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GALATIANS CHAPTER 5 KJV WEB See previous page Gal 5,1-15 (180b) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves lead people into a cult >> Wolves bypass the cross – Centuries after Moses, the religious leaders of Israel erroneously associated circumcision with the law, but as Paul pointed out in Rom 4,9-16, God gave his blessing to Abraham before he was circumcised, making circumcision a symbol of faith, not of the law. In fact, the law was given 430 years later, making any connections with the law irrational. Israel had gotten the proverbial cart before the horse when they made circumcision a requirement of obtaining favor with God. Paul’s complaint was that the connection of circumcision with the law had become the most entrenched false doctrine in Israel. God didn't give Israel the law as a means of justification, anymore than Abraham was justified through circumcision. Rather, God justified Abraham when he heard and obeyed the voice of God. Put concisely, circumcision became a representation of faith toward God, but the Bible teaches from Genesis from Revelation that whatever represents our faith is an idol. That is, there is no legitimate representation of faith toward God, for He demands that we worship Him directly, not through anything. We don't believe in Him through circumcision or Baptism or ceremonials, traditions, observances, statues, customs or rituals, all of which fly in the face of the cross of Christ with whom we find favor with God as a matter of faith in His perfect sacrifice. Gal 5,1-13 (176d) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Conviction without commandment – Claiming that circumcision played some kind of role in salvation was a type of witchcraft, defined as: anything we do that we say effects the spiritual realm. The “we say” phrase in that definition is what makes it witchcraft. Paul addressed this in Gal 3-1 saying, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…?” He was referring to the people who were trying to talk them into circumcision in order to be saved. What is the difference between that and (infant) baptism to be saved, or communion to be saved, or to say that the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ at the blessing of the priest? All these are forms of modern-day witchcraft, known also as idolatry. God promised that there is nothing we can do in the natural realm that will affect the spiritual realm, except to obey the Holy Spirit, and to do that we must know His will. (177e) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Doctrine that tickles your ears (184h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Abusing the anointing Gal 5,1-12 (7i) Responsibility >> Defend God’s cause >> Protecting your freedom – Paul continues working toward his main point in his argument about justification, making the distinction between the law working through man’s sinful flesh and the cross working through God’s righteousness, giving access to Him by faith. Although it is the law of God, it is no less inferior to the ministry of the Spirit and is therefore not the will of God that we should use the law to follow Christ. Jesus went to the cross because man has no power in himself to keep the law. For this reason we have no righteousness in ourselves apart from Christ. Paul emphasizes the difference between those who would justify themselves through their own righteousness and those who seek justification by faith in Christ: they are waiting for the hope of righteousness, that is, waiting for heaven. Gal 5,1-6 (1k) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Carrying a false burden >> Weighs you down as you walk according to the law (108d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith is the balance between freedom and law – We consider one neighbor a Christian because he shows evidence through the fruit of his life, but we wonder about our other neighbor because we don’t see any fruit; that is a reasonable assessment. We are encouraged to inspect one another’s fruit (Mat 7,16-20). However, we are not encouraged to take our fruit before God and say, ‘I am your child because of this.’ He knows those who are His, regardless of what we do, yet “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness” (2Tim 2-19). We don’t need to prove anything to God. Works prove to our fellow man and faith proves to God that we belong to Him. (159f) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit godliness >> Counterfeit freedom (198h) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained by man >> Having evil motives for seeking leadership positions >> Seeking to gratify their flesh through the ministry (205ka) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> Faith versus works >> The faith of God versus the faith of men >> Faith versus the law >> The work of faith versus the works of the law – People have bickered about the relationship between faith and works for centuries, though Paul covered this in detail with the Galatians, making his doctrinal thesis in the book of Romans, and nailed it to the door of our heart in Eph 2-8,9 saying, 'we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.' Then we have James preaching an almost opposite gospel and are left scratching our heads. He who balances these two seemingly opposing arguments is the indwelling Holy Spirit. He is the one who makes sense of it all, in that He avails the unction and produces the faith in our lives. We can understand what Paul was saying, that it is by faith, and we can also understand what James was saying, who complained that if we don’t have works, then our faith isn’t real. The Holy Spirit supplies the faith that we use to produce the fruit, which leaves one remaining question: what is our part in all this? We make a simple contribution of our will; we say yes to Him, and we say no to the world, the flesh and the devil, but as Paul also said, 'Having done everything to stand firm, stand firm therefore' (Eph 6-13,14). There is a point when we must dig-in and push real hard. Our job is to keep the light burning in our heart and oil in our lamp. (223h) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the mark >> Miss the will of God for your life – We do not trust in the law for our salvation, because we too often fail, and when we do, God will forgive us through the blood of His Son, but those who get circumcised as a requirement of salvation are required to keep the law without ever breaking it, which is impossible. The new covenant equivalent of circumcision is baptism; therefore, those who are baptized as a requirement of salvation are now trusting in a ceremony instead of the grace of God. Either we trust in the grace of God without adding anything to it, or we add to the cross and nullify His grace. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5,1-4 (55n) Paradox >> Lose by gaining >> Lose the truth to gain religion – There is a difference between knowing something and believing it. What the world means by the word “believe” is, ‘This is my theory,’ whereas genuine faith does not treat God as a theory. Rather, we are more convinced of the Lord than we are of this world. The world sees this physical realm as absolute proof of its reality, while we use our faith as absolute proof of God’s reality. The eternal realm of the spirit is all around us, unseen, but it is just as real and even more-so than the physical world, which is destined to perish. (97a) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about yourself >> A self-righteous attitude -- These verses go with verse This verse goes with verses 12 (162ka) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> In bondage to the burdens of men >> In bondage to the Law (174e) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Self righteousness >> Justifying yourself – Paul warns the Galatians that if anyone assumes justification by law, then Christ will be of no benefit to him, and there is no forgiveness of sin written in the law, unless he wants to drop his self-righteousness and return to Christ. Paul says, “You have been severed from Christ, you who seek to be justified by law.” Those who seek the sign of circumcision have severed themselves from Christ and have fallen from grace. Seeking justification through the grace of God and through the law of God