BIG IDEA:
USE FREEDOM AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO WALK IN LOVE BY WALKING IN THE SPIRIT —
(NOT AN OPPORTUNITY TO FULFILL THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH)
INTRODUCTION:
Howard Vos: As Paul now launches into his discussion of the life of Christian liberty, he points out that liberty must not be allowed to degenerate into license but should be governed by love and consideration for others.
“For ye” reminds the Galatians that the Judaizers with their upsetting dogmas of legalism were striking at the very root of their faith. They had been “called” out by the Holy Spirit from among a sinful and condemned humanity “unto liberty.” The latter is better translated “on the footing of” or “on the condition of” or “on the ground of freedom.” In other words, freedom was an essential element in the Christian life. But, he warns, do not make your liberty an opportunity for giving way to carnal passions. Do not make your liberty “a base of operations” for the flesh in its war against the spirit. In such a case a man may be brought into bondage to corruption. There are three kinds of bondage described in this context: the bondage of legalism and bondage to the flesh or old nature, both of which are condemned; and a bondage of love, which is strongly urged. If one wants to be in bondage, let him serve others in the bondage of love. Be bound by love in your service one to another. In other words, you are living on a plane of liberty or freedom, but you are not free to do exactly as you please. Some practices may be lawful but not wise; nor may they contribute to the welfare and spiritual development of others. The Galatians had been looking for a bondage. Now Paul recommends a real and worthwhile bondage for them to subject themselves to: a bondage of mutual love. Rendall puts it well: “The true ideal of the Christian is not freedom, but unfettered service to the love of God and man. . . . ”
David deSilva: The Spirit’s Sufficiency to Nurture Righteousness
In this important section, Paul affirms that the Christians have already received all that is necessary (and effective!) for living transformed lives of righteousness, that is, for living in line with God’s standards (5:5–6). If the freedom for which Christ liberated us means, in part, liberty from slavish rules and ethnic laws (5:1), it also means liberty from the enslaving power of our own baser, self-centered, self-gratifying drives and passions (5:13). Christ has given his followers the means to fulfill the righteous demands of the Torah apart from regulating their lives by the Torah. As they allow the Spirit to regulate their lives and empower their service (5:16, 25), they will fulfill the core commandment of the Torah—the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself (5:13–14)—in their lives together as Christian communities and in their service beyond the household of faith. The Spirit gives the believer, as the Torah did not, the power to overcome the flesh—to live out his or her mortification (crucifixion) of the flesh (5:24)—and to walk in line with God’s righteousness.
Timothy George: Here in Gal 5 Paul used four distinct verbs to designate the Spirit-controlled life of the believer, all of which are roughly equivalent in meaning: to walk in the Spirit (v. 16), to be led by the Spirit (v. 18), to live by the Spirit (v. 25a), and to keep in step with the Spirit (v. 25b). Each of these verbs suggests a relationship of dynamic interaction, direction, and purpose. The present tense of the imperative peripateite, “walk,” also indicates a present activity now in progress.
Thomas Schreiner: Live Out Freedom in the Spirit (5:13 – 6:10)
A. Freedom expressed in love (5:13–15)
B. Living by the Spirit instead of the flesh (5:16–24)
- Yield to the Spirit (5:16–18)
a. To conquer the flesh (5:16)
b. Because the battle is fierce (5:17)
c. To be free from the law (5:18)
2. Marks of the flesh and the Spirit (5:19–23)
a. The works of the flesh (5:19–21b)
(1) Sexual sins (5:19b)
(2) Refusal to worship God (5:20a)
(3) Social sins (5:20b–21a)
(4) Sins of revelry (5:21b)
(5) Eschatological warning (5:21c)
b. Fruit of the Spirit (5:22–23)
3. The crucifixion of the flesh (5:24)
C. Caring for One Another by the Spirit (5:25 – 6:5)
(:13) THESIS
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into
an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
John MacArthur: In Galatians 5:13b-15, Paul gives four purposes of God’s call to the freedom of loving Him: to oppose the flesh, to serve others, to fulfill His moral law, and to avoid harming others.
