why we need to know our weaknesses. Outstanding investor, writer, and entrepreneur Mr. Deep Patel (you may have seen him on Shark Tank) says to stay away from temptations. Set goals in life and have a plan on how to reach them. Build self-discipline, which is a learned behavior. Create new healthy habits to replace the old ones, and keep it simple. If you have a strong desire, choose something helpful, not something hurtful to satisfy your craving. Remember, your beliefs determine the amount of willpower that a person has. Always have a backup plan ready to put into action in cases of emergency. For instance, instead of that piece of chocolate cake, get a plate of cheese and crackers; instead of reading a book full of immoral behavior and profanity or watching an R-rated movie, read the Bible, and watch a G-rated Christian movie. Each time you succeed in avoiding temptation, reward yourself. But if you get careless and have a relapse, forgive yourself and move on.

The Apostle Paul had many physical, mental, and spiritual trials and temptations during his lifetime. Still, in the end, he was able to report that he was able to handle them all because of the strength he received from Jesus Christ.[4] If our Lord did it for Paul, He will do it for you! – Dr. Robert R Seyda

[1] Proverbs 25:28

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:13

[3] 2 Timothy 1:7

[4] Philippians 4:13

WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE, WE NEVER STAND ALONE

Here’ a heart-warming story I read that I believe you will enjoy. As a blogger, Stacey Philpot spends a reasonable amount of time online. But one day, she decided to take a few days break from Facebook. But then a friend sent her an urgent text she was sure Stacey would not want to miss. So, Stacey quickly went a page showing a teenage boy standing alone at the flagpole praying as part of “See You at the Flag Pole Day.”

This yearly occurrence encourages students everywhere to gather at their school’s flagpole to pray for their school, friends, families, churches, and communities. Usually, the event draws a crowd. But at Minneola High School, only one young man turned up. The brave boy stood all alone, praying by himself.

A passerby was so touched, they snapped a photo and posted it on Facebook, saying: “I commend the young man that stood alone at Lake Minneola High School’s ‘See You at the Flag Pole Day.’ My eyes filled up with tears. But they were happy tears, proud tears. I honestly didn’t know what it was all about until I later heard it on the radio. So please take a moment today to pray for our children, school, teachers, and administrators. Pray for protection over them, guidance, wisdom, and a wonderfully blessed year.”

Comments poured in, praising this young man for his courage and his parents for instilling such ethical values. Even folks who professed no faith commended this boy for standing up for his faith. At first, Stacey couldn’t understand why her friend insisted she break her Facebook hiatus to see this picture of a boy standing alone at the flag pole until she realized she was looking at her own son!

Stacey was flabbergasted! This was the little boy she rocked to sleep in blue airplane pajamas when he was sick; the toddler who loved Elmo and couldn’t go to sleep without holding his Veggie Tales characters in his hands; this child who had captured the attention of the community by standing alone, by doing everything she ever taught him, everything we’d ever hoped he would do. Stacey could hardly believe it was happening. She immediately texted her son, Hayden, and told him how proud she was of him.

But when Hayden got home, he revealed something even more incredible. He was just as surprised at all of the attention as his mom. He’d initially thought he’d just pray until someone else came along. But when no one else did, he asked God to use Him. Stacey had trouble dabbing away all the tears as he told her with a shaking voice that as he stood alone and prayed, the cry of his heart had been, “God, as people drive by, let them wonder, let their hearts be pierced. “And God certainly did answer that passionate prayer!

There are people out there that don’t understand why we pray. They see it as wasted effort. But Hayden proved just how powerful prayer truly is! And his proud mom says her son’s story is a big reminder for us all. “Wherever it is in your life you stand alone. . . God sees, He knows, and He can do big things.”

This was proven true when David went out alone against the giant Goliath. Also, when Daniel stood alone in his pledge to remain faithful to God and ended up in a lion’s den. Also, when Joseph stood alone facing false sexual misconduct charges by Potiphar’s wife and ended up in prison. That’s why these great men, along with other valiant men and women over the centuries, have become our heroes. But there is one greater still. When Jesus stood alone before Pontius Pilate and refused to recant that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of kings and ended upon on a cross.

