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Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) |
INTRODUCTION
THE internal and external evidence for Paul's authorship is conclusive. The style is characteristically Pauline. The superscription, and allusions to the apostle of the Gentiles in the first person, throughout the Epistle, establish the same truth (@Ga 1:1,13-24 2:1-14). His authorship is also upheld by the unanimous testimony of the ancient Church: compare IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 3,7,2] (@Ga 3:19); POLYCARP [Epistle to the Philippians, 3] quotes @Ga 4:26 6:7; JUSTIN MARTYR, or whoever wrote the Discourse to the Greeks, alludes to @Ga 4:12 5:20.
The Epistle was written "TO THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA" (@Ga 1:2), a district of Asia Minor, bordering on Phrygia, Pontus, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Paphlagonia. The inhabitants (Gallo-græci, contracted into Galati, another form of the name Celts) were Gauls in origin, the latter having overrun Asia Minor after they had pillaged Delphi, about 280 B.C. and at last permanently settled in the central parts, thence called Gallo-græcia or Galatia. Their character, as shown in this Epistle, is in entire consonance with that ascribed to the Gallic race by all writers. Cæsar [Commentaries on the Gallic War, 4,5], "The infirmity of the Gauls is that they are fickle in their resolves and fond of change, and not to be trusted." So Thierry (quoted by ALFORD), "Frank, impetuous, impressible, eminently intelligent, but at the same time extremely changeable, inconstant, fond of show, perpetually quarrelling, the fruit of excessive vanity." They received Paul at first with all joy and kindness; but soon wavered in their allegiance to the Gospel and to him, and hearkened as eagerly now to Judaizing teachers as they had before to him (@Ga 4:14-16). The apostle himself had been the first preacher among them (@Ac 16:6 Ga 1:8 4:13; see on Ga 4:13; "on account of infirmity of flesh I preached unto you at the first": implying that sickness detained him among them); and had then probably founded churches, which at his subsequent visit he "strengthened" in the faith (@Ac 18:23). His first visit was about A.D. 51, during his second missionary journey. JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 16.62] testifies that many Jews resided in Ancyra in Galatia. Among these and their brethren, doubtless, as elsewhere, he began his preaching. And though subsequently the majority in the Galatian churches were Gentiles (@Ga 4:8,9), yet these were soon infected by Judaizing teachers, and almost suffered themselves to be persuaded to undergo circumcision (@Ga 1:6 3:1,3 5:2,3 6:12,13). Accustomed as the Galatians had been, when heathen, to the mystic worship of Cybele (prevalent in the neighboring region of Phrygia), and the theosophistic doctrines connected with that worship, they were the more readily led to believe that the full privileges of Christianity could only be attained through an elaborate system of ceremonial symbolism (@Ga 4:9-11 5:7-12). They even gave ear to the insinuation that Paul himself observed the law among the Jews, though he persuaded the Gentiles to renounce it, and that his motive was to keep his converts in a subordinate state, excluded from the full privileges of Christianity, which were enjoyed by the circumcised alone (@Ga 5:11 @Ga 4:16, compare with @Ga 2:17); and that in "becoming all things to all men," he was an interested flatterer (@Ga 1:10), aiming at forming a party for himself: moreover, that he falsely represented himself as an apostle divinely commissioned by Christ, whereas he was but a messenger sent by the Twelve and the Church at Jerusalem, and that his teaching was now at variance with that of Peter and James, "pillars" of the Church, and therefore ought not to be accepted.
His PURPOSE, then, in writing this Epistle was: (1) to defend his apostolic authority (@Ga 1:11-19 2:1-14); (2) to counteract the evil influence of the Judaizers in Galatia (@Ga 3:1-4:31), and to show that their doctrine destroyed the very essence of Christianity, by lowering its spirituality to an outward ceremonial system; (3) to give exhortation for the strengthening of Galatian believers in faith towards Christ, and in the fruits of the Spirit (@Ga 5:1-6:18). He had already, face to face, testified against the Judaizing teachers (@Ga 1:9 4:16 Ac 18:23); and now that he has heard of the continued and increasing prevalence of the evil, he writes with his own hand (@Ga 6:11: a labor which he usually delegated to an amanuensis) this Epistle to oppose it. The sketch he gives in it of his apostolic career confirms and expands the account in Acts and shows his independence of human authority, however exalted. His protest against Peter in @Ga 2:14-21, disproves the figment, not merely of papal, but even of that apostle's supremacy; and shows that Peter, save when specially inspired, was fallible like other men.
There is much in common between this Epistle and that to the Romans on the subject of justification by faith only, and not by the law. But the Epistle to the Romans handles the subject in a didactic and logical mode, without any special reference; this Epistle, in a controversial manner, and with special reference to the Judaizers in Galatia.
The STYLE combines the two extremes, sternness. (@Ga 1:1-24 3:1-5) and tenderness (@Ga 4:19,20), the characteristics of a man of strong emotions, and both alike well suited for acting on an impressible people such as the Galatians were. The beginning is abrupt, as was suited to the urgency of the question and the greatness of the danger. A tone of sadness, too, is apparent, such as might be expected in the letter of a warm-hearted teacher who had just learned that those whom he loved were forsaking his teachings for those of perverters of the truth, as well as giving ear to calumnies against himself.
The TIME OF WRITING was after the visit to Jerusalem recorded in @Ac 15:1, &c.; that is, A.D. 50, if that visit be, as seems probable, identical with that in @Ga 2:1. Further, as @Ga 1:9 ("as we said before"), and @Ga 4:16 ("Have [ALFORD] I become your enemy?" namely, at my second visit, whereas I was welcomed by you at my first visit), refer to his second visit (@Ac 18:23), this Epistle must have been written after the date of that visit (the autumn of A.D. 54). @Ga 4:13, "Ye know how . . . I preached . . . at the first" (Greek, "at the former time"), implies that Paul, at the time of writing, had been twice in Galatia; and @Ga 1:6, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed," implies that he wrote not long after having left Galatia for the second time; probably in the early part of his residence at Ephesus (@Ac 18:23 19:1, &c., from A.D. 54, the autumn, to A.D. 57, Pentecost) [ALFORD]. CONYBEARE and HOWSON, from the similarity between this Epistle and that to the Romans, the same line of argument in both occupying the writer's mind, think it was not written till his stay at Corinth (@Ac 20:2,3), during the winter of 57-58, whence he wrote his Epistle to the Romans; and certainly, in the theory of the earlier writing of it from Ephesus, it does seem unlikely that the two Epistles to the Corinthians, so dissimilar, should intervene between those so similar as the Epistles to the Galatians and Romans; or that the Epistle to the Galatians should intervene between the second to the Thessalonians and the first to the Corinthians. The decision between the two theories rests on the words, "so soon." If these be not considered inconsistent with little more than three years having elapsed since his second visit to Galatia, the argument, from the similarity to the Epistle to the Romans, seems to me conclusive. This to the Galatians seems written on the urgency of the occasion, tidings having reached him at Corinth from Ephesus of the Judaizing of many of his Galatian converts, in an admonitory and controversial tone, to maintain the great principles of Christian liberty and justification by faith only; that to the Romans is a more deliberate and systematic exposition of the same central truths of theology, subsequently drawn up in writing to a Church with which he was personally unacquainted. See on Ga 1:6, for BIRKS'S view. PALEY [Horæ Paulinæ] well remarks how perfectly adapted the conduct of the argument is to the historical circumstances under which the Epistle was written! Thus, that to the Galatians, a Church which Paul had founded, he puts mainly upon authority; that to the Romans, to whom he was not personally known, entirely upon argument.
CHAPTER 1
@Ga 1:1-24. SUPERSCRIPTION. GREETINGS. THE CAUSE OF HIS WRITING IS THEIR SPEEDY FALLING AWAY FROM THE GOSPEL HE TAUGHT. DEFENSE OF HIS TEACHING: HIS APOSTOLIC CALL INDEPENDENT OF MAN.
Judaizing teachers had persuaded the Galatians that Paul had taught them the new religion imperfectly, and at second hand; that the founder of their church himself possessed only a deputed commission, the seal of truth and authority being in the apostles at Jerusalem: moreover, that whatever he might profess among them, he had himself at other times, and in other places, given way to the doctrine of circumcision. To refute this, he appeals to the history of his conversion, and to the manner of his conferring with the apostles when he met them at Jerusalem; that so far was his doctrine from being derived from them, or they from exercising any superiority over him, that they had simply assented to what he had already preached among the Gentiles, which preaching was communicated, not by them to him, but by himself to them [PALEY]. Such an apologetic Epistle could not be a later forgery, the objections which it meets only coming out incidentally, not being obtruded as they would be by a forger; and also being such as could only arise in the earliest age of the Church, when Jerusalem and Judaism still held a prominent place.
1. apostle--in the earliest Epistles, the two to the Thessalonians,
through humility, he uses no title of authority; but associates with him
"Silvanus and Timotheus"; yet here, though "brethren" (@Ga 1:2) are
with him, he does not name them but puts his own name and apostleship
prominent: evidently because his apostolic commission needs now to be
vindicated against deniers of it.
of--Greek, "from." Expressing the origin from which his mission
came, "not from men," but from Christ and the Father (understood) as
the source. "By" expresses the immediate operating agent in the call.
Not only was the call from God as its ultimate source, but by Christ and the Father as the immediate agent in calling him
(@Ac 22:15 26:16-18). The laying on of Ananias' hands (@Ac 9:17)
is no objection to this; for that was but a sign of the fact, not an
assisting cause. So the Holy Ghost calls him specially (@Ac 13:2,3);
he was an apostle before this special mission.
man--singular; to mark the contrast to "Jesus Christ." The opposition
between "Christ" and "man," and His name being put in closest connection
with God the Father, imply His Godhead.
raised him from the dead--implying that, though he had not seen Him in
His humiliation as the other apostles (which was made an objection
against him), he had seen and been
constituted an apostle by Him in His resurrection power (@Mt 28:18 Ro 1:4,5). Compare as to the ascension, the consequence
of the resurrection, and the cause of His giving "apostles,"
@Eph 4:11. He rose again, too, for our justification (@Ro 4:25); thus Paul prepares the way for the prominent subject of
the Epistle, justification in Christ, not by the law.
2. all the brethren--I am not alone in my doctrine; all my colleagues
in the Gospel work, travelling with me (@Ac 19:29, Gaius and
Aristarchus at Ephesus: @Ac 20:4, Sopater, Secundus, Timotheus,
Tychicus, Trophimus, some, or all of these), join with me. Not that
these were joint authors with Paul of the Epistle: but joined him in
the sentiments and salutations. The phrase, "all the brethren,"
accords with a date when he had many travelling companions, he and they
having to bear jointly the collection to Jerusalem [CONYBEARE and
HOWSON].
the churches--Pessinus and Ancyra were the principal cities; but
doubtless there were many other churches in Galatia
(@Ac 18:23 1Co 16:1). He does not attach any honorable title to the
churches here, as elsewhere, being displeased at their Judaizing. See
First Corinthians; First Thessalonians, &c. The first Epistle of Peter
is addressed to Jewish Christians sojourning in Galatia (@1Pe 1:1),
among other places mentioned. It is interesting thus to find the apostle
of the circumcision, as well as the apostle of the uncircumcision, once
at issue (@Ga 2:7-15), co-operating to build up the same churches.
3. from . . . from--Omit the second "from." The Greek joins God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in closet union, by there being but the one preposition.
4. gave himself--(@Ga 2:20); unto death, as an offering. Found only
in this and the Pastoral Epistles. The Greek is different in
@Eph 5:25
(see on Eph 5:25).
for our sins--which enslaved us to the present evil world.
deliver us from this--Greek, "out of the," &c. The Father and
Son are each said to "deliver us," &c. (@Col 1:13): but the Son,
not the Father, gave Himself for us in order to do so, and make us
citizens of a better world (@Php 3:20). The Galatians in desiring to
return to legal bondage are, he implies, renouncing the deliverance which Christ wrought for us. This he more fully repeats in @Ga 3:13.
"Deliver" is the very word used by the Lord as to His deliverance of
Paul himself (@Ac 26:17): an undesigned coincidence between Paul and
Luke.
world--Greek, "age"; system or course of the world,
regarded from a religious point of view. The present age opposes the
"glory" (@Ga 1:5) of God, and is under the authority of the Evil
One. The "ages of ages" (Greek, @Ga 1:5) are opposed to "the
present evil age."
according to the will of God and our Father--Greek, "of Him who
is at once God [the sovereign Creator] and our Father"
(@Joh 6:38,39 10:18, end). Without merit of ours. His sovereignty as
"GOD," and our filial relation to Him as "OUR
FATHER," ought to keep us
from blending our own legal notions (as the Galatians were doing) with
His will and plan. This paves the way for his argument.
5. be glory--rather, as Greek, "be the glory"; the glory which is peculiarly and exclusively His. Compare Note, see on Eph 3:21.
6. Without the usual expressions of thanksgiving for their faith,
&c., he vehemently plunges into his subject, zealous for "the glory" of
God (@Ga 1:5), which was being disparaged by the Galatians falling
away from the pure Gospel of the "grace" of God.
I marvel--implying that he had hoped better things from them, whence
his sorrowful surprise at their turning out so different from his
expectations.
so soon--after my last visit; when I hoped and thought you were
untainted by the Judaizing teachers. If this Epistle was written from
Corinth, the interval would be a little more than three years, which
would be "soon" to have fallen away, if they were apparently sound at
the time of his visit. @Ga 4:18,20 may imply that he saw no symptom
of unsoundness then, such as he hears of in them now. But
English Version is probably not correct there. See
see on Ga 4:18;
Ga 4:20; also
see Introduction. If from Ephesus, the interval
would be not more than one year. BIRKS holds the Epistle to have been
written from Corinth after his FIRST visit to Galatia; for this agrees
best with the "so soon" here: with @Ga 4:18, "It is good to be
zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am
present with you." If they had persevered in the faith during three
years of his first absence, and only turned aside after his second
visit, they could not be charged justly with adhering to the truth only
when he was present: for his first absence was longer than both his
visits, and they would have obeyed longer in his "absence" than in
his "presence." But if their decline had begun immediately after he
left them, and before his return to them, the reproof will be just. But
see on Ga 4:13.
removed--Translate, "are being removed," that is, ye are
suffering yourselves so soon (whether from the time of my last
visit, or from the time of the first temptation held out to you)
[PARÆUS] to be removed by Jewish seducers. Thus he softens the
censure by implying that the Galatians were tempted by seducers from
without, with whom the chief guilt lay: and the present, "ye are
being removed," implies that their seduction was only in process of
being effected, not that it was actually effected. WAHL,
ALFORD, and
others take the Greek as middle voice. "ye are removing" or
"passing over." "Shifting your ground" [CONYBEARE and
HOWSON]. But thus
the point of Paul's oblique reference to their misleaders is lost; and
in @Heb 7:12 the Greek is used passively, justifying its being
taken so here. On the impulsiveness and fickleness of the Gauls
(another form of Kel-t-s, the progenitors of the Erse, Gauls, Cymri, and
Belgians), whence the Galatians sprang,
see Introduction and CÆSAR
[Commentaries on the Gallic War, 3.19].
from him that called you--God the Father
(@Ga 1:15 Ga 5:8 Ro 8:30 1Co 1:9 1Th 2:12 5:24).
into--rather, as Greek, "IN the grace of Christ," as the
element in which, and the instrument by which, God calls us to
salvation. Compare Note,
see on 1Co 7:15;
@Ro 5:15, "the gift by (Greek, 'in') grace (Greek, 'the grace') of (the) one man." "The grace of Christ," is Christ's
gratuitously purchased and bestowed justification, reconciliation, and
eternal life.
another--rather, as Greek, "a second and different gospel,"
that is, into a so-called gospel, different altogether from the only
true Gospel.
7. another--A distinct Greek word from that in @Ga 1:6. Though
I called it a gospel (@Ga 1:6), it is not really so. There is really
but one Gospel, and no other gospel.
but--Translate, "Only that there are some that trouble you," &c.
(@Ga 5:10,12). All I meant by the "different gospel" was nothing but
a perversion by "some" of the one Gospel of Christ.
would pervert--Greek, "wish to pervert"; they could not really
pervert the Gospel, though they could pervert Gospel professors (compare
@Ga 4:9,17,21 6:12,13 Col 2:18). Though acknowledging Christ, they
insisted on circumcision and Jewish ordinances and professed to rest on
the authority of other apostles, namely, Peter and James. But Paul
recognizes no gospel, save the pure Gospel.
8. But--however weighty they may seem "who trouble you." Translate
as Greek, "Even though we," namely, I and the brethren with me,
weighty and many as we are (@Ga 1:1,2). The Greek implies a
case supposed which never has occurred.
angel--in which light ye at first received me (compare
@Ga 4:14 1Co 13:1), and whose authority is the highest possible next
to that of God and Christ. A new revelation, even though seemingly
accredited by miracles, is not to be received if it contradict the
already existing revelation. For God cannot contradict Himself
(@De 13:1-3 1Ki 13:18 Mt 24:24 2Th 2:9). The Judaizing teachers
sheltered themselves under the names of the great apostles, James, John,
and Peter: "Do not bring these names up to me, for even if an angel,"
&c. Not that he means, the apostles really supported the Judaizers:
but he wishes to show, when the truth is in question, respect of persons
is inadmissible [CHRYSOSTOM].
preach--that is, "should preach."
any other gospel . . . than--The Greek expresses not so much "any
other gospel different from what we have preached," as, "any gospel
BESIDE that which we preached." This distinctly opposes the traditions
of the Church of Rome, which are at once besides and against (the Greek includes both ideas) the written Word, our only "attested
rule."
