Bible Commentaries
Galatians 5

Verses 1-4

FREEDOM

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Freedom is probably one of the scarcest commodities on earth. Even in the US, the so-called "land of the free," we no longer understand much about freedom, and in fact, there is getting to be less and less of it. Many are in spiritual prisons today because of their sins, lusts, habits, and addictions while multitudes are in prison for real. The US now has the sad distinction of consigning more of its citizens to prison per capita than any other country on earth, including Russia and Communist China. While the US has only 5 percent of the world's population, it has almost 25 percent of the world's prisoners.^{Incarceration in the United States, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States">(F1)}

Obviously, a lot of people who think they are free are not really free at all. This was the case with the Jews in Jesus' day who were certain they were free, but in fact they were bound in many ways, even being slaves of sin (John 8:33-34). Jesus said to them and to us, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). He also said in Matthew 11:29-30, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Here the Apostle Paul develops that wonderful freedom of Jesus. It is said that Paul insists on this freedom or liberty more than any other writer in the New Testament.^(F2) As we mentioned at the beginning, this epistle of Galatians is a sort of "Emancipation Proclamation," first for the lost and then for believing humanity as well. Through Christ we can be set free from our sins, from our habits and from ourselves. This precious Christian freedom is not a result of our own efforts. It is rather a gift of God's grace to all those who will believe and accept it from the hand of the Lord.

We might imagine a wretched prisoner languishing in his chains when suddenly he is pardoned and set free with absolutely no effort of his own. The great hymn-writer Charles Wesley captures this feeling and the Christian experience of liberation in his great hymn:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light.
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.^(F3)

It is one thing to be set free, but it is quite another thing to remain free as we see in this epistle. Here Paul exhorts the Galatians to "Stand firm" in their new freedom (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:13; Philippians 4:1). As we have learned so far, the Galatian Christians were being troubled by the Judaizers who were instructing them about the need to be circumcised and to shoulder the requirements of the law. These false teachers were presenting circumcision not just as a physical operation but as a sort of theological symbol (cf. Acts 15:1,5).^(F4)

They were trying to bind upon the new Galatian believers a load which even the great Jewish fathers had not been able to bear (cf. Acts 15:10). It was a yoke of bondage – a yoke of slavery which would quickly drain away the love, joy and peace the new saints were experiencing with Jesus.

The command to "Stand firm" has been called the most forceful one in the whole letter.^(F5) With it, the apostle is obviously turning from the doctrinal to the practical as he usually does at some point in his epistles. From this verse on he will be dealing mostly with the "godly walk" or the "ha-la-chah" as the Jews call it.

"Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all" (5:2). Today a lot of Christians are in the habit of marking important verses of their Bibles with colored pencils. This is a good verse to mark, and maybe Paul is even exhorting us to do so. We are living in a time when some segments of the church are drawing closer to Israel and to their own Hebrew heritage as we have said. It is a time when the Holy Spirit is stirring up a love for Israel in many individual hearts. There is a real temptation for a few zealous souls to go all the way and become circumcised. Paul is warning Gentile Christians not to do such a thing. As Norman Bartlett says, "The righteousness of works and justification by faith cannot coexist."^{cf. 3:1) given by the Judaizers." (Utley p. 73).">(F6)} Bartlett claims that it short-circuits the power of the Spirit and brings about a paralysis so far as service for Christ is concerned.

Paul repeats himself and adds even more cautions so that no one misses his point, "Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law" (5:3). It is entirely possible that the Judaizers were initially tempting the Gentile believers with circumcision and perhaps with only a few attractive elements of the law like the Jewish holidays and feast days.^(F7) Paul wants to clear the air and make it plain that one cannot pick and choose regarding the law. When a person accepts the way of law, that one is brought under the burden of the whole law. It goes together as a package. Also, there is no "grading on the curve" for performance but the poor legalist must get 100 percent right all the time.^(F8) James says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (James 2:10).

Legalism, in one form or another, is surely the plague of modern and postmodern Christianity. Ray Stedman, that popular Christian preacher and author, likens it to the common cold from which almost everyone suffers but no one knows the cure. Like the cold it is also very contagious. It comes upon us and we hardly know when or how it happened.^(F9) While we may not claim a salvation of legalism we certainly can end up with a legalistic lifestyle. The great reformer, Martin Luther describes the "Christianity" of his former experience:

When I was a monk I tried ever so hard to live up to the strict rules of my order. I used to make a list of my sins, and I was always on the way to confession, and whatever penances were enjoined upon me I performed religiously. In spite of it all, my conscience was always in a fever of doubt. The more I sought to help my poor stricken conscience the worse it got. The more I paid attention to the regulations the more I transgressed them.^(F10)

Too often, we get so busy doing "Christian things" in the modern church that we utterly forget what Christ has done for us. It is all too easy for us to end up our Christian pilgrimage here on earth with a sort of spiritual rigor mortis, leaving our lives cold and barren of real spiritual fruit.

