Passage: Galatians 5:1-15

The Big Idea

God desires to set lives free. His yoke is light; man’s yoke is heavy. To “fall from grace” doesn’t mean losing your salvation. It means stepping down from the heights of grace into the resourceless depths of law, trying to grow by your own performance. In Christ, outward labels mean nothing. What matters is faith working through love. We’re free, not to indulge the flesh, but to serve one another in love.

Stand Fast (Galatians 5:1)

Stand firm in the freedom Christ has given you, and don’t be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Stand fast in the grace of God.
You can’t go back to the Law.
Paul is talking to people who already know God. This is a different kind of bondage: religious rules that choke out real spiritual life.

We’re free to be a loved child of God instead of a religious striver.

Christ Will Profit You Nothing (Galatians 5:2-4)

Paul says that if they get circumcised in order to be justified, Christ will be of no benefit to them. Anyone who does is obligated to keep the whole Law. Those trying to be justified by law have been cut off from Christ; they have fallen from grace.

“If you become circumcised.” If you add the necessity of anything to Jesus, it won’t work. You actually give up the benefits of grace.

What does Christ profit you?

Two guys decided to go into the produce business. They drove their pickup truck a hundred miles into the country, bought watermelons for fifty cents apiece, drove back to town and sold them two for a dollar. At the end of the day they had exactly as much money as when they started. One of them said, “See? I told you we needed a bigger truck!”

Working harder at a losing system isn’t the answer. Look at the riches of Christ:

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, and Paul prays we’d know the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:7, 18).
In the ages to come, God will show the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).
Paul was given grace to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, and he prays that, according to the riches of His glory, we’d be strengthened with power through His Spirit in our inner being (Ephesians 3:8, 16).
We usually underestimate what’s available to us in Christ.
It’s the riches of God’s kindness, patience and forbearance that lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4).
God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). We don’t need to beg. He has promised to supply every need.
Paul wanted believers to be encouraged, knit together in love, and to have all the riches of full assurance of understanding, knowing the mystery of God, Christ Himself (Colossians 2:2).

Patrick Henry wrote in his will that he had now given all his property to his family, but there was one more thing he wished he could give them: faith in Jesus Christ. If they had that, and he hadn’t given them a single shilling, they would be rich. And if they didn’t have that, even if he had given them the whole world, they would be poor indeed.

The same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich toward all who call on Him (Romans 10:12).

God isn’t short on funds. He’s rich toward everyone who calls on Him, and He loves to pour His riches down from heaven.
How do we tap into these riches? Call on His name. Be faithful, full of faith. Trust Him.
Jesus asked: if you haven’t been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches (Luke 16:11)?

A debtor to the whole Law

If you choose to live by the Law, you’re bound to keep all of it. Whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles at one point is guilty of all of it (James 2:10). You don’t have to break every law to be a lawbreaker.

Estranged from Christ

The word translated “estranged” or “severed” means to make something ineffective, to strip it of its force and power.

Anyone who relies on their own performance has dropped from the heights of grace to the low, resourceless depths of the Law.
They haven’t lost their salvation. How do we know? Paul calls them “brothers” again and again in this letter. These were believers.
But if you keep thinking you’ll develop your Christian life by the Law, you’re on a religious detour that won’t produce any real fruit or freedom.

Faith Working Through Love (Galatians 5:5-6)

Through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

By the Spirit we can eagerly wait.
We already enjoy righteousness by faith.
But there’s more to come. We can enjoy and grow in righteousness, and in heaven there will be nothing but righteousness.

How will you get the very righteousness of God, so you can go to heaven and be accepted? Trust in Jesus Christ!

How do you find the day-by-day ability to grow in righteousness? Trust in Jesus Christ!

In the Old Testament, it was, “Do this and live.” In the New Testament, it’s, “Christ did this, so live,” by faith.

How do we wait?

Do we “kill time”? I used to!

David prayed for God to lead him in His truth and teach him, because he waited on Him all day long (Psalm 25:5). Waiting on God isn’t just letting time pass. It’s hoping in Him as time passes. In the Old Testament, the words for waiting and hoping often overlap.
David told his soul to wait silently for God alone, because his expectation came from Him (Psalm 62:5). Nothing else!
The psalmist waited for the Lord, and put his hope in His word (Psalm 130:5). Look into His Word!
We wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).
Our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20).

So what are we waiting for? Whatever God wants to do, whether it’s His return or something He wants to do in our lives.

Labels don’t matter

Labels don’t accomplish anything. Only faith engages us with everything.
What matters is faith working through love: faith being worked out in love, making us loving beyond comprehension.
It isn’t someone’s label that shows whether they’re a Christian. It’s how much their faith has turned into love.

A Little Leaven (Galatians 5:7-9)

You were running well. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That persuasion doesn’t come from the One who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole batch.

Leaven pictures sin. Legalism is sin; maybe you haven’t caught that yet. It’s fighting against God.
In Corinth, the leaven was sexual sin (1 Corinthians 5:6). Here, it’s legalism.
In the church today, it could be bad doctrine.
It’s the difference between spiritual life and death.

The Offense of the Cross (Galatians 5:10-11)

Paul is confident in the Lord that they won’t take a different view, and the one troubling them will bear the penalty, whoever he is. And if Paul were still preaching circumcision, why would he still be persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross would be removed.

Legalism removes the offense of the cross. It says, “You can produce a lot of this spiritual life by your own efforts,” instead of, “You have no hope of being a good person unless Jesus is slaughtered on the cross for you.”

We can get offended that we have to come to the cross daily, not just, “Oh, I did that once.”

The world through its wisdom didn’t know God, so God was pleased to save those who believe through the “foolishness” of the message preached. We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).

Sometimes I feel like I’m telling people the same thing over and over. In every situation, it’s the same solution: Jesus died on the cross for that. Spiritual wisdom is being able to apply that message to any situation you or your friends face.

Cut Themselves Off (Galatians 5:12)

Paul wishes those troubling them would go all the way and cut themselves off!

It’s a pointed play on words. They thought circumcision was so impressive. Paul essentially says, “If cutting is so great, why stop there?”

Free to Serve (Galatians 5:13-15)

You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters. Only don’t use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

The wrong use of liberty is to indulge selfishness. We get to trade both legalism and license for godliness.

Peter warns of false teachers who speak loud, empty words and use fleshly desires to lure people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise freedom, while they themselves are slaves of corruption, because people are slaves to whatever overcomes them (2 Peter 2:18-19).

The right use of liberty is to serve one another. Paul said that though he was free from everyone, he made himself a servant to everyone, to win as many as possible (1 Corinthians 9:19).

Not, “How can I enjoy my freedom the most?” But, “How can I love the most?” Because the whole Law is fulfilled in one word: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:14).

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you’ll be consumed by one another (Galatians 5:15).

Without love, even believers can tear each other’s lives apart.
Our freedom from the Law doesn’t produce fighting. It produces peace, which is a fruit of the Spirit that grows as you trust Jesus and walk with Him.

Grace Takeaway

Falling from grace isn’t losing your salvation; it’s trading the riches of Christ for the poverty of your own performance. Don’t go back to a losing system. Stand in grace, wait on God with hope, and let your faith work itself out in love. You’re free, not to serve yourself, but to love and serve others.

← Will You Stand Fast? | All Galatians notes | Not a License, Not a Law. It's the Spirit. →

The Danger of Falling from Grace