In Galatians 4:8–5:12, the apostle Paul continues his defense against the Judaizers who claim that believers in Christ must also follow the law in order to be right with God. Paul pleads with the Galatians to not return to the yoke of slavery, but to live free and express their faith through love.

Previous Posts: Gal 1:1–10; Gal 1:11–2:10; Gal 2:11–21; Gal 3:1–14; Gal 3:15–4:7

Known by God

Paul reminds the Galatians that in the past they were slaves to things that are not gods (4:8). But now they know God (4:9). More accurately, God knows them. So they should not turn back to weak and worthless religious rules—things like observing special ceremonial days, months, seasons, and years (4:10; Col 2:16). For this will only enslave them all over again (4:9, 1 Cor 8:3. Paul is afraid that he has wasted his efforts on them (4:11).

Paul is saying, “How can you turn back to depending on the law to make you right with God since you already know God and, more importantly, God knows you?” I am in awe again that God knows me and made a way for me to know him. This reassures me that I do not have to make myself lovable, or good enough, or follow a set of rules. I especially don’t pursue vocational ministry in order for God to accept me. I am already known by him!

How does realizing that God knows you make a difference in how you live?

How Their Story Began

Paul pleads with his brothers and sisters to become like him (i.e. free from the law) because he became like them (4:12). Dr. Constable explains it this way: “Paul had become “as” his readers were in the sense that he had lived among them as a Gentile, not under the Mosaic Law. He now called on them, out of a sense of fair play, to live independent of the Law, as he did.”¹

Because of an illness Paul first preached the gospel to them (4:13). And even though it was difficult for them, they did not treat him with contempt or scorn but welcomed him as if he were “an angel of God,” almost like “Christ Jesus himself” (4:14). “If that’s how they treated him at first why aren’t they blessing his message now?” Paul wonders. This group would’ve torn out their eyes for him (4:15) and now they’re treating Paul like the enemy for telling them the truth (4:16).

We don’t have enough evidence to know what Paul’s illness was. But from this I see how close the church was to Paul and thus how hard it must have been to see them now treat him like an enemy. It’s hard sometimes to hear the truth, even from someone we highly respect.

Who might you be treating like an enemy for telling you the truth?

Christ is Formed in You

Paul now reveals the motives and evil intentions of those that are zealous to win the Galatians over to their side. They want to alienate the Galatians from Paul so they transfer their zeal to the new group (4:17). Paul assures his readers it’s okay to be zealous “provided the purpose is good” and they are consistent in their enthusiasm, not just when Paul is with them (4:18). He then addresses the Galatians like a father who is suffering the pains of labor to bring them to spiritual maturity, until Christ is formed in them (4:19, Rom 8:29). He wants to be with them so that he might “change his tone because he is perplexed about them (4:20).

Paul’s phrase, “Christ is formed in you,” describes the concept of spiritual formation, the process of growing into Christ, living out our identity, and becoming the child and heir that he created (and gave his life for) us to be. As a teenager, I adopted the goal to become like Christ (Rom 8:29), attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:11–13). Practices like studying scripture, breath prayer, praying God’s word, daily examen, lectio divina, and practicing the presence of God help form me into Christ’s image. I try to be intentional about letting these practices form me rather than social media or my favorite podcaster.

What does spiritual formation look like in your life? What is currently forming you spiritually?

Hagar and Sarah Analogy

Since the Galatians want to follow the Mosaic law, Paul reminds them what the law says (4:22). He takes his readers back to the familiar story (Gen 16, 21:1–21) of Abraham (the founder of Judaism) in Genesis (a book in the law section of the Old Testament) to prove his point (4:21). Paul reminds them that Abraham had two sons, one by Hagar, a slave, and another by Sarah, a free woman (4:22). Paul compares the two women and their descendants.

The Judaizers argued that they were children of Abraham too, but they failed to consider they were actually Abraham’s son by the slave woman. On the other hand, the Galatians are, like Isaac, “children of the promise” (4:28), “children of the free woman” (4:31).

Paul is not making statements about the women themselves for God heard and saw Hagar and made provision for her son (Gen 16:11–13). Rather he’s making an analogy, drawing parallels between the Judaizers and Christ-followers. Hagar represents the Mosaic Covenant of law-keeping and Sarah represents the New Covenant promised by faith.

I so need Paul’s reminder that as a non-Jewish Christian, I am a child of a promise received by faith. I am also struck by the detail in the story about persecution. When I served in Indonesia, I noticed more than once that opposition did not come from our Muslim neighbors, but rather from the established church. Timothy Keller warns, “One of the ways we know that our self-image is based on justification by works is that we persecute!”²

How does reminding yourself that you are a child of the free woman encourage you today?

