Live in Love! – 5:13-15

As some of you know, liL fytr is also my rapper moniker. And, as some of you also know, I’m releasing a new song—a single that will stand alone—in five days. I figure I’ll give you a peek at it in this post. One of the central lines in the song says:

The goal of the Christian life is love to all

From the bedroom to the mall to the Islamic radical

And that line, by putting “bedroom” with “Islamic radical”, forces one to ask, “How do you define ‘love’?” And my answer, hopefully made clear throughout the song, is that it is the same in both cases. It’s a matter of thinking of others before yourself. And, if your curiosity has been piqued, you’ll just have to wait until Wednesday, February 8, 2017 when the song comes out. The point for today is that Paul hits on the exact same theme in our Galatians passage.

Paul writes in Galatians 5:13-15, “For you were called to be free, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.  But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.”

Paul has thus far explained that the Law is not necessary for the believer. He’s explained that the Law exists to point us to Christ—showing us our need. He’s explained that all the Law is capable of is enacting slavery on those who are under it. Finally, in 5:1, he said that Christ set us free for the purpose of freedom. We are not to ever return to slavery. In 5:2-12 he showed one side of the slavery that we are not to return to, and he hinted at the true path of freedom (5:6). Here, in 5:13-15, Paul shows us the opposite side of slavery that we are not to return to (5:13a), and elaborates greatly on the true path of freedom (5:13b-15).

Paul begins by describing the other form of slavery that we are not to return to. “For you were called to be free, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.” And thus he quickly sucks the life out of any argument that would state, “If there’s no law, then we can do whatever we want!” Paul holds that living by the flesh is just as enslaving as the Law is enslaving, and Jesus agrees with him. Jesus said, “I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34).

And I would point out that Jesus is not talking about the occasional slip into sin. He literally says, “Everyone who is doing sin.” He explains in verse 36 that there’s a difference between a slip into sin and being a sins slave: “Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” First John is helpful on this point. In 3:9 John writes what can be literally translated, “Everyone who has been born of God is not continually doing sin, because His seed abides in him; and he is not able, as a result continually to sin, because he has been born of God.”  Thus, the one who is not born of God is continually doing sin.[1] A literal translation of 1 John 2:1 highlights the difference, and explains what a believer’s sin looks like: “If anyone might sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” While unbelievers are only able to sin—since they are slaves of sin—believers do not have to sin. While unbelievers do sin—sin being the thing that is done—believers simply occasionally sin. While unbelievers are not born of God—not set free from slavery—believers are free, because they have been born of God. The word translated “sin” in 2:1 is in the subjunctive mood, which means it is not a necessary thing, which is why I translated it with the word “might.”

The point being, if you’re a believer, you’re not a slave to sin. You don’t have to continue in sin. If you do, and you enjoy it—thinking often about it—you should question whether or not you really have been born of God and set free. Just as much as it is slavery to submit to rules of Law, it is slavery to feed your selfish passions and desires. One commentator explains, “Later, the rabbis used various metaphors to describe the insidious enslavement of sin: ‘At the beginning it is like a spider’s thread, but finally it will be like a ship’s rope’ (R. Akiba, c. a.d. 135), ‘at the beginning it is like a guest, later it will become the ruler of the household’ (R. Jicchaq, c. a.d. 300).”[2] Paul wants believers to have complete freedom. Flirting with sin and/or following Law do not allow for complete freedom.

As such, Paul lays out the path to true freedom in 5:13b-15. “But serve one another through love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.  But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.” (I could write a whole dissertation on this theme, but I will control myself and limit my discussion to the point of this passage within the book of Galatians.) Right out of the gate Paul defines love. He says, “Serve one another.” This is the kind of love that Jesus describes in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”[3]

And, as a side note, all sin is a lack of love—whether to God or to man. Fleshly living is loveless living. For the unbeliever, whenever they say, “I love you,” to someone they care about, they are actually lying, and are just proving again how badly they need Jesus. Paul says that freedom doesn’t give an excuse to live by the flesh, and then says that freedom does give us the opportunity to serve (love) others. A practical application of what he’s saying is that for any sin you are trying to defeat, you need to preach the lovelessness of the sin to yourself and look for the loving alternative to it. (In my song that releases Wednesday, I give examples of this strategy.)

Paul then sums up the Law of Moses by saying that it is fulfilled in one statement: Leviticus 19:18. “Love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.” Now before explaining what this means, allow me to let John Calvin explain what it does not mean. He explains that most teachers in his day held that: “The love of ourselves must always hold the first rank.” He then drops this bomb:

This is not to interpret, but to subvert our Lord’s words. They are asses, and have not even a spark of the love of their neighhour; for if the love of ourselves were the rule, it would follow that it is proper and holy, and is the object of the divine approbation. But we shall never love our neighbors with sincerity, according to our Lord’s intention, till we have corrected the love of ourselves. The two affections are opposite and contradictory; for the love of ourselves leads us to neglect and despise others, — produces cruelty, covetousness, violence, deceit, and all kindred vices, — drives us to impatience, and arms us with the desire of revenge. Our Lord therefore enjoins that it be changed into the love of our neighbor (emphasis added).[4]

