The Origins of Righteousness

Hey everyone.

We will continue our examination of Galatians 5, looking at verses 2-5.  In verse 1 we saw that Jesus has set us free, so then, we should never allow ourselves to be tied to yoke of slavery again.  Paul continues that thought: 

2 Let me be clear! I, Paul, am telling you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I bear witness once again, that every one of you that submits to circumcision becomes under obligation to keep the entirety of the law. 4 Those of you who are intent on being made righteous through law-keeping, you set Christ aside, and you lose out on grace. 5 Instead, through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly await the hope of righteousness.

In verse 2, Paul starts with the attention getter, Ἴδε (Ide), which is often translated as “behold.”  He wants to make sure that they understand what he is about to say, since we seldom say 'behold' and we see that is trying to grab their attention, I translated it as, “Let me be clear.”  He follows that with “I, Paul, am telling you.”  He is placing a strong emphasis on the statement that he is about to make.  He says, “if you allow yourselves to be circumcised then Christ will be of no benefit to you.”  

His point:  If they are somehow earning their salvation through works, then they are no longer saved through faith, and Christ has no value to them, because their own works, not Jesus, is saving them.  

That is why he continues in verse 3 that if they submit to circumcision, then they have to keep the whole law.  They have forfeited salvation by grace through faith, and are now trying to earn their salvation.  Paul understands that keeping the whole law as a means of salvation is impossible to do.  

Note:  There are things that we can have a difference of opinion on.  This is not one of them.  We are saved by grace through faith, not through any action that we might perform to somehow earn that salvation.  

A quick summary of what going on here: On one hand the Judaizing teachers were telling the Galatians that circumcision was necessary for salvation.  Paul was telling them that grace, not circumcision, was their means to salvation. So, to those who were considering going under the knife, Paul tells them that if they do this, then they become obligated to obey the whole law, not just circumcision.  If they choose to go with the old law and circumcision, then they must obey all of it perfectly.   

In verse 4, Paul continues his line of thinking.  If they continue down this path, submit to circumcision and choose to obey the old law, then, as they seek to be justified by the law, they separate themselves from Christ and they lose out on his grace.  Paul offers two warnings about what happens if they give in to these teachers and allow themselves to be circumcised: 

1st warning:  κατηργήθητε (katērgēthēte) has numerous different meanings, including “make powerless, invalidate, waste, abolish, wipe out and set aside.”  In my own translation, I went with “set aside.”  They would be choosing to set Christ and his grace aside. 

2nd warning. Ἐξεπέσατε (exepesate) - It is usually translated as 'fallen away.'  It also can have numerous different meanings, including “fall, drift off course, fail, weaken, lose.”  With the context here, “lose” seemed the most appropriate.  If the Galatians were going to rely on their obedience to the law, then they lose out on the grace of God. 

Back in Paul said in 3:10-11, “For those who base their righteousness on works of the Law are under a curse.  It is written, “Those who fail to obey all that is written in the book of the law are under a curse.” It is obvious that the Law does not make anyone righteous before God, instead, “the righteous will live by faith.” In those two verses he drew from OT passages (Deut. 27:26, and Hab. 2:4) to make his point that it is actually impossible for us to truly obey all of the law.  Paul has been making the point that the Law doesn’t make us righteous, but rather our righteousness comes from our faith.  

He has circled back to this in 5:4.  Those who are intent on basing their righteousness on obedience to the Law are under a curse because it is impossible to do, and now they have set Christ and grace aside.  

In verse 5 Paul gives us an alternative to obeying all of the law as mentioned in verse 4. Instead of gaining righteousness through keeping the law, we await the hope of righteousness through the Spirit and faith.  

In 5 the pronouns change.  He has been saying ‘you,’ but in verse 5 it becomes ‘we.’  ‘You have set Christ aside.’  ‘You lose out on grace.’ and then ‘we await the hope of righteousness.’  

Paul has repeatedly presented two different ways of thinking.  One is legalistic and self-reliant, and the other is grace-filled and God-reliant.  He has made very clear arguments that the second one is far better than the first, and while the Galatians have been busy flirting with the first option, Paul and those with him remain with the second, far superior option. 

So, we cannot make ourselves righteous.  Righteousness, according to verse 5 needs two things:  1) it comes through the Spirit, and 2) it comes through our faith.