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1 8 Calvary Bible College 1100 Caprice Drive Castle Rock Colorado Tel: Web: Galatians: The Preparation, The Teaching NT359 Class #10 Interpretation Notes 5:10-21 Deliver us from Flesh Walking thru Spirit Walking Thought Flow into 5:10 Doctrinal Leaven starts in the mind and heart and Paul goes from discouragement to an attitude of con6idence NKJV 10 I have con,idence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. 10 I have had and still have con,idence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind or doctrinal understanding; Application? -con,idence rightly placed in people, is correctly and ultimately placed in the Lord. -Longenecker: Paul, however, found the basis for his hopes and the ground of his con,idence not in the way the situation seemed to be working itself out but in the Lord (for similar expressions of con,idence in the Lord see Rom 14:14; Phil 2:24; 2 Thes. 3:4). v.1 cont.... but he who troubles you shall bear his, the judgment, whoever he is. -Longenecker: ( the one who is disturbing, unsettling, throwing into confusion ) may refer to a particular individual, whether known or unknown to Paul, and or to any situation of disturbance, whether past, present, or future. Thought Flow into 5:11 And speaking of those who will bear their judgment, one of the things they will be judged for is lying about me regarding circumcision... NKJV 11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense! 1

2 of the cross has ceased. 11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. -Longenecker: Without any preparation of the reader for what follows, Paul here adds another statement to his series of comments and remarks in vs It seems that in coming to an end of his treatment of the Judaizing threat he feels it necessary to add something further something evidently occasioned by a false claim made by his opponents that Paul actually did believe in circumcision and preached it elsewhere in his missionary activity and/or earlier in his ministry -What the Galatians failed to appreciate, however, is that while Paul saw it as perfectly legitimate for Jewish Christians (Timothy, for example) to express their faith in Jesus through the traditional Jewish practices in order to have entrance into their circles to share the gospel, for Timothy was half Jewish and half Greek, and the Jews knew he was half and half. And Paul strenuously opposed the imposition of those practices on Gentile Christians either for full acceptance and salvation by God or as a normal way of Christian life, as in the case of Titus, see Gal. 2:1-3. Thought Flow into 5:12 Speaking of circumcision and the knife used, I have an idea on how to keep the Judaisers out of your fellowships! NKJV 12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! 12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! -George: It is possible to interpret Paul s remark with reference to this verse from the Pentateuch, No one who has been emasculated (castrated) by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord (Deut. 23:1). In the Septuagint, the words used to translate the assembly of the Lord are ecclesia Kuriou, the church of the Lord. By wishing that the Judaisers would emasculate themselves, Paul may have been intentionally weaving an ironic reversal. Just as the false teachers were urging the Galatian believers to have themselves circumcised in order to become a part of the true church or people of God, so Paul may have suggested that his opponents get themselves castrated and so, on the strength of Deut. 23:1, be once and for all excluded from the church. -George: What was at stake in the Galatian crisis was something much larger than Paul and the personal offense he must surely have felt at the ill-treatment he had received. What was at stake was the Gospel itself. Paul had been commissioned by Jesus Christ to proclaim his good news especially among the Gentiles. Now that message was being systematically attacked and undermined by super,icial preachers in the service of the Evil One. DEEPER George: The mention of heathen priests in Vincent s paraphrase refers to the ritual of sacral castration practiced by the priests of Cybele, a mother goddess (Magna Mater) and the focus of a thriving mystery cult in Asia Minor. The castration of the Cybeline priests was part of an annual ritual in which the dying and rising of Attis, the consort god of Cybele, was reenacted. Each year at the spring festival the worshipers of Cybele would fast, pray, and mourn the death of Attis. Then the priests would emasculate themselves, drink their own blood, and bear to his grave in solemn procession an image of the young god Attis. But on the morrow the streets would ring with exultant shouts as the people celebrated the resurrection! 2

