Fathers

Galatians 5

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Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole law. You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love. You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little yeast grows through the whole lump. I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you will think no other way. But he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off. For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you don’t consume one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.

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What the Fathers say

Galatians 5:14

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

Seeing that they made so much of the Law, he says, "If you wish to fulfill it, do not be circumcised, for it is fulfilled not in circumcision but in love." Observe how he cannot forget his grief, but constantly touches upon what troubled him, even when launched into his moral discourse.

Homily on Galatians 5 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

If fully, he says, you desire to fulfill the law, then fulfill it not by circumcision, but by love, because in this consists the fullness of the law. See, while setting forth moral instructions, he does not forget dogmatic teaching either. So greatly did he grieve over their error.

Commentary on Galatians ↗

Oecumenius

"For the whole law." If you really, he says, wish to fulfill the law, do not do so by circumcising, but by loving one another; in this way you fulfill it.

Commentary on Galatians ↗

Western Saints

Jerome

But serve one another through love; for the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' When he was free from all, he made himself a servant of all for the sake of love, so that he might gain more (I Cor. XIII). He rightly exhorts others to serve him through love, which does not seek its own, but that of the neighbor. …

Commentary on Galatians ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word," he explains what he says: First, about charity; Secondly, about not making liberty an occasion to the flesh (v. 16). As to the first he admonishes them to follow charity: First, because of the benefit we obtain in fulfilling charity; Secondly, because of the injury incurred by neglecting charity (v. 15). …

Commentary on Galatians ↗