are opposites. Those who seek justification by law are actually seeking to be justified through their own righteousness, that is, through their fleshly inability to fulfill the law. This is the entanglement of the law and the height of blasphemy against the blood of Christ, and Paul was desperately trying to shut it down. The law is powerless to justify anyone, because we all lack the ability to comply with its demands. (199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith – Faith is nebulous, which is why people try to skirt around it; they prefer to work with tangible things, but any natural form that we present to Him is idolatry. The only thing that finds favor with God is our faith, and whatever we use to replace it renounces our faith. Faith is a spiritual substance; it is more concrete to God than anything in this natural realm. He requires faith from us, because it is how He perceives reality. Faith comes from God as the indwelling Holy Spirit; therefore, to replace our faith is to replace the Holy Spirit. (203i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from the truth Gal 5-1 (11c) Servant >> Standard for a servant >> Freedom – We fight for freedom as God’s number one goal, because freedom is one of His most important attributes. God values His freedom more than He values His power by evidence of Jesus coming to us in the flesh, disrobing Himself of all His glory and power and living among us to show what it means to be free... from sin. We don't value His freedom like we should. For a meaningful definition of freedom see 2Cor 10,3-6; 8m. (98e) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Rooted deeply >> To keep from falling away (119f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Being a slave to freedom – Freedom is not a tool that we use as a means to an end; rather, freedom is a goal. When we think of the many goals of Scripture, such as faith, hope and love (1Cor 13-13), these are the main attributes of God and act as one goal, even as God is one. For example, we cannot walk in love if we are in bondage to sin, nor can we practice love apart from faith, and we cannot believe without hope. These things work together to accomplish a common purpose, where the goal is love, and freedom is the state in which love is realized. Putting it that way makes freedom sound like a tool, and it is, and so are all the other attributes of God. We use faith to engender hope, and we use hope to engender love, and love is the ultimate goal, which thrives in a state of freedom. God did not set us free for some other purpose; freedom is the purpose. This is how important freedom is to God. He wants His children free, because God is free. We will never achieve perfect freedom until we receive our resurrected bodies, which cannot be tempted. Our present bodies are seeking freedom to do evil, and so long as there is temptation, we well never be totally free, for the highest level of freedom we can expect to achieve in this life is that of a slave to righteousness. (194i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Yield to God’s right to direct your way (199a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating Jesus >> Frustrating His ministry -- This verse goes with verse 13 (233a) Seeking The Goals Of The Kingdom (Key verse) (233b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seeking the goals of the kingdom >> Seek the goal of freedom – Paul in this same chapter wrote about the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is ultimately responsible for the fruit we bear through faith in Jesus Christ who dwells in us. It is a beautiful gospel that Paul has described; what is more, he received acceptance by the other apostles, even James, the brother of Jesus, who made comments in his epistle that seemed contrary to Paul. No other New Testament writer taught the way Paul did, strictly by faith, making the assumption that our faith will produce works. The minute we try to produce works or attempt to bear fruit in the flesh, our faith becomes pungent and unpalatable; what we need is divine works produced through a Spirit of faith; this is Paul’s gospel. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5,2-9 (195c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> You can only believe in one at a time -- These verses go with verse 11. Paul was saying that if we receive circumcision as a requirement of salvation, then Christ is no benefit to us, for we would no longer be relying on Him. Paul is saying that we are saved by grace through faith; that is, we use our faith to trust in God. We know we are the children of God because we believe in Him, not because we were circumcised or baptized or participated in any ceremony. If we put our confidence in traditions, rituals and religious rites, we compromise our faith, making God's grace no longer grace (Rom 11-6). Paul goes a step further and says, “You have been severed from Christ,” which is a description of the foreskin being cast into a dumpster, only his analogy is pointing at the Galatians as the foreskin being dumped. They have severed themselves from Christ. Gal 5,2-6 (190j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Symbolism over substance -- These verses go with verses 11&12. Paul goes back to an old subject that he has been trying to clarify throughout many of his letters of the New Testament. Apparently there was confusion about circumcision in the early church, being an observance of the old covenant. God commanded Abraham to be circumcised as a sign that he believed when God spoke to him and he journeyed to a foreign land that neither he nor his fathers knew, and settled there with his wife, Sarah. So circumcision acted as a sign of obedience, but obedience to what? Baptism has replaced circumcision in the new covenant, and so in the strictest sense, baptism is a sign of obeying the Holy Spirit, even as Abraham obeyed the voice of God. If circumcision was a sign of the Holy Spirit, how much more is baptism a sign of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Gal 5,2-4 (76h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Living by a double standard (173i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Unholy sacrifice >> Penance of following the law (Legalism) – Paul rightly associated circumcision with keeping the law, and ironically this meaning of circumcision has been misconstrued since the onset of the old covenant. Clearly, Moses never associated circumcision with the law, and God never mandated salvation through the law, so anybody who would get circumcised as a requirement of salvation has misunderstood circumcision in the old covenant, much more in the new. The old covenant was just as much based on faith as the new covenant, as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Gen 15-6). Abraham picked up his belongings and followed the Holy Spirit into the land of Canaan, so not only did he believe God, he also obeyed Him. The difference between Abraham’s obedience and obeying the law is that one is loyal to a written code while the other is loyal to the very person of God. Obviously, these two are infinitely distant from each other, as faith is from observing rituals and ceremonies. Gal 5,3-5 (64b) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot tolerate sin >> Impossible to please God without faith – Paul is using circumcision to symbolize anything we would use to replace faith in Christ. Most commonly, people who falter from God’s grace replace faith with works. They do good works as though they acted as a mediator between them and God. In contrast, the true children of God do good works, not to be saved but because they are saved by grace through faith in the cross of Christ. Jesus is our mediator before the Father, and faith is the mediator between us and Christ. This suggests that works are a product of our faith, whereas those who rely on their works have bypassed faith. We receive the grace of God on the basis of faith, not on the basis of our works, nor can we use works to represent our faith, for anything that we put in place of faith to foster confidence in God is idolatry, meaning the only thing we can use to promote confidence in God is the blood of Jesus. Gal 5-3,4 (53l) Paradox >> Opposites >> Law was made for sinners >> Sinners follow after the law (182g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Three