David Platt: There are two things Paul wants us to avoid about Christian freedom: legalism (trying to earn acceptance before God by works) and license (misapplying the doctrine of grace). In verses 13-15 Paul addresses the temptation to license. He talks about the moral law in a positive sense. Paul shows that freedom from the law does not do away with the obligations of holy conduct. Rather, justified people are now free to do what Christ wants! He says that part of being free from sin’s slavery is that we are free to love and free to serve! This freedom represents the fulfillment of the Old Testament law of love. This subject of love continues in Galatians 5:22 and 6:1-4. Here we see the call to love one another and our neighbors.
Negatively, Paul says, “Don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh” (v. 13). The “flesh” does not refer to that which clothes our bony skeletons, but our fallen human nature. We are prone to drift spiritually because of our flesh. Christian freedom is not a freedom to sin but a freedom from sin. Christian freedom is a freedom to enjoy serving others and pursuing godliness. Do not live to gratify the desires of the flesh. That is an abuse of freedom and a misunderstanding of freedom.
Positively, Paul says that because we are free let us “serve one another through love” (v. 13), fulfilling the law of “Love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 14). “Serve” is actually the word for “slave” (Stott, Message of Galatians, 141–42). Paul has said, “Don’t be a slave,” but now he says, “You are free to be a slave.” Luther put it well: “A Christian is free and independent in every respect, a bond servant to none. A Christian is a dutiful servant in every respect, owing a duty to everyone” (George, 378). It is a paradox. The Galatians were free from bondage and under grace. But Paul says that they were now free to love and serve others. It is as if he says, “If you want a law, here is one: love” (cf. 6:2). But the difference in Paul’s exhortation is that it is fueled by the Spirit (5:16 – 6:10), and it is not done in an effort to earn righteousness. When it comes to loving our neighbors as ourselves, we must remember that keeping the entire law for our justification is unattainable, but Jesus fulfilled it for us. Now, as a result of our faith in Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are free to live out the moral teaching of the law. The Spirit changes us and empowers us to obey God.
Timothy George: Flesh refers to fallen human nature, the center of human pride and self-willing. Flesh is the arena of indulgence and self-assertion, the locale in which “the ultimate sin reveals itself to be the false assumption of receiving life not as the gift of the Creator but procuring it by one’s own power, of living from one’s self rather than from God.” Thus we cannot restrict the term “flesh” to human physicality, although the “works of the flesh” Paul will shortly describe (5:19–21) seem to find their most lurid manifestations in connection with bodily life. It is God’s intention for the believer in this present life to be en sarki, “in the flesh” (cf. CSB “in the body”; 2:20), but not kata sarka, “of/according to the flesh” (cf. CSB “in a purely human way,” 2 Cor 1:17; “from a worldly perspective,” 2 Cor 5:16). To live according to the flesh is to take the flesh as one’s norm, that is, “to trust in one’s self as being able to procure life by the use of the earthly and through one’s own strength and accomplishment.” Paul warned the Galatians that they must not turn their freedom into license or use it as an occasion to gratify their fleshly desires.
I. (:14-15) WALK IN LOVE
A. (:14) The Golden Rule Fulfils God’s Moral Law
“For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement,
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
John Piper: “Love your neighbor as yourself” is not a command to love yourself. It is a command to take your natural, already existing love of self and make it the measuring rod of your love for others.
Kenneth Wuest: Thus, the individual is released from one law consisting of a set of ethical principles to which was attached blessing for obedience and punishment in the case of disobedience, a law that gave him neither the desire nor the power to obey its commands, and is brought under another law, the law of love, which is not a set of written commandments but an ethical and spiritual dynamic, produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit, who gives him both the desire and the power to live a life in which the dominating principle is love, God’s love, which exercises a stronger and stricter control over the heart and is far more efficient at putting out sin in the life than the legalizers think the thunders of Sinai ever were.
