Galatians 5 Esv

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 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. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.In 2020, the Ireland-based Association of Catholic Priests criticized the ESV for its position on the use of gender-neutral language, perceiving the use of terms such as “mankind” and “brothers” to be “not just out of sync with modern usage but are culturally regarded as diminishing and disrespectful of women.”

In April 2020, the Catholic Church in India started using a new English lectionary which uses the ESV-CE as its Bible text (excluding the book of Psalms, which uses the Grail Psalms translation instead).

… the book that has most shaped my writing is the Bible—the ESV. Not only is this the book I’ve read most over the years, but it’s also the book I’ve studied the closest, and memorized most substantially. And then, of all the books I’ve read, it’s one of the finest in its literary quality. … One thing I’ve always loved about the ESV is its superior use of the English language. Any translation involves a trade-off between precision and readability so that the most-literal translations also tend to be the least-readable. Though the ESV is a precise Bible, its translators chose to place a premium on literary excellence. … They succeeded well, and the Bible they translated is beautiful to read—far more than any of its contemporaries.Crossway claims that the ESV “retains theological terminology—words such as grace, faith, justification, sanctification, redemption, regeneration, reconciliation, propitiation—because of their central importance for Christian doctrine and also because the underlying Greek words were already becoming key words and technical terms among Christians in New Testament times.” It also claims that the ESV lets the distinct writing styles of the various biblical writers come through the translated text.

In 1999, World reported of “feminists” noticing links between Crossway and the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW). Members of the CBMW had earlier been involved in criticizing plans made by Zondervan’s New International Version (NIV) translation committee to publish a gender-neutral edition of the NIV. Grudem, who was president of the CBMW at the time, responded by stating, “This [translation] is not a CBMW project.”

Crossway claims that the ESV continues a legacy of precision and faithfulness in translating the original text into English. It describes the ESV as a translation that adheres to an “essentially literal” translation philosophy, taking into account “differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages.” It also describes the ESV as a translation that “emphasizes ‘word-for-word’ accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning.”In 2013, Gideons International permanently transitioned from the New King James Version to the ESV as their translation of choice for free of charge distribution Bibles. In addition to being granted licensing for the ESV text (for the purpose of distribution), Crossway gave Gideons International permission to modify the text to use alternative readings based on the Textus Receptus. The Gideons edition uses more than 50 alternative readings.In August 2006, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod released the Lutheran Service Book (LSB), which uses the ESV as its primary Bible text. With permission from Crossway, the LSB occasionally uses an alternative reading of the ESV in accordance with its original translation principles.Chaired by Dennis, the fourteen-member Translation Oversight Committee was aided by more than fifty biblical experts serving as review scholars. The translation committee also received input from the Advisory Council, having more than fifty members. J. I. Packer served as general editor of the translation. The translation committee features the following notable individuals:

Coinciding with the release of the revision, Crossway announced that “the text of the ESV Bible will remain unchanged in all future editions printed and published by Crossway.” However, in a statement from Lane T. Dennis the following month, the new policy was abandoned “to allow for ongoing periodic updating of the text to reflect the realities of biblical scholarship such as textual discoveries or changes in English over time.” In the statement, Dennis responded to public discourse surrounding the policy: “We have become convinced that this decision was a mistake. We apologize for this and for any concern this has caused for readers of the ESV.” The revision was subsequently republished as “ESV Text Edition: 2016.”

In 2019, Anglican Liturgy Press published the ESV with Apocrypha. This edition includes the Apocrypha, placed at the back of the Bible. Having been approved by the ESV translation committee, the Apocrypha text found in this edition is a minor revision of the 2009 text published by Oxford University Press. A notable revision was made in retranslating the Book of Tobit.

In July 2020, the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland approved the preparation of a new lectionary based on the ESV-CE. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales also approved their own lectionary to be based on the ESV-CE.

In June 2021, Samuel L. Perry published a journal article titled “Whitewashing Evangelical Scripture: The Case of Slavery and Antisemitism in the English Standard Version.” In the article, Perry attempts to demonstrate how “the ESV editors, while modifying certain RSV renderings to establish transitivity for their text among complementarian/biblicist Christians, sought to establish intransitivity between the text and more pejorative social interpretations by progressively re-translating lexically ambiguous terms and introducing footnotes to obviate the Bible’s ostensible promotion of slavery and antisemitism.” In turn, Perry was interviewed by Salon regarding the content of the article. Boyce College Professor of Biblical Studies Denny Burk points out that Perry makes a “significant error” in referring to Grudem as the general editor of the ESV. In July 2021, Bible Study Magazine editor Mark Ward published an article to his personal blog in response:In 2009, Oxford University Press published the English Standard Version Bible with Apocrypha. This edition includes the Apocrypha, placed at the back of the Bible, intended for “denominations that use those books in liturgical readings and for students who need them for historical purposes.”

