Ep. 21 | Stand Firm Therefore

Speaker: Jesse Turkington

Summary: Continuing from Paul's analogy, this passage concludes Paul's thought and uses it as a foundation for additional instruction. Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

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Music created by Chad Hoffman
Artwork created by Anthony Kuenzi

Jesse’s Personal Notes:

Galatians 5:1-12

Introduction

Hey, welcome to Pickled Parables! My name’s Jesse. 

Today, we are in the fifth chapter of Galatians and we only have four more lessons planned for this book. There’s only six chapters in Galatians. 

When we reach the end of this series, I can put together a little recap episode that can give a succinct summarization of what we’ve covered so far and I can share a little bit of what our plans for the future are, too.

So we only have four more lessons through Galatians chapter five and chapter six. 

Today’s passage is a transition from analogy to instructional application. Last week we covered Paul’s analogy of Isaac and Ishmael representing sons of freedom and slavery and so now this passage carries that continued thought to a point of conclusion and then uses it as a foundation to give instruction.

So, let’s look now at Galatians five, one through twelve. 

Galatians 5:1

During the American Civil War, a man by the name of George Wyatt was drawn by lot to go to the war front. He had a wife and six children. A young man named Richard Pratt offered to go in his stead. Pratt was accepted and he joined the ranks, bearing the name and number of George Wyatt. 

Before long Pratt was killed in action. The authorities later sought again to draft George Wyatt into service. But he protested, entering the plea that he had died in the person of Pratt. He insisted that the authorities check their own records as to the fact of his having died in identification with Pratt, his substitute. Wyatt was exempted from the law and from further service, because (legally) he had died in the person of his representative. 

There we have the truth of identification in a nutshell, God’s way of deliverance is through death – through identification with our Substitute, Jesus Christ, in His death and resurrection. 

I read that in a book called Born Crucified by L. E. Maxwell. 

And when I read it, I thought, “Wow, what a great way of illustrating this complicated concept.” 

And there’s even Biblical statements that align this analogy with actuality. 

Like, Colossians 3:1 & 3, which says: 

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1,3 ESV)

So this analogy illustrates a Biblical truth … and this idea is something that Paul practiced at the end of Galatians chapter four. 

Paul gave an analogy and turned it into an allegory in order to communicate a fairly complicated concept. 

Now, when we looked at this in the last episode, we had to go back and look at the historical context and cultural expectations in order to just understand what Paul was talking about. But for the Galatians, this illustration, that he gave, was crystal clear.  

The point of Paul’s analogy was to explain that those born of the Spirit, who had died in identification with Christ and who lived in the victory of His resurrection; those who put down their anchors in God’s grace and were saved through faith; those who were the spiritual seed of Abraham – these people were free from the curse of the law. 

Because it was through their identification with Christ, the Fulfiller of the Old Testament law, that they were able live in freedom. 

 So picking up in chapter five, verse one, it says:

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.(Galatians 5:1 ESV)

Now, this single sentence is loaded because it gives a conclusion statement, a transitional statement and then it presents a new thought. 

For freedom Christ has set us free. This is the conclusion statement. It wraps up Paul’s analogy and it presents the main point. Christ has set us free and through this freedom we are not slaves to the law. 

But then he says, stand firm therefore. And as a friend of mine always says, “Always ask what the therefore is there for.” 

This is a transitional statement. It’s taking the thought that just said and it’s redirecting it into a new thought. 

So, For freedom Christ has set us free (conclusion statement), stand firm therefore (transitional statement), and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. So this is the new thought. It’s taking what was just talked about and it’s building off of it into a new direction. 

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. This is the attitude of the passage that we’re going to look at today.

Paul has spent the majority of this letter defending himself against false allegations and correcting inaccurate teachings. The Galatians were under siege with competitive ideas that they had allowed to creep into the church. 

So, Paul gave a detailed explanation of the divine truth that they needed to be living in and finally at this juncture he pivots direction to a personal plea that’s built on divine correction. 

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 

Galatians 5:2-6

In verse two it says:

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.(Galatians 5:2 ESV)

You see, the Galatians were allowing certain Old Testament standards to replace the work of Jesus Christ. 

 And this was because of a group of people within the church promoting a legalistic practice. In this letter Paul called them the circumcision party, commentators observing this letter like to call them Judaizes, but whatever you want to call them; they were distorting the Gospel of Christ and promoting a Gospel of pride. 

 Paul said in chapter one:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him (God) who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7 ESV)

And in chapter six he says,
It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. (Galatians 6:12-13 ESV)

The Galatians had allowed this distortion to take a foothold in their churches and they had adopted certain observances that were being pushed. 

Paul mentions them in chapter four:

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. (Galatians 4:8-11 ESV) 

Paul mentions how the Galatians were once worshippers and observers of false idols and legalistic rituals before they were saved and he equates the religious observances that they now practiced to that of pagan practice. 

But the interesting thing is, these days, months, seasons and years that they were observing were Jewish holidays. 

