,transcriber's note3 ,this e-text includes ,greek characters and punctuation that will only display in ,,utf-#h 7,unicode7 text readers1 e4g4 ,if any of these characters do not display properly1 make sure your text reader's 8character set0 or 8file encoding0 is set to ,unicode 7,,utf-#h74 ,you may also need to change the default font4 ,as a last resort1 use the ,,iso-#hhei-a 7,latin-#a7 version of this text instead1 in which the ,greek words have been transliterated4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,galatians4 ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,professor ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a41 ,,headingley ,,college1 ,,leeds4 ,,new ,,york3 ,a4 ,c4 ,,armstrong ,,son1 #ea ,,east ,,tenth ,,street1 ,,near ,,broadway4 #ahic4 ,,contents4 ,,the ,,prologue4 ,,chapter i4 #a-aj4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,page ,,the ,,address #c ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,salutation #ai ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,anathema #cd ,,the ,,personal ,,history4 ,,chapter i4 #aa-;ii4 #ba4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,paul',s ,,gospel ,,revealed ,,by ,,christ #ec ,,chapter ,v4 ,,paul',s ,,divine ,,commission #fh ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,paul ,,and ,,the ,,primitive ,,church #hc ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,paul ,,and ,,the ,,false ,,brethren #ih ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,paul ,,and ,,the ,,three ,,pillars #aac ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,paul ,,and ,,peter ,,at ,,antioch #abi ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,principles ,,at ,,stake #adf ,,the ,,doctrinal ,,polemic4 ,,chapter iii4 #a-v4 #ab4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,galatian ,,folly #afe ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,abraham',s ,,blessing ,,and ,,the ,,law',s ,,curse #ahj ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,covenant ,,of ,,promise #aif ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,design ,,of ,,the ,,law #baa ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,emancipated ,,sons ,,of ,,god #bbg ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,heir',s ,,coming ,,of ,,age #bdb ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,return ,,to ,,bondage #beg ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,paul',s ,,entreaty #bgb ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,hagar #bhf ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,shall ,,the ,,galatians ,,be ,,circumcised8 #cjb ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,hinderers ,,and ,,troublers #caf ,,the ,,ethical ,,application4 ,,chapter v4 #ac-vi4 #aj4 ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,perils ,,of ,,liberty #ccc ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,christ',s ,,spirit ,,and ,,human ,,flesh #cdg ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,the ,,flesh #cfa ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,the ,,fruit ,,of ,,the ,,spirit #cge ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,our ,,brother',s ,,burden ,,and ,,our ,,own #cij ,,chapter ,,xxvii4 ,,sowing ,,and ,,reaping #dje ,,the ,,epilogue4 ,,chapter vi4 #aa-ah4 ,,chapter ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,false ,,and ,,the ,,true ,,glorying #dba ,,chapter ,,xxix4 ,,ritual ,,nothing3 ,,character ,,everything #dce ,,chapter ,,xxx4 ,,the ,,brand ,,of ,,jesus #ddh ,,the ,,prologue4 ,,chapter i4 #a-aj4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,address4 ,paul1 an apostle 7not from men1 neither through man1 but through ,jesus ,christ1 and ,god the ,father1 who raised ,him from the dead71 and all the brethren which are with me1 unto the ,churches of ,galatia4#a--;,,gal4 i4 #a1 #b4 #a ,the text used in this exposition is1 with very few exceptions1 that of the ,revised ,english ,version1 or its margin4 ,antiquity has nothing to show more notable in its kind1 or more precious1 than this letter of ,paul to the ,churches of ,galatia4 ,it takes us back1 in some respects nearer than any other document we possess1 to the beginnings of ,christian theology and the ,christian ,church4 ,in it the spiritual consciousness of ,christianity first reveals itself in its distinctive character and its full strength1 free from the trammels of the past1 realizing the advent of the new kingdom of ,god that was founded in the death of ,christ4 ,it is the voice of the ,church testifying ,god hath sent forth the ,spirit of ,his ,son into our hearts4 ,buried for a thousand years under the weight of the ,catholic legalism1 the teaching of this ,epistle came to life again in the rise of ,protestantism4 ,martin ,luther put it to his lips as a trumpet to blow the reveill of the ,reformation4 ,his famous ,commentary summoned enslaved ,christendom to recover the liberty wherewith ,christ hath made us free4 ,of all the great ,reformer's writings this was the widest in its influence and the dearest to himself4 ,for the spirit of ,paul lived again in ,luther1 as in no other since the ,apostle's day4 ,the ,epistle to the ,galatians is the charter of ,evangelical faith4 ,the historical criticism of the present century has brought this writing once more to the front of the conflict of faith4 ,born in controversy1 it seems inevitably to be born for controversy4 ,its interpretation forms the pivot of the most thoroughgoing recent discussions touching the beginnings of ,christian history and the authenticity of the ,new ,testament record4 ,the ,galatian ,epistle is1 in fact1 the key of ,new ,testament ,apologetics4 ,round it the ,roman and ,corinthian ,letters group themselves1 forming together a solid1 impregnable quaternion1 and supplying a fixed starting-point and an indubitable test for the examination of the critical questions belonging to the ,apostolic age4 ,whatever else may be disputed1 it is agreed that there was an apostle ,paul1 who wrote these four ,epistles to certain ,christian societies gathered out of heathenism1 communities numerous1 widely scattered1 and containing men of advanced intelligence2 and this within thirty years of the death of ,jesus ,christ4 ,every critic must reckon with this fact4 ,the most sceptical criticism makes a respectful pause before our ,epistle4 ,hopeless of destroying its testimony1 ,rationalism treats it with an even exaggerated deference2 and seeks to extract evidence from it against its companion witnesses amongst the ,new ,testament writings4 ,this attempt1 however misdirected1 is a signal tribute to the importance of the document1 and to the force with which the personality of the writer and the conditions of the time have stamped themselves upon it4 ,the deductions of the ,baurian criticism appear to us to rest on a narrow and arbitrary examination of isolated passages2 they spring from a mistaken priori view of the historical situation4 ,granting however to these inferences1 which will meet us as we proceed1 their utmost weight1 they still leave the testimony of ,paul to the supernatural character of ,christianity substantially intact4 ,of the four major ,epistles1 this one is superlatively characteristic of its author4 ,it is ,paulinissima ,paulinarum--most ,pauline of ,pauline things4 ,it is largely autobiographical2 hence its peculiar value4 ,reading it1 we watch history in the making4 ,we trace the rise of the new religion in the typical man of the epoch4 ,the master-builder of the ,apostolic ,church stands before us1 at the crisis of his work4 ,he lets us look into his heart1 and learn the secret of his power4 ,we come to know the ,apostle ,paul as we know scarcely any other of the world's great minds4 ,we find in him a man of the highest intellectual and spiritual powers1 equally great in passion and in action1 as a thinker and a leader of men4 ,but at every step of our acquaintance the ,apostle points us beyond himself2 he says1 ,it is not ,i3 it is ,christ that lives in me4 ,if this ,epistle teaches us the greatness of ,paul1 it teaches us all the more the ,divine greatness of ,jesus ,christ1 before whom that kingly intellect and passionate heart bowed in absolute devotion4 ,the situation which the ,epistle reveals and the personal references in which it abounds are full of interest at every point4 ,they furnish quite essential data to the historian of the ,early ,church4 ,we could wish that the ,apostle1 telling us so much1 had told us more4 ,his allusions1 clear enough1 we must suppose1 to the first readers1 have lent themselves subsequently to very conflicting interpretations4 ,but as they stand1 they are invaluable4 ,the fragmentary narrative of the ,acts requires1 especially in its earlier sections1 all the illustration that can be obtained from other sources4 ,the conversion of ,paul1 and the ,council at ,jerusalem1 events of capital importance for the history of ,apostolic times1 are thereby set in a light certainly more complete and satisfactory than is furnished in ,luke's narrative1 taken by itself4 ,and ,paul's references to the ,judean ,church and its three pillars1 touch the crucial question of ,new ,testament criticism1 namely that concerning the relation of the ,gentile ,apostle to ,jewish ,christianity and the connection between his theology and the teaching of ,jesus4 ,our judgement respecting the conflict between ,peter and ,paul at ,antioch in particular will determine our whole conception of the legalist controversy1 and consequently of the course of ,church history during the first two centuries4 ,around these cursory allusions has gathered a contest only less momentous than that from which they sprung4 ,the personal and the doctrinal element are equally prominent in this ,epistle2 and appear in a combination characteristic of the writer4 ,paul's theology is the theology of experience4 ,it pleased ,god1 he says1 to reveal ,his ,son in me 7ch4 i4 #af74 ,his teaching is cast in a psychological mould4 ,it is largely a record of the ,apostle's spiritual history2 it is the expression of a living1 inward process--a personal appropriation of ,christ1 and a growing realization of the fulness of the ,godhead in ,him4 ,the doctrine of ,paul was as far as possible removed from being the result of abstract deduction1 or any mere combination of data externally given4 ,in his individual consciousness1 illuminated by the vision of ,christ and penetrated by the ,spirit of ,god1 he found his message for the world4 ,we believe1 and therefore speak4 ,we have received the ,spirit of ,god1 that we may know the things freely given us of ,god3 sentences like these show us very clearly how the ,apostle's doctrine formed itself in his mind4 ,his apprehension of ,christ1 above all of the cross1 was the focus1 the creative and governing centre1 of all his thoughts concerning ,god and man1 time and eternity4 ,in the light of this knowledge he read the ,old ,testament1 he interpreted the earthly life and teaching of ,jesus4 ,on the ground of this personal sense of salvation he confronted ,peter at ,antioch2 on the same ground he appeals to the vacillating ,galatians1 sharers with himself in the new life of the ,spirit4 ,here lies the nerve of his argument in this ,epistle4 ,the theory of the relation of the ,law to the ,abrahamic promise developed in the third chapter1 is the historical counterpart of the relation of the legal to the evangelical consciousness1 as he had experienced the two states in turn within his own breast4 ,the spirit of ,paul was a microcosm1 in which the course of the world's religious evolution was summed up1 and brought to the knowledge of itself4 ,the ,apostle's influence over the minds of