Galatians 5:7-12
Terri asked her Sunday School class to draw
pictures of their favorite bible stories. She was
puzzled by Kyle’s picture, which showed four
people on an airplane. So, she asked him which
story it was meant to represent.
“The flight to Egypt,” said Kyle.
“I see… And that must be Mary, Joseph, and the
Baby Jesus,” Ms. Terri said. “But who’s the fourth
person?”
Kyle explained, “Oh, that’s Pontius the Pilot!”
Two weeks ago we looked at the first 6 verses of
Galatians 5.
Paul was urging the Galatian believers to stand firm in
their Christian liberty. He provided 4 Dangers of Legalism
and encouraged the believers to live by faith and avoid
legalism.
Today we are going to continue looking at Galatians 5.
Galatians 5:7-12
Paul begins by comparing their spiritual lives to a race.
Spiritual Lives Compared to a Race
Paul rhetorically asks who hindered them from obeying
the truth. He wrote that they had been running well. He
is well aware that the false teachers have knocked them
off track.
Our spiritual life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And
finishing well is much more important than starting well.
Keep in mind, we don’t run to receive our salvation, we
run because of our salvation.
We keep on running in order to receive the prize of
eternal life.
At the 1938 NCAA Championships in Minneapolis,
Louie Zamperini was the man to beat. Coaches from
rival schools had even ordered their runners to
sharpen the spikes on their shoes and to slash
Louie. “Halfway through the race, just as Louie was
about to move ahead for the lead, several runners
shouldered around him, boxing him in. Louie tried
repeatedly to break loose, but he couldn’t get
around the other men. Suddenly, the man beside
him swerved in and stomped on his foot, impaling
Louie’s toe with his spike. A moment later, the man
ahead began kicking backward, cutting both of
Louie’s shins. A third man elbowed Louie’s chest so
hard that he cracked Louie’s rib.
Todd Wilson, Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway,
2013), 181.
As we run the race of our spiritual lives,we are to run in
the lane of Grace.
The Judaizers have attempted to knock the Galatian
believers out of their lane of grace and into the lane of
the law.
Even though there are always people trying to knock us
out of our lane, we must keep on running the race.
People want to see Christians fail. They will often attempt
to knock us off track or to join them in their sin.
Paul also tells the Galatians that this persuasion is not
from God. These Judaizers have diluted the gospel that
God had delivered to them through Paul.
Next, Paul compares false teaching to leaven.
False Teaching Compared to Leaven
As we know from baking, leaven spreads throughout the
entire lump of dough. It permeates the entire dish.
In baking leaven is good.
In the OT leaven was forbidden in the house of the Jews
during passover. It was associated with sin.
Jesus warned His disciples against the leaven of the
Pharisees and Sadducees. They also were teaching
against what Jesus had taught.
Paul’s point here is that there is no room for compromise
when it comes to the gospel. It only takes a little error to
corrupt God’s word.
If false teaching is allowed, what will come next?
God’s bride must be very diligent to protect the truth!
Paul’s Confidence in the Lord
Notice in verse 10 that Paul doesn’t say that he has
confidence in the Galatians, but his confidence is in the
Lord that they will return to the truth of the gospel that
Paul brought them so many years before.
It reminds me of his words to the church at Philippi.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good
work in you will bring it to completion at the day of
Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way
about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for
you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my
imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation
of the gospel.” Philippians 1:6-7
Paul then mentions that he is confident that the false
teachers will suffer the penalty for their corrupt teaching.
Paul then seems to be arguing against what the false
teachers have been saying about him.
They accused him of preaching circumcision, which is
clearly NOT what he has preached. He has been faithful
to preach Christ and Him crucified.
Paul blatantly denies it and gives a proof that it isn’t true.
Those who preach circumcision suffer no persecution and
Paul has definitely suffered persecution.
The Bible makes it clear that the cross is offensive.
Telling people that the only way they can be saved is by
trusting in Jesus because He died on the cross in our
place is offensive to some.
The gospel requires a response. We have to either accept
it or reject it. To put off the decision is to reject.
But God’s grace is long-suffering.
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some
count slowness, but is patient toward you, not
wishing that any should perish, but that all should
reach repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9
Paul closes this section with what may seem to us as sort
of crass and unusual.
To understand it we have to gain some context.
In Paul’s day there was a cult of Cybele. All of the priests
made themselves eunuchs.
Paul wishes the Judaizers would go ahead and castrate
themselves because neither circumcision or castration
has any power for salvation.
Salvation has always been by grace through faith.
APPLICATION
As we run the spiritual race for Christ, we must keep in
mind that it won’t always be easy.
Be Aware of the Enemy
We will face trials of many kinds, it’s best if we are aware
of them before they attack.
The enemy will try to knock you off track in any way he
can.
He will lie and deceive and do anything else to get you off
track.
The race is long, so we must keep a steady pace.
We can’t go too fast and we can’t stop running.
We have to cling to Christ as we run the race to spend
eternity with Him in heaven.
Persevere Until the End
The mark of a true believer is that they persevere in their
faith until the end. We all have met folks that have
claimed to know Christ, but a few short years later and
they are living for the world just like they did before their
profession.
Believers are transformed by the renewing of their mind.
The old has gone and the new has come.
Our spiritual journey is worth it.
Even though there may be persecution we must be
willing to stand firm for what we believe.