It’s not a matter of loving ourselves more so we can love others better, but rather of asking ourselves, “how do I want to be loved?” This is further explained by Jesus Himself in the Sermon on the Mount when He says, “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them—this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). And then, Martin Luther makes a mic-dropping statement,

But what more needs to be said? You cannot find a better or nearer example than your own. If you want to know how you ought to love your neighbor, ask yourself how much you love yourself. If you were to get into trouble or danger, you would be glad to have the love and help of all men. You do not need any book of instructions to teach you how to love your neighbor. All you have to do is to look into your own heart, and it will tell you how you ought to love your neighbor as yourself.

My neighbor is every person, especially those who need my help, as Christ explained in the tenth chapter of Luke. Even if a person has done me some wrong, or has hurt me in any way, he is still a human being with flesh and blood. As long as a person remains a human being, so long is he to be an object of our love.[5]

And I know that given current events, people would love to quote me/Luther here and say, “Trump’s executive order is anti-Christian love.” However, I’m going to take that opportunity straight out of your hands. If you really want to do the loving thing, love others more than yourself and actively love the oppressed Muslims in the seven banned nations, rather than overly loving yourself and waiting for them to come here before loving them; the whining and moping of Christians about Trump’s executive order is foolish and telling.[6]

But back to Paul’s point: The whole Law is fulfilled in this statement. Assuming for the sake of keeping this concise that the entirety of the Law is Exodus 20:2-17, the reason for the ten commandments is to protect our neighbors (and us by extension). Paul explains in Romans 13:9-10, “The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.” How much easier is it to say, “Love your neighbor,” than, “Thou shalt not x, y, z”? The burden of worrying about all the things you need to do or not do are condensed down to the following question: “What is the most loving thing to do in this situation?” MacArthur explains, “When a Christian genuinely loves others he fulfills all the moral elements of the Mosaic law.”[7]

Paul then concludes today’s passage with a warning. “But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.” When love is lacking, this is the picture that emerges. The word translated “bite” is often used of snakes. “Paul is . . . referring to conduct more fitting to wild animals than to brothers and sisters in Christ.”[8]

Unfortunately, this verse describes a lot of churches today too well. Sometimes, it’s due to theological disagreements, but other times (and more contextually accurate for this post) it’s due to people not thinking of others ahead of themselves. And here’s the thing: people are too good at preaching, “Love others selflessly,” but not good at all at practicing what they preach.

(Confession: I have been guilty in the past three months of being extremely bitter, jealous, angry, and hateful [for lack of a better word] towards a brother [and sister] in my church.) And when I would confess as much to them or to “counselors” at the church they would essentially tell me, “Love means putting others ahead of yourself.” And I tried. I told the objects of the sinful attitudes that I was working on the attitudes, that I wanted to support them in their relationship, and that I believe in unity of believers and love amongst believers. And they assured me that they wanted to include me in their life (at least he did), but I consistently fell through the cracks, and at church I was in the back—alone—while they publicly displayed their affection two rows in front of me.[9]

If every member of Christ’s church loved biblically—thinking of others first—then when someone starts acting unlovingly he can be rebuked. You can’t rebuke a genuinely loving person for starting to act unlovingly when no one loves him biblically. Now, by no means am I trying to justify myself (or say that I love perfectly—may it never be!); my anger and bitterness is still there, and it is sin, and I am working on rooting it out. However, my point is that we can allow others to be bitten and devoured if we aren’t serving them through love—it’s the passive way of biting and devouring which is still just as wrong. Galatians 6:1 proves this; if we aren’t carrying others’ burdens, we’re allowing them to drown, and we’re not acting like Christ to them (cf. Matthew 11:28-30).

Paul, through these three verses would equate not loving others—allowing them either actively or passively to be bitten and devoured—with being fleshly. The very last thing that freedom in Christ can possibly mean is freedom to neglect actively loving others by serving them. Love is not a noun; it is a verb! We have to do it!

In conclusion, allow more lyrics from my upcoming song to sum up this post:

Trust Him today, say you’re done with your sin

If you truly do this I promise you that He’ll come in

He’ll shovel out your filth, He’ll make you brand new

It won’t be immediate change, but He’ll be living through you

We’ll never love perfectly. That’s why the lyrics just quoted fit perfectly here. Martin Luther explains, “Let nobody think that he knows all about this commandment, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ It sounds short and easy, but show me the man who can teach, learn, and do this commandment perfectly. None of us heed, or urge, or practice this commandment properly.”[10] Pray this week that God would help you be more loving than you were last week. I know I will be praying for this.

Til next time.

Soli Deo Gloria. Solus Christus.

---

[1] The discussion comes down to this: is sin an occasional action, or the thing that you do daily?

[2] Colin F. Kruse, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – John, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 208.