"You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace" (5:4). There is probably not another verse in scripture that has caused more debate among scholars as this one. In this verse we have two rather alarming Greek words. The first is katergethete, which has a strong sense of being cut off, or severed.^(F11) The second is verb ejkpiptein, which means to fall out, to be banished or deprived. In the case of actors it means being hissed off the stage.^(F12) These are strong words and they have grave implications for followers of the Way (cf. 2 Peter 3:17).

The question that normally arises among scholars and Bible students at this point is, "Can one lose his or her salvation, or are we saved eternally?" Utley reminds us that the Bible is an eastern book and few people in the ancient Middle East would have even considered the questions we ask today in the west. Our questions are based on western logic more than they are based on revelation.

Eastern people seem to have realized that truth was often given in dialectical pairs. These pairs may have seemed contradictory on the surface but at deeper levels both points might have proven to be biblical. While the positions are tension-filled and seemingly paradoxical they were meant to affirm elements of both viewpoints. We cannot stand such logic today and we desire to establish one truth and exclude the other entirely.^(F13) We often forget that we see through a mirror dimly and understand only in part (1 Corinthians 13:12).

In other words, if we wish to be biblical we cannot choose the Calvinistic program of a secure salvation and exclude the Arminian one with its possibility of falling from grace. More than likely both have some truths, although it is possible that one has more truth than the other. The best thing we can do is trust God for more light and live out our lives in godly fear as the scripture has challenged us to do (Philippians 2:12).

There is a serious problem we have as humans. We have a hard time giving up the idea that our works somehow figure in and help us gain salvation. There is the old adage that it is easier to give up our sins than it is to give up our good works. Stott says, "People hate to be told that they can be saved only at the foot of the cross, and they oppose the preacher who tells them so."^(F14) But God looks at our works that are done toward salvation as a pile of filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Once we are saved by grace and simple faith in Jesus we can happily go out and perform as many good works as we are led to do (Ephesians 2:8-10). These works will be done through the power of the Spirit. However, we must remember that all our good works and our efforts to live by the law will never save us.

Verses 5-6

BY FAITH AND BY THE SPIRIT

For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. Galatians 5:5

God no doubt wants to move us forward in faith, through his grace and through his Spirit, to serve him effectively while we live on earth. In order to accomplish this we must get rid of our "I" disease and focus on God, his Spirit and his plan for us. This is so clearly illustrated in Romans chapters seven and eight. In chapter seven the pronoun "I" is mentioned 32 times and the Holy Spirit is not directly mentioned. In chapter 7, Paul bewails his condition of not being able to do what he would like to do. In chapter 8, "I" is mentioned only twice and the Holy Spirit is mentioned eighteen times.^(F15) Chapter eight is that grand passage that describes how we can get out of the fleshly mode and live triumphantly in the spiritual mode.

Faith and hope are very closely related. Hope is not just some pious wish as it is often thought of today but it is rather a strong assurance of that which is to come.^(F16) As we see in 1 Corinthians 13:13, it is one of the three pillars of our Christian faith.

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (5:6). The expression "in Christ" is an important one for Paul. It is really almost a short summary of his whole gospel. Although Paul never tries to describe it, the expression pictures our most intimate relationship with Jesus.^(F17) We see here that circumcision and uncircumcision really have no meaning regarding our salvation or our relationship with the Lord.

Circumcision was a "sign" in the Old Testament and it spoke of something to come (Genesis 17:11). Today what counts is circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16) and ears (Acts 7:51), as well as in our worship. In Philippians 3:3 we read, "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…." Elsewhere in the Bible it is made plain that we do not replace Israel but rather join with the redeemed of Israel in worshipping and serving God (Ephesians 3:6).

We see the gospel pattern so clearly in this verse. We are saved by faith not by circumcision and by keeping the law. There is no way we earn our salvation by our good and pious works. However, as we have said, after we are saved by grace and through faith we begin working for God (Ephesians 2:8-10). It is not by our sweat but by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. Paul says it is "faith expressing itself through love." As Stott says, "the faith which saves is a faith which works."^(F18) Or as Clarke sums it up in rhyme, "Love to God produces obedience to his will: love to man worketh no ill."^(F19) Quite simply, we do not work to get saved but we get saved to work.

Verses 7-10

LOOSING THE RACE

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. Galatians 5:7-8

Here the NIV uses the expression, "who cut in on you?" While this may be correct, Lightfoot brings out the meaning of "breaking up the road as to render it impassable."^(F20) Others see the meaning as impeding or blocking the way.

Paul often compares the Christian life to the ancient Greek Olympic Races (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26; Philippians 3:14; 2 Timothy 4:7). In these games each participant had to run with great intensity and dedication in order to win the crown. We can probably picture this best by reviewing some of the recent Olympic contests. It takes much of the runner's life to train and prepare for the race that lasts only a few moments. One mistake and all is lost.

