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1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. 7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you. 13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulful the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
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[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:1
For the Jews say, that from the beginning God sanctified the seventh day, by resting on it from all His works which He made; and that thence it was, likewise, that Moses said to the People: "Remember the day of the sabbaths, to sanctify it: every servile work ye shall not do therein, except what pertaineth unto life." Whence we (Christians) understand that we still more ought to observe a sabbath from all "servile work" always, and not only every seventh day, but through all time.

Source: An Answer to the Jews
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:1
Both dispensations, therefore, emanate from that same God by whom, as we have found, they were both sketched out beforehand. When he speaks of "the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free," does not the very phrase indicate that He is the Liberator who was once the Master? For Galba himself never liberated slaves which were not his own, even when about to restore free men to their liberty.

Source: Against Marcion Book V
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:1
It was not meet that those who had received liberty should be "entangled again with the yoke of bondage" -that is, of the law; now that the Psalm had its prophecy accomplished: "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us, since the rulers have gathered themselves together against the Lord and against His Christ.

Source: Against Marcion Book V
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:1
"Liberty in Christ" has done no injury to innocence.

Source: On Modesty
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:1
Xerophagies, however, (they consider) the novel name of a studied duty, and very much akin to heathenish superstition, like the abstemious rigours which purify an Apis, an Isis, and a Magna Mater, by a restriction laid upon certain kinds of food; whereas faith, free in Christ, owes no abstinence from particular meats to the Jewish Law even, admitted as it has been by the apostle once for all to the whole range of the meat-market -(the apostle, I say), that detester of such as, in like manner as they prohibit marrying, so bid us abstain from meats created by God.

Source: On Fasting
[AD 370] Gaius Marius Victorinus on Galatians 5:1
He obviously means that freedom by which our mother [the church] is free, and she obviously is free by faith. For this is true freedom, to keep faith in God and to believe all God’s promises. Therefore by faith Christ has brought us back to freedom and made us free by the freedom of faith.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.1
[AD 370] Gaius Marius Victorinus on Galatians 5:1
He had to add an exhortation that they should persevere in the same way that they had first begun to receive from him the gospel and not return to the slavery under the law. He says “stand” which is not possible for one who is under a heavy yoke. For he bows his neck submissively and therefore cannot stand.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.1
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:1
"With freedom did Christ set us free; stand fast therefore ."

Have you wrought your own deliverance, that you run back again to the dominion you were under before? It is Another who has redeemed you, it is Another who has paid the ransom for you. Observe in how many ways he leads them away from the error of Judaism; by showing, first, that it was the extreme of folly for those, who had become free instead of slaves, to desire to become slaves instead of free; secondly, that they would be convicted of neglect and ingratitude to their Benefactor, in despising Him who had delivered, and loving him who had enslaved them; thirdly, that it was impossible. For Another having once for all redeemed all of us from it, the Law ceases to have any sway. By the word, "stand fast," he indicates their vacillation.

Ver. 1. "And be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage."

By the word "yoke" he signifies to them the burdensomeness of such a course, and by the word "again" he points out their utter senselessness. Had you never experienced this burden, you would not have deserved so severe a censure, but for you who by trial have learned how irksome this yoke is, again to subject yourself to it, is justly unpardonable.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:1
Do you see how many reasons he employs to lead them away from the error of the Jews? He shows first that it is the utmost foolishness, having become free instead of slaves, to desire slavery again instead of freedom. Second, he reveals them to be unmindful of and ungrateful to their benefactor, despising the one who frees them and preferring that which enslaves them. Third, he shows that this is absurd, since [as Paul says] “the law has no power over you, since another has purchased you once for all from it.”

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.1
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:1
By the name of yoke he indicates to them the gravity of the affair. By “again” he shows how profound is their confusion. Paul implies, “If you had no experience of that yoke, you would not deserve such recriminations. But when those who have learned by experience the heaviness of the law submit themselves to it again, what forgiveness do they deserve?”

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.1
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:1
He adds “again,” not because the Galatians had previously kept the law … but in their readiness to observe the lunar seasons, to be circumcised in the flesh and to offer sacrifices, they were in a sense returning to the cults that they had previously served in a state of idolatry.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.1
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:1
(Chapter 5, Verse 1) Stand fast, and be not held again under the yoke of bondage. And from this it is shown that he who cleaves to the yoke of servitude does not stand. And because he who has been granted freedom by Christ has been under the yoke as long as he has had the spirit of servitude in fear, and has followed the beginnings of the Law. But when he says, stand, he exhorts firm and stable faith in Christ, so that the churches of Galatia may remain rooted in the Savior. About this, and in another place, the righteous one speaks: 'He has set my feet upon a rock' (Ps. 39:3), because it is upon Christ. So that the teachings may not be carried about by every wind and may be carried off in different directions (Eph. 4). Hence it is also said to those who are standing: 'And let anyone who stands take heed lest he fall' (1 Cor. 10:12). And in another place: 'Stand firm, act like men, be strong' (Ibid. 16:13), so that they may stand with Him whom Stephen, persevering in martyrdom, saw standing at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7), and also the one who spoke to Moses: 'But you, stand with me' (Exod. 34:2). But he calls the yoke of servitude a harsh, difficult, laborious law, which consumes its cultivators with heavy work day and night. Just as Peter says in the Acts of the Apostles: Why do you attempt to impose a heavy yoke upon the neck of the brothers, which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear (Acts 15:10)? But what he has added, do not burden yourselves again, not that the Galatians were keeping the Law before; but so that the heavy yoke of idolatry, by which the Egyptian people were oppressed and plunged like lead into the Red Sea (Exodus 15), may not be repeated. According to the sense of which he had said above, How do you turn again to weak and needy elements, which you desire again to serve, observing days, and months, and times, and years? For the Galatians, who, after the preaching of Paul the Apostle, had forsaken the idols and at once ascended to the grace of the Gospel, did not return to the servitude of the Jewish Law, which they had never known before: but wishing to observe times, to be circumcised in the flesh, and to offer corporeal sacrifices, they were in a certain way returning to the same worship to which they had previously served in idolatry. For both the Egyptian priests and the Ishmaelites and the Midianites are said to not have a foreskin. However, if only we did not know that the nations observe days, months, and years, so that we may never have any mixed festivities with them.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:2
Writing also to the Galatians, he inveighs against such men as observed and defend circumcision and the (Mosaic) law. Thus runs Hebion's heresy.

Source: The Prescription Against Heretics
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:2
Even if, for certain, the apostle had granted pardon of fornication to that Corinthian, it would be another instance of his once for all contravening his own practice to meet the requirement of the time. He circumcised Timotheus alone, and yet did away with circumcision.

Source: On Modesty
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:2
Ver. 2. "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing."

Lo, what a threat! reasonably then did he anathematize even angels. How then shall Christ profit them nothing? For he has not supported this by argument, but only declared it, the credence due to his authority, compensating, as it were, for all subsequent proof. Wherefore he sets out by saying, "Behold, I Paul say unto you," which is the expression of one who has confidence in what he asserts. We will subjoin what we can ourselves as to how Christ shall profit nothing them who are circumcised.

He that is circumcised is circumcised for fear of the Law, and he who fears the Law, distrusts the power of grace, and he who distrusts can receive no benefit from that which is distrusted. Or again thus, he that is circumcised makes the Law of force; but thus considering it to be of force and yet transgressing it in the greater part while keeping it in the lesser, he puts himself again under the curse. But how can he be saved who submits himself to the curse, and repels the liberty which is of Faith? If one may say what seems a paradox, such an one believes neither Christ nor the Law, but stands between them, desiring to benefit both by one and the other, whereas he will reap fruit from neither. Having said that Christ shall profit them nothing, he lays down the proof of it shortly and sententiously, thus:

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:2
His statement, “I, Paul, say to you,” implies that the words are to be accepted not as Paul’s alone but as God’s.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.2
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:2
The letter that he wrote to the Romans was addressed to believers from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds.… But writing to the Galatians he argues differently, since they belonged not to the circumcision party but to the believing Gentiles.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.2
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:2
(Verse 2.) Behold, I, Paul, say to you: if you are circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. In the Gospel, the Savior speaks to his disciples. Whoever listens to you, listens to me; whoever welcomes you, welcomes me (Luke 10:16). And the Apostle testifies, saying: I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20); and elsewhere: Do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me? (2 Corinthians 13:3) From which it is clearly proven what he now says: Behold, I Paul say to you, not as if only Paul's words are to be received, but the Lord's. For when he had already stated in his first letter to the Corinthians: Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord (I Cor. 7:10); and immediately added: But to the rest I, not the Lord, say (Ibid., 12), so that his authority would not be considered insignificant: I think, he says, that I also have the spirit of God, so that by speaking in the spirit and in Christ, he who imitates the prophets would not be considered contemptible, saying: Thus says the Lord Almighty. But something greater will be made of what was said: Behold, I Paul say to you: if you are circumcised, Christ profits you nothing, if joined with the law, in which it says: Paul, an apostle not from men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and the rest: so that hearing, they are moved not so much by the authority of the sender as by that of the one who sends. Someone may say: The opposite of what is written in this passage is what is written to the Romans: Circumcision indeed profits, if you keep the law (Rom. II, 25); and below: What, then, is greater for the Jew, or what is the advantage of circumcision? By all means, it is first because the words of God were entrusted to them (Ibid., 1, 2). For if Christ is of no benefit to those who are circumcised, how does circumcision benefit those who keep the Law? This question is solved by this response, namely, that the Epistle written to the Romans is addressed to those who believed from both the Jews and the Gentiles, and Paul did this so that neither group would be offended, so that each people would possess their own privilege, and so that the Gentiles would not be circumcised and the circumcised would not have to be uncircumcised. But when he wrote to the Galatians, he used a different argument. For they were not of circumcision, but from the Gentiles who believed. And circumcision could not profit them who would return to the elements of the Law after the grace of the Gospel. And in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts XV) it narrates the story: when certain men arose from circumcision and asserted that those who believed from the Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, the elders who were in Jerusalem and the apostles gathered together and determined by letters that no yoke of the Law should be imposed on them, nor should they observe any longer except to keep themselves from idols, and from blood, and from fornication, or as it is written in some manuscripts, and from what is strangled. And so that there be no doubt, that circumcision is of no use, but rather, on account of those who believed from the Jews, he tempered his judgment on circumcision to the Romans, gradually descending to the later letters of the Epistles, he showed that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any value, saying: Circumcision therefore is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the observation of God's commandments (I Cor. VII, 19). For circumcision is nothing to such an extent that it profited nothing even to the Israelite house boasting of circumcision, as the prophet says: All the uncircumcised nations in flesh, but the house of Israel in uncircumcision of the heart (Ezech. XLIV, 9), and Melchisedec, who was uncircumcised, blessed Abraham who was circumcised. For as it says: If you are circumcised (Gen. XLIV); it is such, as if he wanted to say, if you are circumcised in the flesh. Which in another place he does not call circumcision, but mutilation, saying: See mutilation. For we are the circumcision, who serve God in the spirit, and boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians III, 2, 3). He does not have confidence in the flesh, who expects all benefit from Christ, and does not sow in the flesh, so as to reap corruption from the flesh; but in the spirit, from which eternal life is generated. A more subtle thought must be considered: If you are circumcised, Christ is of no benefit to you. Not only does circumcision itself not profit those who are circumcised, but even if they seem to have other virtues apart from circumcision in Christ, they will perish completely after having faith in Christ and being circumcised. So what then? Did circumcision profit Timothy nothing? By all means greatly. For he was not circumcised in order to consider that he could obtain any advantage from circumcision itself, but rather to benefit others. A Jew became a Jew in order to convert the Jews to the faith of Christ through their circumcision. However, circumcision is not profitable, since it is considered to bring something of its own usefulness.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:2
Now Paul says that Christ will profit them nothing if they are circumcised, that is, in the physical way that his opponents wanted, namely, to put their hope of salvation in circumcising their flesh. For Paul himself circumcised Timothy as a young man when he was already a Christian. This he did [to avoid] scandalizing his own people, not at all in dissimulation but from that indifference which made him say “circumcision is nothing, uncircumcision is nothing.” For circumcision is no impediment to the one who does not believe that his salvation lies in it.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 41 [1B.5.1-3]
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Galatians 5:3
They attend to this one commandment, and do not look unto what has been spoken by the apostle: "For I testify to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to keep the whole law."

Source: Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book VIII
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on Galatians 5:3
There are some who serve the law to a certain extent without being circumcised; for many Romans in Judea served the law without circumcision.… Yet there is no one who is circumcised without being required to serve the whole law. He is a debtor, since the law was given to the circumcised. His meaning here was that they had become so negligent as to deserve to bear all the burdens of the law.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.3
[AD 403] Epiphanius of Salamis on Galatians 5:3
When he says “bound,” he is no longer speaking of the law as something unworthy but of a heavy burden which can be made lighter. There is one Lord, who is able to make it either heavy or light according to the choice of those who have not refused to accept salvation through his grace through his appearance in the flesh.

Source: PANARION 42.12.3, THIRD REFUTATION OF MARCION
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:3
Ver. 3. "Yea, I testify again to every man that receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole Law."

That you may not suppose that this is spoken from ill-will , I say not to you alone, he says, but to every one who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole Law. The parts of the Law are linked one to the other. As he who from being free has enrolled himself as a slave, no longer does what he pleases, but is bound by all the laws of slavery, so in the case of the Law, if you take upon you a small portion of it, and submit to the yoke, you draw down upon yourself its whole domination. And so it is in a worldly inheritance: he who touches no part of it, is free from all matters which are consequent on the heirship to the deceased, but if he takes a small portion, though not the whole, yet by that part he has rendered himself liable for every thing. And this occurs in the Law, not only in the way I have mentioned, but in another also, for Legal observances are linked together. For example; Circumcision has sacrifice connected with it, and the observance of days; sacrifice again has the observance both of day and of place; place has the details of endless purifications; purifications involve a perfect swarm of manifold observances. For it is unlawful for the unclean to sacrifice, to enter the holy shrines, to do any other such act. Thus the Law introduces many things even by the one commandment. If then you are circumcised, but not on the eighth day, or on the eighth day, but no sacrifice is offered, or a sacrifice is offered, but not in the prescribed place, or in the prescribed place, but not the accustomed objects, or if the accustomed objects, but thou be unclean, or if clean yet not purified by proper rules, every thing is frustrated. Wherefore he says, "that he is a debtor to the whole Law." Fulfil not a part, but the whole, if the Law is of force; but if it be not of force, not even a part.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:3
The provisions of the law imply one another. I mean something like this. Attached to circumcision are sacrifice and the observance of days. The sacrifice again entails the observance of a day and place, the place entailing many types of purification. The purifications set up a further string of varied observances. For it is not legitimate for the impure to sacrifice, to intrude upon the holy shrines or to do any such things. Therefore through this one commandment the law drags along many others. Now if you have been circumcised but not on the eighth day; or on the eighth day but without a sacrifice; or with sacrifice but not in the appointed place; or in the appointed place but not under the prescribed forms; or under the prescribed forms but not in a pure state; or in a pure state but purified by inappropriate rites—all these things are wasted. For this reason “he is bound to keep the whole.” “Do not keep part but the whole,” Paul says, “but if it is not of the Lord, do not keep even part.”

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.3
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:3
Just as no one can serve two masters, so it is difficult to keep both the shadow and the substance of the law.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.4
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:3
(Verse 3.) However, I testify to every man who circumcises himself that he is obligated to keep the entire Law. God, who first commanded circumcision to Abraham and then through Moses in the Law, established not only circumcision but also many other observances: the celebration of feast days in Jerusalem, the offering of burnt sacrifices morning and evening, the sacrifice of the Passover lamb in one designated place, the rest of the land during the seventh year, the fiftieth year of jubilee, and other things that can easily be extracted from the Scriptures by each individual reader. Therefore, we will refute Ebion and his followers, who believe that those who have believed in Christ after the Gospel must be circumcised, so that they may either undergo circumcision and perform the other things that are commanded in the Law; or if it is impossible to do all these things, then let circumcision, which is omitted along with the other ceremonial ordinances, cease. But if they respond that we are only obliged to do what is possible (for God does not require of us what we cannot do, but what we can fulfill), we will tell them that it is not the will of the same God to observe the Law and to abandon those who observe the Law. But how does He make guilty those who, even if they want to, cannot fulfill the whole Law because it has been interrupted? We on the other hand follow the spiritual law, which says: You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain (Deut. 25:4), and understand with the Apostle: Does God take care for oxen? (1 Tim. 10:18; 1 Cor. 9:9). But surely He says it for our sake, and to observe the delicate sabbaths (Isa. 58:13), not so that our ox and donkey and other lowly animals may rejoice on the sabbath; but rather for those humans and animals about whom it is written: In your hand is the welfare of humans and animals, O Lord (Ps. 36:7). Reasonable and spiritual men, but also animals, those who are of slower wit, are educated by the spiritual things to observe the Lord's sabbaths. And it is not contrary to what has been said above: If you are circumcised, Christ profits you nothing. And what follows: I testify to every man circumcising himself that he is a debtor to do the whole law, to this that is inferred by us. For the hearers of the law are not justified with God, but the doers of the law will be justified. Because he who is the author of the Law can say, 'We are not circumcision'; and, 'In secret, a Jew'; and we know that the Law is spiritual. But whoever follows the letter that cuts and kills is not a maker of the Law, but truly an enemy of the Law, especially after the Savior's coming, who removes the veil from the hearts of those who turn to him, so that we, beholding the unveiled face, may be transformed from the oldness of the letter into the newness of the spirit.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 370] Gaius Marius Victorinus on Galatians 5:4
All the virtue of the one who believes in Christ is by the grace of God. Grace is not from merits but from readiness to believe God. Therefore [Paul writes] “You have already fallen from grace if you place your justification in the law, because (for example) you serve works, because you observe the sabbath or on account of your circumcision. If you believe that you are justified by this, “you have fallen from grace and been made void of Christ.” You no longer have your faith from Christ nor hope for grace for yourselves from his passion and resurrection, if you believe that justification comes from the law.”

