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1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Gal 5,1-15

(180b) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves lead people into a cult >> Wolves bypass the cross – Centuries after Moses, the religious leaders of Israel erroneously associated circumcision with the law, but as Paul pointed out in Rom 4,9-16, God gave his blessing to Abraham before he was circumcised, making circumcision a symbol of faith, not the law. In fact, the law was given 430 years later, making any connections with the law irrational. Israel had gotten their cart before the horse when they made circumcision a requirement of the law; it wasn’t even a requirement of faith! Paul’s complaint was that the connection of circumcision with the law had become the most entrenched false doctrine of Israel. God never gave Israel the law as a means of justification, anymore than Abraham was justified through circumcision. God justified Abraham when he heard and obeyed the voice of God. Put concisely, circumcision evolved into a sign that represented seeking justification through one’s own good works. This completely flies in the face of the cross of Christ with whom we find favor with God as a matter of faith in His perfect sacrifice.

Gal 5,1-13

(176d) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Conviction without commandment – Claiming that circumcision played some kind of role in salvation was a type of witchcraft, defined as: anything we do that we say causes some kind of effect in the spiritual realm. The “we say” phrase in that definition is what makes it witchcraft. Paul addressed this in Gal 3-1 saying, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…?” He was referring to the people who were trying to talk them into circumcision in order to be saved. What is the difference between that and (infant) baptism to be saved, or communion to be saved, or to say that the bread and wine is transformed into the body and blood of Christ at the blessing of the priest? All these are forms of modern-day witchcraft, known also as idolatry. God promised that there is nothing we can do in the natural realm that will affect the spiritual realm, except to obey the Holy Spirit, and to do that we must know His will.

(177e) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Doctrine that tickles your ears

(184h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Abusing the anointing

Gal 5,1-12

(7i) Responsibility >> Defend God’s cause >> Protecting your freedom – Some people would rather walk by the law than by the spirit. What they don’t know is that if you do, then you cut off opportunity to walk by the Spirit, because you cannot do both at the same time. Consequently, these verses are showing the difference between living by the law and living by the spirit. Although we are talking about the law of God, it is no less inferior to the ministry of the Spirit and is therefore not the will of God that we should use the law to follow Christ. Jesus went to the cross because man has no power in himself to keep the law. For this reason we have no righteousness in ourselves apart from Christ. Paul emphasizes this fact, making the contrast between those who would justify themselves through their own righteousness and those who through the Spirit by faith are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For what are we waiting? We are waiting for heaven itself. We are waiting to receive our new spiritual bodies. We will be completely free from sin to joyfully do the will of God, but prior to this Jesus Christ has justified us before God through the sacrifice of His own body on the cross, so that in the eyes of God we are without sin, even while living in a sinful body. Paul keeps working toward his main point of this chapter in his argument about justification, making the distinction between the law working through man’s sinful flesh and the cross working through God’s righteousness, that is, faith working through love.

Gal 5,1-6

(1k) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Carrying a false burden >> Weighs you down as you walk according to the law

(108d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith is the balance between freedom and law – We might consider our neighbor a Christian because he shows evidence through the fruit in his life, but we wonder about the other guy because we don’t see any fruit; that is a reasonable assessment. We are encouraged to inspect one another’s fruit (Mat 7,16-20). However, we are not encouraged to take our fruit before God and say, ‘Look what I’ve done; I am your child because of this.’ He knows those who are His, regardless of what we do, yet “everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness” (2Tim 2-19). We don’t need to prove anything to God, and we don’t even need to prove anything to ourselves, because our faith does that for us. So, works are for our fellow man and faith is for God.

(159f) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit godliness >> Counterfeit freedom

(198h) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained by man >> Having evil motives for seeking leadership positions >> Seeking to gratify their flesh through the ministry

(205ka) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> Faith versus works >> The faith of God versus the faith of men >> Faith versus the law >> The work of faith versus the works of the law – People have bickered about the relationship between faith and works for ages, though Paul covered this in detail with the Galatians, making his doctrinal thesis in the book of Romans, and nailed it to the door of our hearts in Eph 2-8,9 with the conclusion that we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast, and then we have James preaching an almost opposite gospel and we are left scratching our heads. The balance between these two seemingly opposite arguments is the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. He is the one who makes sense of it all, in that he produces the fruit and does the work of God in our lives. We can understand what Paul was saying, that it is by faith, and we can also understand James, who complained that if we don’t have works, our faith doesn’t exist. We satisfy both by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. He even supplies the faith that we use to believe in Him to produce the fruit, and so we must ask what is our place in all this? We make a simple contribution of our will; we allow God to do His work in our lives; we say yes to Him, and we say no to the world, the flesh and the devil. We cast our vote in favor of Jesus Christ in our lives; that is our contribution of faith. We simply cast our vote, and He does all the rest, but as Paul said in Eph 6-13,14, “…having done everything to stand firm. Stand firm therefore….” There is a point when we must dig-in and push and try real hard. Our job is to keep the light burning in our hearts, keeping oil in the lamp and making sure the flame is always lit. 

(223h) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the mark >> Miss the will of God for your life

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Gal 5,1-4

(55n) Paradox >> Lose by gaining >> Lose the truth to gain religion – There is a difference between knowing something and believing it. For example, many people believe in religion and know the world is round. With Christians that order is reversed; we believe the world is round and know that God is real. What the world means by “believe” is, ‘This is my theory,’ but genuine faith does not treat God as a theory. Faith knows God better than our understanding of this world; we are convinced about the things of God more than we are convinced about the things of this world. The world sees this physical realm as absolute proof of its reality, while we use our faith as absolute proof of God’s reality. The spiritual realm is all around us and unseen, but it is just as real and even more so than the physical world, in that this present creation is destined to perish, whereas God and His future creation, the one where He ultimately intends to establish His kingdom, is eternal.

(97a) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about yourself >> A self-righteous attitude -- These verses go with verse This verse goes with verses 12

(162ka) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> In bondage to the burdens of men >> In bondage to the Law

(174e) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Self righteousness >> Justifying yourself – Paul warns the Galatians that if anyone assumes justification through the law by becoming circumcised, then Christ will be of no benefit to him, and that there are no provisions for sin written in the law, no forgiveness, unless he wants to drop his self-righteousness and return to Jesus Christ. Paul says, “You have been severed from Christ, you who seek to be justified by law.” Those who seek the sign of circumcision are severing themselves from Christ and have fallen from grace. Seeking justification through the grace of God and through the law of God are opposites. Those who seek justification by law are actually seeking to be justified through their own righteousness, that is, through their own ability to fulfill the law. This is the entanglement of the law and the height of heresy against the blood of Christ, and Paul was desperately trying to shut it down. This is why the law is powerless to justify anyone: we all lack the ability to comply with its demands.