others was due in great part to the extraordinary force with which he apprehended the facts of his own spiritual nature4 ,through the depth and intensity of his personal experience he touched the experience of his fellows1 he seized on those universal truths that are latent in the consciousness of mankind1 by manifestation of the truth commending himself to every man's conscience in the sight of ,god4 ,but this knowledge of the things of ,god was not the mere fruit of reflection and self-searching2 it was the ministration of the ,spirit4 ,paul did not simply know ,christ2 he was one with ,christ1 joined to the ,lord1 one spirit with ,him4 ,he did not therefore speak out of the findings of his own spirit2 the absolute ,spirit1 the ,spirit of truth and of ,christ1 spoke in him4 ,truth1 as he knew it1 was the self-assertion of a ,divine life4 ,and so this handful of old letters1 broken and casual in form1 with their rudeness of speech1 their many obscurities1 their rabbinical logic1 have stirred the thoughts of men and swayed their lives with a power greater perhaps than belongs to any human utterances1 saving only those of the ,divine ,master4 ,the features of ,paul's style show themselves here in their most pronounced form4 ,the style is the man4 ,and the whole man is in this letter4 ,other ,epistles bring into relief this or that quality of the ,apostle's disposition and of his manner as a writer2 here all are present4 ,the subtlety and trenchant vigour of ,pauline dialectic are nowhere more conspicuous than in the discussion with ,peter in ch4 ii4 ,the discourse on ,promise and ,law in ch4 iii4 is a master-piece of exposition1 unsurpassed in its keenness of insight1 breadth of view1 and skill of application4 ,such passages as ch4 i4 #ae1 #af2 ii4 #ai1 #bj2 vi4 #ad1 take us into the heart of the ,apostle's teaching1 and reveal its mystical depth of intuition4 ,behind the masterful dialectician we find the spiritual seer1 the man of contemplation1 whose fellowship is with the eternal and unseen4 ,and the emotional temperament of the writer has left its impress on this ,epistle not less distinctly than his mental and spiritual gifts4 ,the denunciations of ch4 i4 #f-aj2 ii4 #d1 #e2 iv4 #i2 v4 #g-ab2 vi4 #ab-ad1 burn with a concentrated intensity of passion1 a sublime and holy scorn against the enemies of the cross1 such as a nature like ,paul's alone is capable of feeling4 ,nor has the ,apostle penned anything on the other hand more amiable and touching1 more winningly frank and tender in appeal1 than the entreaty of ch4 iv4 #aa-bj4 ,his last sentence1 in ch4 vi4 #ag1 is an irresistible stroke of pathos4 ,the ardour of his soul1 his vivacity of mind and quick sensibility1 are apparent throughout4 ,those sudden turns of thought and bursts of emotion that occur in all his ,epistles and so much perplex their interpreters1 are especially numerous in this4 ,and yet we find that these interruptions are never allowed to divert the writer from his purpose1 nor to destroy the sequence of his thought4 ,they rather carry it forward with greater vehemence along the chosen course1 as storms will a strong and well-manned ship4 ,the ,epistle is strictly a unity4 ,it is written1 as one might say1 at a single breath1 as if under pressure and in stress of mind4 ,there is little of the amplitude of expression and the delight in lingering over some favourite idea that characterize the later ,epistles4 ,nor is there any passage of sustained eloquence to compare with those that are found in the ,roman and ,corinthian letters4 ,the business on which the ,apostle writes is too urgent1 his anxiety too great1 to allow of freedom and discursiveness of thought4 ,hence this ,epistle is to an unusual degree closely packed in matter1 rapid in movement1 and severe in tone4 ,in its construction the ,epistle exhibits an almost dramatic character4 ,it is full of action and animation4 ,there is a gradual unfolding of the subject1 and a skilful combination of scene and incident brought to bear on the solution of the crucial question4 ,the ,apostle himself1 the insidious ,judaizers1 and the wavering ,galatians1--these are the protagonists of the action2 with ,peter and the ,church at ,jerusalem playing a secondary part1 and ,abraham and ,moses1 ,isaac and ,ishmael1 appearing in the distance4 ,the first ,act conducts us rapidly from scene to scene till we behold ,paul labouring amongst the ,gentiles1 and the ,churches of ,judea listening with approval to the reports of his success4 ,the ,council of ,jerusalem opens a new stage in the history4 ,now ,gentile liberties are at stake2 but ,titus' circumcision is successfully resisted1 and ,paul as the ,apostle of the ,uncircumcised is acknowledged by the pillars as their equal2 and finally ,peter1 when he betrays the truth of the ,gospel at ,antioch1 is corrected by the ,gentile ,apostle4 ,the third chapter carries us away from the present conflict into the region of first principles1--to the ,abrahamic ,covenant with its spiritual blessing and world-wide promise1 opposed by the condemning ,mosaic ,law1 an opposition finally resolved by the coming of ,christ and the gift of ,his ,spirit of adoption4 ,at this point the ,apostle turns the gathered force of his argument upon his readers1 and grapples with them front to front in the expostulation carried on from ch4 iv4 #h to v4 #ab1 in which the story of ,hagar forms a telling episode4 ,the fifth and closing ,act1 extending to the middle of ch4 vi41 turns on the antithesis of ,flesh and ,spirit1 bringing home the contention to the region of ethics1 and exhibiting to the ,galatians the practical effect of their following the ,pauline or the ,judaistic leadership4 ,paul and the ,primitive ,church2 ,judaism and ,gentile-,christian liberties2 the ,covenants of ,promise and of ,law2 the circumcision or non-circumcision of the ,galatians2 the dominion of ,flesh or ,spirit3 these are the contrasts through which the ,epistle advances4 ,its centre lies in the decisive question given in the fourth of these antitheses4 ,if we were to fix it in a single point1 ver4 #b of ch4 v4 is the sentence we should choose3-- ,behold1 ,i ,paul say unto you1 ,if ye be circumcised1 ,christ will profit you nothing4 ,the above analysis may be reduced to the common threefold division1 followed in this exposition3--viz4 7#a7 ,personal ,history1 ch4 i4 #aa-;ii4 #ba2 7#b7 ,doctrinal ,polemic1 ch4 iii4 #a-v4 #ab2 7#c7 ,ethical ,application1 ch4 v4 #ac-vi4 #aj4 ,the epistolary ,introduction forms the ,prologue1 ch4 i4 #a-aj2 and an ,epilogue is appended1 by way of renewed warning and protestation1 followed by the concluding signature and benediction1--ch4 vi4 #aa-ah4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,address occupies the first two verses of the ,epistle4 ,i4 ,on the one side is the writer3 ,paul1 an ,apostle4 ,in his earliest ,letters 7to ,thessalonica7 the title is wanting2 so also in ,philippians and ,philemon4 ,the last instance explains the other two4 ,to the ,macedonian ,churches ,paul writes more in the style of friendship than authority3 for love's sake he rather entreats4 ,with the ,galatians it is different4 ,he proceeds to define his apostleship in terms that should leave no possible doubt respecting its character and rights3 not from men1 he adds1 nor through man2 but through ,jesus ,christ1 and ,god the ,father1 that raised ,him from the dead4 ,this reads like a contradiction of some statement made by ,paul's opposers4 ,had they insinuated that he was an apostle from men1 that his office was derived1 like their own1 only from the mother ,church in ,jerusalem8 ,such insinuations would very well serve their purpose2 and if they were made1 ,paul would be sure not to lose a moment in meeting them4 ,the word apostle had a certain latitude of meaning4#b ,it was already1 there is reason to believe1 a term of ,jewish official usage when our ,lord applied it to ,his chosen ,twelve4 ,it signified a delegate or envoy1 accredited by some public authority1 and charged with a special message4 ,we can understand therefore its application to the emissaries of particular ,churches--of ,jerusalem or ,antioch1 for example--despatched as their messengers to other ,churches1 or with a general commission to proclaim the ,gospel4 ,the recently discovered ,teaching of the ,apostles shows that this use of the title continued in ,jewish-,christian circles to the end of the first century1 alongside of the restricted and higher use4 ,the lower apostleship belonged to ,paul in common with ,barnabas and ,silas and many others4 #b ,compare ,acts xiv4 #d1 #ad 7,barnabas and ,paul72 #a ,thess4 ii4 #f 7,paul and his comrades72 ,rom4 xvi4 #g 7,andronicus and ,junias72 #b ,cor4 viii4 #bc 7,titus and others1 apostles of the churches72 #b ,cor4 xi4 #ac 7false apostles3 ,judean emissaries72 also ,rev4 ii4 #b2 ,heb4 iii4 #a2 ,john xiii4 #af4 ,on the ,n4,t4 use of apostle1 see ,lightfoot's ,galatians1 pp4 #ib-aja2 but especially ,huxtable's ,dissertation in the ,pulpit ,commentary 7,galatians71 pp4 xxiii4-l41 the most satisfactory elucidation of the subject we have met with4 ,prebendary ,huxtable however presses his argument too far1 when he insists that ,st4 ,paul held his higher commission entirely in abeyance until the crisis of the ,judaic controversy4 ,in the earlier period of his ministry1 the ,apostle was seemingly content to rank in public estimation with his companions in the ,gentile mission4 ,but a time came when he was compelled to arrogate to himself the higher dignity4 ,his right thereto was acknowledged at the memorable conference in ,jerusalem by the leaders of the ,jewish ,church4 ,so we gather from the language of ch4 ii4 #g-i4 ,but the full exercise of his authority was reserved for the present emergency1 when all his energy and influence were required to stem the tide of the ,judaistic reaction4 ,we can well imagine that ,paul gentle in the midst of his flock and not seeking to be of weight 7#a ,thess4 ii4 #f1 #g71 had hitherto said as little as need be on the subject of his official rights4 ,his modesty had exposed him to misrepresentations both in ,corinth and in ,galatia4 ,he will have these people to know that his gospel is in the strictest sense ,divine1 and that he received his commission1 as certainly as any of the ,twelve1 from the lips of ,jesus ,christ ,himself 7ver4 #aa74 ,not from men excludes human derivation2 not through man1 human intervention in the conferment of ,paul's office4 ,the singular number 7man7 replaces the plural in the latter phrase1 because it stands immediately opposed to ,jesus ,christ 7a striking witness this to ,his ,divinity74 ,the second clause carries the negation farther than the first2 for a call from ,god may be1 and commonly is1 imposed by human hands4 ,there are1 says ,jerome1 four kinds of ,christian ministers3 first1 those sent neither from men nor through man1 like the prophets of old time and the ,apostles2 secondly1 those who are from ,god1 but through man1 as it is with their legitimate successors2 thirdly1 those who are from men1 but not from ,god1 as when one is ordained through mere human favour and flattery2 the fourth class consists of such as have their call neither from ,god nor man1 but wholly from themselves1 as with false prophets and the false apostles of whom ,paul speaks4 ,his vocation1 the ,apostle declares1 was superhuman1 alike in its origin and in the channel by which it was conveyed4 ,it was no voice of man that summoned ,saul of ,tarsus from the ranks of the enemies to those of the servants of ,christ1 and gave him the message he proclaimed4 ,damascus and ,jerusalem in turn acknowledged the grace given unto him2 ,antioch had sent