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.4
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:4
Ver. 4. "You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the Law; you are fallen away from grace."

Having established his point, he at length declares their danger of the severest punishment. When a man recurs to the Law, which cannot save him, and falls from grace, what remains but an inexorable retribution, the Law being powerless, and grace rejecting him?

Thus having aggravated their alarm, and disquieted their mind, and shown them all the shipwreck they were about to suffer, he opens to them the haven of grace which was near at hand. This is ever his wont, and he shows that in this quarter salvation is easy and secure, subjoining the words,

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:4
(Verse 4) You have fallen away from Christ: you who are justified by the Law have fallen from grace. Just as no one can serve two masters (Matt. 6), so it is difficult to fulfill both the shadow and the truth of the Law. The shadow is in the old Law, until the day dawns and the shadows are removed; the truth is in the Gospel of Christ. For grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Therefore, anyone who thinks they can be justified by observing the Law loses the grace of Christ and loses the Gospel they held. And when they lose grace, they are deprived of faith in Christ and rely on their own works. For you have been severed from Christ (κατηργήθητε), not as it has been falsely interpreted in Latin as 'Evacuati estis a Christo', but in Christ's words. By [not adhering to] Christ's work, it is understood more clearly that what he had commanded above all about circumcision, saying: if you are circumcised, Christ profits you nothing, now he comprehends generally about the whole Law, that those who believe themselves to be justified in any observance of the Law do not profit in Christ's work.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:4
Because it is they, not Christ, who are injured, he adds: “you have fallen from grace.” For when the effect of Christ’s grace is that those who were debtors to the works of the law were freed from this debt, these people, ungrateful to such great grace, prefer to be debtors to the whole law. Now this had not yet happened, but, because the will had begun to be moved, he therefore speaks frequently as though it had already happened.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 42 [1B.5.4-12]
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:4
He is refuting those who believed that they were justified in the law, not those who observed its legitimate provisions in honor of him by whom they were commanded, understanding both that they were commanded as a foreshadowing of the truth and that they belonged to a particular time.

Source: LETTERS 82.19.3
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:5
Concerning this expectation and hope Paul writes to the Galatians: "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." He says "we wait for it," not we are in possession of it.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:5
Ver. 5. "For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness."

We need none of those legal observances, he says; faith suffices to obtain for us the Spirit, and by Him righteousness, and many and great benefits.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:5
Having now multiplied their fear and shaken their minds and shown them the shipwreck that they are about to suffer, he reveals to them the haven of grace close by. This he does everywhere, showing thereby how extremely benign and safe salvation is.… “We need none of those legal provisions,” Paul says, “for grace sufficiently gives the Spirit to us, through whom we are offered righteousness and a multitude of great goods.”

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.5
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:5
(Verse 5.) For we by the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness through faith. He places the Spirit, to distinguish it from the letter. But the hope of righteousness is to be understood as Christ, because he is the truth, patience, hope, righteousness, and all virtues, whose coming we await according to the judgment of all, and not now with patience, but with righteousness he will come to give to each according to his works. The presence of this God the Apostle and those who are like him, anticipating, say: Thy kingdom come (Matt. 6:10), that when the Son shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, and shall have been made subject to him in all things, then the head shall be subjected to the body, and God will be all in all (1 Cor. 15). Because he who is now in part, through each individual, will then begin to be the whole through all.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:6
Since circumcision and uncircumcision belonged to the one God, both therefore were annulled in Christ because of the priority given to faith, this being the faith of which it was written “the Gentiles shall believe in his name.”

Source: AGAINST MARCION 5.4.11
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:6
If, now, he were for excluding circumcision, as the messenger of a new god, why does he say that "in Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision? For it was his duty to prefer the rival principle of that which he was abolishing, if he had a mission from the god who was the enemy of circumcision.

Source: Against Marcion Book V
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:6
Furthermore, since both circumcision and uncircumcision were attributed to the same Deity, both lost their power in Christ, by reason of the excellency of faith-of that faith concerning which it had been written, "And in His name shall the Gentiles trust? " -of that faith "which," he says "worketh by love." By this saying he also shows that the Creator is the source of that grace.

Source: Against Marcion Book V
[AD 370] Gaius Marius Victorinus on Galatians 5:6
Everywhere he says that faith in the gospel of Christ accords no value to rank or sex or works done with regard to the body or from the body or for the sake of the body, such as circumcision, works and other things of this kind. None of these, he says, has saving value in Christ. Circumcision is therefore vain, nor by uncircumcision do we gain value in Christ. Because we have conceived faith in him and because we have believed his promises and because through his resurrection we too rise and have suffered all things with him and rise to life with him but also through him, our faith is sure. Through this faith comes works fitting to salvation. This comes about through the love that we have for Christ and God and thus toward every human being. For it is these two relationships above all that set life straight and fulfill the whole sense of the law. They contain all the commands in the Decalogue—if it follows necessarily that he who keeps faith will also keep love, since these two fulfill all the precepts of the law of Christ.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.6
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:6
Ver. 6. "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love."

Observe the great boldness with which he now encounters them; Let him that has put on Christ, he says, no longer be careful about such matters. Having before said that Circumcision was hurtful, how is it that he now considers it indifferent? It is indifferent as to those who had it previously to the Faith, but not as to those who are circumcised after the Faith was given. Observe too the view in which he places it, by setting it by the side of Uncircumcision; it is Faith that makes the difference. As in the selection of wrestlers, whether they be hook-nosed or flat-nosed, black or white, is of no importance in their trial, it is only necessary to seek that they be strong and skilful; so all these bodily accidents do not injure one who is to be enrolled under the New Covenant, nor does their presence assist him.

What is the meaning of "working through love?" Here he gives them a hard blow, by showing that this error had crept in because the love of Christ had not been rooted within them. For to believe is not all that is required, but also to abide in love. It is as if he had said, Had you loved Christ as you ought, you would not have deserted to bondage, nor abandoned Him who redeemed you, nor treated with contumely Him who gave you freedom. Here he also hints at those who have plotted against them, implying that they would not have dared to do so, had they felt affection towards them. He wishes too by these words to correct their course of life.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:6
[Circumcision] is indifferent for those who have it already before believing but not for those who are circumcised after believing. Note how he has rejected it, putting it after uncircumcision. What makes the difference is faith. For just as when one is choosing athletes, it matters nothing in this trial whether they be hook-nosed or snub-nosed, dark or fair, but all that need be looked for is that they be strong and skillful. So when a person is to be enrolled in the new covenant, the lack of these bodily trappings does no harm, just as they do no good if they be present.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.6
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:6
He strikes them here with a great blow by showing that it is their failure to be rooted in love for Christ that has given entrance to this error. For what is looked for is not only faith but also faith abiding in love. It is as though he said, “Had you loved Christ as you ought, you would not have gone voluntarily into slavery, you would not have insulted your deliverer.” And here he also alludes obliquely to those who have plotted against them, showing that if they had love for them they would not have dared to do this. He also wishes to amend their lives through this saying.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.7
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:6
[Lest Gentiles should say] that uncircumcision, in which “Abraham pleased God and had his faith counted for righteousness” is better than circumcision, which was given as a sign and was of no profit to Israel though it possessed it, we shall see that this arrogant boast has also been excluded with the greatest foresight.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.6
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:6
(Ver. 6.) For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which works by charity. For those who wish to live in Christ Jesus, virtues are to be desired, vices are to be avoided. But the things that are in between virtues and vices, neither to be avoided nor desired, such as circumcision and uncircumcision, and other similar things. Certainly, circumcision is beneficial if you keep the Law. Therefore, it was useful for those who lived under the Law, not because they were circumcised, but because the words of God were entrusted to them, which, when they turned into actions, were not foreign to salvation. And let it not move us that Sephora, taking up a stone, circumcised her son, and the angel prevented her husband from suffocating him (Exodus IV), or as it is otherwise said in Hebrew, because now circumcision is not beneficial at all, as it has testified in Christ Jesus, since the time when the Gospel has spread throughout the whole world, the injury of circumcision is unnecessary. It was valid then, like the rest of the Law, when physical blessings were promised to those who observed the Law; namely, if they fulfilled it, they would be blessed in the city, blessed in the field, have full barns, and many other things contained in the promises (Deuteronomy XXVIII). But we, in Christ Jesus, want to be strong and strengthened, that is, in true circumcision, and not in Jewish circumcision. For neither is he a Jew who is openly a Jew, nor is circumcision openly in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is hidden, and circumcision of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter (Rom. II, 28, 29). Therefore, the circumcision of the flesh is of no avail in Christ, but the circumcision of the heart and of the ears, which removes that reproach of the Jews: Behold, your ears are uncircumcised, and you cannot hear (Exod. VI, 12). The circumcision of the lips is beneficial, as Moses himself testified in Scripture: 'But I myself have foreskin on my lips.' It provides many benefits, and in matters of sexual desire, circumcision is defiled by unchastity. Therefore, in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value, for they are placed in the middle, that is, between vices and virtues; but faith, which works through love, is what matters, just as the faith that was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness is confirmed, and every work of faith is placed in love, based on the whole Law and the Prophets, which depend on love. Indeed, in these two commandments: 'You shall love your God' and 'you shall love your neighbor,' the Savior asserted that the Law and the Prophets consist. And Paul in another place: 'For you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (Rom. XIII, 9). Therefore, if every commandment is summed up in what has been said: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' and faith works through love, it is clear that the work of faith through love contains the fullness of all the commandments. However, according to the apostle James, faith without works is dead (James 2:26): likewise, without faith, even if good works are present, they are considered dead. Therefore, those who do not believe in Christ but have good morals, what else do they possess besides the works of virtues? Let that example of faith which operates through charity be attributed to that prostitute from the Gospel, who, when she had washed the feet of the Lord while reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, with her tears, wiped them with her hair, anointed them with ointment, and when the Pharisee murmured, the Lord presented a parable of a debtor who owed fifty and five hundred denarii, and added: For this reason, I tell you: her many sins are forgiven, for she loved much (Luke 7:47, 50). And turning to the woman, he said: Your faith has saved you, go in peace. For it has been clearly demonstrated in this place that this woman had faith through charity, which was very powerful in Christ. For who can say that circumcision in Christ is of no value, when it was known to have been valuable at one time? Did anyone ever doubt whether circumcision was circumcision? But if we consider the many Christians, that is, those of us who have been grafted onto the root of the good olive tree (Rom. 11), rejoicing against the broken branches of the Jewish people, and saying that the uncircumcised is more valuable, in which Abraham pleased God, and faith was reckoned to him for righteousness, than circumcision, which was given as a sign of faith and did not benefit those who had it, we will also see this usurpation of some now carefully excluded.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:6
This is the faith that separates the righteous from the unclean demons, for they too, as the apostle James says, “believe and tremble,” but their actions are not good. Therefore they do not have that faith by which “the righteous live.”

Source: ON GRACE AND FREE WILL 18
[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Galatians 5:6
If anyone, holding the faith that works through love, repents of his former sin in such as a way that he from then on turns his back on it, he will be guiltless of the blasphemy that is spoken against the Holy Spirit [namely, impenitence], which is not forgiven to the speaker either in this age or in the one to come.

Source: ON THE REMISSION OF SINS 1.24.1
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:7
They bear in mind how the churches were rebuked by the apostle: "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? " and, "Ye did run so well; who hath hindered you? " and how the epistle actually begins: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him, who hath called you as His own in grace, to another gospel.

Source: The Prescription Against Heretics
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:7
Ver. 7. "You were running well; who did hinder you?"

This is not an interrogation, but an expression of doubt and sorrow. How has such a course been cut short? Who has been able to do this? You who were superior to all and in the rank of teachers, have not even continued in the position of disciples. What has happened? Who could do this? These are rather the words of one who is exclaiming and lamenting, as he said before, "Who did bewitch you?" [Galatians 3:1]

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:7
These are not the words of one who asks a question but of one who is at a loss and grieving. [Paul means] “How was so great a race cut short? Who had strength to do such a thing? You who were superior to all and were in the position of teachers have not even remained in the position of disciples.”

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.7
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:7
(Verse 7.) You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? The Latin translator, in his interpretation, put 'not obeying the truth', which is written in Greek as 'τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μὴ πείθεσθαι'. He interpreted it in the previous place as 'not believing the truth', which we noted in its proper place because it is not found in ancient manuscripts, although the Greek copies have been confused by this error. The meaning of the passage is: You were worshiping the Father in spirit and truth, and you were receiving from the fullness of Christ, knowing that the law was given only to the people through Moses and not made as well. But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, not only given but also accomplished. So, since you were running so well, serving the truth rather than the images, why do you, hindered by a distorted teacher, follow the shadow of the Law and abandon the truth of the Gospel? It follows.

You have not reached a consensus with anyone. But since we have not found this written either in Greek books or in those who have commented on the Apostle, it seems that it should be disregarded.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on Galatians 5:8
The truth is that the Jews imposed the yoke of the law on them by a human decision, not by the judgment of God, who was calling them to grace through his apostle.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.8
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:8
Ver. 8. "This persuasion came not of him that calls you."

He who called you, called you not to such fluctuations, he did not lay down a Law, that you should judaize. Then, that no one might object, "Why do you thus magnify and aggravate the matter by your words; one commandment only of the Law have we kept, and yet you make this great outcry?" hear how he terrifies them, not by things present but future in these words:

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:8
(Verse 8) Your persuasion is not from the one who called you. In the Latin manuscripts, I found it written as follows: Your persuasion is from God, who called you. Indeed, I think that 'from the one' was originally written and gradually, due to similarity, 'from God' became more frequent, because it is 'from the one.' But even so, the meaning cannot stand, as he had just accused them of not obeying the truth, showing that it is within their power to obey or not to obey, now on the contrary he asserts that their persuasion and obedience come not so much from those who are called, as from the one who calls. Therefore it is better and truer to read as follows: Your persuasion is not from the one who called you. For one thing is the work of God, another is the work of men. The work of God is to call; the work of men is either to believe or not to believe. And wherever the free will of man is affirmed from the Scriptures, there is quoted the passage: If you will and hear me (Exod. XIX, 5). And again: And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you? (Deut. X, 12), which is especially confirmed from this place. But those who think themselves simpler and believe that they should defer to God, so that even our belief is in His power, have removed a part of the prayer and have rendered a sense contrary to the Apostle. So, whether for good or for ill, neither God nor the devil is the cause, because our belief is not from Him who called us, but from us, who either consent or do not consent to the calling. Otherwise: This belief which you now follow is not from God who called you in the beginning, but from those who have troubled you afterwards.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Galatians 5:8
It is for God to call and hearers to obey.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.8
[AD 370] Gaius Marius Victorinus on Galatians 5:9
All leaven corrupts the bread, and the corrupted bread is flour. When the mass of flour is left, it sours, and then comes the leavening. Now when a small amount of the leaven is put into the mass, the mass is corrupted. “You,” he says, “must be unleavened bread. Therefore that little addition of yours, which you thought a small amount, namely, your observing of circumcision and the rest, because it is corrupt, corrupts the mass of o ur gospel. If so, you do not have full hope in Christ, and neither does Christ regard you as his own or people whose hope depends on him. For it is faith that sets free, and, as I have said, he has no faith who hopes for any sort of help apart from Christ, even along with Christ.”

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.9
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Galatians 5:9
For the greater number of offenders there are, the greater is the mischief that is done by them: for sin which passes without correction grows worse and worse, and spreads to others; since "a little leaven infects the whole lump"

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:9
Ver. 9. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump."

And thus this slight error, he says, if not corrected, will have power (as the leaven has with the lump) to lead you into complete Judaism.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:9
Some may say, “Why do you blow up the matter so portentously by your words? We have kept a single command of the law, and are you clamoring because of that?” But Paul is concerned not only for their present but for their future.… “For,” he says, “this little evil, if uncorrected, has the strength to lead you into complete Judaizing, just as leaven acts on the lump.”

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.9
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:9
(Verse 9.) A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. It is incorrectly translated in our codices: A little yeast corrupts the whole lump, and the translator has conveyed the sense of the interpreter rather than the words of the Apostle. However, Paul himself uses this same statement to the Corinthians: where he commands that the one who had his father's wife be removed from their midst, and be handed over to destruction and affliction of the flesh through fasting and sickness, so that the spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus Christ (some manuscripts add: our Lord). He says indeed: Not good is your boasting. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? (I Cor. 5:5, 6, and following)? Or (as we have now corrected) leavens the whole mixture? And immediately he adds: Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new mixture, as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. But now, according to this same sentiment, He teaches that the spiritual bread of the Church, which came down from heaven, should not be violated by Jewish interpretation; and the Lord Himself commanded the same to His disciples, that they should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (John VI). And the evangelist, making this more clear, added: But He had spoken to them concerning the doctrine of the Pharisees (Matthew XVI). Moreover, what is this other doctrine of the Pharisees, if not the observance of the Law according to the flesh? Therefore, this is the meaning: Do not think lightly of men who come from Judea and teach another doctrine, for they despise danger. A spark is a small thing, and when it is barely seen, it is not noticed; but if it catches hold of tinder and finds any small bit of fuel, it consumes walls, cities, vast forests, and regions. Likewise, the yeast in this parable in the Gospel (Luke 13) seems small and insignificant; but when it is mixed with flour, it corrupts the whole mass with its power, affecting everything that is mixed in. Similarly, a perverse teaching, starting from one foolish person, finds only two or three listeners at first; but gradually, like cancer spreading in the body, it contaminates the entire flock, as the common saying goes, the scabies of one animal infects the whole herd. Therefore, as soon as a spark appears, it must be extinguished, and the leaven must be removed from the vicinity of the dough, the rotten flesh must be cut away, and the scabrous animal must be driven away from the sheepfold, so that the whole house, mass, body, and livestock do not burn, decay, rot, and perish. Arius was a spark in Alexandria; but because he was not immediately suppressed, the flame of his spread throughout the entire world.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:9
(Verse 9.) I trust in you in the Lord, that you will understand nothing else. Not by conjecture, as some would have it, but by the prophetic spirit, Paul declares that the Galatians will return to the way of truth they had lost (I Cor. XII). For indeed, he who encouraged others to emulate the charisms, especially prophecy, himself spoke with the same abundant grace: For we know in part, and we prophesy in part (Ibid., XIII, 9). Therefore, foreseeing in spirit that they would believe nothing else except what they were taught through the Epistle, he said: I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will understand nothing else. For even the addition of the name of the Lord signifies the same thing. For if he had estimated this through conjecture, he could have said: I have confidence in you. But now, adding in the Lord, with a certain divine confidence in spirit, which he had known would come to pass, he prophesied.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:10
"But he that troubleth you shall have to bear judgment." From what God? From (Marcion's) most excellent god? But he does not execute judgment.

