BIBLICAL BACKGROUND
Was the Old Covenant Only about Externals?
Several passages from both the Old and the New Testament contrast the physical requirements of the Old Covenant with the interior transformation of the New.a Nevertheless, the Old Covenant was not only about externals. The exodus was an external divine intervention calling for a profound interpersonal response: “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you will really listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession among all nations” (Exod 19:4b–5a, author’s translation). Moses clearly believed God’s saving actions ought to evoke a heart response from the Israelites (Deut 10:16). This, indeed, is the central point of the book of Deuteronomy, with its emphasis on “Remember!” and “Love!”b The †law too is concerned with an internal response, as the commandments against coveting indicate (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21). Examples of an interior response under the Mosaic †covenant can also be found in the prayers of the Psalter and the experiences of the prophets (Isa 6) and martyrs (2 Macc 7). Nevertheless, although God’s acts of salvation in the Old Testament deserved and sometimes evoked the love he sought from Israel (Deut 6:5), a greater interior †grace was necessary to overcome the power of sin in the human heart (Deut 30:6; Jer 31:33–34; Rom 7:7–25).
a. See, e.g., Jer 31:33; Ezek 36:26–27; Mark 7:18–23; 2 Cor 3:3; Gal 4:3, 9; Col 2:20–23; Heb 9:9–14.
b. For “remember,” see, e.g., Deut 5:15; for “love,” see especially Deut 6:5 and 10:12.
This third part of the letter (Gal 5:13–6:10), devoted to exhortation, begins with a contrast between the †flesh—that is, our self-centered tendencies—and love, which focuses on the good of others (5:13–15). Then Paul draws another forceful contrast between the Spirit and the flesh (5:16–25), followed by advice for community life (5:26–6:6). The Apostle concludes with a powerful exhortation to the Galatians to do good, showing that Christian faith entails a serious commitment demonstrated by works (6:7–10). Paul’s insistence on the need for works in a letter that has energetically proposed justification by faith could be confusing. Is Paul being unfaithful to his own doctrine? On the contrary, his vigorous exhortations to action contribute to a clearer understanding of his teaching. While Paul does not want works of the law to be regarded as the foundation of Christian life, a role reserved exclusively for faith, neither does he want faith to be sterile. He thus calls for works of charity that spring from faith (5:6), the fruit of a †grace to which believers must actively respond (1 Cor 15:10; 2 Cor 6:1).
Freedom, Love, and Life in the Spirit
Galatians 5:13–25
Now that Paul has demolished the idea that a Christian can be †justified by observing the †law of Moses and has instead proclaimed freedom from the law through †faith in Christ, the question naturally arises, how should a Christian conduct his or her life? If we are not called to observe the law of Moses, is there any rule of life? In this chapter Paul will speak of two guides to Christian conduct that are profoundly related: the law of love and the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Along the way Paul will describe the source of the resistance to God and to right conduct that is at work in fallen human beings, a tendency that he refers to as “the †flesh.”
Freedom: Not License but Service in Love (5:13–15)
13For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. 14For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.
OT: Lev 19:18, 34
NT: Mark 10:43–44; 12:31–33; John 13:14; Rom 6:18–22; 13:8–10; 1 Pet 2:16
Catechism: love of neighbor, 2196; a law of love, grace, and freedom, 1972; the flesh is concupiscence, 2515
[5:13]
In the first sentence, which acts as a transition between the doctrinal and the exhortative sections of the letter, Paul shows he is aware of the danger that his teaching could be misunderstood and seized upon to justify dissolute conduct. He therefore feels the need to block the path to this erroneous conclusion, but without taking back anything that he has taught. Consequently, Paul begins this section by reaffirming his doctrine—you were called for freedom—before putting the Galatians on guard against a distorted interpretation of it.
