Comments on
Galatians
By Elder Harold Hunt
1992
Elder Harold Hunt
2516 E Clark Ave.
Maryville, TN 37804
COMMENTS ON PAUL’S LETTER
TO THE GALATIANS
INTRODUCTION
The churches of Galatia to which this letter was written were scattered over the region which is now central Turkey. Ancyra, the capital of Galatia at that time, is now called Ankara, and is the capital of modern Turkey. This is the only letter Paul wrote to a group of churches. It was possibly Paul who first planted these churches. He did travel in that region (Acts 16:6, 18:23). Whether Paul was the one who originally planted these churches or not, it is obvious that he had earlier had a very good relationship with them. He reminded them that at one time they would have plucked out their very eyes and given them to him (ch. 4:15). But Judaizers, who tried to combine the rigid requirements of the Law of Moses with the benefits of the gospel had gotten among them. They had tried to establish their own notions by first criticizing Paul and then disputing the things he taught. He began the letter with a vigorous defense of his own apostleship. The Judaizers had obviously denied that he was an apostle. Paul spent the most of the letter in proving that the gospel has made us free from the bondage of the ceremonies and rituals of the Ceremonial Law, and that we are “not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (ch. 2:16). He then spent the last two chapters encouraging them to “stand fast” (ch. 6:1) in their newfound liberty in the gospel.
Harold Hunt
CHAPTER ONE
1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead).
Paul an APOSTLE “Apostle” was a common word put to a special use. As a word in common every day use, it simply signified a “messenger,” or “one sent,” and it was often used in that way in the New Testament. Barnabas was not one of the twelve, but Luke refers to him as an apostle (Acts 14:14). Paul refers to Adronicus and Junia as being “among the apostles” (Rom. 16:7). Paul refers to certain “brethren” as “messengers of the churches” (II Cor. 8:23), and he refers to Epaphroditus as “your messenger” (Phil 2:25). In both of those places the word that is translated “messenger” is “apostolos,” and in all four of those places the word was used in its common every day manner, simply signifying “one sent.” But in this place Paul is using the word in that special way that referred only to those “apostles,” whom the Lord himself chose and sent forth. There were those who denied Paul’s apostleship. After all, he had not been a companion of the Lord during his public ministry, and he had been the most violent persecutor of the church. By his own admission, he had “persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” (Acts 22:4), and there were those who would never acknowledge that he was a genuine follower of the Lord, much less an apostle. This letter to the Galatians was going to be a stinging rebuke of some errors that had crept in among them. Paul knew there would be those who would challenge what he had to say, and before he begins his exhortations, he feels that he must first establish his authority—he must first establish that he was an “apostle.” Much of this first chapter is given over to demonstrating that he had a special calling from the Lord himself.
Not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ Paul was establishing his usage of the word “apostle;” he was not just any “messenger” sent on some mission; he was sent by the Lord himself. He will have more to say about that in verses 11 and 12.
And God the Father The Bible clearly teaches that there are three separate and distinct persons in the unity of the one God. They are one God, but three persons. That is a mystery no man can entirely unravel; but the Bible teaches it, and we believe it. But while they are three persons, and they have their separate and distinct work to do, yet, in some sense, whatever is done by the one is sometimes said to be done by the others. There are some works that are said to be done by one and not, in any sense, by the other two. For instance, it was the Son, and only the Son, who suffered and died on the cross. But the creation is sometimes referred to the one, and sometimes to the others (Gen. 1:1, Job 26:13, John 1:1-3). Paul sometimes refers his calling to the one, and sometimes to the other. In Acts 13:2, Paul’s calling is attributed to the Holy Ghost.
Who raised him from the dead One of the main objections that Paul’s opponents had against his apostleship was that he was not one of the original twelve; he did not walk with the Lord during his public ministry. But Paul points out that he received his apostleship FROM THE RISEN CHRIST. The others had received their apostleship from the Lord in his state of humiliation; his calling and apostleship had come from the Lord in his exalted state. That did not make his office superior to theirs; but it did not make it any the less either. In verses 11 and 12, and in other places he will point out that HE PERSONALLY SAW THE LORD in his resurrected state, and received his calling directly from him.
I Cor. 9:1, “Am I not an APOSTLE? am I not free? HAVE I NOT SEEN JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD? are not ye my work in the Lord?”
I Cor. 15:8, “And last of all HE WAS SEEN OF ME ALSO, as of one born out of due time.”
II Cor. 12:11,12, “I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. Truly the SIGNS OF AN APOSTLE were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.”
1:2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia
And all the brethren which are with me Paul was accustomed to naming some of the brethren who were presently with him, when he began his various epistles, but he probably never received so much satisfaction in using that expression as he did at this time. There were those who followed Paul around, opposing him, and challenging his authority. And, no doubt, they represented him as a maverick, traveling largely alone, and having no one, or hardly anyone, who would have anything to do with him. But he was never entirely alone. Luke regularly lists Paul’s traveling companions (Acts 19:29, 20:4), and Paul lists some of them in the introduction to most of his epistles. Those brethren, who traveled with him, encouraging and assisting him, were a source of the greatest benefit, and at this trying time, when he must defend his own apostleship, and at the same time rebuke these Galatians so sharply for some of the errors that had crept in among them, he must have been especially glad to point out that he was not entirely alone.
Unto the churches of Galatia This was the only letter Paul addressed to a group of churches. There were obviously churches scattered all over the region of Galatia. These were essentially the same churches to which Peter addressed his first epistle.
I Pet. 1:1, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers SCATTERED THROUGHOUT Pontus, GALATIA, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”
The errors Paul was confronting were obviously widespread among these churches, and it was needful that he write one circular letter to all of them. Some writers think Paul does not use the same complimentary language in this salutation that he uses elsewhere, because of his displeasure with their misconduct. “. . . they are barely called churches, without any additional epithets, as churches of God, beloved of God, called to be saints, faithful and sanctified in Christ, which are bestowed on other churches; whereby the apostle is thought to show his indignation and resentment at their principles and practices” (John Gill).
Galatia Galatia was what is now central Turkey. Ancyra, the capital of Galatia, is now called Ankara, and it is the capital of Turkey.
1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ
Paul began almost all of his epistles in essentially the same way. He prayed that they would enjoy the grace of God, and the peace that comes with it. There can be no peace where there is no grace. (See comments on Eph. 1:1)
1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.
Who GAVE HIMSELF for our sins God gave the very best that heaven had for our redemption. None of the sacrifices of the Law Service were sufficient to pay the price.
Heb. 10:4, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”
No amount of money could pay the price.
I Pet. 1:18, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.”
Our own righteousness was not sufficient; it was nothing more than “filthy rags” (Isa 64:6). But we had a sin debt that must be paid, if we would ever be delivered from the guilt, and penalty of sin, and live with God one day. And because no less price would satisfy the righteous indignation of God against sin—the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself.
Gal. 2:20, “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and GAVE HIMSELF for me.”
Eph. 5:2, “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath GIVEN HIMSELF for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
Eph. 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and GAVE HIMSELF for it.”
I Tim. 2:6, “Who GAVE HIMSELF a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
Matt. 20:28, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to GIVE HIS LIFE a ransom for many.”
Who GAVE HIMSELF His life was not taken from him—HE GAVE IT. No man had the power to kill him; if he had not voluntarily laid down his life, no power on earth could have killed him.
John 10:17, 18, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I LAY DOWN MY LIFE, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received from my Father.”
And just before he died, he demonstrated that he still had his full strength about him. He demonstrated that he was freely, and voluntarily laying down his life. They had done everything they could, and they still could not kill him. He “cried again with a loud voice,” and then he willingly, voluntarily “yielded up the ghost” (Matt. 27:50).
That he might DELIVER US from this present evil world The work of the Lord on our behalf not only delivers his people from the penalty of sin that, otherwise, would have been ours— from the eternal punishment that awaits the wicked after this life is over— it also delivers us from the POWER OF SIN to rule and dominate our lives here IN THIS PRESENT WORLD. No amount of reformation could ever reclaim the wicked. There is no desire in the heart of the wicked to be reclaimed. He is in love with sin, and “this present evil world” just suits his case. It is a perfect environment in which for him to gratify his lusts. If any person is ever delivered from this world and its wickedness, he must receive a new nature, a nature that hates the thought of sin, and hungers and thirsts after righteousness.
Col. 1:13, “Who hath DELIVERED US FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
According to the WILL of God and our Father Everything the Son does he does according to the will of the Father. There is no discord between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Redemption was not an afterthought with God. God is a God of will, a God of purpose, and it was the WILL OF GOD from all eternity that his Son should come into the world, and that he should suffer and die to redeem his people from their sins. John 6:39,40, “And this is the FATHER’S WILL which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the WILL OF HIM that hath sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
1:5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen
The one grand end of all that God has done is his own glory. All glory is due him, and it is right and proper that he should receive the glory that is properly his.
Rev. 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
The wonder of the natural creation reflects his glory, and his maintenance and government of the universe manifests his glory; but nothing in all of the universe, nothing in all of time and eternity, manifests the glory of God the way it is seen in the salvation of sinners by the sacrifice of his own Son.
Amen So be it.
1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.
I marvel Paul implies that he had looked for better things from them. He marvels that they were so easy to lead astray. He had spent some time among the Galatians (Acts 16:6, and 18:23), and he expected that they would have done better.
That ye are so soon REMOVED Paul is going to rebuke them very sharply; but he may be making some slight allowance. There were false teachers who had come among them, and led them astray. There was no excuse for their being so easy to turn aside; but Paul does seem to be pointing to those who “removed” them from their previous soundness, and attaching the proper blame to those false teachers.
Removed from HIM THAT CALLED YOU into the grace of Christ The “him” under consideration is the Spirit of God. The work of the Spirit in the life of the child of God is manifold. It was the Spirit that CALLED THEM from a state of death in sin to a state of life in Christ, and it was the Spirit that directed their conduct in their earliest experience. They had then become “established in the faith” (Acts 16;5); they had learned to walk after the Spirit, and follow its leadership. They had “begun in the Spirit” (ch.3:3), but now they were walking after the flesh. They were no longer walking in the Spirit, and looking to the Spirit to lead them; they were following men— and unfaithful men, at that.
Gal. 3:3, “Are ye so foolish? having BEGUN IN THE SPIRIT, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
Unto another GOSPEL Because these false teachers called their doctrines “the gospel;” for the sake of discussion, Paul refers to it as “another GOSPEL,” but he will have more to say about that expression in the very next verse.
1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Which is not another There is only one gospel, and anything else that pretends to be the gospel is not the gospel at all. Paul warned the Corinthians against false teachers who would try to lead them astray. II Cor. 11:4, “For if he that cometh preacheth ANOTHER JESUS, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive ANOTHER SPIRIT, which ye have not received, or ANOTHER GOSPEL, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” Much that passes for the gospel in this day is not the gospel; it is a collection of threats, and propositions, and ultimatums; but it is not the gospel. By its very definition, the gospel is “good news;” it is the GOOD NEWS of what God has done on behalf of his chosen and redeemed. It is not a system of threats of what God is going to do to you, if you do not come to terms— if you do not accept his propositions.
But there be some that TROUBLE you Those who would substitute their own notions in the place of the gospel do nothing but TROUBLE the saints. They are in bondage to their own false doctrine, and they try to bring others into bondage with them.
II Pet. 2:18,19, “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While THEY PROMISE THEM LIBERTY, they themselves are the SERVANTS OF CORRUPTION: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”
No matter what the false teachers may claim, the only true joy is that joy found by RESTING IN THE FINISHED WORK OF A VICTORIOUS SAVIOR.
Matt. 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST.”
Those who would load us with all kinds of conditions to meet in order to merit salvation bring us nothing but trouble.
Acts 15:1,24, “And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved…..Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have TROUBLED you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment.”
Gal. 5:10,11, “I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that TROUBLETH you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.”
And would PERVERT the gospel of Christ These false teachers do not want to teach the gospel; they have no use for the gospel. It is their intention to PERVERT THE GOSPEL; they want to turn it aside, and make it say just the opposite of what it says.
II Cor. 2:17, “For we are not as many, which CORRUPT THE WORD OF GOD: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”
1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Paul supposes a circumstance that is never going to happen. No “angel from heaven” is going to preach “any other gospel” than the true gospel. Paul uses the most extreme illustration to demonstrate that no matter who may advocate any other doctrine than the doctrine of the Bible, we are not to receive him. No one has the authority to preach “another gospel,” nor to add to the true gospel.
Deut. 4:2, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it.”
Deut 12:32, “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”
And even if the false teacher claims to have new revelation, or if he claims to have had dreams, or if he is able to produce miracles to attest to his doctrine, we are still not to receive him— if his doctrine does not correspond with the doctrine of the Bible.
Deut. 13:1-3, “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Matt. 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
(Marty Smith: Satan is transformed into “an angel of light— 2 Cor. 11:4— and men might THINK that he was from heaven)
Let him be ACCURSED If a person is guilty of heresy, he must be excluded from the church.
Tit. 3:10, “A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition REJECT.”
Even a heretic is to be given space to repent; he may have been truly mistaken. But if after the “second admonition” he still advocates his heresy, he must be dealt with; he must be turned out of the church. But that is probably not what is meant in this verse by being “accursed.” John talked about this same thing.
Rev. 22:18,19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, GOD SHALL ADD UNTO HIM the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, GOD SHALL TAKE AWAY HIS PART out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Notice that it is God who does the adding and the taking away under consideration. For its own safety the church cannot tolerate heresy in its midst; but the CURSE under consideration in this text probably signifies SOMETHING MORE DREADFUL than any church is able to impose by excluding a person from its membership.
Heb. 10:31, “It is a FEARFUL THING to fall into the hands of the living God.”
1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Paul points out that they once “received” the doctrine which they have now cast aside in favor of “another gospel.” Other than that, we cannot find any new thought that he introduces in this verse. He simply repeats what he has just said in the previous verse. But that is an important consideration in itself. God never repeats himself without a reason. We may repeat ourselves for a variety of reasons, but if God repeats himself, we do well to pay special attention. God very often repeats himself (Rom. 5:15-19, Psa. 89:30-34, for example), but every time God ever repeats himself, it is always on a very important point to which we need to give very special notice. John Gill points out that Paul repeats this thought to show that it was not uttered in a rash moment, but that it was stated calmly and deliberately: “LET HIM BE ACCURSED; which he repeats, for the more solemn asseveration and confirmation of it; and to show that this did not drop from his lips hastily and inadvertently; nor did it proceed from any irregular passions, or was spoken by him in heat, and in an angry mood, his mind being ruffled, disturbed, and discomposed; but was said by him in the most serious and solemn manner, upon the most thoughtful and mature consideration of the affair” (Gill).
(Steve Wilkinson: In verse 8, we seems to indicate apostles, and in verse 9 he seems to extend the admonition to any other man)
1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
For do I now PERSUADE MEN, or God? It is the work of the minister to PERSUADE MEN.
II Cor. 5:11, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, WE PERSUADE MEN.”
We persuade men to acknowledge the truth of the scriptures, and to govern their lives accordingly. But every form of false religion tries in some manner or another to persuade God. They try to persuade God to save those whom they are afraid he will not save without their intervention. They try to persuade God to accept their offerings, or their service, as an acceptable inducement to obtain salvation. They try to persuade him to manage his affairs according to their most urgent requests.
(Steve Wilkinson: To me, this part of verse 10 is saying that it is God who is really doing the persuading through Paul, because in the following verse he says that his gospel is ‘not after man.’ This also seems to be harmonious with Paul’s effort to establish his authority as an apostle)
Or do I seek to please men? There is a sense in which we are to please men. We are not to be disagreeable for the sake of being disagreeable. We should endeavor to be peaceable and agreeable people. There is nothing about the gospel that will make a person unpleasant to those who really want to be peaceable.
Rom. 15:2, “Let every one of us PLEASE HIS NEIGHBOR for his good to edification.”
I Cor. 10:33, “Even as I PLEASE ALL MEN in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.”
Rom. 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, LIVE PEACEABLY with all men.”
But if we will be faithful to the truth of the scriptures, there is no way that we can please those who are opposed to the truth. The more faithfully we follow the scriptures, the more displeased those people are, who oppose the truth. Faithful adherence to the truth is like waving a red flag in front of them.
I Thess. 2:4, “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; NOT AS PLEASING MEN, but God which trieth our hearts.”
For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ “Menpleasers,” those whose greatest concern is to please men, can never be faithful servants of Christ. At best, they have a divided allegiance, and when the commandment of God comes in conflict with the expectations of their friends, they are all too likely to bend to the will of their friends. And in this conflict there can be NO MIDDLE GROUND. Our conflict is with the forces of evil, “with spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12), and when our friends persuade us to stand with them, they persuade us to stand against the Lord.
James 4:4, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Matt. 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
James 1:8, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
But I certify you BRETHREN In spite of all their faults, Paul still calls them “brethren.” He still loves them, and hopes for their repentance. One of the most common problems in the church is the willingness to cut off erring brethren, and to count them to be a lost cause, before every effort has been made to save them. Paul had labored among these erring “brethren,” (Acts 16:6, 18:23) and he wanted to save them, if he could. But, while he did finally call them “brethren,” he passed over ten full verses before he used such affectionate language. He loved them, and grieved over them, and he still counted them to be his brethren; but he would not use such affectionate language in his initial address. On the one hand, he wanted them to know his affection for them; but, on the other hand, he wanted them to know that this letter was “all business”— he was very concerned about the errors they had allowed to creep in among them.
But I CERTIFY you, brethren To “certify” is to declare in a solemn and formal manner. Paul would have them to know that he is entirely serious in this matter. The gospel of grace is not a joking matter. All too many ministers cheapen their own ministry by sprinkling little jokes, and wisecracks throughout their sermon. It gets people to laugh, but it also raises a subtle question in the mind of the hearers as to how serious the preacher really is.
That the gospel which was preached of me is NOT AFTER MAN Paul had pointed out in verse one that he was an APOSTLE— he was one of God’s SENT ONES. It was God who called him and sent him to the work. And now, Paul draws himself up to his full posture as an apostle— as a SPOKESMAN FOR GOD. He will not speak on his own authority; that would not be worth much. But he does not rely on his own authority; he has all the authority of God behind him. The Lord called the apostles; he gave them their message, and sent them to the work; and when they spoke, they spoke as his representatives.
John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I HAVE CHOSEN YOU, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”
These Galatians can ignore Paul’s message if they wish, but Paul is pointing out that it is not his message, but God’s message, they are ignoring.
1:12 For I neither received it from man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
For I neither received it from man, neither was I taught it There was no man that anybody could point to, and say that he taught Paul the doctrines he preached. Paul studied “at the feet of Gamaliel,” a Jewish doctor of the Law (acts 22:3), but Gamaliel, the Pharisee, (Acts 5:34) would never have taught Paul the gospel. Paul was baptized by Ananias (Acts 9:17), but there is no record that Ananias had anything more than the briefest contact with Paul. And he did not learn it from the other apostles; he had very little contact with the others until he had been preaching for a considerable time. He will have more to say about that in verses 16 through 19.
But by the REVELATION of Jesus Christ Paul’s knowledge of the gospel came by direct revelation from the Lord himself. He knew it, because God taught him. Man is not able, by his own efforts, and his own inquiry, to figure out the truths of the gospel. “The world by wisdom knew not God” (I Cor. 1:21); if God had not revealed himself, no man could have found him out.
Job 11:7, “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?”
But down through the ages God has seen fit to make SPECIAL REVELATION to men whom he has chosen. He made those revelations to the Old Testament prophets, and to the New Testament apostles. And God revealed himself, and his truth, to Paul. Paul was not one of the original twelve; but the revelation that was made to him was just as real, and just as personal, as the revelation made to the other apostles. God REVEALED to Paul mysteries that had not been known until that time.
Rom. 16:25, “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to MY GOSPEL, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY, which was kept secret since the world began.”
Eph. 3:3, “How that by REVELATION he made known unto me the MYSTERY; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read ye may understand my knowledge in the MYSTERY of Christ).”
1:13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it.
For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion Paul points out to them that they had heard of his former conduct. His reputation had probably reached them long before he did. Now he is challenging them to think about it. Could somebody with such a record of persecuting the church as he had, now turn from that bitter persecution, and begin to preach the gospel— if God had not intervened. A direct intervention on God’s part is the only credible explanation.
The Jews’ religion Notice that he does not refer to the “Law Service.” Even before his Damascus Road experience, he was not engaged in observing the Law. The Jews had long ago set aside the Law of Moses, and replaced it with their own traditions. He had been engaged in “the Jews’ religion,” in JUDAISM.
Matt. 15:9, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines, the COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.”
How that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it The church had never had a more bitter enemy. He showed no pity, neither to men, nor to women; and when he could not find any more Christians in Jerusalem, he followed them to other cities, where they had fled, hoping to escape his wrath.
Acts 8:3, “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling MEN AND WOMEN committed them to PRISON.”
Acts 9:1,2 “And Saul, yet breathing out THREATENINGS and SLAUGHTER against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.”
Acts 22:4, “And I persecuted this way UNTO THE DEATH, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.”
Acts 26:10,11, “Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were PUT TO DEATH, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and COMPELLED THEM TO BLASPHEME; and being exceeding mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.”
1:14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
And profited in THE JEW’S RELIGION Paul repeats himself; he will not allow us to miss the point; the second time he refers to his former connection as “the Jew’s religion.” He had not been engaged in observing the Law of Moses; he was involved in “the Jew’s religion,” in JUDAISM.
And PROFITED in the Jews’ religion ABOVE MANY MY EQUALS in mine own nation Paul displays some modesty in only claiming to excel “above many my equals.” Paul had been “the man of the hour;” he was the Jews’ hero. He was brought up “at the feet of Gamaliel” (Acts 22:3), the famous “doctor of the law.” Nobody could challenge his education. He was the rising hope of the Jewish nation in their persecution of the church. He was ambitious “beyond measure.” No one else displayed the zeal that he did in his devotion to the “Jew’s religion,” and in his opposition to the church. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, he seized the reins, and led the charge in their onslaught against the church. He was their leader in having Christians arrested, and beaten, and imprisoned. And when he could, he had them put to death. Even the Jewish leaders took a back seat to Paul. When he went to the high priest for authority to go to Damascus to pursue those Christians, who had fled there to escape his wrath, the high priest gave him all he asked for (Acts 9:1,2). Had he been suffered to continue, Paul could, no doubt, have gained any honor, and any position that he aspired to among the Jewish people. He was their hero. He was the one man they expected to rid them once and for all of these Christians. He was the man they expected to wipe the church off the face of the earth, and to wipe the name of Jesus Christ from the pages of history.
Being more exceeding zealous of the TRADITIONS OF MY FATHERS Paul will not let it rest. He says it the third time. It was not a zeal for the Law of Moses that made him such an enemy of the church. It was his zeal for the TRADITIONS of the fathers. The Jews had long since set aside the Law of Moses, and replaced it with a system of traditions, a system of rules and regulations of their own making. They claimed that this system of “oral law” had always existed alongside of the written Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was complex enough as it was; but they had put in its place a system SO COMPLEX, and SO HUGE, that no one could really know what it taught. They had adopted a system of EXPLANATIONS and EXCEPTIONS that allowed them to set aside the most fundamental precepts of the Law. It allowed them to ignore the clearest instructions of the Law, while they claimed to be the most faithful defenders of the Law. It was that system of TRADITIONS that the Lord spent so much time in exposing. Much of the ministry of the Lord was given over to showing that the traditions they held in such high esteem were very far from being the truth of God. He told them, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me” (John 5:46).
Matt. 15:3-9, “But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God BY YOUR TRADITION? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. BUT YE SAY, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect BY YOUR TRADITION. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in VAIN they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.”
Notice how the Lord described the way they had evaded the commandment to “honour thy father and mother.” They thought they had found a way to keep the Law, and ignore that commandment. Bear in mind that the Lord was not just describing the transgressions of a few people— he was describing their entire SYSTEM OF TRADITION. He was describing “the Jews’ religion,” JUDAISM.
1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from MY MOTHER’S WOMB Paul was plunging headlong in his mad rush to destroy the church, when God struck him down on the Damascus Road. But God’s dealings with Paul did not begin on the road to Damascus; God had been looking after him all along. Even in an unregenerate state, those who are the chosen of God are the beneficiaries of his providential care. Paul had been the most bitter enemy to the Lord and his people; he intended to destroy the church, if he could. But in spite of that, God loved him and looked after him. Paul was convinced that there was never a time when God did not take care of him. He was convinced that even when he was an unborn child in the womb of his mother, that God cared for him, and that it was God that “separated” him from his “mother’s womb,”— that granted him a safe and successful entrance into the world. That was a point that David, and Jeremiah, and others made. They were all convinced that God loved them, and protected and cared for them, even in their mother’s womb.
Psa. 22:9,10, “But thou art he that took me out of the WOMB: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the WOMB: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.”
Paul referred to it as being SEPARATED from the womb; David refers to it as being TAKEN OUT of the womb. Both verses are talking about the same thing. There are those who believe there is more implied in Paul’s being “separated” from his mother’s womb than this, but as the scriptures explain the scriptures, and as these two verses seem so clearly to be companion texts, it seems to me that the expression in Psalms 22:9 is intended to be the explanation for the expression in Galatians 1:15.
Psa. 71:6, “By thee have I been holden up from the WOMB: thou art he that TOOK ME OUT OF MY MOTHER’S BOWELS: my praise shall be continually of thee.”
Jeremiah talked about the same thing. Jer. 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee: and before thou CAMEST FORTH OUT OF THE WOMB I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
And CALLED me by his grace Paul is talking about two separate and distinct works that God did on his behalf. God’s providential care of his children, and his dealings with them by his Spirit go hand in hand. God’s providential care over Paul kept him safe and secure until the day when he dealt with him by his Spirit. God had a work for Paul to do, and he preserved him for that work. And when God’s appointed day came, he sovereignly, and irresistibly, CALLED him from a state in death in sin to a state of life in Christ. When God begins a work, he FINISHES what he began. Every one of those, whom he chose in eternity past, he will call in this life.
Rom. 8:30, “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also CALLED: and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
But when IT PLEASED GOD Paul traces it all to the SOVEREIGNTY of God. God is sovereign in all he says and does. If ever there was a person who demonstrated that salvation is by grace, and that there is nothing in the sinner that deserves saving, Paul was that man. God saves sinners BECAUSE IT PLEASES HIM to save sinners; and if he chooses to save somebody, who has very clearly demonstrated that he does not deserve saving, he will still save him.
(Frank Buttrey: Concerning Paul’s persecution of the church and his former conversation, I think that in John 16:2,3 the Lord is giving the disciples a word picture of Paul. This surely puts to rest, in my mind, the discussion concerning Paul’s Damascus road experience, John 16:2,3, “They shall put you out of the synagogue; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, BECAUSE THEY HAVE KNOWN THE FATHER NOR ME.)
(Joe Holder: 1 Cor. 15:8, ‘And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.’ We could make a good case that Paul was very near the same age as Peter, John and the other apostles. Why did he see Christ last? Not because he was younger, or because he was converted later, but because he was born again at a later time.)
(Mike Ivey: “The position is held (by some) that Paul was already a child of God before Christ appeared to him and he was converted on the Damascus Road. This application creates some confusion about the precept of conversion and poses some harm to the doctrine of regeneration. Without the example of Paul, there exists no example of the effectual work of the Holy Spirit upon an unregenerate. We thus find ourselves in the position of accepting a theology in principle, but unable to point to a single example of the application of the principle in scripture. The whole doctrine of salvation by grace is weakened without a specific example of its effect upon the unregenerate.”)
1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen: immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.
To reveal his Son IN ME Christ was not only revealed to Paul— he was revealed IN HIM. He talked about that in the next chapter.
Ch.2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
It is hard to imagine a more spectacular sight. One moment he was Saul of Tarsus, the most bitter enemy on earth to the Lord and his people, and the next moment he is Paul the apostle— and the Christ whose name he blasphemed, and persecuted, is LIVING IN HIS VERY HEART AND SOUL. He went everywhere preaching that the grace of God reaches to the vilest and most undeserving of sinners— and HE EMBODIED IN HIMSELF the most convincing proof of his doctrine.
That I might preach him among the HEATHEN The other apostles spent their time largely among the Jews, but Paul was especially the apostle to the GENTILES.
Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the GENTILES, and kings, and the children of Israel.”
Acts 22:21, “And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the GENTILES.”
Acts 26:17, “Delivering thee from the people, and from the GENTILES, unto whom now I send thee.”
Rom. 11:13, “For I speak to you GENTILES, inasmuch as I AM THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES, I magnify mine office.”
Eph. 3:8, “Unto me, who am less than the least of the saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the GENTILES the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
That I might PREACH HIM The proper subject of gospel preaching is Christ. We are not to preach man, nor the accomplishments of man; we are to preach Christ, and Christ alone.
I Cor. 2:2, “For I determined not to know anything among you save JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.”
II Cor. 4:5, “For we preach not ourselves but CHRIST JESUS THE LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood “Flesh and blood” is a scriptural way of referring to mankind in general (Matt. 16;17, Eph. 6:12). Paul did not receive his ministry from man, and it was not necessary for him to confer with man— either to know what to preach, or receive authority to preach. He is repeating the same thought he used to introduce the letter: “Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;” (vs. 1). Paul did not wait; as soon as he was baptized he began preaching immediately.
Acts 9:18-20, “And IMMEDIATELY there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And STRAIGHTWAY he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.”
But a word of caution is in order at this point. We need to remember that we are talking about an apostle; we are not talking about an ordinary minister of the gospel. The apostles had an authority, and an independence, which ordinary ministers do not have.
1:17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me Just before his ascension the Lord commanded the disciples that they “should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me” (Acts 1:4). That promise had already been fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, but at the time of Paul’s Damascus Road experience, most, if not all of the apostles, were still at Jerusalem.
Acts 8:1, “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem: and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, EXCEPT THE APOSTLES.”
If Paul had needed authority or instruction from the apostles, they were all at Jerusalem. He could have consulted with all of them; but he did not. He did not need to. He received his apostleship directly from the Lord— not from any other man, and not even from the other apostles.