But David’s willingness to stand up for what he believed led to his becoming a king and Daniel became the personal advisor to King Nebuchadnezzar, and Joseph became the second in command next to Pharaoh in Egypt. Likewise, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father to be our personal advocate. And just like David saved the Israelites from the Philistines. Daniel made it possible for the Jews to return to their homeland. Joseph helped save his family from starvation, so Jesus saved us from a terrible destiny so that we could not only love Him, serve Him, be in union with Him, but one day rule and reign with Him! It doesn’t get any better than when you’re asked sometimes to stand alone for God.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LX)

To lose hold of the precious truths of grace affects every believer’s Christian living and can lead to severe consequences. While nothing can destroy the believer’s relationship with God if they have genuinely been born again – once His child always His child – much can injure their fellowship with God and cripple their usefulness for God. Believers must not lose hold of the Doctrine of Grace so that progress in Sanctification before the LORD, and with the LORD comes to a dead stop. The streetcar will not move an inch until the operator connects the trolley’s arm with the electric wire. To fall from the truth in the Anointed One is to fail in one’s life mission for Him.  In Jesus’ parable, it was the faithful servant invited into eternal rest, not the one who neglected to invest what the Master gave him.

It is true that after a person is genuinely born again through the Anointed One, they can do nothing to reduce what He did on the cross no more than they can add to it. For instance, a son may deny any emotional relationship with his biological father, but cannot change his DNA. Paul’s position is that no born-again believer can cut their spiritual umbilical cord through the Anointed One to the Father. They can drop out as heirs of His covenant and the promise of eternal life, but only by their denial and refusal to allow God to take control of their lives.

Adam could never deny that God created him, but was, nevertheless, thrown out of the garden of Eden because of disobedience. Moses was a great man called by God but was denied entry into the Promised Land because of violations of His will. The Prodigal Son was still the son of the gracious father who looked for him each day, but had he not come back of his own accord, he would have died in a pig pen instead of having a banquet thrown in his honor. Did not Jesus say, “Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers? They gather such branches into a pile for burning?” ^[1]

Mid-medieval scholar Bruno the Carthusian gives his view of what the Galatians were trying to get Paul to see. They were saying, “We prefer being removed from the Anointed One than not to be circumcised as God commanded.” But Paul already had a rebuttal, not only were they removed from union with the Anointed One, but “they had fallen from God’s grace.” So, says Paul, all of you who seek to be justified by the Law to avoid sin’s death penalty, that is, trying to be right with God through the Law, is no longer justified to stand before Him as righteous. Here the Apostle offers a good explanation of why he would forbid circumcision, namely, because they should not misuse it to become right with God. For, although he allowed Timothy to be circumcised to remove suspicion, both Paul and Timothy understood that circumcision contributed nothing to his right standing with the heavenly Father.^[2]

The Roman Catholic Church’s Council of Trent, in a 1545 decree, condemned what they saw as errors in the Protestant Revolt. Their ruling said, no one can say that Jesus our Lord, the Anointed One did not institute these sacraments. Nor can they say there are more, or there are less than seven. These are Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony. Nor can they claim that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a holy sacrament. Let those who do so be accursed.^[3]  The Catholic Church then instituted these seven sacraments through which grace is applied to a sinner. They claimed that these seven graces were bestowed on the Church by the Anointed One and cannot be added to or deleted from. They are Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, and Reconciliation through confession or penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.

Examining both the perception of grace by the Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant churches teaches us that if we do the best we can, God won’t fail us because His grace will make up where we fall short.  In other words, do your best because God helps those who help themselves. However, as Paul points out, through grace, God invalidated the blessings once earned by one’s own efforts under the demands of Mosaic Law so that He might freely pour out on us those blessings of goodness, kindness, joy, peace, etc. So, falling away from grace infers that one has decided not to accept God’s free salvation and eternal life in favor of personally fulfilling Mosaic Law, thereby forfeiting the provisions and blessings of grace.

