Useful Bible Studies > Galatians Commentary > chapter 5
Galatians 5:7-12
God is against these wrong ideas
The Christians in Galatia had believed some wrong ideas. But Paul was sure that they would change their minds. He knew the things that God had already done in their lives. And he believed that God was still working among them.
These wrong ideas were like yeast. Yeast is something that people put into flour. It causes bread to rise. A little yeast goes quickly through all the flour. The Christians in Galatia were like that. Some people had taught them a few wrong ideas. And very quickly, all the Christians believed those ideas.
But the wrong ideas did not come from God. They were only people’s thoughts. And God was against the teachers who were teaching these wrong things.
False teachers are against the message about Christ’s death
Paul did not tell people that they should let someone *circumcise them. That is why very many people were against him. Instead, he taught people about Christ’s death. He taught people that God wanted to make them free. These teachers in Galatia did not want Paul to teach that!
A mark in the body does not cause people to do the right things
Those teachers wanted to cut a little skin from men’s bodies. The teachers were thinking too much about the human body. If the body was very important, perhaps the teachers should cut more skin from their own bodies. Perhaps they should cut away the whole male part of their bodies! Paul did not really want anyone to do this. Both he and the teachers knew that this was not a right thing to do. God’s rules say that a man must not do it (Deuteronomy 23:1).
God told the *Jews that someone should *circumcise them. But he did not tell them this so that they would only have a mark in their bodies. It was much more important for people to believe in their *spirits. A mark in the body does not cause people to do the right things. But when God changes their *spirits, then they can do the right things.
Next part: God’s rules teach us to love
See the word list for explanation of words with a *
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© 2015, Keith Simons.