{"id":29105,"date":"2022-09-24T13:07:36","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T18:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-galatians-52\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T13:07:36","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T18:07:36","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-galatians-52","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-galatians-52\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 5:2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

2<\/strong>. St Paul here speaks with the Apostolic authority which he had vindicated at the opening of the Epistle, but which he has hitherto kept in abeyance while using argument, and remonstrance, and entreaty.<\/p>\n

if ye be circumcised<\/em> ] St Paul and the other Apostles, and indeed every convert from Judaism, were circumcised. It is clear therefore that this expression (repeated in Gal 5:3<\/em><\/span>) must mean not the fact of being circumcised<\/em>, but the deliberate submission of Gentiles<\/em> to the rite by which proselytes were admitted to the Jewish Church, as if it were necessary to salvation. A better rendering would be, if ye submit to be circumcised<\/strong>. The act of such submission implied that a man sought salvation in and by the law, of which circumcision is the seal. But to such a man Christ and His righteousness bring no advantage. ‘He who submits to circumcision does so because he stands in fear of the law, and he who so stands in fear distrusts the power of grace, and he who distrusts gains no advantage from that which is so distrusted’. Chrys.<\/p>\n

St Paul, though as ‘touching the righteousness which is in the law,’ he was found blameless before his conversion, yet turned his back on it all that he might win Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of his own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Php 3:6-9<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Behold, I Paul say unto you – <\/B>I, who at first preached the gospel to you; I, too, who have been circumcised, and who was formerly a strenuous assertor of the necessity of observing the laws of Moses; and I, too, who am charged (see Gal 5:11<\/span>) with still preaching the necessity of circumcision, now solemnly say to you, that if you are circumcised with a view to being justified by that in whole or in part, it amounts to a rejection of the doctrine of justification by Christ, and an entire apostacy from him. He is to be a whole Saviour. No one is to share with him in the honor of saving people; and no rite, no custom, no observance of law, is to divide the honor with his death. The design of Paul is to give them the most solemn assurance on this point; and by his own authority and experience to guard them from the danger, and to put the matter to rest.<\/P>

That if ye be circumcised – <\/B>This must be understood with reference to the subject under consideration. If you are circumcised with such a view as is maintained by the false teachers that have come among you; that is, with an idea that it is necessary in order to your justification. He evidently did not mean that if any of them had been circumcised before their conversion to Christianity; nor could he mean to say, that circumcision in all cases amounted to a rejection of Christianity, for he had himself procured the circumcision of Timothy, Act 16:3<\/span>. If it was done, as it was then, for prudential considerations, and with a wish not necessarily to irritate the Jews, and to give one a more ready access to them, it was not to be regarded as wrong. But if, as the false teachers in Galatia claimed, as a thing essential to salvation, as indispensable to justification and acceptance with God, then the matter assumed a different aspect; and then it became in fact a renouncing of Christ as himself sufficient to save us. So with anything else. Rites and ceremonies in religion may be in themselves well enough, if they are held to be matters not essential; but the moment they are regarded as vital and essential, that moment they begin to infringe on the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and that moment they are to be rejected; and it is because of the danger that this will be the case, that they are to be used sparingly in the Christian church. Who does not know the danger of depending upon prayers, and alms, and the sacraments, and extreme unction, and penance, and empty forms for salvation? And who does not know how much in the papal communion the great doctrine of justification has been obscured by numberless such rites and forms?<\/P>

Christ shall profit you nothing – <\/B>Will be of no advantage to you. Your dependence on circumcision, in these circumstances, will in fact amount to a rejection of the Saviour, and of the doctrine of justification by him.<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2<\/span><\/p>\n

If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The law and grace<\/strong><\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>God will deal with us either altogether by works or altogether by Christ; these things cannot be mixed.<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>To piece up therefore the righteousness of Christ by our own works, and to add anything to the passion as a meritorious cause of our justification, is to make Christ unprofitable.<\/p>\n


III. <\/strong>We ought to content ourselves with Christ and His merits alone (Col 2:10<\/span>). (T. Manton, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Circumcision<\/strong><\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>The nature of sacraments in general.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>Signs<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> to represent and instruct;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> of absolute grace and favour.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>Seals, to ratify and confirm<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> seals of the conditional promises;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> mutual seals.<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>The nature of circumcision in particular.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>A sign prefiguring baptism which has now taken its place<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>A seal of the covenant of grace, particularly of justification by faith. (Matthew<\/em> Henry.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The superfluousness of circumcision<\/strong><\/p>\n

Circumcision was the shadow of the substance which the Christian man already enjoyed. The law which prescribed it had already done its true work and was abolished in Christ. Where was the sense then of leaving the great liberator for one of the most grievous shackles of their old tyranny? (H. W. Beecher.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Christianity not uniformity<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is not uniformity that we see in the works of God; but unity in variety or diversity. The tree has branches large and small, but the tree is one. Every plant, flower, or tree in the landscape has full freedom to unfold itself according to its nature; and yet the landscape is one. The many members in the human frame form one body. The many nations of the earth form one race. The twelve tribes of Israel constituted one peculiar people. The same law is true in relation to the Church. Christians are many, and differ in natural powers, gifts, education, and opinions; but they have all faith in Jesus Christ, worship the true God, and love their fellow men, and therefore form one spiritual brotherhood and Church. (Thomas<\/em> Jones.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Verse 2<\/span>. If ye be circumcised<\/B><\/I>] By circumcision you take on you the whole obligation of the Jewish law, and consequently profess to seek salvation by means of its observances; and therefore Christ can profit you nothing; for, by seeking justification by the works of the law<\/I>, you renounce justification by faith in<\/I> Christ<\/I>.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

It is manifest that the apostle is speaking here concerning circumcision, looked upon as necessary to justification, now under the gospel state. For under the Old Testament undoubtedly Christ profited the fathers, though circumcised; yea, Christ undoubtedly profiled Timothy, even under the gospel, though he was circumcised, Act 16:3<\/span>, that being done to prevent a scandal, and during a time whilst, for the gaining of the Jews to the Christian faith, the Jewish ceremonies, though dead, were (as it were) kept above ground, unburied for a time. But for men, after a sufficient time indulged them for their satisfaction concerning the abolition of the ceremonial law, still to adhere to it, and religiously to observe the rites of it, as in obedience to a Divine precept, and as necessary, over and above faith in Christ for justification, was indeed to deny Christ, and disclaim his sufficiency to save, who <\/P>

is able to save to the utmost them that come to God by him, <\/B>Heb 7:25<\/B><\/span>; and besides whom there is no name given under heaven, by which men can be saved, neither is there salvation in any other, <\/I>Act 4:10<\/I><\/span>,12<\/span>; and who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, <\/I>Rom 10:4<\/I><\/span>. So that to join any thing with Christ, and faith in him, for the justification of the soul before God, is plainly to deny and disclaim him, and to make him insignificant to us. This Paul affirms with an apostolical authority and gravity: <\/P>

I Paul say unto you.<\/B> <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2. Behold<\/B>that is, Mark what Isay. <\/P>

I Paul<\/B>Though you nowthink less of my authority, I nevertheless give my name and personalauthority as enough by itself to refute all opposition ofadversaries. <\/P>

if ye be circumcised<\/B>notas ALFORD, “If youwill go on being<\/I> circumcised.” Rather, “If ye sufferyourselves to be circumcised,” namely, under the notion of itsbeing necessary to justification<\/I> (Gal 5:4<\/span>;Act 15:1<\/span>). Circumcision here isnot regarded simply by itself (for, viewed as a mere national<\/I>rite, it was practiced for conciliation’s sake by Paul himself, Ac16:3<\/span>), but as the symbol of Judaism<\/I> and legalism ingeneral.<\/I> If this be necessary, then the Gospel of grace is at anend. If the latter be the way of justification, then Judaism is in noway so. <\/P>

Christ . . . profit . . .nothing<\/B> (Ga 2:21<\/span>). Forrighteousness of works and justification by faith cannot co-exist.”He who is circumcised [for justification] is so as fearing thelaw, and he who fears, disbelieves the power of grace, and he whodisbelieves can profit nothing by that grace which he disbelieves[CHRYSOSTOM].<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Behold, I Paul say unto you<\/strong>,…. The apostle proceeds to give some reasons and arguments to enforce the above exhortation and dissuasion: the first of which is introduced with a note of attention, “behold”; what he was about to say being matter of great moment and importance; and also mentions himself by name, as the assertor of it; and that, either because his name was well known to them, and the rather because of his apostolical authority; and to show his full assurance of this matter, and his intrepidity, and that he was no ways ashamed of it, they might, if they pleased, say it to whomsoever they would, that Paul the apostle affirmed,<\/p>\n

that if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing<\/strong>: he speaks of circumcision, not as when it was an ordinance of God, but as it was now abolished by Christ; and that got as singly performed on some certain accounts for he himself circumcised Timothy for the sake of the Jews; but as done in order to salvation, or as necessary unto it; which was the doctrine the false apostles taught and these Galatians were ready to give into: now circumcision submitted to on this consideration, and with this view rendered Christ unprofitable, made his death to be in vain, his sacrifice of no effect, and his righteousness useless: besides, Christ is a whole Saviour, or none at all; to join anything with him and his righteousness, in the business of justification and salvation, is interpreted by him as a contempt and neglect of him, as laying him aside, and to such persons he is of no profit; and if he is not, what they have, and whatsoever they do, will be of no advantage; wealth and riches, yea, the whole world could it be gained, their works and righteousness, whatever show they make before men, God has declared shall not profit them; and trusting to these renders Christ unprofitable to them. This is directly contrary to the notions of the Jews, who think they shall be saved for their circumcision, and that that will secure them from hell; they say m no circumcised person goes down to hell, and that whoever is circumcised shall inherit the land; but there is none shall inherit the land, save a righteous person; but everyone that is circumcised is called a righteous man n; so that circumcision is their righteousness, on account of which they expect heaven and happiness.<\/p>\n

m Shemot Rabba, sect. 19. fol. 104. 4. n Zohar in Exod. fol. 10. 2.<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

I Paul <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Asserts all his personal and apostolic authority. For both words see also 1Thess 2:16<\/span>; 2Cor 10:1<\/span>; Col 1:23<\/span>; Eph 3:1<\/span>.<\/P>

If ye receive circumcision <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Condition of third class and present passive subjunctive, a supposable case, but with terrible consequences, for they will make circumcision a condition of salvation. In that case Christ will help them not at all. <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Behold [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Imperative singular, appealing to each individual reader. I Paul. Comp. 2Co 10:1<\/span>; Eph 3:1<\/span>; Col 1:23<\/span>. Asserting his personal authority. <\/P>

If ye be circumcised [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Better, receive circumcision. The verb does not mean that they have already been circumcised. It states the case as supposable, implying that they were in danger of allowing themselves to be circumcised. <\/P>

Christ will profit you nothing. Circumcision is the sign of subjection to the Jewish “yoke” – the economy of the law. The question with the Galatians was circumcision as a condition of salvation. See chapter Gal 2:3<\/span>, 5<\/span>; Act 14:1<\/span>. It was a choice between salvation by law and salvation by Christ. The choice of the law involved the relinquishment of Christ. Comp. chapter Gal 2:21<\/span>. Chrysostom says : “He who is circumcised is circumcised as fearing the law : but he who fears the law distrusts the power of grace : and he who distrusts gains nothing from that which he distrusts.”<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) “Behold, I Paul say unto you,”<\/strong> (Ide ego Paulos lego humin) “Behold, I Paul tell you; I who once tried to find salvation and peace thru the deeds and devotions of the law, Rom 1:16<\/span>; Rom 10:1-4<\/span>; Eph 2:8-9<\/span>.<\/p>\n

2) “That if ye be circumcised,”<\/strong> (hoti ean peritemnesthe) “That if you all are circumcised;” yield to, go back to the pre-law and law-era practice of circumcision, Joh 8:32-36<\/span>; Act 15:1<\/span>; Php_2:5; Php_2:8.<\/p>\n

3) “Christ shall profit you nothing,”<\/strong> (Christos humas ouden ophelesen) “Christ will profit you not one thing,” for such conduct. Christ came that men might have life – and have, hold, or live it more abundantly, Joh 10:10<\/span>. Men can not trust in the law to save them, and in Christ to save them, at the same time, Rom 11:6<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2. Behold, I Paul. He could not have pronounced a severer threatening than that it would exclude them entirely from the grace of Christ. But what is the meaning of this, that Christ will profit nothing to all who are circumcised? Did Christ profit nothing to Abraham? Nay, it was in order that Christ might profit him that he received circumcision. If we say that it was in force till the coming of Christ, what reply shall we make to the case of Timothy? We must observe, that Paul’s reasoning is directed not so properly against the outward rite or ceremony, as against the wicked doctrine of the false apostles, who pretended that it was a necessary part of the worship of God, and at the same time made it a ground of confidence as a meritorious work. These diabolical contrivances made Christ to profit nothing; not that the false apostles denied Christ, or wished him to be entirely set aside, but that they made such a division between his grace and the works of the law as to leave not more than the half of salvation due to Christ. The apostle contends that Christ cannot be divided in this way, and that he “profiteth nothing,” unless he is wholly embraced. <\/p>\n

And what else do our modern Papists but thrust upon us, in place of circumcision, trifles of their own invention? The tendency of their whole doctrine is to blend the grace of Christ with the merit of works, which is impossible. Whoever wishes to have the half of Christ, loses the whole. And yet the Papists think themselves exceedingly acute when they tell us that they ascribe nothing to works, except through the influence of the grace of Christ, as if this were a different error from what was charged on the Galatians. They did not believe that they had departed from Christ, or relinquished his grace; and yet they lost Christ entirely, when that important part of evangelical doctrine was corrupted. <\/p>\n

The expression Behold, I Paul, is very emphatic; for he places himself before them, and gives his name, to remove all appearance of hesitation. And though his authority had begun to be less regarded among the Galatians, he asserts that it is sufficient to put down every adversary. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES<\/em><\/p>\n

Gal. 5:2<\/span>. If ye be circumcised.<\/strong>Not simply as a national rite, but as a symbol of Judaism and legalism in general; as necessary to justification. Christ shall profit you nothing.<\/strong>The gospel of grace is at an end. He who is circumcised is so fearing the law, and he who fears disbelieves the power of grace, and he who disbelieves can profit nothing by that grace which he disbelieves (Chrysostom<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Gal. 5:5<\/span>. Wait for the hope of righteousness.<\/strong>Righteousness, in the sense of justification, is already attained, but the consummation of it in future perfection is the object of hope to be waited for.<\/p>\n

Gal. 5:6<\/span>. Faith which worketh by love.<\/strong>Effectually worketh, exhibits its energy by love, and love is the fulfilling of the law.<\/p>\n

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.<\/em>Gal. 5:2-6<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Christianity Superior to External Rites<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I. External rites demand universal obedience.<\/strong>Every man that is circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law (Gal. 5:3<\/span>). The Galatians were in a state of dangerous suspense. They were on the brink of a great peril. Another step and they would be down the precipice. That step was circumcision. Seeing the imminence of the danger the apostle becomes more earnest and emphatic in his remonstrance. He warns them that circumcision, though a matter of indifference as an external rite, would in their case involve an obligation to keep the whole law. This he has shown is an impossibility. They would submit themselves to a yoke they were unable to bear, and from whose galling tyranny they would be unable to extricate themselves. Knowing this, surely they would not be so foolish as, deliberately and with open eyes, to commit such an act of moral suicide. There must be a strange infatuation in ritualistic observances that tempts man to undertake obligations he is powerless to perform, utterly heedless of the most explicit and faithful warnings.<\/p>\n