9. said before--when we were visiting you (so "before" means,
@2Co 13:2). Compare @Ga 5:2,3,21. Translate, "If any man
preacheth unto you any gospel BESIDE that which," &c. Observe the
indicative, not the subjunctive or conditional mood, is used,
"preacheth," literally, "furnisheth you with any gospel." The fact is assumed, not merely supposed as a contingency, as in @Ga 1:8,
"preach," or "should preach." This implies that he had already observed
(namely, during his last visit) the machinations of the Judaizing
teachers: but his surprise (@Ga 1:6) now at the Galatians
being misled by them, implies that they had not apparently been so
then. As in @Ga 1:8 he had said, "which we preached," so here,
with an augmentation of the force, "which ye received"; acknowledging
that they had truly accepted it.
accursed--The opposite appears in @Ga 6:16.
10. For--accounting for the strong language he has just used.
do I now--resuming the "now" of @Ga 1:9. "Am I now persuading
men?" [ALFORD], that is, conciliating. Is what I have just now said
a sample of men-pleasing, of which I am accused? His adversaries accused
him of being an interested flatterer of men, "becoming all things to all
men," to make a party for himself, and so observing the law among the
Jews (for instance, circumcising Timothy), yet persuading the Gentiles
to renounce it (@Ga 5:11)
(in order to flatter those, really keeping
them in a subordinate state, not admitted to the full privileges which
the circumcised alone enjoyed). NEANDER explains the "now" thus: Once,
when a Pharisee, I was actuated only by a regard to human authority and
to please men (@Lu 16:15 Joh 5:44), but Now I teach as responsible
to God alone (@1Co 4:3).
or God?--Regard is to be had to God alone.
for if I yet pleased men--The oldest manuscripts omit "for." "If I
were still pleasing men," &c.
(@Lu 6:26 Joh 15:19 1Th 2:4 Jas 4:4 1Jo 4:5). On "yet," compare
@Ga 5:11.
servant of Christ--and so pleasing Him in all things
(@Tit 2:9 Col 3:22).
11. certify--I made known to you as to the Gospel which was preached
by me, that it is not after man, that is, not of, by, or from man
(@Ga 1:1,12). It is not according to man; not influenced by mere
human considerations, as it would be, if it were of human origin.
brethren--He not till now calls them so.
12. Translate, "For not even did I myself
(any more than the other apostles)
receive it from man, nor was I taught it (by man)."
"Received it," implies the absence of labor in acquiring it. "Taught
it," implies the labor of learning.
by the revelation of Jesus Christ--Translate, "by revelation of
[that is, from] Jesus Christ." By His revealing it to me. Probably this
took place during the three years, in part of which he sojourned in
Arabia (@Ga 1:17,18), in the vicinity of the scene of the giving of
the law; a fit place for such a revelation of the Gospel of grace, which
supersedes the ceremonial law (@Ga 4:25). He, like other Pharisees
who embraced Christianity, did not at first recognize its independence
of the Mosaic law, but combined both together. Ananias, his first
instructor, was universally esteemed for his legal piety and so was not
likely to have taught him to sever Christianity from the law. This
severance was partially recognized after the martyrdom of Stephen. But
Paul received it by special revelation (@1Co 11:23 15:3 1Th 4:15). A
vision of the Lord Jesus is mentioned (@Ac 22:18), at his first
visit to Jerusalem (@Ga 1:18); but this seems to have been
subsequent to the revelation here meant (compare @Ga 1:15-18), and
to have been confined to giving a particular command. The vision
"fourteen years before" (@2Co 12:1) was in
A.D. 43, still later, six
years after his conversion. Thus Paul is an independent witness to the
Gospel. Though he had received no instruction from the apostles, but
from the Holy Ghost, yet when he met them his Gospel exactly agreed with
theirs.
13. heard--even before I came among you.
conversation--"my former way of life."
Jews' religion--The term, "Hebrew," expresses the language; "Jew," the nationality, as distinguished from the Gentiles;
"Israelite," the highest title, the religious privileges, as a member of
the theocracy.
the church--Here singular, marking its unity, though constituted of
many particular churches, under the one Head, Christ.
of God--added to mark the greatness of his sinful alienation from
God (@1Co 15:19).
wasted--laid it waste: the opposite of "building it up."
14. profited--Greek, "I was becoming a proficient"; "I made
progress."
above--beyond.
my equals--Greek, "Of mine own age, among my countrymen."
traditions of my fathers--namely, those of the Pharisees, Paul being
"a Pharisee, and son of a Pharisee" (@Ac 23:6 26:5). "MY fathers,"
shows that it is not to be understood generally of the traditions
of the nation.
15. separated--"set me apart": in the purposes of His electing love
(compare @Ac 9:15 22:14), in order to show in me His
"pleasure," which is the farthest point that any can reach in
inquiring the causes of his salvation. The actual "separating" or
"setting apart" to the work marked out for him, is mentioned in
@Ac 13:2 Ro 1:1. There is an allusion, perhaps, in the way of
contrast, to the derivation of Pharisee from Hebrew, "pharash,"
"separated." I was once a so-called Pharisee or Separatist, but God
had separated me to something far better.
from . . . womb--Thus merit in me was out of the
question, in assigning causes for His call from @Ac 9:11.
Grace is the sole cause (@Ps 22:9 71:6 Isa 49:1,5 Jer 1:5 Lu 1:15).
called me--on the way to Damascus (@Ac 9:3-8).
16. reveal his Son in me--within me, in my inmost soul, by the Holy
Spirit (@Ga 2:20). Compare @2Co 4:6, "shined in our hearts." The
revealing of His Son by me to the Gentiles (so translate for "heathen")
was impossible, unless He had first revealed His Son in me; at first
on my conversion, but especially at the subsequent revelation from Jesus
Christ (@Ga 1:12), whereby I learned the Gospel's independence of
the Mosaic law.
that I might preach--the present in the Greek, which includes
the idea "that I may preach Him," implying an office still
continuing. This was the main commission. entrusted to him
(@Ga 2:7,9).
immediately--connected chiefly with "I went into Arabia"
(@Ga 1:17). It denotes the sudden fitness of the apostle. So
@Ac 9:20, "Straightway he preached Christ in the synagogue."
I conferred not--Greek, "I had not further (namely, in addition
to revelation) recourse to . . . for the purpose of consulting." The
divine revelation was sufficient for me [BENGEL].
flesh and blood--(@Mt 16:17).
17. went I up--Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "went away."
to Jerusalem--the seat of the apostles.
into Arabia--This journey (not recorded in Acts) was during the whole
period of his stay at Damascus, called by Luke (@Ac 9:23), "many
[Greek, a considerable number of] days." It is curiously confirmatory
of the legitimacy of taking "many days" to stand for "three years," that
the same phrase exactly occurs in the same sense in @1Ki 2:38,39. This
was a country of the Gentiles; here doubtless he preached as he did
before and after (@Ac 9:20,22) at Damascus: thus he shows the
independence of his apostolic commission. He also here had that
comparative retirement needed, after the first fervor of his conversion,
to prepare him for the great work before him. Compare Moses
(@Ac 7:29,30). His familiarity with the scene of the giving of the
law, and the meditations and revelations which he had there, appear in
@Ga 4:24,25 Heb 12:18.
See on Ga 1:12. The Lord from heaven communed with him, as He
on earth in the days of His flesh communed with the other apostles.
returned--Greek "returned back again."
18. after three years--dating from my conversion, as appears by the
contrast to "immediately" (@Ga 1:16). This is the same visit to
Jerusalem as in @Ac 9:26, and at this visit occurred the vision
(@Ac 22:17,18). The incident which led to his leaving Damascus
(@Ac 9:25 2Co 11:33) was not the main cause of his going
to Jerusalem. So that there is no discrepancy in the statement here
that he went "to see Peter"; or rather, as Greek, "to make the
acquaintance of"; "to become personally acquainted with." The two oldest
manuscripts read, "Cephas," the name given Peter elsewhere in the
Epistle, the Hebrew name; as Peter is the Greek (@Joh 1:42). Appropriate to the view of him here as the apostle
especially of the Hebrews. It is remarkable that Peter himself, in his
Epistles, uses the Greek name Peter, perhaps to mark his
antagonism to the Judaizers who would cling to the Hebraic form. He was
prominent among the apostles, though James, as bishop of Jerusalem, had
the chief authority there (@Mt 16:18).
abode--or "tarried" [ELLICOTT].
fifteen days--only fifteen days; contrasting with the long period of
three years, during which, previously, he had exercised an independent
commission in preaching: a fact proving on the face of it, how little he
owed to Peter in regard to his apostolical authority or instruction.
The Greek for "to see," at the same time implies
visiting a person important to know, such as Peter was. The plots of
the Jews prevented him staying longer (@Ac 9:29). Also, the vision
directing him to depart to the Gentiles, for that the people of
Jerusalem would not receive his testimony (@Ac 22:17,18).
19. Compare @Ac 9:27,28, wherein Luke, as an historian, describes
more generally what Paul, the subject of the history, himself details
more particularly. The history speaks of "apostles"; and Paul's mention
of a second apostle, besides Peter, reconciles the Epistle and the
history. At Stephen's martyrdom, and the consequent persecution, the
other ten apostles, agreeably to Christ's directions, seem to have
soon (though not immediately, @Ac 8:14) left Jerusalem to
preach elsewhere. James remained in charge of the mother church, as its
bishop. Peter, the apostle of the circumcision, was present during
Paul's fifteen days' stay; but he, too, presently after (@Ac 9:32),
went on a circuit through Judea.
James, the Lord's brother--This designation, to distinguish him from
James the son of Zebedee, was appropriate while that apostle was alive.
But before Paul's second visit to Jerusalem (@Ga 2:1 Ac 15:1-4), he
had been beheaded by Herod (@Ac 12:2). Accordingly, in the subsequent
mention of James here (@Ga 2:9,12), he is not designated by this
distinctive epithet: a minute, undesigned coincidence, and proof of
genuineness. James was the Lord's brother, not in our strict sense, but
in the sense, "cousin," or "kinsman" (@Mt 28:10 Joh 20:17). His
brethren are never called "sons of Joseph," which they would have been
had they been the Lord's brothers strictly. However, compare @Ps 69:8,
"I am an alien to my mother's children." In @Joh 7:3,5, the
"brethren" who believed not in Him may mean His near relations, not
including the two of His brethren, that is, relatives (James and Jude)
who were among the Twelve apostles. @Ac 1:14, "His brethren," refer
to Simon and Joses, and others (@Mt 13:55) of His kinsmen, who were
not apostles. It is not likely there would be two pairs of brothers
named alike, of such eminence as James and Jude; the likelihood is that
the apostles James and Jude are also the writers of the Epistles, and
the brethren of Jesus. James and Joses were sons of Alpheus and Mary,
sister of the Virgin Mary.
20. Solemn asseveration that his statement is true that his visit was but for fifteen days and that he saw no apostle save Peter and James. Probably it had been reported by Judaizers that he had received a long course of instruction from the apostles in Jerusalem from the first; hence his earnestness in asserting the contrary facts.
21. I came into . . . Syria and Cilicia--"preaching the faith" (@Ga 1:23), and so, no doubt, founding the churches in Syria and Cilicia, which he subsequently confirmed in the faith (@Ac 15:23,41). He probably went first to Cæsarea, the main seaport, and thence by sea to Tarsus of Cilicia, his native place (@Ac 9:30), and thence to Syria; Cilicia having its geographical affinities with Syria, rather than with Asia Minor, as the Tarsus mountains separate it from the latter. His placing "Syria" in the order of words before "Cilicia," is due to Antioch being a more important city than Tarsus, as also to his longer stay in the former city. Also "Syria and Cilicia," from their close geographical connection, became a generic geographical phrase, the more important district being placed first [CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. This sea journey accounts for his being "unknown by face to the churches of Judea" (@Ga 1:22). He passes by in silence his second visit, with alms, to Judea and Jerusalem (@Ac 11:30); doubtless because it was for a limited and special object, and would occupy but a few days (@Ac 12:25), as there raged at Jerusalem at the time a persecution in which James, the brother of John, was martyred, and Peter was m prison, and James seems to have been the only apostle present (@Ac 12:17); so it was needless to mention this visit, seeing that he could not at such a time have received the instructions which the Galatians alleged he had derived from the primary fountains of authority, the apostles.
22. So far was I from being a disciple of the apostles, that I was even unknown in the churches of Judea (excepting Jerusalem, @Ac 9:26-29), which were the chief scene of their labors.
23. Translate as Greek, "They were hearing": tidings were brought
them from time to time [CONYBEARE and
HOWSON].
he which persecuted us in times past--"our former persecutor"
[ALFORD].
The designation by which he was known among Christians still better than
by his name "Saul."
destroyed--Greek, "was destroying."
24. in me--"in my case." "Having understood the entire change, and that the former wolf is now acting the shepherd's part, they received occasion for joyful thanksgiving to God in respect to me" [THEODORET]. How different, he implies to the Galatians, their spirit from yours!
CHAPTER 2
@Ga 2:1-21. HIS CO-ORDINATE AUTHORITY AS APOSTLE OF THE CIRCUMCISION RECOGNIZED BY THE APOSTLES. PROVED BY HIS REBUKING PETER FOR TEMPORIZING AT ANTIOCH: HIS REASONING AS TO THE INCONSISTENCY OF JUDAIZING WITH JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.
1. Translate, "After fourteen years"; namely, from Paul's conversion
inclusive [ALFORD]. In the fourteenth year from his conversion
[BIRKS].
The same visit to Jerusalem as in @Ac 15:1-4
(A.D. 50), when the
council of the apostles and Church decided that Gentile Christians need
not be circumcised. His omitting allusion to that decree is; (1)
Because his design here is to show the Galatians his own independent
apostolic authority, whence he was not likely to support himself by
their decision. Thus we see that general councils are not above
apostles. (2) Because he argues the point upon principle, not
authoritative decisions. (3) The decree did not go the length of the
position maintained here: the council did not impose Mosaic ordinances;
the apostle maintains that the Mosaic institution itself is at an end.
(4) The Galatians were Judaizing, not because the Jewish law was imposed
by authority of the Church as necessary to Christianity, but because
they thought it necessary to be observed by those who aspired to
higher perfection (@Ga 3:3 4:21). The decree would not at all
disprove their view, and therefore would have been useless to quote.
Paul meets them by a far more direct confutation, "Christ is of
no effect unto you whosoever are justified by the law" (@Ga 5:4),
[PALEY].
Titus . . . also--specified on account of what follows as to him, in
@Ga 2:3. Paul and Barnabas, and others, were deputed by the
Church of Antioch (@Ac 15:2) to consult the apostles and elders at
Jerusalem on the question of circumcision of Gentile Christians.
2. by revelation--not from being absolutely dependent on the apostles
at Jerusalem, but by independent divine "revelation." Quite consistent
with his at the same time, being a deputy from the Church of Antioch, as
@Ac 15:2 states. He by this revelation was led to suggest the
sending of the deputation. Compare the case of Peter being led by
vision, and at the same time by Cornelius' messengers, to go to
Cæsarea, @Ac 10:1-22.
I . . . communicated unto them--namely, "to the apostles and elders"
(@Ac 15:2): to the apostles in particular (@Ga 2:9).
privately--that he and the apostles at Jerusalem might decide
previously on the principles to be adopted and set forward before the
public council (@Ac 15:1-29). It was necessary that the Jerusalem
apostles should know beforehand that the Gospel Paul preached to the
Gentiles was the same as theirs, and had received divine confirmation in
the results it wrought on the Gentile converts. He and Barnabas related
to the multitude, not the nature of the doctrine they preached (as
Paul did privately to the apostles), but only the miracles vouchsafed in
proof of God's sanctioning their preaching to the Gentiles
(@Ac 15:12).
to them . . . of reputation--James, Cephas, and John, and probably some
of the "elders"; @Ga 2:6, "those who seemed to be somewhat."
lest, &c.--"lest I should be running, or have run, in vain"; that is,
that they might see that I am not running, and have not run, in vain.
Paul does not himself fear lest he be running, or had run, in vain;
but lest he should, if he gave them no explanation, seem so
to them. His race was the swift-running proclamation of the Gospel
to the Gentiles (compare "run," Margin, for "Word . . .
have free course," @2Th 3:1). His running would have been in
vain, had circumcision been necessary, since he did not require it of
his converts.
3. But--So far were they from regarding me as running in vain, that "not even Titus who was with me, who was a Greek (and therefore uncircumcised), was compelled to be circumcised." So the Greek should be translated. The "false brethren," @Ga 2:4 ("certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed," @Ac 15:5), demanded his circumcision. The apostles, however, constrained by the firmness of Paul and Barnabas (@Ga 2:5), did not compel or insist on his being circumcised. Thus they virtually sanctioned Paul's course among the Gentiles and admitted his independence as an apostle: the point he desires to set forth to the Galatians. Timothy, on the other hand, as being a proselyte of the gate, and son of a Jewess (@Ac 16:1), he circumcised (@Ac 16:3). Christianity did not interfere with Jewish usages, regarded merely as social ordinances, though no longer having their religious significance, in the case of Jews and proselytes, while the Jewish polity and temple still stood; after the overthrow of the latter, those usages naturally ceased. To have insisted on Jewish usages for Gentile converts, would have been to make them essential parts of Christianity. To have rudely violated them at first in the case of Jews, would have been inconsistent with that charity which (in matters indifferent) is made all things to all men, that by all means it may win some (@1Co 9:22; compare @Ro 14:1-7,13-23). Paul brought Titus about with him as a living example of the power of the Gospel upon the uncircumcised heathen.
