Commentaries:
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Galatians 5:1
The yoke of bondage is an approach to justification and salvation, or righteousness, that relies on a syncretism of Jewish ritualistic legalism and pagan practices (usually rites of purification), while at the same time avoiding the sacrifice of Christ. This means that what we believe and who we believe in will determine whether we will be justified. Why is this approach a yoke of bondage? It cannot free a person from the penalty of sin or from Satan. It does not provide forgiveness. It will not put one into a position to receive God's Holy Spirit.
Paul is not writing to do away with the law! He is writing to clarify lawkeeping's relationship to justification and what a person believes through justification. If Paul were writing to do away with law, much of what he wrote later on in chapter 5 would not be there.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Eight)Related Topics: Bondage | Bondage to Sin | Bondage, Spiritual | Judaizers | Justification | Law "Done Away" | Legalism | Pagan Religious Practices | Paganism | Penalty of Sin | Purification | Purification, Rites of | Rites of Purification | Ritual | Salvation | Syncretism | Syncretistic Religion | Yoke | Yoke of BondageOther Forerunner Commentary entries containing Galatians 5:1:
Proverbs 26:4-5
Galatians 1:6
Revelation 6:15
Revelation 6:15-17
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What Does Galatians 5:1 Mean?
The yoke of bondage is an approach to justification and salvation relying on a syncretism of Jewish ritualistic legalism and pagan purification rites, while avoiding the sacrifice of Christ. It cannot free a person from the penalty of sin or from Satan, provide forgiveness, or position one to receive God's Holy Spirit. Paul does not write to do away with the law, but to clarify lawkeeping's relationship to justification. Much of what he writes later in chapter 5 confirms this. In contrast, just as a physical yoke controls an animal's direction, Christ's spiritual yoke, His Holy Spirit, helps overcome and control carnal minds that want to rebel, aligning hearts with His meek and lowly heart, which inevitably produces the fruit of the Spirit.