II. Dependence on external rites is an open rejection of Christ.<\/strong>Christ shall profit you nothing; is become of no effect unto you; ye are fallen from grace (Gal. 5:2<\/span>; Gal. 5:4<\/span>). Here the result of a defection from the gospel is placed in the most alarming aspect, and should give pause to the wildest fanatic. It is the forfeiture of all Christian privileges, it is a complete rejection of Christ, it is a loss of all the blessings won by faith, it is a fall into the gulf of despair and ruin. It cannot be too plainly understood, nor too frequently iterated, that excessive devotion to external rights means the decline and extinction of true religion. Ritualism supplants Jesus Christ. It is evident that the disciples of the Church of Rome wish to lead us from confession and absolution to the doctrine of transubstantiation, thence to the worship of images, and thence to all the abuses which at the end of the fifteenth century and at the beginning of the sixteenth excited the anger and scorn of Luther, Calvin, Zwinglius, and others. The primary faith of the Reformers is in the words of Christ. The primary faith of the ritualists is in Aristotle. If the British nation is wise, it will not allow the Roman Church with its infallible head, or the ritualists with their mimic ornaments, or those who are deaf to the teachings of Socrates and Cicero, of Bacon and Newton, to deprive them of the inestimable blessings of the gospel.<\/p>\n

III. Christianity as a spiritual force is superior to external rites.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. It bases the hope of righteousness on faith<\/em>. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith (Gal. 5:5<\/span>). Look on this picture and on that. Yonder are the Galatians, all in tumult about the legalistic proposals, debating which of the Hebrew feasts they shall celebrate and with what rites, absorbed in the details of Mosaic ceremony, all but persuaded to be circumcised and to settle their scruples out of hand by a blind submission to the law. And here on the other side is Paul with the Church of the Spirit, walking in the righteousness of faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit, joyfully awaiting the Saviours final coming and the hope that is laid up in heaven. How vexed, how burdened, how narrow and puerile is the one condition; how large, lofty, and secure the other! Faith has its great ventures; it has also its seasons of endurance, its moods of quiet expectancy, its unweariable patience. It can wait as well as work (Findlay<\/em>).<\/p>\n

2. Faith is a spiritual exercise revealing itself in active love<\/em>.Faith worketh by love (Gal. 5:6<\/span>). In Gal. 5:5<\/span> we have the statics<\/em> of the religion of Christ; in Gal. 5:6<\/span> its dynamics<\/em>. Love is the working energy of faith. Love gives faith hands and feet; hope lends it wings. Love is the fire at its heart, the life-blood coursing in its veins; hope the light that gleams and dances in its eyes. In the presence of an active spiritual Christianity, animated by love to Christ and to men, ritualism diminishes into insignificance. In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision (Gal. 5:6<\/span>). The Jew is no better or worse a Christian because he is circumcised; the Gentile no worse or better because he is not. Love, which is the fulfilling of the law, is the essence of Christianity, and gives it the superiority over all external rites.<\/p>\n

Lessons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Externalism in religion imposes intolerable burdens<\/em>. <\/p>\n

2. To prefer external rites is an insult to Christ<\/em>. <\/p>\n

3. The superiority of Christianity is its spiritual character<\/em>.<\/p>\n

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES<\/em><\/p>\n

Gal. 5:2-4<\/span>. Christianity nullified by Legalism<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I. To accept legalism is to reject Christ<\/strong> (Gal. 5:2<\/span>; Gal. 5:4<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II. Legalism demands universal obedience to its enactments<\/strong> (Gal. 5:3<\/span>).<\/p>\n

III. Legalism is a disastrous abandonment of Christianity.<\/strong>Ye are fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Gal. 5:5-6<\/span>. Righteousness attained by Active Faith<\/em>.<\/p>\n

1. No personal righteousness entitles us to the blessed hope of the heavenly inheritance, but only the righteousness of Christ apprehended by faith. It is only the efficacious teaching of Gods Spirit which can sufficiently instruct us in the knowledge of this righteousness and make us with security and confidence venture our hope of heaven upon it.
2. To impose the tie of a command on anything as a necessary part of divine worship wherein the word has left us free, or to subject ourselves to such command, is a receding from and betrayal of Christian liberty.
3. The sum of a Christians task is faith; but it is always accompanied with the grace of love. Though faith and love are conjoined, faith, in the order of nature, has the precedency.Fergusson<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Gal. 5:6<\/span>. Religion is Faith working by Love<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I. External and bodily privileges are of no use and moment in the kingdom of Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. We are not to esteem mens religion by their riches and external dignities.
2. We are to moderate our affections in respect of all outward things, neither sorrowing too much for them nor joying too much in them.<\/p>\n

II. Faith is of great use and acceptance in the kingdom of Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. We must labour to conceive faith aright in our hearts, by the use of the right meansthe word, prayer, and sacraments, and in and by the exercises of spiritual invocation and repentance.
2. Faith in Christ must reign and bear sway in our hearts and have command over reason, will, affection, lust.
3. It is to be bewailed that the common faith of our day is but a ceremonial faith.<\/p>\n

III. True faith works by love.<\/strong>Faith is the cause of love, and love is the fruit of faith.Perkins<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Alternatives of Entanglement and Freedom Gal. 5:2-6<\/span><\/p>\n

TEXT 5:26<\/strong><\/p>\n

(2) Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. (3) Yea, I testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. (4) Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace. (5) For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. (6) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.<\/strong><\/p>\n

PARAPHRASE 5:26<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Behold, I Paul say to you, that if ye be circumcised as a condition necessary to your salvation, the death of Christ will profit you nothing.<\/p>\n

3 And, though ye have been taught otherwise by the Judaizers, I testify, moreover, to every circumcised person who seeks justification by the law, that he is bound to perform the whole law of Moses perfectly; and if he fails, he subjects himself to the curse. (Gal. 3:10<\/span>)<\/p>\n

4 Ye have renounced Christ as a Saviour, who seek to be justified by the law of Moses; consequently ye shall receive no benefit from his death: Ye have excluded yourselves from the free gift of justification offered to you in the gospel.
5 But we believers, the spiritual seed of Abraham, whom God hath promised to justify through the gifts of the Spirit, which are the evidence of our adoption, look for the hoped righteousness by faith to be bestowed on us as a free gift at the general judgment.
6 For in the gospel dispensation, neither circumcision availeth any thing towards our acceptance with God, nor uncircumcision, but faith strongly working by love to God and to man.<\/p>\n

COMMENT 5:2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Behold, I Paul<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

I, who have received the Gospel not from men.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

I, called to preach the gospel with authority.<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

He is not stating this as a personal opinion but to give his statement credence.<\/p>\n

if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Christ becomes worthless: if He is not everything, then He is nothing.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Circumcision in itself is nothing.<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

Yet the Galatians looked to it and the covenant it represented for justificationthey forfeited everything in Christ.<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

It is not so much one thingbut a principle.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

If they seek justification by the works of the law, then they renounce justification through faith.<\/p>\n

COMMENT 5:3<\/strong><\/p>\n

every man that receiveth circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

If you submit to one, then you are obligated to all the law, for one commandment or phrase is no more binding than another.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Thus we have two things wrong.<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

It makes Christ unprofitable.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

It obligates one to do all the law.<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

Circumcision was a seal of covenant relationship, and the covenant obligates one to do it all.<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

Why did Paul have Timothy to submit? See Act. 15:3<\/span>.<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

It was not for Timothys salvation.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

It was an expediency in preaching.<\/p>\n

5.<\/p>\n

The law is indivisibleit is not to be observed partially.<\/p>\n

COMMENT 5:4<\/strong><\/p>\n

ye are severed from Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n

Catholic Bibleye are estranged from Christ<\/p>\n

King JamesChrist is become of no effect unto you<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

In seeking justification by works of the law, you go into apostasy.<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

This sounds like once saved, not always saved.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

You must have the law and no Christor Christ and no law.<\/p>\n

c.<\/p>\n

A person can be cut off, if Jesus meant what He said. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. Joh. 15:6<\/span><\/p>\n

who would be justified by the law<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

This was the choice of some.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

They had the privilege to choose the law.<\/p>\n

ye are fallen from grace<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Yet some say, there is no falling after salvation has been received.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

When you fall in the ocean, it matters not which side of the ship you fall fromyou are in the ocean and lost.<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

To fall from grace means to lose the atonement, the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, liberty and the life.<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

To lose the grace means to gain the wrath, and judgment of God, death, the bondage of the devil and condemnation.<\/p>\n

WORD STUDY 5:4<\/strong><\/p>\n

To sever (katargeokaht ar GEH oh) is to make ineffective; to render idle or inactive. It is also used of a total release from someone. The woman whose husband has died, for instance, is totally released from the law binding her in marriage (Rom. 7:2<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Those who rely on legal righteousness make the sacrifice of Christ void, and cut themselves off from him.
To fall away (ekpiptoek PIP toe) was used of coins that fell out of use, or ships that had gone off course. So long as the Galatians were so badly off course, they were no longer on the way to Heaven.<\/p>\n

This word is not, however, as strong as the word for fall away parapiptopar ah PIP toe) in Heb. 6:6<\/span>. The word used in Hebrews describes a ship that is not only off course, but completely lost. Here in Gal. 5:4<\/span>, the possibility of return is present.<\/p>\n

COMMENT 5:5<\/strong><\/p>\n

we through the Spirit by faith wait<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

How do we wait?<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

Through His instruction of divine revelation.<\/p>\n

1)<\/p>\n

Joh. 14:1-6<\/span><\/p>\n

2)<\/p>\n

Every scripture inspired of God. <\/span>2Ti. 3:16<\/span><\/p>\n

3)<\/p>\n

them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven. 1Pe. 1:12<\/span><\/p>\n

4)<\/p>\n

For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. 2Pe. 1:21<\/span><\/p>\n

5)<\/p>\n

The Spirit himself beareth witness. Rom. 8:16<\/span><\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

We have to know Gods words else we would not know to wait for Gods blessings.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

Hope makes our waiting worthwhile.<\/p>\n

c.<\/p>\n

Through His indwelling presence we wait patiently.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

How else could you wait? The faithless do not wait.<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

The Galatians were trusting in carnal ordinances.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

Their faith was not on the proper source for inheritance.<\/p>\n

for the hope of righteousness<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

What is the difference in faith and hope? (See Luther, p. 203)<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

They differ in their origin.<\/p>\n

1)<\/p>\n

Faith originates in the understanding.<\/p>\n

2)<\/p>\n

Hope arises in the will.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

They differ in function.<\/p>\n

1)<\/p>\n

Faith teaches, describes, directs.<\/p>\n

2)<\/p>\n

Hope exhorts the mind to be strong, courageous.<\/p>\n

c.<\/p>\n

They differ in their objectives.<\/p>\n

1)<\/p>\n

Faith concentrates on the truth.<\/p>\n

2)<\/p>\n

Hope looks to the goodness of God.<\/p>\n

d.<\/p>\n

They differ in sequence.<\/p>\n

1)<\/p>\n

Faith is the beginning of life before tribulation. <\/span>Heb. 11:1-40<\/span><\/p>\n

2)<\/p>\n

Hope comes later and is born of tribulation. <\/span>Rom. 5:1-21<\/span><\/p>\n

e.<\/p>\n

They differ in regard to their effect.<\/p>\n

1)<\/p>\n

Faith is a judge; it judges error.<\/p>\n

2)<\/p>\n

Hope is a soldier; it fights against tribulations, the cross, despondency, despair, and waits for better things.<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

By faith we begin; by hope we endure.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

Hope without faith is blind arrogance because it lacks knowledge.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Faith, hope and love are the three greatest of Christian virtues, 1Co. 13:13<\/span>.<\/p>\n

hope of righteousness<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

This may have the same meaning as Peters statement, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 1Pe. 1:9<\/span><\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

In this realm there will be no sin, but righteousness. Rev. 21:27<\/span>; Rev. 22:15<\/span><\/p>\n

COMMENT 5:6<\/strong><\/p>\n

neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

A persons physical condition in relationship to Abraham matters not.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

The valuable thing is faith in Christ and circumcision is of no value.<\/p>\n

faith working through love<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

The valuable faith is one that works through love.<\/p>\n

a.<\/p>\n

Faith without works is dead. See Jas. 2:17<\/span>. <\/p>\n

1) Idle faith is not justifying faith.<\/p>\n

b.<\/p>\n

Faith without love is nothing. If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 1Co. 13:2<\/span><\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

If loving service is not manifested, the Christian is no better than a Galatian depending upon circumcision.<\/p>\n

WORD STUDY 5:6<\/strong><\/p>\n

Working (energeoen er GEH oh) could be more literally translated being energized. Faith becomes effective when it is united with love and put to work. Although Martin Luther found an impassable gulf between salvation by faith in Galatians and salvation by works in James, this verse bridges that gap.<\/p>\n

STUDY QUESTIONS 5:26<\/strong><\/p>\n

594.<\/p>\n

When Paul mentions self as in verse two, does he lessen the authority of his word?<\/p>\n

595.<\/p>\n

If Christ is not worth everything, is He worth anything?<\/p>\n

596.<\/p>\n

Why was circumcision an issue?<\/p>\n

597.<\/p>\n

If Christ is our Saviour, do we need to depend upon observances, rituals, etc., to save us?<\/p>\n

598.<\/p>\n

Why does obedience to one law demand obedience to all?<\/p>\n

599.<\/p>\n

If circumcision is a seal, then would it demand that a person go all the way?<\/p>\n

600.<\/p>\n

Why did Paul have Timothy circumcised?<\/p>\n

601.<\/p>\n

Do we have a right to expediencies in order to win some to Christ?<\/p>\n

602.<\/p>\n

What does the word severed mean?<\/p>\n

603.<\/p>\n

Is it the same as apostasy?<\/p>\n

604.<\/p>\n

Can we say that it is falling from grace?<\/p>\n

605.<\/p>\n

Does this verse destroy the once in grace, always in grace theory?<\/p>\n

606.<\/p>\n

What other ways is the word severed translated?<\/p>\n

607.<\/p>\n

Did Jesus say that a person can be cut off? Cf. Joh. 15:1-6<\/span>.<\/p>\n

608.<\/p>\n

What would do the severing?<\/p>\n

609.<\/p>\n

Were they responsible for their own severing?<\/p>\n

610.<\/p>\n

Does Paul say that a man can fall from grace?<\/p>\n

611.<\/p>\n

What all is involved when a person falls?<\/p>\n

612.<\/p>\n

Does he lose the atonement, the forgiveness, eternal life?<\/p>\n

613.<\/p>\n

Will a person have punishment for severing himself?<\/p>\n

614.<\/p>\n

How much false teaching may one accept to sever him from Christ?<\/p>\n

615.<\/p>\n

How do we wait?<\/p>\n

616.<\/p>\n

What is the Christian waiting for?<\/p>\n

617.<\/p>\n

Is the waiting a time of indolence?<\/p>\n

618.<\/p>\n

Two words are used that are similar. What is the difference between faith and hope?<\/p>\n