(199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith – Faith is nebulous, which is why people try to skirt around it; they want something more substantial, something they can hold in their hand and see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They want something in the natural realm to represent their favor with God, but there is no such material. There is nothing we can produce that will ever find favor with Him. The only thing that finds favor with God is our faith, and whatever we use to replace it acts to renounce our faith. Faith is a spiritual substance; it is more concrete to God than anything in the natural realm. He requires faith from us, because it is how He perceives reality. Faith comes from God as the equivalent of the indwelling Holy Spirit; therefore, to replace our faith is to evict the Holy Spirit from our hearts.

(203i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from the truth

(11c) Servant >> Standard for a servant >> Freedom – For a good definition of freedom see 2Cor 10,3-6. We fight for freedom as God’s number one goal, because freedom is one of God’s most important attributes. God values His freedom over His power; how much more should we value freedom? Do we even know what freedom is? Without looking at 2Cor 10,3-6 compose your own definition of freedom and think in practical terms.

(98e) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Rooted deeply >> To keep from falling away

(119f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Being a slave to freedom – Freedom is not a tool that we use as a means to an end; rather, freedom is the goal. When you think of the many goals of Scripture, such as faith, hope and love (1Cor 13-13), these are the main attributes of God and act as one goal, even as God is one. For example, we cannot walk in love if we are in bondage to sin; we cannot love one another apart from faith, and we cannot believe without hope. These things work together to accomplish a common purpose, where the end goal is love, and freedom is the state in which love is realized. Putting it that way makes freedom sound like a tool, and it is, and so are all the others used to perfect love, but they are not tools in the strictest sense of the word, since freedom stands on its own as the goal of Christ. God did not set us free for some other purpose; freedom is the purpose. This is how important freedom is to God. He wants His children free, because God is free. For this reason He wants us free from sin for the purpose of righteousness. We will never achieve the level of freedom that God has until we go to heaven and receive our spiritual bodies, which cannot be tempted. Our present bodies are seeking its own freedom to do evil, and so long as there is temptation, we well never be totally free. The highest level of freedom we can expect to achieve in this life is that of a slave to righteousness.

(194i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Yield to God’s right to direct your way

(199a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating Jesus >> Frustrating Jesus’ ministry -- This verse goes with verse 13. We do not trust in the law for our salvation, so when we fail, God will forgive us. Walking by the Spirit, we ironically fulfill the requirements of the law better than if we tried to satisfy the law by the flesh. Those who get circumcised under the premise of requirement for salvation are now required to keep the law without ever stumbling; the new covenant equivalent is baptism. Therefore, those who get baptized under the premise of requirement for salvation are now required to keep the law without ever stumbling. They are no longer under grace after they have trusted in a ceremony. If they are no longer trusting in the grace and mercy of God, then they must keep the whole law. Trusting anything other than the cross of Christ opts us out of God’s grace. Either we trust in the grace of Jesus’ cross or we trust in our works, so the onus is on us to never sin. What about the past which has already happened? We have already sinned; it is already too late; God has already condemned those who would trust in their works. If we don’t receive the grace of God by faith in the cross, we will face the White Throne Judgment and be condemned to eternal punishment. We either receive the grace of God or we receive God’s judgment, one or the other.

(233a) Seeking The Goals Of The Kingdom (Key verse)

(233b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seeking the goals of the kingdom >> Seek the goal of freedom – Paul in this same chapter writes about the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is ultimately responsible for the fruit we bear through faith in Jesus Christ who dwells in us. It is a beautiful gospel that Paul has given us; what is more, he received acceptance by the other apostles, even James, the brother of Jesus, who wrote the book of James and made comments that seemed contrary to Paul. No other New Testament writer taught the way Paul did, strictly by faith, making the assumption that our faith would produce works all on its own. The minute we try to produce works or to bear fruit through the flesh, our faith becomes pungent and human; what we need is divine works produced through a Spirit of faith, which was Paul’s gospel. The Holy Spirit ministers to us through faith. We don’t just believe, we know by faith that He lives in us. 

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2&3 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.

Gal 5,2-9

(195c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> You can only believe in one at a time -- These verses go with verse 11. Paul was saying that if we receive circumcision as a requirement of salvation, Christ will be of no benefit to us, for we would no longer be relying on Christ. Instead, we would rely on the physical condition of the male organ. If that were the case, how could women be saved? Paul is saying that we are saved by grace through faith; that is, we use our faith to trust in God’s grace. We know we are the children of God because we believe in Him, not because we were circumcised. If we put our confidence in circumcision and compromise his faith, then faith is no longer faith, making grace no longer grace. He goes a step further saying, “You have been severed from Christ,” which is a description of the foreskin being cast into the dumpster, only his analogy is pointing at the Galatians as the foreskin being dumped. They have severed themselves from Christ. 

Gal 5,2-6

(190j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Symbolism over substance -- These verses go with verses 11&12. Paul goes back to an old subject that he has been trying to clarify throughout many of his letters of the New Testament. Apparently there was confusion about this in the early church. Circumcision was an observance of the old covenant. God commanded Abraham to be circumcised as a sign that he believed when God spoke to him and he journeyed to a foreign land that neither he nor his fathers knew, and settled there with his wife, Sarah. So, circumcision is a sign of obedience, but obedience to what? In the strictest sense of the word circumcision is a sign of obeying the Holy Spirit, even in the old covenant. However, circumcision is no longer used in the new covenant as a sign; it has been replaced with the sign of baptism. Therefore, if circumcision was a sign of the Holy Spirit, how much more is baptism a sign of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? 

Gal 5,2-4

(76h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Living by a double standard

(173i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Unholy sacrifice >> Penance of following the law – Paul rightly associated circumcision with keeping the law, and ironically the meaning of circumcision has been misconstrued since the onset of the old covenant. God never mandated salvation through keeping the law, so anybody who would get circumcised as a requirement of salvation misunderstands circumcision as God explained it to Moses. It is bad enough that they don’t understand the new covenant that they should demonstrate a complete ignorance in the old covenant too. The old covenant was just as much based on faith as the new, just as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Gal 3-6). Abraham picked up his belongings and followed the Holy Spirit to the land of Canaan, so he not only believed God, he also obeyed Him. The difference between Abraham’s obedience and obeying the law is that one is loyal to a written code of behavior while the other is loyal to the very person of God. Obviously, and the two of them are infinitely distant from each other.

Gal 5,3-5

(64b) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot tolerate sin >> Impossible to please God without faith – Paul is using circumcision as a symbol of anything we would use to replace faith in Jesus. Most commonly, people who falter from God’s grace replace faith with works. They do a good work and then look back and point at it, proclaiming to be a child of God because of it. They use their works to testify for them, as if it were a mediator. In contrast, the true children of God do good works, not to be saved but because they already are saved by grace through faith in the cross of Christ. Faith acts as a mediator between Christ and us, and Christ acts as a mediator between the Father and us. Our works are a product of faith, whereas those who rely on their works have bypassed faith. Whatever we use to replace a sincere faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin will keep us from heaven. We receive the grace of God on the basis of faith, not on the basis of our works or a symbol of faith or baptism or any other work we might use to foster confidence in God. The only thing we can present as confidence in God is the cross. We put our full confidence in the blood of Jesus.

