Galatians 5

I think those who have been attending regularly know we've been covering the Book of Galatians. And I've mentioned in the past that I felt that the Book of Galatians is very important, because it was used to undermine the faith, the understanding of so many concerning the law, and whether we should keep the law today. Before I jump into that, let me just mention, clarify one point in the announcements. The Bible study at the home of the Dosses is on the 8th, and I believe that's two Wednesdays away. Next Wednesday's the 1st, so I'd hate for anyone to show up at their home on the 1st when it's on the 8th. And just in case you might have been mistaken about that. Also, we have a handout, if you didn't get it, that covers Chapter 5, the Book of Galatians. And we've had a handout for a couple of months, I think, covering Chapter 4. We have extra copies of those in the back, so if you did not get a copy, you need one, please hold your hand up. And we'll ask the ushers to pass those out.

So, one on Galatians 5 was given out today, one on Galatians 4 was given out last month or so. We have come to Galatians 4, verse 21. So, if you'll open your Bibles there.

We've actually gotten through what I would call the more difficult part of the Book of Galatians.

But it seems that there are different sections that are misinterpreted, misapplied. You might remember, as we were covering here, in the first part of this chapter, in Chapter 4, Paul talked about how they were under bondage to the elements of the world. And I think it's important to realize that in verse 3, it does talk about where a lot of their bondage came from. They came from the world from the fact that they were trying or going back to some of their pagan practices, some of their pagan customs. As verse 9 also says, that they turned again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage. The word elements there is stoichiia, and it does not have to do with God's law. It has to do with the elemental spirits of this world and their teachings.

We covered all of that. We came down to verse 20 the last time, so I'd like to pick up with verse 21. I want you to notice that Paul is still trying to focus on what the problem is here in Galatia. He says, tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? Now, the expression under the law, as we have covered, means under the claim of the law or under the penalty of the law. When you sin, you come under the law's jurisdiction. Just as we say today, if you commit a crime, then you come under the law. The law can get you. We refer to the police or the authorities, can come after you. Now, why would he say this? Well, when you sin and you're not relying upon Jesus Christ's sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sin, but you're relying upon keeping the law for justification, then you're still under the penalty of the law, which is death. The wages of sin is death. And this was part of the problem in Galatians. There were these false teachers who were coming along, telling the Gentiles that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved, that you cannot be forgiven until you were circumcised. Now, that problem was discussed, as we know, in Acts 15, at the Council in Jerusalem, and was resolved. So, this is what the Apostle Paul is driving at.

Why would Christ need to die if their own works would achieve the same purpose for salvation? If you could buy good works, save yourself, then why did Jesus Christ have to come die and go through what he did? Paul is using a little sarcasm here when he addresses this topic with the Jews.

What you find is that there were those who were trying to be justified by the law. Now, how do we know that? Well, let's just skip ahead over here to chapter 5 and verse 4. It says, you have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law. That's chapter 5, verse 4. So, here he clearly shows that there were those who were trying to be justified by the law, by their own good deeds, and not looking to Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Now, beginning in verse 22, he begins to draw an analogy between Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond woman and the other by a free woman. Now, I've put up here on the screen the definition, and you also have this in your handout. Word, bond woman, means a female slave or servant. A free woman means one who's not a slave, somebody who's free, just what it means. Now, both of those really self-explanatory. Now, what Paul does, he begins to build an analogy based upon Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and based upon the two mothers, Hagar and Sarah. In one way, this analogy is sort of the culmination of his argument and his presentation. Now, I want you to notice as we go through the analogy that there's nothing negative said about Hagar and Ishmael and all they represented. God was very kind to Hagar, if you'll remember. God pronounced the blessing on Ishmael. Abraham loved Ishmael. But they were not the ones who were the recipients of the promise. They were not the ones that the promise had been given to. The point is that they were, let's say, just... She was a bond woman, had a son, and Abraham and Sarah tried to produce a son in their own way, instead of relying upon God. And so, for a while, they weakened in faith. Now, notice going on in verses 23 and 24. But he who was of the bond woman was according to the flesh. He of the free woman through promise. Isaac was promised. God said that he would give to Abraham a seed. He had to wait 25 years, but Isaac was the result of that promise. It was going to come through Sarah. Whereas Ishmael was, as we know, by them trying to work it out themselves.