But I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus In Acts, chapter nine, Luke does not mention Paul’s trip into Arabia. It is one of the characteristics of the Bible that we rarely get all of any subject in one place. Isaiah says that the principle is “line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isa 28:10). God intends for us to “search the scriptures.” The information we need is all there; but we have to look for it. After he was baptized, Paul began “straightway” to preach in the synagogues at Damascus (Acts 9:18-20), then (without conferring with the other apostles) he went to Arabia for a time. This trip to Arabia, obviously, took place between verses 22 and 23 of Acts chapter nine. Then, leaving Arabia, he returned to Damascus. It was on this second trip to Damascus that the Jews in Damascus “took counsel to kill him” (Acts 9;23).
Acts 9:24,25, “But their lying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.” It was then that Paul (three years after his first arrival, [vs. 18]) finally went to Jerusalem.
(Marty Smith: “I wonder if Paul visited Sinai before going to see Zion with new eyes? Gal. 4:24-26, Heb. 12:18-24.”)
1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter Paul would always be the apostle to the Gentiles; that was the message Ananias brought to him at the very outset (Acts 9:15). But he did want a closer relationship with the other apostles. Peter was sent to the Jews; his ministry was “to the apostleship of the circumcision.”
Gal. 2:7,8, “But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the GOSPEL OF THE CIRCUMCISION was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the APOSTLESHIP OF THE CIRCUMCISION, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)”
It was entirely proper, and predictable, that the great apostle to the Gentiles should want to be acquainted with the preeminent apostle to the Jews, and that he should want to tell him about his experience among the Gentiles. Paul had already been preaching the gospel for “three years,” before he ever visited Peter; there is no way that anybody can make it appear that he received his call, or his authority, from him.
To see Peter It is significant that Paul uses a different word in verse 18 than he did in verse 16. In verse 16 he insists that he did not CONFER with flesh and blood; in this verse he says only that he went “TO SEE PETER.” He wants it understood that this was not a conference; it was a visit.
Then after THREE YEARS Luke says that “after MANY DAYS were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to slay him” (Acts 9:23), and Paul says that “after THREE YEARS” he went up to Jerusalem. The “many days” of Acts 9:23 and the “three years” of Galatians 1:18 obviously refer to the same period of time. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown points out that the exact same expressions (“many days” for “three years”) are found in I Kings 2:38,39. It is amazing that for every expression in the Bible that there needs to be an explanation, somewhere in the Bible there is an expression that provides that explanation. Sometimes we need a little help from our friends, but the key is in there— if we can only find it.
And abode with him fifteen days Paul’s visit with Peter was very short. He wanted to “join himself to the disciples.” He wanted to join the local church at Jerusalem. “But they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26).
“But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem” (vss 27,28).
It is unlikely that Paul did actually place his membership in the church at Jerusalem; he was only there fifteen days; and we do find later that he had placed his membership in the church at Antioch. Acts 13:1 says that he and Barnabas were “IN THE CHURCH that was at Antioch;” that signifies more than that they were simply visiting there. Their membership was there. But whether he was allowed to place his membership in the church at Jerusalem or not, after Barnabas had spoken up for him, he was allowed to company with them “coming in and going out at Jerusalem.” But even that did not last long. The Grecians, Greek speaking Jews, “went about to slay him” (vs 29). “Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus” (vs 30). Paul had just recently fled for his life from Damascus, when the Jews there intended to kill him, and now he fled from Jerusalem for the same reason. And lest we should get the wrong impression about Paul’s courage, we need to know that God himself had instructed Paul to leave Jerusalem. God had appeared to Paul in a vision warning him that the people would not hear him, and that he had a work for him elsewhere.
Acts 22:17,18,21, “And it came to pass, that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; and saw him saying unto me, make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me……And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.”
1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.
No doubt, these were the only two apostles in Jerusalem at that time. Earlier, all the apostles had remained in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). But the Lord had only told them to wait at Jerusalem for “the promise of the Father.” That promise had been fulfilled at Pentecost, and now there was no reason that they should all remain in the same place. Peter and John had left for Samaria (ch. 8:14). Peter had returned, but he was very soon going to leave again, this time for Lydda (ch. 9:32). But whether these were the only two apostles in Jerusalem at the time, or whether they were simply the only two that Paul saw, the point is the same: Paul did not go to the other apostles to be accredited by them or to receive any authorization from them.
James the Lord’s brother The Jews gave a much broader meaning than we do to the word “brother.” With them the word took in uncles, nephews, and cousins (Gen. 29:12,15). They did the same thing with the word “son,” or “father.” “Son” might mean a son, or a grandson, or even a much more distant descendant (Matt. 1:1). The same thing applies to the word “father.” With that in mind, there is much controversy as to what the exact relationship was between James and the Lord. But, I, for one, have never seen anything particularly profitable about the debate. If the text refers to James as “the Lord’s brother,” I am perfectly willing to leave it at that. I believe that he, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas, and the “sisters” of Matthew 13:55,56, were simply children born to Joseph and Mary after the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps, others, better informed than I am, can cast more light on the subject.
1:20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
The issues are serious. Paul has put his claims in writing; he has spelled it all out; and now he calls God for his witness. The gospel of grace is too important for any careless, and nonchalant presentation. Near misses are not enough. There is no way that Paul can say it any more forcefully. He has said what he needs to say, and now, very solemnly, he mounts the witness stand, and swears “before God” that what he has told them is true.
Rom. 9:1, “I say the truth in Christ, I LIE NOT, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost.”
1:21 Afterwards I came into the regions of SYRIA and CILICIA.
Tarsus was the chief city in CILICIA, and Antioch was the chief city in SYRIA. It was in this area that Paul labored during his earliest ministry. Tarsus was Paul’s boyhood home. He was brought up in Jerusalem, but he was born in Tarsus in CILICIA. Acts 22:3, “I am verily a man which am a Jew, BORN IN TARSUS, a city in CILICIA, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel.” During the fifteen days Paul was at Jerusalem he “disputed against the Grecians” (Acts 9:29); but they plotted to kill him, and when the brethren found it out “they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus: (vs 30). Paul was in danger of his life. Perhaps, he thought he would be safest in his boyhood home, where he probably still had relatives, who might protect him. Later Barnabas went to Tarsus, and found him, and brought him to Antioch in SYRIA.
Acts 11:25,26, “Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch.”
In Acts 13:1, we find Paul and Barnabas both at Antioch, and both having membership in the church there (they were “IN the church” at Antioch). Syria and Cilicia were neighboring regions, and were often referred to as a unit (which probably explains why Paul referred to “Syria and Cilicia,” when it is clear that he went to Cilicia first). After his various preaching trips Paul generally made his way back to Antioch in Syria.
1:22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ.
Paul is still laboring the same point with which he introduced the letter: he did not receive his calling to preach, nor his authority to preach, from any man. He has established that he did not receive his calling from any of the apostles. Now he is showing that he did not receive it from any of the FOLLOWERS of the other apostles. There were other churches in Judea besides the church at Jerusalem. Luke mentions the churches in the area.
Acts 9:31, “Then had the CHURCHES rest throughout all JUDEA and Galilee and Samaria.”
And Paul talked about those churches on another occasion.
I Thess. 2:14, “For ye, brethren, became followers of the CHURCHES of God which in JUDEA are in Christ Jesus.”
So there were other churches in the area; but Paul was not acquainted with them. After he had been preaching for three years, Paul did visit Peter at Jerusalem, and he did meet James at that time; but he only stayed fifteen days in the area, and he was still “unknown by face” to the various churches of that area. How could he have received his calling, and his doctrine, from them, if he was not even acquainted with them?
1:23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.
But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past Everything they knew about Paul was from hearsay. At the outset they had only heard of his persecution of the church, and because of what they had heard, “they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). It is easy to understand their uneasiness. Jerusalem was the chief city in Judea, and it was right there in Judea that Paul began his bitter campaign against the church. No doubt, many of them had heard about Paul (at that time, Saul) from relatives of theirs, who had themselves experienced Paul’s wrath. But many years have passed now, and they have heard other reports, reports of his preaching the gospel. But still it is all hearsay; they have never met him.
Now preacheth the FAITH which once he destroyed We must always be careful to “rightly divide” the word of truth. The word “faith” does not always mean the same thing. Sometimes it means that implanted faith, which is the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22), and is always found, to one degree or another, in the heart of a heaven born soul. Sometimes it indicates the ENTIRE BODY OF TRUTH, the entire message of the gospel.
Phil. 1:27, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ; that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one Spirit, with one mind striving together for the FAITH OF THE GOSPEL.”
Col. 1:23, “If ye continue in the FAITH grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the GOSPEL, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”
Paul could never destroy that faith which is the “fruit of the Spirit;” he could never remove that faith which God has implanted in the heart of his people. But it was his purpose to destroy that BODY OF DOCTRINE which the saints believed. He intended, if he could, to wipe the Christians off the face of the earth, and to wipe the name of Christ from the pages of history. He hoped that nobody should ever again hear those doctrines which the apostles preached. And now, having done all he could to destroy those doctrines, he was preaching the very same principles, which he had tried unsuccessfully to destroy.”
1:24 And they glorified God in me.
Notice that Paul did not say that these churches in Judea glorified him, but rather that they GLORIFIED GOD IN HIM. If ever there was a sinner saved, whose salvation glorified the grace of God, it was Paul. If ever there was anybody who did not deserve saving, it was Paul. He was the Lord’s most bitter enemy on earth. He was like a mad dog in his persecution of the church. He persecuted the church “beyond measure” (vs 13). There was no measuring his hatred and his opposition to the church, and to the name of Christ. And it was in the very midst of his most determined campaign against the church and the name of Christ, that God stopped him in his tracks, and saved him by his grace. There was no way that Paul could glory in himself, nor point out anything he had ever done to prompt God to save him. If God had not saved Paul by his sovereign, irresistible grace, he would never have been saved.
CHAPTER TWO
2:1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.
Then fourteen years after The Bible does not indicate whether this was fourteen years after Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road, or whether it was fourteen years after his last trip to Jerusalem (ch. 1:18-24), and since it does not tell us, it is obvious that we do not need to know. The point is that Paul had spent at least fourteen years (maybe seventeen years (ch 1:18) in preaching the gospel with almost no contact with the other apostles. He is still showing that he did not require authorization nor training from any of the other apostles.
I WENT UP again to Jerusalem To go from Antioch (where Paul and Barnabas were) to Jerusalem was to go from North to South. We usually think of going from North to South as going down; but going to Jerusalem was always referred to as going up, no matter what the direction. (Not only spiritually true, but topographically true— Lonnie Mozingo Jr) “A certain man WENT DOWN from Jerusalem to Jericho,” Luke 10:30. In Acts 15:1, there were “certain men which CAME DOWN from Judea (Jerusalem).” The brethren were appointed by the church to “GO UP to Jerusalem” (vs 2). And in Acts 21:4, Paul was cautioned “that he should not GO UP to Jerusalem.”
I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also The trip under consideration was obviously the trip mentioned in Acts chapter fifteen. Some of the Jewish Christians had great difficulty in giving up the ordinances of the Mosaic Law. There were “certain men” from Jerusalem who had visited the Church at Antioch, and taught that circumcision was a condition to being saved (vs 1). The church at Jerusalem had in its membership “Pharisees which believed,” who taught that it was not only necessary to circumcise them, but also to “command them to keep the law of Moses” (vs 5). Had circumcision been required of these believing Gentiles, there is no end to the burdens that would have been imposed on them. The controversy had caused “no small dissension” in the church (vs 2). “No small dissension” is an emphatic way of saying that it was a very great dissension. The church was very disturbed over the matter. “They determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles about this question” (vs 2). Luke does not mention that the church appointed Titus as one who was to go with Paul, but he was obviously one of the “certain other,” who were to go with him. Barnabas had been Paul’s constant companion for years. It was Barnabas who spoke up for Paul when the brethren at Jerusalem were afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple (Acts 9:27). It was Barnabas who went to Tarsus looking for Paul (Acts 11:25,26), when it seemed that everybody else had forgotten him. They were both members of the same church at Antioch (Acts 13:1). And until the second controversy in the church at Antioch (Gal. 2:11-21), Barnabas was probably closer to Paul than any other person. There were, no doubt, several reasons for sending these brethren with Paul. Barnabas was probably sent because he was personally acquainted with the brethren at Jerusalem, and Titus, being an uncircumcised Gentile, was, perhaps, sent as an example of the devotion that these “uncircumcised Gentiles” had for God and for his church. And, no doubt, they were sent along as witnesses. The very Law of Moses, about which they were contending, provided that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (II Cor. 13:1, Deut. 19:15). They went along as WITNESSES TO THE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM, “declaring the conversion of the Gentiles” (vs 3). And they went along as WITNESSES FROM THE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM,” bringing back the report of the discussions there.
2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
And I went up BY REVELATION Some folks think they see a contradiction here. Paul said that he “went up BY REVELATION;” but Luke says that the CHURCH determined that they should go (Acts 15:1-3). It is obvious that somebody in the church at Antioch was convinced that they should go to Jerusalem. Paul was probably that person. Paul was himself a member of the church at Antioch, and it is probable that the church made their decision, based on the REVELATION that God had made to PAUL, that the proper course was for these brethren to go to Jerusalem about the matter. Paul was accustomed to determining his movements based on God’s explicit and personal directions to him (Acts 16:9, 22:18, 23:11). But this was a church matter, and Paul needed to act under the direction and authority of the church. This was a very delicate time, and great care was needed both to establish the truth about this matter, and at the same time to preserve the tender feelings of those who were not so well informed as Paul was.
And communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles Paul did not have one doctrine for the Gentiles and another for the Jews. For at least fourteen years he had had very little contact with any of the other apostles, but after this long time, Paul went to Jerusalem, and preached exactly the same gospel— the same doctrines— that he had been preaching “among the Gentiles.” The fact that he could preach the same doctrine in the presence of the apostles that he did among the Gentiles was evidence enough that he had received his doctrine from the same source as they had.
But privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain No matter how sure we may be of ourselves, nor how convinced we may be of our position, there is still a courtesy that is due to our fellow laborers. Bear in mind that Paul had had very little contact even with those “which were of reputation” in Jerusalem— with “James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars” (vs 9). If there were questions they wanted to ask him, he wanted to answer them “privately,” lest somebody listening might get the wrong idea. Others who wanted to disturb the church might make it appear that a simple question was a challenge or a disagreement. If there was a difference in the expressions they used, he wanted to show that it was simply a difference in language, not a difference in substance. Their doctrine was the same. And above all, there were large numbers of believing Jews, who were still “zealous of the law” (Acts 21:20). Christ has fulfilled the Law of Moses, and set it aside; but Paul had no desire to wound the weak conscience of those who were not so well informed about that fact. And he did not want to give an opportunity, for those who opposed him, to use this freedom from the law as an issue to stir up people against him and his doctrine.
Lest by any means I should RUN or had RUN in vain Paul had no doubt that he was in the right; but he was fully aware that, if the meeting at Jerusalem was not properly handled— if there was a great dispute between Paul and the leaders at Jerusalem— his ministry could very well be severely hindered. Paul sometimes refers to his ministry as RUNNING A RACE.
I Cor. 9:26, “I therefore so RUN, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.”
His running would be very hampered if his enemies could make it appear that his doctrine was different from the doctrine of the other apostles. But Paul’s private meetings with James, Cephas (Peter), and John, were beneficial. They preached the same doctrine, and when the meeting concluded, that fact had been clearly established.
2:3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
Titus was a Greek, a Gentile. He was uncircumcised. He was with Paul at Jerusalem, at the very time of the debate over circumcision. If ever there was a time for a Gentile to be required to be circumcised, this was it. But it was not required. Perhaps this was the very reason that Paul took Titus with him to Jerusalem— as a test case— to show that the circumcision of Gentiles was not necessary— and that the other apostles would not require it.
2:4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.
And that because of FALSE BRETHREN The apostles had not insisted that Titus should be circumcised; but there were others, “false brethren,” who did. Paul calls them “false brethren,” because they were not what they claimed to be.
II Cor. 11:26, “In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among FALSE BRETHREN.”
Unawares brought in They had SNEAKED into the church, without being truly converted to the doctrine of the church, and without allowing the membership to know what their real motives were. They had professed to believe the gospel; but their greatest allegiance was still to the Law of Moses, or more properly, to “the Jews’ religion,” to JUDAISM.
Who came in privily TO SPY out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage Now Paul shows in what sense they were not what they claimed to be. They were not interested in gaining the liberty that was to be found in Christ; they were rather interested in taking away the liberty that others had found. Paul calls them SPIES. They were enemies to the church; but they could learn more about the church from the inside than they could from the outside. Their purpose in being in the church was not to worship God, nor to enjoy the benefits of the church. Paul says that their purpose was “TO SPY.” And secondly, he says that their motive was “that they might BRING US INTO BONDAGE.” They had NO GOOD MOTIVE AT ALL in being in the church. Their first motive was to SPY; their second motive was to bring into bondage—TO ENSLAVE. Had they succeeded in having Titus circumcised, they would have used that as a precedent to require circumcision of every Gentile convert, and they would have brought the entire church under bondage to their system of religion—-to JUDAISM. (“Who came in privily” refers to the meeting as well as the church”— Lonnie Mozingo Jr)
Our LIBERTY which we have IN CHRIST “In Christ,” or some equivalent of it, is a favorite expression with Paul; he delights in pointing out that everything we have is “in Christ.” The liberty we have found is in him. We are free, because he has made us free.
John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you FREE, ye shall be FREE INDEED.”
We are free from the law, and the demands of the law. On the behalf of his redeemed he has fulfilled the law, and satisfied its every demand. And because it can demand no more; we are forever free from the law, and from the demands and penalties of the law.
Gal. 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the LIBERTY wherewith Christ hath made us FREE, and be not entangled again with the yoke of BONDAGE.” (“The ‘liberty’ under consideration is the liberty of not having to be circumcised. [See Gal. 6:15]” Lonnie Mozingo Jr).
2:5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you.
This was a matter of principle, and Paul would not budge, “no, not for an hour.” Truth allows no room for compromise. If Paul allowed that circumcision, or any other requirement, was a condition for salvation, he would have denied everything he stood for. Either circumcision is necessary for salvation, or else it is not. Either salvation is by grace, or else it is by works. Either God saves his people without conditions on their part, or else he requires them to meet conditions. And if circumcision is a condition, how many other conditions might there be.
That the TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL might continue with you The “truth of the gospel,” the truth of salvation by grace, was at stake. These “false brethren ” had claimed, “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). They placed conditions on salvation. If Paul had surrendered on this point he would have surrendered it all. If he had agreed with these “false brethren” that God required conditions in order to salvation, he would have surrendered the solid ground of truth, and brought these Galatians under bondage. This Galatian error is still with us— in a dozen different versions— today. Many Calvinists hold that idea in a modified form. They deny that there are conditions that a person must meet in order be saved, but many of them insist that baptism took the place of circumcision. That is how they justify baptizing babies. And then they refer to baptism as one of the “means of grace,” one of the ways by which grace must reach the sinner. There is more than a trace of the Galatian error in that. Alexander Campbell’s followers do insist on believers baptism; but they make water baptism to be a condition to salvation— in exactly the same way these false teachers used circumcision. Arminians place belief and repentance in the place of circumcision, and insist that those are the conditions the sinner must meet. Catholics place church membership, and the “seven sacraments” in the place of circumcision. But Paul would not budge; he knew the flood of conditions that would be imposed if these teachers could convince people that circumcision was a condition to salvation.
To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour It is sometimes objected that Paul did compromise in the case of Timothy. Paul circumcised Timothy himself. But the cases are not the same. They only look alike. Timothy’s mother was a Jew; his father was a Greek. Circumcision was an ancient custom with the Jews, and, as a matter of national honor, it was offensive to the Jews for any Jew to remain uncircumcised. Perhaps Timothy’s Greek father had objected to his being circumcised. At any rate, he was still uncircumcised. And “because of the Jews which were in those quarters,” Paul circumcised Timothy— AS A MATTER OF SOCIAL CUSTOM. He did not circumcise him in order to gain him a home in heaven, and there is no indication that any of the “Jews which were in those quarters” believed that Paul was doing it for that purpose. Salvation was never under consideration. BUT SALVATION WAS EXACTLY THE ISSUE WITH THESE FALSE TEACHERS. They insisted that, “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, YE CANNOT BE SAVED” (Acts 15:1). Paul was not compromising any principle when he circumcised Timothy. He was simply complying with the prevailing custom of the people. It would have been a far different matter if he had consented with these false teachers that God placed conditions on salvation.
Acts 16:1-3, “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek: which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would PAUL have to go forth with him; and took and CIRCUMCISED HIM because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.”
“Paul did not believe circumcision in and of itself was sinful. I believe he circumcised Timothy to keep from offending the Jews, while yet maintaining that it made Timothy no better or worse. His view regarding eating certain meats was much the same, knowing that everything God has given is good, if used for the purpose for which it was given. ‘Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend,’ I Cor. 8:13. He knew that meat ‘commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse’ Verse 8. But he would not eat meat offered to idols, if in so doing it would defile the conscience of a man without that knowledge.” (Robert Webb)
“I think it is important to note that this compliance with social custom was probably to make Timothy more acceptable as an individual in order to open the door in presenting the gospel. Timothy knew that circumcision was not required for salvation; but he did feel that if circumcision (which was not needed) was the only thing keeping him from the opportunity to preach to the Jews, he was willing to do it. I believe that this was the attitude of Paul, when he said, ‘I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some,’ (I Cor. 9:22). The church today should carefully discern that the traditions that we so tenaciously hold to are scriptural, and be willing to use our lives in service to God. The key is discerning scriptural and non-scriptural, however.” (C. Dwayne Shafer)
2:6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me.
But of these WHO SEEMED TO BE SOMEWHAT He is talking about Peter, and James, and John. In verse two he refers to them as “them which were of reputation;” in verse nine he says that they “seemed to be pillars;” and here he says that they “seemed to be somewhat.” They were solid, dependable, respected leaders in the church at Jerusalem. Nobody doubted their credentials. But we have to be cautious in the way we handle this expression. He is using the language in this verse in a different manner than he uses it in verses two and nine. In those verses he refers to Peter, James, and John as what they clearly were: solid, reputable, pillars in the church at Jerusalem. In this verse he is making his argument in opposition to the claims of those false teachers, those Judaizers, who tried to promote the other apostles at the expense of Paul. The false teachers were enemies to Paul. They tried to discredit him in any way they could. And, no doubt, one way they had tried to discredit him was in comparing him with the other apostles. They walked with the Lord while he was here on earth; Paul did not. During his earlier years, while the other apostles were preaching the gospel, Paul was persecuting the Christians in every diabolical way he could. Because of his earlier conduct, and because he had not actually walked with the Lord during his earthly ministry, these false teachers denied that Paul was an apostle, or that he was equal to the other apostles. They built up the reputation of the others at the expense of Paul. We cannot say it too clearly: PAUL WAS NOT BEING DISRESPECTFUL OF THE OTHER APOSTLES. He is not detracting from the reputation of those good men; he is rather combatting the IMPROPER EXPLOITATION these false teachers have made of their reputation. He is showing that if the others SEEMED to be pillars, while HE DID NOT SEEM to be a pillar, it was only that. There ONLY SEEMED to be a difference. He was an apostle of the Lord, and a pillar in the church as surely as they were.
Whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person The false teachers would have folks to believe that Paul was a nobody; but Paul insists that God is not impressed with the person of any of us. God does not accept persons; he is not moved by who we are, nor by what we have done. He knows exactly what we are. We are all of us sinners— sinners saved by grace— but sinners after all. That applied to Paul, and to all the others. So Paul says that it does not make any difference to him what these folks may say about the other apostles; they were sinners saved by grace, just as he was. They were all what they were by the grace of God.
For they that seemed to be somewhat in conference ADDED NOTHING TO ME They were not Paul’s teachers. They were not able to teach him any doctrine that he did not already know. He was not one whit behind any of them.
II Cor. 11:5, “For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.” II Cor. 12:11, “For in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.”
2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter.
But CONTRARIWISE Rather than what the false teachers would have had them to believe, it was TO THE CONTRARY. The other apostles did not teach Paul, but rather they were convinced that he was, indeed, “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13), and that the revelation he had received was just as surely from God as theirs was. Rather than object to his ministry, they highly approved of it.
When they saw that the gospel of the UNCIRCUMCISION was committed unto me, as the gospel of the CIRCUMCISION was unto Peter By “the uncircumcision” and “the circumcision” he is simply referring to the Gentiles and the Jews. The entire wrangling has been over circumcision, and Paul deliberately uses these two terms to refer to God’s children, both among the Jews, and among the Gentiles, both among those who are circumcised, and those who are not circumcised— TO SHOW THAT CIRCUMCISION NO LONGER MADE ANY RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCE. The Jews still circumcised their male children, and the Gentiles did not— and it made no difference. They were all saved just alike. They were all saved by the grace of God— without any conditions on the part of the sinner.
The gospel of the uncircumcision….the gospel of the circumcision There is only one gospel. Paul did not have one gospel, and Peter another gospel— one gospel for the Jews and another gospel for the Gentiles. The distinction does not have to do with the subject of the gospel, but rather with the hearers of it. It was all one gospel, which Paul carried primarily to the Gentiles, and Peter carried primarily to the Jews.
The gospel of the uncircumcision was COMMITTED UNTO ME as the gospel of the circumcision was UNTO PETER Paul was especially the apostle to the Gentiles, as Peter was sent to the Jews. But this did not mean that Peter did not preach to the Gentiles, nor that Paul did not preach to the Jews. Peter did preach to the Gentiles; HE WAS ACTUALLY THE FIRST to preach to them in Acts chapter ten, when God showed him a vision, while he was at the house of Simon the tanner, and sent him to preach to Cornelius, the Roman centurion.
Acts 15:7, “And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the GENTILES BY MY MOUTH should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.”
Paul did preach to the Jews. Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.”
So Paul did preach to the Jews, when the occasion called for it; but his primary field of labor was among the Gentiles.
Acts 22:17,18,21, “And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me….And he said unto me, Depart: FOR I WILL SEND THEE FAR HENCE UNTO THE GENTILES.”
Acts 13:46, “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, LO, WE TURN TO THE GENTILES.”
Rom. 11:13, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I AM THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES, I magnify mine office.”
I Tim. 2:7, Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) A TEACHER OF THE GENTILES in faith and verity.”
II Tim. 1:11, “Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and A TEACHER OF THE GENTILES.”
As the gospel of the circumcision was UNTO PETER Paul does not single out Peter to show that the gospel was committed to him in any different way than it was to James and John, and the other apostles. He probably mentions Peter in this manner, because he is about to relate a confrontation he had with Peter at Antioch (vss 11-21).
2:8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:).
For HE that wrought effectually Paul is defending himself against the unjust charges that have been brought against him; but he does not fall into the trap of claiming too much for himself. He does not claim credit for his own work. He does not point to Peter, nor to himself. He rather points to God, who “wrought effectually” in both of them. Any credit must belong, not to the preacher, but to God, who works in the preacher, and enables him to do the work.
I Cor. 12:6, “And there are diversities of operations, but it is the SAME GOD WHICH WORKETH all in all.”
Phil. 2:13, “For it is GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU both to will and to do of his own good pleasure.”
For he which WROUGHT EFFECTUALLY IN PETER to the apostleship of the circumcision Paul acknowledges the mighty work that God had done in the ministry of Peter. He does not in the least take anything away from Peter (nor from any of the other apostles). It is not his purpose to lessen their reputation, but rather to show that his ministry was blessed in the same manner, and that his apostleship had been proven in the same way as theirs. God had done, and was doing a mighty work in Peter. His ministry had been fruitful; there never has been a greater response to any sermon than there was to Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand people were added to the church (Acts 2:41). His ministry had been accompanied with miracles. He healed the man who was lame from birth (Acts 3:1-11); he pronounced judgment on Ananias and Sapphira, and they died instantly (Acts 5:1-11); and he was delivered from prison in a miraculous way (Acts 12:1-17). God “wrought effectually in Peter,” and Paul had no desire to injure him in the least.
The same was MIGHTY IN ME toward the Gentiles God was doing a mighty work in Peter, but he was working just as mightily in Paul. His ministry was just as fruitful, and it was accompanied with just as many miracles. He healed the cripple at Lystra (Acts 14:8-11); he raised Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20;9,10); and when he reproved Elymas the sorcerer, he was struck blind (Acts 13:8-11).
Col. 1:29, “Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which WORKETH IN ME MIGHTILY.”
Gal. 3:5, “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and WORKETH MIRACLES among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”
I Cor. 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I LABORED MORE ABUNDANTLY THAN THEY ALL, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go to the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
And when James, Cephas, and John “These are the persons all along designed, though not till now named. James was the brother of our Lord, the son of Alpheus, who wrote the epistle that goes by his name, made that famous speech in the synod at Jerusalem, Acts 15:13; presided in that church, was a man of great holiness, and much esteemed of by the saints, and had a good report of them that were without. Cephas is Simon Peter. This name was given him by Christ, John 1:42; and in the Syriac language signifies a stone, as Peter does in the Greek, to which our Lord alludes, Matt. 16:8. John was the evangelist, and the same that wrote the epistles, was the loved disciple, and who outlived all the rest” (John Gill).
Note: Matthew refers to James as “the son of Alpheus” (Matt. 10:3). Alpheus was obviously another name for Joseph. Many of the characters of that day had more than one name. Peter was also called Simon; Thomas was called Didymus (John 11:16); Matthew was called Levi (Matt. 9:9, cf. Luke 5:27), etc.
And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be PILLARS The church is consistently referred to as a building, and the various members of the church are referred to as parts of that building.
Prov. 9:1, “Wisdom hath builded her HOUSE, she hath hewed out her SEVEN PILLARS.”
I Pet. 2:5, “Ye also, as LIVELY STONES, are built up a SPIRITUAL HOUSE, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
Rev. 3:12, “Him that overcometh will I make a PILLAR in the TEMPLE of my God, and he shall go no more out.”
It is significant that Solomon in the Old Testament, and Paul, and John in the New Testament all use the exact same word to express this thought. These men were apostles. They were stalwart members of the church. They were solid, and dependable supports of the building. Here they are referred to as “pillars;” on other occasions they are called the “foundation” of the building. Either way the thought is the same. They are supports of the building.
Eph. 2:20, “And are built upon the FOUNDATION of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.”
Rev. 21:14, “And the wall of the city had TWELVE FOUNDATIONS, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
The Bible often enough refers to the apostles as the foundation of the church; but they are NOT the foundation in the same sense that Christ is the foundation. It is Christ Jesus— and He alone— who SUPPORTS the church, and SUSTAINS it, BY HIS OWN POWER.
I Cor. 3:11, “FOR OTHER FOUNDATION CAN NO MAN LAY than that is laid, which is JESUS CHRIST.”