him forth on her behalf to the regions beyond3 but he was conscious of a call anterior to all this1 and that admitted of no earthly validation4 ,am ,i not an apostle8 he exclaims1 have ,i not seen ,jesus our ,lord8 7#a ,cor4 ix4 #a74 ,truly the signs of the ,apostle were wrought in him1 both in the miraculous powers attending his office1 and in those moral and spiritual qualities of a minister of ,god in which he was inferior to none4#c ,for the exercise of his ministry he was responsible neither to those of repute at ,jerusalem1 nor to his censurers at ,corinth2 but to ,christ who had bestowed it 7#a ,cor4 iv4 #c1 #d74 #c #a ,cor4 xv4 #aj2 #b ,cor4 iv4 #b2 vi4 #c-aj2 xi4 #e1 #af-xii4 #ac4 ,the call of the ,apostle proceeded also from ,god the ,father1 who raised ,jesus ,christ from the dead4 ,christ was in this act the mediator1 declaring the ,supreme will4 ,in other places1 more briefly1 he styles himself ,apostle by the will of ,god4 ,his appointment took place by a ,divine intervention1 in which the ordinary sequence of events was broken through4 ,long after the ,saviour in ,his bodily presence had ascended to heaven1 when in the order of nature it was impossible that another ,apostle should be elected1 and when the administration of ,his ,church had been for several years carried on by human hands1 ,he appeared once more on earth for the purpose of making this man ,his minister and witness2 ,he appeared in the name of the ,father1 who had raised ,him from the dead4 ,this interposition gave to ,paul's ministry an exceptional character4 ,while the mode of his election was in one aspect humbling1 and put him in the position of the untimely one1 the least of the ,apostles1 whose appearance in that capacity was unlooked for and necessarily open to suspicion2 on the other hand1 it was glorious and exalting1 since it so richly displayed the ,divine mercy and the transforming power of grace4 ,but why does he say1 who raised ,him from the dead8 ,because it was the risen ,jesus that he saw1 and that he was conscious of seeing in the moment of the vision4 ,the revelation that arrested him before ,damascus1 in the same moment convinced him that ,jesus was risen1 and that he himself was called to be ,his servant4 ,these two convictions were inseparably linked in ,paul's recollections4 ,as surely as ,god the ,father had raised ,his ,son ,jesus from the dead and given ,him glory1 so surely had the glorified ,jesus revealed ,himself to ,saul his persecutor to make him ,his ,apostle4 ,he was1 not less truly than ,peter or ,john1 a witness of ,his resurrection4 ,the message of the ,resurrection was the burden of the ,apostleship4 ,he adds1 and all the brethren which are with me4 ,for it was ,paul's custom to associate with himself in these official letters his fellow-labourers1 present at the time4 ,from this expression we gather that he was attended just now by a considerable band of companions1 such as we find enumerated in ,acts xx4 #b-f1 attending him on his journey from ,ephesus to ,corinth during the third missionary tour4 ,this circumstance has some bearing on the date of the letter4 ,bishop ,lightfoot 7in his ,commentary7 shows reason for believing that it was written1 not from ,ephesus as commonly supposed1 but at a somewhat later time1 from ,macedonia4 ,it is connected by numerous and close links of internal association with the ,epistle to the ,romans1 which on this supposition speedily followed1 and with #b ,corinthians1 immediately preceding it4 ,and the allusion of the text1 though of no decisive weight taken by itself1 goes to support this reasoning4 ,upon this hypothesis1 our ,epistle was composed in ,macedonia1 during the autumn of #eg 7or possibly1 #eh7 ,a4,d4 ,the emotion which surcharges #b ,corinthians runs over into ,galatians3 while the theology which labours for expression in ,galatians finds ampler and calmer development in ,romans4 ,,ii4 ,of the readers1 the churches of ,galatia1 it is not necessary to say much at present4 ,the character of the ,galatians1 and the condition of their ,churches1 will speak for themselves as we proceed4 ,galatian is equivalent to ,gaul1 or ,kelt4 ,this people was a detached fragment of the great ,western-,european race1 which forms the basis of our own ,irish and ,west-,british populations1 as well as of the ,french nationality4 ,they had conquered for themselves a home in the north of ,asia ,minor during the ,gaulish invasion that poured over ,south-eastern ,europe and into the ,asiatic peninsula some three and a half centuries before4 ,here the ,gallic intruders stubbornly held their ground2 and only succumbed to the irresistible power of ,rome4 ,defeated by the ,consul ,manlius in #ahi ,b4,c41 the ,galatians retained their autonomy1 under the rule of native princes1 until in the year #be ,b4,c41 on the death of ,amyntas1 the country was made a province of the ,empire4 ,the people maintained their distinctive character and speech despite these changes4 ,at the same time they readily acquired ,greek culture1 and were by no means barbarians2 indeed they were noted for their intelligence4 ,in religion they seem to have largely imbibed the ,phrygian idolatry of the earlier inhabitants4 ,the ,roman ,government had annexed to ,galatia certain districts lying to the south1 in which were situated most of the cities visited by ,paul and ,barnabas in their first missionary tour4 ,this has led some scholars to surmise that ,paul's ,galatians were really ,pisidians and ,lycaonians1 the people of ,derbe1 ,lystra1 and ,pisidian ,antioch4 ,but this is improbable4 ,the inhabitants of these regions were never called ,galatians in common speech2 and ,luke distinguishes the ,galatic country quite clearly from its southern borderlands4 ,besides1 the ,epistle contains no allusions1 such as we should expect in the case supposed1 to the ,apostle's earlier and memorable associations with these cities of the ,south4 ,elsewhere he mentions them by name 7#b ,tim4 iii4 #aa72 and why not here1 if he were addressing this circle of ,churches8 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles relates nothing of ,paul's sojourn in ,galatia1 beyond the fact that he twice passed through the ,galatic country 7,acts xvi4 #f2 xviii4 #bc71 on the first occasion during the second missionary journey1 in travelling north and then westwards from ,pisidia2 the second time1 on his way from ,antioch to ,ephesus1 in the course of the third tour4 ,galatia lay outside the main line of ,paul's evangelistic career1 as the historian of the ,acts describes it1 outside the ,apostle's own design1 as it would appear from ch4 iv4 #ac4 ,in the first instance ,galatia follows 7in the order of the ,acts71 in the second precedes ,phrygia1 a change which seems to indicate some new importance accruing to this region3 the further clause in ,acts xviii4 #bc1 strengthening all the disciples1 shows that the writer was aware that by this time a number of ,christian societies were in existence in this neighbourhood4 ,no city is mentioned in the address1 but the country of ,galatia only--the single example of the kind in ,paul's ,epistles4 ,the ,galatians were countryfolk rather than townsfolk4 ,and the ,church seems to have spread over the district at large1 without gathering itself into any one centre1 such as the ,apostle had occupied in other parts of his ,gentile field4 ,still more significant is the curtness of this designation4 ,paul does not say1 ,to the ,churches of ,god in ,galatia1 or to the saints and faithful brethren in ,christ1 as in other ,epistles4 ,he is in no mood for compliments4 ,these ,galatians are1 he fears1 removing from ,god who had called them 7ver4 #f74 ,he stands in doubt of them4 ,it is a question whether they are now1 or will long continue1 ,churches of ,god at all4 ,he would gladly commend them if he could2 but he must instead begin with reproaches4 ,and yet we shall find that1 as the ,apostle proceeds1 his sternness gradually relaxes4 ,he remembers that these foolish ,galatians are his children1 once ardently attached to him 7ch4 iv4 #ab-bj74 ,his heart yearns towards them2 he travails over them in birth again4 ,surely they will not forsake him1 and renounce the gospel of whose blessings they had enjoyed so rich an experience 7ch4 iii4 #c2 v4 #aj74 ,he calls them brethren once and again2 and with this kindly word1 holding out the hand of forgiveness1 he concludes the letter4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,salutation4 ,grace to you and peace from ,god the ,father1 and our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who gave ,himself for our sins1 that ,he might deliver us out of this present evil world1 according to the will of our ,god and ,father3 to whom be the glory for ever and ever4 ,amen4--,,gal4 i4 #c-e4 ,the greetings and benedictions of the ,apostolic ,letters deserve more attention from us than they sometimes receive4 ,we are apt to pass over them as if they were a kind of pious formality1 like the conventional phrases of our own epistles4 ,but to treat them in such fashion is to do injustice to the seriousness and sincerity of ,holy ,scripture4 ,this salutation of ,grace and ,peace comes from ,paul's very heart4 ,it breathes the essence of his gospel4 ,this formula appears to be of the ,apostle's coining4 ,other writers1 we may believe1 borrowed it from him4 ,grace represents the common ,greek salutation1--joy to you1 changing to the kindred 2 while the more religious peace of the ,hebrew1 so often heard from the lips of ,jesus1 remains unaltered1 only receiving from the ,new ,covenant a tenderer significance4 ,it is as though ,east and ,west1 the old world and the new1 met here and joined their voices to bless the ,church and people of ,jesus ,christ4 ,grace is the sum of all blessing bestowed by ,god2 peace1 in its wide ,hebraic range of meaning1 the sum of all blessing experienced by man4 ,grace is the ,father's goodwill and bounty in ,christ to ,his undeserving children2 peace1 the rest and reconcilement1 the recovered health and gladness of the child brought home to the ,father's house1 dwelling in the light of his ,father's face4 ,grace is the fountain of redeeming love2 peace is the river of life proceeding from the throne of ,god and of the ,lamb1 that flows calm and deep through each believing soul1 the river whose streams make glad the city of ,god4 ,what could a pastor wish better for his people1 or friend for the friend he loves most1 than this double blessing8 ,paul's letters are perfumed with its fragrance4 ,open them where you will1 they are breathing out1 ,grace to you and peace4 ,paul has hard things to write in this ,epistle1 sorrowful complaints to make1 grievous errors to correct2 but still with ,grace and peace he begins1 and with ,peace and grace he will end6 ,and so this stern and reproachful letter to these foolish ,galatians is all embalmed and folded up in grace and peace4 ,that is the way to be angry and sin not4 ,so mercy rejoices over judgement4 ,these two benedictions1 we must remember1 go together4 ,peace comes through grace4 ,the proud heart never knows peace2 it will not yield to ,god the glory of ,his grace4 ,it scorns to be a debtor1 even to ,him4 ,the proud man stands upon his rights1 upon his merits4 ,and he will have them2 for ,god is just4 ,but peace is not amongst them4 ,no sinful child of man deserves that4 ,is there wrong between your soul and ,god1 iniquity hidden in the heart8 ,till that wrong is confessed1 till you submit to the ,almighty and your spirit bows at the ,redeemer's cross1 what hast thou to do with peace8 ,no peace in this world1 or in any world1 for him who will not be at peace with ,god4 ,when ,i kept silence1 so