In the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the Dutch speed skating star Sven Kramer was the hot favorite to win the 10,000-meter speed skating title. He had already won gold in his earlier 5,000-meter victory, and he had completed the grueling circuit in what would have been an Olympic record time. Suddenly his coach called for him to switch to the inner lane. In a split-second decision Kramer made the lane change and was promptly disqualified from the race. Kramer said in tears "My world collapsed… This is a disaster. This is the worst moment in my career!" Later Sports Illustrated headlined the event, "Coach's gaffe costs Kramer gold."^(F21)

As Wiersbe says, "He had called them to run faithfully in the lane marked 'Grace.'"^(F22) Unfortunately, the Galatian believers were about to switch to the lane marked "Law." Paul knew the consequences would be eternally devastating.

"A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough" (5:9). Paul momentarily switches to another metaphor as he is often prone to do. He takes us quickly from the Olympic races to the bakery. In this picture we see that just a little bit of yeast works through a whole batch of dough (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:6; Mark 8:15). This was obviously a common proverb used in Paul's day. Lightfoot relates that leaven as used in the Bible is always a symbol of evil with the single exception of Jesus' parables recorded in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:21.^(F23) Commentators generally feel that the "yeast" mentioned in scripture was not exactly the same thing as our yeast today. It was more than likely a bit of fermented dough left over from previous baking. My wife occasionally makes a batch of sough-dough bread and keeps a remnant of the dough for future batches.

The point is that leaven is a very small thing but in time it can spread and communicate its sourness to the whole batch of dough. Also as Barnes states, "If they practiced circumcision, it would not stop there. The tendency to conform to Jewish rites would spread from that, until it would infect all the doctrines of religion, and they would fall into the observance of all the rites of the Jewish law."^(F24) As it is said in Ecclesiastes 9:18, "… one sinner destroys much good."

"I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be" (5:10). The "one" mentioned here can be used in a collective sense, however it may be that there was one principal false teacher in the troublesome group.^(F25) Whether one or several, God's judgment was sure to come upon those spreading error.

Verses 11-12

DID PAUL PREACH CIRCUMCISION?

Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. Galatians 5:11

The false teachers may have actually claimed that Paul himself taught the circumcision of Gentiles. We know that sometime later Paul took young Timothy from that same area of Galatia and circumcised him because of the Jews (Acts 16:1-3). We remember that Timothy had a Jewish mother and a Greek father. Paul didn't want to bring unnecessary confusion and tension to the Jewish people he was about to work with, so he performed the act. Obviously, it was not done as a matter of faith but as a means of lessening the offense to the Jewish people and making it possible for Timothy to work closely with them.

Paul asks his accusers why he is still being persecuted. Obviously, if he preached circumcision of the Gentiles, the Jews would love him and all their persecution would cease. Paul did not preach circumcision but he preached the cross, which in essence is a much deeper and more thorough form of spiritual circumcision touching the heart and soul. The Jews wanted nothing to do with the cross, which for them was and still is today an unspeakable offense (Gk. skandalon).

The great Martin Luther once said, "When the offense of the Cross ceases, when the rage of the enemies of the Cross abates, when everything is quiet, it is a sign that the devil is the door-keeper of the Church and that the pure doctrine of God's Word has been lost."^(F26)

"As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!" (5:12). This is no doubt one of the most shocking statements ever made in scripture. Several translations struggle with its actual meaning. The New King James Bible says "I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!" While the New Revised Standard Version has it, "I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!" However we look at it this statement is brutally severe. We can know from this that stopping the threat of the Judaizers was for Paul of utmost importance and urgency.

Several commentators have pointed out that the Galatians were likely familiar with the priests of the mother goddess Cybele who were present in their area. These priests were normally castrated as they were prepared to attend to the worship of their goddess.^(F27)

Verses 13-15

THE LAW OF LOVE

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

Some commentators feel here that Paul may have been confronted with two separate problems in Galatia. In addition to the problem of the Judaizers, who were trying to bring these new believers under the bondage of the law, there may have been some antinomian influence as well. In other words, there may have been some who were trying to abuse their liberty in Christ by their self-indulgence in sin. So Paul may have been battling on two fronts simultaneously.^(F28)

At the outbreak of World War II in 1941, US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave an important address. In his address the President spoke of four basic freedoms that were desired: the freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. Wiersbe notes that a most basic freedom was left out of the list and that is the freedom from the tyranny of the individual's own sinful nature.^(F29) This tyranny seems at times to best manifest itself under the cloak of religion. So in Christ we now have great freedom but it is not a freedom to "do our own thing." It is a freedom to really love God and to really love our fellow human beings. Paul uses a form of the Greek word (doulos) which means that we should love as servants.