But the doctrine and practice of the apostles are the GUIDING RULE that governs the church. They give direction to the church; they strengthen the church, and keep it on its course. The doctrine and practice of the apostles provide such a solid foundation for the church as the ideas of men cannot. The flimsy ideas and notions of men just cannot support the weight of the house of God. There is also a sense in which ordinary members are PILLARS in the church. When John said, “Him that overcometh will I make a PILLAR in the TEMPLE of my God,” he seems to be talking about ordinary members. The members of the church are a STRENGTH and a SUPPORT to each other; they hold each other up. And the overcomers, the stronger members are especially a support to the weaker members.
Acts 20:35, “I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to SUPPORT THE WEAK.”
I Thess. 5:14, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, SUPPORT THE WEAK, be patient toward all men.
Perceived the GRACE THAT WAS GIVEN to me Paul is defending his reputation; but he will not take credit for himself. God worked in Paul in a mighty way; but it was still GOD WORKING. Paul has no ground for boasting, and he will not presume to do so. If ever there was a man who did not deserve the blessings of God, Paul was that man. The Lord did not have a more bitter enemy on earth than Saul of Tarsus was. He was determined to wipe the church off the face of the earth, and to wipe the name of Jesus Christ from the pages of history. But right in the midst of his mad rush to destroy the church, God reached down from heaven and saved him. He was not looking to be saved, and he did not deserve to be saved, but God saved him. His enemies scandalized him, and used his past conduct as a weapon against him; but Paul used it as a clear proof of the GRACE OF GOD.
I Cor. 15:9,10, “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But BY THE GRACE OF GOD I am what I am.”
Eph. 3:8, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this GRACE given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
Rom. 1:5, “By whom we have received GRACE and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name.”
They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of FELLOWSHIP James, Peter, and John SHOOK HANDS with Paul and Barnabas as a solemn token of the fact that they were brethren in Christ, and FELLOWLABORERS in the same work. They would not have fellowship with heretics and impostors— but they had FELLOWSHIP with Paul and Barnabas. Paul’s enemies would like to drive a wedge between Paul and the other apostles; but Paul shows that they were in FULL FELLOWSHIP with each other.
That we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision The apostles at Jerusalem gave “the right hands of fellowship” to Paul and Barnabas, recognizing that the only difference in their ministry was that GOD HAD SENT THEM IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. God had called them to preach the same message to different people.
2:10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
Only they would that we should remember the poor This was a specific request. Paul and Barnabas had not given such a poor account of themselves that these apostles believed they had to lecture them on simple charity. They were making request on behalf of their own members right there in Jerusalem. The saints in that area were in distress. Whether it was because of the dearth (famine) mentioned in Acts 11:28, or because of the persecution of the Jews, or more probably a combination of both, they were in great need. Far from censuring and correcting Paul, they asked for his help.
The same which I also was forward to do Paul was a Jew, and he had great affection for his own countrymen. It was a misguided devotion to his people, and to their religion, that made Paul such an enemy to the church, and, though ever so many things had changed in the life of Paul, his devotion to his own nation had not. He was glad to have the opportunity to do anything he could to help.
Acts 11:28-30, “And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to SEND RELIEF unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea: which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of BARNABAS and SAUL.”
Rom. 15:25-27, “But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.”
2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face After the Jerusalem meeting Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch (Acts 15:25,34,35). Later Peter came to Antioch, where Paul challenged him. This is, at least, Paul’s third meeting with Peter. Three years after his Damascus Road experience, he “went up to Jerusalem to see Peter” (ch. 1:18). Then there was the meeting at Jerusalem, and now this meeting. On both of the first two meetings Paul and Peter were perfectly in agreement. We hear of no problem between them at all. But on this occasion Paul feels compelled to differ very strongly with Peter. Far from being inferior to Peter, and the other apostles, as Paul’s enemies claimed, Paul challenges Peter— as an equal. This confrontation between Paul and Peter at Antioch did, at least, two things. It demonstrated that Paul was in no way inferior to Peter, and IT DISPROVED THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIMS REGARDING PETER. Catholic doctrine teaches the infallibility of the Pope, and it teaches that Peter was the first pope. Neither claim can be maintained in the light of what is recorded in these next eleven verses.
Because he was to be BLAMED That one expression is enough to forever silence Roman Catholic claims. Peter was not infallible. None of the apostles were. God so inspired them that they never made mistakes in those things they recorded in the scriptures; but in their own life and conduct, they were still fallible men. In order to avoid the problem, some Catholic theologians have claimed that this was not the same Peter. They claim that there was another Peter, who was one of the seventy, but not one of the twelve, and that it was with that other Peter that Paul disputed at Antioch. But that is such a weak effort to dodge the truth that it sounds more like some story concocted by children, than a serious explanation offered by grown men, who, somehow, expect that somebody will believe them.
2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
For before that certain came from James Peter had been at Antioch for some time when there were others who came from Jerusalem. Paul says that they “came from James.” Peter seems to have been very concerned with the opinions of James, and he was concerned as to what James’s reaction might be, when these from Jerusalem took their report back to him. He had been called in question once before for eating with Gentiles, when he had gone to Caesarea and preached to Cornelius.
Acts 11:2,3, “And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and DIDST EAT WITH THEM.”
For before that certain came from James, he did EAT WITH THE GENTILES Eating with the Gentiles had reference to socializing with the Gentiles to the extent of HAVING MEALS WITH THEM IN THEIR HOMES. It is not talking about taking the emblems of the Lord’s Supper. It is not likely that Peter would refuse to take communion, to partake of the bread and the wine, with them. That would have INSTANTLY SPLIT THE CHURCH. He would not do that. He did not deny that Gentiles had a right to belong to the church, and to enjoy the benefits of the church. After all, it was Peter who first preached to the Gentiles, when he went to Caesarea and preached to Cornelius. He, in effect, opened the door to the Gentiles when he “commanded them to be baptized” (Acts 10:48). HE COULD NOT VERY WELL REFUSE TO COMMUNE WITH THEM. And if there had been any doubt, that doubt was removed at the Jerusalem meeting. Here is what Peter said at that time.
Acts 15:7-9, “And when there had been much disputing, PETER rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles BY MY MOUTH should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and PUT NO DIFFERENCE between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”
He clearly recognized that believing Gentiles had a right to the church with all its benefits. The problem came, not nearly so much from what the Gentiles could do, as it did from the question of WHAT JEWS WERE ALLOWED TO DO. It was clear enough that believing Gentiles were not bound by the Law of Moses. At the Jerusalem meeting Peter went on to say, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” But even though they recognized that they were free from the law, THEY WERE STILL VERY SLOW TO GIVE IT UP.
Acts 21:20, “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; AND THEY ARE ALL ZEALOUS OF THE LAW.”
They had borne the yoke so long, they were not willing to part with it. And there is where the problem came. They would worship with the Gentiles, and take communion with them; but their Gentile brethren did not prepare their meals according to the kosher laws (the laws of the clean and the unclean) of the Law of Moses, and these believing Jews would not eat with them. That could not fail to work havoc in the church— to have members who would fraternize with each other at church, but who otherwise would have very little to do with each other.
But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself Before these members came from Jerusalem, Peter had eaten with the Gentiles. After all, he was a visitor; he had possibly even been staying in some of their homes. But when these people came from Jerusalem, everything changed— HE WOULD NO LONGER ACCEPT THEIR HOSPITALITY. Separate factions formed in the church, and Peter “withdrew and separated himself;” he aligned himself with those who would not socialize with the Gentiles.
FEARING THEM which were of the circumcision And he did it, not because he feared God and wanted to do what was right, but because he was AFRAID of those “which were of the circumcision.” He was afraid of men.
2:13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
And the other Jews DISSEMBLED likewise with him To dissemble means “to conceal, as one’s true feelings, under a false appearance, to feign ignorance, to behave hypocritically.” This was a serious charge Paul was making against Peter. He was accusing him of pretending what he did not believe. He was saying that Peter knew that there was nothing wrong with eating with these believing Gentiles; but out of fear of men, fear of these “certain which came from James,” he pretended to believe what he did not believe at all. And he goes on to say that “the other Jews dissembled likewise with him;” the other Jews likewise concealed their true convictions, and out of fear of men, they pretended what they did not really believe. Weakness in our leaders very often begets weakness in their followers.
Insomuch that Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation This is probably one of the saddest sentences Paul ever wrote. Paul had never had a better friend than Barnabas. It was Barnabas who spoke up for Paul and defended him at Jerusalem, when the disciples were afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple (Acts 9:26-28). It was Barnabas who came to Tarsus looking for Paul, and took him back to Antioch, when it seemed that everybody else had forgotten him (Acts 11:25, 26). Up until this time they were constant companions. Except for the very first mention (Acts 4:36) Barnabas is never mentioned, except, in some way, in connection with Paul. And now, even Barnabas is “carried away with their dissimulation,” carried away with their pretense. Even very good men can be swayed, when other good men pretend to believe what they do not really believe. There is no record that they ever again had that close personal relationship they enjoyed before this confrontation at Antioch. There can be little doubt that Paul did carry the day, and both Barnabas and Peter were convinced by his arguments. The error was corrected, and a great catastrophe was avoided in the church at Antioch. But Paul and Barnabas do not seem to have ever entirely recovered from the experience. They could continue to have fellowship in the church; but things would never again be entirely the same. Later Paul tried to heal the breach. He tried to get Barnabas to go with him on a trip and visit the places where they had previously traveled and preached. Perhaps, they could repeat some of those good meetings of the past, and restore the closeness they once enjoyed. But it did not work. They could not agree about whether to take John Mark with them, and “the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other” (Acts 15:39). The memory of the unpleasantness at Antioch was too fresh. John Mark was a nephew to Barnabas, and besides Barnabas wanted to go to Cyprus. You may recall that he was from Cyprus (Acts 4:36). Perhaps he was a little home sick. It appears that he may have wanted to go to see some his old friends and relatives, and to take his nephew with him. And Paul wanted to visit his own area of Cilicia. He was from Tarsus in Cilicia. They both seemed to be a little home sick, about this time. At any rate, they allowed other considerations to get in the way of their taking the trip together. How very careful we should be in our dealings in the church. Even though we may manage to stay together as a church, sometimes we can never entirely recover from the hurtful things that are said and done.
2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest the Gentiles to live as do the Jews.
But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel “The truth of the gospel” taught that the Law of Moses was fulfilled (Rom. 7:4); its ordinances were no longer necessary (Col. 2:14); the distinction between Jew and Gentile was no longer valid (Gal. 3:28); they were no longer under the same strict requirements as to what they could and could not eat (Col. 2:16). But there were large numbers of believing Jews, who were still “zealous of the law” (Acts 21:20), and it was very hard for them to give up their old bondage. There were many who were not walking according to the liberty that is in the gospel, but rather, according to the old bondage of the Law Service. They had brought these notions to Antioch, and now many of the Antioch members were ensnared.
I said unto Peter before them all The instructions of the Lord in Matthew chapter eighteen do not apply here. In Matthew chapter eighteen the Lord was talking about private offenses; this was a public offense, and it had to be dealt with publicly. Paul told Timothy, “Them that sin REBUKE BEFORE ALL, that others also may fear” (I Tim. 5:20). That is the rule for public offenses. The conduct of Peter in this matter was public. The entire church was aware of his conduct toward the Gentile members of their church, and he must be confronted publicly, if the other members are to learn what they need to know.
If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews Until these people came to Antioch from Jerusalem Peter had behaved himself according to the liberty which he enjoyed in the gospel. He was free from the bondage and the ordinances of the law, and he acted accordingly. He freely associated with the Gentile members of that church, and ate with them. He did not quibble with them over whether their food complied with Jewish dietary laws.
Why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews Now these visitors had come from Jerusalem, and Peter was afraid. He had been called in question once before for associating with Gentiles, when he went to Caesarea to preach to Cornelius, and he did not want to go through that again. He was fully aware that there was nothing wrong with his associating with these believing Gentiles, and eating with them. After all, it was Peter who had first preached to the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius. God had shown him a vision that “what God hath cleansed” he should not call common (Acts 10:15). God showed him that vision three times, and then he sent him to preach to Cornelius. Paul charged them all with dissembling— with pretending to believe what they did not believe at all. Peter knew better, but he was afraid. And now— by his example— he was compelling the Gentile members of the church “to live as do the Jews.” He was showing that they needed to observe the same dietary laws as the Jews. The Gentiles had never been under those laws to start with. The Law of Moses was never given to Gentiles, and they had never been bound by its ordinances, but by his example, Peter would now bring them under its bondage. Christ had said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32), but this kind of conduct would introduce these believing Gentiles to a kind of bondage they had never known in the first place.
2:15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles.
Paul is not denying that the Jews were sinners, just as surely as the Gentiles were. Rather he is pointing out that they were natural born Jews, “Jews by nature,” who had the advantages of the Law of Moses, and the restrictions that it placed on their lives and conduct. The law was never sufficient to justify anybody before God. It was never intended for that purpose; but it did place restraints on their conduct, which, in some measure, made their behavior less wicked than that of the Gentiles.
2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Knowing that a man is not JUSTIFIED by the works of the law To justify means “to show to be just, right, or reasonable.” JUSTIFICATION IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF CONDEMNATION. It does not mean to cause to be just, any more than condemnation means to cause to be guilty; it means “to show to be just.” The saints are justified— shown to be just— from three separate, and distinct points of view. We are justified in the sight of God, and in the realm of our own conscience, and in the sight of our fellow man. We are justified— shown to be just— IN THE SIGHT OF GOD by the shed blood, and imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing less than the imputed righteousness of a sinless Savior could enable us to stand JUSTIFIED BEFORE GOD. By his suffering and death the Lord put our sins away, and now that shed blood stands as our justification— OUR WITNESS BEFORE GOD THAT OUR SINS HAVE BEEN PUT AWAY.
Job 16:19, “Also now, behold, MY WITNESS is in heaven, and my record is on high.”
Rom. 5:9, “Much more then, being now JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
We are justified IN OUR OWN HEART AND MIND by faith in his shed blood and imputed righteousness. A person may be chosen and redeemed; but until he sees the Lord as his one and only Saviour, as his only hope of eternal heaven, he can never be justified in the realm of HIS OWN CONSCIENCE. Until he sees that his sins are atoned for by the blood of Christ, he can never see himself except as a vile, hell-deserving sinner.
Rom. 5:1, “Therefore BEING JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And we are justified IN THE SIGHT OF OUR FELLOW MAN by works. Our neighbors can never see what is in our heart, and they certainly cannot see what God has done for us. The only thing they can see is how we behave ourselves, how we treat others around us. It is by our godly walk that we are justified— shown to be just— in their view.
James 2:24, “Ye see then how that BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED and not by faith only.”
Paul has been dealing with the BONDAGE OF THE LAW that these false teachers would impose on these Gentiles. He has been showing that if they must be subject to the restrictions of the law (in this particular case, dietary laws) they could never be truly free; they could never be JUSTIFIED IN THEIR OWN MIND AND CONSCIENCE. They would never be able to know if they were sufficiently in compliance. That is the framework in which we have to view this verse. The law could not justify; it was never intended as an instrument of justification. IT COULD CONDEMN, BUT IT COULD NEVER JUSTIFY. Condemnation is the opposite of justification. It could demand obedience; but it could never remove guilt. It could identify sin; but it could never provide righteousness.
II Cor. 3:9, “For if the ministration of CONDEMNATION be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.”
Acts 13:39, “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which THEY COULD NOT BE JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW OF MOSES.”
Rom. 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the KNOWLEDGE OF SIN.”
But by the faith of Jesus Christ It is “by the faith of Jesus Christ,” by that faith that comes from him, and which only he can give, that we are justified. It is by faith in his shed blood, faith in his finished work, that we are ABLE TO SEE OURSELVES as subjects of his grace. It is by knowing that his righteousness has, by grace, become our righteousness that we are able to SEE OURSELVES AS STANDING JUSTIFIED BEFORE GOD.
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, THAT WE MIGHT BE JUSTIFIED by the faith of Christ The justification in this verse has to do with being justified IN OUR OWN MINDS by faith in Christ. Notice that in the sense of this text we believe IN ORDER TO BE JUSTIFIED. It is only those who believe in Jesus Christ— those who trust in his finished work and imputed righteousness— who are (in their own mind and conscience) “justified by the faith of Christ.” It is only they who can truly see themselves as justified in God’s sight. Those who look to their own works can never really experience that justification which only “the faith of Christ” can give. No matter how much they may protest to the contrary, those who look to their own works for salvation must spend their lives, CONDEMNED in their own conscience, and TERRIFIED by the thunderings of Mount Sinai.
And not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified He repeats the same thought he has just stated. Very often God repeats himself for emphasis. If God repeats himself, it behooves us to pay special attention. No person was ever truly justified by the law— neither in the sight of God, nor in his own conscience. That person who thinks he can be justified by the law has never seen himself for what he is, nor the righteous demands of the law of God for what they demand.
2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
But if, while we SEEK TO BE JUSTIFIED by Christ Paul is still dealing with the matter of justification EXPERIENTIALLY. Notice that he is talking about a justification that we pursue. He is talking about one who SEEKS TO EXPERIENCE in his own heart and conscience that justification which can only come from seeing the Lord as his only hope of heaven— in seeing that Christ’s imputed righteousness is indeed HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
We ourselves are FOUND SINNERS Sometimes the saints fall into sin. But if we do, we do not have any ground for laying the blame at the feet of our Saviour. He warns us against every kind of sin; and he provides us with the most effective motive to service.
Is therefore Christ the minister of sin? Those who would ridicule the doctrine of salvation by grace, and grace alone, insist that, if that doctrine is right, that “Christ is the minister of sin,” that Christ teaches his followers that it is all right to sin. They believe that if works will not merit salvation, then we will have no incentive to work, nor to avoid sin. That notion is not true. It is not true that the doctrine of grace moves people to sin, and it is certainly not true that Christ teaches his followers that it is all right to sin. Rather the doctrine of grace is the GREATEST MOTIVE TO SERVICE. Those who will not serve the Lord out of a sense of gratitude for what he has done for them will not serve him properly from any other motive.
I John 4:19, “We love him because he first loved us.”
God forbid Paul summons the strongest expression the language can afford to show his utter disgust at the very idea that anybody would even think such a thing. He uses the same strong language in dealing with the same slanderous charge in Romans chapter six.
Rom. 6:1,2,15, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? GOD FORBID. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?……What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? GOD FORBID.”
2:18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
Paul had demonstrated very clearly that the Law of Moses had been fulfilled and set aside; its requirements and restrictions were no longer valid. It was in that sense that Paul had “destroyed” it. He had destroyed the TYRANNY, the BONDAGE, they had experienced under the law. Now he says that if he should “build again” those very things he had destroyed he would be a transgressor. No matter which way you look at it, he would be a transgressor. If he was right in destroying it in the first place, he would be a transgressor in building it again. On the other hand, if he was wrong in destroying it, he was a transgressor from the very outset. Now bear in mind that Paul is being as polite as the seriousness of the hour will allow him to be. When he says, “For if I build again the things which I destroyed,” he is not actually referring to himself. It was Peter whom he was charging with building those things again, and bringing Gentile believers under bondage to the law. Previously, Peter had demonstrated his freedom from the law as clearly as Paul had.
2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
For I through the law am DEAD TO THE LAW Paul is still dealing with the slanderous charge that freedom from the law is a ground and motive for lawlessness. He now shows that it is actually “through the law” that we are now “dead to the law.” This freedom from the law is not in opposition to any precept of the law, but is rather in perfect agreement with it. Observe: Christ has fulfilled the law and set it aside BY PROVIDING EVERYTHING THE LAW REQUIRED. The Law has been abolished, because there is nothing more it can demand. ALL ITS REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN FULLY MET. The law demanded a perfect righteousness— and Christ has provided that perfect righteousness on behalf of his people. The law demanded the death of the transgressor, and Christ took the place of transgressors, and died in our place. EVERYTHING THE LAW REQUIRED OF US, CHRIST PROVIDED FOR US.
Rom. 7:4, Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become DEAD TO THE LAW by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”
When Christ gave his body, his life, as an offering for sin, he did it on our behalf. The death of the transgressor was all the law could require, and since Christ died in our room and stead, we are now free from that sentence of death.
That I might LIVE UNTO GOD Those who insist that the gospel of grace encourages people to live sinful lives are wrong. We are not delivered from the law that we might ignore its moral precepts, and live wicked lives. We are rather delivered from the curse and penalty of the law, from the tyranny of the law, that we might LIVE UNTO GOD. It is “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” that has made us “free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). The moral precepts of the law continue as they always have. It is still wrong to lie, and kill, and steal. But it is no longer “the law of sin and death” in the hand of Moses; it is now “the law of the Spirit of life” in the hand of Christ Jesus. Those precepts do not continue as a COVENANT OF WORKS, thundering from Mount Sinai; but they are still our RULE OF ACTION in the hand of a gentle savior. What the Law service demanded under the threat of death, the New Testament saint finds in a simple walk of faith. And those who hang onto the trappings of the old Law Service (as these Judaizing Christians did), when they might enjoy the freedom of the gospel, show an unjustified disregard for the finished work of the saviour, who has saved us, and delivered us from the tyranny of the law.
Rom. 7:6, “But now are we delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should SERVE IN NEWNESS OF SPIRIT, and not in the oldness of the letter.”
I Pet. 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, SHOULD LIVE UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS, by whose stripes ye are healed.”
2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I am crucified with Christ Those things which Christ did on our behalf were all the same as if we had done it. Symbolically and representatively, we did it with him. We were crucified with him (Rom. 6:6), buried with him (Rom. 6:4), quickened with him (Col. 2:13), risen with him (Col. 3:1), and now seated in heavenly places with him (Eph. 2:6).
Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me The spiritual life of the child of God is a paradox which the carnal mind will never be able to fathom. He is crucified; yet he lives. The “old man is crucified with him” (Rom. 6:6), with Christ, and yet he lives. Paul goes on to say, “Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” He is by grace “a new creature” (II Cor. 5:17), a new creation. He has a new nature, which is as truly himself, as the old nature, the “old man,” was truly himself, and yet it is a brand new creature, a brand new creation, “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph. 2:10). He says that it is “yet not I;” it is not the “old man,” but an entirely new man, an entirely new nature, which is the result of the personal indwelling of the Lord himself. In regeneration Christ dwells in the hearts of his people, and his personal indwelling in our hearts enables his people to walk in a manner more pleasing to their Lord than all the thunderings and threatenings of the law could do.
Rom. 8:10,11, “And IF CHRIST BE IN YOU, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the SPIRIT of him that raised up Jesus from the dead DWELL IN YOU, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by HIS SPIRIT THAT DWELLETH IN YOU.”
And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God To “live in the flesh” is not the same as to “walk after the flesh” or to “war after the flesh.”
Rom. 8:4, “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, but after the Spirit.”
II Cor. 10:3, “For though we walk in the flesh, WE DO NOT WAR AFTER THE FLESH.”
Everyone lives in the flesh as long as he lives, that is, he lives in a flesh and blood body, and he is beset with the weakness and frailties that beset us in this mortal frame. But Paul says that though he does “live in the flesh,” he lives “by the faith of the Son of God.” His life is motivated, not by the low and base instincts of the carnal nature, but rather by that faith, which is “of the Son of God,” that faith which comes from the Son of God. If we have faith, it is “the faith of the Son of God;” he is the only source of faith.
Who loved me and gave himself for me Paul talks almost as if he was the only one that Christ loved and gave himself for. Christ loves all of his chosen and redeemed family; but that fact becomes the most precious to us when we see ourselves as the special and personal objects of his love. It is when he is My Lord, My Savior, My redeemer, that he is the most precious to my soul.
2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
I do not frustrate the grace of God Not in reality, but, IN THEIR OWN MINDS those who look to the law for their righteousness, “frustrate the grace of God.” They argue against it, and deny its value. They see the grace of God as insufficient in itself to provide all the sinner needs to prepare him to stand justified before God.
For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain The law could condemn, but it could never justify; it could demand righteousness, but it could never put our sins away. Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ could do that. But if the law could have put our sins away, if it could have provided the righteousness it demanded, there would have been no need for Christ to have died; the law could have provided everything we needed. If we could have been saved by the law, the death of Christ was unnecessary.
CHAPTER THREE
3:1 O Foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
O Foolish Galatians Christ clearly warns us against calling anybody a fool (Matt.5:22); but, on the other hand, David tells us that it is the fool who claims that there is no God (Psa. 14:1), and Christ said “O fools, and slow of heart to believe.” It is dangerous to use the word inadvisedly; but it is apparent that there are some fools in the world, and this text teaches that those who look to the law for their righteousness are, indeed, fools. It is folly to forsake Christ for Moses, to forsake the gospel for the law.
(Lonnie Mozingo: “I take this to mean he was saying they were acting foolishly, and not literally calling them fools.”)
WHO hath bewitched you Paul rebukes the Galatians very sharply for their falling away from the truth; but he does not place all the blame on them. He recognizes that there are others who have “bewitched” them, others who have led them astray. There is an abundance of confusion in the religious world; but much of that confusion comes from the fact that there are ever so many people helping others to misunderstand.
Who hath BEWITCHED you The word translated “bewitched” is “baskaino.” It signifies to bewitch or to fascinate. There has always been something fascinating to the carnal mind in the thought that one may justify himself in the sight of God by his own activities. Man is fascinated, enchanted, by the idea; and those who pander to the natural, and carnal, notion that a man can fully prepare himself to stand justified before God will always be able to bewitch a large portion of their hearers. Loving that notion as he does, when one is under the influence of that idea, he is very much like someone under a spell.
I Sam. 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of WITCHCRAFT, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
That ye should not obey the truth To “obey the truth” is to trust the Lord, and look to him for our righteousness, while we do our very best to live lives pleasing to him— out of a sense of gratitude. Those who look to their own works, and their keeping of the law, to bring righteousness have forsaken this most fundamental principle of truth— and it always leads to bondage. They bring themselves into bondage to those very burdens which they expected would bring them salvation.
Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you It was by the preaching of the gospel that Christ was crucified among the Galatians. He was not literally crucified in Galatia; he was crucified just outside Jerusalem, over six hundred miles away. But his crucifixion had been so clearly preached among them, and they had been so well taught, that they were as surely witnesses to his crucifixion as if they had been there. For that matter, those who were literally present at the crucifixion were in the dark for three full hours, so that, in some sense, they had no real advantage over these Galatians, who had been witnesses of the crucifixion through the clear preaching of the gospel, preaching that explained some things which even those literally present did not see.
3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith
This only would I learn of you Paul limits his reasoning here to just one question. This is a good lesson for us. Sometimes in trying to prove too much, we do not prove anything. We overload our hearers. They cannot absorb it all, and they wind up not absorbing anything. It is often better to prove the one point that is critical to the issue. Then, if that point is clearly proven, the other points may very well follow as a logical consequence.
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith There is a question as to whether Paul was talking about their receiving the Spirit in the work of regeneration, or was he talking about their receiving the Spirit in their conversion to the truth of the gospel, and the witnessing, or sealing, work of the Spirit that comes with that conversion. It is a fact that in regeneration God sends his Spirit to the individual entirely apart and distinct from any observance of the ordinances of the law. It is also true that in the convicting and convincing work of the Spirit in connection with the gospel the Spirit works entirely apart from any observance of the law, and that is probably what is under consideration in this text. I have previously thought this text was talking about regeneration, but correspondence from some of our ablest ministers has convinced me that I was probably in error on that point. It was not necessary that they observe the minute requirements of the Law Service in order to be converted to the truth of the gospel; a simple “hearing of faith” as sufficient.
(Steve Wilkinson: “It could be that the Spirit received is the seal of the Holy Spirit of Promise when we believe (Eph. 1:13). The reason this is possible is seen in verse 1, “that you should obey the truth.” He is dealing with the problem of leaving the truth of the gospel of grace and going back under the law, thus no longer under the seal of the Spirit. I believe that when we believe the truth, we are blessed with the ABIDING presence of the Spirit, and thus it is our beginning in the gospel, not our beginning in eternal life, for this is a free gift bestowed upon us sovereignly by God. To me Paul is reminding them of their beginning in the gospel with the seal of the Holy Spirit of Promise. Notice also that in Acts 19:1-6 the bestowing of this abiding presence of the Spirit to the Ephesians. Just to confirm, I believe as you do that the doctrine of gospel regeneration is heresy, and has no scriptural foundation. God does not use feeble man to accomplish this important work.”)
3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh.
Are ye SO foolish Paul does not waste words; he goes from strong language to even stronger language. In verse one, he calls them “foolish Galatians.” Now he asks if they are “SO foolish.” They are following a very unwise course.
Having begun in the Spirit If the receiving of the Spirit mentioned in verse two is talking about the life giving work of the Spirit in regeneration, then this expression must refer to the same thing. It is also true that the Spirit of God is the active force in our coming to see, and understand, and believe the gospel, and that is probably what is under consideration in this text. Even after one is born of the Spirit, he needs the direct operation of the Spirit of God to open his heart to the gospel, and to teach his mind to understand the things of God. Being born again, he has divine life, and he has the ability to see and understand spiritual things, but he also has a carnal nature, which still confuses him, and blinds him to better things. If he is going to enjoy the benefits of the gospel, the preacher must have the assistance of the Spirit to preach, and the hearer must have the assistance of the Spirit to hear. Both in regeneration and in hearing and embracing the gospel, these Galatians had “begun in the Spirit.”
Are ye now MADE PERFECT by the flesh Those who had led the Galatians astray did not flatly deny the work of Christ on behalf of his people; they just insisted that the works of the law were also necessary if they were going to be saved.
Acts 15:1,5, “And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved…..And there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
GALATIANISM teaches that the work of Christ on the cross was NOT SUFFICIENT ALL BY ITSELF TO SAVE SINNERS— there was something else the sinner needed to do in order to make the work complete— in order that they might be “made perfect.” In its earliest form, Galatianism taught that circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses were the things necessary to be done. But Paul’s letter to the Galatians is so clear that Galatianism in its original form has virtually disappeared. There are a few groups, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, and Herbert W. Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God, who still teach Galatianism in very nearly the same form that it was taught in Galatia in Paul’s day; but for the most part, Galatianism has had to change in order to survive. But even though Galatianism has changed its face, it has not disappeared. The followers of Alexander Campbell have managed to preserve a form of Galatianism by placing water baptism in the place of circumcision and law worship. Roman Catholics have taken church membership and the “sacraments” of the church to be the necessary to salvation. Arminians have claimed the sinner’s response to the gospel as their rallying call. And with their insistence that infant baptism has taken the place of circumcision, many Calvinists flirt with the Galatian idea. But Galatianism is wrong, no matter how much it may be reworked and disguised. The salvation of his people is God’s work, and the works of men have nothing to do with it.
