Gal 5

Verses 2 to 6
It might appear as though Paul were saying that Christ and the law are mutually exclusive; you can have either the law or Christ but not both. However, that's not exactly right.

Accepting circumcision is about our practice, our lifestyle and the way we think or hope we can approach God. To accept circumcision is to depend upon the act of circumcision for our acceptance with God. When we do this, clearly, Christ becomes meaningless to us, since the gospel declares to us that in Christ alone can we find acceptance with God.
This is made clear in v. 4 of this paragraph where Paul writes about desiring to be justified (made right with God) by the law. If that is our desire we have 'fallen away from grace' - nb. there is the falling away theme once again!!

Christ and the law are not mutually exclusive, that is the wrong way to think about how Christ relates to the law. Christ fulfills, achieves, completes, satisfies the law. In Christ the law is ended. The law points to Christ and now Christ has done the law is fulfilled in Christ.

We are to approach God in Christ, depending upon his finished work, with faith enlivened by the Spirit clinging to the hope of righteousness - which is Christ. It really is all about Jesus!

v. 6 needs careful handling. In response to vv. 2-5 we cannot simply ignore circumcision, or any other religious practice we may think of. Non circumcision is no more of a claim before God than circumcision. United to Christ Jesus by the gift of faith which is made alive in us by the Spirit we find that our lives are changed and our deeds, our actions become those of love. Faith alone does not mean we sit at home, comfortable in our intellectual comprehension of 'the faith'. By no means! Grace alone describes our salvation by God in Christ, faith alone describes our union with Christ and our life now lived in union with our Saviour.
Faith is only faith when it results in acts of love displayed in our lives.