Gal 5-3,4

(53l) Paradox >> Opposites >> Law was made for sinners >> Sinners follow after the law

(182g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Three causes of interpreting Scripture falsely >> Because they want to be approved by men – There is an ongoing debate about the relationship between faith and works. James says that if our faith doesn’t have works, then it isn’t real; we’re just deceiving ourselves; we don’t actually believe. So, works must be present in order to provide evidence of our faith. It reduces to a matter of how a person uses his works. Does he use them to justify himself before God, or does he use them to provide evidence for his faith? If a person strives to produce evidence for his faith, Scripture totally supports this, and is what we should be doing. However, if a person is trying to produce works in attempt to justify himself before God, that person has alternative motives for wanting to be a Christian. A person who seeks to be justified by works clearly doesn’t even believe in Jesus, and this was Paul’s point to the Galatians. He taught them that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2-8,9) and that our justification is a gift from God, and then later some of the Galatians were being persuaded by Jews who would not let go of their previous ideas about justification through law, which was false theology even in Old Testament times. How is there place for faith when being justified by works? Like a leg or an arm that is never used, it withers and becomes a daily obstacle rather than an asset, so faith if it is not used withers.

Gal 5-3

(52e) Judgment >> Judging Church with world >> Law judges sin >> God judges the lost through the law -- This verse goes with verse 10. God gave the law to Moses because of the flood. People in Noah’s day didn’t have the law. They deciphered right from wrong through their conscience, but they overruled their conscience and lived apart from it to revel in their flesh and did whatever was in their heart. This is what walking in the flesh does; it makes people forget God, and so he gave the law to Moses, so if anyone gets the idea to overrule their conscience and forget God, the law is written in stone as a permanent reminder of sin, not to seek salvation through it. People can believe they are following the tenets of the law while at the same time destroy their conscience, when the law was made for their conscience, so for anyone to seek salvation through the law is fooling himself. He would be better to follow his conscience and use the law as a signpost. This would lead him to believe in Jesus, who said, “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me” (Jn 6-45).

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4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 

Gal 5,4-6

(31f) Gift of God >> Grace >> Salvation >> God is willing to respond to man’s need

(94p) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective >> False perspective in the Church – Paul had an interesting writing style; he made his point in ways that were not exactly straightforward. For example, in verse five he says, “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness,” and then in verse six he says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” In verse 5 he talks about passively waiting, and the very next verse he uses the word “working.” We wait and work at the same time. These two seemingly opposite ideas complement each other. Circumcision, whether we receive it or not, means nothing spiritually, but faith working through love means everything. Abraham’s obedience proved his love for God. The love of God requires an expression of love to be proven valid; Abraham expressed his love for God by fulfilling his calling. We too have a special calling from God that ultimately has an expression of love toward the brethren. Many people pick up just anything and do whatever they think is right and call it the will of God, which is like marrying whoever comes along. We are better to wait for God to reveal his will to us and make it our life’s work to fulfill His specific calling, which will bring more personal fulfillment and yield more fruit than anything we could choose for ourselves.

(116k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> His Grace in us is in vain without Him – The subject of using the law to seek justification before God was a misconception from the very beginning. Moses drove the law into the hearts of God’s people, yet the Israelites still misunderstood its significance. Justification by faith is not so different from our example of Abraham, who walked in obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Instead of seeking justification by faith as their father Abraham did, they sought God’s favor through the works of the law, which was never meant to justify anyone. Actually the law was given to regulate man’s behavior, not as an avenue of justification. The Bible comes short of promising that if we live by the law, we will please God; rather, what pleases God is faith. A person cannot obey the law in his flesh. This was the problem with the old covenant, until Jesus came and established a new covenant in His blood. Now, instead of obeying an inanimate law, we obey a dynamic Spirit. Anybody seeking justification by law is self-condemned, in that if he were walking by faith he wouldn’t be following the law but the Spirit. Moses promised God’s blessing if the people obeyed, he promised His curses if they rebelled (Deuteronomy 28), but there is a vast difference between God’s blessing and His favor. Seeking God’s blessing outside of His favor is like working for an hourly wage, whereas seeking justification through faith is to be adopted into God’s family to become an heir of the kingdom, who can expect to receive a full inheritance.

Gal 5-4,5

(60h) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Severed from grace—Severed from undeserved favor / Severed from undeserved power – Two things comprise the grace of God: undeserved favor and undeserved power. Undeserved favor refers to justification by faith through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us whom God has given as a pledge of our inheritance. An extension of that, undeserved power refers to allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest through us in the works of God. Anyone who believes in his works as justification before God has exempted himself from the indwelling Holy Spirit. If we believe in our works instead of His grace, our faith will erode until nothing remains. Paul said by faith alone we are saved. The works of God (including the fruit of the Spirit) constitute evidence of our faith, but they by no means do anything to save us. For example, if we lay hands on the sick and they don’t recover, it doesn’t mean we are not Christians. The greatest evidence of salvation is our faith, as it says in Heb 11-1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is a spiritual substance, perhaps intangible in this life, but the very substance of heaven, just as real as the things we know on earth. Our faith in Jesus Christ is between He and us and no one else, and that is all we need to be saved. We know we belong to God and nobody can shake us from that, but James says that if our faith never materializes, there is room to question its validity.

(192g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Waiting for God to do it His way >> Being patient to receive something better – When we first believe, God will immediately send his Holy Spirit to dwell in us without needing to ask Him. The comforter comes and lives in us to be our great counselor for the rest of all eternity. However, we must first show Him faith without the help of the Holy Spirit, because He hasn’t come to live in us prior to salvation. That is, He comes to us because we believe in Him, but how can we first believe without Him? It denotes a catch-22: we can’t believe without the Holy Spirit, and without faith the Spirit cannot dwell in us. This is why we say salvation is the work of God's grace.