Source: Against Marcion Book V
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on Galatians 5:10
He says that he has this ground for trusting in them, that they had entered on the path of error not of their own accord, but they had been taken unawares. Thus he trusts that when they are shown the true road they will easily be able to return.
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:10
Ver. 10. "I have confidence to you-ward in the Lord, that you will be none otherwise minded."

He does not say, "you are not minded," but, "you will not be minded;" that is, you will be set right. And how does he know this? He says not "I know," but "I trust in God, and invoking His aid in order to your correction, I am in hopes;" and he says, not merely, "I have confidence in the Lord," but, "I have confidence towards you in the Lord." Every where he connects complaint with his praises; here it is as if he had said, I know my disciples, I know your readiness to be set right. I have good hopes, partly because of the Lord who suffers nothing, however trivial, to perish, partly because of you who are quickly to recover yourselves. At the same time he exhorts them to use diligence on their own parts, it not being possible to obtain aid from God, if our own efforts are not contributed.

Ver. 10. "But he that troubles you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be."

Not only by words of encouragement, but by uttering a curse or a prophecy against their teachers, he applies to them an incentive. And observe that he never mentions the name of these plotters, that they might not become more shameless. His meaning is as follows. Not because "you will be none otherwise minded," are the authors of your seduction relieved from punishment. They shall be punished; for it is not proper that the good conduct of the one should become an encouragement to the evil disposition of the other. This is said that they might not make a second attempt upon others. And he says not merely, "he that troubles," but, "whosoever he be," in the way of aggravation.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:10
He did not say “I know” but “I have confidence.” “I trust God,” Paul says. “I am confident when I call on the Lord to assist in your amendment.” And he has not said, “I have confidence in the Lord” but “I have confidence in you in the Lord.” Everywhere he interweaves his admonitions with praises. It is as though he said, “I know my disciples, I know your uprightness. My confidence is based first on the Lord who does not allow the least thing to be lost, and then on you, who can quickly recover control of yourselves.” At the same time, he asks them to bring their own zeal, since we cannot receive from God without bringing something of our own.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.10
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:10
Some say that Paul is tacitly attacking Peter, whom he says he “opposed to his face” … but Paul would not speak with such offensive aggression of the head of the church, nor did Peter deserve to be held to blame for disturbing the church. Therefore it must be supposed that he is speaking of someone else who had either been with the apostles, or was from Judea, or was one of the believing Pharisees, or at any rate was reckoned important among the Galatians.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.10
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:10
(Verse 10) But whoever disturbs you will bear judgment, whoever he may be. Secretly, they say, he attacks Peter, to whom he himself writes that he resisted him to his face, because he did not walk uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel. But neither did Paul speak with such insolent cursing against the leader of the Church (Galatians 2), nor did Peter deserve to be accused as the disturber of the Church. Therefore, it must be concluded that someone else is being referred to, who either was with the Apostles, or came from Judea, or believed of the Pharisees, or is certainly highly esteemed among the Galatians, so that he bears judgment upon the disturbed Church, whoever he may be. But he was referring to judgment, that is, what he said in other words: Each person will bear their own burden. And I think in the Scriptures, burden can be understood in both a good and a bad sense, that is, both for those oppressed by grave sins, and for those who sustain the light burdens of virtues. Concerning sins, the penitent speaks in the psalm: My iniquities have risen above my head, like a heavy burden they weigh me down (Psalm 38:5). Concerning virtues and the doctrine of virtues, the Savior says: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew XI, 30). And that doctrine is also understood as a burden, is clear in the Gospel. For the Pharisees impose heavy burdens, which cannot be carried, and they place them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to touch them with one finger (Ibid., XXIII). How grave it is to disturb someone's tranquility and to agitate calm hearts with certain disturbances, the words of the Savior to the apostles testify, saying: Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid (John XIV). For it is expedient that he who disturbs and scandalizes someone in the Church should have a millstone hung around his neck and be thrown into the sea, rather than he should scandalize one of these little ones who are shown by the Savior (Luke 17). Therefore, the Galatians were troubled between the spirit and the letter, circumcision and incision, hidden and manifest Judaism, not knowing what to do. However, it can be understood more briefly as follows: Whoever is the one who leads you back to the doctrine of the Pharisees and desires to be circumcised in the flesh, though he may be eloquent and boast in the knowledge of the Law, I say nothing more except this (which you cannot deny) that he will be judged for this work and will receive reward for his labor.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:11
And, of course, it had been meet that the mystery of the passion itself should be figuratively set forth in predictions; and the more incredible (that mystery), the more likely to be "a stumbling-stone," if it had been nakedly predicted; and the more magnificent, the more to be adumbrated, that the difficulty of its intelligence might seek (help from) the grace of God.

Source: An Answer to the Jews
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:11
Ver. 11. "But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted?"

Observe how clearly he exonerates himself from the charge, that in every place he judaized and played the hypocrite in his preaching. Of this he calls them as witnesses; for you know, he says, that my command to abandon the Law was made the pretext for persecuting me. If I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? For this is the only charge which they of the Jewish descent have to bring against me. Had I permitted them to receive the Faith, still retaining the customs of their fathers, neither believers nor unbelievers would have laid snares for me, seeing that none of their own usages were disturbed. What then! Did he not preach circumcision? Did he not circumcise Timothy? Truly he did. How then can he say, "I preach it not?" Here observe his accuracy; he says not, "I do not perform circumcision," but, "I preach it not," that is, I do not bid men so to believe. Do not therefore consider it any confirmation of your doctrine, for though I circumcised, I did not preach circumcision.

Ver. 11. "Then has the stumbling block of the cross been done away."

That is, if this which you assert be true, the obstacle, the hindrance, is removed; for not even the Cross was so great an offense to the Jews, as the doctrine that their father's customs ought not to be obeyed. When they brought Stephen before the council, they said not that this man adores the Crucified, but that he speaks "against this holy place and the Law." [Acts 6:13] And it was of this they accused Jesus, that He broke the Law. Wherefore Paul says, If Circumcision be conceded, the strife you are involved in is appeased; hereafter no enmity to the Cross and our preaching remains. But why do they bring this charge against us, while waiting day after day to murder us? It is because I brought an uncircumcised man into the Temple [Acts 21:29] that they fell upon me. Am I then, he says, so senseless, after giving up the point of Circumcision, vainly and idly to expose myself to such injuries, and to place such a stumbling-block before the Cross? For you observe, that they attack us for nothing with such vehemence as about Circumcision. Am I then so senseless as to suffer affliction for nothing at all, and to give offense to others? He calls it the offense of the Cross, because it was enjoined by the doctrine of the Cross; and it was this which principally offended the Jews, and hindered their reception of the Cross, namely, the command to abandon the usages of their fathers.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:11
Since they were slandering him as one who constantly Judaized and was a hypocrite in his preaching, see how blamelessly he meets the challenge, calling them to admit the truth. “For you know that this is the pretext for persecuting me, that I ask you to avoid the law. But if I preach circumcision, why am I persecuted? For the Jews have nothing to charge me with but this one thing.” … What then? Did he not preach circumcision? Did he not circumcise Timothy? He did indeed circumcise him. How then can he say “I do not preach”? Now learn here his precise meaning. He did not say “I do not perform circumcision” “I do not preach it,” that is, “I do not tell you to believe in this way.”

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.11
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:11
(Verse 11.) But if I still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been abolished (or, as it is better expressed in Greek, ceased). We read in the Acts of the Apostles, and the apostle Paul himself frequently mentions in his Epistles, that he endured frequent persecutions from the Jews because he taught that those who believed in Christ from the Gentiles should not be circumcised. Therefore, concerning those mentioned above, he says: Whoever disturbs you will bear judgment, whoever he may be, in order to deceive the Galatians. They also added this: Not only Peter, James, John, and the other apostles in Judea observe circumcision and other precepts of the Law, but even Paul himself, who taught you differently than the truth of the matter, circumcised Timothy and often became a Jew among the Jews, compelled by the truth. Wanting now to remove the opinion about the minds of the Galatians, Paul says: But I, brothers, if I preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In saying this, all the hatred of the Jews is against me, and the madness with which they rage against me is for no other reason than that I teach that the Gentiles should not be circumcised and that they should not keep the burdens of the law, which are now superfluous and abolished. However, if I am persecuted, it is evident that I am not preaching circumcision, which I destroy. For I suffer not so much persecution from the Jews because I preach the crucified, and say that Jesus is the Christ, whom the Law and the Prophets foretold, as because I teach that the Law is complete. But that the cross is a stumbling-block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, our Lord Himself shows, Who is called a stone of offense and a rock of scandal; for no other reason, I think, than because when the preaching has advanced with full sails to the hearers, as soon as it comes to the cross, it strikes against it and can by no means proceed further in an unimpeded course. But this Cross, which is a scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, is to us who believe, power and wisdom. For Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), so that what was called foolishness by the world might become wiser than the wisdom of men in the sight of God. And what was considered weakness and a stumbling block, became stronger than the power of men in the sight of God. But even though, he says, the scandal of Christ's Cross remains, I will endure persecution, which I would not endure if the scandal did not remain. It is in vain, indeed, that some boast of preaching circumcision, which I endure persecution for opposing.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:11
Since he speaks of a stumbling block here, he is reminding them that the principal reason for the Jews’ taking offense at Christ was that they often saw him ignoring and disdaining those ceremonial observances which they believed themselves to have for their very salvation. What he says here, then, is as much as to say: “It was therefore in vain that the Jews in their indignation crucified Christ when he disdained these commandments. Now they still try to enjoin such things on those for whom he was crucified.”

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 42 [1B.5.4-12]
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:12
How should he not, when he himself experiences the same? "I would," says he, "that they were even cut off which trouble you." In perfect agreement with reason was that indignation which resulted from his desire to maintain discipline and order.

Source: A Treatise on the Soul
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:12
"When I was a child," he says, "as a child I spake, as a child I understood; but when I became a man, those (things) which had been the child's I abandoned: " so truly did he turn away from his early opinions: nor did he sin by becoming an emulator not of ancestral but of Christian traditions, wishing even the precision of them who advised the retention of circumcision. And would that the same fate might befall those, too, who obtruncate the pure and true integrity of the flesh; amputating not the extremest superficies, but the inmost image of modesty itself, while they promise pardon to adulterers and fornicators, in the teeth of the primary discipline of the Christian Name; a discipline to which heathendom itself bears such emphatic witness, that it strives to punish that discipline in the persons of our females rather by defilements of the flesh than tortures; wishing to wrest from them that which they hold dearer than life! But now this glory is being extinguished, and that by means of those who ought with all the more constancy to refuse concession of any pardon to defilements of this kind, that they make the fear of succumbing to adultery and fornication their reason for marrying as often as they please-since "better it is to marry than to burn.

Source: On Modesty
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on Galatians 5:12
[The point is] that those who had deprived the Galatians of the grace of God should themselves be cut off from the grace of God.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.12
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:12
Ver. 12. "I would that they which unsettle you, would even cut themselves off."

Observe how bitterly he speaks here against their deceivers. At the outset he directed his charge against those who were deceived, and called them foolish, once and again. Now, having sufficiently corrected and instructed them, he turns to their deceivers. And you should remark his wisdom in the manner in which he admonishes and chastens the former as his own children, and as capable of receiving correction, but their deceivers he cuts off, as aliens and incurably depraved. And this he does, partly, when he says, "he shall bear his judgment whosoever he be;" partly when he utters the imprecation against them, "I would that they which unsettle you would even cut themselves off." And he says well "that unsettle you." For they had compelled them to abandon their own fatherland, their liberty, and their heavenly kindred, and to seek an alien and foreign one; they had cast them out of Jerusalem which is above and free, and compelled them to wander forth as captives and emigrants. On this account he curses them; and his meaning is as follows, For them I have no concern, "A man that is heretical after the first and second admonition refuse." [Titus 3:10] If they will, let them not only be circumcised, but mutilated. Where then are those who dare to mutilate themselves ; seeing that they draw down the Apostolic curse, and accuse the workmanship of God, and take part with the Manichees? For the latter call the body a treacherous thing, and from the evil principle; and the former by their acts give countenance to these wretched doctrines, cutting off the member as being hostile and treacherous. Ought they not much rather to put out the eyes, for it is through the eyes that desire enters the soul? But in truth neither the eye nor any other part of us is to blame, but the depraved will only. But if you will not allow this, why do you not mutilate the tongue for blasphemy, the hands for rapine, the feet for their evil courses, in short, the whole body? For the ear enchanted by the sound of a flute has often enervated the soul; and the perception of a sweet perfume by the nostrils has bewitched the mind, and made it frantic for pleasure. Yet this would be extreme wickedness and satanic madness. The evil spirit, ever delighting in slaughter, has seduced them to crush the instrument, as if its Maker had erred, whereas it was only necessary to correct the unruly passion of the soul. How then does it happen, one may say, that when the body is pampered, lust is inflamed? Observe here too that it is the sin of the soul, for to pamper the flesh is not an act of the flesh but of the soul, for if the soul choose to mortify it, it would possess absolute power over it. But what you do is just the same as if one seeing a man lighting a fire, and heaping on fuel, and setting fire to a house, were to blame the fire, instead of him who kindled it, because it had caught this heap of fuel, and risen to a great height. Yet the blame would attach not to the fire but to the one who kindled it; for it was given for the purpose of dressing food, affording light, and other like ministries, not for burning houses. In like manner desire is implanted for the rearing of families and the ensuring of life, not for adultery, or fornication, or lasciviousness; that a man may become a father, not an adulterer; a lawful husband, not a seducer; leaving heirs after him, not doing damage to another man's. For adultery arises not from nature, but from wantonness against nature, which prescribes the use not the misuse. These remarks I have not made at random, but as a prelude to a dispute, as skirmishing against those who assert that the workmanship of God is evil, and who neglecting the sloth of the soul, madly inveigh against the body, and traduce our flesh, whereof Paul afterwards discourses, accusing not the flesh, but devilish thoughts.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:12
It is asked how Paul, a disciple of him who said, “Bless those who curse you,” … now curses those who were disturbing the churches of Galatia.… The words that he speaks are prompted not so much by anger against his opponents as by affection for the churches of God.… Nor is it any wonder that the apostle, as a man still enclosed in a frail vessel and seeing the law in his own body taking him captive and leading him into the law of sin, should have spoken like this once, when we observe such lapses to be frequent in holy people.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.12
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:12
(Verse 12.) I wish that those who trouble you may be cut off. It is asked how Paul, his disciple, said: Bless those who curse you. And he himself speaking: Bless and do not curse (Rom. XII, 14). And in another place: Neither shall the revilers possess the kingdom of God (I Cor. XV): now if he has cursed them, who trouble the Galatian churches, and with a wishful prayer he has cursed: I wish that those who trouble you may be cut off. For the passion of castration is so detestable that both the one who inflicts it against someone's will is punished by the public laws, and the one who castrates himself is considered infamous. For as they say, this is true: Christ lives in me (II Cor. XIII, 3); and this: Do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me? Surely the voice of curse cannot be understood of him who says: Learn from me, for I am humble, and meek, and gentle in heart (Matth. XI, 29). And it is believed to be more of a Jewish fury, and a certain unrestrained madness that could not be restrained, than to have imitated him who, like a lamb before his shearer, did not open his mouth, and did not curse those who cursed him (Isaiah 53). However, he delivered himself to death as one condemned. But to those who will defend Paul, they will say this: the words he spoke were not so much words of fury against his adversaries, but of love for the Churches of God. For he saw indeed the whole province, which he himself had led through his own blood and dangers from idolatry to the faith of Christ, suddenly troubled by a sudden persuasion and apostolic grief, and as a grieving father, he could not hold himself: he changed his voice and grew angry with those whom he had charmed, so that he might at least retain them by reproach whom he could not retain by kindness. And no wonder if the Apostle, as a man and still enclosed in a frail vessel, seeing another law captivating him in his body and leading him in the law of sin, spoke this once, in which we frequently see holy men falling. But this can also be said (although it may seem superfluous to some) that Paul did not so much curse them as he prayed for them, that they may lose those parts of their body through which they were compelled to sin. And as it is said in the Gospel: it is better for someone to enter the kingdom of heaven without an eye, without a hand, without a foot, or any other part of the body, than to go into hell completely (Matthew XV): so now he wishes for them to lose one part of their body rather than be perpetually damned by the fire within the entire body. We have shown how this argument can be answered when it is made by the pagans. Now let's bring it forth against the heretics, namely Marcion, and Valentinus, and all those who attack the Old Testament. We must show how those who criticize the Creator as bloodthirsty, a stern warrior, and a mere judge can reconcile this with the Apostle of the good God. And certainly, I think there is no sentence in the Old Law as cruel, as bloody, as the one that says, 'May those who disturb you be cut off.' They cannot say that the Apostle prayed for the enemies of Christ, who were disturbing his Churches. Nor can it be called an expression of love, because it is evident from the weight of the words themselves that it is full of arrogance and indignation. Therefore, whatever excuses they may bring forward on behalf of the Apostle, we will not defend this according to the Old Law.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Galatians 5:13
Et si dicant nos "vocatos fuisse in libertatem, solummodo ne praebeamus libertatem, m occasionem carni"

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book III
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:13
Nay, rather banish quite away from your "free" head all this slavery of ornamentation.

