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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gal_5:2-12
2Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. 7You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. 12I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.
Gal_5:2
NASB "Behold I, Paul, say to you"
NKJV "Indeed I, Paul, say to you"
NRSV "Listen! I, Paul, am telling you"
TEV "Listen! I, Paul, tell you this"
NJB "It is I, Paul, who tells you this"
This is the imperative form of "behold" with the strong, personal pronoun (egô). "I, Paul" shows the authoritative emphasis of Paul's remarks. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is giving revelatory information!
NASB "that if you receive circumcision"
NKJV "that if you become circumcised"
NRSV "that if you let yourselves be circumcised"
TEV, NJB "if you allow yourselves to be circumcised"
This is a third class conditional sentence meaning potential action. This would suggest that the Galatian Christians had not yet been circumcised but were tending to submit to the new prerequisites for obtaining salvation (or at least perfection, cf. Gal_3:1) given by the Judaizers. Yet circumcision was not the fundamental issue (cf. Gal_5:6; 1Co_7:18-19). Circumcision was only one aspect of the entire Jewish system of works righteousness. Paul circumcised Timothy in Act_16:3 in order that he might minister to Jews. But Paul reiterated that true circumcision is of the heart (cf. Deu_10:16; Jer_4:4), not the body (cf. Rom_2:28-29; Col_2:11). The issue was not circumcision but how a person is brought into right standing with God (cf. Gal_5:4).
▣ "Christ will be of no benefit to you" Paul is contrasting two ways of being right with God: (1) human effort and (2) free grace. The theme of the entire paragraph is that these two ways are mutually exclusive: to choose human effort is to negate free grace; to choose free grace is to exclude human effort. One cannot mix them as a basis of salvation as Gal_3:1-5 clearly shows.
Gal_5:3 "he is under obligation to keep the whole Law" If one chooses the way of human effort, then he must adhere perfectly to the Law from the age of moral responsibility (bar-mitzvah, age 13 for boys, bath-mitzvah, age 12 for girls) to death (cf. Deu_27:26; Gal_3:10; Jas_2:10). The Bible asserts that since no one has ever done this (except Jesus), everyone is in the category of law breakers, sinners (cf. Rom_3:9-18; Rom_3:22-23; Rom_6:23; Rom_5:8; Rom_11:32).
Gal_5:4 "who are seeking to be justified by law" The theological theme of chapters 3 and 4 is that our acceptance by God is based solely on His character, the empowering of the Spirit, and the work of His Messiah. This is the essence of Paul's radical, new gospel of justification by grace through faith alone (cf. Romans 4-8).
NASB "You have been severed from Christ"
NKJV "You have become estranged from Christ"
NRSV "You. . .have cut yourselves off from Christ"
TEV "have cut yourselves off from Christ"
NJB "you have separated yourselves from Christ"
This Greek verb (an aorist passive indicative of katargeô) is translated in many ways: (1) to render useless; (2) to render powerless; (3) to render unproductive; (4) unprofitable; (5) empty; (6) cancel; (7) make null and void; (8) bring to an end; (9) annihilate; or (10) sever from. It was used by Paul more than twenty times. See Special Topic at Gal_3:17. One can see some of its flavor from Gal_3:17 (to abolish) and Gal_5:11 (to annul). If one tries to be right with God through human effort, he/she cuts himself/herself off from grace righteousness as a means of salvation (cf. Gal_5:12):
1. in an initial salvation (when the Galatians first received the gospel)
2. in a works-oriented life (when the Galatians were thinking of now pursuing the Mosaic Law)
NASB, NKJV,
NJB "you have fallen from grace"
NRSV "you have fallen away from grace"
TEV "You are outside God's grace"
Those who seek God by human performance have lost the free grace approach which is found in the finished work of the crucified Messiah. This context does not deal primarily with the modern theological question about the possibility of those who had salvation and have now lost it, but how humans find salvation. However, notice that salvation involves an initial and an ongoing response. It is a point and a process, both of which involve grace and faith. Both are crucial (cf. Gal_5:7).
Paul was dealing in this letter with a legalism connected to salvation. Today most legalism within the church relates to the Christian life (cf. Gal_3:1-3). Most legalistic Christians are similar to the "weak brothers" of Rom_14:1 to Rom_15:13. They are unable to accept the freedom and liberation of the gospel. They are not trusting in their performance for salvation, but are afraid they will somehow offend God. This attitude, however, issues in judgmental criticism toward other believers. This disruption of fellowship occurred in the Galatian churches and is still occurring in the churches of our day.
▣ At this point in the discussion of a fully free, but cost-everything salvation, I would like to mention three Special Topics. The first deals with salvation as a process and the second deals with salvation as a relationship to the end of like, and the third the theological issue of apostasy. See Special Topic: Greek Verb Tenses Used for Salvation at 1Th_5:9.
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Gal_5:5 "For we through the Spirit, by faith" This phrase shows the two necessary qualifications (i.e., covenant) involved in our salvation:
1. the drawing/wooing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Joh_6:44; Joh_6:65; Joh_16:7-13)
2. human response (cf. Mar_1:15; Act_3:16; Act_3:19; Act_20:21)
These phrases are placed first in the Greek sentence for emphasis.
▣ "are waiting for the hope of righteousness" "Hope" is often used in the NT for the Second Coming. The Second Coming is the time when believers will be completely saved. The NT describes our salvation as
1. a completed act
2. a state of being
3. a process
4. as a future consummation
These four attributes of salvation are complimentary not mutually exclusive. We are saved, have been saved, are being saved, and shall be saved. The future aspect of salvation entails the believers' glorification at the Second Coming (cf. 1Jn_3:2). Other passages describing the future event of salvation include Rom_8:23; Php_3:21 and Col_3:3-4. See hyperlink at 1Th_5:9.