3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
These Galatians had, no doubt, suffered at the hands of the Jews in much the same way that other Christians had. Now Paul wants to know why was it necessary for them to suffer so. If they were going to worship in a manner so nearly like Judaism, there was very little difference between them and Judaism. If they were now going to submit to the requirements of the Law of Moses, they might have done that to start with and avoided most, if not all, of the suffering.
3:5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith.
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit It is not within the capacity of mortal men to direct the Spirit, and to apply it at their discretion. The Spirit is like the wind; it “bloweth where it listeth” (John 3:8). It is GOD HIMSELF who directs, and applies, and ministers the Spirit. But there is some sense in which the gospel minister does minister the Spirit.
II Cor. 3:6, “Who also hath made us able MINISTERS of the New Testament; not of the letter, but OF THE SPIRIT: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.”
The minister cannot direct and apply the Spirit at his will; but the Spirit is the force behind the minister. It is the Spirit that accompanies and assists him, and gives force to his words, and if the Spirit does not bear witness in the heart of his hearers, all of his best efforts will fall on deaf ears. The man who is dead in trespasses and sins does not have faith in God, He cannot produce faith, and he does not have the ability to believe the gospel and rejoice in it. And even with the person who has been born again, no amount of persuasion of men, can teach him to know and understand the gospel message until God by his Spirit opens his heart to the gospel.
Acts 16:14, “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us: WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”
Notice that she was already a worshiper of God, a child of God, but it was after God opened her heart to the gospel that she was able to hear and enjoy what Paul had to say.
And worketh miracles among you In the performing of miracles God worked through men, but the apostles had no more natural ability to work miracles than any other man. It was God who raised the dead, and healed the sick, and gave sight to the blind. Acts 4:10, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even BY HIM doth this man stand here before you whole.”
Doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith The apostles went out preaching salvation by grace and grace alone. They preached that Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior. They preached that salvation is “not of works” (Eph. 2:9), “not by works” (Tit. 3:5), and “not according to our works” (II Tim. 1:9), and God witnessed to the truth of their message in miraculous ways.
Heb. 2:5, “GOD ALSO BEARING THEM WITNESS, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”
Notice that Paul traces these miracles, not to the preachers, but to God, who bore witness to the preachers’ message by performing miracles at their hand. Now these Judaizing preachers have come along advocating that they must also be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. And Paul challenges these Galatians to tell him whether these miracles accompanied “the works of the law,” or “the hearing of faith.” Did they accompany the message of the apostles, or the message of these Judaizing preachers? “By” is defined (among other ways) as “through the means, work, or operations of: as, made BY human labor.” Paul is challenging them to tell him whether these miracles came BY KEEPING THE ORDINANCES of the Law of Moses, or did they come BY HEARING THE MIRACLE WORKING VOICE OF GOD— that same voice that brought them spiritual life in the first place, and which continues to work in miraculous ways among his people.
3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Note: I have eliminated my own comments in favor of those below by Brother Mike Ivey. Brother Ivey has convinced me that my original comments were in error, and since his comments are sufficiently clear, I have replaced my own comments with his. I have retained his paragraph separations for ease of reading. (hlh)
“In reviewing your work I found one area which you may wish to take another look at before finalizing your manuscript. It is Galatians 3:6, ‘Even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.’
“Before offering my own interpretation of this scripture allow me to say that I agree with your inference, that it does not teach belief to be the cause of righteousness, or the means whereby righteousness is received. However, your interpretation has a problem with language and sentence structure.
“The verse begins with the phrase ‘even as.’ This phrase indicates that Paul is using the logic which follows to prove a previous point. The point he is supporting is presented in the form of a question in verse 2, ‘This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?’ Paul then uses the process of elimination to logically conclude that the Spirit is received by the hearing of faith. Verse 6 presents the main thesis of Paul’s argument, since Abraham preceded the law, and was found to be righteous.
“Since Paul is revealing a contrast between the ‘works of the law’ and the ‘hearing of faith,’ subsequent interpretations should remain true to Paul’s context. Thus, any interpretation should explain the logic of application of the subsequent points Paul made in the context of the contrast he established in verse 2.
“Your explanation of ‘the hearing of faith,’ in verse 2, is excellent. However, when Paul uses ‘belief’ as an example of the hearing of faith, it appears that in an effort to refute Arminian theology, you move somewhat away from his original context. In doing so, you weaken your arguments relative to ‘the hearing of faith.’ This is unfortunate, since Paul is using verse 6 as the principle point in his own argument. Thus in moving away from Paul’s original context, namely a contrast between the ‘works of the law’ and the ‘hearing of faith’ your interpretation seems to weaken Paul’s argument.
“In diagramming the sentence it becomes evident that the ‘it’ which was accounted for righteousness, is Abraham’s belief. I realize that this makes it much more difficult to prove your very correct point, which is: Jesus Christ alone, without the efforts of any man, the only source of righteousness.
“The point can be made by examining both context and language. The context of the use of Abraham’s belief being counted as righteousness in Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6, and James 2:23, is the same. In all three cases the apostles are combatting a false gospel which the Jews had spread within the church. The Jews were requiring strict obedience to the ordinances of the Mosaic Law, both among the Jewish membership, and even to the Gentiles.
“Until the Saviour came, God had provided the most detailed manifestation of his righteous will in the letter of the Mosaic Law. Because of the utility of the law, and the long tradition it held among the Jews, they were reluctant to give up strict adherence to its dictates. Thus, creeping legalism was a constant problem in the ancient church.
“The use of Abraham as one possessing righteousness without the law was truly inspired. It was in Abraham that the Jews claimed their identity as the people of God. Indeed, the Jews identified themselves as a nation from the very loins of Abraham. At the time of Paul’s writing of the Galatian letter, every Jew could specifically trace his natural lineage directly to Abraham. By using Abraham as an example of one possessing righteousness without the law, Paul presented an argument which could not be refuted by any national Jew.
“The pitfall which we often fall into when trying to understand this text, is that we try to interpret it in the context of a defense against Arminianism. While there are many similarities between the legalism of Judaism and Arminianism, they are not strict parallels.
“The idea of belief being associated with righteousness was lost upon the Jews, except in the context of obedience to Mosaic Law. Belief in God, without the law, held no particular significance to the Jews. Unless an infidel agreed to circumcision, and then strictly followed the law, belief in God was considered to be of little consequence. To the Jew, obedience to Mosaic Law was belief in God. Hence, the difficulty faced by Paul and James was to separate belief from the law, and thereby provide a true identity as to the source of righteousness, which is Jesus Christ.
“Arminianism has not abandoned legalism, though they have abandoned strict adherence to Mosaic Law. Just as the Jews perverted the original intent of Mosaic Law, which was to reveal sin (Romans 7), modern Arminians have perverted the significance of belief and created a new legal system which has belief as the cornerstone of salvation.
“Galatians 3 can be used to combat Arminian theology, but it should be done with an understanding of the original context intact. The most effective means of using Galatians 3 to combat Arminianism is to carefully examine the language. This method will prove that belief is an effect of righteousness, and not its cause.
“The key to understanding the relationship between belief and righteousness in Galatians 3:6 is found in the definition of the word ‘accounted.’ Arminian theology ignores original language and depends upon a latter day definition of the word. Among Arminians, ‘counted’ is defined as: to rely, or depend on something. Thus, they conclude that Abraham’s righteousness was dependent upon his belief.
“However, original language does great harm to Arminian theology. Strong’s defines ‘accounted’ as: Logizomai (gr.); to take an inventory, i.e. estimate (literally or figuratively) -conclude, (ac-) count (of). The correct definition indicates accounted to mean an inventory or estimate. Using these words the text says; belief was inventoried or estimated for righteousness. Thus, Abraham’s belief manifested an inventory of righteousness. An accounting or inventorying does not create inventory; rather, it provides qualitative information (what is present) and quantitative information (how much is present) about the inventory. Abraham’s belief was a revelation of righteousness which was already inventory in his person.
“In writing Galatians 3:6, Paul was quoting Genesis 15:6. Here, the word is ‘counted.’ It is translated from the Hebrew word, ‘chasab,’ which is a primitive root. Properly it means, ‘to plait,’ which is to fold or blend as in a pleat. Literally it means to weave. Strong’s also defines the word as ‘interpenetrate.’
“Again, using original language the text reads: Abraham believed God, and it was accounted (woven or interpenetrated) to him for righteousness. Hence, Abraham was not somehow awarded righteousness because he believed. Rather, his belief was evidence of righteousness, because it was woven or interpenetrated with righteousness. Abraham did not get righteousness from belief, but rather manifested through belief, righteousness, which was already present.
“Galatians 3:6 is yet another text which confirms the unassisted effectual work of the Holy Ghost in regeneration. Abraham believed God because his intellectual acceptance of the promises of God was interpenetrated with righteousness, which was received when he was born again. Righteousness is the necessary ingredient which distinguishes the true believer from one with head knowledge only (a historical perspective of God) or those who believe in God, but hate him (James 2:19)” (Mike Ivey)
(Lonnie Mozingo Jr: “I have always thought it was Abraham’s faith that was accounted to him, but that that faith was ‘the gift of God,’ as Hassell says, ‘It was Abraham’s faith, not his work, that was imputed…..and yet that faith would not have proved its reality and vitality unless it had worked in loving obedience to God.'”)
3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
The Judaizing preachers were proud of their connection with Abraham. They were Abraham’s seed, and proud of it. But Paul shows that is not necessarily so. They might be the NATURAL DESCENDANTS of Abraham; but the TRUE CHILDREN of Abraham are those who believe God. The Lord had the same conversation with the Pharisees.
John 8:39,40, “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God; this did not Abraham.”
Rom. 2:28, 29, “For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the SPIRIT, and not in the LETTER, whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Rom. 4:16, “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; WHO IS THE FATHER OF US ALL.”
3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed
And THE SCRIPTURE FORESEEING that God would justify the heathen through faith In this passage Paul personifies “the scripture;” he speaks of the scripture as if it was a person. He does the same thing in Romans chapter nine.
Rom. 9:17, “For THE SCRIPTURE saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout the earth.”
Now we know that it was not the Bible that raised up Pharaoh; God raised up Pharaoh. But the text talks as if it was the Bible that raised up Pharaoh. That is simply a very emphatic way of showing that WHEN THE BIBLE SPEAKS IT IS ACTUALLY GOD SPEAKING. You cannot contradict the Bible without contradicting God himself. And in this text Paul identifies the infinite mind that inspired the scripture with the scripture itself. Again this is a very emphatic way of showing that the mind and wisdom that are revealed in the scripture are THE MIND AND WISDOM OF THE AUTHOR OF THE SCRIPTURE. I cannot imagine a more emphatic way of identifying the Bible with the author of the Bible, and showing that THE BIBLE IS JUST AS TRUE AND DEPENDABLE AS ITS AUTHOR.
That God would JUSTIFY the heathen through faith To “justify” means to “show to be just, right, or reasonable.” There is more than one sense in which we are justified. The sinner is indicted in three courts. We are indicted before the court of eternal justice, and we are justified there only by the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:9). We are indicted before the court of our own conscience, and we are justified there by faith, by our seeing Christ as our only hope of eternal heaven, and ourselves as the subjects of his grace (Rom. 5:1). And we are indicted before the court of public opinion, and we can only be justified there by our works (James 2:24). It is JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH that is under consideration in this verse. It is a justification which in Abraham’s day was foreseen— it was yet future. The elect of God among the Gentiles have always been justified before God by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. There has never been any other ground on which any man could stand before God justified. And his elect among the Gentiles have always been born again in exactly the same way they are now. God has only one way of quickening those dead in trespasses and sins, and giving them life. But THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT in the heart has not always been the same as it is today. The text was talking about a future day (which is this present day) when Gentiles would have the witness of the Spirit, and assurance of salvation, in a manner in which they did not have it in the Old Testament day.
Preached before the gospel unto Abraham Before God ever gave the Law Service, God himself preached the gospel to Abraham. The “promise” given to Abraham was simply the “gospel” ahead of time. The “promise” was the GOOD NEWS of what God was GOING TO DO; the “gospel” is the GOOD NEWS of what he HAS DONE, and IS DOING. The law was never intended to be a permanent arrangement; it was only a “schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (vs. 24). It was always God’s intention to send his Son to die in our room and stead, and it was always his purpose that the Law Service would give way to the gospel; and he gave Abraham a preview of that day.
Saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed All nations are not blessed in Abraham personally; it is in ABRAHAM’S SEED— in Christ Jesus— that all nations are blessed. The Messiah was descended from Abraham. God blessed all nations in Abraham BY BRINGING THE MESSIAH INTO THE WORLD THROUGH HIM— through his lineage. Abraham obeyed God (Gen. 22:18, and 26:5) and he was blessed to be THE MOST PROMINENT CHARACTER in the ancestry (according to the flesh) of Jesus Christ. In verse sixteen of this chapter Paul is very emphatic in pointing out that the “seed” under consideration is Jesus Christ.
Verse 16, “Now to Abraham and his SEED were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but AS OF ONE, and to THY SEED WHICH IS CHRIST.”
Gen. 12:3, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Gen. 18:18, “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?”
Gen. 22:18, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Paul’s theme all along has been to show that we are not justified by the works of the law. The rites and ceremonies of the Law Service were not sufficient to justify men, neither before the court of eternal justice, nor in the court of their own conscience. We are justified before God by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, and we are justified in our own consciences by that faith, which is the fruit of the Spirit living in our hearts. In Romans Four he showed that the legal work of circumcision was not performed by Abraham for the purpose of gaining righteousness, but that it was a “seal (assurance) of the righteousness” WHICH HE ALREADY HAD before he was circumcised (Rom. 4:11). Now he shows that all those who have faith are A BLESSED PEOPLE; they are blessed in the same way that Abraham was. This verse places a limit on what has been said in the previous verse. It is not every person in every nation that is “blessed with faithful Abraham;” it is only those “which be of faith.” It is those who are born of the Spirit, and who have the same kind of faith that Abraham had. The faithful among the Galatians were justified without the deeds of the law in the same way that Abraham was justified without the deeds of the law.
3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
The law demands ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE; it does not allow for the least transgression.
James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet OFFEND IN ONE POINT, he is GUILTY OF ALL.
It is like a chain; if one link is broken, the entire chain is broken. It is in the very NATURE OF LAW to demand perfect obedience. If a person should travel one thousand miles, and stay well under the speed limit for the entire trip, but then if, for just a few miles he goes well above the speed limit, and it is at that time that the officer sees him, and arrests him— all of those miles that he drove at a proper speed will never help him. The law demands that he stay within the speed limit for the entire trip. The law demands absolute obedience, and it demands it FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE. No obedience done in the present will erase the transgressions of the past. He might be the most careful and the most devoted of subjects, but if there is the slightest transgression to be found ANYWHERE IN HIS PAST, that transgression is sufficient to bring upon him the full fury of the law. The law can CONDEMN; but it can never JUSTIFY. It can CURSE; but it can never BLESS. It can PUNISH TRANSGRESSIONS; but it can never PROVIDE RIGHTEOUSNESS. It can KILL; but it can never GIVE LIFE. And that person who desires to be TRIED IN THE COURT OF LAW desires to be tried in a court in which he can never survive; he brings himself “under the curse” of the law.
Deut. 27:26, “CURSED is he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.”
Rom. 3:19,20, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
It is evident that no man is justified by the law, not only because it is in the nature of the law to condemn, rather than to justify, but because we have God’s word for it. God has said, “The just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4). We have God’s word for it that OUR RULE OF LIFE IS NOT LAW BUT FAITH. It is sometimes said that, while salvation can never come by the law, the law does, nevertheless, continue as our rule of life. But that is not really true. The law can never be a sufficient rule of life. THE LAW CONDEMNS, AND KILLS, AND TERRIFIES, and our service is not to be motivated by slavish fear and condemnation. The only service that is acceptable in God’s sight is that service that is motivated by FAITH in God, and LOVE for him. Any service based on anything else is unacceptable. The law identifies sin, and warns against it, and in this sense the law is the greatest benefit to the believer; but the fact remains that the only sufficient rule of life is that love for God and faith in him that is indicted in the heart by the Spirit of God. But while the letter of the law is not our rule of life, it is also true that the Spirit of God living in the heart of the believer will never prompt him to do anything which is forbidden by the moral law of God. “This certainly condemns the conversions that are brought about by fear tactics as preachers scream hell-fire and brimstone. Certainly the wicked may cry to Jesus, and acknowledge who he is, but it will be through fear, and not faith, and he will say, ‘I never knew ye.'” (Dwayne Shafer).
Rom. 14:23, “For whatsoever is not of faith is SIN.”
While faith and not law is our rule of life, NONE OF US EVER ENTIRELY ESCAPES THE BONDAGE OF THE LAW. No matter how much he may try to the contrary, every child of God does, from time to time, direct his conduct mainly out of fear of punishment. He goes to church; but, at that particular time, he had actually rather not. He reads his Bible; but at that moment, he is not in the mood; he had rather not. And, no matter how we may view it, THAT IS LAW SERVICE, and it cannot fail to lead to fear and condemnation. Those are always the consequence of trying to be justified by the law. The only service that results in joy and peace is that service that springs from a heart of love and gratitude to God for what he has done for us. It is when we serve, because we want to serve, we obey because we want to obey. IT IS OUR GREATEST PLEASURE TO FOLLOW HIM. There is a sense in which we are “under the law to Christ” (I Cor. 9:23), and we do fear his chastening rod. It will always be wrong to lie, and kill, and steal, and those who are guilty will suffer the consequences; but it should not be our fear of punishment that directs our steps, but rather that great love that we have for him. THE LAW WILL ALWAYS SERVE A PURPOSE. There is a lawful and proper use of the law.
I Tim. 1:8, “But we know that THE LAW IS GOOD if a man use it lawfully.”
IT IS THE PLACE OF THE LAW TO IDENTIFY SIN and to warn against it.
Rom. 3:20, “For by the law is THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN.”
I John 3:4, “For sin is the TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW.”
It will always be wrong to lie, and lust, and covet, and the law will always point out that fact; but we look for justification, not based on what we have done or not done, but based on what he has done for us.
3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
With the law the principle is DO and LIVE, “he that DOETH them shall LIVE in them.” It is not a question of whether he has FAITH, whether he believes God, or loves him, or trusts him, but rather, WHETHER HE DOES WHAT THE LAW COMMANDS. Whether Adam continued to live a happy, natural life in the Garden depended on whether he did what God commanded. Whether Israel continued to live out their natural lives in the land depended on whether they did what the Law of Moses commanded.
Lev. 18:5, “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man DO, he shall LIVE in them: I am the Lord.”
Rom. 10:5, “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which DOETH those things shall LIVE by them.”
“The word THEM relates to the statutes and judgments, not of the ceremonial, but of the moral law, which are equally obligatory on Gentiles as on Jews’ (Gill).
3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.
Christ hath redeemed us from the CURSE of the law The law identifies sin and warns against it; and it CONDEMNS and CURSES those who do not measure up to its requirement of perfect obedience. The CURSE OF THE LAW extends to everyone who has ever transgressed the law, and that curse calls for the DEATH of every sinner.
Gen. 2:17, “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof THOU SHALT SURELY DIE.”
Ezek. 18:4, “The soul that SINNETH, it shall DIE.”
Rom. 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man SIN entered into the world, and DEATH BY SIN, and so DEATH PASSED UPON ALL MEN, for that all have sinned.”
Christ hath REDEEMED US from the curse of the law BEING MADE A CURSE for us Christ has “redeemed us,” bought us back, “from the curse of the law” by suffering in our room and stead everything that the law demanded of us. Everything the law required of us, Christ provided for us. The law demanded a perfect obedience; he provided a perfect obedience. The law demanded that the sinner die; he took upon him our sins and DIED IN OUR PLACE. He literally “became a curse for us.” Everything the law saw amiss IN US he became FOR US. Everything the law cursed and thundered against IN US was, by grace, IMPUTED TO HIM, so that he became sin for us.
II Cor. 5:21. “For he hath made him TO BE SIN FOR US, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
His suffering and death was the REDEMPTION PRICE, the purchase price of his people.
I Cor. 6:20, “For ye are BOUGHT WITH A PRICE: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
The “curse of the law” no longer rests on his people. The full price has been paid, the debt is satisfied. The law can demand no more; its every requirement has been met.
For it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Paul is quoting Moses.
Deut. 21:23, “His body shall not remain all night upon the TREE, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is HANGED ON A TREE IS ACCURSED of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”
3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
That the BLESSING OF ABRAHAM might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ “The blessing of Abraham” was that he— unlike others in his day— was able, by faith, to see the Lord’s day (John 8:56). He was able, by faith, to REJOICE IN THE FINISHED WORK OF A VICTORIOUS SAVIOR. The theme all along has been the liberty from the law that is enjoyed by the child of God WALKING BY FAITH in the Lord’s finished work. Now Paul is showing that the Gentiles are able— without the law— to enjoy that walk of faith that Abraham enjoyed— before the law.
That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith This is not talking about receiving the Spirit in regeneration; before regeneration we did not have faith, and we certainly could not receive the Spirit by faith, if we did not have faith. It is talking about that “promise of the Spirit” that God has made to his born again children. We stand in constant need of the WITNESS of the Spirit in our hearts to strengthen, and guide, and encourage us; and God has PROMISED HIS SPIRIT for that work.
John 7:39, “But this spake he of the Spirit, WHICH THEY THAT BELIEVE ON HIM SHOULD RECEIVE; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.”
John 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.”
Isa. 32:15, “Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.”
Isa. 44:3, “I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
It is not the proud Pharisee with his boasted confidence in his keeping all the requirements of the law, who enjoys the blessing of the Spirit in his heart. It is rather the humble, mourning, child of God, who knows himself to be a sinner, but who BELIEVES GOD, and TRUSTS that the finished work of his Lord is sufficient to carry him through this life and to house him safe in heaven some day. It is not by law, but by faith that we receive the “the promise of the Spirit” and the blessings of the Spirit.
3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
Brethren, I speak after the MANNER OF MEN Paul is expounding profound spiritual truth; but he uses an illustration that is “after the manner of men,” an illustration that is taken from THE NORMAL WAY IN WHICH MEN CONDUCT THEIR OWN BUSINESS AFFAIRS.
Though it be but A MAN’S COVENANT These Galatians are not well acquainted with the workings of God’s covenant. If they were, they would not have been carried away in the manner that they were; but they were acquainted with MEN’S COVENANTS. They were acquainted with the way men handle covenants between themselves; and Paul uses those covenants of men as an illustration of God’s covenant.
COVENANT A covenant is “a binding agreement between two or more individuals or parties to do or keep from doing a specified thing.” There were three parties to this covenant; they were the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and God made promise to Abraham, based on this binding agreement between those three.
Yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto Paul is speaking “after the manner of men,” and he refers to the law as if it was another “man.” Once a covenant has been drawn and confirmed, or ratified, no other party has the power to cancel that covenant, nor add restrictions to it. Paul says that “a testament (same word-diatheke) is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” (Heb. 9:17). Once the testator has died, no man has the power to change the provisions of his will. This testament was brought into full force by the death of Christ; but it was AS GOOD AS DONE when the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost engaged in this covenant, and CONFIRMED it by an oath.
Heb. 6:17,18, “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, CONFIRMED IT BY AN OATH.”
Isaiah 14:24, “The Lord of hosts hath SWORN, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass: and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.”
The Divine Three entered into covenant agreement with each other to do all things necessary to bring about the salvation of his chosen and redeemed, and they confirmed by an oath that they would do all they had promised to do.
3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
Now to Abraham AND his seed were the promises made Everything that Abraham— or any other child of God— has is in Christ Jesus. And as that promise was made by the Father to the Son, and Abraham was by grace IN HIM, all those promises were made to him as well. That promise was MADE TO ABRAHAM EXPERIENTIALLY in that God revealed the promise to him in a manner in which he did not reveal it to others.
Gen. 22:18, “And in THY SEED shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
He saith not, And to SEEDS, as of many, but as of ONE, and to thy SEED, which is Christ The Bible always explains the Bible better than any man is able to do. And if any of those Old Testament references to the promise made to Abraham might have left us thinking that the “seed” under consideration was the nation of Israel, Paul removes all doubt by his clear statement that the “seed” was Christ. And if some of those Old Testament references even now leave us wondering, we still do not dare to argue with the text.
3:17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
And this I say, that the covenant, that was CONFIRMED before of God in Christ Paul is repeating and emphasizing what he said in verse fifteen. Four hundred and thirty years before God gave the law to Moses, he revealed his covenant to Abraham, and confirmed it to him in the person of his Son Christ Jesus. That covenant, or testament, was finally brought into full force by the death of Christ— the death of the testator; but it was as good as done when God made the promise. Christ stood as the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). For that long Christ stood as the surety of the covenant. But God confirmed the covenant PERSONALLY TO ABRAHAM (Gen. 15) four hundred and thirty years before the giving of the law. God made the promise to Abraham and CONFIRMED IT BY AN OATH.
Heb. 6:13-17, “For WHEN GOD MADE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the PROMISE. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for CONFIRMATION is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, CONFIRMED it by an oath.”
The law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect Once the testament has been brought into full force by the death of the testator, no one has the power to change the provisions of the will. At the time the promise was made to Abraham the death of Christ was yet future, but God “sware by himself” (Heb. 6:13) that he would do what he had promised. With God all of time and eternity is ONE ETERNAL NOW, and for God to swear by himself that he would do what he had promised, the covenant was AS FULLY CONFIRMED as if the event had already happened. No later event, neither the giving of the law, nor anything else, can change the provisions of that WILL, the provisions of GOD’S SOLEMN PROMISE.
3:18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
For if the INHERITANCE be of the law An “inheritance” is intended for the HEIRS. It is intended for those who are named in the will. Salvation is not a reward, and it is certainly not wages; it is an inheritance, bequeathed by Christ, the testator, upon his SPIRITUAL FAMILY.
For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise Either salvation is by grace, or else it is by works; it cannot be both. It is either bestowed by the GRACE OF GOD FREELY GIVEN; or else it is WAGES EARNED BY PERFORMING THE WORKS OF THE LAW. The two can never mix; it cannot be a combination of the two.
Rom. 11:6, “And if by grace then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
But God gave it to Abraham by PROMISE Abraham was saved the way every child of God is saved. God has only one way of saving sinners. Those who are saved are saved by the grace of God freely bestowed on undeserving sinners. The gospel is neither an ultimatum nor a proposition; it is the good news of what God has done on behalf of his chosen and redeemed. The only difference between the PROMISE and the GOSPEL is that the promise was the good news of what God was going to do, and the gospel is the good news of what he has done and is doing on behalf of his people.
3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Wherefore then serveth the law The natural question arises; if the law can never justify anybody before God, what benefit is the law?
It was added because of transgressions The law was added because of sin. It was not added for the purpose of removing sin; that is not within its capacity. It was added for the purpose of IDENTIFYING SIN, AND WARNING AGAINST IT.
Rom. 7:7, “Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”
I John 3:4, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.”
Not only could the law not remove sin; it was not a particularly effective restraint against sin. The more the law thundered against sin, the more it stirred up the old carnal nature, and whetted its appetite for sin.
Rom. 7:9, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”
It was ADDED The law was not “added” to that covenant God revealed to Abraham. Verse fifteen has shown that nothing whatsoever can be added to that covenant. It has been confirmed, and cannot be changed. Nothing can be added to it, nor taken from it. The law was ADDED TO GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS TO ISRAEL for a period of time. For that matter, the law was not given to the same people as the covenant of Abraham. That covenant was given to Abraham as the father of the faithful IN EVERY NATION; the law was given especially to the NATION OF ISRAEL. That covenant brings all the family of God together in “the unity of the faith” (Eph. 4:13); the Law Service stood as a wall of separation between God’s people among the Gentiles and those in Israel (Eph. 2:14,15).
“When God made the covenant with Abraham, he condescended to give a sign that Abraham was familiar with. Genesis chapter fifteen describes an event that Abraham understood from his days in Ur. At that time, when men made a covenant with one another, they divided animals in halves and swore their oath publicly, while passing between the slain beasts. By this they were saying, ‘And so may I be slain if I break this covenant.’ But notice what happens: God alone passed between the sacrifices, proclaiming a unilateral contract. And, it was the presence of God as the fire and smoke, which has always reminded us that God is a covenant keeping God, even as he passed before the congregation of Israel in the wilderness, and as he was present between the cherubims over the mercy seat, ever present, and demanding in the Law Service.” (Dwayne Shafer).
Till the SEED should come to whom the PROMISE was made The law was never intended to be a permanent arrangement. It was added as a TEMPORARY MEASURE (to identify sin and warn against it) until the promised seed— the Messiah— should come. It was always intended that the law, the old covenant, should give way to a better day.
And it was ORDAINED BY ANGELS To “ordain” means “to appoint, decree, establish, enact.” How God used the angels in his establishment of the law service is a point that is not made as clear as some other points are; but it is clear from the scriptures that THE ANGELS WERE DIRECTLY INVOLVED in the giving of the law.
Psa. 68:8,17, “The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel….The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of ANGELS; the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.”
Acts 7:38,53, “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the ANGEL WHICH SPAKE TO HIM in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us……Who have received the law by the DISPOSITION OF ANGELS, and have not kept it.”
Heb. 2:2, “For if THE WORD SPOKEN BY ANGELS was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward.”
In the hand of a MEDIATOR To mediate is “to stand in an intermediate position.” Moses stood as a MEDIATOR between God and Israel in the Law Service.
Deut. 5:5, “I STOOD BETWEEN THE LORD AND YOU at that time, to shew you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount.”
John 1:17, “For the law was GIVEN BY MOSES, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
The New Covenant differs in that the Mediator of the New Covenant is not a mere man (and a sinful man at that), but rather Jesus Christ, the God-man.
Heb. 8:6, “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the MEDIATOR OF A BETTER COVENANT, which was established upon better promises.”
Heb. 12:24, “And to Jesus the MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”
3:20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
Now a MEDIATOR is not a mediator of one A mediator requires two parties; he stands between the two, as Moses stood between God and Israel (Deut. 5:5).