Source: On the Apparel of Women Book II
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Galatians 5:13
One who is free and follows the spirit and the truth in the higher sense may look beyond the mere letter of Scripture with its types and precursors. But he should not therefore despise the less mature nor give some cause to lose hope to those who cannot grasp the deeper sense. For even if they are weak and fleshly in comparison with those who are spiritual, they remain the body of Christ.

Source: STROMATA 10.1
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:13
Ver. 13. "For you, brethren, were called for freedom; only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh."

Henceforward he appears to digress into a moral discourse, but in a new manner, which does not occur in any other of his Epistles. For all of them are divided into two parts, and in the first he discusses doctrine, in the last the rule of life, but here, after having entered upon the moral discourse, he again unites with it the doctrinal part. For this passage has reference to doctrine in the controversy with the Manichees. What is the meaning of, "Use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh?" Christ has delivered us, he says, from the yoke of bondage, He has left us free to act as we will, not that we may use our liberty for evil, but that we may have ground for receiving a higher reward, advancing to a higher philosophy. Lest any one should suspect, from his calling the Law over and over again a yoke of bondage, and a bringing on of the curse, that his object in enjoining an abandonment of the Law, was that one might live lawlessly, he corrects this notion, and states his object to be, not that our course of life might be lawless, but that our philosophy might surpass the Law. For the bonds of the Law are broken, and I say this not that our standard may be lowered, but that it may be exalted. For both he who commits fornication, and he who leads a virgin life, pass the bounds of the Law, but not in the same direction; the one is led away to the worse, the other is elevated to the better; the one transgresses the Law, the other transcends it. Thus Paul says that Christ has removed the yoke from you, not that you may prance and kick, but that though without the yoke you may proceed at a well-measured pace. And next he shows the mode whereby this may be readily effected; and what is this mode? He says,

Ver. 13. "But through love be servants one to another."

Here again he hints that strife and party-spirit, love of rule and presumptousness, had been the causes of their error, for the desire of rule is the mother of heresies. By saying, "Be servants one to another," he shows that the evil had arisen from this presumptuous and arrogant spirit, and therefore he applies a corresponding remedy. As your divisions arose from your desire to domineer over each other, "serve one another;" thus will you be reconciled again. However, he does not openly express their fault, but he openly tells them its corrective, that through this they may become aware of that; as if one were not to tell an immodest person of his immodesty, but were continually to exhort him to chastity. He that loves his neighbor as he ought, declines not to be servant to him more humbly than any servant. As fire, brought into contact with wax, easily softens it, so does the warmth of love dissolve all arrogance and presumption more powerfully than fire. Wherefore he says not, "love one another," merely, but, "be servants one to another," thus signifying the intensity of the affection. When the yoke of the Law was taken off them that they might not caper off and away another was laid on, that of love, stronger than the former, yet far lighter and pleasanter; and, to point out the way to obey it, he adds;

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:13
He then also shows the way by which this rectification may be easily accomplished. “Be slaves to one another in love,” Paul says. Here again he hints that love of strife, faction, ladder climbing and folly were the causes of their error. The mother of heresies is desire for power. From this foolishness and conceit he is calling them to “be slaves to one another.” Therefore Paul applies this corresponding remedy: “Since you have been torn apart by your desire to rule one another, be slaves to one another. In this way you will be brought together again.” He does not openly state their fault, but he states the remedy openly, so that through the remedy they may also better grasp the fault.… He did not say “love one another” but “be slaves to one another,” to express the most intense possible love.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.13
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:13
(V. 13.) For you were called to freedom, brothers: only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh (understood); because that is not found in Greek, the Latin translator added it. This passage is very obscure, so it was decided to transfer it word for word from the tenth book of the Stromata. Not that each part cannot be explained in its own place and meaning; but in order to separate it from the previous matter and make it one difficult body: and if they are understood in a way that is consistent, they seem to contradict each other and be full of abruptness. Therefore, these are the words of Origen: 'The place is difficult: and so it seems to us it must be discussed. The book is one that follows a higher meaning and the truth, and it despises the preceding types and figures and the letter: therefore, one should not look down upon the minor matters and give an opportunity to those who cannot perceive things in a more sublime manner, to completely despair of themselves. For though they may be weak and be called carnal in comparison to the spirit, they are still of Christ's flesh.' For if you understand the mystery of charity serving the weaker ones, do something for the weak: lest your brother perish in his own knowledge, for whom Christ died. Therefore, pay careful attention to whether this sense is woven into the following. You, brothers, have been called to freedom: perhaps because not everyone was able to receive the call to freedom. For this reason, you now hear: Only do not use freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. For through love it is fitting to serve the lesser to the greater: because whoever wants to be greater, will be the servant of all (Matthew XX; Mark X). Therefore, let not the spiritual person wound the flesh of Christ, nor give them occasion to bite and devour each other. Therefore, the one who walks in the Spirit and follows the words of the Scriptures, should not fulfill the desires of their flesh. But if we understand simply what is said: Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh, as many believe, against the argument and hypothesis of the whole Epistle, Paul suddenly bursts forth into this: For if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. And since up until now some part of his discourse has cohered, if we once again follow a simple understanding, he suddenly transfers us to disorderly precepts, speaking about flesh and spirit, that is: The works of the flesh are obvious and those [works] too. And on the contrary: But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, and the rest. But neither should we despair of consistency in these [teachings]; for the history of divine books contains the works of the flesh, not very helpful to those who understand it in this way, as it is written. For who will not be taught to serve luxury, and to regard fornication as nothing: when he reads that Judah went to a prostitute (Gen. 28); and that the patriarchs had many wives together? How can he not be provoked to idolatry, who believes that the blood of bulls and the other Levitical sacrifices indicate no more than what is written? And that enmities, as Scripture openly declares, are taught, and from this passage it is proved: O daughter of Babylon, miserable, blessed is he who will repay you for what you have done to us. Blessed is he who holds and dashes your little ones against the rock (Ps. CXXXVI, 8, 9). And also: In the morning I would slay all the sinners of the earth (Ps. C, 8), and similar things to these: namely, about quarrels, envy, anger, fights, and dissensions. Indeed, historical examples more often provoke us rather than prevent us from such things (if we don't understand anything deeper). Many consider that heresies have arisen more from a carnal understanding of Scripture rather than from the work of our flesh. Moreover, we learn about envy and drunkenness through the letter of the Law. Noah becomes drunk after the flood, and the patriarchs feast with Joseph in Egypt (Gen. IX and XLIII). But even banquets are written about in the book of the Kings; David dances and plays the tambourines before the Ark of the Covenant of God (1 Kings VI), and similar things. It is asked how the simple divine discourse of Scripture, which is called flesh, incites us to witchcraft and dark arts, unless we transcend to the same spirit of Scripture. I think this means that Daniel, along with three boys, were found to be wiser than the magicians, enchanters, and astrologers of Babylon and the Chaldeans. Moses was also educated in all the wisdom and knowledge of the Egyptians. Therefore, it is the cause of many evils if someone remains in the flesh of Scripture. Those who do so will not inherit the kingdom of God. Let us therefore seek the spirit and fruits of Scripture, which are not said to be hidden. For indeed, with much labor and sweat, and with worthy devotion, the fruits of the spirit are found in the Scriptures. Where I think that Paul spoke carefully and cautiously about the senses of Scripture: But the works of the flesh are manifest (Galatians 5:19). But he did not put the spiritual ones there as he did the carnal ones; the fruit of the spirit is clear: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and the rest (ibid., 22). Therefore, if we set aside the types and move on to the truth of Scripture and the spirit, immediately the first love is revealed to us, and as we progress to joy, we reach peace, through which we obtain patience. But who is not educated in compassion and goodness, when even those things which are considered sad by some, such as punishments, battles, the destruction of nations, and threats to the people through the prophets, are understood to be more remedies than punishments? For the Lord will not be angry forever. (Isaiah 57) Therefore, when these things have been made clear to us, we will have a more reasonable faith, and temperance will accompany corrected morals, followed by self-control and chastity: and after all these things, the Law will begin to be for us. So far to Origins. To which we can add, that we may say that those called from legal servitude to the liberty of the Gospel (of whom it is said above: Stand, and do not again be burdened with the yoke of servitude) are also now warned, that while embracing the light yoke of Christ and the pleasant precepts of the Gospel, they by no means think it is allowed for them to use this very liberty of living as an opportunity for the flesh: that is, to live according to the flesh, to be circumcised according to the flesh; but rather to walk according to the Spirit, to be circumcised in spirit, and, aiming at higher things of the Spirit, to abandon the humbleness of the letter. But it can also be understood in another way. Someone may ask: If I have ceased to be under the Law, and have been called to freedom from slavery, then I ought to live in a manner that is fitting for freedom, not being bound by any commandments, but rather doing whatever pleases and is suggested by one's own will, following it. To this, the Apostle responded: indeed we have been called to freedom in the Spirit, but in such a way that this freedom does not serve the flesh. Let us not think that everything is allowed to us, everything is expedient for us: on the contrary, let us serve one another through love, now that we have become free, having ceased to be servants of the Law, so that the multifarious precepts of the Law may be summed up in one chapter of love.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:13
From this point Paul begins to discuss those works of the law which … no one denies also pertain to the new covenant, but with another aim, appropriate to those who perform good works “in freedom.” These acts aim for the rewards of a love that hopes for eternal things and looks forward in faith. This is quite unlike the Jews, who were forced to fulfill these commandments from fear, and not that righteous fear which endures to eternity but one that made them fear for the present life. The result: they fulfill certain works of the law which consist in ceremonies but are completely unable to fulfill those that consist in good conduct. For nothing fulfills these except love.… And so the apostle now says, “You are called into freedom, brethren, but on condition that you do not let your freedom be an opportunity for the sin nature. Do not suppose, upon hearing the word freedom, that you can sin with impunity.”

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 43 [1B.5.13]
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Galatians 5:13
He now shifts to ethical exhortation and commends the practice of virtue. “For it was not in order to sin without fear,” he says, “that we have been freed from the law.” From this it is clear that in rejecting the superfluous parts of the ceremonial law he is commending the observance of the moral law and, above all, love.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.13
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:14
Now, if none other but the Creator shall be found to execute judgment, it follows that only He, who has determined on the cessation of the law, shall be able to condemn the defenders of the law; and what, if he also affirms the law in that portion of it where it ought (to be permanent)? "For," says he, "all the law is fulfilled in you by this: `Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' " If, indeed, he will have it that by the words "it is fulfilled" it is implied that the law no longer has to be fulfilled, then of course he does not mean that I should any more love my neighbour as myself, since this precept must have ceased together with the law.

Source: Against Marcion Book V
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:14
Are we to paint ourselves out that our neighbours may perish? Where, then, is (the command), "Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself? " "Care not merely about your own (things), but (about your) neighbour's? " No enunciation of the Holy Spirit ought to be (confined) to the subject immediately in hand merely, and not applied and carried out with a view to every occasion to which its application is useful.

Source: On the Apparel of Women Book II
[AD 258] Cyprian on Galatians 5:14
That charity and brotherly affection are to be religiously and stedfastly practised. In Malachi: "Hath not one God created us? Is there not one Father of us all? Why have ye certainly deserted every one his brother? " Of this same thing according to John: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." Also in the same place: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love than this has no man, than that one should lay down his life for his friends." Also in the same place: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." Also in the same place: "Verily I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth concerning everything, whatever you shall ask it shall be given you from my Father which is in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am with them." Of this same thing in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: "And I indeed, brethren, could not speak unto you as to spiritual, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I have given you milk for drink, not meat: for while ye were yet little ye were not able to bear it, neither now are ye able. For ye are still carnal: for where there are in you emulation, and strife, and dissensions, are ye not carnal, and walk after man? " Likewise in the same place: "And if I should have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods for food, and if I should deliver up my body to be burned, but have not charity, I avail nothing. Charity is great-souled; charity is kind; charity envieth not; charity dealeth not falsely; is not puffed up; is not irritated; thinketh not evil; rejoiceth not in injustice, but rejoiceth in the truth. It loveth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, beareth all things. Charity shall never fail." Of this same thing to the Galatians: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and accuse one another, see that ye be not consumed one of another." Of this same thing in the Epistle of John: "In this appear the children of God and the children of the devil. Whosoever is not righteous is not of God, and he who loveth not his brother. For he who hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." Also in the same place: "If any one shall say that he loves God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he who loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not? " Of this same thing in the Acts of the Apostles: "But the multitude of them that had believed acted with one soul and mind: nor was there among them any distinction, neither did they esteem as their own anything of the possessions that they had; but all things were common to them." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: If thou wouldest offer thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave thou thy gift before the altar, and go; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift at the altar." Also in the Epistle of John: "God is love l and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." Also in the same place: "He who saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is a liar, and walketh in darkness even until now."

Source: Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews
[AD 370] Gaius Marius Victorinus on Galatians 5:14
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.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.14
[AD 403] Epiphanius of Salamis on Galatians 5:14
What need is there for the holy apostle to make use of the law, if the new covenant is foreign to the old legislation? He wants to show both covenants are from the one Lord. They are best perceived as sharing the same intent. The fulfillment of the law is through the love of one’s neighbor, because love is that which effects the perfect good. He therefore says that love is the fulfilling of the law.

Source: PANARION 42.12.3, FIFTH REFUTATION OF MARCION
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:14
Ver. 14. "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Seeing that they made so much of the Law, he says, "If you wish to fulfill it, do not be circumcised, for it is fulfilled not in circumcision but in love." Observe how he cannot forget his grief, but constantly touches upon what troubled him, even when launched into his moral discourse.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:14
“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.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.14
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:14
(Verse 14) But serve one another through love; for the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' When he was free from all, he made himself a servant of all for the sake of love, so that he might gain more (I Cor. XIII). He rightly exhorts others to serve him through love, which does not seek its own, but that of the neighbor. For whoever wants to be first, shall be the servant of all (Mark, X, 44): just as the Savior, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of a human. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Philippians II): so likewise, whatever we appeared to do under the necessity of the Law, let us now know that it should be done more through love, for us who are free. But love is the only good, so that all the law is summed up in it. The Apostle also enumerates the goods of charity in another place, saying: Love is not jealous, does not act improperly (I Cor. XIII, 7, 8). After listing many other qualities, he concludes: Love hopes for all things, endures all things, love never fails. And the Savior in the Gospel, as a sign of his disciples, says that they should love their neighbors (Matthew XX). I think that this is not only suitable for humans but also for angels. In other words, the same thing is said: What you do not want to be done to you, do not do to others, and what you want others to do to you, do the same to them. (Ibid., VII, 12). I do not want my wife to be adulterated, I do not want my property to be plundered, I do not want to be falsely oppressed by testimony, and to summarize everything in a brief statement, I do not deserve to have anything unjust done to me. If I do these same things through charity working in me, either for another or willingly, the whole law is fulfilled. And it is not difficult to teach how all the precepts, 'You shall not kill,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' and the like, are held together by the observance of charity. It is difficult, however, to show how the sacrifices also, which are commanded in Leviticus, and the distinction between clean and unclean foods, as well as the cycle of annual solemnities, are recapitulated in one precept of charity. Unless someone moved to that place, to assert that the Law is spiritual, and that we serve the heavenly things with images and examples, before the true Pontiff arrives: who, having once offered himself as a victim, redeemed us with his own blood, all of that variety and difficulty of the ancient Law is completed in his love for mankind. Indeed, the Father loved the world so much that he gave his beloved and only Son for us. But he who once lived by the Spirit, mortified the works of the flesh, and was chosen by the Savior, is no longer called a servant, but a friend. And he is no longer under the Law, which was established for the impious, the sinners, the rebellious, and the wicked. But now, when we do all things that are more difficult or even a little bit, we only do not do this, which is easier to do and without which everything we do is in vain. The body feels the injury of fasting, the flesh is weakened by abstinence, alms are sought through effort, and blood is shed in martyrdom, although the faith burns, it is not poured out without pain and fear. All these things are what people do: love alone without work is possible. And because only a pure heart makes the world, it is conquered in us by the devil, so that we do not see God with a pure mind. For when I am sitting and speaking against my brother, and I put a stumbling block in front of the son of my mother (Ps. XLIX, 20), when I am tormented by someone else's happiness, and I make another's good my own evil, is not this what follows fulfilled in me: If you bite and devour each other, watch out that you do not consume each other? Charity is a rare possession. Who wants to be cursed by Christ himself for his brothers, following the apostle? Who mourns with mourners, rejoices with those who rejoice, and is wounded by another's wound? Who is destroyed by his brother's death? We are all more lovers of ourselves than lovers of God. See how great the good of charity is. If we have done martyrdom in such a way that we desire our remains to be honored by men: if we, following the opinion of the crowd, have shed our blood fearlessly, and have given our substance all the way to our own poverty, to this work not so much a reward as a punishment is owed: and the torments of betrayal are more so than the crown of victory.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 258] Cyprian on Galatians 5:15
What, then, is that-how execrable should it appear to you-which I have learnt with extreme anguish and grief of mind, to wit, that there are not wanting those who defile the temples of God, and the members sanctified after confession and made glorious, with a disgraceful and infamous concubinage, associating their beds promiscuously with women's! In which, even if there be no pollution of their conscience, there is a great guilt in this very thing, that by their offence originate examples for the ruin of Others. There ought also to be no contentions and emulations among you, since the Lord left to us His peace, and it is written, "Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself." "But if ye bite and find fault with one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." From abuse and revilings also I entreat you to abstain, for "revilers do not attain the kingdom of God; " and the tongue which has confessed Christ should be preserved sound and pure with its honour. For he who, according to Christ's precept, speaks things peaceable and good and just, daily confesses Christ. We had renounced the world when we were baptized; but we have now indeed renounced the world when tried and approved by God, we leave all that we have, and have followed the Lord, and stand and live in His faith and fear.

