Galatians 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ¹  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ²  of slavery.

Galatians 5:13-25

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ³  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ⁴  but through love serve one another. ⁵  5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, ⁶  namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁷  5:15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another, ⁸  beware that you are not consumed ⁹  by one another. 5:16 But I say, live ¹⁰  by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. ¹¹  5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires ¹²  that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to ¹³  each other, so that you cannot do what you want. 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 5:19 Now the works of the flesh ¹⁴  are obvious: ¹⁵  sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, ¹⁶  hostilities, ¹⁷  strife, ¹⁸  jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, ¹⁹  factions, 5:21 envying, ²⁰  murder, ²¹  drunkenness, carousing, ²²  and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ²³  is love, ²⁴  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²⁵  5:23 gentleness, and ²⁶  self-control. Against such things there is no law. 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ ²⁷  have crucified the flesh ²⁸  with its passions ²⁹  and desires. 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with ³⁰  the Spirit.

¹ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

² sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

⁴ tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

⁵ tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).

⁵ tn Or “can be fulfilled in one commandment.”

⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

⁷ tn That is, “if you are harming and exploiting one another.” Paul’s metaphors are retained in most modern translations, but it is possible to see the meanings of δάκνω and κατεσθίω (daknw and katesqiw, L&N 20.26 and 88.145) as figurative extensions of the literal meanings of these terms and to translate them accordingly. The present tenses here are translated as customary presents (“continually…”).

⁸ tn Or “destroyed.”

⁹ tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).

¹⁰ tn On the term “flesh” (once in this verse and twice in v. 17) see the note on the same word in Gal 5:13.

¹¹ tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).

¹³ tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

¹⁴ tn Or “clear,” “evident.”

¹⁵ tn Or “witchcraft.”

¹⁶ tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

¹⁷ tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

¹⁸ tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).

¹⁷ tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

¹⁸ tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

¹⁹ tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).

¹⁹ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

²⁰ sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

²¹ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

²¹ tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.

²³ tc ‡ Some mss (א A B C P Ψ 0122¹ 0278 33 1175 1739 pc co) read “Christ Jesus” here, while many significant ones (Ì⁴⁶ D F G 0122*^,2 latt sy), as well as the Byzantine text, lack “Jesus.” The Byzantine text is especially not prone to omit the name “Jesus”; that it does so here argues for the authenticity of the shorter reading (for similar instances of probably authentic Byzantine shorter readings, see Matt 24:36 and Phil 1:14; cf. also W.-H. J. Wu, “A Systematic Analysis of the Shorter Readings in the Byzantine Text of the Synoptic Gospels” [Ph.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002]). On the strength of the alignment of Ì⁴⁶ with the Western and Byzantine texttypes, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

²⁴ tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

²⁵ tn The Greek term παθήμασιν (paqhmasin, translated “passions”) refers to strong physical desires, especially of a sexual nature (L&N 25.30).

²⁵ tn Or “let us also follow,” “let us also walk by.”