Gal 5-4

(207b) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> Perish By Losing Your Faith >> Perish in deception – Paul is talking about born-again Christians who were close to being severed from Christ, suggesting that it is possible to lose our salvation. Eternal Security is an ongoing debate in Christendom; its adherents have a motto, “Once saved, always saved,” but Scripture in no way supports this; in fact, these verses speak just the opposite, clearly stating that we can lose our salvation if we are seeking to be justified by law. Nowhere in Scripture does it say we can relight our own lamps. One way to douse the light of faith within us is to believe in our works. Being born-again is an act of God; we should not allow our faith to erode to the point of extinguishing our flame, for how can we relight it? It is up to us to keep our hearts burning for Jesus, who said in Mat 24-13, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

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5&6 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

Gal 5-5,6

(41fc) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Righteousness of faith >> Faith apart from the law – This passage is quoted regularly, yet it is unlikely that one in a thousand really knows what it means. When Paul talks about faith and righteousness, he is not referring to believing in a set of doctrines by human volition; He was talking about acquiring God’s faith that we receive from heaven. It is amazing how few people really understand this. Virtually everybody in the Church believes in the Bible, but few believe the Bible by a faith that they have received from God, and it is His faith that denotes the righteousness of God. Here’s why: God counts us righteous not for believing in Him, but also for keeping the faith that He has given us. The football player holds the ball tightly to his chest; the football represents our faith, and we have been mandated by God to keep it (1Tim 1-18,19). If we fumble the ball and if the opposing team recovers it, we can ask God and He will help us get that ball back. Our opponent may score on us a few times, but if we strive with God, He will help us win the game (1Cor 9-24), so when we get to heaven, the gates of the Holy City will be opened wide to us.

(113l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Anointing establishes us in His will -- These verses go with verses 16-18. Being born-again refers to the indwelling Holy Spirit; His purpose is to convince us that we are the children of God by the witness that He lives in our hearts, but the anointing helps us accomplish His will and to comfort us in our circumstances. In many respects being born-again and the anointing are one and the same thing; in fact, there are many Christians who don’t believe in the anointing, yet they are anointed just the same through their allegiance to God. They may not believe the teachings and doctrines of the anointing, yet through their obedience God endows them with an anointing in spite of their doubts. There are entire denominations that reject the doctrine of the anointing, amounting to millions of Christian believers, but that doesn’t limit God from using them if they are ready to do His will and to discover His calling and purpose that He has prepared for them. If we will walk in His works, God will endow us with an anointing regardless of what we believe. We can flatly deny the teachings and doctrines of the anointing, yet possess an anointing because we faithfully obey the Holy Spirit. Those who are faithful in Christ are most open to the teachings of Scripture and will eventually come to believe in the doctrines of the anointing, because they are living the truth, though they may be members of a church that considers the teachings of the anointing to be blasphemous.

(126ka) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Patience >> Have patience for the return of Christ >> The spiritual return of Christ

(230i) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Mystery of the trinity >> Anointing is the mystery of godliness – The mystery of salvation is that God has chosen us from the foundation of the world to be His children. There are some people who truly want to believe, but they can’t. Salvation is so easy for some of us and impossible for others. The explanation: they have ulterior motives. Their heart is divided. On one side they want to believe, but on the other they want the world and all it offers. God doesn't refuse to choose them; He will choose whomever will believe in him, but at the same time faith is a gift. Salvation is so simple a little child can understand it, but it is too complicated for some of the most learned biblical scholars. In fact, there are many theologians who are not even saved. There are many  Bible college professors who teach courses in the Scriptures who are not saved. Some people say they don’t have any faith, but they believe something. They have faith, but they don’t have God’s faith. The question is: would they want it if they had it? Sadly, the answer for most of them is no. They would immediately sacrifice it for the world’s goods. Does God know this? It is the reason they can’t believe! Therefore, it is not that salvation is so complicated; it is the heart of man that is hopelessly incomprehensible. Jeremiah 17-9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Gal 5-5

(36g) Gift >> God opens His home to us >> Inheritance >> We heirs through faith

(98l) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >> Endurance invites the glory of God – A person could write a book about this verse. It incorporates so many things. First, it speaks opposite the law. Those who walk by faith are waiting for the hope of righteousness; they don’t try to attain it through various good works. Waiting in some respects is even more difficult than trying to justify ourselves through good works. It requires endurance. For example, it is no doubt easier to wait for the bus than to walk ten miles to work, but not during the first half-hour. While we are waiting for the bus, we are going nowhere, but the person who decided to walk at least feels like he is making progress. However, once the bus comes and we climb aboard, we soon pass the person hoofing it, and he gets to work late and ends up getting fired. In the same way, we may feel that we are making progress attempting to justify ourselves under the law, yet the Bible teaches that sin nullifies our righteousness. Therefore, if we don’t accept the sacrifice of Christ, which He gave as His manner of justification, then none of our righteousness is counted by God. Without accepting the finished work of the cross, all our good deeds are just as sinful as our sin. Instead of counting the sinner’s good works, He counts his sin and ignores his good works, but the moment we believe in Jesus as the propitiation for our sin, God begins to ignore our sin and count our righteousness, and will reward us in heaven for the good things we have done in His name. After we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, we perform our good works no longer for our own benefit but for His glory and honor (Jn 3-21). God will be glorified throughout all eternity both by the faith we showed Him and by the good works we performed in His name.

(110m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spiritual substance and truth >> Spiritual substance follows obedience

(205b) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> Promise of His rest

Gal 5-6

(119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ -- This verse goes with verse 16

(125b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Faith and love >> Faith toward God and love toward man

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7&8 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.

Gal 5,7-12

(161k) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Satan’s attitude determines our direction >> Carried away by religion – People were trying to tell the Galatians a different way of salvation through the Law, that they had to be circumcised to be saved, and Paul was saying that there was no action anybody can do to save themselves. Jesus died to save us from our sins, because we could not help ourselves. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, they did it through the act of eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and afterward there was no act they could do to counteract the curse. That is, there is nothing we can do to be saved. Remember what the jailer said to Paul, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” and what was Paul’s response? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Act 16-30,31). Believing is a verb; it’s an action, but it is an internal action, and in this way God was able to circumvent the curse by giving His grace to believe in our hearts, an act of contrition for having a sinful nature.

(162i) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> Bad company >> Bad company will entangle you in their bondage

(172h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> False doctrine among the truth – If we become convinced about false doctrine, it won’t just affect us in that one area but will affect our faith in its entirety. False doctrine can debilitate our faith in the truth. The troublemakers whom Paul addressed were legalists who wanted the Galatian Church to go back to the old ways of trusting circumcision to guarantee their salvation, instead of trusting Christ. If the Galatians fell prey to this, it would have nullified the virtuous grace of Jesus’ cross in their lives. God has established His kingdom opposite that of using a ceremony to guarantee our eternal souls, such as baptism or circumcision or any other ceremony we could name, except the one ceremony of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross of His Father’s predestined will. Trusting in His ceremony can wash away our sins and receive God’s favor; no other ceremony can do that. All other ceremonies that we would trust for salvation is like leaven in a lump of dough that leavens the whole lump, voiding His sacrifice and causing Jesus to die in vain in that person’s life.

