Galatians - "Sinner, Lay Your Burdens Down" - Galatians 5:1-12 - Mike Maglish

Sinner, Lay Your Burdens Down

Galatians 5:1-12
Mike Maglish

Part of Galatians

November 9, 2025

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” —Galatians 5:1 

2 “Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.” —Galatians 5:2 

GRACE brings FREEDOM 

21 “that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” —Romans 8:21 

When you live under law, you live under burden. 
When you live under grace, you live under blessing. 
The law says “do more.” 
Grace says “it’s done.” “Take my yoke upon you… for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” —Matthew 11:29–30 

LEGALISM leads to BURDEN 

4 “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” —Galatians 5:4 

“You’re so focused on cutting the flesh… that you’ve cut yourself off from Christ.” 

• Spiritually: You’re disconnecting from grace by relying on law. 
• Symbolically: You’re obsessed with physical cutting (circumcision), and as a result, you’ve spiritually “cut” yourself away from the true source of righteousness — Christ.

“The grace of God is infinite and eternal. As it had no beginning, so it can have no end.” - A.W. Tozer 

5 “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” —Galatians 5:5-6 

STAND in FREEDOM 

7 “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” —Galatians 5:7-9 

The Greek for “hindered” is ἐνέκοψεν (enekopsen), from the verb enkoptō — which literally means “to cut in on,” “to hinder by breaking up a road,” or “to impede by cutting off.”

It was often used in athletic or military contexts: 
• In a race, it described someone who cut into your lane and blocked your progress. 
• In warfare, it could mean cutting a trench or obstacle in a road to slow the enemy down. 

“These Judaizers are obsessed with physical cutting (circumcision), but they’re the ones doing the REAL damage — cutting you off from grace, cutting into your progress, cutting away your freedom in Christ.” 

12 “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” —Colossians 2:12-15 

12 “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” —Galatians 5:12 

Takeaway: When you live under GRACE, you live in FREEDOM 

“Grace is not opposed to effort; it’s opposed to earning.” — Dallas Willard