But God is ONE God did not require a mediator in his dealings with Abraham; he dealt directly with him. In this new covenant there is a mediator; but that mediator is God himself in the person of his Son. “GOD IS ONE.” There are three persons, but ONE GOD. God is still dealing personally with his people.
3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Is the law then against the promises of God Paul is answering the thought that sometimes arises that God has somehow contradicted himself— that he has introduced two different ways of salvation, in opposition and in competition with each other.
God forbid This is the strongest expression Paul can use to express his utter disgust at any such thought. God has never contradicted himself, and he has never failed at anything he intended to do.
For if there had been a law given which could have given LIFE, verily RIGHTEOUSNESS should have been by the law It was never at any time the purpose of the law to GIVE LIFE nor to PROVIDE RIGHTEOUSNESS. The law can KILL; but it can never GIVE LIFE; it can thunder against SIN; but it can never PROVIDE RIGHTEOUSNESS. It can CURSE; but it can never BLESS. It can DEMAND OBEDIENCE; but it can never ERASE PAST DISOBEDIENCE. He says that “if there had been a law given which could have given life, (then) verily righteousness should have been by the law.” That is one of those statements which are true, NO MATTER WHICH WAY YOU APPROACH IT. The law cannot give life, because it cannot provide righteousness; and it cannot provide righteousness, because it cannot give life. So long as the sinner remains under the curse of the law (and the law has no capacity to remove that curse), the sinner must remain under the sentence of death. The same justice of God which demands righteousness, is the basis of the law, and that same justice of God demands that the sinner remain under the SENTENCE OF DEATH so long as he remains under the GUILT OF SIN.
“In my travels, and among my acquaintance, I have heard much said about a Saviour, by the name of Well’s you can; but have never yet seen him— the house where lives, nor the man who entertains him: and am almost in despair of ever finding him below the sun. The accounts of him are these: ‘If I do as well as I can, I believe the Lord will accept of me, and if you do as well as you can, you will be saved.’ If the salvation of the soul depends upon our doing as well as we can, who then can be saved? If a man falters once in his life from doing as well as he can, the chance is over with him; and where is the man to be found, who can lay his hand upon his breast and conscientiously declare, that he has at all times, and in all cases done as well as he could? If such a man cannot be found, it follows that well as you can is only an ideal, not a real Saviour.” (John Leland)
3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
For the SCRIPTURE HATH CONCLUDED all under sin Romans 11:32 casts light on this verse: “For GOD HATH CONCLUDED them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” This reference shows that the word “scripture” in this verse is used as it is used in verse 8, and in Romans 9;17. Paul identifies the SCRIPTURE with the AUTHOR of the scripture. The justice of God, as it is revealed in the law, has concluded every member of Adam’s race to be under the guilt of sin. But it is even more than that. “For it is not PANTAS, all persons, but PANTA, all things, belonging to all persons; all the members of their bodies, and faculties of their souls; all their thoughts, inclinations, and intentions; all their works and services, even their best righteousness, which is as filthy rags; all are declared to be sinful and polluted, and men on account of them to be guilty before God, and liable to punishment; from whence there can be no escape by the law of works” (Gill).
That the promise by FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST might be given to them that believe It is “the faith of Jesus Christ” that is under consideration. It is called “the faith of Jesus Christ” because it originates with him, and comes from him. It is not the production of the individual. The sinner, by nature, does not have faith, and there is no way that he can “exercise faith,” when he does not have faith.
II Thess. 3:2, “For all men have not faith.”
It is “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22), and it is found where his Spirit is found. When it is manifest in the life and conduct of the individual (that is, when he believes in Christ and conducts his life accordingly), it is evidence that God’s Spirit (the Spirit of Christ, Rom. 8:9) dwells in his heart.
3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
But before faith came This verse, and the two verses that follow, have both a HISTORICAL and an EXPERIENTIAL application. They apply both to the historical fact that the Law Service finally gave way to the gospel day, and to the deliverance from the law that each individual child of God experiences, when BY FAITH he sees the finished work of a victorious savior as his only hope of eternal heaven.
We were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed Old Testament saints were born again in exactly the same way that New Testament saints are; and the same Spirit that produces faith in the hearts of his people in this day produced faith in that day. Hebrews Eleven points up the faith of a long catalog of Old Testament saints. But while that is so, it still remains that the emphasis of Law Service was SIN and DEATH and CONDEMNATION; whereas the emphasis of the gospel is LIFE and RIGHTEOUSNESS.
II Cor. 3:7-9, “But if the ministration of DEATH, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the SPIRIT be rather glorious? For if the ministration of CONDEMNATION be glory, much more doth the ministration of RIGHTEOUSNESS exceed in glory.”
We were KEPT under the law, SHUT UP The Law Service gendered to bondage; the gospel produces liberty.
John 8:32, “And ye shall know the TRUTH, and the truth shall make you FREE.”
“They were kept distinct and separate from the rest of the nations of the world, and had neither civil nor religious conversation with them; and so were preserved in some measure both from their impieties and impurities…..so that their being kept under the law in this sense, was both for their honor and their safety; though the meaning may also be, that they were kept under it as persons under a military guard, as the word likewise imports: and signifies, that the law kept a strict guard and a watchful eye over them…..the law kept them close to the discharge of their duty, and held them fast as prisoners…..which shows the state and condition the Jews were in under the law, and how they were treated by it; not as good and righteous persons, but as persons in debt, as criminals and malefactors; a prison is made, and so the law, for such sort of persons; the law considered and used them as sinners, as criminals convicted and condemned; it did itself accuse, convict, and pronounce them guilty, and adjudged them to punishment, and detained them as prisoners, in its dark dungeon, where they had little light and comfort; and were as in a pit, wherein is no water; though they lay there as prisoners of hope, in expectation of the Messiah’s coming: who was to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, and to say to the prisoners, Come forth, and to them that sit in darkness, Show yourselves” (Gill).
Rom. 7:6, ” But now we are DELIVERED FROM THE LAW.”
Zech. 9:11, “As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy PRISONERS out of the PIT wherein is no water.”
Unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed Again, this expression has both a historic and an experiential application. Faith was historically revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Until that day God’s people were shut up under the darkness and bondage of the Law Service. Faith is experientially revealed to the individual when he is able BY FAITH to see Christ as his one and only hope of eternal heaven.
3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Wherefore the law was our SCHOOLMASTER to bring us unto Christ The law could neither provide life nor righteousness (vs. 21); but it was a SCHOOLMASTER— it could teach. It taught its subjects that they were sinners— helpless, hopeless, ruined sinners. It identified sin, and it prescribed the punishment. Its constant message was, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). It made no exceptions, and it provided no deliverance. It was a system of terror, a system of condemnation and death (II Cor. 3:7-9).
To bring us unto Christ Once more, this expression has both a historical and an experimental application. Historically, the ceremonial law prefigured Christ, and pointed forward to him. The various ceremonies, and sacrifices of the law represented Christ and his mediatorial work. Without him, all the rituals of the law were just so many empty forms. But even more importantly, by its thunderings and threatenings, the law taught them as it teaches us our need of a Savior. It demands a righteousness, which it can never provide, and which we can never attain. To the heart quickened by the Spirit of God, the law brings hopelessness and despair; it brings the quickened heart into a state that it can appreciate the gospel message, and the hope that comes with seeing Christ as the Savior of sinners.
That we might be justified by faith The law can condemn; but it can never justify. But though the terror of the law can never justify, it can bring the sinner into such a state of despair that he can rejoice in the imputed righteousness of Christ. It is an experiential justification that is under consideration. In his own heart and mind he rejoices in the love of God, and in his imputed righteousness; and in his own heart and mind, he is justified by faith.
Acts 13:39, “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
The word that is translated “schoolmaster” is “paidagogos” (pedagogue), and it signifies a “tutor,” a teacher of children. Paul will have more to say about that in the opening verses of the next chapter. The time of bondage under the law was a time of childhood— historically to the Jews before Christ came, and experientially to saints today, before they are able to see Christ as their only Savior. The law was always a temporary measure; it was never intended to continue indefinitely. Children, grow up, and they do not need a tutor any longer. Unfortunately, many children of God have never grown up; they are still looking to their own accomplishments to justify them before God. When Christ came, Israel no longer had any need for the obscure and sometimes confusing symbols of the Law Service. There was no need for the shadow when they had the substance. It was the great mistake of the Jews that they misunderstood the purpose of the law. The law was given to identify sin, to warn against it, and to specify the consequences of sin; but the Jews thought that by keeping the law they could be justified before God. When a child of God has his eye on the Lord, and his deepest desire is to serve him, he has no need for the thunderings and threatenings of the law. Paul tells us that “the law was NOT MADE FOR A RIGHTEOUS MAN” (I Tim. 1:9). He does not need it; his actions are directed, not by thunderings and threatenings, but by FAITH. But is there never a time when the born again person needs the law? Yes, there is. Paul goes on to say in that same verse “that the law was not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners.” And he goes on to list an entire catalog of characters for whom the law is made. If your conduct is found in some of those descriptions, THE LAW JUST FITS YOUR CASE. It tells you exactly what you are, and what punishment your conduct calls for.
3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
The Judaizing teachers who had been afflicting these Galatian Christians would bring them back under the law, with all its burdens and restrictions, if they could. Paul has been pointing out benefits that are ours entirely apart from the law. And one of those benefits is that we are all “children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” If we would understand this expression, we must keep in mind the subject that is under consideration. The text must agree with its context. Paul has been talking about JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. Bear in mind that there are three ways in which a person is justified. We are justified (declared to be just) before God by the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:9); we are justified in our own hearts and minds by faith (Rom. 5:1); and we are justified before our fellowman by works (James 2:24). It is in our own hearts and minds that we are justified by faith; and it is IN OUR OWN HEARTS AND MINDS that we are the “children of God by faith.” Paul is still talking about EXPERIENCE; he is still talking about that deliverance that a child of God can experience from the bondage of the law, and the RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD that he can enjoy by faith. Faith does not make a person a child of God: but by faith he is able to experience, and to enjoy, that relationship which he knew nothing about apart from faith.
John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
Rom. 8:14-16, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the SONS OF GOD. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the CHILDREN OF GOD.”
The Law Service had kept these Galatians at a distance from Israel and from the benefits that belonged to Israel because of their own access to the Law Service. Now these Judaizers would bring them under a system that had never benefitted them, and which would, even now, take away the joys which they presently enjoyed.
3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
For as many of you as have been BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST It is GOD HIMSELF who puts an individual IN CHRIST.
I Cor. 1:30, “But OF HIM are ye IN CHRIST JESUS.”
The sinner does not put himself in Christ, and the baptizing minister does not have the power to put him in Christ. That is the work of God, and God alone. BUT IN BAPTISM WE MANIFEST PUBLICLY AND OPENLY WHAT GOD HAS DONE SECRETLY AND SOVEREIGNLY. We become, for all the world to see, what God had already made us by his grace. We become MANIFESTLY “the sons of God” (John 1:12), manifestly “in Christ Jesus.” All the family of God goes to make up the spiritual body of Christ (Eph. 2;22, 23), and when, by baptism, we take our place in his visible church, we are manifest to be “in Christ,” manifest to be members of his spiritual body.
Rom. 6:3, “Know ye not that so many of us as were BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST were baptized into his death.”
Have PUT ON Christ When we are baptized in Christ’s name, we PUT ON Christ by public profession. Paul uses the language of putting on a garment; and that is exactly what we do. Isaiah said that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). We disavow the filthy rags of our own righteousness, and we lay claim to his imputed righteousness as our own.
I Cor. 1:30, “But OF HIM are ye IN CHRIST JESUS, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”
And when we PUT ON CHRIST by public profession, like putting on a garment, we “put on” that MANNER OF LIFE which he has taught us is acceptable to him.
Rom. 13:13,14, “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But PUT YE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
Bear in mind that Paul still has justification in view— justification before God, justification in our own hearts and minds, and justification before our fellow man. We are justified in our own hearts and minds, when by faith, we put on Christ, when we claim the garment of his spotless righteousness as our own; and we are justified before our fellow man, when we put on that manner of godly life which he has taught us.
Rev. 7:13,14, “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes: and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Another view: “I have always felt that the baptism in Galatians 3:27 and in Romans 6:4 were the same. However I never considered either of them to be water baptism. I have been of the opinion that the baptism under consideration was that of the Spirit into Christ. The reason for my feeling this way is that in Romans 6:4 he says “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death.” If there is water in that text, then I am forced to conclude that water baptism produces a death. I am understanding you to say that the baptism in the text is water. I am understanding you to say that this is the manifestly putting on of CHRIST by one of his people. I am of the opinion from your comments that you also deem Galatians 3:27 and Romans 6:4 to be dealing with the same baptism. I am in complete agreement with that assessment. I realize that our people are not in one mind about either of these texts. I am of the opinion that water baptism is an inferred lesson of Romans 6. Many times we look for a scripture that says in so many words a truth we want to prove, but are sometimes dismayed when we cannot find that specific statement, but the truth is nevertheless true and clearly set forth. All of the lessons concerning water baptism are too many to be set forth in a simple statement. In my humble opinion, Romans 6:3 is dealing with all of the elect family being baptized into Christ’s death on the cross of Calvary. I believe the baptism in verse 4 is the application of Calvary’s work done here in time at the point of regeneration. It certainly appears to me that the main theme of the 3rd chapter is that of Abraham’s inheritance; and that not by works, but by a sure and everlasting covenant. The covenant made in eternity past, but made manifest to Abram while he was still in Ur of the Chaldees. The same covenant is made manifest to those of us who are to be blessed with faithful Abraham. It is made manifest in regeneration. The gospel carries all the good news about all the benefits of that covenant to us hell-deserving sinners. As we walk with faithful Abraham, we, like him, can be justified by our works. As Paul said, ‘Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.'” (Ed Kirkpatrick)
3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
For there is neither Jew nor Greek The ceremonial law made very sharp distinctions between the Jew and the Greek, between Jew and Gentile. The Law of Moses was given to Israel for the benefit of Israel. There were all sorts of provisions (such as the division of the land of Canaan) which had no bearing at all on the Gentiles. The Jews counted the Gentiles to be beneath them, and referred to them as “dogs.”
Neither bond nor free The gospel makes no distinction between men based on their social standing. The most abject servant has the same access to gospel privileges as the most exalted citizen. The gospel does not dissolve those civil relationships (the servant, or employee, is still the servant), but his station in life does not impair his benefits in the gospel church.
I Cor. 7:21, 22, “Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.”
Eph. 6:8, “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.”
There is neither male nor female “Under the law the male had great privileges. Males alone had in their body circumcision, the sign of the covenant, (whereas all of either sex are now “kings and priests unto God” (Rev. 1:6); they had prior right to inheritances” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown).
For ye are all ONE in Christ Jesus
Rom. 10:12, “For there is NO DIFFERENCE between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”
Eph. 2:14,15, “For he is our peace, who hath MADE BOTH ONE, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make of himself of twain ONE NEW MAN, so making peace.”
The gospel has not erased all the differences between people. Jews are still Jews, and men are still men, and women are still women; and the gospel does not and cannot alter that fact. But no distinction that exists between people, whether with regard to nationality, or social status, or gender, has any effect on our access to gospel privileges. The gospel does not alter our natural relationships (we are not revolutionaries— it is not our goal to overthrow the social order); but it does open the door to gospel privileges to every humble, believing, obedient child of God— no matter what his status may be otherwise. Eph. 4:4, “There is ONE BODY, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.”
John 10:16, “And OTHER SHEEP I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be ONE FOLD, and one shepherd.”
3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
And if we be Christ’s, then are we Abraham’s seed In the previous verse he has shown that we are IN CHRIST JESUS. Every blessing that comes to us is ours because we are IN HIM. In verse 16 Paul has shown very clearly that the seed of Abraham is Christ Jesus himself. “He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ” (vs 16). First he says that the seed of Abraham is Christ, and then he tells these Galatians that they are “Abraham’s seed.” There is no contradiction in that. We are the seed of Abraham by virtue of OUR UNION WITH CHRIST. It is only because we are “in Christ Jesus” (vs 28) that we are referred to in that manner.
HEIRS according to the promise We have this inheritance because of our union to him. Because the saints are IN HIM, and because we are JOINED TO HIM, whatever he inherits, we inherit as “joint-heirs” with him.
Rom. 8:17, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and JOINT-HEIRS with Christ.”
According to the promise Paul’s entire theme has been to show that those blessings that are ours belong to us, not because of observing the carnal and tedious requirements of the law, but because of God’s promise.
CHAPTER FOUR
4:1 Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all.
Now I say that the HEIR, as long as he is a CHILD Paul has already pointed out that those who are “of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (ch. 3:9), and that they are “HEIRS according to the promise” (ch. 3:29). The Lord of the estate is their benefactor, and all that belongs to him is theirs by inheritance. The estate belongs to them— but they cannot have it yet. The law will not allow a child to take possession. “He is not his own man, nor at his own dispose; he cannot do as he pleases; he is under restraint; he is kept to school, or to business, and is liable to correction and chastisement, according as he behaves: nor can he have the free use of his father’s estate” (Gill).
Differeth nothing from a SERVANT, though he be lord of all So long as he is a child, he is treated like a child. Though he may be “lord of all”— the entire estate belongs to him— he is treated like a SERVANT. He cannot make his own decisions; he cannot act as he pleases. He is constantly being instructed, and reproved, and disciplined. Paul is pointing out that those who think they can be justified by the law are really still in their childhood. The law instructs them, and rails on them, and threatens them. They had just as well be bondservants, for all the liberty they enjoy. There is a joyous liberty to every child of God walking in the light of the gospel. Christ said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8:32. But those who think they can be justified by keeping the law are not free; they do not know the truth; and they are still in bondage to the law.
Another point of view: “I believe that the heir of verse one is the Lord Jesus, who is indeed Lord of all. I further believe that with his incarnation he became a servant and was under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. He was born at the set time of the Father. At the age of twelve years ye said, ‘I must be about my Father’s business.’ He did not enter his public ministry until he was about thirty years of age. He was to enter through the door of prophecy, and he is the door. Hebrews 2:10, and Hebrews 5:8 both teach us very clearly of the perfecting of the man Christ Jesus— not of the removing of flaws of character, but of the fulfilling of every detail of the Old Testament prophecy to a jot and a tittle. Only after he had met all the requirements of the law, was he allowed to sit down at the right hand of the Father in the heavens; all things being made subject to him. In Isaiah chapter fifty-three we have the glorious prophecy about the coming Messiah, which does not stop until his exaltation and his dividing the spoils with the HEIRS OF GRACE. THAT IS AMAZING GRACE!” (Ed Kirkpatrick)
4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
But is under tutors and governors Wealthy property owners appointed “tutors and governors,” guardians and teachers, whose job it was to instruct and discipline their underage children.
Until the time appointed of the father There was a time appointed, at which age the child was to be delivered from their jurisdiction. The father had the authority to dispose of his estate as he pleased, and he had the authority under law to determine that the estate should pass to the heir at the appointed time.
4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
Even so we, when we were CHILDREN Historically, the expression refers to Israel before Christ came. Up until that time Israel was in its CHILDHOOD. They were the most blessed nation on earth. They had the “oracles of God” (Rom. 3:2); but they were still under “tutors and governors;” they could not enjoy the liberty that is in Christ Jesus. Personally, and experimentally, it refers to the individual child of God before he is able to see Christ as his one and only hope of heaven, and to more fully enjoy the benefits he has provided for us. Until that time he is looking to his own accomplishments as the ground of his hope, and he is hopelessly in bondage to the most rigorous demands of the law. When the Spirit comes into the heart in regeneration, it instantaneously gives divine life; but it does not instantaneously make the person to be spiritually full grown. There is much growing to be done before he can truly enjoy the liberty that is to be found in service to God, and in communion with him.
Eph. 4:14,15, “That ye henceforth be NO MORE CHILDREN, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, MAY GROW UP INTO HIM in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”
II Pet. 3:18, “But GROW IN GRACE, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
We were in bondage under the ELEMENTS of the world What Paul here calls the “elements of the world,” on other occasions (Col. 2:8,20) he calls “the rudiments of the world.” “Elements” and “rudiments” are the same; they are basic building blocks. The most fundamental requirements of the law were very elementary, very rudimentary— “thou shalt not kill,” “thou shalt not steal,” “thou shalt not covet,” etc. But there is a bondage even in those elementary requirements. Who is there who was never guilty of covetousness? Who is there who never secretly wanted something that belonged to somebody else? If we must look to our own keeping of the requirements of the law in order to gain a home in heaven, we must all live in terror of its vengeance.
The elements of the WORLD The most elementary requirements of the Ceremonial Law were expressed in “meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances” (Heb. 9:10). They were “elements of the world;” they were carnal and worldly, not spiritual and heavenly. The meanest man in Israel could enjoy the benefits of the law if he would just keep the “carnal ordinances” of the law; and the meanest man in the camp knows that he ought not to lie, and kill, and steal. But only those who are born of the Spirit, and follow its leadings can enjoy the benefits of the gospel.
4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.
But when the fulness of the time was come God knows exactly WHAT he is going to do, and WHEN he is going to do it. Before God ever created the world, he determined to save his people by the sacrifice of his Son; and he determined THE VERY TIME when he would send his Son to accomplish that work. He determined how long he would suffer the world to languish in sin and misery, before he would reveal his remedy for sin. He determined how long he would leave the Law of Moses to run its course in order to demonstrate its utter inability to save sinners from the wrath of God against sin.
Isa. 46:10, “DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”
God settled it all in eternity past, before he ever performed the first act of creation. In Gen. 49:10, he foretold that the time would not come until “the sceptre,” the ruling authority, departed from the tribe of Judah. That time came with the rise of Herod, and his ruling dynasty. In Dan. 2:44, he foretold that it would come during the time of “these (Roman) kings.” In Dan. 9:24-27, he gave the very time that the public ministry of Christ should begin. He marked off seventy weeks (seventy weeks of years) for the fulfillment of the prophecy. “From the time of the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince” was to be seventy weeks of years. And at the very beginning of that seventieth week, Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, and his public ministry began. “The fulness of the time” had come; everything was right on schedule.
Mark 1:14,15, “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, THE TIME IS FULFILLED, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel.”
Eph. 1:10, “That in the dispensation of THE FULNESS OF TIMES he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”
The time was right; God’s appointed time had come; all the prophetic markers were in place; and conditions were more conducive to the spread of the gospel than they had ever been in the history of the world. God was about to do a mighty work in the earth, and conditions were right for the spread of the good news of what he had done. God is still in control in the universe. It is no accident that at the time of the crucifixion of Christ, and the establishment of the church, Rome had conquered the known world and imposed their Pax Romana (Roman Peace) on the empire. Travel was relatively easy. Rome had provided the best system of roads the world had ever known. It had never been so easy to communicate ideas. The very clear, very precise, Greek language was almost the universal language. The “diaspora,” the dispersal of the Jews, had resulted in Jewish synagogues in virtually every major city in the empire. The early evangelists had ready access to Jewish communities, and hence to Gentiles, all over the known world.
God SENT forth his Son Christ was SENT to do a work, and he accomplished what he was sent to do.
John 8:42, “For I proceeded forth and come from God; neither came I of myself, but HE SENT ME.”
This text teaches both the preexistence and the distinct and separate personality of the Son. If he did not already exist, he could not be sent.
Prov. 8:25,30, “Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth….Then was I by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.”
John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 17:5, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”
And if he was not a separate and distinct person (if there was not more than one person in the Trinity) he could not be sent; no one sends himself.
Rom. 8:3, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, GOD SENDING HIS OWN SON in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”
MADE of a woman The Lord Jesus Christ was God, and he continues to be God. The incarnation did not change that. He continued to be what he had always been; and he added what he had not had, that is, a HUMAN NATURE. He was “made of a woman;” he was “MADE of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3), and he was “declared to be the Son of God with power” (vs. 4). He was “MADE” to be the one, and “DECLARED” to be the other.
Phil. 2:14, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him THE FORM OF A SERVANT, and was MADE in the likeness of men.”
Heb. 2:14, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.”
“Made of a woman” omits any mention of the man. Christ was virgin born; Joseph was only legally his father.
Made under the law He is the lawgiver; he is not, by nature, subject to any law. But he willingly, and voluntarily, became SUBJECT TO HIS OWN LAW. As the “seed of Abraham” (Heb. 2:16) he placed himself under the Law of Moses, and as the “seed of the woman” (Gen. 3:15) he placed himself under the moral law. Being under both the moral law and the Law of Moses, he entirely conformed his life to the requirements of both. His life conformed to the moral law in every detail; his adversaries followed him around, hoping to find some charge, however slight, that they might bring against him, and they could not. And from his circumcision on the eighth day until his last passover, he observed every requirement of the Ceremonial Law. He stood in our room and stead, and in our room and stead, he observed and fulfilled every requirement of the law.
4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
To redeem them that were under the law To “redeem” means to “get or buy back; to recover.” The people of God were under the law and the curse that goes with it. His people among the Gentiles were under the moral law, and his people among the Jewish nation were under both the moral law and the Ceremonial Law. The suffering and death of Christ redeemed his people from under both systems of law. He fully satisfied all the requirements of the Law of Moses, and he set that law aside. Gentiles were never under that law, and those who were under it (the Jewish nation) are no longer bound by its precepts. But, apart from the death of Christ in the room and stead of all his redeemed, all of mankind was under the law— AS A COVENANT OF WORKS— and that law dealt with two things. It dealt with “SIN AND DEATH.” Paul called it “the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). It said, quite simply, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). The law demanded death for all those who had transgressed its commandments. The Lord took our place, and to satisfy the just demands of the law, he died. When he died in our place, that was just as if we had died. Now, because our Lord has provided everything the law required— and provided it in our room and stead— the law can demand no more. We are redeemed from the law; we are free from the law. There continues to be a lawful use of the law.
I Tim. 1:8, “But we know that THE LAW IS GOOD, if a man use it LAWFULLY.”
That is, the law continues to identify sin, and to warn against it. It is still wrong to lie, and kill, and steal; but the law can no longer demand the death of those who are redeemed from its curse.
Gal. 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.”
That we might receive the adoption of sons To “adopt” means to “choose and to bring into a certain relationship, as into one’s own family. 2. To take into one’s own family by legal process and raise as one’s own child.” We are by nature members of Adam’s family; we are by grace members of God’s family. We were born into Adam’s family; we are adopted into God’s family. Before we could be brought into God’s family, every claim that stood against us as members of Adam’s family had to be satisfied. As members of Adam’s family, when our federal head Adam sinned, we sinned and came under the condemnation of “the law of sin and death.” That claim had to be satisfied. That is what the Lord was doing on the cross— he was taking care of the “legal process” of the adoption. Note: when we refer to Adam as our “federal head,” we mean that he represented us; he acted for us; what he did was as if we had done it. He represented us and acted for us in his sin, as Christ represented us and acted for us in his righteous life and sacrificial death.
4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
And because ye are sons Election is the first act of adoption. There is never a general call sent out for children to be adopted. The first act of any adoption is the choice of the child to be adopted. Because we are (first) sons by choice— by election— we are (then) made sons by regeneration. Regeneration is a particular part of the adoption. No other adopting parent is able to do for his adopted children what God does for his children. It is in the nature of children to have the nature and characteristics of their natural parents. They look like their natural parents, and very often they act like their natural parents. By nature, every child of Adam looks like, and acts like, his natural father, Adam. He possesses the same carnal nature that Adam had. It is in regeneration that the adopted child comes to be a partaker of “the divine nature” (II Pet. 1:4). In regeneration God sends “the Spirit of his Son” into the heart of his adopted child, and that child comes to have a new nature. He still has an old carnal nature that looks like Adam, and acts like Adam; but he now has a new nature that desires and enjoys better things. It is in this one aspect that God’s adoption of his children differs the most clearly from any other adoption of children. In every other aspect there is a clear parallel. The adoption began in eternity past; it will be concluded in eternity to come; and it involves everything that God does for his children in between. The first act of the adoption was the choice of the child to be adopted.
Eph. 1:4,5, “According as HE HATH CHOSEN US in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the ADOPTION OF CHILDREN by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
Then there was the legal work of the adoption that had to be taken care of. That is what the redemption is all about. As fallen members of the fallen family of Adam, we were under the “curse of the law.” The legal work of the adoption, the satisfaction of the demands of the law had to be met.
Verse 5, Christ came “to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
Then, in regeneration, God sends the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, in order that we might be partakers of the very nature that belongs to the redeemed and born again family of God. In regeneration we are given a new nature, a nature that resembles all the other members of the born again family, and which, in spirit, resembles our heavenly Father. And, finally, the last act of adoption is in the resurrection, when our adopting Father comes to take all of his adopted family to live with him in that eternal home he has provided for them.
Rom. 8:23, “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption , to wit, the redemption of our body.”
Crying ABBA, FATHER One of the grand benefits of regeneration is that we are able to recognize that God is our Father. Apart from regeneration we have no evidence that we are his children.
Eph. 1:13, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
A seal is a mark of ownership; it signifies validity; it indicates that we are indeed the children of God. God’s Spirit dwelling in the hearts of his children, quickening them from a state of death in sins, and motivating them to live lives pleasing to him, marks them out and identifies them as the children of God.
Rom. 8:15, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry ABBA, FATHER.”
“Abba” is the Hebrew word for “father.” The Spirit of our heavenly Father living in our hearts gives us an appetite for spiritual things, and enables us to recognize that God is, indeed, our Father.
4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son These Galatians to whom this letter was written had developed a great fondness for the law. Paul is showing them that in Christ Jesus they have something much better than the law. Under the law they were bondslaves. They were under bondage to keep all the most minute requirements of the law; and even then, all of their most zealous efforts could never bring salvation. But now they are no longer bondslaves— they are the sons of God by grace, and all the benefits that belong to a son are theirs.
John 15:15, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends: for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” But, even though we are the sons of God by grace, are we not still his servants? Yes, we are still his servants, but in a very different way. It is the delight of the child of God to serve him OUT OF GRATITUDE for what he has done for us. The law demanded, and received, service based on SLAVISH FEAR; the gospel produces service based on LOVE AND GRATITUDE. They are not in any sense the same.
And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ When a servant has done all he can do, he still has nothing to glory in. He has only done what it was his duty to do (Luke 17:10). He has no claim on his master. But the son is a member of the family. He is heir to all that belongs to his father. The Lord Jesus Christ is heir to all that heaven holds, and we are joint-heirs with him.