It wasn’t the religious rituals, the ceremonial practices, that earned God’s favor. These holidays gave the opportunity to remind the person of God’s holiness and His righteous work while also allowing that individual to worship.

But over time it became a tradition and the meaning became symbolized rather than actualized to the point where Judaizing hypocrites pushed it against Gentile converts in an effort to proselytize them into a distorted Christianity. 

This is what Paul is fighting against. And from his own words, we can deduce that the Galatians had not yet accepted circumcision. Because he says:

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.(Galatians 5:1-4 ESV)

Let me make it clear here; Paul is not talking about the Galatians losing their salvation when he says, you have fallen away from grace. He’s talking about the two proposed ways of salvation. 

 I’ll read it again. Verse three:

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:3-4 ESV)

You see, the Galatians were being coerced into keeping the Old Testament law and that this would earn you right standing with God. 

This is opposed to the Gospel of Christ which says, “Right standing with God comes by grace through faith in Jesus.” Righteousness is given, it’s imputed, by Jesus Christ, not earned by ceremonial acts.  

 These two proposed methods conflicts. There’s no room for syncretistic adoption in these things. Paul uses vivid imagery when he says, You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. 

And Paul is using the immediate context of circumcision to carry the weight of the word “severed.” 

Paul has declared in chapter two, 

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:21 ESV)

By turning to the principle of circumcision for salvation, one turns away from the principle of grace. You can’t have both. 

Paul says in verse five:

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. (Galatians 5:5 ESV)

Upon belief, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and we are sealed by His presence. Paul said in another letter that he wrote to the Ephesians,

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV)

 And so he says, (we) eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. And this hope is not a frivolous possibility. It’s a confidence, an anticipation, because through the Spirit, by faith we are imputed righteousness. 

Verse six:

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 5:2-6 ESV)

Again, Paul hammers home the impossibility of combining self-effort with Jesus’ gift of righteousness. 

 As Paul said earlier in chapter three:

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ (you) have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.(Galatians 3:27-28 ESV)

Meaning, it’s nothing about self-effort, it’s nothing about self-position; it’s all about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Faith working through love. 

Faith accepts the promise of God which offers salvation through the accomplishment of Christ AND this faith isn’t just a set of words or a decree, it’s a trust in God which brings about a new birth in the believer and produces a fruitful spiritual life. 

This faith isn’t “working” in the sense that its fulfilling ceremonial requirements, its “working” because it’s producing the fruit of love. 

·      … the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; (and) against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV) 

So through the work of the Holy Spirit, this fruit of love fulfills the spiritual heart of the law far beyond any observance of the law could. 

Galatians 5:7-12

Verse seven:

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. (Galatians 5:7-11 ESV)

It appears that one of the methods being used to coerce the Galatians into submission of the law was to say that Paul supported it. 

But Paul asked a reasonable question – “Why am I having to defend myself from false accusations and verbal persecution if I agree with them? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.” 

Meaning if Paul was actually supporting the practice of circumcision among Gentiles, then the offence of the cross would no longer be irritating the legalistic party.  

Jesus is often referred to as the cornerstone but sometimes this reference is modified to the stumbling stone. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 9:30-33 ESV) 

Thus, we have the cross of offense, because it humbles the proud and it lifts the meek. These agitators in the Galatians churches were distorting the Gospel of Christ and disturbing the members of it. 

And so, Paul says in verse twelve:

I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! (Galatians 5:12 ESV)

This is incredibly harsh language. But it’s a layered statement. This term is a type of mutilation discussed in Deuteronomy 23:1 and it’s similar to castration. 

This kind of physical mutilation for religious purposes was practiced in the region of Galatia, in worship of Cybele (sib-all-lee), a goddess of the area. 

Paul’s irony meant: if these Judaizes considered the physical act of circumcision a saving rite then they might as well go all the way and imitate their pagan neighbors. 

This is similar to how Paul reminded the Galatians in chapter four about their observances of false idols and legalistic rituals before they were saved and he equates the Jewish observances that they were now practicing to that of pagan practice. 

You see, good things can be misused and distorted.  

Every Christian needs to understand that hope of righteousness comes from identity with Christ, through the Spirit, by faith. 

It’s not based off of self-effort or personal merit but only through the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. 

Any attempt to place people under a system of laws that are to designed to win righteousness are against the purposes for which Christ died. Jesus set believers free so that we can walk in freedom as sons and daughters of God. 

Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 

Conclusion

Hey guys, this was a difficult lesson to put together. Hopefully, you found to be beneficial. 

If you could support the work that I put into this podcast, and that the team puts into this ministry, I’d ask you to pray for us. Specifically, that we would have internal growth and that needs would be met within the ministry. 

Currently, we are seeking a non-profit status, and looking for partners and board members – we want to have healthy roster to help keep a light workload for everybody involved. 

But again, pray for us; the future is very exciting but it’s a lot of work to get there. 

Thank you for listening! Until next week, I’ll catch you later.