Now, what you find simply is this. The word promise, heir, free woman, are constantly used throughout this section. Only those who are children of the promise are the heirs, not the children of the bond woman. Now, also, Paul doesn't say that the old covenant is bondage, but gives birth to bondage. You and I are free from bondage from sin, free from bondage to Satan, free from bondage to our own human nature through Jesus Christ and through the fact that our sins are forgiven. That cannot be said for those who are under the law, and those who depend upon the law for forgiveness are still under the law because they're not trusting in Christ and his sacrifice. Anytime you trust in anything except Christ's sacrifice for forgiveness, your sins are not being forgiven. It's only through Christ that we can escape the bondage to sin and slavery to the devil. Now, when it says here that born according to the flesh, everything about the birth of Ishmael was simply according to the laws of nature. There was no promise. Abraham just went out, laid with Hagar. She got pregnant, and it was just a natural thing that accomplished. The one through promise, everything about the birth of Isaac, was entirely due to a miracle. Sarah was too old. Abraham thought, well, you know, time has passed. Sarah laughed when God said, you know, you're going to have a son. And it was completely outside of the laws of nature. It was a miracle that took place. And, brethren, you and I today are the children of promise, also, as we'll see. And as a result of that, we're here because of a miracle from God, because God called us, God chose us, not because of our good works. God didn't choose you because you're better than somebody else. Now, we find back here in chapter 3, verse 29, if you'll remember, if you're Christ, in other words, if you're a Christian, you're relying upon Christ, then you're Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So who receives the promise of receiving the Holy Spirit, becoming a part of the church today? Those that believe in Christ, have been called by Christ. Now, in verse 25, Now, let's ask a question.

Does God's law produce bondage? And the answer is no. The problem was that the Jewish community and Jerusalem were not looking to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. They were continuing their temple rituals, their ceremonies, and all of those type of things. And what we find that Paul continues to emphasize is that no physical works can forgive sin. I don't care if you try to keep the Ten Commandments. That doesn't atone for your past sins. The law of God defines sin. That's the purpose of it. It gives a definition of sin, without providing deliverance from the bondage of sin.

The law defines sin. It does not forgive sin. And that's where our acceptance of Christ comes in. Jerusalem that now is, Jerusalem was universally recognized as the center of Judaism and the whole Old Covenant system back at that time. The temple was there. The priest was there. In spite of all the good things that God had given to Israel, the end result was that if they did not accept Christ and believe in Him, they were still under the death penalty. And, you know, they were still in bondage to sin. God's law defines sin without providing deliverance from sin's bondage.

It's sin that brings us into bondage, not God's law. So, that's the reason why they were still in bondage, because they were still just like every other nation going about and not trusting in Christ. Remember the book of Acts 4 says there's only one name given under heaven whereby man must be saved? You've got to believe in Christ. You've got to believe in His sacrifice and what He did in order to be forgiven.

But Jerusalem above notice, He is free, which is the mother of us all. Ok, free from what? When you come under the new covenant, when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're baptized, and you receive the Holy Spirit, what have you been freed from? Well, you've been freed from sin. You've had the forgiveness of sin. You're no longer a slave to sin. You're no longer a slave held in bondage to Satan and to this world. God now gives to you the power, the ability to be able to start to overcome those things. This passage here is showing that Hagar's son Ishmael was not born from a promise, but born as any other person who's in bondage in the world.

And the world is held in bondage by Satan the devil. Now Isaac was promised, and we know that Isaac was a type, even of Jesus Christ. Now, it's a funny thing that people say that the Israelites were in bondage because God gave them his law.

This is the way this is interpreted. What you find is God called Israel and gave them his law. Now the problem was, as we know from the New Covenant, one, they did not have the power to obey the law, did they? They did not have God's Spirit. And neither were they forgiven in a spiritual sense of their sins.

And so the New Covenant corrects this. You enter into the New Covenant when you accept Christ, you're baptized, you receive the Holy Spirit, that places you in the Church, and you enter into a New Covenant relationship. And then God's law is now written in your hearts and your mind, and God gives us the power. He gives us the divine power, as 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 3 and 4 shows, to be able to overcome.

Okay, well let's continue on here. And we find that this is referring a reference to the Jerusalem, which is above the mother of us all, that eventually all human beings are going to have an opportunity for salvation, to know God's way. And that those who will be in God's kingdom will be much more than those who were born to physical Israel. Now verse 28 says, Now we brethren, as Isaac, are the children of promise.