"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (5:14). The Royal Law of Christianity, as established by Jesus in Mark 12:31 and mentioned specifically in James 2:8, is to love our neighbor as ourselves. In order to keep this Royal Law Paul instructs us to become even the slaves of those in need. We remind ourselves that Jesus did this exact thing. He possessed more liberty than everyone else, or anyone who had ever lived on earth. Yet he did not abuse this liberty but used it to faithfully and lovingly serve others.^(F30) Admittedly, this is a challenge for the "Me Generation" which has forcefully exerted itself in the US over the last several decades. What a day it will be when we can love others with the same eagerness and spontaneity as we love ourselves.^(F31)

"If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." (5:15). Some may think this language is too severe for our churches today but we will at least have to admit that we do sometimes "snap" at each other, even if we do not end up biting or devouring. Calvin in quoting Chrysostom says, "for he did not merely say 'Bite,' which denotes an angry person, but likewise, 'Devour,' which denotes one who persists in wickedness. He who 'bites' has exhausted his angry passion, but he who 'devours' has given a demonstration of extreme cruelty."^(F32)

Verses 16-18

LIVING BY THE SPIRIT

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16

The word "live" in the Greek language is peripateite, and it means literally "to walk." This word is used principally for the Hebrew word ha-lak in the Septuagint, or the Greek Old Testament.^(F33) In the Hebrew culture "walk" and "live" are closely connected as seen in the concept of ha-la-khah, which describes the Hebrew manner of life.

In this section it is interesting how much emphasis Paul gives to walking or living in the Spirit. Richard Longnecker notes that "the truly unique feature of Pauline ethics is the role assigned to the Spirit."^(F34)

Since we are all born experts at walking in the flesh it might help us to try to understand what it is like to walk or live in the Spirit. We note in the Greek, that the spiritual walk is not an elective but it is a command, since peripateite is in the imperative present active tense.

To understand this concept we must understand another basic biblical principle, and that is the necessity for a new birth in the Spirit. The requirement of this new birth is seen clearly in Jesus' discussion with the Jewish ruler Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. Nicodemus, who was certainly well-versed in the Bible and accorded the role of "teacher" in Israel, was dumbfounded by Jesus' spiritual understanding. Jesus gave him a shocking command, "…You must be born again" (3:7). This was almost unthinkable that a great teacher in Israel would literally have to start all over from the very beginning. Jesus made plain that he would have to be born anew by faith, by the Spirit, and become like a little child in order to be saved.

So we see by this that in order to walk or live in the Spirit we must first be born again in the Spirit. We might wonder today how many great Christians and even how many Bible teachers have never experienced the new birth. We might also wonder how many Christians would even be able to describe this important process. Yet, it's at the new birth that we actually receive the Holy Spirit and the new life in Christ. Sometimes today Christians are designated as "born again" while others are apparently not described by this category. This is absurd, since all real Christians must be born again.

To be born in the Spirit corresponds at several points to being born in the natural. We are born again through blood and water as we see in 1 John 5:6-8. When we are born again we gasp for our first spiritual breath. We cry out for our first spiritual food. Then we grow and learn to walk in the Spirit.

Learning to walk in the Spirit must be comparable in some ways to learning to walk as a baby. Many of us who have been born again by the Spirit are sometimes content to lie around and be fed, or perhaps sit up and play with our toys or even crawl a little. We realize that for a baby to get up and begin walking is a paradigm change that opens up amazing new possibilities and opportunities.

One thing we should realize is that to begin walking is to fall a lot. Another part of walking is to learn to trust the one who is beckoning us to walk. That one is watching earnestly and is prepared to catch us when we stumble. When we learn to walk as little children we have to take those first baby-steps by faith. Usually we learn the hard way what to do and what not to do. We learn about heights and depths and about the law of gravity. We learn about things that will harm us, things like touching a hot stove. So obviously there are a lot of laws of living and walking that we must learn.

Now the spiritual walk is a walk in relation to the Holy Spirit who abides within us. He becomes the teacher, coach and umpire for such a walk. Like a little child we learn to take a step at a time as the scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (NKJ). In this new walk we need to maintain an overwhelming consciousness that the Holy Spirit lives within us and is directing our every step at every moment of our lives.

To walk by the Spirit is to avoid all the fleshly enticements of sin. Thus we see that we cannot take any of the credit for walking in the Spirit. All the credit belongs to God who lives in us and guides our steps. As the old lines go:

For every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are his alone.^(F35)

The Bible gives us many hints of what the spiritual walk will entail. To walk in the Spirit is to walk decently (Romans 13:13); to walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7); and to walk in good works (Ephesians 2:10). It is to walk worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1-3); to walk in love (Ephesians 5:2); to walk in the light (Ephesians 5:8-11); and to walk carefully (Ephesians 5:15-16). The spiritual walk is to walk in fruitfulness (Colossians 1:10-12) and to walk in wisdom, redeeming the time (Colossians 4:5-6). It is to walk in fellowship (1 John 1:7); to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6); to walk according to his commandments (2 John 1:6); and to walk in truth (3 John 1:4). These are just a few of the elements that describe a spiritual walk.