[3] Proof of this is found in the fact that if we look at this verse’s wider context, it is found in a passage where Jesus serves His disciples by washing their feet. (Feet washing was cultural, and I would argue has zero business in our churches today, but that’s a whole exegesis of John 13:3-15 in itself; it’ll be a while before I get to it, but it’s on my list.)

[4] John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians.

[5] Martin Luther, A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians.

[6] See Albert Mohler’s discussion here: http://www.albertmohler.com/2017/01/30/briefing-01-30-17/. Let it be clear that this was not Mohler’s conclusion, but I drew my conclusion from what he said.

[7] John MacArthur, Galatians, 148.

[8] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 209.

[9] When only one member of a church is actively trying to love others biblically—ahead of himself—no one should judge him when he “acts out” through his attitude, thoughts, and ultimately by withdrawal from a specific fellowship.

[10] Martin Luther, A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians.

Tough Love – liL fytr in Galatians

Having a day off work is super helpful, especially when your cat has a vet appointment early in the morning the same day, because it forces you to get up early and be productive. As such, I decided to return to Galatians, and look specifically at the following question: “Is Paul really living in love when he talks harshly against the people leading the Galatians astray?”

And to be totally honest, statements that could be taken harshly occur as early as 1:8. “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him” (emphasis added). Then in 4:30, Paul says, “Throw out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never inherit with the son of the free woman.”[1] And then Paul goes off (for lack of a better phrase) in 5:2-12:

Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all.  Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law.  You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.  For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.  You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth?  This persuasion did not come from the One who called you.  A little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough.  I have confidence in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.  Now brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.  I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated! (emphases added).

I hold to this statement: “The whole point of the Bible is love. Each of the 66 books in our canon emphasizes a different aspect, but they all describe and promote love.”[2] As such, I hold that the gospel of God’s love for sinful man can be expressed clearly from each passage (rightly exegeted and exposited), and I hold that the personal application of every passage should have something to do with love (either for God or man) as well. So the question for today is: “how do we apply love from the above passages that have Paul blasting dudes?”

The first thing to say is that love is not defined as telling people that they’re great no matter what they do or say. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it,” and it is better translated/interpreted, “the way you train a child is the way he will turn out.” The point being: “love your child enough to discipline them.” While discipline may seem harsh to some, it teaches valuable lessons that will prove invaluable later in life. Proverbs pulls no punches when it says, “The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently” (13:24). Love is therefore defined as thinking of others ahead of yourself. It would be much easier to let someone go on in their destructive behavior, especially when society says, “Physical discipline isn’t good for a child’s self-esteem.”[3] If you truly love your child, you teach them that bad decisions cause pain (and a spanking is a lot less pain then a gunshot wound to the head because lack of physical discipline led a child to join a gang [cf. Proverbs 1:8-18]).

By way of comparison, Paul is loving the Galatians enough to rebuke them and say, “You’re wrong if you listen to these other people.”  And, as will be made clear in the next few posts through his letter, theology matters because wrong thinking causes wrong living. Paul wanted the Galatians to prove that their salvation was real, but they couldn’t do this if they reverted back to the Law. Paul says, “You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace,” (5:4). MacArthur explains, “To attempt to be justified by law is to reject the way of grace. . . . Law and grace cannot be mixed. As a means to salvation they are totally incompatible and mutually exclusive. To mix law with grace is to obliterate grace. . . . Legalism does not please God but offends Him.”[4] Earlier, he explained, “Whether before or after conversion, trust in human works of any kind is a barrier between a person and Christ and results in unacceptable legalism.”[5]

Paul doesn’t want anyone to be separated from Christ. He made this truth abundantly clear in Romans 9:1-3, “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit—  that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart.  For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood.” As such, he boldly rebukes people who are apostatizing from the faith (Galatians 1:6) and pleads with them to return to the truth (5:1). It takes real love to actually be willing to tell someone that they are wrong, and to risk alienating yourself from them; false love tells people exactly what they want to hear.

“But what about the people Paul told should be accursed (1:8) or thrown out (4:30) or castrated (5:12)?” you object. “How is that loving?” And I will admit that you bring up a good point. But the first thing to note is that the recipients of this letter were not those people. Those statements were written to the deceived, not the deceivers, in order to show the deceived the gross error of their heeding the teaching of the deceivers. Paul’s love is primarily reaching out to the deceived to set them back on the right path so that they can end up at the right destination.

However, I firmly believe that Paul expected the Judaizers (deceivers) to hear/see the content of the letter. And I also firmly believe that while they probably were greatly offended at what Paul wrote, he was no doubt hoping for conversion from them. I back up this thought by quoting Titus 1:13 where Paul says rebuke is for the purpose of being sound in faith: “[R]ebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.”

Considering that the most literal translation of Galatians 5:10 says, “but the ones who are troubling you will bear the judgment” (emphasis added). Paul is warning them of the fact that judgment awaits false teachers. This judgment was described in 1:8 when Paul said that the one who teaches a different gospel is to be accursed. One scholar explains that the word translated judgment “means the ‘decision’ of the judge . . . as the result of the action, the sentence. . . . Usually the decision is unfavorable, and it thus bears the sense of condemnation.”[6] As such, Paul wants the Judaizers to know that they are standing over the pit of hell, and unless they turn from that, they will be damned eternally.

