Gálatas 5

Gálatas 5

Ironside says: THE present section of this epistle brings before us the truth, in a very marked way, of the two natures in the believer. It is important to remember that when God saves us He does not destroy the carnal nature which we received at our natural birth. The new birth does not imply the elimination of that old carnal nature, neither does it imply a change in it, but rather the impartation of an absolutely new nature born of the Holy Spirit of God, and these two natures abide side by side in the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. This explains the conflict that many of us have known since we have been converted. In fact, I need not have said, “many of us,” for all converted people know at one time or another something of that conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh”—that is, the old nature—“that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”—that is the new nature, and these two natures abide side by side until we receive the redemption of the body which will be at the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He will transform this body of our humiliation and make it like unto the body of His glory. (Galatians 5 Commentary) Machen says: In this third main division of the epistle Paul exhibits the practical working of faith. Paul’s gospel is more powerful than the teaching of the Judaizers. Try to keep the law in your own strength and you will fail, for the flesh is too strong. But the Spirit is stronger than the flesh, and the Spirit is received by faith. Hendriksen paints a metaphorical picture of the work of the Spirit - It takes the tender leaves of early springtime to rid the oak tree of the remnants of last autumn’s withered foliage. It is only the living that can expel the dead. It is only the good that can push out the bad. (Commentary) See the same principle which has been called the Expulsive Power of a New Affection