By using the past tense, Paul refers to the time of the Galatians’ conversion, when God established them in freedom. Paul has already urged them to keep themselves free (5:1). He does not repeat this exhortation, but as a realistic person he anticipates how it might be misunderstood and addresses the misunderstanding directly.1 Does not proclaiming that Christians are no longer under the †law open the door to license and immorality? Not at all! Paul is firmly opposed to every temptation to use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. “†Flesh” here means the self-centered tendencies of human beings that lead to every kind of evil conduct; it is, therefore, roughly equivalent to what later Christian tradition refers to as concupiscence. Paul will give a concrete list of “the works of the flesh” in 5:19–21 so as to leave no doubt about the kind of conduct he is referring to.2
Paul contrasts this caricature of freedom to the Christian ideal: rather, serve one another through love. The Greek is more vivid: Paul presents this service paradoxically as slavery, using the Greek verb douleuō, “to serve as a slave,” which he used earlier (4:8–9) to refer to the Galatians’ servitude to the law and the †elemental powers. After saying that the Galatians should not turn back to slavery (5:1), here he counsels them to make themselves slaves! It seems contradictory, but actually it is not, as two phrases make clear. (1) The Galatians are invited to make themselves slaves to one another “through love.” Whatever is done for love is done not by constraint but in freedom and joy. While, literally speaking, slavery is a form of oppression that crushes people and strips them of their dignity, serving as a Christian through love is a free commitment that lifts people up and confers great dignity upon them. We can add that if serving without love would be slavery, love without serving would be barren (see 1 John 3:17–18). Love and service go together. This teaching of Paul has Christ as its basis, the one who “did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; Mark 10:45), and who “loved his own in the world . . . to the end” (John 13:1; see Gal 2:20). In addition, (2) true Christian service is service of “one another” in a mutual relationship that does not leave room for unilateral domination. In this love there are no masters on one side and slaves on the other, but each person is simultaneously master and slave, being served in certain matters and serving in others, according to the capacity and needs of each. Paul’s wording points to a radical transformation of relationships among people based on a dynamic of love that comes from God—charity understood in all its dimensions.
[5:14]
At this point Paul makes an observation that might surprise some readers, since it could seem contrary to the perspective of the letter as a whole. Paul spoke of being “bound to observe the entire law” as something negative in 5:3. What he says here appears to reverse that: the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (see Lev 19:18). But Paul is not contradicting himself. He is not saying that Christians should keep the †law of Moses, but rather that one who loves his or her neighbor fulfills the law—that is, achieves the purpose of the law. Paul says the same thing in Rom 13:8–10, where he provides additional details. His teaching corresponds to that of Jesus in the Gospels. In Matt 5:17, Jesus proclaims that he came not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them; in Matt 7:12, he summarizes the law as the golden rule; in Matt 22:37–40 he summarizes the law in the two precepts about loving God and loving one’s neighbor.
Figure 16. Torah manuscript (the law of Moses) on parchment, ca. 1270. [Public domain]
I
f Paul had said that Christians are obligated to observe the system of the law and that this observance is the basis of their relationship to God, he would have contradicted everything he said before. But Paul says nothing of the kind. His words about love fulfilling the law do not speak in favor of the whole Mosaic system of law, but rather speak against it. The single precept of love of neighbor is sufficient; a system of multiple precepts is unnecessary. Furthermore, Paul does not say that faithful observance of the commandment to love one’s neighbor provides a sufficient foundation for a person’s relationship to God. Rather, the foundation is †faith, through which a person receives the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who produces charity in the believer. Love of neighbor, an expression of charity, is thus not a human work through which a person can make himself or herself righteous before God but is rather a gift of divine life to which a human being responds (Gal 5:6, 22; Rom 5:5). The first and fundamental effort of a Christian is not, therefore, to practice charity, as though one could do so in one’s own strength, but is rather to receive the divine †grace and action of the Holy Spirit that enable a person to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Consequently, although believers have renounced any attempt to practice the law, they will discover that they have de facto fulfilled it and have done even more than the minute prescriptions of the law require (Rom 8:4).
[5:15]
Having said this, Paul puts the Galatians on guard against failures of charity in the community. He uses two powerful metaphors, biting and devouring, to describe animal-like ferocity in human relationships (see Ps 22:13–14, 21–22). Although it is always risky to speculate about the situation of a letter’s recipients on the basis of such an exhortation, it appears that the Apostle is referring to rifts that were wounding the unity of the Galatian churches. When a crisis occurs, tensions almost inevitably provoke exchanges of words, harsh judgments, and personal attacks against the reputations of people on the other side of the issue. Paul warns against the real and present danger that they could be consumed by one another—that is, that mutual hostility could cause grave, permanent harm.
The Power of the Spirit over the Flesh (5:16–25)
16I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want. 18But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, 20idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, 21occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ [Jesus] have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.
OT: Isa 48:16–18; Jer 31:31–33; Ezek 36:27
NT: Rom 7:14–8:14; 13:13–14; 1 Cor 6:9–10; Eph 5:5–6; Col 3:5–10; 1 Tim 1:9; Jude 1:20–21
Catechism: the flesh is concupiscence, 2515; the Spirit is the new law, 1966, 1983; guidance and transformation by the Spirit, 736, 1695, 1832, 2744; penance and conversion, 1470; idolatry, 2113
Lectionary: 5:16–25: Pentecost Mass during the Day (Year B); Confirmation
While the commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself is indeed a sufficient objective guide to conduct that pleases God, we need more than a guide! The teaching about love of neighbor is a succinct statement of the moral law, summing up how a person should conduct himself or herself toward others. The problem, as Paul explains here (and more thoroughly in Rom 7), is that there is a self-centered inclination within each of us, which Paul calls “the †flesh” (Rom 7:25), that opposes God’s will. The good news, however, is that the Spirit of God’s Son that we received through †faith and baptism (Gal 3:27; 4:6) provides an interior power to overcome the †flesh and to †live in a manner that pleases God, to become people who in their character resemble Jesus Christ. However, this positive result is not automatic but requires active cooperation.