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Gal_5:6 This verse encapsulates the theme of the book of Galatians: we are right with God by faith, not by human rituals or performance—including circumcision, the food laws, and/or moral living.
The concluding phrase has been understood in either a passive or middle sense (Barbara and Timothy Friberg, Analytical Greek New Testament, p. 584; Harold K Moulton [ed], The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised, p. 139). Roman Catholicism has mostly interpreted it as passive which means that love is the source of faith. However, most Protestants have understood it in a middle sense which means that love issues out of faith (cf. 1Th_1:3). This term is used regularly in the NT as middle (cf. Rom_7:5, 2Co_1:6; Eph_3:20; 1Th_2:13, and 2Th_2:7). Faith is primary.
This was Paul's answer to the false teachers concerning the lifestyle of pagans who are accepted freely in Christ. It is Spirit-motivated love (after salvation) that sets the standard of conduct for believers and gives the ability to obey. It is the new covenant, a new heart and new mind (cf. Jer_31:33; Eze_36:26-27).
Gal_5:7 "who" The singular pronoun used of a false teacher is also found in Gal_5:7 and twice in Gal_5:10. However, the plural form occurs in Gal_5:12. It may be a collective use of the singular. But because of Gal_3:1, the use of the singular may imply
1. a local ring-leader who was converted to the Judaizer's point of view and was now pulling the church in that direction
2. a persuasive visiting leader of the Judaizers
NASB "You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth"
NKJV "You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth"
NRSV "You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth"
TEV "You were doing so well! Who made you stop obeying the truth"
NJB "You began your race well: who made you less anxious to obey the truth"
"You were running well" is an imperfect active indicative. This means that for a period of time the churches of Galatia were doing so well in Christian maturity. Paul often used athletic metaphors. He was especially fond of "running" (cf. Gal_2:2; 1Co_9:24-26; Php_2:16; Php_3:12-14; 2Ti_4:7).
The verb "hindered" or "prevented" (aorist active indicative) commonly had military and athletic connotations. In the military sense, the word meant the act of destroying a road in the face of an oncoming enemy. In the athletic sense, it meant the act of one runner cutting in front of another, thereby causing them both to lose the race.
Paul was engaging in a word play between "obeying the truth" in Gal_5:2, and "persuasion" in Gal_5:8. This does not imply that the Galatians were not personally responsible, but that they had been influenced.
Paul uses "obeying the truth" as a way of expressing "obeying the gospel." See Special Topic: Truth in Paul's Writings at Gal_2:5.
Gal_5:8 "Him who calls you" Often the pronoun antecedents are ambiguous. As in Gal_1:6, this phrase is always used of the electing choice of God the Father. See note at 1Th_2:12.
Gal_5:9 "a little leaven" Yeast is a common NT proverb in the Bible, often used in a negative sense (Mat_16:6; Mar_8:15; 1Co_5:6, though not always (cf. Mat_13:33). Here the metaphor may be underscoring the pervasive power of the doctrine of works righteousness (cf. Mat_16:6).
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Gal_5:10 "I have confidence in you" This is a perfect active indicative which implies that Paul has, in the past, and continues to have, confidence in the Galatian Christians (cf. 2Co_2:3; 2Th_3:4; Phm_1:21).
▣ "that you will adopt no other view" See note at Gal_4:12.
NASB "but the one who is disturbing you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is"
NKJV "but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is"
NRSV "But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty"
TEV "and that the man who is upsetting you, whoever he is, will be punished by God"
NJB "and anybody who troubles you in the future will be condemned, no matter who he is"
Believers are responsible before God., but they can be influenced (cf. Gal_1:7; Act_15:24). The severity of punishment for those who lead God's new believers astray can be seen in Mat_18:6-7.
Gal_5:11 "if I still preach circumcision" This is a first class conditional sentence which is assumed to be true from the author's perspective or for his literary purposes (this usage shows that the construction is not always true to reality). Paul is using a rather unusual grammatical construction to say "since they are still accusing me of preaching circumcision," which may be a reference to
1. his circumcision of Timothy (cf. Act_16:3) and his unwillingness to circumcise Titus (cf. Gal_2:2-5)
2. Paul's statement in 1Co_7:18-19
Whatever the background, Paul was declaring the Judaizers to be inconsistent, because if he preached circumcision they should have enthusiastically accepted him, but since they were persecuting him, it is a good evidence that he was not advocating circumcision for Gentiles.
▣ "then the stumbling-block of the cross has been abolished" "Stumbling-block" or "hindrance" [skandalon] means "a baited trap-stick used to capture animals"(cf. Rom_9:33; 1Co_1:23). The cross was an offense to the Judaizers because it gave freely that which they were working so hard to achieve (cf. Rom_10:2-5).
▣ "has been abolished" This is a perfect passive indicative. See Special Topic at Gal_3:17.
Gal_5:12
NASB "I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves"
NKJV "I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off"
NRSV "I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves"
TEV "I wish that the people who are upsetting you would go all the way; let them go on and castrate themselves"
NJB "Tell those who are disturbing you I would like to see the knife slip"
"Mutilate" is used in the sense of "castration." It is known from history that the cult of Cybele, which was present in the province of Galatia, castrated all of their priests (eunuchs). Paul was making a sarcastic hyperbole of circumcision (as is Php_3:2, where he calls them "dogs").