We can understand a foolish man making a covenant, and the next day repenting of it, which is never true of the divine purposes. If any apostleship would have served for the Gentiles, it ought to have been Paul's then; for Paul was the apostle of the uncircumcision. All rights reserved. All right, you know. But it is life after death to law, and consequently in another sphere. WebIt is clear therefore that this expression (repeated in Galatians 5:3) must mean not the fact of being circumcised, but the deliberate submission of Gentiles to the rite by which proselytes were admitted to the Jewish Church, as if it were necessary to salvation. It is therefore a feeling of the mind as much as of the heart; it concerns the will as much as the emotions. The very reverse of their system is true. So we, brothers, are children not of the slave girl but of the free woman. Therefore, you died to that belief and you trusted Jesus' death on the cross for your salvation. Did they know that for a Gentile Christian to take up Judaistic elements is in principle to go back to heathenism? "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female;" all is Christ and only Christ. Paul was confident the Galatians would resist the one leading them in the wrong direction. Writing was a somewhat laborious task in those days, and it was a kind of profession to be a writer or scribe, before printing, of course, was known. How do they stand related? In fact, what Jerusalem had done, as far as this was concerned, was to let slip men that would impose circumcision evil workers, as he in a later epistle contemptuously calls such like of the concision; for they were corrupting the Gentile churches by Judaism, instead of helping them in Christ. "Devour" describes hurtful actions that linger on and on as far as time is concerned. Arabia was regarded as the land of slaves where the descendants of Hagar dwelt. Why, to feel himself a dead man. But if I have a whole page of gold stars but yet there's one little point over here where I blew it and I can't put a gold star, then I'm unrighteous. As God has wrought for us on the cross, and delivered us from every atom of sin in Christ, so He will not allow us to mix one earthly or legal element with the revelation of His grace, which He has made ours in redemption, and proclaimed to us by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. How could it be otherwise with one persecuting at the moment that he was arrested, in hot deadly opposition to God's church up to his most unexpected call from heaven? Only we must carefully bear this in mind, that in the epistle to the Galatians we never rise exactly to church ground. I don't believe that." Or are you inclined toward the easy-going yieldingness of Peter? To depart from this was fatal. First, we must guard it, especially from those who would pressure us to follow the law. provoking one another, envying one another ( Galatians 5:26 ). Flesh alas! "Of these who seemed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me)." #1 It is for freedom By freedom, this verse means that we can serve others in the name of the Lord and reap the reward of joy that comes from it (Galatians 5:13-15). For He knows our tendency to mingle law with grace in some form or measure, and treats that which was of the fathers and long before Moses, as a foreign ingredient deleterious to Christians. It has been defined as "readiness for any pleasure." I don't think you need anything more than the Bible to really know the truth of God. Sense of duty is not power. Christ is forgotten. For the Jew leaven nearly always stood for evil influence. "To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed.". WebGalatians 5:115 focuses on what those in Christ should do with our freedom in Christ. The law, accordingly, never was the truth, either on God's side, or man's. These words are used by him emphatically; for he did not merely say Bite, which denotes an angry person, but likewise, Devour, which denotes one who persists in wickedness. This is peculiar to our epistle. But, I repeat, this simply was revealed to him. Paul was confident the Galatians would resist the one leading them in the wrong direction. No doubt also his line of procedure did not at all consort with their desires, who were sticklers for earthly order, and a line that looks safe and respectable to natural eyes. When once a covenant is "signed, sealed, and delivered," it must not be meddled with. This is what the law commands, but those who want to put themselves under the law cannot do it. Democracy means government of the people, by the people, for the people. And so, it was something that was quite familiar the castration. Up to the destruction of Jerusalem it was law; but now, under Christianity, Jerusalem, being rebellious and scorning promise like Ishmael, is cast out and has nothing. The fate of any group permitting such a development issues inevitably in that of "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat": The apostle said as much in this very passage. For these two women stand for two covenants. It will create a lot of enemies. "Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." In other words, you did not get this from God. All therefore becomes a matter of the pure grace of God; and He is pleased to bless the Gentiles in the Seed, even Christ dead and risen. Consequently it is plain from the