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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Galatians 5:13 - 5:15
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gal_5:13-15
13For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Gal_5:13 "For you were called to freedom, brethren" This begins a new stage of the argument. The term "brethren" usually marks a change of subject. As Gal_5:1-12 have dealt with the perversion of legalism, Gal_5:13-15 deal with the perversion of antinomianism. We must not use our freedom as a license for indulging the sinful passions of fallen human nature (cf. Rom_14:1 to Rom_15:13).
NASB "only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh"
NKJV "only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh"
NRSV "only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence"
TEV "But do not let this freedom become an excuse for letting your physical desires rule you"
NJB "but be careful, or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence"
"Opportunity" is a military term for a military, assault-staging area (cf. Rom_6:1-14). Several English translations translate "flesh" with the phrase "lower nature." This latter rendering agrees with Paul's use of "flesh" (see Special Topic at Gal_1:16) in this context as the natural propensities of mankind which have been twisted toward the self ever since the fall, recorded in Genesis 3. The same polarization between the Adamic nature and the Spirit-led life is expressed in Rom_8:1-11.
▣ "but through love serve one another" This verb is present active imperative. Previously Paul asserted that they should not be slaves to legalism, but he now balances this with the command that they must be slaves to one another in love (cf. Gal_5:6; Joh_13:34-35; Eph_5:21; Php_2:3-4). This entire context is communal (the church), not individual (cf. Gordon D. Fee, To What End Exegesis? pp. 154-172). Modern western interpretation has been deeply influenced by individualism. The Bible is primarily a corporate book.
Gal_5:14
NASB "For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word"
NKJV "For all the law is fulfilled in one word"
NRSV "For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment"
TEV "For the whole Law is summed up in one commandment"
NJB "since the whole of the Law is summarized in a single command"
This same truth is expressed in Rom_13:8; Jas_2:8. This is the "law" as God's revealed will (cf. Mat_5:17-20), not a works righteousness system of salvation. There is still a proper function for the OT in Christianity! This was a quote of Lev_19:18 from the Septuagint. It may have functioned as a rabbinical summary regarding the purpose of the Law. It was also used by Jesus in a very similar way in Mat_5:43-48; Mat_22:39 and in Mar_12:29-31; Luk_10:25-28. This is a Perfect tense verb, which emphasizes a culmination of a past act into a continuing state or condition. It can be understood as (1) a summary of the law or (2) a fulfillment of the law.
Gal_5:15 This is a first class conditional sentence, assumed to be true from the author's perspective or for his literary purposes. This verse uses violent imagery describing wild animals devouring each other, which is a picture of the terrible reality the false teachers had caused in the Galatian churches. This interpretation is reinforced by the equally strong statement in Gal_5:26. This is a corporate problem, not an individual focus.