Download discussion questions: Galatians 5:5-15
Calvary Institute – Fall 2018 Index
Our group began with a quotation reminding us of the importance of diligent study of even difficult or uncomfortable ideas in Scripture and in theology:
If our religion is something objective, then we must never avert our eyes from those elements in it which seem puzzling or repellent; for it will be precisely the puzzling or the repellent which conceals what we do not yet know and need to know.[1]
The passage under study may not have been a particularly difficult section of Scripture, but the reminder is always appropriate.
Triads
After reading and thinking about the passage individually, we spent a few minutes in groups of two or three thinking about this passage in terms of making disciples: “If you were explaining this passage to someone, what would be the main point you would want them to remember?” Naturally, we first have to decide what wethink is the main point.
Several people suggested the centrality of love in the passage (v. 6, 13, 14). Others stressed Paul’s emphasis on freedom (v. 13, cf. v. 1 from last week’s discussion). One person thought Paul’s warning centered on his comment about leaven (i.e., yeast, v. 9) and how the danger the Galatians faced might appear to be a very small thing, but it would grow.
Leaven
The “different gospel” tempting the Galatian Christians may have been the work of an organized group (“the circumcision party” in Galatians 2:11), but perhaps there was one individual (“whoever he is” singular in v. 10) who was mainly responsible for inciting others to cause “trouble” (v. 10) and “unsettling” the church (v. 12). Because of the potential devastating effect on the faith of the Galatians, Paul had no sympathy for the perpetrators (v. 12b)! The fact that the controversy might have been centered on one outspoken individual might have been the reason Paul mentioned the danger of contamination from even a small amount of leaven. Even in small doses, variations from the true gospel of faith in God’s grace through Christ’s work can add up to a distortion, a “different gospel.”
An Alternative View
One person in our group raised an interesting question. Could Paul have intended the mention of leaven as a positive influence? For example, could he have meant, “If only a few of you remain true to the gospel, that truth will spread like leaven through the church.”
Someone commented that leaven is most often used in Scripture in a negative sense. But none of us could answer the question: “Is leaven ever used with a positive meaning?” A little research (later, after ourdiscussion group) found at least two affirming uses. Some Jewish sacrifices specifically required the use of leavened bread (e.g., Leviticus 7:3, 23:17), and Jesus used the small-beginning, rapidly-spreading characteristics of leaven to describe the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:33). Therefore, it is possible that Paul intended the leaven here in a positive way, but the context (“who hindered you” in v. 7, “not from himwho calls you” in v. 8, “the one troubling you” in v. 10) makes the use of leaven in verse 9 more likely a negative reference. (What a great example of the benefit of methodical, inductive study in a discussion group setting! One person asking a question none of the rest of us thought of creates an opportunity to explore more into Scripture.)
Law and Love
Paul made it clear that adherence to rules, like circumcision, is ultimately irrelevant: “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything” (v. 6 – literally, neither has any power, ischuō, ἰσχύω). Only love, the channel of expressing faith (v. 6b) has power, the power of fulfilling the entire law as we serve others (v. 14, quoting Leviticus 19:18). Paul had mentioned just before this passage that we have been freed by the work of Christ (v. 1). In contrast to that freedom, trusting in circumcision for our standing with God means committing to keeping the entire law (v. 3). Here Paul made the connection that the obligation to keep the whole law is exactly what happens. We are freed from the law (v. 13), and in serving others we fulfill the whole law (v. 14).
As if anticipating an objection from those insisting on the law, Paul inserted a sentence qualifying freedom: “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh” (v. 13b). The freedom Christ gives is not about our self-obsessed desires for our own comfort and self-protection at any cost to others. True freedom is liberty from self-obsession into God-obsessed Christlikeness, intent on serving others and glorifying the Father. That is the faith working through love (v. 6) Paul described.
We briefly talked about why law so often seems easier than love. The primary reason seems to be the defined limits of law and rules. I know when I have succeeded or how much more I need to do to complete my responsibility. Even the most difficult law requires so much and no more, usually defined by a list of items to check off. On the other hand, love has no list. As one member commented, “We have to keep checking in with God to see how else we can show love to another person.” Exactly. Keeping the law (or trying to) requires will power. Faith working through love, loving a neighbor, requires relationship – first with God and then with others. And relationships are always messy. We may have some degree of control over our will power. We have no control over how others will respond to us.
Biting and Devouring
Paul could have ended on such an upbeat note, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 14). But an upbeat note can sound inspirational without actually inspiring obedience. He follows that exhortation with a practical warning to not “bite and devour oneanother” (v. 15).