Ben Witherington: Paul is here using eschatological language, indeed the very same sort of language used to describe the fulfillment of a particular age of history or period in Gal. 4.4 (there using the noun form πλήρωμα). I would suggest this is a considerable clue to what Paul is doing here. The time when obedience to the Mosaic Law was obligatory on God’s people is over and done with, Christians are now living in the eschatological age in which God’s promises, prophecies, designs, will, are all being fulfilled. The intent or basic aim of the Law was to produce a unified people of God, unified on the basis of love toward the one true God and toward each other. This is still the will of God for the people of God, even though they are no longer under the Mosaic Law covenant. Thus it is that Paul can speak of the basic substance of the Law being fulfilled in the community of Christ, not because the Law continued to be the rule for believers’ behavior and not by their submitting to that Law. Rather this fulfillment is what happens quite naturally when Christians follow the example and teaching of Christ. If the Galatians will continue to walk in the Spirit, pay attention to the Law of Christ, and run as they had already been running, they will discover that a by-product of this effort is that the basic aim and substance of the Law has already been fulfilled in their midst. They thus need not worry about submitting to the Law, when its whole or basic aim is already fulfilled in their midst. “Believers fulfill the Law not because they continue to be obligated to it but because, by the power of the Spirit in their lives, their conduct coincidentally displays the behavior that Mosaic Law prescribes. In this verse, then Paul is claiming that believers have no need of the Mosaic Law because by their Spirit-inspired conduct they already fulfill its requirements.” In short, Paul is not building up here in one verse what he labored the whole letter to dismantle. He is arguing that if the Galatians continue to follow his advice and the leading of the Spirit, the essential aims of the Law will be already fulfilled paradoxically without submitting to circumcision and the Mosaic covenant.
B. (:15) The End Result of Hatred Will Be Mutual Destruction
“But if you bite and devour one another,
take care lest you be consumed by one another.”
Donald Guthrie: The apostle thinks of a pack of wild animals flying at each other’s throats. It is a vivid representation not only of utter disorder, but also of mutual destruction. The policy enjoined by the Judaizers could lead only to dissension of the bitterest kind, for it must arouse passions which are unrestrained by the influence of love.
Ralph Martin: The two verbs “to bite” (daknō) and “to eat up” (katesthiō) usually refer to fighting among wild animals.
William Hendriksen: Bitter (=biting) words harm the biter as well as the one bitten. They tend to destroy the fellowship.
George Brunk: The theological debate precipitated by the teachers in the Galatian churches is causing (or could cause) bitterness, factionalism, and division. Paul wants to address this matter.
II. (:16-26) WALK BY THE SPIRIT
Ben Witherington: In a striking argument, Paul contrasts the unitive effects of the work of God in the life of the various Christian communities with the divisive effects of following another course of living. In this argument the effects of following the guidance of the Spirit on the Christian community are pitted against acting on the basis of sinful inclinations which destroys community. In other words, we have here a deliberative argument for unity and concord, not merely an adaptation of a typical virtue and vice catalog. The argument builds on what Paul has just said about freedom and love on the one hand and about flesh and anti-social behavior on the other, but the argument is clearly distinguishable from what precedes. Like the beginning of the previous argument in which Paul makes a dramatic personal appeal, based on his own authority (5:2), this argument also starts with Paul’s own personal but nonetheless authoritative assertion about the nature of the Christian life (5:16 – λέγω δέ). The argument has two parts:
(1) vss. 16–21 which begins with the exhortation to walk according to the Spirit and then goes on to concentrate on activities that can destroy the community and keep persons out of the Kingdom of God;
(2) vss. 22–26 which begins with mention of the fruit of the Spirit and concludes with an exhortation to stay in line with the Spirit and not engage in divisive behavior.
Verse 16 should especially be compared to vss. 25–26, which reveals that the argument ends on the same note with which it began.
Douglas Moo: The passage falls into three paragraphs (e.g., Schreiner 2010: 339). Verses 16–18 are framed by references to “walking” and “being led” by the Spirit and focus on the power of the Spirit to overcome the flesh and the law. Verse 16, with its promise that those who walk by the Spirit will overcome the flesh, is the theme verse for all that follows. The second paragraph of the section contrasts the effects of the flesh with those of the Spirit (vv. 19–23). Verse 24 concludes the section with a final assurance that the people who belong to Christ have been given a new freedom from the power of the flesh. As Dunn (1993a: 295) points out, the section also displays something of a concentric structure:
A Assurance about the flesh (vv. 16–17)
B Those led by the Spirit are not under the law (v. 18)
C The “works” of the flesh (vv. 19–21)
C′ The fruit of the Spirit (vv. 22–23a)
B′ No law stands against the fruit of the Spirit (v. 23b)
A′ Assurance about the flesh (v. 24)
A. (:16-18) Walking by the Spirit is the Only Way to Experience Freedom
- Freedom from carrying out the desire of the flesh
- Freedom from the Law
David Platt: Walk by the Spirit (5:16-18).
