Galatians

5:13-18

5. Exhortations, 4:8-6:10

iv] Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for sin, but let your lives be guided by the Spirit, 5:13-18

Paul's exhortations to the Galatians up to 5:12 focused on the dangers associated with nomism - law-obedience for the purpose of appropriating the fullness of new life in Christ. From 5:13 to 6:10 Paul focuses on the danger of libertarianism, reminding us that the Christian life is "at once free and holy", Allan. In v13-18 Paul explains how love, the quality that sums up the ethical demands of the law, is realized in the life of a believer when they rest on the indwelling-compelling of the Spirit of Christ. When we are in Christ, the love of Christ compels us. So, Paul encourages his readers that they "not let the possession of [their] freedom serve ... as an opportunity for yielding to the promptings of the lower nature", but rather that they "let [their] lives be guided by the Spirit", Cassirer. In this passage Paul gives balance to his antinomian slant by confronting the evil of libertarianism.

Paul's prime purpose in writing to the Galatians is to confront the heresy of nomism, an early form of pietism bearing many of the marks of today's sanctification by obedience quagmire. This heresy was promoted by members of the circumcision party, Jewish believers who taught that obedience to the Mosaic law was the means by which a believer progressed their Christian life toward the appropriation of God's promised blessings - new life in Christ. It was assumed that submission to the law achieves this end by controlling indwelling sin and shaping holiness, ie. the law served as "the divinely-given means of aiding our inclination for good to overcome our inclination for evil", Fung. Paul argues the opposite; he says that submission to the law only prompts the sinful nature (flesh) to further rebellion. This was the prime function of the law for Israel, a function ordained by God, a function employed by Jesus in dealing with the Pharisees, and still the function of the law today. The law functions to expose our sinfulness, inculcate the law's curse, bring down divine judgment, and thus drive us to God for mercy. In Christ we are freed from the curse of the law, and so for a believer to place themselves again "under the law" serves only to promote their sinful nature and thus move them into a cycle of rebellion which will inevitably undermine their standing in Christ.

The law also functioned to guide the covenant life of the people of Israel and of course, for those who were the children of faith, those who possessed a faith like Abraham's. To such, the law was a delight, a gift from God. Paul, of course, does not speak against this function of the law, but rather sees it fulfilled in the law of love realized through the indwelling compelling of the Spirit. Walking by the Spirit is the path for Christian living, a path which is apart from both nomism and antinomism. Once a believer feels free to follow the leading of the Spirit, rather than be bound by the demands of the law, they find themselves no longer controlled by the powerful dynamic of the sinful nature. We are then free to honour Christ in our lives and this we do, albeit imperfectly.

uJmeiV "you" - "You brother", not the members of the circumcision party, v12.

eklhqhte (kalew) aor. pas. "were called" - call, summon, invite. "Called" carries many theological overtones which are not necessarily intended by the context. The sense "invite" should be considered, as also the theological sense of a "called out people of God", ie. God's sovereign act is expressed in the creation of an ordained community, without specifying the individual members.

ep eleuqeria/ (a) dat. "to be free" - for freedom. "No longer enslaved", expressed as the purpose of the calling by the dative. Negatively expressed: freedom is not to be used as an "opportunity for the flesh" - for the "sinful nature". Positively expressed: freedom should be used as an opportunity for service to the brotherhood through love (caring compassion).

monon mh "but do not use your [freedom]" - only not [freedom]. The phrase contains an ellipsis in that the noun "freedom" is obviously the object of a missing imperative verb. There are numerous possibilities eg.: "be careful that freedom does not become ...." Phillips; The goal of freedom is mutual service through love.

aformhn (h) "indulge" - occasion, pretext, excuse, opportunity... reason for. Using our freedom as an "opportunity" for the flesh seems best in the context and also fits with the military use of the word; "base of operations."

sarki (sarx sarkoV) "flesh" - "That self-regarding element in human nature which has been corrupted at the source, with its appetites and propensities, and which if unchecked produces the 'works of the flesh'", Burce, cf. v6, ie. "human nature." Some commentators lean more toward the meaning "evil intent", "bodily desires", "physical desires", even the action itself, "works of the flesh", and this because the context, particularly v15, seems to move in this direction.