4. And that--that is, What I did concerning Titus (namely, by not
permitting him to be circumcised) was not from contempt of circumcision,
but "on account of the false brethren" (@Ac 15:1,24) who, had I
yielded to the demand for his being circumcised, would have perverted
the case into a proof that I deemed circumcision necessary.
unawares--"in an underhand manner brought in."
privily--stealthily.
to spy out--as foes in the guise of friends, wishing to destroy and
rob us of
our liberty--from the yoke of the ceremonial law. If they had found
that we circumcised Titus through fear of the apostles, they would have
made that a ground for insisting on imposing the legal yoke on the
Gentiles.
bring us into bondage--The Greek future implies the
certainty and continuance of the bondage as the
result.
5. Greek, "To whom not even for an hour did we yield by
subjection." ALFORD renders the Greek article,
"with THE
subjection required of us." The sense rather is, We would willingly have
yielded for love [BENGEL] (if no principle was at issue), but not in
the way of subjection, where "the truth of the Gospel"
(@Ga 2:14 Col 1:5) was at stake
(namely, the fundamental truth of
justification by faith only, without the works of the law, contrasted
with another Gospel, @Ga 1:6). Truth precise, unaccommodating,
abandons nothing that belongs to itself, admits nothing that is
inconsistent with it [BENGEL].
might continue with you--Gentiles. We defended for your sakes your
true faith and liberties, which you are now renouncing.
6. Greek, "From those who," &c. He meant to complete the sentence
with "I derived no special advantage"; but he alters it into "they . . .
added nothing to me."
accepteth--so as to show any partiality; "respecteth no man's person"
(@Eph 6:9).
seemed to be somewhat--that is, not that they seemed to be what
they were not, but "were reputed as persons of some consequence";
not insinuating a doubt but that they were justly so reputed.
in conference added--or "imparted"; the same Greek as in
@Ga 1:16, "I conferred not with flesh and blood." As I did not by
conference impart to them aught at my conversion, so they now did not
impart aught additional to me, above what I already knew. This proves to
the Galatians his independence as an apostle.
7. contrariwise--on the contrary. So far from adding any new light
to ME, THEY gave in
THEIR adhesion to the new path on which Barnabas and
I, by independent revelation, had entered. So far from censuring, they
gave a hearty approval to my independent course, namely, the innovation
of preaching the Gospel without circumcision to the Gentiles.
when they saw--from the effects which I showed them, were "wrought"
(@Ga 2:8 Ac 15:12).
was committed unto me--Greek, "I was entrusted with."
gospel of the uncircumcision--that is, of the Gentiles, who were to
be converted without circumcision being required.
circumcision . . . unto Peter--Peter had originally opened the door
to the Gentiles (@Ac 10:1-48 15:7). But in the ultimate apportionment
of the spheres of labor, the Jews were assigned to him
(compare @1Pe 1:1). So Paul on the other hand wrote to the
Hebrews (compare also @Col 4:11),
though his main work was among the Gentiles. The
non-mention of Peter in the list of names, presciently through the
Spirit, given in the sixteenth chapter of Romans, shows that Peter's
residence at Rome, much more primacy, was then unknown. The same is
palpable from the sphere here assigned to him.
8. he--God (@1Co 12:6).
wrought effectually--that is, made the preached word efficacious to
conversion, not only by sensible miracles, but by the secret mighty
power of the Holy Ghost.
in Peter--ELLICOTT and others, translate, "For Peter."
GROTIUS translates as English Version.
to--with a view to.
was mighty--Translate as before, the Greek being the same,
"wrought effectually."
in me--"for (or 'in') me also."
9. James--placed first in the oldest manuscripts, even before Peter,
as being bishop of Jerusalem, and so presiding at the council
(@Ac 15:1-29). He was called "the Just," from his strict adherence
to the law, and so was especially popular among the Jewish party though
he did not fall into their extremes; whereas Peter was somewhat
estranged from them through his intercourse with the Gentile Christians.
To each apostle was assigned the sphere best suited to his temperament:
to James, who was tenacious of the law, the Jerusalem Jews; to Peter,
who had opened the door to the Gentiles but who was Judaically disposed,
the Jews of the dispersion; to Paul, who, by the miraculous and
overwhelming suddenness of his conversion, had the whole current of his
early Jewish prejudices turned into an utterly opposite direction, the
Gentiles. Not separately and individually, but collectively the apostles
together represented Christ, the One Head, in the apostleship. The
twelve foundation-stones of various colors are joined together to the
one great foundation-stone on which they rest
(@1Co 3:11 Re 21:14,19,20). John had got an intimation in Jesus'
lifetime of the admission of the Gentiles (@Joh 12:20-24).
seemed--that is, were reputed to be
(see on Ga 2:2 and
Ga 2:6) pillars, that is, weighty supporters of the
Church (compare @Pr 9:1 Re 3:12).
perceived the grace . . . given unto me--(@2Pe 3:15).
gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship--recognizing
me as a colleague in the apostleship, and that the Gospel I preached
by special revelation to the Gentiles was the same as theirs. Compare
the phrase, @La 5:6 Eze 17:18.
heathen--the Gentiles.
10. remember the poor--of the Jewish Christians in Judea, then
distressed. Paul and Barnabas had already done so (@Ac 11:23-30).
the same--the very thing.
I . . . was forward--or "zealous"
(@Ac 24:17 Ro 15:25 1Co 16:1 2Co 8:1-9:15). Paul was zealous for good
works, while denying justification by them.
11. Peter--"Cephas" in the oldest manuscripts Paul's withstanding
Peter is the strongest proof that the former gives of the independence
of his apostleship in relation to the other apostles, and upsets the
Romish doctrine of Peter's supremacy. The apostles were not always
inspired; but were so always in writing the Scriptures. If then the
inspired men who wrote them were not invariably at other times
infallible, much less were the uninspired men who kept them. The
Christian fathers may be trusted generally as witnesses to facts, but
not implicitly followed in matters of opinion.
come to Antioch--then the citadel of the Gentile Church: where first
the Gospel was preached to idolatrous Gentiles, and where the name
"Christians" was first given (@Ac 11:20,26), and where Peter is said
to have been subsequently bishop. The question at Antioch was not
whether the Gentiles were admissible to the Christian covenant without
becoming circumcised--that was the question settled at the Jerusalem
council just before--but whether the Gentile Christians were to be
admitted to social intercourse with the Jewish Christians without
conforming to the Jewish institution. The Judaizers, soon after the
council had passed the resolutions recognizing the equal rights of the
Gentile Christians, repaired to Antioch, the scene of the gathering in
of the Gentiles (@Ac 11:20-26), to witness, what to Jews would look
so extraordinary, the receiving of men to communion of the Church
without circumcision. Regarding the proceeding with prejudice, they
explained away the force of the Jerusalem decision; and probably also
desired to watch whether the Jewish Christians among the Gentiles
violated the law, which that decision did not verbally sanction them in doing, though giving the Gentiles latitude (@Ac 15:19).
to be blamed--rather, "(self)-condemned"; his act at one time
condemning his contrary acting at another time.
12. certain--men: perhaps James' view (in which he was not infallible,
any more than Peter) was that the Jewish converts were still to observe
Jewish ordinances, from which he had decided with the council the
Gentiles should be free (@Ac 15:19).
NEANDER, however, may be
right in thinking these self-styled delegates from James were not really
from him. @Ac 15:24 favors this. "Certain from James," may mean merely
that they came from the Church at Jerusalem under James' bishopric.
Still James' leanings were to legalism, and this gave him his influence
with the Jewish party (@Ac 21:18-26).
eat with . . . Gentiles--as in @Ac 10:10-20,48, according to the
command of the vision (@Ac 11:3-17). Yet after all, this same Peter,
through fear of man (@Pr 29:25), was faithless to his own so
distinctly avowed principles (@Ac 15:7-11). We recognize the same
old nature in him as led him, after faithfully witnessing for Christ,
yet for a brief space, to deny Him. "Ever the first to recognize, and
the first to draw back from great truths" [ALFORD]. An undesigned
coincidence between the Gospels and the Epistle in the consistency of
character as portrayed in both. It is beautiful to see how earthly
misunderstandings of Christians are lost in Christ. For in @2Pe 3:15,
Peter praises the very Epistles of Paul which he knew contained his own
condemnation. Though apart from one another and differing in
characteristics, the two apostles were one in Christ.
withdrew--Greek, "began to withdraw," &c. This implies a
gradual drawing back; "separated," entire severance.
13. the other--Greek, "the rest."
Jews--Jewish Christians.
dissembled likewise--Greek, "joined in hypocrisy," namely, in
living as though the law were necessary to justification, through fear
of man, though they knew from God their Christian liberty of eating with
Gentiles, and had availed themselves of it already (@Ac 11:2-17).
The case was distinct from that in @1Co 8:1-10:33 Ro 14:1-23. It
was not a question of liberty, and of bearing with others' infirmities,
but one affecting the essence of the Gospel, whether the Gentiles are to
be virtually "compelled to live as do the Jews," in order to be
justified (@Ga 2:14).
Barnabas also--"Even Barnabas": one least likely to be led into such
an error, being with Paul in first preaching to the idolatrous Gentiles:
showing the power of bad example and numbers. In Antioch, the capital of
Gentile Christianity and the central point of Christian missions, the
controversy first arose, and in the same spot it now broke out afresh;
and here Paul had first to encounter the party that afterwards
persecuted him in every scene of his labors (@Ac 15:30-35).
14. walked not uprightly--literally, "straight": "were not walking
with straightforward steps." Compare @Ga 6:16.
truth of the gospel--which teaches that justification by legal works
and observances is inconsistent with redemption by Christ. Paul alone
here maintained the truth against Judaism, as afterwards against
heathenism (@2Ti 4:16,17).
Peter--"Cephas" in the oldest manuscripts
before . . . all--(@1Ti 5:20).
If thou, &c.--"If thou, although being a Jew (and therefore one who
might seem to be more bound to the law than the Gentiles), livest
(habitually, without scruple and from conviction, @Ac 15:10,11) as a
Gentile (freely eating of every food, and living in other respects also
as if legal ordinances in no way justify, @Ga 2:12), and not as a
Jew, how (so the oldest manuscripts read, for 'why') is it that thou
art compelling (virtually, by thine example) the Gentiles to live as do
the Jews?" (literally, to Judaize, that is, to keep the ceremonial
customs of the Jews: What had been formerly obedience to the law, is now
mere Judaism). The high authority of Peter would constrain the
Gentile Christians to regard Judaizing as necessary to all, since Jewish
Christians could not consort with Gentile converts in communion without
it.
15, 16. Connect these verses together, and read with most of the oldest manuscripts "But" in the beginning of @Ga 2:16: "We (I and thou, Peter) by nature (not by proselytism), Jews, and not sinners as (Jewish language termed the Gentiles) from among the Gentiles, YET (literally, 'BUT') knowing that . . . even we (resuming the 'we' of @Ga 2:15, 'we also,' as well as the Gentile sinners; casting away trust in the law), have believed," &c.
16. not justified by the works of the law--as the GROUND of
justification. "The works of the law" are those which have the law for
their object--which are wrought to fulfil the law [ALFORD].
but by--Translate, "But only (in no other way save) through faith in Jesus Christ,"
as the MEAN and instrument of justification.
Jesus Christ--In the second case, read with the oldest manuscripts,
"Christ Jesus," the Messiahship coming into prominence in the case
of Jewish believers, as "Jesus" does in the first case, referring to
the general proposition.
justified by the faith of Christ--that is, by Christ, the object of
faith, as the ground of our justification.
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified--He rests
his argument on this as an axiom in theology, referring to @Ps 143:2,
"Moses and Jesus Christ; The law and the promise; Doing and believing;
Works and faith; Wages and the gift; The curse and the blessing--are
represented as diametrically opposed" [BENGEL]. The moral law is, in
respect to justification, more legal than the ceremonial, which was
an elementary and preliminary Gospel: So "Sinai" (@Ga 4:24), which
is more famed for the Decalogue than for the ceremonial law, is made
pre-eminently the type of legal bondage. Thus, justification by the law,
whether the moral or ceremonial, is excluded (@Ro 3:20).
17. Greek, "But if, seeking to be justified IN (that is, in believing union with) Christ (who has in the Gospel theory fulfilled the law for us), we (you and I) ourselves also were found (in your and my former communion with Gentiles) sinners (such as from the Jewish standpoint that now we resume, we should be regarded, since we have cast aside the law, thus having put ourselves in the same category as the Gentiles, who, being without the law, are, in the Jewish view, "sinners," @Ga 2:15), is therefore Christ, the minister of sin?" (Are we to admit the conclusion, in this case inevitable, that Christ having failed to justify us by faith, so has become to us the minister of sin, by putting us in the position of "sinners," as the Judaic theory, if correct, would make us, along with all others who are "without the law," @Ro 2:14 1Co 9:21; and with whom, by eating with them, we have identified ourselves?) The Christian mind revolts from so shocking a conclusion, and so, from the theory which would result in it. The whole sin lies, not with Christ, but with him who would necessitate such a blasphemous inference. But his false theory, though "seeking" from Christ, we have not "found" salvation (in contradiction to Christ's own words, @Mt 7:7), but "have been ourselves also (like the Gentiles) found" to be "sinners," by having entered into communion with Gentiles (@Ga 2:12).
18. Greek, "For if the things which I overthrew (by the faith of Christ), those very things I build up again (namely, legal righteousness, by subjecting myself to the law), I prove myself (literally, 'I commend myself') a transgressor." Instead of commending yourself as you sought to do (@Ga 2:12, end), you merely commend yourself as a transgressor. The "I" is intended by Paul for Peter to take to himself, as it is his case, not Paul's own, that is described. A "transgressor" is another word for "sinner" (in @Ga 2:17), for "sin is the transgression of the law." You, Peter, by now asserting the law to be obligatory, are proving yourself a "sinner," or "transgressor," in your having set it aside by living as the Gentiles, and with them. Thus you are debarred by transgression from justification by the law, and you debar yourself from justification by Christ, since in your theory He becomes a minister of sin.
19. Here Paul seems to pass from his exact words to Peter, to the
general purport of his argument on the question. However, his direct
address to the Galatians seems not to be resumed till @Ga 3:1, "O
foolish Galatians," &c.
For--But I am not a "transgressor" by forsaking the law. "For," &c.
Proving his indignant denial of the consequence that "Christ is the
minister of sin" (@Ga 2:17), and of the premises from which it would
follow. Christ, so far from being the minister of sin and death, is the
establisher of righteousness and life. I am entirely in Him
[BENGEL].
I--here emphatical. Paul himself, not Peter, as in the "I"
(@Ga 2:18).
through the law--which was my "schoolmaster to bring me to Christ"
(@Ga 3:24); both by its terrors (@Ga 3:13 Ro 3:20) driving me to
Christ, as the refuge from God's wrath against sin, and, when
spiritually understood, teaching that itself is not permanent, but must
give place to Christ, whom it prefigures as its scope and end
(@Ro 10:4); and drawing me to Him by its promises
(in the prophecies which form part of the Old Testament law)
of a better righteousness, and of God's law written in the heart
(@De 18:15-19 Jer 31:33 Ac 10:43).
am dead to the law--literally, "I died to the law," and so am dead
to it, that is, am passed from under its power, in respect to
non-justification or condemnation (@Col 2:20 Ro 6:14 7:4,6); just as
a woman, once married and bound to a husband, ceases to be so bound to
him when death interposes, and may be lawfully married to another
husband. So by believing union to Christ in His death, we, being
considered dead with Him, are severed from the law's past power over us
(compare @Ga 6:14 1Co 7:39 Ro 6:6-11 1Pe 2:24).
live unto God--(@Ro 6:11 2Co 5:15 1Pe 4:1,2).
20. I am crucified--literally, "I have been crucified with Christ."
This more particularizes the foregoing. "I am dead"
(@Ga 2:19 Php 3:10).
nevertheless I live; yet not I--Greek, "nevertheless I live, no
longer (indeed) I." Though crucified I live; (and this) no longer that
old man such as I once was (compare @Ro 7:17). No longer Saul the
Jew (@Ga 5:24 Col 3:11, but "another man"; compare @1Sa 10:6).
ELLICOTT and others translate, "And it is no longer I that live, but
Christ that liveth in me." But the plain antithesis between "crucified"
and "live," requires the translation, "nevertheless."
the life which I now live--as contrasted with my life before
conversion.
in the flesh--My life seems to be a mere animal life "in the flesh,"
but this is not my true life; "it is but the mask of life under which
lives another, namely, Christ, who is my true life" [LUTHER].
I live by the faith, &c.--Greek, "IN faith (namely), that of
(that is, which rests on) the Son of God." "In faith," answers by
contrast to "in the flesh." Faith, not the flesh, is the real
element in which I live. The phrase, "the Son of God," reminds us that
His Divine Sonship is the source of His life-giving power.
loved me--His eternal gratuitous love is the link that unites me to
the Son of God, and His "giving Himself for me," is the strongest proof
of that love.
21. I do not frustrate the grace of God--I do not make it void, as thou, Peter, art doing by Judaizing.
for--justifying the strong expression "frustrate," or "make void."
is dead in vain--Greek, "Christ died needlessly," or "without just
cause." Christ's having died, shows that the law has no power to justify
us; for if the law can justify or make us righteous, the death of Christ
is superfluous [CHRYSOSTOM].
CHAPTER 3
@Ga 3:1-29. REPROOF OF THE GALATIANS FOR ABANDONING FAITH FOR LEGALISM. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH VINDICATED: THE LAW SHOWN TO BE SUBSEQUENT TO THE PROMISE: BELIEVERS ARE THE SPIRITUAL SEED OF ABRAHAM, WHO WAS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. THE LAW WAS OUR SCHOOLMASTER TO BRING US TO CHRIST, THAT WE MIGHT BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH.
1. that ye should not obey the truth--omitted in the oldest
manuscripts.
bewitched--fascinated you so that you have lost your wits.
