Galatians 5:6, 13-26
Scripture:
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
13 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. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 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. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us notbecome conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Devotion:
Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia because a group of teachers had convinced them that faith in Christ needed something added to it, circumcision and observance of the law, chief among their demands. Paul spends most of this letter insisting that nothing can be added to the finished work of Christ. Then, in verse six, he writes a line that lands right alongside everything we have read in James this week. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, he says. Only faith working through love.
That phrase, faith working through love, could summarize the whole argument James has been making in chapter two. Paul is approaching, from a different angle, the same reality that James described: real faith will always express itself in love, and love will always find something to do.
The rest of the passage fills in what that looks like day-to-day. Paul tells the Galatians they were called to freedom, then immediately urges them to serve one another through love rather than use that freedom as a foothold for the flesh. He lists the works of the flesh, sexual immorality, enmity, jealousy, envy, and things like them, alongside the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law, he adds, because a life shaped by the Spirit does not require an outside rulebook to keep it moving toward good.
Read together, Galatians 5 supplies the engine behind the faith James describes. Walking by the Spirit, being led by Him day after day, is what slowly turns love, patience, and kindness from obligations into fruit that grows on its own.
HEAR about it:
Explain:
How does Galatians 5:6, 13-26 deepen your understanding of James 2:14-20? What does this supporting passage add to your picture of what a working faith looks like?
Prayer and Reflection:
Take a few minutes to sit quietly and reflect on the passage you read today. Let the Holy Spirit bring to mind what stood out to you and why. Then spend some time in prayer. Pray for the people around you, for your outlook on this day, and for the needs you are carrying in your own life.
Holy Spirit, I cannot produce this fruit on my own strength, and I don't want to try. Teach me to walk in step with You today, so that love, patience, and kindness stop feeling like effort and start looking like the natural shape of a life given over to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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