Free Bible Commentary
“Galatians 5:7-12”
Categories: Galatians“You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.”
---End of Scripture verses---
The Galatian brethren were running the “Christian race” quite well until the false teachers tripped them up and caused them to stumble. They had been “obeying the truth” in faith and godliness, but were “hindered” or “impeded” from doing so by the influence of those who wanted to enslave them to the Law of Moses. We learn from verse 7 that the truth (a.k.a. “the Gospel”, “the doctrine of Christ”, God’s revelation) is something to be OBEYED as well as BELIEVED. When we are believers only and not doers of the word, we delude ourselves (James 1:22), and sever ourselves from Christ (verse 4).
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough” (verse 9). Just the tiniest bit of false doctrine completely corrupts the truth. The Apostle John tells us that “no lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:21). Once the pristine doctrine of Christ has been tainted with a lie, it becomes “a different gospel, which is really not another” gospel (Galatians 1:6-7). The false teachers convinced the Galatian Christians that they needed to be circumcised and observe Jewish holy days in order to please God. That seemingly insignificant addition corrupted their faith and condemned their souls.
God stresses in the Bible that people must strictly follow His commandments in truth and obedience, and that nothing should be added to or taken away from His word (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:19). Even additions that seem harmless will cause great damage and engender God’s rejection. Once you open the door for doctrinal error, there is no telling how far you will deviate from the truth. But the main point Paul is making in today’s verses is that it doesn’t matter how far you deviate. Once you’ve taken the first step off the straight and narrow path, it is a disastrous step too far.
Paul wrote that he wished the false teachers who were troubling the brethren “would even mutilate themselves” (verse 12). He is saying that, since these brethren placed so much significance on circumcision, he wanted them just to go ahead and take the circumcision knife and castrate themselves. Some people think that Paul is simply using hyperbole here to emphasize his point, and that he would not wish anyone actual physical harm, but I’m not so sure about that.
The purity of the Gospel is so enormously and eternally important, that it is even more crucial than our physical wellbeing. Anyone who would “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” is the object of God’s divine wrath (Romans 1:18). It would have been much more desirable for these false teachers to castrate themselves and lose their influence by violating the Law of Moses that they were hawking (Deuteronomy 23:1); than for them to remain physically whole and condemn themselves and their followers to an eternity in hell.
On a happier note, Paul had confidence in the brethren that they would do the right thing in the Lord (verse 10)! 
Please read Galatians 5:13-15 for tomorrow.
Blessings!
-Louie Taylor