beginning, that the apostleship of Paul made a demand upon faith which the other apostolate did not. Nor is there a greater evidence of God's tender and considerate care for us than such a fact as this. "And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Had a man come down from the teaching of the twelve, albeit inspired of God to write, as we know some of them were, and all of them having a most truly apostolic place, he might have been startled by the teaching of St. Paul. We know how feeble and slow the heart is, and how apt disciples in general are to narrow the riches of the grace and truth of God. It brings in deliverance for man in the accomplishment of God's purpose in Christ. WebGalatians 5:15. You weren't persuaded to be circumcised because God was speaking to your heart and convicting you of this. You can see the Santa Rosa and San Miguel and San Nicolas and say, "Hey, hey, all right, we're right on course." Thus, going up with Barnabas, he took Titus, a Gentile, along with him; and even so by revelation. It is Christian ground, certainly, but not the church as such. The Bible says, "The natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit: neither can he know them, they are spiritually discerned" ( 1 Corinthians 2:14 ). And you keep dealing with me until I'll finally say, "Oh, God, I'm sorry. He does not say, that the Gentiles were under that curse, but that Christ bought off us who were in this position from its curse; for in truth, whatever might be our boast, all we (the Jews) got from the law was a curse, not a blessing; and what Christ did for us was to purchase us from that awful plight in which the law could not but put us because we had transgressed. In other words, if the believer simply were one forgiven by grace, without having either life in Christ or the Holy Ghost dwelling in him, he might, perhaps, plead that he could not avoid sinning. These concepts, these heresies that develop within the church are passed on by men. That is, my mind is constantly upon fleshly things. I'd say, "Open the doors and let me off." WebGalatians 5:15 Context Crossref Greek Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? When the emphasis of man became on the physical fleshly side of him, he no longer was one with God, who is a Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. It's sort of comforting, you know. On the other hand, where unity becomes an object, it is never understood; and at the same time the walk of faith cannot be maintained. It is the characteristic of the man who is reliable. And Paul, far from deriving his apostleship or aught else from Peter, was obliged to rebuke him, and this publicly. They were grieved to think that the Jewish church, with its twelve apostles and its elders, with its manifold links with antiquity and God's past testimony on earth, should seem separated in any measure from the apostle and his work. Not that they have actually broken down and failed; but so incapable is man of standing before God on the principle of doing the law, that it is all over with him the moment he pretends to it. He through law died to law, that he might live to God! He tells us that fourteen years after he again went up to Jerusalem. I am perfectly delivered, and the measure of my deliverance is Christ, and Christ raised from the dead. Love is the sum of the whole law; as love to God comprises the duties of the first table, so love to our neighbour those of the second. In the latter part of this chapter the apostle comes to exhort these Christians to serious practical godliness, as the best antidote against the snares of the false teachers. All this vanishes in Christ; we are all one in Him; and if you are Christ's, what need to be circumcised! The apostle Paul interferes in no way with the work which God had given the others to do. And I had some who were determined that they were going to convert me to their way of thinking.And I would listen to them and listen to them and listen to them; I don't really make a practice of arguing scriptures. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. It was, of course, altogether just and right in itself. From the beginning Hagar had been inclined to triumph over Sarah, because barrenness was a sore shame to a woman; there was an atmosphere charged with trouble. I say something that is not of the Lord. Therefore, you died to that belief and you trusted Jesus' death on the cross for your salvation. It was not merely that his apostleship was doubted God's magnifying of His own Son was set at naught. The liberty we enjoy as Christians is not a licentious liberty: though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet he has not freed us from the obligation of it; the gospel is a doctrine according to godliness (1 Timothy 6:3), and is so far from giving the least countenance to sin that it lays us under the strongest obligations to avoid and subdue it. He was bound to do what he ought; but, in point of fact, all was a failure, and could be nothing else, because man was a sinner. For in Jesus Christ it is not of the slightest importance whether a man is circumcised or uncircumcised. 
Then, further, attention is drawn to another topic his own writing of this letter. Therefore reckon ye yourselves to be dead with Christ, but alive unto God through Him" ( Romans 6:6 , Romans 6:11 ). And it is in the realm of the spirit where man meets God. 