Source: Epistle VI
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:15
Ver. 15. "But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another."

That he may not distress them, he does not assert this, though he knew it was the case, but mentions it ambiguously. For he does not say, "Inasmuch as you bite one another," nor again does he assert, in the clause following, that they shall be consumed by each other; but "take heed that you be not consumed one of another," and this is the language of apprehension and warning, not of condemnation. And the words which he uses are expressly significant; he says not merely, "you bite," which one might do in a passion, but also "you devour," which implies a bearing of malice. To bite is to satisfy the feeling of anger, but to devour is a proof of the most savage ferocity. The biting and devouring he speaks of are not bodily, but of a much more cruel kind; for it is not such an injury to taste the flesh of man, as to fix one's fangs in his soul. In proportion as the soul is more precious than the body, is damage to it more serious. "Take heed that you be not consumed one of another." For those who commit injury and lay plots, do so in order to destroy others; therefore he says, Take heed that this evil fall not on your own heads. For strife and dissensions are the ruin and destruction as well of those who admit as of those who introduce them, and eats out every thing worse than a moth does.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:15
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.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.15
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:15
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.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.15
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:15
(Verse 15) But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you are not consumed by one another. This can be understood simply as not tearing each other down, not seeking revenge with curses, not wanting to cause sorrow to the sorrowful, and being like animals, biting and being bitten, leading to destruction and consumption. However, it is better to understand this in the context of the entire letter and according to reason, rather than suddenly breaking into extraordinary commands. Let us refer everything to circumcision and observance of the Law. If others, he says, disturb you, but you are also disturbed. If you read the whole old Scripture, understand it in the way it is written: Eye for eye, tooth for tooth (Deut. XIX, 21), and anger desires revenge, but revenge imposes pain: which the Law not only does not prohibit, but even commands, restoring justice in talion, it follows that the stripped should strip, and the wounded should wound again, and the consumed should bite back, and what seems to be justice should be consumption, not avenging one, but consuming both.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Galatians 5:15
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.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.15
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Galatians 5:16
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, temperance, goodness, faith, meekness."

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book IV
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:16
Every soul, then, by reason of its birth, has its nature in Adam until it is born again in Christ; moreover, it is unclean all the while that it remains without this regeneration; and because unclean, it is actively sinful, and suffuses even the flesh (by reason of their conjunction) with its own shame. Now although the flesh is sinful, and we are forbidden to walk in accordance with it, and its works are condemned as lusting against the spirit, and men on its account are censured as carnal, yet the flesh has not such ignominy on its own account.

Source: A Treatise on the Soul
[AD 370] Gaius Marius Victorinus on Galatians 5:16
The whole essence of the gospel is to think according to the Spirit, to live according to the Spirit, to believe according to the Spirit, to have nothing of the flesh in one’s mind and acts and life. That means also having no hope in the flesh. “Walk, then,” he says, “in the Spirit”—that is, “Be alive. If you do so you will not consummate the desire of the flesh. You will admit into consciousness no sin, which is born of the flesh.”

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.16
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:16
Ver. 16. "But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

Here he points out another path which makes duty easy, and secures what had been said, a path whereby love is generated, and which is fenced in by love. For nothing, nothing I say, renders us so susceptible of love, as to be spiritual, and nothing is such an inducement to the Spirit to abide in us, as the strength of love. Therefore he says, "Walk by the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh:" having spoken of the cause of the disease, he likewise mentions the remedy which confers health. And what is this, what is the destruction of the evils we have spoken of, but the life in the Spirit? Hence he says, "Walk by the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:16
See how he also shows a better way. It makes virtue uncomplicated and rightly accomplishes what he has previously said—a way that brings forth love and is sustained by love. For nothing, nothing makes people so lovable as to be formed by the Spirit. And nothing so causes the Spirit to abide in us as the strength of love.… After having stated the cause of the illness, he also shows the remedy that bestows health.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.16
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:16
(Verse 16) But I say: Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. And this is to be understood in two ways according to what was said before: first, that those who have mortified the works of the flesh by the spirit, have sown in the spirit, so that they may reap eternal life from the spirit, whenever they feel the pleasures of the flesh tempting them, not to fulfill their desires (which, if fulfilled, seems pleasing for a time), but to restrain them by the spirit; and second, according to the opinion of the Historian (Sallust): to live more by the control of the mind and the service of the body. And moreover, the reason is that the Law is spiritual (Rom. VII), not for those who are Jews in a visible sense, but for those who are Jews in a hidden sense, and circumcision of the heart is in the spirit, not in the letter, and we say that they walk in the spirit and do not fulfill the desire of the flesh, those who spiritually leave Egypt and drink the spiritual food and drink from the spiritual rock, who are not judged in eating or drinking or in a part of a festive day, or of a new moon, or of the Sabbath, but walk in all things spiritually, not fulfilling the desires of the carnal law, or the desires of the letter, but reaping the fruits of spiritual intelligence. A third interpretation has also been given in this place by some, but it does not differ much from the second interpretation. They assert that the desire of the flesh is present in those who are young in Christ, while the journey of the spirit is for mature men, and it signifies the seriousness of the spirit, that is, walking on the way as perfect men, and not fulfilling the desires of the young.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 500] Desert Fathers on Galatians 5:16-17
He also said, ‘Fasting is the monk’s control over sin. The man who stops fasting is like a stallion who lusts the moment he sees a mare.’

Source: The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
[AD 500] Desert Fathers on Galatians 5:16-17
Abraham, who was a disciple of Agatho, once asked Poemen, ‘Why do the demons attack me?’ Poemen said to him, ‘Is it the demons who attack you? It is not the demons who attack me. When we follow our self-will then our wills seem like demons and it is they who urge us to obey them. If you want to know the kind of people with whom the demons fight, it is Moses and those like him.’

Source: The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
[AD 500] Desert Fathers on Galatians 5:16-17
A brother asked a hermit, ‘What shall I do, for I am troubled by many temptations, and I do not know how to resist them?’ He said, ‘Do not fight against them all at once, but against one of them. All the temptations of monks have a single source. You must consider what kind of root of temptation you have, and fight against that and in this way all the other temptations will also be defeated.’

Source: The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Galatians 5:17
The commandments are written, then, doubly, as appears, for twofold spirits, the ruling and the subject. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.".
The commandment, then, "Thou shalt not lust "says, thou shalt not serve the carnal spirit, but shall rule over it; "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit".
Soul, putting a bridle-bit on the restive irrational spirit: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit."

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book VI
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:17
For although he says that "in his flesh dwelleth no good thing; " although he affirms that "they who are in the flesh cannot please God," because "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit; " yet in these and similar assertions which he makes, it is not the substance of the flesh, but its actions, which are censured.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:17
Thus, so long as the things which are the Spirit's please them not, the things which are of the flesh will please, as being the contraries of the Spirit. "The flesh," saith (the apostle), "lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." But what will the flesh "lust" after, except what is more of the flesh? For which reason withal, in.

Source: On Monogamy
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Galatians 5:17
But the third angel (Naas), by the soul which came from Edem upon Moses, as also upon all men, obscured the precepts of Baruch, and caused his own peculiar injunctions to be hearkened unto. For this reason the soul is arrayed against the spirit, and the spirit against the soul.

Source: Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book V
[AD 258] Cyprian on Galatians 5:17
Moreover, we ask that the will of God may be done both in heaven and in earth, each of which things pertains to the fulfilment of our safety and salvation. For since we possess the body from the earth and the spirit from heaven, we ourselves are earth and heaven; and in both-that is, both in body and spirit-we pray that God's will may be done. For between the flesh and spirit there is a struggle; and there is a daily strife as they disagree one with the other, so that we cannot do those very things that we would, in that the spirit seeks heavenly and divine things, while the flesh lusts after earthly and temporal things; and therefore we ask that, by the help and assistance of God, agreement may be made between these two natures, so that while the will of God is done both in the spirit and in the flesh, the soul which is new-born by Him may be preserved. This is what the Apostle Paul openly and manifestly declares by his words: "The flesh," says he, "lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: for these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adulteries, fornications, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, murders, hatred, variance, emulations, wraths, strife, seditions, dissensions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, magnanimity, goodness, faith, gentleness, continence, chastity." And therefore we make it our prayer in daily, yea, in continual supplications, that the will of God concerning us should be done both in heaven and in earth; because this is the will of God, that earthly things should give place to heavenly, and that spiritual and divine things should prevail.

Source: Treatise IV On the Lord's Prayer
[AD 258] Cyprian on Galatians 5:17
What are those carnal things which beget death, and what are the spiritual things which lead to life. Paul to the Galatians: "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: for these are contrary the one to the other, that ye cannot do even those things which ye wish. But the deeds of the flesh are manifest, which are: adulteries, fornications, impurities, filthiness, idolatries, sorceries, murders, hatreds, strifes, emulations, animosities, provocations, hatreds, dissensions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: with respect to which I declare, that they who do such things shall not possess the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, magnanimity, goodness, faith, gentleness, continency, chastity. For they who are Christ's have crucified their flesh, with its vices and lusts."

Source: Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews.
[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on Galatians 5:17
For there are two motions in us, the lust of the flesh and that of the soul, differing from each other,

Source: Methodius Discourse VIII. Thekla
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:17
Ver. 17. "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are contrary the one to the other: that you may not do the things that you would."

Here some make the charge that the Apostle has divided man into two parts, and that he states the essence of which he is compounded to be conflicting with itself, and that the body has a contest with the soul. But this is not so, most certainly; for by "the flesh," he does not mean the body; if he did, what would be the sense of the clause immediately following, "for it lusts," he says, "against the Spirit?" yet the body moves not, but is moved, is not an agent, but is acted upon. How then does it lust, for lust belongs to the soul not to the body, for in another place it is said, "My soul longs," [Psalm 84:2] and, "Whatsoever your soul desires, I will even do it for you," [1 Samuel 20:4] and, "Walk not according to the desires of your heart," and, "So pants my soul." [Psalm 42:1] Wherefore then does Paul say, "the flesh lusts against the Spirit?" he is wont to call the flesh, not the natural body but the depraved will, as where he says, "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit," [Romans 8:8-9] and again, "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." What then? Is the flesh to be destroyed? Was not he who thus spoke clothed with flesh? Such doctrines are not of the flesh, but from the Devil, for "he was a murderer from the beginning." [John 8:44] What then is his meaning? It is the earthly mind, slothful and careless, that he here calls the flesh, and this is not an accusation of the body, but a charge against the slothful soul. The flesh is an instrument, and no one feels aversion and hatred to an instrument, but to him who abuses it. For it is not the iron instrument but the murderer, whom we hate and punish. But it may be said that the very calling of the faults of the soul by the name of the flesh is in itself an accusation of the body. And I admit that the flesh is inferior to the soul, yet it too is good, for that which is inferior to what is good may itself be good, but evil is not inferior to good, but opposed to it. Now if you are able to prove to me that evil originates from the body, you are at liberty to accuse it; but if your endeavor is to turn its name into a charge against it, you ought to accuse the soul likewise. For he that is deprived of the truth is called "the natural man." [1 Corinthians 2:14] and the race of demons "the spirits of wickedness." [Ephesians 6:12]

Again, the Scripture is wont to give the name of the Flesh to the Mysteries of the Eucharist, and to the whole Church, calling them the Body of Christ. [Colossians 1:24] Nay, to induce you to give the name of blessings to the things of which the flesh is the medium, you have only to imagine the extinction of the senses, and you will find the soul deprived of all discernment, and ignorant of what it before knew. For if the power of God is since "the creation of the world clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made," [Romans 1:20] how could we see them without eyes? And if "faith comes of hearing," [Romans 10:17] how shall we hear without ears? And preaching depends on making circuits wherein the tongue and feet are employed. "For how shall they preach, except they be sent?" [Romans 10:15] In the same way writing is performed by means of the hands. Do you not see that the ministry of the flesh produces for us a thousand benefits? In his expression, "the flesh lusts against the Spirit," he means two mental states. For these are opposed to each other, namely virtue and vice, not the soul and the body. Were the two latter so opposed they would be destructive of one another, as fire of water, and darkness of light. But if the soul cares for the body, and takes great forethought on its account, and suffers a thousand things in order not to leave it, and resists being separated from it, and if the body too ministers to the soul, and conveys to it much knowledge, and is adapted to its operations, how can they be contrary, and conflicting with each other? For my part, I perceive by their acts that they are not only not contrary but closely accordant and attached one to another. It is not therefore of these that he speaks as opposed to each other, but he refers to the contest of bad and good principles. [cf. Romans 7:23] To will and not to will belongs to the soul; wherefore he says, "these are contrary the one to the other," that you may not suffer the soul to proceed in its evil desires. For he speaks this like a Master and Teacher in a threatening way.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:17
The body as such does not cause motion but is moved. It is not an agent but is acted upon. For desire is not of the body but of the soul.… How then does Paul say “the flesh struggles against the spirit?” By “flesh” he means not the physical body but the evil choice.… What then? Ought one to suppress the flesh? Was not the one who said this himself clothed with flesh?… By “flesh” here he means earthly thoughts that are apathetic and heedless. This is not a condemnation of the body but a reproach of the apathetic soul. For the flesh is an instrument, and no one repudiates and hates the instrument as such, but only the one who handles the instrument badly.… Yet, one may argue, even this is a condemnation of the body, to call the faults of the soul by the name of the flesh. Now I agree that the body is less precious than the soul, yet it is itself good as created. For what is less than truly good may remain proximately good. Evil is not less than the good but opposed to it.… The eucharistic mysteries too, and the whole church, are customarily called by the name of “flesh” in Scripture, which is called “the body of Christ” … But if he says “the flesh struggles against the Spirit,” he is speaking of two opposing ways of thinking. The things that oppose each other are virtue and wickedness, not the soul and the body. For if the latter are opposed, each is the destruction of the other … but if the soul cares for the body … and the body serves the soul … how can they be contraries and at war with one another?

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.17
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:17
The “flesh struggles against the Spirit: ” that is, the literal and flat understanding of Scripture fights against allegory and spiritual doctrine.… And the carnal sense of Scripture, which cannot be fulfilled (since we cannot do all that is written), shows that we do not have it in our power to fulfill the law when even if we wish to follow the letter we are prevented by its impossibility.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.17
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:17
(Verse 17.) For the flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These indeed are opposed to one another, so that you may not do the things that you wish. The flesh takes pleasure in present and short-lived things, while the spirit is concerned with eternal and future things. In the midst of this conflict, the soul stands, having in its power both good and evil, to will and not to will, but not having the very will and not will itself as perpetual: because it is possible that, when it has consented to the flesh and has done its works, it may, by repentance, unite itself to the spirit and perform its works. This is therefore what he says: These things oppose each other, that is, flesh and spirit, so that you do not do whatever you want. Not because we have our own judgment, by which we agree either with the flesh or with the spirit, but because what we do is not properly ours, but the work itself is attributed to either the flesh or the spirit. It is a great labor and dispute to find some middle ground, having shown the works of the flesh and the spirit, which seem to pertain to neither the flesh nor the spirit. We are called carnal when we give ourselves entirely to pleasure. We are called spiritual when we follow the Holy Spirit, that is, when we are instructed and taught by Him. I consider philosophers to be animalistic, as they believe that their own thoughts are wisdom, about which it is rightly said: But the natural man does not receive what belongs to the Spirit. For it is foolishness to him. To make this clearer, let us consider some examples: Flesh, earth, soul, gold, spirit, fire. As long as gold is in the earth, it loses its name, and is called by the earth with which it is mixed. But when separated from the soil, it takes on both the appearance and the name of gold, yet it is not yet proven. However, if it is heated by fire and purified, then it receives the splendor of gold and the dignity of its adornment. In the same way, the soul, existing between earth and fire, that is, between flesh and spirit, when it surrenders to the flesh, is called flesh; when it belongs to the spirit, it is called spirit. But if he believes in his own thought and thinks that he can find truth without the grace of the Holy Spirit, he is marked as a base metal, by the animal nature of man. This place can be better explained as a single series and body, connecting and not disagreeing with itself. Brothers, you have been called from the servitude of the Law to the freedom of the Gospel. But I beg you, do not abuse your freedom as a license, and do not think that everything that is allowed is beneficial to you, and do not provide opportunity for the flesh and for indulgence. Rather, learn that this liberty is greater than servitude, so that what before the Law forced from the unwilling, now you may serve one another through charity. For indeed, all that burden of the Law and its many precepts have not been so much abolished by the grace of the Gospel as they have been condensed into one short command of charity, that we may love our neighbor as ourselves. For whoever loves their neighbor fulfills the whole law (Matthew 22), giving them good and not causing harm. But if love ceases, and there is no charity, through which the whole law is fulfilled, there will be a kind of public robbery among men, as they rage against each other, devouring and devouring themselves. But you, brothers, according to the spiritual law, must live, so that you do not fulfill the desires of the flesh. For the flesh fears cold, rejects hunger, weakens through sleeplessness, flames with lust, and desires soft and pleasant things. On the other hand, the spirit desires the things that are contrary to the flesh and that can weaken it. And so it happens that, not because you have ceased to be under the slavery of the Law, you think you are free: but know rather that you are retained by the law of nature, because even if the law does not command, and nature has ceased, your will, namely your actions, are not immediately followed, but you are often compelled to do them, the flesh resisting against the spirit, which you do not want to do. From which, brothers, I beseech you, not to give your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but rather to serve the Spirit, so that you may begin to do those things which you desire, and owe nothing to the law, that is, not to be under the flesh. For you will be able to truly have the freedom of the law abolished in the Gospel, when the flesh no longer compels you to do what you do not desire, but serving the Spirit, you have taught yourselves not to be under the Law. And because we have begun to explain this passage with a twofold understanding above, what we have omitted must be addressed. The flesh desires against the spirit, that is, a carnal understanding of the stories and scriptures, which resists allegory and spiritual teaching. But the spirit desires against the flesh, that is, it opposes higher things to lower things, the eternal to the fleeting, and truth to shadows. And the carnal understanding of scripture, which cannot be fulfilled (for we are not able to do everything that is written), shows us that we are not in control of fulfilling the law, even if we want to follow the letter, impossibility does not permit it.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:17
The fact is that both are good: the spirit is good and the flesh too is good. And the whole person who consists of both, one ruling and one obeying, is indeed good but a changeable good. Yet these changing goods could not arise were it not for the immutable good, which is the source of every created good, whether small or great. But however small might be one particular good, it is nonetheless made by the one incomparably good. Yet however great, it is in no way comparable to the greatness of its Maker. But in this human nature, good as it is in origin and constitution, there is now war, because there is not yet salvation.

