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| English: Map of the Letters of Galatia (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
In
the first entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on Galatians, I
discussed introductory matters concerning the founding of the churches to the
Galatians, the situation when Paul wrote to them, when the letter might have
been written and the type of letters which Paul wrote, based on the common
Greco-Roman letters of his day. In
the second post, I considered the basic content and breakdown of a Pauline
letter. I noted the major sections of the formal letter structure and, in the
context of each section, outlined the theological and ethical (as well as
other) concerns of Paul, including some Greek words which will be examined more
fully as we continue with the commentary. In
the third entry, I looked at the salutation, which is long for Paul’s
corpus (only Romans 1:1-7 is longer) and briefly commented on the lack of a
Thanksgiving, the only letter of Paul’s which does not have one. The
fourth entry discussed the opening of the body of the letter, a significant
part of the letter especially in light of the absence of a Thanksgiving. In
the fifth entry, I examined the beginning of the opening of the body of the
letter, in which Paul describes his background in Judaism and I placed this in the
context of Judaism in the Hellenistic period. In the
sixth post in the online commentary, I continued to look at Paul’s
biographical sketch of his life, this concerning his earliest life as a
Christian. In
the seventh post, I examined what Paul says about his subsequent visit to
Jerusalem to see the apostles and the Church in Jerusalem.
In the eighth entry, Paul confronts Cephas about his hypocrisy in
Antioch.
The
ninth blog post started to examine the theological argument in one of
Paul’s most important and complex theological letters. In
the tenth entry, Paul makes an emotional appeal to the Galatians based on
their past religious experiences and their relationship with Paul. In
the eleventh chapter in the series, Paul began to examine Abraham in light
of his faith. The
twelfth blog post continued Paul’s examination of Abraham, but also claims
that Christ “redeemed” his followers from the “curse” of the Law. In
the thirteenth study in the Galatians online commentary, we looked at Paul’s
claim that God’s promises were to Abraham and his “offspring,” with a twist on
the meaning of “offspring.” The
fourteenth entry examined Paul’s question, in light of his claims about the
law, as to why God gave the law. The
fifteenth chapter in this commentary examines the function of the law,
while the
sixteenth post studied how the members of the Church are heirs to the
promise.
In
the seventeenth entry, I observed what it means to be an heir in Paul’s
theological scenario. And in the
eighteenth installment, Paul transitions back to his relationship with the
Galatians, but before he concentrates on this in full, he returns to the issue
of the stoicheia, commonly known as
the four cosmic powers, earth, air,
water and fire. In the nineteenth blog post, Paul relies on his personal relations with
the Galatians to draw them to his point of view. In the twentieth entry, Paul speaks of an allegory of Hagar and
Sarah. The
twenty-first chapter in the series, finds Paul speaking against
circumcision. In the twenty-second blog post, found below, I examine how Paul
begins to reflect on the practical, ethical implications for the Christian
life.
4. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians
d) Body of the Letter (1:13-6:10):
v) Ethical Exhortation (5:13-6:10): Ethical
Implications of Freedom in Christ (5:13-26)
13 For you were
called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your
freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love
become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single
commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If,
however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed
by one another. 16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of
the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the
Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to
prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you
are not subject to the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife,
jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness,
carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before:
those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 By contrast,
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such
things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with
its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by
the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another,
envying one another. (NRSV)
Paul next addresses the ethical implications of freedom in Christ. What
does it mean to live free from the Law? Paul does not himself put it in this
negative form; he positively asks what it means to be “called to freedom.” As Paul writes, “for you were called to
freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity
for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another” (Galatians
5:13). This translation, however, does not properly render the key word sarx, or “flesh.” The text reads that
one should not use freedom as an opportunity (aphormê) for the “flesh.” “Flesh” is not simply the body, the
physical body, but the whole person turned away from God. Michael Gorman says, “For
Paul the opposite of the flesh is not some immaterial human spirit, but the
Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Son. Thus not giving opportunity to the flesh
means, by implication, giving opportunity to the Spirit” (Apostle of the Crucified Lord, 218). This should not be read as an
indictment of the body, but an indictment of the whole person turning away from
God’s will. “Self-indulgence” in that sense is a good translation, especially
if flesh is misunderstood as the body alone, but since sarx
is such a significant word for Paul, we ought to use it whenever it
appears.
We should also note that “you” in Galatians 5:13 is in the plural (hymeis) and so refers to the whole of
the Galatians community, not just individuals. This is an instruction for the
whole Church to turn away from the flesh and “through love become slaves to one
another.” The contrast between freedom/slavery is intentional in this verse,
but there is both a contrast and a melding of the two concepts: when there is properly
enacted freedom in Christ, the community willingly enslaves itself to each
other through love (agapê).