Freedom in Christ

Paul comes to the crux of his plea to the Galatians. Christ has set us free (5:1) so we’d experience freedom (5:1, 2 Cor 3:17). He urges his readers to “stand firm” and don’t ever again put themselves under a yoke of bondage to the law (5:1).

This is exactly what Jesus said to his followers. The Pharisees put heavy burdens of rules on the people (Acts 15:10) but Jesus’s burden is light (Matt 11:27–29). He truly sets people free (John 8:31–36).

How might you be putting yourself under a yoke of bondage? How can you transfer that yoke to Christ?

Faith Expressed Through Love

Paul then uses a word often translated as “behold.” The gospel writer Matthew used it often. It’s like saying, “Take note, see, listen. This is important!” If they “let themselves be circumcised” Christ is of no value to them at all (5:2, Acts 15:1, 5). Then Paul repeats this concept in a different way: Anyone who lets themselves be circumcised is “obligated to obey the whole law.” (5:3, 3:10-11). Kenneth Taylor, in The Living Bible, translates these verses like this: “Listen to me, for this is serious: if you are counting on circumcision and keeping the Jewish laws to make you right with God, then Christ cannot save you. I’ll say it again. Anyone trying to find favor with God by being circumcised must always obey every other Jewish law or perish” (Gal 5:2–3).

Paul wants his readers to know that those who are “trying to be justified by the law” are “alienated from Christ” and “fallen away from grace” (5:4, 1 John 2:3). This means they aren’t depending on God’s grace (to be justified) but on works. Rather, it’s through the Spirit that we “eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope” (5:5). Here Paul looks ahead to when our righteousness will be fully realized in the future. Then he emphasizes again, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value (Gal 6:15, 1 Cor 7:19). The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (5:6, 1 John 3:23).³

Faith in Christ is what counts, not ceremonies or religious rule keeping. Choose the law and remain in bondage. Choose Christ and be free. But you can’t have both. I’m so glad Paul added that our faith is expressed through love. I’m convinced everything comes back to love.

How can you express your faith through love?

The Offense of the Cross

The Galatians started out so well in their Christian race and were running a good race. Paul wonders who prevented them from obeying the truth? (literally, “broke up their road” 5:7). Whoever they are, their persuasive talk doesn’t come from God who called the Galatians (5:8). Paul says, “This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!” (5:9 NLT). Paul expresses his confidence that they will see things correctly and the one confusing them will pay the penalty (5:10). Paul now addresses the claims that he, too, is preaching that circumcision and law-keeping is necessary for salvation. If that were true, he would no longer be persecuted because people wouldn’t be offended by his message of the cross (5:11, 1 Cor 1:18, 23). Paul concludes this section by expressing strongly his desire that those who disturb the Galatians would castrate themselves (5:12).

Dr. Constable explains this strong language: “If God granted Paul’s wish, they could not produce converts, figuratively speaking. And they would be excluded from the congregation of the Lord according to the Law that they professed to live by (Deut 23:1).”⁴

The word translated “offense” is the same word Jesus used when he called Peter a “stumbling block (Matt 16:23). It means, “any person or thing by which one is drawn into error or sin.”⁵ I truly endeavor to not be a stumbling block to others, preventing them from obeying the truth.

Who might be preventing you from obeying the truth? How does the cross offend people in our day?

Prayer

Father God, thank you for giving me your light yoke rather than a heavy yoke of slavery to rule keeping. Help me not to identify ways that I may return to trusting in my behavior and usefulness rather than your grace. Show me how to express my faith by loving others more completely. Make me more and more into the image of Jesus.

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1. https://soniclight.com/tcon/notes/html/galatians/galatians.htm#head35 ↩︎
2. Timothy Keller, Galatians for You, 128. ↩︎
3. “For the Jews of the first century, circumcision was their mark of identity, a rite that set them apart, along with their kosher dietary laws and separation from Gentiles. Circumcision was the act that had kept many Gentiles as ‘God-fearers,’ attenders at synagogue, but not full converts to Judaism. For Jews, circumcision was the decisive difference between a Jew and a non-Jew. But now Paul says that circumcision is irrelevant. Instead of circumcision, the presence of the Spirit was the new mark of identity. Circumcision was nothing to be ashamed of—or boasted about. It was now irrelevant, superfluous, obsolete. What matters now is not getting circumcised—what the Judaizers were trying to press upon the Galatian congregations—but living out their Spirit-led faith in loving actions.” —Ralph F. Wilson, https://www.jesuswalk.com/galatians/6_freedom.htm ↩︎
4. https://soniclight.com/tcon/notes/html/galatians/galatians.htm#head35 ↩︎
5. “G4625 – skandalon – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (niv).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 2 Nov, 2025. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4625/niv/mgnt/0-1/ ↩︎