Galatians 5:2-15

Galatians 5:2-15

I.                   Galatians 5:2-6

a.       V. 2

                                                               i.      Very unlikely that Paul, given his background, would argue against circumcision unless it was the right thing to do

                                                              ii.      “if you get yourselves circumcised”

                                                            iii.      Cf. Rom. 15:14f. for another instance of Paul projecting his own voice

b.       V. 3

                                                               i.      Deuteronomy 27:26

                                                              ii.      “if you get yourself circumcised”- this way of putting it would exclude ethnic Jews who would have been circumcised long before they had any say in the matter

                                                            iii.      “Circumcision is the seal of the law.  He who willingly and deliberately undergoes circumcision, enters upon a compact to fulfill the law.  To fulfill it therefore he is bound, and he cannot plead the grace of Christ; for he has entered on another mode of justification.” – J. B. Lightfoot

c.        V. 4

                                                               i.      Cf. Galatians 1:6

                                                              ii.      “severed”, or “cut”, a clever play on words relating to circumcision

                                                            iii.      “Logically viewed, the one conception excludes the other; experientially the one experience destroys the other.” – E. D. Burton

d.       V. 5

                                                               i.      What does “hope of righteousness” mean?  Suggestion: “the hope to which the justification of believers points them forward.”

                                                              ii.      “we ourselves”, if even Jewish Christians in their circumcised state wait for the hope of righteousness, what possible benefit could circumcision bring?

                                                            iii.      It is the Spirit, active through faith, that spurs us on toward the above-mentioned future

                                                            iv.      “Faith” and the “Spirit” contrast circumcision

e.        V. 6

                                                               i.      Circumcised or uncircumcised doesn’t matter at all, our faith in Jesus Christ does

                                                              ii.       “faith active in love”, love does not produce faith, faith produces love

                                                            iii.      Cf. Galatians 6:15 and I Corinthians 7:19

                                                            iv.      Cf. I Corinthians 13:13; I Thessalonians 1:3; 5:8; Romans 5:1-5

                                                             v.      “’In Christ’, where divine love is so profoundly experienced, believers find themselves to be vehicles bearing that same love to others.”                - Charles B. Cousar

II.                Galatians 5:7-12

a.       V. 7

                                                               i.      Supposedly the same “who” as in 3:1

                                                              ii.      Enkopto, or here enekopsen, originally meant to break up a road so as to prevent progress, but it could also mean to cut in front of someone in a race

                                                            iii.      Cf. Rom 15:22; I Thess. 2:18 for other Pauline uses

                                                            iv.      Literally, “who cut in on you”, as in during a race

b.       V. 8

                                                               i.      Cf. I Thessalonians 2:18

c.        V. 9

                                                               i.      Cf. I Corinthians 5:6-7; Matthew 13:33; Mark 8:15; Luke 13:21; Luke 12:1; Matthew 16:6, 11f.

d.       V. 10

                                                               i.      “whoever he may be”- is Paul ignorant of the person’s identity, or is this a reference to the fact that the person may hold high office in the church or garner much respect?

                                                              ii.      Cf. II Corinthians 11:15

e.        V. 11

                                                               i.      “still” is probably meant to contrast the behavior of Paul the Apostle with Saul the Pharisee

                                                              ii.      Paul’s critics could be responding to his policy of being a Jew to the Jews (I Cor. 9:20) or to Timothy’s circumcision (Acts 16:3)

                                                            iii.      If Paul were preaching circumcision and thus adherence to the law, why is he still being persecuted?

                                                            iv.      Cf. I Corinthians 1:17-25

                                                             v.      “To put the issue another way one may say, the Lord of the New Testament can be met only as the crucified Christ.” – Charles B. Cousar

f.        V. 12

                                                               i.      Cf. Philippians 3:2-3

                                                              ii.      Cf. Deuteronomy 23:1

i.         “Instead of ensuring inclusion in the people of God, let them carry their message further and be totally excluded!”

                                                            iii.      Allusion to Mark 9:43, 45?

III.             Galatians 5:13-15

a.       V. 13

                                                               i.      “opportunity” or “occasion” is used in the military or strategic sense of a base of operations (cf. Rom. 7:8, 11)

                                                              ii.      “servants in love”, we are free but not our own.  Possibly motivated by John 13:2, 5, 12?

                                                            iii.      Cf. II Cor. 5:12; 11:12; I Timothy 5:14

                                                            iv.      Flesh foreshadows 5:16-21

                                                             v.      “If in V. 1 Christian freedom is seen as the bulwark against legal bondage, here it is the bulwark against libertinism.” – F. F. Bruce

b.       V. 14

                                                               i.      The whole substance of the law

                                                              ii.      Ironically, the Galatians can fulfill the law without circumcision by simply loving others

                                                            iii.      Philippians 2 as an example of what this means

                                                            iv.      Cf. Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 5:17, 43; Matthew 22:40; Luke 10:29-37, Romans 8:3-4; Galatians 6:2

c.        V. 15

                                                               i.      That Paul singles out biting and devouring one another shows that it is what he has in mind in terms of their giving “opportunity” to the flesh

                                                              ii.      Cf. I Thessalonians 3:12

                                                            iii.      “Lest anyone should suspect…that his object in enjoining an abandonment of the Law, was that one might live lawlessly, he corrects this notion, and states his object to be, not that our course of life might be lawless, but that our philosophy might surpass the [Mosaic] Law.  For the bonds of Law are broken…not that our standard may be lowered, but that it may be exalted.” – John Chrysostom