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Galatians 5

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.

I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Scripture quotations marked “ESV” are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Galatians 5

Stand firm in the freedom for which Christ has set you free, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery—the opening imperative returns the letter to its essential claim and stakes the Galatians' entire future on resistance to circumcision and the law's regime. If you accept circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing (ὀφελέω), for circumcision binds the recipient to the entire law and its perfectionist demand, forfeiting the grace that flows from faith alone. The running metaphor—you were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?—personalizes the crisis and laments the Galatians' near-apostasy, followed by the proverbial reminder that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (1 Cor 5:6), suggesting that circumcision is not a peripheral matter but a principle that corrupts the gospel's foundation. In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but faith working through love (διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης)—the paradoxical affirmation that the law's distinguishing mark is rendered meaningless while faith proves itself through concrete love toward the neighbor. The catalogues of vices (works of the flesh: sexual immorality, idolatry, enmity, jealousy, divisions, drunkenness, and the like) and virtues (fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) present two anthropologies and two destinies: those practicing the flesh's works will not inherit the kingdom of God; those yielding to the Spirit produce fruit against which the law cannot stand. The crucifixion of the flesh with its passions and desires signals the baptismal reality already enacted: believers have died with Christ to the old regime and now walk in the Spirit's rhythm, the law's external coercion replaced by the Spirit's internal transform­ation.

Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. — Paul's triumphant declaration establishes Christ's redemptive purpose as eleutheria (freedom), a liberation achieved once-for-all ('apelutherōsen' — freed); yet the imperative follows: believers must 'stēkō' (stand firm, hold the line) against regression into 'zugos doulias' (yoke of slavery), i.e., circumcision and law-observance.

Galatians 5:2

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. — Paul's stark warning ('sēmeioō' — mark, pay attention) emphasizes his personal apostolic authority: circumcision-acceptance nullifies Christ's redemptive value ('Christos hymin ōpheleō' — Christ will profit you nothing), making the choice absolute and irrevocable.

Galatians 5:3

Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. — Paul's legal logic is unforgiving: circumcision ('peritemnō') obligates ('opheiletes' — bound as debtor) the one circumcised to keep 'holos nomos' (the whole law), every commandment, an impossible burden that circumcision sets in motion.

Galatians 5:4

You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. — the consequence is eschatological: the law-seeker ('dikaiō en nomō') is 'katargeo' (made inactive, severed) from Christ and has 'ekpipto' (fallen out of, forfeited) grace itself, a tragic inversion of salvation status.

Galatians 5:5

For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the hope of righteousness. — Paul pivots to the Spirit-enabled future: believers 'apekdechomai' (eagerly await, long for) the 'elpis dikaiosynēs' (hope of righteousness), an eschatological culmination accessed through the Spirit, establishing that salvation's completion is Spirit-mediated and faith-operative, not law-based.

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love. — the eschatological perspective relativizes markers (circumcision/uncircumcision) that once seemed determinative; what 'ischo' (has value, is effective) is 'pistis di' agapēs energoumenē' (faith working through love), a faith animated by self-giving love as its operational mode.

Galatians 5:7

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? — Paul's athletic metaphor portrays the Christian life as a 'dromos' (race, course); the Galatians had begun well ('kalos' — good, noble), but someone has 'anatemnō' (cut in on, disrupted) their trajectory, diverting them from 'apakoē tēs alētheias' (obedience to truth/the truth), the false teachers acting as obstacles.

Galatians 5:8

That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. — Paul attributes the Judaizing 'peithomonē' (persuasion, conviction) to false sources, not to 'kalō hymin' (the one who called you), God himself; the persuasion is alien, contradicting the divine call.

Galatians 5:9

A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. — Paul's proverb employs the image of fermentation: 'zymē' (leaven, yeast) spreads ('chōraō' — pervades) throughout 'phyrama' (dough, the whole batch), suggesting that accepting even minimal law-observance (circumcision) contaminates the entire congregation's faith, a metaphor of doctrinal contagion.

Galatians 5:10

I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he is. — Paul's confidence ('peitho' — I am persuaded) in the Galatians' ultimate fidelity is rooted 'en kyriō' (in the Lord), expressing faith in the Spirit's work; meanwhile, the Judaizing troublemaker ('tarasso' — throws into confusion) will face divine reckoning ('kriō' — judge).

Galatians 5:11

Brothers and sisters, if I am still being persecuted, why am I still being circumcised? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. — Paul's rhetorical question: if he were preaching circumcision ('peritemnō') as necessary, he would not face persecution, but his refusal to do so subjects him to 'diōgmos' (persecution); his sufferings prove his gospel's authenticity, and circumcision-rejection maintains the cross's scandal ('skandalon tou staurou' — offense/stumbling block of the cross).

