Galatians

Contrasts of the gospel. 5:2-12

In this passage, which serves as an appeal to his readers, Paul reveals that faith and obedience are absolute opposites. He wants his readers to understand that if they try to use law-obedience to appropriate the blessings of the Christian life they will cut themselves off from Christ.

v2. Paul emphatically states that for a believer, there is no "benefit", no spiritual "value", no blessing through Christ, gained by law-obedience. Here Paul focuses on one particular Mosaic regulation, namely, "circumcision" and this because the act of circumcision identifies a person's willing subjection to Biblical law.

v3. For such submission to issue in blessing (to be of "value"), the whole law must be obeyed.

v4. Yet, since the law cannot be completely obeyed, the believer who subjects themselves to the law to progress their Christian life, ends up triggering the curse of the law, rather than the blessing of new life in Christ. Under the law's curse we end up "alienated from Christ", separated from God's eternal mercy.

v5-6. When it comes to the promised blessings of the Christian life, the fullness of new life in Christ realized through the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, all is ours when we rest on Christ's faithful obedience on our behalf. The quality of our piety is irrelevant to God's setting all things right; what matters is Christ's faithfulness on our behalf, a faithfulness driven by God's love for us.

v7. In verses 7-12 Paul takes a more personal tack and with some questions, pointed remarks, a proverb, appeals and a dose of sarcasm, he tries to wake up his readers before it's too late. First, he reminds the Galatian believers that they were "running well", but have allowed themselves to be diverted from the truth of the gospel.
      v8. Such "persuasion" did not originate from God.

v9. Using Jesus' own imagery of the Pharisees' hypocrisy, Lk.12:1, Paul illustrates how the false teaching of the Judaizers has permeated through the church.

v10. None-the-less, Paul is confident that this false teaching will inevitably be rejected by the Galatian believers. The leading lights of this untruth will inevitably face judgement, no matter how important they are.

v11. As for the charge that Paul himself still preaches submission to the law of Moses, he reminds his readers that the Jews remain hostile to his claim that the person who is right with God, on the basis of the faithfulness of Christ, appropriates God's promised new life apart from law-obedience.

v12. As for the agitators, Paul hopes they will "take up some other cause and leave you alone", Bill Junkins.

In my first catechist position at St.George's Padington, in Sydney, Australia, I found myself embroiled in a debate over "the perseverance of the saints." The leader of the youth fellowship, a Church Army officer, knew that as a Moore College student I would follow the standard Calvinist line of "once saved always saved". It was my first Sunday afternoon at the church and I soon found myself in deep water. I knew a few of the verses supporting the sovereignty of God in salvation, but this was their area of expertise, and they knew many more verses supporting the notion that a believer could lose their salvation. In this debate it seems the victors were those who could produce the most number of verses in support of their case.

One of the most fearful thoughts that can confront a believer is encapsulated in the words, "depart from me." Could we find ourselves locked out of the wedding feast like the foolish virgins? Well we might sing, "give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning, burning, burning." Our fear stems from not being good enough for God, not acceptable enough. What if our lamp grows dim, will we be left behind? What if we fail to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling"?

Lack of assurance in the Christian life is a powerful debilitator. It forces us into a life of pious obedience, as if by living a better life we can prove ourselves worthy of God's love. Then, in the face of constant failure, we can do little but deny our guilt and bury it in a life of righteous indignation - the art of speck removal. In the end our assurance, our confidence in our eternal salvation, is further undermined.

In our passage for study Paul openly suggests that our salvation can be undermined, even nullified. Clearly, "once saved always saved" is far too simplistic. A person's eternal salvation can be eroded, but not by the usual "I'm not good enough" routine. In fact, it's the "trying to be good" that's the problem. When it comes to gaining God's approval, obedience and faith are at odds with each other. Effort applied to Biblical law results in alienation from the blessings available in Christ. Eternal blessings in Christ come only by grace through faith.

So, here lies our confidence, our assurance, our perseverance. By trusting Jesus for our salvation, we are eternally assured of a place of honour in the presence of God. Our eternal standing is dependent on nothing else other than faith as small as a mustard seed, as weak as thread of cotton, a faith that is but a finger on the hem of the Master's cloak.

How is it that a believer, trying to be "justified by law", ends up "alienated from Christ?