Fathers

Galatians 5

Tap a verse to read the Fathers. Press and hold, then drag, to make a card.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

About · Privacy · Credits · Support VRSZ

What the Fathers say

Galatians 5:17

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

Here some make the charge that the Apostle has divided man into two parts, and that he states the essence of which he is compounded to be conflicting with itself, and that the body has a contest with the soul. But this is not so, most certainly; for by "the flesh," he does not mean the body; if he did, what would be the sense of the clause immediately following, "for it lusteth," he says, "against the Spirit?" yet the body moves not, but is moved, is not an agent, but is acted upon. …

Homily on Galatians 5 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

On the basis of these words, the Manichaeans and all heretics of this sort say that man consists of two opposing natures and that the apostle confirms this with the present words. But no: he is reasoning not about nature, but by "flesh" he means earthly thoughts, careless and heedless, and not the body, and by "spirit" he means spiritual thoughts, and not the soul. Earthly thoughts, he says, oppose spiritual ones, and spiritual ones oppose earthly ones. …

Commentary on Galatians ↗

Oecumenius

"For the flesh desires against the Spirit." By flesh here he means the fleshly and evil desires. And by spirit, the grace of the Holy Spirit toward virtue. And he says: Evil opposes virtue, and virtue in turn opposes evil, fulfilling the role of a certain guardian, and not allowing us to follow the wicked desires. — [PHOTIUS] Virtue opposes vice, so that the fleshly will, stirred by vice, may not immediately, as if unrestrained and uncontrolled, be carried headlong toward sin. …

Commentary on Galatians ↗

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

Now let us see whether we anywhere read about the flesh being contrary in the baptized also. And here, I ask, to whom did the apostle say, "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye do not the things that ye would?" He wrote this, I apprehend, to the Galatians, to whom he also says, "He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?" It appears, therefore, …

On Nature and Grace 61 ↗

Jerome

For the flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These indeed are opposed to one another, so that you may not do the things that you wish. The flesh takes pleasure in present and short-lived things, while the spirit is concerned with eternal and future things. …

Commentary on Galatians ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit," he tells why this benefit is needed, namely, because of the struggle between flesh and spirit. First, he asserts that there is a struggle; Secondly, he elucidates this by an obvious sign (v. 17). He says therefore: It is necessary that by the spirit you overcome the desires of the flesh, "for the flesh lusteth against the spirit." But one might have a doubt here, because, since lusting is an act of the soul alone, it does not seem to come from the flesh. …

Commentary on Galatians ↗