THEMISTIUS
says the Galatians were naturally very acute in intellect. Hence, Paul
wonders they could be so misled in this case.
you--emphatical. "You, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been
graphically set forth (literally, in writing, namely, by vivid
portraiture in preaching)
among you, crucified" (so the sense and
Greek order require rather than English Version). As Christ was
"crucified," so ye ought to have been by faith "crucified with
Christ," and so "dead to the law" (@Ga 2:19,20). Reference to the
"eyes" is appropriate, as fascination was supposed to be exercised
through the eyes. The sight of Christ crucified ought to have been
enough to counteract all fascination.
2. "Was it by the works of the law that ye received the Spirit
(manifested by outward miracles, @Ga 3:5 Mr 16:17 Heb 2:4; and by
spiritual graces, @Ga 3:14 Ga 4:5,6 Eph 1:13), or by the hearing of
faith?" The "only" implies, "I desire, omitting other arguments, to rest
the question on this alone"; I who was your teacher, desire now
to "learn" this one thing from you. The epithet "Holy" is not prefixed
to "Spirit" because that epithet is a joyous one, whereas this Epistle
is stern and reproving [BENGEL].
hearing of faith--Faith consists not in working, but in
receiving (@Ro 10:16,17).
3. begun--the Christian life (@Php 1:6).
in the Spirit--Not merely was Christ crucified "graphically set
forth" in my preaching, but also "the Spirit" confirmed the word
preached, by imparting His spiritual gifts. "Having thus begun" with the
receiving His spiritual gifts, "are ye now being made perfect"
(so the Greek), that is, are ye seeking to be made perfect with
"fleshly" ordinances of the law? [ESTIUS]. Compare
@Ro 2:28 Php 3:3 Heb 9:10. Having begun in the Spirit, that is, the
Holy Spirit ruling your spiritual life as its "essence and active
principle" [ELLICOTT], in contrast to "the flesh," the element in which
the law works [ALFORD]. Having begun your Christianity in the Spirit,
that is, in the divine life that proceeds from faith, are ye seeking
after something higher still (the perfecting of your Christianity) in
the sensuous and the earthly, which cannot possibly elevate the inner
life of the Spirit, namely, outward ceremonies?
[NEANDER]. No doubt the
Galatians thought that they were going more deeply into the Spirit; for
the flesh may be easily mistaken for the Spirit, even by those who have
made progress, unless they continue to maintain a pure faith
[BENGEL].
4. Have ye suffered so many things--namely, persecution from Jews and
from unbelieving fellow countrymen, incited by the Jews, at the time of
your conversion.
in vain--fruitlessly, needlessly, since ye might have avoided them
by professing Judaism [GROTIUS]. Or, shall ye, by falling from grace,
lose the reward promised for all your sufferings, so that they shall be
"in vain" (@Ga 4:11 1Co 15:2,17-19,29-32 2Th 1:5-7 2Jo 1:8)?
yet--rather, "If it be really (or 'indeed') in vain"
[ELLICOTT].
"If, as it must be, what I have said, 'in vain,' is really the fact"
[ALFORD]. I prefer understanding it as a mitigation of the preceding
words. I hope better things of you, for I trust you will return from
legalism to grace; if so, as I confidently expect, you will not have
"suffered so many things in vain" [ESTIUS]. For "God has given you the
Spirit and has wrought mighty works among you" (@Ga 3:5 Heb 10:32-36)
[BENGEL].
5. He . . . that ministereth--or "supplieth," God (@2Co 9:10). He
who supplied and supplies to you the Spirit still, to the present
time. These miracles do not prove grace to be in the heart
(@Mr 9:38,39). He speaks of these miracles as a matter of
unquestioned notoriety among those addressed; an undesigned proof of
their genuineness (compare @1Co 12:1-31).
worketh miracles among you--rather, "IN you," as
@Ga 2:8 Mt 14:2 Eph 2:2 Php 2:13; at your conversion and since
[ALFORD].
doeth he it by the works of the law--that is, as a consequence
resulting from (so the Greek) the works of the law
(compare @Ga 3:2). This cannot be because the law was then
unknown to you when you received those gifts of the Spirit.
6. The answer to the question in @Ga 3:5 is here taken for granted, It was by the hearing of faith: following this up, he says, "Even as Abraham believed," &c. (@Ge 15:4-6 Ro 4:3). God supplies unto you the Spirit as the result of faith, not works, just as Abraham obtained justification by faith, not by works (@Ga 3:6,8,16 Ga 4:22,26,28). Where justification is, there the Spirit is, so that if the former comes by faith, the latter must also.
7. they which are of faith--as the source and starting-point of their
spiritual life. The same phrase is in the Greek of @Ro 3:26.
the same--these, and these alone, to the exclusion of all the
other descendants of Abraham.
children--Greek, "sons" (@Ga 3:29).
8. And--Greek, "Moreover."
foreseeing--One great excellency of Scripture is, that in it all
points liable ever to be controverted, are, with prescient wisdom,
decided in the most appropriate language.
would justify--rather, "justifieth." Present indicative. It is now,
and at all times, God's one way of justification.
the heathen--rather, "the Gentiles"; or "the nations," as the same
Greek is translated at the end of the verse. God justifieth the
Jews, too, "by faith, not by works." But he specifies the Gentiles in particular here, as it was their case that was in question, the
Galatians being Gentiles.
preached before the gospel--"announced beforehand the Gospel." For
the "promise" was substantially the Gospel by anticipation. Compare
@Joh 8:56 Heb 4:2. A proof that "the old fathers did not look only
for transitory promises" [Article VII, Church of England]. Thus the
Gospel, in its essential germ, is older than the law though the full
development of the former is subsequent to the latter.
In thee--not "in thy seed," which is a point not here raised; but
strictly "in thee," as followers of thy faith, it having first shown the
way to justification before God [ALFORD]; or "in thee," as Father of the
promised seed, namely, Christ (@Ga 3:16), who is the Object of faith
(@Ge 22:18 Ps 72:17), and imitating thy faith
(see on Ga 3:9).
all nations--or as above, "all the Gentiles"
(@Ge 12:3 18:18 22:18).
be blessed--an act of grace, not something earned by works. The
blessing of justification was to Abraham by faith in the promise, not by
works. So to those who follow Abraham, the father of the faithful, the
blessing, that is, justification, comes purely by faith in Him who is
the subject of the promise.
9. they--and they alone.
of faith--(See on Ga 3:7, beginning).
with--together with.
faithful--implying what it is in which they are "blessed together with
him," namely, faith, the prominent feature of his character, and of
which the result to all who like him have it, is justification.
10. Confirmation of @Ga 3:9. They who depend on the works of the law cannot share the blessing, for they are under the curse "written," @De 27:26, Septuagint. PERFECT obedience is required by the words, "in all things." CONTINUAL obedience by the word, "continueth." No man renders this obedience (compare @Ro 3:19,20). It is observable, Paul quotes Scripture to the Jews who were conversant with it, as in Epistle to the Hebrews, as said or spoken; but to the Gentiles, as written. So Matthew, writing for Jews, quotes it as "said," or "spoken"; Mark and Luke, writing for Gentiles, as "written" (@Mt 1:22 Mr 1:2 Lu 2:22,23) [TOWNSON].
11. by the law--Greek, "IN the law." Both in and by are
included. The syllogism in this verse and @Ga 3:12, is, according to
Scripture, "The just shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith,
but of doing, or works (that is, does not make faith, but works, the
conditional ground of justifying). Therefore "in," or "by the law, no
man is justified before God" (whatever the case may be before men, @Ro 4:2)--not even if he could, which he cannot, keep the law,
because the Scripture element and conditional mean of justification is
faith.
The just shall live by faith--(@Ro 1:17 Hab 2:4). Not as
BENGEL
and ALFORD, "He who is just by faith shall live." The Greek supports
English Version. Also the contrast is between "live by faith"
(namely, as the ground and source of his justification), and "live
in them," namely, in his doings or works (@Ga 3:12), as the
conditional element wherein he is justified.
12. doeth--Many depended on the law although they did not keep it; but without doing, saith Paul, it is of no use to them (@Ro 2:13,17,23 10:5).
13. Abrupt exclamation, as he breaks away impatiently from those
who would involve us again in the curse of the law, by seeking
justification in it, to "Christ," who "has redeemed us from its
curse." The "us" refers primarily to the Jews, to whom the law
principally appertained, in contrast to "the Gentiles" (@Ga 3:14;
compare @Ga 4:3,4). But it is not restricted solely to the Jews,
as ALFORD thinks; for these are the representative people of the world
at large, and their "law" is the embodiment of what God requires of the
whole world. The curse of its non-fulfilment affects the Gentiles
through the Jews; for the law represents that righteousness which God
requires of all, and which, since the Jews failed to fulfil, the
Gentiles are equally unable to fulfil. @Ga 3:10, "As many as are of
the works of the law, are under the curse," refers plainly, not to
the Jews only, but to all, even Gentiles (as the Galatians), who seek
justification by the law. The Jews' law represents the universal law
which condemned the Gentiles, though with less clear consciousness on
their part (@Ro 2:1-29). The revelation of God's "wrath" by the law
of conscience, in some degree prepared the Gentiles for appreciating
redemption through Christ when revealed. The curse had to be removed
from off the heathen, too, as well as the Jews, in order that the
blessing, through Abraham, might flow to them. Accordingly, the "we," in
"that we might receive the promise of the Spirit," plainly refers to
both Jews and Gentiles.
redeemed us--bought us off from our former bondage (@Ga 4:5),
and "from the curse" under which all lie who trust to the law and the
works of the law for justification. The Gentile Galatians, by putting
themselves under the law, were involving themselves in the curse from
which Christ has redeemed the Jews primarily, and through them the
Gentiles. The ransom price He paid was His own precious blood
(@1Pe 1:18,19; compare
@Mt 20:28 Ac 20:28 1Co 6:20 7:23 1Ti 2:6 2Pe 2:1 Re 5:9).
being made--Greek, "having become."
a curse for us--Having become what we were, in our behalf, "a
curse," that we might cease to be a curse. Not merely accursed (in
the concrete), but a curse in the abstract,
bearing the universal curse of the whole human race. So @2Co 5:21,
"Sin for us," not sinful, but bearing the whole sin of our race,
regarded as one vast aggregate of sin. See Note there. "Anathema"
means "set apart to God," to His glory, but to the person's own
destruction. "Curse," an execration.
written--(@De 21:23). Christ's bearing the particular curse
of hanging on the tree, is a sample of the "general" curse which He
representatively bore. Not that the Jews put to death malefactors by
hanging; but after having put them to death otherwise, in order to
brand them with peculiar ignominy, they hung the bodies on a tree,
and such malefactors were accursed by the law (compare @Ac 5:30 10:39).
God's providence ordered it so that to fulfil the prophecy of the curse
and other prophecies, Jesus should be crucified, and so hang on the
tree, though that death was not a Jewish mode of execution. The Jews
accordingly, in contempt, call Him Tolvi, "the hanged one," and
Christians, "worshippers of the hanged one"; and make it their great
objection that He died the accursed death [TRYPHO,
in Justin Martyr, p. 249] (@1Pe 2:24). Hung between heaven and earth as though unworthy
of either!
14. The intent of "Christ becoming a curse for us"; "To the end that
upon the Gentiles the blessing of Abraham (that is, promised to Abraham, namely, justification by faith) might come in Christ Jesus"
(compare @Ga 3:8).
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit--the promised Spirit
(@Joe 2:28,29 Lu 24:49). This clause follows not the clause
immediately preceding (for our receiving the Spirit is not the
result of the blessing of Abraham coming on the Gentiles), but "Christ
hath redeemed us," &c.
through faith--not by works. Here he resumes the thought in
@Ga 3:2. "The Spirit from without, kindles within us some spark of
faith Whereby we lay hold of Christ, and even of the Spirit Himself,
that He may dwell within us" [FLACIUS].
15. I speak after the manner of men--I take an illustration from a
merely human transaction of everyday occurrence.
but a man's covenant--whose purpose it is far less important to
maintain.
if it be confirmed--when once it hath been ratified.
no man disannulleth--"none setteth aside," not even the author
himself, much less any second party. None does so who acts in common
equity. Much less would the righteous God do so. The law is here,
by personification, regarded as a second person, distinct from, and
subsequent to, the promise of God. The promise is everlasting, and
more peculiarly belongs to God. The law is regarded as something
extraneous, afterwards introduced, exceptional and temporary
(@Ga 3:17-19,21-24).
addeth--None addeth new conditions "making" the covenant "of none
effect" (@Ga 3:17). So legal Judaism could make no alteration in the
fundamental relation between God and man, already established by the
promises to Abraham; it could not add as a new condition the observance
of the law, in which case the fulfilment of the promise would be
attached to a condition impossible for man to perform. The "covenant"
here is one of free grace, a promise afterwards carried into effect
in the Gospel.
16. This verse is parenthetical. The covenant of promise was not
"spoken" (so Greek for "made") to Abraham alone, but "to Abraham and
his seed"; to the latter especially; and this means Christ (and that
which is inseparable from Him, the literal Israel, and
the spiritual, His body, the Church). Christ not having come when
the law was given, the covenant could not have been then fulfilled, but
awaited the coming of Him, the Seed, to whom it was spoken.
promises--plural, because the same promise was often repeated
(@Ge 12:3,7 15:5,18 17:7 22:18), and because it involved many
things; earthly blessings to the literal children of Abraham in Canaan,
and spiritual and heavenly blessings to his spiritual children; but both
promised to Christ, "the Seed" and representative Head of the literal
and spiritual Israel alike. In the spiritual seed there is no
distinction of Jew or Greek; but to the literal seed, the promises
still in part remain to be fulfilled (@Ro 11:26). The covenant was
not made with "many" seeds (which if there had been, a pretext might
exist for supposing there was one seed before the law, another under the
law; and that those sprung from one seed, say the Jewish, are admitted
on different terms, and with a higher degree of acceptability, than
those sprung from the Gentile seed), but with the one seed; therefore,
the promise that in Him "all the families of the earth shall be blessed"
(@Ge 12:3), joins in this one Seed, Christ, Jew and Gentile, as
fellow heirs on the same terms of acceptability, namely, by grace
through faith (@Ro 4:13); not to some by promise, to others by the
law, but to all alike, circumcised and uncircumcised, constituting but
one seed in Christ (@Ro 4:16). The law, on the other hand,
contemplates the Jews and Gentiles as distinct seeds. God makes a
covenant, but it is one of promise; whereas the law is a covenant of
works. Whereas the law brings in a mediator, a third party
(@Ga 3:19,20), God makes His covenant of promise with the one seed,
Christ (@Ge 17:7), and embraces others only as they are identified
with, and represented by, Christ.
one . . . Christ--not in the exclusive sense, the man Christ
Jesus, but "Christ" (Jesus is not added, which would limit the meaning),
including His people who are part of Himself, the Second Adam,
and Head of redeemed humanity. @Ga 3:28,29 prove this, "Ye are all
ONE in Christ Jesus"
(Jesus is added here as the person is indicated). "And
if ye be Christ's, ye are Abraham's SEED, heirs according to
the promise."
17. this I say--"this is what I mean," by what I said in @Ga 3:15.
continued . . . of God--"ratified by God" (@Ga 3:15).
in Christ--rather, "unto Christ" (compare @Ga 3:16). However,
Vulgate and the old Italian versions translate as English Version. But the oldest manuscripts omit the words altogether.
the law which was--Greek, "which came into existence four hundred
thirty years after" (@Ex 12:40,41). He does not, as in the case of
"the covenant," add "enacted by God" (@Joh 1:17). The dispensation
of "the promise" began with the call of Abraham from Ur into Canaan, and
ended on the last night of his grandson Jacob's sojourn in Canaan, the
land of promise. The dispensation of the law, which engenders
bondage, was beginning to draw on from the time of his entrance into
Egypt, the land of bondage. It was to Christ in him, as in his
grandfather Abraham, and his father Isaac, not to him or them as
persons, the promise was spoken. On the day following the last
repetition of the promise orally (@Ge 46:1-6), at Beer-sheba, Israel
passed into Egypt. It is from the end, not from the beginning of the
dispensation of promise, that the interval of four hundred thirty years
between it and the law is to be counted. At Beer-sheba, after the
covenant with Abimelech, Abraham called on the everlasting God, and the
well was confirmed to him and his seed as an everlasting possession.
Here God appeared to Isaac. Here Jacob received the promise of the
blessing, for which God had called Abraham out of Ur, repeated for the
last time, on the last night of his sojourn in the land of promise.
cannot--Greek, "doth not disannul."
make . . . of none effect--The promise would become so, if the power
of conferring the inheritance be transferred from it to the law
(@Ro 4:14).
18. the inheritance--all the blessings to be inherited by Abraham's
literal and spiritual children, according to the promise made to him and
to his Seed, Christ, justification and glorification
(@Ga 4:7 Ro 8:17 1Co 6:9).
but God, &c.--The Greek order requires rather, "But to Abraham
it was by promise that God hath given it." The conclusion is,
Therefore the inheritance is not of, or from the law
(@Ro 4:14).
19. "Wherefore then serveth the law?" as it is of no avail for
justification, is it either useless, or contrary to the covenant of God?