3 of Attis and the renewal of the earth. Take courage, O mystics, cried the priests, the god is saved; and for you also, will come salvation. On the last day of the feast the image of the Great Mother would be carried in triumph through crowds that hailed her as nostra domina, Our Lady. One of the major centers for the worship of Cybele was at Pessinus, a leading city in North Galatia. It is quite possible that some of Paul s readers may themselves have been devotees of the Cybeline cult in their pre-christian days. In any event, they could not have missed the insinuation of Paul s allusion: the Judaisers who made so much of circumcision were really no better guides to the spiritual life than the pagan priests who castrated themselves in service to an idolatrous religion. In Gal 4:8 9 Paul had made the same point in another context. By submitting themselves to the law of Moses, the Gentile believers of Galatia would be sliding back into bondage to the very same elemental forces and demon gods they formerly had worshiped. George s Introduction to the last section before his concluding exhortations, 5:13-26 and 6:1-10: -With the doctrinal foundations securely in place and the malicious maneuverings of the trouble makers,inally unmasked, Paul now turned his attention to speci,ic ethical exhortations that we have grouped under two headings:,lesh and spirit (5:13 26) and freedom in service to others (6:1 10). Thought Flow into 5:13 Being free from the bewitchers would probably be freeing for the Galatians as well... to serve one another NKJV 13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the,lesh, but through love serve one another. 13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; -Fung: Paul forcefully distinguishes his Galatian converts from the agitators (v. 12): those who were advocates of circumcision and hence representatives of legal bondage, whereas you were called to freedom v. 13 cont.... only do not use liberty as an opportunity (or base of operation to look for an occasion) for the,lesh, but through the love serve one another with a bondslaves heart. -MacArthur: Aphormē (opportunity) was often used to indicate a central base from which all operations of a military campaign originated. In this context,lesh does not refer to the physical body but to the sinful inclination of fallen mankind, the old self, whose supreme desire is to do its own will and to satisfy its sinful appetites. It is a synonym for sinful self-will. -Freedom from being under the law and its bondage brings us to a crossroads. Will we use the freedom to ful,ill the planned will of our sinful nature or will we rather put ourselves under bond-slavery to serve others and being too busy have little time to indulge our,lesh? -So says Peter in 1Peter 2: as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. What are the attitudes of bondservants of God? 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. What does a bondservant of God look like at work? 18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. What does this bond-servanthood look like in marriage? 3:1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives... 3:7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.! 3

4 What does a God bondservant look like in the local church? 3:8-9 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. Thought Flow into 5:14 Does not even the law say so? NKJV 14 For all the law is ful,illed in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 14 For all the law is ful,illed in one word or message, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. -Longenecker: Somewhat surprisingly, having so de,initely denounced legalism (cf. esp. 3:6 14) and set aside the law as a pedagogue in the Christian life (cf. 3:23 4:7), Paul here speaks about Christians ful,illing the law. -The Law, we must remember, according to this same Paul in Romans 7, when arriving at the conclusion of his answer to the questions in 7:7: what shall we say then then? Is the law sin? His immediate response is certainly not! His concluding thought about the law is in 7:12 is: 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. In Rom. 8:4 He tells that though the Law is good, Law keeping thru the,lesh cannot be done, due to the weakness of the,lesh. The righteous requirements of the Law can only be ful,illed thru walking in the Spirit, and this he concludes in Rom. 8:4. -Even the Righteous Law says: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus takes that righteous command and elevates it in John 13:34-35 and He says this to His disciples when preparing them for life in the Spirit, after the cross and His ascension: 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have active loving for one another. -The Law may make great spiritual statements, but the Law does not give us: How to Love Power? That comes starting in v.16 after he tells us in v.15 that if we do not actively love each other that void of not loving will be ful,illed by the sel,ish,lesh and will end up in biting and devouring each other, because we will be in the,lesh and the,lesh will take opportunity to be its sel,ish-self and if left uncheck will destroy us and others as well. Thought Flow into 5:15 And if you do not actively love each other you will actively destroy each other... NKJV 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! 15 But if you continuously bite (only here) and continuously devour (as in widow s houses) one another, beware lest you be (at some point) consumed (as in 6ire consuming) by one another! -The implication here is this: When you put yourselves under the Law you are not under the Spirit and thus powerless to stop the work of the,lesh in a corporate setting: biting and devouring each other. -Longenecker: The hyperbole pictures wild beasts,ighting so ferociously with one another that they end up annihilating each other. The implication of the portrayal is that this was what was happening. in the churches of Galatia. Thought Flow into 5:16 And how do we do this, this life of loving each other, what is the key?! 4