The ESV is derived from the 1971 text edition of the Revised Standard Version. ESV translation committee member Wayne Grudem claims that approximately eight percent (or about 60,000 words) of the 1971 RSV text being used for the ESV was revised as of first publication in 2001. Grudem states that the committee removed “every trace of liberal influence that had caused such criticism from evangelicals when the RSV was first published in 1952.” Although, Grudem also states that much of the 1971 RSV text left unchanged by the committee “is simply ‘the best of the best’ of the KJV tradition.”During the early 1990s, Crossway president Lane T. Dennis engaged in discussions with various Christian scholars and pastors regarding the need for a new literal translation of the Bible. In 1997, Dennis contacted the National Council of Churches (NCC) and proceeded to enter negotiations, alongside Trinity Evangelical Divinity School professor Wayne Grudem, to obtain rights to use the 1971 text edition of the Revised Standard Version (RSV) as the starting point for a new translation. In September 1998, an agreement was reached with the NCC for Crossway to use and modify the 1971 RSV text, thereby enabling the creation of a new translation. Crossway moved forward from this position by forming a translation committee and initiating work on the English Standard Version. Crossway officially published the ESV in 2001.

The English Standard Version (ESV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was “created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors.” The ESV relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.While the content of the paper was helpful, I am afraid that it only increased the gap between the two “sides” of the [translation philosophy] debate. … He kept saying that the ESV has “missed” or “not considered” certain translational issues. While I am sure they were not intentional, these are emotionally charged words that do not help in the debate. They are in essence ad hominem arguments focusing on our competence (or perceived lack thereof) and not on the facts. He was not in the translation meetings and does not know if we in fact did miss or did not consider these issues. … The solution to this debate is to recognize that there are different translation philosophies, different goals and means by which to reach those goals, and the goal of the translator is to be consistent in achieving those goals. In all but one of his examples, our translation was the one required by our translation philosophy.

In 2019, the Augustine Institute published the ESV-CE in North America as the Augustine Bible. In October 2021, following these developments, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge published its own version of the ESV-CE, newly typeset and with anglicized spelling, in multiple formats.

Since its official publication, the ESV has received endorsement from numerous evangelical pastors and theologians, including John Piper, R. C. Sproul, and Kevin DeYoung.

In October 2019, University of Oklahoma Sociology Associate Professor Samuel L. Perry published a journal article titled “The Bible as a Product of Cultural Power: The Case of Gender Ideology in the English Standard Version.” In the article, Perry attempts to demonstrate “how a more critical approach toward ‘the Bible’ can provide richer, more sophisticated sociological analyses of power and cultural reproduction within Christian traditions.” Perry argues that Crossway’s ESV translation committee made “intentional, systematic changes” into the ESV for the purpose of being able to “publish and mass-market a text more amenable to conservative, complementarian interpretations.” Perry further argues that the ESV translation committee “have engaged in more covert means of cultural reproduction, not only disseminating their interpretation of the biblical text, but manipulating the text itself.” The ESV Study Bible often details in its study notes why a complementarian interpretation of the original text may have been rendered in translation.Perry raises very important questions about Bible interpretation, and about the proper translation of fought-over words like “slave” and “Jew.” … So I carefully read not only the Salon interview but also the scholarly article in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion which gave rise to it. … They [both] carry the same basic message. And that message is full of frankly cynical, acidic ideas about Bible study … The first step in interpretation should be transitivity. You should try to fit what you read in the Bible in with your existing tradition. That’s simple hermeneutical humility—as long as it’s paired with a sincere desire to hold one’s tradition up to the light of Scripture. … I can be grateful to Perry for some sharp observations, even some warning shots, while still insisting that any view that muzzles God, that severs the link between his intentions and his words, is rebellion. … To offer “establishing transitivity with existing views” as a wholly sufficient view of evangelical Bible use is to take a small truth and make it the whole truth. It is to say to God, “We can’t hear you because other people are talking.” In 2018, the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India published the ESV Catholic Edition Bible (ESV-CE), which includes the deuterocanonical books in Catholic canonical order. With permission from Crossway, a team of Catholic scholars reviewed the text of the ESV in light of the Vatican’s translation principles as set forth in Liturgiam authenticam, making approved modifications where needed to adhere to Catholic teaching. Strauss invited Mounce to engage further through participation at the following annual meeting. In 2009, Mounce presented his formal response paper titled “Can the ESV and TNIV Co-Exist in the Same Universe?” In the paper, Mounce describes various points regarding his view of the need for both formal and functional translations.d. I have confidence in you: Wanting to leave the confrontation on a positive note, Paul expressed his confidence in the Galatians (which was really a confidence in the Lord who is able to keep them). Yet, Paul was equally confident that judgment awaits those who lead them astray and away from Jesus (he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is).b. Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God: To walk in these works of the flesh is to be in plain rebellion against God, and those in plain rebellion against God will not inherit the kingdom of God.

a. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith: Those walking in the Spirit wait for righteousness by faith; they are not trying to earn it by performing good works. No one is a legalist through the Spirit.

i. Significantly, it is the fruit of the Spirit set across from the works of the flesh. Works are works, and fruit is fruit. Fruit has several important characteristics. f. Provoking one another: When we are conceited – always sure we are right, always confident in our opinions and perceptions – it definitely provokes other people. It will rub them the wrong way and be the source of many conflicts. ii. Sorcery (translated witchcraft in the NIV) is the service and worship of occult and spiritual powers apart from the true God. It also has another dimension, revealed by the word for sorcery in the original language Paul uses: pharmakeia, from which we get our word for “pharmacy.” Morris defines sorcery as “the use of any kind of drugs, potions, or spells.” In the ancient world, the taking of drugs (especially hallucinogens) was always associated with the occult, and the Bible’s association with drug taking and sorcery points out that drugs open up doors to the occult that are better left closed. William Barclay wrote, “this literally means the use of drugs… it came to be very specially connected with the use of drugs for sorcery, of which the ancient world was full.” The Holy Spirit never led anyone into sorcery or getting high on drugs.i. Luther on the lust of the flesh: “I do not deny that the lust of the flesh includes carnal lust. But it takes in more. It takes in all the corrupt desires with which believers are more or less infected, as pride, hatred, covetousness, impatience.”

ii. Drunkenness is clearly described as one of the works of the flesh. While Christians may differ as to if a Christian can drink alcohol, the Scriptures precisely forbid drunkenness. We must not think that only being “falling down drunk” is a sin; but being impaired in any way by drink is sin, as well as drinking with the intention of becoming impaired. Ephesians 5:18 also describes drunkenness as dissipation, which means “wastefulness.” Getting drunk is a waste; Trapp writes of drinking “all the three outs” – “that is, ale out of the pot, money out of the purse, and wit out of the head.” For certain, the Holy Spirit never led anyone into drunkenness.b. Fruit of the Spirit: Paul used the plural in describing life after the flesh (works of the flesh), but he uses the singular (fruit, not fruits, of the Spirit). In the big picture, the Spirit has one work to do in all of us. These aren’t the gifts of the Spirit, which are distributed on an individual basis by the will of the Spirit; this is something for every Christian.

a. Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh: Simply put, if we walk in the Spirit (instead of trying to live by the law), we naturally shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Again, the fear of the legalist – that walking in the Spirit gives license to sin, and that only legalism can keep us holy – is just plain wrong.i. We could say that this peace is a peace of the Spirit, because it is a higher peace than just what comes when everything is calm and settled. This is a peace of God, which surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

j. The fruit of the Spirit is… self-control: The world knows something of self-control, but almost always for a selfish reason. It knows the self-disciple and denial someone will go through for themselves, but the self-control of the Spirit will also work on behalf of others.

c. But through love serve one another: This is the antidote for using liberty as an occasion for the flesh. The flesh expects others to conform to us, and doesn’t care much about others. But when we through love serve one another, we conquer the flesh. It isn’t through an obsessive, contemplative attitude of navel-gazing that we overcome the flesh, but by getting out and serving others.

