Galatians 5:2-24
Dear RTB’ers,
Every time I read today’s passage, I get hung up on this one verse: But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. (v. 11) As worded, that verse was very confusing to me. A few years ago I explained it to myself. First, I looked it up in the New Living Translation: Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. That’s clearer, but Paul’s “dashed offset” still left me a bit confused (as his parenthetical expressions often do!). So then I re-worded this NLT text: “Some say I am preaching that you must be circumcised; if that’s true, then why are the faithful Jews still persecuting me? Because if I were not preaching Christ, I would be one with them and everything would be OK.” Hopefully that might help some of the rest of you to understand a confusing verse.
The ”Fruits of the Spirit”, Galatians 5:22. I expect that many of us memorized these “fruits of the Spirit” in our growing-up years. But I doubt that anyone memorized the “works of the flesh”. (No, I didn’t either!) But as we make our personal confessions – in church, at home, anywhere – Galatians 5:19-21 offers a good list of current and past sins of omission and commission for us to consider. Here’s the list – typed out one-by-one (not cut-and-paste) to make it more personal: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these. Some of these hit home, still…! But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (v. 16)
Blessings!
See also: November 28 (2023) / Galatians 3-6