causes of interpreting Scripture falsely >> Because they want to be approved by men – There is an ongoing debate about the relationship between faith and works. James says that if our faith doesn’t have works, then it isn’t real; we’re just deceiving ourselves; we don’t actually believe, so works provide evidence for our faith. The issue reduces to a matter of how a person uses his works. Does he use them to justify himself before God, or does he use them to justify his faith? Scripture totally supports providing evidence for our faith, but if a person is using his works to justify himself before God, that person has ulterior motives, which was Paul’s point to the Galatians. He taught that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2-8,9). Our justification is a gift from God, but some of the Galatians were persuaded by legalistic Jews who would not let go of their previous ideas about justification by law, which was a false teaching even by the old covenant standards. Where is there place for faith when seeking justification by works? See also: Faith versus works; Eph 2-8,9; 41f Gal 5-3 (52e) Judgment >> Judging Church with world >> Law judges sin >> God judges the lost through the law -- This verse goes with verse 10. God gave the law to Moses because of the flood. People in Noah’s day didn’t have the law. They deciphered right from wrong through their conscience, but eventually they voided their conscience by continually trampling on it in the process of reveling in their flesh and living however they felt. This is what walking in the flesh does: it makes people forget God. Therefore, He gave the law to Moses, so if anyone got the idea to trod upon their conscience, the law was there as a written reminder in stone regarding sin. The law is better than lawlessness, though God never intended man to seek salvation through it, as Jesus said, “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me” (Jn 6-45). KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5,4-6 (31f) Gift of God >> Grace >> Salvation >> God is willing to respond to man’s need (94p) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective >> False perspective in the Church – Paul had an interesting writing style; he made his point in ways that were not exactly straightforward. For example, in verse five he says, “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness,” and then in verse six he says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” In verse 5 he talks about passively waiting, and the very next verse he uses the word “working.” We wait and work at the same time; these two seemingly opposite ideas actually complement each other. Circumcision, which is a type of work, whether we receive it or not, means nothing spiritually, but faith is the essence of all things spiritual, which in this context means waiting for the hope of righteousness. Abraham proved his love for God, for love requires an expression to be valid, and Abraham expressed his love for God by fulfilling his calling. We too have a special calling from God that ultimately has an expression of love toward the brethren. Some people pick up just anything and do whatever they think is best at the time and call it the will of God, but we would be much further ahead to wait for God to reveal His will to us and make that our life’s work, which would bring more personal fulfillment and yield more fruit than doing whatever is handy. (116k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> His Grace in us is in vain without Him – The subject of using the law to seek justification before God was a misconception from the start. Moses drove the law into the hearts of the Israelites, still they misinterpreted its significance. Justification by faith is no different from our example of Abraham, who walked in the Spirit, but the Israelites sought God’s favor through the works of the law, which was never meant to justify anyone. The law was given to regulate man’s behavior, not as an avenue of justification. The Bible does not say that if we live by the law, we will please God; rather, what pleases God is faith. Gal 5-4,5 (60h) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Severed from grace—Severed from undeserved favor / Severed from undeserved power – Two things comprise the grace of God: His favor and His power. God's favor refers to justification by faith, and His Spirit is given as a pledge of our inheritance, and the anointing is an extension of His favor. Anyone who believes in works as justification before God has exempted himself from God's favor, for Paul taught that by faith alone we are saved. The fruits of the Spirit constitute evidence of our faith, but they by no means do anything to save us. Heb 11-1 says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is a spiritual substance, intangible to the flesh but the very substance of God, just as real to Him as the things we know on earth. Our faith in Jesus is between He and us and no one else, but James said that if our faith doesn't materialize, there is room to question it. (192g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Waiting for God to do it His way >> Being patient to receive something better – When we first believe, God will immediately send his Holy Spirit to dwell in us without needing to ask Him for this. The comforter comes and lives in us to be our great counselor forever. However, we must first show Him faith without the Holy Spirit, who comes to us because we believe in Him, but how can we first believe without Him? It denotes a catch-22: we can’t believe without the Spirit, and without faith the Spirit cannot dwell in us. This is why we say salvation is the work of God's grace. Gal 5-4 (207b) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> Perish By Losing Your Faith >> Perish in deception – Paul is talking about born-again Galatians who were close to being severed from Christ, meaning it is possible to lose our salvation. Eternal Security is an ongoing debate in Christendom; its adherents have a motto, “Once saved, always saved,” but Scripture in no way supports this. In fact, these verses speak just the opposite, clearly stating that we can lose our salvation if we trust in something other than Jesus' finished work on the cross. Being born-again is an act of God; we should not allow our faith to erode to the point of extinguishing our flame, for we cannot relight it. It is up to us to keep our heart burning for Jesus, who said in Mat 24-13, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5-5,6 (41fc) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Righteousness of faith >> Faith apart from the law – Paul was talking about acquiring God’s faith that we receive from heaven. Most people in the Church believe in the Bible, but few have received faith from God, and it is this faith that denotes the righteousness of God. God counts us righteous not just for believing in Him, but also for keeping the faith that He has given us. (113l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Anointing establishes us in His will -- These verses go with verses 16-18. Being born-again refers to the indwelling Holy Spirit; His purpose is to convince us that we are the children of God by the witness that He lives in our heart, and He comforts us in our circumstances, and He helps us to know His will and do it. There are entire denominations that reject the anointing, but that doesn’t limit God from using them if they are ready to do His will and discover His calling that He has prepared for them. If we will walk in His works, God will endow us with an anointing regardless of what we believe. We can flatly deny the teachings and doctrines of the anointing, yet possess an anointing because we obey the Holy Spirit. (126ka) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Patience >> Have patience for the return of Christ >> The spiritual return of Christ (230i) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Mystery of the trinity >> Anointing is the mystery of godliness – The mystery of salvation is that God has chosen us to be His children. There are some people who truly want to believe, but they can’t; salvation is easy for some and impossible for others. Their heart is divided; on one side they want to believe, and on the other side they want the world and all it offers. God