Galatians 5:26

This verse may refer back to the problems in verse 15. But it is important for every Christian and every *church. The answer is to let the Holy Spirit control us.

circumcise ~ to cut off the loose skin from the end of the sex part of a man or a boy. For the Jews, it was the proof that a man agreed to obey God’s laws.
Jew ~ a person who comes from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; or, a person who follows the Jewish religion.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything about Jews.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything about Jews.
Jew ~ a person who comes from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; or, a person who follows the Jewish religion.
Jew ~ a person who comes from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; or, a person who follows the Jewish religion.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything about Jews.
sin ~ when people do not obey God; something bad that a person does against God or against other people.
Gentile ~ any person who is not a Jew.
Jew ~ a person who comes from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; or, a person who follows the Jewish religion.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything about Jews.
Lord ~ the title for God or Jesus in the Bible. It shows that he has authority as our ruler.
church ~ a group of Christians, or all Christians. It does not refer to the building where they meet.
spiritual ~ that which belongs to the spirit rather than physical things; that which belongs to God’s Spirit or to heaven.
worship ~ to give honour to God; or, to give honour to a false god; to tell someone that they are very great; and to tell them that you love them; to praise and serve God.
idol ~ a thing that people make out of wood, stone or metal. People worship it instead of God.
worship ~ to give honour to God; or, to give honour to a false god; to tell someone that they are very great; and to tell them that you love them; to praise and serve God.
sin ~ when people do not obey God; something bad that a person does against God or against other people.
angel ~ a servant of God. He brings messages from God to people on earth. But an ‘evil angel’ (also called a demon or evil spirit) is a servant of the devil.
peace ~ in the Hebrew language, this word is ‘shalom’. It is a traditional greeting in the Old Testament (Numbers 6:24-26) and among Jewish people today. ‘Peace’ is not just the opposite of war or noise. Peace means that God gives a person a calm spirit. This affects every part of a person’s life and relationships.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke. The authors wrote most of the Old Testament in the Hebrew language.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, which writers wrote before Jesus was born.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything about Jews.
Jew ~ a person who comes from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; or, a person who follows the Jewish religion.

Continue to Believe the Truth

Galatians

Roy Rohu

Chapter 5

v1 Christ has made us free. Stay free then, and do not let anyone make you like slaves again.

v2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you. If you let people *circumcise you, Christ will be of no use to you. v3 Yes, I tell you again. If you let people *circumcise you, you will have to obey all the laws again.

The Christian is free to *circumcise for health reasons. Paul is speaking about the *circumcision that the *Jewish laws ordered. The *Jews believed that this was the way to please God. The *Jews said that *circumcision was extremely important (Genesis 17:10-14). *Circumcision was a sign of the agreement between God and the *Jews. That agreement lasted until Jesus came (Matthew 11:13; Luke 16:16). Jesus brought a new agreement between God and all people everywhere (Matthew 26:27-28; Hebrews 12:24).

v4 Let us suppose that you try to be right with God by keeping rules. Then you will no longer have power from Christ. You will be cut off from *grace. v5 It is by *faith that we live by means of the Holy Spirit. By *faith we can be sure that God approves us.

Paul warns three times against the *circumcision which was part of the old laws:

• ‘Christ will be of no use to you’ (verse 2).

• ‘You will no longer have power from Christ’ (verse 4).

• ‘You will be cut off from *grace’ (verse 4).

The Christian must live by *faith. This is so important that God has said it four times in *scripture (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

v6 *Circumcision and *uncircumcision do not matter to the Christian. *Faith and love that work together are the important things.

We may have *faith without love. We will not bring people to Jesus that way. We may have love that is only a *human love. That will not bring people to Jesus either. *Faith and love must work together.

v7 You were going on so well! But someone turned you away from the truth. v8 Whatever changed your mind did not come from God. God invited you to come to him. v9 A little bit of *yeast goes through the whole loaf of bread.

If we make bread without *yeast, the loaf will be flat and hard. Even a little bit of *yeast affects the whole loaf. In the same way, says Paul, a little *sin can spoil many people. (See the same idea in Hebrews 12:15.)

v10 I have confidence in God that you will agree with me. But the person who causes trouble for you will have his punishment. v11 Some people say that I teach *circumcision. But they still attack me! If I did agree with *circumcision, the message about the cross would not upset anybody. v12 Some people have made trouble for you. I wish that those people would cut themselves off completely!

