Galatians 5:6

King James Version (KJV)

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

For in Jesus Christ - By the dispensation of the Gospel all legal observances, as essential to salvation, are done away; and uncircumcision, or the Gentile state, contributes as much to salvation as circumcision or the Jewish state; they are both equally ineffectual; and nothing now avails in the sight of God but that faith δι 'αγαπης ενεργουμενη, which is made active, or energetic, by love. God acknowledges no faith, as of the operation of his Spirit, that is not active or obedient; but the principle of all obedience to God, and beneficence to man, is love; therefore faith cannot work unless it be associated with love. Love to God produces obedience to his will: love to man worketh no ill; but, on the contrary, every act of kindness. Faith which does not work by love is either circumcision or uncircumcision, or whatever its possessor may please to call it; it is, however, nothing that will stand him in stead when God comes to take away his soul. It availeth nothing. This humble, holy, operative, obedient Love, is the grand touchstone of all human creeds and confessions of faith. Faith without this has neither soul nor operation; in the language of the Apostle James, it is dead, and can perform no function of the spiritual life, no more than a dead man can perform the duties of animal or civil life.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

For in Jesus Christ - In the religion which Christ came to establish.

Neither circumcision … - It makes no difference whether a man is circumcised or not. He is not saved because he is circumcised, nor is he condemned because he is not. The design of Christianity is to abolish these rites and ceremonies, and to introduce a way of salvation that shall be applicable to all mankind alike; see the Galatians 3:28, note; 1 Corinthians 7:19, note; compare Romans 2:29.

But faith which worketh by love - Faith that evinces its existence by love to God, and benevolence to people. It is not a mere intellectual belief, but it is that which reaches the heart, and controls the affections. It is not a dead faith, but it is that which is operative, and which is seen in Christian kindness and affection. It is not mere belief of the truth, or mere orthodoxy, but it is that which produces trite attachment to others. A mere intellectual assent to the truth may leave the heart cold and unaffected; mere orthodoxy, however bold and self-confident, and “sound,” may not be inconsistent with contentions, and strifes, and logomachies, and divisions. The true faith is that which is seen in benevolence, in love to God, in love to all who bear the Christian name; in a readiness to do good to all mankind. This shows that the heart is affected by the faith that is held; and this is the nature and design of all genuine religion. Tyndale renders this, “faith, which by love is mighty in operation.”

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let us take heed to the warnings and persuasions of the apostle to stedfastness in the doctrine and liberty of the gospel. All true Christians, being taught by the Holy Spirit, wait for eternal life, the reward of righteousness, and the object of their hope, as the gift of God by faith in Christ; and not for the sake of their own works. The Jewish convert might observe the ceremonies or assert his liberty, the Gentile might disregard them or might attend to them, provided he did not depend upon them. No outward privileges or profession will avail to acceptance with God, without sincere faith in our Lord Jesus. True faith is a working grace; it works by love to God, and to our brethren. May we be of the number of those who, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. The danger of old was not in things of no consequence in themselves, as many forms and observances now are. But without faith working by love, all else is worthless, and compared with it other things are of small value.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

6. In Jesus Christ. Paul thus describes the status of one who has been justified by faith in Christ, one who has become a Christian, not in name only, but in fact.

Circumcision. See on Gen. 17:10, 11; Rom. 4:11. In no sense does Paul condemn those who have been circumcised; he simply warns that when a person is “in Jesus Christ” it makes no difference whether he is circumcised. The decisive factor is faith. Circumcision itself is a matter of indifference to the Christians, so far as anything beyond the physical aspect is concerned, but with the supposed religious value of the rite and the concept of works-righteousness it connotes, Christianity is unalterably at war.

