Galatians 5

Galatians 5 is the fifth of the six chapters of Galatians. Galatians 4 closes with the allegory of Hagar and Sarah, which concludes that Christians are children not of the bondwoman but of the free. Chapter 5 takes up this conclusion and applies it to daily Christian living.

Outline

• Verses 1–6: Paul urges the Galatians to stand fast in the liberty Christ has given and not to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. He warns that those who receive circumcision in order to be justified by the law are cut off from Christ and fallen from grace.
• Verses 7–12: He rebukes those who hindered the Galatians when they were running well, likening them to "a little leaven." He states that he suffers persecution because he does not preach circumcision.
• Verses 13–15: He tells them not to use their liberty as an occasion for the flesh but by love to serve one another. He declares that all the law is fulfilled in one word, the command to love one's neighbor.
• Verses 16–21: He exhorts them to walk in the Spirit and contrasts the flesh and the Spirit, which are opposed to each other. He then lists the "works of the flesh," from adultery to revellings.
• Verses 22–26: He names the nine fruit of the Spirit, from love to temperance, and says that those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. The chapter closes with an exhortation not to be desirous of vain glory.

Key Verses

• Galatians 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free" – summarizes Christian liberty, the theme of the entire letter.
• Galatians 5:6 "but faith which worketh by love" – frequently cited in discussions of the relationship between faith and works.
• Galatians 5:22–23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…" – the list most commonly used to describe Christian character.

People and Places

• Paul: The apostle who wrote the letter; he identifies himself by name in verse 2.
• The Galatian believers: The churches of the region of Galatia in central Asia Minor. Scholars differ on whether Paul's letter was addressed to northern or southern Galatia.
• "He that troubleth you": Those who required Gentile believers to be circumcised. The text does not name them.

Points for Reflection

• Interpretation of verse 6: Roman Catholic tradition has read this verse as support for the view that faith perfected by love justifies. Protestant tradition, including Martin Luther, reads love not as a condition of justification but as the fruit of faith.
• The conflict in verse 17: Lutheran and Reformed traditions explain this verse as a struggle that continues throughout the believer's life. Methodist and Holiness churches in the Wesleyan tradition place greater emphasis on the possibility of sanctification accomplished in the Spirit.
• "Heresies" in verse 20: Many scholars hold that the original term refers to factions or divisions rather than to heresy in the later doctrinal sense.
• Paul's wish in verse 12 that those who trouble the Galatians "were even cut off" is read as sharp irony directed at those who insisted on circumcision.
• Verses 13–14 are read alongside Romans 13:8–10, and verses 16–25 alongside the contrast between flesh and Spirit in Romans 8.

In the Korean Church

• The nine fruit of the Spirit in verses 22–23 are frequently used for Scripture memorization in Sunday school and in character education.
• "Drunkenness" in verses 19–21 is often cited in discussions of the issue of alcohol and tobacco.