Paul speaks very strongly here. He does so because he loves the Christians at Galatia so much. He is very angry with those who try to lead the Christians at Galatia away from Jesus.

v13 God invited you, my *brothers and sisters, to be free. But do not use your freedom as an excuse to do anything that you want. Instead, serve each other with love. v14 All the laws together are really equal to only one law: Love other people as much as you love yourself.

From verse 13 to 6:10, Paul talks about a serious *heresy that came into the *church.

This *heresy disagreed with the plain message of Jesus. We now call it antinomianism. The false teachers said that Christians are free from the laws. They may do anything that they want to do. Jesus helps us to understand the laws, which God gave to us through Moses (Matthew 5:17). Paul taught that the laws are good (Romans 7:12). This is because they show us our *sin (Galatians 3:24). And they also help us to keep close to Jesus. They also help us to be kind to other people. See Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 7:12.

v15 If you fight with each other, be careful! You will ruin each other’s lives. v16 But let God’s *Holy Spirit guide you. In that way you will not satisfy what your *human *nature wants. v17 The desires of the *human *nature are against the desires of your new Christian *nature. These two desires are enemies to each other. So it is hard for you, as Christians, to do what you should do. v18 But if you obey God’s *Holy Spirit, you are not under the authority of the *Jewish laws.

v19 Now what the *human *nature produces is clear. It produces wrong use of sex, wrong desires, wrong use of the mind. v20 It uses false gods and magic. It hates people. It likes bad arguments. It causes people to be jealous. It produces bad temper and selfish desires. It makes one group oppose another group. It produces divisions and false teachers. v21 It is *envious. It likes to be drunk and to have evil parties. And it produces other things like these. I warn you, as I did before. People who do such things have no part in the *Kingdom of God.

v22 The *Holy Spirit, however, causes us to have love, joy, *peace, and patience. He causes us to behave with kindness and goodness. He causes us to be loyal to other people. v23 He causes us to be gentle and to control ourselves. There are no laws against these things.

Christians should love God and people. And they should be humble. Christians like that show that they are obeying Jesus. Joy is different from happiness. Happiness depends on things like money, food, home, possessions and friendships. Joy comes when God forgives our *sins (Psalms 5:11). *Peace and patience come by knowing God (Romans 5:1; Colossians 1:20; Isaiah 26:3). God tells us to be kind to other people (Romans 12:10). God expects us to be true to him (Luke 16:11; Luke 16:12; 1 Corinthians 4:2). He is true to us (1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 John 1:9). We must be gentle to other people (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13). If we do not control ourselves, we do not please God.

v24 It is as if Christ’s people have put their *human *nature to death. Their *human *nature with all its loves and desires has died. v25 Since we have chosen the life of the Spirit, let us obey the Spirit. v26 Let us not be proud people. That only makes other people angry and jealous.

circumcise/circumcision ~ to cut off the loose skin from the end of the sex part of a boy or man.'circumcise/circumcision ~ to cut off the loose skin from the end of the sex part of a boy or man.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to a Jew.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; or a person who believes what Jews believe.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; or a person who believes what Jews believe.'circumcise/circumcision ~ to cut off the loose skin from the end of the sex part of a boy or man.
grace ~ a gift from God that we do not deserve or earn.
earn ~ gain by work.
faith ~ belief in something; or belief and trust in someone; or belief and trust in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ.
scripture ~ a book of God’s holy message.
uncircumcision ~ when a person is not circumcised.

circumcise/circumcision ~ to cut off the loose skin from the end of the sex part of a boy or man.
faith ~ belief in something; or belief and trust in someone; or belief and trust in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ.
human ~ people, not animals or other things that are alive.
yeast ~ a powder that makes bread soft when you are making it.'sin/sins ~ when people do things against God or other people.
brothers ~ people who are part of God’s family; When Paul says ‘brothers (and sisters)’, he does not mean people of his own family, but other Christians.
heresy ~ an opinion that is different from an accepted opinion in religion.
church ~ a group of people who obey and believe in Jesus Christ.'Holy Spirit ~ also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ and the Comforter. He is equal with and he is joined to God and Christ. Jesus sent God’s Holy Spirit to help people.
nature ~ how someone is or their mind or their ways.
envious ~ to want things that other people have; or to be angry with them because they have them.'Kingdom of God ~ the Kingdom of God is where God rules.
peace ~ when we are friends with God and with other people.'sin/sins ~ when people do things against God or other people.
peace ~ when we are friends with God and with other people.