619.<\/p>\n

What has the Spirit to do with our waiting?<\/p>\n

620.<\/p>\n

Describe the hope of righteousness.<\/p>\n

621.<\/p>\n

Is hope of righteousness different from hope of the righteous?<\/p>\n

622.<\/p>\n

Will there be righteousness where the Christian is going?<\/p>\n

623.<\/p>\n

Does Christ make void both circumcision and uncircumcision?<\/p>\n

624.<\/p>\n

What is the one availing thing?<\/p>\n

625.<\/p>\n

What does Paul connect with faith here?<\/p>\n

626.<\/p>\n

Does the faith he describes do work?<\/p>\n

627.<\/p>\n

What is the motive of the work?<\/p>\n

628.<\/p>\n

If we work with any other motive, is it worthwhile? Cf. 1Co. 13:1-13<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

(2) Behold, I Paul.<\/strong>The strong personality of the Apostle asserts itself; instead of going into an elaborate proof, he speaks with dogmatic authority, as though his bare word were enough.<\/p>\n

Shall profit you nothing.<\/strong>Profit, i.e.,<\/em> in the way of justification, as producing that state of righteousness in the sight of God by virtue of which the believer is released from wrath and received into the divine favour. The Apostle says that if this state of justification is sought through circumcision, it cannot be sought through Christ at the same time.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

(2-6) There can be no compromise between Christianity and Judaism. If you accept the one you must give up the other. Circumcision is a pledge or engagement to live by the rule of the Law. That rule must be taken as a whole. You are committed to the practice of the whole Law, and in that way alone you must seek for justification. Our position is something quite different. We hope to be admitted into a state of righteousness through the action of the Spirit on Gods side, and through faith on our own. The Christian owes the righteousness attributed to him, not to circumcision, but to a life of which faith is the motive and love the law.
The whole tenor of the Epistle shows that the Apostle viewed the attempts of the Judaising party with indignation; and at this point his language takes a more than usually stern and imperative tone. He speaks with the full weight of his apostolic authority, and warns the Galatians that no half-measures will avail, but that they must decide, once for all, either to give up Judaism or Christ.<\/p>\n

This is one of the passages which have been insisted on as proving a direct antagonism between St. Paul and the other Apostles; but any one who enters into the thought of the Apostle, and follows the course of his impassioned reasoning, will see how unnecessary any such assumption is. Nothing is more in accordance with human nature than that the same man should at one time agree to the amicable compromise of Acts 15<\/span>, and at another, some years later, with the field all to himself, and only his own converts to deal with, should allow freer scope to his own convictions. He is speaking with feelings highly roused, and with less regard to considerations of policy. Besides, the march of events had been rapid, and the principles of policy themselves would naturally change.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

PART THIRD.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

EXHORTATION TO STEADFASTNESS IN CHRISTIAN DUTY, Gal 5:2<\/span> to Gal 6:18<\/span>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Admonitory warnings to maintain their freedom from circumcision and legalism<\/strong>, Gal 5:2-12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. <\/strong> Behold, I Paul<\/strong> The apostle throws all his emphasis and all his authority into this warning. If this fail, his Galatians are lost. They would relapse into Ebionism, and in all probability become an apostate people. <\/p>\n

If ye be circumcised<\/strong> Become circumcised; that is, as was now required as necessary to justification. <\/p>\n

Shall<\/strong> Will. <\/p>\n

Profit you nothing<\/strong> Seeing ye seek justification not from Him, but from the Law. Ye are Jews rejecting the Messiah. As Chrysostom (quoted in Greek, by Alford) says: “He that becomes circumcised, does it for fear that he cannot be justified without the law, and so disbelieves the power of grace; but the disbeliever in grace receives no salvation from grace.” So in Act 15:1<\/span>: “Certain men said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” This was a very different sort of circumcision from that of Timothy by Paul, Act 16:3<\/span>; a mere physical act performed in order to remove obstacles to his success in the ministry.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

‘Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision Christ will be of no benefit to you. Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole Law. You are estranged from Christ, you who would be justified by the Law. You are fallen away from grace.’<\/p>\n

Paul now comes down to specifics. Here they are as Gentiles being faced up with the question as to whether they must be circumcised in order to find salvation. This refers, of course, to receiving circumcision as a necessary part of salvation with a view to submission to the Law. Timothy was circumcised because as a half-Jew it was considered prudent for his work among Jews and no vital issue was involved (Act 16:3<\/span>). In his case he saw the keeping of Jewish traditions as a privilege. He did not find them a burden. He had been brought up with them. But for Titus it was different. Titus was deliberately and openly not circumcised, because some sought it as a requirement for salvation (Gal 2:3-4<\/span>). Some wanted Titus and those like him to become slaves to the Law. And this was the issue that faced the Galatians. Did they want to take the position that obedience to the whole Law was necessary for salvation? or did they want to enjoy the freedom of Abraham?<\/p>\n

So Paul warns them of the dangers of circumcision. Firstly for them it will be a first step to, and indicate a commitment to, obeying the whole Law of Moses as expanded by the Rabbis, including both ceremonial and moral requirements. It will be declaring that they want to be judged by the Law. And secondly, resulting from that, it will take away any benefit that is receivable from Christ. Christ will ‘profit them nothing’, He will be ‘of no benefit to them’, His death will be of no avail. For they will not be looking in faith to Him they will have their eye continually on the Law and on their own efforts.<\/p>\n

And the result will be that the Galatians will simply be becoming like the Pharisees, binding themselves and others with burdens grievous to be borne, committing themselves to a continual ritual, seeking impossibly to purify themselves and put themselves in a position to be faithful to the covenant and deserve eternal life. They will be becoming workhorses of the Law, treading the treadmill of the Law. And instead of loving God with all their hearts, and freely loving their neighbours, they will be tying themselves into a system which makes both God and neighbours a burden.<\/p>\n

‘I, Paul.’ Emphatic. He above all as an ex-Pharisee, and now as an Apostle, has cause to know the truth about circumcision and the Law.<\/p>\n

‘Testify.’ A forceful expression emphasising the seriousness with which he speaks.<\/p>\n

‘A debtor to do the whole law.’ What an impossible position this describes, for to fail on one point will make them guilty of all (Jas 2:10<\/span>). Then they will come under its curse with nowhere else to turn.<\/p>\n

‘You are estranged from Christ, you who would be reckoned as righteous by the Law.’ The word katargeo (in the aorist passive) means to be rendered ineffective, rendered powerless, to be abolished, set aside, to be brought to an end, to be released from association with someone, to be estranged from. By looking to the Law as their saviour they will be once for all estranged from Christ, and and will be rendered ineffective and powerless. They will have nowhere to turn when they fail, for Christ cannot be had on a hit and miss basis. There will be no relationship with Him. They will be strangers to Him, and He to them. For they will have rejected His sacrifice on the cross as their means of being reckoned as righteous and will be looking to the perfection of their own religious involvement and their striving to keep the Law. While others are walking in freedom with Christ, they will be treading the harsh and stony path of the Law.<\/p>\n

‘You are fallen away from grace.’ The verb ekpipto means to fall from, to fall away from, to drift away from. They will have drifted away from the position of accepting dependence on the grace, the unmerited active favour of God, as revealed through the cross. They will be depending on their own achievements, achievements that can never be sufficient. This is a theological position that is being described. It says nothing one way or another about whether they are, or have ever been, truly saved.<\/p>\n

What then is the significance of what is being described here? Paul sees clearly the danger. In the end he is describing an attitude of heart. The eyes of those who seek salvation by the Law and by means of religious ritual will be taken off Christ, and they will thus become estranged to Him and drift away from the idea of the grace of God. They will become taken up with earthly things, with their eyes fixed on earthly ritual, their lives committed to earthly religious obedience. This is true whether it be service to the Law, or blind commitment to a church and its rituals.<\/p>\n

So he recognises that the principle must be firmly established. The Gospel has nothing to do with obedience to any laws or submission to any rituals or to any such thing, whether Jewish, or ‘Christian’ or anything else. Being reckoned righteous by God results from the grace of God alone, active in those who respond in faith to the Crucified and risen Christ. Salvation results from that alone and from nothing else. Anyone who introduces anything else is therefore in danger of making that replace Christ, and in the worst analysis they will become totally outside any benefit that they can receive through Christ.<\/p>\n

The Jerusalem church mixed faith in Christ and ritual, as did many Jews, but the question in view was as to where each looked for his or her salvation. Was it to their ritual or to the crucified Christ? The fact that they had come to Christ at all indicated their dissatisfaction with what their ritual could achieve. Thus their ritual, which had been and still was an habitual part of their lives, a part of their past, did not necessarily cut them off from Christ. For they had become Christians in spite of their ritual. Christ had transcended their ritual. And their ritual simply identified them as Jewish Christians.<\/p>\n

But for Gentiles to deliberately look to such ritual, and the laws connected with it, taking it on as a new burden, would be to have their lives possessed by something that would control their minds and lives. They would simply have exchanged heathen ritual for Jewish ritual. Thus Christ would slip back into insignificance. It would basically be to eradicate Christ and make Him unnecessary to them. And it would be to give the wrong impression to other Gentiles. It would be to ‘drift away from the doctrine of grace’ to a life of Law-keeping.<\/p>\n

Now the question is, could anyone who had truly known Christ by faith behave in such a way? Those who truly know Christ would surely be unable to do so and should the Galatians finally succumb it could only serve to indicate that their faith had not been real.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Behold,<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> This word is used to fix their attention. I, Paul;<\/em>“I, the same Paul, who am reported to preach circumcision,testify again, <\/em>(Gal 5:3<\/span>.)continue my testimony, to every man; <\/em>to you, and all men.” This very emphatical way of speaking may well be understood to have regard to what he takes notice of Gal 5:11<\/span> namely, his preaching circumcision; and is a very significant vindication of himself.If ye be circumcised, <\/em>means, “If ye submit to circumcision, and depend on <\/em>that, and the observance of the rest of the Jewish rites, for justification and salvation.” It must have beenallowedthateitherJudaismorChristianitywasnecessaryto salvation. If Judaism had been necessary, Christianity could not be so; and (vice versa,<\/em>) it is the same, if the argument be reversed. It was plain, therefore, that if the observance of circumcision, and other Jewish rites, was obligatory, all that Christ had done and suffered would have been of no advantage to them; for if the soul could not repose its confidence in him for salvation, its divided regards would be rather an affront than an act of homage. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2<\/span> . Paul now in a warning tone reveals to them the fearful danger to which they are exposed. This he does by the address in the singular (comp. Soph. Trach<\/em> . 824), exciting the special attention of every individual reader, and with the energetic, defiant interposition of his personal authority: , on which Theophylact well remarks: . Comp. 2Co 10:1<\/span> ; Eph 3:1<\/span> ; Col 1:23<\/span><\/p>\n

] To be pronounced with special emphasis. The readers stood now on the very verge of obeying thus far<\/em> and therefore to the utmost the suggestions of the false apostles in taking upon them the yoke of the law, after having already consented to preliminary isolated acts of legal observance (Gal 4:10<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

] comp. Gal 2:21<\/span> . is emphatically placed first, and immediately after . Chrysostom, moreover, aptly remarks: , , . On such a footing Christ cannot be Christ, the Mediator of salvation. Paul’s judgment presupposes that circumcision is adopted, not as a condition of a holy life (Holsten), but as a condition of salvation<\/em> , which was the question raised among the Gal 2:3<\/span> ; Gal 2:5<\/span> ; Act 15:1<\/span> ; Act 16:3<\/span> . Comp. Lechler, apost. Zeitalt<\/em> . p. 248. The future<\/em> , , which is explained by others (de Wette, Hofmann, and most) as referring to the consequence generally, points to the nearness of the Parousia and the decision of the judgment. Comp. Gal 5:5<\/span> : , just as previously the idea of the in Gal 4:30<\/span> .<\/p>\n

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

DISCOURSE: 2078
SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS REPROVED<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gal 5:2-4<\/span>. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law: ye are fallen from grace<\/em>.<\/p>\n

ON matters of morality, men will permit us to speak with the utmost freedom; but, on points of faith, they would have us use none but the mildest possible expressions, lest we should appear dogmatical and severe. St. Paul, where moral offences had been committed, was lenity itself [Note: 2Co 2:7<\/span>. Gal 6:1<\/span>.]; but when the fundamentals of our faith were endangered, his energy rose even to intolerance. I mean not to say that he<\/em> disregarded morality, or that we<\/em> should think lightly of it: but I mean, that we ought to entertain far different thoughts about the leading doctrines of religion, than those which generally prevail. Hear the Apostle, when he found that some of the Galatian Church had been drawn from the pure Gospel to a reliance on the observances of the Jewish ritual: Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed [Note: Gal 1:8-9<\/span>.]. I grant, that he, as inspired, was authorized to speak in terms that would be unseemly for one who is not under an infallible guidance: but, so far as our doctrines accord with those of the Apostle, we may<\/em>, yes, and must<\/em>, maintain them, with a measure of the firmness which he uses in the promulgation of them. The passage which we have selected for our meditation this day contains nothing but what must be affirmed by every servant of Christ But who that reads it must not tremble, lest he be found in the predicament there referred to? That we may fully understand the mind of the Apostle, I will, with all possible plainness, state,<\/p>\n

I.<\/p>\n

What was the conduct here reproved<\/p>\n

It was not the mere practice of circumcision
[This was a rite which had been ordained by God himself; and the neglect of which had so incensed God against his servant Moses, that, if his wife Zipporah had not instantly, and without delay, performed the rite with her own hands, that favourite of heaven would have been destroyed [Note: Exo 4:24-25<\/span>.]. And though the ceremonial law was now abolished, the observance of this rite was innocent: for St. Paul himself, in condescension to the prejudices of the Jews, had circumcised Timothy; and in this very place, where he so decidedly condemns the observers of it, speaks of it as a matter of perfect indifference: In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith, which worketh by love [Note: ver. 6 and again, Gal 6:15<\/span>.]. It is clear, therefore, that it was not of circumcision, as an act<\/em>, that he spake, when he declared it to be incompatible with an interest in Christ.]<\/p>\n

It was self-righteousness to which the advocates of circumcision were strongly inclined
[Circumcision, when first appointed of God, was given to Abraham<\/em> as a sign and seal of that righteousness which he possessed in his uncircumcised state, and which he had obtained solely by faith [Note: Rom 4:11<\/span>.]. But the Jews had altogether perverted it from its original intention, and had made it a fundamental article of the Mosaic<\/em> ritual: they regarded it as connected with the Law<\/em>, rather than with the Gospel<\/em>; and founded their hopes of salvation, in a considerable measure, on their observance of it. This<\/em> it was which St. Paul so severely reprobated; because it undermined the Gospel itself, and led the people to look to the law for righteousness, which the Gospel alone could impart. Nor was it without just reason that he so strongly guarded them against this error: for it obtained very generally amongst the Jews; and was the great stumbling-block over which they fell, to the utter destruction of their souls [Note: Rom 9:30-33<\/span>; Rom 10:2-3<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n

