Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Galatians 5

Before plunging into this third section of his letter, Paul interjects a verse that both summarizes all that has gone before and serves as a transition to what follows. It is, in fact, the key verse of the entire letter. Because of the nature of the true Gospel and of the work of Christ on their behalf, believers must now turn away from anything that smacks of legalism and instead rest in Christ’s triumphant work for them and live in the power of the Spirit. The first part of this verse aptly sums up the message of chs. 3–4, while the second part leads into the ethical section. Paul appeals for an obstinate perseverance in freedom as the only proper response to any attempt to bring Christians once more under legalism.

Since the Jews of Paul’s time spoke of taking the yoke of the law upon themselves, Paul probably alludes to such an expression here. To the Jews taking up the law’s yoke was the essence of religion; to Paul it was assuming the yoke of slavery. He may also be remembering Jesus’ reference to Christians taking his yoke upon them (Matthew 11:29–30), but his yoke was “easy” and “light.”

Paul wants the Galatians to take careful note that if they allow themselves to be circumcised (the verb tense used here implies that they had not yet taken this step but were considering it), then Jesus Christ will profit them absolutely nothing. Circumcision was, of course, the particular form of legalism that was a problem in Paul’s day; the choice was between Christ and no circumcision at all, or circumcision and no Christ at all.

This explains why Paul is so categorical in condemning the practice of circumcision for the Galatians. It is not that circumcision in itself is so important. In fact, Paul himself had once circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:3), and he would soon declare that “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value” (v.6). Rather, what Paul condemns is the theology of circumcision, which makes works necessary for salvation and seeks to establish conformity to some external standards of behavior as a mark of spirituality.

Ones’s motivation is the important thing. Paul was in no sense condemning those Jewish Christians who had been circumcised. His advice to such people is given in 1 Corinthians 7:17–20: circumcised Christians should remain circumcised; uncircumcised Christians should remain uncircumcised. Particular forms of legalism are not themselves the important issues; the critical issue is works versus grace, or, as we will soon see, spirit versus flesh. Paul’s concern was that nothing should cloud perception of this central Christian doctrine.

Paul has already stated that to fall into circumcision is to lose the value of Christ’s death both for salvation and for living the Christian life. Now he adds another reason why the Galatians should remain firm in the freedom Christ has given them: to choose circumcision is to choose legalism, which in turn involves taking on the burden of the entire law—something that the legalizers had probably not warned the Galatians about.

Paul again states his points, this time dropping the hypothetical “if” for the strong assertion that those who want to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ and have fallen away from grace. Christ is of no value to them and the burden of keeping the whole law is theirs.

What does “You have fallen away from grace” mean? Does it mean, as some claim, that salvation can be lost if a Christian falls into sins? Not at all. There is a sense in which to sin is to fall into grace, if one is repentant. But to fall from grace, as seen by this context, is to fall into legalism. Or to put it another way, to choose legalism is to relinquish grace as the principle by which one desires to be related to God.

The essence of that message of the Gospel is now brought forward in the last full statement of the principle of justification by faith in this letter. Up to this point Paul has been talking only of the Galatians (cf. the pronoun “you”), warning them about what they seemed to be doing. Now he changes to “we,” emphasizing something like this: “But, on the other hand, we Christians do not choose legalism; rather, we wait in faith through the Spirit for the full realization of God’s righteousness.” Each phrase in this verse is important and has already been defined. “By faith”: this key word stands in contrast to human effort, as all should be aware from the arguments of chs. 3–4. “We eagerly await”: Christians wait for the full realization of their salvation. They do not work for it; they wait for it. “Through the Spirit”: this is a reminder of the electing grace of God in salvation. “The righteousness for which we hope”: this does not refer to that imputed righteousness the believer has in the present through faith in Christ’s death, but rather (in line with the ethical section to follow) to that actual righteousness in which believers grow and to which they will be perfectly conformed in glory. In the Bible, “hope” (GK 1827 & 1828) refers to that which, though certain, is not yet fully realized.