GALATIANS 5:8

Paul is continuing to tell the Galatians what has been happening to them because of the false teachers that were in their midst. The Galatians were being influenced to believe in legalism and justification by law. What the Galatians should have done was to simply ask where these teachings were coming from. There are only two choices: the teachings are either coming from God or they are not coming from God, and Paul wrote clearly in Galatians 5:8, “This persuasion comes not of him that calleth you.”

Not all ideas should be tolerated. Some ideas should be rejected and thrown out as soon as possible. Anything that opposes the truth of justification by grace through faith in Christ should be immediately done away with. Remember what Paul said in Galatians 1:8, “But though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

If you do not cut off false doctrine immediately, then what will happen will be according to the principle that is recorded in Galatians 5:9, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” God wants His believers to be pure: pure in behavior and pure in doctrine. If you let just a little bit of legalism in, it will corrupt everything. As we have seen with many denominations, once they depart from salvation by grace through faith in Christ, then no matter how many other good things they attempt to teach, they prove to be weak and of little spiritual value.

In the next three verses Paul says several more things about the false teachers. He wrote in Galatians 5:10-12, “I have confidence in you through the Lord, that you will be none otherwise minded; but he that troubles you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offence of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you.” Twice in these verses Paul said that the false teachers “troubled” the believers in Galatia. If you are led away from truth then you have been troubled in the worst way possible. Truth is essential for the saving of the soul. Without truth you will be following a lie, and what can be worse than that? Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Your greatest enemy is the person who leads you away from truth. You may not know it, but such a person brings you trouble.

The false teachers could not trouble Paul with their false teaching, and so they persecuted him. Who persecutes the true believers and the true servants Christ in this world? It may surprise you, but it is not always the worldly people. Many times it is the religious people: the false religious people. Legalistic, self-righteous, false religious people are led by darkness and they are opposed to light and truth. They go after, they pursue, and they persecute the true believers. Paul said in verse 11 that if he were not persecuted “then is the offense of the cross ceased.” The false teachers are against the teaching of the cross of Christ and what it means. The cross of Christ means forgiveness and freedom, and the false teachers are against that.

Of course, the false teachers are not going to get away with what they are doing. God is in control, and those who deserve judgment are heading towards their judgment, and it will come at the day of God’s choosing. Paul wrote in verse 10, “But he that troubles you shall bear his judgment.” Paul was filled with the Spirit of God, and he knew the mind of God concerning the destiny of the false teachers, and he knew the great harm and trouble that the false teachers were causing. That is why he wished that God would go ahead and end their lives and send them to their judgment. That is what he meant in verse 12 when he said, “I would they were even cut off which trouble you.” Jesus said a similar thing to those who harm children. Jesus said, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Starting in the next verse, Galatians 5:13, and going to the end of the book Paul is going to switch the subject away from speaking primarily about justification by grace through faith; and he is going to start talking primarily about how to live for God in this world. If we do not go about attempting to obey the law to establish our own righteousness, then what do we go about doing? Even though we are free from the obligation of obeying the law for obtaining righteousness, there are still things that we are supposed to do and a way of doing them.

Galatians 5:13 says, “For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” One of the criticisms that some people have always given to the doctrine of salvation by grace and by grace alone is that they say that it means that you therefore have the liberty to sin whenever you want to. They say that if they are free from the law, then they are free to sin. Of course, that is not a valid argument. Liberty does not mean license. There is a wrong way of using your liberty, and there is a right way. Freedom should be enjoyed, but not abused.

How are Christians to live with the freedom and liberty that they have? Two words in this verse are key: the word “love” and the word “serve.” We do not serve out of obligation: we serve out of love. God loved us through Christ, and so we love Him. God loves the souls of all human beings and sent His Son to die for them, and therefore we love the souls of all human beings also. All sin is a result of selfishness. That is what the flesh is: human self-will and selfishness. Those who have known the liberty that is in Christ no longer live to serve themselves, but they now live to serve God and others. When Paul said, “Serve one another,” he was talking about Christians serving other Christians.

