Learning from Galatians: Freedom and the Flesh

Galatians 5:13-15 – “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

“Freedom” is a frequent word in the New Testament, but many misunderstand its meaning and context.  Words like this have a variety of different meanings depending on the context.  We refer to retail items as “free” if there is no price or cost.  We sometimes refer to countries as “free” if they are democratic.  As a legal term, it has still other meanings.  We even use the word sometimes to refer to personal behavior that is uninhibited – laughing freely (heartily), speaking freely (without politeness or decorum), and so forth.

In Paul’s letters, he was addressing a very specific issue that was dividing the churches: whether Gentile converts to Christianity (that is, pagans, or non-Jews) needed to obey the Jewish law, also called the Mosaic Law, with its prohibitions on certain foods, mandatory religious holiday observances, and circumcision.  The question back then was not about doing enough good deeds to earn God’s favor, as some have misunderstood it, nor was it about refraining from serious sin.  “Freedom” in Galatians refers to this very dispute – freedom from the Jewish laws, rituals, and customs.  Paul insisted that these food restrictions, religious holidays, and circumcision applied only to Israelites, not to anyone else.  The Jewish Christians back then wanted every believer to keep their rules, to be more Jewish.  They wanted Christianity to retain its Jewish heritage.  Paul knew that Christianity would never spread to other cultures if Jewish customs were part of the package.  He knew the Law of Moses applied only to ancient Israel as a nation.  Therefore, he taught that non-Jewish Christians should not keep the rules in the Mosaic Law.  “You were called to be free.” (Galatians 5:13)  Jesus called us to follow him and obey him, not to adopt the ancient Jewish customs.

Yet Paul was concerned that his readers would misinterpret this point to mean that Christians can do anything they want without consequences for their spiritual life.  Sadly, all through church history there have been heretical groups who claimed that NONE of God’s rules applied to them, that nothing they did could count as sin, supposedly because they were under “grace not law.”  Paul repudiates this false teaching here and in all his other letters, arguing instead that Christians must live up to high standards of personal morality, purity, and integrity.  In the rest of this chapter, he lists various “acts of the flesh” and warns, “Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  (Galatians 5:19-21).  Grace is not a license to sin or some kind of shield against spiritual liability for our actions.  “Freedom” from the Jewish law is not permission to indulge the flesh.

The “flesh” refers not merely to our physical bodies, but to internal desires and attitudes – a mindset that prioritizes our own comfort and pleasure.  Traits like pride, selfishness, and envy are “fleshly” and unspiritual, emanating merely from our physical existence.  Paul first addresses the fleshly attitude that causes the most damage in churches – selfish pride.  Serving one another humbly, in love, is the exact opposite.  Our flesh finds this undesirable.  Our flesh wants others to serve and honor us.  It seeks a position of superiority.

Most of the conflicts between believers are the result of the flesh – people wanting superiority over others.  Here, Paul mentions congregations destroying themselves from within.  He does not attribute this to demons or any other spiritual force.  The problem was completely human.

The doctrinal disagreement between the Jewish group and the anti-law group was really a mask for a deeper conflict over dominance, superiority, and control in the church.  This is true of most doctrinal conflicts.  Those advocating for keeping the Jewish law focused entirely on the external aspects of it, like dietary restrictions and holiday observances.  Like all legalists, they ignored parts of the Law that command us to treat other people’s needs as important as our own (Leviticus 19:18, quoted here).  Paul suggests that this part of the law does apply to Christians, and he is frustrated that the legalists ignored this.  On the other hand, the anti-law crowd in the church had lost sight of the fact that God does indeed expect certain things of us, certain behavior and character traits – love, purity, and humility.