We read that in Galatians 3, 29. Salvation today is promised, not promised to only one nation, but to all those that God is calling. And eventually God will call all nations, as we know.

But verse 29, But as he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. And so you find in the early church the Jews persecuted the church. Paul tried to destroy the church, if you'll remember. And so there was this persecution and antagonism against the early New Testament church. Nevertheless, what does the Scripture say? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman, notice the key, shall not be heir, but the son of the free woman. The question is, who becomes an heir of God? Just because you are a physical Israelite, a physical descendant of Abraham, doesn't make you an heir according to the promise that God offers to everyone, Jew and Gentile.

So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Now, we today are the Israel of God. Notice in Galatians 6, 16, Galatians 6, verse 16. As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. So you and I today are the spiritual Israel of God. As Romans 2, 27, 28 shows that we become spiritual Jews at this time.

Now, I think Romans 9, verses 6 through 8 helps to explain this. Let's just turn back there very quickly. Romans 9, verses 6 through 8. But it is not the word of God that has taken no effect, for they are not all Israel who are of Israel. Verse 6. Nor are all the children, because they are the seed of Abraham, but in Isaac your seed shall be called. That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, talking in a spiritual sense.

But the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise, at that time I will come and Sarah shall have a son. So, we find very clearly that you and I are the Israel of God today, brethren.

Now, with that in mind, let's go on to chapter 5. I've given you a four-page handout. These are the PowerPoint presentations that we have.

Not all of them, but actually most of them we come to chapter 5. Let's read verses 1 through 6 to make sure that we read this in context. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free.

And do not be entangled again with a yoke, a bondage.

Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by the law. You have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love.

Okay, now with that in mind, let's go back to verse 1. So stand fast therefore in liberty. And I want you to notice here, one of the definitions from the Strong's Concordance, and this is the online concordance, is that liberty, true liberty, is living as we should, not as we want. Now think of how this applies to today's society. How many people you find today argue, well, we have the freedom to live any way we want to. You can't tell me what to do. Well, that's exactly what the Bible does. The Bible says we have freedom, but it's freedom within God's law. It's not freedom to live any way you want to, to act any way you want to, to do anything you want to.

We have to live as we should, as God's law tells us, and not as we want. Now the Bible shows that the law of God is called a law of liberty. In James 1, verse 25, and I put these up here for you, "...but whoever or whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man should be blessed in his feet." And then James 2, 12, "...so speak you, and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." Now, brethren, why is God's law a law of liberty?

I've explained this many times, but every time we come to it, I think it's important for us to realize it. When you keep God's law, you're blessed. God says, choose life, choose death. God's law leads to life, disobedience leads to death, the wages of sin is death. And you find by keeping God's law, you're blessed. Are you blessed? Well, you have a right relationship with God. First four commandments show you how to worship God. The last six, how to write relationship with your neighbor.

And so, you are blessed in your marriage, aren't you, if you keep the laws concerning marriage? You're blessed in child-wearing if you obey God's laws concerning child-wearing. You're blessed in your relationship with other people if you obey God's spiritual laws and how you treat other people. See, this is why Martin Luther said that the book of James was an epistle of straw. And yet, he said that Galatians was his mistress. He went to bed with Galatians. But, you know, he said that the book of James shouldn't even be in the Bible.

So he wanted to, you know, throw it out. We have been liberated from the slavery of sin. We are to be slaves to righteousness or obedience. Romans 6, verses 6-19 very clearly states that. Actually, the book of Romans is a good book to study with the book of Galatians.

Romans is almost written in everyday language. Book of Galatians, sometimes a little more difficult to understand. The book of Romans says the same thing as the book of Galatians. It's just a little clearer. And, you know, Paul explained it. Now he says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. So when you become a Christian, you've been liberated from sin.

Satan's grip has been broken on you. And he's made us free. And do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Now, again, if you want to use the internal evidence within the book concerning a yoke of bondage, I again refer you back to chapter 4, verse 3, where it talks about being in bondage under the elements of the world.

And verse 9, that turning again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage, that many in Galatia, because there were these teachers coming along saying, Well, you've got to be circumcised, and you've got to keep ceremonial laws and ritualistic laws and all of this, said, Well, we're not going to do that. And they started going back to their pagan practices. And as we discussed, there could have been a mixture of Gnosticism among the Jewish teachers also. Now, it is very interesting concerning the yoke of bondage.

