5:1To freedom Christ freed us – therefore you must stand-firm and you must not again be held-in by a yoke of slavery.
Having already taught the Galatian holy-people (sanctified-people, Christians, saints, children of God) that all holy-people are brothers, and we are not children of the servant-girl (Hagar) but we are children of the free-woman (Sarah) allegory-wise (Galatians 4:22-31), Paul continues: to freedom Christ freed us. Christ has set us at liberty from slavery – to where? Freedom (liberty)! Paul emphasizes that it is "to freedom" by putting this at the start of the sentence. Christ did not free us to go back into slavery again! All holy-people have been freed by Christ to freedom.
Logically following on from this truth, you holy-people must presently and actively stand-firm (stand fast as opposed to falling) and you must not again be held-in (caused to be held within a limited space) by a yoke which-is and belongs-to slavery (servitude's wooden/metal bar or frame by-which you are forced to work and live within its limitations, like oxen are yoked when plowing a field). Such slavery can only be available in the walk/behavior category because spiritually Christ has already redeemed us (Galatians 3:13).
[Reference: John 8:31-36; Acts 15:10; Romans 8:2, 15, and 21; Galatians 2:4; II Corinthians 3:17.]
Verses 2-4:
.2Look!, I Paul, I say to you that if-ever you may be circumcised Christ will profit you nothing; .3but I witness again to every man being circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law: .4you, the-people-who are being made-righteous in law, were rendered-ineffective away-from Christ, you fell-from the grace.
Look! (behold!, see!), emphatically I Paul, not someone else, I lay this out before you that if it should ever happen that you would be circumcised (cut-around removing the foreskin in the flesh) then Christ will profit (benefit, advantage) you not one-thing.
You holy-people have received the gift of holy spirit and so nothing in the flesh category can change or add-to or subtract-from your sonship relationship with God. But if you circumcise yourselves now you are saying to Christ that even though you did believe what God said about him at one time you are now doubtful that he really was able to do everything that God asked him to do and so you are going to do it all by yourself by reverting back to the covenant of circumcision and law so that you can fulfill it because he did not!
The Lord Jesus Christ has already accomplished redemption and has set all holy-people free – therefore whatever any holy-person may do in the flesh to somehow gain 'more' from God is without any profit from Christ because God by means of Christ has given every holy-person every spiritual blessing that is presently available for us to receive (refer to Galatians 3:9 and 14; Ephesians 1:3).
But I bear witness from myself (I attest to the information and knowledge that I have and can therefore confirm it on the strength of my-own authority) again to all/every man who is presently being circumcised (thinking that by doing such an action he will gain some kind of favor with God) that this man is a debtor (one who owes something to someone or something else, indebted, under obligation on some account, obliged to perform a certain duty - which is) to do the entire law! If that is what somebody wants to do and live-by then doesn't he realize that by circumcising himself he puts himself under obligation to perform, to carry-out the instructions of the whole law, not just one part of it!
You people who are in your own opinions presently being made-righteous (causing yourselves to become justified, setting yourselves forth by a judicial act making you righteous) within the sphere of action of the law by endeavoring to do what the law says, were rendered ineffective (caused to be inoperative, inactive, useless) because by doing what you are doing in law you are staying away-from Christ and all that he has accomplished, and you have fallen out-from the grace (the unmerited favor which God has made available to you by means of the Lord Jesus Christ since the day of Pentecost when the gift of holy spirit was poured-out).
[Reference: Acts 15:1-12; Romans 2:17-29; Galatians 2:21; Ephesians 2:4-9; Hebrews 12:15; James 2:10, 11.]
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We can walk in line with spirit