That we may see how circumcision could by any means be so injurious to their souls, I will proceed to shew,<\/p>\n

II.<\/p>\n

Wherein the evil of it consisted<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

It was a recurrence to the law<\/p>\n

[So the Apostle interprets it: As many of you as are justified by the law. This shews, that the Apostle viewed the act<\/em> as performed in order to their justification before God: and such was really their end in performing it. There were many who insisted upon it as still obligatory upon all: and maintained, that except men were circumcised, they could not be saved [Note: Act 15:1<\/span>.]. And it was St. Pauls firm opposition to this tenet that so greatly incensed the Jews against him. If he would have yielded to them in this one particular, they would have laid aside their hostility against him, and have left him at liberty to make as many converts as he could. But he would not give place, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the Gospel might be kept inviolate. And to those who wished to represent him as still favouring their sentiments, he appealed: If I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offence of the cross ceased [Note: ver. 11.]. Viewing, then, this rite as a recurrence to the law for salvation, he declared to every person who submitted to it, that he became a debtor to do the whole law: for if the law was obligatory in one part, it was in all: and, if they looked for salvation by obedience to any law whatever, whether ceremonial or moral, they must go back to the covenant of works altogether, and stand or fall by that. But this<\/em> would be to involve themselves in inevitable and eternal ruin; since it was written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them: and, consequently, in going back to the law, they must bring down all its curses upon their souls. This, then, was one reason why it was wrong to practise circumcision in the way they did.]<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

It was a renunciation of the Gospel<\/p>\n

[All who had been baptized into the faith of Christ had professed to accept salvation as the free gift of God for Christs sake. But, in going back to circumcision, and insisting upon that as necessary to salvation, they did, in fact, declare that they considered the work of Christ as incomplete, and as insufficient for their salvation, without this work of the law super-added to it. All therefore who had imbibed this error were fallen from the grace of the Gospel altogether. They thought, indeed, to combine the law with the Gospel; but this was impossible. Salvation must be wholly of the one or the other: works and grace, as foundations of hope before God, were absolutely contrary to, and inconsistent with, each other: as the Apostle says, If salvation be by grace, it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace: but if it be of works, then is it no more grace; otherwise work is no more work [Note: Rom 11:6<\/span>.]. Would they, then, be content to forego all hope by the Gospel, and to abandon as worthless all the promises of grace? This was, in fact, their conduct, whilst they thus placed their reliance on this abrogated rite: and the folly of such conduct once seen, must deter them, for ever, from the prosecution of it.]<\/p>\n

But we are yet further taught by the Apostle,<\/p>\n

III.<\/p>\n

What was, and must in all cases be, the issue of it<\/p>\n

Christ would become of no effect to them, and would profit them nothing. Never, to all eternity, would they derive any benefit from him,<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

As their atoning Sacrifice<\/p>\n

[He died indeed for sinners, and offered himself a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world: but, in renouncing him, and going back to the law, they cut themselves off from all participation of the benefit: so that, as far as they are concerned, he died altogether in vain [Note: Gal 2:21<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

As their great High-priest<\/p>\n

[For his people he is gone within the vail, there to make continual intercession for them: and through his intercession their peace is maintained with God. But never does he make mention of their name; never prefer one request in their behalf. If he were once to bring their case before his Father, it would be rather to make intercession against<\/em> them; and to say, How long dost thou, O my Father, forbear to execute vengeance on those ungrateful creatures? How long dost thou not judge, and avenge my blood upon them [Note: Rev 6:10<\/span>.]?]<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

As their Federal Head and Representative<\/p>\n

[To those who are united to Christ by faith, he is, under the new covenant, what Adam was to his posterity, under the old covenant. In Adam, all his natural posterity died: and in Christ all his spiritual children are made alive [Note: 1Co 15:22<\/span>.]. But those who return to the law, renounce the covenant of grace, and go back to the covenant made with Adam in Paradise; according to the tenour of which they shall be justified or condemned, Having no other representative than Adam, in whom they have sinned, they have no one through whom they can obtain any better title than what they have derived from him, or any other portion than what is entailed upon them as his descendants.]<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

As their Head of vital influence<\/p>\n

[Believers in Christ derive from Him all that they need for life and godliness, as branches of the living vine. But those who, in any measure or degree, transfer to the law their dependence, become as branches that are broken off, and that derive from Him no benefit whatever. To their impotence they are left; and as destitute of all spiritual good, they perish.
What a fearful thought is this! But let me dwell somewhat upon it, in a way of more direct]<\/p>\n

Application.See, I pray you,
1.<\/p>\n

How indispensable to our happiness is an interest in Christ<\/p>\n

[The Apostle represents the being without any profit from Christ, as the sum of human misery. And so, indeed, it is: for what can he possess who has no part in Christ? He may have wealth and honour in the richest abundance; but he has no life, no hope in this world, no portion but misery in the world to come Can you reflect on this, my brethren, and not desire an interest in Christ? My brethren, seek him, lay Hold on him, cleave unto him with full purpose of heart;and let no consideration under heaven induce you for a moment to draw back from him ]<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

What need we have to examine the state of our minds towards him<\/p>\n

[The persons who laid so great a stress on circumcision little thought what evils they were bringing on their own souls: and it is highly probable that they thought the affirmations of the Apostle needlessly severe. But this very circumstance rendered it the more necessary that he should deal faithfully with them, and declare to them the danger to which they were exposed. And so it is, when we declare the danger of self-righteousness, we are thought harsh and uncharitable. But we must declare, and testify to every one who relies on the works of the law, or blends any thing whatever with the merits of Christ, that he makes void the whole work of Christ, and cuts himself off from any part in his salvation. Examine yourselves, therefore: for self-righteousness is deeply rooted in the heart of man; and it has many specious pretexts for its acting. But be on your guard against it, and watch against it in every form; and determine, through grace, that you will henceforth trust in nothing, and glory in nothing, but the cross of Christ.]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ver. 2. Behold I Paul<\/strong> ] q.d.<\/em> As true as I am Paul, and do write these things.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Christ shall profit you nothing<\/strong> ] For he profits none but those that are found in him, not having their “own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God through faith,”Phi 3:9<\/span>Phi 3:9<\/span> . As Pharaoh said of the Israelites, “they are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in,”Exo 14:3<\/span>Exo 14:3<\/span> ; so may it be said of Pharisaical and Popish justiciaries, they are entangled in the fond conceits of their own righteousness, they cannot come to Christ. A man will never truly desire Christ till soundly shaken,Hag 2:7<\/span>Hag 2:7<\/span> . <\/p>\n

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2<\/strong> .] <\/strong> , not , in later Greek: see Winer, 6. 1. a: it draws attention to what follows, as a strong statement.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> ] . , . , Thdrt. , Theophyl., and so Chrys. There hardly seems to be a reference (as Wetst. “ego quem dicunt circumcisionem prdicare”) to his having circumcised Timothy. Calvin says well: “Ista locutio non parvam emphasin habet; coram enim se opponit, et nomen dat, ne videatur causam dubiam habere. Et quanquam vilescere apud Galatas cperat ejus auctoritas, tamen ad refellendos omnes adversarios sufficere asserit.”<\/p>\n

The present<\/em> , <\/strong> , implies the continuance of a habit, q. d. if you will go on being circumcised<\/strong> . He does not say, ‘ if you shall have been circumcised<\/em> :’ so that Calv.’s question, ‘quid hoc vult? Christum non profuturum omnibus circumcisis?’ does not come in. On <\/strong> . <\/strong> <\/strong> . <\/strong> <\/strong> . <\/strong> <\/strong> , Chrys. remarks: , , . Nothing can be more directly opposed than this verse to the saying of the Judaizers, Act 15:1<\/span> . The exception to the rule in Paul’s own conduct, Act 16:3<\/span> , is sufficiently provided for by the present tense<\/em> here: see above.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2<\/span> . . The Apostle finds it necessary to express pointedly his own personal judgment on the effect of circumcision in consequence of false reports which had been circulated that he had given some sanction to the new doctrine. (See Gal 5:11<\/span> .)<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gal 5:2-12<\/p>\n

2Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. 7You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. 12I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:2<\/p>\n

NASB”Behold I, Paul, say to you”<\/p>\n

NKJV”Indeed I, Paul, say to you”<\/p>\n

NRSV”Listen! I, Paul, am telling you”<\/p>\n

TEV”Listen! I, Paul, tell you this”<\/p>\n

NJB”It is I, Paul, who tells you this”<\/p>\n

This is the imperative form of “behold” with the strong, personal pronoun (eg). “I, Paul” shows the authoritative emphasis of Paul’s remarks. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is giving revelatory information!<\/p>\n

NASB”that if you receive circumcision”<\/p>\n

NKJV”that if you become circumcised”<\/p>\n

NRSV”that if you let yourselves be circumcised”<\/p>\n

TEV, NJB”if you allow yourselves to be circumcised”<\/p>\n

This is a third class conditional sentence meaning potential action. This would suggest that the Galatian Christians had not yet been circumcised but were tending to submit to the new prerequisites for obtaining salvation (or at least perfection, cf. Gal 3:1) given by the Judaizers. Yet circumcision was not the fundamental issue (cf. Gal 5:6; 1Co 7:18-19). Circumcision was only one aspect of the entire Jewish system of works righteousness. Paul circumcised Timothy in Act 16:3 in order that he might minister to Jews. But Paul reiterated that true circumcision is of the heart (cf. Deu 10:16; Jer 4:4), not the body (cf. Rom 2:28-29; Col 2:11). The issue was not circumcision but how a person is brought into right standing with God (cf. Gal 5:4).<\/p>\n

“Christ will be of no benefit to you” Paul is contrasting two ways of being right with God: (1) human effort and (2) free grace. The theme of the entire paragraph is that these two ways are mutually exclusive: to choose human effort is to negate free grace; to choose free grace is to exclude human effort. One cannot mix them as a basis of salvation as Gal 3:1-5 clearly shows.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:3 “he is under obligation to keep the whole Law” If one chooses the way of human effort, then he must adhere perfectly to the Law from the age of moral responsibility (bar-mitzvah, age 13 for boys, bath-mitzvah, age 12 for girls) to death (cf. Deu 27:26; Gal 3:10; Jas 2:10). The Bible asserts that since no one has ever done this (except Jesus), everyone is in the category of law breakers, sinners (cf. Rom 3:9-18; Rom 3:22-23; Rom 6:23; Rom 5:8; Rom 11:32).<\/p>\n

Gal 5:4 “who are seeking to be justified by law” The theological theme of chapters 3 and 4 is that our acceptance by God is based solely on His character, the empowering of the Spirit, and the work of His Messiah. This is the essence of Paul’s radical, new gospel of justification by grace through faith alone (cf. Romans 4-8).<\/p>\n

NASB”You have been severed from Christ”<\/p>\n

NKJV”You have become estranged from Christ”<\/p>\n

NRSV”You. . .have cut yourselves off from Christ”<\/p>\n

TEV”have cut yourselves off from Christ”<\/p>\n

NJB”you have separated yourselves from Christ”<\/p>\n

This Greek verb (an aorist passive indicative of katarge) is translated in many ways: (1) to render useless; (2) to render powerless; (3) to render unproductive; (4) unprofitable; (5) empty; (6) cancel; (7) make null and void; (8) bring to an end; (9) annihilate; or (10) sever from. It was used by Paul more than twenty times. See Special Topic at Gal 3:17. One can see some of its flavor from Gal 3:17 (to abolish) and Gal 5:11 (to annul). If one tries to be right with God through human effort, he\/she cuts himself\/herself off from grace righteousness as a means of salvation (cf. Gal 5:12):<\/p>\n

1. in an initial salvation (when the Galatians first received the gospel)<\/p>\n

2. in a works-oriented life (when the Galatians were thinking of now pursuing the Mosaic Law)<\/p>\n

NASB, NKJV,<\/p>\n

NJB”you have fallen from grace”<\/p>\n

NRSV”you have fallen away from grace”<\/p>\n

TEV”You are outside God’s grace”<\/p>\n

Those who seek God by human performance have lost the free grace approach which is found in the finished work of the crucified Messiah. This context does not deal primarily with the modern theological question about the possibility of those who had salvation and have now lost it, but how humans find salvation. However, notice that salvation involves an initial and an ongoing response. It is a point and a process, both of which involve grace and faith. Both are crucial (cf. Gal 5:7).<\/p>\n

Paul was dealing in this letter with a legalism connected to salvation. Today most legalism within the church relates to the Christian life (cf. Gal 3:1-3). Most legalistic Christians are similar to the “weak brothers” of Rom 14:1 to Rom 15:13. They are unable to accept the freedom and liberation of the gospel. They are not trusting in their performance for salvation, but are afraid they will somehow offend God. This attitude, however, issues in judgmental criticism toward other believers. This disruption of fellowship occurred in the Galatian churches and is still occurring in the churches of our day.<\/p>\n

At this point in the discussion of a fully free, but cost-everything salvation, I would like to mention three Special Topics. The first deals with salvation as a process and the second deals with salvation as a relationship to the end of like, and the third the theological issue of apostasy. See Special Topic: Greek Verb Tenses Used for Salvation at 1Th 5:9.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL TOPIC: PERSEVERANCE <\/p>\n

SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTASY (APHISTMI) <\/p>\n

Gal 5:5 “For we through the Spirit, by faith” This phrase shows the two necessary qualifications (i.e., covenant) involved in our salvation:<\/p>\n

1. the drawing\/wooing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65; Joh 16:7-13)<\/p>\n

2. human response (cf. Mar 1:15; Act 3:16; Act 3:19; Act 20:21)<\/p>\n

These phrases are placed first in the Greek sentence for emphasis.<\/p>\n

“are waiting for the hope of righteousness” “Hope” is often used in the NT for the Second Coming. The Second Coming is the time when believers will be completely saved. The NT describes our salvation as<\/p>\n

1. a completed act<\/p>\n

2. a state of being<\/p>\n

3. a process<\/p>\n

4. as a future consummation<\/p>\n

These four attributes of salvation are complimentary not mutually exclusive. We are saved, have been saved, are being saved, and shall be saved. The future aspect of salvation entails the believers’ glorification at the Second Coming (cf. 1Jn 3:2). Other passages describing the future event of salvation include Rom 8:23; Php 3:21 and Col 3:3-4. See SPECIAL TOPIC: SALVATION (GREEK VERB TENSES) at 1Th 5:9.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL TOPIC: HOPE <\/p>\n

Gal 5:6 This verse encapsulates the theme of the book of Galatians: we are right with God by faith, not by human rituals or performanceincluding circumcision, the food laws, and\/or moral living.<\/p>\n

The concluding phrase has been understood in either a passive or middle sense (Barbara and Timothy Friberg, Analytical Greek New Testament, p. 584; Harold K Moulton [ed], The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised, p. 139). Roman Catholicism has mostly interpreted it as passive which means that love is the source of faith. However, most Protestants have understood it in a middle sense which means that love issues out of faith (cf. 1Th 1:3). This term is used regularly in the NT as middle (cf. Rom 7:5, 2Co 1:6; Eph 3:20; 1Th 2:13, and 2Th 2:7). Faith is primary.<\/p>\n

