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GALATIANS 
V. EXHORTATION TO CHRISTIAN LIVING
5The Importance of Faith.*
1For freedom* Christ set us free; so stand rm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.a
2It is I, Paul, who am telling you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no bene t to you.b 3Once again I declare to every man who has himself circumcisedc that he is bound to observe the entire law.* 4You are separated from Christ, you who are trying to be justi ed by law; you have fallen from grace. 5d For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness. 6e For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.*
Be Not Misled.* 7You were running well;* who hindered you from following [the] truth? 8f That enticement does not come from the one who called you.* 9A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough.g 10I am con dent of you in the Lord that you will not take a di erent view, and that the one who is troubling you will bear the condemnation, whoever he may be.h 11As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision,* why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the stumbling block of the
The Bears’ Hunt, by Paul de Vos (1596-1678)
“If you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:15)
5:1
Paul summarizes his argument in an unforgettable way. Will the Galatians be slaves, or will they be free? Will they bind themselves to the observance of the Law, or will they trust in Christ’s power to save them?
5:6
Those who have been baptized no longer trust exclusively to observance of the Law for our salvation. Instead, we trust to Christ, to “faith working through love.” At the same time, the Law retains a valuable role as a witness of the gospel and as a guide for life.
a. [5:1] 2:4; 4:5, 9; Jn 8:32, 36.
b. [5:2] 2:21; Acts 15:1–29.
c. [5:3] 3:10; Rom 2:25; Jas 2:10.
d. [5:5] Rom 8:23, 25.
e. [5:6] 3:28; 6:15; 1 Cor 7:19.
f. [5:8] 1:6.
g. [5:9] 1 Cor 5:6.
h. [5:10] 1:7.
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* [5:1–6] Paul begins the exhortations, continuing through Gal 6:10, with an appeal to the Galatians to side with freedom instead of slavery (Gal 5:1). He reiterates his message of justi cation or righteousness by faith instead of law and circumcision (Gal 5:2–5); cf. Gal 2:16; 3:3. Faith, not circumcision, is what counts (Gal 5:6).
* [5:1] Freedom: Paul stresses as the conclusion from the allegory in Gal 4:21–31 this result of Christ’s work for us. It is a principle previously mentioned (Gal 2:4), the responsible use of which Gal 5:13 will emphasize.
* [5:3] Cf. Gal 3:10–12. Just as those who seek to live by the law must carry out all its contents, so those who have faith and live by promise must stand rm in their freedom (Gal 5:1, 13).
* [5:6] Cf. Rom 2:25–26; 1 Cor 7:19; Gal 6:15. The Greek for faith working through love or “faith expressing itself through love” can also be rendered as “faith energized by (God’s)
love.”
* [5:7–12] Paul addresses the Galatians directly: with questions (Gal 5:7, 11), a proverb (Gal
5:9), a statement (Gal 5:8), and biting sarcasm (Gal 5:12), seeking to persuade the Galatians
to break with those trying to add law and circumcision to Christ as a basis for salvation.
* [5:7] Running well: as in an athletic contest; cf. Gal 2:2; 1 Cor 9:24–26; Phil 2:16; 3:14.
* [5:8] The one who called you: see note on Gal 1:6.
* [5:11] Preaching circumcision: this could refer to Paul’s pre-Christian period (possibly
as a missionary for Judaism); more probably it arose as a charge from opponents, based perhaps on the story in Acts 16:1–3 that Paul had circumcised Timothy “on account of the Jews.” Unlike the Gentile Titus in Gal 2:3, Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother. The stumbling block of the cross: cf. 1 Cor 1:23.
* [5:12] A sarcastic half-wish that their knife would go beyond mere circumcision; cf. Phil 3:2 and the note there.