5 NKJV 16 I say then: walk in the Spirit, and you shall not ful,ill the lust of the,lesh. 16 I say then: continue to walk or conduct your life in and by the Spirit, and this is your promise: you shall not ful,ill the lust of the,lesh. -Fung: The gist of vs that believers have been called for freedom, not in order that they may indulge their sinful nature, but that they should serve one another through love is further explained ( I mean this ) as Paul reveals the secret of successful Christian living. The course to be followed is indicated by the imperative or command, walk by the Spirit -Longenecker: The formula λέγω δέ ( so I say ), as noted above, ties together Paul s statements about love in vs. 13b 14 with his present statements about the Spirit in vs The statement of v 16 consists of two parts: the,irst, an exhortation, live by the Spirit ; the second, a promise, and you will not gratify the desires of the,lesh. This statement is then elaborated on in 5:17 24, exhorted again in 5:25, and applied directly to the Galatian situation in 5:26 6:10. -Why walk in the Spirit? Because where there is true liberty there must also be the Spirit of the Lord. And where the Spirit the Lord is actively Lord, there is liberty. 2Cor. 3:17 says this: 17 Now the Lord, is the Spirit is; and where the Spirit of the Lord is (and nowhere else!), there is liberty. -No where do we read that when we are under the Law there is liberty! Thought Flow into 5:17 Do you think that the 6lesh and the Spirit are in cooperation with each other? Think again, being under law is contrary to the Spirit, your 6lesh is an adversary of the Spirit... NKJV 17 For the,lesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the,lesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 17 For the,lesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the,lesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. -Fung: It has been suggested that `spirit and `,lesh in this context are probably the constituent parts of every man, so that pneuma refers to the human spirit, not the Spirit of God. But this is highly unlikely in view of the Spirit-,lesh contrast Paul develops elsewhere (cf. let us see Rom. 8:4 6, 9, 13), particularly in Gal. 3:3, and in view of the clear reference to the divine Spirit in both the preceding and the following verses (5:16, 18, 22, 25). -the,lesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the,lesh. These entities are in opposition to one another, so that you are not able to do what you want. -Recall how powerful the,lesh is when Paul declares in Rom. 7: But I see another law principle in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the,lesh the law of sin. -Fung: It is dif,icult, however, to avoid the conclusion that Gal. 5:17, taken in its context, refers to a different situation from that envisaged in Rom. 7: There Paul describes an unequal con,lict between the subject s willingness to do and the actual doing. Here it is a battle between,lesh and Spirit which stands under the promise of victory; there the subject is taken captive by the law of sin, here the believer, though threatened by the,lesh, may prevail over it by walking according to the Spirit.! 5

6 -Will it be easy? No Jesus said that narrow and dif,icult is the way, the walk if you will, that leads to life. Thought Flow into 5:18 And the Spirit has no need of co-operation with the law either NKJV 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 18 But if you choose and are led by the Spirit, -Fung: The Holy Spirit is not a perpetual motion machine which operates automatically in the life of the believer, but a Person whose working the Christian can respond to, depend on, and cooperate with. Therefore, the Christian faces the decision whether to follow the Spirit in this way or to give in to the,lesh. v.18 cont.... you are not and cannot be under the law and under the Spirit at the same time. -Fung: Since in vs the con,lict has been consistently spoken of in terms of the Spirit and the,lesh, we might have expected Paul to say: But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the,lesh. Instead, he says you are not under law.... A comparison of Gal. 5:18 (where to be under law is contrasted with being led by the Spirit) with v. 16 (where walking by the Spirit is said to be the way to avoid carrying out the desires of the,lesh) shows the implication to be plainly this: the desires of the,lesh cannot be overcome by the Christian remaining under law. Thought Flow into 5:19-21 Let me give you a short list of what the works of the 6lesh are that are contrary to the Kingdom of God -Fung introducing these two contrasting lists: 1-Works of the,lesh versus the fruit of the Spirit... To illustrate the state of opposition between the,lesh and the Spirit, Paul provides representative lists of their respective activities. The works of the,lesh (in Rom. 8:13 Paul refers such deeds to the body ) & are concrete expressions of the,lesh, that is, of fallen mankind itself, in actual living. Paul s catalog of vices may not be based on any clear principles of organization. Indeed, in the opinion of H. D. Betz, the seemingly chaotic arrangement of these terms is re,lective of the chaotic nature of evil; this chaos is to be contrasted with the oneness of the `fruit of the Spirit and its orderly arrangement (v 22 23). But categorizing them we will: Dr. Arnold: He categorizes these actions in four areas. The First category, sensual results: fornication [prostitution], uncleanness [moral impurity], and lasciviousness [promiscuity; such as, pre-marital or extra-marital sexual relationships and things of that nature]. The second category of the results of the works of the,lesh is false worship, and he mentions two: idolatry and sorcery [witchcraft]. The third category of the results of the works of the,lesh are personal and social relations, and he mentions eight: enmities [personal animosities], strife [rivalry and discord], jealousies [of an unnatural kind], wraths [people being vengeful toward one another], factions, [divisions within the Body], divisions [among individuals and within married couples], parties [heresies], envyings [feelings of ill will]. These! 6