[CALVIN].
added--to the original covenant of promise. This is not inconsistent
with @Ga 3:15, "No man addeth thereto"; for there the kind of
addition meant, and therefore denied, is one that would add
new conditions, inconsistent with the grace of the covenant of
promise. The law, though misunderstood by the Judaizers as doing so,
was really added for a different purpose, namely, "because of (or as the
Greek, 'for the sake of') the transgressions," that is, to bring out
into clearer view the transgressions of it (@Ro 7:7-9); to make
men more fully conscious of their "sins," by being perceived as
transgressions of the law, and so to make them long for the promised
Saviour. This accords with @Ga 3:23,24 Ro 4:15. The meaning can
hardly be "to check transgressions," for the law rather stimulates
the corrupt heart to disobey it (@Ro 5:20 7:13).
till the seed--during the period up to the time when the seed
came. The law was a preparatory dispensation for the Jewish nation
(@Ro 5:20; Greek, "the law came in additionally and
incidentally"), intervening between the promise and its fulfilment
in Christ.
come--(Compare "faith came," @Ga 3:23).
the promise--(@Ro 4:21).
ordained--Greek, "constituted" or "disposed."
by angels--as the instrumental enactors of the law
[ALFORD] God
delegated the law to angels as something rather alien to Him and severe
(@Ac 7:53 Heb 2:2,3; compare @De 33:2, "He came with ten
thousands of saints," that is, angels, @Ps 68:17). He reserved "the
promise" to Himself and dispensed it according to His own goodness.
in the hand of a mediator--namely, Moses. @De 5:5, "I stood
between the Lord and you": the very definition of a mediator. Hence
the phrase often recurs, "By the hand of Moses." In the giving of the
law, the "angels" were representatives of God; Moses, as mediator,
represented the people.
20. "Now a mediator cannot be of one (but must be of two parties whom he mediates between); but God is one" (not two: owing to His essential unity not admitting of an intervening party between Him and those to be blessed; but as the ONE Sovereign, His own representative, giving the blessing directly by promise to Abraham, and, in its fulfilment, to Christ, "the Seed," without new condition, and without a mediator such as the law had). The conclusion understood is, Therefore a mediator cannot appertain to God; and consequently, the law, with its inseparable appendage of a mediator, cannot be the normal way of dealing of God, the one, and unchangeable God, who dealt with Abraham by direct promise, as a sovereign, not as one forming a compact with another party, with conditions and a mediator attached thereto. God would bring man into immediate communion with Him, and not have man separated from Him by a mediator that keeps back from access, as Moses and the legal priesthood did (@Ex 19:12,13,17,21-24 Heb 12:19-24). The law that thus interposed a mediator and conditions between man and God, was an exceptional state limited to the Jews, and parenthetically preparatory to the Gospel, God's normal mode of dealing, as He dealt with Abraham, namely, face to face directly; by promise and grace, and not conditions; to all nations united by faith in the one seed (@Eph 2:14,16,18), and not to one people to the exclusion and severance from the ONE common Father, of all other nations. It is no objection to this view, that the Gospel, too, has a mediator (@1Ti 2:5). For Jesus is not a mediator separating the two parties in the covenant of promise or grace, as Moses did, but ONE in both nature and office with both God and man (compare "God in Christ," @Ga 3:17):representing the whole universal manhood (@1Co 15:22,45,47), and also bearing in Him "all the fulness of the Godhead." Even His mediatorial office is to cease when its purpose of reconciling all things to God shall have been accomplished (@1Co 15:24); and God's ONENESS (@Zec 14:9), as "all in all," shall be fully manifested. Compare @Joh 1:17, where the two mediators--Moses, the severing mediator of legal conditions, and Jesus, the uniting mediator of grace--are contrasted. The Jews began their worship by reciting the Schemah, opening thus, "Jehovah our God is ONE Jehovah"; which words their Rabbis (as JARCHIUS) interpret as teaching not only the unity of God, but the future universality of His Kingdom on earth (@Zep 3:9). Paul (@Ro 3:30) infers the same truth from the ONENESS of God (compare @Eph 4:4-6). He, as being One, unites all believers, without distinction, to Himself (@Ga 3:8,16,28 Eph 1:10 2:14; compare @Heb 2:11) in direct communion. The unity of God involves the unity of the people of God, and also His dealing directly without intervention of a mediator.
21. "Is the law (which involves a mediator) against the promises
of God (which are without a mediator, and rest on God alone and
immediately)? God forbid."
life--The law, as an externally prescribed rule, can never internally
impart spiritual life to men naturally dead in sin, and change the
disposition. If the law had been a law capable of giving life, "verily (in very reality, and not in the mere fancy of legalists)
righteousness would have been by the law (for where life is, there
righteousness, its condition, must also be)." But the law does not
pretend to give life, and therefore not righteousness; so there is
no opposition between the law and the promise. Righteousness can only
come through the promise to Abraham, and through its fulfilment in the
Gospel of grace.
22. But--as the law cannot give life or righteousness
[ALFORD]. Or
the "But" means, So far is righteousness from being of the law, that
the knowledge of sin is rather what comes of the law [BENGEL].
the scripture--which began to be written after the time of the promise,
at the time when the law was given. The written letter was needed SO
as PERMANENTLY to convict man of disobedience to God's command.
Therefore he says, "the Scripture," not the "Law." Compare @Ga 3:8,
"Scripture," for "the God of the Scripture."
concluded--"shut up," under condemnation, as in a prison. Compare
@Isa 24:22, "As prisoners gathered in the pit and shut up in the
prison." Beautifully contrasted with "the liberty wherewith Christ makes
free," which follows, @Ga 3:7,9,25,26 5:1 Isa 61:1.
all--Greek neuter, "the universe of things": the whole
world, man, and all that appertains to him.
under sin--(@Ro 3:9,19 11:32).
the promise--the inheritance promised (@Ga 3:18).
by faith of Jesus Christ--that is which is by faith in Jesus Christ.
might be given--The emphasis is on "given": that it might be a free
gift; not something earned by the works of the law (@Ro 6:23).
to them that believe--to them that have "the faith of (in) Jesus
Christ" just spoken of.
23. faith--namely, that just mentioned (@Ga 3:22), of which
Christ is the object.
kept--Greek, "kept in ward": the effect of the "shutting up"
(@Ga 3:22 Ga 4:2 Ro 7:6).
unto--"with a view to the faith," &c. We were, in a manner, morally
forced to it, so that there remained to us no refuge but faith. Compare
the phrase, @Ps 78:50, Margin; @Ps 31:8.
which should afterwards, &c.--"which was afterwards to be revealed."
24. "So that the law hath been (that is, hath
turned out to be) our schoolmaster
(or "tutor," literally, "pedagogue": this term, among the Greeks, meant
a faithful servant entrusted with the care of the boy from childhood to
puberty, to keep him from evil, physical and moral, and accompany him
to his amusements and studies) to guide us unto Christ," with whom we
are no longer "shut up" in bondage, but are freemen. "Children"
(literally, infants) need such tutoring
(@Ga 4:3).
might be--rather, "that we may be justified by faith"; which we
could not be till Christ, the object of faith, had come. Meanwhile the
law, by outwardly checking the sinful propensity which was constantly
giving fresh proof of its refractoriness--as thus the consciousness of
the power of the sinful principle became more vivid, and hence the sense
of need both of forgiveness of sin and freedom from its bondage was
awakened--the law became a "schoolmaster to guide us unto Christ"
[NEANDER]. The moral law shows us what we ought to do, and so we
learn our inability to do it. In the ceremonial law we seek, by
animal sacrifices, to answer for our not having done it, but find dead
victims no satisfaction for the sins of living men, and that outward
purifying will not cleanse the soul; and that therefore we need an
infinitely better Sacrifice, the antitype of all the legal sacrifices.
Thus delivered up to the judicial law, we see how awful is the doom
we deserve: thus the law at last leads us to Christ, with whom we find
righteousness and peace. "Sin, sin! is the word heard again and
again in the Old Testament. Had it not there for centuries rung in the
ear, and fastened on the conscience, the joyful sound, "grace for
grace," would not have been the watchword of the New Testament. This was
the end of the whole system of sacrifices" [THOLUCK].
25. "But now that faith is come," &c. Moses the lawgiver cannot bring us into the heavenly Canaan though he can bring us to the border of it. At that point he is superseded by Joshua, the type of Jesus, who leads the true Israel into their inheritance. The law leads us to Christ, and there its office ceases.
26. children--Greek, "sons."
by--Greek, "through faith." "Ye all" (Jews and Gentiles
alike) are no longer "children" requiring a tutor, but SONS
emancipated and walking at liberty.
27. baptized into Christ--(@Ro 6:3).
have put on Christ--Ye did, in that very act of being baptized
into Christ, put on, or clothe yourselves with, Christ: so the
Greek expresses. Christ is to you the toga virilis (the Roman
garment of the full-grown man, assumed when ceasing to be a child)
[BENGEL].
GATAKER defines a Christian, "One who has put on Christ." The
argument is, By baptism ye have put on Christ; and therefore, He being
the Son of God, ye become sons by adoption, by virtue of His Sonship by
generation. This proves that baptism, where it answers to its ideal, is not a mere empty sign, but a means of spiritual transference from
the state of legal condemnation to that of living union with Christ,
and of sonship through Him in relation to God (@Ro 13:14). Christ
alone can, by baptizing with His Spirit, make the inward grace
correspond to the outward sign. But as He promises the blessing in the
faithful use of the means, the Church has rightly presumed, in charity,
that such is the case, nothing appearing to the contrary.
28. There is in this sonship by faith in Christ, no class privileged
above another, as the Jews under the law had been above the Gentiles
(@Ro 10:12 1Co 12:13 Col 3:11).
bond nor free--Christ alike belongs to both by faith; whence he puts
"bond" before "free." Compare Note,
see on 1Co 7:21,22;
Eph 6:8.
neither male nor female--rather, as Greek, "there is not male and female." There is no distinction into male and female.
Difference of sex makes no difference in Christian privileges. But under
the law the male sex had great privileges. Males alone had in their body
circumcision, the sign of the covenant (contrast baptism applied to
male and female alike); they alone were capable of being kings and
priests, whereas all of either sex are now "kings and priests unto God"
(@Re 1:6); they had prior right to inheritances. In the
resurrection the relation of the sexes shall cease (@Lu 20:35).
one--Greek, "one man"; masculine, not neuter, namely "one new
man" in Christ (@Eph 2:15).
29. and heirs--The oldest manuscripts omit "and." Christ is "Abraham's seed" (@Ga 3:16): ye are "one in Christ" (@Ga 3:28), and one with Christ, as having "put on Christ" (@Ga 3:27); therefore YE are "Abraham's seed," which is tantamount to saying (whence the "and" is omitted), ye are "heirs according to the promise" (not "by the law," @Ga 3:18); for it was to Abraham's seed that the inheritance was promised (@Ga 3:16). Thus he arrives at the same truth which he set out with (@Ga 3:7). But one new "seed" of a righteous succession could be found. One single faultless grain of human nature was found by God Himself, the source of a new and imperishable seed: "the seed" (@Ps 22:30) who receive from Him a new nature and name (@Ge 3:15 Isa 53:10,11 Joh 12:24). In Him the lineal descent from David becomes extinct. He died without posterity. But He lives and shall reign on David's throne. No one has a legal claim to sit upon it but Himself, He being the only living direct representative (@Eze 21:27). His spiritual seed derive their birth from the travail of His soul, being born again of His word, which is the incorruptible seed (@Joh 1:12 Ro 9:8 1Pe 1:23).
CHAPTER 4
@Ga 4:1-31. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED: ILLUSTRATION OF OUR SUBJECTION TO THE LAW ONLY TILL CHRIST CAME, FROM THE SUBJECTION OF AN HEIR TO HIS GUARDIAN TILL HE IS OF AGE. PETER'S GOOD WILL TO THE GALATIANS SHOULD LEAD THEM TO THE SAME GOOD WILL TO HIM AS THEY HAD AT FIRST SHOWN. THEIR DESIRE TO BE UNDER THE LAW SHOWN BY THE ALLEGORY OF ISAAC AND ISHMAEL TO BE INCONSISTENT WITH THEIR GOSPEL LIBERTY.
1-7. The fact of God's sending His Son to redeem us who were under
the law (@Ga 4:4), and sending the Spirit of His Son into our hearts
(@Ga 4:6), confirms the conclusion (@Ga 3:29) that we are "heirs
according to the promise."
the heir--(@Ga 3:29). It is not, as in earthly inheritances, the
death of the father, but our Father's sovereign will simply that makes
us heirs.
child--Greek, "one under age."
differeth nothing, &c.--that is, has no more freedom than a slave
(so the Greek for "servant" means). He is not at his own disposal.
lord of all--by title and virtual ownership
(compare @1Co 3:21,22).
2. tutors and governors--rather, "guardians (of the person) and
stewards (of the property)." Answering to "the law was our schoolmaster"
or "tutor" (@Ga 3:24).
until the time appointed of the father--in His eternal purposes
(@Eph 1:9-11). The Greek is a legal term, expressing
a time defined by law, or testamentary disposition.
3. we--the Jews primarily, and inclusively the Gentiles also. For
the "we" in @Ga 4:5 plainly refers to both Jew and Gentile
believers. The Jews in their bondage to the law of Moses, as the
representative people of the world, include all mankind virtually
amenable to God's law (@Ro 2:14,15; compare Note,
see on Ga 3:13;
Ga 3:23). Even the Gentiles were under "bondage," and
in a state of discipline suitable to nonage, till Christ came as the
Emancipator.
were in bondage--as "servants" (@Ga 4:1).
under the elements--or "rudiments"; rudimentary religion teaching of
a non-Christian character: the elementary lessons of outward things (literally, "of the
[outward] world"); such as the legal ordinances
mentioned, @Ga 4:10 (@Col 2:8,20). Our childhood's lessons
[CONYBEARE and
HOWSON]. Literally, The letters of the alphabet
(@Heb 5:12).
4. the fulness of the time--namely, "the time appointed by the Father"
(@Ga 4:2). Compare Note,
see on Eph 1:10;
@Lu 1:57 Ac 2:1 Eze 5:2. "The Church has its own ages"
[BENGEL].
God does nothing prematurely, but, foreseeing the end from the
beginning, waits till all is ripe for the execution of His purpose. Had
Christ come directly after the fall, the enormity and deadly fruits of
sin would not have been realized fully by man, so as to feel his
desperate state and need of a Saviour. Sin was fully developed. Man's
inability to save himself by obedience to the law, whether that of
Moses, or that of conscience, was completely manifested; all the
prophecies of various ages found their common center in this particular time: and Providence, by various arrangements in the social
and political, as well as the moral world, had fully prepared the way
for the coming Redeemer. God often permits physical evil long before he
teaches the remedy. The smallpox had for long committed its ravages
before inoculation, and then vaccination, was discovered. It was
essential to the honor of God's law to permit evil long before He
revealed the full remedy. Compare "the set time" (@Ps 102:13).
was come--Greek, "came."
sent forth--Greek, "sent forth out of heaven from Himself"
[ALFORD and
BENGEL]. The same verb is used of the Father's sending forth
the Spirit (@Ga 4:6). So in @Ac 7:12. Compare with this verse,
@Joh 8:42 Isa 48:16.
his--emphatical. "His own Son." Not by adoption, as we are
(@Ga 4:5):nor merely His Son by the anointing of the Spirit which
God sends into the heart (@Ga 4:6 Joh 1:18).
made of a woman--"made" is used as in @1Co 15:45, "The first
man, Adam, was made a living soul," Greek, "made to be (born)
of a woman." The expression implies a special interposition of God in
His birth as man, namely, causing Him to be conceived by the Holy Ghost.
So ESTIUS.
made under the law--"made to be under the law." Not merely as
GROTIUS
and ALFORD explain, "Born subject to the law as a Jew." But "made"
by His Father's appointment, and His own free will, "subject to the
law," to keep it all, ceremonial and moral, perfectly for us, as the
Representative Man, and to suffer and exhaust the full penalty of our
whole race's violation of it. This constitutes the significance of His
circumcision, His being presented in the temple (@Lu 2:21,22,27;
compare @Mt 5:17), and His baptism by John, when He said
(@Mt 3:15), "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
5. To--Greek, "That He might redeem."
them . . . under the law--primarily the Jews: but as these were the
representative people of the world, the Gentiles, too, are included
in the redemption (@Ga 3:13).
receive--The Greek implies the suitableness
of the thing as
long ago predestined by God. "Receive as something destined or due"
(@Lu 23:41 2Jo 1:8). Herein God makes of sons of men sons of God,
inasmuch as God made of the Son of God the Son of man
[AUGUSTINE on Psalm 52].
6. because ye are sons--The gift of the Spirit of prayer is the
consequence of our adoption. The Gentile Galatians might think, as the
Jews were under the law before their adoption, that so they, too, must
first be under the law. Paul, by anticipation, meets this objection by
saying, YE ARE sons, therefore ye need not be as children (@Ga 4:1)
under the tutorship of the law, as being already in the free state of
"sons" of God by faith in Christ (@Ga 3:26), no longer in your
nonage (as "children," @Ga 4:1). The Spirit of God's only Begotten
Son in your hearts, sent from, and leading you to cry to, the Father,
attests your sonship by adoption: for the Spirit is the "earnest of your
inheritance" (@Ro 8:15,16 Eph 1:13). "It is because ye are sons that
God sent forth" (the Greek requires this translation, not "hath
sent forth") into OUR
(so the oldest manuscripts read for "your," in
English Version) hearts the Spirit of His son, crying, "Abba,
Father" (@Joh 1:12). As in @Ga 4:5 he changed from "them," the
third person, to "we," the first person, so here he changes from "ye,"
the second person, to "our," the first person: this he does to identify
their case as Gentiles, with his own and that of his believing fellow
countrymen, as Jews. In another point of view, though not the immediate
one intended by the context, this verse expresses, "Because ye are sons
(already in God's electing purpose of love), God sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into your hearts," &c.: God thus, by sending His Spirit in
due time, actually conferring that sonship which He already regarded as
a present reality ("are") because of His purpose, even before it was
actually fulfilled. So @Heb 2:13, where "the children" are spoken of
as existing in His purpose, before their actual existence.
the Spirit of his Son--By faith ye are one with the Son, so that
what is His is yours; His Sonship ensures your sonship; His Spirit
ensures for you a share in the same. "If any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of His" (@Ro 8:9). Moreover, as the Spirit of God
proceeds from God the Father, so the Spirit of the Son proceeds from the
Son: so that the Holy Ghost, as the Creed says, "proceedeth from the
Father and the Son." The Father was not begotten: the Son is
begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost proceeding from the
Father and the Son.
crying--Here the SPIRIT is regarded as the agent in praying, and
the believer as His organ. In @Ro 8:15, "The Spirit of adoption"
is said to be that whereby WE cry, "Abba, Father"; but in @Ro 8:26,
"The SPIRIT ITSELF maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered." The believers' prayer is His prayer: hence arises
its acceptability with God.