In this section (5:16–25) Paul describes the conflict between the Spirit and the flesh within a Christian, the difference between what the flesh produces and what the Spirit produces, and how Christians can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to become people who are Christlike.
[5:16]
How can people avoid falling into all the sinful patterns of conduct that we human beings are so prone to? How can people resist the desire of the flesh, by which Paul means all human tendencies contrary to divine love, not only disordered bodily appetites like lust and gluttony? The Greek word translated “desire” refers to strong emotion, especially disordered desire; it is sometimes translated “passion,” “lust,” or “covetousness.” The word translated “†flesh” has a wide variety of uses in the New Testament, even in Galatians3 (see the glossary), but in the context of Gal 5 it refers to human nature’s tendency to sin, ever since the fall of our first parents (Gen 3). Paul knows very well that human strength is not sufficient in this struggle. It is necessary to receive inner power from God the Holy Spirit, who is capable of overcoming the flesh. Paul then tells the Galatians to †live—literally, “walk”—by the light and power of the Spirit, with the assurance that in doing so, you will certainly not gratify the disordered inclinations of fallen human nature. The RSV translates this sentence as two parallel commands: “Walk by the spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh” (similarly NRSV), but that misses the point. In the Greek, the first verb has the form of a command, while the second is a different verb form that indicates the inevitable result of keeping the command.
The Apostle is not merely pointing out that whoever chooses to follow the Spirit does not gratify the flesh because the two ways are incompatible. It is not a case of two opposing and equal principles, but rather that the Spirit is stronger than the flesh and brings victory over it. By contrast, the Rule of the Community of †Qumran explains that God has set before human beings two opposite dynamics: one is the “spirit of truth” and the other is the “spirit of perversion,” two mutually opposed spirits.4 Paul, however, talks not about two opposing spirits but about the antagonism between the Spirit and the flesh. Whoever welcomes the action of the Spirit is assured of overcoming the flesh. Therefore, a Christian’s attitude can be positive. It is not a good strategy to be constantly preoccupied with avoiding sin—a gloomy outlook that only increases the likelihood of sinning. Rather, the wise path entails seeking to be attentive and obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, trusting in his power, and availing oneself of the means that foster life in the Spirit. All of this is to live according to the Spirit, to set one’s mind on the things of the Spirit (see Rom 8:5–6 NRSV).
[5:17]
Verses 17–25 explain the interior conflict between the tendencies of the †flesh and those of the Spirit. Paul is not preaching an easy, comfortable Christianity that involves no struggle. On the contrary, he places a choice before us between the desires of the flesh and those of the Spirit, since they are opposed to each other. The end of this verse, which expresses the consequences of this relentless opposition, is often misunderstood. Some commentators interpret it in light of Rom 7:19: “I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” That leads them to think that the conclusion of Gal 5:17 means “so that you do not do what you want.” But the Romans passage refers to the situation of human beings prior to or apart from a relationship with Christ, while the Galatians passage speaks of believers united to Christ. Verse 17 sums up the consequence of this opposition by saying, “so that you may not do whatever things you may desire” (literal translation). The conflict between the two dynamics in us makes it impossible to do everything that might attract us. A person might dream of sat
isfying all his or her desires: to live comfortably and yet be generous, to satisfy desires for sensual pleasure of every kind and yet experience spiritual joy and chastity, to dominate others and yet serve them humbly, and so on. Paul tells us that having it both ways is impossible; a choice is necessary. We must say no either to the desires of the flesh or to the godly desires that the Holy Spirit places within us.
[5:18]
In this section devoted to moral exhortation, Paul does not forget what he said earlier in the doctrinal section about Christian freedom from the †law. Rather, he boldly tells the Galatians, If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. People who are led by the †flesh find themselves under the law because they commit immoral acts that the law condemns and punishes.5 In contrast, Christians who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit do nothing immoral and perform only good and generous acts that go above and beyond the realm of the law. Believers can fulfill the law without being “under” it, because there is a power in them enabling them to act righteously in a way that well exceeds the requirements of the law (Matt 5:20; Rom 8:4). To use an extreme analogy, a man who dearly loves his wife is not “under” the commandment against murder in regard to her; he does not need the law to keep him from murder because it is the furthest thing from his mind. In Christ the capacity to fulfill every part of the moral law superabundantly comes by the †grace of the indwelling Spirit.
Galatians Page 24