Our group discussed what Paul might have had in mind. It is unlikely he was simply throwing in a bit of generic advice. One member asked if there had been any indication earlier in this letter about internal conflict in the Galatian churches. None of us could recall any such conflict, even thumbing back through the four previous chapters. There certainly had been dissention with those (perhaps outsiders) who were insisting that Christian salvation for Gentiles included circumcision and the rest of the Jewish law (“some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ” in Galatians 1:7;“the one who is troubling you” in 5:10; “those who unsettle you” in 5:12).
Someone suggested that the “little leaven” of that dissention quickly had become widespread. We considered what “biting and devouring” might have looked like for the Galatians and what form it might taketoday. As some Galatian believers accepted the “different gospel,” they would likely consider themselves superiorto those who had not. Those who remained faithful to the gospel that Paul had brought them could have been equally proud and judgmental. One member of our group commented on a similar situation Paul addressed to the Corinthian church about forming distinct parties: “For it has been reported to me … that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. WhatI mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ’” (1 Corinthians 1:11-12). Criticizing those who followed (or didn’t follow) the law, those who supported (or undermined) Paul would seem to fit the description of “biting anddevouring.”
In his admonitions to the Galatians, Paul knew that the heart of the gospel was at stake. In our day, we more often have experience (as biters or bitten) over lesser matters. A person in our group suggested the word “nitpicking” about details that are not explicit or not absolutely clear in Scripture. Drinking wine, going to movies (maybe depending on the rating),attending church regularly were items that began a list we never finished. We all have judged or been judged by such standards. We seem to be much more subtle about our gossip or anger or pride than the biting and devouring that Paul described. Self-obsession is at its peak when it is most subtle and we don’t even recognize it.
Soul Care
We considered how a soul-care approach can help us avoid the biting and devouring that seems so prevalent in our culture and in churches. Listening, being curious, and asking questions can help us discover inourselves and in each other the subtle self-obsession that can show itself incriticizing others.
One person pointed out that there is an appropriate time for “nitpicking” and criticizing when the orthodoxy of belief is at issue. One criterion would be the Apostles’ Creed as a summary of the faith. A “different gospel” that undermines the nature of God or the means of salvation must be challenged. But even then, “faith working through love” should be the environment where we serve in the Christ-forming work in each of us. Moving away from self-obsession toward God-obsession will help us distinguish our motives. Self-obsession wants to protect our pride andour comfortable understanding of our faith. God-obsession wants to learn “what we do not yet know and need to know”(from the Lewis quotation at the beginning of this article).
A Planet With No Eyes
A possible root cause of biting and devouring, of dissention over disputed matters, is the loss of the big picture. We major on minor topics because we lose sight of the amazing truth of the gospel. Paul kept that truth in mind at the beginning of this passage. In contrast to those who would sever their relationship with Christ in favor of keeping the law, Paul describes his focus: “For through the Spirit by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness”(v. 5). As described in the article on the previous passage, the righteousness Paul eagerly awaits is the “eschatological anticipation”[2] of being fully united with Christ in His righteousness. Our anticipation is limited, and the biting and devouring result from that limitation. We are limited because it is indescribable: “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
An allegory captures this limitation powerfully:
So maybe there’s a planet somewhere where nobody has any eyes.
Well, if nobody had any eyes, they’d all get along all right without them, wouldn’t they?
They’d get along with hearing, and smell, and touch, but they wouldn’t have any idea what anything looked like.
And if someone from our planet went to the planet where no one had eyes, and tried to describe something to them-the way the rain looks falling on the ocean, or the lighthouse beam at night, or the sunrise-it couldn’t be done,could it?
If you didn’t have eyes, if you lived in a world of touch and sound, then nobody could tell you what anything looks like.
Well, maybe when the people on the planet with no eyes die, then maybe they get sent to planets where there are eyes. But you couldn’t tell them about it ahead of time.
So, maybe when we die, we’ll get something as important as sight, but because we don’t know what it is, nobody could tell us about it now, any more than we could explain sight to the people on a planet with no eyes.[3]
Imagine trying to describe any scene or object to a blind person. Once, while with a blind friend who had misplaced a backpack in a library, I asked the foolish question, “What color is it?” Trying to describe color to a blind person would be far beyond my imagination. Trying to describe our eternal communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together with all the saints would be more than any human ability. That eternally increasing joy is so far beyond our present experience that no description is possible. Remembering the future that we share with other believers should substantially reduce our biting and devouring. Our time would be better spent reminding each other to anticipate that “glory beyond all comparison.”
[1] C. S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory,” in The Weight of Glory And Other Addresses (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis) (p. 35). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition, location 324.
[2] Douglas J. Moo, Galatians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2013), 327.
[3] Excerpts from MadeleineL’Engle, A Ring of Endless Light, (New York: Laurel-Leaf Books, 1982), 227-228.