will receive whomever will believe in Him, but at the same time faith is a gift. Salvation is so simple a little child can understand it, but it is too complicated for some adults. One might say they don’t have faith, but they believe something. They have faith, but they don’t have God’s faith. Would they want it if they had it? Sadly, the answer for many is no, and for this reason they can’t believe. It is not salvation that is complicated but the heart of man that is hopelessly incomprehensible. Jeremiah 17-9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” See also: Heart (Bitterness); 1Cor 10,5-11; 154g Gal 5-5 (36g) Gift >> God opens His home to us >> Inheritance >> We heirs through faith (98l) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >> It appeals to the glory of God – This verse speaks opposite the law in that those who walk by faith are waiting for the hope of righteousness. They don’t try to attain it through various good works. Waiting in some respects is even more difficult than working to justify ourselves, for it requires endurance. For example, it is easier to wait for the bus than to walk ten miles to work, but not during the first half-hour. While we are waiting for the bus, we are going nowhere, but the person who decided to walk at least feels he is making progress. However, once the bus comes and we climb aboard, we soon pass the person hoofing it, and he gets to work late and ends up getting fired. In the same way, we may feel that we are making progress attempting to justify ourselves under the law, yet the Bible teaches that sin nullifies our righteousness. Therefore, if we refuse to accept the righteousness of God in Jesus' blood sacrifice on the cross, then He will not accept our righteousness either. Without accepting the finished work of the cross, all our good works are just as sinful as our sin. Psalm 109-7 says, "When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin." The moment we believe in Jesus, God begins to ignore our sin and count our righteousness we did in His name with the intent of rewarding us in heaven. After accepting what Jesus did for us on the cross, we practice our good works for His glory (Jn 3-21). (110m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spiritual substance and truth >> Spiritual substance follows obedience (205b) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> Promise of His rest Gal 5-6 (119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ -- This verse goes with verse 16 (125b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Faith and love >> Faith toward God and love toward man KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5,7-12 (161k) Works of the devil >> Satan determines the world's direction >> Carried Away >> Carried away by religion – People were trying to tell the Galatians a different way of salvation through the Law, that they had to be circumcised to be saved, and Paul was saying that there was nothing anyone could do to save themselves. That is, Jesus died to save us from our sins, because we could not help ourselves. Case in point, when Adam and Eve fell into sin, they did it through the act of eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and afterward there was no act they could do to counteract the curse. In the same way, there is nothing we can do to be saved, except believe in Jesus' blood sacrifice on the cross. Remember what the jailer said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” and what was Paul’s response? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Act 16-30,31). Believing is a verb; it’s an action, but it is an internal action, and in this way God was able to circumvent the curse by giving His grace through faith as an act of contrition for sinners. (162i) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> Bad company >> Bad company will entangle you in their bondage (172h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> False doctrine among the truth – If we become convinced about false doctrine, it wouldn’t just affect us in that one area but would affect our entire belief system, debilitating our faith in the truth. The troublemakers whom Paul addressed were legalists who wanted the Galatians to go back to the old way of trusting circumcision for their salvation, instead of trusting Christ. If the Galatians fell prey to this, it would have nullified the grace of Jesus’ cross in their lives. The way to God does not involve a ceremony, such as baptism or circumcision or anything else that we could name; trusting in the blood of Christ is the only means that God has established for us to appeal to Him. Anything else we would trust for our salvation voids His sacrifice, causing Jesus to die in vain for us. (240i) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Taking away the key of knowledge >> Hindering people from entering the kingdom Gal 5,7-11 (44a) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Complete >> It is finished >> Fulfill God’s will Gal 5,7-10 (75h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people in the dark >> Through hidden motives -- These verses go with verse 13. Certain persons "sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ" (Gal 2-4), trying to put them in bondage to the law. Once tethered to their teaching, they would have introduced other heresies to exploit the Galatians, always for money, except that Paul put a stop to their shenanigans. He used the analogy of leaven in a lump of dough to signify sin to say that it doesn’t take a lot of heresy to spoil the whole batch. (86h) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word >> Clothe yourself with the word of God >> Obey the truth – We are to clothe ourselves with the word of God by obeying the truth. We could pick out a verse in the Bible and try to live by it, which would resemble obeying the truth, but it is better defined as doing His will that He reveals to us. Whatever God wants us to do will best help build the body of Christ and establish His kingdom in the world. The only way to achieve this is through the Scriptures that have been written, but it is the spiritual enlightenment of God’s word that we obey. It doesn’t do much good to obey the written word if we don’t have a revelation of what it means. Gal 5,7-9 (197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom -- These verses go with verses 13-17 Gal 5-7,8 (91f) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> Walking along the narrow way >> Walking in God’s calling is to fulfill His purpose -- These verses go with verse 13. Consider road construction and the bridges we build over streams and rivers. The roads represent the doctrines we believe, while the streams and rivers represent the faith that God has given us. The streams and rivers refer to God's calling in our lives, but we use roads (our beliefs) to get where we are going. Note that roads cross streams instead of running parallel. The roads go in one direction for purposes of this world, while the streams and rivers go in another direction for the purposes of God, flowing to larger streams and rivers, eventually into main arteries that lead to the ocean, the water picked-up again by evaporation and carried over land, where it rains to refill the streams in a timeless loop, symbolizing eternity. We build bridges because there is nothing we can do to keep the water from doing what it wants, and we cross these streams and rivers every day, reminding us where our faith is taking us. See also: Belief versus faith; Gal 5-7; 86a / Analogies (Blind spot in our vision); 2Cor 4,3-6; 169a Gal 5-7 (86a) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believe the word by obeying it – Repentance is required of us, which is an action, but it is not the active ingredient of our salvation; rather, faith is the active ingredient. The writer of Hebrews says, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11-1). The substance of faith is love, and love is what we hope, but believing is not the same as faith. Our beliefs are based on trust in the Bible, whereas faith is based on knowledge that we received directly from God. Everybody believes something, and invariably we build our lives around our beliefs, making cities and roads, and they affect every aspect of our lives, yet our beliefs remain as mere thoughts that we consider reality. Our beliefs are human in origin, whereas faith is divine. We can believe anything we want; we can even believe there is no God, but faith is given to us by God and is based on His Truth. Faith and love are two sides of the same coin, so if faith believes something other than the truth, then it is not real faith, because faith only believes the truth (1Cor 13,4-6). See also: Belief versus faith; 194d (194d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to God from your enemies – Paul was saying to the Galatians, ‘You were resisting your enemies well; what made you return to them?’ Why didn’t the Galatians know by now that the enemies of the truth only want to mislead them? The lies they tell they believe themselves, which are the most insidious lies of all, meaning that they were not trying to deceive the Galatians; rather, they deceived themselves and wanted to win the Galatians to rationalize their beliefs. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (Jn 14-6). We must obey the Truth who is Jesus in order to relate to God. There are many gods, but there is only one True God. If we want to relate to a foreign god, we can believe any of a million things about him, but if we want to know the one True God, then we must love and obey the truth. We believe in certain teachings about the Bible, and all beliefs must accompany obedience; otherwise, we prove we don’t really believe. If we believe what is untrue, it will not lead us to God, but if we believe Scripture by obeying it, God will sear those beliefs into our heart so that we believe them by the Spirit, which transforms our beliefs into faith, which is able to comprehend the mind of Christ. See also: Belief versus faith; Gal 5-7,8; 91f KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5-9 (191d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Extract the leaven of false doctrine Gal 5-10 (51a) Judgment >> World & church >> Warning of wrath >> Consequences of sin (52e) Judgment >> Judging Church with world >> Law judges sin >> God judges the lost through the law (122c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in God to keep the Church – Paul had confidence in the Lord that He could keep the Church in the faith and judge those who were disturbing the saints from believing the truth. How much of God’s judgment do we see in the world or in the Church? Things go unpunished; wicked people are free to spread their carnage, inflicting pain and sorrow and loss of life and property without consequence, but Paul was confident that He would punish those who afflicted the Church; and when we look at those who were afflicting the saints at the time, they were pharisaical Jews. They said it was fine to believe in Jesus, but the believers also had to perform the works of the Law. The apostles of the first century vigorously fought against such theology, because they didn’t want the Church to fall into legalism. They were relatively successful, yet there are still some legalistic Christians today, an oxymoron. Gal 5-11,12 (190j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Symbolism over substance -- These verses go with verses 2-6. The reason people trusted circumcision for salvation (and baptism, which is the new covenant replacement of circumcision) was to avoid the cross of Christ. Circumcision has been erroneously associated with the law, but it started as a sign of Abraham’s faith that his works demonstrated by obeying God, traveling to a foreign land by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Circumcision was a Jewish rite of the old covenant commanded by Moses, just as baptism is the sign of faith in the new covenant, but circumcision never saved anyone, anymore than baptism saved anyone, for both are mere symbols of faith. The fact that God chose circumcision, suggests that salvation is a personal thing; we cover our private parts, and so the symbol of salvation is concealed, so too the proof of baptism evaporates the moment we exit the water and our clothes dry. Our relationship with Christ is akin to marriage, and so baptism is a public display of our faith with witnesses present as at a wedding. Gal 5-11 (195c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> You can only believe in one at a time -- This verse goes with verses 2-9 (201f) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> The cross offends the world – In modern times what are people trying to avoid by embracing the law or trusting in baptism? Currently, there is little persecution in America against those who openly believe in Jesus, so it’s not persecution they are avoiding, but the Holy Spirit. This reveals a direct link between the cross of Christ and the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent in His place. People who preach the heresy of trusting something other than Christ as a means of justification before God are trying to avoid a life of faith and are willing to give up the truth so they can free themselves from the confines of obeying the Holy Spirit. These heretics do not value the truth, and for this reason they don’t know it. Gal 5-12 (69e) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Righteous anger >> Church is angry at sin – The path of heretics leads downhill, along the way picking up momentum furthering their false doctrine, until the gospel is completely corrupted and no truth is left. For this reason Paul wishes that the knife would slip and those who were troubling the Galatians would accidentally amputate their snausage in the procedure of circumcision. Paul is very angry with them; he despises them; he wishes evil upon them, because they have marked themselves by trading the truth of God for a lie and imposing their soiled doctrines on others for personal gain. It’s one thing to believe in lies, but it’s another thing to impose their lies on other people. This will multiply their judgment both in this life and in the life to come. (97a) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about yourself >> A self-righteous attitude -- These verses go with verse This verse goes with verses 1-4 (190d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Self-afflictions that are against the will of God KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5,13-17 (197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom -- These verses go with verse 26 Gal 5,13-15 (167e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Walking outside the realm of faith -- This verse goes with verse 26 Gal 5-13,14 (14c) Servant >> Slave is free/free is slave – These verses go with verses 17&25. This verse is connected to many other topics and verses in different ways, ebbing on blasphemy. It paints a picture of someone winning spiritual victories almost with the premeditated intension of trading them for a few moments of fleshly indulgence. Imagine a person who is well established in the Church, gaining everyone’s confidence, though he is not growing in the Lord as we would suspect but is scheming against someone or perhaps against the entire church. This is an example of how we must be responsible with the freedom that we acquire in Christ. If we use it as intended, we will enjoy ever-greater levels of freedom. (235f) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Giving preference to one another – Love is the fulfillment of the Law; for example, if we love our neighbor, we will not have sex with his wife. If we love our neighbor, we won’t lie to him or steal from him or do anything that violates the Law. We don’t live by a list of commandments but are led by the Spirit. We hear about the rule of law, and we hear about lawlessness in the world, and we know that nations without law are self-destructive. They soon breakdown internally and dissolve, so people erect laws to govern themselves, necessitating a list of commandments, but disciples of Jesus don’t live by them; instead, we walk in love, which automatically fulfills the Law without even trying. Perhaps our neighbor has a new grill and we get the idea to go over there in the middle of the night and take it and put it in our yard and cook our steaks and hamburgers on it, but the Holy Spirit intervenes and asks our conscience, ‘Would you like your neighbor to do that to you?’ and we must answer ‘No’, so the Lord instructs us not to do it to him. We live by the Spirit through love, and it says that by this we become