Galatians 5:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.

NIV: Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

NASB: But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated.

CSB: Now brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

NLT: Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised — as some say I do — why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended.

KJV: And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

NKJV: And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.

In the previous verses, Paul has strongly condemned the idea that anyone must be circumcised in order to be accepted by God. He made his position crystal clear. Only faith in Christ can make anyone righteous before God (Galatians 5:6). As part of this, Paul—perhaps only as a figure of speech—asked why the Galatians would think of him as their enemy for telling them the truth (Galatians 4:16).

Here, Paul addresses what might have been an alternative rumor. Based on this verse, it appears someone had been spreading a claim that Paul taught the necessity of circumcision. This may have been one way the false teachers gained acceptance in the Galatian churches: by suggesting that their message was the same as Paul's, and that Paul required men to be circumcised to be saved (Galatians 2:4).

Paul makes clear that he teaches no such thing. After all, that is exactly what those persecuting Christians want Paul to say. If he were preaching that men must be circumcised, the Jewish religious leaders would stop persecuting him! The logic here is direct: Why were these leaders persecuting Paul? What were they so angry about? Paul describes it as the "offense of the cross." The Judaizers were furious because Paul insisted that we can do nothing by our own human effort to save ourselves. Christ paid for all our sin on the cross. The cross completely satisfied all of God's demands for payment. Period (Galatians 3:23–29).

For those still attached to the law of Moses, that made the cross a scandal—a stumbling block, meaning a great offense. If Paul were really telling Christians they must be circumcised, that offense would be gone. Paul was saying just the opposite. The offense of the cross remained.

Galatians 5:1–15 focuses on what those in Christ should do with our freedom in Christ. First, we must guard it, especially from those who would pressure us to follow the law. Paul was confident the Galatians would resist the one leading them in the wrong direction. Paul also warns us not to waste our freedom in Christ to selfishly serve ourselves instead of serving each other in love. The entire law is fulfilled in that one word: love. Those who serve themselves, though, will always end up in conflict with each other.

Those who trust in Christ have been set free. Paul's readers were in danger of wasting that freedom, by veering off in one of two directions. On the one hand, false teachers were pressuring them into circumcision in order to be sure of being right with God. On the other hand, freedom can also be squandered on serving only our sinful desires instead of investing it through serving others in love. God's Spirit gives us the power to do that when we let Him lead us. Life in the Spirit bears powerful and positive fruit in a Christian's life.

Galatians 3—4 focused on theology. Galatians 5—6 focus on how Christians should live in response to those truths. In short, we must resist being dragged away from the freedom we have in Christ to follow the law. We must also resist wasting our freedom on serving our sinful desires instead of serving others in love. We can do this by the power of God's Spirit with us. When we give Him the lead, powerful, positive characteristics show up in us. Galatians 6 will show how to use those characteristics to serve each other.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.