THE BONDAGE OF THE LAW IN GALATIANS 5:1-4

___________________

A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of
Romanian Adventist Theological Institute

___________________

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Theology

___________________

by
Fudulea George Alexandru
March 2015

Introduction
The letter was addressed to Northern Galatian Christians who were facing a
danger - that of apostasy. Some judaizers, which according to Nichol were the same that
caused problems in Antioch, in Acts 15, have come now to present their false teachings
according to which the circumcision was a ritual needed in order to be saved.1
The reason why Paul takes this thing so serious is not just because of the
simple ritual that is supposed to take place, but because of its deeper implications, that
''man may save himself by observing the requirements of the law''.2 It is not clear from the
letter if the ideas of the judaizers were embraced, but the immediate response of Paul
shows that this was an urgent crisis.3
This passage analyzed in this paper is a part of a bigger section, called
exortatium I, which starts from chapter 4:12 till 5:12. In this part, Paul appeals to the
Galatians to remain faithful to the cross and shows the importance of that.

Francis D. Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary : The Holy Bible With
Exegetical and Expository Comment., Commentary Reference Series (Washington, D.C.: Review and
Herald Publishing Association, 1978), 932.
2

Ibid.

Dunn, James D. G., The Theology of Paul's Letter to the Galatians, (Cambridge [England]:
Cambridge University Press, 1993), 7.

2
Verse 1
According to Stott, as the best manuscripts show, the first verse of chapter 5 is
divided in 2 separate sentences: first one it is a declaration and the second one it is a
commandment, based on the first section.4
This separation is possible only if we take the last part of the verse 31 as being
a part of the first verse (some versions consider the first part of the verse as being the
conclusion of the verse 31) . Bruce agrees with this also, but instead of saying that this
verse is a part of the section that follows, he says that this is the conclusion of the
preceding one. The reason why Bruce included this in another section is the fact that he
divided the whole section in a different way than Betz, or Longenecker, the one I
subscribe to in this paperwork. Both, Betz and Longenecker agree that this verse is
included in the exortatio part of the letter. Even though, Betz says that this section starts
right with this verse, it is more reasonable to take into consideration the fact that starting
with verse 12 from chapter 4 a change takes place in the speech of Paul, something that
Longenecker calls the dramatic shift in mood.5 In other words the exortatio section
starts with verse 12 from chapter 4.
As Stott divided this section in two sentences, the first one is a declaration,
having in centre the term freedom. KJV translates the Greek phrase (te eleuteria) as
dative of instrument, but the other translations (NAB, NIV, NRS) translate this phrase as

Stott, John R. W. The Message of the Galatians: John R.W. Stott, ( Leicester, England: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 143.
5

Richard N. Longenecker, vol. 41, Word Biblical Commentary : Galatians, Word Biblical
Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), cxiii.

3
dative of purpose (It is for freedom that Christ has set us free). Ronald Fung also says that
a better translation for the phrase would be to translate it as a dative of instrument. He
gives two arguments to demonstrate this: (a) the article is used with noun marks and this
shows that ''freedom'' is something specific and (b) for the idea of purpose or destination
Paul uses another expression (ep'eleuteria) in verse 136. In regard to Fung's arguments, I
have two objections: (a) He didn't define what the term freedom it is, if it refers at
something specific as he said and this translation doesn't make too much sense and (b) as
Betz says, this verse has to be read in connection with verse 13, but it has to see the
passage as a whole, from which verse one is a part, and if we take it as a whole,7 we can
see that the main point that Paul stresses is that freedom is portrayed as a purpose in
itself. Fung doesn't take verse 1 as being a part of the passage that continues with verse 2,
but he says that this is a separate verse or a ''bridge'' 8 verse, and this is probably the reason
why he does not interpret it its context. In other words, we can conclude that ep eleuteria
should be translated as dative of purpose.
The concept of freedom is viewed by Stott as being the ''freedom of
conscience'' and the free access to God through Christ. 9 According to Waggoner, the
freedom that is stated here, refers to the lost dominium that was given to us in the Garden

Fung, Ronald Y. K. The Epistle to the Galatians. (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans
Pub. Co, 1988), 216.
7
Hans Dieter Betz, Galatians : A Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Churches in Galatia,
Includes Indexes., Hermeneia--a critical and historical commentary on the Bible (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1979), 256.
8

Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, 216.

Stott, The Message of the Galatians,143.

4
of Eden. Through sin we have lost this dominium, so Jesus, through His death, gave us
back the dominium, especially that over the sin. 10 In other words, there is nothing that has
greater power on us since nothing can dominate us, not even sin.
Ridderbos makes an interesting statement referring to this concept, saying that
the freedom is from the curse of the law. Since no one can fulfill the law, this law brings
a spiritual curse - that of death.11 When the law is not fulfilled it brings upon the
trespasser guilt, which equals death. So, in conclusion I can say that the concept of
freedom refers to the freedom from the guilt that the law brings.
We come now to the second part, as stated above, according to Stott, the
commandment ''stand firm''. By this imperative, Paul emphasizes the importance of what
he stated before - the freedom given through Christ. ''Paul appeals to the Galatians to
remain loyal to the gospel as he originally proclaimed it to them'' 12.
The yoke of slavery Bruce says that it refers to the law of Moses,13 but I
disagree with him on this, since the term again refers to a previous bondage, which
cannot be the mosaic law, since the recipients of Paul's letter were Christians from
gentiles, so they could not have gone back to the mosaic law since they never kept it. The

10

Waggoner, E. J. The Glad Tidings; Studies in Galatians, (Mountain View, Calif: Pacific
Press Pub. Association, 1973) 108.
11
Ridderbos, Herman N., The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia, (Grand Rapids,
Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1953), 186.
12

13

Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 975.