c. You have fallen from grace: When we embrace the law as our rule of walking with God, we depart from Jesus and His grace. We are then estranged from Christ, separated from Him and His saving grace.i. When Paul uses the term flesh, he didn’t mean our flesh and blood bodies. Precisely speaking, our flesh isn’t even that fallen nature, the “old man” that we inherited from Adam, because the old man was crucified with Jesus, and is now dead and gone (Romans 6:6). Instead, as Paul uses it here, the flesh is the inner man that exists apart from the “old man” or the “new man,” and which is trained in rebellion by the old nature, the world, and the devil.

i. The fruit of the Spirit is… gentleness: The word has the idea of being teachable, not having a superior attitude, not demanding one’s rights. It isn’t timidity or passiveness; “It is the quality of the man who is always angry at the right time and never at the wrong time.” (Barclay)iii. “If you will read the chapter, you will notice that the apostle has used no less than seventeen words, I might almost say eighteen, to describe the works of the flesh. Human language is always rich in bad words, because the human heart is full of the manifold evils which these words denote.” (Spurgeon)

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! c. A little leaven leavens the whole lump: The warning is driven home – the corrupting influence of legalism and other doctrines that diminish Jesus are like leaven in a lump of dough. A little bit will soon corrupt the whole lump. i. What is at stake here? The kingdom of God, which describes where God rules, and the benefits of His rule are realized. Because Paul speaks of inheriting the kingdom of God, we understand he means “heaven.” Paul says plainly, that those who practice such things will not go to heaven. Neither will they know the wonder and the glory of the kingdom of God on earth.We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.i. To walk in the Spirit first means that the Holy Spirit lives in you. Second, it means to be open and sensitive to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Third, it means to pattern your life after the influence of the Holy Spirit.i. Wuest on eagerly wait: “The word speaks of an attitude of intense yearning and an eager waiting for something. Here it refers to the believer’s intense desire for and eager expectation of a practical righteousness which will be constantly produced in his life by the Holy Spirit as he yields himself to Him.” i. Morris on against such there is no law: “This is a masterly understatement. It draws our attention to the fact that the kind of conduct that Paul has outlined is that which lawmakers everywhere want to bring about.” ii. Paul also made it emphatic: the liberty. Today, people live in the headlong pursuit of “freedom,” which they think of as doing whatever they want to do, and never denying any desire. This is a kind of liberty, a false liberty; but it is not the liberty. The liberty is our freedom from the tyranny of having to earn our own way to God, the freedom from sin and guilt and condemnation, freedom from the penalty and the power and eventually freedom from the presence of sin. i. This effectively “writes” the law of God on our hearts, inside of us. This is the great work of the New Covenant, promised in the Old Testament: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jeremiah 31:33). g. The fruit of the Spirit is… kindness, goodness: These two words are closely connected. About the only difference is that goodness also has with it the idea of generosity.

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.d. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law: The antidote to the flesh is not found in the law, but in the Spirit – and if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. You don’t need to be, because you fulfill the will of God through the inner influence of the Holy Spirit instead of the outer influence of the law of God.

i. The great evangelist D. L. Moody illustrated this point by quoting an old former slave woman in the South following the Civil War. Being a former slave, she was confused about her status and asked: Now is I free, or been I not? When I go to my old master he says I ain’t free, and when I go to my own people they say I is, and I don’t know whether I’m free or not. Some people told me that Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation, but master says he didn’t; he didn’t have any right to. Many Christians are confused on the same point. Jesus Christ has given them an “Emancipation Proclamation,” but their “old master” tells them they are still slaves to a legal relationship with God. They live in bondage because their “old master” has deceived them.

ii. Lightfoot on hindered: “A metaphor derived from military operations. The word signifies ‘to break up a road’… so as to render it impassable, and is therefore the opposite of… ‘to clear a way.’” The Galatians were doing well until someone broke up the road they ran on.

b. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? Paul knew that the false teaching came from a person (who hindered you); but it didn’t come from Jesus (This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you).ii. The inner influence is far more effective than the outer influence. “The mistake that is made so often is that the Mosaic law is substituted for the restraint of the Holy Spirit, and with disastrous results… A policeman on the street corner is a far more efficient deterrent of law-breaking than any number of city ordinances placarded for public notice.” (Wuest)

b. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love: Those walking in the Spirit know that being circumcised or uncircumcised means nothing. What matters is faith working through love, both of which were conspicuously absent in the legalists.iii. Boice on have crucified: “The verb is in the active voice and points rather to what the believer has himself done and must continue to regard as being done.” i. “The ability to serve God faithfully through the years and through the temptations of life is not something we achieve by heroic virtue. It comes from the Spirit.” (Morris) i. Again, the legalists among the Galatians wanted them to think they could observe some aspects of the law without coming under the entire law. But when we choose to walk by law, we must walk by the whole law.Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. b. And you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh: There is no way anyone can fulfill the lust of the flesh as they walk in the Spirit. The two simply don’t go together. The Holy Spirit doesn’t move in us to gratify our fallen desires and passions, but to teach us about Jesus and to guide us in the path of Jesus. This is the key to righteous living – walking in the Spirit, not living under the domination of the law. d. The fruit of the Spirit is… joy: One of the greatest marketing strategies ever employed was to position the kingdom of Satan as the place where the fun is and the kingdom of God as the place of gloom and misery. But the fruit of the Spirit is joy.i. “If you want to know how you ought to love your neighbor, ask yourself how much you love yourself. If you were to get into trouble or danger, you would be glad to have the love and help of all men. You do not need any book of instructions to teach you how to love your neighbor. All you have to do is to look into your own heart, and it will tell you how you ought to love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luther)ii. The ancient Greek word used here for peace is eirene, and it “means not just freedom from trouble but everything that makes for a man’s highest good. Here it means that tranquility of heart which derives from the all-pervading consciousness that our times are in the hands of God.” (Barclay)

c. With its passions and desires: In Jesus Christ, you can live above the passions and desires of your flesh. The resources are there in Jesus. Look to Him. See your life in Him. If you are one of those who are Christ’s, then you belong to Him – not to this world, not to yourself, and not to your passions and desires.ii. Barclay on chara, the ancient Greek word used here for joy: “It is not the joy that comes from earthly things, still less from triumphing over someone else in competition. It is a joy whose foundation is God.”We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings. iii. In writing this, Paul also wished that these legalists would be cut off from the congregation of the Lord as required by Deuteronomy 23:1: He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. k. Against such there is no law: Paul wrote with both irony and understatement. There is certainly no law against love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But more so, if a person has this fruit of the Spirit, he doesn’t need the Law. He already fulfills it.i. “He is not saying that a certain measure of liberty was grudgingly accorded believers. He is saying that freedom is of the essence of being Christian; it is the fundamental basis of all Christian living.” (Morris)

Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details.a. But the fruit of the Spirit: The works of the flesh seem overwhelming – both in us and around us. God is good enough and big enough to change everything with the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit can always conquer the works of the flesh.

vii. Heresies translates an ancient Greek word (hairesis) which originally simply meant “to choose.” Over time, it came to mean someone who divisively expressed their “choices” or opinions. We think today of heresies in terms of wrong ideas and teachings; but the emphasis in the word is actually the wrongful dividing over opinions. Heresies can be thought of as hardened dissensions. “There is all the difference in the world between believing that we are right and believing that everyone is wrong. Unshakable conviction is a Christian virtue; unyielding intolerance is a sin.” (Barclay, Flesh and Spirit, cited in Morris) The Holy Spirit never led anyone into heresies.These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

i. We could say that this is joy of the Spirit, because it is a higher joy than just the thrill of an exciting experience or a wonderful set of circumstances. It is a joy that can abide and remain, even when circumstances seem terrible. Paul knew this joy personally; he could sing when manacled in a dark prison dungeon (Acts 16:25).i. The idea is, “The Spirit has given you life. Now let Him direct your steps.” Or, as the Revised English Bible has it, “If the Spirit is the source of our life, let the Spirit also direct its course.”

i. Love translates the ancient Greek word agape. In that language there were four distinct words for “love.” Eros was the word for romantic or passionate love. Philia was the word for the love we have for those near and dear to us, be they family or friends. Storge is the word for the love that shows itself in affection and care, especially family affection. But agape describes a different kind of love. It is a love more of decision than of the spontaneous heart; as much a matter of the mind than the heart, because it chooses to love the undeserving. “Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which rises unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live.” (Barclay)

iii. This does not mean that the mere act of being circumcised means that someone is under a legal relationship with God, and must keep the whole law for salvation. Paul spoke to the Gentile Christians among the Galatians, who were being drawn to circumcision as adults, as evidence that they had come under the Law of Moses as the “first step” to salvation. We will later see that Paul didn’t care one way or another about circumcision (Galatians 5:6). What he detested was the theology of circumcision as presented by the legalists.iv. Rendall on opportunity: “This term was applied in military language to a base of operations, and generally to any starting-point for action.” We are tempted to use our liberty in Jesus as a “base of operations” for selfish sin.

