Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:5 that believers “by faith” eagerly await “the hope of righteousness”—our future perfection when Christ returns and completes what He began in us. Then, in Galatians 5:6, he brings that truth down to street level: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” There it is—Paul dismantles both legalism and spiritual laziness in a single sentence. Whether you wear a badge of religious achievement (“circumcision”) or a badge of proud non-religion (“uncircumcision”), neither means anything to God. External religious status does not impress Him. Spiritual resume? Irrelevant. The only thing that carries weight with God is “faith working through love.” Not faith talking through religion, but faith acting through love. But if faith is what matters, then we must ask—faith in what?
That question separates the apostle Paul from a lot of sentimental spirituality floating around today. In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower famously said, “Our government makes no sense unless it is founded on a deeply felt religious faith—and I do not care what it is.” That may work for civic speeches, but it does not work in Scripture. Paul cares what your faith is in. God cares what your faith is in. Faith is only as strong as its object. Faith in faith is pointless. Faith in tradition is powerless. Faith in ourselves is suicidal. True faith is faith in Christ alone. Anything less is an empty slogan. I once heard of a liberal pastor who preached the resurrection every Easter, even though he privately did not believe a word of it. When asked why, he said, “I do not preach my personal faith but the faith of the Church.” That may sound sophisticated in a committee meeting, but Paul would have called it spiritual nonsense. You cannot preach a truth you do not believe. You cannot outsource faith. As theologian Steven Lawson puts it, “What matters is honest faith in Christ. The outward paraphernalia of religion—circumcision, dietary laws, Sabbath observance, or the mere mouthing of doctrine—cannot save us.”
Paul is not dismissing obedience or holiness. He is exposing the futility of religious performance as a substitute for faith. Gary Richison gives a great summary: “Christians who work and struggle in hope that somehow they will gain merit with God ultimately end in futility. They never arrive because they cannot live up to perfection. Religious rites cannot produce spirituality, for only God can take us to perfection. However, God’s love working in our faith will produce what we need. God does the providing.” That is why Paul says faith must work—but not through rituals, formulas, or self-effort. Faith works through love—love empowered by the Spirit, rooted in Christ, and poured out in real life. Religious rituals fade. Spiritual posturing collapses. But faith that loves? That is the mark of someone who truly belongs to Jesus.