John Bunyan (1628-1688), while looking around at the church during his lifetime, felt that what Paul says here in verse four fit his day as well. Many believe that all they need to do is perform these rites, rituals, and regulations offered by the Church for their souls to gain salvation. What Bunyan saw was that some came no further than to partake of the sacraments, and there they stayed. They did come to participate in them through Jesus the Anointed One. And this will undoubtedly mean that on the day of judgment, He will not be interested in them either.^[4]

That means, says Bunyan, a person may come to and go from a place of worship and yet not be remembered by the Anointed One as being there, nor will they be able to offer it as proof of their justification for eternal life when they stand before His throne. It’s like what King Solomon described when he said; I also saw ornate and beautiful funerals for evil people. While the people were going home after the funeral services, they said good things about the evil people who died. It happened even in the same towns where these evil people did many bad things. It makes no sense.^[5]

Bunyan said that for him, the words of Jesus the Anointed One are sufficient: “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.^[6] Consequently, since they were spoken by Jesus, they will serve as caution and encouragement. For caution, lest we continue to fall short of actually coming to the Anointed One to partake of worship and the elements of communion and baptism on our own without the invitation of the Holy Spirit. For encouragement to those that continue to come despite all the obstacles in their way until they meet Jesus the Anointed One and are received by Him as their Lord and Savior.^[7]

Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) taught on what Paul says here in verse four about the effect of turning to rites, rituals, and ceremonies and away from Jesus the Anointed One. He points out that it was the Anointed One’s choice to be our Savior, and the way He became our Savior. Therefore, if it was by His obedience to the Father’s will that we are justified in not dying for our sins, then it cannot be credited to our obedience to any rite or ritual. This clearly shows that salvation is not given as a direct result of our willingness to hear a message or read the Scriptures. It is a gift based on God’s satisfaction in what Jesus did on the cross.

However, says Edwards, any interest we may have in what the Anointed One did for us on the cross is a benefit of our obedience to the call of the Holy Spirit. But this in itself cannot be credited to our account as having earned our justification before God. Salvation is not attributed to our actions without the intervention of what the Anointed One did on our behalf. It would be great a thing, points our Edwards, for God to give us Jesus the Anointed One and His satisfaction in Jesus’ work on the cross as a reward for our obedience. That would be like taking us to heaven immediately after finishing all the obligatory rites, rituals, and good deeds done to earn salvation. In theory, that would be a great reward and significant testimony to the power of our obedience.

However, says Edwards, if God were to give us salvation for our obedient participation in such rites, rituals, and ceremonies, why could He not offer salvation to us directly? That way, there would be no need for the Anointed One’s work on the cross. But God did indeed give us the Anointed One to die on our behalf, and His Spirit brought us an interest in what Jesus did, so, in effect, He does give us salvation in reward for our obedience to His call.^[8]

What Edwards is saying is that you cannot have one without the other. But they must come in the order listed: God gave us the Anointed One to die on our behalf without us even asking or knowing. Then when His Spirit revealed that to us, and we felt drawn to the cross to receive salvation. At the cross, we received salvation as a result of our submission to His call. That means there is no salvation without Jesus the Anointed One, no matter how much we try to be obedient to what we see or hear. Our work doesn’t count, only the work of the Anointed One on the cross.

English evangelical preacher Charles Simeon (1759-1836) makes an interesting point. When compared to our day and age, it seems to have been reversed. He says that on matters of morals, people will permit ministers to speak with the utmost freedom, but, on points of faith, they would have them use none but the mildest possible expressions just to keep from appearing dogmatic and harsh. On the other hand, where moral offenses were committed, Paul was very lenient.^[9] But when the fundamentals of faith were endangered, his energy rose even to intolerance. That doesn’t mean that he disregarded morality, or that we should think lightly of it.

Simeon says that we ought to entertain far different thoughts about the leading doctrines of religion, than those which generally prevail. Once the Apostle Paul found out that some in the Galatian congregations were being drawn away from the pure Gospel to a reliance on the observances of Jewish rituals and ceremonies, he states emphatically: Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel to you than that which we preached unto you, let them be accursed.^[10]

Granted, Paul was inspired and authorized to speak in terms that would be inappropriate for anyone who is not under the divine guidance and anointing of the Holy Spirit. So long as our doctrines are in accord with those of the Apostle, we may, yes, and must maintain them with a measure of the firmness which he uses in his proclamation of them.^[11] But in our day and age, it seems like ministers fear to tread on matters related to morality and faith – no strong preaching of the Gospel and no stern warning against immorality. But why should people turn and run from the fire of hell if we only whisper in their ear that what they are doing is a little out of place? They need to hear the alarm bells of the Gospel! And how do we keep them from drowning in the sea of sin? We need to throw them the life preserver of Grace and tell them to grasp it by faith and hold on until rescued!