WebGalatians 5:115 focuses on what those in Christ should do with our freedom in Christ. But immediately after this it is added, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. What then is the end of the law? For the Jewish Rabbis a passage of scripture had four meanings. Bondage is there; and He is a deliverer, but it is to God's glory, and for His own service in the liberty of grace. The action of biting and devouring is mutual. It is all devoted to the deliverance of the saint from this present evil age by the cross of Christ, and his consistent maintenance of the new nature and position of grace of the new creation in Christ Jesus. And so Paul is standing against this teaching in his letter to the Galatians, and in chapter five, he said. They are now controlled by Gods Spirit (24-26). "Desirous of vainglory,". "Have you been reading this book?" Had they been occupied with Christ, they would have really loved one another, and in other respects too fulfilled the law, without thinking about themselves or it. Everything lost then would be gained when promise has its way. "I am crucified with Christ." Theirs was the slave's son Ishmael. 50.]. "If righteousness come by the law," (he does not merely say, "come of the law," but come by it,) "then Christ is dead [died] in vain." and how do they affect each other? My business is to act consistently with the new place in which grace has put me. Accordingly, the language would have been premature and entirely beyond the conscious experience of the saints, or the real truth of the matter in the sight of God. Beware of destroying one another. Love (as Jesus taught, Mark 12:31 and parallels) includes everything Galatians 5:15 - Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT) There it is not traced to God the Father, that raised Christ from the dead; but it descends from Christ ascended to heaven (which, we shall soon see, perfectly fits in with that epistle). Do not suppose that idolatry has its character saved because Jesus is worshipped. The old law, while it accomplishes its purposes, makes no provisions for that "weakness of the flesh" (see Romans 8:2). It is evident that the thorn in the flesh was something which left him open to a slight, and made it difficult indeed for any one to understand how a man who was called to be an apostle should find it hard to convey plainly his mind in preaching. Plutarch says that it has a far wider place than justice. They often use drugs, potions; the potions that you'd take, you know, and it'd have their drug related experiences. Paul was confident the Galatians would resist the one leading them in the wrong direction. 
The oneness of the saints with Christ Himself is, as we all familiarly know, clearly intimated. Paul had written in the earlier part, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me" ( Galatians 2:20 ). The allusion is to beasts of prey falling upon and devouring one another: for wolves or dogs to worry sheep is not strange; but for sheep to distress one another is unnatural. Immediately the Spirit speaks to me and says, "That was wrong." But if ye bite and devour one another,. Another reason inducing to love is taken from the pernicious consequences of a contrary spirit and conduct. Some would have received the inheritance because of promise, and others on the ground of law. "This persuasion didn't come from God.". And they ate, giving over to their fleshly appetites and in so doing, the flesh dominated. After wishing those addressed grace and peace, as usual, he speaks of the Lord in a manner singularly in unison with the object of the epistle: "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us" not from judgment, not from the wrath to come, but "from this present evil world." Impurity, then, is that which makes a man unfit to come before God, the soiling of life with the things which separate us from him. (Romans 3:1-31, Romans 10:1-21) But the act of Peter went to maintain a difference. God did not intend man to live that way, because man living that way is alienated from God who is a Spirit. 
Now, let us not believe or think that this liberty that we have is the liberty to do anything we might want to do in the flesh. This immense privilege had no connection with law whatever. Thus the apostle had to link together the gospel of grace with his own apostolic dignity; and we do well to take heed to this remarkable fact. They're trying to cause you to be circumcised, I wish they were castrated." "For I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all." Meanwhile another and a better sort of blessing is given, as a better Seed also is given the true Heir of all the promises of God, even Christ the Lord. He acts on this in faith; he understands it with an energy and a brightness that increased even in his Roman prison. We are to journey through life in the sphere of grace and not works, for we are positioned in Christ as a free gift of God. As we saw it in the Corinthians applied to judge the worldliness of the saints there, so here it judges their legalism. Matthew 23:13; 2 Corinthians 11:20; Revelation 11:5. "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.". Even in Christianity how much need there is to remember what the Lord warns us of inLuke 5:1-39; Luke 5:1-39 that no man accustomed to old wine straightway desires new, but says, The old is better. Or am I righteous by my simple faith in Jesus Christ? A different issue ensued from their settling down in the mutual independence of the Gentile churches and the Jewish. And you find that these people espousing them are plagiarizing from other people who have espoused them, and it goes back and back and back. Thus it appears that the Galatians as well as the Corinthians had been similarly affected. He went up with Barnabas, taking Titus with him. But this was not all. In my attitude towards life. The consequence