Gal. 5:5b – …ea=
gerly
await the hope of righteousness.
The goal of our running is the hope of
righteousness. We are not run=
ning
aimlessly. =
The righteousness we hope for is Chri=
st
Himself (1 Cor. 1:30). It is =
by the Spirit out of faith=
that we eagerly await the hope of
righteousness. Today, Christ =
is our
righteousness objectively. Bu=
t our
hope is that we will gain a surpassing righteousness, which is Christ lived=
out
of us as our subjective righteousness (Phil. 3:9). This is to have Christ saturate us=
again
and again until we are constituted with Christ in our disposition. This can only happen =
by the Spirit out of faith=
.
Gal. 5:6 – = For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith = avails, operating through love.<= o:p>
Faith operates through love=
. This =
is
what avails. This love is aga=
pe - a
higher and nobler love that is just God Himself as love infused into us and
expressed through us (1 John 4:16, 19).&nb=
sp;
Faith and love always go together (1 Tim. 1:14, 2 Tim. 1:13). Without love, faith cannot operate=
.
When we have the hearing of faith and somethin=
g in
our heart is touched to appreciate and love the Lord, we get filled with the
Lord as the Spirit. Love come=
s into
us from God and faith as a response from us goes back to God (Gal. 2:20).
Gal. 5:7 – You were running well. Who hindered you that you would not
believe and obey the truth?
Who hindered, interfered
with you that you would not
believe and obey the truth (“Not the doctrine but the reality in
Christ…” Recovery Version, Gal. 5:7, Note 1)
Gal. 5:8 – This persuasion is not of Him who ca=
lls
you.
This treacherous,
deceptive
persuasion is not of Him who calls you.
A little leaven leavens, thoroughly pervades the whole lump. (“Leaven refers to the false
teachings of the Judaizers (cf. Matt. 16:12), and the whole lump, to all the
believers collectively, the church.”)
Gal. 5:10 – I am conf=
ident
in the Lord concerning you that you will be of no other mind; but he who is
troubling you shall bear the judgment, whoever he may be.
Paul’s confidence was in the Lord not in=
the
Galatians.=
=
“In referring to the matter of
being otherwise minded, Paul touches the most important source of problems =
in
the church life – that of having a different mind, of being otherwise
minded. As long as there is no
idolatry, immorality, or divisiveness in the church, we should not be other=
wise
minded concerning anything.” (Life-study of Galatians, Msg. 26, page =
229)
When we are by the Spirit out of faith operating through love, we will be of
the same mind to pursue the enjoyment
of Christ and the oneness of the Body.
Gal. 5:11 – But I brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why a=
m I
still being persecuted? Then =
the
stumbling block of the cross has been annulled.
Paul was persecuted because he preached the cr=
oss
of Christ. Paul would not all=
ow the
stumbling block of the cross to be done away. The cross stumbles everything that=
does
not match Christ. It is the g=
reat
universal filter. Circumcisio=
n was
man’s effort to try to deal with the flesh. The reality of dealing with the fl=
esh is
through the cross of Christ. =
The
experience and practical application of the cross is in the Spirit where the
killing element of the cross works spontaneously to terminate our flesh.
Gal. 5:12- I wish that those upsetting you would even=
cut
themselves off.
I wish that those upsetting, troubling, disturbing you, and throwing you into confusion would even cut themselves off.