The Christian life often feels like a kind of heavenly balancing act, especially when we consider how we are to live in light of God’s standards. We know what God has done for us—He has saved us by His grace, forgiven our sins through Jesus Christ, and set us free from the condemnation of the law. But how do we actually live out that salvation day by day?
Some will hear this question and immediately bristle, insisting that we should simply “follow the Bible” and leave it at that. And of course, we must follow Scripture. Yet the challenge lies not in whether we follow the Bible, but in how we apply it—how we pursue righteousness while also guarding the freedom Christ has given us. That tension is not imaginary; it is woven throughout the New Testament. On one side are those who claim that because Christians are saved by grace, God’s moral law no longer applies in any meaningful way. I have met people who take this to such an extreme that they rebuke you for using the word ought, as though any moral obligation undermines grace. This is the spirit of antinomianism, which confuses freedom from the law’s condemnation with freedom from the law’s goodness.
On the other side are those who insist that we must maintain our salvation through a system of rules—whether drawn from the Sinaitic law or from some other legalistic framework. This is the spirit of legalism, which treats obedience as the means of earning or preserving God’s favor.
Both extremes distort the gospel. Both rob the Christian of joy. And both fail to understand the relationship between grace, law, and Christian freedom. So where is the balance?
In this 5th chapter of the letter to the Galatians, we will get a good summary of what living the Christian life entails. We are not to look at the law for justification, but as free men but not according to the fleshly desire but being guided by the Spirit to please God and to love men. Let’s begin with verses 1-6 and the call to walk as unshackled men.
The Text
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. (Galatians 5:1-6)
Walking as Unshackled Men
The apostle continues his epistle by continuing the theme of freedom. If truly these descendants of Gauls were moving towards accepting circumcision, then they were preparing to be shackled to demands that they will never keep. Here, Paul calls them to choose freedom over slavery. The purpose of Christ freeing them from earning salvation through their own means, but so that they could live their lives in freedom. In contrast to the law, Christ came to give us freedom not slavery. The new birth in Christ grants freedom from the demands of the law in a justifying sense but also in a sanctifying.
“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:31-36)
Paul elsewhere speaks of this freedom through the Spirit as liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).
That freedom is worth holding on to and fighting for. The Galatians are called to Stand fast or continuously stand firm in it. It may have seemed easier for the Galatians simply to give in to the Judaizers—accept circumcision, keep the law, and avoid conflict. But Paul urges them to hold fast to the freedom they were given, a freedom that came not through Moses, but through Jesus Christ and the good news of the gospel. We should never, as Christians, avoid conflict when it comes to the gospel. He calls for them to not subject themselves again to a yoke of slavery. Since the Galatians were not under the law, the term “again” probably is referring to their days as pagans when they were under that yoke. While the law is a different yoke, their paganistic life is still a form of bondage to burden them which the law would once again bring them under.
Intentions Matter
In vs. 2-3, Paul now turns make two massively authoritative statements as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul warns them of what will happen if they walk away from the freedom Christ has given. There’s no halfway position. They will either trust Christ for their justification or fall back into trying to earn it through the works of the law.
The first statement is that if they go ahead with circumcision, then Christ has no benefit to them. The issue wasn’t so much about being circumcised but the meaning of that circumcision. As Ridderbos points out:
The issue is not circumcision as such, as though circumcised person could not be saved, but circumcision as the Judaists were demanding it of the Gentiles as a condition for obtaining salvation. The sufficiency of Christ’s work is what is being challenged. [1]
This is precisely why Paul was willing to circumcise Timothy (Acts 16:3). It wasn’t as a means of salvation or adding to grace. It was the intent behind the circumcision that made it so dangerous. If they could add to Christ’s work, then what was left was a works-based salvation which had never brought about God’s justification. There was proof of that over and over again in the Old Testament writings but this time it even came directly from an ambassador of the Lord Himself. He will take this up again in v.6.