A problem with many who call themselves Christians today is that they are too comfortable with the fact that millions of people are headed to hell because they don’t know Jesus. Jesus taught, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), and there’s nothing more loving than to tell someone that they are in danger of hell. Even secular society would agree with me; check out the following quote from atheist Penn Jillette, of the magician duo, Penn & Teller:

I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me alone and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?

I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.[7]

Paul does not hate the false teachers. He hates the spiritual terrorism they are inflicting on the converts whom he loves deeply. He hates the fact that they are undermining the work of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He hates the fact that they are blind to their error. And he loves them enough to try to help them see their need for repentance. He points out the coming judgment as the curse of God, and trusts God to awaken those whom He will. Paul’s whole letter is a call to wake up, regardless of who the reader is.

He tells the Galatians to throw the deceivers out (4:30) because he wants his readers to separate from false brothers. If the Judaizers were allowed to stay, then they would think that there was no need for them to change, and they would continue to harmfully influence the Galatians. By telling the Galatians to throw them out, it forces everyone involved to ask themselves, “Do I trust Christ, or my works?” Isolation gives people time to think, and Paul wanted everyone in Galatia to think about the foundation of their faith. He risked sounding hateful, because he loved them enough to counsel them for the best.

And then we come to Galatians 5:12, which I did not do enough justice to in my original post on 5:2-12. Here Paul says, “I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated!” I do not believe that Paul is so angry that he is telling them he hopes they accidentally neuter themselves. Rather, I think he is challenging their assumed spirituality based on works. Cole explains,

If they are so enthusiastic about circumcision, one ‘mutilation’ of the flesh, why not go the whole way and castrate themselves, as did the indigenous eunuch priests of Asia Minor in honour of their strange, barbarous gods? That is the only possible meaning of apokopsontai, mutilate themselves. The language is bitter, but it is not merely a ‘coarse jest’, as is sometimes said. It is designed to set circumcision in its true light as but one of the many ritual cuttings and markings practised in the ancient world. True, God had once used circumcision as the ‘sign of the covenant’ in Israel; but, since he was not now using it in the Christian church, it had no more relevance to the Gentile Christians than any other of these strange customs. Indeed, the eunuch priests of paganism undoubtedly thought that they were acquiring great ‘merit’ by their action. In this sense at least, therefore, there is a real comparison.[8]

If they were to heed this advice by Paul, which no one in their right mind would, it would still accomplish nothing for them. This is yet a final attempt by Paul to say, “To add any human effort or act to God’s gracious provision through the death of His Son is to exchange the saving gospel of Jesus Christ for the damning falsehood of paganism.”[9] Trust Christ! Don’t trust works.

So, with that, I argue that Paul’s whole underlying motivation throughout the letter of Galatians is love. He wants people reconciled to God in the only way possible: the blood of Christ!

Now when I go to pick up my cat from the vet, I’ll ask him if the Judaizers really should get themselves castrated, because he’ll know firsthand what it’s like. I guarantee that he’ll say, “Meow,” which I’ll translate as “No!” And I would argue that Paul would say the same, because his point was only to show the Judaizers the foolishness of trusting the work of circumcision when other pagans were “much more devoted.”

Soli Deo Gloria. Solus Christus.

---

[1] If you’ve been following along from the beginning, you will remember that the analogy this verse is found in refers directly to Paul’s antagonists. If you have not been with us from the beginning, further explanation is here.

[2] Josh Wingerd, “Living to Love (3 of 3),” http://lilfytr.blogspot.com/2016/05/living-to-love-lil-fytr-explanation-3.html.

[3] Guelph Mercury, “Spanked Children more likely to have low self-esteem,” Guelph Mercury Tribune, January 7, 2011,  http://www.guelphmercury.com/living-story/2685238-spanked-children-more-likely-to-have-low-self-esteem/, accessed January 27, 2017.  Excerpt from article:

“Spanking a child is not a quick fix for bad behaviour. Spanking teaches children not to trust their parents. It hurts the parent-child relationship as fear, anger and resentment builds up. Fear of being spanked along with a weak parental bond can damage a child’s self-esteem. Children who are spanked are more likely to have screaming tantrums, get into fights, hurt animals and refuse to share. Using spanking to correct behaviour distracts the child from learning to resolve conflict effectively. What he or she is learning is that when adults get mad, they use hitting as a way to express anger and solve problems.”

[4] John MacArthur, Galatians, 135.

[5] Ibid., 134.

[6] Friedrich Büchsel, “krivnw, krivsi", krivma . . .” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964), 942.

[7] Penn Jillette, quoted, complete with video link, on https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2009/11/17/how-much-do-you-have-to-hate-somebody-to-not-proselytize/. Emphasis in original.

[8] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 203.

[9] John MacArthur, Galatians, 142.

