Matthew Henry Commentary Galatians 5

Christ will not be the Saviour of anyone who will not acknowledge and rely upon Him as their only Saviour. Let us heed the warnings and persuasions of the apostle to steadfastness in the doctrine and liberty of the gospel. All true Christians, being taught by the Holy Spirit, wait for eternal life—the reward of righteousness and the object of their hope—as the gift of God by faith in Christ, and not for the sake of their own works.

The Jewish convert might observe the ceremonies or assert his liberty; the Gentile might disregard them or might attend to them, provided he did not depend upon them. No outward privileges or profession will be sufficient for acceptance with God without sincere faith in our Lord Jesus. True faith is a working grace; it works by love to God and to our fellow believers.

May we be among those who, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. The danger in the past was not in things of no consequence in themselves, as many forms and observances now are. But without faith working by love, all else is worthless, and compared with it, other things are of small value.

The life of a Christian is a race, in which he must run and persevere if he is to obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity; we must also run well by living up to that profession. Many who start well in religion are hindered in their progress or turn aside from the way.

Those who begin to turn aside from the way, or to tire in it, should seriously inquire what hinders them. The opinion or persuasion (Galatians 5:8) was, no doubt, that of mixing the works of the law with faith in Christ for justification. The apostle leaves them to judge from where this persuasion must arise, but sufficiently shows that it could be attributable to no one but Satan.

It is dangerous for Christian churches to encourage those who follow, but especially those who spread, destructive errors. In reproving sin and error, we should always distinguish between the leaders and the led. The Jews were offended because Christ was preached as the only salvation for sinners. If Paul and others had admitted that the observance of the law of Moses was to be joined with faith in Christ as necessary for salvation, then believers might have avoided many of the sufferings they endured.

The first beginnings of such leaven should be opposed. And surely, those who persist in disturbing the church of Christ must bear their judgment.

The gospel is a doctrine according to godliness (1 Timothy 6:3), and is so far from giving the least approval to sin, that it places us under the strongest obligation to avoid and subdue it. The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. If Christians, who should help one another and bring joy to one another, quarrel, what can be expected but that the God of love should deny his grace, that the Spirit of love should depart, and the evil spirit, who seeks their destruction, should prevail? It would be a happy thing if Christians, instead of biting and devouring one another on account of different opinions, would set themselves against sin in themselves and in the places where they live.

If it is our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature that remains in us, it will not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire in this way to give themselves up to be led by the Holy Spirit are not under the law as a covenant of works, nor exposed to its awful curse.

Their hatred of sin and desires for holiness show that they have a part in the salvation of the gospel. The works of the flesh are many and manifest. And these sins will shut people out of heaven. Yet how many, calling themselves Christians, live in these sins and say they hope for heaven! The fruits of the Spirit, or of the renewed nature, which we are to produce, are named.

And as the apostle had chiefly named works of the flesh, not only hurtful to people themselves but also tending to make them hurtful to one another, so here he chiefly notices the fruits of the Spirit, which tend to make Christians agreeable to one another, as well as to make them happy. The fruits of the Spirit plainly show that such people are led by the Spirit. By describing the works of the flesh and fruits of the Spirit, we are told what to avoid and oppose, and what we are to cherish and cultivate; and this is the sincere care and endeavor of all real Christians.

Sin does not now reign in their mortal bodies, so that they obey it (Romans 6:12), for they seek to destroy it. Christ will never acknowledge those who yield themselves to be the servants of sin. And it is not enough that we cease to do evil, but we must learn to do well. Our conduct will always correspond to the principle that guides and governs us (Romans 8:5). We must earnestly apply ourselves to mortify the deeds of the body and to walk in newness of life.

Not desiring vainglory, or unduly wishing for the esteem and applause of people, not provoking or envying one another, but seeking to bring forth more abundantly those good fruits, which are, through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God.