This leads to one of the most important verses in Galatians (and in the
whole Pauline corpus): “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment,
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:14). Again a
translation issue to begin: “summed up” is actually the word “fulfilled” (plêroô) in the perfect tense, “has been
fulfilled.” This is an important translation because whenever Paul speaks of Christians
positively with respect to the Law of Moses, he says that they “fulfill” never “do”
it (Stephen Westerholm, “On Fulfilling the Whole Law” (Gal. 5:14)” in Svensk
Exegetisk Arsbok 51 52 (1986-87) 229-237). Paul never wavers in this
language. But what does it mean that the “whole law” (ho pas nomos) is “fulfilled” (peplērōtai)
through love of neighbor (5:14)?
N.T. Wright states that “now that the Messiah has come, his true people
will truly ‘keep Torah,’ even though this Torah-keeping will not look like what
those {other Jewish teachers} had imagined” (Paul and the Faithfulness of God Parts III and IV, 1109). I think
something like this, combined with the fact that Christ has brought the law to
fulfillment, and that people under the guidance of the Spirit are now capable
of enacting the dictates of the law, joins to create a Messianic people who now
fulfill the Law of Moses which has been brought to Messianic completion. Note, however,
that Paul only offers Leviticus 19:18 - ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself’ – as the fulfillment of the Law, not Deuteronomy 6:4 – the love of
God, which is also the case in Romans 13:8-10: why is this? I do not have a good answer except to
say that perhaps Paul assumes the love of God in the community or that the love
of neighbor makes manifest the love of God. Whatever the explanation, and I do
not know if mine suffice, it is clear that Paul believes that the application
of love in each ongoing situation in the lives of the Church and of individuals,
under the guidance of Christ and the Spirit, will not lead people away from the
law but to its fulfillment.
Paul then admonishes the Galatians, in light I would suspect of the broken
relationship between Paul and the community in particular, and perhaps factions
with the Galatian churches, not to “bite and devour one another” and to “take
care that you are not consumed by one another. Live by the Spirit, I say, and
do not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:15-16). The central point
here is that the Church should “live by the Spirit” and not “gratify the
desires of the flesh”; the one leads to fulfilling the law, while the other
leads to the destruction of community. Being enslaved to one another in love is
genuine freedom.
The contrast between flesh and Spirit is continued in the next verses.
Paul continues to build his case, stating that “what the flesh desires is
opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for
these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But
if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” (Galatians
5:17-18). This is a fairly straightforward restatement of what Paul has just
argued with the exception of the last phrase of v.18, “if you are led by the
Spirit, you are not subject to the law.”
“Subject to the law” in this case is the shorthand form “under the law” in
Greek, which must indicate “under the authority of each dictate of the Law of
Moses, which involves the need to “do” every element of the law. Paul has
already claimed that those in Christ, guided by the Spirit, “fulfill” the law
when guided by love under the authority of the one who has fulfilled the law, Jesus Christ.
It is a fair question to raise though, how does the Church or an
individual member of the Church fulfill the law? Paul outlines the works of the
flesh, which are opposed to the ways of God, and so would never fulfill the
law. Here we get a negative picture: “Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife,
jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing,
and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21a). Two notes should be added to this
list: the works of the flesh listed are primarily not things involving the body
(such as sexual sins, though they appear) but choices of how we treat each
other (“enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy”);
and the list of works of the flesh could be expanded it seems forever, as Paul
ends with “and things like these.” I will return to this final point later. Paul
then offers this: “I am warning you, as
I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of
God” (Galatians 5:21b). The language of inheritance (klêponomeô) is significant and sometimes overlooked (it appears
also for instance in 1 Corinthians 6:10). It is a key image of family and
covenantal membership. It is those who are part of the family that inherit. To be
a part of the family of Abraham, through the son Jesus Christ, is to be an inheritor
of the kingdom. If the community does not behave according to the terms of the
fulfilled law, they can also be disinherited. This is the equivalent of Paul
the spiritual mother/father warning, “You can also be asked to leave the
family.”
That’s the path not to take to fulfill the law, but how does love in
action look within the family according to Paul? Christians must show evidence
of the fruits of the Spirit: “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control. There is no law against such things” (Galatians 5:22-23). Notice
that unlike the works of the flesh, which include the listed works and “things
like these,” there are only nine fruits listed. While the works of the flesh
can manifest themselves in numerous ways, the Christian life must show evidence
of these particular fruits. It gives a major clue as to what a life of love
will actually look like in practice.
Finally, Paul says, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also
be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one
another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:24-26). , The Spirit opposes the
flesh and “its passions and desires” (5:24); the Christian must be guided by
the Spirit (5:24-26). It is fascinating that when Paul speaks of “passions and
desires,” he speaks of ruptures in interpersonal relationships (conceit, competition,
envy). In the family of those who follow
Jesus, he speaks the language of love,
which is the language of living together in peace.
Next entry, Paul speaks of the social implications of freedom in Christ
John W. Martens
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This entry is cross-posted at America Magazine The Good Word
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