the ancient confession runs 7,ps4 xxxii4 #c-e71 my bones waxed old through my moaning all the day long--that is why many a man is old before his time6 because of this continual inward chafing1 this secret1 miserable war of the heart against ,god4 ,day and night ,thy hand was heavy upon me2 my moisture was turned into the drought of summer--the soul withered like grass1 all the freshness and pure delight of life wasted and perishing under the steady1 unrelenting heat of the ,divine displeasure4 ,then ,i said--,i could bear it no longer--,i said1 ,i will confess my transgression unto the ,lord2 and ,thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin4 ,and then peace came to the weary soul4 ,the bitterness and hardness of life were gone2 the heart was young again4 ,the man was new born1 a child of ,god4 ,but while ,paul gives this salutation to all his ,churches1 his greeting is extended and qualified here in a peculiar manner4 ,the ,galatians were falling away from faith in ,christ to ,jewish ritualism4 ,he does not therefore wish them ,grace and peace in a general way1 or as objects to be sought from any quarter or by any means that they might choose2 but only from ,god our ,father1 and our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who gave ,himself for our sins4 ,here is already a note of warning and a tacit contradiction of much that they were tempted to believe4 ,it would have been a mockery for the ,apostle to desire for these fickle ,galatians grace and peace on other terms4 ,as at ,corinth1 so in ,galatia1 he is determined to know nothing save ,jesus ,christ and ,him crucified4 ,above the puerilities of their ,jewish ritual1 above the pettiness of their wrangling factions1 he directs his readers' gaze once more to the sacrifice of ,calvary and the sublime purpose of ,god which it reveals4 ,do we not need to be recalled to the same sight8 ,we live in a distracted and distracting age4 ,even without positive unbelief1 the cross is too frequently thrust out of view by the hurry and press of modern life4 ,nay1 in the ,church itself is it not in danger of being practically set on one side1 amidst the throng of competing interests which solicit1 and many of them justly solicit1 our attention8 ,we visit ,calvary too seldom4 ,we do not haunt in our thoughts the sacred spot1 and linger on this theme1 as the old saints did4 ,we fail to attain the fellowship of ,christ's sufferings2 and while the cross is outwardly exalted1 its inward meaning is perhaps but faintly realised4 ,tell us something new1 they say2 that story of the cross1 that evangelical doctrine of yours we have heard it so often1 we know it all so well6 ,if men are saying this1 if the cross of ,christ is made of none effect1 its message staled by repetition1 we must be strangely at fault either in the hearing or the telling4 ,ah1 if we knew the cross of ,christ1 it would crucify us2 it would possess our being4 ,its supremacy can never be taken from it4 ,that cross is still the centre of the world's hope1 the pillar of salvation4 ,let the ,church lose her hold of it1 and she loses everything4 ,she has no longer any reason to exist4 ,i4 ,so the ,apostle's greeting invites his readers to contemplate anew the ,divine gift bestowed upon sinful men4 ,it invokes blessing upon them from our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who gave ,himself for our sins4 ,to see this gift in its greatness1 let us go a little farther back2 let us consider who the ,christ is that thus gives ,himself4 ,he is1 we are taught1 the almoner of all the ,divine bounties4 ,he is not the object alone1 but the depositary and dispenser of the ,father's good pleasure to all worlds and all creatures4 ,creation is rooted in the ,son of ,god's love 7,col4 i4 #ae-ah74 ,universal life has its fountain in the ,only-begotten1 which is in the bosom of the ,father4 ,the light that dispelled the weltering gloom of chaos1 the more wondrous light that shone in the dawn of human reason1 came from this outbeaming of the ,father's glory4 ,countless gifts had ,he1 the life of men1 the ,word that was from the beginning1 bestowed on a world that knew ,him not4 ,upon the chosen race1 the people whom on the world's behalf he formed for ,himself1 ,he showered ,his blessings4 ,he had given them promise and law1 prophet and priest and king1 gifts of faith and hope1 holy obedience and brave patience and deep wisdom and prophetic fire and heavenly rapture2 and ,his gifts to them have come through them to us1 partakers with them of the root and fatness of the olive tree4 ,but now1 to crown all1 ,he gave ,himself6 ,the ,word became flesh4 ,the ,son of ,god planted ,himself into the stock of human life1 made ,himself over to mankind2 ,he became the ,son of man4 ,so in the fulness of time came the fulness of blessing4 ,earlier bestowments were instalments and prophecies of this2 later gifts are its outcome and its application4 ,what could ,he have done more than this8 ,what could the ,infinite ,god do more1 even for the most worthy1 than ,he has done for us in sending ,his ,son1 the ,only-begotten1 that we might live through ,him6 ,giving us ,him1 surely ,he will give us grace and peace4 ,and if our ,lord ,jesus ,christ gave ,himself1 is not that sufficient8 ,what could ,jewish ritual and circumcision add to this fulness of the ,godhead8 ,why hunt after the shadows1 when one has the substance8 ,such were the questions which the ,apostle has to ask his ,judaizing readers4 ,and what1 pray1 do we want with modern ,ritualism1 and its scenic apparatus1 and its priestly offices8 ,are these things designed to eke out the insufficiency of ,christ8 ,will they recommend ,him better than ,his own gospel and the pure influence of ,his ,spirit avail to do in these latter days8 ,or has modern thought1 to be sure1 and the progress of the #aith century carried us beyond ,jesus ,christ1 and created spiritual wants for which ,he has no supply8 ,paul at least had no anticipation of this failure4 ,all the need of hungry human hearts and searching minds and sorrowing spirits1 to the world's latest ages1 the ,god of ,paul1 the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 is able to supply in ,him4 ,we are complete in ,him1--if we but knew our completeness4 ,the most advanced thinkers of the age will still find ,jesus ,christ in advance of them4 ,those who draw the most largely from ,his fulness1 leave its depths unsounded4 ,there are resources stored for the times to come in the revelation of ,christ1 which our age is too slight1 too hasty of thought1 to comprehend4 ,we are straitened in ourselves2 never in ,him4 ,from this supreme gift we can argue down to the humblest necessities1 the commonest trials of our daily lot4 ,it adapts itself to the small anxieties of a struggling household1 equally with the largest demands of our exacting age4 ,thou hast given us ,thy ,son1 says some one1 and wilt ,thou not give us bread8 ,we have a generous ,lord4 ,his only complaint is that we do not ask enough4 ,ye are ,my friends1 ,he says3 ,i have given ,my life for you4 ,ask what ye will1 and it shall be done unto you4 ,giving us ,himself1 ,he has given us all things4 ,abraham and ,moses1 ,david and ,isaiah1 ,paul and ,apollos and ,cephas--yea the world itself1 life and death1 things present and to come--all are ours2 and we are ,christ's and ,christ is ,god's 7#a ,cor4 iii4 #bb1 #bc74 ,such is the chain of blessing that hangs on this single gift4 ,great as the gift is1 it is not greater than our need4 ,wanting a ,divine ,son of man1 human life remains a baffled aspiration1 a pathway leading to no goal4 ,lacking ,him1 the race is incomplete1 a body without its head1 a flock that has no master4 ,by the coming of ,christ in the flesh human life finds its ideal realized2 its haunting dream of a ,divine helper and leader in the midst of men1 of a spiritual and immortal perfection brought within its reach1 has attained fulfilment4 ,god hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of ,his servant ,david2 as ,he spake by the mouth of ,his holy prophets1 which have been since the world began4 ,jacob's vision has come true4 ,there is the golden ladder1 with its foot resting on the cold1 stony earth1 and its top on heaven's starry platform1 with its angels ascending and descending through the darkness2 and you may climb its steps1 high as you will6 ,so humanity receives its crown of life4 ,heaven and earth are linked1 ,god and man reunited in the person of ,jesus ,christ4 ,but ,paul will not suffer us to linger at ,bethlehem4 ,he hastens on to ,calvary4 ,the ,atonement1 not the ,incarnation1 is in his view the centre of ,christianity4 ,to the cross of ,jesus1 rather than to ,his cradle1 he attaches our salvation4 ,jesus ,christ gave ,himself--what for1 and in what way8 ,what was the errand that brought ,him here1 in such a guise1 and at such a time8 ,was it to meet our need1 to fulfil our human aspirations1 to crown the moral edifice1 to lead the race onward to the goal of its development8 ,yes--ultimately1 and in the final issue1 for as many as receive ,him2 it was to present every man perfect in ,christ4 ,but that was not the primary object of ,his coming1 of such a coming4 ,happy for us indeed1 and for ,him1 if it could have been so4 ,to come to a world waiting for ,him1 hearkening for the cry1 ,behold thy ,god1 ,o ,israel1 would have been a pleasant and a fitting thing4 ,but to find ,himself rejected by ,his own1 to be spit upon1 to hear the multitude shout1 ,away with ,him6 was this the welcome that ,he looked for8 ,yea surely1 nothing else but this4 ,for ,he gave ,himself for our sins4 ,he came to a world steeped in wickedness1 seething with rebellion against ,god1 hating ,him because it hated the ,father that sent ,him1 sure to say as soon as it saw ,him1 ,we will not have this man to reign over us4 ,not therefore by way of incarnation and revelation alone1 as it might have been for an innocent race2 but by way of sacrifice1 as a victim on the altar of expiation1 a lamb led to the slaughter1 ,he gave ,himself up for us all4 ,to deliver us from an evil world1 says the ,apostle2 to mend a faulty and imperfect world1 something less and other would have sufficed4 ,extreme diseases call for extreme remedies4 ,the case with which our good ,physician had to deal was a desperate one4 ,the world was sick at heart2 its moral nature rotting to the core4 ,human life was shattered to its foundation4 ,if it was to be saved1 if the race was to escape perdition1 the fabric must be reconstructed upon another basis1 on the ground of a new righteousness1 outside ourselves and yet akin to us1 near enough to take hold of us and grow into us1 which should draw to itself the broken elements of human life1 and as a vital organic force refashion them1 creating men anew in ,christ ,jesus--a righteousness availing before ,god1 and in its depth and width sufficient to bear a world's weight4 ,such a new foundation ,jesus ,christ has laid in ,his death4 ,he laid down ,his life for us1 the ,shepherd for the sheep1 the ,friend for ,his perishing friends1 the ,physician for sufferers who had no other remedy4 ,it had come to this1--either ,he must die1 or we must die for ever4 ,such was the sentence of the ,all-wise ,judge2 on that judgement the ,redeemer acted4 ,his judgements are a great deep2 and in this sentence there are depths of mystery into which we tremble to look1 secret things that belong unto the ,lord our ,god4 ,but so it was4 ,there was no way but this1 no moral possibility of saving the world1 and yet saving ,him the accursed death4 ,if there had been1 would not the ,almighty ,father have found it out8 would ,he not have taken away the cup