Abba, Father--The Hebrew says, "Abba" (a Hebrew term), the
Greek, "Father" ("Pater," a Greek term in the original), both
united together in one Sonship and one cry of faith, "Abba, Father." So
"Even so ('Nai,' Greek) Amen (Hebrew)," both meaning the
same (@Re 1:7). Christ's own former cry is the believers' cry,
"Abba, Father" (@Mr 14:36).
7. Wherefore--Conclusion inferred from @Ga 4:4-6.
thou--individualizing and applying the truth to each. Such an
individual appropriation of this comforting truth God grants in answer
to them who cry, "Abba, Father."
heir of God through Christ--The oldest manuscripts read, "an heir
through God." This combines on behalf of man, the whole before-mentioned
agency, of THE
TRINITY: the Father sent His Son and the Spirit; the Son
has freed us from the law; the Spirit has completed our sonship. Thus
the redeemed are heirs THROUGH
the Triune GOD, not through the law, nor
through fleshly descent [WINDISCHMANN in
ALFORD]; (@Ga 3:18 confirms
this). "An heir")confirming @Ga 3:29;
compare @Ro 8:17.
8-11. Appeal to them not to turn back from their privileges as free
sons, to legal bondage again.
then--when ye were "servants" (@Ga 4:7).
ye knew not God--not opposed to @Ro 1:21. The heathen
originally knew God, as @Ro 1:21 states, but did not choose to
retain God in their knowledge, and so corrupted the original truth.
They might still have known Him, in a measure, from His works,
but as a matter of fact they knew Him not, so far as His eternity, His
power as the Creator, and His holiness, are concerned.
are no gods--that is, have no existence, such as their worshippers
attribute to them, in the nature of things, but only in the corrupt
imaginations of their worshippers
(see on 1Co 8:4;
1Co 10:19,20;
@2Ch 13:9). Your "service" was a different bondage from that of the
Jews, which was a true service. Yet theirs, like yours, was a burdensome
yoke; how then is it ye wish to resume the yoke after that God has
transferred both Jews and Gentiles to a free service?
9. known God or rather are known of God--They did not first know
and love God, but God first, in His electing love, knew and loved them
as His, and therefore attracted them to the saving knowledge of Him
(@Mt 7:23 1Co 8:3 2Ti 2:19; compare
@Ex 33:12,17 Joh 15:16 Php 3:12). God's great grace in this made
their fall from it the more heinous.
how--expressing indignant wonder at such a thing being possible, and
even actually occurring (@Ga 1:6). "How is it that ye turn back again?"
weak--powerless to justify: in contrast to the justifying power of
faith (@Ga 3:24; compare @Heb 7:18).
beggarly--contrasted with the riches of the inheritance of
believers in Christ (@Eph 1:18). The state of the "child" (@Ga 4:1)
is weak, as not having attained manhood; "beggarly," as not having
attained the inheritance.
elements--"rudiments." It is as if a schoolmaster should go back to
learning the A, B, C'S [BENGEL].
again--There are two Greek words in the original. "Ye desire again,
beginning afresh, to be in bondage." Though the Galatians, as Gentiles,
had never been under the Mosaic yoke, yet they had been under "the
elements of the world" (@Ga 4:3):the common designation for the
Jewish and Gentile systems alike, in contrast to the Gospel (however
superior the Jewish was to the Gentile). Both systems consisted in
outward worship and cleaved to sensible forms. Both were in bondage to
the elements of sense, as though these could give the justification
and sanctification which the inner and spiritual power of God alone
could bestow.
ye desire--or "will." Will-worship is not acceptable to God
(@Col 2:18,23).
10. To regard the observance of certain days as in itself meritorious
as a work, is alien to the free spirit of Christianity. This is not
incompatible with observing the Sabbath or the Christian Lord's day as
obligatory, though not as a work (which was the Jewish and Gentile
error in the observance of days), but as a holy mean appointed by the
Lord for attaining the great end, holiness. The whole life alike belongs
to the Lord in the Gospel view, just as the whole world, and not the
Jews only, belong to Him. But as in Paradise, so now one portion of time
is needed wherein to draw off the soul more entirely from secular
business to God (@Col 2:16). "Sabbaths, new moons, and set feasts"
(@1Ch 23:31 2Ch 31:3), answer to "days, months, times." "Months,"
however, may refer to the first and seventh months, which were
sacred on account of the number of feasts in them.
times--Greek, "seasons," namely, those of the three great feasts,
the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
years--The sabbatical year was about the time of writing this Epistle,
A.D. 48 [BENGEL].
11. lest--Greek, "lest haply." My fear is not for my own sake, but for yours.
12. be as I am--"As I have in my life among you cast off Jewish
habits, so do. ye; for I am become as ye are," namely, in the
non-observance of legal ordinances. "The fact of my laying them aside
among Gentiles, shows that I regard them as
not at all contributing to justification or sanctification. Do
you regard them in the same light, and act accordingly." His observing
the law among the Jews was not inconsistent with this, for he did so
only in order to win them, without compromising principle. On the other
hand, the Galatian Gentiles, by adopting legal ordinances, showed that
they regarded them as needful for salvation. This Paul combats.
ye have not injured me at all--namely, at the period when I first
preached the Gospel among you, and when I made myself as you are,
namely, living as a Gentile, not as a Jew.
You at that time did me no wrong; "ye did not despise my temptation
in the flesh" (@Ga 4:14): nay, you "received me as an angel of God."
Then in @Ga 4:16, he asks, "Have I then, since that time, become
your enemy by telling you the truth?"
13. how through infirmity--rather, as Greek, "Ye know that
because of an infirmity of my flesh I preached," &c. He implies
that bodily sickness, having detained him among them, contrary to his
original intentions, was the occasion of his preaching the Gospel to
them.
at the first--literally, "at the former time"; implying that at
the time of writing he had been twice in Galatia.
See my Introduction; also
see on Ga 4:16, and
Ga 5:21. His sickness was probably the same as recurred
more violently afterward, "the thorn in the flesh" (@2Co 12:7),
which also was overruled to good (@2Co 12:9,10), as the "infirmity
of the flesh" here.
14. my temptation--The oldest manuscripts read, "your temptation."
My infirmity, which was, or might have been, a "temptation," or
trial, to you, ye despised not, that is, ye were not tempted by it
to despise me and my message. Perhaps, however, it is better to
punctuate and explain as LACHMANN, connecting it with
@Ga 4:13, "And (ye know) your temptation
(that is, the temptation to which ye
were exposed through the infirmity) which was in my flesh. Ye despised
not (through natural pride), nor rejected (through spiritual pride), but received me," &c. "Temptation does not mean here, as we
now use the word, tendency to an evil habit, but
BODILY TRIAL."
as an angel of God--as a heaven-inspired and sent messenger from
God: angel means "messenger" (@Mal 2:7). Compare the phrase,
@2Sa 19:27, a Hebrew and Oriental one for a person to be received
with the highest respect (@Zec 12:8). An angel is free from the
flesh, infirmity, and temptation.
as Christ--being Christ's representative (@Mt 10:40). Christ is
Lord of angels.
15. Where, &c.--Of what value was your congratulation (so
the Greek for "blessedness" expresses) of yourselves, on account of
your having among you me, the messenger of the Gospel, considering how
entirely you have veered about since? Once you counted yourselves
blessed in being favored with my ministry.
ye would have plucked out your own eyes--one of the dearest members
of the body--so highly did you value me: a proverbial phrase for the
greatest self-sacrifice (@Mt 5:29). CONYBEARE and
HOWSON think that
this particular form of proverb was used with reference to a weakness in
Paul's eyes, connected with a nervous frame, perhaps affected by the
brightness of the vision described, @Ac 22:11 2Co 12:1-7. "You
would have torn out your own eyes to supply the lack of mine." The
divine power of Paul's words and works, contrasting with the feebleness
of his person (@2Co 10:10), powerfully at first impressed the
Galatians, who had all the impulsiveness of the Celtic race from which
they sprang. Subsequently they soon changed with the fickleness which is
equally characteristic of Celts.
16. Translate, "Am I then become your enemy (an enemy in your eyes) by telling you the truth" (@Ga 2:5,14)? He plainly did not incur their enmity at his first visit, and the words here imply that he had since then, and before his now writing, incurred it: so that the occasion of his telling them the unwelcome truth, must have been at his second visit (@Ac 18:23, see my Introduction). The fool and sinner hate a reprover. The righteous love faithful reproof (@Ps 141:5 Pr 9:8).
17. They--your flatterers: in contrast to Paul himself, who tells them the truth.
zealously--zeal in proselytism was characteristic especially of the
Jews, and so of Judaizers (@Ga 1:14 Mt 23:15 Ro 10:2).
affect you--that is, court you (@2Co 11:2).
not well--not in a good way, or for a good end. Neither the cause of their zealous courting of you, nor the manner, is what it ought
to be.
they would exclude you--"They wish to shut you out" from the kingdom of
God (that is, they wish to persuade you that as uncircumcised Gentiles,
you are shut out from it), "that ye may zealously court them," that
is, become circumcised, as zealous followers of themselves. ALFORD
explains it, that their wish was to shut out the Galatians from the
general community, and attract them as a separate clique to their own
party. So the English word "exclusive," is used.
18. good to be zealously affected--rather, to correspond to "zealously
court" in @Ga 4:18, "to be zealously courted." I do not find fault
with them for zealously courting you, nor with you for being
zealously courted: provided it be "in a good cause" (translate so),
"it is a good thing" (@1Co 9:20-23). My reason for saying the "not
well" (@Ga 4:17; the Greek is the same as that for "good," and
"in a good cause," in @Ga 4:28), is that their
zealous courting of you is not in a good cause. The older interpreters,
however, support English Version (compare @Ga 1:14).
always--Translate and arrange the words thus, "At all times, and
not only when I am present with you." I do not desire that I exclusively should have the privilege of zealously courting you. Others
may do so in my absence with my full approval, if only it be in a good
cause, and if Christ be faithfully preached (@Php 1:15-18).
19. My little children--(@1Ti 1:18 2Ti 2:1 1Jo 2:1). My relation
to you is not merely that of one zealously courting you
(@Ga 4:17,18), but that of a father to his children (@1Co 4:15).
I travail in birth--that is, like a mother in pain till the birth of
her child.
again--a second time. The former time was when I was "present with you"
(@Ga 4:18; compare Note,
see on Ga 4:13).
Christ be formed in you--that you may live nothing but Christ, and
think nothing but Christ (@Ga 2:20), and glory in nothing but Him,
and His death, resurrection, and righteousness
(@Php 3:8-10 Col 1:27).
20. Translate as Greek, "I could wish." If circumstances permitted
(which they do not), I would gladly be with you [M. STUART].
now--as I was twice already. Speaking face to face is so much more
effective towards loving persuasion than writing
(@2Jo 1:12 3Jo 1:13,14).
change my voice--as a mother (@Ga 4:19):adapting my tone of voice
to what I saw in person your case might need. This is possible to one
present, but not to one in writing [GROTIUS and
ESTIUS].
I stand in doubt of you--rather, "I am perplexed about you," namely,
how to deal with you, what kind of words to use, gentle or severe, to
bring you back to the right path.
21. desire--of your own accord madly courting that which must condemn
and ruin you.
do ye not hear--do ye not consider the mystic sense of Moses' words?
[GROTIUS]. The law itself sends you away from itself to Christ
[ESTIUS].
After having sufficiently maintained his point by argument, the apostle
confirms and illustrates it by an inspired allegorical exposition of
historical facts, containing in them general laws and types. Perhaps
his reason for using allegory was to confute the Judaizers with their
own weapons: subtle, mystical, allegorical interpretations, unauthorized
by the Spirit, were their favorite arguments, as of the Rabbins in the
synagogues. Compare the Jerusalem Talmud
[Tractatu Succa, cap. Hechalil]. Paul meets them with an allegorical
exposition, not the work of fancy, but sanctioned by the Holy Spirit.
History, if properly understood contains in its complicated phenomena,
simple and continually recurring divine laws. The history of the
elect people, like their legal ordinances, had, besides the literal, a
typical meaning (compare @1Co 10:1-4 15:45,47 Re 11:8). Just as the
extra-ordinarily-born Isaac, the gift of grace according to promise,
supplanted, beyond all human calculations, the naturally-born Ishmael,
so the new theocratic race, the spiritual seed of Abraham by promise,
the Gentile, as well as Jewish believers, were about to take the place
of the natural seed, who had imagined that to them exclusively belonged
the kingdom of God.
22. (@Ge 16:3-16 21:2).
Abraham--whose sons ye wish to be (compare @Ro 9:7-9).
a bond maid . . . a free woman--rather, as Greek, "the bond
maid . . . the free woman."
23. after the flesh--born according to the usual course of nature: in contrast to Isaac, who was born "by virtue of the promise" (so the Greek), as the efficient cause of Sarah's becoming pregnant out of the course of nature (@Ro 4:19). Abraham was to lay aside all confidence in the flesh (after which Ishmael was born), and to live by faith alone in the promise (according to which Isaac was miraculously born, contrary to all calculations of flesh and blood).
24. are an allegory--rather, "are allegorical," that is, have
another besides the literal meaning.
these are the two covenants--"these [women] are (that is, mean; omit 'the' with all the oldest manuscripts) two covenants." As among the
Jews the bondage of the mother determined that of the child, the
children of the free covenant of promise, answering to Sarah, are free;
the children of the legal covenant of bondage are not so.
one from--that is, taking his origin from Mount Sinai. Hence,
it appears, he is treating of the moral law (@Ga 3:19) chiefly
(@Heb 12:18). Paul was familiar with the district of Sinai in Arabia
(@Ga 1:17), having gone thither after his conversion. At the gloomy
scene of the giving of the Law, he learned to appreciate, by contrast,
the grace of the Gospel, and so to cast off all his past legal
dependencies.
which gendereth--that is, bringing forth children unto bondage.
Compare the phrase (@Ac 3:25), "children of the covenant which
God made . . . saying unto Abraham."
Agar--that is, Hagar.
25. Translate, "For this word, Hagar, is (imports) Mount Sinai
in Arabia (that is, among the Arabians--in the Arabian tongue)." So
CHRYSOSTOM explains. Haraut, the traveller, says that to this day the
Arabians call Sinai, "Hadschar," that is, Hagar, meaning a rock or stone. Hagar twice fled into the desert of Arabia
(@Ge 16:1-16 21:9-21): from her the mountain and city took its name,
and the people were called Hagarenes. Sinai, with its rugged rocks, far
removed from the promised land, was well suited to represent the law
which inspires with terror, and the spirit of bondage.
answereth--literally, "stands in the same rank with"; "she corresponds
to."
Jerusalem which now is--that is, the Jerusalem of the Jews, having only
a present temporary existence, in contrast with the spiritual Jerusalem
of the Gospel, which in germ, under the form of the promise, existed
ages before, and shall be for ever in ages to come.
and--The oldest manuscripts read, "For she is in bondage." As Hagar
was in bondage to her mistress, so Jerusalem that now is, is in bondage
to the law, and also to the Romans: her civil state thus being in
accordance with her spiritual state [BENGEL].
26. This verse stands instead of the sentence which we should expect,
to correspond to @Ga 4:24, "One from Mount Sinai," namely,
the other covenant from the heavenly mount above, which is (answers
in the allegory to) Sarah.
Jerusalem . . . above--(@Heb 12:22), "the heavenly Jerusalem." "New
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God"
(@Re 3:12 21:2). Here "the Messianic theocracy, which before
Christ's second appearing is the Church, and after it, Christ's
kingdom of glory" [MEYER].
free--as Sarah was; opposed to "she is in bondage" (@Ga 4:25).
all--omitted in many of the oldest manuscripts, though supported by
some. "Mother of us," namely, believers who are already members of
the invisible Church, the heavenly Jerusalem, hereafter to be
manifested (@Heb 12:22).
27. (@Isa 54:1).
thou barren--Jerusalem above: the spiritual Church of the Gospel,
the fruit of "the promise," answering to Sarah, who bore not "after
the flesh": as contrasted with the law, answering to Hagar, who was
fruitful in the ordinary course of nature. Isaiah speaks primarily of
Israel's restoration after her long-continued calamities; but his
language is framed by the Holy Spirit so as to reach beyond this to the
spiritual Zion: including not only the Jews, the natural descendants of
Abraham and children of the law, but also the Gentiles. The
spiritual Jerusalem is regarded as "barren" while the law trammeled
Israel, for she then had no spiritual children of the Gentiles.
break forth--into crying.
cry--shout for joy.
many more--Translate as Greek, "Many are the children of the
desolate (the New Testament Church made up in the greater part from the
Gentiles, who once had not the promise, and so was destitute of God
as her husband),
more than of her which hath an (Greek,
'THE') husband
(the Jewish Church having
GOD for her husband, @Isa 54:5 Jer 2:2)."
Numerous as were the children of the legal covenant, those of the
Gospel covenant are more so. The force of the Greek article is,
"Her who has THE husband of which the other is destitute."
28. we--The oldest manuscripts and versions are divided between "we"
and "ye." "We" better accords with @Ga 4:26, "mother of us."
children of promise--not children after the flesh, but through the
promise (@Ga 4:23,29,31). "We are" so, and ought to wish to
continue so.