This was Paul’s answer to the false teachers concerning the lifestyle of pagans who are accepted freely in Christ. It is Spirit-motivated love (after salvation) that sets the standard of conduct for believers and gives the ability to obey. It is the new covenant, a new heart and new mind (cf. Jer 31:33; Eze 36:26-27).<\/p>\n

Gal 5:7 “who” The singular pronoun used of a false teacher is also found in Gal 5:7 and twice in Gal 5:10. However, the plural form occurs in Gal 5:12. It may be a collective use of the singular. But because of Gal 3:1, the use of the singular may imply<\/p>\n

1. a local ring-leader who was converted to the Judaizer’s point of view and was now pulling the church in that direction<\/p>\n

2. a persuasive visiting leader of the Judaizers<\/p>\n

NASB”You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth”<\/p>\n

NKJV”You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth”<\/p>\n

NRSV”You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth”<\/p>\n

TEV”You were doing so well! Who made you stop obeying the truth”<\/p>\n

NJB”You began your race well: who made you less anxious to obey the truth”<\/p>\n

“You were running well” is an imperfect active indicative. This means that for a period of time the churches of Galatia were doing so well in Christian maturity. Paul often used athletic metaphors. He was especially fond of “running” (cf. Gal 2:2; 1Co 9:24-26; Php 2:16; Php 3:12-14; 2Ti 4:7).<\/p>\n

The verb “hindered” or “prevented” (aorist active indicative) commonly had military and athletic connotations. In the military sense, the word meant the act of destroying a road in the face of an oncoming enemy. In the athletic sense, it meant the act of one runner cutting in front of another, thereby causing them both to lose the race.<\/p>\n

Paul was engaging in a word play between “obeying the truth” in Gal 5:2, and “persuasion” in Gal 5:8. This does not imply that the Galatians were not personally responsible, but that they had been influenced.<\/p>\n

Paul uses “obeying the truth” as a way of expressing “obeying the gospel.” See Special Topic: Truth in Paul’s Writings at Gal 2:5.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:8 “Him who calls you” Often the pronoun antecedents are ambiguous. As in Gal 1:6, this phrase is always used of the electing choice of God the Father. See note at 1Th 2:12.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:9 “a little leaven” Yeast is a common NT proverb in the Bible, often used in a negative sense (Mat 16:6; Mar 8:15; 1Co 5:6, though not always (cf. Mat 13:33). Here the metaphor may be underscoring the pervasive power of the doctrine of works righteousness (cf. Mat 16:6).<\/p>\n

SPECIAL TOPIC: LEAVEN <\/p>\n

Gal 5:10 “I have confidence in you” This is a perfect active indicative which implies that Paul has, in the past, and continues to have, confidence in the Galatian Christians (cf. 2Co 2:3; 2Th 3:4; Phm 1:21).<\/p>\n

“that you will adopt no other view” See note at Gal 4:12.<\/p>\n

NASB”but the one who is disturbing you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is”<\/p>\n

NKJV”but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is”<\/p>\n

NRSV”But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty”<\/p>\n

TEV”and that the man who is upsetting you, whoever he is, will be punished by God”<\/p>\n

NJB”and anybody who troubles you in the future will be condemned, no matter who he is”<\/p>\n

Believers are responsible before God., but they can be influenced (cf. Gal 1:7; Act 15:24). The severity of punishment for those who lead God’s new believers astray can be seen in Mat 18:6-7.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:11 “if I still preach circumcision” This is a first class conditional sentence which is assumed to be true from the author’s perspective or for his literary purposes (this usage shows that the construction is not always true to reality). Paul is using a rather unusual grammatical construction to say “since they are still accusing me of preaching circumcision,” which may be a reference to<\/p>\n

1. his circumcision of Timothy (cf. Act 16:3) and his unwillingness to circumcise Titus (cf. Gal 2:2-5)<\/p>\n

2. Paul’s statement in 1Co 7:18-19<\/p>\n

Whatever the background, Paul was declaring the Judaizers to be inconsistent, because if he preached circumcision they should have enthusiastically accepted him, but since they were persecuting him, it is a good evidence that he was not advocating circumcision for Gentiles.<\/p>\n

“then the stumbling-block of the cross has been abolished” “Stumbling-block” or “hindrance” [skandalon] means “a baited trap-stick used to capture animals”(cf. Rom 9:33; 1Co 1:23). The cross was an offense to the Judaizers because it gave freely that which they were working so hard to achieve (cf. Rom 10:2-5).<\/p>\n

“has been abolished” This is a perfect passive indicative. See Special Topic at Gal 3:17.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:12<\/p>\n

NASB”I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves”<\/p>\n

NKJV”I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off”<\/p>\n

NRSV”I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves”<\/p>\n

TEV”I wish that the people who are upsetting you would go all the way; let them go on and castrate themselves”<\/p>\n

NJB”Tell those who are disturbing you I would like to see the knife slip”<\/p>\n

“Mutilate” is used in the sense of “castration.” It is known from history that the cult of Cybele, which was present in the province of Galatia, castrated all of their priests (eunuchs). Paul was making a sarcastic hyperbole of circumcision (as is Php 3:2, where he calls them “dogs”).<\/p>\n

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Behold. Greek. ide. App-133. <\/p>\n

unto = to. <\/p>\n

if. Greek. ean. App-118. <\/p>\n

be circumcised = undergo circumcision. <\/p>\n

shall = will. <\/p>\n

nothing. Greek. oudeis. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2.] , not , in later Greek: see Winer, 6. 1. a:-it draws attention to what follows, as a strong statement.<\/p>\n

] . , . , Thdrt. , Theophyl., and so Chrys. There hardly seems to be a reference (as Wetst. ego quem dicunt circumcisionem prdicare) to his having circumcised Timothy. Calvin says well: Ista locutio non parvam emphasin habet; coram enim se opponit, et nomen dat, ne videatur causam dubiam habere. Et quanquam vilescere apud Galatas cperat ejus auctoritas, tamen ad refellendos omnes adversarios sufficere asserit.<\/p>\n

The present, , implies the continuance of a habit, q. d. if you will go on being circumcised. He does not say, if you shall have been circumcised: so that Calv.s question, quid hoc vult? Christum non profuturum omnibus circumcisis? does not come in. On . . . , Chrys. remarks: , , . Nothing can be more directly opposed than this verse to the saying of the Judaizers, Act 15:1. The exception to the rule in Pauls own conduct, Act 16:3, is sufficiently provided for by the present tense here: see above.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2. , if ye be circumcised) This should be pronounced with great force. They were being circumcised, as persons who were seeking righteousness in the law, Gal 5:4.-, nothing) ch. Gal 2:21.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2<\/p>\n

Gal 5:2<\/p>\n

Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.-This does not mean that it was wrong for a Jew to circumcise his children. If circumcision had been forbidden to the Jew when he became a Christian, the question of circumcising the Gentiles could not have been raised. Had it been forbidden to the Jews, nobody could have believed it was required of the Gentiles. Then, too, Paul took Timothy and circumcised him. (Act 16:3). But circumcision was the sign between the Jewish people and God. It was the pledge of the Jews to observe the law of Moses. When the Jew was delivered from the law of Moses it might be perpetuated as a national mark; but for a Gentile to be circumcised was a pledge that he would obey the law of Moses, and through that law look for divine blessings. To a man who did this, Christ could bring no blessing. He blessed by taking the law out of the way and putting them under the grace of God. (Tit 2:11-12).<\/p>\n

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

I Paul: 1Co 16:21, 2Co 10:1, 1Th 2:18, Phm 1:9 <\/p>\n

that: Gal 5:4, Gal 5:6, Gal 2:3-5, Act 15:1, Act 15:24, Act 16:3, Act 16:4, Rom 9:31, Rom 9:32, Rom 10:2, Rom 10:3, Heb 4:2 <\/p>\n

Reciprocal: Jer 9:25 – that Eze 3:21 – if thou 2Co 11:29 – and I burn Gal 2:21 – righteousness Gal 4:11 – lest Eph 3:1 – I Phi 3:7 – General Col 2:19 – not Phm 1:19 – I Paul<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2. -Behold I Paul say to you. The proper accentuation of has been disputed. In later Greek it is a paroxyton, but in Attic Greek an oxyton. Winer, 6, 1; Moeris, p. 193. This accentuation is followed by Lachmann and Tischendorf. The particle occurs frequently in the Gospels, being commoner in the Epistles; and here it sharply summons attention to what follows, as a warning of highest moment. In the is the direct interposition of the apostle’s own authority, as in 2Co 10:1, Eph 3:1. The name would suggest what he has said so solemnly of himself in the beginning of the epistle-Paul an apostle, neither of men nor by man, etc. The words are therefore decidedly more than what Jowett calls an expression of his intimate and personal conviction. Other allusions given to the phrase by commentators seem to be inferential and distant. Thus Grotius-apostolus . . . quod illi vestri doctores de se dicere non possunt; Koppe-cujus animi candorem et integritatem nostis; Wetstein, followed by Prof. Lightfoot-ego quem dicunt circumcisionem predicare; Wieseler-in Gegensatze zu dem Irrlehrer; Borger-ego vero, idem ille Paulus quem tam impudenter calumniantur; Brown-who ardently loves you, and whom you once ardently loved; Sardinoux-il pose son nom . . . par sentiment paternel de la confiance que les Galates avaient pour lui. Of course, when the apostle asserts his authority, he virtually puts himself into opposition to the false teachers, and the name might suggest many associations in connection with his previous residence among them. But the phrase especially places his personal or official authority in abrupt and warning emphasis. It is in no sense a pledge-pignori quasi nomen suum obligat (Trana), nor an oath (S. Schmid), nor is it based on any suspicion that the Judaizing teachers gave out that they were at one with him in doctrine (Jatho). <\/p>\n

, , -that if ye be circumcised-if ye be getting yourselves circumcised-Christ shall profit you nothing. (See under Gal 1:8.) The present subjunctive indicates the continuance of the habit. He says not, that they had been circumcised, but if ye be getting yourselves circumcised. Klotz-Devarius, vol. 2.455. The future form of the second clause is referred by Meyer, as is his wont, to the second coming-the parousia. But the future here simply indicates certainty of result. Winer, 40, 6; Mat 7:16. The warning is strongly worded. Circumcision and salvation by Christ are asserted to be incompatible. The false teachers said, Except ye be circumcised, ye cannot be saved; and the apostle affirms, in the teeth of this declaration, Of what advantage shall Christ be to you, if ye are trusting in something else than Christ-in the blood of your foreskin, and not in His atoning blood? It is of course to the Gentile portion of the church that the apostle directly addresses himself. The circumcision of one who was a Jew wholly or on one side might be pardoned as a conformity to national custom, and as a sacred token of descent from Abraham, if it was meant to involve no higher principle. But when heathens were circumcised, they wore a lie in their flesh, for they had no connection with Abraham; and to declare circumcision to be essential to their salvation was not only enforcing a national rite on those for whom it was never intended, but was giving it a co-ordinate value with the death of Christ-as if that death had failed to work out a complete salvation. Conformity to Judaism so taught and enjoined, interfered with the full and free offer of pardon by the Son of God: it raised up a new condition-interposed a barrier fatal to salvation; for it affirmed that the Gentile must become a proselyte by initiation, and do homage to the law, ere he could be profited by faith in Christ. It brought two contradictory principles into operation, the one of which neutralized the other: if they trusted in Christ, there was no need of circumcision; if they observed circumcision, they would get no benefit from Christ, for they were seeking justification in another way. What a threat! exclaims Chrysostom; good reason for his anathematizing angels. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Verse 2. 1 Paul is a phrase that is used to impress the Galatians with the seriousness of the matter at hand, and the authority that was behind the teaching being delivered. The general subject of this epistle is the issue between the law of Moses and the Gospel of Christ. Circumcision was only one item of the Mosaic system, but the Judaizers made more ado over it than any other part, so that accepting or rejecting it was virtually the same as thus treating the whole system as far as the logical requirements were concerned; indeed, Paul brings out that conclusion in the next verse. Since the Galatians were Gentiles, the only reason they could have for adopting circumcision was for its religious use, because only the descendants of Abraham had any right to if from a national standpoint. Hence, in adopting that rite, the Galatians would be going to the law for their religious rule of life. In so doing they would be bypassing Christ and his religious system, since He and Moses were never in authority at the same time.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised (suffer yourselves to be circumcised), Christ will profit you nothing. Your course is pot only foolish, but dangerous, yea ruinous. A circumcised man may become a Christian, but a Christian who deliberately undergoes circumcision, becomes a Jew (a proselyte of righteousness) and virtually trusts to the law for salvation, and not to Christ Behold rouses attention. I, Paul interposes the apostolic authority, in opposition to the Judaizing teachers who taught that circumcision was necessary to make them full Christians and to insure salvation. If ye be circumcised, or submit to circumcision, as a term of salvation; some had probably done so already. Christ will profit you nothing; the future marks the certain result of this Judaizing course. Luther: If St. Paul can venture to pass so terrible a judgment against the law and circumcision which God himself has given, what kind of judgment would he utter upon the chaff and the dross of mens ordinances? Wherefore this text is such a thunder-clap, that by right the whole papal realm should be astounded and terrified.<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

That is, “Behold, I Paul, your apostle, do positively declare, and expressly tell you, the Galatians, and all other Christians converted by me to Christianity, that if ye be circumcised, that is, join circumcision with the gospel as a thing necessary to justification and salvation, Christ’s undertaking will profit you nothing; for embracing circumcision after Christ’s coming, is virtually to deny and disown that he is come, and in effect to renounce and disclaim him; because at his coming the promise was fulfilled, and circumcision of its own nature ceased.” <\/p>\n

Learn hence, That for persons religiously to observe any of the rites of the ceremonial law, in obedience to any divine precept, or to join any thing with Christ, and faith in him, for the justification of a sinner before God, is a plain denial of Christ, and a disdaining of his ability and sufficiency to justify and save us: If ye be circumcised, verily, Christ shall profit you nothing.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2-4. Behold, I Paul A divinely-commissioned apostle of Christ; say, that if ye be circumcised And seek to be justified by that rite, or if you depend on any part of the ceremonial law, as your righteousness, and necessary to salvation; Christ The Christian institution; will profit you nothing For you thereby disclaim Christ, and all the blessings which are received by faith in him. I testify again As I have done heretofore; to every man Every Gentile; that suffers himself to be circumcised now, being a heathen before, that he is a debtor That he obliges himself; to do the whole law Perfectly; and if he fail, he subjects himself to the curse of it. It is necessary that the apostles general expression, If you be circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing, should be thus limited, because we cannot suppose that the circumcision of the Jewish believers incapacitated them for being profited by Christ. Besides, as the preservation of Abrahams posterity, as a distinct people from the rest of mankind, answered many important purposes in the divine government, their observance of the rite of circumcision, declared by God himself to be the seal of his covenant with Abraham, was necessary to mark them as his descendants, as long as it was determined that they should be continued a distinct people. This shows that the apostles declaration is not to be considered as a prohibition of circumcision to the Jews as a national rite, but as a rite necessary to salvation. And therefore, while the Jews practised this rite, according to its original intention, for the purpose of distinguishing themselves as Abrahams descendants, and not for obtaining salvation, they did what was right. But the Gentiles, not being of Abrahams race, were under no political obligation to circumcise themselves; consequently, if they received that rite, it must have been because they thought it necessary to their salvation; for which reason the apostle absolutely prohibited it to all the Gentiles. Macknight. Christ is become of no effect unto you See on Gal 2:21. Or, as the original expression, , may be properly rendered, Ye are loosed, or separated from Christ, and deprived of the benefit you might have received from him. The Vulgate hath, Vacui estis a Christo, Ye are devoid of Christ; whosoever of you are justified That is, who seek to be justified; by the law, ye are fallen from grace Ye renounce the covenant of grace in this last and most perfect manifestation of it: you disclaim the benefit of Christs gracious dispensation. the apostles meaning is, that whosoever sought to be justified meritoriously by the law of Moses, and for that purpose received circumcision, dissolved his connection with Christ, and renounced all relation to, and dependance on him as a Saviour.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. [By the use of an exclamation followed by his name, Paul calls attention to the sentence, or decree, which, as an apostle, he pronounces in the case. Though circumcision of itself might be nothing (Gal 5:6; Act 16:3), yet if the Galatians looked to it, and through it to the covenant which it represented, for justification, or even their perfection in Christian grace, they forfeited all their rights in Christ. Though both covenants were of God, they could not be confused without disastrous results. Though a man’s mortal and spiritual bodies may both be from God, the soul which has advanced to the spiritual body would forfeit its salvation by returning to the corrupt mortal body.] <\/p>\n