- We must continually walk by the Spirit (5:16a).
- We must walk by the Spirit to conquer the flesh (5:16b).
- We must walk by the Spirit because the battle is intense (5:17).
- We must walk by the Spirit to be free from the law (5:18).
Scot McKnight: Once again, Paul arranges his thoughts in a chiasm:
A. Live by the Spirit and you escape flesh (v. 16)
B. The conflict is between flesh and Spirit (v. 17a)
B.′ The conflict prohibits doing God’s will (v. 17b)
A.′ Be led by the Spirit and you escape law (v. 18)
- The Simple Formula for Defeating the Flesh
“But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
Herman Ridderbos: He must walk by the Spirit, that is, he must in fellowship with Christ let himself be ruled by the Spirit. The principle of the Spirit does not make human effort unnecessary, but arouses it and equips it to put all its forces into the service of the Spirit. The tense of walk points to a continuing condition. The life through the Spirit does not consist of a separable series of deeds, but assumes an inner conversion which is sustained by God.
- The Intense Battle Between the Flesh and the Spirit
“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh;
for these are in opposition to one another,
so that you may not do the things that you please.”
- The Power for Victory and Freedom = Submitting to the Spirit
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”
John Piper: The Spirit is not a leader like the pace car in the “Daytona 500.” He is a leader like a locomotive on a train. We do not follow in our strength. We are led by his power. So “walk by the Spirit” means stay hooked up to the divine source of power and go wherever he leads.
B. (:19-23) Contrast Between the Deeds of the Flesh and the Fruit of the Spirit
Warren Wiersbe: The contrast between works and fruit is important. A machine in a factory works, and turns out a product, but it could never manufacture fruit. Fruit must grow out of life, and in the case of the believer, it is the life of the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).
- Deeds of the Flesh
“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:”
Thomas Schreiner: Identifying the works of the flesh does not demand extraordinary spiritual discernment. It is not a secret disclosed to a gnostic elite. Instead, those things that issue from the flesh are obvious and clear to anyone with an ounce of discernment. The term “flesh” (σαρκός) here is a genitive of source, specifying that evil works stem from the old Adam. Vice lists are common in Pauline literature, and they function to delineate qualities that are not pleasing to God and not in accord with life in the Spirit.
a. “immorality“
Howard Vos: Fornication involves all illicit sexual relations; uncleanness is a broader term including not only sexual irregularities but all that leads to them; lasciviousness denotes open shamelessness, insolent disregard of decency, or brazen boldness in this reprehensible kind of life. These three words appear together also in 2 Corinthians 12:21.
b. “impurity“
Thomas Schreiner: The word focuses on the defilement and filthiness generated by sexual sin.
John MacArthur: Impurity is from akatharsia, which literally means “unclean” and was used medically to refer to an infected, oozing wound. It is the negative form of katharsia, which means “clean” and is the word from which we get catharsis, a cleansing. In Scripture the term is used of both moral and ceremonial uncleanness, any impurity that prevents a person from approaching God.
c. “sensuality“
Thomas Schreiner: The final term, “sensuality” (ἀσέλγεια), is also a common word used for sexual sin (Mark 7:22; Rom 13:13; 2 Cor 12:21; 1 Pet 4:3; 2 Pet 2:2, 7, 18; Jude 4) and emphasizes the lack of restraint and unbridled passion of sexual license. It “throws off all restraint and flaunts itself.” Those who are deceived may think following their sexual passions is equivalent to following the Spirit, but such actions flow from the selfish will rather than the work of the Holy Spirit.
d. “idolatry“
Philip Ryken: “Idolatry,” of course, means the worship of other gods. It is the quest to find our identity and security in anything or anyone besides the one true God. “Witchcraft,” or sorcery, is the worship of what is evil. This would obviously include contemporary forms of the occult, such as black magic and Satan worship. However, the Greek word that is used here for “witchcraft” (pharmakeia) provides the origin for the English word “pharmacy.” This is a reminder that in the ancient world witches often prepared and administered lethal poisons. Thus the postmodern parallels to ancient witchcraft would include abortion and euthanasia—forms of killing that in our culture are usually performed by doctors. According to the Bible, these activities are among the self-evidently wicked deeds of the flesh.
