Galatians 5:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

Galatians 5:4

Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Is

Ye

General references

Luke 5:38

Galatians 2:3

Philippians 3:7

Bible References

Is

Look, I Paul am telling you that, if you revert to [the practice of] circumcision [i.e., the Jewish rite of identity, signifying the responsibility to observe the law of Moses], then Christ's [sacrifice] will be of no value to you.

[In doing this] I am not trying to disregard God's unearned favor, for if a person could become right with God by [perfect obedience to the requirements of] the law of Moses, then Christ died for nothing.

But the Israelites, who were attempting to become right with God by [conformity to] the law of Moses, never achieved [this righteousness] by that law.

For they did not know about God's way of making people right with Himself, so they attempted to establish their own way. In doing this they did not submit to God's way for being made right with Him.

Ye

I am astonished that you people are so quickly abandoning God [i.e., by rejecting His truth], who called you [to Himself] through the unearned favor bestowed [on us] by Christ. [You are turning] to a different "gospel,"

And if [they were selected] by God's unearned favor, [then] the choice is not based on the good that people may do. Otherwise, God's favor would not be [really] unearned.

[These are people] who were once enlightened [by the Gospel message], who had experienced the gift from heaven [i.e., forgiveness, never ending life, etc. See Rom. 6:23], who had partaken of the Holy Spirit [See Acts 2:38],

And my [i.e., God's] righteous person will [obtain] life by [his] faith [in God]. But if he turns back [from me], my soul is not pleased with him."

Look carefully [at how you are living] so that no one falls away from God's unearned favor, and that no "poisonous plant sprouts up" to cause trouble and corrupt many people [Note: This is an analogy from Deut. 29:16-18 being used as a warning against the evil influence of wicked people],

For if people who have escaped from the defiling practices of the world by coming to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, become tangled up in them again, and are overcome by them, these people are worse off than before they were converted.

Therefore, dearly loved ones, since you know about these things ahead of time, be on your guard so that you are not led astray by the error of lawless people, and [thus] fall from your own stability [i.e., your safe or secure position in Christ].

So, remember where you have fallen from and repent [i.e., change your hearts and lives] and do the things you did at first [i.e., when you were first converted], or else I will come and remove your lampstand from its place [i.e., I will not permit the congregation to survive], unless you repent.

General references

But freshly squeezed grape juice must be put into newly made animal skins.

But they did not even require that Titus, a Greek [i.e., a Gentile] who was with me, become circumcised.

However, those things which were [once regarded as] gain to me, I have [now] considered to be loss for [the sake of] Christ.