e. Drunkenness… revelries: These can be thought of as social sins – sins that are often committed in the company of other people. The fact that Paul includes these two sins in his list shows that they were works of the flesh that the Galatian Christians had to be on guard against. Romans 13:12-13 lists drunkenness and revelries as part of the Christians’ past of darkness that now need to be cast off as we walk in the light.

iv. Faith must work through love. Herod had faith that John the Baptist was a true prophet, but there was no faith working through love, and he had John the Baptist murdered. Real faith, saving faith, will work through love.ii. Legalism can’t handle the offense of the cross. The whole point of Jesus dying on the cross was to say, “You can’t save yourself. I must die in your place or you have absolutely no hope at all.” When we trust in legalism, we believe that we can, at least in part, save ourselves. This takes away the offense of the cross, which should always offend the nature of fallen man. In this sense, the offense of the cross is really the glory of the cross, and legalism takes this glory away.

a. For you, brethren, have been called to liberty: Paul has made the point over and over again – the Christian life is a life of liberty. Jesus came to set the captives free, not to keep them in bondage or put them in bondage all over again. It is worth asking if people see us as people of freedom and liberty. Often, Christians are seen as people more bound up and hung up than anyone else is.i. Hatred (ekthra) is an attitude of heart, and it somehow expresses itself in actions such as contentions, outbursts of wrath, or many other works of the flesh. But hatred is the inner motivation for the ill treatment of others. Just as love is the inner motivation for the kind and good treatment of others, hatred is an inner motivation. Laws can be passed to punish the evil that men do against each other; but no law can answer the problem of hatred, which motivates those acts. But the Holy Spirit never led anyone into hatred.

ii. These ones have been called to liberty. As Paul put it earlier in the chapter, they have been made free by Jesus Christ, now they are called to stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free (Galatians 5:1). They have been set free; now the question is, “How will they use their liberty?”ii. Contentions translates the ancient Greek word eris. “Originally, this word had mainly to do with the rivalry for prizes… it means the rivalry which has found its outcome in quarrellings and wrangling.” (Barclay) Most commonly it is translated as strife (as in Romans 13:13 and 1 Corinthians 3:3), and simply speaks of a combative and argumentative spirit. The Holy Spirit never led anyone into contentions.

You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!i. “Christians also fall and perform the lusts of the flesh. David fell horribly into adultery. Peter also fell grievously when he denied Christ. However great as these sins were, they were not committed to spite God, but from weakness. When their sins were brought to their attention these men did not obstinately continue in their sin, but repented. Those who sin through weakness are not denied pardon as long as they rise again and cease to sin. There is nothing worse than to continue in sin. If they do not repent, but obstinately continue to fulfill the desires of the flesh, it is a sure sign that they are not sincere.” (Luther)v. It is easy to think liberty is “the right to sin,” or “the privilege to do whatever evil my heart wants to do.” Instead, this liberty is the Spirit-given desire and ability to do what we should do before God.

i. The danger of falling from grace is real, but it is often misunderstood. Most people think of “falling away” in terms of immoral conduct, but we are not saved by our conduct. However, we are saved by our continuing reliance by faith on the grace of God. Someone may fall from grace and be damned without ever falling into grossly immoral conduct.

i. Morris on conceited: “To be conceited, to be sure that we are always right (even if that means that other people are always wrong!) is a perennial temptation to believers… It is easy to assume that because we are Christ’s we will always say and do the right thing. Paul is warning his readers that believers can be too confident that they are right in what they are contemplating.”

