The Allegory of Hagar and Sarah (continued)
5:1For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.
The Nature of Christian Freedom
5:2Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. 5:3Yea, I testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 5:4Ye are severed from Christ, ye would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace. 5:5For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.
5:7Ye were running well; who hindered you that ye should not obey the truth? 5:8This persuasion came not of him that calleth you. 5:9A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 5:10I have confidence to you-ward in the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 5:11But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? then hath the stumbling-block of the cross been done away. 5:12I would that they that unsettle you would even go beyond circumcision.
5:13For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another. 5:14For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 5:15But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
The Works of the Flesh
5:16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh1. 5:17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.2 5:18But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 5:19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 5:20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, 5:21envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Fruit of the Spirit
5:22But the fruit of the Spirit1 is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 5:23meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. 5:24And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. 5:25If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. 5:26Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.
Notes:
- Flesh, Body, Spirit. Flesh is sarx. Body is soma. Spirit is pneuma. Distinguish flesh from body. Unity has always claimed that the body is not evil and it is not an illusion!
- for these are contrary the one to the other. See Herod in MBD. Herod regrets making his promise to Herodia.