Thoughts on Galatians 5:6

For those who are Christians, the things we do, the words we say, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, or the movies we watch count for nothing in terms of our righteousness. That’s what Paul is telling the Galatians here when he says “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything”. So whether you wear a three piece suit or jeans with holes in them, it doesn’t count for anything. It doesn’t matter. The man wearing the nice suit will not, in any way, be seen by God as more righteous than the man with holes in his jeans. As humans, because of tradition and other factors we sinfully perceive the man dressed nicely to be more righteous. Paul tells us here that we are wrong when we make those judgments.

So what then counts toward our righteousness? Paul tells us that “only faith working through love counts for anything”. So nothing we do is credited to us as righteous in the eyes of God. It is only by faith in Jesus that we are seen as righteous. But notice that it doesn’t stop at faith. Paul tells us that it is our faith that is credited as righteousness and that faith will work itself out through love. This is not an issue of faith vs. works. Let me be clear: we are saved by faith alone in Christ alone, not by works. That whole concept of faith vs. works is ridiculous anyway. That concept puts faith at odds with works as if they are enemies or opponents. Faith and works are allies, they go hand in hand and where we see faith we should also see works. I love the way Paul puts it because they are so intertwined that they cannot be separated. Look at it: “faith working through love.” Faith uses love as the vehicle in which it manifests itself in our lives. Faith and works go hand in hand, they are married to each other. James puts it perfectly in his letter: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James then goes on to address an objector who argues that faith and works are indeed separable, and James responds that faith can be shown only through righteous deeds: “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” He ends the section on faith and works with this: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

Can everyone see this? We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone and that faith manifests itself in loving works aimed at those around us who are in need. As Christians our faith should be working itself out in the community so that if we disappeared from our community we would be dearly missed. Ask yourself this question: If I were to die today would my presence be missed by those around me because of the love and compassion I have showed to them?

What’s your answer?