e. “sorcery“
David Platt: Sorcery involves the practice of trying to manipulate circumstances or dark powers to bring about a desired goal rather than submitting to and trusting in God alone. Today people read horoscopes to find meaning, and many believe superstitious actions will somehow manipulate events. This is the work of the flesh.
f. “enmities“
Howard Vos: Hatred, the opposite of love, “enmities,” has in view the mutual animosities of men. Variance is dissension or strife, not necessarily implying self-interest. Emulations is better translated “jealousy,” which arises out of enmity. It has in view rivalry involving self-assertion. Wraths indicates an ascending scale of animosity; jealousy smolders until it erupts in wrath.
Thomas Schreiner: Social sins that disrupt the community predominate in the vice list. Eight different words describe the sins that foment discord in the church. Six of the eight terms are plurals. The terms overlap in meaning so that we cannot always distinguish sharply how one term differs from another.
g. “strife”
h. “jealousy“
i. “outbursts of anger”
John MacArthur: Outbursts of anger are sudden, unrestrained expressions of hostility toward others, often with little or no provocation or justification. It is the all-too-common sin of unbridled temper.
j. “disputes“
Thomas Schreiner: Selfish ambition brings discord, for it does not focus on the good of others but grasps after honor and praise for oneself.
k. “dissensions”
l. “factions“
m. “envying“
Thomas Schreiner: “Envying” (φθόνοι) is found in other Pauline vice lists (Rom 1:29; 1 Tim 6:4; Titus 3:3; cf. Phil 1:15), and it concentrates on the desire to possess what others have, so that one is not satisfied with the gifts God has given. “It is the grudging spirit that cannot bear to contemplate someone else’s prosperity.”
n. “drunkenness“
Philip Ryken: The Bible does not prohibit alcohol, any more than it prohibits food, but it always condemns getting drunk. The term used here refers to drinking bouts—what people today would call “getting wasted.” The orgies to which Paul refers were not simply sexual, but involved wild partying of all kinds, including revels held at pagan temples.
o. “carousing“
p. “and things like these“
“of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Howard Vos: Various classifications of these works of the flesh have been attempted. A fourfold division is followed here:
- Sexual sins: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness (adultery does not appear in the best manuscripts)
- Idolatry and magic
- Sins of strife: hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders
- Sins of intemperance: drunkenness, revellings
Thomas Schreiner: Indeed, as this verse demonstrates, the Galatians had been orally informed previously about the consequences of giving reign to the works of the flesh. The terrible consequence of these vices is reiterated most solemnly here. Righteousness by faith instead of works of law must not lead to a life of sin. Those who are justified by God’s grace are also empowered by the Spirit to live in a new way. If the works of the flesh dominate, then no eschatological reward will be received. Good works are not the basis of justification, but they are most certainly, though still imperfect and partial, a consequence of justification.
- Fruit of the Spirit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is:”
Scot McKnight: Paul’s listing of the “fruit of the Spirit” does not seem to have any particular order, though some have proposed an order. J. R. W. Stott sees in these nine virtues three groups of three: attitudes to God, others, and self, while J. B. Lightfoot sees dispositions of the mind, qualities governing human relations, and principles of conduct.
a. “love“
John MacArthur: Agape love is the form of love that most reflects personal choice, referring not simply to pleasant emotions or good feelings but to willing, self-giving service. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). In the same way, the most extreme sacrificial choice a loving person can make is to “lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The apostle John expresses those two truths together in his first letter: “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). But love is tested long before it is called on to offer that supreme sacrifice. As John goes on to say, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (v. 17). A person who thinks his love is great enough to sacrifice his life for fellow believers but who fails to help them when they have less extreme needs is simply fooling himself.
True agape love is a sure mark of salvation. “We know that we have passed out of death into life,” John says, “because we love the brethren. . . . Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (John 3:14; 4:7). By the same token, as John repeatedly makes clear throughout the same letter, having a habitually unloving spirit toward fellow Christians is reason for a person to question his salvation (see e.g., 2:9, 11; 3:15; 4:8, 20).
