CHAPTER 5

(A.D. 58)

BONDAGE

¹Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free (we were made free, and refers to freedom to live a Holy life by evidencing Faith in Christ and the Cross), and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (To abandon the Cross and go under Law of any kind guarantees bondage once again to the sin nature.)

CHRIST OF NO EFFECT

²Behold (mark my words!), I Paul say unto you (presents the Apostles authority regarding the Message he brings), that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. (If the Believer goes back into Law, and Law of any kind, what Christ did at the Cross on our behalf will profit us nothing. One cannot have it two ways.)

³For I testify again to every man who is circumcised (some of the Galatian Gentiles were being pressured by false teachers to embrace the Law of Moses, which meant they would have to forsake Christ and the Cross, for its not possible to wed the two; as well, its not possible to wed any Law to Grace), that he is a debtor to do the whole Law (which of course is impossible; and besides, the Law contained no Salvation).

⁴Christ is become of no effect unto you (this is a chilling statement, and refers to anyone who makes anything other than Christ and the Cross the Object of his Faith), who soever of you are justified by the Law (seek to be justified by the Law); you are fallen from Grace (fallen from the position of Grace, which means the Believer is trusting in something other than the Cross; it actually means, to apostatize).

⁵For we through the Spirit (the Holy Spirit works exclusively within the parameters of the Sacrifice of Christ; consequently, He demands that we place our Faith exclusively in the Cross of Christ) wait for the Hope of Righteousness (which is guaranteed to ultimately come [Rom. 6:14]) by Faith (refers to Faith in Christ and what He did for us at the Cross).

⁶For in Jesus Christ neither Circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision (has no spiritual bearing on anything); but Faith which works by Love. (The evidence of true Faith is the fact of the Love which emanates from such Faith.)

GRACE

⁷You did run well (under the Ministry of Paul, the Galatians had begun well); who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? (Paul is referring to false teachers who were attempting to pull the Galatians away from the Cross to other things.)

⁸This persuasion comes not of Him (the Holy Spirit) Who calls you. (What you are doing is not Biblical!)

⁹A little leaven (corruption) leaveneth (corrupts) the whole lump. (The introduction of a small amount of false doctrine will ultimately consume the entirety of the belief system.)

¹⁰I have confidence in you through the Lord, that you will be none otherwise minded (that the Galatians would not abandon the Cross for this false doctrine): but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. (Judgment will ultimately come on those who attempt to present a way of Salvation other than Christ and the Cross.)

¹¹And I, Brethren, if I yet preach Circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? (Any message other than the Cross draws little opposition.) then is the offence of the Cross ceased. (The Cross offends the world and most of the Church. So, if the preacher ceases to preach the Cross as the only way of Salvation and Victory, then opposition and persecution will cease. But so will Salvation!)

¹²I would they were even cut off which trouble you. (They might cease from the land, but unfortunately false teachers seem to ever plague the landscape.)

LIBERTY

¹³For, Brethren, you have been called unto liberty (liberty from the Law, and to live a Holy life); only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh (because you are living under Grace, do not think sin is inconsequential), but by love serve one another. (This is Pauls constant concern. How will you use your freedom? How will you live your new life?)

¹⁴For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this (presents the Apostle telling us how the Law is fulfilled in our lives); You shall love your neighbour as yourself. (In this, the whole Law stands fully obeyed. This can be done and, in fact, will be done, providing the Believer ever makes the Cross of Christ the Object of his Faith. Accordingly, the Holy Spirit will then provide the power for us to do what we should do.)

¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another (which will be done if the Believer seeks to live under Law), take heed that you be not consumed one of another. (If Love is absent, this tells us that the Cross is absent. Fighting and quarreling always follow the Law.)

VICTORY

¹⁶This I say then, Walk (order your behavior) in the Spirit (we do so by placing our Faith exclusively in Christ and the Cross, through which the Spirit works exclusively [Rom. 8:1-2]), and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (This proves the existence of the sin nature in the Believer. It declares the consciousness of corrupt desires. As stated, the only way to not fulfill the lust of the flesh is for our Faith to be placed exclusively in the Cross.)

¹⁷For the flesh (in this case, evil desires) lusteth against the spirit (is the opposite of the Holy Spirit), and the Spirit against the flesh (it is the Holy Spirit Alone, Who can subdue the flesh; He does so, as we have repeatedly stated, by our Faith being placed exclusively in the Cross): and these are contrary the one to the other (these two can never harmonize; as Paul has stated, the old nature must be cast out, which the Holy Spirit Alone can do): so that you cannot do the things that you would. (Without the Holy Spirit, Who works by the Cross, the Believer cannot live a Holy life.)

¹⁸But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the Law. (One cannot follow the Spirit and the Law at the same time, but regrettably thats what most modern Christians are attempting to do. Unless one properly understands the Cross as it regards Sanctification, one cannot be properly led of the Spirit, Who works exclusively within the framework of the Finished Work of Christ.)

¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these(if one attempts to function by means of Law of any nature, the works of the flesh will be manifested in ones life); Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

²⁰Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

²¹Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like (if one is walking after the flesh [Rom. 8:1], one or more of these sins will manifest themselves in ones life; the only way, and I mean the only way, one can walk in perpetual Victory is to understand that everything we receive from God comes to us by means of the Cross; consequently, the Cross must ever be the Object of our Faith; this being the case, the Holy Spirit, Who works exclusively within the confines of the Sacrifice of Christ, will exert His mighty Power on our behalf, which will enable us to live a Holy life): of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past (refers to the fact that the Apostle was not afraid to name specific sins), that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. (This tells us in no uncertain terms that if our Faith is not everlastingly in Christ and the Cross, we simply wont make it. God doesnt have two ways of Salvation and Victory, only one, and that is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.)

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

²²But the Fruit of the Spirit (are not fruits but rather Fruit; they are to be looked at as a whole, which means they grow equally) is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, Faith,

²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no Law. (Against such there doesnt need to be a Law. But let the Reader understand that this Fruit is of the Holy Spirit, and not of man. It can only develop as we are led of the Spirit. And we can only be led by the Spirit by making the Cross the Object of our Faith.)

A SPIRITUAL LIFE

²⁴And they who are Christs have Crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (This can be done only by the Believer understanding it was carried out by Christ at the Cross, and our being Baptized into His Death [Rom. 6:3-5]. That being the case, and as repeatedly stated, the Cross must ever be the Object of our Faith, which alone will bring about these results.)

²⁵If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit (walk refers to our lifestyle; this Passage declares both life and Holiness to be the Work of the Holy Spirit; He operates Salvation and He operates Sanctification; both are realized on the Principle of Faith, and that refers to the Cross ever being the Object of our Faith; many know they have received Spiritual Life, as it regards Salvation through Faith, but they think they can only secure Sanctification by works; this is a great error; it never brings victory; believing in Christ and the Cross for Sanctification, as well as for Justification, introduces one into a life of power and victory, which is the only way it can be accomplished.)

²⁶Let us not be desirous of vain Glory (which is a sign that one is functioning according to Law), provoking one another (self-righteousness), envying one another. (These are works of the flesh, and will manifest themselves if our Faith is in things other than the Cross.)