29. persecuted--Ishmael "mocked" Isaac, which contained in it the
germ and spirit of persecution (@Ge 21:9). His mocking was probably
directed against Isaac's piety and faith in God's promises. Being the
older by natural birth, he haughtily prided himself above him that was
born by promise: as Cain hated Abel's piety.
him . . . born after the Spirit--The language, though referring
primarily to Isaac, born in a spiritual way (namely, by the promise or
word of God, rendered by His Spirit efficient out of the course of
nature, in making Sarah fruitful in old age), is so framed as especially
to refer to believers justified by Gospel grace through faith, as
opposed to carnal men, Judaizers, and legalists.
even so it is now--(@Ga 5:11 6:12,17 Ac 9:29 13:45,49,50 14:1,2,19 17:5,13 18:5,6). The
Jews persecuted Paul, not for preaching Christianity in opposition to
heathenism, but for preaching it as distinct from Judaism. Except in 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 the Gentiles, unless they were first stirred up by the Jews.
The coincidence between Paul's Epistles and Luke's history (the Acts) in
this respect, is plainly undesigned, and so a proof of genuineness (see
PALEY, Horæ Paulinæ).
30. @Ge 21:10,12, where Sarah's words are, "shall not be heir with
my son, even with Isaac." But what was there said literally, is here
by inspiration expressed in its allegorical spiritual import, applying
to the New Testament believer, who is antitypically "the son of the free
woman." In @Joh 8:35,36, Jesus refers to this.
Cast out--from the house and inheritance: literally, Ishmael;
spiritually, the carnal and legalists.
shall not be heir--The Greek is stronger,
"must not be heir," or "inherit."
31. So then--The oldest manuscripts read, "Wherefore." This is the conclusion inferred from what precedes. In @Ga 3:29 and @Ga 4:7, it was established that we, New Testament believers, are "heirs." If, then, we are heirs, "we are not children of the bond woman (whose son, according to Scripture, was 'not to be heir,' @Ga 4:30), but of the free woman (whose son was, according to Scripture, to be heir). For we are not "cast out" as Ishmael, but accepted as sons and heirs.
CHAPTER 5
@Ga 5:1-26. PERORATION. EXHORTATION TO STAND FAST IN THE GOSPEL LIBERTY, JUST SET FORTH, AND NOT TO BE LED BY JUDAIZERS INTO CIRCUMCISION, OR LAW JUSTIFICATION: YET THOUGH FREE, TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER BY LOVE: TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT, BEARING THE FRUIT THEREOF, NOT IN THE WORKS OF THE FLESH.
1. The oldest manuscripts read, "in liberty (so ALFORD, MOBERLEY, HUMPHRY, and ELLICOTT. But as there is no Greek for 'in,' as there is in translating in @1Co 16:13 Php 1:27 4:1, I prefer 'It is FOR freedom that') Christ hath made us free (not in, or for, a state of bondage). Stand fast, therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage" (namely, the law, @Ga 4:24 Ac 15:10). On "again," see on Ga 4:9.
2. Behold--that is, Mark what I say.
I Paul--Though you now think less of my authority, I nevertheless give
my name and personal authority as enough by itself to refute all
opposition of adversaries.
if ye be circumcised--not as ALFORD, "If you will go on being circumcised." Rather, "If ye suffer yourselves to be circumcised,"
namely, under the notion of its being necessary to justification (@Ga 5:4 Ac 15:1). Circumcision here is not regarded simply by itself
(for, viewed as a mere national rite, it was practiced for
conciliation's sake by Paul himself, @Ac 16:3), but as the symbol of
Judaism and legalism in general. If this be necessary, then the
Gospel of grace is at an end. If the latter be the way of justification,
then Judaism is in no way so.
Christ . . . profit . . . nothing--(@Ga 2:21). For righteousness of
works and justification by faith cannot co-exist. "He who is circumcised
[for justification] is so as fearing the law, and he who fears,
disbelieves the power of grace, and he who disbelieves can profit
nothing by that grace which he disbelieves [CHRYSOSTOM].
3. For--Greek, "Yea, more"; "Moreover."
I testify . . . to every man--as well as "unto you" (@Ga 5:2).
that is circumcised--that submits to be circumcised. Such a one
became a "proselyte of righteousness."
the whole law--impossible for man to keep even in part, much less
wholly (@Jas 2:10); yet none can be justified by the law, unless
he keep it wholly (@Ga 3:10).
4. Literally, "Ye have become void from Christ," that is, your
connection with Christ has become void (@Ga 5:2). @Ro 7:2,
"Loosed from the law," where the same Greek occurs as here.
whosoever of you are justified--"are being justified," that is, are
endeavoring to be justified.
by the law--Greek, "IN the law," as the element
in which justification is to take place.
fallen from grace--Ye no longer "stand" in grace (@Ro 5:2).
Grace and legal righteousness cannot co-exist (@Ro 4:4,5:11:6).
Christ, by circumcision (@Lu 2:21), undertook to obey all the law,
and fulfil all righteousness for us: any, therefore, that now seeks to
fulfil the law for himself in any degree for justifying righteousness,
severs himself from the grace which flows from Christ's fulfilment of
it, and becomes "a debtor to do the whole law" (@Ga 5:3). The decree
of the Jerusalem council had said nothing so strong as this; it had
merely decided that Gentile Christians were not bound to legal
observances. But the Galatians, while not pretending to be so bound, imagined there was an efficacy in them to merit a higher degree of
perfection (@Ga 3:3). This accounts for Paul not referring to
the decree at all. He took much higher ground. See PALEY'S
Horæ Paulinæ. The natural mind loves outward fetters, and is apt
to forge them for itself, to stand in lieu of holiness of heart.
5. For--proof of the assertion, "fallen from grace," by contrasting
with the case of legalists, the "hope" of Christians.
through the Spirit--Greek, rather, "by the Spirit": in opposition
to by the flesh (@Ga 4:29), or fleshly ways of justification, as
circumcision and legal ordinances. "We" is emphatical, and contrasted
with "whosoever of you would be justified by the law" (@Ga 5:4).
the hope of righteousness--"We wait for the (realization of the)
hope (which is the fruit) of the righteousness (that is, justification
which comes) by (literally, 'from--out of') faith,"
@Ro 5:1,4,5 8:24,25, "Hope . . . we with patience wait for it." This is a farther step than being "justified"; not only are we
this, but "wait for the hope" which is connected with it, and is its
full consummation. "Righteousness," in the sense of justification, is
by the believer once for all already attained: but the consummation of
it in future perfection above is the object of hope to be
waited for: "the crown of righteousness laid up" (@2Ti 4:8): "the
hope laid up for you in heaven" (@Col 1:5 1Pe 1:3).
6. For--confirming the truth that it is "by faith" (@Ga 5:5).
in Jesus Christ--Greek, "in Christ Jesus." In union with Christ
(the ANOINTED Saviour), that is, Jesus of Nazareth.
nor uncircumcision--This is levelled against those who, being not
legalists, or Judaizers, think themselves Christians on this ground
alone.
faith which worketh by love--Greek, "working by love." This
corresponds to "a new creature" (@Ga 6:15), as its definition. Thus
in @Ga 5:5,6, we have the three, "faith," "hope," and "love." The
Greek expresses, "Which effectually worketh"; which exhibits its
energy by love (so @1Th 2:13). Love is not joined with
faith in justifying, but is the principle of the works which follow
after justification by faith. Let not legalists, upholding circumcision,
think that the essence of the law is set at naught by the doctrine of
justification by faith only. Nay, "all the law is fulfilled in one
word--love," which is the principle on which "faith worketh"
(@Ga 5:14). Let them, therefore, seek this "faith," which will
enable them truly to fulfil the law. Again, let not those who pride
themselves on uncircumcision think that, because the law does not
justify, they are free to walk after "the flesh" (@Ga 5:13). Let
them, then, seek that "love" which is inseparable from true faith
(@Jas 2:8,12-22). Love is utterly opposed to the enmities which
prevailed among the Galatians (@Ga 5:15,20). The Spirit (@Ga 5:5)
is a Spirit of "faith" and "love" (compare @Ro 14:17 1Co 7:19).
7. Translate, "Ye were running well" in the Gospel race
(@1Co 9:24-26 Php 3:13,14).
who, &c.--none whom you ought to have listened to [BENGEL]:
alluding to the Judaizers (compare @Ga 3:1).
hinder--The Greek means, literally, "hinder by breaking up a
road."
not obey the truth--not submit yourselves to the true Gospel way of
justification.
8. This persuasion--Greek, "The persuasion," namely, to
which you are yielding. There is a play on words in the original, the
Greek for persuasion being akin to "obey" (@Ga 5:7).
This persuasion which ye have obeyed.
cometh not of--that is "from." Does not emanate from Him, but from
an enemy.
that calleth you--(@Ga 5:13 1:6 Php 3:14 1Th 5:24). The calling
is the rule of the whole race [BENGEL].
9. A little leaven--the false teaching of the Judaizers. A small portion of legalism, if it be mixed with the Gospel, corrupts its purity. To add legal ordinances and works in the least degree to justification by faith, is to undermine "the whole." So "leaven" is used of false doctrine (@Mt 16:12: compare @Mt 13:33). In @1Co 5:6 it means the corrupting influence of one bad person; so BENGEL understands it here to refer to the person (@Ga 5:7,8,10) who misled them. @Ec 9:18, "One sinner destroyeth much good" (@1Co 15:33). I prefer to refer it to false doctrine, answering to "persuasion" (@Ga 5:8).
10. Greek, "I (emphatical: 'I on my part') have confidence
in the Lord with regard to you (@2Th 3:4), that ye will be none
otherwise minded" (than what by this Epistle I desire you to be,
@Php 3:15).
but he that troubleth you--(@Ga 1:7 Ac 15:24 Jos 7:25 1Ki 18:17,18). Some one, probably, was
prominent among the seducers, though the denunciation applies to them
all (@Ga 1:7 4:17).
shall bear--as a heavy burden.
his--his due and inevitable judgment from God. Paul distinguishes
the case of the seduced, who were misled through thoughtlessness, and
who, now that they are set right by him, he confidently hopes, in God's
goodness, will return to the right way, from that of the seducer who is
doomed to judgment.
whosoever he be--whether great (@Ga 1:8) or small.
11. Translate, "If I am still preaching (as I did before conversion)
circumcision, why am I still persecuted?" The Judaizing troubler of the
Galatians had said, "Paul himself preaches circumcision," as is shown by
his having circumcised Timothy (@Ac 16:3; compare also
@Ac 20:6:21:24). Paul replies by anticipation of their objection, As
regards myself, the fact that I am still persecuted by the Jews shows
plainly that I do not preach circumcision; for it is just because I
preach Christ crucified, and not the Mosaic law, as the sole ground of
justification, that they persecute me. If for conciliation he lived as a
Jew among the Jews, it was in accordance with his principle enunciated
(@1Co 7:18,20 9:20). Circumcision, or uncircumcision, are things
indifferent in themselves: their lawfulness or unlawfulness depends on
the animus of him who uses them. The Gentile Galatians' animus in
circumcision could only be their supposition that it influenced
favorably their standing before God. Paul's living as a Gentile among
Gentiles, plainly showed that, if he lived as a Jew among Jews, it was
not that he thought it meritorious before God, but as a matter
indifferent, wherein he might lawfully conform as a Jew by birth to
those with whom he was, in order to put no needless stumbling-block to
the Gospel in the way of his countrymen.
then--Presuming that I did so, "then," in that case, "the offense of
(stumbling-block, @1Co 1:23 occasioned to the Jews by) the cross has
become done away." Thus the Jews' accusation against Stephen was not
that he preached Christ crucified, but that "he spake blasphemous words
against this holy place and the law." They would, in some measure,
have borne the former, if he had mixed with it justification in part by
circumcision and the law, and if he had, through the medium of
Christianity, brought converts to Judaism. But if justification in any
degree depended on legal ordinances, Christ's crucifixion in that degree
was unnecessary, and could profit nothing (@Ga 5:2,4). Worldly
Wiseman, of the town of Carnal Policy, turns Christian out of the narrow
way of the Cross, to the house of Legality. But the way to it was up a
mountain, which, as Christian advanced, threatened to fall on him and
crush him, amidst flashes of lightning from the mountain [BUNYAN,
Pilgrim's Progress] (@Heb 12:18-21).
12. they . . . which trouble you--Translate, as the Greek is
different from @Ga 5:10, "they who are unsettling you."
were even cut off--even as they desire your foreskin to be
cut off and cast away by circumcision, so would that
they were even cut off from your communion, being worthless as a
castaway foreskin (@Ga 1:7,8; compare @Php 3:2). The fathers,
JEROME,
AMBROSE,
AUGUSTINE, and
CHRYSOSTOM, explain it, "Would that they
would even cut themselves off," that is, cut off not merely the
foreskin, but the whole member: if circumcision be not enough for
them, then let them have excision also; an outburst hardly suitable
to the gravity of an apostle. But @Ga 5:9,10 plainly point to
excommunication as the judgment threatened against the troublers:
and danger of the bad "leaven" spreading, as the reason for it.
13. The "ye" is emphatical, from its position in the Greek, "Ye
brethren"; as opposed to those legalists "who trouble you."
unto liberty--The Greek expresses, "on a footing of liberty."
The state or condition in which ye have been called to
salvation, is one of liberty. Gospel liberty consists in three things,
freedom from the Mosaic yoke, from sin, and from slavish fear.
only, &c.--Translate, "Only turn not your liberty into an occasion
for the flesh." Do not give the flesh the handle or pretext (@Ro 7:8,
"occasion") for its indulgence which it eagerly seeks for; do not let it
make Christian "liberty" its pretext for indulgence
(@Ga 5:16,17 1Pe 2:16 2Pe 2:19 Jude 1:4).
but by love serve one another--Greek, "Be servants (be in bondage)
to one another." If ye must be servants, then
be servants to one another in love. While free as to legalism, be
bound by Love (the article in the Greek personifies love in the
abstract)
to serve one another (@1Co 9:19). Here he hints at their
unloving strifes springing out of lust of power. "For the lust of power
is the mother of heresies" [CHRYSOSTOM].
14. all the law--Greek, "the whole law," namely, the Mosaic law.
Love to God is presupposed as the root from which
love to our neighbor springs; and it is in this tense the latter
precept (so "word" means here) is said to be the fulfilling of
"all the law" (@Le 19:18). Love is "the law of Christ"
(@Ga 6:2 Mt 7:12 22:39,40 Ro 13:9,10).
is fulfilled--Not as received text "is being fulfilled," but as the
oldest manuscripts read, "has been fulfilled"; and so "receives its full
perfection," as rudimentary teachings are fulfilled by the more perfect
doctrine. The law only united Israelites together: the Gospel unites all
men, and that in relation to God [GROTIUS].
15. bite--backbite the character.
devour--the substance by injuring, extortion, &c.
(@Hab 1:13 Mt 23:14 2Co 11:20).
consumed, &c.--Strength of soul, health of body, character, and
resources, are all consumed by broils [BENGEL].
16. This I say then--Repeating in other words, and explaining the
sentiment in @Ga 5:13, What I mean is this."
Walk in the Spirit--Greek, "By (the rule of) the (Holy) Spirit."
Compare @Ga 5:16-18,22,25 Ga 6:1-8, with @Ro 7:22 8:11. The best
way to keep tares out of a bushel is to fill it with wheat.
the flesh--the natural man, out of which flow the evils specified
(@Ga 5:19-21). The spirit and the flesh mutually exclude one another.
It is promised, not that we should have no evil lusts, but that we
should "not fulfil" them. If the spirit that is in us can be at ease
under sin, it is not a spirit that comes from the Holy Spirit. The
gentle dove trembles at the sight even of a hawk's feather.
17. For--the reason why walking by the Spirit will exclude fulfilling
the lusts of the flesh, namely, their mutual contrariety.
the Spirit--not "lusteth," but "tendeth (or some such word is to be
supplied) against the flesh."
so that ye cannot do the things that ye would--The Spirit strives
against the flesh and its evil influence; the flesh against the Spirit
and His good influence, so that neither the one nor the other can be fully carried out into action. "But" (@Ga 5:18) where "the Spirit"
prevails, the issue of the struggle no longer continues doubtful
(@Ro 7:15-20) [BENGEL]. The Greek is, "that ye may not do the
things that ye would." "The flesh and Spirit are contrary one to the
other," so that you must distinguish what proceeds from the Spirit,
and what from the flesh; and
you must not fulfil what you desire according to the carnal self, but what
the Spirit within you desires [NEANDER]. But the antithesis of
@Ga 5:18 ("But," &c.), where the conflict is decided, shows, I
think, that here @Ga 5:17 contemplates the inability both for fully
accomplishing the good we "would," owing to the opposition of the
flesh, and for doing the evil our flesh would desire, owing to
the opposition of the Spirit in the awakened man (such as the
Galatians are assumed to be), until we yield ourselves wholly by the
Spirit to "walk by the Spirit" (@Ga 5:16,18).
18. "If ye are led (give yourselves up to be led) by (Greek) the Spirit, ye are not under the law." For ye are not working the works of the flesh (@Ga 5:16,19-21) which bring one "under the law" (@Ro 8:2,14). The "Spirit makes free from the law of sin and death" (@Ga 5:23). The law is made for a fleshly man, and for the works of the flesh (@1Ti 1:9), "not for a righteous man" (@Ro 6:14,15).
19-23. Confirming @Ga 5:18, by showing the contrariety between
the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.
manifest--The hidden fleshly principle betrays itself palpably
by its works, so that these are not hard to discover, and leave no doubt
that they come not from the Spirit.
which are these--Greek, "such as," for instance.