from those white1 quivering lips8 ,no2 ,he must die4 ,he must consent to be made sin1 made a curse for us4 ,he must humble ,his stainless innocence1 humble ,his glorious ,godhead down to the dust of death4 ,he must die1 at the hands of the men ,he created and loved1 with the horror of the world's sin fastened on ,him2 die under a blackened heaven1 under the averting of the ,father's face4 ,and ,he did it4 ,he said1 ,father1 ,thy will be done4 ,smite the ,shepherd2 but let the sheep escape4 ,so ,he gave ,himself for our sins4 ,ah1 it was no easy march1 no holiday pageant1 the coming of the ,son of ,god into this world of ours4 ,he came to save sinners4 ,not to help good men--this were a grateful task2 but to redeem bad men--the hardest work in ,god's universe4 ,it tasked the strength and the devotion of the ,son of ,god4 ,witness ,gethsemane4 ,and it will cost ,his ,church something1 more haply than we dream of now1 if the work of the ,redeemer is to be made effectual1 and the travail of ,his soul satisfied4 ,in pity and in sorrow was that gift bestowed2 in deep humility and sorrow must it be accepted4 ,it is a very humbling thing to receive the atonement1 to be made righteous on such terms as these4 ,a man who has done well1 can with satisfaction accept the help given him to do better4 ,but to know that one has done very ill1 to stand in the sight of ,god and truth condemned1 marked with the disgrace that the crucifixion of the ,son of ,god has branded on our human nature1 with every stain of sin in ourselves revealed in the light of ,his sacrifice1 is a sore abasement4 ,when one has been compelled to cry out1 ,lord1 save2 or ,i perish6 he has not much left to plume himself upon4 ,there was ,saul himself1 a perfect moralist1 blameless in the righteousness of the law4 ,yet he must confess1 ,how to perform that which is good ,i find not4 ,in me1 that is in my flesh1 dwelleth no good thing4 ,wretch that ,i am1 who shall deliver me8 ,was not this mortifying to the proud young ,pharisee1 the man of strict conscience and high-souled moral endeavour8 ,it was like death4 ,and whoever has with sincerity made the same attempt to attain in the strength of his will to a true virtue1 has tasted of this bitterness4 ,this however is what many cannot understand4 ,the proud heart says1 ,no2 ,i will not stoop to that4 ,i have my faults1 my defects and errors1 not a few4 ,but as for what you call sin1 as for guilt and inborn depravity1 ,i am not going to tax myself with anything of the kind4 ,leave me a little self-respect4 ,so with the whole herd of the self-complacent1 half-religious ,laodiceans4 ,once a week they confess themselves miserable sinners1 but their sins against ,god never yet cost them one half hour of misery4 ,and ,paul's gospel is hid to them4 ,if they read this ,epistle1 they cannot tell what it is all about2 why ,paul makes so much ado1 why these thunderings of judgement1 these cries of indignation1 these beseechings and protestings and redoubled arguments1--all because a parcel of foolish ,galatians wanted to play at being ,jews6 ,they are inclined to think with ,festus1 that this good ,paul was a little beside himself4 ,alas6 to such men1 content with the world's good opinion and their own1 the death of ,christ is made of none effect4 ,its moral grandeur1 its infinite pathos1 is lost upon them4 ,they pay it a conventional respect1 but as for believing in it1 as for making it their own1 and dying with ,christ to live in ,him--they have no idea what it means4 ,that1 they will tell you1 is mysticism1 and they are practical men of the world4 ,they have never gone out of themselves1 never discovered their moral insufficiency4 ,these are they of whom ,jesus said1 ,the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of ,god before you4 ,it is our human independence1 our moral self-conceit1 that robs us of the ,divine bounty4 ,how should ,god give ,his righteousness to men so well furnished with their own8 ,blessed then are the poor in spirit2 blessed are the broken in heart--poor enough1 broken enough1 bankrupt enough to stoop to a ,saviour who gave ,himself for our sins4 ,,ii4 ,sinful men have made an evil world4 ,the world1 as ,paul knew it1 was evil indeed4 ,the existing evil age1 he says1 the world as it then was1 in contrast with the glory of the perfected ,messianic kingdom4 ,this was a leading distinction of the rabbinical schools2 and the writers of the ,new ,testament adopt it1 with the necessary modification1 that the coming age1 in their view1 commences with the ,parousia1 the full advent of the ,messiah ,king4#d ,the period that intervenes since ,his first appearing is transitional1 belonging to both eras4 ,it is the conclusion of this world1#e to which it appertains in its outward and material relations2#f but under the perishing form of the present there lies hidden for the ,christian believer the seed of immortality1 the earnest of his future and complete inheritance4#g ,hence the different and seemingly contradictory ways in which ,scripture speaks of the world that now is4 #d #b ,thess4 i4 #e-g2 #b ,tim4 iv4 #ah2 ,heb4 x4 #ab1 #ac2 #a ,pet4 v4 #aj4 #e #a ,cor4 x4 #aa2 ,heb4 ix4 #bf4 #f #a ,cor4 vii4 #ca2 #a ,john ii4 #ag4 #g ,rom4 viii4 #ah2 ,eph4 i4 #ac1 #ad4 ,to ,paul at this time the world wore its darkest aspect4 ,there is a touching emphasis in the order of this clause4 ,the present world1 evil as it is3 the words are a sigh for deliverance4 ,the ,epistles to ,corinth show us how the world just now was using the ,apostle4 ,the wonder is that one man could bear so much4 ,we are made as the filth of the world1 he says1 the offscouring of all things4#h ,so the world treated its greatest living benefactor4 ,and as for his ,master--the princes of this world crucified the ,lord of glory4 ,yes1 it was a bad old world1 that in which ,paul and the ,galatians lived--false1 licentious1 cruel4 ,and that evil world still exists4 #h #a ,cor4 iv4 #i-ac2 xv4 #cj1 #cb2 #b ,cor4 vi4 #d1 #aj2 xi4 #af1 #cc4 ,true1 the world1 as we know it1 is vastly better than that of ,paul's day4 ,not in vain have ,apostles taught1 and martyrs bled1 and the ,church of ,christ witnessed and toiled through so many ages4 ,other men have laboured2 we enter into their labours4 ,an ,english home of to-day is the flower of the centuries4 ,to those cradled in its pure affections1 endowed with health and honourable work and refined tastes1 the world must be1 and was meant to be1 in many aspects a bright and pleasant world4 ,surely the most sorrowful have known days in which the sky was all sunshine and the very air alive with joy1 when the world looked as when it came forth fresh from its ,creator's hand1 and behold1 it was very good4 ,there is nothing in the ,bible1 nothing in the spirit of true religion to damp the pure joy of such days as these4 ,but there are the days of darkness2 and they are many4 ,the ,serpent has crept into our ,paradise4 ,death breathes on it his fatal blast4 ,and when we look outside the sheltered circles of home-life and ,christian brotherhood1 what a sea of misery spreads around us4 ,how limited and partial is the influence of religion4 ,what a mass of unbelief and godlessness surges up to the doors of our sanctuaries4 ,what appalling depths of iniquity exist in modern society1 under the brilliant surface of our material civilization4 ,and however far the dominance of sin in human society may be broken--as1 please ,god1 it shall be broken1 still evil is likely to remain in many tempting and perilous forms until the world is burnt to ashes in the fires of the ,last ,judgement4 ,is it not an evil world1 where every morning newspaper serves up to us its miserable tale of disaster and of crime1 where the ,almighty's name is all the day blasphemed1 and every night drunkenness holds its horrid revels and the daughters of shame walk the city streets1 where great ,christian empires tax the poor man's bread and make his life bitter to maintain their huge standing armies and their cruel engines of war1 and where1 in this happy ,england and its cities teeming with wealth1 there are thousands of patient1 honest working women1 whose life under the fierce stress of competition is a veritable slavery1 a squalid1 dreary struggle just to keep hunger from the door8 ,ay1 it is a world so evil that no good and right-thinking man who knows it1 would care to live in it for a single day1 but for the hope of helping to make it better4 ,now it was the purpose of ,jesus ,christ1 that for those who believe in ,him this world's evil should be brought absolutely to an end4 ,he promises a full deliverance from all that tempts and afflicts us here4 ,with sin1 the root of evil1 removed1 its bitter fruits at last will disappear4 ,we shall rise to the life immortal4 ,we shall attain our perfect consummation and bliss both in body and soul4 ,kept from the evil of the world while they remain in it1 enabled by ,his grace to witness and contend against it1 ,christ's servants shall then be lifted clean out for it of ever4 ,father1 ,i will1 prayed ,jesus1 that they also whom ,thou hast given ,me1 may be with ,me where ,i am4 ,to that final salvation1 accomplished in the redemption of our body and the setting up of ,christ's heavenly kingdom1 the ,apostle's words look forward3 that ,he might deliver us out of this present evil world4 ,this was the splendid hope which ,paul offered to the dying and despairing world of his day4 ,the ,galatians were persuaded of it and embraced it2 he entreats them not to let it go4 ,the self-sacrifice of ,christ1 and the deliverance it brings1 are both1 the ,apostle concludes1 according to the will of ,god1 even our ,father4 ,the wisdom and might of the ,eternal are pledged to the work of human redemption4 ,the cross of ,jesus ,christ is the manifesto of ,infinite ,love4 ,let him therefore who rejects it1 know against ,whom he is contending4 ,let him who perverts and falsifies it1 know with what he is trifling4 ,he who receives and obeys it1 may rest assured that all things are working for his good4 ,for all things are in the hands of our ,god and ,father2 to ,whom1 let us say with ,paul1 be glory for ever4 ,amen4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,anathema4 ,i marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of ,christ unto a different gospel2 which is not another gospel3 only there are some that trouble you1 and would pervert the gospel of ,christ4 ,but though we1 or an angel from heaven1 should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you1 let him be anathema4 ,as we have said before1 so say ,i now again1 ,if any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received1 let him be anathema4 ,for am ,i now persuading men1 or ,god8 or am ,i seeking to please men8 if ,i were still pleasing men1 ,i should not be a servant of ,christ4--,,gal4 i4 #f-aj4 ,after the ,salutation in ,paul's ,epistles comes the ,thanksgiving4 or --these are the words we expect first to meet4 ,even in writing to ,corinth1 where there was so much to censure and deplore1 he begins1 ,i give thanks to my ,god always for you4 ,this letter deviates from the ,apostle's devout and happy usage4 ,not ,i give thanks1 but ,i marvel2 not blessing1 but anathema is coming from his lips3 a surprise that jars all the more upon one's ears1 because it follows on the sublime doxology of the preceding verse4 ,i marvel to see you so quickly falling away to another gospel4444 ,but if any one preach unto you any gospel other than that ye received--ay1 though it were ourselves1 or an angel from heaven--,i have said once1 and ,i say again1 ,,let ,,him ,,be ,,anathema4 ,these words were well calculated to startle the ,galatians out of their