Galatians 5: 6

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NoelFitz:

I want to thank you for your help.

I should have started a new thread instead of using that other thread. I want to thank you again, thank you!

Galatians 5: 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh (“energeo”) by love.

First consideration: worketh or work. Could there be a clearer word for 2008?

Second and more importantly: love that gives “energy” to faith.

Is this improper? Is this even possible?

Is this passages saying that love gives “energy” or “life” to faith?

Could this life or energy come from God’s love of Roman chapter 5: 5? God’s love poured into our hearts.

THANKS! Thanks! Thank you! Thank you! Thanks!

THANK YOU!!!
 
We are led by the Spirit to wait in the confident hope of saving justice through faith,
6 since in Christ Jesus it is not being circumcised or being uncircumcised that can effect anything – only faith working through love.

See the Jerusalem Bible www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=55
 
Hi Jim,

energô simply means to act, operate, be effective.

Verbum
 
Verbum

In your judgment:

Does the passage say love acts through faith?

Does the passage say faith acts through love?

Which one is active?

Which one is passive active?

Does love act upon faith, and then faith act?

Does faith act upon love, and then love act?

Would it be better to say: Faith acts by love? Faith acts through love?

Do any questions phrase the problem correctly?

THANKS!
 
What I am trying to discern from this passages is:
  1. Does this passage tell us if Charity is in charge of Faith?
  2. Does this passage tell us if Faith is in charge of Love?
3.Does this passage address the first two questions?

THANKS!!!
 
How about the ISV translation?
(ISV) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith that is active through love.
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In a note in the New American Bible-- for Galatians 5: 6

"faith energized by (God’s) love."

Romans 5: 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

More ideas and help, please.

THANKS!!!
 
Jim_Baur said:
What I am trying to discern from this passages is:
  1. Does this passage tell us if Charity is in charge of Faith?
  2. Does this passage tell us if Faith is in charge of Love?
3.Does this passage address the first two questions?

THANKS!!!
Click to expand...
In my opinion …
  1. No - it does not say anything of charity.
  2. No - it says that faith is ***expressed by *** or works through love, not that it controls love.
  3. Neither
In general on a philosophical level, faith → works. Love is a work and is a sign of and result of faith, not the other way around. I don’t think this means “in charge of”.
Would it be better to say: Faith acts by love? Faith acts through love?
Click to expand...
Yes, I think so.

If I may, out of curiosity - what’s got you looking at this question?
 
Jesus says that love is the first commandment.

John says: God so loved the world that God sent us His Son.

Love is the greatest, St. Paul.

St. Paul also says: God’s love is poured into our hearts.

From those kinds of passages or ideas, I was wondering if these passages are made more clear with “Loving energizes faith.” In other word, “Love gives energy to faith.”

Love, faith and hope are closely united.

Does this passage teach that love is the greatest of the three?

I already know from I Cor. 13 that love is the greatest, but does this passage teach the same thing from different point view?

THANKS!!!
 
The original Greek has it as:

belief through love being-in-acted (energeo)

the English rendering:

faith through love operating

If I were authoring that phrase, I would say: Circumcision is nothing, uncircumcision is nothing. What is important is faith. Faith is in acted in your life by love.

Paul’s biggest problem is that his sentences are too long and you cannot always tell which modifying clause is modifying which. When U.S. schools still taught diagraming sentences, it was much easier to study Paul’s epistles.

Now, to get to the gist of your questions. Paul is not discussing love in this passage. Love is really a side issue. His subject is works versus faith. So let us go back to the text:

For in Jesus Christ - we are only discussing people in Christ
neither circumcision - a work
availeth any thing,
nor uncircumcision - also a work
but faith
which worketh -is in acted
by love.

Hence works are useless, only faith matters. And by the way, the source, the operating principle behind faith is love.
 
Marsha Adams

THANKS!!!

I am understanding you: love operates faith?

THANKS!
 
Marsha Adams

Thanks!!!

That could be a title for a good Bible Study or book!