(240i) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Taking away the key of knowledge >> Hindering people from entering the kingdom

Gal 5,7-11

(44a) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Complete >> It is finished >> Fulfill God’s will

Gal 5,7-10

(75h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people in the dark >> Through hidden motives -- These verses go with verse 13. Someone other than Paul had been talking to the Galatians, trying to put them in bondage to the law. Once they have them in bondage, they would use their egotistical pride to introduce other heresies that exploit the Galatian people, always with money as the payoff, except that Paul stopped their shenanigans. Paul used the analogy of leaven in a lump of dough to signify sin in the heart of a Christian to say that it doesn’t take a lot of false doctrine to spoil the whole batch.

(86h) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word >> Clothe yourself with the word of God >> Obey the truth – We are to clothe ourselves with the word of God by obeying the truth. We could pick out a verse in the Bible and try to live by its tenets, which would in a sense fulfill the definition of obeying the truth, but obeying the truth is better defined as knowing the specific will of God and doing it. Whatever God wants us to do will help build the body of Christ and establish His kingdom in the world. The only way to achieve this is through the Scriptures that have been written, but it is the spiritual enlightenment of God’s word that we need to obey. It doesn’t do us any good to obey the written word if we don’t have a revelation of Jesus Christ and obey Him.

Gal 5,7-9

(197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom -- These verses go with verses 13-17

Gal 5-7,8

(91f) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> Walking along the narrow way >> Walking in God’s calling is to fulfill His purpose -- These verses go with verse 13. Consider road construction and the bridges we build over streams and rivers, where the roads represent our beliefs, and the streams and rivers represent our faith. Note that they cross each other instead of running parallel. The roads go to one destination for purposes of this temporal life, while the streams and rivers go to another destination in a timeless loop, symbolizing eternity. The streams and rivers represent our future with Christ, but we use the roads to get through this life. All the roads in the world do nothing to carry the water to the ocean, and nothing can keep the water from doing what it wants. Mankind is not able to make the water change its ways. After it reaches the ocean, it is picked-up and carried over land to rain again and fill the streams in a continuous cycle. It is impossible to stop the cycle of water to the sea and return to the streams and rivers. We cross these streams and rivers every day, reminding us of our eternal future and where our faith is taking us.

Gal 5-7

(86a) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believe the word by obeying it – Repentance is required of us, which is an action, but it is not the active ingredient of our salvation; rather, faith is the active ingredient. The writer of Hebrews says, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11-1). The substance of faith is love, and love is what we hope, but believing is not the same as faith. Our beliefs are based on trust, whereas faith is based on spiritual knowledge. Everybody believes something, and invariably we build our lives around our beliefs, building cities and roads, and they affect every aspect of our physical lives, yet our beliefs remain as mere thoughts that we consider reality. Our beliefs are human in origin, whereas faith is from God. We can believe anything we want; we can even believe there is no God, but faith is given to us by God, and is based on His Truth. If faith doesn’t believe the Truth, then it is not real faith. Faith in God’s grace is the only thing we can do to be saved.

(194d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to God from your enemies – Paul was saying to the Galatians, ‘You were running from your enemies well; what made you stop and turn back to them?’ Why didn’t the Galatians know by now that the enemies of the truth only want to mislead them? The lies they tell they believe themselves, which are the most insidious lies of all, meaning that they were not trying to deceive the Galatians; rather, they were deceived themselves and wanted to win them to their beliefs, but if we go with them, we will not believe the truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (Jn 14-6). We must obey the truth in order to relate to God. There are many gods, but there is only one True God. If we want to relate to a foreign god, we can believe any of a thousand things about Him, but if we want to know the one True God, then we must love and obey Him. We believe in certain teachings of the Bible, and all beliefs must accompany obedience; otherwise, we prove that we don’t believe them. If we believe in a set of doctrines that are untrue, they will not lead us to God, but if we believe the true doctrines of the Scriptures by obeying them, God will sear those beliefs into our hearts so that we believe them by the Spirit, which transforms our beliefs into faith, which is able to comprehend the mind of Christ, who conveys our calling that He has prepared for us from all eternity.

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9-12 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10 I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11 But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. 12 I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.

Gal 5-9

(191d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Extract the leaven of false doctrine

Gal 5-10

(51a) Judgment >> World & church >> Warning of wrath >> Consequences of sin

(52e) Judgment >> Judging Church with world >> Law judges sin >> God judges the lost through the law

(122c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in God to keep the Church

Gal 5-11,12

(190j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Symbolism over substance -- These verses go with verses 2-6. The reason people preach circumcision is to avoid the cross of Christ. Circumcision has been erroneously associated with the law, but it started as a sign of Abraham’s faith, which his works demonstrated by obeying the Holy Spirit, traveling to a foreign land where God led him. Circumcision was a Jewish requirement of the old covenant commanded by Moses, just like baptism is a requirement of the new covenant, but circumcision never saved anybody in the old covenant, anymore than baptism saved anybody in the new covenant. They are both symbols, and they both represent our faith in God, and the fact that God chose circumcision as the symbol of faith, suggests that salvation is a personal thing. We cover our private parts, and so the symbol of salvation is concealed, and that is basically how faith works; it is a very personal thing between God and us. Our relationship with Him is akin to marriage. Baptism is the same; it is a symbol of our faith, and the evidence that we were baptized immediately evaporates the moment we exit the water. Baptism is a public display of our faith, so there are witnesses as in a marriage. Without witness we could not prove we were ever baptized, for once our clothes dry the physical proof of our faith disappears into thin air.

Gal 5-11

(195c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> You can only believe in one at a time -- This verse goes with verses 2-9

(201f) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> The cross offends the world – In modern times what are people trying to avoid by embracing the law? At this present time there is little persecution in America against those who openly believe in Jesus, so it’s not persecution they are avoiding, but the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there is a direct link between the cross of Christ and the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent in His place. People who preach the heresy of following the law as a means of justification before God are trying to avoid a life of faith and are willing to give up the truth so they can free themselves from the will of God. These heretics do not value the truth, and for this reason they don’t know it, they don’t live it and they don’t preach it, nor do they make any sacrifices to embrace it in their hearts.  

Gal 5-12

(69e) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Righteous anger >> Church is angry at sin – The trail they are on is leading downhill, all along the way picking up more false doctrine, until the gospel is completely corrupted and no truth is left. For this reason Paul wishes that the knife would slip and those who were troubling the Galatians would accidentally cut off their own penises in the process of circumcising themselves. So, Paul is very angry with them; he despises them; he wishes evil upon them. The fact is, Paul doesn’t need to wish evil upon them because they have marked themselves for evil, by trading the truth of God for a lie and imposing their soiled doctrines on others for personal gain. It’s one thing for them to believe in lies, but it’s another thing to try to get other people to believe their lies. This will multiply their judgment both in this life and in the life to come.

