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 5:20

Eastern Fathers

Theophylact of Ohrid

Let those who slander the flesh tell us. Granted that shamelessness and adultery are sins of the body, but how do enmity, heresies, and the like depend on the flesh? Therefore it is clear that all these are the work of a corrupted will. If they were works of the flesh, like our natural properties, how would they deprive us of the Kingdom of God? For punishments and rewards belong not to nature, but to the will. …

Commentary on Galatians ↗

Oecumenius

"enmities." The unjust. For there are also just enmities, those arising from faithfulness. For he says that if it were possible for you to be at peace with all people, it is clear that there are times when this is not possible. "jealousy." For one must not be jealous, but rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. "rivalries." As in quarrels arising from conflict.

Commentary on Galatians ↗

Clement of Alexandria

Now it is adultery, if one, abandoning the ecclesiastical and true knowledge, and the persuasion respecting God, accedes to false and incongruous opinion, either by deifying any created object, or by making an idol of anything that exists not, so as to overstep, or rather step from, knowledge. And to the Gnostic false opinion is foreign, as the true belongs to him, and is allied with him. …

The Stromata Book 6 ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

Against God he lists two: one of these is that whereby divine worship is hindered by the enemies of God; as to this he says, "idolatry": "Neither become ye idolaters as some of them" (1 Cor 10:7); "For the worship of abominable idols is the cause and beginning and end of all evil" (Wis 14:27). …

Commentary on Galatians ↗