A New Kind of Freedom - Week 9

Galatians 5


Note: The study related to these questions may be found at Catholic Exchange. Please go to their site for the complete material concerning this study. Below are my thoughts on the questions presented for the given study (Please see disclaimer at bottom).

A Serious Warning

Read Gal. 5:1-12

1. Why does Paul make a comparison between receiving circumcision and submitting to a yoke of slavery (vs. 1)?
(a) Because to submit to circumcision is to submit to the law of Moses. This would constitute a state of slavery for the Gentiles.

2. For those who seek to be justified by the law, what will become of their relationship with Christ (vss. 2-4)? Why?
(a) The will be "severed from Christ. (b) Because they would be placing their trust in the Mosaic Law instead of Christ.

3. In vs. 5, Paul says that as we live by faith through the Spirit, we wait for the hope of righteousness. What do you think he means by that? What is it that we have now in Christ, and what are we still waiting for?
(a) He means that we wait for our ultimate salvation. (b) We now have the Holy Spirit in Christ and we await our eternal salvation.

4. There are some who say that a person cannot fall from grace, that once saved, always saved. How would you use this section of Paul's letter to refute that idea?
(a) If one could not fall from grace, why would Paul bother writing to the Galatians in the first place. Their salvation would have been assured when they received the Holy Spirit when Paul preached to them, thus no need to worry about them accepting the law and it's consequences. Given that Paul did worry, he obviously did not subscribe to this belief.

5. Look carefully at vs. 6. Paul's entire letter up to chapter five has been taken up with combating the temptation the Gentiles were facing to return to the Mosaic legal code, represented by circumcision. He has powerfully demonstrated the weakness of that legal system. This verse could very easily serve as a summary statement of the whole epistle. Circumcision doesn't matter; it is faith working through love that really matters to Paul. When he wants to put what really matters as simply and as forcefully as he can, he says that it is faith working through love. This is a critical point in the debate between Catholics and Protestants. Because Paul is completely focused on the most essential thing in the Christian life, we recognize this statement to be extremely important. Notice that Paul does not say, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters, but faith alone. Surely if he had meant that he would have written it at this moment. What is the difference between faith alone and faith working through love, which is what Paul did write?
(a) Because Paul is assuming an obedient faith, one in conjunction with works.

6. What metaphor does Paul use to describe the Christian life in vs. 7? Read also I Cor. 9:24-27 and 2 Tim. 4:6-8. (Historical note: Paul s second letter to Timothy was the last one he wrote before his martyrdom).
(a) Paul uses a foot race as a metaphor.
24: Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25: Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26: Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; 27: but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (I Cor 9:24-27, RSV)
6: For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. 7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2 Tim 4:6-8)


7. Notice that in vs. 7, Paul asks, who hindered you from obeying the truth? Why do you suppose he uses the word obeying rather than the word believing ?
(a) Becausing obedience denotes action, where as belief does not.

8. What hope does Paul express for his friends in vss. 8-10?
(a) That they will take no other view than his.

9. Apparently, some of Paul's accusers were suggesting that he was being double-minded, preaching circumcision among Jewish Christians, in order to ingratiate himself with them, but changing his tune when among Gentile Christians. How does Paul answer that charge (vs. 11)?
(a) That if he indeed still taught circumcision, he would not be persecuted.

Note: Vs. 12 might look like pure ugliness on Paul s part, but the actual translation is castrate themselves, metaphorically suggesting that the enemies would no longer be able to reproduce themselves, thus bringing this heresy to an end.
10. In these verses, Paul has used strong language to describe the problem the Galatians are experiencing -- "Christ will be of no advantage to you", "you are severed from Christ", "you have fallen away from grace", "who hindered you from obeying the truth"? Does all this provoke any questions in you?
(a) Why would Paul be so adamant in this section?

