Galatians 5

Galatians 5:1

Continue to Believe the Truth An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians www.easyenglish.info Roy Rohu This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 5 v1 Christ has made us free. Stay free then, and do not let anyone make you like slaves again.

v2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you. If you let people *circumcise you, Christ will be of no use to you. v3 Yes, I tell you again. If you let people *circumcise you, you will have to obey all the laws again.

The Christian is free to *circumcise for health reasons. Paul is speaking about the *circumcision that the *Jewish laws ordered. The *Jews believed that this was the way to please God. The *Jews said that *circumcision was extremely important (Genesis 17:10-14). *Circumcision was a sign of the agreement between God and the *Jews. That agreement lasted until Jesus came (Matthew 11:13; Luke 16:16). Jesus brought a new agreement between God and all people everywhere (Matthew 26:27-28; Hebrews 12:24).

v4 Let us suppose that you try to be right with God by keeping rules. Then you will no longer have power from Christ. You will be cut off from *grace. v5 It is by *faith that we live by means of the Holy Spirit. By *faith we can be sure that God approves us.

Paul warns three times against the *circumcision which was part of the old laws:

‘Christ will be of no use to you’ (verse 2).

‘You will no longer have power from Christ’ (verse 4).

‘You will be cut off from *grace’ (verse 4).

The Christian must live by *faith. This is so important that God has said it four times in *scripture (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

v6 *Circumcision and *uncircumcision do not matter to the Christian. *Faith and love that work together are the important things.

We may have *faith without love. We will not bring people to Jesus that way. We may have love that is only a *human love. That will not bring people to Jesus either. *Faith and love must work together.

v7 You were going on so well! But someone turned you away from the truth. v8 Whatever changed your mind did not come from God. God invited you to come to him. v9 A little bit of *yeast goes through the whole loaf of bread.

If we make bread without *yeast, the loaf will be flat and hard. Even a little bit of *yeast affects the whole loaf. In the same way, says Paul, a little *sin can spoil many people. (See the same idea in Hebrews 12:15.)

v10 I have confidence in God that you will agree with me. But the person who causes trouble for you will have his punishment. v11 Some people say that I teach *circumcision. But they still attack me! If I did agree with *circumcision, the message about the cross would not upset anybody. v12 Some people have made trouble for you. I wish that those people would cut themselves off completely!

Paul speaks very strongly here. He does so because he loves the Christians at Galatia so much. He is very angry with those who try to lead the Christians at Galatia away from Jesus.

v13 God invited you, my *brothers and sisters, to be free. But do not use your freedom as an excuse to do anything that you want. Instead, serve each other with love. v14 All the laws together are really equal to only one law: Love other people as much as you love yourself.

From verse 13 to 6:10, Paul talks about a serious *heresy that came into the *church.

This *heresy disagreed with the plain message of Jesus. We now call it antinomianism. The false teachers said that Christians are free from the laws. They may do anything that they want to do. Jesus helps us to understand the laws, which God gave to us through Moses (Matthew 5:17). Paul taught that the laws are good (Romans 7:12). This is because they show us our *sin (Galatians 3:24). And they also help us to keep close to Jesus. They also help us to be kind to other people. See Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 7:12.

v15 If you fight with each other, be careful! You will ruin each other’s lives. v16 But let God’s *Holy Spirit guide you. In that way you will not satisfy what your *human *nature wants. v17 The desires of the *human *nature are against the desires of your new Christian *nature. These two desires are enemies to each other. So it is hard for you, as Christians, to do what you should do. v18 But if you obey God’s *Holy Spirit, you are not under the authority of the *Jewish laws.

v19 Now what the *human *nature produces is clear. It produces wrong use of sex, wrong desires, wrong use of the mind. v20 It uses false gods and magic. It hates people. It likes bad arguments. It causes people to be jealous. It produces bad temper and selfish desires. It makes one group oppose another group. It produces divisions and false teachers. v21 It is *envious. It likes to be drunk and to have evil parties. And it produces other things like these. I warn you, as I did before. People who do such things have no part in the *Kingdom of God.

v22 The *Holy Spirit, however, causes us to have love, joy, *peace, and patience. He causes us to behave with kindness and goodness. He causes us to be loyal to other people. v23 He causes us to be gentle and to control ourselves. There are no laws against these things.

Christians should love God and people. And they should be humble. Christians like that show that they are obeying Jesus. Joy is different from happiness. Happiness depends on things like money, food, home, possessions and friendships. Joy comes when God forgives our *sins (Psalms 5:11). *Peace and patience come by knowing God (Romans 5:1; Colossians 1:20; Isaiah 26:3). God tells us to be kind to other people (Romans 12:10). God expects us to be true to him (Luke 16:11; 12; 1 Corinthians 4:2). He is true to us (1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 John 1:9). We must be gentle to other people (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13). If we do not control ourselves, we do not please God.

v24 It is as if Christ’s people have put their *human *nature to death. Their *human *nature with all its loves and desires has died. v25 Since we have chosen the life of the Spirit, let us obey the Spirit. v26 Let us not be proud people. That only makes other people angry and jealous.

© 1997-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

December 2005

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