Galatians 5:13-14

Galatians 5:13-14

[13] For,  brethren,  have been called  unto  liberty;  only  use not  liberty  for  an occasion  to the flesh,  but  by  love  serve  one another.  [14] For  all  the law  is fulfilled  in  one  word,  even in  this; Thou shalt love  neighbour  as 

What does Galatians 5:13-14 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The "flesh" is the sinful human nature that every person, saved and unsaved, possesses. It is possible to conclude that since it is unnecessary to keep the Law to be saved, it is unnecessary to pay attention to the Law for any reason. However, Paul was not urging his converts to burn their Old Testaments. The Law has values, as he previously pointed out, one of which is to reveal how to express love for God and other people. Really the whole Law is a revelation of how to love ( Leviticus 19:18; cf. Mark 12:28-31). Under grace we are free to fulfill the Law by loving one another. For the Christian the Mosaic Law has revelatory value ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17) even though it does not have regulatory value, controlling our behavior. [1]
If his readers insisted on living in slavery, Paul wished they would enslave themselves to love of one another. If they wanted to live under law, let it be the law of Christ ( Galatians 6:2) impelled by the indwelling Spirit rather than by an external code. There is no external entity that can enable us to love our neighbors as ourselves, but the Holy Spirit can produce that love within us.
In what sense does Leviticus 19:18 fulfill the whole Mosaic Law?
"There is a play on two meanings of the Greek word peplerotai, translated "summed up" [2]. On the one hand, it refers to the fact that the law can aptly be summarized by the words of Leviticus 19:18. This idea was a commonplace of rabbinic opinion and Jesus endorsed it in Matthew 22:39 and Luke 10:25-28. On the other hand, the word can also mean "fulfilled" (as in Romans 13:8), and in this sense Paul is suggesting that it is actually out of the new life of love made possible within the Christian community through the Spirit that the law finds fulfillment." [3]
". . . the primary meaning is not that we must properly love ourselves before we can love others (although this is true in itself), but that we are to love our neighbor with the same spontaneity and alacrity with which we love ourselves. [4]
Paul wrote, "no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it" ( Ephesians 5:29). By this he meant that it is not normal behavior to hate oneself but to love oneself. We only hate ourselves because bad experiences or influences have that effect on us.