Source: On Continence 18
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:17
The “flesh struggles against the spirit” yet does not subdue it, since the spirit also “struggles against the flesh.” Although that same law of sin holds something of the flesh as its prisoner and thereby resists the law of the mind it does not, however, reign in our body, mortal though it is, if our body does not voluntarily obey its desires.

Source: ON MARRIAGE AND CONCUPISCENCE 1.35
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:17
Now this, I think, he writes to the Galatians, to whom he says, “Who gave you the Spirit.” … From this it is apparent that he is speaking to Christians, people to whom God had given the Spirit, and therefore to the baptized. See, the sinful nature is an adversary even within the baptized, and there is not in them that possibility [of sinlessness] which [Pelagius25] says is so implanted in our nature that it cannot be annulled.

Source: ON NATURE AND GRACE 61
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:17
People think that the apostle here denies that we possess free will. They do not perceive what he is saying to them: If they refuse to hold fast to the grace they have received, through which alone they are able to walk in the Spirit and avoid fulfilling the desires of the flesh, they will not be able to do as they wish.… It is love that “fulfills the law.” But “the wisdom of the flesh” by following temporal goods opposes spiritual love. How can it be made subject to the law of God (that is, freely and obediently fulfill righteousness and not be opposed to it) when even as it tries it must be vanquished? The flesh imagines that it can procure a greater temporal good by iniquity than by maintaining righteousness. The first stage, the natural life of a human being, precedes the law, when no wrongdoing or malice is prohibited. The natural being makes no resistance at all to base desires, since there is no one to prohibit them. The second stage is under law before grace, when he is indeed prohibited and tries to abstain from sin but is overcome because he does not yet love righteousness for God’s sake and its own but wishes to observe it in the hope of earthly acquisitions. And therefore, when he sees righteousness on one side and temporal good on another, he is dragged by the weight of his temporal desire and thus forsakes righteousness, which he was trying to maintain only in order to have that which he now sees that he is going to lose by maintaining it. The third stage of life is the one under grace, when no temporal good is preferred to righteousness. This cannot happen except by spiritual love, which the Lord has taught by his example and bestowed by grace. For in this life, even if there remain desires of the flesh from the mortality of the body, yet they do not subdue the mind to consent to sin.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 46 [1B.5.17]
[AD 435] John Cassian on Galatians 5:17
An inward war is being waged every day within us. The desires of the flesh and of the spirit are within one and the same person. The lust of the flesh rushes headlong into vice, delights in the worldly enjoyments that seem to satisfy. By contrast the opposed desire of the spirit is so eager to cleave entirely to spiritual pursuits that it in an exaggerated way chooses even to exclude the necessary uses of the flesh. By wishing to be so inseparably attached to spiritual things it refuses to take care of its own bodily fragility.

Source: CONFERENCES 4.11.2
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:18
Ver. 18. "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."

If it be asked in what way are these two connected, I answer, closely and plainly; for he that has the Spirit as he ought, quenches thereby every evil desire, and he that is released from these needs no help from the Law, but is exalted far above its precepts. He who is never angry, what need has he to hear the command, You shall not kill? He who never casts unchaste looks, what need has he of the admonition, You shall not commit adultery? Who would discourse about the fruits of wickedness with him who had plucked up the root itself? For anger is the root of murder, and of adultery the inquisitive gazing into faces. Hence he says, "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law;" wherein he appears to me to have pronounced a high and striking eulogy of the Law, if, at least, the Law stood, according to its power, in the place of the Spirit before the Spirit's coming upon us. But we are not on that account obliged to continue apart with our schoolmaster. Then we were justly subject to the Law, that by fear we might chasten our lusts, the Spirit not being manifested; but now that grace is given, which not only commands us to abstain from them, but both quenches them, and leads us to a higher rule of life, what more need is there of the Law? He who has attained an exalted excellence from an inner impulse, has no occasion for a schoolmaster, nor does any one, if he is a philosopher, require a grammarian. Why then do you so degrade yourselves, as now to listen to the Law, having previously given yourselves to the Spirit?

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:18
Yet it seems to me that here he has pronounced a great and remarkable eulogy on the law. For the power of the law was such as to put it in the place of the office of the Spirit before the Spirit came to us. That is not to say that one should therefore cleave to this custodian. For then we were properly under the law, so that by fear we might restrain our desires, the Spirit not yet having appeared. But what need is there now of the law when the Spirit has been given? This grace does not merely bid us to abstain from the commands of the old covenant but also quenches them and leads us on to a higher rule of life.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.18
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:18
The holy prophets and Moses, walking in the Spirit and living in the Spirit, were not under the law. But they lived as if under the law, so that they appeared indeed to be under the law, but only in order to benefit those who were under the law and spur them on from the lowliness of the letter toward the heights of the Spirit.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.18
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:18
(Ver. 18.) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. The spirit referred to here is not the one about which the Apostle speaks elsewhere: The Spirit itself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. VIII, 16), that is, it does not signify the spirit of man that is in him, but the Holy Spirit. By following Him, we become spiritual, and we cease to be under the Law. It should be noted that this spirit is not referred to with an article or any addition, as we read in other cases, the spirit of gentleness and the spirit of faith, but it is simply called the Spirit: this distinction seems to have some significance, which is more observed in Greek than in our language (since we don't have articles at all). It is asked in this place whether whoever is led by the Spirit is not under the Law, whether Moses and the prophets, being inspired by the Spirit, lived under the Law, which the Apostle denies, or whether, having the Spirit, they were not under the Law, which the Apostle affirms here, or whether, while living under the Law, they did not have the Spirit, which it is wicked to believe about such men. To this we will respond briefly: It is not the same thing to be under the Law and to be as if under the Law, just as it is not the same in the likeness of sinful flesh and in being sinful flesh. And the true serpent does not sound the same. And the likeness of the brazen serpent, which Moses hung up in the desert (Num. XXI). Therefore, the holy prophets and Moses, walking in the Spirit and living in the Spirit, did not live under the Law, but as if under the Law, so that they seemed to be under the Law; but they profited those who were under the Law and provoked them from the humility of the letter to the height of the spirit. For even Paul, who became a Jew to the Jews and all things to all people, that he might gain all (I Cor. IX): he did not say he became under the Law, but became as if under the Law, to show that he kept not the truth of the Law, but the likeness. It seems to us that we have solved the proposed question. But what shall we do with that passage of Paul, which says: 'When the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order to redeem those who were under the Law' (Galatians 4:4-5)? For if Christ was under the Law, and not merely as under the Law, the whole preceding argument will be in vain. But this objection will be solved in its proper place. For the very reason why he was made under the Law, in order to redeem those who were under the Law, was surely that, while being free from the Law, he submitted to it willingly; and much freer was Paul, who testified that he was not under the Law, but as if under the Law. And in order to descend into the filth and abyss of death for us, who were praying and saying: Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. VII, 14). In this way, He also willed to be born of a woman and to be under the Law, in order to save those who were born of a woman and under the Law. And surely He was not born of a woman, that is, of a married woman, but of a virgin. However, she was incorrectly called a virgin woman, because those who did not know her to be a virgin. And so, because of those who thought that the holy Mary had a husband, the woman is considered to be a virgin; thus, because of those who believed that Christ was under the Law, not knowing that he had become like those who were under the Law, he himself is said to have become under the Law.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:18
A person is “under the law” when he is conscious of abstaining from works of sin through fear of the torments threatened by the law rather than by love of righteousness. He is not yet free, not yet a stranger to the will to sin. For he does wrong by his very willing, since he would prefer if it were possible that there should be nothing for the will to fear, so that he might do freely what he secretly desires.… By the law which he has used to instill fear [God] has not imparted love. Godly love is suffused in our hearts not through the letter of the law but through the Holy Spirit, which is given to us.

Source: ON NATURE AND GRACE 67
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:18
He did not say “Walk in the Spirit so that you will not have desires of the flesh” but “so that you will not gratify them.” Not to have them at all, indeed, is not the struggle but the prize of struggle, if we shall have obtained the victory by perseverance under grace. For it is only the transformation of the body into an immortal state that will no longer have desires of the flesh.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 47 [1B.5.18]
[AD 202] Irenaeus on Galatians 5:19
Hatreds, contentions jealousies, wraths, emulations, animosities, irritable speeches, dissensions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and such like; of which I warn you, as also I have warned you, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:19
He means the works of the flesh and blood, which, in his Epistle to the Galatians, deprive men of the kingdom of God. In other passages also he is accustomed to put the natural condition instead of the works that are done therein, as when he says, that "they who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Source: Against Marcion Book V
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:19
It is not indeed the flesh which he bids us to put off, but the works which he in another passage shows to be "works of the flesh." He brings no accusation against men's bodies, of which he even writes as follows: "Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:19
What are these? Among the first he has set "fornication, impurity, lasciviousness: "" (concerning) which I foretell you, as I have foretold, that whoever do such acts are not to attain by inheritance the kingdom of God." The Romans, moreover,-what learning is more impressed upon them than that there must be no dereliction of the Lord after believing? "What, then, say we? Do we persevere in sin, in order that grace may superabound? Far be it.

Source: On Modesty
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:19
But what do we understand "the sense of the flesh" and "the life of the flesh" (to mean), except whatever "it shames (one) to pronounce? " for the other (works) of the flesh even an apostle would have named. Similarly, too, (when writing) to the Ephesians, while recalling past (deeds), he warns (them) concerning the future: "In which we too had our conversation, doing the concupiscences and pleasures of the flesh.

Source: On Modesty
[AD 258] Cyprian on Galatians 5:19
Nemesianus of Thubunae said: That the baptism which heretics and schismatics bestow is not the true one, is everywhere declared in the Holy Scriptures, since their very leading men are false Christs and false prophets, as the Lord says by Solomon: "He who trusteth in that which is false, he feedeth the winds; and the very same, moreover, followeth the flight of birds. For he forsaketh the ways of his own vineyard, he has wandered from the paths of his own little field. But he walketh through pathless places, and dry, and a land destined for thirst; moreover, he gathereth together fruitless things in his hands." And again: "Abstain from strange water, and from the fountain of another do not drink, that you may live a long time; also that the years of life may be added to thee." And in the Gospel our Lord Jesus Christ spoke with His divine voice, saying, "Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." This is the Spirit which from the beginning was borne over the waters; for neither can the Spirit operate without the water, nor the water without the Spirit. Certain people therefore interpret for themselves ill, when they say that by imposition of the hand they receive the Holy Ghost, and are thus received, when it is manifest that they ought to be born again in the Catholic Church by both sacraments. Then indeed they will be able to be sons of God, as says the apostle: "Taking care to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, as ye have been called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God." All these things speaks the Catholic Church. And again, in the Gospel the Lord says: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit; because God is a Spirit, and he is born of God." Therefore, whatsoever things all heretics and schismatics do are carnal, as the apostle says: "For the works of the flesh are manifest, which are, fornications, uncleannesses, incest, idolatries, witchcrafts, hatreds, contentions, jealousy, anger, divisions, heresies, and the like to these; concerning which have told you before, as I also foretell you now, that whoever do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." And thus the apostle condemns, with all the wicked, those also who cause division, that is, schismatics and heretics. Unless therefore they receive saving baptism in the Catholic Church, which is one, they cannot be saved, but will be condemned with the carnal in the judgment of the Lord Christ.

Source: Seventh Council of Carthage Under Cyprian
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on Galatians 5:19
These and others like them are the members of sin, which the apostle calls “the works of the flesh” because these errors come from the world, from which also the flesh comes. For all these sins arise from the side of the flesh, not from that of the Spirit.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.21
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:19-21
Ver. 19, 20, 21. "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wrath, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I forewarn you even as I did forewarn you, that they which practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Answer me now, you that accusest your own flesh, and supposest that this is said of it as of an enemy and adversary. Let it be allowed that adultery and fornication proceed, as you assert, from the flesh; yet hatred, variance, emulations, strife, heresies, and witchcraft, these arise merely from a depraved moral choice. And so it is with the others also, for how can they belong to the flesh? You observe that he is not here speaking of the flesh, but of earthly thoughts, which trail upon the ground. Wherefore also he alarms them by saying, that "they which practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." If these things belonged to nature and not to a bad moral choice, his expression, "they practice," is inappropriate, it should be, "they suffer." And why should they be cast out of the kingdom, for rewards and punishments relate not to what proceeds from nature but from choice?