[1] John 15:6

[2] Bruno the Carthusian: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[3] The Council of Trent, Edited and Translated by J. Waterworth, London, Dolman 1848, The Bull of Indiction of the Sacred Ecumenical and General Council of Trent under the Sovereign Pontiff, Paul III, Seventh Session, Decree on the Sacraments, Canon I, p. 54

[4] Matthew 7:21-23

[5] Ecclesiastes 8:10

[6] John 6:37 – NIV

[7] Bunyan, John: Bunyan’s Practical Works, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 163-164

[8] Edwards, Jonathan: Soul’s Eternal Salvation, Discourse 1, Justification by Faith Alone, op. cit., p. 374

[9] See 2 Corinthians 2:7; Galatians 6:1

[10] Galatians 1:8-9

[11] Simeon, Charles: On Galatians, op. cit., Sermon MMXLIX (2049), p. 1

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LIX)

There is an interesting story of an incident that happened during the time Paul was ministering throughout Galatia, which sheds light on the debate concerning the Gentiles’ submission to circumcision once they accepted the Jewish religion. It concerns Izates, king of Adiabene, a territory near the Persian Gulf, where he ruled from 36-60 AD. Here is the story, look and see the dilemma this king found himself facing.

As one commentator, Dr. Ann Nyland, notes on this subject: “In the anointing of Jesus, circumcision doesn’t count for anything! Non-circumcision doesn’t count for anything! What does count is faith, which is active and supported by love.”^[3] Why then are so many people attempting to add to what our Anointed One did on the cross?  Why do they feel it still needs improvement? Again, it’s all a matter of faith, the type of faith spoken of by Theologian Søren Kierkegaard, which he called a “leap to faith.” For Kierkegaard, this leap is the act of believing in or accepting something intangible or unprovable, or without visible evidence as being real.^[4]

Early church preacher Chrysostom explained it in his sermon that anyone who is circumcised does so out of fear of the Law. They who fear the Law distrust the power of grace and they who distrust the power of forgiveness cannot receive any benefit from that which they doubt. He goes on to explain that those who submit to circumcision make the Law a force to obey. However, by agreeing that it is a force to be reckoned with, they must realize by transgressing even the least of its rules, they were putting themselves under the curse again. But how can those be saved who submit themselves to the curse while pushing away the freedom that comes through Faith? Such is a paradox. You must be on one side or the other; you cannot stand in-between thinking they can benefit from both. There is such a wide gap between the two they cannot enjoy the fruit from either tree.^[5] I’m sure the apostle Paul was wondering why the Galatians believers didn’t see this all along.

Today we find the same phenomenon taking place in many of our churches. However, instead of trying to harmonize circumcision with grace, it’s a matter of teaching that church rites and rituals are of one accord with grace.  More wars and conflicts have been fought among believers over creeds, sacraments, and ceremonies than over fundamental doctrines of the Bible.  Not only do the various views among different church groups on living a holy life fail to promote ecumenical bonds, but bring discord even among members within the same organization.  Maybe it’s time for everyone to gather again at the foot of the cross and share in the joy of what we all hold in common so that we can place these differences where they need to be and stop using them like fiery darts against one another.

So for the Jewish people, circumcision was a sign that they ascribed to the covenant God made with Abraham, which says, “This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”^[6]  However, Paul saw what Moses saw when he spoke to the Israelites after they came out of Egypt and told them to circumcise their hearts.^[7]  Like Paul, Moses understood that this token spoke of commitment and allegiance to remain faithful and obedient to God’s will and purpose for their lives.  When they did, God promised never to leave them or forsake them.

Nevertheless, by the time Jesus came, the Jews viewed circumcision not only as a physical sign but also as an exclusive symbol that they were God’s choice out of all nations and referred to them as His children.  So, when Joseph and Mary took Jesus to be circumcised, it was their way of not only abiding by the command God gave Abraham but also to identify their child as Jewish in faith.  Paul opposed the Judaizers taking the circumcision of the heart – salvation, and adding to it the demand that they also keep of all religious rituals and regulations to qualify as children of God.

