Brother Jim Shaw Ministries, October 6, 2026

Brother Jim Shaw Ministries Standing Fast in Christian Liberty: Brother Jim Shaw Preaches Galatians Chapter 5 Brother Jim Shaw preaches on Galatians chapter 5, warning listeners against religious rituals and bondage that pull believers away from Jesus and calling them to stand fast in Christian liberty. He also takes up the command to love one's neighbor as oneself and the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit. Warning Against Rituals and Traditions Brother Jim Shaw opens the broadcast by saying Paul was cutting to the chase with the Galatian church, which he believes was tempted to return to rituals and traditions. He reminds listeners that no matter what kind of awakening is going on, Satan will try to deceive, and he says the enemy works to make Jesus an idol instead of Jesus being everything. Shaw reads Galatians 5 and its call to stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made believers free, and to avoid being entangled again in the yoke of bondage. He says every religion has some kind of bondage, while believers are free to worship Jesus without going to any special place. Shaw says the kingdom of God is within a person, quoting Jesus to the woman at the well, and that Christ is not found on a particular mountain. He grants that church can provide fellowship and teaching, but insists that is not where a believer finds Christ. Circumcision Brings a Debt to the Whole Law Shaw reads Galatians 5 closely, focusing on Paul's flat statement that if a believer is circumcised, Christ will profit that person nothing. He explains that these Galatians were Gentiles, not circumcised and not of Abraham's lineage, and that Paul warned any man who accepted circumcision that he became a debtor to do the whole law. Shaw says such a person might as well go back to Leviticus and Deuteronomy and memorize every requirement, adding that the attempt would be hopeless because God has written the law on the heart. He recalls the command to love the Lord with all the heart, mind, soul, and will, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, the two commandments on which everything hangs. Shaw reads that whosoever is justified by the law has fallen from grace, and he speaks sarcastically of the religious trappings that such a person might pile on. He lists holy water, smoke, funny robes, kneeling, crucifixes, feast days, and holy days, saying that anyone who adopts them has fallen from grace by Paul's word. Rituals, Clubs, and a Little Leaven Shaw says mankind loves rituals and clubs, naming the Moose Club, the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the American Legion, and the VFW, because people want to belong to a team. He says that if believers want to be on Jesus Christ's team, they do not need any of it, since rituals get in the way. He notes that Paul asked the Galatians who had bewitched them, and reminded them that they had once run well, asking who had hindered them from obeying the truth. Shaw explains that circumcision was the central ritual of Judaism, the first thing God asked of Abraham, who was to circumcise his household, setting that family apart from every other nation. Shaw says Paul was opposing that ritual because believers live under a new covenant, with Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father living within them, convicting them of sin and giving power over the devil. Shaw warns, in Paul's words, that a little leaven leavens the whole lump, so one small ritual invites many more to come pouring in. Judgment for Those Who Trouble the Church Shaw reads Paul's confidence that the Galatians will not think otherwise, and his warning that whoever troubles them will bear judgment, whoever he may be. Shaw asks listeners to see that the one who troubled them was leading people away from Jesus Christ and him crucified. He describes the physical church as a building that offers climate control, a seat, often music, and possibly a good message, all of which he calls beautiful. Yet he insists the true church is made up of living stones, believers scattered throughout the world, and that anything added to that complicates everything. Shaw reads Paul asking why he still suffers persecution if he preaches circumcision, and wishing that those who unsettle the believers were cut off. He reads that believers are called unto liberty, but must not use that liberty as an occasion for the flesh, and must instead serve one another by love. Shaw explains that this freedom does not permit sin, but releases a person from whatever has held them captive. Loving Neighbor as Self and Walking in the Spirit Shaw teaches that the whole law is fulfilled in one word, that a person should love their neighbor as themselves. He says that to love oneself rightly, a believer first obeys the first commandment by loving the Lord with all they have, and sees themselves as a piece of clay reporting for duty every day. Through the eyes of Jesus, he says, a believer can then love a neighbor as themselves. He warns from Galatians that if believers bite and de