Adultery--omitted in the oldest manuscripts.
lasciviousness--rather, "wantonness" petulance, capricious insolence;
it may display itself in "lasciviousness," but not necessarily or
constantly so (@Mr 7:21,22, where it is not associated with
fleshly lusts) [TRENCH]. "Works"
(in the plural) are attributed to the "flesh,"
because they are divided, and often at variance with one another, and
even when taken each one by itself, betray their fleshly origin. But the
"fruit of the Spirit" (@Ga 5:23) is singular, because, however
manifold the results, they form one harmonious whole. The results of the
flesh are not dignified by the name "fruit"; they are but works
(@Eph 5:9,11). He enumerates those fleshly "works"
(committed against our neighbor, against God, and against ourselves) to which the
Galatians were most prone (the Celts have always been prone to
disputations and internal strifes): and those manifestations of the
fruit of the Spirit most needed by them (@Ga 5:13,15). This
passage shows that "the flesh" does not mean merely sensuality, as
opposed to spirituality: for "divisions" in the catalogue here do
not flow from sensuality. The identification of "the natural
(Greek, 'animal-souled') man," with the "carnal" or fleshly man (@1Co 2:14), shows that "the flesh" expresses
human nature as estranged from God. TRENCH observes, as a proof of
our fallen state, how much richer is every vocabulary in words for sins,
than in those for graces. Paul enumerates seventeen "works of the
flesh," only nine manifestations of "the fruit of the Spirit" (compare
@Eph 4:31).
20. witchcraft--sorcery; prevalent in Asia (@Ac 19:19; compare
@Re 21).
hatred--Greek, "hatreds."
variance--Greek, "strife"; singular in the oldest manuscripts.
emulations--in the oldest manuscripts, singular--"emulation," or
rather, "jealousy"; for the sake of one's own advantage. "Envyings"
(@Ga 5:21) are even without advantage to the person himself
[BENGEL].
wrath--Greek, plural, "passionate outbreaks" [ALFORD].
strife--rather as Greek, "factions," "cabals"; derived from a
Greek root, meaning "a worker for hire": hence,
unworthy means for compassing ends, factious practices.
seditions--"dissensions," as to secular matters.
heresies--as to sacred things
(see on 1Co 11:19).
Self-constituted parties; from a Greek root, to choose. A
schism is a more recent split in a congregation from a difference of
opinion. Heresy is a schism become inveterate [AUGUSTINE,
Con. Crescon. Don., 2,7].
21. tell . . . before--namely, before the event.
I . . . told you in time past--when I was with you.
you--who, though maintaining justification by the law, are careless
about keeping the law (@Ro 2:21-23).
not inherit . . . kingdom of
God--(@1Co 6:9,10 Eph 5:5).
22. love--the leader of the band of graces (@1Co 13:1-13).
gentleness--Greek, "benignity," conciliatory to others; whereas
"goodness," though ready to do good, has not such suavity of manner
[JEROME].
ALFORD translates, "kindness."
faith--"faithfulness"; opposed to "heresies" [BENGEL].
ALFORD refers
to @1Co 13:7, "Believeth all things": faith in the widest sense,
toward God and man. "Trustfulness" [CONYBEARE and
HOWSON].
23. temperance--The Greek root implies self-restraint as to
one's desires and lusts.
against such--not persons, but things, as in @Ga 5:21.
no law--confirming @Ga 5:18, "Not under the law" (@1Ti 1:9,10).
The law itself commands love (@Ga 5:14); so far is it from being
"against such."
24. The oldest manuscripts read, "They that are of Christ Jesus"; they
that belong to Christ Jesus; being "led by (His) Spirit" (@Ga 5:18).
have crucified the flesh--They nailed it to the cross once for all
when they became Christ's, on believing and being baptized (@Ro 6:3,4):
they keep it now in a state of crucifixion (@Ro 6:6): so that
the Spirit can produce in them, comparatively uninterrupted by it, "the
fruit of the Spirit" (@Ga 5:22). "Man, by faith, is dead to the
former standing point of a sinful life, and rises to a new life
(@Ga 5:25) of communion with Christ (@Col 3:3). The act by which
they have crucified the flesh with its lust, is already accomplished
ideally in principle. But the practice, or outward conformation of the
life, must harmonize with the tendency given to the inward life"
(@Ga 5:25) [NEANDER].
We are to be executioners, dealing cruelly with
the body of sin, which has caused the acting of all cruelties on
Christ's body.
with the affections--Translate, "with its passions." Thus they are dead
to the law's condemning power, which is only for the fleshly, and their
lusts (@Ga 5:23).
25. in . . . in--rather, as Greek, "If we live (see on Ga 5:24) BY the Spirit, let us also walk (@Ga 5:16 6:16) BY the Spirit." Let our life in practice correspond to the ideal inner principle of our spiritual life, namely, our standing by faith as dead to, and severed from, sin, and the condemnation of the law. "Life by (or 'in') the Spirit" is not an occasional influence of the Spirit, but an abiding state, wherein we are continually alive, though sometimes sleeping and inactive.
26. Greek, "Let us not BECOME."
While not asserting that the Galatians are "vainglorious" now,
he says they are liable to become so.
provoking one another--an effect of "vaingloriousness" on the
stronger: as "envying" is its effect on the weaker. A danger common
both to the orthodox and Judaizing Galatians.
CHAPTER 6
@Ga 6:1-18. EXHORTATIONS CONTINUED; TO FORBEARANCE AND HUMILITY; LIBERALITY TO TEACHERS AND IN GENERAL. POSTSCRIPT AND BENEDICTION.
1. Brethren--An expression of kindness to conciliate attention.
Translate as Greek, "If a man even be overtaken" (that is,
caught in the very act [ALFORD and
ELLICOTT]: BEFORE he expects:
unexpectedly). BENGEL explains the "before" in the Greek compound
verb, "If a man be overtaken in a fault before ourselves": If
another has really been overtaken in a fault the first; for
often he who is first to find fault, is the very one who has
first transgressed.
a fault--Greek, "a transgression," "a fall"; such as a falling
back into legal bondage. Here he gives monition to those who have not so
fallen, "the spiritual," to be not "vainglorious" (@Ga 5:26), but
forbearing to such (@Ro 15:1).
restore--The Greek is used of a dislocated limb, reduced to its
place. Such is the tenderness with which we should treat a fallen member
of the Church in restoring him to a better state.
the spirit of meekness--the meekness which is the gift
of the Holy Spirit working in our spirit (@Ga 5:22,25). "Meekness"
is that temper of spirit towards God whereby we accept His dealings
without disputing; then, towards men, whereby we endure meekly their
provocations, and do not withdraw ourselves from the burdens which their
sins impose upon us [TRENCH].
considering thyself--Transition from the plural to the singular. When
congregations are addressed collectively, each individual should take
home the monition to himself.
thou also be tempted--as is likely to happen to those who reprove
others without meekness (compare @Mt 7:2-5 2Ti 2:25 Jas 2:13).
2. If ye, legalists, must "bear burdens," then instead of legal
burdens (@Mt 23:4), "bear one another's burdens," literally, "weights."
Distinguished by BENGEL from "burden," @Ga 6:4 (a different
Greek word, "load"): "weights" exceed the strength of those under
them; "burden" is proportioned to the strength.
so fulfil--or as other old manuscripts read, "so ye will fulfil,"
Greek, "fill up," "thoroughly fulfil."
the law of Christ--namely, "love" (@Ga 5:14). Since ye desire "the
law," then fulfil the law of Christ, which is not made up of various
minute observances, but whose sole "burden" is "love"
(@Joh 13:34 15:12); @Ro 15:3 gives Christ as the example in the
particular duty here.
3. Self-conceit, the chief hindrance to forbearance and sympathy
towards our fellow men, must be laid aside.
something--possessed of some spiritual pre-eminence, so as to be
exempt from the frailty of other men.
when he is nothing--The Greek is subjective: "Being, if he would
come to himself, and look on the real fact, nothing" [ALFORD]
(@Ga 6:2,6 Ro 12:3 1Co 8:2).
deceiveth himself--literally, "he mentally deceives himself." Compare
@Jas 1:26, "deceiveth his own heart."
4. his own work--not merely his own opinion of himself.
have rejoicing in himself alone--Translate, "Have his (matter
for) glorying in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another
(namely, not in regard to his neighbor, by comparing himself with whom,
he has fancied he has matter for boasting as that neighbor's superior)."
Not that really a man by looking to "himself alone" is likely to find
cause for glorying in himself. Nay, in @Ga 6:5, he speaks of a
"burden" or load, not of matter for glorying, as what really belongs
to each man. But he refers to the idea those whom he censures
had of themselves: they thought they had cause for "glorying" in
themselves, but it all arose from unjust self-conceited comparison of
themselves with others, instead of looking at home. The only true
glorying, if glorying it is to be called, is in the testimony of a good
conscience, glorying in the cross of Christ.
5. For (by this way, @Ga 6:4, of proving himself, not depreciating his neighbor by comparison) each man shall bear his own "burden," or rather, "load" (namely, of sin and infirmity), the Greek being different from that in @Ga 6:2. This verse does not contradict @Ga 6:2. There he tells them to bear with others' "burdens" of infirmity in sympathy; here, that self-examination will make a man to feel he has enough to do with "his own load" of sin, without comparing himself boastfully with his neighbor. Compare @Ga 6:3. Instead of "thinking himself to be something," he shall feel the "load" of his own sin: and this will lead him to bear sympathetically with his neighbor's burden of infirmity. ÆSOP says a man carries two bags over his shoulder, the one with his own sins hanging behind, that with his neighbor's sins in front.
6. From the mention of bearing one another's burdens, he passes to one
way in which those burdens may be borne--by ministering out of their
earthly goods to their spiritual teachers. The "but" in the Greek,
beginning of this verse, expresses this: I said, Each shall bear his own
burden; BUT I do not intend that he should not think of others, and
especially of the wants of his ministers.
communicate unto him--"impart a share unto his teacher": literally,
"him that teacheth catechetically."
in all good things--in every kind of the good things of this
life, according as the case may require (@Ro 15:27 1Co 9:11,14).
7. God is not mocked--The Greek verb is, literally, to sneer with
the nostrils drawn up in contempt. God does not suffer Himself to be
imposed on by empty words: He will judge according to works, which are
seeds sown for eternity of either joy or woe. Excuses for illiberality
in God's cause (@Ga 6:6) seem valid before men, but are not so before
God (@Ps 50:21).
soweth--especially of his resources (@2Co 9:6).
that--Greek, "this"; this and nothing else.
reap--at the harvest, the end of the world (@Mt 13:39).
8. Translate, "He that soweth unto his own flesh," with a view to
fulfilling its desires. He does not say, "His spirit," as he does say,
"His flesh." For in ourselves we are not spiritual, but carnal. The
flesh is devoted to selfishness.
corruption--that is, destruction (@Php 3:19). Compare as to the
deliverance of believers from "corruption" (@Ro 8:21). The use of
the term "corruption" instead, implies that destruction is not an
arbitrary punishment of fleshly-mindedness, but is its natural fruit; the corrupt flesh producing corruption, which is another word for
destruction: corruption is the fault, and corruption the punishment
(see on 1Co 3:17;
@2Pe 2:12). Future life only expands the seed sown here. Men cannot
mock God because they can deceive themselves. They who sow tares cannot
reap wheat. They alone reap life eternal who sow to the Spirit
(@Ps 126:6 Pr 11:18 22:8 Ho 8:7 10:12 Lu 16:25 Ro 8:11 Jas 5:7).
9. (@2Th 3:13). And when we do good, let us also persevere in it
without fainting.
in due season--in its own proper season, God's own time
(@1Ti 6:15).
faint not--literally, "be relaxed." Stronger than "be not weary."
Weary of well-doing refers to the will; "faint not" to relaxation of
the powers [BENGEL]. No one should faint, as in an earthly harvest
sometimes happens.
10. Translate, "So then, according as (that is, in proportion as)
we have season (that is, opportunity), let us work
(a distinct Greek verb from that for "do," in @Ga 6:9)
that which is (in each case) good."
As thou art able, and while thou art able, and
when thou art able (@Ec 9:10). We have now the "season" for
sowing, as also there will be hereafter the "due season" (@Ga 6:9)
for reaping. The whole life is, in one sense, the "seasonable
opportunity" to us: and, in a narrower sense, there occur in it more
especially convenient seasons. The latter are sometimes lost in looking
for still more convenient seasons (@Ac 24:25). We shall not always
have the opportunity "we have" now. Satan is sharpened to the greater
zeal in injuring us, by the shortness of his time (@Re 12:12). Let
us be sharpened to the greater zeal in well-doing by the shortness of
ours.
them who are of the household--Every right-minded man does well to
the members of his own family (@1Ti 5:8); so believers are to do to
those of the household of faith, that is, those whom faith has made
members of "the household of God" (@Eph 2:19): "the house of God"
(@1Ti 3:15 1Pe 4:17).
11. Rather, "See in how large letters I have written." The Greek is translated "how great" in @Heb 7:4, the only other passage where it occurs in the New Testament. Owing to his weakness of eyes (@Ga 4:15) he wrote in large letters. So JEROME. All the oldest manuscripts are written in uncial, that is, capital letters, the "cursive," or small letters, being of more recent date. Paul seems to have had a difficulty in writing, which led him to make the uncial letters larger than ordinary writers did. The mention of these is as a token by which they would know that he wrote the whole Epistle with his own hand; as he did also the pastoral Epistle, which this Epistle resembles in style. He usually dictated his Epistles to an amanuensis, excepting the concluding salutation, which he wrote himself (@Ro 16:22 1Co 16:21). This letter, he tells the Galatians, he writes with his own hand, no doubt in order that they may see what a regard he had for them, in contrast to the Judaizing teachers (@Ga 6:12), who sought only their own ease. If English Version be retained, the words, "how large a letter (literally, 'in how large letters')," will not refer to the length of the Epistle absolutely, but that it was a large one for him to have written with his own hand. NEANDER supports English Version, as more appropriate to the earnestness of the apostle and the tone of the Epistle: "How large" will thus be put for "how many."
12. Contrast between his zeal in their behalf, implied in @Ga 6:11,
and the zeal for self on the part of the Judaizers.
make a fair show--(@2Co 5:12).
in the flesh--in outward things.
they--it is "these" who
constrain you--by example (@Ga 6:13) and importuning.
only lest--"only that they may not," &c. (compare @Ga 5:11).
suffer persecution--They escaped in a great degree the Jews' bitterness
against Christianity and the offense of the cross of Christ, by making
the Mosaic law a necessary preliminary; in fact, making Christian
converts into Jewish proselytes.
13. Translate, "For not even do they who submit to circumcision, keep
the law themselves (@Ro 2:17-23), but they wish you (emphatical) to
be circumcised," &c. They arbitrarily selected circumcision out of the
whole law, as though observing it would stand instead of their
non-observance of the rest of the law.
that they may glory in your flesh--namely, in the outward change
(opposed to an inward change wrought by the SPIRIT) which they have
effected in bringing you over to their own Jewish-Christian party.
14. Translate, "But as for me (in opposition to those gloriers 'in
your flesh,' @Ga 6:13), God forbid that I," &c.
in the cross--the atoning death on the cross. Compare @Php 3:3,7,8,
as a specimen of his glorying. The "cross," the great object of shame to
them, and to all carnal men, is the great object of glorying to me. For
by it, the worst of deaths, Christ has destroyed all kinds of death
[AUGUSTINE, Tract 36, on John, sec. 4]. We are to testify the power
of Christ's death working in us, after the manner of crucifixion
(@Ga 5:24 Ro 6:5,6).
our--He reminds the Galatians by this pronoun, that they had a
share in the "Lord Jesus Christ" (the full name is used for greater
solemnity), and therefore ought to glory in Christ's cross, as he did.
the world--inseparably allied to the "flesh" (@Ga 6:13). Legal and
fleshly ordinances are merely outward, and "elements of the world"
(@Ga 4:3).
is--rather, as Greek, "has been crucified to me" (@Ga 2:20). He
used "crucified" for dead (@Col 2:20, "dead with Christ"), to imply
his oneness with Christ crucified (@Php 3:10): "the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death."
15. availeth--The oldest manuscripts read, "is" (compare @Ga 5:6).
Not only are they of no avail, but they are nothing. So far are
they from being matter for "glorying," that they are "nothing." But
Christ's cross is "all in all," as a subject for glorying, in "the new
creature" (@Eph 2:10,15,16).
new creature--(@2Co 5:17). A
transformation by the renewal of the mind (@Ro 12:2).
16. as many--contrasting with the "as many," @Ga 6:12.
rule--literally, a straight rule, to detect crookedness; so a
rule of life.
peace--from God (@Eph 2:14-17 6:23).
mercy--(@Ro 15:9).
Israel of God--not the Israel after the flesh, among whom those
teachers wish to enrol you; but the spiritual seed of Abraham by faith
(@Ga 3:9,29 Ro 2:28,29 Php 3:3).
17. let no man trouble me--by opposing my apostolic authority, seeing
that it is stamped by a sure seal, namely, "I (in contrast to the
Judaizing teachers who gloried in the flesh) bear
(as a high mark of honor from the King of kings)."
the marks--properly, marks branded on slaves to indicate their owners.
So Paul's scars of wounds received for Christ's sake, indicate to whom
he belongs, and in whose free and glorious service he is
(@2Co 11:23-25). The Judaizing teachers gloried in the circumcision
mark in the flesh of their followers: Paul glories in the marks of
suffering for Christ on his own body (compare
@Ga 6:14 Php 3:10 Col 1:24).
the Lord--omitted in the oldest manuscripts.
18. Brethren--Place it, as Greek, "last" in the sentence, before
the "Amen." After much rebuke and monition, he bids them farewell with
the loving expression of brotherhood as his last parting word
(see on Ga 1:6).
be with your spirit--which, I trust, will keep down the
flesh (@1Th 5:23 2Ti 4:22 Phm 1: 25).
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Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) |
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