dia thV agaphV "in love" - through love. The preposition, followed by the genitive, gives the sense of either "serving one another": i] "through love" (as an agent), or ii] "by means of love" (as an instrument). The love intended here is most likely the same as v6b where faith expresses itself through love - loving kindness, compassion. The definite article probably serves to cue this fact, therefore, love is the agent of our serving one another. There are again other possibilities, namely that the love referred to here is either God's love for us, or our love for God, both of which would take an instrumental sense, enabling us to serve one another.

oJ paV nomoV "the entire law" - all law. The position of the article may imply that the Torah is not intended as in v3, but rather, in a general sense, namely, the divine principles and intentions that lie behind all human laws.

en eJni logw/ "in a single command" - in one word. "Commandment" is better than a "divine word / truth".

peplhrwtai (plhrow) perf. pas. "is summed up" - has been filled up, fulfilled, completed. The meaning is either that the "law" is "summarized" in the law of love, or is "completed (made perfect, stands fulfilled)" in the law of love. "Stands fulfilled" seems best in that the whole law rests on the principle of love, so therefore, the person who loves fulfills the law's requirements.

ton plhsion adv. "neighbor" - near. A substantive adverbial phrase functioning as a noun, object of "love". Like the lawyer in the parable of the Good Samaritan, we may ask "who is my neighbor?" For Paul, the neighbor is our brother and sister in Christ. We may think Jesus has answered otherwise, but Jesus didn't actually answer the lawyer's question. The lawyer didn't think he had a problem loving his neighbor, he just wasn't sure how far his loving had to extend. The parable underlines the impossible demand of love. The lawyer's real problem lay in his inability to "go thou and do likewise", which, of course, is the point of the parable.

wJV seauton "as yourself" - "As you love yourself", ie. the golden rule, cf. Matt.7:12.

ei + ind. "if" - Introducing a 1st class condition where the condition stated in the "if" clause is assumed to be true; "if, as is the case, ..... then ...."

daknete (daknw) "biting" - bite (as with a snake). "Hurting each other", "snapping", NEB.

katesqiete (katesqiw) "devouring" - devour, gulp down (as with a wild animal). "Harming each other", "tearing to pieces", NEB.

blepete (blepw) imp. "watch out" - look. "Look, I need to warn you.. / you need to beware.."

analwqhte (analow) aor. pas. subj. "you will be destroyed" - [lest] you are destroyed, consumed (as with fire) [by one another]. Paul's warning to the Galatian church is that if they keep fighting with each other over the issue of law and grace they will inevitably destroy the church.

legw de "so I say" - but I say. "The point that I am making is this...."

peripateite (peripatew) pres. imp. "live" - walk about. "Walk", as in walk/travel the way/pathway, is being used in a moral sense, "conduct oneself", therefore "live". The present tense indicates an ongoing action (durative). "Continue to walk".

pneumati (pneuma atoV) dat. "by the Spirit" - spirit. "Holy Spirit" is obviously intended, but it could be argued that we should live "by our spiritual self", "our conscience." The dative "by the Spirit", with the imperative "live", may be taken to mean either: "allow the Spirit to guide", "allow the Spirit to direct your lives", TEV, or "live in accordance with the Spirit's guidance." The first option is best. It is faith in the operation of the indwelling Spirit of Christ that enables/empowers a believer to love as Christ loves. No law can compel such love. Again, we see that the Christian life is all about receiving rather than doing.

ou mh teleshte (telew) aor. subj. "you will not gratify" - by no means could you finish, complete, fulfill, gratify. A subjunctive of emphatic negation; the double negative with the subjunctive, carries an emphatic future sense, with the "not" underlined. Note the NRSV "do not gratify the desires of the flesh". The phrase is not a command (an imperative), but a promise. Given that believers do often gratify the flesh, the NRSV can be commended for its honesty at least. The promise is not a "higher life" proof text; a promise of perfection for those who "live by the Spirit". In fact, the sentence is surely an ellipsis. "Live by the Spirit" (follow the leading of the Spirit) stands against "observe the law" (following the demands of the law). Because we are no longer under the law (under the law's condemning authority), our sinful nature is no longer empowered by the law, and so we are free from the control of our sinful nature. As a consequence, we "will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature", ie. we will not be / are not bound to fulfill the demands of the flesh. We are now free to honour Christ, although there will still be many times when we don't. The promise is one of orientation, not perfection. Note also how the NEB has rendered the sentence as conditional: "If you walk ..... you will not fulfill ....."