Turning up the Heat – 5:2-12

There once was a man carrying a huge burden upon his back. He had just set out on a lengthy journey. The burden was doing nothing but slowing him down, tripping him up, and making him lose his footing. The man’s name was Christian. So it delighted him greatly when a stranger approached him and asked, “How now, good fellow, whither away after this burdened manner?” When Christian explained that he would love to get some counsel, the man replied, “I would advise thee, then, that thou with all speed get thyself rid of thy burden ; for thou wilt never be settled in thy mind till then; nor canst thou enjoy the benefits of the blessing which God hath bestowed upon thee till then.” Christian then explains that he had already been sent toward a solution by one named Evangelist. The stranger cautioned him against his advice by saying, “Thou art like to meet with in the way which thou goest, wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and, in a word, death, and what not.” He continues,

“Why wilt thou seek for ease this way, seeing so many dangers attend it? Especially, since (hadst thou but patience to hear me) I could direct thee to the obtaining of what thou desirest, without the dangers that thou in this way wilt run into; yea, and the remedy is at hand. Besides, I will add, that instead of those dangers, thou shalt meet with much safety, friendship, and content.”

Christian: “Pray sir, open this secret to me.”

“Why, in yonder village (the village is named Morality) there dwells a gentleman, whose name is Legality, a very judicious man, and a man of a very good name, that has skill to help men off with such burdens as thine is from their shoulders; yea to my knowledge, he hath done a great deal of good this way; aye, and besides, he hath skill to cure those that are somewhat crazed in their wits with their burdens. To him, as I said, thou mayest go, and be helped presently. His house is not quite a mile from this place; and if he should not be at home himself, he hath a pretty young man to his son, whose name is Civility, that can do it (to speak on) as well as the old gentleman himself: there, I say, thou mayest be eased of thy burden; and if thou art not minded to go back to thy former habitation, (as indeed I would not wish thee,) thou mayest send for thy wife and children to this village, where there are houses now standing empty, one of which thou mayest have at a reasonable rate: provision is there also cheap and good; and that which will make thy life the more happy is, to be sure there thou shalt live by honest neighbors, in credit and good fashion.”

So Christian turned out of his way to go to Mr. Legality's house for help: but, behold, when he was got now hard by the hill, it seemed so high, and also that side of it that was next the wayside did hang so much over, that Christian was afraid to venture further, lest the hill should fall on his head; wherefore there he stood still, and wotted not what to do. Also his burden now seemed heavier to him than while he was in his way. There came also flashes of fire, out of the hill, that made Christian afraid that he should be burnt: here therefore he did sweat and quake for fear.

Just then, Evangelist returned, and rebuked Christian for listening to the stranger:

The man that met thee is one Worldly Wiseman, and rightly is he so called; partly because he savoreth only the doctrine of this world (1 John 4:5), (therefore he always goes to the town of Morality to church;) and partly because he loveth that doctrine best, for it saveth him best from the cross (Gal. 6:12): and because he is of this carnal temper, therefore he seeketh to pervert my ways, though right . . .

. . . He to whom thou wast sent for ease, being by name Legality, is the son of the bond-woman which now is, and is in bondage with her children, and is, in a mystery, this Mount Sinai, which thou hast feared will fall on thy head. Now if she with her children are in bondage, how canst thou expect by them to be made free? This Legality, therefore, is not able to set thee free from thy burden. No man was as yet ever rid of his burden by him; no, nor ever is like to be: ye cannot be justified by the works of the law; for by the deeds of the law no man living can be rid of his burden: Therefore Mr. Worldly Wiseman is an alien, and Mr. Legality is a cheat; and for his son Civility, notwithstanding his simpering looks, he is but a hypocrite, and cannot help thee. Believe me, there is nothing in all this noise that thou hast heard of these sottish men, but a design to beguile thee of thy salvation, by turning thee from the way in which I had set thee.

And thus John Bunyan describes the book of Galatians in allegorical form in the opening chapter of his famous novel, The Pilgrim’s Progress.[1]

I share this because it clearly describes what Paul is seeking to prove in the eleven verses of today’s text. To leave the way of grace and promise, and to enter into the way of works and law is to desert the way of Christ. It accomplishes nothing, it leads to fear—not peace, and it removes a person from the path of life.

Paul writes in Galatians 5:2-12, “Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all.  Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law.  You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.  For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.  You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth?  This persuasion did not come from the One who called you.  A little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough.  I have confidence in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.  Now brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.  I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated!”

Last time we saw that we have been set free because of Christ, and as such, we should refuse to submit again to slavery. This time, Paul elaborates, by showing what it looks like if we ignore his advice in 5:1.

Verses 2-5 discuss the futility of trying to achieve righteousness by the law. “Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all.  Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law.  You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.  For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.”