I hope to speak on this here in the next few weeks. Not just the yoke of bondage, but that is part of it. When you look up, when you begin to research what was meant in the first century by a yoke of bondage, you find it's totally different than what we normally assume. You see, we tend to look back and try to read into what was going on in the first century from our culture and our perspective.

But what did yoke of bondage mean back then? Well, basically, it had to do with the rabbis. Every rabbi, when he became 30, would have students who would follow him, just like Jesus Christ. Remember, Christ was referred to as a rabbi. And he had disciples. There would be disciples who would seek out a rabbi and follow him. They would study the Torah, they would meditate on it, they would pray, they would discuss and determine what it meant, and help people to understand it and live by it.

Now, what you find is that different rabbis had different interpretations. So a student became a student of a rabbi based upon his interpretation of the Torah. And they had different sets of rules that they would go by. A rabbi set of rules, his list, was really how the rabbi interpreted how to live. Therefore, this was called the rabbi's yoke. Because the student was expected to emulate, live with the rabbi day and night, go where he went, eat with him, sleep with him. And then at the end of a period of three or four years, then hopefully they would be trained, and they would be rabbis in training.

And then they would go ahead and have their own school. Now, let's notice this quote here. When you follow a certain rabbi, you were following him because you believe that rabbi's set of interpretations were the closest to what God intended through the Scriptures. And when you followed that rabbi, it was said that you were taking up the rabbi's yoke.

What was the purpose of the yoke? The intent of a rabbi having a yoke wasn't just to interpret the words correctly, but was for them to live that interpretation or those rules or that way of life that he laid out. In the Jewish context, it is always what they were striving for, living out the Scriptures, not just arguing the Scriptures, but to be able to live out the Scriptures. Now, Paul says here, and he's referencing this fact that there were different ones who would come with their own interpretation of the law. And so here were these Jewish teachers, some of them Gnostics, who were coming along to Galatia, telling them their interpretation that you had to be circumcised.

You couldn't be circumcised, and unless you were circumcised, then you could become a part of the church. And Paul said that's not true. Now, I want you to notice here in Matthew 11, verses 29 through 30, that Jesus Christ actually uses this expression. He says, So Jesus Christ was showing that His joke was easy, compared to what?

To what the Pharisees and Sadducees were teaching, right? Jesus Christ had a yoke, He tells us to put on. And notice He says, my burden is like there is a certain burden that you have from obeying God. You may be persecuted. You may lose your job. You may be made fun of. I mean, all kinds of things could happen.

Jesus Christ was offering them relief from the heavy burdens imposed by the scribes and the Pharisees. Now, how do we know that? Well, let's go over here to Matthew 23, verses 2 through 4. And again, I have this here on the slide. Matthew 23, verse 2, saying, See, Christ said, my yoke is easy, my burden is light, but they bind heavy burdens, grievous to be born. They them are men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. They established all kinds of rules and regulations that you don't find in the Bible and don't find in the Scriptures. It was their interpretation on how to keep the law. And so they thought that if they added all these dos and don'ts, that it would make people more righteous. Luke 11, 46 and 52. And He said, The key of knowledge, you endure not yourself. And then that we're entering in, you hindered. Now, I want you to notice the word hindered. And we will come to that word in verse 7. Notice.

So you find that instead of leading people toward the kingdom, the Jews, the lawyers, Sadducees and Pharisees were leading them away. What do you find in the Christian community today? Instead of them leading people in the right way in obedience to God, they talk about Christ, but they lead people away. Not in the right way. Now, why did Paul write about the yoke? Well, false teachers were trying to tell the Gentiles that they had to be circumcised to keep all the obligations of the law in order to be justified and ultimately saved. Now, in Galatians 2, let's back up to Galatians 2.

I didn't put that up there since you're right there. Verses 1-4, notice. Paul addressed this. After 14 years, this was in 49 A.D., the conference in Jerusalem, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and also took Timothy with me. And I went up by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which I preached among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were reputation. Of reputation, lest by any means I might run or had run in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was with me being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. But this occurred because of false brethren. Now, notice, false brethren secretly brought in who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty. Okay, what were they teaching? Which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage.

Well, I was going to quote it later, but let me go ahead and we may come back to it later on. Acts 15.