Jesus Christ is the supreme example of this supreme virtue. It was not only the Father’s love but also His own love that led Jesus to lay down His life for us, demonstrating with His own self-sacrifice the love that gives its life for its friends.
b. “joy“
Philip Ryken: Joy is the ability to take good cheer from the gospel. It is not, therefore, a spontaneous response to some temporary pleasure. It does not depend on circumstance at all. It is based rather on rejoicing in one’s eternal identity in Jesus Christ. With joy comes “peace,” a sense of wholeness and well-being. John MacArthur writes, “If joy speaks of the exhilaration of the heart that comes from being right with God, then peace refers to the tranquility of mind that comes from saving relationships.” Such tranquility may be enjoyed both with God and with others. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1), and since we have peace with God, we are able to make peace with others.
c. “peace“
George Brunk: Peace is commonly tied to joy, as in the passages just cited. As noted above, the Bible typically uses the term to refer to the health and wholeness of the individual in relationship, hence describing the well-being, or shalom, of the community. Here the context implies a form of peace that is not just inner serenity, but also one that leads to harmonious relationships with others. Peace is rooted in right relationship with God and is thus a fruit of right relationship with God (justification, as in Rom 5:1).
d. “patience“
Thomas Schreiner: “Patience” (μακροθυμία) is used elsewhere in Pauline virtue lists (2 Cor 6:6; Eph 4:2; Col 3:12; 2 Tim 3:10). It is the work of the Spirit of God when one endures difficult situations and people without losing one’s equanimity.
e. “kindness“
John MacArthur: Kindness. Chrestotes (kindness) relates to tender concern for others. It has nothing to do with weakness or lack of conviction but is the genuine desire of a believer to treat others gently, just as the Lord treats him. Paul reminded the Thessalonians that, even though he was an apostle, he “proved to be gentle among [them], as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children” (1 Thess. 2:6-7).
f. “goodness“
David Platt: “Goodness” is closely related to kindness (cf. Rom 15:14; Eph 5:9; 2 Thess 1:11). It speaks to the idea of doing good deeds and being generous. Paul later says that believers should “do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:10 ESV).
g. “faithfulness“
Thomas Schreiner: The word translated “faithfulness” (πίστις) often means “faith” in Paul, but in a virtue list such as this it almost certainly means “faithfulness” (Titus 2:10) and perhaps in a few other texts as well (1 Tim 4:12; 6:11; 2 Tim 2:22; 3:10; Titus 2:2). Those led by the Spirit are loyal and dependable, and one can count on them to fulfill their responsibilities.
h. “gentleness“
F. F. Bruce: πραΰτης, “gentleness”, is defined by Aristotle (Eth. Nic. 2.1108a) as the mean between excessive proneness to anger (ὀργιλότης) and incapacity for anger (ἀοργησία). Moses was πραῢς σφόδρα, “very gentle” (Nu. 12:3), in the sense that, in face of undeserved criticism, he did not give way to rage but rather interceded with God for the offenders. Jesus was “gentle (πραΰς) and lowly in heart” (Mt. 11:29) but was perfectly capable of indignation (Mk. 3:5). Paul entreats the Corinthians “by the meekness (πραΰτης) and gentleness (ἐπιείϰεια) of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:1), but if the words that follow that entreaty are an expression of meekness and gentleness, one wonders what he would have said had he been unrestrained by these qualities. (There, as here, Paul’s affectionate concern for his converts is matched by his fierce denunciation of those who troubled them.) “The meek (οἱ … πραεῖς) shall inherit the land” (or “the earth”), according to Ps. 37 (LXX 36): 11—a saying which is incorporated in one of the Matthaean beatitudes (Mt. 5:5)—the suggestion perhaps being that the hotheads will wipe one another out and leave the meek in possession. For an animal to be πραΰς is to be tame or tamed (the verb πραΰνω is used of taming wild animals), but as an ethical quality πραΰς implies self-control, the fruit of control by the Spirit of God. πραΰτης has much in common with μαϰροθυμία, with which it is conjoined in Eph. 4:2 and Col. 3:12. Christians should show “all gentleness (πᾶσαν … πραΰτητα, RSV ‘perfect courtesy’) to all men” (Tit. 3:2).
i. “self-control“
Bruce Barton: Mastery over sinful human desires and their lack of restraint. Ironically, our sinful desires, which promise self-fulfillment and power, inevitably lead us to slavery. When we surrender to the Holy Spirit, initially we feel as though we have lost control, but he leads us to the exercise of self-control that would be impossible in our own strength.
