Part 1 - Those naughty Galatians

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 

faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is 
no law” (Gal 5:22-23).

Paul’s letter to the Galatians is unlike any of his other letters to the early church. He is really quite furious with them, and his frustration at their behaviour is littered throughout the whole letter. He basically calls out their bad behaviour, doesn’t hold back, and lets them have it with both barrels!

‘I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by 

the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel 

at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert 

the gospel of Christ’ (1:6-7)

‘You foolish Galatians!’ (3:1)

‘Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your
goal by human effort?’ (3:2-3)

‘My dear children, for whom I am in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed 

in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am 

perplexed about you!’ (4:19-20)

‘See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!’ (6:11)

That final verse reminds me of how in modern texting and messaging etiquette that to use FULL CAPITALS indicates someone shouting, usually in anger or irritation. You can hear Paul’s frustration with the Galatian church in verse 6:11 - maybe those large letters were FULL CAPITALS - emphasising his exasperation! Also, by telling them he is writing to them in his own hand, rather than the more usual practice of using a scribe, Paul is stressing the importance of his message as he took the time to write this personally.

So, the question is why was Paul so frustrated with the church in Galatia, and what do we need to learn from this letter? Timothy Keller describes the purpose of the letter to the Galatians as:

‘in this short letter, Paul outlines the bombshell truth that the gospel is the A to Z
of the Christian life. It is not the way to enter the kingdom; it is the way to live
as part of the kingdom. It is the way Christ transforms people, churches 

and communities.’ 1

What had happened is that the church in Galatia was not living a Christian life. They were being ‘confused’ by other preachers who came after Paul, who were preaching a different message, and were more concerned about the ‘law’, and not the freedom found in living the Christian life through the crucified Christ. They were causing the Galatians to abandon the gospel of Christ, for a different gospel. They were reverting to traditions, law and cultural practices, and these were seemingly more important than the freedom found in Christ.

‘Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until 

faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we 

might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the 

supervision of the law’ (3:23-25).

Now, why have I included all this background when talking about the fruit of the Spirit? Partly because I think that it is easy to fall into practices that are not glorifying to Christ, or bring freedom to ourselves in our Christian walk. The Galatians were being duped and living back under the ‘law’ when Paul had preached a message of being justified by faith. They were missing the point. Do we allow our own ‘traditions and culture’, or ‘law’, to sometimes cause us to miss the point, and not to flourish?

As a young Christian, I know that my personal faith journey was challenged by some of my behaviours and choices. Thankfully, I have always had more mature Christians around me who were able to disciple me, challenge me, correct me, encourage me, pray with me, and teach me how to live a life in the Spirit, and not under the ‘law’. My journey is far from completed, but rather an ongoing one. There are many days when I feel I have ‘dropped the ball’ and my behaviour, attitudes, or more usually my thought life, have been dishonouring to Christ. By seeking his forgiveness and striving to do better, and with the help of his Holy Spirit, I try to live my life by his fruit.

Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit so that we can develop our Christian character, to be free, to be the fullness of who God created us to be. We need to ensure that we are practising:

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and 

self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Are there things that are holding you back from living in this freedom? Practices or beliefs that fall under the ‘law’? Let’s not live like the Galatians who forgot Paul’s message of freedom through faith, but fell into the pattern of old practices which denied them the true gospel and whose character was brought in question. Instead, let’s embrace the fruit of the Spirit, against which there is no law, and which enables us to build our true Christian character.

In our next blog post we will consider how the fruit of the Spirit in partnership with the Spiritual Gifts help us to develop our full Christian Character.

By Alex C
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References:
1 Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, (The Good Book Company, 2013), 9.