Galatians 5:1-6:18

I would encourage a serious reader of the letter to read this unit together first, in order to catch a flow of the argument. What we find here is a series of pastoral exhortations. In particular, note how what Paul has said thus far prepares the way to present his notion of Christian liberty.

In the world of scholars, the presence of these last two chapters, for some, suggests that Betz is wrong to say that Paul uses the rhetoric of the courtroom in this letter. Such rhetoric does not have a practical appeal at the end. It might suggest that something other than the image of Paul presenting case to a jury is in play.

The first four chapters of Galatians are really a series of examples and citations about the Law and the gospel leading up to the climax of Paul's argument in chapters 5 and 6. The negative examples and fierce arguments Paul had leveled against the missionary opponents (who had apparently gained considerable influence over the Galatian Christians) now give way to Paul's positive concluding remarks. Thus, this chapter begins with Paul drawing a quite specific conclusion from his previous four chapters of discourse. No one should force the Galatians to submit to circumcision.  The insistence of his opponents that the Galatians observe this ritual flies in the face of Christian freedom.  They are in danger of exchanging the slavery of heathenism for the slavery of Judaism. Clarifying the scope of this freedom is what directs and informs the rest of the letter. 

Let us look at each segment closer.