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gal 5:2-12. Final emphatic statement of the dilemma, Christ or circumcision. Paul, speaking with all authorityin spite of false inferences drawn from his circumcising Timothy (Gal 5:11) and in spite of probable evasions on the part of the Judaizerstestifies that those circumcised on religious grounds must keep the whole Law. More important still, in accepting such a rite as necessary to salvation, one renounces Christ; to whom all Christians taught by the Spirit look in faith for the sentence of justification at the great day of judgment. Not that, as an external inherited rite, circumcision is a matter of any consequence. Neither it nor uncircumcision (cf. Gal 6:15, 1Co 7:19). Faith is all, and faith works through love. (Working (Gal 5:6) is theologically, and by analogy of Pauls language elsewhere, preferable to mg. wrought.) They had known this and acted accordingly. Whothe word (as at Gal 3:1) is singularhad arrested their progress? A persuasive influence on the wrong side (cf. Gal 1:10), assuredly not from God. Is the small knot of errorists really to leaven the whole community? (Best taken as a question; so, but differently, 1Co 5:6.) Paul at least is confident of a better issue, through Christs grace; the leaderwe have no light at all on his identitywill have a terrible punishment Divinely appointed him. Do any pretend that Timothys circumciser is himself, when it suits his book, a preacher of circumcision? Facts prove the opposite; he is persecuted. Christian doctrine proves the opposite; all true Christians preach the Crossan insuperable stumbling-block (cf. 1Co 1:23) to the unregenerate Jewish mind. Pity that these fanatics for a surgical operation would not carry it further and castrate themselves (mg.) like some of the heathen of Asia Minor.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Verse 2 <\/p>\n

If ye be circumcised; if you seek salvation through this rite, and rely upon it as the ground of acceptance with God.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

SECTION 19. TO RECEIVE CIRCUMCISION, IS TO REJECT CHRIST. <\/p>\n

CH. 5:2-13A.<\/p>\n

Behold I Paul say to you that if ye receive circumcision Christ will profit you nothing. And I protest again to every man receiving circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole Law. Ye have been severed from Christ, whoever of you are being justified in law: from His grace ye have fallen away. For we, by the Spirit, through faith are eagerly waiting for a hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision but faith working through love.<\/p>\n

Ye were running nobly. Who hindered you that ye should not obey the truth? The persuasion is not from Him that calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I am confident about you in the Lord that ye will be no otherwise minded. And he that disturbs you will bear the judgment, whoever he be. But I brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then, of no effect has the snare of the cross become. Would that they who unsettle you would even mutilate themselves. For ye were called for freedom, Brethren.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:2-6 bring the argument of DIV. II., which has been in part summed up in the allegory of 18, to bear on the matter of circumcision. This practical application betrays a chief point in the teaching Paul combats in this Epistle, viz. that all Christians ought to be circumcised. So Gal 6:12 : cp. Act 15:1; Act 15:5. Then follow in Gal 5:7-12 sundry appeals.<\/p>\n

I Paul: the personal influence of the Apostle brought to bear on the matter in hand. So 2Co 10:1.<\/p>\n

CIRCUMCISION: now first mentioned. But its casual appearance here without explanation, and again in Gal 6:12, suggests that it has been in view throughout the Epistle. It was the outward and visible gate into the bondage of the Jewish Law. Circumcision was prescribed by God to Abraham (Gen 17:10) some fourteen or more years after by faith he obtained (Gen 15:18) the Covenant, as a token (Gen 17:11; Rom 4:11) and condition of it. As a rite, it was in some sense a forerunner of the Mosaic ritual: but, as a simple command easily and fully obeyed, it differed altogether from the many-sided Law, to which none could render due obedience. The rite seems (so Jos 5:5) to have been carefully observed by Israel in Egypt: for we have no hint of a great circumcising at the Exodus. Cp. Exo 4:25. Once (Exo 12:48) it is assumed, and once (Lev 12:3) expressly though casually enjoined in the Law. Yet, strangely, it was not performed in the wilderness; but was restored (Jos 5:3; Jos 5:8) at the entrance into Canaan. In the O.T. the word circumcise is found again only in Jer 4:4; Jer 9:25, in a spiritual significance. But the common use<\/p>\n

(Jdg 14:3; Jdg 15:18; 1Sa 14:6; 1Sa 17:26; 1Sa 17:36; 1Sa 18:25; 1Sa 18:27; 1Sa 31:4, 2Sa 1:20; 2Sa 3:14) of the word uncircumcised to distinguish the Philistines from Israel proves that in Israel the practice was universal. Practically, circumcision was a part of the Law of Moses, and was the initial rite of the Old Covenant.<\/p>\n

If ye-receive-circumcision: not, if ye have already been circumcised, as though past circumcision were a final bar to future salvation; but, if ye are now undergoing circumcision, ye thereby deliberately reject the blessings brought by Christ. [The present subjunctive limits the assertion to the time during which the process of circumcision is going on; this being extended by implication so long as the persons concerned continue in the same mind. Subsequent repentance would remove them from under this tremendous condemnation. But this, Paul leaves now out of sight.] This word implies (so Gal 6:12) that the Galatian Christians, though already observing sacred days, were as yet only contemplating circumcision. Hence the earnestness of Pauls appeal.<\/p>\n

Profit you nothing: cp. Rom 2:25; Rom 3:1; 1Co 13:3; 1Co 14:6; 1Co 15:32; Heb 4:2; Heb 13:9; Jas 2:14; Jas 2:16. They will have no part in the infinite gain bought for men by the precious blood of Christ. This statement will be proved in Gal 5:3-4. And if we receive no gain from Christ, through whom are all things, ( 1Co 8:6,) we are poor indeed.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:3. Protest: literally call upon some one, especially God, as witness in our favour. It introduces a solemn assertion, as if made in the presence of God. Same word in N.T. only in Eph 4:17; 1Th 2:12; Act 20:26; Act 26:22. That all these are from the pen or lips of Paul, is a remarkable coincidence. If on his second visit to Galatia he had made a similar protest, to this the word again would naturally refer. But this supposition is by no means necessary. For Gal 5:3 is a repetition in stronger language of Gal 5:2.<\/p>\n

Debtor to do the whole Law, implies, as Gal 5:4 will show, that Christ will profit you nothing: and every one receiving circumcision includes if ye receive circumcision. This solemn repetition reveals how terrible is the consequence here deprecated. And we can understand it. For, the only reason for circumcision was its prescription in the Law: cp. Joh 7:23. Therefore, to undergo it, was to admit that the Law was still binding; and, if so, it was binding as a condition of the favour of God. Hence to undergo circumcision was (Gal 5:4) to seek to be justified in law. But, His favour, none can obtain by law. For none can render to the Law the obedience it requires. Consequently, the continued validity of the Law involves a universal curse Now, from this curse Christ died to save us. Therefore, to maintain, by undergoing circumcision, a Christians obligation to keep the whole Law, is to reject the benefits of the death of Christ.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:4. Severed: so removed from Christ that in them He will produce no results. Same phrase in same sense in Rom 7:2; Rom 7:6 : same word in Rom 3:3; Rom 3:31; Gal 3:17; Gal 5:11. It states a fact which justifies the assertion Christ will profit you nothing, in a form suggesting that the cause is in themselves and not in Christ.<\/p>\n

Justified in law: the Mosaic Law, but looked at in the abstract as a rule of conduct, and as a surrounding element in which they receive justification. See under Gal 3:11.<\/p>\n

Are-being-justified: the process now, from their point of view, actually going on. But it can never be completed: Gal 3:11; Rom 3:20. See note under Rom 2:4. It is practically the same as seeking justification in law; but is more forcefully represented. Although actual justification in law is impossible, the mere beginning of the fruitless process, as Pauls readers by their observance (Gal 4:10) of days and seasons had already begun it, had actually separated them from the influences proceeding from the cross of Christ.<\/p>\n

From His grace: literally, from the grace; of God (Gal 2:21) and (Gal 1:6) of Christ. This undeserved favour is the source of all spiritual good, and especially of the profit which comes through Christ. Justification in law is (Rom 4:4) essentially by merit; and thus excludes the free undeserved favour which comes through Christ.<\/p>\n

Fallen-away, or fallen-out, from: Jas 1:11, 2Pe 3:17. It is the exact opposite of stand in this grace, Rom 5:1; and suggests complete removal and lower position. [The Revisers rendering, are severed, are fallen, confuses needlessly the Greek perfect and aorist. The aorist merely records a past event, without thought of its results, and may be accurately rendered have been separated, have fallen.]<\/p>\n

By preparing to be circumcised, the Galatian Christians were entering a process of justification in law, i.e. of justification by obeying the prescriptions of the Law of Moses. They thus acknowledged that in order to enjoy the favour of God they were bound to keep the whole Law: for the whole was given by the same authority. But Christ died in order that upon men who have broken the Law may come the undeserved favour of God. Consequently, to receive circumcision was to place oneself beyond the benefits which proceed from Christ, to abandon the lofty position in the favour of God enjoyed by those who believe the Gospel.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:5. We: very emphatic, contrasting the spiritual position of Paul and those like him with that of his readers. This contrast proves how far they have fallen.<\/p>\n

The Spirit: of God: for this can be no other than the Spirit received through faith in Gal 3:2; Gal 3:14; cp. Gal 4:6. He is looked at here not as a definite person but in the abstract as an animating principle. By Him was prompted this eager-waiting: same word in Rom 8:19; Rom 8:23; Rom 8:25; 1Co 1:7; Php 3:20; Heb 9:28.<\/p>\n

Through faith: subjective source of the eager waiting, and (Gal 3:2; Gal 3:14) of the Holy Spirit who prompts it. For (Rom 5:1 f) by faith we rejoice in hope. Since hope is a stretching forward to good things to come, it is here used objectively as itself to come. So Tit 2:13, looking for the blessed hope and the appearance, etc.; Act 24:15; Col 1:5, the hope laid up for us in heaven.<\/p>\n

Hope of righteousness: a hope which belongs to, and goes along with, righteousness; cp. Eph 4:4; Col 1:23. Grammatically, righteousness might be the object hoped for. But this is unlikely. For, with Paul, the righteousness of faith is always (cp. Rom 9:30; 1Co 1:30) a present blessing; even though righteousness, in another sense, viz. the eternal principle of right doing, be still (1Ti 6:11; 2Ti 2:22) a matter of pursuit. And, if righteousness were the object hoped for, it would be clumsy to represent this hope as itself eagerly waited for.<\/p>\n

No: Paul waits ( 2Ti 4:8) for the crown of righteousness, the eternal reward which belongs to the righteous: and for the realisation of this hope he eagerly longs.<\/p>\n

Righteousness: as in Rom 4:11; Rom 4:13; Rom 9:30; Rom 10:4 : the position or condition of one whom the judge approves. Of Gods approval, obtained by faith, right doing is a result. This close connection causes occasional ambiguity in the use of the word. Righteousness is the link between our faith and the Spirit who prompts our Hope. By faith we obtain the approbation of the Judge: and in token thereof God gives us the Holy Spirit, who moves us to wait eagerly for the fulfilment of the visions of future blessing opened to our view by His approbation.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:6. A general and contrasted statement, supporting the word faith in Gal 5:5, and concluding the application to circumcision in Gal 5:2-4 of the argument of DIV. II.<\/p>\n

In Christ: the all surrounding, and yet personal, element of the new life: as in Gal 2:4; Gal 3:14; Gal 3:26; Gal 3:28; 2Co 5:17.<\/p>\n

Avails anything: literally has any strength, i.e. is able to produce results.<\/p>\n

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision: cp. Gal 6:15; 1Co 7:19. Therefore, circumcision neither helps nor hinders life in Christ. This is an express abrogation of the covenant with Abraham, of which (cp. Gen 17:10-14) circumcision was an absolute condition. Similarly, Christ abrogated the Mosaic Law: Mar 7:15-19; cp. Lev 11:42-45.<\/p>\n

But faith: avails everything, as proved in the argument of Gal 3:1-14, and implied in Gal 5:5.<\/p>\n

Working: producing results, an illustration and proof of the validity of faith.<\/p>\n

Love; to our fellows, as in Gal 5:13; its usual sense when not further qualified. So 1Co 8:1; 1Co 13:1 ff. It is a principle prompting us to draw others to ourselves, that their interests may become ours. This is the direction of the working of faith; which produces love and through love other results. For saving faith is an active principle moulding conduct and character. Cp. 1Th 1:3. It does this (Gal 5:22) through the Holy Spirit given (Gal 3:2; Gal 3:14) to those who believe. That faith produces results which all must approve, reveals its superiority to circumcision; and thus strengthens the contrast here asserted. This reference to love as an effect of faith prepares the way to Gal 5:13-15; as does the word Spirit in Gal 5:5 to Gal 5:16-26. Paul thus approaches the moral teaching of DIV. III.<\/p>\n

Notice in Gal 5:5-6 faith, hope, and love; and in the same order as 1Co 13:13.<\/p>\n

This description of spiritual life proves how great is the profit through Christ lost by those who undergo circumcision in order to obtain justification in the Mosaic Law.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:7-13 a. Sundry direct appeals against the teaching of the disturbers, concluding DIV. II.<\/p>\n

Ye-were-running: in the Christian racecourse, recalling the metaphor of 1Co 9:24 : cp. Gal 2:2. Nobly: same word in Gal 4:17. Hindered: as if by breaking up the path.<\/p>\n

You: emphatic. So good was their beginning that Paul asks who (cp. Gal 3:1) has stopped them by breaking up the path along which they were running so well.<\/p>\n

Obey: literally be-persuaded-by; the obedience of persuasion. Same word in Rom 2:8; Heb 13:17; Jas 3:3; Act 5:36 f, Act 5:40; Act 21:14; Act 23:21; Act 28:24.<\/p>\n