Before diving right into the above verses, it is necessary to explain why “circumcision” pops up five times in these eleven verses while it has only occurred six times to this point in the first four chapters of the book. The earlier grouping of the circumcision discussion was when Paul was describing his time with the Jerusalem church (2:1-14). He brought it up there because this was the issue that spawned the book of Galatians. It is the issue described in Acts 15:1: “Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers: ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved!’” Paul started in chapters 1-2 explaining his story—from persecutor to passionate preacher—and explained that the gospel that he had been given by Christ had nothing to do with circumcision. Then, in chapters 3-4 he described the theological proof that works of law have never contributed anything to salvation. And now he returns to the initial discussion of circumcision, before diving into a whole slew of application.

It boils down to the question, “What are you trusting in for your righteousness?” While God had given circumcision to the Jews as a symbol of His faithfulness to His covenant, “most Jews looked on it as having spiritual value in itself.” MacArthur continues, “The symbolism of cutting off the male foreskin was to be a constant reminder to all generations of Jews, for whom God desired to cut away the evil from their hearts.”[2]

So circumcision in itself is not legalism, just like refraining from alcohol, tobacco, filthy language, or dating is not legalism. However, if you look at your life and say, “I am circumcised, so now God will accept me,” or “I have never smoked, drank, or cussed; God has to accept me,” or “I haven’t dated in six years so God must think I’m extra spiritual,” you are being legalistic. And if your refraining from those things causes you to heap judgment on another brother or sister who may be struggling in one of those areas (recovering alcoholic, smoking quitter, or ex-sailor mouth) or who maybe doesn’t view those things as sinful (it is not the time to get into that discussion)[3] is definitely legalistic and wrong.

Paul here says that if you look to these things for righteousness standing before God, then you really have no need for Christ. Paul is saying that Christ can’t add anything to you. Paul is not saying that you don’t need Christ in this situation, but rather that “a supplemented Christ is a supplanted Christ. To trust in human effort is to trust in law, which is totally incompatible with grace. . . . Whether before or after conversion, trust in human works of any kind is a barrier between a person and Christ and results in unacceptable legalism.”[4]

The reason why Christ is of no benefit to this kind of person is because if you want to be a law-follower in part, Paul says in effect, “you have to be a law-follower in all.” Martin Luther said, “If we permit Moses to rule over us in one thing, we must obey him in all things.”[5] If you want to follow circumcision for salvation, you must also follow all the sacrifices of Leviticus for salvation—in addition to the rest of Genesis to Deuteronomy. The only way to be saved is to realize that you can’t perfectly keep the Law. So if you can’t do a part, you’ve broken all of it (cf. James 2:10) and need Christ and Christ alone. If, after trusting Christ alone, you revert back to trusting yourself, in effect you are saying, “Jesus, I don’t really need You; I got this,” which then returns you to the bondage of keeping the whole Law, under which you can do nothing but fail.

Paul says, “you are no longer associating yourselves with Jesus, if you are relying on the Law.” To try even to be sanctified by works of the Law apart from active, real faith in Christ, is to say, “I got this on my own, Jesus. Don’t bother me. I don’t want to associate with You anymore.” Paul says that if someone has this attitude—proven because they are not standing in freedom (5:1)—then they have “fallen from grace.” This is a harsh word that sounds like Paul is saying someone can lose their salvation. However, that is not true. But, what could be true is that someone doesn’t have the salvation that they think they have.

I love Bunyan’s book for this very reason. I love the metaphor of the Christian life as a journey. Salvation is a lifelong thing. It is founded on a past event, worked out in the present, and finally received ultimately in the future. The fact that Christian was led off the path does not mean that he lost his salvation; the fact that he is pointed back to the path proves that everyone strays at times. However, it is in the times of straying that we are forced to ask ourselves, “Is this salvation that I claim to possess real?” If Christian would have stayed off the path and continued down Worldly Wiseman’s road, he would have never gotten to the Celestial City, and it would have proven that he never had salvation. For this reason, we must always ask ourselves when we stumble on tough verses like this, “Am I on the right path, or have I erred somewhere?”[6] Paul wants the Galatians to know they are in a precarious place if they go ahead and listen to the Judaizers; however, the next verse shows the alternative to justification (or sanctification) by works.

Paul says in verse 5, “We, through the Spirit, from faith, eagerly await the hope of justification (or sanctification).” I say “(or sanctification)” because both justification (positional righteousness) and sanctification (practical righteousness) must be BY CHRIST ALONE and not by works of law (the Greek word is just “righteousness”). Paul trusted the Spirit to make him righteous. Who are we trusting? If we aren’t trusting the Spirit, we are in a heap of trouble according to these verses if we don’t repent and turn back to Christ.

Take some time now to ask the Lord where your motivation for righteousness is coming from.

Verse 6 is the ultimate application of the whole letter that is expounded throughout the rest of the letter. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.” Now, before anyone says, “I thought you said 5:1 was the main point?” I must state that 5:1 is the main point. However, the way that main point is carried out is described clearly in 5:6-6:15. Paul could have written, “Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love. ¹³For you were called to be free, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.” However, he first wanted to reiterate the foolishness of trusting in works (5:2-5), and then the folly of false teaching (5:7-12), before laying out clear application for the common man (5:13-6:15).