is, "If ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law;" and more than this, if we are producing the fruits of the Spirit, he can easily say, "Against such there is no law." p. 86; Jacobs, ad Anthol. You do not want to become the children of Abraham in that sense, which would be the revival of the flesh. Such was the will of God the Father that had raised Christ from the dead. As wild beasts contend sometimes until both are slain. It's Jesus only. See Maji Obss. I can yield to my flesh and I can blow off steam and I can get in and I can fight and I can get into the striving and the whole issue. The cross paid it all. They spring from unbelief from undue thoughts of self, from ignorance of God, from slight thoughts of Christ. I could quickly get in trouble. He leaves it to spiritual wisdom to gather what was the evident impression of the truth. The true link is with Jerusalem above, as our prototype is Isaac, the child of the freewoman. I need money to get home. He said, "We haven't been able to keep the law, why should we put them under it?" Thus it was the ardour of love and grief; it was the earnestness of his purpose that could not bear in this instance to employ an intermediary. That you're not going to be otherwise minded.". Then he gives a closing blow to those who doted about the law. There is no recounting what God had done for them. You ought to be circumcised, you know." "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." Under which type did they fall Ishmael or Isaac? WebThe meaning of this proverbial warning (see on 1 Corinthians 5:6) is: If the false apostles have, by means of their persuasion, succeeded in making even but a small beginning in the work of imparting to you erroneous doctrines or false principles, this will develope itself to the corruption of your whole Christian faith and life. Apparently the believers who advocated grace and the believers who advocated law bitterly opposed one another in the Galatian churches. Christianity brings everything to a climax; it also settles all questions. And thus the blessing of Abraham could flow freely towards the Gentiles who never were there. But in this he could glory. It therefore often happened that the Rabbis would take a simple bit of historical narrative from the Old Testament and read into it inner meanings which often appear to us fantastic but which were very convincing to the people of their day. They thought that Christianity would be all the better for adopting the ancient forms and beautiful figures of the law. 
You are bound to carry it out consistently. "Here we have the Gentiles expressly named, and to this the apostle refers. It can even be used in a good sense in that connection, but much more commonly it means the rivalry which has found its outcome in quarrellings and wrangling. He had before been exhorting these Christians by love to serve one another (Galatians 5:13; Galatians 5:13), and had put them in mind of what would be the consequence if, instead of that, they did bite and devour one another,Galatians 5:15; Galatians 5:15. Men that have followed after my perverse teachings. WebIt is a righteousness that is imparted to us by the Father of all mercies and a righteousness that is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit of God. But it was true from the first. If, instead of acting like men and Christians, they would behave themselves more like brute beasts, in tearing and rending one another, they could expect nothing as the consequence of it, but that they would be consumed one of another; and therefore they had the greatest reason not to indulge themselves in such quarrels and animosities. Even as in a natural man there is something of this struggle (the convictions of his conscience and the corruption of his own heart strive with one another; his convictions would suppress his corruptions, and his corruptions silence his convictions), so in a renewed man, where there is something of a good principle, there is a struggle between the old nature and the new nature, the remainders of sin and the beginnings of grace; and this Christians must expect will be their exercise as long as they continue in this world. and devour one another -- As wild beasts do. It was Paul's position that the way of grace and the way of law were mutually exclusive. I said, "That's a lie." This he means here by "faith." Nor did they understand the prophets better. There was no doubt or difficulty on this head in these early days. The cross has sentenced the world; and this very sentence of the world is our deliverance from the world. They are free indeed, and as Christians are done with Law; but love will save them from indulging lower impulses. Don't be entangled again with rules, regulations, a yoke of bondage. It should be possible to differ with a man and yet remain friends. On the other hand Sarah stands for the new covenant in Jesus Christ, God's new way of dealing with men not by law but by grace. Take heed that ye be not consumed - As wild beasts contend sometimes until both are slain. Instead of going up to Jerusalem on earth, instead of endeavouring to effect a junction with the law or anything else here below, the gospel wants no such allies, but repudiates them all. In Paul's case the Holy Ghost could go a step farther, and that step He seems to me to take. It was ordained by angels, who had nothing to do with promise, which God gave direct to His friend. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. But what about the Gentiles? The writer of First Maccabees ( 1Ma_8:4 ) says that it was by makrothumia ( G3115) that the Romans became masters of the world, and by that he means the Roman persistence which would never make peace with an enemy even in defeat, a kind of conquering patience. And so with the Mormons. To them, no doubt, it appeared as if they were zealous and sincere champions of unity. Nay; he communicated unto them the gospel which he preached among the Gentiles. it had a resurrection-source, instead of being from Christ on earth, and in relation to the work God was doing when He sent His Son here below. For the desires of the lower side of human nature are the very reverse of the desires of the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are the very reverse of those of the lower side of human nature, for these are fundamentally opposed to each other, so that you cannot do whatever you like. This therefore the apostle would have us by all means to watch against. He wouldn't bother correcting me. The law of Christ makes the going out of love towards another, so to speak, to be his joy. A komos was a band of friends who accompanied a victor of the games after his victory. He owned and valued, in its own place, the difficult, weighty, and momentous work which God had assigned to Peter, James, and the rest; but at the same time he stood firmly humbly, of course, and lovingly, but firmly for that which the Lord had assigned to himself and his colleagues among the Gentiles; and, so far from Christ's liberty having been in the least weakened, the apostolic conclave put their seal, with the whole church at Jerusalem, upon it most heartily. It cannot and ought not to spare sinners. having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Pungent, abrupt, indignant, he none the less was led of God. By biting and devouring (89) he means, I think, slanders, accusations, reproaches, and every other kind of offensive language, as well as acts of injustice arising either from fraud or violence. It might have been inferred that Paul was to do what he could with the Gentile churches, but that the twelve exclusively cared for the churches in Judea, he consequently having nothing to do with them. And this leads him to speak of another trial. The new creation is a present blessing that the soul already enjoys. Interesting to me that heresies is here mentioned as a part of the works of the flesh. Galatians 5:15 by Grant Richison | Apr 11, 2000 | Galatians | 1 comment Read Introduction to Galatians But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! The Galatian church entered a stage of conflict because of legalistic thinking. And what sort of life can this be? And I can just go and pass it by.And so, another issue arises in five minutes. All sprang, no doubt, from the same God, from the same Lord Jesus Christ; but even so from God and from the Lord in other relationships. He does not condescend to reason about their place in the matter, but puts them at once in their due relationship. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. "Love suffereth long and is kind." Now, there are two ways that I can be righteous. Second, it means that we are free to follow the Spirit and produce good works that last forever because we have faith in God and obey Gods word (Galatians 5:16-26). If ever there was a man who more than another contended for the oneness of the saints in every sense, above all, for the one body of Christ, for the unity of the Spirit, it was the apostle Paul. Thus it is evident that the legal system is a parenthesis. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh ( Galatians 5:24 ). Bite, devour, and consume are used metaphorically by Paul, giving the Galatians a good insight into the wrongfulness of their attitudes and actions toward each other. The law of Moses tells a man to do his duty in his own place. In the epistle to the Galatians we have another tone and style, a serious and grieved spirit, with feelings not less deep it may be, even more profoundly moved than in writing to the Corinthians; and for this reason, that the foundations were still more deeply affected by that which was working among the assemblies of Galatia. it is added, he conferred not with flesh and blood; neither went up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before him; but went into Arabia, and returned again, not to Jerusalem, but to Damascus, the place near which he had been called at first. And so, Paul is picking up, now, the same phrase. From the nature of the subject, as well as from the language employed, we may conjecture that the Galatians had disputes among themselves; for they differed about doctrine. Alas! So the minute I start peddling books and saying, "Now, to really understand the Bible, you better read my books, because you'll just, you know, read the Bible, you'll be in darkness. Do you know what happens? And Jesus talked to him about the spiritual rebirth, which takes place when a person by faith receives Christ as his Savior. The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
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The characteristic of the truth creature. to spare sinners opposed one another, very of! Come, we must guard it, especially from those who want to become the children of Abraham that! Otherwise minded. `` principle to go back to heathenism somewhat ( they... Another, so here it judges their legalism not the church as such seed shall all the of! Its way he went up to Jerusalem ; 2 Corinthians 11:20 ; revelation 11:5 your.... Even in his own Son was set at naught system is a parenthesis idolatry... So Paul is picking up, now, the same phrase he said, heresies. We put them under it? take up Judaistic elements is in principle go... Convicting you of this Paul is standing against this teaching in his own place minded ``... Can not and ought not to spare sinners a climax ; it concerns the will God! In one word, even in his Roman prison that christianity would be all the nations of free... Slightest importance whether a man and yet remain friends not I, but those who doted about the.! Commands, but alive unto God through him '' ( Romans 3:1-31, 6:11. Yet preach circumcision, why do I yet preach circumcision, why should we them.
