Gal 5:1-4 | Clarke | STEP | The apostle exhorts the Galatians to stand fast in the liberty of the Gospel, and not by receiving circumcision bring themselves into a yoke of bondage, . Shows the superior excellence of Christianity, , . Mentions their former steadiness, and warns them against the bad doctrine which was then preached among them, . Expresses his confidence that they will yet return; and shows that he who perverted them shall bear his own punishment, . States that they are called to liberty, and that love is the fulfilling of the law, , . Warns them against dissensions, and enumerates the fruits of the flesh, which exclude those who bear them from the kingdom of God, . Enumerates also the fruits of the Spirit, which characterize the disciples of Christ, . Exhorts them to live in the Spirit, and not provoke each other, , .

Galatians 5:1-4

Introduction

The apostle exhorts the Galatians to stand fast in the liberty of the Gospel, and not by receiving circumcision bring themselves into a yoke of bondage, Gal 5:1-4. Shows the superior excellence of Christianity, Gal 5:5, Gal 5:6. Mentions their former steadiness, and warns them against the bad doctrine which was then preached among them, Gal 5:7-9. Expresses his confidence that they will yet return; and shows that he who perverted them shall bear his own punishment, Gal 5:10-12. States that they are called to liberty, and that love is the fulfilling of the law, Gal 5:13, Gal 5:14. Warns them against dissensions, and enumerates the fruits of the flesh, which exclude those who bear them from the kingdom of God, Gal 5:15-21. Enumerates also the fruits of the Spirit, which characterize the disciples of Christ, Gal 5:22-24. Exhorts them to live in the Spirit, and not provoke each other, Gal 5:25, Gal 5:26. Verse 2

If ye be circumcised - By circumcision you take on you the whole obligation of the Jewish law, and consequently profess to seek salvation by means of its observances; and therefore Christ can profit you nothing; for, by seeking justification by the works of the law, you renounce justification by faith in Christ. Verse 3

He is a debtor to do the whole law - Lays himself, by receiving circumcision, under the obligation to fulfill all its precepts, ordinances, etc. Verse 4

Christ is become of no effect unto you - It is vain for you to attempt to unite the two systems. You must have the law and no Christ, or Christ and no law, for your justification.

Ye are fallen from grace - From the Gospel. They had been brought into the grace of the Gospel; and now, by readopting the Mosaic ordinances, they had apostatized from the Gospel as a system of religion, and had lost the grace communicated to their souls, by which they were preserved in a state of salvation. The peace and love of God, received by Jesus Christ, could not remain in the hearts of those who had rejected Christ. They had, therefore, in every sense of the word, fallen from grace; and whether some of them ever rose again is more than we can tell.