It is very interesting that 6:15 says, “For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; ⌊what matters⌋ instead is a new creation.” It is almost identical to 5:6. This is called an inclusio, and it means that the main point is the same for everything inside of this section: “faith works itself out in love.”

Paul says in effect here, “If you’re circumcised already, so what! If you’re not circumcised already, so what!” To parse it into modern parlance, “If you’ve kept yourself totally sexually pure, so what! If you’ve come from a shady past sexually, so what!” Paul then explains what does matter: “faith working itself out through love.” This means that whatever you used to find identity in—circumcision, uncircumcision, purity of body, total promiscuousness—no longer matters. Your identity is now Christ. You live as He lives in this world (1 John 4:17). For the formerly promiscuous person, this means that promiscuity is at an end: promiscuity is not love! Verses 13-15 (next week’s study) will elaborate greatly on this love concept. If you want some heavier, theological discussion prior, I have written extensively on the topic here.

With Paul’s argument set up to lay out a ton of application, he pauses in verses 7-12 to speak to the Judaizers. He does this in a backhanded way by questioning the Galatians, but his emphasis is on the Judaizers. “You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth?  This persuasion did not come from the One who called you.  A little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough.  I have confidence in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.  Now brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.  I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated!”

This section immediately brings 3:1 back to mind. Paul there asked, “Who bewitched you?” Here he asks, “Who cut in on your race and tripped you up? You were doing well.” The rhetorical answer is the same in both instances: the false teachers known as the Judaizers. Paul answers this question himself by saying, “It is not from him who called you.” He says, “You didn’t learn this from me, the one God used to call you vocally; and you certainly didn’t learn this from God, the One who called you spiritually behind my vocals.” Paul points out that this hindrance the Galatians were now dealing with was dangerous, and the metaphor he uses in verse 9 proves this. It is a favorite metaphor for Paul to use to describe the subtlety and danger and pervasiveness of sin (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). It isn’t just kept in one person; it spreads to all until it rises and becomes obvious. Paul is here trying to nip it in the bud before it gets worse for these believers.

Paul makes an interesting statement at the end of verse 10: “The one who is troubling you will have to bear the judgment, whoever he is.” This is a warning to anyone who teaches the Scripture. It is a specific warning to anyone who pushes for legalism instead of Jesus Christ. If we are not pointing people to Christ, but rather telling them to try harder, do better, hold out longer, we are in danger of judgment. It may not be eternal damnation in hell, but it might be; we don’t know (see discussion on verse 4 above). So, at this point, I would point back to my post a week ago and say, “As far as the church I was a part of a year and a half ago, I am praying that they would repent. I am praying that the pastor there would come to see his error and turn back to the straight path of the simple gospel, because otherwise he should be in fear of judgment.”

James wrote, “Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment” (3:1), and Jesus said, “But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42).

I don’t call people out for fun (and I have been gracious enough not to use names); I call people to repentance because I care for souls. Please return to the truth of the gospel! And if you’re reading this (maybe just stumbled across this page), and you don’t know Christ, please place your faith in Him! He died to save your soul, and He rose again to prove that His way is freedom from slavery!

Paul concludes the section by asking rhetorically why he’s persecuted if his ministry is a ministry of circumcision? He explains that he is persecuted for the very reason that he does not promote a circumcision gospel. He clings wholeheartedly to the scandal of the cross—a scandal because it totally undermines everything a legalistic Jew would hold dear. Again MacArthur is helpful: “The Jews were scandalized by the cross because it nullified not only the Mosaic law but also their highly revered rabbinic traditions.”[7] And Paul concludes his underhanded comments to the Judaizers by showing just how opposed he is to their “gospel” of circumcision. “They’d be quieter if the knife would slip while they are circumcising themselves!”

Paul’s gotten pretty fired up in this letter, and verse 12 probably marks the high point of his heat. He has said now that submission to the law is to deny Christ’s power, so if you submit to the law in one place you have to submit to the law in every place. However, before we all say, “Hurray! The Christian doesn’t have to follow any law,” let’s reflect on Galatians 5:14 until my next post comes out: “For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Paul says that our faith “works itself out in love.” How loving will you be this week?

Til next time.

Soli Deo Gloria. Solus Christus.

---

[1] John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress (New Kenssington, PA: Whitaker House, 1973), 15-24.

[2] John MacArthur, Galatians, 132.

[3] Filthy language is just about NEVER okay. Dating is NOT a sin. Alcohol and tobacco are a tougher subject (maybe for another time), but for now, just look at Galatians 5:21.

[4] John MacArthur, Galatians, 134.

[5] Martin Luther, A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians.

[6] Hebrews 6 comes to mind clearly on this point. Along with several other passages as well.

[7] John Macarthur, Galatiaans, 142.

Contemplation on the Customs of Cats

There are many ways to categorize people in this world. There are the Christian believer/non-believer categories. There are the gender male/female categories. There are the political democrat/republican categories.  There are the ice cream flavor preference chocolate/vanilla categories. There are space movie preference Star Wars/Star Trek categories. And then there are pet preference dog/cat categories. And if I would label myself through all of these six categories, I am a believing male republican who likes chocolate, Star Wars, and cats.

