Peril in Legalism. Galatians 5:1-4.
Dear Family,
We look today at the danger inherent in legalism. Previously, we have seen that faith and legalism are mutually exclusive. They are likened to freedom on the one hand and bondage on the other. One cannot subscribe to both.
Entanglement (v. 1). Paul encourages the Christians to stand firm in their liberty in Christ. This will ensure that they are not entangled in the yoke of bondage. Entanglement implies trespass and straying. If one is free, the entangling situation does not come to one, in one’s free state. Rather, one strays into the realm of bondage. This is why we ought to “stand fast,” so that we do not get caught in the web of entanglement.
Enslavement (vv. 2-3). Paul here makes an alarming statement – that circumcision renders one incapable of benefiting at all from Christ. Here, Paul is not talking about the physical procedure because even he and all the other apostles are circumcised. But the choice to get circumcised in the context Paul is addressing would have been the choice to convert to Judaism and follow Jewish law, traditions, and rituals. That is why Paul that such a person is a “debtor to keep the whole law” – a double tragedy because one excludes oneself from the commonwealth of grace while embracing futility. I do not think that Paul is suggesting that people who are truly born again can abandon the faith, but he is saying that it would have dire consequences if it happened. Obviously, there also were people among them who were not true believers, who ran the risk of being enslaved.
Estrangement (v. 4). The implication of the attempt to be justified by keeping the law is alienation from Christ, which Paul describes as one having “fallen from grace.” There is no hope of salvation outside the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8). We have to choose between grace and the law. Choosing the law results in bondage, leading to death. Choosing grace results in justification and liberty, leading to life. It sounds simple, and it is, but it is a simple choice that determines our eternal destiny.
Your Loving Pastor Chris.