10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, awhy do I still suffer persecution? Then bthe offense of the cross has ceased.
12aI could wish that those bwho trouble you would even cut themselves off!
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only ado not use liberty as an bopportunity for the flesh, but cthrough love serve one another.
14 For aall the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: b“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Walking in the Spirit
16 I say then: aWalk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For athe flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, bso that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But aif you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now athe works of the flesh are evident, which are:1 adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
21 envy,1 murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that athose who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But athe fruit of the Spirit is blove, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, cgoodness, dfaithfulness,
231gentleness, self-control. aAgainst such there is no law.
24 And those whoare Christ’s ahave crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25aIf we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26aLet us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
The yoke of bondage is an approach to justification that relies on a syncretism of Jewish ritualistic legalism and pagan purification rites, while avoiding Christ's sacrifice. It cannot free a person from sin's penalty or from Satan, provides no forgiveness, and cannot position one to receive God's Holy Spirit. Paul does not write to abolish the law, but to clarify lawkeeping's relationship to justification; otherwise much of chapter 5 would not exist. In contrast, Christ's spiritual yoke, His Holy Spirit, helps control carnal minds and hearts, bringing them into alignment with His meek and lowly heart, producing the fruit of the Spirit. Christ liberated His people not into another bondage, but into freedom from their enemies: sin, Satan, and death.
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.
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The yoke of bondage is an approach to justification that relies on a syncretism of Jewish ritualistic legalism and pagan purification rites, while avoiding Christ's sacrifice. It cannot free a person from sin's penalty or from Satan, provides no forgiveness, and cannot position one to receive God's Holy Spirit. Paul does not write to abolish the law, but to clarify lawkeeping's relationship to justification; otherwise much of chapter 5 would not exist. In contrast, Christ's spiritual yoke, His Holy Spirit, helps control carnal minds and hearts, bringing them into alignment with His meek and lowly heart, producing the fruit of the Spirit. Christ liberated His people not into another bondage, but into freedom from their enemies: sin, Satan, and death.