(97a) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about yourself >> A self-righteous attitude -- These verses go with verse This verse goes with verses 1-4

(190d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Self-afflictions that are against the will of God

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Gal 5,13-17

(197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom -- These verses go with verse 26

Gal 5,13-15

(167e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Walking outside the realm of faith -- This verse goes with verse 26

Gal 5-13,14

(14c) Servant >> Slave is free/free is slave – These verses go with verses 17&25. See also 1Cor 7-21,22 for further commentary. This verse is jam-packed with all kinds of undertones and is connected to many other topics and verses in different ways. For one thing, it is a verse ebbing on blasphemy. It paints a picture of someone winning spiritual victories almost with the premeditated intension of trading them in for a few moments of fleshly indulgence. Imagine a person who is well integrated into the Church, gaining everyone’s confidence, who is not growing in the Lord as you would suspect, but creating an opportunity to manipulate someone or perhaps the entire church. This is an example of how we must be responsible with the freedom that we acquire in Christ, not to turn it around and use it against someone, or even against ourselves. If we use our freedom for its intended purpose, we will enjoy ever-greater levels of freedom along the course of becoming free, to a level that we perhaps never knew was attainable in this life.

(235f) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Giving preference to one another

Gal 5-13

(12i) Servant >> Attitude of a bond servant – This verse is similar to 1Cor 9,11-23, particularly verse 18, where it says, "What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel." Paul was much like a stockbroker, who would reinvest his profits as he seamlessly pulled out of one share and into another without enjoying any of the proceeds. He was not a man to eat his seed, but planted it to make more seeds. So it is with our freedom; all too often people struggle feverishly to free themselves from their handcuffs, only to use their freedom to commit more sin. We can strive to become free only to practice more sin, which will send us right back to bondage, or we can use your freedom for its intended purpose to help others and bless God with the result that you will increase our freedom. See also: 1Pet 2-16.

(60h) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Opportunity—To sin / To abuse the anointing

(75h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people in the dark >> Through hidden motives -- This verse goes with verses 7-10

(76b) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Seeking authority for security >> Motives based on desire for power

(91f) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> Walking along the narrow way >> Walking in God’s calling is to fulfill His purpose -- This verse goes with verses 7,8

(118k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Law of liberty -- This verse goes with verses 22&23. There is a way to view our freedom as tool as much as a goal in that we use our freedom to serve one another through love. Freedom in this way is seen as a tool for the goal of love, yet Paul speaks of freedom as a goal in itself. Therefore, freedom and love are interconnected, like the trinity they are one and the same. Faith completes the trio of interconnected goals of Christianity, which are interdependent on each other for their vitality. Freedom allows faith, faith allows love and love reinforces our freedom in a spiritual lifecycle that spirals upward in ever-greater abilities to serve God and one another, but the moment we sacrifice our freedom for an opportunity to walk in the flesh, it stops the cycle.

(162d) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an unwillingness to believe (deception)  

(167e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Walking outside the realm of faith -- This verse goes with verse 26

(187e) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Dying to receive the glory of God >> Die to self to be set free

(187j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Trying to work the Spirit by the flesh -- This verse goes with verses 16&17. Although freedom is a tool to perfect love, we should view freedom as a goal and not as a tool for the flesh, because when we use freedom to acquire our fleshly desires, we weaken freedom, and eventually it disappears. Instead of it being one of our most valuable possessions, we turn freedom into a weapon to take freedom from others to obtain a lifestyle that works against itself. Freedom is not a tool, but is the very goal of Christianity. Paul is talking about licentiousness here. We are not free to sin, but are free from sin for purposes of righteousness.

(199a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating Jesus >> Frustrating Jesus’ ministry -- This verse goes with verse 1

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14&15 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Gal 5-14

(90h) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Righteousness of the law >> We must keep the law because it is righteous – Those who want to be ruled by law, what does the law say? “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The law was written on a hierarchical basis; you must fulfill the first commandment before you can fulfill the second and so on. In other words, you love God by loving your neighbor and you love your neighbor by fulfilling all the other commandments. Paul exonerated the second commandment to love your neighbor as yourself, because the law reflects human relationships. If everyone lived by this one commandment, people would stop hurting one another. This commandment reveals that God is speaking to mentally healthy individuals, not to those who would harm themselves for the right to harm other people. The first commandment says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind soul and strength,” suggesting it is mentally healthy to love God, who called His Old Testament people to love Him first, so they would be in a proper frame of mind to love their neighbor as themselves. The problem with the old covenant was it never furnished us with an ability to love God. The only way to fulfill the first commandment was to fulfill the other nine. That is, you love God by loving one another. This is still true, except that God has created a new and better way to do this through the new covenant. 

Gal 5-15

(21f) Sin >> Disobedience opposes unity in the Church

(84h) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> Gossip >> Attacking a person’s character

(130j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Accept one another >> Accepting the great and the small >> Small people cannot accept great leaders -- This verse goes with verse 26

(158e) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Strife >> Bitterness – Strife, debating, discord, having a competitive and contentious spirit, never willing to accept another persons viewpoint but always looking for the wrong in everything, Paul said if we behave this way, be careful that we are not consumed by one another. We think we can act this way, as though it were just a silly game or a means of getting through the day, arguing for the sake of argument, Paul says that this is an indication that we are operating by a spirit different from the Spirit of Christ. When we bite and devour one another and consume our faith, with what then do we believe in God? Some people expend their faith like eating their seed; once it is consumed, their faith is gone, and now they can’t believe in God, and they stray from Him not knowing what else to do. They’ve used up their faith to disobedience, which led to unbelief, which led to further disobedience and unbelief, eroded their faith to the point that it just disappeared altogether. Paul warned the Galatians that this is a dangerous game they were playing, instead of seeking the will of God and doing what He has called us to do.

(167b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Carnal mind cares only for itself

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16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 

Gal 5,16-26

(192e) Die to self >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Receiving from God by substitution >> Committed in the natural to receive in the spiritual – There is a whole chapter in this website devoted to the subject of dying to the flesh with its passions and desires. It is a process of substitution, meaning that dying to self is not the end; rather, if we die to self, God gives us something in return. Dying to self creates a vacuum, and vacuums are unnatural. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb using a filament that would burn very brightly when electricity was passed through it, but would last only for a moment, because oxygen would cause it to combust in a flash, so he thought to place the process in a vacuum, and when he did, it continued to burn. When we die to self, it creates a vacuum and God fills the vacuum with Himself. Whatever we give to Him of ourselves, He gives to us of Himself in an even trade, but since He is bigger than us, what He gives expands our lives and makes us grow. The things we give Him are useless, but the things He gives us are eternal.