And notice, verse 5, Acts 15.5. Some of the sect of the Pharisees who believe rose up saying, it is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

So they felt, and here were the Jewish, those in the Jewish community, Jewish background who were being converted. They were coming into the church. They were accepting Christ. But they were having difficulty to give up their old customs. They didn't realize that it was no longer necessary to be circumcised. They thought it was a salvation issue and it was not.

So what you find when Paul mentions yoke here, he's talking about, to the Galatians, the interpretation that these false teachers had upon the law, and coming to them and trying to get them to follow their interpretation.

Now in verse 4, we find, again, you've been estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law. So you find what he's talking about here. We cannot justify ourselves by keeping the law. Future obedience does not forgive past sins. And then in verse 2, Paul again says, I say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. Verse 6, again, he refers to circumcision. Verse 10 through 12, he refers to circumcision. Again, chapter 6, he refers to circumcision. Circumcision was an issue that was being pushed at this time.

Okay, with that in mind, let's go on here. Let's notice.

Coming back again to this, in 1 Corinthians 7.19, we find this about circumcision. Keeping the commandments, we find, is what matters. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. So whether you're circumcised or not circumcised, and I won't ask who's circumcised in here and who's not circumcised, has nothing to do with receiving the Spirit of God. But you see, this is what the false teachers were saying. Now in Acts 15 verse 10, Now therefore why tempt you, God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Well, you find, again, a yoke, and part of that had to do with the teachings and the dos and the don'ts that were added. God's commandments are never referred to as being burdensome. In 1 John 5.3, for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous, or His commandments are not burdensome.

So what you find, the choice in Acts 15 was whether new Gentile converts should look to Christ to bear the burden of sin, or to attempt the impossible task of bearing it themselves. Okay, now, just for your information here, the word bondage in verse 1 here comes from the Greek word, duliah, and it means slavery or bondage, the condition of a slave. The word burden means a burden or a load, like laden in a ship or burdensome rights, or as it goes on to say, obligations. The obligations cry slate upon His followers, and a burden by way of contrast to the precepts of the Pharisees, which were oppressive. And so what you find is that Paul, again, is constantly fighting against this. Well, we've covered enough of that. Let's go on to verse 2. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, in other words, if you become circumcised thinking that you've got to do that for salvation, if you think shaving your head, you've got to do that for salvation. If you think you've got to wear a wig for salvation, if you think you've got to wear tassels for salvation, anything you think physically you've got to do, then, as he says here, Christ profits you nothing because you're not looking to Jesus Christ and to His sacrifice.

Let's notice another quote here. This is from David Stern from the Jewish New Testament. The Jewish New Testament notes, quote, in other words, circumcision is part of an initiation rite which makes a Gentile a part of the Jewish community. In the first century, if you wanted to become Jewish proselyte, you were a Gentile. You had to be circumcised. That's why most Gentiles were not real happy about becoming a Jewish proselyte. They didn't want to be circumcised. And when these false teachers came teaching this doctrine to the Galatians, they're Gentiles. They're not circumcised. All at once they begin to think, well, if we've got to be circumcised, uh-uh. They start going back to their old customs, their old habits, their old traditions. So what we have to realize is circumcision was the initiation rite which made a Gentile a part of the Jewish community. At that point, he ceased to be a Gentile, became a Jew, and voluntarily obligated himself to do everything that a Jew was expected to do. And that would include the temple service, the rituals, the ceremonies, the washings, and all of those type of things.

Now going on in verses 3 and 4, I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised. So see again, here's the problem. They were being taught they had to be circumcised, that he's a debtor to keep the whole law.

In other words, everything within the law. And we know that when Christ came, and again, I've covered this as we've gone through the book of Galatians, that we no longer have to worship God according to the rituals and the sacrifices, according to the temple service. We worship God in spirit and in truth today. But if you're circumcised, it was a sign of the Old Covenant and an obligation to do everything that was mentioned. You have become estranged from Christ.

You who attempt to be justified by the law. And I think that pretty well summarizes it. Trying to be forgiven, justified, may right with God have a right relationship with God by the law. You have fallen from grace. By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself, as we know. So the problem again is attempting to be justified by works or keeping the law apart from faith in Christ. See, here is where we would differ from those who try to use the Scripture to say that it does away with the law. We believe we have to look to Christ for the forgiveness of sin. Right?