To walk in the Spirit is to allow the Holy Spirit to totally dominate our thinking and help us to become spiritually minded (Romans 8:5-6). We need to practice thinking spiritual thoughts and spend much more time meditating on the word of God (Joshua 1:8). Our hearts should be full of the praises to God at all times, even in our work (Psalm 34:1-2). When our heads and hearts are full of God's praises there is little room for the flesh to gain a foothold.

"For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want" (5:17). Until we are totally redeemed on that last great day there will always be a struggle in our hearts and minds between the spirit and the flesh. We see this struggle in Paul as we look at Romans 7. However, as we mentioned, we also observe this triumph and walk in the Spirit throughout Romans 8. We also note this struggle portrayed by the soldier in the poem of Studdert Kennedy as he says:

I'm a man and man's a mixture
Right down from his very birth;
For part of him comes from heaven,
And part of him comes from earth.^(F36)

There is another element of the spiritual walk that we must consider. We must be filled with the Spirit as we are commanded in Ephesians 5:18-20: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The filling of the Spirit is not some "second work of grace" that we receive miraculously sometime after conversion. The Spirit is there all the time from our new birth onward. When we are filled with the Spirit we simply allow our inmost being to be broken up and we permit the Spirit to gush out and fill us to overflowing (cf. 2 Peter 1:3-4; Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:9-10; John 4:14; John 7:37). It is interesting to note that the command to be filled by the Spirit is in the imperative present passive tense and thus is a command to "keep on being filled."

"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law" (5:18). Those who are led by the Spirit each day are no longer trying to please God by keeping the law. They are motivated by a higher law, the law of Christ, which is the law of love as we have seen. God has actually poured out this love into all our hearts through the Spirit (Romans 5:5).

Verses 19-21

FRUIT OF THE SINFUL NATURE

"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery" Galatians 5:19

While it might be necessary to look carefully for the real fruit of the Spirit, the fruits of the sinful nature usually abound and stand out. Paul lists some of the most prominent ones. They are porneia, which by New Testament times had taken on the general meaning of "sexual immorality." This would have included such things as extramarital sexual intercourse, as well as unlawful, and even unnatural sexual intercourse.^(F37) Into this description would well fit the postmodern sex-crazes, especially the craze of pornography.

Even back in the late 80s Christian authors Josh McDowell and Dick Day were reporting that by age twenty some 81 percent of American unmarried males and 67 percent of the unmarried females had already experienced sexual intercourse."^(F38) Later in 2005, author David Kupelian could add to this grim information, "According to sworn testimony before the U.S. Senate, experts reveal that by the time a female in this country is 18 years old, 38 percent have been sexually molested. One in eight women will be raped. Fifty percent of women will be sexually harassed on their jobs during their lifetimes."^(F39)

Kupelian adds that sexual slavery is no longer a malady confined to the far East and some exotic locales. He states that in the US today there are somewhere between twenty to fifty thousand women and children involved in sex trafficking each year.^(F40)

Pornography in the US has become an invasive electronic plague. He says, "There are 4.2 million pornographic Web sites – that's 12 percent of all Web sites in the world, totaling 372 million pornographic pages. Pornographic search engine requests total 68 million per day."^(F41) He adds, "Many people seem to think having sex with children is a good thing, as one hundred thousand Web sites now offer illegal child pornography, according to Internet Filter Review. Worldwide, child porn generates three billion dollars in revenues every year."^(F42) The US Christian organization Focus on the Family in research conducted with Zogby International estimates one in five Americans have viewed sex on the Internet. Focus notes that these figures generally apply to those who call themselves "born again."^(F43)

The sex mania is not only saturating the media but it is well represented in the classrooms of some of America's most prestigious institutions of learning. If we wonder how young people get some of their ideas, the answer is that their parents probably paid dearly for such an education at many of America's colleges and universities.

Author Ben Shapiro, in his book Brainwashed (How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth), states the following, "Sex is promoted non-stop in the classroom. All types of sex are deemed natural and fulfilling. Homosexuality is perfectly normal. Pedophilia is acceptable, if a bit weird. Statutory rape is laughed off Bestiality is fine."^(F44) He says, "There are openly gay courses. Almost all major universities have Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) Departments that offer majors or minors to students."^(F45)

Shapiro gives many statistics to back up his claim. He states that the University of Colorado offers these subjects, "Introduction to Lesbian, Bisexual, and Gay Literature: Queer Theory; Studies in Lesbian, Gay; Bisexual, and Transgender Literature." The University of Michigan offers, "How to be Gay; Male Homosexuality and Initiation." At the University of Massachusetts Professor Richard Burt "posted dirty pictures of himself with bare-breasted women on his university-registered Web site…Strangely, Burt was not fired."^(F46)

