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Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A reading plan that walks through the entire New Testament in 24 weeks of daily readings.

Duration: 168 days

Galatians 5-6

There Is No Freedom Except in Christ^[a]

Chapter 5

Faith Expressing Itself through Love. ¹It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, stand firm and refuse to submit again to the yoke of slavery.

²Listen to me! I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you. ³Once again, I testify that every man who accepts circumcision is under obligation to observe the entire Law. ⁴Those of you who seek to be justified by the Law have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from grace. ⁵For it is through the Spirit and by faith that we eagerly hope to attain righteousness, ⁶since in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor lack of circumcision is worth anything. All that matters is faith expressing itself through love.

Against Being Misled. ⁷You were running a good race. Who kept you from obeying the truth? ⁸This change did not come from the one who called you. ⁹A little yeast leavens the entire batch of dough. ¹⁰I am confident of you in the Lord that none of you will think differently, and that anyone who is trying to confuse you will be condemned, no matter who it is.

¹¹As for me, brethren, if I were still advocating circumcision,^[b] why would I continue to be persecuted? If I were doing that, the cross would no longer be a stumbling block. ¹²I wish that those who are confusing you would even castrate themselves!

¹³Proper Use of Freedom. Brethren, you were called to freedom. However, make sure that you do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Instead, serve one another in love. ¹⁴For the entire Law can be summed up^[c] in a single commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you continue biting and tearing one another to pieces, at least be on your guard lest you be consumed by one another.

¹⁶Hence, I advise you to be guided by the Spirit, so that you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the Spirit, and those of the Spirit are opposed to the flesh. They are in conflict with one another, so that you cannot do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.

¹⁹^[d]Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you previously, that no one who does such things will inherit the kingdom of God.

²²^[e]In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. ²⁶We should not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be envious of one another.

Chapter 6

The Law of Christ.^[f] ¹Brethren, if anyone is detected committing a transgression, you who are spiritual must set him right in a spirit of gentleness. Meanwhile, you should take care so that you yourselves are not tempted. ²Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

³If anyone thinks he is something when in fact he is nothing, he is only deceiving himself. ⁴Each person must examine his own work. Then he will have reason to boast with regard to himself alone and not in comparison with someone else. ⁵For everyone has his own burden to bear.

⁶Anyone who is being taught should give his teacher a share in all his possessions. ⁷Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked. A person will reap only what he sows. ⁸The one who sows in his flesh will reap a harvest of corruption, but the one who sows in the Spirit will reap from the Spirit the reward of eternal life.

⁹Let us never grow weary in doing what is right, for if we do not give up, we will reap our harvest in due time. ¹⁰Therefore, while we have the opportunity, let us labor for the good of all, but especially for those members of the household of the faith.

Conclusion^[g]

¹¹The Cross of Christ, Our True Boast. Observe what large letters I make when I am writing to you in my own handwriting. ¹²It is those who want to gain human approval who are trying to compel you to be circumcised, their sole purpose being to escape persecution for the cross of Christ. ¹³Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the Law. They want you to be circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.

¹⁴May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world is crucified to me and I to the world. ¹⁵Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is important, but only a new creation.

¹⁶Blessing and a Plea. May peace and mercy be given to all who follow this rule, and to the Israel of God.^[h]

¹⁷In the future, let no one make trouble for me, for I bear the marks of Jesus branded on my body.

¹⁸May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

Footnotes

Galatians 5:1 After an involved argumentation, Paul turns to a more direct style, using shorter sentences, and he becomes more pressing. He calls upon the Galatians to measure the gravity of their about-face. Any compromise is out of the question; they must choose between the Law and Christ.
Galatians 5:11 Advocating circumcision: probably an accusation by Paul’s opponents that he also had advocated circumcision since he had allowed Timothy (whose mother was Jewish) to be circumcised (Acts 16:1-3). Cross . . . stumbling block: see 1 Cor 1:13.
Galatians 5:14 Entire Law can be summed up: the whole spirit and intention of “the Law and the Prophets” is expressed by doing to others what you would want them to do to you (see Mt 7:12).
Galatians 5:19 For other lists of vices, see 1 Cor 6:9f; Eph 5:5; Rev 22:15.
Galatians 5:22 For other lists of virtues, see 2 Cor 6:6; Eph 4:2; 5:9; Col 3:12-15. Paul stresses that justification by faith does not mean advocating libertinism. He stresses that the Holy Spirit brings forth in believers Christian virtues and he lists nine of them. These have come to be known as “the fruits of the Holy Spirit.”
The text of the Vulgate originally listed three other fruits, making a total of twelve. This formed the basis for the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit listed in older catechisms, e.g., the Baltimore Catechism: charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continence, and chastity. In truth, the three fruits not named in the original Greek are contained in one or other of the nine named: “long-suffering” in patience, and “modesty” and “continence” in self-control.
Galatians 6:1 To the spiritual urge that leads the believer to live in solidarity with others and in service to them, Paul gives the name law of Christ (6:2), law of faith (Rom 3:27), and law of the Spirit of life (Rom 8:2).
Galatians 6:11 Paul himself underlines the importance of the Letter (v. 11) and for one last time situates the problem of the Galatians before the mystery of the cross. There is an old world, that of circumcisions and human successes, and a new world, in which God calls the new Israel, i.e., all Christians, true children of Abraham. Christians belong to this world. For them, the cross is something to be shared. They agree to suffer for Christ and with him. It involves more suffering than being circumcised, but they have become “new” people (2 Cor 5:17), delivered from the world, i.e., sin. There is no other way of salvation except the cross of Christ, nor any other assurance before God. Paul knows this from experience, for he bears in his body the traces of the blows received in the exercise of his missionary work (2 Cor 6:5; 11:23-27).
Galatians 6:16 The Israel of God: i.e., the Church (see Rom 9:6f) as opposed to Israel according to the flesh (see 1 Cor 10:18).

New Catholic Bible (NCB)