Now, does that mean that you're no longer obligated to obey God? Well, sure, you have to obey God. What is sin? 1 John 3, 4, sin is the transgression of the law. If you stop sinning, you stop breaking the law, which means what? You start keeping it. So obviously, we believe you have to keep it. But we don't believe that you're keeping it, forgives you. And that's where we would differ from these individuals. Being circumcised does not produce forgiveness, nor is it a prerequisite for forgiveness in receiving the Holy Spirit. See, here's part of the problem. Much of the confusion today and much of the confusion that arose in our former association resulted from their interpretation of circumcision. They said that the word circumcision stood for the whole law.

When circumcision was done away, the whole law was done away. I mean, in their minds, circumcision equaled all the commandments, ten commandments, any commandment you want to look at. So they said when circumcision was done away, the whole law was done away. Now, you don't find that in the Bible, but that's their reasoning, and that's the direction they went into. That's not what the Bible teaches. Now, moving on here in verse 5, it says, Romans 8, 23 ties in with this, and I think gives a clear explanation. In verse 6, I want you to notice the word avails means to be strong, to be robust, sound, and health, to have power, to have strength. So what this is showing is that circumcision does not give us the strength to obey God, does it? Uncircumcision does not give us the strength to obey God. What does? Faith and love.

We know in Hebrews 11.6, without faith, it's impossible to please God, right? Love is able to influence people. Faith is our motivation for obeying God. We have faith, we trust God. So therefore, we want to obey God. Works is faith translated into obedience. You want definitions. Good works is faith translated into obedience. We have faith, we trust God. God says, do something. An example would be tithing. We have faith that's translated into obedience. Love is our motivation for service. We serve out of love.

Now let's go on to verse 7. Let's read the next section here quickly. Verses 7 through 15. He said, you ran well, who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from him who calls you. 11.11 is a whole lump. I've got confidence in you, in the Lord, that you have no other mind, but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution?

Then the offense of the cross has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off.

We'll come back to that. For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. But through love serve one another. For all the laws fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbors yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. So let's notice, coming back to verse 7, he said you ran well. Paul used the analogy of a race. They had been running the Christian race well. As we know, we all have a race laid out for us. Now he says, who hindered you? Somebody came along and was hindering them in their race. The word hinder in the Greek means to cut in, to make an incision, or to hinder. This would suggest a breaking into the race course or a cutting in on a runner by another runner and slowing up his progress. If you've ever seen a race where maybe they're running a mile, two miles, and you've got all these runners, they're all bundled up, and they're jockeying for position, and all the ones somebody cuts in front of someone cuts too close, clips his heel, and he falls, well, that's what he's talking about here. Someone was coming along, and the word hinder means they were cutting in. They were hindering them. And so the Apostle Paul says, look, this persuasion does not come from him who calls you.

Well, who was it who was hindering them? Well, it wasn't God. God was the one who was not, God was not hindering them, but these false teachers were. So there was somebody coming along, it wasn't God who called them, but persuading them to go in a different direction. Now, verse 9 clearly shows that a little false teaching introduced into the church can affect the whole church. A little leaven leavens the whole lung. And, brethren, what happens when a lot of leaven is introduced? Well, all I will say is 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, you know, in our former association. There was leavening being introduced into the church, and what did it do? Well, we've seen the fallout from that, and the confusion that has been affected by it. Now, in verse 10, I have confidence in you, he says. So Paul was encouraging them, he had confidence that they'd started out right, that they could continue on.

That you have no other mind, but he who troubles you. So again, we find that there were those there who were troubling them, bothering them, upsetting them. Shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. Now, as we will find, apparently there were some of the false teachers who were coming along saying that Paul was teaching that you had to be circumcised also. Let's notice it. I could wish that those...well, verse 11, he says, I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why would he say that unless somebody had said he was still preaching circumcision? Why do I suffer persecution? Why is it being persecuted by the Jews if he's saying you should be circumcised? It was Paul who went to Jerusalem. It was Paul who brought the idea, do you have to be circumcised in order to be a part of the church? So Paul was being persecuted because he did not require the Gentiles to be circumcised. So he says, why do I suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. You find if circumcision was a prerequisite for salvation and Paul was circumcising, then there wouldn't be a problem. But these false teachers were creating a problem. You'll find in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 23, that Jesus Christ is a stumbling block of offense to the Jews. And because it demonstrates that salvation comes from God and not from our own human effort. Now, in verse 12, Paul begins to vehemently denounce these false accusers and teachers. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off.