At Kansas University Professor Dennis Dailey offers the class Human Sexuality in Everyday Life. He shows his students three hours of "explicit" videos. Most of these videos graphically depict heterosexuals, gays, and lesbians in the sex act. The KU faculty immediately demonstrated their support for Dailey and what they felt was his highly educational class. Another professor, Barry Dank of California State University, is sure that he has the God-given right to go to bed with his students.^(F47)

Shapiro tells how many professors openly encourage pedophilia or sex between adults and children. He quotes Professor Harris Mirkin of the University of Missouri as saying that "Children are the last bastion of the old sexual morality."^(F48)

Many of the intellectual elite of our time seem to want the dark ages of paganism to return. Since the 1700s there has been the romantic but false idea of the "noble savage." This idea has been often reflected in literature and art but it is grossly misleading. It pictures the pagan savages living in an idyllic environment before they were warped with Christian ideas of morality. The truth is that pagan people often existed in a living hell filled with hatred, violence, abuse, murder, fear and hopelessness.

We cannot imagine today the depravity and moral darkness of the ancient world. To help us understand, Barclay cites Demosthenes, the prominent Greek orator and statesman who says, "We keep mistresses for pleasure, concubines for the day-to-day needs of the body, but we have wives in order to produce children legitimately and to have a trustworthy guardian of our homes."^(F49) We can see that the home, as we would understand it in the western world, was nonexistent for many pagans, even the highly educated ones. Into this great darkness the bright light of Christ shone and much of this darkness was dispelled. People were liberated for the first time in their lives. They realized what it was like to really live and to be free from their lusts, passions, fears and terrors.

Paul goes on with his list by adding uncleanness or moral corruption (Gk. akatharsia). This word was used to describe the pus that would collect on an unclean wound. When used in its positive form of katharos it had to do in the ancient world with housing contracts and with the requirement to leave the house clean. However, its most significant usage had to do with ceremonial purity that allowed people to approach their gods.^(F50) Today our world is once again drowning in uncleanness. Of course, the various forms of homosexuality would fall into this category. Uncleanness of different types can even enter into the sacred marriage relationship if we are not especially vigilant as we read in Hebrews 13:4: "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."

The next dark fruit Paul lists is debauchery (Gk. aselgeia) also known as lewdness, or gross indecency. Barclay says of aselgeia that "it is one of the ugliest words in the Greek language. It describes not only immorality; it describes those who are lost to shame. Most people seek to conceal their evil deeds, but people who have aselgeia in their hearts are long past that."^(F51) I remember the case of the US office worker some years back who dared make a photocopy of her private parts for distribution to her co-workers. Of course, we have many such outrages abounding in our electronic social media today.

The abuses of the Greek and Roman worlds might still make us blush a little. Many items of gross public pornography were found in the ruins of ancient Pompeii and elsewhere. The light of Christ shined brightly into those dark crevices. Morris remarks that "Christianity brought men an almost miraculous power to live in purity."^(F52)

Paul moves on to list more of the evil harvest with abuses such as, "idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions…" (5:20). We live in an age of idolatry (Gk. idolatria), perhaps like no other time in history. Our idols are pervasive and quite sophisticated. They are unlike the blocks of wood, stone or metal of ages past. We remember that God instructed us not to make an idol of anything, not even one resembling a man or woman (Deuteronomy 4:16). We have become the grossest of idolaters today and the idols we seem most susceptible to are those of the screen and the sports worlds. We have no shame and we even refer to these stars as our "idols." One of the most watched shows in the US today is actually called "American Idol." In fact, it has become one of the most popular shows in the history of American television.

These idols of the screen and sports worlds are often poorly equipped to be role models for their millions of admiring and worshipping young fans. Too often the idols end up divorced, on drugs or even in prison for various offences. Also, it is reported that within three years after retirement, 70 percent of the NFL football players will themselves be divorced, bankrupt or homeless. These statistics for all professional sports players is 60 percent.^(F53) This is astounding when we consider how many of these idols bring in salaries in the multi-million-dollar range.

Often when one of the most popular screen and music idols dies it almost plunges the country into national mourning. This was the case in the drug death of famous pop singer Michael Jackson. One of America's most prominent gods had died and there was mourning everywhere for days and weeks.

Paul has several more fleshly works and fruits for us. He lists sorcery or witchcraft (Gk. pharmakia) as a big one. Stott defines sorcery as "the secret tampering with the powers of evil."^(F54) For sure, our western culture including the church itself was poorly prepared for this invasion. For generations we had been spoon-fed the lies of Modernism with its claim that all was material and there was no supernatural world. Frankly, when I was growing up, our churches no longer believed in things like sorcery, witchcraft and demons. In this state of unpreparedness the church was hit broadside with a sorcery invasion. Today Harry Potter books and movies are everywhere and no doubt even in many church libraries.