No wonder Jesus felt such anger when He entered the temple and saw people forced to pay exorbitant prices for their rites and ritual sacrifices, offered to merit God’s forgiveness and favor.  Failure on their part to obtain the necessary finances to have these sacrifices and offerings carried out brought reprimand and punishment from man, not from God.  No wonder Paul viewed this whole system as corrupt and out of sync with God’s design for salvation through the Messiah, whom they unceremoniously rejected.  And this is what the Judaizers were tempting the Galatians believers to accept?

If they sang the following song during Apostolic times, I have little doubt that Paul would have sung it to them: “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.”^[8]  What would have happened if when God sent Moses back into Egypt to lead His children out of bondage and slavery, they responded by saying to Moses, you’re not our idea of a Messiah?  After all, you were born here and raised here.  How can we trust you?  When Moses received word to have the lamb slain and the blood put on the doorposts, the elders replied that wasting the life of a lamb for such an unproven idea was not acceptable. They would rather be good slaves and non-citizens of Egypt, so God would see their good deeds and change Pharaoh’s heart to let them leave peacefully and on their merit. Had this happened, they would still be there to this day!

My goodness, says Paul, can’t you Galatians see that God designed a plan for your salvation to come by way of faith in His grace? Therefore, He sent His Son Jesus to free you and lead you out of Egyptian style slavery, and now you are rejecting it. He sent the Jews down into Egypt for a purpose. They would forever owe their freedom to Him and acknowledge that their inclusion in His covenant with Abraham depended on God keeping His word that He would always be their God, and they would forever be His people?  How else could God prove that anymore dramatically and forcefully?  Now you’re acting like the children of Israel after God freed them by His power when they turned back to the gods of Egypt and raised their voices in protest against Moses and Aaron.  “Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place?  This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink!”^[9]

One of the most divisive points between many Christian denominations today hangs on what Paul meant when he accused the Galatian believers of treason. They became adherents to the Judaizers’ form of salvation by man’s efforts, of becoming alienated from the Anointed One and falling away from grace (v.4).  No doubt, the Judaizers assured them that keeping Mosaic Law was not abandoning their faith in the Anointed One; it was just another way to reach perfection in Christian living.

Consequently, Paul indicates that regulating their lives by Mosaic Law, they remove the Anointed One as Lord and King over their lives, and by trusting in their efforts to keep Mosaic Law, they no longer believed in God’s grace.  Circumcision or the Anointed One, Mosaic Law or grace: these are exclusive alternatives. You cannot have it both ways. You must choose. Therefore, the danger of falling away from grace must have been genuine or Paul would not use such strong language. If we use the doctrine of eternal security to deny the possibility of falling from grace, are we in danger because we brush aside Paul’s warning?  Whoever promotes the principle of eternal security is often associated with the saying, “Once in grace, always in grace.”  One commentator said that these words of Paul in verse four do not make void the doctrine of eternal security. He believes that Paul is merely warning the Galatians that they had slipped, not fallen, from the gospel of grace.

[1] The Parthian Empire stretched from central-eastern Turkey to eastern Iran today. Charax Spasini was a commercial port at the head of the Persian Gulf. It contained a fortified palace for the king.

[2] Josephus, Flavius: Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. 20; Ch. 2:3-4

[3] Nyland, A., Galatians: The Source New Testament With Extensive Notes On Greek Word Meaning, op. cit., loc. cit.

[4] Kierkegaard, Søren: Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments.

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

[6] Ibid. 17:7

[7] Deuteronomy 10:16 – Abraham Saba in his Tzror Hamor says: “Moses reminds the people that God is the Supreme God and will find ways to penetrate any insulating walls the people might want to build around themselves, that they would be well advised to serve Him under the most auspicious conditions instead of being coerced through having experienced retributions for resisting Him.” op. cit., loc. cit. (pp. 1862-1863

[8] Amazing Grace, written by John Newton between 1760-1770.

[9] Numbers 20:5 – Rabbi Abraham Saba, author of Tzror Hamor commented on his Hebrew version of this verse, which read: “And why did you lead us up to this vile place, a place unfit to plant a seed, and certainly not a place where one can expect fig-trees, grapevines or pomegranates to grow.”  He goes on to explain that this did not mean that they demanded these luxuries.  They knew full well that in summertime excessive amounts of water are actually harmful.  They made it plain that all they desired was enough water for drinking purposes, and this is why the Torah quoted them as adding that there was not enough water for drinking.  Surely this was a real crisis. op. cit., pp. 1660-1661

[SPECIAL NOTICE: Due to several computer freezes on my word processor, each time I rebooted, it would save my work to a new file. Apparently, when I opened our lessons on Galatians, I opened an older file and began posting from there. Thanks to those of you who alerted us. My wife and I have attempted to get things back in order. I hope you enjoyed reading some of the lessons twice!]