Obey truth: yield to the persuasive influence of the Gospel, this looked upon in its general character as corresponding with eternal reality. The article before truth is omitted in Vat., Sinai, Alex. MSS.; and by all editors later than Lachmann: but is found in almost all other MSS. Its insertion is so easy, its omission so difficult, to explain, that we may accept with some confidence the testimony of the oldest copies.<\/p>\n

That ye should not obey truth: actual result, and therefore represented as the purpose, of the hindrance.<\/p>\n

Persuasion: a word similar in form to that rendered obey; and suggested by it. Grammatically, it might denote either a persuasive influence, or surrender to such. Probably, the former here. For this is an answer to the question in Gal 5:7 about the source of the disobedience. They refused to be persuaded by Truth because they had yielded to another persuasion. Close parallel in Rom 2:8. But the difference is very slight. For, passive surrender implies active persuasion. The influence to which they yielded is not from Him that calls you: i.e. God, as in Gal 1:6. The present tense implies that the Gospel voice is still sounding. Gal 1:6 refers to a voice heard in days gone by.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:9. Word for word as in 1Co 5:6 : see note. This suggests that it was a common proverb. Its application was so evident that Paul did not expound it. This proverb is in some sense a positive answer to Gal 5:7. For it suggests that the source of the persuasion was small either in the number of the false teachers or in the apparent unimportance of their error. The latter is perhaps the more likely reference: for the importance of doctrine is more often overlooked than that of a few false teachers. In all ages, differences of doctrine have been held to be unimportant: whereas the influence of even one man has been felt to be great. The proverb also suggests that the result would be, as of many little things, silent, unobserved, yet pervasive and great. For the unseen leaven changes completely the nature of the whole lump. Paul thus calls attention, as does his protest in Gal 5:3, to the importance of what seemed to the Galatians a small matter.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:10. I: emphatic contrast. After speaking of the obedient persuasion his readers refuse to the Truth and of the persuasion which does not come from Him that calls them, Paul gives his own persuasion about the Galatian Christians.<\/p>\n

In the Lord: Rom 14:14; Php 1:14; Php 2:24; 2Th 3:4. His confidence comes from union with the Master, and has Him for its surrounding element.<\/p>\n

Minded: same word in Rom 8:5, (see note,) and Php 1:7; Php 2:2; Php 2:5; Php 3:15.<\/p>\n

No otherwise minded: than Paul has just stated. He has a confidence about them which he feels to be an outflow of Christian life that, when they receive this letter, they will share his alarm about the influence of a little leaven and will recognise in the teaching of the disturbers an influence to be feared. This reveals Pauls confidence that this letter will have its designed salutary effect. It is almost the only gleam of light in the Epistle.<\/p>\n

He that disturbs you: hardly sufficient (in the absence of any other indication: contrast Gal 5:12; Gal 1:7; Gal 6:12) to suggest one specially prominent man. Rather, Paul singles out any individual disturber who comes across his path and speaks of him personally.<\/p>\n

Bear the judgment: the sentence which will be pronounced upon disturbers, this looked upon as a heavy burden, Notice that, as in 2Co 10:2; 2Co 10:6, etc., Paul distinguishes his readers, to whom he speaks and for whom he has hopes, from the disturbers, about whom he writes but to whom he says nothing, thus indicating that for them he has no hope.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:11. An abrupt question, which can be explained only as being a reply to a charge or insinuation, against Paul, of inconsistency. It is to us obscure because we do not know the charge which provoked it.<\/p>\n

But I: emphatic, in contrast to he that disturbs.<\/p>\n

Still preach: as before his conversion. For circumcision was an essential element of that Judaism which Paul then so eagerly advocated.<\/p>\n

Why still? logical consequence; why do they go on persecuting me? This question implies that the chief ground of the hostility of Pauls enemies was his denial that circumcision was binding on Gentiles. And naturally so. For they saw that this denial broke down the spiritual prerogative and monopoly which the Old Covenant gave to the Jewish nation.<\/p>\n

Made-of-no-effect: shorn of results, as in Gal 3:17.<\/p>\n

Then (or if so) is made, etc.: correct inference from a false premiss, if I still preach circumcision; revealing its falsity: cp. 1Co 5:10; 1Co 7:14; 1Co 15:14; 1Co 15:18.<\/p>\n

The snare of the cross: close coincidence with 1Co 1:23. The crucifixion of Christ led many to reject Him. It was therefore a trap in which they were caught. But Paul declares that if, while preaching the word of the cross, he still preaches the necessity of circumcision, then has the cross lost its power to hinder the faith of the Jews; in other words, that, if the shameful death of Christ is not inconsistent with the continued obligation of circumcision, i.e. with the continued prerogatives of Israel, it is no longer a difficulty to them. This implies that fear of the loss of spiritual pre-eminence lay at the root of that Jewish hatred to Jesus which took the form of bitter ridicule cast upon the mode of His death, a ridicule still recorded abundantly on the pages of ancient Jewish writers. Paul thus silently uncovers the wounded national pride which hid itself under the veil of refusal to believe in a crucified Messiah. His readers would understand the reference. See further under Gal 6:12.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:12. A mere passing wish. The almost unknown Greek construction rather suggests that the wish will not be gratified.<\/p>\n

Even; introduces a very extreme wish.<\/p>\n

Mutilate themselves, or cut themselves off: used in the former sense, without any further explanation, in Deu 23:1 and Strabo, bk. xiii. p. 630, and Justin, 1st Apology ch. 27, Some men mutilate themselves; and ascribe the mysteries to the mother of the gods, i.e. to the goddess Cybele. This meaning is adopted here without question by Chrysostom and most Fathers. And it alone suits the extreme and unpractical form of this wish. Merely to desire the disturbers to leave the Church, would be an ordinary and moderate wish; and could not have been expressed in so remarkable a form. Of course, separation from the Church is included in Pauls desire. But this would follow at once from heathen mutilation. Self-mutilation in honour of Cybele was practised at Pessinus in Galatia, which was indeed a chief seat of her worship. Paul wishes for a moment that the disturbers would go so far as to join the ranks of the heathen devotees around them. He thus compares circumcision with idolatrous mutilation. And rightly. For, although once commanded by God as a sign of His Covenant, yet to do it when no longer required, was but to imitate the needless self-inflictions of heathenism.<\/p>\n

Unsettle: same word in Act 17:6; Act 21:38.<\/p>\n

Gal 5:13 a. A link binding 19 to 18, bringing Pauls teaching about freedom to bear on the matter of circumcision; and a stepping stone to the moral teaching of 20.<\/p>\n

For ye: in marked contrast to they that unsettle you. The purpose of the Gospel summons is that we may become and continue free. But the Law brings bondage to all who trust in it. From this bondage Christ died to save us. Therefore Paul is prompted to wish for a moment that they who are causing confusion by endeavouring to lead his readers back into bondage would push their own conduct to its logical result and adopt the hideous mutilations common around them. For, thus, Christians would be saved from their subtle and evil influence.<\/p>\n

DIVISION II. is, as we learn from its contents, a disproof of the teaching of some Jewish Christians in Galatia, as at Antioch (Act 15:1) similar men taught, that Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved.<\/p>\n

Against this teaching Paul appeals to his readers early Christian life, which was derived from faith and not from obedience to law; and to the similar case of Abraham, who obtained by faith his Covenant with God. The promise that in Abraham should all nations be blessed was a foresight of the Gospel: for only through Christ who bore for us the curse of the Law can it be fulfilled. To make its fulfilment contingent on obedience to the Law afterwards given, would destroy the real worth of the promise: which even human morality forbids. The purpose of the Law was to render salvation impossible except through faith, and thus to force us to Christ. But now this purpose has been accomplished: and by faith we are sons of God. We are, therefore, no longer under the Law. For it belongs to our spiritual childhood: and, now that the set time has come, we are free. The Galatian Christians, however, by their observance of sacred seasons show that they are turning back again to the rudiments of childhood. Paul fears lest his toil for them be in vain. And his fear prompts an earnest appeal. He remembers the warmth of his first reception in Galatia, and asks the reason of the change. He points silently to its authors; and exposes their secret and selfish motives.<\/p>\n

The prominence given to the Mosaic Law by the disturbers suggests an appeal to its pages. In the family of Abraham were two sons: but only one was heir of the promise. So are there two Covenants of God with man. And the foregoing argument has shown that the children of the Old Covenant are, like those of Hagar, in bondage. But, in fulfilment of a joyous prophecy of Isaiah, there are now others, an unexpected offspring, who look up to Jerusalem as their Mother, to the free city above. Between the children of the Old and of the New Covenant there is conflict. But, as of yore, the bondmen have no inheritance with the free born. And, because his readers are children of freedom, Paul warns them not to submit to a yoke of bondage.<\/p>\n

In plain language Paul states the real significance and consequence of circumcision. To undergo it, is to accept the Law as a condition of Gods favour: and, to do this, is to reject the work of Christ and the undeserved favour of God. In complete contrast to all trust in law, Paul cherishes a hope received by faith and from the Holy Spirit, which works in him love and its various manifestations. He warns his readers that an influence not from God is among them, and that a small beginning may be followed by wide-spread results. Yet he has confidence in them. The punishment will fall on the guilty person. Some men charge the Apostle with inconsistency in this matter of circumcision. But the hostility of the Jews disproves the charge. Indeed, their rejection of Christ crucified has its real ground in the overthrow of Jewish prerogatives involved in his death. So damaging is the influence of the disturbers that for the moment Paul almost wishes that they would relieve the Church of it by joining the ranks of the mutilated devotees of Cybele.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. <\/p>\n

The term “circumcised” is a present tense, so he is not suggesting that some were contemplating presenting themselves for physical circumcision, but that they already had gone through this procedure. <\/p>\n

I think verse six sets the way Paul is using the word circumcision here. He is using circumcision as the term to encompass all that keeping the law requires. He is saying that this right, this procedure, this sign is of no use to you spiritually, and that Christ is the key. <\/p>\n

He is saying that this sign of the Sinaitic covenant is no longer a valued act for the person desiring to follow God. It will not make you more spiritual, it will not make you more acceptable, and it will not make you more valuable to God. It can only be that step which leads you into obedience to the entire law of the old way which is physical and not spiritual. <\/p>\n

What Paul is not saying when he says “Christ shall profit you nothing” is not that if you are Christ’s and decide to follow the law then you are lost. He is suggesting only that if you set aside Christ, you will have no profit from him. He cannot free you, He cannot be your guide, and He cannot do a thing for you – you will be bound to obey the law instead. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

5:2 {1} Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be {a} circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.<\/p>\n

(1) Another entreaty in which he plainly witnesses that justification of works, and justification of faith cannot stand together, because no man can be justified by the Law, but he that does fully and perfectly fulfil it. And he takes the example of circumcision, because it was the ground of all the service of the Law, and was chiefly urged by the false apostles.<\/p>\n

(a) Circumcision is in other places called the seal of righteousness, but here we must have consideration of the circumstance of the time, for now baptism is a sign of the new covenant, just as circumcision was the sign of the old covenant. And moreover Paul reasons according to the opinion that his enemies had of it, which made circumcision a essential to their salvation.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Paul now began to attack the Judaizers’ teaching about circumcision. Insistence on circumcision was a central feature of the false gospel that the Judaizers were promoting. It was the practice around which the whole controversy swirled.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Chapter 20<\/p>\n

SHALL THE GALATIANS BE CIRCUMCISED?<\/p>\n

Gal 5:2-6<\/p>\n

SHALL the Galatians be circumcised, or shall they not? This is the decisive question. The denunciation with which Paul begins his letter, the narrative which follows, the profound argumentation, the tender entreaty of the last two chapters, all converge toward this crucial point. So far the Galatian Churches had been only dallying with Judaism. They have been tempted to the verge of apostasy; but they are not yet over the edge. Till they consent to be circumcised, they have not finally committed themselves; their freedom is not absolutely lost. The Apostle still hopes, despite his fears, that they will stand fast. The fatal step is eagerly pressed on them by the Judaisers, {Gal 6:12-13} whose persuasion the Galatians had so far entertained that they had begun to keep the Hebrew Sabbath and feast.- {Gal 4:10} If they yield to this further demand, the battle is lost; and this powerful Epistle, with all the Apostles previous labour spent upon them, has been in vain. To sever this section from the polemical in order to attach it to the practical part of the Epistle, as many commentators do, is to cut the nerve of the Apostles argument and reduce it to an abstract theological discussion.<\/p>\n

This momentous question is brought forward with the greater emphasis and effect, because it has hitherto been kept out of sight. The allusion to Tit 2:1-5 has already indicated the supreme importance of the matter of circumcision. But the Apostle has delayed dealing with it formally and directly, until he is able to do so with the weight of the foregoing chapters to support his interdict. He has shattered the enemies position with his artillery of logic, he has assailed the hearts of his readers with all the force of his burning indignation and subduing pathos. Now he gathers up his strength for the final charge home, which must decide the battle.<\/p>\n

1. Lo, I Paul tell you! When he begins thus, we feel that the decisive moment is at hand. Everything depends on the next few words. Paul stands like an archer with his bow drawn at full stretch and the arrow pointed to the mark. “Let others say what they may; this is what I tell you. If my word has any weight with you, give heed to this:-if you be circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.”<\/p>\n

Now his bolt is shot; we see what the Apostle has had in his mind all this time. Language cannot be more explicit. Some of his readers will have failed to catch the subtler points of his argument, or the finer tones of his voice of entreaty; but every one will understand this. The most “senseless” and volatile amongst the Galatians will surely be sobered by the terms of this warning. There is no escaping the dilemma. Legalism and Paulinism, the true and the false gospel, stand front to front, reduced to their barest form, and weighed each in the balance of its practical result. Christ-or Circumcision: which shall it be?<\/p>\n

This declaration is no less authoritative and judicially threatening than the anathema of chap. 1. That former denouncement declared the false teachers severed from Christ. Those who yield to their persuasion, will be also “severed from Christ.” They will fall into the same ditch as their blind leaders. The Judaisers have forfeited their part in Christ; they are false brethren, tares among the wheat, troublers and hinderers to the Church of God. And Gentile Christians who choose to be led astray by them must take the consequences. If they obey the “other gospel,” Christs gospel is theirs no longer. If they rest their faith on circumcision, they have withdrawn it from His cross. Adopting the Mosaic regimen, they forego the benefits of Christs redemption. “Christ will profit you nothing.” The sentence is negative, but no less fearful on that account. It is as though Christ should say, “Thou hast no part with Me.”<\/p>\n

Circumcision will cost the Galatian Christians all they possess in Jesus Christ. But is not this, some one will ask, an over-strained assertion? Is it consistent with Pauls professions and his policy in other instances? In Gal 5:6, and again in the last chapter, he declares that “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision nothing”; and yet here he makes it everything! The Apostles position is this. In itself the rite is valueless. It was the sacrament of the Old Covenant, which was brought to an end by the death of Christ. For the new Church of the Spirit, it is a matter of perfect indifference whether a man is circumcised or not. Paul had therefore circumcised Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess, {Act 16:1-3} though neither he nor his young disciple supposed that it was a religious necessity. It was done as a social convenience; “un-circumcision was nothing,” and could in such a case be surrendered without prejudice. On the other hand, he refused to submit Titus to the same rite; for he was a pure Greek, and on him it could only have been imposed on religious grounds and as a passport to salvation. For this, and for no other reason, it was demanded by the Judaistic party. In this instance it was needful to show that “circumcision is nothing.” The Galatians stood in the same position as Titus. Circumcision, if performed on them, must have denoted, not as in Timothys case, the fact of Jewish birth, but subjection to the Mosaic law. Regarded in this light, the question was one of life or death for the Pauline Churches. To yield to the Judaisers would be to surrender the principle of salvation by faith. The attempt of the legalist party was in effect to force Christianity into the grooves of Mosaism, to reduce the world-wide Church of the Spirit to a sect of moribund Judaism.<\/p>\n