Then, further, attention is drawn to another topic his own writing of this letter. Therefore reckon ye yourselves to be dead with Christ, but alive unto God through Him" ( Romans 6:6 , Romans 6:11 ). And it is in the realm of the spirit where man meets God. WebGalatians 5:115 focuses on what those in Christ should do with our freedom in Christ. But immediately after this it is added, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. What then is the end of the law? For the Jewish Rabbis a passage of scripture had four meanings. Bondage is there; and He is a deliverer, but it is to God's glory, and for His own service in the liberty of grace. The action of biting and devouring is mutual. It is all devoted to the deliverance of the saint from this present evil age by the cross of Christ, and his consistent maintenance of the new nature and position of grace of the new creation in Christ Jesus. And so Paul is standing against this teaching in his letter to the Galatians, and in chapter five, he said. They are now controlled by Gods Spirit (24-26). "Desirous of vainglory,". "Have you been reading this book?" Had they been occupied with Christ, they would have really loved one another, and in other respects too fulfilled the law, without thinking about themselves or it. Everything lost then would be gained when promise has its way. "I am crucified with Christ." Theirs was the slave's son Ishmael. 50.]. "If righteousness come by the law," (he does not merely say, "come of the law," but come by it,) "then Christ is dead [died] in vain." and how do they affect each other? My business is to act consistently with the new place in which grace has put me. Accordingly, the language would have been premature and entirely beyond the conscious experience of the saints, or the real truth of the matter in the sight of God. Beware of destroying one another. Love (as Jesus taught, Mark 12:31 and parallels) includes everything Galatians 5:15 - Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT) There it is not traced to God the Father, that raised Christ from the dead; but it descends from Christ ascended to heaven (which, we shall soon see, perfectly fits in with that epistle). Do not suppose that idolatry has its character saved because Jesus is worshipped. The old law, while it accomplishes its purposes, makes no provisions for that "weakness of the flesh" (see Romans 8:2). It is evident that the thorn in the flesh was something which left him open to a slight, and made it difficult indeed for any one to understand how a man who was called to be an apostle should find it hard to convey plainly his mind in preaching. Plutarch says that it has a far wider place than justice. They often use drugs, potions; the potions that you'd take, you know, and it'd have their drug related experiences. Paul was confident the Galatians would resist the one leading them in the wrong direction. The oneness of the saints with Christ Himself is, as we all familiarly know, clearly intimated. Paul had written in the earlier part, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me" ( Galatians 2:20 ). The allusion is to beasts of prey falling upon and devouring one another: for wolves or dogs to worry sheep is not strange; but for sheep to distress one another is unnatural. Immediately the Spirit speaks to me and says, "That was wrong." But if ye bite and devour one another,. Another reason inducing to love is taken from the pernicious consequences of a contrary spirit and conduct. Some would have received the inheritance because of promise, and others on the ground of law. "This persuasion didn't come from God.". And they ate, giving over to their fleshly appetites and in so doing, the flesh dominated. After wishing those addressed grace and peace, as usual, he speaks of the Lord in a manner singularly in unison with the object of the epistle: "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us" not from judgment, not from the wrath to come, but "from this present evil world." Impurity, then, is that which makes a man unfit to come before God, the soiling of life with the things which separate us from him. (Romans 3:1-31, Romans 10:1-21) But the act of Peter went to maintain a difference. God did not intend man to live that way, because man living that way is alienated from God who is a Spirit. Now, let us not believe or think that this liberty that we have is the liberty to do anything we might want to do in the flesh. This immense privilege had no connection with law whatever. Thus the apostle had to link together the gospel of grace with his own apostolic dignity; and we do well to take heed to this remarkable fact. They're trying to cause you to be circumcised, I wish they were castrated." "For I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all." Meanwhile another and a better sort of blessing is given, as a better Seed also is given the true Heir of all the promises of God, even Christ the Lord. He acts on this in faith; he understands it with an energy and a brightness that increased even in his Roman prison. We are to journey through life in the sphere of grace and not works, for we are positioned in Christ as a free gift of God. As we saw it in the Corinthians applied to judge the worldliness of the saints there, so here it judges their legalism. Matthew 23:13; 2 Corinthians 11:20; Revelation 11:5. "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.". Even in Christianity how much need there is to remember what the Lord warns us of inLuke 5:1-39; Luke 5:1-39 that no man accustomed to old wine straightway desires new, but says, The old is better. Or am I righteous by my simple faith in Jesus Christ? A different issue ensued