Albert Barnes Commentary Galatians 5:13

"For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only [use] not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another." — Galatians 5:13 (ASV)

For, brothers, you have been called to liberty (Galatians 5:13). This refers to freedom from Jewish rites and ceremonies (See the commentary on Galatians 3:28; Galatians 4:9; and Galatians 4:21, also Galatians 4:22-31).

The meaning here is that Paul wished the false teachers removed because true Christians had been called to liberty, and these teachers were abridging and destroying that liberty.

Christians were not in subjection to the law of Moses, or to anything else that savored of bondage. They were free; free from the servitude of sin, and free from subjection to expensive and burdensome rites and customs.

They were to remember this as a great and settled principle. This truth was so vital, and its maintenance so important, and the evil of forgetting it so great, that Paul says he earnestly wishes (Galatians 5:12) that all who would reduce them to that state of servitude were cut off from the Christian church.

Regarding the phrase, Only do not use liberty, etc. (Galatians 5:13), the word "use" here, introduced by our translators, obscures the sense. The idea is, "You are called to liberty, but it is not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. It is not freedom from virtuous restraints and from the laws of God. It is liberty from the servitude of sin, and religious rites and ceremonies, not freedom from the necessary restraints of virtue." It was necessary to give this caution because:

1. There was a strong tendency in all converts from heathenism to relapse into their former habits. Licentiousness abounded; and where they had been addicted to it before their conversion, and where they were surrounded by it on every side, they were in constant danger of falling into it again. A plain declaration, therefore, that they had been called to liberty, to freedom from restraint, might have been misunderstood, and some might have supposed that they were free from all restraints.
2. It is necessary to guard the doctrine from abuse at all times. As the history of the church has shown, there has been a strong tendency to abuse the doctrines of grace. The doctrine that Christians are "free," that there is liberty for them from restraint, has always been perverted by Antinomians and made the occasion for their indulging freely in sin. The result has shown that nothing was more important than to guard the doctrine of Christian liberty and to show exactly what Christians are freed from, and what laws are still binding on them. Paul, therefore, takes great pains to show that the doctrines he had maintained did not lead to licentiousness and did not allow the indulgence of sinful and corrupt passions.

An occasion. This refers to an opportunity that allows indulgence to the flesh, or that acts as an aid or help to corrupt passions. (See the word explained in the commentary on Romans 7:8).

To the flesh. The word "flesh" is often used in the writings of Paul to denote corrupt and gross passions and affections. (See the commentary on Romans 7:18 and Romans 8:1).

But by love serve one another (Galatians 5:13). By the proper manifestation of love to one another, strive to promote one another's welfare. To do this will not be inconsistent with the freedom of the gospel.

When there is love, there is no servitude. Duty is pleasant, and acts of kindness are agreeable. Paul does not consider them as freed from all law and all restraint; instead, they are to be governed by the law of love.

They were not to feel that they were so free that they might lawfully indulge the desires of the flesh, but they were to regard themselves as under the law to love one another. In this way, they would fulfill the law of Christian freedom.