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:19
By saying that “the works of the flesh are plain,” he means that they are known to all because they are so self-evidently bad and abhorrent, so much so that even those who do them desire to hide their deeds. Or else it may mean that they are plain only to believers in Christ.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.19-21
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:19-21
(Verses 19-21.) The works of the flesh are evident, which are: fornication, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now when we explained about the flesh and the spirit earlier, we said there are three possible interpretations: that there are those who are carnal, who are like infants and unable to receive solid food in Christ and the nourishment of mature age; or that there are those who are carnal, who follow only the Jewish way and the literal interpretation of the history; or that, according to the simple sense, flesh and spirit coexist in the makeup of a person, and, according to the difference in substance, they are either the works of the flesh or of the spirit. Now therefore, the works of the flesh which are mentioned here, namely fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, and other things which follow, seem to me to pertain more to the simple understanding of the flesh and spirit than to the flesh of the Law, and to be referred to little ones in Christ, although it is expressed in that place where we translated the word from the tenth of Origen's Stromate word for word, what can also be thought about them. But what he says: But the works of the flesh are evident, or shows that they are known to everyone: because they are inherently known to be evil and to be avoided, to the extent that even those who do them, desire to hide what they do. Certainly, these things are clear only to those who believe in Christ. For many of the pagans boast in their own shame and believe that if they have fulfilled their pleasure, they have achieved some kind of victory over vices. But it is also elegantly stated that He accomplished works in the flesh and fruits in the spirit: for vices end and perish within themselves, while virtues sprout and abound in abundance. And let us not think that the soul has no function if vices are attributed to the flesh and virtues to the spirit. Because the soul (as we have said above) is placed in a certain middle part and is joined to the flesh, and it is said about it: My spirit will not remain in these men, because they are flesh (Gen. VI, 3); or it is united to the spirit and passes into the name of spirit. For he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit (I Cor. VI, 17). Therefore, the first work of the flesh is fornication. He clearly stated this in the beginning, so that we do not have doubt about the middle parts. For whatever a man does, is outside the body; but he who commits fornication, sins in his own body. And we are not our own: for we are bought with a price, let us glorify and bear God in our body. In this is a fornicator of greater crime: because he takes away the members of Christ and makes them the members of a harlot. For there shall be two in one flesh. He who is not faithful, nor believes in Christ, makes his members the members of a harlot; he who believes and commits fornication, makes his members the members of a harlot. On the contrary, an unbeliever in fornication either does violence to himself or builds a temple to an idol, I do not know. For indeed, through vices or even the greatest demons are cultivated. This one thing I know: that whoever commits fornication after the faith of Christ violates the temple of God. According to the works of the flesh, it is called uncleanness, and it is followed by lust. For as in the old Law concerning unspeakable crimes that are done in secret, and it is most disgraceful to even mention them (lest both the mouth of the speaker and the ears of the hearers be defiled), the Scripture has generally included them, saying: 'Make the children of Israel be reverent and worthy of respect, free from all uncleanness' (Lev. XV, 31). So in this place, it has named the other extraordinary pleasures, as well as the very works of marriage, if they are not done reverently and with modesty, as if under the eyes of God, so that only to their own children will they serve, uncleanness and lust. Fourth, in the catalog of the works of the flesh, idolatry holds a place. For whoever once allows themselves to indulge in luxury and pleasure does not look towards the Creator. Moreover, all idolatry, revelry, gluttony, catering to the desires of the belly, and those things that lie beneath the belly, are enjoyed. And lest it should happen that sorcery and the practices of evil were not seen as prohibited in the new Testament, they are also mentioned among the works of the flesh. For often it happens that both loving and being loved occurs through the use of magical arts. Enmity, which arises after the infliction of harm, declares who is guilty, as a clear evidence of the crime. For as much as it lies within us, we ought to have no enemies, but rather be at peace with all. However, if by speaking the truth, we earn enemies, it is not so much that we are their enemies, as they are enemies of the truth. For what is said in Genesis to Abraham, 'I will be an enemy to your enemies and I will oppose those who oppose you', should be understood as not so much Abraham being their enemy, but rather they being enemies of Abraham's virtues and religion, through which he worshipped and revered God after trampling upon the idols and having come to know God. Moreover, what is commanded to the people of Israel, that they be enemies with Madian forever, and perpetuate the discord to future generations (Num. XXXI), it is said as if to those who were under the control of a tutor and deserved to be punished in another way: 'You shall have hatred for your enemy' (Matth. V, 43). Or certainly not so much of persons as of manners, there has been a disagreement made: just as God wisely placed enmity between the serpent and the woman, so that their friendship would be useless to man, through which he was cast out of paradise, in the same way in the lives of the Israelites and the Madianites, there is more dissimilarity than that they are two condemned nations. In the seventh place among the works of the flesh, contention holds a certain quasi-sacred and prominent position among the number of vices. However, it is not fitting for the servant of the Lord to engage in quarrels, but rather to be gentle towards all, a teacher, patient, instructing with gentleness even those who argue against him (2 Timothy 2:24-25). After contention, the eighth place is filled by emulation, which is more significantly and notably referred to by the Greek word ζῆλος. Indeed, I do not know who among us lacks that particular evil. For they were jealous, even Joseph's brothers: and Mary, Aaron the prophet of God and priest, were deceived by such a passion against Moses (Gen. XXXVII, Num. XII): to the extent that the one of whom the Scripture narrated, saying: But Miriam the prophetess took a timbrel (Exod. XV. 20), etc., afterwards having been cast out of the camp, she became defiled with the stain of leprosy, and marked out a longer repentance by a seven-day separation (Num. XII). Then anger follows, which does not accomplish the justice of God (James 1), and it is a kind of madness. Between irritability and anger, there is this difference: that the irritable person is always angry, while the angry person is only temporarily provoked. And I do not know who can possess the kingdom of God: for the one who is angry is separated from the kingdom (Matthew 5). Moreover, the quarrels, which the Greeks signify as something different, they call ἐριθείας (since rixa is called μάχη) are prohibited from the kingdom of God. But contention is when someone is always ready to contradict, delights in the anger of others, and engages in quarrels like a woman, provoking the one who disagrees. This is called 'φιλονεικία' among the Greeks. There are also divisions of the flesh: when someone, with the same feeling and opinion, says 'I am of Paul,' 'and I of Apollos,' 'and I of Cephas,' 'and I of Christ' (1 Corinthians 1:12). And this same dissension is found within households: between husband and wife, father and son, brother and brother, master and servant, soldier and comrade, craftsman and fellow craftsman. Sometimes it happens that even in the explanations of Scriptures there arises dissension, from which heresies also, which are now put forth in the work of the flesh, bubble up. For if the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God (Rom. VIII) (but all doctrines of falsehood that are contrary to God are hostile), consequently, heresies are also hostile to God and are attributed to the works of the flesh. Αἵρεσις, however, means choice in Greek: namely, each person chooses for themselves the discipline that they believe is better. Therefore, whoever understands Scripture in a way contrary to the meaning demanded by the Holy Spirit by whom it was written, even though they may not have departed from the Church, they can be called a heretic and they are focused on the works of the flesh, choosing what worsens. Envy follows heresies, which we cannot think is the same as zeal. Because zeal can be understood in a good sense, when someone strives to imitate those things that are better. Envy, however, is tormented by the happiness of others, and it is divided into two passions: either when someone sees himself as something in which he does not want another to be, or when he sees another as better and is upset that he is not like that person. A certain person, skillfully translating a Greek verse, composed an elegiac meter about envy, saying:

There is nothing more unjust than envy: it immediately gnaws at the author himself and torments his soul. Blessed Cyprian wrote a very excellent book on Zeal and Envy: whoever reads it will not hesitate to include envy among the works of the flesh. However, there is a difference between an envious person and a person who is envied: the envious person envies someone who is more fortunate. The envied person, on the other hand, is the one who suffers envy from someone else. Intoxication holds the fourteenth place among the works of the flesh. Indeed, the drunken will not inherit the kingdom of God. And the Lord said to the disciples: Take heed, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life (Luke 21:34). Wine confuses a man's senses: his feet stumble, his mind wavers, his desire is kindled. Hence the Apostle cries out: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery (Ephesians 5:18). Everyone has the power to decide for themselves. I follow the Apostle: in wine there is debauchery, in wine there is drunkenness. But drunkenness and excess are counted among the works of the flesh, and he cannot deny it who is overcome by these passions. And though some may criticize me in that book, which I wrote about the preservation of virginity, for saying that young women should avoid wine as if it were poison, I do not regret my opinion. For in that work, wine is more of a curse than a creation of God for us, and we allowed the virgin, who was fervent with the heat of her own youth, the indulgence of drinking a little more so that she would not drink too little and suffer harm. Moreover, we knew that wine is consecrated into the blood of Christ, and it was commanded to Timothy to drink wine. However, drunkenness can occur from both wine and other types of alcoholic beverages that are made in different ways; from which it is also said about the holy ones: He shall not drink wine or strong drink (Luke 1:15). Strong drink is interpreted as drunkenness. And so that no one, not drinking wine, would think that he should drink something else, the cause is excluded; since everything that can cause intoxication is equally removed with wine. The fifteenth, which is also the last, of the works of the flesh, is revelry. For the people ate and drank, and they rose up to play (Exod. XXXII, 6). Drunkenness is always accompanied by debauchery. Indeed, a certain noble and eloquent orator, when describing a person awakened from sleep while intoxicated, said: “Neither awakened could he sleep, nor intoxicated could he stay awake.” With this sentiment, he expressed that in a way, the person was neither alive nor dead. It would be lengthy to repeat all the works of the flesh and to make a list of vices. Therefore, he concluded everything in his speech, saying these and similar things. Oh, if only we could avoid these things as easily as we understand them. I foretell to you, as I have foretold before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Where he had previously said: Sin shall not reign, he said, in your mortal body, to obey its desires (Rom. VI, 12). All these things have sin, in which we have perhaps lingered too much in distinguishing them. Therefore, in the soul in which sin reigns, the kingdom of God cannot reign. For what participation is there between righteousness and iniquity? What communication is there between light and darkness? What agreement is there between Christ and Belial (II Cor. VI, 14, 15)? And we think that we will attain the kingdom of God if we are free from fornication, idolatry, and sorceries. Behold, enmities, strife, anger, quarrels, dissensions, drunkenness, and other things that we consider small, they exclude us from the kingdom of God. It does not matter whether one person or many are excluded from happiness, since they are all similarly excluded. In Latin codices, adultery, impurity, and murder are also written in this catalogue of vices. But it should be known that no more than fifteen acts of the flesh are named, about which we have already discussed.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Galatians 5:20
And to the Gnostic false opinion is foreign, as the true belongs to him, and is allied with him. Wherefore the noble apostle calls one of the kinds of fornication, idolatry,

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book VI
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:20
On this point, however, we dwell no longer, since it is the same Paul who, in his Epistle to the Galatians, counts "heresies" among "the sins of the flesh," who also intimates to Titus, that "a man who is a heretic" must be "rejected after the first admonition," on the ground that "he that is such is perverted, and committeth sin, as a self-condemned man.

Source: The Prescription Against Heretics
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:20
So that poisoning and sorcery might not appear to be condoned in the New Testament, they are included among the works of the flesh. This happens when people love and are loved through magical arts.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.19-21
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:20
It often happens that dissensions arise in the interpretation of Scripture, from which heresies, here numbered among the works of the flesh, boil over. For if “the wisdom of the flesh is at enmity with God” (and all false doctrines, being repugnant to God, are at enmity), heresies also, being at enmity with God, are consequently included among the works of the flesh.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.19-21
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Galatians 5:20
Now it is clear that idolatry and sorcery and things of that kind belong not to the flesh but to the soul. In fact it is not the flesh that he is condemning but the wayward mind.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.19-21
[AD 202] Irenaeus on Galatians 5:21
Wherefore also it comes to pass, that the "most perfect "among them addict themselves without fear to all those kinds of forbidden deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that "they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:21
It is after displaying to the Galatians these pernicious works that he professes to warn them beforehand, even as he had "told them in time past, that they which do such things should not inherit the kingdom of God," even because they bore not the image of the heavenly, as they had borne the image of the earthy; and so, in consequence of their old conversation, they were to be regarded as nothing else than flesh and blood.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 250] Fabian of Rome on Galatians 5:21
Those, furthermore, who commit those sins whereof the apostle says, "They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God"
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:21
It would have been a long task to enumerate all the works of the flesh and make a catalog of vices, so Paul has wrapped this all up in one phrase: “and the like.” I wish that we could avoid these vices as easily as we can see them!

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.19-21
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:21
Let no one suppose that envy is the same thing as jealousy. For they are indeed neighbors and because of that very neighborhood either of them is often freely substituted for the other.… But because each is distinguished here they require us to make a distinction. Jealousy is the mind’s anguish when someone achieves something that two or more were seeking but which can be had only by one. Jealousy is cured by peace, in which all may obtain that which is sought and thus become one. Envy on the other hand is the grief one feels in one’s mind when an unworthy person appears to have obtained something, even if it is not being sought by others. Envy is overcome by meekness, when all who yearn appeal to the judgment of God and do not resist his will, trusting rather in the justice of what he does than in one’s own estimate of what people deserve.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 52
[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Galatians 5:21
Since God is righteous, such people do not obtain the kingdom of heaven so long as they do such things. But since God is merciful, the wicked, if they cease doing revolting things by which they try God’s patience and turn to God in humble amendment, they do without doubt obtain the kingdom of God.

Source: ON THE REMISSION OF SINS 1.15.3
[AD 202] Irenaeus on Galatians 5:22
And then, again, he proceeds to tell us the spiritual actions which vivify a man, that is, the engrafting of the Spirit; thus saying, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, benignity, faith, meekness, continence, chastity: against these there is no law."
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Galatians 5:22
And the fruits of Egypt are wasted, that is, the works of the flesh, but not the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, and peace.

Source: Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments
[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on Galatians 5:22
First to make a plaster with a lump of figs-that is, the fruit of the Spirit-that he may be healed-that is, according to the apostle-by love; for he says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; "
[AD 400] Pseudo-Clement on Galatians 5:22
He in whomsoever the Spirit of God is, is in accord with the will of the Spirit of God; and, because he is in accord with the Spirit of God, therefore does he mortify the deeds of the body and live unto God, "treading down and subjugating the body and keeping it under; so that, while preaching to others," he may be a beautiful example and pattern to believers, and may spend his life in works which are worthy of the Holy Spirit, so that he may "not be cast away," [1 Corinthians 9:27] but may be approved before God and before men. For in "the man who is of God," [1 Timothy 6:11] with him I say there is nothing of the mind of the flesh; and especially in virgins of either sex; but the fruits of all of them are "the fruits of the Spirit" [Galatians 5:22] and of life, and they are truly the city of God, and the houses and temples in which God abides and dwells, and among which He walks, as in the holy city of heaven.

Source: Two Epistles on Virginity
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:22
Ver. 22. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace."

He says not, "the work of the Spirit," but, "the fruit of the Spirit." Is the soul, however, superfluous? The flesh and the Spirit are mentioned, but where is the soul? Is he discoursing of beings without a soul? For if the things of the flesh be evil, and those of the Spirit good, the soul must be superfluous. By no means, for the mastery of the passions belongs to her, and concerns her; and being placed amid vice and virtue, if she has used the body fitly, she has wrought it to be spiritual, but if she separate from the Spirit and give herself up to evil desires, she makes herself more earthly. You observe throughout that his discourse does not relate to the substance of the flesh, but to the moral choice, which is or is not vicious. And why does he say, "the fruit of the Spirit?" it is because evil works originate in ourselves alone, and therefore he calls them "works," but good works require not only our diligence but God's loving kindness. He places first the root of these good things, and then proceeds to recount them, in these words, "Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law." For who would lay any command on him who has all things within himself, and who has love for the finished mistress of philosophy? As horses, who are docile and do every thing of their own accord, need not the lash, so neither does the soul, which by the Spirit has attained to excellence, need the admonitions of the Law. Here too he completely and strikingly casts out the Law, not as bad, but as inferior to the philosophy given by the Spirit.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:22
He didn’t say “the works of the Spirit” but “the fruits.” Therefore [it may seem that] the soul is superfluous. For if the statement mentions the flesh and the Spirit, where is the soul? Is Paul then speaking of soulless beings? For if the evil belongs to the flesh and the good to the Spirit, then the soul would be superfluous. Not at all; for the ordering of the passions is the work of the soul and concerns the soul. The soul is situated in the middle of the struggle between virtue and vice. If the soul uses the body as it should, it makes itself more spiritual. But if it departs from the Spirit and yields itself to evil desires, it renders it more earthy. Do you see how everywhere he is not speaking of the essence of the flesh but of moral choice that is inclined toward virtue or vice? So why does he refer to “the fruits of the Spirit”? Because evil works come from us alone, and hence he calls them works, while the good works require not only the resolution of our will but the kindness of God.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.22
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:22
He has spoken elegantly by allotting works to the flesh and fruits to the Spirit. Vices come to nothing and perish in themselves. Virtues multiply and abound in fruit.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.22
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:22
What deserves to hold the first place among the fruits of the Spirit if not love? Without love other virtues are not reckoned to be virtues. From love is born all that is good.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.22
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:22
By joy people mean an elation of mind over things that are worthy of exultation, whereas gaiety is an undisciplined elation of mind which knows no moderation.… We should not suppose that peace is limited to not quarreling with others. Rather the peace of Christ—that is, our inheritance—is with us when the mind is at peace and undisturbed by conflicting emotions. Among the “fruits of the Spirit” faith holds the seventh and sacred place, being elsewhere one of three—“faith, hope and love.” Nor is it remarkable that hope is not included in this catalog, since the object of hope is already included as a part of faith.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.22
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:22
(Verse 22) But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And what other should hold the chief place among the fruit of the Spirit, if not charity, without which the other virtues are not considered to be virtues, and from which all good things are born? Indeed, both in the Law and in the Gospel, it holds the first place: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37). How abundantly charity is filled with goods, and above we have briefly expressed, and now it may suffice to have said too little: that love seeks not what is its own, but what is another's. And although someone through their own fault may be an enemy to the one who loves them, and they may strive to stir up turmoil in their tranquility through waves of hatred, nevertheless that person is never disturbed: they never consider a creature of God worthy of hatred. For charity covers a multitude of sins. Moreover, what is said by Salvatore: A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit (Matt, VII, 18), I believe is pronounced not so much about men as about the fruits of the flesh and the spirit: because neither can the spirit ever produce those vices that are enumerated in the works of the flesh; nor can the flesh overflow with those fruits that arise from the spirit. However, it can happen through the negligence of the possessor that the spirit, which dwells in a person, does not have its fruits; and conversely, the flesh, with its works mortified, ceases to sin. However, they do not always proceed to the point where the neglected tree produces the works of the flesh, and the cultivated tree bears spiritual fruits. In the second place of spiritual fruits, joy is placed: which the Stoics also, who distinguish more subtly, consider to be something different from happiness. For they say that joy is the exultation of the soul over things that are worthy of rejoicing: But they say that happiness is the unrestrained exultation of the soul, which knows no moderation, and even rejoices in things that are mixed with vice. Others in this region place their delight in pleasure: not the kind that excites the body to lust, titillates the senses, or caresses with sweet affection; but another kind, which without moderation and any charm of joy, exalts its voice in laughter. If this is true, and the distinction between their words is not deceiving and deceived, let us consider whether perhaps it is said for this reason: 'The wicked do not rejoice,' says the Lord (Isaiah 57:21). However, it should also be noted that after love, joy follows. For someone who loves another, always rejoices in their happiness. And if they see them deceived by some error and fallen into the slippery slope of sin, they will indeed feel sorrow and hasten to rescue them, but they cannot change joy into sadness, knowing that no rational creature can perish eternally before God. The third fruit of the spirit is peace, from which Solomon himself, who preceded Christ as a type, received his name. And the Psalmist sings about the Church: His place has become peaceful (Psalm 75:2). And in the eight blessings of the Gospel it is written: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God (Matthew 5:9). It is also sung in the first psalm of degrees: With those who hate peace, I was peaceful (Psalm 120:6). And we should not seek peace only in that, as if we are not quarreling about anything else: but then the peace of Christ, that is, our inheritance, is with us, if our tranquil mind is not disturbed by any passions. After peace comes longanimity, or patience: for both can be interpreted as long-suffering. Opposed to this is pusillanimity, of which it is written: 'The pusillanimous is exceedingly foolish; but he who is patient and endures all things is a wise man' (Ecclus, VII). And when a man is called very wise, he is also called longanimous, as it is written in Proverbs: 'A long-animous man is much in prudence' (Prov. XIV, 29). Benignity or kindness, because in Greek it signifies both, is a gentle virtue, soft, tranquil, and fit for the companionship of all good things; it invites to familiarity, it charms by its discourse, it is regulated by good manners. Finally, the Stoics define it as follows: Kindness is a virtue that is inclined to do good voluntarily. Goodness is not very different from kindness, because it also seems inclined to do good. But it differs in that goodness can be more serious and characterized by stern manners while still doing and providing what is required. However, it may not be pleasant to be around and attract everyone with its sweetness. The followers of Zeno also define it as follows: Goodness is a virtue that is beneficial, that is, a virtue from which utility arises, or a virtue for its own sake, or an emotion that is the source of utilities.