We lost this battle and it was a serious one. We didn't realize that sorcery and drugs were so closely connected. Even the word describing sorcery and witchcraft is the word from which we get "pharmacy." The church lost millions of its finest young people to the drug culture and we didn't even realize that we had lost them to sorcery.

Paul continues listing the works or fruits of the flesh – but the list is long. Next he mentions "hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage." This was how the "noble savage" lived. This was the world before Christ and his great love began to permeate it.

Also listed are "selfish ambition, dissensions, factions." Today we have all but glorified selfish ambition (Gk. eritheia) and made it a worthwhile career and business goal. In the Greek language this word depicted a hired laborer, but it later began to describe one who wanted public office, not for the sake of service, but for what the person could get out of it.^(F55)

We must sadly point out that the words (or rather spirits) of discord, dissention, and factions have somehow made their way into the church. They often sit on the front row and sing the loudest. They even say "praise the Lord" and "amen!" Somehow in Christianity we have never learned that when we promote discord and dissention, or when we divide into factions, we are doing the work of the flesh. The only excuse for such things ever is when the foundational truths of the faith are actually at stake. In all our heresy hunting we should note that the word for factions (Gk. hairesis) is the word from which we get "heresy."^(F56)

It seems that there is no stopping place as Paul describes the fruit of the flesh. He goes on adding, "and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God" (5:21). Barclay says that the word "envy" (Gk. phthonos) is a mean word. He relates how Euripides the Greek dramatist called it "the greatest of all diseases."^(F57) In our culture we have sanctified envy under the popular pastime known as "keeping up with the Joneses."

At last in the list we have a couple of sins that seem to hang around together. They are drunkenness and orgies. We do not have to describe drunkenness for we have plenty examples of it in our society. Orgies (Gk. komos) has been described as that unrestrained revelry, carousing and immoral behavior that once accompanied the worship of Bacchus the god of wine.^(F58) Today it still accompanies drink and the worship of our false gods.

Paul had warned the Galatians before (perhaps on the first missionary journey) and now he warns them again that those who do such things will not inherit God's kingdom. We should note here that the Greek verb prassontes ("do" in some early translations) should really be translated "practicing." This does not refer to some isolated lapse but it refers to one who habitually practices such things.^(F59) We had better take this list seriously and determine to get these things out of our lives if we have any intention of inheriting God's kingdom.

Verses 22-23

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22

Here we almost want to stop, exhale all the putrid air, and breathe in the pure air of the Spirit of God. When we come to the fruit of the Spirit it is almost like walking through a lovely orchard with its sweet, enticing smells of ripe fruit.

Wiersbe remarks about fruit, "A machine in a factory works and turns out a product, but it could never manufacture fruit. Fruit must grow out of life…When you think of works you think of effort, labor, strain, and toil; when you think of 'fruit' you think of beauty, quietness, the unfolding of life."^(F60)

As we look at this section we need to understand the difference between fruit and gifts. God may give each person several spiritual gifts in order to accomplish his own work. For instance, a person may be given the supernatural gift of faith. However, there is a big difference between the gift of faith and the fruit of faith. "The fruit of the Spirit listed in our passage has to do with character…the gifts of the Spirit… have to do with service (1 Corinthians 12)."^(F61) The spiritual gifts are God's investment in the harvest but the fruit is the harvest itself. We must not get the two confused. The fruit is what God wants to see growing in his garden. It is what Jesus will be looking for when he comes again.

One thing we need to point out about fruit is that it tries to keep itself hidden. Many times on a fruit tree there will be colored leaves similar to the color of the fruit. We see this also with strawberry leaves that are colored almost exactly like a ripe strawberry. It is good to lift our spiritual fruit up to God and not try to boast about it or seek to show it off

The first and most important fruit is love (Gk. agape). Commentators have long pointed out the difference between the agape love and the sensual love of eros. The latter is not used in the New Testament. We hear much about this eros type of love today and since we have only one word for "love" in English, it often gets us confused as to what real love is. This agape love may be best described as "unconquerable benevolence."^(F62) It is the kind of love God displays as he makes his sun shine rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45).

Second, Paul mentions the fruit of joy (Gk. chara). This is more than just the transitory happiness that those of the world sometimes experience. This is rather a deep abiding joy that is only found in Christ and given by the Holy Spirit. It is "…an inexpressible and glorious joy" (1 Peter 1:8). Joy is a favorite word of Paul and no other New Testament writer even comes close to speaking of it as much as he does.^(F63)

Next comes the fruit of peace (eirene). Both eirene and chara became popular Christian names in the early church. In the Greek Old Testament this word eirene is used for the Hebrew shalom. That word has a much deeper meaning than just the absence of war or turmoil. It reflects the idea of a person's highest good, a state of well-being, harmony in personal relationships and especially in relationship with God.^(F64) In Israel today shalom is used as a common greeting. I have heard the Jews, who are not the least bit disposed to guile, refuse to return this greeting but instead reply, "there is no peace!"