Rom. 8:16,17, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
“A beautiful point here is to remark that heirs all share a portion of the inheritance; but each portion is separate, and not necessarily equal. A joint-heir, in contrast, possesses the entire inheritance equally with all the other heirs.” (Dwayne Shafer).
4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Howbeit then, when ye knew not God These Galatians were Gentiles. Before they heard the gospel, they had been idolaters. They knew nothing about God, nor how he ought to be worshipped.
Eph. 2:12, “That at that time ye were WITHOUT CHRIST, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and WITHOUT GOD in the world.”
I Thess. 4:5, “Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles, WHICH KNOW NOT GOD.”
Ye did service unto them which BY NATURE are no gods The Gentiles thought their idols were gods; but they were not. It is in the NATURE of Jehovah to be God; and nothing else is God. It is not possible to take that which is, by nature, a stone, or a block of wood, and turn it into a god. In spite of all their best efforts it will always be what it started out to be.
II Cor. 12:2, “Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto THESE DUMB IDOLS, even as ye were led.”
I Cor. 8:4, “We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.”
It is the nature of man to be a man, and a sinful man at that. Satan’s bait has always been to persuade men that they can become gods. That was his bait in the Garden, and that is his bait today. Only Jehovah is by nature God, and nothing that is by nature a creature can become what it is not. Virtually every form of false religion, in some manner or another, tries to place man in God’s place. Whether you are talking about Hinduism, Freemasonry, Buddhism, Taoism, secular humanism, the New Age movement in any of its forms, or any of the vast array of sects and cults, the vast majority of them either teach that the entire universe is God (pantheism), or that man is God, or that man is in process of becoming a god.
4:9 But now, after ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage.
But now, after ye have known God Previously, these Galatians had been without hope, “and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). They were shut up in pagan superstition; they knew nothing of the true God, nor how he ought to be worshiped. But now they have heard the gospel, and they recognize the God of their salvation. They have been taught to know God in the sense of gospel instruction, and they have learned the way that we ought to worship him.
Or rather are KNOWN OF HIM Paul shifts his emphasis, and points out that their knowing about God, and learning the truth of the gospel, as important as that is, is not the most important thing. The important thing is that GOD KNOWS THEM. He is not simply talking about God knowing them as his creatures. In that sense, there is nothing that God does not know. But these are the children of God, and he knows them in special relationship.
I Cor. 8:3, “But if any man love God, the same is KNOWN OF HIM.”
The fact that they loved God was proof that they were known of God.
I Cor. 13:12, “But then shall I know even as also I AM KNOWN.”
II Tim. 2:19, Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, THE LORD KNOWETH THEM that are his.”
How turn ye again to the WEAK and BEGGARLY elements Compared to the gospel of grace, and the benefits that go with it, the law and all its ceremonies were both “weak” and “beggarly.” They were WEAK in that they could never remove sin; they could never satisfy the just demands of God.
Rom. 8:3, “For what the law could not do in that it was WEAK THROUGH THE FLESH, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”
Heb. 7:18, “For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the WEAKNESS and unprofitableness thereof.”
For that matter, the gospel cannot remove sin, nor justify anyone before God; that is not its purpose; but it does reveal the fact that, by his grace, God has already removed the sins of all his redeemed, and has fully justified them. It brings the good news of God’s finished work. And they were BEGGARLY as compared with the most spiritual benefits of the gospel. The law dealt with “meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances IMPOSED on them” (Heb. 9:10). But the New Testament Church does not consist in “meat and drink,” but rather “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17). The most exalted law worship was a beggarly experience compared with the joy in the Spirit that comes with gospel worship.
Whereunto ye desire again to be in BONDAGE Every demand of the law genders to bondage. The law can never be satisfied by the sinner. It constantly demands what the sinner can never provide. The law demands perfection, and we can never provide it. But even if the sinner could completely cease from sinning, he could still never satisfy the law. No obedience performed in the present can ever remove those sins we have committed in the past. And so long as the law cannot remove sin, it will always hold its subjects in the most cruel bondage.
Whereunto ye desire AGAIN to be in bondage These Galatians had never been under the Law of Moses, and how could they desire to “again” be in bondage to a system they had never been under in the first place? It is true that they had never been under the Law of Moses; but they were trying to be justified by their own works, and that is the condition of every man apart from the gospel, whether he may be Jew or Gentile.
“They had been brought under the law in their minds and consciences, which is where Paul is calling on them to be justified by faith, that is, “in their mind.” (Lonnie Mozingo Jr)
4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Paul has charged the Galatians with bringing themselves under bondage to the law and its requirements; now he gives an example of what he is talking about. They had gone so far as to submit to the Jewish distinction between “days, and months, and times, and years.” “By days are meant their seventh-day sabbaths; for since they are distinguished from months and years, they must mean such days as returned weekly; and what else can they be but their weekly sabbaths? These were peculiar to the Israelites, and not binding on others” (Gill). The Jews made a distinction between months. The first month and the seventh were special months. They had a special regard to the new moon. “By times are intended the three times in the year, when the Jewish males appeared before the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the three feasts of tabernacles, passover, and pentecost….And by years are to be understood their sabbatical years; every seventh year the land had a rest, and remained untilled; there were no ploughing and sowing, and there was a general release of debtors: and every fiftieth year was a jubilee to the Lord, when liberty to servants etc, was proclaimed throughout the land” (Gill). “The sabbatical year of jubilee was about the time of writing this epistle, A.D. 48” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown). Under the Law the Jews were under requirement to allow the land to lie fallow during every seventh year; but God had promised that the land would bring forth double during the sixth year (Lev. 25:21). God had not made any such promise to the Gentiles, and it would be the most cruel kind of bondage to require them to leave their land untilled every seventh year without that promise. In this day there is no way to maintain the Jewish distinction of “days, and months, and times, and years,” such as the return of all lands during the year of Jubilee; and any effort to do so can only bring the most unbearable bondage.
Rom. 14:5, “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”
Col. 2:16,17, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.
Paul was not, in the least, afraid that these Galatians were in danger of eternal damnation. In verse 6, he has pointed out that they are “sons,” children of God. In verse 7, he says that they are heirs of God. And in verse 9, he says that they are still, at that very time, “known of God.” He is concerned for the success of his “labor” among them. His labor never had anything to do with their eternal destiny in the first place; but he is concerned that their fondness for the Law might destroy the joy that they had found in the church and in the gospel. God’s work is never in vain. He always accomplishes what he intends to do.
Isa. 55:11, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
But while God’s work is never in vain; sometimes our work is. It is not our job to save anybody from eternal damnation; God takes care of that. It is our job to save the people of God from error, and disobedience, and despair, and sometimes we fail miserably in that effort.
I Thess. 3:5, “For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain.”
I Cor. 15:2, “By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”
4:12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.
Brethren Paul has been writing very harshly. Now he speaks to them in the tenderest way. Their error calls for the clearest and sharpest reprimand; but he wants them to know that he has the warmest love for them, and he still counts them to be his “brethren.”
I beseech you He has all the authority he needs to command them, and on other occasions he does use that language; but this is a time for tender admonition. He wants to save them, if he can, and so, he beseeches them, begs them.
Be as I am; for I am as ye are He wants them to come around to his manner of thinking, and he assures them that he is as they are. That is, he assures them that he is not questioning their sincerity. He wants them to know that, even though they are very much in disagreement on this fundamental matter, their ultimate purpose is the same. Paul’s goal is the glory of God and the welfare of his people, and he assures them that he does not doubt that their goal is the same.
Ye have not injured me at all He wants them to know that his feelings are not hurt. He is not writing out a sense of personal injury. If those we are addressing have the idea that we are offended with them, and that we are writing with a view of retaliation, it is not likely that we will ever win them.
4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
Paul points out that the Galatians knew of the infirmity that bothered him when he first preached the gospel to them. But, while the Galatians knew exactly what he was talking about, we do not. We know of any number of afflictions that troubled him; but we cannot know for a certainty which infirmity he had in mind at this time. Paul was not a particularly impressive person, either in his personal appearance or in his speech, and his adversaries used that against him.
II Cor. 10:10, “For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”
I Cor. 2:3, “And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.”
Paul was the most persecuted man of his day. The Jews hated him; they counted him a traitor to their cause. He had been their great hope; they thought that he would be the one who would put a stop to these Christians. Now he was preaching for those very Christians, and the Jews counted him to be the worst enemy they had. And there were those in the church who still did not trust him. They remembered how he had once persecuted them. In II Cor. 1:30-33, and in II Cor. 12:5-10, Paul refers to that persecution as his infirmity. Others are convinced that Paul was referring to some illness of his. But, whatever this “infirmity of the flesh” may have been, the Galatians were fully aware that Paul had labored under great disadvantage to preach the gospel to them.
4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God Far from despising and rejecting Paul, the Galatians received him as “an angel of God”, as a messenger sent from God himself. “In this light every true minister of Christ ought to be regarded. As God employs the services of angels for communicating to us his favors, so godly teachers are divinely raised up to administer to us the most excellent of all blessings, the doctrine of eternal salvation” (John Calvin).
Mal. 2:7, “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.” (The word “angel” means “messenger.”)
Even as Christ Jesus The Galatians received Paul as if they were receiving the Lord himself, and they were entirely right in doing so.
Matt. 10:40, “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”
Luke 10:16, “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.”
John 13:20, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”
II Cor. 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
4:15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
Where is then the blessedness ye spake of The Galatians had once thought of themselves as being peculiarly blessed by Paul’s ministry, and perhaps, other churches had thought of them as being blessed by having such a minister as Paul laboring among them. Now Paul wants to know where is that blessedness? What has happened to it? Was his ministry not a blessing after all?
For I bear you record, that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes and have given them to me Their love for Paul was not an ordinary love. They would have parted even with their very eyes, if it had been a benefit to Paul. We could almost as easily part with our lives as to part with our eyes; but the Galatians had such a love for Paul that they would have done so. But now they have turned away from him. “How uncertain the respects of people are, how apt they are to change their minds, and how easily they are drawn into contempt of those for whom they once had the greatest esteem and affection, so that they are ready to pluck out the eyes of those for whom they would before have plucked out their own!” (Matthew Henry). There are a few who have the idea that this verse implies that Paul had some disorder of his eyes, perhaps, brought on by the bright vision on the Damascus Road, and that Paul was saying that the Galatians would have given their own eyes to relieve his problem; but Jamieson-Fausset-Brown points out that the word “own” is not in the original language of that verse.
4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth.
“Not that he was an enemy of them, he had the same cordial affection for them as ever; he had their true interest at heart, and was diligently pursuing it; but they, through the insinuations of the false teachers, had entertained an ill opinion of him, and an aversion to him, and treated him as if he had been an enemy to them, as if they had a real hatred of him: and that for no other reason, as he observes, but ‘because I tell you the truth'” (Gill). It can be risky business to tell the truth to those who do not want to hear the truth.
Prov. 9:8, “Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.”
4:17 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
They zealously affect you Literally, “they are zealous after you;” there is no word for “affect” in the original language. These false teachers were very zealous in their courting of these Galatians. They exerted enormous time and energy to gain their affection and allegiance. Zeal has always been a characteristic of false teachers.
Matt. 23:15, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte.”
Rom. 10:2, “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”
Gal. 1:14, “And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”
They zealously affect you, but not well Paul warns them that the false teachers are up to no good— no matter how zealous they may be, nor how affectionate they may appear to be. Notice that Paul will not even do the false teachers the honor of mentioning their names. He does not consider their names worth preserving for posterity.
Yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them They would exclude them from the fellowship they had once had with Paul, and the advantages they had gained from his ministry. They would exclude them from the liberty they had once had in the gospel. And, if need be, they would exclude them, or bring about their exclusion, from the fellowship of the church, and they would set up for themselves with these Galatians as their followers. They would gladly bring about the exclusion of these Galatians in order that they “might affect them”— in order that these Galatians might follow them as zealously as they had courted the Galatians.
4:18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing Paul is very quick to point out that he is not, in any sense, discouraging zeal. Directed in the proper direction, and for the right motive, zeal is an enormous benefit. Paul was himself the most zealous of all people. Before his Damascus Road experience he had been zealous in his persecution of the church; and afterwards he was even more zealous in his preaching the gospel. He was willing to put forth every effort, and to suffer every kind of loss, in order to win his own people to the truth.
Rom. 9:1-3, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
Rom. 10:1, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”
Acts 21:13, “Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Always in a good thing Zeal is a good thing— but only if it is in support of a good cause. Zeal for a bad cause only aggravates the offense; and Paul has been pointing out that the zeal of these false teachers is in support of one of the worst of causes.
ALWAYS in a good thing Paul wants them to “always” be zealous. Zeal that comes by fits and starts does not accomplish much. The lethargy and indifference that comes between the fits of zeal cast doubt on the sincerity of that zeal that is manifest at other times.
Luke 9:62, “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
And not only when I am present with you He is pointing out that his concern for them is not a partial thing. He is not concerned that their zeal should be limited to his ministry. He wants them to be a zealous people, whether he is among them or not. He is not jealous that other ministers are manifesting such zeal among them, but rather, that this zeal is being directed in support of such a bad cause.
4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
My little children He has been referring to them as “brethren” (ch. 1:11, ch. 3:15, ch. 4:12); now he calls them his “little children.” This is a much more gentle and tender way of speaking than even to call them “brethren;” but there is more to it than that. The Lord warns us very clearly to “call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven” (Matt. 23:9). THERE IS NO MAN WHO IS THE FATHER OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE, and no man has anything to do with our receiving spiritual life. John Gill is grievously wrong in his comment on this verse, when he allows that Paul “hoped that he was the means of their being born again.” These were not the children of Paul in a SPIRITUAL and VITAL SENSE, but rather in a GOSPEL SENSE. Listen to what Paul says to the Corinthians.
I Cor. 4:15, “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU THROUGH THE GOSPEL.”
There is no contradiction between this and what the Lord told the disciples in Matthew chapter twenty-three. There the Lord was talking about receiving SPIRITUAL LIFE; here Paul is talking about receiving GOSPEL LIFE. It is in that sense that Paul calls Timothy his “son” (I Tim. 1:18, II Tim. 2:1) and John refers to his readers as “my little children” (I John 2:1). Those were the fathers of their LIFE IN THE GOSPEL.
Of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you No person is ever born again but once; but it is possible for one who has been truly converted to the truth of the gospel to become confused and disillusioned, and to need to be rescued from his error. Paul is still pointing out that their error is not an insignificant thing; they have fallen away from the gospel itself. They have fallen away from Christ— from the most fundamental truth concerning Christ and his finished work— and they stand in need that Christ should “be formed” in them. They stand in need that the very fundamentals of gospel truth should “be formed” in their hearts. To preach the gospel is to preach Christ, and it is only in that sense that when the gospel becomes grounded in the heart, Christ is formed there.
II Cor. 4:5, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
4:20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice Paul would like to have been in the very presence of the Galatians. He would like to enjoy such good meetings as they once had, and to preach to them with such satisfaction as he once did. He must reprove them for their error; but he would like to do it in person. He would like to observe their reaction. Perhaps, a more gentle reminder would do the work, and he could very soon return to his former manner of speaking. He does not want to be any more harsh than he needs to be; and if they are ready to repent, he is more than willing to acknowledge it. But he wants to be there; he wants to observe their countenance, to see their reaction. He wants to change his manner of speaking; but first he must see some evidence of repentance.
For I stand in doubt of you As much as Paul wants to be charitable, he still has to tell them that he has his doubts. He just does not know what to think of them.
4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law.
The Galatians seemed anxious to be under the law; so Paul appeals to the law to prove his own case. He shows them that the law itself proves that there is no salvation in the law. They wanted to be under the law; but they were not listening to the law. The law could condemn; but it could never justify. It could identify sin; but it could never remove it. Had they been listening, the thunderings of the law should have driven them away.
4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
For it is written that Abraham had TWO sons Paul does not say that Abraham had only two sons. After the death of Sarah Abraham married a woman by the name of Keturah, and fathered six more sons by her (Gen. 25:1,2), but Paul is about to teach an allegorical lesson, a lesson in which the characters have a symbolic meaning. Those other sons do not constitute any part of the allegory; so Paul does not mention them.
The one by a BONDMAID, the other by a FREEWOMAN Agar (Hagar) was a bondslave to Sarah, the wife of Abraham. As Hagar was a slave, and Sarah was free, the lesson involved is one of BONDAGE and FREEDOM, of LAW and GRACE, of those who are only the SUBJECTS OF LAW, and those who are the SUBJECTS OF GRACE.
4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
But he who was of the bondwoman was BORN AFTER THE FLESH There was nothing at all miraculous about the birth of Ishmael; he was “born after the flesh;” he was a natural son of Abraham, conceived and born in the usual manner, and that clearly identifies him, so far as the type is concerned. He was TYPICAL OF THE JEWS, the natural descendants of Abraham. They were Abraham’s children by natural conception; but they were not necessarily the children of God.
Rom. 9:7,8, “Neither because they are the SEED OF ABRAHAM are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the CHILDREN OF THE FLESH, these are not the children of God: but the CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE are counted for the seed.”
He does not say that none of them were children (some of them were), but that NOT ALL OF THEM were children.
But he of the freewoman was by promise The birth of Isaac was a different matter. He is symbolic of the spiritual seed of Abraham, symbolic of EVERY HEAVEN BORN SOUL. His birth was the miraculous answer to GOD’S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM. Abraham was one hundred years old, and Sarah was ninety years old when Isaac was born. There was no cause to expect that they should have a child, and if God had not intervened, they would not have. ISAAC’S BIRTH WAS SYMBOLIC OF THE NEW BIRTH. There is nothing out of the ordinary about being born the natural seed of Abraham, as every Jew is; but to suddenly be born of the very Spirit of God is the miracle of all miracles.
4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Which things are an allegory An allegory is defined as “a story in which people, things, and happenings, have another meaning.” The people, things, and happenings, are figures or illustrations of the lesson they are intended to teach. In this “allegory” Abraham, along with Hagar and Sarah, and Ishmael and Isaac, are all figures, intended to teach a lesson. Abraham stands as a figure of God himself, the Father and head of all his elect family; Hagar and Sarah represent law and grace, bondage and freedom; and Ishmael and Isaac represent the natural and the spiritual seed of Abraham. Allegorizing is, perhaps, more often referred to as “spiritualizing.” It is unwise to expect to find an allegory in every character, and every happening, in the Bible. Most of those characters and events have no allegorical significance whatsoever, and trying to find an allegory in passages where there is none will leave the student liable to every kind of distortion of Bible truth. But this passage is clear in pointing out that the characters, and happenings, are “an allegory.”
For these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar These two women represent the two covenants, or the two testaments. HAGAR WAS A WORKER, a slave; she was in BONDAGE; she represented the old covenant, and that covenant was a COVENANT OF WORKS, A COVENANT OF BONDAGE. This verse shows clearly enough that covenant dates “from the mount Sinai.” It was given to National Israel for the government of National Israel. But the very best Hagar could do was to bring forth a natural child of Abraham, conceived and born in the normal manner. The very best that old covenant could do was to bring forth a nation of Jews, A NATION OF NATURAL DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM. Ishmael was a MOCKER; he mocked at Isaac, the child of promise (Gen. 21:9). The Jews, that nation of natural descendants of Abraham, exactly correspond to Ishmael in their treatment of the Lord and his heaven born followers.
Matt. 27:29,31, “And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and MOCKED HIM, saying, Hail, King of the Jews…..And after they had MOCKED him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.”
Acts 2:13, “OTHERS MOCKING SAID, These men are full of new wine.”
4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
“The two covenants are brought to view. Agar (or Hagar) was a type of the covenant given at Sinai. This covenant gendereth to bondage, and was a type of national Israel, or the Jews, or national Jerusalem, which the apostle says is in bondage with her children. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, the free woman, was a type of the covenant of grace, called in some places the new covenant, because it was brought out and manifested after the covenant of works, or the Sinai covenant. Ishmael was the son of Hagar, by Abraham. Hagar was a bondmaid of Sarah. She was in bondage. Of course, as she was in bondage, she could not give birth to a free child. Her son was, therefore, born in bondage. And he was born after the flesh. God had made promise to Abraham and to Sarah, but Sarah began to doubt the promise ever being fulfilled. So she gave Hagar to Abraham. This is the first record we have of a ladies’ effort society to help fulfill a promise He had made. But the effort did not bring about the birth of the promised heir, nor did it help to bring that about. At the proper and right time Isaac was born unto Abraham and Sarah. Isaac was the promised child. Isaac was the child of promise. ‘Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.’–Verse 28. Sarah typified the covenant of grace, and Isaac typified all the heirs of promise. ‘If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,’ Gal. iv. 29. The children of God were known and embraced in the covenant of grace before the world began….God is the Father of His children, and Jerusalem, which is free, is the covenant of grace. They were conceived in that covenant, and at “the set time” they are born from above.” (C.H.Cayce).
4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
He is still talking about “the two covenants.” He has been talking about the “Jerusalem which now is,” the Law Service, with all its ceremonies. That system was fulfilled and set aside when, on the cross, the Lord cried out “IT IS FINISHED: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost,” (John 19:30), and “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matt. 27:51). As a practical matter, he could call it the Jerusalem that NOW IS,” because the ceremonies of the law were still being performed; but he went on to say (in Hebrews chapter eight) that the old system “which decayeth and waxeth old is READY TO VANISH AWAY.” That time came at the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersal of the Jews in A.D. 70, when the observance of the Law of Moses became forever impossible. Now he comes to the new covenant, “the Jerusalem which is from above.” Elder Cayce has (in the above) pointed out very clearly the sense in which the “Jerusalem which is above….is the MOTHER OF US ALL.” Every heir of promise was “conceived in that covenant, and at ‘the set time’ they are born from above.” The regeneration of the elect in time is the direct, and inevitable, result of their having been CONCEIVED IN THAT COVENANT in eternity past. It “is free” in that there is no price that is required at man’s hand, and no price that man could have paid, in order to have a part in that covenant.
4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
For it is written, Rejoice, THOU BARREN THAT BEAREST NOT; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not God had promised Abraham that he would make him a great nation (Gen. 12:2); but the years wore on, and SARAH HIS WIFE WAS BARREN; no son was born. Finally, in despair, Sarah gave Hagar, her handmaid, to Abraham, and Ishmael was born; but Ishmael was not the promised son. GOD HAD MADE A PROMISE, AND HE WOULD FULFILL THAT PROMISE. And, because the promise of God was sure to be fulfilled, he bids Sarah to rejoice.
For the desolate hath many more children than SHE WHICH HATH AN HUSBAND For a moment HAGAR OCCUPIED THE PLACE OF A WIFE TO ABRAHAM. Bear in mind that Hagar represents that old covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai (vs 24); she represents that covenant, which brought forth National Israel, typified by Ishmael, the natural offspring of Abraham, conceived and born in the normal manner. Under the old covenant God was a husband to Israel, represented by Hagar. Jer. 31:32, “Not according to the COVENANT that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant they brake, although I WAS AN HUSBAND TO THEM, saith the Lord.”
For THE DESOLATE HATH MANY MORE CHILDREN than she which hath an husband Sarah was barren, DESOLATE. While her handmaid occupied the place of a wife to Abraham, SARAH MUST WAIT HER DAY, BUT HER DAY WILL COME. The promise was sure; God will always perform what he has promised to do. Bear in mind that Sarah was a symbol of the covenant of grace, and that covenant dates from eternity past. It is called an “everlasting covenant” (II Sam. 23:5, Heb. 13:20). But it is also called a new covenant, because it was MANIFEST AND BROUGHT FORTH after the old covenant. While Hagar occupied the place of a wife to Abraham, it looked as if the promise to Sarah would never be fulfilled; it looked as if Ishmael would be the only son Abraham would ever have. While National Israel was in possession of the Law Service, it appeared that they had a monopoly on God. It appeared that the Gentiles were forever shut out, and that the people of God were a relatively small number. But it was always the purpose of God to fulfill his promise to Abraham. It was always his purpose to have a vast number of children, conceived and born, not in the normal manner, but conceived in the covenant of grace (Sarah) and born of the Spirit in a miraculous manner. His spiritual children have always been born in that manner, but that fact was not manifest and brought forth until the new covenant was manifest and brought forth. The spiritual children of God, conceived in eternity past in the covenant of grace, are a vast number, which no man can number. Hagar has her millions; but Sarah has a vast host of children so large that men’s numbers fail them, when we try to count them. In its earliest days the church was small and desolate, as compared to the many children of Hagar. The natural born Jews, devoted as they were to the old covenant, and as determined as they were to destroy the church, were a great multitude, compared to the tiny number in the church. When Pentecost came, there were only one hundred and twenty gathered in the upper room. Thousands had followed him for the loaves and fishes; but now there were only a very few left. And even after thousands of people joined them at Pentecost and after, the church was still small and desolate as compared to the millions of National Israel. But God still bids Sarah to rejoice. The New Testament Church may be desolate in its infancy; but is to take root and grow, and spread all over the earth. Isa. 54:1-3, “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.”
“I always try to key on the barrenness of Sarah, as the Old Testament says, “Sing and rejoice.” This is an odd request, when looked at naturally, for it was shameful, and certainly nothing to rejoice in, when one was barren in Bible times, yet we are to rejoice for we are among more children in a barren state than she that is the married wife (the law being her husband). The fact is that Sarah brought forth a child in a supernatural way, and every child of God is born again in a supernatural way (rebirth). We cannot produce children of God; it has to be supernatural. We, the children of promise outnumber the children represented by Ishmael.” (Steve Wilkinson).
4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Now we, BRETHREN Paul has been showing that the Jews have no advantage over Gentile believers; but that those who look to the law for salvation (as virtually every Jew does) are really in bondage to the law. He has shown that the Galatians had not benefitted themselves by following their Judaizing teachers. Now PAUL THE JEW reaches out and calls these Galatian Gentiles “BRETHREN.” Those who are born of the Spirit of God are “brethren” to every heaven born soul, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. The Judaizers, if they have nothing more than a natural connection to Abraham, are shut out.
AS ISAAC WAS, are the children of promise Isaac was the child of Abraham, conceived and born, according to promise, in a miraculous manner. He is symbolic of every person (miraculously) born of the Spirit of God.
Gal. 3:29, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Rom. 9:7, “Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called.”
4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
He that was BORN AFTER THE FLESH….he that was BORN AFTER THE SPIRIT Ishmael, the natural son of Abraham, was a symbol of every Jew, the natural offspring of Abraham, conceived and born in the normal manner. Isaac was conceived and born in the same manner as Ishmael. He was not virgin-born as the Lord was. That is not what is implied by the expression, “born after the Spirit.” But his birth was miraculous, nonetheless. He was born when Sarah was “past age” (Heb. 11:11), when it was not to be expected that Sarah could bear children. When Paul says that he was “born after the spirit,” he is not saying that his natural birth was “after the spirit,” but that, first, he was a person, who was born of the spirit (he was a born-again person), and, second, that the miraculous manner of his natural birth was a symbol of the spiritual birth of every heaven-born soul.
Persecuted him that was born after the Spirit There is, no doubt, a double symbolism in this persecution of Isaac by Ishmael. We have pointed out many times that Ishmael represents the Jews, that is, he represents every natural descendent of Abraham. The Jews were the most vicious persecutors of the church. “Except for the two cases of Philippi and Ephesus (where the persons beginning the assault were pecuniarily interested in his expulsion), he was nowhere set upon by Gentiles, unless when stirred up by the Jews” (Jamieson-Faussett-Brown). HE ALSO REPRESENTS ALL THOSE WHO STILL LOOK TO THE OLD COVENANT FOR JUSTIFICATION. Those who believe they can be justified by their own efforts have always persecuted those who look to God alone for their hope of heaven. The persecution under consideration is recorded in Gen. 21:9: “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham MOCKING.” God had made promise to Abraham that “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Abraham believed God, and he rested in that promise.
Rom. 4:20,21, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”
There are other ways in which the sons of Ishmael persecute the sons of Isaac; but their usual and customary manner is by MOCKING THEIR HOPE in the promises of God.
Gal. 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture: Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Nevertheless what saith the scripture Paul’s consistent manner was to clarify any difficult question by quoting the scripture. If the Bible does not give us clear instruction on any matter, we would do well to leave it alone.
Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman Those who have only a natural connection to Abraham do not have any claim on New Testament church privileges. They had a valid claim to the ordinances of the old covenant. The meanest man in Israel could claim the carnal advantages of the Law Service, if he would only observe the carnal ordinances of the law; but the unregenerate (and those who are born again, but are still looking to their own merit for justification), have no claim on the New Testament church. “The casting of Hagar and Ishmael out of Abraham’s family was a type and emblem of the rejection of the carnal and self-righteous Jews from the Gospel-church state; nor ought any carnal persons, and those that are after the flesh, unregenerate ones, or that trust to their own righteousness, to be in a Gospel church” (John Gill). The old covenant is fulfilled and set aside; it has no place in the New Testament church. The New Testament church is an entirely new thing; it is not a reformed or patched up version of the old covenant.
Matt. 9:16,17, “No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”
4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
So then BRETHREN Paul has been rebuking the Galatians sharply; but they are still his “brethren.” He still has the deepest affection for them.
We are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free The old covenant gendered to bondage; the new covenant genders to freedom. Those Judaizers who were afflicting the Galatian churches would bring them into bondage to the Law Service with all its minute and confusing requirements. The gospel brings liberty.
John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be FREE INDEED.”
Ch. 5:1,13, “Stand fast therefore in the LIBERTY wherewith Christ hath made us FREE, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage…..For, brethren, ye have been CALLED UNTO LIBERTY; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
CHAPTER FIVE
5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Stand fast therefore in the LIBERTY wherewith Christ hath made us free The main theme of the entire book has been BONDAGE and LIBERTY, LAW and GRACE. Up until this point the book has been largely doctrinal; from this point on it becomes largely practical. Paul has just closed out the previous chapter by declaring that we are children of the free woman; now he encourages us to apply that freedom to our life and conduct. The Lord himself promised this liberty in John chapter eight. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” verse 32. This newfound freedom we have in Christ is such a precious possession that we ought to “stand fast;” we ought to exert every effort to hold on to it. Now there are SOME WAYS in which we are NOT FREE. We are not free to live as we please. We are still obliged to observe the moral principles of the law.