Faith which worketh. Faith does have “works,” but these are not the “works of the law” (see on ch. 2:16). Thus excluded are all “works” performed for the purpose of earning righteousness (see p. 934). The “works” that accompany genuine faith are inspired by the spirit of appreciation for the gift of divine grace, by love for God and for one’s fellow men (see Gal. 5:14; see on Matt. 22:34-40). It is of works such as these that James speaks when he declares that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26; cf. ch. 4:17). At this point the teachings of Paul and James meet. The two are not in conflict, as some have hastily concluded. It is a counterfeit faith that does not produce the “fruit of the Spirit” in the life (Gal. 5:22, 23). It is a counterfeit faith that leads a man to think himself released from obedience to the will of God as expressed in the Decalogue, which is simply a brief outline of how love toward God and man will find expression (see on Matt. 5:17, 18; 7:21-27). Without obedience a profession of love is sheer hypocrisy. Obedience to known duty is an inevitable result of the righteousness that comes by faith, and is the supreme test of its genuineness (see James 2:18). Paul emphatically declares that God’s purpose in giving His Son to save sinners (see on John 3:16) was to make it possible for the principles of His holy law to be worked out in the lives of men (see on Rom. 8:3, 4). In the section from Gal. 5:13 to 6:15 Paul deals with the kind of “works” that he recommends to the Galatian Christians.

By love. Love for God and man is the spirit that prompts the “works” that accompany faith.

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Ellen G. White
The Acts of the Apostles, 15

Priests and rulers became fixed in a rut of ceremonialism. They were satisfied with a legal religion, and it was impossible for them to give to others the living truths of heaven. They thought their own righteousness all-sufficient, and did not desire that a new element should be brought into their religion. The good will of God to men they did not accept as something apart from themselves, but connected it with their own merit because of their good works. The faith that works by love and purifies the soul could find no place for union with the religion of the Pharisees, made up of ceremonies and the injunctions of men. AA 15.1

Of Israel God declared: “I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me?” Jeremiah 2:21. “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.” Hosea 10:1. “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard. What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? AA 15.2

“And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant: and He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” Isaiah 5:3-7. “The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.” Ezekiel 34:4. AA 15.3

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Ellen G. White
The Adventist Home, 31

The Christian Home Is an Object Lesson—The mission of the home extends beyond its own members. The Christian home is to be an object lesson, illustrating the excellence of the true principles of life. Such an illustration will be a power for good in the world.... As the youth go out from such a home, the lessons they have learned are imparted. Nobler principles of life are introduced into other households, and an uplifting influence works in the community.¹ AH 31.1

The home in which the members are polite, courteous Christians exerts a far-reaching influence for good. Other families will mark the results attained by such a home, and will follow the example set, in their turn guarding the home against Satanic influences. The angels of God will often visit the home in which the will of God bears sway. Under the power of divine grace such a home becomes a place of refreshing to worn, weary pilgrims. By watchful guarding, self is kept from asserting itself. Correct habits are formed. There is a careful recognition of the rights of others. The faith that works by love and purifies the soul stands at the helm, presiding over the whole household. Under the hallowed influence of such a home, the principle of brotherhood laid down in the word of God is more widely recognized and obeyed.² AH 31.2

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Ellen G. White
A Call to Medical Evangelism and Health Education, 20.4

Our work has been marked out for us by our heavenly Father. We are to take our Bibles and go forth to warn the world. We are to be God's helping hand in saving souls. We are to be channels through which His love is day by day to flow to the perishing. The realization of the great work in which he has the privilege of taking part ennobles and sanctifies the true worker. He is filled with the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. Nothing is drudgery to the one who submits to the will of God. “Doing it unto the Lord” is the thought that throws a charm over the work that God gives him to do.—Letter 43, 1902. CME 20.4

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Ellen G. White
Counsels on Stewardship, 51

The world and the churches are breaking God's law, and the warning must be given, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” With such a curse hanging over the transgressors of God's holy Sabbath, should we not show greater earnestness, greater zeal? Why are we so indifferent, so selfish, so engrossed in temporal interests? Is our interest separated from Jesus? Has the truth become too pointed, too close in its application to our souls; and like the disciples of Christ who were offended, have we turned away to the beggarly elements of the world? We spend money for selfish purposes, and gratify our own desires, while souls are dying without a knowledge of Jesus and the truth. How long shall this continue? CS 51.1

All should have a living faith,—a faith which works by love, and purifies the soul. Men and women are ready to do anything to indulge self, but how little are they willing to do for Jesus, and for their fellow men who are perishing for the want of the truth!... CS 51.2

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