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LIX)

Luther’s trustworthy and faithful coworker and translator of the Final Covenant into German and the Augsburg Confession, Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), backed up Luther’s testimony. He noted that in the Church during those days, that the monks taught that deeds and services of man’s own making satisfy the debt for sins and merited grace and justification. No sufficient explanation will do except to call it a distraction from the glory of the Anointed One and to obscure and deny the righteousness that comes by faith in His work.  It follows, therefore, he said, that the vows commonly are taken have involved services unworthy of justification and, consequently, are void. For such an oath opposes what Jesus taught and is, therefore, not valid. Even in Church teachings, it says that no vow ought to obligate people to do ungodly things.

Melanchthon points out that Paul says here in verse four: If you try to be made right with God through the Law, your life with the Anointed One is finished – you have forsaken God’s grace. To those, therefore, who wants to be justified in not facing death by their vows, our Redeemer is made of no effect, and they fall from grace. Anyone assigning justification to their vows is crediting to good works that rightly belongs to the glory of the Anointed One.

Melanchthon describes more of what he and Luther saw as grave errors in the Medieval Church. Allowing the monks to teach by their vows and observances, that they were justified in not being put to death for sin, and merited forgiveness of sins, led to the invention of still greater absurdities. They even claimed that they could give others a share of the merits they earned through their good deeds. If anyone should be inclined to enlarge on these things with ulterior motives, many things could be written that even the monks would be ashamed of!

Over and above this, however, they persuaded people that the services of humanity’s making were a state of Christian perfection. Is this not assigning justification to works? It is no small matter that the Church declared to everyone that such good deeds devised by men, without the commandment of God, will lead them to a right standing before God. For the righteousness of faith, which needs teaching in the Church, is obscured when these unusual angelic forms of worship, with their show of poverty, humility, and celibacy. They perform them for the applause of others.^[1] Perhaps this will help us see why a Reformation was so necessary to get the Church back on the right path, which is the Highway of Holiness.

A fellow Reformer, John Calvin, also gives his view. He sees the Apostle Paul contending that our Anointed One cannot be divided, with Law on the one side, and He on the other. The person who does this not only profits nothing but loses everything; the Anointed One is not served by following the dictates of the Law, and the Law cannot be served unless it is performed to perfection. They cannot go together, you must totally embrace one or the other. Calvin wondered why the Roman Catholic Church decided to replace obligatory circumcision with mandatory baptism.

And even that does not seem to be enough. Added details of their inventions were forthcoming; their whole doctrine tends to blend the grace of our Anointed One with the merit of works, which is impossible. Whoever wishes to have only half of the Anointed One, loses the whole. And yet these unfortunate brethren think themselves exceedingly keen when they tell us that they ascribe nothing to works, except through the influence of the grace of the Anointed One. But they are making the same mistake as the Galatians. By combining works with grace is another way of saying that all the Anointed One did on the cross was insufficient to provide redemption, forgiveness, and eternal life. In other words, Jesus wasn’t strong enough to finish the job – even though He did declare, “It is finished!” What they don’t realize was that they departed from the Anointed One as their only Lord and Savior. And by relinquishing the full power of His grace, they lost the benefits of His work on the cross entirely. We could call this a case of religious bigamy. They are married to two Saviors – the Law and the Anointed One. It doesn’t work under the laws of this world; likewise, it does not work under the Laws of God’s Kingdom.^[2]

Jesuit priest and interpreter of the Sacred Scriptures Cornelius à Lápide (1567-1637) remarks on who the Anointed One’s sacrifice becomes of no effect who seek justification in the Law; he addresses those who try to be justified in bypassing sin’s death sentence by doing the works of the Law. He goes on to say that those who seek righteousness from circumcision and other legal rites are distrusting the Grace of the Anointed One and preferring to put their trust in the Law. By doing so, they are treating the Anointed One with ingratitude, and as a consequence, He withdrew His grace from them.