Gal 5,16-25

(124d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Acts of love >> Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit – Love is the first fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit inadvertently fulfills the law. Israel tried to deliberately fulfill the law and failed miserably; instead, what does Galatians say? Paul commanded us to walk by the Spirit, so if we do, we will produce the fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit will fulfill the law. This is Christianity. We are no longer under law but under grace (Rom 6-14), meaning that producing the fruit of the Spirit is not an effort on our part alone, according to 2Cor 6-1, “Working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” The first step in walking in the Spirit is developing the hearing ear. Some people seem to think that being led by the Spirit works like we’re driving a car; God tells us, ‘Turn here!’ God doesn’t lead us that way very often; usually He leads us long-term; He doesn’t micromanage us; He gives us a life-goal and gives us freedom to accomplish it in ways that we decide. He regularly comes alongside and nudges us in one way or another and helps us fulfill His purpose and calling, but He doesn’t tell us everything we must do. If we want to turn left or right, we can do it, so long as we accomplish His purpose through the Spirit of God.

(187h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Deny the flesh to walk in the Spirit >> More the flesh dies, more the spirit lives – Since Paul mentioned the fruit of the Spirit, we can expect that being crucified with Christ has something to do with it. Obviously this concept of being crucified with Christ also has something to do with dying to self, but what? It seems that the more spiritual fruit we bear, the more dead (or numb) we become to the passions and desires of the flesh. So, we kill the flesh by bearing the fruit of the Spirit, which becomes evidence of our association with the Holy Spirit. These fruits also work to shield us from the temptations of our flesh. The more our minds remain in a spiritual state through bearing the fruit of the Spirit, the less we sense our flesh craving the evil things of our natural desires. By definition, a person who is born again by faith in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit dwells in him or her. So, if we are born of the Spirit, we also live by the Spirit, and if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Gal 5,16-23

(205g) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> New covenant >> The new one is a better one – Eliminate these verses from the Bible and we wouldn’t know why Jesus said what He said and why he did what He did, nor would we understand Paul’s writings in other passages of the New Testament. For example, these verses tell why Paul wrote his letter to the Romans and why the new covenant is better than the old. The law does not command us to bear the fruit of the spirit, because it didn’t furnish us with the power to do so, but the new covenant gives us that power through the cross. That is, Jesus has created an avenue to channel the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The old covenant law gave us a list of things we should not do against our fellow man, but it did not provide us with a list of things that we should do, such as detailed in the fruits of the Spirit.

Gal 5,16-21

(92e) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> You cannot walk two trails -- These verses go with verse 25. Paul said, “…You may not do the things that you please.” That doesn’t sound exactly free, which is how Paul started out this chapter saying, “It is for freedom that Christ set us free….” We are like half free. Our spirit is free, but our flesh is in bondage to serve the Lord. The flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, so that if we satisfy one, we violate the other. If we seek the fruit of the Spirit in out lives, it’s going to contrast with the desires of our flesh, but if we give into the desires of our flesh, it will resist our efforts to bear the fruits of the Spirit. Anyone who desires to walk by the Spirit must be committed to avoid sin, which has the power to knock down our spiritual fruit production and invade our spiritual environment that we establish as we walk and live for God, because the two of them cannot coexist.

(162g) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Addicted to sin >> Being a slave to the sinful nature

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Gal 5,16-18

(105g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the will of God >> Led to the right place --

(113l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Anointing establishes us in His will -- These verses go with verses 22-25

(118m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Newness of the spirit transcends oldness of the letter – Prior to Jesus sending the Holy Spirit, there was nothing we could do to directly fulfill the first commandment to love God, but now that we have the Holy Spirit, we can develop a relationship with Him through the word of God and prayer. However, prior to the Holy Spirit we loved God by not having sex with our neighbor’s wife; we loved God by not killing one anther; we loved God by not coveting our neighbor’s possessions. So, according to the old covenant law, it was all about not doing something in order to love God and our neighbor, but what can you do to love God? The law could not answer that question. The new covenant does away with the indirectness of the law and enables us to directly love God, which equips us to love our neighbor with gifts that we receive directly from the Holy Spirit. How much better is the new covenant than the old? There is no comparison.

(137e) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation >> Bearing fruit is the foundation of being in the Spirit -- These verses go with verses 22-25. God has given us a list of attributes that we should apply to our character in the fruit of the Spirit. If we walk by the Spirit, God will lead us to bear the fruit of the Spirit, and in this process, we inadvertently will not do the things that the law commands us not to do. For example, by bearing the fruit of the Spirit we will inadvertently not kill our neighbor. We have new interests now. For example, joy is more important to us than your neighbor’s wife or any of his other possessions. The attributes of these fruits create a spiritual environment in our hearts. He desires us to live and walk and dwell in an environment of love and peace. He desires these things to inhabit us, that we should inhabit them. Joy is not an action when you think about it, nor is peace. Rather, the fruits of the Spirit are a state of mind, whereas the law refers to behaviors that God commands us to avoid. Within this environment we are shielded from temptation.

Gal 5-16,17

(6e) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Rest in Jesus’ yoke

(22g) Sin >> Lust (craving pleasure) >> Fleshly mind

(187j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Trying to work the Spirit by the flesh -- These verses go with verse 13

Gal 5-16

(119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ -- This verse goes with verse 18

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17-21 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Gal 5-17

(14c) Servant >> Slave is free/free is slave – This verse goes with verse 25

Gal 5-18

(119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ -- This verse goes with verses 22&23

Gal 5,19-23

(139i) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Tear down the old to rebuild the new

(129a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Evidence of your fruit >> The type of fruit indicates who you are serving

(51c) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> Warning of Wrath >> God warns the Church

(64d) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot help but judge sin

(156K) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Living an ungodly lifestyle >> Practicing sin

(167j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> The world of sin

(183a) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Witchcraft >> Sin is the incubator of witchcraft >> Through rebellion

(221j) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from sin >> He hides behind disobedience – Fear was not covered by the law or in the fruits of the Spirit, and it wasn’t even mentioned in regard to the deeds of the flesh. Paul was completely silent about the dynamics of fear, how it operates in the background of all forms of evil. So, what is fear? Fear is the opposite of the fruits of the Spirit, and if the opposite, then also the arch-nemesis of the fruits of the Spirit. That means the deeds of the flesh outlined in Galatians, though they may oppose the fruits of the Spirit, are not exact opposites in that the deeds of the flesh are actions, whereas the fruits of the Spirit are states of mind. Those are two different things like apples and oranges, but fear is also a state of mind. Fear is not an action, any more than love depicts a specific action. Rather, God wants us to perform our good works through an environment of love, joy, peace, etc. All sin and disobedience and all evil operates through an environment of fear, so that the deeds of the flesh that are regulated by law act as evidence of fear, allowing it to manifest and become visible, whereas the fruits of the Spirit act as evidence of faith. For this reason God hides from all sin, because He is the exact opposite of fear. 