And even though today is inauguration day, and even though today is about 11 months before the next Star Wars movie comes out, and even though there is much confusion about gender in our society today, and even though I haven’t had chocolate ice cream in forever, the focus of this post is cats.

I have long held that I am a cat person because they remind me of my smallness before God. In fact, my family has had four cats ever since about a week before I met the Lord. These cats all live outside. Cats generally think they own the world, and have humans as their servants (not typically wanting to spend time with the humans), but if you put them outside the majority of the time then something becomes incredibly clear incredibly quickly.

Jesus describes Himself in Revelation 3:7 by saying, “The Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens.” Basically, if Jesus doesn’t open a door of opportunity, it just isn’t ever going to open. As humans, we often think, like cats, that we run everything, that everyone should praise and worship us, and that if we are not the center of attention then something is wrong. But then I would think about my cats back home and say, “Stupid little fools, you need us to open up the door to let you in to be able to eat your food. You’d have nothing if it wasn’t for us.” And then my mind immediately says, “Now who’s the stupid little fool?”

Cats keep me humble. That’s the point of this post.

And then I went and got myself a cat on December 31, 2016. I keep him indoors. This cat is not like your typical cat (or maybe I’m just blinded by affection—which is totally possible, even if you just compare this post from a year ago). While most cats do their own thing, all this cat wants is to be with me. He’s extremely talkative (except for when I’m going to bed for the night), while most cats are quiet. He wants to go outside, but I won’t let him.

Combo

My cat always wants to be with me. Two verses from King David come to mind when reflecting on this concept:

“You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.” (Psalm 16:11)

“Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11)

King David was so enamored with God’s presence that he concludes psalm 16 by saying in effect, “I don’t care what else God has done for me; as long as I am in His presence I am content.” And, by way of comparison, he hits a low point in his confession of Psalm 51 by realizing, “God, You’d be totally just to remove Your presence from me; please don’t!”

It causes me to ask myself, “How much do I want to be in God’s presence?” My cat wants to be near me, or at least know that I am near, at least as often as I am home, and likely much more often. God is near me at all times, whether I am home or away. Do I take advantage of His presence, or ignore it, thus acting more prideful than my own pride-filled cat?

My cat is extremely talkative. From the moment I wake up in the morning, “MEOW,” to the moment I walk out the door to go to work, “MEOW.” Then, the moment I walk back in the door, “MEOW,” to the moment I go to bed, “MEOW.” It brings to mind 1 Thessalonians 5:17, and humbles me to the floor. Paul there writes, “Pray constantly.”

I used to think, “Well, maybe he wants food.” Food bowl is full. “Maybe he needs water.” Water bowl is full. “Maybe his box needs cleaned.” I clean it anyways.

“MEOW.”

“Well, what in the world do you want, little buddy?” (as I’ve lovingly started calling him).

“Maybe he wants attention.” I start petting him and scratching his ears, and rubbing his belly.

“MEOW.”

I’ve come to the conclusion that he just wants to hear my voice. He calls out in an effort to know that I’m still there, that I haven’t left him, that I still love him. And it rocks me to the core, because I can hardly keep praying for five minutes on a thirty minute drive to work everyday. God wants to hear my voice much more than I want to hear my cat’s voice, but too often, I am quiet. I must remember that while I ditch my cat for 8+ hours a day to go to work, God is perfect and does not do that; He always hears me. Will I start praying more fervently, more constantly, or continue to be outdone by a little cat?

My cat wants to go outside all the time. (This is actually one of his meows that I’ve come to recognize and lovingly deny.) His previous owner lived out in the country, and as such, letting him go outside was much different. I live in the city, and letting my cat out would unnecessarily put him at risk of catnapping, accidental catslaughter, or just plain and simple lostness. It reminds me of Hebrews 12:11. “No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” It again humbles me, because I realize that denying my cat exit from the house is for his own good, but I whine and complain to God that He’s holding out on me—keeping me from good things. I probably sound a lot like my cat in my prayers of complaint.

God is training me into the man that He wants me to be, even though I often feel like I’m being punished or held out on. Five years from now I’ll probably realize exactly why everything happened the way it did at this point in my life, and then I’ll thank God for it, but right now, I should recognize that God knows best, and even if it’s hard, I must thank Him for knowing best when it comes to me. Am I going to better than my cat, and trust that God has my best at heart, or am I going to whine and complain like a stupid cat?

So, with all that said, I need to love God’s presence more, I need to pray more often, and I need to trust that God is looking out for my best. If I can do all that, I will grow in godliness, grow in humility, and thank God that He gave me a cat to help teach me some lessons about myself and Himself.

And at the end of the day, I can thank God that Matthew 19:12 nowhere says, “some were made eunuchs by God,” but rather, “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs who were made by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way because of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”

Sorry, little buddy. ;)