iii. This verse also tells us what does matter in this place: faith working through love. You have faith? Wonderful; but it must be faith working through love. If your faith doesn’t work, it isn’t real faith. If it doesn’t work through love, it isn’t real faith. But your love alone isn’t enough; your love must also have faith: an abiding trust in Jesus and what He did for us.f. And the like: This demonstrates that Paul understands that his list is not exhaustive. These are not the only works of the flesh. It isn’t as if one could find a work of the flesh that is not described in this list, then one would be free to do it.iv. Lewdness (sometimes translated licentiousness) has the idea of “ready to sin at any time.” It speaks of someone who flaunts their immorality, throwing off all restraint and having no sense of shame, propriety, or embarrassment. Morris defines it as “a disregard of accepted rules… conduct that knows no restraint.” Lewdness can be thought of as public and open uncleanness. “A man may be unclean and hide his sin; he does not become licentious until he shocks public decency.” (Lightfoot) We live in an incredibly lewd culture, yet the Holy Spirit never led anyone into lewdness. c. Idolatry… sorcery: These are religious sins. They are sins of worship, and remind us that it isn’t only tragic to worship the wrong God, or seek the wrong spiritual power – it is sinful as well. viii. Envy is the ancient Greek word phthonos. It doesn’t so much want what someone else has (as in jealousies), but it is bitter just because someone else has something and we don’t. The ancient Stoics called this “grief at someone else’s good,” and the ancient philosopher Euripides said it was “the greatest of all diseases among men.” The Holy Spirit never led anyone into envy.a. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires: God has a place for our flesh, with all its passions and desires. He wants us to nail it to His cross, so that it may be under control and under the sentence of death.

v. Selfish ambitions translates the ancient Greek word eritheia, and the word has an interesting history. It started out as a perfectly respectable word meaning “to work for pay.” Over time, it began to mean the kind of work that is done for money and for no other reason. Then it was used to describe politicians who campaign for election, not for what service they can give to the government and the people, but only for their own glory and benefit. “It ended up meaning ‘selfish ambition’, the ambition which has no conception of service and whose only aims are profit and power.” It is the heart of a person whose first question is always, “What’s in it for me?” To be sure, the Holy Spirit never led anyone into selfish ambitions.ii. If we come to God on the basis of our own law keeping we must keep the whole law and our law-keeping must be perfect. No amount of obedience makes up for one act of disobedience; if you are pulled over for speeding, it will do no good to protest that you are a faithful husband, a good taxpayer, and have obeyed the speed limit many times. All of that is irrelevant. You have still broken the speeding law and are guilty under it.

i. Longsuffering in itself is a work of the Spirit. “Longsuffering is that quality which enables a person to bear adversity, injury, reproach, and makes them patient to wait for the improvement of those who have done him wrong. When the devil finds that he cannot overcome certain persons by force he tries to overcome them in the long run… To withstand his continued assaults we must be longsuffering and patiently wait for the devil to get tired of his game.” (Luther)

ii. It certainly was bondage. Jewish teachers counted up 613 commandments to keep in the Law of Moses. “Even to remember them all was a burden, and to keep them bordered on the impossible. Small wonder that Paul referred to subjecting oneself to them all as entering into slavery.” (Morris) For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. c. The fruit of the Spirit is love: It is fitting that love be the first mentioned, because it encompasses all of the following. It may even be said that the following eight terms are just describing what love in action looks like. “It would have been enough to mention only the single fruit of love, for love embraces all the fruits of the Spirit.” (Luther) i. The legalists among the Galatians wanted them to think that they could have both Jesus and a law-relationship with God. Paul tells them that this is not an option open to them – the system of grace and the system of law are incompatible. “Whoever wants to have a half-Christ loses the whole.” (Calvin) g. Envying one another: When we are conceited, we also are open to the sin of envy. If we know someone is more right, or more successful than we are, we resent it and envy them. c. Yoke of bondage: This phrase reminds us of what Peter said in Acts 15:10 about those who would bring the Gentiles under the law: Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? The Jews themselves were not able to justify themselves before God by the law, so they shouldn’t put that heavy, burdensome yoke on the Gentiles. ii. In that place, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything – neither one matters at all. You aren’t better if you are circumcised or uncircumcised. You aren’t worse if you are circumcised or uncircumcised. The only harm is trusting in something that is completely irrelevant.

e. Let us not become conceited: Paul concluded this section of walking in the Spirit with this warning, knowing that some will become conceited in their own walk in the Spirit. This can be a masterful stroke of Satan. We can think of a child of God finally walking in the Spirit – then Satan tempts him to be conceited about it. Soon, he is sure that he is almost always right and everyone else is wrong. It often happens gradually, so Paul warned, “Do not become conceited.”

ii. “The verb stoicheo means ‘to be in line with, stand beside a person or a thing, hold to, agree with, follow’. The present imperative indicates that this is to be the habitual practice.” (Morris)