Galatians believers, says Paul, were once filled with the Grace of the Anointed One, like a well with water; but they emptied it and so lost the fruits of His work on the cross. To put it in another way, the Anointed One drained His Church of them, because of their lack of faith.^[3] We can see where the Roman Catholic Church was in the Middle Ages in their theology of justification by grace alone. I disagree with Lápide in that God never withdraws His Grace from us; it is we who push it away. But the mindset by that time was that the Roman Church was the deciding factor in such issues. So, when excommunicated from the Church, you were banished from God’s Grace.

Adam Clarke offers his exegesis on what Paul is saying to the Galatians here about circumcision. Didn’t they realize that by approving circumcision, they were taking on carrying the whole burden of the Law, and consequently professing that they are seeking salvation by means of its observances. But they were unaware that all our Anointed One did on the cross and rising out of the grave would not benefit them in any way. By seeking justification by the works of the Law, they were renouncing justification by faith in our Anointed One.

Clarke goes on to add that the Galatians seemed oblivious to the fact that they were trying to unite two opposing systems. They must either give their unconditional allegiance to the Law or to our Anointed One. They were brought into the grace of the Gospel but now decided to readopt the Mosaic ordinances instead. They were renouncing the power of the Gospel for salvation. Didn’t they know they were losing all the benefits of grace communicated to their souls, by which they were preserved in a state of salvation? The peace and love of God received through Jesus the Anointed One could not remain in the hearts of those who rejected Him. To put it mildly, they fell from grace. If some recovered, is not recorded in the Scriptures.^[4]

Joseph Benson (1749-1821) takes the phrase “The Anointed One will profit you nothing” and says it should be limited in scope because we cannot suppose that the circumcision of the Jewish believers incapacitated them for being profited by the Anointed One’s work on the cross. It also shows that the Apostle’s declaration is not to be considered as a prohibition of circumcision to the Jews as a national rite, but only as a rite necessary for salvation. And therefore, while the Jews practiced this rite, according to its original intention, they did what was right. But the Gentiles, not being of Abraham’s race, were under no lawful obligation to circumcise themselves; consequently, if they received that rite, it must have been because they thought it necessary to their salvation; for which reason the Apostle absolutely prohibited it to all the Gentiles. That is, those who seek to be justified by the Law will fall from grace. When you renounce the covenant of grace in this last and most perfect manifestation of it: you disclaim the benefit of the Anointed One’s gracious dispensation. The Apostle’s meaning is this: that whosoever sought to be justified meritoriously by the Law of Moses, and for that purpose received circumcision, dissolved their connection with the Anointed One, and renounced relationship to, and dependence on Him as Lord and Savior.^[5]

George S. Bishop (1880-1910) informs us that the question of the timelessness of Grace is the question of a genuine Gospel. In other words, if Grace is real, then is the Gospel a reality? If Grace is temporary, then is the Gospel temporary? Wouldn’t that make a dream of blessed assurance something from which someone wakes to find themselves empty of all that enraptured them – that spoke its promises into the ear but was devoid of hope. So now we must ask, says Bishop, can a person who has real Grace lose it? The answer to this question decides the validity of our faith. The permanence of Grace is the forward stronghold guarding the fortress of Truth, the first point of attack which establishes, commits, secures, and rivets God’s eternal, unchanging plan of salvation to the Gospel.^[6] In other words, if God’s Grace is genuine, then the Gospel is authentic. And God’s unending Grace is what makes the Gospel’s plan of salvation a permanent fixture for eternity.

[1] Philip Melanchthon: The Augsburg Confession, Article 27, pp. 29-30

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

[3] Cornelius à Lápide: On Galatians, op. cit., loc., cit.

[4] Adam Clarke: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[5] Joseph Benson: On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[6] George Sayles Bishop: The Doctrines of Grace: and Kindred Themes, Gospel Publishing House, New York, 1910, p. 306

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LVIII)

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 their life. The Judaizer’s spiritual existence depended on self-effort in a continuous, failed attempt to obey the Law. The Galatian Christians were spiritually active in their dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit. With hearts focused on the Lord Jesus, the details of their conscience were guided by ethics emerging from the teaching of the apostles, both doctrinal and practical. Now, however, in swinging back to the side of the Law, they were losing that freedom of action and that flexibility of self-determination which one exercises in doing what is right in God’s eyes. And when one does right, not because the Law forbids wrong and commands right, but since it is right by pleasing the Lord Jesus, and of their love for Him. Paul urges them to keep on standing fast in that freedom from the oppressiveness of the Law.^[1]

When speaking about the yoke as a burden, Paul knew from personal experience what he meant. Starting when Moses received the Ten Commandments until Paul’s day, Jewish Rabbis added 603 more laws for a total of 613 – 248 do’s and 365 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; keeping 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 domineering.