(250h) Lists (Key verse)

(250i) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Lists >> List of traits that can be found in man >> List of deeds of the body 

Gal 5-20,21

(24h) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Being envious of your brother

Gal 5-21

(36i) Gift of God >> Inheritance >> Our inheritance can be withheld

(238h) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachers "remind" their students >> Strong reminders

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

22-24 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Gal 5,22-26

(42g) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformation >> Conform to the Love of Christ

Gal 5,22-25

(113l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing establishes us in His will -- These verses go with verses 5&6

(137e) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation >> Bearing fruit is the foundation of being in the Spirit -- These verses go with verses 16-18

Gal 5-22,23

(118k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Law of liberty -- These verses go with verse 13

(119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ -- These verses go with verse 6

(128c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Doing good transcends the law – “Nice” is not one of the fruits of the Spirit. The world expects everyone to be nice, but they mock the “goody-two-shoes,” goodness being one of the fruits of the Spirit, signifying the difference between being nice and being good. “Goodness” is all about being nice to people who are not nice to us. People don’t like it when we refuse to defend ourselves, but they hate it when we are peacemakers in the name of the Lord, because it acts as an invitation to the Kingdom of God, and if they reject the invitation, it acts as a witness against their darkness. When someone is not nice to them, they throw all the social rules out the window, except those they use to gain an advantage to appear nice, so "nice" is all for show, but being good comes from the heart. Being nice is a way of getting through life, but being good is a way of getting to heaven. Being nice is good for business, but being good is holy to the Lord. Being good is akin to kindness, but being nice is one step from rage. A person who is nice will not endure persecution, but a person who is good has already endured the insult of the wicked as a way of life for Jesus sake and for the sake of the Lord’s elect, who will be saved as a result of the fruit of our lives.

(250k) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Lists >> Terms of graduating to the next level >> List of spiritual traits in descending order – Although joy comes before peace, it doesn’t make it more important, for all the nine fruits of the Spirit are equally important. The list of prerequisites signifies how we experience God as we seek Him: first we discover His love, then we meet His joy, then we enjoy His peace, etc., as a sequence of spiritual blessings that cascade throughout the lifelong process spiritual maturity.

Gal 5-22

(126a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> God is at peace >> The peace from God

(127a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Kindness >> Be kind like God >> Practice the kindness of God

Gal 5-24

(114e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven >> Obeying the revelation by putting away the flesh – Dying to self is a process of working with the grace of God to perform a simple operation on our flesh to remove the sinful passions and desires (symbolized by circumcision) that hold us from the will of God. Simultaneously, He instills His grace in us to do the work that He has prepared for us. Although wicked men nailed Jesus to a cross, it says He willingly submitted to it. Jn 10-17,18 says, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” The wicked men that nailed Jesus to a cross represented us; we are the ones who killed Him; therefore, the picture of being crucified with Christ is one of nailing the sinful passions and desires of our flesh to the cross until dead, willingly laying down our lives for the cause of Christ. We know there will be a resurrection, but Christ promises that He will raise us to newness of life through the power of the Spirit by an anointing in this life (Romans chapter six).

(213i) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> His will becomes our will >> We are God’s property

25&26 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Gal 5-25,26

(95h) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >> Ready to do God’s will – Paul elucidated a very important point here: as we live by the spirit who dwells in us and enjoy His presence in our hearts, so we should not contradict that experience by the way we teat our fellow man. As the indwelling Holy Spirit seeks to manifest, so our outer man should act like our inner man. Let that inner person emerge on our outer form to behave in the same way that we understand God in our hearts. This is in relation to the parable that Jesus spoke about leaven that a woman “took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened” (Mat 13-33). This is how God wants to work in our lives: from the inside-out. He wants to convince us of His love, grace and mercy, so we will display our confidence in Him through our actions and words. The opposite of this is to challenge and envy one another. Instead of competing with each other in the flesh, we should see who is better at loving God by loving our fellow man. If we are going to challenge anybody for any reason, we should challenge with love and good works.

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

Gal 5-25

(14c) Servant >> Slave is free/free is slave – This verse goes with verses 13 & 14

(92e) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> You cannot walk two trails -- This verse goes with verses 16-21

(105g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the will of God >> Led to the right place -- This verse goes with verses 16-18. Walking by the Spirit is probably the most important thing we do in this life, and what we often fail to remember is what Paul said before this: crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. Also, we live by the Spirit before we learn to walk by the Spirit. Our possession of His Spirit is how we live and we don’t understand what we possess anymore than we walk in Him. That is, if we are unconscious of our salvation, it is useless. The whole idea is to be aware of His salvation, and the way to are aware of Him is to have Him on our minds continuously. The Spirit and the word operate together. We live by the Spirit and we walk by the word, and when the two of these come together, they produce the power of God, who is able to reveal Himself in us so we know His purpose and calling. To fulfill that calling is to work His grace into our lives as we walk in Him. The part of God’s will that we do not walk, neither do we understand. This is why the world does not understand God, because it has never experienced Him.

(144f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The Church Bears Witness of Jesus >> Of the Holy Spirit

(155g) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Holy Spirit bears witness of the believer

(206b) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Conditions to promises >> Conditions to living in the spirit >> Conditions to participating in the spirit -- Paul's statement “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit,” suggests that we don’t have to prove we live by the Spirit if we walk by the Spirit. The promise is encouraging and full of good hope, but walking by the Spirit incites God's enemies to hate us. If we abide in Jesus, we can expect persecution and rejection even from some of  those of our own brothers who don't share the same intimacy with God. It asks the question that reduces to whether we are content with persecution and hardship for the sake of interacting spiritually in our relationship with God, or whether we will abandon His purpose because of the fear of man. Too often, when the heat is on, we settle for walking in the flesh so we don't offend anyone, but this offends God.

(230b) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> What we must do to partake of the kingdom >> Partaking which requires our participation

Gal 5-26

(11i) Servant >> We are not our own standard for each other

(22m) Sin >> Pride glorifies self >> Comparing yourself with others

(23c) Sin >> Pride is defensive

(130j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Accept one another >> Accepting the great and the small >> Small people cannot accept great leaders -- This verse goes with verse 15

(158f) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Division (Cliques) >> Jealously seeking prominence in the body

(167e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Walking outside the realm of faith -- This verse goes with verses 13-15. Pseudo-spiritual Christians are boastful, challenging one another and envying one another. The person who thinks he is spiritual the Bible says should become everyone’s servant. The true sign of spirituality is the willingness to serve and to become least of all. This undercuts any desire to challenge or envy one another, and it totally eliminates boasting. Being a servant solves man’s every problem. In the corporate world they have it backwards, where the greatest are the greatest and the least are the least, reflected also in their paychecks; whereas in the Kingdom of God the greatest is the least of all and servant of all; and the person who is least of all in the Kingdom of Heaven has the greatest authority. In heaven everyone is striving to be a servant in order to be great in the eyes of god who is servant of all. This completely dispels the whole problem of a boastful, prideful attitude, who are inclined to envying one another for the things they don’t have, instead of seeking to know God that we might bless others and possess all that God wants to give.

(197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom -- This verse goes with verses 7-9

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