“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. ² Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

⁷ You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?⁸ This persuasion is not from him who calls you. ⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰ I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. ¹¹ But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. ¹² I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

1) What “yoke of slavery” is Paul referring to in this passage?
The book of Galatians begins with an admonishment from Paul regarding a falling away by those who were so committed. The Galatians are believing in a “different gospel.” (1:6) Paul is concerned for their spiritual welfare and realizes they are becoming enslaved to insignificant non-gospel issues. The actual word for yoke means burden or bondage. The true gospel gives freedom, not burdens or yokes of slavery. The Galatians are turning back to things of the law for their salvation and being enslaved to things like circumcision, which today that argument doesn’t mean much to us, but in the 1^st century, circumcision was a sign of covenantal blessing by God to an orthodox Jew.

2) What is Paul arguing against in verses 1-12?
There were a group of people in the 1^st century that wanted to add to the means by which one is saved. The Judaizers believed that one must not only believe in Jesus Christ and follow in obedience to Him, but in order to be truly saved, you must also follow Jewish law. This line of thinking specifically dealt with issues like circumcision and the adhering to Jewish feasts and festivals. Paul is arguing the doctrine of grace for salvation versus the adherence to the Jewish law for salvation. He feels so deeply and passionately about the salvation by grace alone that he calls on those who are leading the Galatians away from the true gospel to mutilate themselves.

3) What dichotomy is Paul setting in the last paragraph of this passage?
For those who live in the Spirit as followers of Jesus, Paul offers a snapshot of what life should look like in the Spirit, in freedom from this world and from the law. He compares life in the Spirit with life in the flesh. Paul wanted the Galatians to know that life in the flesh indulges the flesh and the things of the flesh which he describes in detail. On the other hand, life in the Spirit bears the fruit of the Spirit. These two are in direct opposition to one another.

1) What “yoke of slavery” is Paul referring to in this passage?
A yoke offers burdens and bondage, but Christ assures us as believers that He has taken our burden and given us His own, which is easy and light (Matthew 11:28-30). Our Christian walk isn’t about checking off a list of to-dos, but rather an intimate relationship with the Lord. We are no longer enslaved to the things of this world, but we have freedom in the power of the Holy Spirit to choose the more important, to choose better, and to choose Christ first and out of that the rest flows!

2) What is Paul arguing against in verses 1-12?
It is easy to see the gospel as a complex, overwhelming, hard to understand thing in our life when in reality the simplicity of the gospel is pretty straightforward. Love God, love others. He loved us first and His love is perfected in us when we love others with that same kind of love (1 John 4:7-12). We are no longer slaves to the selfish conceit in our hearts, rather we have been made new in the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit resides in us apart from any works we may do on behalf of the gospel. There is no work so great as to win the favor of God except that of the Cross which takes sinners apart from God and provides a way for them to come back.

3) What dichotomy is Paul setting in the last paragraph of this passage?
We have a choice. Life in the flesh…enslaved to the lust of the flesh, our selfish desires, never seeking outside of ourselves OR life in the Spirit…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc. Paul is so compelled to speak out as he sees his brothers and sisters slipping away from the truth that he calls on them to evaluate their life. Are you living in “step with the Spirit”? If you say yes, then your life should represent that, your choices should be evidence of that, and ultimately those around you should be aware of that.

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