free, and Paul says now that we are free, we are not to use it against our neighbor, instead we are to serve our freedom. To use freedom is to treat it like a tool to achieve a goal, whereas the Bible teaches that freedom is the goal, and we use other tools to achieve freedom, such as the word of God and prayer, and Holy Spirit strengthens and encourages us to dedicate ourselves to the goal of freedom, so we never trade it for anything. It takes courage to stand-up to our flesh, for it is easy to sacrifice our freedom for a temporal reward, but God would rather we lived as He did. Gal 5-13 (12i) Servant >> Attitude of a bond servant – This verse is similar to 1Cor 9,11-23, particularly verse 18, where it says, "What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel." Paul was much like a stockbroker, who would reinvest his profits as he seamlessly pulled out of one share and into another without enjoying any of the proceeds. He was not a man to eat his seed, but planted it to grow more seeds. So it is with freedom, yet all too often people struggle feverishly to free themselves only to use their freedom to commit more sin and return to bondage. We should use your freedom for its intended purpose to help others and bless God with the result that we increase our freedom. See also: 1Pet 2-16. (60h) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Opportunity—To sin / To abuse the anointing (75h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people in the dark >> Through hidden motives -- This verse goes with verses 7-10 (76b) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Seeking authority for security >> Motives based on desire for power (91f) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> Walking along the narrow way >> Walking in God’s calling is to fulfill His purpose -- This verse goes with verses 7,8 (118k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Law of liberty -- This verse goes with verses 22&23. Freedom can be seen as a tool that we use to reach the goal of love, yet Paul speaks of freedom as also a goal. Freedom and love are like members of the trinity, where freedom affirms faith, faith affirms love and love reinforces our freedom in a spiritual lifecycle that spirals upward in ever-greater services toward God and one another, but the moment we sacrifice our freedom for the flesh, the cycle is halted. (162d) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an unwillingness to believe (deception) (167e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Walking outside the realm of faith -- This verse goes with verse 26 (187e) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Dying to receive the glory of God >> Die to self to be set free (187j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Trying to work the Spirit by the flesh -- This verse goes with verses 16&17. Freedom is a tool to perfect love, yet we should view freedom as a goal. When we use freedom to acquire our fleshly desires, we weaken it, and it eventually collapses into bondage. Freedom is one of our most valued possessions, but if we turn freedom into an opportunity to revel in the flesh, we develop a lifestyle that works against itself. We are not free to sin, but are free from sin for purposes of righteousness. (199a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating Jesus >> Frustrating Jesus’ ministry -- This verse goes with verse 1 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5-14 (90h) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Righteousness of the law >> We must keep the law because it is righteous – The law was written on a hierarchical basis; we must fulfill the first commandment before we can fulfill the second and so on. In other words, we love God so we can love our neighbor and we love your neighbor so we can fulfill the other commandments; but if we don't love God, then we can't love our neighbor. Human relationships are reflected in the law, so if we live by the commandments, we would stop hurting each other. When He said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” it implies that God was speaking to healthy-minded people, not to those who would harm themselves and treat others the same way. The first commandment says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind soul and strength,” suggesting that it is mentally healthy to love God, who commanded people in the Old Testament to love Him first, so they could be in a proper frame of mind to love their neighbor as themselves. The problem with the old covenant was that it didn't furnish a way to do that. The only way to fulfill the first commandment was to fulfill the other nine; we love God by loving others, but in the new covenant God has given a way to love Him, so now we love others through our love for Him. Gal 5-15 (21f) Sin >> Disobedience opposes unity in the Church (84h) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> Gossip >> Attacking a person’s character (130j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Accept one another >> Accepting the great and the small >> Small people cannot accept great leaders -- This verse goes with verse 26 (158e) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Strife >> Bitterness – Strife, debating, discord, having a competitive and contentious spirit, never willing to accept another persons viewpoint but always looking for the wrong in everything, Paul said if we behave like this, be careful that we are not consumed by one another. We think we can act this way, as though it were just a silly game or a means of getting through the day, arguing for the sake of argument, but Paul says that this is an indication that we are operating by a spirit that opposes Christ. When we bite and devour one another and consume each other's faith, with what then do we believe in God? Some people spend their faith like eating their seed; once it is consumed, their faith is gone, and now they can’t believe in God, and they stray from Him not knowing what else to do. They’ve given their faith to disobedience, which leads to unbelief, which leads to further disobedience and unbelief. Paul warned the Galatians that this is a dangerous game they are playing and that they should instead seek the will of God for the purpose of doing it. (167b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Carnal mind cares only for itself KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5,16-26 (192e) Die to self >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Receiving from God by substitution >> Committed in the natural to receive in the spiritual – There is a whole chapter in this website devoted to the subject of dying to the flesh with its passions and desires. It is a process of substitution, meaning that dying to self is not the end; rather, it is a means to an end, for if we die to self, God will give us something of Himself in return. Dying to self creates a vacuum, and vacuums are unnatural. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb using a filament that would burn very brightly when electricity was passed through it, but would last only for a moment, because oxygen would cause it to combust in a flash, so he thought to place the process in a vacuum, and when he did, it continued to burn. Eph 5-13 says, "But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light." When we die to self, it creates a vacuum and God fills the vacuum with Himself. When we give ourselves to Him, He gives Himself to us in return, but since He is bigger, what He gives expands our lives and makes us grow. Gal 5,16-25 (124d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Acts of love >> Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit – Love is the first fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit fulfills the law. Israel tried to fulfill the law and failed miserably; instead, Paul commanded us to walk by the Spirit and so produce the fruit of the Spirit, which fulfills the law. This is Christianity: we are not under law but under grace (Rom 6-14). The first step in walking in the Spirit is developing the hearing ear. Being led by the Spirit is long-term; He doesn’t micromanage us; He gives us a life-goal and gives us freedom to accomplish it in ways that we decide. He regularly comes alongside and nudges us along the way and helps us fulfill His calling, but He doesn’t tell us