“against such things there is no law.”
C. F. Hogg: “Fruit” is thus the outward expression of power working inwardly, and so in itself beyond observation, the character of the fruit giving evidence of the character of the power that produces it, Matt. 7:16. As lust manifests itself in works, the restless and disorderly activities of the flesh, or principle of evil, in man, so the Spirit manifests His presence in His “peaceable”, Heb. 12:11, and orderly fruit.
C. (:24) The Reality of the Crucifixion of the Flesh
“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires.”
Thomas Schreiner: The death of the flesh does not mean that believers do not feel the tug of fleshly desires (5:17). Still, the flesh has been dealt a decisive blow at the cross. The passions and desires of the flesh are not absent, but they no longer rule and reign. Those who walk by the Spirit and who are led by the Spirit find themselves, even though imperfectly and partially, triumphing over the passions of the flesh that formerly dominated them.
Timothy George: This verse and the one that follows it serve as a dual conclusion to Paul’s two catalogs of vices and virtues. If the Christian life is a continuous tug-of-war between the flesh and the Spirit, are not believers consigned to a spiritually meager existence of perpetual defeat and minimal growth? In these verses Paul asserted the sufficiency of the Spirit to deal with the flesh by pointing the way to Christian victory. That way is the path of sanctification Paul described here in terms of the dual process of mortification, daily dying to the flesh, and vivification, continuous growth in grace through the new life of the Spirit.
D. (:25-26) The Summary Exhortation
- Positively — Let’s Do It!
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
John Piper: How do you allow the Spirit to control you? I want to try to show you that the answer is, you allow the Spirit to control you by keeping your heart happy in God. Or to put it another way, you walk by the Spirit when your heart is resting in the promises of God. The Spirit reigns over the flesh in your life when you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you and now is working everything together for your good.
- Negatively — Watch out for Pride
“Let us not become boastful, challenging one another,
envying one another.”
Ronald Fung: Returning to the theme of v. 15, which described behavior opposite to that of mutual service through love, Paul here puts in a negative form the corollary, for the Galatians, of walking by the Spirit. To “be conceited” is to boast of things that are insignificant and lacking in true worth, whether the boaster actually has them or only imagines that he has them or desires to have them. The word naturally includes the ideas of “talking big” and being “desirous of vainglory” (AV). The renderings “become conceited” (NIV) and “become boastful” (NASB) reflect the Gk. verb ginōmetha and suggest that Paul may have deliberately chosen to speak in a moderate tone, hinting that the sin of “self-conceit” (RSV) had not yet taken root in the readers, even though the very injunction is sufficient indication that they needed to be vigilant.
Two participial clauses represent the twofold result or expression of idle boastfulness. It is tempting to regard the action of “provoking” (AV, etc.) or “challenging” (NEB, NASB) as referring to the special temptation of the “strong,” and the action of “envying” (AV, etc.; NEB “jealous”) as the special temptation of the “weak” (cf. Rom. 15:1). The “strong,” that is, those whose personal conscience does not present as many restrictions to their behavior, risk turning their freedom into license (cf. Gal. 5:13) and are tempted to challenge the more scrupulous to follow their conduct; the “weak,” on the other hand, are hindered from following the “strong” because of their conscience, and might be tempted to respond with envy. According to this reading of the verse, Paul is implying that the way to avoid such challenge-envy behavior is for both parties to follow the leading of the Spirit—since the fruit of the Spirit is love—and to serve one another through love. In Romans as well Paul presents love as the solution to a similar situation in the Roman church (Rom. 14:15): both the strong and the weak in faith (14:1; 15:1) have alike been accepted by Christ (15:7); hence the strong must not hold the weak in contempt and the weak must not pass judgment on the strong (14:3, 10). Nor must they pass judgment on each other (14:13), but are to accept one another (15:5, 7) as Christ has accepted them.