This is what I have believed for a long time.

Again, I want to thank you for your help!!!
 
Jim_Baur said:
Marsha Adams

Thanks!!!

That could be a title for a good Bible Study or book!

This is what I have believed for a long time.

Again, I want to thank you for your help!!!
Click to expand...
I’m with you. Great explanation, Marsha! 👍
 
Thank you for you kind remarks.

Now here is a question, we know that love is the gas that makes faith go, but how?
 
This goes beyond my abilities, but I will write what I BELIEVE the answers might be.
Let me restate that: I will give an idea or two that might give a little light.
I cannot answer that question–my boat is toooooooo small.
I will list several ideas.
Whether they work together or not, I do not know.

Here goes…

I believe it is as in St. Paul–Christ compels (“sunecho”) us to love and thus our faith grows. (II Cor. 5: 14)

As our love grows, we believe more. (I Cor 13: 7 love believes all things)

He places within the desire and the ability. (Phil. 2: 13)

His love is poured into our new inner self. (Roman 5: 5)

I believe it is His Absolute Beauty that compels us. (Look at all the wonder-filled works that the saints do. The founding of some many hospitals, schools, et cetera.)

His Beauty draws us to Himself because He is Absolute Beauty. (Exodus 33: 19, I will let My beauty pass before you. Also in Psalm 27: 4, to behold the beauty of the Lord)
(Also, He is the unmoved mover)

His Absolute Beauty makes us love Him, but we love Him with the Love He has poured into our new hearts. (Song of Songs, we fall deeply in love with His Beauty, and in the marriage feast of the Lamb in the Apocalypse.)

As it says in the second Eucharistic Prayer, make us grow in love. He makes us grow, compels us. (Compel: to force or drive us to a course of action, thank you dictionary.com)

As St. Paul says, we are rooted and grounded in love. (Ephesians 3: 17)

I would not place a chronology on this.

I would place an order.

The order is: His Love is the principle.

I would see the order as in the soul/body order.

The soul is first in the sense that it animates the body.

They come into existence at the same time, but love rules faith.

In other words, love and faith are above temporal sequencing. They are spiritual gifts and love is in charge of faith and hope. Love is first in the sense that it is in charge of all other aspects of grace.
 
Jim_Baur said:
What I am trying to discern from this passages is:
  1. Does this passage tell us if Charity is in charge of Faith?
  2. Does this passage tell us if Faith is in charge of Love?
3.Does this passage address the first two questions?

THANKS!!!
Click to expand...
**One of the historical arguments goes back to William Tyndale, and protestants have been stuck on him and his translations of certain words and phrases since 1526. Much of his work found its way into the KJV of 1611, and has since continued to be used to this day.

In translating the Bible, Tyndale introduced new words into the English language, and many were subsequently used in the King James Bible:

Jehovah (from a transliterated Hebrew construction in the Old Testament; composed from the Tetragrammaton YHWH and the vowels of adonai: YaHoWaH)
Passover (as the name for the Jewish holiday, Pesach or Pesah),
Atonement (= at + onement), which goes beyond mere “reconciliation” to mean “to unite” or “to cover”, which springs from the Hebrew ‘kippur’, the Old Testament version of kippur being the covering of doorposts with blood, or “Day of Atonement”.
scapegoat (the goat that bears the sins and iniquities of the people in Leviticus, Chapter 16)
He also coined such familiar phrases as:

*let there be light
the powers that be
my brother’s keeper
the salt of the earth
a law unto themselves
filthy lucre
it came to pass
gave up the ghost
the signs of the times
the spirit is willing
live and move and have our being
fight the good fight *

Some of the new words and phrases introduced by Tyndale did not sit well with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, using words like ‘Overseer’ rather than ‘Bishop’ and ‘Elder’ rather than ‘Priest’, and (very controversially), ‘congregation’ rather than ‘Church’ and ‘love’ rather than ‘charity’. The latter is a good example and, hopefully, answers your question.**
 
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