levity4 ,they are like a lightning-flash which shows one to be standing on the edge of a precipice4 ,we see at once the infinite seriousness of the ,judaic controversy1 the profound gulf that lies between ,paul and his opposers4 ,he is for open war4 ,he is in haste to fling his gage of defiance against these enemies of the cross4 ,with all his tact and management1 his readiness to consult the susceptibilities and accommodate the scruples of sincere consciences1 the ,apostle can find no room for conciliation here4 ,he knows the sort of men he has to deal with4 ,he perceives that the whole truth of the ,gospel is at stake4 ,not circumstantials1 but essentials2 not his personal authority1 but the honour of ,christ1 the doctrine of the cross1 is involved in this defection4 ,he must speak plainly2 he must act strongly1 and at once2 or the cause of the ,gospel is lost4 ,if ,i continued any longer to please men1 he says1 ,i should not be a servant of ,christ4 ,to stand on terms with such opponents1 to palter with this other gospel1 would be treason against ,him4 ,there is but one tribunal at which this quarrel can be decided4 ,to ,him who had called the ,galatian believers in ,christ's grace1 who by the same grace had called the ,apostle to ,his service and given him the message he had preached to them--to ,god he appeals4 ,in ,his name1 and by the authority conferred upon him and for which he must give account1 he pronounces these troublers anathema4 ,they are enemies of ,christ1 by their treachery excluded from ,his kingdom4 ,however unwelcome1 however severe the course the ,apostle takes1 he has no alternative4 ,for now1 he cries1 is it men that ,i persuade1 or ,god8 ,he must do his duty1 let who will condemn4 ,paul was ready to go all lengths in pleasing men in consistence with loyalty to ,christ1 where he could do it for their good1 unto edification4 ,but if their approval clashed with ,god's1 then it became a very small thing3#i he did not heed it one jot4 ,such is the temper of mind which the ,epistles to ,corinth disclose in ,paul at this juncture4 ,in the same spirit he indites these trenchant and displeasing words4 #i #a ,cor4 iv4 #c1 #d2 #b ,cor4 v4 #i-ab2 xii4 #ai4 ,with a heavy heart ,paul has taken up his pen4 ,if we judge rightly of the date of this letter1 he had just passed through the darkest hour of his experience1 when not his life alone1 but the fate of his ,gentile mission hung in the balance4 ,his expulsion from ,ephesus1 coming at the same time as the ,corinthian revolt1 and followed by a prostrating attack of sickness1 had shaken his soul to its depths4 ,never had his heart been so torn with anxiety1 never had he felt himself so beaten down and discomfited1 as on that melancholy journey from ,ephesus to ,macedonia4#aj ,out of anguish of heart and with many tears and after-relentings 7#b ,cor4 ii4 #d2 vii4 #h7 he wrote his ,first letter to ,corinth4 ,and this ,epistle is even more severe4 ,there runs through it a peculiar mental tension1 an exaltation of feeling such as prolonged and deep suffering leaves behind in a nature like ,paul's4 ,the marks of ,jesus 7ch4 vi4 #ag7 are visible1 impressed on his spirit no less than on his body4 ,the ,apostle's heart is full to overflowing4 ,its warm glow is felt under the calmer course of narrative and argument3 while at the beginning and end of the ,epistle it breaks forth in language of burning indignation and melting pathos4 ,before advancing a single step1 before entering on any sort of explanation or discussion1 his grief at the fickleness of his ,galatian children and his anger against their seducers must find expression4 #aj #b ,cor4 i4 #h-aj2 ii4 #ab1 #ac2 iv4 #h-aa2 vii4 #e-g4 ,these sentences demand1 before we proceed further1 a few words of exegetical definition4 ,for the reference of so quickly it is needless to go beyond the verb it qualifies4 ,the ,apostle cannot surely mean1 so soon falling away 7after your conversion74 ,for the ,galatian ,churches had been founded five1 if not seven1 years before this time2 and the backsliding of recent converts is less1 and not more1 surprising than of established believers4 ,what astonishes ,paul is the suddenness of this movement1 the facility with which the ,galatians yielded to the ,judaizing persuasion1 the rapid spread of this new leaven4 ,as to the double other 71 different1 ,r4,v4--7 of vv4 #f and #g1 and the connection of the idiomatic only 7 1 except71--we regard the second other as an abrupt correction of the first2 while the only clause1 extending to the end of ver4 #g1 mediates between the two1 qualifying the statement ,there is no other gospel1 by showing in what sense the writer at first had spoken of another4 ,ye are falling away1 says he1 to another sort of gospel--which is not another1 except that there are certain that trouble you and would fain pervert the gospel of ,christ4 ,the word gospel is therefore in the first instance applied ironically4 ,paul yields the sacred title up to his opponents1 only to snatch it out of their false hands4 ,another gospel6 there is only one2 although there are men that falsify it1 and seek to foist something else upon you in its name4 ,seven times in this context 7vv4 #f-aa7 does the ,apostle reiterate1 in noun or verb1 this precious word1 as though he could not let it go4 ,a strange sort of good news for the ,galatians1 that they must be circumcised forsooth1 and observe the ,jewish ,kalendar6 7ch4 v4 #b1 #c2 vi4 #ab2 iv4 #i1 #aj47 ,i4 ,in ,paul's view1 there is but one gospel for mankind4 ,the gospel of ,jesus ,christ bears a fixed1 inviolable character4 ,on this position the whole teaching of ,paul rests1--and with it1 may we not add1 ,christianity itself8 ,however variously we may formulate the essentials of a ,christian man's faith1 we are generally agreed that there are such essentials1 and that they are found in ,paul's gospel to the ,gentiles4 ,with him the good tidings about ,christ constituted a very definite and1 as we should say1 dogmatic body of truth4 ,in whatever degree his gospel has been confused and overlaid by later teachings1 to his own mind its terms were perfectly clear1 and its authority incontestable4 ,with all its breadth1 there is nothing nebulous1 nothing limp or hesitating about the theology of ,paul4 ,in its main doctrines it is fixed and hard as adamant2 and at the challenge of this ,judaistic perversion it rings out an instant and peremptory denial4 ,it was the ark of ,god on which the ,jewish troublers laid their unholy hands4 ,christ's grace is lodged in it4 ,god's call to mankind was conveyed by these good tidings4 ,the ,churches which the ,apostle had planted were ,god's husbandry1 ,god's building2 and woe to the man who tampered with the work1 or sought to lay another foundation than that which had been laid 7#a ,cor4 iii4 #e-aa74 ,to distort or mutilate the word of the truth of the gospel1 to make it mean now one thing and now another1 to disturb the faith of half-instructed ,christians by captious reasonings and self-interested perversions1 was a capital offence1 a sin against ,god and a crime against humanity4 ,paul possesses in his gospel truth of unspeakable value to mankind1 the supreme revelation of ,god's mercy to the world4 ,and he is prepared to launch his anathema against every wilful impugner1 no matter what his pretensions1 or the quarter from which he comes4 ,well1 it may be said1 this is sheer religious intolerance4 ,paul is doing what every dogmatist1 every ecclesiastical bigot has done in his turn4 ,his beliefs are1 to be sure1 the truth2 and accordingly he unchurches and anathematizes those who cannot agree with him4 ,with all his nobility of mind1 there is in ,paul a leaven of ,jewish rancour4 ,he falls short of the sweet reasonableness of ,jesus4 ,so some will say1 and in saying claim to represent the mild and tolerant spirit of our age4 ,but is there not in every age an intolerance that is just and necessary8 ,there is a logical intolerance of sophistry and trifling4 ,there is a moral intolerance of impurity and deceit4 ,and there is a religious intolerance1 which includes both these and adds to them a holy jealousy for the honour of ,god and the spiritual welfare of mankind4 ,it is mournful indeed to think how many crimes have been perpetrated under the cloak of pious zeal4 ,tantum ,religio potuit suadere malorum4 ,the corruption of ,christianity by human pride and cruelty has furnished copious illustrations of the terrible line of ,lucretius4 ,but the perversion of this noblest instinct of the soul does not take away either its reasonableness or its use4 ,the quality of a passion is one thing2 the mode of its expression is another4 ,the hottest fires of bigotry are cold when compared with the scorching intolerance of ,christ's denunciations of the ,pharisees4 ,the anathemas of ,jesus and of ,paul are very different from those of arrogant pontiffs1 or of narrow sectaries1 inflamed with the idolatry of their own opinions4 ,after all1 the zeal of the rudest fanatic in religion has more in it of manly worth and moral capability than the languors of a blas scepticism1 that sits watching with amused contempt the strife of creeds and the search of human hearts after the ,living ,god4 ,there is an idle1 listless1 cowardly tolerance1 as there is an intolerance that is noble and just4 ,the one gospel has had many interpreters4 ,their voices1 it must be confessed1 sound strangely discordant4 ,while the teachings of ,christianity excite so intensely a multitude of different minds1 of every variety of temper and capacity1 contradiction will inevitably arise4 ,nothing is easier than to scoff at the ,babel of religious opinions4 ,christian truth is necessarily refracted and discoloured in passing through disordered natures and defective minds4 ,and1 alas1 that ,church which claims to hold the truth without possibility of error or variation1 has perverted ,christ's gospel most of all4 ,but notwithstanding all differences1 there exists a large and an increasing measure of agreement amongst the great body of earnest ,christians4 ,slowly1 yet surely1 one debate after another comes to its settlement4 ,the noise and publicity with which discussion on matters of faith is carried on in an age of religious freedom1 and when liberty of thought has outrun mental discipline1 should not lead us to exaggerate the extent of our disagreements4 ,in the midst of human controversy and error1 the ,spirit of truth is carrying on ,his work4 ,he is the supreme witness of ,jesus ,christ4 ,and ,he abides with us for ever4 ,the newly awakened historical conscience of our times is visibly making for unity4 ,the ,church is going back to the ,new ,testament4 ,and the more thoroughly she does this1 the more directly and truthfully she addresses herself to the original record and comes face to face with ,christ and ,his ,apostles there1 so much the more shall we realize the oneness and certainty of the faith once delivered to the saints4 ,beneath the many superstructures1 faulty and changing in their form1 we reach the one foundation of the apostles and prophets1 ,jesus ,christ ,himself being the chief corner-stone4 ,there we touch solid rock4 ,the unity of the faith lies in the knowledge of the ,son of ,god4 ,of ,him we shall learn most from those who knew ,him best4 ,let us transport ourselves into the fellowship of ,his first disciples2 and listen to ,his gospel as it came fresh from the lips of ,peter and ,john and ,paul1 and the ,divine ,master ,himself4 ,let us bid the voices of the centuries be silent1 that we may hear ,him4 ,for the ,galatian readers1 as for ,paul1 there could be but one gospel4 ,by his voice the call of ,god had reached their