Okay, that they would cut themselves off. The word cut off means to mutilate.

The Greek word means to cut off or to amputate. Now, what is he saying they should amputate? Well, he's saying if they're so concerned about being circumcised, let them go ahead and just amputate themselves. Now, as you read in the commentaries, there's a big discussion. Was Paul literally saying, go ahead and cut it all off? Or was he saying figuratively, cut it off?

You find it could be either way would fit in the context. I think from a couple of occasions where Paul brought this up, he's saying they might as well go ahead and mutilate themselves. But he was also saying that they should be cut out of the church. They should have nothing to do with them. When you find somebody comes along, they're teaching false teachings and heresies. What is the obligation upon us? Have nothing to do with them. Don't listen to them. If they keep trying to promulgate it, then we in the ministry have to deal with them. But you don't allow them to lead you astray.

Now, the word trouble you hear means to upset or overthrow. It is used of driving one out of his home or running a city. So here were people who were coming along and they were troubling, in one sense, driving people out of the church and destroying their stark and obeying God. Now, I have the definition here also to stir up, to excite, to be unsettled, to excite two malts, addition and the say, to upset the... to be unsettled, and so on. To give you a feel for that particular word. Now, verse 13, says, Now again, what liberty have we been called to? Have we been called to be completely free of the law and don't have to obey the law? Is that the liberty that we can do anything we want to do? The answer is no. We've been liberated from sin, from Satan. We've been given God's Spirit. So you have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. See, liberty doesn't mean that you can fornicate, commit adultery, and indulge the flesh in any way that you want to do it. But through love, serve one another. Christian liberty does not mean the indulgence of one's impulses of the flesh. Again, James 1.25, James 2.12, which we read earlier, God's law is the law of liberty. We've been called to love one another and to serve one another. And we've not been called to disobedience. Verse 14, for all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Now, this is a quote from Leviticus 19, verse 8, which I put up here on the board. You shall not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Now, the reason why I quote this is because this is quoted by some to say this is a new commandment from Christ, that it supersedes all the law and you don't have to keep the law anymore. All you have to do is love. They'll misuse the word love. And their definition of love is freedom to do anything you want to do. Just show love to people. Well, my Bible shows that if you love your neighbor, you're not going to kill him. How is killing your neighbor loving you? If you love your neighbor's family, you're not going to commit adultery with his wife. If you love your neighbor, you're not going to steal his property. If you love God, you're not going to curse his name, set up idols, and worship false gods. Now, you show love to God by keeping his commandments. So, Leviticus 19, 18, guess what? Is a part of the law. So, it's not a new commandment. It's the same commandment that's been there from the beginning. That we should love our neighbor as ourselves. And then we'll cover verse 15, and this will be about as far as we'll get here today.

Next time, we should finish the book of Galatians and be able to move on. Notice again verse 15, It's interesting the expression, bite and devour and consume were commonly used in classical Greek in connection with wild animals and deadly struggles.

Like wild boars fighting, or wild lions fighting, or bears and lions, it could be wild animals in a deadly struggle. And what he's saying is it's easy to destroy one another if we don't really show love to each other. See, these verses go together. You should love your neighbor yourself, but if you bite your neighbor, devour your neighbor, beware lest you be consumed by one another. Love does not do away with your neighbor. Love is there to help your neighbor. So, again, you'll find this section is not saying that the law of God has been done away. Far from it. If you love your neighbor, if you love God, then I ask the question again, how can you love your neighbor yourself if you kill him? Well, you can't. So, you've got to keep the commandments. Okay, now that brings us down to verse 16, and this is a very interesting section here, because in verse 16, it begins to talk about walking the Spirit, and then we find living the Spirit. You might want to think about what's the difference in living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit. Are they the same thing? If they are, then why did Paul use both expressions? What do they mean? And he shows here the works of the flesh and then the fruit of the Spirit. And then chapter 6 is a shorter chapter. It's more of a summary. And from here on, we're actually out of what I would call the difficulty in the book of Galatians, and you get into more exhortation by Paul to them on how to live.

So, that brings us to the end of the Bible study today. And again, as we go through this, if you have questions, please be sure to write those up. We want to make sure any questions we have as we go through this, that we answer them all. But we don't want to come back a week or two later and say, well, I don't understand that. If you don't understand it, and I can't make it plain, I'll give Mr. Cowan. One of us will make sure that you understand it. So, thank you for listening.