everything we must do, so long as we accomplish His purpose through the Spirit. (187h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Deny the flesh to walk in the Spirit >> More the flesh dies, more the spirit lives – Obviously, the concept of being crucified with Christ also has something to do with dying to self, but what? It seems that the more spiritual fruit we bear, the more dead (or numb) we become to the sinful passions and desires of the flesh. So, we kill the flesh by bearing the fruit of the Spirit; our association with Him shapes us into His image; and the more our mind remains in a spiritual state, the less we sense our flesh craving evil things. By definition, then, a person who is born again by faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in his heart; so if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Gal 5,16-23 (205g) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> New covenant >> The new one is a better one – Eliminate these verses from the Bible and we wouldn’t know what Jesus meant what He said or did what He did, nor would we understand Paul’s other epistles. For example, these verses tell why Paul wrote his letter to the Romans and why the new covenant is better than the old. The law does not command us to bear the fruit of the Spirit, since it didn’t furnish us with the power to do so, but the new covenant gives us that power after Jesus has created an avenue to channel the Holy Spirit into our lives through the cross. The old covenant law gave us a list of things we should not do to our fellow man, but it did not provide us with a list of things that we should do, such as what is detailed in the fruits of the Spirit. Gal 5,16-21 (92e) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> You cannot walk two trails -- These verses go with verse 25. Paul said, “…You may not do the things that you please.” That doesn’t sound exactly free, which is how Paul started this chapter, saying, “It is for freedom that Christ set us free….” We are half-free; that is, our spirit is free, but our flesh is in bondage to serve Christ. The flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, so that if we satisfy one, we sabotage the other. If we seek the fruits of the Spirit, it will contrast with the desires of the flesh, but if we give into the flesh, it will war against our Love, Joy, peace, patience.... Therefore, anyone who is committed to walking in the Spirit must abstain from sin, because these two cannot coexist. (162g) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Addicted to sin >> Being a slave to the sinful nature KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5,16-18 (105g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the will of God >> Led to the right place -- These verses go with verse 25 (113l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Anointing establishes us in His will -- These verses go with verses 22-25 (118m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Newness of the spirit transcends oldness of the letter – Prior to Jesus sending the Holy Spirit, there was nothing we could do to directly fulfill the first commandment to love God, but now that we have the Holy Spirit, we can develop a relationship with Him through the word of God and prayer. Prior to the new covenant we loved God by not killing our fellow man; we loved God by not coveting our neighbor’s possessions; that is, it was all about "not" doing something to our neighbor in order to love God, but what can we do to directly love God? The law could not answer that question! The new covenant does away with the indirectness of the law and enables us to love God directly, and equips us to love our neighbor with fruits that we directly receive from the Holy Spirit. How much better is the new covenant than the old? There is no comparison! (137e) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation >> Bearing fruit is the foundation of being in the Spirit -- These verses go with verses 22-25. God has given us a list of attributes that we should apply to our character in the fruit of the Spirit. If we walk by the Spirit, God will lead us to bear His fruit, and by that we will not do the things that the law condemns. For example, when we bear the fruit of the Spirit we will not kill our neighbor. We have new interests now; protecting our joy is more important than having sex with our neighbor’s wife or coveting any of his possessions. The attributes of these fruits create a spiritual environment in our heart, so that we can live and walk in an attitude of love and peace. He desires these things to inhabit us, that we should inhabit them. Joy is not an action, nor is peace. Rather, the fruits of the Spirit are a spiritual state of mind, whereas the law refers to behaviors that God commands us to avoid. Within this environment we are shielded from temptation. See also: Fruits are not actions; Gal 5,19-21; 221j Gal 5-16,17 (6e) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Rest in Jesus’ yoke (22g) Sin >> Lust (craving pleasure) >> Fleshly mind (187j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Trying to work the Spirit by the flesh -- These verses go with verse 13 Gal 5-16 (119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ -- This verse goes with verse 18 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5-17 (14c) Servant >> Slave is free/free is slave – This verse goes with verse 25 Gal 5-18 (119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ -- This verse goes with verses 22&23 Gal 5,19-23 (139i) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Tear down the old to rebuild the new (129a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Evidence of your fruit >> The type of fruit indicates who you are serving Gal 5,19-21 (51c) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> Warning of Wrath >> God warns the Church (64d) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot help but judge sin (156K) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Living an ungodly lifestyle >> Practicing sin (167j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> The world of sin (183a) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Witchcraft >> Sin is the incubator of witchcraft >> Through rebellion (221j) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from sin >> He hides behind disobedience – Fear was not covered by the law or in the fruits of the Spirit, and it wasn’t even mentioned in regard to the deeds of the flesh. Paul was completely silent about fear, how it operates in the background of all forms of evil. Fear is the opposite (enemy) of the fruits of the Spirit. This means the deeds of the flesh, though they may oppose the fruits of the Spirit, are not exact opposites in that they refer to actions, whereas the fruits of the Spirit are not actions but refer to spiritual states. These are two different things, like comparing apples to oranges, but fear is a spiritual state, and is therefore the opposite of the fruits of the Spirit. That is, fear is not an action, just like love, joy, peace, patients, etc. are not actions. All sin and disobedience operate through an environment of fear, meaning the deeds of the flesh that are regulated by law act as evidence of fear, allowing it to manifest and become visible, whereas doing good works manifest the fruits of the Spirit, produced by faith. See also: Fruits are not actions; Gal 5,16-18; 137e (250h) Lists (Key verse) (250i) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Lists >> List of traits that can be found in man >> List of deeds of the body Gal 5-20,21 (24h) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Being envious of your brother Gal 5-21 (36i) Gift of God >> Inheritance >> Our inheritance can be withheld (238h) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachers "remind" their students >> Strong reminders KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5,22-26 (42g) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformation >> Conform to the Love of Christ Gal 5,22-25 (113l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing establishes us in His will -- These verses go with verses 5&6 (137e) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation >> Bearing fruit is the foundation of being in the Spirit -- These verses go with verses 16-18 Gal 5-22,23 (118k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Law of liberty -- These verses go with verse 13 (119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ -- These verses go with verse 6 (128c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Doing good transcends the law – “Nice” is not one of the fruits of the Spirit. The world expects everyone to be nice, but they mock “goody-two-shoes”. Goodness is one of the fruits of the Spirit, contrasting those who are "nice" from those who are good. “Goodness” is all about being nice to people who are not nice to us. People don’t like it when we refuse to defend ourselves, and they hate it when we are peacemakers in the name of the Lord, because it works as an invitation to the Kingdom of God, and if they reject the invitation, it acts as a witness against them. When someone is not nice to them, they throw all the social rules out the window. Therefore, "nice" is for show, but being good comes from the heart. Being "nice" is a way of getting ahead in life, whereas goodness is evidence that we are the children of God. Being nice is good for business, but being good is holy to the Lord. Being good is akin to kindness, but being nice is one step from rage. A "nice" person will not endure persecution, but goodness has already endured the insult of the wicked for Jesus sake. (250k) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Lists >> Terms of graduating to the next level >> List of spiritual traits in descending order – Although joy comes before peace, it doesn’t make it more important, suggesting that all nine fruits of the Spirit are equally important. The list of prerequisites signifies how we experience God as we seek Him: first we discover His love, then we meet His joy, then we enjoy His peace, etc., as a sequence of spiritual blessings that cascade throughout the lifelong process spiritual maturity. Gal 5-22 (126a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> God is at peace >> The peace from God (127a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Kindness >> Be kind like God >> Practice the kindness of God Gal 5-24 (114e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven >> Obeying the revelation by putting away the flesh – Dying to self is a process of working with the grace of God to perform a simple operation on our flesh to remove the foreskin of our sinful passions and desires that hold us from the will of God (symbolized by circumcision). At the same time, He instills His grace in us to do the work that He has prepared for us. Wicked men that nailed Jesus to a cross represent us; we are the ones who killed Him; we needed Him to give His life for our sins. Moreover, the criminal crucified next to Him is in our place; we nail our sinful passions and desires of the flesh to the cross until dead, willingly laying down our lives for the cause of Christ. We know there will be a resurrection, but Christ promises that He will raise in this life to a powerful anointing through the Spirit (Romans chapter six). (213i) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> His will becomes our will >> We are God’s property Gal 5-25,26 (95h) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >> Ready to do God’s will – Paul elucidated a very important point here: as we live by the spirit who dwells in us and enjoy His presence in our heart, so we should walk in that same Spirit and avoid contradicting His divinity that He planted in us and treat our fellow man with dignity. As the indwelling Holy Spirit seeks to manifest, so we should let that inner person emerge on our outer form and behave in the same manner that we experience God in our heart. We should embody Jesus' parable of the kingdom of God regarding leaven that a woman “took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened” (Mat 13-33). This is how God wants to work in our lives: from the inside-out. He wants to convince us of His love, grace and mercy, so we will display His grace in our actions and words. Instead of being competitive from envy and strife, we should challenge each other to love and good deeds (Heb 10-24). KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Gal 5-25 (14c) Servant >> Slave is free/free is slave -- This verse goes with verses 13 & 14 (92e) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> You cannot walk two trails -- This verse goes with verses 16-21 (105g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the will of God >> Led to the right place -- This verse goes with verses 16-18. Walking by the Spirit is probably the most important thing we do in this life, and what we often fail to remember is what Paul said before this: crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. We must learn to live by the Spirit before we can walk by the Spirit. We possess His Spirit, but we cannot understand what we possess beyond our practice of walking in Him. That is, if we are unconscious of our salvation, it is useless. The whole idea is to be aware of His presence in us, and the way we become aware of Him is to continually abide in the word of God and prayer. The Spirit and the word operate together. We live by the Spirit and we walk by the word, and when the two of these come together, they produce the power of God, who is able to reveal Himself in us that we might know His purpose and calling. To fulfill His calling is to work His grace into our lives. The part of God’s will that we do not walk, neither do we understand. This is why the world does not understand God, because it does not obey Him. (144f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The Church Bears Witness of Jesus >> Of the Holy Spirit (155g) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Holy Spirit bears witness of the believer (206b) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Conditions to promises >> Conditions to living in the spirit >> Conditions to participating in the spirit -- If we "walk by the Spirit,” it proves that we also "live by the Spirit." His promise is very encouraging and full of good hope, but walking in the Spirit incites our enemies to hate us. If we abide in Jesus, we can expect persecution and rejection even from some of our own brothers and sisters who don't share the same intimacy with God. It asks whether we are content with persecution and hardship for the sake of interacting with God, or whether we will abandon His purpose because of the fear of man. Too often when the heat is on, we settle for walking in the flesh so we don't offend anyone, but this offends God. (230b) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> What we must do to partake of the kingdom >> Partaking which requires our participation Gal 5-26 (11i) Servant >> We are not a standard for each other (22m) Sin >> Pride glorifies self >> Comparing yourself with others (23c) Sin >> Pride is defensive (130j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Accept one another >> Accepting the great and the small >> Small people cannot accept great leaders -- This verse goes with verse 15 (158f) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Division (Cliques) >> Jealously seeking prominence in the body (167e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Walking outside the realm of faith -- This verse goes with verses 13-15. Pseudo-spiritual Christians are boastful, competitive and envious. The person who thinks he is spiritual the Bible says should become everyone’s servant. The true sign of spirituality is the willingness to serve and become least of all. This undercuts any desire to challenge or envy others, and it eliminates boasting. Being a servant solves man’s every problem. In the corporate world they have it backwards, where the greatest are the greatest and the least are the least, reflected also in their paychecks; whereas in the Kingdom of God the greatest are least and servant of all; and the person who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven has the greatest authority. That is, in heaven everyone is striving to be a servant in order to be great in the eyes of god who is servant of all. This completely dispels the whole problem of a boastful, arrogant attitude, instead of seeking to know God that we might bless others and possess all that God has for us. (197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom -- This verse goes with verses 7-9 See next page