CCLI 1746006 Galatians 5 2 Mark my words

CCLI #1746006

Galatians 5: 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Circumcision, of course, was the seal of the Abrahamic covenant. In order to participate in this covenant agreement with God, as a Jewish man, you had to be circumcised. In Paul’s day, this practice was just as important as ever for Jewish men. And the Judaizers, when they infiltrated the Galatian, Gentile churches, brought with them a different “gospel” than the one Paul preached.

Galatians 5: 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. No doubt, as these Galatian believers read verse 2, there would be some who had already been circumcised, having bought into the lies of the Judaizers. And there would be some who had refused to give into the pressure.

Galatians 5: 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Paul tells the Galatians that by submitting to the rite of circumcision, Jesus would be of no value at all to them. In other words, all that Christ did on the cross and made available to us because of His death and resurrection would be meaningless. If you add anything to the cross and the finished work of Jesus, you’re not saved.

Galatians 5: 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. If you plan to live your life by the Old Covenant, you better fulfill every, single part of it. Perfectly. Because to be considered righteous in God’s sight, under the old covenant, that’s what was required. Hebrews 10: 4 - The blood of bulls and goats didn’t take away sins when people failed to live up to the law.

Galatians 5: 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. Those wanting to adhere to the old covenant rules and regulations have been “alienated from Christ”. You can’t sever yourself from someone that you were never connected to. Paul is speaking to believers. To those who knew and responded to the gospel when he preached to them.

Galatians 5: 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. Those who want to trust their religious efforts rather than the finished work of Christ, such people have “fallen from grace”. Paul makes it clear that a believer can fall away from grace by choosing to trust in themselves and their efforts. These Galatian believers were choosing to embrace a false gospel. They were choosing to sever themselves from Christ and His finished work on the cross. They were choosing to reject grace.

Galatians 5: 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. Faith is the opposite of legalism. Trusting in Christ and depending on His finished work is the opposite of the Old Covenant rules and regulations that the Judaizers were promoting. Righteousness comes only by faith and as the result of the working of the Spirit in our lives. And when it’s by faith, through the power and working of the Spirit, there’s always hope.

Galatians 5: 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. The seal of the Old Covenant had no value at all after Christ showed up. The only spiritual currency that has any value in the kingdom of God is faith. Ephesians 2: 8 -9

Galatians 5: 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. And faith in God and His finished work expresses itself though love. Agape love. The kind that comes only from the Spirit of God living in and through us. Lest we think that faith is lazy or unloving, James reminds us that it’s anything but! James 2: 17 -18

Galatians 5: 7 -8 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. If you’re a believer, there will be many attempts by the enemy of “cutting in on you” in an effort to trip you up and keep you from finishing the race. To keep you from obeying the truth. For the Galatian believers, the enemy was at work in and through the Judaizers. The enemy will be relentless in his efforts to accomplish this in your life. There’s no reward for not finishing the race.