Galatians 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Many of the early Christians struggled with the heresy of antinomianism. It’s the idea that we can sin without restraint and still be saved, as long as we’re trusting in Christ alone. Jesus refuted this idea when he said, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).
The heresy in Galatia was just the opposite. Instead of trusting in Christ alone for their salvation, they wanted to be saved by trusting in Christ and keeping the Law of Moses. This is the heresy of legalism. As much as we trust in anything other than Christ to be saved, we’re not trusting in Christ alone. And, to that degree, we imperil our souls.
It’s important to understand how to avoid the competing heresies of antinomianism and legalism. The answer is to believe in Jesus Christ enough to follow him. We’re saved by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), but not by faith that is alone. [F]aith without deeds is dead (James 2:26), wrote James. True belief behaves, and real faith works. Faith in Christ is the root of our salvation; obedience to Christ is the fruit of our salvation. We must never confuse the root with the fruit.
Galatians 5:12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Paul was again referring to the false teachers who wanted Christians to submit to the Law of Moses, including circumcision. Blending Christianity with the Law of Moses would’ve created a radically different religion. Paul was so alarmed by this that he wished the agitators would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! This seems to be a call for the removal of the entire sexual organ.
This shows what a serious error legalism is. Even the multiplication of rules for Christian living isn’t always wise, because it can lead to legalism. It can also create a culture that’s harmful to people and churches. Those who accept and keep the rules tend to become judgmental. Those who fail to keep the rules tend to become discouraged. And those who are in authority tend to become controlling. No wonder Paul wanted the circumcisers to go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Galatians 5:15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Legalism was already having a negative effect on the Christian community. Instead of loving and accepting each other, they were biting and devouring each other, and would soon be destroyed by each other. Satan took their desire to please God, and used it to turn them against each other.
A zookeeper threw a hotdog into a snake pit and, immediately, two snakes began to devour it—one at either end. When they got to the middle, the bigger snake kept going and consumed the smaller one. When Christians bite and devour each other, with unkind words, they’re acting like snakes that are willing to kill each other.
Galatians 5:19-21 The acts of the flesh 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.
Here and elsewhere the Bible contains lists of sins that characterize those who are lost, along with a terrible warning.
[T]he cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur (Revelation 21:1), wrote John.
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), wrote Paul.
Many Christians are repulsed by the sins they used to enjoy because they now have the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9). But we still have a sinful nature that wants to drag us back to our old way of living, promising equal pleasure. That pleasure will never be the same, of course, because the Spirit of Christ troubles us whenever we sin.
A Christian man who had an affair regretted it profoundly. He explained to a friend that at the moment of greatest pleasure he was filled with more self hatred than he had ever known. The devil will promise undiluted pleasure, but that is never true for Christians. We are better and wiser to leave our sins behind and pursue the love of God.
Reflection and Review
What is Antinomianism?
What is legalism?
Why should Christians avoid sin?
Many of the early Christians struggled with the heresy of antinomianism. It’s the idea that we can sin without restraint and still be saved, as long as we’re trusting in Christ alone. Jesus refuted this idea when he said, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).
The heresy in Galatia was just the opposite. Instead of trusting in Christ alone for their salvation, they wanted to be saved by trusting in Christ and keeping the Law of Moses. This is the heresy of legalism. As much as we trust in anything other than Christ to be saved, we’re not trusting in Christ alone. And, to that degree, we imperil our souls.
It’s important to understand how to avoid the competing heresies of antinomianism and legalism. The answer is to believe in Jesus Christ enough to follow him. We’re saved by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), but not by faith that is alone. [F]aith without deeds is dead (James 2:26), wrote James. True belief behaves, and real faith works. Faith in Christ is the root of our salvation; obedience to Christ is the fruit of our salvation. We must never confuse the root with the fruit.
Galatians 5:12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Paul was again referring to the false teachers who wanted Christians to submit to the Law of Moses, including circumcision. Blending Christianity with the Law of Moses would’ve created a radically different religion. Paul was so alarmed by this that he wished the agitators would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! This seems to be a call for the removal of the entire sexual organ.
This shows what a serious error legalism is. Even the multiplication of rules for Christian living isn’t always wise, because it can lead to legalism. It can also create a culture that’s harmful to people and churches. Those who accept and keep the rules tend to become judgmental. Those who fail to keep the rules tend to become discouraged. And those who are in authority tend to become controlling. No wonder Paul wanted the circumcisers to go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Galatians 5:15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Legalism was already having a negative effect on the Christian community. Instead of loving and accepting each other, they were biting and devouring each other, and would soon be destroyed by each other. Satan took their desire to please God, and used it to turn them against each other.
A zookeeper threw a hotdog into a snake pit and, immediately, two snakes began to devour it—one at either end. When they got to the middle, the bigger snake kept going and consumed the smaller one. When Christians bite and devour each other, with unkind words, they’re acting like snakes that are willing to kill each other.
Galatians 5:19-21 The acts of the flesh 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.
Here and elsewhere the Bible contains lists of sins that characterize those who are lost, along with a terrible warning.
[T]he cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur (Revelation 21:1), wrote John.
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), wrote Paul.
Many Christians are repulsed by the sins they used to enjoy because they now have the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9). But we still have a sinful nature that wants to drag us back to our old way of living, promising equal pleasure. That pleasure will never be the same, of course, because the Spirit of Christ troubles us whenever we sin.
A Christian man who had an affair regretted it profoundly. He explained to a friend that at the moment of greatest pleasure he was filled with more self hatred than he had ever known. The devil will promise undiluted pleasure, but that is never true for Christians. We are better and wiser to leave our sins behind and pursue the love of God.
Reflection and Review
What is Antinomianism?
What is legalism?
Why should Christians avoid sin?