The second of these is that if they go ahead and receive the circumcision, they are bound to fulfilling the requirements of the law. If the Galatians chose Christ, then it had to be all of Christ, and if they chose the law, it had to be all of the law. There was no middle ground available in this all or nothing scenario.
The Benefit of Christ
Paul, in v.4, now explains what comes from trying to be justified by the law instead of by grace, and his words are sobering. The consequences are serious, spiritually dangerous, and ultimately condemning. These are, in essence, the explanation of what he meant in v.2 by Christ will be of no benefit to you. These Galatians by not having Christ’s benefit will result in being severed from Christ and fallen from grace. When a Jew trusted Christ for justification, he or she was set free from the law and joined to Christ (Romans 7:1–6). But Paul explains that if they follow the Judaizers’ path, the opposite will happen. In the same way, they will have fallen from grace. In other words, they will have separated themselves from God’s grace. To fall from grace is to be lead away by error (2 Peter 3:17). Of course, this brings us to the question of eternal security. Can a Christian who has been saved be separated from Christ and fall from grace? The challenge in understanding this verse is the tense of the verb. It is in the aorist tense meaning that it is a past action that has ongoing repercussions in the present. The English simply uses the past tense. This may be a form of rhetoric in the event that they’d turn to the law, they’d fall but that is only hypothetical. Of course, if they do turn back to the law, we believe that they were never truly converted to begin with (1 John 2:19).
An Eschatological Hope
In v.5, Paul contrasts justification by the law with what the recipients of the letter have received. He argues that those who are through the Spirit and by faith, are not going to be severed from Christ or fall from grace, but in face they are awaiting something glorious in the hope of righteousness[2]. This hope of righteousness is probably referring to the hope that is to come of our righteousness being credited to us in an eschatological form. This is the coming day of the resurrection when our bodies will no longer be corrupt, and the flesh will no longer tempt us. We will be as Christ is, holy, pure, perfect and immortal.
The Messianic Faith
To summarize the previous verses, in v.6, Paul states that circumcision or uncircumcision means nothing but the only thing that matters is faith working through love. Whether a person is a circumcised Jew or an uncircumcised Gentile, it has no bearing on their justification or sanctification. It is that faith working through love that is the essence of the Messianic faith.
Exhortation
One of the most vital disciplines for the Christian pilgrim is to keep his eyes lifted upward and his heart fixed forward. The moment we begin looking backward—toward the pleasures of our unconverted life, toward old sins that once enticed us, or toward regrets that still whisper condemnation—we lose our footing. Backward‑looking Christians do not walk in the joy of the Lord; they stumble under the weight of what Christ has already forgiven.
Likewise, when we turn our gaze inward rather than upward, we inevitably fall into despair. Our failures loom large, our weaknesses feel overwhelming, and our imperfections seem to define us. But the Christian life is not sustained by self‑inspection; it is sustained by looking to Christ, who is our righteousness, our hope, and our life.
We are called to walk toward the hope of righteousness—the final, glorious confirmation that God will give to all who are in Christ. This forward‑looking posture requires us to leave behind our self‑centered desires and intentions and to live for Christ and for His people. It means embracing the truth that God is pleased with us because He is pleased with His Son, and we are united to Him.
Our labor, then, must be shaped by Christ’s kingdom. We walk as men and women who have been set free—freed from the condemnation of the law, freed from the tyranny of sin, freed from the fear of man. And no matter what evil this present age may do to us, we possess the unshakable hope of eternal life, a gift no earthly power can steal.
Therefore, we must make our brief time on earth count. We must live in the freedom Christ purchased, ordering our steps according to the Scriptures, and pressing forward with confidence, joy, and steadfastness. The Christian life is not lived by looking back in bondage, but by looking ahead in hope.
[1] St. Paul’s Epistle to the Churches of Galatia: New International Commentary on the New Testament, Herman Ridderbos, W.B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1953, Pages 186
[2] Moo points out that Paul uses this verb five other times referring to an eschatological anticipation (Romans 8:19, 23, 25; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 3:20) – Moo Page 327