7 are personal and social results of working on the basis of the,lesh. The fourth category of results is intemperance, categorized by drunkenness and by revelings [orgies]. NKJV 19 Now the works of the,lesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 19 Now the works of the,lesh are evident or very discernable, even without the law, -Where do they start in our,lesh? Jesus tells in Matt. 15: Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they de,ile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which de,ile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not de,ile a man. -Mark says these things come from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts... -Proceed: out of their home and place of origin - Works of not diseases of the,lesh. The unchecked, energized activities of the,lesh can lead to bondage or addiction in the,lesh.... which are: adultery *, fornication (porneia), * adultery left out of the corrupt Greek texts -Another list similar to this list of the works of the,lesh are found in Rom. 1: adultery: fornication while in a married state, either one party or both being married... uncleanness, -Fung: the word appears here and elsewhere in conjunction with fornication (porneia; cf. 2 Cor. 12:21; Eph. 5:3, 5; Col. 3:5) and hence may refer speci,ically to impure conduct in sexual relations.... lewdness, -Fung: Aselgeia appears to have a broad sense in Eph. 4:19, where the Gentiles are said to have abandoned themselves to lewdness. In Rom. 13:13 the word is paired with debauchery and thus takes on the special nuance of sexual excess. -Guzik: has the idea of ready to sin at any time. One who,launts their immorality. DEEPER Fung: Paul also begins his catalogs of vices with sexual sins in Rom. 1:24; 1 Cor. 6:9; Eph. 5:3, 5; and Col. 3:5. Their prominence in these lists is due to their prevalence in current society: There is ample evidence to show that the sexual life of the Greco-Roman world at the time of the NT was sheer chaos. Such evidence has come not from Christian writers but from pagans who were disgusted with the unspeakable sexual immorality. Not surprisingly has it been said, In nothing did early Christianity so thoroughly revolutionize the ethical standards of the pagan world as in regard to sexual relationships. NKJV 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, sel,ish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 20 idolatry,! 7