The important thing is not only what you do, but why you do it. If your motivation is to establish your own righteousness through the law, then you will fail. The way to do the right thing is to have the right motivation. Galatians 5:14 says, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” If you love your neighbor, then you will do what is in their interest. You will love them or kill them, or steal from them, or commit adultery with them. Any time you fail to keep one of the commandments, the real reason is your lack of love.

If you do not have that kind of love for your neighbor, then you will be motivated by love for yourself. And then you will view your neighbor as a competitor and an obstacle to getting what you want. What will happen between you and other people is what is said in Galatians 5:15, “But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another.” You will view others as competitors instead of team members, and you will engage in unhealthy competition. Most people would call biting and devouring one another unhealthy. Yes, Christians can do this too. They will do it unless they know the importance of he principle given in the next verse.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” When you came to Christ, you had a spiritual birth. The only reason that you came to Christ was because of the Spirit. Jesus spoke of this work of bringing people to Christ that the Spirit would do in John 16:8-11; “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” The Spirit brought you to Christ. Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Of course, you are not. The key to the Christian life is to walk in the Spirit. You did not get saved by doing your own works with your own strength, and you are not going to effectively serve God by doing your own works in your own strength either. You must walk in the Spirit. You must walk in connection with the Spirit.

That is the Christian life in a nut-shell. The simple phrase, “walk in the Spirit,” says it all. If you understand that phrase and understand how to do it, then and only then will you serve God in this world. If you do not walk in the Spirit, then you will end up fulfilling the lust of the flesh. You will end up fulfilling the strong desires of your selfish nature. Understanding that these two things are opposed to one another gives a good hint as to what is required to “walk in the Spirit.” You must surrender your own desires and surrender your own will to God in order to walk in the Spirit. Watch out for your own strong will and your own desires: they will keep you from going with God and from walking in the Spirit.

The Christian life involves a battle. Part of the battle is the power of evil against the power of good. Another part of that battle is the battle that will rage within your soul: the battle of the flesh against the Spirit. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one against the other; so that you cannot do the things that you would.” As far as our standing with God is concerned, the old sinful nature has been crucified with Christ. Nothing will be held against us. But as far as our daily life is concerned, the selfish sinful nature is still there to fight against the Spirit. We have not arrived yet, not from a practical standpoint. We look forward to the hope of righteousness in the future, but for now we have a great contest that takes place within us.

That contest is not how well we obey the law, but it is how well we walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:18 says, “But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.” First we were told to walk in the Spirit, and now we are told to be “led of the Spirit.” What does it mean to be led of the Spirit? It refers to what direction you are going. At various times in your life you will come to a point where a decision must be made. If you go one way, then a certain set of things will happen to you, and if you go another way, another set of things will happen to you. When you reach those decision points, make sure that you are led of the Spirit: that you go the way that God is leading. Some people have pierced themselves through with many sorrows because they made a selfish decision and went their own way instead of God’s way. What do you do if you went the wrong way? Then you repent. You ask Jesus to forgive you and you start allowing the Spirit to lead you when you make decisions. Get back on track of being led by the Spirit.

It is not how well you keep the law. It is how faithfully and consistently you are led by the Spirit. Of course, the Spirit is not going to lead in contrast to the Word of God. The Spirit inspired the writing of the Word. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” That is one way that you know if the Spirit is leading you or not. He will never lead you contrary to His Word. But it does take a certain awareness and sensitivity to the Spirit and to this principle that we must be led by the Spirit in order to serve God and His Christ. Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

Always have one ear open to the Word of God, and the other to the leading of the Spirit. If you are selfish and head-strong, then you will not hear the Spirit when He is leading: you will not hear Him when He says to you, “This is the way. Walk ye in it.” Sometimes God speaks in a still, small voice; and if you are listening to your own strong desires or to the bustle of the world, you will not hear the Spirit when He speaks, or you will brush Him off as an annoyance.

There is a way for the believer to take in this world if he is to serve God and to bring honor to Christ. Blessed is the person who has learned to walk in the Spirit and to be led of the Spirit. Such a person is not under law. Such a person does not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” “But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

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