Verse 13, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
We are not free from indwelling sin. We still have a corrupt, sinful nature, and that carnal nature will continue to vex us as long as we live. And we are not free to ignore the just and proper laws of the land. Paul is very clear in pointing out that we are still bound by the laws of the land (Rom. 13:1-6, Tit. 3:1). But we are free from the PENALTY, and POWER, and GUILT OF SIN. Christ has fully satisfied our sin debt. Our sins are put away. We no longer stand as guilty sinners, accused and condemned before the court of eternal justice; and even though we do still have a sinful, carnal nature, we also have a new nature. We are by grace “partakers of the divine nature” (II Pet. 1:4); God’s Spirit lives in our hearts, and sin no longer has the dominion over us that it once had. Our old carnal nature (the flesh) can vex us; but it no longer has the dominion. We are free from the CURSE OF THE LAW.
Gal. 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”
We are free from the law as a covenant of works. We do not have to look to the law with its impossible requirements as a source of life. We are free from the CEREMONIAL LAW with its burdensome and unending ceremonies. We do not have to be concerned with all the minute requirements of what sort of food can be eaten, and what sort of fabric can be worn, etc. And we have FREE ACCESS to all the benefits of the gospel church.
Wherewith CHRIST hath made us free It was none of our doing that made us free; we did not break free from the law by our own effort. If we are free, it is because he has made us free.
John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
And be not ENTANGLED again with the yoke of bondage Those who would go back under the law with all its requirements become “entangled;” they become fouled and ensnared in a system that can never justify them, and will not let them go.
Entangled AGAIN Many of these Galatians were Gentiles who had never been under the Ceremonial Law, and they obviously could not be “entangled again” in that system; but others of them were Jews, who had previously been under that law, and they showed an inclination to go back to their old manners. And, for that matter, every person, whether Jew or Gentile, has some notion that he can be justified by his own efforts, and he is by nature under bondage to that notion. Pagan superstition can be as cruel and unyielding a taskmaster as Judaism ever was.
The yoke of BONDAGE Every form of law service is a kind of “bondage,” a kind of slavery. It constantly demands what no one can ever deliver; and when the servant has done all he can do, it both condemns the service given, and demands for more to be done.
Acts 15:10, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”
Luke 17:10, “So likewise ye, when ye have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”
5:2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
Behold I PAUL say unto you In this expression Paul pulls himself up to his full stature, and, with all the authority of his office, he warns them of the consequences of their actions. In his salutation (ch. 1:1) he has declared his apostleship; now with all the authority of that office, he reasons with them. There sometimes comes the occasion when the speaker, whether an apostle or a minister, must invoke the dignity of his office to give force to his argument.
That if ye be circumcised “In 4:10 Paul has stated what the Galatians were accepting from the Judaizers. But he did not mention circumcision; so we are forced to the conclusion that the Galatians had not yet advanced that far. Circumcision was the crucial requirement of the entire Judaistic system……The Judaizers had not yet gained that victory in Galatia. The observing of Jewish holy times (4:10) could never satisfy them. Their goal was to persuade the Galatians to accept circumcision. A man placed himself under the entire Mosaic system by submitting to circumcision. Circumcision would make the defection and fall of the Galatians complete” (R.C.H. Lenski).
That if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing Now bear in mind that Paul was arguing against CIRCUMCISION AS A RELIGIOUS RITE. There were those who insisted that circumcision was necessary to salvation.
Acts 15:1, “And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.”
Paul had no objection to circumcision when it was practiced purely as a NATIONAL CUSTOM; and as a national custom, Paul himself circumcised Timothy rather than offend the Jews (Acts 16:3). Notice that this is recorded immediately after the meeting at Jerusalem, where the question of circumcision had been fully discussed. Keep it always in mind that Paul was objecting to circumcision as a religious rite (practiced as if it was necessary to salvation) and not as a national custom, nor as a method of personal hygiene, as it is performed by physicians today.
Christ shall profit you nothing Bear in mind that the theme of the book has been LIBERTY and BONDAGE. He has not been talking about eternal life and eternal damnation. The Galatians were not about to lose their eternal life; but THEY WERE ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR LIBERTY. They were about to deliver themselves over to the bondage of law service; and it is in this sense that Christ would become of no profit to them. So long as they had their eyes on their own merit, they did not have their eyes on Christ. So long as they thought the observance of the rituals of the law would commend them to God, they could never see the glory of Christ. So long as they were satisfied with the bondage of the law, they could never enjoy the liberty that is in Christ.
5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
For I testify Paul is about to give some very important instruction, and he frames his comments in the form of an oath.
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised Paul was not addressing every person who had been circumcised as a national custom. He was himself a circumcised Jew. It was not the simple act of circumcision, but rather the purpose of circumcision that was the crucial question. He is speaking to those who were looking to circumcision as the ground (or at least a condition) of their salvation (Acts 15:1).
That he is a debtor to do the whole law Either salvation is by grace, or else it is by law. If it is by grace, then it is entirely by grace; and if it is by law, it is entirely by law. If salvation comes by keeping a part of the law, then it comes by keeping the entire law. No man is at liberty to choose which parts of the law he will observe. Even with the law of the land, a man might observe every law but one, and if he breaks that law, he will suffer the consequences.
Gal. 3:10, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL THINGS which are written in the book of the law to do them.”
James 2:10,11, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.”
With Paul the question had to do with liberty and bondage; their eternal destiny was never in question. But in the minds of the Galatians it appears that their eternal destiny was the very question under consideration. Paul was trying to save them from the errors of the Judaizers by preaching the truth to them. They were hoping to save themselves from eternal damnation by listening to the Judaizers. When the Judaizers insisted, “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, YE CANNOT BE SAVED” (Acts 15:1), there is nothing to indicate that they had anything else under consideration than their eternal destiny. Paul was offering them the liberty that is to be found in knowing the truth, and looking to the Lord for our every need. At the same time, he was pointing out the utter futility of looking to the law, with all its impossible requirements and restrictions, for salvation.
5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Whosoever of you are JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW No man was ever justified by the law IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.
Rom. 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified IN HIS SIGHT: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
The law can condemn, but it can never justify; it can demand righteousness, but it can never provide it. The law is ever and always an instrument of condemnation; it is never an instrument of justification. It is ONLY IN THE MIND OF THE SINNER that he is ever justified by the law. It is only in his own mind that he ever becomes good enough to stand before God on his own merit.
Christ is become OF NO EFFECT unto you……ye are FALLEN FROM GRACE The theme of the text is EXPERIENTIAL. It is only IN HIS OWN MIND that the sinner is ever justified by the deeds of the law; and it is IN HIS OWN MIND that he is fallen from grace. He is still a child of God, as surely as he ever was; but because he thinks there is something about him that can recommend him to God, to that extent HE IS FALLEN FROM GRACE. Because he has become convinced of his own merit, he is no longer convinced of his great need of a redeemer. Because he no longer sees himself as the great sinner he is, he is no longer able to see the Lord as the great Saviour that he is. In his own experience— in his own heart and mind— he is fallen away from the grace of God.
5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
For we through the Spirit Circumcision was a “carnal ordinance” (Heb. 9:10), whose only sign was “outward in the flesh” (Rom. 2:28). But “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The Galatians were in process of trading that which was spiritual for that which was only fleshly and carnal.
Wait for the hope of righteousness Every redeemed person is made righteous by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. We are in present possession of that righteousness, and the indwelling of his Spirit has its effect on our daily lives; but we are WAITING for the FULL CONSUMMATION of that work.
II Tim. 4:8, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me AT THAT DAY.”
Col. 1:5, “For the HOPE which is laid up for you IN HEAVEN.”
Tit. 2:13, “Looking for that blessed HOPE, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Hope and waiting are always companions.
Rom. 8:24, 25, “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”
On that day we will be in full possession of that righteousness in all its splendor. By the grace of God we are subjects of that imputed righteousness; but we are still vexed by an old carnal nature, and that righteousness is not fully manifest in our lives. We will leave all of our carnality in the grave, and the righteous will be manifested to be what they truly are.
Matt. 13:43, “Then shall the RIGHTEOUS shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
By faith Circumcision proved nothing, or next to nothing. Some of the most wicked men have been circumcised. The Galatians were trading an assurance that was indited by the Spirit, and which is “sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Heb. 6:19), for an ordinance which was only fleshly and carnal. They were turning away their attention from such hope as allowed them, by faith, to feel the very power of heaven stirring in their souls, for an ordinance that could do nothing more than assure them that they had submitted to a legal ceremony.
5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision Under the Mosaic Law circumcision made an enormous difference. Circumcision was at the very heart of the entire system. It was circumcision that gave access to the other benefits of the law service. An uncircumcised person was forbidden to eat of the passover (Ex. 12:48). But in the New Testament church circumcision makes no difference at all. No one is benefitted by being circumcised, nor injured by failing to be circumcised. The circumcised Jew has no advantage over the uncircumcised Gentile.
Col. 3:11, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”
Gal. 6:15, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”
But FAITH which worketh by love Circumcision made no difference; but FAITH made all the difference. The unbeliever has no right to the New Testament church; and if he should manage to gain membership in the church, his membership would not help him. He is not able to enjoy its benefits. He has no spiritual nature to receive and enjoy the spiritual benefits of the church (I Cor. 2:14). But by faith the believing child of God is able to embrace the very substance of heaven itself.
Heb. 11:1, “Now faith is the SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, the evidence of things not seen.”
In the previous verse he has talked about “the HOPE of righteousness;” it is by faith that we are able to embrace the very “substance” of THINGS HOPED FOR. For the Jew circumcision bore witness that he was a male descendent of Abraham. Faith gives the believer the “evidence” that he is a heaven born child of God, and that there are even better things to come.
Faith which WORKETH by love The faith under consideration is not a barren attitude merely held in the mind. It is more than the mental assent that certain doctrines are true. Faith that does not work is no faith at all.
James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
I Thess. 1:3, “Remembering without ceasing YOUR WORK OF FAITH, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.”
5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth.
Ye did run well The Galatians had begun well. Luke records Paul’s labors among the Galatians in Acts 13 and 14, and 16:1-6. Paul suffered severely at Lystra, a city of Galatia, and was even stoned and left for dead (Acts 13:19); but the churches were “established in the faith, and increased in number daily” (Acts 16:5). Paul often uses the figure of a runner in a race to symbolize the Christian warfare.
I Cor. 9:24,26, “Know ye not that they which RUN IN A RACE run all, but one receiveth the prize? SO RUN, that ye may obtain…..I therefore SO RUN, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.”
Who did hinder you Paul was not asking for information; he knew exactly who had hindered them. He was shaming them for being so soon removed from the faith. And it is very possible that he was pointing to the character of those who had hindered them. He may have been challenging them to consider what sort of men it was who had led them astray.
That ye should not obey the truth The truth is not only principles to be believed; it is commandments to be obeyed. Those who do not do what God commands do not really believe what he says. If we believe him, we will run the race with patience.
Heb. 12:1, “Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside the weight which doth so easily beset us, and LET US RUN with patience the race that is set before us.”
5:8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
This persuasion He is referring to the persuasion that they should observe the ordinances of the law, and that they should be “circumcised after the manner of Moses” (Acts 15:1).
Cometh not of him that calleth you It was God who had called them by his Spirit in regeneration (ch. 1:6), and was still calling them by that same Spirit to serve him. Notice that “calleth” is in the present tense. Now if that calling was not from God, it was obviously from the flesh, and for that matter, from Satan the father of lies (John 8:44). There can be no doubt as to what Paul is saying; but he still wants to rescue these Galatians, and he is no more harsh than he has to be.
Ch. 3:1,3, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you….Are ye so foolish? having BEGUN IN THE SPIRIT, are ye now made perfect by the FLESH?”
5:9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
A little leaven Leaven is symbolic of false doctrine.
Matt. 16:12, “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the LEAVEN of bread, but of the DOCTRINE of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”
Leaven is like false doctrine in that it does its work quietly and largely in the dark.
Leaveneth the whole lump It is not possible to advocate “just a little” false doctrine— not for long anyway. False doctrine is like leaven; it spreads through the entire lump. If a person is in error about one fundamental point, it will not be long until his error will be multiplied in other points. Satan is cunning; he will not usually oppose the entire system of truth at once. First he introduces “a little leaven;” he perverts one point, and as every point of Bible doctrine is connected with every other point of Bible doctrine, he then reaches out to other points.
5:10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded The Galatians had begun to observe times (ch. 4:10), and it appears that they were about to submit to circumcision (vs. 2). They were in a bad condition, and about to get worse; but Paul still believes that they can be rescued, and he expresses his confidence in them. We need to be very cautious in our dealings with those who are going astray. It is very easy for us to mark them off as a lost cause, when they might have been saved, if we had been more patient and more confident. But notice that the source of his confidence is the Lord and not the Galatians. They have proved that they can be easily led astray; but he believes that the Lord will bless his efforts to bring them back to sound practices.
But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be Paul does not call anybody by name; but he seems to have a particular person in mind, a ringleader who has been the most effective in leading them astray. Up until now he has referred to the Judaizers as “they” (ch. 4:17); now he says “HE shall bear his judgment.” Paul is being gentle with those who have been misinformed. He is placing the blame where it belongs by pointing to those who have led them astray, and now especially to their RINGLEADER.
“This is so needful among our people today. Jesus said, “If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out.” No member is ‘too important’ or ‘too precious’ to be excluded if they persist in rebellion, but every effort should be made to restore or save them before that action is taken, just as one would go to any length to save their eye.” (Lonnie Mozingo Jr)
Shall bear his judgment It appears that Paul’s confidence in the Galatians leads him to believe that they will deal with the offender. In verse twelve he expresses his desire that the false teachers should be “cut off,” excluded from the church. But whether the Galatians ever dealt with them or not, God would judge them, and deal with them, in his own way.
Whosoever he be No doubt, the Galatians were intimidated by the prominence and influence of the Judaizers, and especially this one that Paul has in mind; but Paul would have them to know that persons make no difference with God. God will deal with sin— regardless of who the offender may be.
5:11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
And I, brethren Paul is so very courteous. He still hopes to rescue them, and he continues to call them “brethren.”
Col. 4:6, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
If I yet preach circumcision Paul had circumcised Timothy. His object was obviously to avoid offending the Jews unnecessarily, and also to prevent any hindrance to Timothy’s laboring among the Jews and being accepted by them. Circumcision was a custom among the Jews, and as long as it was practiced simply as a custom, Paul had no objection to it. He stated that to the Jews he became as a Jew, that he might gain the Jews (I Cor. 9:20). He counted circumcision to be nothing in and of itself (I Cor. 7:19). It was not the act of circumcision, but the motive behind the act that was important. If circumcision was performed as a Jewish custom, it was one thing; but if it was performed as a condition to salvation, that was something else entirely. But the Judaizers seem to have seized on Paul’s circumcising Timothy to claim that he was inconsistent— that he practiced on one occasion what he condemned in other people on other occasions.
Why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased Circumcision was the central demand of Judaism. It was the one thing that distinguished between Jew and Gentile. If the gospel required circumcision, then, the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile was still intact; the Jews still had their old advantages, and there was no reason that they should be so offended. The very fact that Paul was still being persecuted by the Jews indicated that they understood that Paul was no advocate of circumcision.
“The offence was that Christ’s work on the cross rendered the methodology of Judaism unnecessary. This, of course, threatened the Judaizers power base, and hence offended them, just as preaching creationism threatens the power base of the scientific community in our day, and thus offends them.” (Lonnie Mozingo Jr)
5:12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
These Judaizers had troubled the Galatians with their false doctrines (Acts 15:24), and Paul wishes that the Galatians would cut them off— exclude them from their membership. Tit. 3:10, “A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition REJECT.”
We are only required to labor with a heretic for a short time. If he cannot soon be convinced of his error, he is to be rejected— excluded from the church. Paul is still talking in the same vein as in verses 9 and 10, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded; but he that troubleth you shall BEAR HIS JUDGMENT, whosoever he be.” “A little leaven,” a little false doctrine, will soon infect the entire church. If the offenders cannot be reclaimed, they must be judged, and “cut off,” excluded from the church.
I Cor. 5:13, “But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”
Paul seems to hope that the Galatians would deal with them; but he was convinced that if they did not deal with the situation, God would deal with them.
Matt.24:51, “The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall CUT HIM ASUNDER, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Some of the pagan religions (in that area and others) required their priests to be castrated. Some commentators (Lenski and Hendrickson) think that is what Paul was talking about— that he was saying if they want to be circumcised, let them remove the entire member. But such an outburst is entirely out of place in Paul’s efforts to reclaim these erring brethren. Paul had no sympathy for the Judaizers, but he was not vindictive in his manner. Besides, on the principle of interpreting scripture by “comparing spiritual things with spiritual,” by comparing the Bible with the Bible, if that was what Paul was talking about, we ought to be able to find a similar expression somewhere else in the Bible. Since we cannot find Paul, nor any of the other apostles, praying for any such mutilation of their adversaries, it seems obvious that that is not what he was talking about here.
5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
For, brethren Paul has just expressed his wish that the Judaizers would be “cut off,” excluded from the church; he wishes to hear no more from them; but he begins this part of the letter by still calling the Galatians “brethren.” He makes a clear distinction between the troublemakers and those whom they were troubling.
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty In Christ Jesus we have freedom from sin, and Satan, and from the bondage of the law.
John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” We are no longer cursed by the law, and bound by its impossible demands.
Ch. 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”
Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh It is an easy matter for the old carnal nature to interpret freedom from the law to mean freedom to do as you please. No doubt, there were those who insisted that Paul’s doctrine of freedom from the law would do just that, that it would prompt those who believed it to be careless about their conduct. That is a very old and persistent charge that is made against the doctrine of grace. But the charge is just as false as it is old.
Rom. 3:8, “And not rather, (as we slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.”
I Pet. 2:16, “As free, and not using your liberty as a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”
The doctrine of grace will never prompt one who truly loves the Lord to indulge in sin. It is rather the greatest motive to service. If a person will not serve the Lord out of a sense of gratitude, he will not serve him from any other motive. But Peter points out that there are, indeed, some who do use their claim of liberty as a cover for their own sin.
II Pet. 2:19, “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”
Jude repeats the charge. Jude 4, “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
But by love serve one another Paul points out theirs is not a freedom to do as they please, but rather a freedom to do what the Spirit of God has now enabled them to do. If they desire to be servants, there is a proper way for them to serve. They do not need to be in bondage to the law; Christ has freed them from that. Let them be servants to each other. Why serve the ordinances of the law out of fear, when they can serve each other out of love?
I Cor. 9:19, “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.”
Ch. 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
The Law of Moses involved a long list of provisions, and exceptions, and minute details; but the Lord summarized our duty toward God to just two heads.
Matt. 22:37-40, “THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. On these TWO COMMANDMENTS hang all the law and the prophets.”
Everything God requires of his children is comprehended in these two commandments. In this verse Paul shortens it to “one word,” one commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Paul was not really leaving out anything the Lord included. To love your neighbor is to love the Lord. The person who does not love his neighbor (or his brother) does not love the Lord.
I John 4:20, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”
Rom. 13:8, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
The Galatians were concerned with fulfilling the law. Paul shows them that they will never fulfill the law by observing its carnal ordinances, such as circumcision; but they do fulfill the law when they obey the simple commandment to love one another.
James 2:8, “If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well.”
5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
But if ye bite and devour one another Love produces peace, and tranquility, and mutual respect; undue concern over forms and rituals produces jealousy, and contention. Love raises us above ourselves, and prompts us to be considerate and compassionate of each other; jealousy makes its subjects more like dogs, biting and snapping at each other. It is likely that the churches of Galatia were already troubled with contention, and Paul warns them of the consequences.
Take heed that ye be not consumed one of another There has been more destruction done in churches by members devouring each other than there has ever been done by enemies from the outside attacking the church. It is love that holds churches together, and when that is lost, the church will very soon come to ruin. Notice that they were in danger of being “consumed one of another.” Spite can never win; both parties usually continue until they destroy each other.
5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit The Spirit under consideration is the Holy Spirit. Paul uses similar language in referring to the Son.
Col. 2:6, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so WALK YE IN HIM.”
We walk in the Spirit, or walk in Christ, by following the impressions of the Spirit, by following the impressions of that PRINCIPLE OF GRACE that is planted in the heart by the indwelling of the Spirit of God. The Spirit gives an appetite for spiritual things and an abhorrence of evil. It gives us a feeling of peace and joy when we think on spiritual things and act accordingly; and it convicts and chastens our consciences when we sin. We are not only to think on things spiritual; we are to “walk” accordingly. Our conduct is to correspond to our profession.
Ch. 6:16, “And as many as WALK according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
It is when we meditate on spiritual things, and make them our constant concern that we are able to walk after the Spirit.
Phil. 4:8,9, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
And ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh “The flesh” is that carnal nature, that PRINCIPLE OF SIN that everyone of us inherited from Adam. Every person is born with a carnal nature, a sinful nature, that enjoys sin and the thought of sin. Paul does not promise that if we “walk in the Spirit” we will never be bothered by “the lusts of the flesh.” Even the most spiritual people are still bothered by the flesh. Sometimes unclean thoughts press themselves into our minds at the very time we would have least expected them. No one ever becomes entirely immune from the thought of sin;
but he does promise that we “shall not FULFILL the lusts of the flesh.” If we are walking in the Spirit, meditating on the things of the Spirit and looking to the Spirit to assist us in our efforts, we will not succumb to the lusts of the flesh. We cannot prevent improper thoughts from pressing their way, uninvited, into our minds; but we can keep them from tarrying there. It is when we allow that thought to tarry— even for a moment— that we are in danger. If we “walk in the Spirit,” though we still fall far short of the mark, we can prevent sin from having dominion over us.
Rom. 6:12, “Let not sin therefore REIGN in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”
In its broadest sense “fulfill” means to “bring to an end, to complete;” and that is what sin cannot do in our lives if we walk in the Spirit. The carnal nature afflicts us, and try as we will, we sometimes fall prey to its cunning; but the carnal nature (the flesh) can never gain the dominion over one that is walking after the Spirit.
5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
For the flesh LUSTETH against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh The word translated “lusteth” is “epithumei,” and, according to Thayer, it means “to set one’s heart upon, to have a desire for, to long for.” The flesh, the old carnal nature, the principle of sin which still dwells in our members, desires and longs for that which suits its nature; and the Spirit, the renewed nature, the principle of grace desires and longs for that which suits its nature.
And these are contrary the one to the other The flesh will never desire what suits the Spirit, and the Spirit will never desire what suits the flesh. So long as we live we will continue to be afflicted by the flesh. It will always be just as it is; its nature cannot be changed. We may war against it, and subdue it, and to a great extent, bring it into subjection; but we will never make it any better.
Rom. 8:7, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
So that ye cannot do the things that ye would The flesh will never allow us to become so spiritual as we would like to be; but we should thank God that the Spirit wars against the flesh, and will not allow us to sink so low as the flesh would have us to sink.
Rom. 7:15,19, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I….For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”
Eph. 4:22,23, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”
The unregenerate person has no such struggle. He has only one nature, a fleshly, carnal nature; and his life is a reflection of that nature. But with the born again person the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit is a never ending battle that will not end this side of the grave. We will leave all of our corruption in the grave (I Cor. 15:42-44); but until then we will have to struggle with it. And the more that we endeavor to follow the Spirit, the more the flesh rebels.
5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
In verse 16 he talked about walking in the Spirit; now he talks about being led by the Spirit. If there is any difference at all, walking in the Spirit is the result of being led by the Spirit. Either way, it indicates that the Spirit, and not the flesh, is the dominant influence in our lives.
Ye are not under the law The law is very much like Mount Sinai, the mountain where the Law of Moses was given. It thunders, and roars, and hurls its threatenings and condemnation. There can be no peace and no rest at the foot of Mount Sinai. The gospel is better seen in the call of the Lord: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden; and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). The one is based on fear; the other is based on love and devotion. The one is a curse; the other is a blessing. The person who is “led of the Spirit” is motivated by a sense of gratitude toward God for all his benefits; the person who is still trying to be justified by the law is motivated by a fear of punishment.
Ch. 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the CURSE OF THE LAW, being made a curse for us.”
Rom. 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are NOT UNDER THE LAW, but under grace.”
There is a doctrinal as well as a practical application to the text. Those who are “led of the Spirit” are those who are born of the Spirit. They are the elect of God; they were redeemed by the suffering and death of Christ, and their sin debt is paid. They are no longer under the curse and condemnation of the law.
Rom. 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
They were once in sin and dead, and they were subject to “the law of sin and death.” Now they are in the Spirit and alive, and they are subject to “the law of the Spirit of life.” There is no contradiction in saying that the one law has delivered us from another law, and then to say in another place that we are “not under the law.” For the person born of the Spirit and led of the Spirit the law has ceased AS A CURSE; it no longer has the power to threaten, and curse, and condemn. But it continues as a KIND ADVISER. He is no longer terrified by the law; he now delights to do the will of God.
Psa. 1:2, “But HIS DELIGHT is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.
Now the works of the flesh are MANIFEST The unregenerate person is flesh, all flesh, and nothing but flesh; he does not have a renewed, spiritual nature. And being nothing but flesh, his “works” are manifest. It is evident if a person does not have a spiritual nature; his works will give him away.
Matt. 7:16, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” But even if a person has been born again, he still has a carnal nature; he will never be entirely rid of the flesh this side of the grave. And sometimes his own works will “manifest” the fact that he does still have a carnal nature. They are also “manifest” in the sense that the very light of nature indicates that they are sinful. Even the wicked know that these kinds of conduct are wrong; but they delight the more to do them, because the flesh delights to do wrong; they delight to think they are in rebellion against God.
Prov. 9:17, “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret are pleasant.”
Which are these, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness Paul places the various kinds of sexual sin at the head of the list. In some sense sexual sin is more offensive in God’s sight than any other kind of sin. In his first letter to the Corinthians (a nation of people noted for that offense) Paul insists that sexual sin is a different kind of sin than any other.
I Cor. 6:18, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”
And here in this catalog of “the works of the flesh” he reserves the head of the list for sexual sins. Adultery (moichos) is illicit sexual intercourse between two people, at least one of which is married to someone else. Fornication (porneia) is the broader term; it is illicit sexual intercourse of any kind. It may be between married or unmarried persons; or it may even be incest, homosexuality, or bestiality. ADULTERY IS ALWAYS FORNICATION; BUT FORNICATION IS NOT ALWAYS ADULTERY.
Matt. 5:32, “But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of FORNICATION, causeth her to commit ADULTERY; and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth ADULTERY.”
Rev. 2:20-22, Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit FORNICATION, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her FORNICATION; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit ADULTERY with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”
The heathen condemned adultery.
I Cor. 5:1, “It is reported commonly that there is FORNICATION among you, and such FORNICATION as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have HIS FATHER’S WIFE.”
But they thought that fornication was not a sin, and if it was, it was a very small offense.
In Acts 15:20, James felt compelled to warn the Gentiles especially against fornication.
Uncleanness involves every sort of filthy conduct, whether filthy talk, or imagination, or actions. Lasciviousness (aselgeia), according to Thayer, means “unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness….wanton (acts or) manners, as filthy words, indecent bodily movements, unchaste handling of males and females, etc.).
5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.
Idolatry is the worship of any god other than the God of the Bible. Paul says that covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5); but that is not to deny the basic definition of idolatry, which is the worship of strange gods. Every form of idolatry, in one manner or another, is the worship of the creature (creation) more than the creator (Rom. 1:25); and as man is a part of the creation, idolatry is an effort to direct his worship away from God and back to himself— hence, covetousness, desiring what does not belong to him, in this case, worship.
The word translated witchcraft is “pharmakeia,” from which we get our word “pharmacy.” Paul groups idolatry and witchcraft (pharmakeia) together. The various forms of pagan idolatry and drug abuse have never been very far removed from each other. Pagan priests have always used drugs in their incantations, supposedly to assist them in contacting their “gods,” and in maintaining their hold over the people. It is no accident that an increase in drug abuse, and a increased interest in Eastern, pagan religions is sweeping our country at the same time. He has mentioned four offenses of a sexual nature, and two offenses having to do with a false, perverted religion; now he mentions fully eight different offenses having to do with our relations with other people. Hatred is a strong dislike, ill will; it implies the wishing for misfortune to befall the subject of the hatred. Variance is a quarrel or dispute; it is the natural result of hatred. Emulation is the effort to equal or surpass. “He who emulates is grieved that another should excel him, not because the virtue of worth of that person, in itself considered, gives him uneasiness, but because he would wish to be superior. The envious man has no desire to excel, but is grieved at the excellence of other men” (Aristotle quoted by Calvin). Wrath is intense anger, rage, fury. It is usually the outworking of hatred. Strife is the act of striving, contention, struggle, a quarrel. Sedition has to do with rebellion, the breaking up into parties. Heresy is a false and seditious doctrine. We would not really expect Paul to list heresy right in the middle of those offenses that have to do with our relations with other people. We would have expected it to be listed along with idolatry and witchcraft. The lesson is probably that, more often than not, heresy finds its most fertile ground in the heart rather than in the mind. The heretic is hateful and envious toward those in authority. He envies their position, and will not listen to their reasoning. He has no use for their person, and he will not be guided by their doctrine. He does not care that he disturbs the peace of the assembly, and it does not matter to him that they challenge his doctrine.
5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings After mentioning heresies he goes on to mention two more offenses against other people. Envy is a feeling of discontent and ill will because of another’s advantages or possessions; it indicates a grieving over the good fortune of others, and wishing it was not so well with them as it is. Murder is the ultimate offense against other people. Drunkenness and revelling, the excess that usually goes with drunkenness are offenses directed largely against one’s own person.
And such like The list is not complete. Paul has given us EXAMPLES of the sort of things the flesh is given to. The fact that some particular vice (such as gambling) is not specifically mentioned does not mean that it must therefore be all right.
Of the which I tell you BEFORE He is warning them before God deals with them in judgment. God deals with his people in judgment in this life, and if we “do such things” as are mentioned above, we “shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The New Testament Church is a kingdom; it is reigned over by a king. His word is our law; his precepts are our command. If a local church departs from the truth, or if they willfully allow immorality in their midst, God deals with them in judgment. God warned the church at Ephesus about that judgment.
Rev. 2:5, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works: or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will REMOVE THY CANDLESTICK out of his place, except thou repent.”
If God removes the candlestick from a local church, they are left in the dark; and without gospel light, they cease to be a church. They are simply a religious assembly— worshiping in the dark.
As I have also told you in time past There were those who accused Paul of preaching, “Let us do evil that good may come” (Rom. 3:8); but the charge was false. Paul had always warned God’s people against immoral conduct. The doctrine of grace, which Paul preached, is the greatest motive to godly living.