8 -false worship. In place of or instead of worship and service. Paul calls covetousness idolatry. -Physical representations of God whether in human form or in animal form or combinations there of or worship of the creation in the second heaven is idolatry and is a step away from any seeking of the True God and Savior Jesus Christ. To worship the creation instead of its creator again is idolatry and is back sliding when it comes to seeking the true God. All sincere seeking of the truth is a road that ultimately leads to Jesus Christ only, and not to worship of created forms!... sorcery, - φαρμακεία, pharmakia, the noun used here and Rev. 9:21, Rev. 18:23. In a word drugs! -Idolatry is often associated with the use of drug-potions. Drugs that alter our state and leave us open to all kinds of spiritual vulnerability and practices. But mostly we end up in bondage or addiction to these pharmakias, or drugs, because as Paul says an idol is nothing in and of itself. -Guzik: William Barclay wrote, this literally means the use of drugs it came to be very specially connected with the use of drugs for sorcery, of which the ancient world was full. The Holy Spirit never led anyone into sorcery or getting high on drugs.... hatred, -Guzik: hatred is the inner motivation for the ill treatment of others. Just as love is the inner motivation for the kind and good treatment of others, hatred is an inner motivation. -Rom. 8:7 is very telling: 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity or hatred against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. -Laws can be passed to punish the evil that men do or even say against each other; but no law can answer the problem of hatred, which motivates those acts.... contentions, -Guzik: simply speaks of a constant combative and argumentative spirit.... jealousies, -Guzik: an ancient Greek word (zelos) that is sometimes used in a positive sense: as for being zealous for something good. But here, clearly, the connotation is wrong. In this context, it means the desire to have what someone else has, wrong desire for what is not for us. And the zealous person is willing that the other person does not have it, in order that he might possess it-or that it might possess him!... outbursts of wrath, -Guzik: translates an ancient Greek word (thumos) that speaks of a sudden,lash of anger, not a settled state of anger. It means to lose your temper, being unable to control your anger.... sel,ish ambitions, -Guzik: translates the ancient Greek word eritheia... It ended up meaning sel,ish ambition, the ambition which has no conception of service and whose only aims are pro,it and power. It is the heart of a person whose,irst question is always, What s in it for me?... dissensions, - Guzik the ancient Greek word dichostasia, and it literally means standing apart. Romans 16:17 and 1 Corinthians 3:3 translate this word as divisions. Dissension describes a society where the members,ly apart instead of coming together.... heresies,! 8

9 -Guzik: We think today of heresies in terms of wrong ideas and teachings; but the emphasis in the word is actually the wrongful dividing over opinions. Heresies can be thought of as hardened dissensions. There is all the difference in the world between believing that we are right and believing and verbalizing that everyone else is wrong. -Heresies, is also an almost exclusive emphasis of one truth, to the near exemption of the whole council of God. NKJV 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 21 envy, - Guzik: is the ancient Greek word phthonos. It doesn t so much want what someone else has (as in jealousies), but it is bitter just because someone else has something and we don t. The ancient Stoics called this grief at someone else s good. It is the,lipping out side jealousy when that jealousy is not ful,illed or cannot ever be ful,illed.... murders *, * Not in the corrupt Greek texts. -Murders, multiple murders -Murder(s) is an illegal form of killing. Deliberate killing, when not condoned by the Scriptures is murder. Murder to Jesus starts with several bad heart to mouth emotions and words.... drunkenness, -Guzik is clearly described as one of the works of the,lesh. While Christians may differ as to if a Christian can drink alcohol, the Scriptures precisely forbids drunkenness. We must not think that only being falling down drunk is a sin; but being impaired in any way by drink is sin, as well as drinking with the intention of becoming impaired.... revelries, -Guzik translating the ancient Greek word komos, doesn t mean simply having a party or a good time. It means unrestrained partying, we would call them orgies. -Used two other times always in association with drunkenness and partying.... and the like or similar; -The list is not exhaustive and probably this list is very familiar to the Galatians.... of which I tell you beforehand (he has speci6ically talked of this list before), just as I also told you in time past, that those who continually practice such things and probably without conviction*, will not inherit the kingdom of God. * I say so in light of: Rev. 9: But the rest of mankind, who were not killed (apokteino) by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders (phono) or their sorceries (pharmakia) or their sexual immorality or their thefts. -Be careful of eternally judging those who love the Lord, but struggle mightily in any of these areas... -Rom. 7:15-25 depicts the person who struggles with the,lesh and does not want to, but does not know how to stop or walk in wisdom in these areas. That is not the person here in Gal. 5:21 who will not inherit the Kingdom of God.! 9

10 -our Galatian verses correspond in many ways to 1 Cor. 6:9 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous (have not received imputed righteousness) will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (by false teachings in particular). Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11a And such were some of you... And what are the steps to losing these dominant labels? v.11b But you were washed, but you were sancti,ied or set apart, but you were justi,ied in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. -Who washes? -Who sancti,ies or sets us apart? -Who justi,ies in this verse? -If we place ourselves under the law for salvation, who does these things, because God does not according to Galatians do these things in conjunction with being under the law. It is either be under the law or under Christ per His Gospel. -So how does these things get done and how do we lose the labels we have read in 1 Corinthians 6 and in Galatians 5:19-21? -The answer is not: under the Law, but by, in, thru, and under the power of the Spirit of God. Applications?! 10

11 No other homework other than your readings for class 11!! 11