Bruce, F. F., The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, (Grand
Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1982), 226.

5
yoke of slavery, in my opinion, refers to the guilt that the law brings and the returning in
the sphere of death, brought by the dominion of sin.
Verse 2
The first thing that we can notice here is that Paul uses his name, to emphasize
the importance of what he is going to say. 14 The reason why Paul deals with this problem
so seriously is because the problem of the circumcision is not just a simple surgery15 but it
has wider implications, meaning that the sacrifice of Christ is not enough for salvation.
This problem was not just a theory or something that might happen in the
future, but it was something that was present in the church of Galatia, given the fact that
the verb '' ''appears in present subjunctive.16 This is why Paul has to be very
direct in addressing the problem. When something else adds in the equation of salvation,
which has as element only Jesus, His sacrifice becomes with ''no value'', since we place
ourselves in the sphere of death by trying to get to salvation through other means then
Jesus.
Verse 3
This verse is not just a repetition of the preceding verse, but also an
explanation of it.17

14

Longenecker, Word Biblical Commentary, 225.

15

Stott,The Message of the Galatians, 144.

16

Longenecker, Word Biblical Commentary, 225

17

Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, 222.

6
Longenecker thinks that the Galatians didn't know about the implications of
the circumcision - the keeping of the entire mosaic law in order for Abraham's promise to
take effect on them too.18 On the other hand, Betz states that the reason why they had to
keep the entire law was to understand all its implications and significations. 19 In my
opinion, Paul tries to explain them that by seeking justification through the works of the
law and by giving up to Christ sacrifice, you have to keep the entire law, acknowledging
them also about the impossibility of such of thing. This impossibility, of which they were
aware of, is also stated by Betz, showing that some of the Jews were trying to reduce the
requirements of Torah to something they could keep.20 In other words Paul was trying to
help them understand that ''the circumcision is the seal of the law'' and by entering in this
method of justification, we cannot ''plead for the grace of Christ''.21
Verse 4
Furthermore, in this verse, Paul continues with his argument, pointing out
what circumcision really is, and what are its implications. His speech becomes even
clearer in saying that you cannot have both, Christ and justification by law. As Stott
states, it is impossible to receive circumcision and still to receive Christ, recognizing you

18

Longenecker, Word Biblical Commentary, 227.

19

Betz, Galatians, 260.

20

Ibid.

21

Joseph Barber Lightfoot, St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, A Revised Text With
Introduction, Notes, and Dissertations., Half-Title: The Epistles of St. Paul. II. The Third Apostolic
Journey. 3; Dissertations: I. Were the Galatians Celts or Teutons? II. The Brethren of the Lord. III. St. Paul
and the Three., ed. Joseph Barber Lightfoot, 4th ed. (London: Macmillan and co., 1874), 203.

7
cannot save yourself.22Galatians by being Christian and believing that Christ sacrifice is
not enough and it needs the works of the law, for salvation, it to make with no effect the
sacrifice of Jesus23 in their case, because they were choosing another means of
justification.
Conclusion and application for today
In conclusion, Paul here does not talk only about the circumcision, but the
passage has a deeper meaning, bringing forward a subject still current nowadays - Christ
is not enough. Paul knew that the problem was not the circumcision, not even the law, but
the fact that by trying to add something to Christ sacrifice for salvation they were actually
saying that His sacrifice is not enough. The same thing we find in our churches nowadays
too. We start to put different burdens, to show that our identity is different, thinking that
the equation of salvation is too simple. Paul is very drastic in his statements saying that
such a concept it means to make the sacrifice of Christ inoperative in our life. Whenever
we add something else in the equation of salvation we place ourselves in the sphere of
death, because we reject the sacrifice of Christ.

22

Stott,The Message of the Galatians, 145.

23

Francis D. Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 976.

8
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bruce, F. F., The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, Grand
Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1982.
Dunn, James D. G., The Theology of Paul's Letter to the Galatians, Cambridge
[England]: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Francis D. Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary : The Holy Bible With
Exegetical and Expository Comment., Commentary Reference Series
Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1978.
Fung, Ronald Y. K., The Epistle to the Galatians, Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans
Pub. Co., 1988.
Joseph Barber Lightfoot, St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, A Revised Text With
Introduction, Notes, and Dissertations, Half-Title: The Epistles of St. Paul. II.
The Third Apostolic Journey. 3; Dissertations: I. Were the Galatians Celts or
Teutons? II. The Brethren of the Lord. III. St. Paul and the Three., ed. Joseph
Barber Lightfoot, 4th ed. London: Macmillan and co., 1874.
Richard N. Longenecker, vol. 41, Word Biblical Commentary: Galatians, Word Biblical
Commentary, Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002.
Ridderbos, Herman N., The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia, Grand Rapids,
Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1953.
Stott, John R. W., The Message of the Galatians: John R.W. Stott, Leicester, England:
Inter-Varsity Press, 1986.
Waggoner, E. J., The Glad Tidings; Studies in Galatians, Mountain View, Calif: Pacific
Press Pub. Association, 1973.