With what views, with what aim were the Galatians entertaining this Judaic “persuasion”? Was it to make them sons of God and heirs of His kingdom? This was the object with which “God sent forth His Son”; and the Spirit of sonship assured them that it was realised. {Gal 4:4-7} To adopt the former means to this end was to renounce the latter. In turning their eyes to this new bewitchment, they must be conscious that their attention was diverted from the Redeemers cross and their confidence in it weakened. {Gal 3:1} To be circumcised would be to rest their salvation formally and definitely on works of law, in place of the grace of God. The consequences of this Paul has shown in relating his discussion with Peter, in Gal 2:15-21. They would “make” themselves “transgressors”; they would “make Christs death of none effect.” In the souls salvation Christ will be all, or nothing. If we trust Him, we must trust Him altogether. The Galatians had already admitted a suspicion of the power of His grace, which if cherished and acted on in the way proposed, must sever all communion between their souls and Him. Their circumcision would be “the sacrament of their excision from Christ” (Huxtable).<\/p>\n

The tense of the verb is present. Pauls readers may be in the act of making this disastrous compliance. He bids them look for a moment at the depth of the gulf on whose brink they stand. “Stop!” he cries, “another step in that direction, and you have lost Christ.”<\/p>\n

And what will they get in exchange? They will saddle themselves with all the obligations of the Mosaic law (Gal 5:3). This probably was more than they bargained for. They wished to find a via media, some compromise between the new faith and the old, which would secure to them the benefits of Christ without His reproach, and the privileges of Judaism without its burdens. This at least was the policy of the Judaic teachers. {Gal 6:12-13} But it was a false and untenable position. “Circumcision verily profiteth, if thou art a doer of the law.”; {Rom 2:25} otherwise it brings only condemnation. He who receives the sacrament of Mosaism, by doing so pledges himself to “keep and do” every one or its “ordinances, statutes, and judgments”-a yoke which, honest Peter said, “Neither we nor our fathers were able to bear”. {Act 15:10} Let the Galatians read the law, and consider what they are going to undertake. He who goes with the Judaists a mile, will be compelled to go twain. They will not find themselves at liberty to pick and choose amongst the legal requirements. Their legalist teachers will not raise a finger to lighten the yoke, {Luk 11:46} when it is once fastened on their necks; nor will their own consciences acquit them of its responsibilities. This obligation Paul, himself a master in Jewish law, solemnly affirms: “I protest (I declare before God) to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to perform the whole law.”<\/p>\n

Now this is a proved impossibility. Whoever “sets up the law,” he had avouched to Cephas, “makes himself a transgressor”. {Gal 2:18} Nay, it was established of set purpose to “multiply transgressions,” to deepen and sharpen the consciousness of sin. {Gal 3:19; Rom 3:20; Rom 4:15; Rom 5:20} Jewish believers in Christ, placed under its power by their birth, had thankfully found in the faith of Christ a refuge from its accusations. {Gal 2:16; Rom 7:24-25 – Rom 8:1-4} Surely the Galatians, knowing all this, will not be so foolish as to put themselves gratuitously under its power. To do this would be an insult to Christ, and an act of moral suicide. This further warning reinforces the first, and is uttered with equal solemnity. “I tell you, Christ will profit you nothing; and again I testify, the law will lay its full weight upon you.” They will be left, without the help of Christ, to bear this tremendous burden.<\/p>\n

This double threatening is blended into one in Gal 5:4. The pregnant force of Pauls Greek is untranslatable. Literally his words run, “You were nullified from Christ – – brought to nought (being severed) from Him, you that in law are seeking justification.” He puts his assertion in the past (aorist) tense, stating that which ensues so soon as the principle of legal justification is endorsed. From that moment the Galatians cease to be Christians. In this sense they “are abolished,” just as “the cross is” virtually “abolished” if the Apostle “preaches circumcision” (Gal 5:11), and “death is being abolished” under the reign of Christ. {1Co 15:26} He has said in Gal 5:2 that Christ will be made of none effect to them; now he adds that they “are made of none effect” in relation to Christ.<\/p>\n

Their Christian standing is destroyed. The joyous experiences of their conversion, their share in Abrahams blessing, their Divine sonship witnessed to by the Holy Spirit mall this is nullified, cancelled at a stroke, if they are circumcised. The detachment of their faith “from Christ” is involved in the process of attaching it to Jewish ordinances, and brings spiritual destruction upon them. The root of the Christian life is faith in Him. Let that root be severed, let the branch no longer “abide in the vine” – it is dead already.<\/p>\n

Cut off from Christ, they “have fallen from grace.” Paul has already twice identified Christ and grace, in Gal 1:6 and Gal 2:21. The Divine mercies centre in Jesus Christ; and he who separates himself from Him, shuts these out of his soul. The verb here used by the Apostle () is commonly applied {four times, e.g., in Act 27:1-44} to a ship driven out of her course. Some such image seems to be in the writers mind in this passage. These racers made an excellent start, but they have stumbled; {ver. Gal 3:3} the vessel set out from harbour in gallant style, but she is drifting fast upon the rocks. This sentence is the exact opposite of stands in the grace, Rom 5:2 (Beet).<\/p>\n

That he who “seeks justification in law has fallen from grace, ” needs no proof after the powerful demonstration of Gal 2:14-21. The moralist claims quittance on the ground of his deservings. He pleads the quality of his “works,” his punctual discharge of every stipulated duty, from circumcision onwards. “I fast twice a week,” he tells his Divine Judge; “I tithe all my gains. I have kept all the commandments from my youth up.” What can God expect more than this? But with these performances Grace has nothing to do. The man is not in its order. If he invokes its aid, it is as a make-weight, a supplement to the possible shortcomings in a virtue for the most part competent for itself. Now the grace of God is not to be set aside in this way; it refuses to be treated as a mere succedaneum of human virtue. Grace, like Christ, insists on being “all in all.” “If salvation is by grace, it is no longer of works”; and “if of works, it is no more grace”. {Rom 11:6} These two methods of justification imply different moral tempers, an opposite set and direction of the current of life. This question of circumcision brings the Galatians to the parting of the ways. Grace or Law-which of the two roads will they follow? Both they cannot. They may become Jewish proselytes; but they will cease to be Christians. Leaving behind them the light and joy of the heavenly Zion, they will find themselves wandering in the gloomy desolations of Sinai.<\/p>\n

2. From this prospect the Apostle bids his readers turn to that which he himself beholds, and which they erewhile shared with him. Again he seems to say, “Be ye as I am, brethren”; {Gal 4:12} not in outward condition alone, but still more in inward experience and aspiration. “For we by the Spirit, on the ground of faith are awaiting the hope of righteousness” (Gal 5:5).<\/p>\n

Look on this picture, and on that. Yonder are the Galatians, all in tumult about the legalistic proposals, debating which of the Hebrew feasts they shall celebrate and with what rites, absorbed in the details of Mosaic ceremony, all but persuaded to be circumcised and to settle their scruples out of hand by a blind submission to the Law. And here, on the other side, is Paul with the Church of the Spirit, walking in the righteousness of faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit, joyfully awaiting the Saviours final coming and the hope that is laid up in heaven. How vexed, how burdened, how narrow and puerile is the one condition of life; how large and lofty and secure the other. “We,” says the Apostle, “are looking forwards, not backwards, to Christ and not to Moses.”<\/p>\n

Every word in this sentence is full of meaning. Faith carries an emphasis similar to that it has in Gal 2:16; Gal 3:22; and in Rom 4:16. Paul supports by contrast what he has just said: “Your share in the kingdom of grace is lost who seek a legal righteousness (Gal 5:4); it is by faith that we look for our heritage.” Hope is clearly matter of hope, the future glory of the redeemed, described in Rom 8:18-25, Php 3:20-21, in both of which places there appears the remarkably compounded verb ( ) that concludes this verse. It implies an intent expectancy, sure of its object and satisfied with it. The hope is “righteousness hope”-the hope of the righteous-for it has in righteousness its warrant. The saying of Psa 16:1-11, verified in Christs rising from the dead, contains its principle: “Thou wilt not leave my soul to death; nor suffer Thine holy one to see the pit.” This was the secret “hope of Israel,” {Act 23:6; Act 24:15; Act 26:6-8; comp. Joh 6:39-40; Joh 6:44} that grew up in the hearts of the men of faith, whose accomplishment is the crowning glory of the redemption of Christ. It is the goal of faith. Righteousness is the path that leads to it. The Galatians had been persuaded of this hope and embraced it; if they accept the “other gospel,” with its phantom of a legal righteousness, their hope will perish.<\/p>\n

The Apostle is always true to the order of thought here indicated. Faith saves from first to last. The present righteousness and future glory of the sons of God alike have their source in faith. The act of reliance by which the initial justification of the sinner was attained, now becomes the habit of the soul, the channel by which its life is fed, rooting itself ever more deeply into Christ and absorbing more completely the virtue of His death and heavenly life. Faith has its great ventures; it has also its seasons of endurance, its moods of quiet expectancy, its unweariable patience. It can wait as well as work. It rests upon the past, seeing in Christ crucified its “author”; then it looks on to the future, and claims Christ glorified for its “finisher.” So faith prompts her sister Hope and points her to “the glory that shall be revealed.” If faith fails, hope quickly dies. Unbelief is. the mother of despair. “Of faith,” the Apostle says, “we look out!”<\/p>\n

A second condition, inseparable from the first, marks the hope proper to the Christian righteousness. It is sustained “by the Spirit.” The connection of faith and hope respectively with the gift of the Holy Spirit is marked very clearly by Paul in Eph 1:13-14 : “Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the earnest of our inheritance.” The Holy Spirit seals the sons of God-“sons, then heirs”. {Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15-17} This stamps on Christian hope a spiritual character. The conception which we form of it, the means by which it is pursued, the temper and attitude in which it is expected, are determined by the Holy Spirit who inspires it. This pure and celestial hope is therefore utterly removed from the selfish ambitions and the sensuous methods that distinguished the Judaistic movement. {Gal 4:3; Gal 4:9; Gal 6:12-14} “Men of worldly low design” like Pauls opponents in Galatia, had no right to entertain “the hope of righteousness.” These matters are spiritually discerned; they are “the things of the Spirit, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him”. {1Co 2:9-14}<\/p>\n

If faith and hope are in sight, love cannot be far off. In the next verse it comes to claim its place beside the other two: “faith working through love.” And so the blessed trio is complete, Fides, amor, spes: summa Christianismi (Bengel). Faith waits, but it also works; and love is its working energy. Love gives faith hands and feet; hope lends it wings. Love is the fire at its heart, the life-blood coursing in its veins; hope the light that gleams and dances in its eyes. Looking back to the Christ that hath been manifested, faith kindles into a boundless love; looking onward to the Christ that shall be revealed, it rises into an exultant hope.<\/p>\n

These closing words are of no little theological importance. “They bridge over the gulf which seems to separate the language of Paul and James. Both assert a principle of practical energy, as opposed to a barren, inactive theory” (Lightfoot). Had the faith of Pauls readers been more practical, had they been of a diligent, enterprising spirit, “ready for every good word and work,” they would not have felt, to the same degree, the spell of the Judaistic fascination. Idle hands, vain and restless minds, court temptation.<\/p>\n

A manly, energetic faith will never play at ritualism or turn religion into a round of ceremonial, anesthetic exhibition. Loving and self-devoting faith in Christ is the one thing Paul covets to see in the Galatians. This is the working power of the gospel, the force that will lift and regenerate mankind. In comparison with this, questions of Church-order and forms of worship are “nothing.” “The body is more than the raiment.” Church organisation is a means to a certain end; and that end consists in the life of faith and love in Christian souls. Each man is worth to Christ and to His Church just so much as he possesses of this energy of the Spirit, just so much as he has of love to Christ and to men in Him. Other gifts and qualities, offices and orders of ministry, are but instruments for love to employ, machinery for love to energise.<\/p>\n

The Apostle wishes it to be understood that he does not condemn circumcision on its own account, as though the opposite condition were in itself superior. If “circumcision does not avail anything, neither does uncircumcision.” The Jew is no better or worse a Christian because he is circumcised; the Gentile no worse or better, because he is not. This difference in no way affects the mans spiritual standing or efficiency. Let the Galatians dismiss the whole question from their minds. “One thing is needful,” to be filled with the Spirit of love. “Gods kingdom is not meat and drink”; it is not “days and seasons and years”; it is not circumcision, nor rubrics and vestments and priestly functions; it is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” These are the true notes of the Church; “by love,” said Christ, “all men will know that you are My disciples.”<\/p>\n

In these two sentences (Gal 5:5-6) the religion of Christ is summed up. Gal 5:5 gives us its statics; Gal 5:6 its dynamics. It is a condition, and an occupation; a grand outlook, and an intent pursuit; a Divine hope for the future, and a sovereign power for the present, with an infinite spring of energy in the love of Christ. The active and passive elements of the Christian life need to be justly balanced. Many of the errors of the Church have arisen from one-sidedness in this respect. Some do nothing but sit with folded hands till the Lord comes; others are too busy to think of His coining at all. So waiting degenerates into indolence; and serving into feverish hurry and anxiety, or mechanical routine. Let hope give calmness and dignity, buoyancy and brightness to our work; let work make our hope sober, reasonable, practical.<\/p>\n

“These three abide-faith, hope, and love.” They cannot change while God is God and mart is man. Forms of dogma and of worship have changed and must change. There is a perpetual “removing of the things that are shaken, as of things that are made”; but through all revolutions there “remain the things which are not shaken.” To these let us rally. On these let us build. New questions thrust themselves to the front, touching matters as little essential to the Churchs life as that of circumcision in the Apostolic age. The evil is that we make so much of them. In the din of controversy we grow bewildered; our eyes are blinded with its dust; our souls chafed with its fretting. We lose the sense of proportion; we fail to see who are our true friends, and who our foes. We need to return to the simplicity that is in Christ. Let us “consider Him” – Christ incarnate, dying, risen, reigning, – till we are changed into the same image, till his life has wrought itself into ours. Then these questions of dispute will fall into their proper place. They will resolve themselves; or wait patiently for their solution. Loyalty to Jesus Christ is the only solvent of our controversies.<\/p>\n

Will the Galatians be true to Christ? Or will they renounce their righteousness in Him for a legal status, morally worthless, and which will end in taking from them the hope of eternal life? They have nothing to gain, they have everything to lose in submitting to circumcision.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 2. St Paul here speaks with the Apostolic authority which he had vindicated at the opening of the Epistle, but which he has hitherto kept in abeyance while using argument, and remonstrance, and entreaty. if ye be circumcised ] … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 5:2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}