Gospel Prayer Ministry

📖 Passage

Galatians 5:1–6
Read Galatians 5:1–6 (NKJV)

🧠 Context & Background

Having shown that believers are children of the free woman (Gal 4:31), Paul now issues a banner exhortation: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1). This marks the transition from doctrinal exposition to urgent application.

The issue at stake — circumcision (vv.2–3): Circumcision in itself was not sinful (cf. Acts 16:3 with Timothy), but in Galatia it had become a badge of justification. To receive it in that sense was to declare that Christ’s work was insufficient, and one’s standing before God rested on law-keeping. Paul warns that such a step obligates a person to keep the entire Law, since the Law is an indivisible covenant (Deut 27:26; Jas 2:10).
The danger — falling from grace (vv.4–5): To seek justification by the Law is to be severed from Christ—not by losing salvation accidentally, but by switching foundations. One cannot rely on both Christ’s sufficiency and personal performance; to add to grace is to nullify it. The result is estrangement from the only source of life. By contrast, true believers wait through the Spirit, by faith, for the hope of righteousness—final vindication at Christ’s coming.
The principle — faith working through love (v.6): Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has saving power. What counts is faith expressing itself in love. Justifying faith is not bare intellectual assent but a Spirit-wrought trust that produces the fruit of love (Jas 2:17; 1 Thess 1:3).

Paul’s background concern is stark: the Galatians are tempted to trade the liberty of sonship for the slavery of law-based religion. To do so is not simply to adopt a harmless ritual, but to abandon grace itself and return to bondage.

🌿 Key Themes

Freedom Kept — Christ has set us free; freedom must be guarded by refusing every return to slavery (Gal 5:1).
All-or-Nothing Law — To accept circumcision as a ground of justification is to become obligated to the whole Law (Jas 2:10).
Grace vs. Law-Basis — Seeking justification through Law severs us from Christ and constitutes a fall from grace (Gal 5:4).
Spirit & Hope — True believers wait eagerly for final righteousness through the Spirit by faith, not through works (Rom 8:23–25).
What Counts — External markers (circumcision/uncircumcision) do not commend us to God; what matters is faith working through love (1 Cor 7:19).

📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary

Galatians 5:1 — Stand Firm in Freedom

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free…”

Indicative → Imperative: Christ has freed us from condemnation and Law-as-basis; therefore, we must stand in that liberty.
No new yokes: The “yoke of bondage” is any Christ-plus condition for acceptance (Acts 15:10–11).

Galatians 5:2–3 — Circumcision as Ground = Whole Law

“If you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing… he is a debtor to keep the whole law.”

Not about minor ritual: The issue is foundation—if circumcision is trusted as the badge of justification, it displaces Christ.
Total obligation: To choose Law as basis means binding yourself to perfect, perpetual obedience (Jas 2:10).

Galatians 5:4 — Severed from Christ; Fallen from Grace

“You have become estranged from Christ… you have fallen from grace.”

Relational/legal break: To seek justification by law is to step off the grace-foundation; Christ’s benefits are nullified.
Pastoral nuance: This warns those professing faith who flirt with legalism. It does not teach that God abandons His own; rather, grace keeps the truly regenerate (John 10:28).

Galatians 5:5 — Spirit-Wrought Hope

“We through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.”

Already/Not Yet: Believers are justified now, but we await final vindication when Christ returns.
Spirit-centered posture: The Spirit sustains our faith-driven waiting, not works of the Law (Rom 8:23–25).

Galatians 5:6 — What Truly Counts

“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”

Instrument & fruit: Faith alone justifies; but the faith that justifies is never alone—it produces love (Jas 2:17).
True badge: Not outward marks, but Spirit-wrought love identifies God’s people (John 13:35).

🧩 Review Questions

🔍 Trusted Insight (R.C. Sproul)

“The article by which the church stands or falls is justification by faith alone. If we add works to it, we have no gospel left.” — R.C. Sproul, Faith Alone

Summary: Sproul echoes Paul’s urgency: justification cannot rest on both Christ and Law. To add even one work as the basis of acceptance is to lose the gospel itself. What remains is not liberty but bondage. Only faith alone in Christ alone, expressing itself in love, secures freedom.

🔍 Definitions

Yoke of slavery (ζυγὸν δουλείας) — Any religious requirement (circumcision, rituals, performance) demanded as a ground of acceptance with God (Gal 5:1).
Severed from Christ (κατηργήθητε ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ) — Literally “nullified” or “rendered ineffective.” To choose Law as the basis for justification is to cut oneself off from Christ’s saving benefit (Rom 7:6).
Fallen from grace (τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε) — To “depart” from the principle of grace by seeking righteousness through Law. Not accidental loss, but a deliberate shift of foundation (Heb 12:15).
Faith working through love (πίστις διʼ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη) — True, justifying faith that is active and effective, producing love by the Spirit (Jas 2:17; 1 Thess 1:3).

🙋 Application Questions

Where are you tempted to wear a Christ-plus badge (rules, culture, performance) to feel “in”? How will you stand firm in grace this week?
What practice helps you wait by the Spirit (v.5) rather than work by the flesh—e.g., Scripture-prayer, Sabbath rest, confession?
How can your community keep faith working through love central in membership, discipleship, and mission?

🌎 Worldviews

Legalistic Performance: Righteousness is secured by doing more, obeying harder, keeping the marks (circumcision, rituals, rules). This worldview sounds pious but produces slavery, fear, and pride.
Secular Self-Reliance: Freedom means self-definition—to shrug off guilt, dismiss sin, and create one’s own path. Yet this leaves people under the curse of sin and without true righteousness.
Gospel Freedom: Freedom is not self-rule or law-rule but Christ-rule. By His cross He has freed us from the Law’s condemning power. Now faith works through love by the Spirit, producing joyful obedience as fruit, not as foundation.

❓ Common Objections

“Is Paul rejecting all rituals and traditions?”
No. Paul circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:3) as a cultural bridge, but he refused to circumcise Titus (Gal 2:3–5) when it was demanded as a ground of justification. The issue is basis of acceptance, not practices in themselves.
“Does ‘fallen from grace’ mean a true believer can lose salvation?”
No. Paul warns professing Christians that to seek justification by Law is to abandon the grace-foundation. This exposes a false faith or misplaced trust. Those truly in Christ are kept by grace (John 10:28–29).
“If works don’t justify, does faith alone lead to laziness or sin?”
Not at all. Paul insists that the faith which justifies is active—“faith working through love” (v.6). Grace doesn’t free us to sin but frees us to love by the Spirit (Rom 6:1–2; Gal 5:13).

🔤 Greek Keywords

eleutheria (ἐλευθερία) — Freedom; status and life given by Christ (v.1).
zygos (ζυγός) — Yoke; image for enslaving obligation (v.1).
peritomē (περιτομή) — Circumcision; here as a justifying badge (vv.2–3, 6).
opheiletēs (ὀφειλέτης) — Debtor/obligated to keep the whole Law (v.3).
katargeō (καταργέω) — To nullify/sever (v.4).
ekpiptō (ἐκπίπτω) — To fall from (grace) (v.4).
energeō (ἐνεργέω) — To work/energize (faith working through love) (v.6).

📚 Cross References

Acts 15:1–11 — Debate over circumcision; salvation by grace.
Romans 4:1–8 — Justification apart from works.
Romans 8:1–4 — The Spirit fulfills the law’s righteous requirement.
Philippians 3:2–9 — No confidence in the flesh; righteousness through faith.
Galatians 6:15 — Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

📦 Next Study

Next Study → Galatians 5:7–15 – Running Well, Loving Well

Galatians 5:1–6 – For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free