No. 36. >> Slow me down if I'm jumping ahead but I'm curious. With Galatians 5 and 6 there's a shift in Paul's homily. What role does the statement "For in Christ Jesus there is no power in circumcision or uncircumcision but faith actively working through love" play in the rest of Paul's letter. Does this verse illuminate other verses here at the close of the letter? >>DR. ARTHUR A. JUST, JR.: I think you've recognized, Eric, that we are in a shift from the first four chapters of Galatians, particularly the last two that have been the exegetical argument now into what we're going to call the pastoral section. And I want to call it that. I don't like the language of exhortation. I used it earlier, paranesis, this is language that I think makes us uncomfortable. Because it has the language of the law in it. I want to call this the pastoral section. Now, let me begin in answering your question by giving an overview of these two chapters. You know, as a Lutheran, we have been those who have kind of exalted in the freedom of the Gospel. And we've always been afraid of the law. And especially when we talk about how we are to live. The life of sanctification. This always makes Lutherans very nervous. When I first taught the epistle to the Galatians, I was always very weary of these last two chapters. And I didn't like them. Because it talked about what it means to live in the world as a Christian. And when we start talking about that, we're very scared of becoming too reformed or to talk too much about how daily life is a means of salvation. I think it's important to recognize that that uncomfortableness is something that Paul is aware of. And I want you to picture the situation in Galatians like this. And then I want to make a comparison to our situation today. I think what the opponents to Paul had in Galatia are saying to the Galatians about Paul is this: They are saying: Paul, we've already told you how much we admire and respect him. That Paul is a brilliant man. A man who knows his Scripture better than anyone else. As we said, he was the top of our class. But Paul made it too simple for you. Paul made it simple for you because, you know, he's kind of like a seminary professor. He doesn't live in the real world he doesn't know what it's like out there in the daily life of Christians. He doesn't know what the battle is like out there. He doesn't know what it means to live in the world. And so we're helping you to live. And in order to live this world, you've got to have the law. You can't live without the law. You have to have the law as a guide in showing you the way in which you can be obedient to God. So Paul is out of touch with reality. So don't listen to him. He only gives you part of the story. We give you the full story. And what we give is good, practical, solid advice on how to live in the world. Now, I think that Paul was hearing what they were saying. I think Paul knew that this is exactly what they were saying about his teaching. And Paul turns to the Galatians here and he goes: Listen. Don't listen to them because they don't know what daily life in the church is like. Listen to me. Because I know what real life is like. And real life is always defined by Christ. We have the real life in Christ. Not them. So let me talk to you now about what it means to be a pastor in Christ's church. And let me as a pastor show you what a map looks like of a world in which God is making all things new. A world in which freedom reigns. A world in which God in Christ is making right what has gone wrong. Let me give you a map of daily life in the Christian church where Christ is present with his gifts. They are giving you a map of the law. That's the wrong map. I am now going to give you a map in which daily life in God's church is constituted by love. Love is where it's at. And love is the first fruit of the Spirit. I'm talking about faithful and dynamic love. I'm not talking about romantic love or emotional love. I'm talking about love in the corporate life of the church. That's not a human deed but a fruit of the Spirit. And I want to show you now how faith is energized love. Not a romantic feeling. But a pattern of life. A way of living in Christ. Because he first loved us and gave his life for us. Love is now going to be the central theme of these last two chapters, says Paul. Love is what this really entire epistle is about. The love of Christ in the cross and the love of Christians in the world. Now, take a moment and look with me at what Paul is a saying and see if it's true. And let's just bounce around these last two chapters. You asked the question, Eric, about for in Christ Jesus there is no power in circumcision or uncircumcision but faith actively working through love. That is what Verse 6 says. And we're going to get to that. But let's just look at that first. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision matters, avails or has power, nor uncircumcision. But faith actively working through love. Now, that's a profound statement. He's saying: I don't want to talk about circumcision or uncircumcision. Those aren't the issues. What's the issue is how faith is actively working through love. Now, this is -- this concept of love is important. Because then in Verse 14 he says: The entire law, all of the law, comes to its perfect completion in one word. And this is really one saying from Scripture. And you know this from Leviticus 19. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Now, there you can see love being acted out in concrete ways with one's neighbor. Now, you know that's the second table of the law. That's what the law is about. Loving your neighbor as yourself. Just as Jesus loved us as himself in giving up his life for us. If you look at Verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is -- what's the first fruit of the Spirit, the most important one. Love. Then he goes on, joy and peace and patience and kindness, et cetera. But love is the first fruit of the Spirit. That's what it's all about. And then this is extraordinary. He doesn't use the word love. But I think you can see here that he is talking about something that is parallel to love. In Chapter 6 Verse 2 he's talking about bearing one another's burdens. That's what it means to love one's neighbor. That's faith actively expressing itself, working it self out in love. To bear one another's burdens. And when you do that, you bring to fulfillment over and over again not the love of Christ but the law of Christ. Now, that law of Christ goes back to 5:14. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. That's how the whole law is fulfilled, in Christ's love. And that is what he now calls the law of Christ. Now imagine how shattering that would be. He never used the law in a positive way. And now he's calling it the law of Christ. And then finally in Chapter 6 Verse 14, remember 5:6 says for in Christ Jesus circumcision avails nothing nor uncircumcision but faith actively working in love. In 6:15 he says: For neither circumcision is anything nor uncircumcision. But what is something? New creation. New creation. That's one of the great themes of Galatians. And new creation is where the love of Christ expressed on the cross is now actively expressing itself in faith where we are loving our neighbors as ourselves. And we are bearing one another's burdens. And thus, fulfilling the law of Christ. Now, that takes us back to Chapter 5 Verses 2 and following. And just take a look at that. And I think as we do, you will see how these passages now have a context in which we can see the daily life in the Christian church is what Paul is talking about here.