Paul instructs us to walk by the Spirit, because it's in serving Christ that we find true joy and true freedom.

Christ defines freedom as not having to earn salvation, but being free to serve others and love Christ.

God saves us not so that we can be religious, but so that we can glorify Him and love others. The mark of the Kingdom of God is not any outward activity or ritual that we perform. The mark of the Kingdom of God is love.

The law gives us no power to change - it just tells us relentlessly that we are not good enough before God. Christ is good enough to fulfill the law, so we cling to Him for salvation. What are you trusting in? Are you trusting in Christ alone for salvation?

God brings forth life from death so that we will know that He is Lord. Do we truly believe that God can breathe life into death in our lives?

Paul uses the story of Ishmael, the son of a slave, and Isaac, a son of the Promise, to illustrate the argument that he has made repeatedly in the first four chapters of Galatians - that salvation comes through Christ alone. Sons of God are born again by the free gift of the Holy Spirit, and when we try to contribute to our salvation, we return to the slavery of sin.

When Paul established the church in Galatia, the Galatians left the weak and worthless principles of pagan idolatry and turned to saving faith in Christ alone. False teachers quickly infiltrated the church and taught that it was Christ plus their works that would save them. In these verses, Paul reminds the Galatians that they are no longer slaves to the law, but are free in Christ.

Our usefulness as believers is dependent on our communion with Christ. We find our joy and our purpose in Christ as we commune with him. Do we know Christ and love Christ so much that it flows out of us?

Paul reminds the Galatians that they were once slaves, but now they have been adopted as sons. He implores them to embrace their status as sons and heirs of the Kingdom instead of returning to the slavery of false teachings.

Paul addresses the topics of gender and ethnic identity in the New Covenant. As Christians under the New Covenant, do we find our identity in Christ alone, or in things of this world?