That they which do such things shall not INHERIT the kingdom of God It is not within our power, by our own devices, to guarantee possession of the kingdom, no matter how zealous and energetic we may be in those efforts. The Galatians thought that by their meticulous observance of legal ceremonies they could gain favor with God, and perhaps enhance their standing in the church; but Paul points out that the kingdom is an INHERITANCE. We cannot seize the church by our own strength; God bestows it on whom he will. Paul is pointing out that God will not leave the church in the possession of those who are guilty of such offenses as he has just mentioned. His mentioning those offenses so pointedly right in the middle of his argument against the notions of the false Judaizing teachers gives the impression that the Galatians had a problem in these areas. It had not been long since they had all been heathens, worshiping strange gods and, no doubt, behaving as the worshipers of those gods were accustomed to behaving. Perhaps the false teachers had emphasized the observance of ceremonies to the neglect of instructing them in godly living. At any rate, Paul felt the need to warn them.
I Cor. 6:9,10, “Know ye not that the unrighteous SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, SHALL INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”
The text has to do with inheritance in the church. To demonstrate that this is not talking about the judgment of the final day, and the eternal destiny of those under consideration, notice that Paul goes on to say, “And such were SOME of you.” If he had been talking about the condition and the destiny of the unregenerate, he would not have said that this applied only to “some” of them. They had all at one time been unregenerate, and had it not been for the grace of God, they would all have suffered eternally.
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
But the FRUIT of the Spirit He has been talking about “the works of the flesh;” now he talks about “the fruit of the Spirit.” The flesh produces works; the Spirit produces fruit. A man can build a house, or a car, or a boat; but he cannot build an apple, nor an orange. The flesh is fully capable of producing works: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, etc.; but it can never produce love, joy, and peace. Those are “the fruit of the Spirit;” they are only found where the Spirit is found. Every apple that ever was came from an apple tree; and as surely as you find love, joy, and peace, you have found one in whose heart the Spirit of God is found. Notice that fruit is in the singular. The various “fruit of the Spirit” are simply different aspects of the same thing. When the Lord gave that great summary of the law, he found the entire requirement of the law in one word: love— love for God, and love for our fellow man.
Love Paul lists love as the first example of the fruit of the Spirit. The unregenerate have some emotion resembling love; but it is not genuine. The only real love is that found in the heart of a born again person.
I John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and EVERY ONE THAT LOVETH IS BORN OF GOD, and knoweth God.”
Joy What the wicked call joy is really lust, and the gratification of the flesh. The Spirit of God gives a joy that the wicked can never know.
Rom. 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST.”
Peace John 14;27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Isa. 57:20, “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.”
Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness Love for others will find its manifestation in our dealings with them.
Faith The modern revival system holds out faith in God as a condition for the wicked to meet in order to gain favor with God, and acquire divine life; but Paul insists that faith is a “fruit of the Spirit.” It is only found where the Spirit has already taken up its abode. Those who do not have the Spirit of God dwelling in their hearts do not believe God, and they cannot believe him. The gospel is foolishness to them, and they cannot conceive of it as being anything but foolishness.
John 8:43, “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because YE CANNOT HEAR MY WORD.”
I Cor. 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish FOOLISHNESS; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
I Cor. 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are FOOLISHNESS unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Meekness To be meek is to be “patient and mild; not inclined to anger or resentment.”
Temperance is self-restraint, the ability to control one’s temper and passions. “It may be observed, that these fruits of the Spirit are opposed to the works of the flesh. So love is opposed to hatred; joy to emulations and envying; peace to variance, strife, and seditions; long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, and meekness, to wrath and murders; faith to idolatry, witchcraft, and heresies; and temperance to adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, drunkenness, and revellings” (John Gill).
Against such there is no law The false teachers had taught them to be overly concerned with the law with all its ceremonies, and provisions, and exceptions. Paul points out that those who have the characteristics just described have nothing to fear from the law. First, being “in the Spirit,” they are not under the law; they are delivered from the tyranny of the law. But, more than that, there was never anything in the law that forbade any of these things in the first place.
I Tim. 1:9, “Knowing this, that the law is NOT MADE FOR A RIGHTEOUS MAN, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers.”
5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
And they that are Christ’s We are Christ’s by sovereign election; he chose his people in eternity past. We are his by redemption; he bought us and paid for us by his sacrificial death.
I Cor. 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price.”
And we are his by PUBLIC PROFESSION. The thought leads us back to ch. 3:27. By baptism, by public profession, and consequently by our godly walk, the Christian puts on Christ. The figure is that of putting on a garment. We disavow the filthy rags (Isa. 64:6) of our own righteousness, and we claim the spotless robe of the righteousness of Christ for our own (I Cor. 1:30, Rev. 19:8); we are clothed with his righteousness. The child of God belongs to God by sovereign grace, and nothing can change that; but the only way others around us will ever be aware of that fact is when we put on Christ by public profession— when we display by our godly walk that we are his.
Have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts When Christ suffered and died on the cross, by the principle of representation, WE DIED WITH HIM. When he died under the penalty of the law, WE DIED TO THE DEMANDS OF THE LAW. The law can only follow a man to the grave.
Rom. 7:1, “Know ye not brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law), how that the law hath dominion over a man AS LONG AS HE LIVETH?”
Rom. 6:6, “Knowing this, that OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
Gal. 2:20, “I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
In these two verses the subject is PASSIVE; he is crucified with Christ; it is an act performed for him. Now we are to be in PRACTICE what we already are in PRINCIPLE. We are, in principle, dead to the law, and delivered from the law— being “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). We are, in practice, dead to the law, and delivered from the law, when we see ourselves as crucified with him, and by faith in his finished work we crucify the “old man,” and walk “in the Spirit.”
Rom. 8:13, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do MORTIFY THE DEEDS OF THE BODY, ye shall live.”
Notice that in these two verses the child of God is ACTIVE; he mortifies the deeds of the body, and he crucifies the flesh. So long as he walks after the flesh, he walks as a person alive to the law. The law suits his case; it was made “for the lawless and disobedient etc.,” I Tim. 1:9. He is, in practice, alive to the law, and condemned by the law. As he walks after the Spirit, he walks as a man dead to the law, and delivered from the law.
5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
If we live in the Spirit It was the Spirit, and not lifeless, carnal ceremonies, that rescued them from sin, and gave them life. The Spirit of God is that powerful force that lives in their hearts, quickening them from a state of death in sin, giving them an appetite for spiritual things, and enabling them to walk in a manner pleasing in God’s sight.
Rom. 8:9, “For ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.”
Let us also walk in the Spirit Those who are “in the flesh,” who are still dead in trespasses do not have the Spirit of God, and therefore are not capable of walking in the Spirit. They are NOT CAPABLE of pleasing God.
Rom. 8:8, “So then they that are in the flesh CANNOT PLEASE GOD.”
Paul is pleading with those who are capable of pleasing God to do so by their godly walk.
Rom. 8:4, “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” “In verse 16 the verb used is peripateo, the ordinary word for ‘to walk’; here it is stoicheo, ‘to keep in line, to march in rank and file'” (R.C.H. Lenski). We should view the expression, not only as a solemn challenge, but as the most encouraging prospect. To “walk in the Spirit” is to walk with God, to enjoy the presence of God. Neither Adam in the morning of time, nor the apostles in their day had any greater privilege than the saints do in this day. We are, in spirit, able to enjoy communion with our Lord. There is no greater joy available to a heaven born soul, prior to that day when we shall see him face to face, than to “walk in the Spirit” while we sojourn here in this life. There is nothing else that gives us a sweeter foretaste of what awaits us after awhile.
5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Let us not be desirous of vain glory The notion of salvation by works, in any of its various forms, always genders to vainglory. If one believes that the works of men have anything at all to do with the salvation of sinners, he will always be striving for the greater recognition. Those who think they can somehow merit salvation will always have a low opinion of those whom they think to be less deserving than they are; and they will feel slighted if they do not get the respect they think is their due.
Provoking one another The desire for recognition is the fountain of all sorts of provocation and envy. Those who want recognition for themselves are by nature envious of others who receive any amount of applause.
Phil. 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
Vainglory provokes strife and competition, and hurt feelings.
Envying one another To envy is to be grieved at the good fortune of others, and to wish that it was not as well with them as it is. There is no other remedy for vainglory, and the provocation and envy that go with it, than to see ourselves as we are—by nature, helpless, ruined sinners, who do not have the ability nor the will to save ourselves, nor to help bring about our salvation. Any system that finds any merit at all in the sinner lays the ground for envy and vainglory.
CHAPTER SIX
6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Brethren This letter to the Galatians is one of the most stinging rebukes that Paul wrote; but eleven times he calls them “brethren.” He is very concerned to save them, if he can.
If a man be overtaken in a fault He is not talking about those whose lives openly scandalize the church. If a person’s conduct is an open reproach to the church, he is to be excluded from the membership.
I Cor. 5:9-13, “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no, not to eat…..Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”
He is talking about one who is “overtaken in a fault,” one who falls prey to temptation— not one who makes a practice of sinful activities. Sometimes it happens that even the best of people fall into sin, and need the help of their brethren.
Ye which are SPIRITUAL, restore such an one Not everyone in the Galatian churches was “spiritual;” some of them were so legalistic, so carried away with forms and ceremonies, that Paul does not call on them to assist. He is sure that their legalism has made them so self-righteous that they would be no benefit in restoring an erring brother. Those who are involved in a religion prompted by the flesh are not likely to benefit a brother whose flesh has gained the advantage of him. Paul is calling on those who are walking “in the Spirit” (ch. 5:25) to assist.
RESTORE such an one It is the place of the church to rescue and restore those who can be restored. It is a grief to the church to lose even so much as one of our number, and if there is any possible way, we want to save them.
Rom. 15:1, “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
Heb. 12:13, “And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”
James 5:19,20, “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
In the spirit of MEEKNESS Even though the brother may know he is in the wrong, he is not likely to be moved by an arrogant, self-righteous reprimand. Such an approach will only drive him farther away.
I Cor. 4:21, “What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of MEEKNESS?”
II Thess. 3:15, “Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
II Tim. 2:25, “In MEEKNESS instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.”
Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted It behooves us to be tender and compassionate with an erring brother. There is none of us who has reached such a high plateau in our own personal warfare that we are not capable of falling. Someone may square his shoulders, and boast, “I will tell you right now that I will never be guilty of any such conduct”; but he does not know that. Every one of us is liable to fall.
I Cor. 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh that he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
Even the apostle Paul was concerned that he might make shipwreck of his own life.
I Cor. 9:27, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
There is a double warning in the expression, “considering thyself.” Those who are the quickest to judge others usually wind up being judged in exactly the same manner. You do reap what you sow.
Matt. 7:2, “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.”
James 2:13, “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”
Notice that in this expression Paul changed from the plural “ye which are spiritual” to the singular “considering thyself.” He wants every person to make a personal application to his warning, and consider himself as personally liable to fall.
6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Bear ye one another’s burdens The expression probably looks back at what has been said in the previous verse. It presumes that the fault into which the brother has fallen is a “burden” and not a pleasure to him. But it takes in more than that; it takes in every sort of burden that might afflict our brethren. We ought to be ready to help to carry the load of our brother, whatever that load might be.
I Thess. 5:14, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”
Rom. 12:15, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”
The Judaizers were fond of burdens; he would give them a proper burden to carry.
Matt. 23:4, “For ye bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”
And so fulfil the law of Christ The Galatians were anxious to fulfil the law. They were carried away with forms and ceremonies. Paul shows them that there is a law they can fulfil. By caring for one another, and helping to bear the burdens of one another, they “fulfil the law of Christ.” The law is very different in the hand of Christ than it was in the hand of Moses. In the hand of Moses it involved an almost endless list of requirements, and provisions, and exceptions. In the hand of Christ it is reduced to one word, LOVE, love toward God, and love toward our neighbor. In the hand of Moses it thundered out its threatenings, “Thou shalt not…Thou shalt not…Thou shalt not”; and it hurled its thunder bolts at those who violated its precepts. In the hand of Christ it is simply, “THOU SHALT love the Lord thy God…..and THOU SHALT love thy neighbor.” The one is a CRUEL TASKMASTER, constantly threatening with death and damnation; the other is a KIND ADVISER directing us in the good way. In the hand of Moses it is the “law of sin and death”; in the hand of Christ it is the “law of the spirit of life.”
Rom. 8:2, “For the LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS hath made me free from the LAW OF SIN AND DEATH.”
“The law of sin and death” is for those who are in sin and dead; the “law of the spirit of life” is for those who are in the Spirit and alive.
Rom. 13:10, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW.”
Matt. 22:37-40, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
James 2:8, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well.”
I John 3:23, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”
I John 4:21, “And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”
6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing An inflated opinion of yourself, and of your own worth, is the greatest obstacle to showing compassion to those in distress. The proud person imagines that the person in need probably “brought it on himself”; and he cannot imagine that he will ever be in such a condition. If we could get over our pride, we would all show greater compassion toward each other. There is nothing that will make us more compassionate of others than to see ourselves as we really are.
I Cor. 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
Phil. 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
Rom. 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
When he is nothing Man is by nature “nothing and less than nothing” (Isa. 40:17). He is a sinner saved by grace, if he is saved at all, and he has nothing in himself to boast about.
I Cor. 8:2, “And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.”
II Cor. 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.”
He deceiveth himself The worst deceit of all is to deceive yourself, and any sinner who convinces himself that he has some great worth of his own has deceived himself.
James 1:26, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but DECEIVETH his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.”
“Note, Self-conceit is but self-deceit: as it is inconsistent with that charity we owe to others…..so it is a cheat upon ourselves; and there is not a more dangerous cheat in the world than self-deceit” (Matthew Henry).
6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
But let every man PROVE his own work It should be our first priority to “prove” our own work, to examine ourselves. We do not have nearly so much need to discover whether other people measure up to the mark as we do to examine ourselves. I Cor.28, “But let a man EXAMINE himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”
II Cor. 13:5, “EXAMINE yourselves whether ye be in the faith; PROVE your own selves.”
And then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another If we examine ourselves, and we are convinced that God has, indeed, done a work in our hearts, and that his work has had a beneficial effect on our life and conduct, we have ground for rejoicing for what God has done for us— but we still do not have ground for rejoicing in the deficiency of others— nor in comparing ourselves with others.
II Cor. 10:12,17, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise….But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
II Cor. 12:9, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
There is no contradiction between this verse and verse two, when he says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” In verse two he is talking about our connections and dealings with each other. In that sense we are a church family; we are to look over one another, and help one another as best we can. But just previous to this verse, he has instructed us to prove our own work, to consider what our own condition is. It is now our own relationship with our Maker that is under consideration. How well are we obeying our Lord and keeping his commandments? And in this sense, there is no one who can bear our burdens for us— we must answer for ourselves. Every day of our lives we stand before God in judgment, and we must answer to him for our conduct.
Rom. 14:10-12, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
In this verse he goes from bearing the burdens of each other to bearing the burdens of their teachers, the ministry. It is the place of the church to provide the temporal needs of those who minister to them in spiritual things. The word translated “communicate” is “koinoneito,” and it means “to come into communion or fellowship, to become a sharer, be made a partner.” The language is beautiful; sharing with those who teach us of spiritual things does more than just supply their material needs. By sharing our material things with them, we become partners with them; we enjoy communion and fellowship with them. Their work becomes our work, and in a very real sense, what is done by them is done by us. The preacher cannot preach if God has not called him and given him the ability to preach; but by the same token, he can do very little preaching, if he must spend all his time earning a livelihood for himself and his family.
Rom. 15:27, “It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.”
I Cor. 9:11, “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?”
6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
We should examine every text in the light of its context; and the immediate context of this verse is the principle of sharing of our material things (vs. 6). That is in perfect agreement with Paul’s use of the metaphor of sowing and reaping.
II Cor. 9:6,7,10, “But this I say, he which SOWETH SPARINGLY shall REAP also SPARINGLY; and he which SOWETH BOUNTIFULLY shall REAP also BOUNTIFULLY. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver…..Now he which ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and MULTIPLY YOUR SEED SOWN, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”
Be not deceived, God is not MOCKED Paul places a very heavy burden on those who refuse to share of their material things. He insists that those, who are guilty, are also guilty of mocking God. Solomon says the same thing in essentially the same words.
Prov. 17:5, “Whoso MOCKETH the poor, REPROACHETH his Maker.
I John 3:17, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”
Those who are covetous and miserly in dealing with the needy are guilty of DOUBTING GOD and DECEIVING THEMSELVES. They have convinced themselves that they can withhold their material things and still prosper materially. Haggai dealt with the same thing. He insisted that people in his day would reap what they had sown— and the context of his warning was exactly the same as it was with Paul in this text.
Haggai 1:2-6, “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. YE HAVE SOWN MUCH, AND BRING IN LITTLE; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a BAG WITH HOLES.”
The lesson is that if a person withholds what he should have given, HE WILL LOSE IT, ANYWAY. The covetous person will convince himself that other obligations are too pressing; and he just does not have anything to spare. But the question is not really whether he can afford to give, but whether he can afford not to. If his finances are in a pitiful case, he cannot afford to lose what he has.
For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap The context makes it so clear that the sowing and reaping is in this life— and not in the life to come— that it would be ludicrous for anyone to try to show that the reaping under consideration is in eternity. We do not sow in one field and reap in another; we reap in the same field in which we sow. The sowing under consideration is in this life, and the reaping is in this life.
6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption Every man has a fleshly nature; and he is capable of sowing “to his flesh.” He sows corruption, and he reaps corruption. In the previous chapter Paul has shown what it is to reap corruption.
Ch. 5:19-21, “Now the WORKS OF THE FLESH are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.”
Those are the CORRUPT HARVEST OF A CORRUPT NATURE.
But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit REAP LIFE EVERLASTING Every born again person has a spiritual nature; and he is capable of sowing “to the Spirit.” He lives in the Spirit, and walks in the Spirit (Ch. 5:25); he directs his conduct based on the leading of the Spirit, and he reaps the harvest of the Spirit. He has everlasting life, and he reaps the harvest of everlasting life. In the previous chapter Paul showed what it was to reap the harvest of the Spirit.
Ch. 5:22-23, “But the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.”
These are “the fruit of the Spirit”; they are the SPIRITUAL HARVEST OF A SPIRITUAL NATURE; they are only found where the Spirit is found. Lest anybody should get the idea that this text gives any basis for hoping to gain eternal life by works, we should hasten to point out that to “reap life everlasting” does not mean the same as to receive everlasting life, nor to gain everlasting life. The man does not receive corruption by sowing to his flesh; but rather he REAPS corruption, because he has a corrupt nature that produces corruption. And, by the same token, he does not receive everlasting life, by sowing to the Spirit. He REAPS everlasting life because he has everlasting life, and he REAPS the harvest that everlasting life produces. THE TWO PRINCIPLES ARE PERFECTLY IN BALANCE— by either sowing to his flesh, or sowing to the Spirit, he REAPS THE HARVEST OF THE NATURE WHICH HE ALREADY POSSESSES.
Rom. 6:21,22, “What FRUIT had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed: for the end of those things is DEATH? But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your FRUIT unto holiness, and the end EVERLASTING LIFE.”
Notice that Paul refers to “HIS flesh,” but he refers to “THE Spirit.” It is the Spirit of God, and not the spirit of the man under consideration. He does not intend to leave any doubt that the person under consideration is already in possession of “THE Spirit” of God; he is already a born again character.
“One who already ‘owns’ a field labors in it, and then reaps the benefits of that which is his. Again, the field (eternal life) is already his, and he labors (sows) and then reaps those benefits while he lives.” (Steve Wilkinson)
6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
And let us not be weary in well doing He is still talking about sowing and reaping. We cannot expect to sow and reap the same day. We must wait for the harvest. In our service toward God there are some blessings that come very early. The eleventh hour servants received the same blessing as the others (Matt. 20:1-16). But there are other blessings for which we must wait. Among many other things there is a fullness of joy, and a deep conviction of the providence and protection of God, that only comes after a long life of service, and being able to look back on the many blessings God has provided, and the many deliverances we have experienced. Ever so many people start out well. They enjoy great blessings in God’s service. But they do not persevere, and they are not able to enjoy the bountiful harvest they might have received. Their early experience is promising; but before long they are barren and unfruitful.
For in due season we shall reap if we faint not We have great need of patience, if we are going to reap the bountiful harvest which the Spirit of God can and will produce in our lives— if we persevere in his service.
Heb. 10:36, “For ye have need of PATIENCE, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”
Matt. 24:13, “But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.”
I Cor. 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
If we faint not The trials of the way, and the chastening of the Lord can be heavy burdens to bear, and many a person has fainted under the load.
Heb. 12:3,5, “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and FAINT in your minds….And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor FAINT when thou art rebuked of him.”
6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men Christians ought to be the most generous of all people. God has been so good to us in giving us life, and health, and a hope of eternal heaven. He has showered us with all good things in this life, and the prospect of infinitely more in the world to come. It behooves us to share with others, as best we can. None of us have so much that we can afford to scatter our possessions to the four winds; but we ought to be on the alert for the opportunity to help those who are truly in need.
I Thess. 5:15, “See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and TO ALL MEN.”
I Tim. 6:18, “That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.”
Especially unto them who are of the household of faith God has so ordered things that we have a special obligation to our own. Families, and especially fathers, have a special obligation to the other members of the family that they do not have to society at large.
I Tim. 5:8, “But if any PROVIDE NOT FOR HIS OWN, and specially for THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSE, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
A father ought to be generous toward his neighbors; but he does not have the same obligation toward them that he does toward his own family. In this verse Paul refers to the church as “the household of faith.” THE CHURCH IS A FAMILY; we are brothers and sisters to each other; and being a family, we have a special obligation to each other. For a church not to provide for those of her members who are truly in need is very much the same as for a natural family to ignore the needs of each other.
Eph. 2:19, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the HOUSEHOLD OF GOD.”
6:11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.
This letter to the Galatians was not the longest letter Paul wrote. Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Ephesians, and Hebrews were all longer; and none of the commentators is able to provide any help. Some of them guess that Paul had an eye affliction that caused him to write with large characters; others guess that his writing hand had been injured in the beating he received at Lystra; and others think that being a Jew he was not accustomed to writing in Greek characters. It is clear that Paul did not always write his epistles with his own hand. He often used an amanuensis to put the words on paper. You may recall that he used Tertius to record his letter to the Romans (Rom. 16:22). Sometimes he only wrote a portion, such as the salutation of the letter, with his own hand (I Cor. 16:21, II Thess. 3:17). At any rate, Paul calls attention to the fact that he has written this letter with his own hand as an indication of his great concern for them.
6:12 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh In this verse Paul brings his argument to a head. He points out the true motives of the false teachers. They were not interested in their hearers at all. They were interested in their own welfare. “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The Galatians were a spiritual people; they had “begun in the Spirit”; but the Judaizers had convinced them that they could be “made perfect by the flesh” (Ch. 3:3). They had traded that which is noble, and spiritual, and uplifting, for that which is only of the flesh. Paul is pointing out that these who would lead them astray are not interested in their spiritual welfare; they are only interested in a FLESHLY SHOW. They wanted to appear righteous before men. The desire for attention and recognition has always been a natural part of the desire to be justified by the works of the flesh.
They constrain you to be circumcised It is not entirely clear whether any of the Galatians had submitted to circumcision yet. In chapter 5, verse 2, he was still saying, “IF ye be circumcised.” But if they had not yet been circumcised, the false teachers were constraining them, pressing them, to go ahead with it.
Only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ Circumcision was the focal point of the entire Law of Moses. If a person acknowledged the validity of circumcision, he acknowledged the validity of the entire system. If he submitted to circumcision he placed himself under obligation to keep the entire law.
Ch. 5:3, “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a DEBTOR TO DO THE WHOLE LAW.”
Most of the persecution the early Christians experienced came from the Jews. To fail to be circumcised was to reject the entire system of the Law of Moses as a proper rule of life for this day and age, and this brought upon them the wrath of the Jews. So the easiest way for anyone to escape persecution from the Jews was to submit to circumcision. If they would be circumcised, it would appear that there was very little difference between their religion and Judaism.
6:13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law By being circumcised themselves these false teachers had placed themselves under obligation to keep the whole law (ch. 5:3); but they had not kept it. The Law of Moses was a very complex and burdensome system. Many of its requirements (such as the redistribution of land every fifty years) could not be kept except by Jews living in the land of Canaan. No man had ever kept the law perfectly, least of all, these Judaizing teachers who were afflicting the Galatian churches.
But desire to have you circumcised They did not keep the law themselves; but they singled out this one requirement (which they properly perceived to be the focal point of the entire law system), and imposed it on the Galatians. If they could get the Galatians to submit to this one requirement, they could gain favor with the Jews.
That they may glory in your flesh They gloried in the outward change they had been able to require from the Galatians, rather than any spiritual good that might accrue to them.
6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
But God forbid that I should glory Paul uses the strongest language possible in repudiating vainglory, especially in matters of religion. It is impossible to imagine any more forceful way that he could express himself on paper than to draw himself up to full stature, and thunder, “GOD FORBID.” Fleshly religion always panders to vainglory, and Paul faces the problem head on. The Judaizers looked to gain glory for themselves by bringing the Galatians around to their point of view. They thought that if they could persuade the Galatians to be circumcised, they could, at least, gain favor with the Jews.
Save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ It is not glorying that is wrong, but rather glorying in the wrong thing. Paul will not glory in his own accomplishments; but it is his greatest delight to glory in the finished work of Christ Jesus in his suffering and dying to redeem his people. The Judaizers were, no doubt, more than a little ashamed of the thought of Christ on the cross. Those who glory in the flesh can find no satisfaction in thinking that by his suffering and dying in such a public and humiliating manner that Christ accomplished what they could never accomplish with all their works.
By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world The cross was an instrument of death. Paul is saying that the world was dead to him, and he was dead to the world. Because of his devotion to the crucified and risen Saviour, he had no use for the world; and the world had no use for him. He took no delight in the world and its enticements; and the world took no delight in the gospel he preached.
Ch. 2:20, “I am CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Phil. 3:7,8, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”
6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision Circumcision was an important consideration under the Ceremonial Law. If a person was going to enjoy the benefits of the law service, he had no choice but to be circumcised; and in Paul’s day the Jews still considered circumcision to be the most necessary of all observances. But those restrictions no longer apply. Circumcision might still be practiced as a medical procedure, or as a national custom. Paul circumcised Timothy— simply in compliance with Jewish custom— rather than offend the Jews unnecessarily; but he warned the Galatians very strongly against being circumcised, as a means of gaining favor with God, or of securing salvation.
I Cor. 7:19, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
Ch. 5:6, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
Col. 3:11, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”
But a new creature What does make all the difference is the work of the Spirit of God in the heart of an individual.
II Cor. 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is A NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
In regeneration a person is created anew; he is “a new creature” in Christ. Circumcision demonstrated that one was a FLESHLY CHILD OF ABRAHAM; in regeneration a person is made a SPIRITUAL CHILD OF GOD.
John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.”
6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
And as many as This expression is in distinction to the “as many as” in verse 12. In that verse it is “as many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh”; in this verse it is “as many as walk according to this rule.”
And as many as walk according to this rule The Judaizers had laid out rules that the Galatians should observe; but their rules and Paul’s do not agree.
Phil 3:16, “Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us WALK BY THE SAME RULE, let us mind the same thing.”
Their rules were the old rules and restrictions of LEGAL BONDAGE.
Ch. 4:9, “How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be IN BONDAGE?”
Paul’s rule was the LIBERTY that is found in Christ Jesus.
Ch. 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the LIBERTY wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
James 1:25, “But whoso looketh into the PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Note: the word that is translated “rule” is “kanon,” meaning a measuring rod, and it is the word from which we got our word “canon,” which came to refer to the Scriptures. It is by the Scriptures that we measure our doctrine, our practice, and our life and conduct.
Peace be on them, and mercy The Judaizers, and legalists of this world may enjoy the applause of the world; but mercy and peace have always been the blessings of the obedient child of God.
John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
And upon the Israel of God Circumcision had been the grand identifying mark that set the Jews apart from the rest of mankind, and identified them as the beneficiaries of the covenant made with Abraham. National Israel had lost the advantages they once had, and circumcision no longer made any difference. “The Israel of God” was identified, not by carnal circumcision in the flesh, but by the work of God in the heart.
Rom. 2:28,29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Rom. 4:12, “And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”
Rom. 9:6,7,8, “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”
Gal. 3:7, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.”
Gal. 3:29, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Note: there are some who insist that the expression “the Israel of God” has reference to National Israel, and that the “and” in this expression indicates an additional blessing on National Israel, at least, on that part of them who might some day in the future believe the gospel. But any such interpretation goes against the entire direction of Paul’s argument all through the epistle. The word translated “and” is “kai” and it very often means “even,” as in John 3:5, “except a man be born of water and (even) the Spirit.” “As many as walk according to this rule,” and “the Israel of God” have reference to the same people.
6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
From henceforth let no man trouble me Paul was not for constantly debating the matter. He had said what he intended to say, and as far as he was concerned, the matter was closed.
For I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Paul would prefer that those who disagreed with him would refrain from making him the target of their attacks; but if they must attack him personally, he reminds them that he already has his marks, his wounds from previous battles. If they must attack him, he can take it; he has withstood adversity before. He has suffered for the cause of truth, and he is willing to suffer again, if need be.
II Cor. 11:24-26, “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep: in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren.” In verse sixteen Paul opposes the “as many as” of that verse against the “as many as” of verse twelve. Now he opposes the “in my body” of this verse against the “fair shew in the flesh” of verse twelve. Circumcision was a carnal ordinance performed by making a cutting of the flesh. The false teachers gloried that they were able to convince others to submit to that mark in the flesh. Paul insists that if they wish to glory in the flesh, he has his marks as well; but his marks are very different than theirs. His marks are the scars and wounds he has received in the defense of the gospel.
6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Brethren Paul seizes one more opportunity to call them “brethren.” He has reprimanded them sharply; but he will not close the book without once more expressing his great closeness to them.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit He closes the book in the usual way: he wishes upon them the blessings that accompany the grace of God. He is not wishing that they might be recipients of the grace of God, but rather that the grace of God might be with their spirit, that they might in spirit experience the love of God in their hearts. He closed his second letter to Timothy (II Tim. 4:22) and his letter to Philemon (Phil. 25) with the same prayer that the grace of God might be with their spirit. The Galatians had been walking after the flesh; Paul’s closing prayer is that they might have grace sufficient to begin to walk after the Spirit.
Amen So be it.