As a boy growing up in Germany, we lived in a village where only one farmer owned a horse. I remember one day I saw him beating his horse severely because it wouldn’t pull his heavily loaded wagon. I overheard one of the villagers say that the horse used to be a racehorse and not strong enough for work like that. Everyone else in the village pulled their plows and wagons with milk cows. Paul tried to get the Galatian believers to see they weren’t oxen anymore (like they did back in his day), yoked together trying to pull the heavy load of Mosaic Law. Now they were freed thoroughbreds, ready to run the race before them. So, if they get hooked up again to the heavy weight 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 of everlasting torment.

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. When a slave went into town to shop for the plantation owner’s wife, if a white person told them to do this or that and was abusive to them, they had to drop everything and do what they were ordered to do. 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 don’t know the other. They know they are redeemed from sin’s slavery and 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 not a slave to sin. God freed you from your sins. Why do you remain a slave to them? So, let go of those sins, says Lloyd-Jones, and grab hold of Jesus your Savior, He will be more than enough to help you remain free.

How many times have we seen a young Christian try to pull the heavy load of church membership requirements and 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 our 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 the Anointed One allowed them to get closer to God than any rite or ritual could do? Didn’t he tell them that their liberty in the Anointed One gave them more excellent options to please God than any ceremony could provide? Didn’t they remember he 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 continuously under attack. Forces are seeking to move saints from the center of grace by pushing them towards strict legalism. There, they abstain from doing what pleases them or steering them towards an open license to do as they wish. 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 this sense, to hold fast.^[2] 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.” ^[3]

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.^[4] 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 befitting a Christian. Those who say they feel 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 is hard, stale bread given to a prisoner. Be the salt of the earth so that no one among you spoils, for, your Savior will test you. Lancaster tells us, “It is outrageous to utter the name of Jesus the 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.^[5]

Lancaster also responds to what Ignatius wrote by saying that he misinterpreted the words of Paul because he misunderstood Judaism. Lancaster apologizes for confronting Ignatius, 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 talked about keeping the whole Torah. Paul did not speak against the Torah or Judaism; instead, as we have learned, he addressed Gentiles who were considering undergoing a legal conversion to become Jewish. Lancaster then again apologizes to Ignatius, a fellow Gentile, because Ignatius never lived under the Law to be set free from something he never experienced being under the burden of a yoke. However, 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. By using the term “again,” he equated the Jewish Law to the pagan ways they once were enslaved. But at the same time, why should the Apostle only warn the non-Jews when the Jews themselves remained tied to the same yoke. And Paul makes that clear by what he then 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 union with the Anointed One. Paul is concerned that the Galatians might misinterpret this freedom as being set free from the moral laws that God gave to Moses and that Jesus reinforced.^[6] After all, this is God’s eternal will for His people. The Law that the Anointed One liberated us from is the one that leads to condemnation and death. But the Gospel replaced this Law because we received forgiveness and justification by faith and grace. That way, the 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 satisfy. 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.^{[7] [8]}

In the Jewish Annotated New Testament, we find that the term “Yoke” was not new to Jesus or Paul. We find it referred to in several places in Jewish literature. For instance, speaking about worship in the synagogue, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha says before saying the Shema, “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One,” ^[9] followed by the v’hayah im shamoa, “And it shall come to pass if you surely listen to the commandments…” ^[10] one should first accept  the “yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven,” and then take upon themselves the “yoke of the commandments.” ^[11]

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

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

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

[4] 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 broader region of Thessaly.

[5] 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

[6] Matthew 5:17-20

[7] Romans 8:2

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

[9] Deuteronomy 6:4

[10] Ibid. 11:13-21

[11] Mishnah, Zeraim, Berakoth, Ch. 2:2