Among the fruits of the Spirit, faith holds the seventh and most sacred place, which is also placed elsewhere among the three: hope, faith, and charity. It is not surprising that hope is not mentioned in this list, since it is in faith that what is hoped for is found. Thus, the Apostle, writing to the Hebrews, defines it: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). For what we hope for is coming but is not yet present, and through faith we possess it, hoping to hold onto what we believe. It is also asked how faith is placed in charity. The one who loves never considers themselves to be hurt: they suspect nothing except what they love and are loved by. But when love is far away, faith also departs. After faith, gentleness is counted, which is opposed to anger, quarrels, and disagreements. It is never provoked by its opposite, truly like a good tree of the Spirit, producing good fruits. Through this, the servant of God Moses deserved to receive the testimony of Scripture, which said: Moses was meek, more than all men on earth (Num. XII, 3). Above the earth, he said. Above those who saw God face to face, it could not be: for we are often compelled by the weakness of the flesh to do many things. Regarding David also, although many think that he prophesied about our Lord, which we also do not deny, the Holy Spirit sings in a figure of the coming one: Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness (Ps. 104:1). Whose meekness was most evident against Saul, Absalom, and Shimei (1 Samuel 24; 2 Samuel 15)? When one person wanted to kill him, another was plotting rebellion, and yet another was throwing stones at him and shouting: 'Leave, leave, wicked man!' (Ibid., XVI, 7). The highest level of self-control is found in the fruits of the spirit. This not only applies to chastity, but also to eating and drinking, and to anger and disturbances of the mind, and to the desire to gossip. The difference between moderation and self-control is that moderation is for those who have reached perfection and complete virtue, of whom the Savior says: 'Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth' (Matthew 5:4). And about himself: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart (Matth. XI, 29). Continence, however, is truly a virtue on the way, but has not yet reached the goal: because desires still arise in the mind of one who restrains himself, and they defile the mind's ruler, although they do not overcome him, nor drag the one who thinks into action. But not only in desires and desire is continence necessary, but also in the three remaining disturbances, namely, pain, joy, and fear. Against the fruits of such a spirit, there is no law. For the law is not laid down for the just, but for the unjust and disobedient, for the godless and sinful (1 Timothy 1:9). The law tells me: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, you shall not swear falsely (Exodus 20:12 ff): if I do not do all these things, with the fruit of the Spirit reigning in me through charity, the precepts of the law are unnecessary for me. Finally, the wise men of the world have such an opinion about philosophy that what public laws compel people to do out of necessity, philosophy persuades them to do willingly.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:22
He put fornication at the head of carnal vices and love at the head of spiritual virtues. Anyone who takes pains in the study of divine Scripture will be prompted to inquire attentively into the rest. Fornication is love divorced from legitimate wedlock. It roves everywhere in search of an opportunity to fulfill its lust. Yet nothing is so rightly suited for spiritual procreation as the union of the soul with God. The more firmly it adheres, the more blameless it is. Love is what enables it to cleave. Rightly then the opposite of fornication is love. It is the sole means by which chastity is preserved. Now impure acts come from all those disturbances produced from the lust to fornicate, to which the joy of tranquillity is opposed. And bondage to idolatry is the ultimate fornication of the soul. A most furious war is waged against the gospel and against those who have been reconciled to God. The remnants of fornication, though long lukewarm, can nonetheless still be rekindled. The contrary of this war is the peace by which we are reconciled to God. When the same peace of God is maintained toward humans, the vices of poisonings, enmity, strife, deceit, animosity and dissension are healed among us, so others among us may be treated with due moderation. Forbearance fights to endure these vices, kindness to assuage them and goodness to forgive them. Furthermore, faith struggles against heresy, meekness against envy, continence against drunkenness and gluttony.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 51 [1B.5.22-23]
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on Galatians 5:23
Paul did not mention more than ten excellent behaviors because he is referring to the fruits of the Spirit. These fruits embrace everything in the tablets of God’s covenant, in which no more than ten words of command are succinctly handed down.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.24.2
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:23
He did not say “against these,” so that they would not be thought the only ones—though in fact even if he had said this we ought to understand all the goods of this kind that can be imagined. No, he says “against such things,” namely, both these and whatever is like them.

Source: On Continence 9
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Galatians 5:23
He has added “against such there is no law” so that we understand that those on whom the law must be imposed are those in whom these excellent behaviors do not already reign. For those in whom they reign are the ones who apply the law legitimately, since the law is not imposed on them with coercive intent, seeing that righteousness is already their overwhelming preference.… These spiritual fruits reign in one in whom sins do not reign. These good things reign if they are so delightful that they themselves uphold the mind in its trials from falling into consent to sin. For whatever gives us more delight, this we necessarily perform.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 49 [1B.5.22-23]
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Galatians 5:24
Is another people, and trust in another, and have willingly sold themselves to another; but those who perform the commandments of the Lord, in every action "testify "by doing what He wishes, and consistently naming the Lord's name; and "testifying "by deed to Him in whom they trust, that they are those "who have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts. ""If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
[AD 258] Cyprian on Galatians 5:24
Paul proclaims in a loud and lofty voice, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." And yet a virgin in the Church glories concerning her fleshly appearance and the beauty of her body! Paul adds, and says, "For they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh, with its faults and lusts." And she who professes to have renounced the lusts and vices of the flesh, is found in the midst of those very things which she has renounced! Virgin, thou art taken, thou art exposed, thou boastest one thing and affectest another. You sprinkle yourself with the stains of carnal concupiscence, although you are a candidate of purity and modesty. "Cry," says the Lord to Isaiah, "All flesh is grass, and all the glory of it as the flower of the grass: the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever." It is becoming for no Christian, and especially it is not becoming for a virgin, to regard any glory and honour of the flesh, but only to desire the word of God, to embrace benefits which shall endure for ever. Or, if she must glory in the flesh, then assuredly let her glory when she is tortured in confession of the name; when a woman is found to be stronger than the tortures; when she suffers fire, or the cross, or the sword, or the wild beasts, that she may be crowned. These are the precious jewels of the flesh, these are the better ornaments of the body.

Source: Treatise II On the Dress of Virgins
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Galatians 5:24
We “crucify” the flesh, of course, by being baptized in the water of baptism, which is a likeness of the cross and his death, his entombment and his resurrection, as it is written.

Source: ON BAPTISM 1.15
[AD 400] Pseudo-Clement on Galatians 5:24
Those, therefore, who imitate Christ, imitate Him earnestly. For those who have "put on Christ" [Romans 13:14] in truth, express His likeness in their thoughts, and in their whole life, and in all their behaviour: in word, and in deeds, and in patience, and in fortitude, and in knowledge, and in chastity, and in long-suffering, and in a pure heart, and in faith, and in hope, and in full and perfect love towards God.

Source: Two Epistles on Virginity
[AD 403] Epiphanius of Salamis on Galatians 5:24
If those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, it is therefore clear that the slaves of Christ have presented their flesh in purity along with its desires and passions. They are participating in Christ, thus acknowledging that he crucified the flesh. That is why the faithful, thinking the same thoughts as their Lord, have crucified the flesh. And if believers have crucified the flesh it is unthinkable that those who suffered on Christ’s behalf should not be reigning with him.

Source: PANARION 42.12.3, SEVENTH REFUTATION OF MARCION
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:24
Ver. 24. "And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof."

That they might not object, "And who is such a man as this?" he points out by their works those who have attained to this perfection, here again giving the name of the "flesh" to evil actions. He does not mean that they had destroyed their flesh, otherwise how were they going to live? For that which is crucified is dead and inoperative, but he indicates the perfect rule of life. For the desires, although they are troublesome, rage in vain. Since then such is the power of the Spirit, let us live therein and be content therewith, as he adds himself,

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:24
So that no one may ask, “And who is like this?” he points to people who perform such good things by their works. Once again he makes flesh stand for evil deeds. He does not mean that they had destroyed their flesh; otherwise how were they going to live? For the crucified person is dead and inactive. But what he means is strict discipleship. Even if desires press hard they rage in vain. Since the power of the Spirit is such, let us live according to it, and let us be content with it.

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.24
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:24
(Ver. 24.) But those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its vices and desires. Origen, connecting this passage with the previous ones, reads it as follows: There is no law against those who have crucified the flesh of Christ with its vices and desires, so that it does not mean, as it sounds in Latin, that they who belong to Christ say that they have crucified their own flesh with vices and desires; but Christ's flesh crucified by them with vices and desires. And he asks how in those who have the fruits of the Spirit, and against whom the Law ceased to be, the crucifixion of the flesh of the Lord is put in praise, when it is stated in Hebrews with condemnation: Crucifying again in themselves the Son of God, and making a show (Heb. VI, 6). As for 'crucifying again,' a better compound word in Greek is ἀνασταυροῦντες, which we can interpret as 'recrucifying.' First, therefore, it must be noted that crucifying is one thing, and re-crucifying is another. Furthermore, re-crucifying the Son of God is not the same as crucifying the flesh of Christ with vices and desires. For the flesh of Christ is not primarily and properly the Son of God, but Jesus Christ, who, when he was in the beginning with the Father, the Word of God was made flesh and emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, in order to crucify the flesh and strip off principalities and powers, triumphing over them in the cross, so that the words of the Apostle might be fulfilled: What is dead to sin is dead once (Rom. VI, 10). Therefore, if our bodies are the members of Christ, then our flesh is also the flesh of Christ, which we crucify, mortifying through it on earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greed. And now it is spoken of us in praise, who have crucified the flesh of Christ Jesus with vices and lusts, and always carry about in our body the mortification of Jesus, so that His life may also be revealed in our flesh. However, it is no small amount of labor to live in the present age, so that the life of Jesus may now be manifested in our flesh. For in this way, our mortal bodies will be made alive through the Spirit dwelling in us. Where the Latin interpreter placed vices, in Greek they are read as παθήματα, that is, passions. And because passion can signify both pain and other needs of the body, the Apostle cautiously introduced desires: so that he would not appear to deny the nature of the body in spiritual men, but vices. And let it be understood in this way, if we follow the Vulgate edition, as we read: But those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its vices and desires; so that we may say, not that they have crucified the flesh of Christ, but their own. I have almost forgotten the second interpretation. For I have foretold that everything that follows is to be referred to the Law and circumcision. Therefore, the meaning is as follows: Those in whom there is the fruit of the Spirit, charity, joy, and the rest, have crucified the bodily understanding of Scripture, which is now called the flesh of Christ, with his passions and desires, which generate the nourishment of vices for infants and sucklings. He crucified the flesh of Christ, who does not wage war according to the flesh of history, but follows the spirit of allegory that precedes.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Galatians 5:25
Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not.".
Hence the Son is said to be the Father's face, being the revealer of the Father's character to the five senses by clothing Himself with flesh. "But if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

Source: Clement of Alexandria The Instructor Book III
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:25
Ver. 25. "If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk,"

— being governed by His laws. For this is the force of the words "let us walk," that is, let us be content with the power of the Spirit, and seek no help from the Law. Then, signifying that those who would fain have introduced circumcision were actuated by ambitious motives, he says,

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:25
What he means by “walk by the Spirit” is “let us be content in the power of the Spirit, and let us not seek to augment it with the law.” Then, having shown that those who introduce circumcision are doing this through ambitious motives, he says, “Let us not become proud, which is the cause of evils, calling one another out to factiousness and strife, in jealousy of one another. For jealousy comes from vainglory, and from vainglory all those other evils.”

Source: HOMILY ON GALATIANS 5.25
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:25
(Verse 25.) If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us use this testimony against those who do not want to understand the Scriptures spiritually. But who is the one who lives by the Spirit, if not our hidden self, who sometimes tends to live according to the flesh? But when he lives by the Spirit, he walks by the Spirit. When he desires to walk in the flesh, he is alive but dead. The perfect man in Christ always lives in the Spirit: he obeys the Spirit, he never lives in the flesh. And on the contrary: He who gives himself entirely to the flesh and devotes himself to passions never lives in the spirit. Among these there are those whom we cannot call spiritual or carnal; but those who fluctuate between virtues and vices, sometimes being drawn back to better things and being spiritual, sometimes being tripped up by the slippery slope of the flesh and being carnal.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Galatians 5:26
"Let us not be desirous of vainglory "says the apostle, "provoking one another, envying one another."
[AD 220] Tertullian on Galatians 5:26
There is, too, another chief spur of impatience, the lust of revenge, dealing with the business either of glory or else of malice. But "glory," on the one hand, is everywhere "vain; " and malice, on the other, is always odious to the Lord; in this case indeed most of all, when, being provoked by a neighbour's malice, it constitutes itself superior in following out revenge, and by paying wickedness doubles that which has once been done.

Source: Of Patience
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on Galatians 5:26
What he is saying is that if we live well and honestly we should also express this in good conduct. This is what it is to live in the Spirit: to have an unblemished life. We walk in the Spirit if we study peace. For this is what engenders love. It is, on the other hand, empty glory to seek a victory where there is no prize, so that someone would end up having only a zeal for strife and spiritual competition. These things tend toward discord and wrangling.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.26
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Galatians 5:26
Ver. 26. "Let us not be vainglorious," which is the cause of all evils, "provoking one another" to contentions and strife, "envying one another," for from vainglory comes envy and from envy all these countless evils.

Source: Homily 5 on Galatians
[AD 420] Jerome on Galatians 5:26
(Verse 26.) We will not become empty glory-seekers, provoking one another, envying one another. The Greek word κενόδοξοι, translated by the Latin interpreter through a circuit of three words, expresses how many definitions and meanings glory has, as well as the countless books by philosophers and the two volumes written by Cicero on the subject. However, because we strive not to discuss the etymology of words but the sense of Scripture, we will therefore connect this passage with the previous ones: If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit, not by the Law, but by serving one another in love. We should not argue about the interpretation of Scripture and say, 'Circumcision is better,' no, but 'uncircumcision.' History should be disregarded, and allegory should be followed, rather allegory is empty and shadowy, and fixed on no truth roots. Thus it happens that envy is born among individuals. For they want to exclude you, saying that you should imitate them, not desiring to teach the truth of the Law, but to win. But so that we do not completely omit the word of glory untouched, leaving their foolishness to the philosophers, let us retract something from the Scriptures. The opinion of the crowd, and the praise sought by favor of men, sounds like the name of glory, where it is said: But all their works they do for to be seen of men (Matt. XXIII, 5). And elsewhere: How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another (John V, 44)? Furthermore, in a positive sense in the same place: and seek not the glory that comes from the only God. From which we understand that the same word sometimes signifies virtue, sometimes vice. If I seek glory from men, it is vice; if from God, it is virtue, who also encourages us to true glory, saying: But I receive not testimony from men (John V, 34), and They that honour me, I will honour (1 Sam. II, 30). The glory in divine Scriptures signifies something else, when it presents itself to the gaze of humans as more majestic and divine. The glory of the Lord was seen in the tabernacle and in the temple built by Solomon (1 Kings 8), and on the face of Moses when he did not realize that his face was glorified (Exodus 40). About this glory of the face, I think the Apostle also says: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). And the Savior himself, called the brightness of glory and figure of the substance of God (Heb. I). Stephen also saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at his right hand (Acts VII). But in order that we may also presume the liberty of inventing names for ourselves, since new things require new names (as someone has said), it has been said here: Let us not become desirous of empty or vain glory; let us assert that those who desire the glory of God and the praise worthy of their virtue, and who display something more divine in their appearance, are eager for full glory. And in many places. Our people have transferred majesty for glory. Now for a long time, I desire to burst forth into words, but I am held back by the fear of speaking. Nevertheless, I will speak, and I will not remain silent about my passion, a passion almost common, not about wealth, not about power, not about beauty and the attractiveness of bodies; for these things are clearly called the works of the flesh. If almsgiving is done for praise, the glory is empty: a long speech, followed by paleness from fasting. The words are not mine, but belong to the Savior in the Gospel (Matthew 6). Chastity itself also often seeks human applause in marriage, widowhood, and virgins. And what I have long feared to say, but must be said, even martyrdom, if it is done for the sake of admiration and praise from brethren, is in vain. Let the Apostle speak, let the vessel of election speak: If I give my body to be burned, but have not charity, it profits me nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3). He who said: I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I do not know; or whether out of the body, I do not know, God knows), was caught up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2). And after a little while: Caught up into paradise, he heard secret words, which it is not permitted for a man to speak: to him, I say, who exerted himself more than all, so that the greatness of the revelations would not exalt him, a thorn in the flesh was given to him, an angel of Satan, who slapped him, so that he would not be exalted. And indeed, three times he asked the Lord to depart from him; but it was said to him: My grace is sufficient for you: for power is made perfect in weakness. What work of God is so necessary as to read the Scriptures, to preach in the Church, to desire priesthood, to minister before the altar of the Lord? But even these, unless someone guards his heart with all diligence, arise from the desire for praise. You may see many (as even Cicero says) inscribe their books with titles about despising glory, and for the sake of glory, note the titles of their own names. We interpret the Scriptures: often we translate the style: what is worthy of reading, we write; and unless they are done for the cause of Christ, but for the memory of future generations and the reputation among people, all the labor will be in vain: and we will be like a resounding cymbal and a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13). You may see many people arguing about the Scriptures: making the word of God a sports bench: they provoke each other, and if they are defeated, they envy: for they are eager for empty glory. I know from the Latin manuscripts in that testimony which we have set forth above: If I deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing; but because of the similarity of the word, which in Greek is θερμανθήσομαι and θαυμασθήσομαι, only a part of a letter distinguishes it, an error has crept in among our people. But even among the Greeks themselves there are different copies.

Source: Commentary on Galatians
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Galatians 5:26
Some who were grounded in faith were showing a constant disdain of their oppressors. They were thereby provoking them to strife. Paul exhorts them to offer their hands to those who have inclined toward the law.

Source: EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 5.26