What does Galatians 6:18 mean?
ESV: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
NIV: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
NASB: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
CSB: Brothers and sisters, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
NLT: Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
KJV: Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
NKJV: Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Verse Commentary:
The last verse of Paul's letter to the Galatians brings another benediction to the Galatians. It is somewhat standard in form, but it is meaningful. He prays that Christ's grace would be with their spirit, and he calls them his brothers. It's evident that the Galatian believers meant much to Paul. He cared about them deeply. He left them with one last reminder that God's grace through faith in Christ is the way to be justified. It is the truth that makes all who trust in Christ brothers and sisters: part of the family of God.
Verse Context:
Galatians 6:11–18 is the conclusion of Paul's letter to the Galatians. He apparently took the pen from his scribe and wrote these words, with his own hand, in oversized letters. This remark is one reason some scholars think Paul might have had a problem with his eyesight. Once again, Paul reveals the motives of false teachers pressuring the Galatians to be circumcised. They are only promoting themselves. Now that Christ has come, circumcision does nothing. The Galatians should trust Christ, instead, to be made into new creations.
Chapter Summary:
Galatians 6 includes instructions for how people who are free in Christ and walking by God's Spirit, should treat each other. Christians should restore those who are caught by sin, and we should bear each other's burdens. Only those who plant the fruit of God's Spirit, by faith in Christ, will harvest eternal life. Believers should not get tired of doing good for each other! The harvest is coming. Paul concludes the letter, writing in large letters that circumcision means nothing. Only becoming a new creation through faith in Christ matters.
Chapter Context:
Galatians 5 wrapped up with a focus on what it means to be led by God's Spirit. Galatians 6 starts with describing how Spirit-led Christians serve each other by restoring those caught be sin and bearing each other's burdens. Only those who plant God's Spirit in this life, through faith in Christ, will harvest eternal life. Paul concludes the letter by writing in big letters that circumcision does not matter, only being made a new creation by faith in Christ matters.
Book Summary:
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.
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