Galatians 5:12

As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! — Paul's explosive sarcasm: he wishes the Judaizers ('tarasso' — those stirring up trouble) would 'apokopto' (cut themselves off, emasculate themselves, a wordplay on circumcision), a shocking expression of frustration suggesting they should face the consequences of their own demand.

Galatians 5:13

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. — Paul's positive reframing: freedom ('eleutheria') is the believers' eschatological calling ('klēsis'), but freedom is not license ('aphormē tē sarki' — opportunity for the flesh); rather, it issues in mutual servitude ('douleuō' — serve, enslave oneself) through love, a paradoxical freedom that serves.

Galatians 5:14

For the entire law is fulfilled in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' — Paul's radical condensation: 'holos nomos' (the entire law, all 613 commandments in Jewish reckoning) is 'plēroō' (fulfilled, completed) in the single commandment of neighbor-love (Leviticus 19:18), establishing love as the law's summum bonum and its replacement, not its expansion.

Galatians 5:15

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. — Paul's metaphorical warning: if the Galatians bite and devour ('dakno' and 'esō' — eat) one another (likely in doctrinal dispute), they will 'analisko' (be consumed, destroyed) by mutual destruction, a cautionary image of communal self-destruction.

Galatians 5:16

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. — Paul's foundational imperative: 'peripateo en pneumati' (walk by/in the Spirit) provides the operative principle that prevents 'epithumia tēs sarkos' (desires of the flesh) from taking control, establishing the Spirit as the liberating power opposing fleshly impulses.

Galatians 5:17

For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not doing what you want to do. — Paul's anthropological conflict: sarx (flesh) and pneuma (Spirit) are locked in irreconcilable opposition ('antikeimai' — set against, oppose), creating an internal warfare ('anthistēmi' — resist) that prevents believers from actualizing their chosen desires, a picture of the fragmented self without Spirit-empowerment.

Galatians 5:18

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. — the eschatological principle: those 'ago hypo pneumatos' (led by the Spirit) are 'ouk hypo nomon' (not under law), establishing the Spirit and law as alternate jurisdictions; Spirit-leadership supersedes law's dominion.

Galatians 5:19

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; — Paul catalogs 'erga tēs sarkos' (works of the flesh), beginning with three sexual transgressions: porneia (sexual immorality, non-marital sexuality), akatharsia (impurity, often ritual or moral uncleanliness), and aselgeia (debauchery, licentious excess), marking the flesh's trajectory toward dissolution.

Galatians 5:20

Idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions — Paul continues the catalog with spiritual (idolatry, sorcery) and relational sins (hatred, strife, envy, wrath, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions), showing the flesh's outworking in both cosmic rebellion and social destruction.

Galatians 5:21

And envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. — Paul concludes the vices with envy, drunkenness, and orgies ('photoi' — revelries), adding 'kai ta homoia toutois' (and things like these), a hedge acknowledging that the list is illustrative rather than exhaustive; the eschatological warning is unambiguous: those practicing ('prasso' — do, conduct life) such things will not 'klēronomeo basilian theou' (inherit God's kingdom), facing divine exclusion.

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, — Paul shifts to 'karpos pneumatos' (fruit of the Spirit), a singular harvest with nine expressions; the first three (love, joy, peace) are Godward and inward; the next three (patience, kindness, goodness) are outward and relational, grounded in divine character.

Galatians 5:23

Gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. — Paul completes the fruit with meekness and self-control, adding the revolutionary claim: 'kata tōn toioutōn ouk estin nomos' (against such things there is no law), i.e., the law is unnecessary where Spirit-fruit abounds; virtue driven by the Spirit transcends law's restrictive function.

Galatians 5:24

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. — believers' incorporation into Christ ('ta Christou Iēsou') entails 'stauroo sarka' (crucifying the flesh), a mystical participation in Christ's cross that severs the flesh's dominion; passion and desire are nailed to the cross, losing operative power.

Galatians 5:25

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. — the eschatological indicative becomes an ethical imperative: if believers are 'zaō pneumati' (alive by the Spirit), they must 'stoicheo pneumati' (keep in step with the Spirit, march in formation), maintaining alignment with Spirit-leading.

Galatians 5:26

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. — Paul's final warning against flesh-motivated vices within the community: 'kenodoxos' (vain conceit), 'provocation' ('prokaleomai' — challenge to combat), and mutual envy ('phthoneō') undermine community and contradict Spirit-fruit; the closing focuses the catalog on internal communal sins.