A New Kind of Freedom Life in the Spirit

Read Gal. 5:13-End

11. In vs. 13, Paul returns to the idea of freedom (see 5:1). How is Christian freedom different from the world's idea of freedom (vs. 13)?
(a) Freedom does not free you from responsibility or morality in the Christian sense. It frees us to help one another.

Note: It is clear from vs. 14 that Paul thinks of the moral law as distinct from the ceremonial law. We have no obligation at all to the ceremonial law (circumcision, dietary laws, animal sacrifice, etc.), but the moral law provides the framework for our lives in the Spirit, as he will show throughout the rest of the chapter. Recall the words of Jesus: I have come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). You might be interested to see a comment by St. Augustine on this verse: It might also be asked why the Apostle here speaks only of love of neighbor, saying that this way the whole Law is fulfilled, when in fact charity is perfect only if one practices the two precepts of love of God and love of neighbor&But who can love his neighbor, that is, all men, as himself, if he does not love God, since it is only by God's precept and gift that one can love one's neighbor? So, since neither precept can be kept unless the other be kept, it is enough to mention one of them (Ex. In Gal, 45).

12. Look at vs. 15. What impact has this controversy over circumcision had on the love the Galatians have for one another? Why would this worry Paul?
(a) They have begun to fight amongst one another. (b) Paul is afraid that this conflict might consume them.

13. Paul has made it very clear in this letter that it is the presence of the Spirit in our lives that proves we are God's beloved children. What tension will everyone who seeks to walk by the Spirit (vss. 16-17) face in this life?
(a) If we walk by the Spirit we will undergo temptaions of the flesh.

14. In vs. 18, Paul says that whoever is led by the Spirit is not under the law. Some have suggested that this verse means that once we are Christians, it is not our obedience to rules that matters but our faith in God's grace. Do you think that's what Paul means here?
(a) No, Paul is referring to the ceremonial works of the Mosaic law, nothing more.

15. Look carefully at each word in the list of works of the flesh in vs. 19-21. If a term is unfamiliar to you, look it up in the dictionary. Does anything surprise you about this list? Why do you suppose Paul writes such an explicit, detailed list like this?
(a) Not really. (b) Paul is trying to show how things one might not consider sinful, such as selfishness, are in fact sinful.

16. Is Paul saying, at the end of vs. 21, that if you struggle with anger or selfishness, you will not inherit the kingdom of God?
(a) No.

17. Look at the quality of life produced by yielding to the Spirit instead of the flesh (vs. 22). What do you suppose the phrase against such there is no law means in vs. 23?
(a) Meaning, that if we live our lives by yielding to the Spirit, the chains of the law cannot bind us.

18. Paul says, in vs. 24, that those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. See also Gal. 2:20. Does this mean that we are no longer troubled by them? Why do you suppose Paul says that at this point in the letter?
(a) From earlier in Galatians:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20, RSV)
No, we will always be trouble by them because we are creatures of flesh as well as creatures of spirit. (b) To remind the Galatians what it means to be a follower of Christ.

19. In vs. 25, Paul says if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. How are those two things different from each other?
(a) Living by the Spirit is to enjoy the fruits stated in verses 22-23. To walk by the Spirit is to portray and share these same fruits with others.

20. In vs. 26, why do you suppose Paul is concerned about these particular problems?
(a) Because he concerned with the strife in the Church of Galatia.

21. Sometimes it can look like a long road out of the works of the flesh and into the fruit of the Spirit. Does Paul give any clues in these verses about how a person can successfully walk by the Spirit and not cave into the works of the flesh? List as many as you can.
(a) To successfully walk by the Spirit:

Disclaimer: I do not wish to present myself as an expert in either theology, history, or scriptural interpretation. I am merely someone who is attempting to answer the call of Christ. The ultimate authority and interpreter of scripture is our Holy Catholic Church. If at any point I deviate from the teachings of the Church, please correct me, alfredo@nevarez.net, as this is my shortcoming and in no way meant to be an expression of my views superceding those of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.

San Jose Bible Study
 Alfredo Nevarez
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