Galatians 5:7-12

Summary retelling of Galatians 5:7-12

Paul reminds the Galatians that they were doing really well spiritually.  Then he asks them what happened.  Paul tells them that since Jesus Christ called them into grace, anything that is calling them out of grace and into the Law must not be from Him.  He warns the Galatians that it only takes a little bad thinking before too long you find yourself off track.  Paul then reassures them that he believes they will remember the truth and the one(s) who are leading the Galatians astray will be found out and punished.  Paul then reminds the Galatians that if we depend on anything but Christ for our salvation then the cross is pointless.  Finally, Paul uses a bit of word play to talk about the people in their midst who are asserting the need to be circumcised and he says that he wishes they would just go out and emasculate themselves and leave the Galatians alone.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul is blunt in reminding the Galatians that they were once spiritual.  He doesn’t let them off of the hook.  He doesn’t allow them to forget where they had once been.  The thing about being spiritual is that all backsliding is a bad thing and we should be held accountable for it.  Accountability is important, because all of us will backslide from time to time and we need relationships in our life to help us see when we are backsliding.

Who are the people in your life that hold you accountable?  Are there any areas in your life that you need someone to hold you accountable?

Second Thought:

Paul’s warning to the Galatians that a “little leaven leavens the whole dough” is significant.  His warning should be heeded.  The small changes we make in life begin to add up and soon we find ourselves compromising who we are and what we believe.  It is very seldom that we make a big drastic change for the worse unless we have some serious extenuating circumstance.  Usually what we end up doing is making many small unnoticeable changes and they cumulatively add up to a big change.  We need to be careful of such things.

Why is it so easy to lose sight of the little changes that make us worse?  What can we do to help prevent the little changes from accumulating?

Third Thought:

Again we hear Paul make a point on how important Christ is and how if we believe that salvation comes from anywhere else that we make the cross pointless.  Paul wants to adamantly drive home the point that the cross of Christ is the place from which our salvation comes.  Other things might be good (if done for the right reasons), but they are not the basis of our salvation. 

Why do you think Paul keeps coming back to this point again and again?

Passage for Tomorrow: Galatians 5:13-15