epiqumian (a) "the desires" - lusts, desires, passions. The word does not necessarily indicate evil desire, but in the New Testament it usually does.

sarkoV (sarx koV) gen. "of the sinful nature" - of flesh. cf. v13.

gar "for" - Expressing cause/reason. Paul now explains why, if we are led by the spirit, we will not gratify the desires of our flesh (sinful nature), the reason being ("for") is that the flesh and the spirit are opposed.

epiqumei (epiqumew) "[the sinful nature] desires" - [the flesh] desires. Selfish human passions.

kata + gen. "what is contrary" - against. The flesh/Spirit is at war with / opposed to the Spirit/flesh

antikeitai (antikeimai) "[they are] in conflict" - [for these things] oppose [each other]. Is the conflict between humans and the Spirit, the flesh (the sinful nature) and the Spirit, our sinful desires and the Spirit's desires, or our sinful deeds and what the Spirit wills? In a board sense we may say that the flesh and the Spirit are at war.

iJna + subj. "so that" - Possibly a consecutive clause (the result of the war is ....), but more likely a final clause (the purpose of the war is ....).

poihte (poiew) subj "you [do not] do [what you want]" - [not whatever you will, these things] you do. "You do not do / cannot do, what you want to do." Those who choose "cannot do" conclude that the war between the flesh and the Spirit either confines the flesh, enabling the believer to do what the Spirit wants, or confines the Spirit, frustrating the believer so that they don't do what the Spirit wants. Romans 7:7-25 is an important source text for both arguments. Yet, it is more likely that the war simple gives us the freedom to do either, that is, to follow the leading of the flesh, or the Spirit. "The flesh and the Spirit are in conflict with each other, so that we are not forced to do what the sinful nature wills us to do; ....." The use of "you" is interesting. Is this not Paul's experience as well as the Galatians? Of course it is!

de "but" - but, and. The NIV takes this conjunction as adversive (but), but an untranslated connective would be better, indicating that the argument continues. It is often argued that this verse summarizes the chapter, but it is more likely an epexegetic conditional clause, further explaining the sense of 17b, in which case there should be a semicolon after "want". A believer is guided throughout life by the Holy Spirit, but is also guided by the sinful nature (flesh), but since we are not under the law, such that the sinful nature is empowered, we are fee to choose between the guidance of the flesh, or the guidance of the Spirit.

ei "if" - Introducing a simple conditional sentence with the verbs in the protasis and the apodosis in the indicative mood. "If (given we are led by the Spirit) then it is also true (that we are not under law)".

agesqe (agw) pres. pas. "[if] you are led [by the Spirit]" - you are being led. Parallel in meaning to walking by the Spirit, living by the Spirit, following the leading of the Spirit. Bruce sees the Spirit's leading as active, such that it empowers resistance to the leading of the flesh and conforms to the likeness of Christ, cf. 2Cor.3:17. This is probably going a bit too far. Paul's point is that we are free to choose either the flesh, or the Spirit, not that we are empowered to choose the Spirit over the flesh. If Bruce is correct, I missed out on the empowering!!

uJpo + acc. "[you are not] under [the law]" - under. Not under the law in the sense of not being confined by the law, such that the sinful nature is empowered toward rebellion. The law confines us when we enact its role to hold us to our sin and as a consequence place ourselves again under its curse. This we do when we seek to maintain or progress our standing before God by means of obedience to the law. When used this way, the law stirs rebellion; it makes sin more sinful and so accentuates our state of loss. Yet, if we have found the way to stand approved before God, the way by grace through faith, then we are no longer confined by the law, and so the sinful nature is no longer empowered, it is then we are free to choose the leading of the Spirit. Note that other meanings are suggested, but are not likely, eg. the NRSV reads "subject", a word slightly off the game and can be expanded to mean: "as a believer, you are not subject to (do not need to obey) all the Old Testament laws."

Galatians Introduction.

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