Now we have a quite common and interesting word. It is the Greek makrothumia, and it can be defined as a conquering patience or long-suffering. Perhaps we should spell it loooooong- suffering. In our relations with each other it might be called "patience with people." Can we think of someone in this "Age of Twitter" who is really patient? We need some help in this area for sure. We should note that patience is to be patterned after the long-suffering of God.

The next fruit that comes to view in God's lovely orchard is that of gentleness (Gk. chrestotes). It has the additional meanings of goodness, excellence and uprightness.^(F65) Then Paul moves on to a very similar fruit, that of goodness itself, which is agathosune in the Greek. We know that some fruits in nature are very closely related, much like a peach and a nectarine. It seems to be the same in the spiritual world.

Then we have the fruit of faith (Gk. pistis) in verse 22. Morris points out that most commentators see this word as "faithfulness" or "fidelity." It describes that ability to be faithful in serving God through the years despite the temptations we may have.^(F66) It pictures one in whom confidence can be placed. Surely this fruit is greatly lacking in our age. I have painful memories of once taking on two responsibilities that unfortunately fell within the same time frame. I decided I could somehow do them both, but in the end I was totally tied up with the first responsibility and never showed up for the second one. It is impossible to know what shame that this failure brought to Christ and how it lowered the level of my Christianity in the eyes of others.

Paul winds up his list with "gentleness and self-control." He remarks about these and all the other fruits saying, "Against such things there is no law" (5:23). Gentleness is the Greek word praotes. Morris points out how it can mean humility, courtesy, consideration, and meekness. He mentions how the self-assertiveness, that is so prevalent in our age, should not be valued so highly according to the Bible.^(F67) Barclay feels that praotes is almost an untranslatable word. In the adjective form it describes an animal that was wild and has been tamed. It has the meanings of being submissive to God's will, being considerate and being teachable.^(F68) The latter, having a teachable spirit, is sorely lacking among Christians today, and sometimes it is even lacking among Christian teachers themselves.

The last fruit of "self-control" may be more lacking still. In the Greek language it is agkrateia and it has the meaning not only of self-control but of self-mastery.^(F69) In the twenty-first century we are sorely lacking in this fruit. When we look around us especially in the US we see over 60 percent of the people overweight and a good percentage of these grossly overweight. It appears to make little difference whether the persons overweight are Christians or non-Christians. The statistics are about the same. We seem to live in an age of excesses. Not only do people eat too much but they drink too much. Millions of Americans are addicted to drugs, to porn, to sports, to TV and to scores of other things. It seems that whatever fruit we once possessed has shriveled up and gotten wormy.

Paul says that against these types of things (these fruit of the Spirit) there is no law. We hardly hear of people going to jail for their self-control or their kindness. Only when Christians are being severely persecuted do such strange things happen.

As we bring the subject of fruit to its conclusion we need to remind ourselves what good fruit is all about. It is not just to be admired or put on display. It is to be eaten. Wiersbe points out how people all around us are starving for these very things. They are starving for love, for joy and for peace.^(F70) They want to see all these beautiful things in our lives and surely we don't want to disappoint them and let them all go away hungry.

Verses 24-26

DEALING WITH THE SINFUL NATURE

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

We see something quite interesting in this verse. Supposedly we have crucified the sinful nature as Christians. Yet, as Wiersbe points out, crucifixion is one death that we cannot inflict upon ourselves.^(F71) A person has to be crucified. Fortunately for us we see that this gruesome act has already been accomplished in Christ. In Galatians 2:20, we learn that Paul was already crucified with Christ. In Romans 6:6 we read, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin…."

We have dealt with this before but once again we must ask, how do we reconcile these two ideas? There is no question that the great work of crucifying our old man was done on the cross by Christ two-thousand years ago. We have the task of "reckoning" that great work as being "done." There is a much lesser sense in which we participate in the crucifixion. We participate in it as we take up the cross of Christ and follow him (Mark 8:34). We participate in it as we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, put to death the fleshly things that still somehow try to survive in each of our lives. We participate in crucifixion as we refuse to make provision for the flesh and as we deny its passions. In that sense, crucifixion is not only a painful death but a lingering death.^(F72)

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" (5:25). I remember many years ago, one of our drill songs as we marched along in the US Army went like this, "Our right guide is out of step…sound off…sound off…sound off…cadence count…one, two, three, four – one, two – three, four!" I don't remember, but I suspect that after the whole company had sounded off, the right guide managed to get himself in step. Oh that we could have such a warning. Morris gives us some light on the Greek word stoichomen which has to do with getting in step. It means to "be in line with" or to "agree with and follow."^(F73)

"Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other" (5:26). The Greek verb used here for provoking (prokaleo) is a unique word in the New Testament. It has the idea of challenging someone to a contest.^(F74) We must remember that in this great Christian race and Christian life we are living, we are really not in competition with each other. We are rather meant to encourage and spur one another on to good works as we run this race together.