The Galatians were once under the yoke of slavery (Gal 3:23; 4:3.8) by worshipping idols. Now freed by Christ, why would they want to submit to the yoke of slavery again? With submission to circumcision comes one theological reality - “Christ shall profit you nothing” (5:2), and one moral obligation - “to do all the law” (5:3). Thus, submission to circumcision nullifies the saving grace of Christ - they “are discharged from Christ” (5:4).
Verse 5 brings with itself a surprise. Here, the righteousness seems to be a future reality, which we ’eagerly expect“. It is ”the hope of righteousness". We eagerly expect in spirit by faith.
Perhaps, the act of righteousness should be seen as a process. It begins with faith in the message of the Gospel and baptism in Christ where we receive the Holy Spirit and become adopted children of God, but its fulfillment (see 1 John 3:2) is still a future reality and can only be achieved through our trust in God’s power to accomplish it and through our submission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In this “eagerly awaiting” of “the hope of righteousness” circumcision plays no part whatsoever. Those baptized in Christ Jesus, those, who put on Christ Jesus (see Gal 3:27) are guided by other principle than the law, namely “faith acting through love” (5:6).
Their life of faith is compared to run, to an obedience to the truth. It was good up to a certain moment, then somebody “cut them” or “hindered them” from the run, from obeying the truth. Paul wish that those Judaizantes, who threw an obstacle to their run, castrate themselves (5:12). Judaism abhorred eunuchs (Deut 23:2), thus such a statement had to be an insult to those Jewish missionaries, who perverted the Gospel. On the other hand, Paul is still hopeful that he can win the Galatians back into the true Gospel.
The main argument in this part, however, focuses on the fact that the Cross and circumcision cannot be reconciled. If that could be done, then the crucified Christ would not be “a stumbling block” to the Jews (1 Cor 1:23), and Paul would not be persecuted by his own people for his understanding of the Gospel (see Acts 21:21.28; 2 Cor 11:24).
In this section, Paul shows that the law of Christ differs from the law of the Old Testament, which passed away (Gal 5:13–25). The law of Christ is the law of love (Gal 5:13–15) and our schoolmaster is the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:16–26).
Now, Paul focus on proper understanding of Christian freedom. It is not a license to do what one wants, but love expressed in mutual service. Freedom from the old law leads to freedom to serve others (see Mark 10:45, Lev 19:18; Mark 12:31). Unfortunately, the Galatians do not follow that rule. Their decision to embrace the law under the persuasion of the Judaizantes brought about bitter conflicts among them (5:15). Thus, they live according to the flesh, imitating Ishmael (Gal 4:29).
Two different modes of life are now clearly explained. The fruits of the flesh are divided into four categories:
The phrase “and such like” indicates that this is not an exhaustive list of sins characterizing a life according to the flesh (see also Rom 1:29–31). What is the outcome of such a life? Being excluded from inheriting the Kingdom of God. Notice, that promise of inheritance is connected with Paul’s arguments in Gal 3:18.29; 4:7.
There is one more aspect of a life according to the flesh, namely desiring vain glory (Gal 5:26), which characterizes those preachers who pervert the Gospel and want to win the Galatians for themselves in order to have a reason for vain glory (Gal 4:17; 6:12).
Then, Paul mentions nine fruits of the Spirit:
The source of these fruits is not the law but the Spirit. They are also related to the sacrament of baptism. It is evident that life according to the flesh has to die first, before the life according to the Spirit can take over. In this process, the sacrament of baptism plays its fundamental role. Since, in this sacrament we receive the Spirit of Christ, so this new mode of life comes from the Spirit (Gal 5:24–25; see also Rom 6:3–14).