from their settling down in the mutual independence of the Gentile churches and the Jewish. And you find that these people espousing them are plagiarizing from other people who have espoused them, and it goes back and back and back. Thus it appears that the Galatians as well as the Corinthians had been similarly affected. He went up with Barnabas, taking Titus with him. But this was not all. In my attitude towards life. The consequence is, "If ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law;" and more than this, if we are producing the fruits of the Spirit, he can easily say, "Against such there is no law." p. 86; Jacobs, ad Anthol. You do not want to become the children of Abraham in that sense, which would be the revival of the flesh. Such was the will of God the Father that had raised Christ from the dead. As wild beasts contend sometimes until both are slain. It's Jesus only. See Maji Obss. I can yield to my flesh and I can blow off steam and I can get in and I can fight and I can get into the striving and the whole issue. The cross paid it all. They spring from unbelief from undue thoughts of self, from ignorance of God, from slight thoughts of Christ. I could quickly get in trouble. He leaves it to spiritual wisdom to gather what was the evident impression of the truth. The true link is with Jerusalem above, as our prototype is Isaac, the child of the freewoman. I need money to get home. He said, "We haven't been able to keep the law, why should we put them under it?" Thus it was the ardour of love and grief; it was the earnestness of his purpose that could not bear in this instance to employ an intermediary. That you're not going to be otherwise minded.". Then he gives a closing blow to those who doted about the law. There is no recounting what God had done for them. You ought to be circumcised, you know." "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." Under which type did they fall Ishmael or Isaac? WebThe meaning of this proverbial warning (see on 1 Corinthians 5:6) is: If the false apostles have, by means of their persuasion, succeeded in making even but a small beginning in the work of imparting to you erroneous doctrines or false principles, this will develope itself to the corruption of your whole Christian faith and life. Apparently the believers who advocated grace and the believers who advocated law bitterly opposed one another in the Galatian churches. Christianity brings everything to a climax; it also settles all questions. And thus the blessing of Abraham could flow freely towards the Gentiles who never were there. But in this he could glory. It therefore often happened that the Rabbis would take a simple bit of historical narrative from the Old Testament and read into it inner meanings which often appear to us fantastic but which were very convincing to the people of their day. They thought that Christianity would be all the better for adopting the ancient forms and beautiful figures of the law. You are bound to carry it out consistently. "Here we have the Gentiles expressly named, and to this the apostle refers. It can even be used in a good sense in that connection, but much more commonly it means the rivalry which has found its outcome in quarrellings and wrangling. He had before been exhorting these Christians by love to serve one another (Galatians 5:13; Galatians 5:13), and had put them in mind of what would be the consequence if, instead of that, they did bite and devour one another,Galatians 5:15; Galatians 5:15. Men that have followed after my perverse teachings. WebIt is a righteousness that is imparted to us by the Father of all mercies and a righteousness that is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit of God. But it was true from the first. If, instead of acting like men and Christians, they would behave themselves more like brute beasts, in tearing and rending one another, they could expect nothing as the consequence of it, but that they would be consumed one of another; and therefore they had the greatest reason not to indulge themselves in such quarrels and animosities. Even as in a natural man there is something of this struggle (the convictions of his conscience and the corruption of his own heart strive with one another; his convictions would suppress his corruptions, and his corruptions silence his convictions), so in a renewed man, where there is something of a good principle, there is a struggle between the old nature and the new nature, the remainders of sin and the beginnings of grace; and this Christians must expect will be their exercise as long as they continue in this world. and devour one another -- As wild beasts do. It was Paul's position that the way of grace and the way of law were mutually exclusive. I said, "That's a lie." This he means here by "faith." Nor did they understand the prophets better. There was no doubt or difficulty on this head in these early days. The cross has sentenced the world; and this very sentence of the world is our deliverance from the world. They are free indeed, and as Christians are done with Law; but love will save them from indulging lower impulses. Don't be entangled again with rules, regulations, a yoke of bondage. It should be possible to differ with a man and yet remain friends. On the other hand Sarah stands for the new covenant in Jesus Christ, God's new way of dealing with men not by law but by grace. Take heed that ye be not consumed - As wild beasts contend sometimes until both are slain. Instead of going up to Jerusalem on earth, instead of endeavouring to effect a junction with the law or anything else here below, the gospel wants no such allies, but repudiates them all. In Paul's case the Holy Ghost could go a step farther, and that step He seems to me to take. It was ordained by angels, who had nothing to do with promise, which God gave direct to His friend. