Galatians 5: Living in Faith and Loveনমুনা

Paul is still on the trail of these ‘trouble-makers’ and he’s still anxious to show the Galatians how foolish it is to follow their teaching. He reminds them that they started off OK. 

How come they are now off on the wrong track? Who is it that has diverted them from the truth ? Who is it that has put road-blocks in the way to prevent them from obeying the Gospel (verse 7)’?

This sinister obstruction certainly hasn’t come from Christ—the One who called them into the Faith in the first place (verse 8). The trouble is, only a tiny little speck of ‘yeast’ can influence a whole church! And that’s what’s happened in Galatia. A little drop of corrupt law-way teaching has undermined the whole congregation (verse 9).

The same can be true of each of us as individuals. Just one small speck of wrong doctrine or practice can ruin our lives as believers. Once we get into the rut of some law-way habit, not only does it wreck our experience of the Lord, but it’s very hard to see the way out. We can become enslaved for years, and not realise it. 

If we are not living constantly in grace, then we can be sure we’re back under law in some form or other. That’s why we could need the message of this letter of Paul’s. just as much as the Galatians did back then.

In spite of all that’s happened, Paul is still confident that the Galatians will respond to the truth. He has gone to a lot of trouble to remind them, in this letter, of the great certainties of grace and faith and justification, and of their union with Christ. through the cross. As for the person who has been leading them astray, God will deal with him! He is doomed to judgement (verse 10).

One thing is quite clear: Paul could not be accused of preaching this Jewish ritual of circumcision! If he had been, then he would not have been persecuted. It had to be one thing or the other—the cross, or circumcision. Because circumcision was fundamental to the Jew, anyone who did not teach it would be fiercely opposed. 

That’s why they hated Paul so much, and tried to kill him time and time again. And that’s why many of those early believers, who were Jews converted to Christianity, did not have the courage to confess the cross only. They feared the persecution which would come from the orthodox Jews. It might cost them their lives.

Today we fail to see quite so bluntly the offence of the cross. But to believe in the cross of Christ, and nothing else, for salvation is, to many people, ludicrous... absurd ... ridiculous. 

How much easier to say I’m a Baptist, or I’m an Anglican, than to say I’m ‘Christ’s Man’ (a Christian). As soon as we say we’re a Christian, we’re identifying with His cross. Whether we like it or not, it’s a scandal. It’s an offence. It’s a stumbling block (verse 11).

In verse 12, Paul is so concerned about this ritual of circumcision versus faith that he recommends (very strongly!) that the person who is trying to upset the Galatians should go the whole way and castrate himself! Instead of mutilating the Gospel, let him mutilate himself.

Back in verse 1, Paul reminded us that we have been set free by Christ. Now, in verse 13, he says the same thing again. But he adds a very important warning. Liberty is not the same as licence. In other words, we are not free to .just do as we like. We have been set free in order to serve.

It’s not easy to learn to live in freedom. We find it hard to believe. It seems too good to be true. ‘What! No guilt’?’ Our old corrupt nature thinks this is great! ‘I can do what I like and it doesn’t matter. I’m free. I’m forgiven already!’ But that’s not Christian liberty, that’s licence. 

True freedom for the Christian is being free now to do the things that God wants us to do. Primarily, that means loving others as He loves. It means being servants of one another, just as Christ was to us (read John 13:3-17).

We are now in a position to fulfil God’s law—the Ten Commandments—by loving others. When we love others, we are loving God. When we love others, we are expressing our faith. When we love others, we are communicating the truth to them. When we love others, we are showing them what God is like. When we love others, they can see what true freedom really is.

WE HAVE BEEN SET FREE TO LOVE!

Lots of Christians have their heads full of doctrines and ideas about God, many of which may be quite true. But if they don’t love as He loves, then it’s all pointless. Reading the Bible. praying, going to church, singing in the choir. being very religious—all of these things have no point to them if we are not serving one another in love. 

To set out to love takes an act of the will. We have to learn to say, ‘I will love that person’, or, ‘I will serve that person’ -no matter what it costs. That’s hard, and the sin which still dwells in us doesn’t take too kindly to it! However, to love one another is not a hint. It is not a suggestion. It is a command.

Not to love one another as we should will inevitably lead to strife in our relationships. If we don’t love, we will do the opposite. We will just go the way the flesh dictates. We will begin to snap at each other. We will get cranky With others. and there will be a tension between us and those we ought to be loving. In the end, it destroys us. Our Christian fellowship collapses, or, at the best, is just a front.

Don’t let this happen to you. Take care that you guard against this danger. All of us are prone to allowing the flesh get the better of us, when we should, in fact, be genuinely loving and serving each other.