ACC ~ Galatians 5 v14b

THE WHOLE LAW FULFILLED BY LOVE. MARIUS VICTORINUS: The whole work of the law is fulfilled by this one command: love. For one who loves another neither murders nor commits adultery nor steals. … Now Paul himself adds a text: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But we ought to understand by “neighbor” every human being and then constantly view Christ as our neighbor. “And you too must love one another but in the spirit.” Here he now seems, as if neglecting the previous question and discussion, to urge them to avoid discord. And this can happen if you love one another in the Spirit, not in the flesh nor for the works of the flesh nor in natural observances. For he who loves another feels no envy, nor steals from another, nor despises or abuses him. EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.14.

THE LAW IS OBSERVED NOT IN CIRCUMCISION BUT IN LOVE. CHRYSOSTOM: “Since I have turned the law upside down, if you wish to fulfill it, do not be circumcised; for it is fulfilled not in circumcision but in love.” Notice that he does not forget his grief. He keeps on touching upon what troubled him even as he turns to ethical issues. HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.14.

5:15 Take Heed That You Are Not Consumed

THE LAW ALONE WILL EAT YOU UP. JEROME: Paul is not here erupting suddenly into ad hoc legal precepts against the tenor and sequence of the whole letter. He is still discussing circumcision and the observance of the law. … If you read the whole Old Testament and understand it according to the text “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” … what appears as justice will eat you away, not avenging anything but consuming everything. EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.15.

BITING AND DEVOURING. CHRYSOSTOM: He does not accuse explicitly, but he speaks hypothetically, so as not to irk them. He has said not “Since you bite one another” but “If you bite.” Again, he has not said explicitly here, “You will be destroyed by one another,” but instead he says “Take care lest you be destroyed by one another.” He is expressing his concern and admonition rather than his condemnation. … He does not refer only to biting, as the act of a person out of control, but also to devouring, which implies malice. For the one who bites satisfies the immediate passion of anger, but the one who devours proves he is acting like an animal. By “bitings and devourings” he does not mean a literal biting and devouring. He refers to something more pernicious. The harm done by one who tastes human flesh is not so great as that done by the one who sinks his teeth into the soul. In proportion as the living soul is more precious than the corruptible body, so much the worse is the harm done to it. HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.15.

LOVE OVERCOMES ALL DIFFERENCES. THEODORET: Here Paul hints that, while some had been circumcised under duress, others had relied on their faith and stood firm. Nevertheless, they were at odds, some praising the legalistic way of life, others showing due admiration for the gifts of grace. For this reason Paul focuses his attention on the exhortation to love. EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.15.

Gal