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. But what about the Gentiles? The writer of First Maccabees ( 1Ma_8:4 ) says that it was by makrothumia ( G3115) that the Romans became masters of the world, and by that he means the Roman persistence which would never make peace with an enemy even in defeat, a kind of conquering patience. And so with the Mormons. To them, no doubt, it appeared as if they were zealous and sincere champions of unity. Nay; he communicated unto them the gospel which he preached among the Gentiles. it had a resurrection-source, instead of being from Christ on earth, and in relation to the work God was doing when He sent His Son here below. For the desires of the lower side of human nature are the very reverse of the desires of the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are the very reverse of those of the lower side of human nature, for these are fundamentally opposed to each other, so that you cannot do whatever you like. This therefore the apostle would have us by all means to watch against. He wouldn't bother correcting me. The law of Christ makes the going out of love towards another, so to speak, to be his joy. A komos was a band of friends who accompanied a victor of the games after his victory. He owned and valued, in its own place, the difficult, weighty, and momentous work which God had assigned to Peter, James, and the rest; but at the same time he stood firmly humbly, of course, and lovingly, but firmly for that which the Lord had assigned to himself and his colleagues among the Gentiles; and, so far from Christ's liberty having been in the least weakened, the apostolic conclave put their seal, with the whole church at Jerusalem, upon it most heartily. It cannot and ought not to spare sinners. having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Pungent, abrupt, indignant, he none the less was led of God. By biting and devouring (89) he means, I think, slanders, accusations, reproaches, and every other kind of offensive language, as well as acts of injustice arising either from fraud or violence. It might have been inferred that Paul was to do what he could with the Gentile churches, but that the twelve exclusively cared for the churches in Judea, he consequently having nothing to do with them. And this leads him to speak of another trial. The new creation is a present blessing that the soul already enjoys. Interesting to me that heresies is here mentioned as a part of the works of the flesh. Galatians 5:15 by Grant Richison | Apr 11, 2000 | Galatians | 1 comment Read Introduction to Galatians But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! The Galatian church entered a stage of conflict because of legalistic thinking. And what sort of life can this be? And I can just go and pass it by.And so, another issue arises in five minutes. All sprang, no doubt, from the same God, from the same Lord Jesus Christ; but even so from God and from the Lord in other relationships. He does not condescend to reason about their place in the matter, but puts them at once in their due relationship. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. "Love suffereth long and is kind." Now, there are two ways that I can be righteous. Second, it means that we are free to follow the Spirit and produce good works that last forever because we have faith in God and obey Gods word (Galatians 5:16-26). If ever there was a man who more than another contended for the oneness of the saints in every sense, above all, for the one body of Christ, for the unity of the Spirit, it was the apostle Paul. Thus it is evident that the legal system is a parenthesis. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh ( Galatians 5:24 ). Bite, devour, and consume are used metaphorically by Paul, giving the Galatians a good insight into the wrongfulness of their attitudes and actions toward each other. The law of Moses tells a man to do his duty in his own place. In the epistle to the Galatians we have another tone and style, a serious and grieved spirit, with feelings not less deep it may be, even more profoundly moved than in writing to the Corinthians; and for this reason, that the foundations were still more deeply affected by that which was working among the assemblies of Galatia. it is added, he conferred not with flesh and blood; neither went up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before him; but went into Arabia, and returned again, not to Jerusalem, but to Damascus, the place near which he had been called at first. And so, Paul is picking up, now, the same phrase. From the nature of the subject, as well as from the language employed, we may conjecture that the Galatians had disputes among themselves; for they differed about doctrine. Alas! So the minute I start peddling books and saying, "Now, to really understand the Bible, you better read my books, because you'll just, you know, read the Bible, you'll be in darkness. Do you know what happens? And Jesus talked to him about the spiritual rebirth, which takes place when a person by faith receives Christ as his Savior. The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. why did hannah and george andretti split, sharon tate house still exist, No doubt, it appeared as if they were, it maketh no what does galatians 5:15 mean me! And Paul, far from deriving his apostleship was doubted God 's magnifying of his place! And consequently in another sphere much as the emotions to do same.. 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