hearts1 7ver4 #f2 ch4 v4 #h74 ,the witness of the ,spirit of ,god and of ,christ in the supernatural gifts they had received1 and in the manifold fruit of a regenerate life 7ch4 iii4 #b-e2 v4 #bb1 #bc71 was evidence to them that the ,apostle's message was the true gospel of the grace of ,god4 ,this they had gratefully acknowledged at the time of his first visit 7ch4 iv4 #ae74 ,the proclamation of the crucified and risen ,christ had brought to them unspeakable blessing4 ,through it they received the knowledge of ,god2 they were made consciously sons of ,god1 heirs of life eternal 7ch4 iii4 #bf2 iv4 #f-i2 vi4 #h74 ,to entertain any other gospel1 after this experience and all these professions1 was an act of apostasy4 ,ye are deserting 7like runaway soldiers71 turning renegades from ,god3 such is the language in which ,paul taxes his readers4 ,in listening to the persuasion of the ,judaists1 they were disobeying the truth 7ch4 v4 #g1 #h74 ,they were disloyal to conscience2 they were trifling with the most sacred convictions of their lives1 and with the testimony of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,they were forgetting the cross of ,christ1 and making ,his death of none effect4 ,surely they must have been bewitched to act thus2 some deadly spell was upon them1 which had laid memory and conscience both to sleep 7ch4 ii4 #ba-;iii4 #c74 ,the nature and the contents of the two gospels current in ,galatia will be made clear in the further course of the ,epistle4 ,they were the gospels of ,grace and of ,law respectively2 of ,salvation by ,faith1 and by ,works2 of life in the ,spirit1 and in the ,flesh2 of the ,cross and the ,resurrection on the one hand1 and of ,circumcision and the ,kalendar and ,clean meats on the other2 the gospels of inwardness1 and of externalism--of ,christ1 and of self4 ,the conflict between these two was the great struggle of ,paul's life4 ,his success was1 historically speaking1 the salvation of ,christianity4 ,but this contention did not end with his victory4 ,the ,judaistic perversion appealed to tendencies too persistent in our nature to be crushed at one blow4 ,the gospel of externalism is dear to the human heart4 ,it may take the form of culture and moralities2 or of services and sacraments and churchly order2 or of orthodoxy and philanthropy4 ,these and such things make themselves our idols2 and trust in them takes the place of ,faith in the living ,christ4 ,it is not enough that the eyes of our heart should once have seen the ,lord1 that we should in other days have experienced the renewing of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,it is possible to forget1 possible to remove from ,him that called us in the grace of ,christ4 ,with little change in the form of our religious life1 its inward reality of joy in ,god1 of conscious sonship1 of fellowship in the ,spirit1 may be utterly departed4 ,the gospel of formalism will spring up and flourish on the most evangelical soil1 and in the most strictly ,pauline ,churches4 ,let it be banned and barred out never so completely1 it knows how to find entrance1 under the simplest modes of worship and the soundest doctrine4 ,the serried defence of ,articles and ,confessions constructed against it will not prevent its entrance1 and may even prove its cover and intrenchment4 ,nothing avails1 as the ,apostle says1 but a constant new creation4 ,the life of ,god in human souls is sustained by the energy of ,his ,spirit1 perpetually renewed1 ever proceeding from the ,father and the ,son4 ,the life that ,i live in the flesh1 ,i live by the ,faith of the ,son of ,god1 who loved me and gave ,himself for me4 ,this is the true orthodoxy4 ,the vitality of his personal faith in ,christ kept ,paul safe from error1 faithful in will and intellect to the one gospel4 ,,ii4 ,we have still to consider the import of the judgement pronounced by ,paul upon those who pervert the gospel of ,christ4 ,let him be anathema4 ,even should it be ourselves1 or an angel from heaven1 let him be anathema4 ,these are tremendous words4 ,commentators have been shocked at the ,apostle's damning his opponents after this fashion1 and have sought to lighten the weight of this awful sentence4 ,it has been sometimes toned down into an act of excommunication or ecclesiastical censure4 ,but this explanation will not hold4 ,paul could not think of subjecting an angel to a penalty like that4 ,he pronounced excommunication against disorderly members of the ,thessalonian ,church2 and in #a ,cor4 v4 #a-h he gives directions for the carrying out of a similar decree1 attended with severe bodily affliction supernaturally adjudged1 against a sinner whose presence grossly stained the purity of the ,church4 ,but this sentence goes beyond either of those4 ,it contemplates the exclusion of the offenders from the ,covenant of grace1 their loss of final salvation4 ,thrice besides has ,paul used this ominous word4 ,the cry ,jesus is anathema1 in #a ,cor4 xii4 #c1 reveals with a lurid effect the frenzied malignity towards ,christ of which the spirit of evil is sometimes capable4 ,in a very different connection the word appears in ,rom4 ix4 #c2 where ,paul could wish himself anathema from ,christ1 if that were possible1 for his brethren's sake2 he could find it in his heart to be cut off for ever from that love of ,god in ,christ of which he has just spoken in terms of unbounded joy and confidence 7,rom4 viii4 #ca-ci71 and banished from the heavenly kingdom1 if through his exclusion his ,jewish kindred might be saved4 ,self-sacrifice can go no further4 ,no heavier loss than this could be conceived for any human being4 ,nearest to our passage is the imprecation at the end of #a ,corinthians3 ,if any man love not the ,lord1 let him be anathema1--a judgement proclaimed against cold and false hearts1 knowing ,his love1 bearing ,his name1 but with no true love to ,him4 ,this ,greek word in its ,biblical use has grown out of the chrem of the ,old ,testament1 the ban declared against that which was cut off from the ,divine mercies and exposed to the full sweep of judgement4 ,thus in ,deut4 xiii4 #ab-ah1 the city whose people should go and serve other gods1 is declared chrem 7anathema71 an accursed1 or devoted thing 7,r4,v471 on which ensues its destruction by sword and fire1 leaving it to remain a ruin-heap for ever4 ,similarly in ,joshua vi41 vii41 the spoil of ,jericho is anathema1 ,achan's theft is therefore anathema1 and ,israel is made by it anathema until the accursed thing is destroyed from among the people4 ,such were the recollections associated with this word in the ,mosaic law1 which it would inevitably carry with it to the minds of those against whom it was now directed4 ,and there is nothing in later ,jewish usage to mitigate its force4 ,now the ,apostle is not writing like a man in a passion1 who flings out his words as missiles1 eager only to wound and confound his opponents4 ,he repeats the sentence4 ,he quotes it as one that he had already affirmed in the hearing of his readers4 ,the passage bears the marks of well-weighed thought and judicial solemnity4 ,in pronouncing this judgement on the troublers1 ,paul acts under the sense of ,apostolic responsibility4 ,we must place the sentence in the same line as that of ,peter against ,ananias and ,sapphira1 and of ,paul himself against ,elymas the ,cypriot sorcerer1 and against the incestuous ,corinthian4 ,in each case there is a supernatural insight and authorization1 the authority which the ,lord gave and which is wielded by ,his inspired ,apostle4 ,the exercise of this judicial function was one of the signs of the ,apostle4 ,this was the proof of ,christ speaking in him which ,paul was so loth to give at ,corinth1#aa but which at this crisis of his ministry he was compelled to display4 ,and if he reckons to be bold against his adversaries in ,galatia1 he knows well the ground on which he stands4 #aa #b ,cor4 x4 #a-aa2 xiii4 #a-aj2 #a ,cor4 iv4 #ah-ba4 ,his anathema struck at men who were the worst enemies of ,christ4 ,we can do nothing against the truth1 he says2 but for the truth he was ready to do and dare everything1--to come with a rod1 as he tells the proud ,corinthians4 ,there was no authority1 however lofty1 that he was not warranted to use on ,christ's behalf1 no measure1 however severe1 from which he would shrink1 if it were required in defence of the truth of the ,gospel4 ,he possesses weapons1 not fleshly1 but mighty through ,god2 and he is prepared to bring them all into play rather than see the gospel perverted or overthrown4 ,paul will hurl his anathema at the prince of the archangels1 should ,he come preaching another gospel1 tempting his children from their allegiance to ,christ4 ,this bolt was not shot a moment too soon4 ,launched against the legalist conspiracy1 and followed up by the arguments of this and the ,roman ,epistle1 it saved the ,church from being overpowered by reactionary ,judaism4 ,the ,apostle's judgement has marked the gospel of the cross for all time as ,god's inviolable truth1 guarded by lightnings4 ,the sentences of judgement pronounced by the ,apostles present a striking contrast to those that have fulminated from the ,chair of their self-styled successors4 ,in the ,canons of the ,council of ,trent1 for example1 we have counted one hundred and thirty-five anathemas4 ,a large proportion of these are concerned with the rights of the priesthood2 others with complicated and secondary points of doctrine2 some are directed virtually against the teaching of ,paul himself4 ,here is one specimen3 ,if any one shall say that justifying faith is nothing else but a trust in the ,divine mercy1 remitting sins for ,christ's sake1 or that it is this trust alone by which we are justified3 let him be anathema4#ab ,again1 ,if any one shall say that the ,canon of the ,mass contains errors1 and therefore should be abrogated3 let him be anathema4#ac ,in the closing session1 the final act of the presiding ,cardinal was to pronounce1 ,anathema to all heretics2 to which the assembled prelates shouted in response1 ,anathema1 anathema4 ,with this imprecation on their lips the ,fathers of the ,church concluded their pious labours4 ,it was the ,reformation1 it was the liberty of the sons of ,god that ,rome anathematized4 ,paul's censure holds good against all the ,conciliar ,canons and ,papal ,bulls that contravene it4 ,but twice has he pronounced this awful word2 once against any that love not the ,lord1 a second time upon those who wilfully pervert ,his gospel4 ,the ,papal anathemas sound like the maledictions of an angry priesthood1 jealous for its prerogatives2 here we have the holy severity of an inspired ,apostle1 concerned only for the truth1 and for his ,master's honour4 ,there speaks the conscious lord over ,god's heritage1 wearing the triple crown1 wielding the powers of ,interdict and ,inquisition1 whose word sets armies in motion and makes kings tremble on their seats4 ,here a feeble1 solitary man1 his bodily presence weak1 his speech contemptible1 hunted from place to place1 scourged and stoned1 shut up for years in prison1 who could not1 except for love's sake1 command the meanest service4 ,how conspicuous in the one case1 how wanting in the other1 is the might of the ,spirit and the dignity of the inspired word1 the transcendence of moral authority4 #ab ,session vi41 ,can4 xii4 #ac ,session xxii41 ,can4 vi4 ,it is the moral conduct of those he judges that determines in each case the sentence passed by the ,apostle4 ,for a man knowing ,jesus ,christ1 as we presume the members of the ,corinthian ,church did know ,him1 not to love ,him1 argues a bad heart4 ,must not we count ourselves accursed1 if with our knowledge of ,christ we had no love for ,him8 ,such a man is already virtually anathema4 ,he is severed as a branch from its vine1 ready to be gathered for the burning 7,john xv4 #f74 ,and these ,galatian disturbers were something worse than mere mistaken enthusiasts for their native ,jewish rites4 ,their policy was dishonourable 7ch4 iv4 #ag74 ,they made the gospel of ,christ subservient to factious designs4 ,they sought to win credit with their fellow-countrymen and to escape the reproach of the cross by imposing circumcision on the ,gentiles 7ch4 ii4 #d2 vi4 #ab1 #ac74 ,they prostituted religion to selfish and party purposes4 ,they sacrificed truth to popularity1 the glory of ,christ and the cross to their own4 ,they were of those whom the ,apostle describes as walking in craftiness and handling the word of ,god deceitfully1 who traffic in the gospel1 peddling with it as with petty wares1 cheapening and adulterating it like dishonest hucksters to make their own market by it 7#b ,cor4 ii4 #ag2 iv4 #b74 ,did not ,paul do well to smite them with the rod of his mouth8 ,justly has he marked with the brand of this fiery anathema the false minister1 who serves not the ,lord ,christ1 but his own belly4 ,but does this declaration preclude in such a case the possibility of repentance8 ,we trow not4 ,it declares the doom which is due to any1 be he man or angel1 who should do what these troublers are doing4 ,it is a general sentence1 and has for the individuals concerned the effect of a warning1 like the announcement made concerning the ,traitor at the ,last ,supper4 ,however unlikely repentance might be in either instance1 there is nothing to forbid it4 ,so when ,peter said to ,simon ,magus1 ,thy money perish with thee6 he nevertheless continued1 ,repent1 therefore1 of this thy wickedness1 and pray the ,lord1 if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee 7,acts viii4 #bj-bb74 ,to his worst opponents1 on any sign of contrition1 ,paul1 we may be sure1 would have gladly said the same4 ,,the ,,personal ,,history4 ,,chapter i4 #aa-;ii4 #ba4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,paul',s ,,gospel ,,revealed ,,by ,,christ4 ,for ,i make known to you1 brethren1 as touching the gospel which was preached by me1 that it is not after man4 ,for neither did ,i receive it from man1 nor was ,i taught it1 but it came to me through revelation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,for ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the ,jews' religion1 how that beyond measure ,i persecuted the church of ,god1 and made havock of it3 and ,i advanced in the ,jews' religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen1 being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers4--,,gal4 i4 #aa-ad4 ,here the ,epistle begins in its main purport4 ,what has gone before is so much exordium4 ,the sharp1 stern sentences of vv4 #f-aj are like the roll of artillery that ushers in the battle4 ,the mists rise from the field4 ,we see the combatants arrayed on either side4 ,in due order and with cool self-command the ,apostle proceeds to marshal and deploy his forces4 ,his truthful narrative corrects the misrepresentations of his opponents1 and repels their attack upon himself4 ,his powerful dialectic wrests from their hands and turns against them their weapons of ,scriptural proof4 ,he wins the citadel of their position1 by establishing the claim of the men of faith to be the sons of ,abraham4 ,on the ruins of confuted legalism he builds up an impregnable fortress for ,christian liberty1 an immortal vindication of the gospel of the grace of ,god4 ,the cause of ,gentile freedom at this crisis was bound up with the person of the ,apostle ,paul4 ,his ,gospel and his ,apostleship must stand or fall together4 ,the former was assailed through the latter4 ,he was himself just now the pillar and stay of the truth4 ,if his character had been successfully attacked and his influence destroyed1 nothing1 humanly speaking1 could have saved ,gentile ,christendom at this decisive moment from falling under the assaults of ,judaism4 ,when he begins his crucial appeal with the words1 ,behold1 ,i ,paul say unto you 7ch4 v4 #b71 we feel that the issue depends upon the weight which his readers may attach to his personal affirmation4 ,he pits his own truthfulness1 his knowledge of ,christ1 his spiritual discernment and authority1 and the respect due to himself from the ,galatians1 against the pretensions of the new teachers4 ,the comparison is not indeed so open and express as that made in #b ,corinthians2 none the less it tacitly runs through this ,epistle4 ,paul is compelled to put himself in the forefront of his argument4 ,in the eyes of his children in the faith1 he is bound to vindicate his ,apostolic character1 defamed by ,jewish malice and untruth4 ,the first two chapters of this ,epistle are therefore ,paul's ,apologia pro vita sua4 ,with certain chapters in #b ,corinthians1 and scattered passages in other letters1 they form the ,apostle's autobiography1 one of the most perfect self-portraitures that literature contains4 ,they reveal to us the man more effectively than any ostensible description could have done4 ,they furnish an indispensable supplement to the external and cursory delineations given in the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,while ,luke skilfully presents the outward framework of ,paul's life and the events of his public career1 it is to the ,epistles that we turn--to none more frequently than this--for the necessary subjective data1 for all that belongs to his inner character1 his motives and principles4 ,this ,epistle brings into bold relief the ,apostle's moral physiognomy4 ,above all1 it throws a clear and penetrating light on the event which determined his career--the greatest event in the history of ,christianity after the ,day of ,pentecost--,paul's conversion to faith in the ,lord ,jesus4 ,this was at once the turning-point in the ,apostle's life1 and the birth-hour of his gospel4 ,if the ,galatians were to understand his teaching1 they must understand this occurrence2 they must know why he became a ,christian1 how he had received the message which he brought to them4 ,they would1 he felt sure1 enter more sympathetically into his doctrine1 if they were better acquainted with the way in which he had arrived at it4 ,they would see how well-justified was the authority1 how needful the severity with which he writes4 ,accordingly he begins with a brief relation of the circumstances of his call to the service of ,christ1 and his career from the days of his ,judaistic zeal1 when he made havoc of the faith1 till the well-known occasion on which he became its champion against ,peter himself1 the chief of the ,twelve 7ch4 i4 #aa-;ii4 #ba47 ,his object in this recital appears to be threefold3 to refute the misrepresentations of the ,circumcisionists2 to vindicate his independent authority as an ,apostle of ,christ2 and further1 to unfold the nature and terms of his gospel1 so as to pave the way for the theological argument which is to follow1 and which forms the body of the ,epistle4 ,i4 ,paul's gospel was supernaturally conveyed to him1 by a personal intervention of ,jesus ,christ4 ,this assertion is the ,apostle's starting-point4 ,my gospel is not after man4 ,i received it as ,jesus ,christ revealed it to me4 ,that the initial revelation was made to him by ,christ in person1 was a fact of incalculable importance for ,paul4 ,this had made him an ,apostle1 in the august sense in which he claims the title 7ver4 #a74 ,this accounts for the vehemence with which he defends his doctrine1 and for the awful sentence which he has passed upon its impugners4 ,the ,divine authorship of the gospel he preached made it impossible for him to temporize with its perverters1 or to be influenced by human favour or disfavour in its administration4 ,had his teaching been according to man1 he might have consented to a compromise2 he might reasonably have tried to humour and accommodate ,jewish prejudices4 ,but the case is far otherwise4 ,i am not at liberty to please men1 he says1 for my gospel comes directly from ,jesus ,christ 7vv4 #aj1 #aa74 ,so he gives his readers to know1 as if by way of formal notification4#ad #ad ,comp4 ,rom4 ix4 #bb2 #a ,cor4 xii4 #c2 xv4 #a2 #b ,cor4 viii4 #a4 ,the gospel of ,paul was inviolable1 then1 because of its superhuman character4 ,and this character was impressed upon it by its superhuman origin3 not according to man1 for neither from man did ,i receive it1 nor was ,i taught it1 but by a revelation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the ,apostle's knowledge of ,christianity did not come through the ordinary channel of tradition and indoctrination2 ,jesus ,christ had1 by a miraculous interposition1 taught him the truth about ,himself4 ,he says1 ,neither did ,i1 with an emphasis that points tacitly to the elder ,apostles1 whom he mentions a few sentences later 7ver4 #ag74 ,to this comparison his adversaries forced him1 making use of it as they freely did to his disparagement4#ae ,but it comes in by implication rather than direct assertion4 ,only by putting violence upon himself1 and with strong expressions of his unworthiness1 can ,paul be brought to set his official claims in competition with those of the ,twelve4 ,notwithstanding1 it is perfectly clear that he puts his ministry on a level with theirs4 ,he is no ,apostle at second-hand1 no disciple of ,peter's or dependant of the pillars at ,jerusalem4 ,neither did ,i1 he declares1 any more than they1 take my instructions from other lips than those of ,jesus our ,lord4 #ae ,see ch4 ii4 #f-ad2 #a ,cor4 i4 #ab2 iii4 #bb2 iv4 #i2 ix4 #a-e2 xv4 #h-aj4 ,but what of this revelation of ,jesus ,christ1 on which ,paul lays so much stress8 ,does he mean a revelation made by ,christ1 or about ,christ8 ,taken by itself1 the expression1 in ,greek as in ,english1 bears either interpretation4 ,in favour of the second construction--viz4 that ,paul speaks of a revelation by which ,christ was made known to him--the language of ver4 #af is adduced3 ,it pleased ,god to reveal ,his ,son in me4 ,paul's general usage points in the same direction4 ,with him ,christ is the object of manifestation1 preaching1 and the like4 #b ,cor4 xii4 #a is probably an instance to the contrary3 ,i will come to visions and revelations of the ,lord4#af ,but it should be observed that wherever this genitive is objective 7a revelation revealing ,christ71 ,god appears in the context1 just as in ver4 #af below1 to ,whom the authorship of the revelation is ascribed4 ,in this instance1 the gospel is the object revealed2 and ,jesus ,christ1 in contrast with man1 is claimed for its ,author4 ,so at the outset 7ver4 #a7 ,christ1 in ,his ,divine character1 was the ,agent by whom ,paul1 as veritably as the ,twelve1 had received his ,apostleship4 ,we therefore assent to the ordinary view1 reading this passage in the light of the vision of ,jesus thrice related in the ,acts4#ag ,we understand ,paul to say that no mere man imparted to him the gospel he preached1 but ,jesus ,christ revealed it4 #af ,this genitive is1 however1 open to the other construction1 which is unquestionable in #a ,cor4 i4 #g2 #b ,thess4 i4 #g2 also #a ,pet4 i4 #g1 #ac4 ,rev4 i4 #a furnishes a prominent example of the subjective genitive4 #ag ,acts ix4 #a-ai2 xxii4 #e-af2 xxvi4 #ab-ah4 ,on the ,damascus road the ,apostle ,paul found his mission4 ,the vision of the glorified ,jesus made him a ,christian1 and an ,apostle4 ,the act was a revelation--that is1 in ,new ,testament phrase1 a supernatural1 an immediately ,divine communication of truth4 ,and it was a revelation not conveyed in the first instance1 as were the ordinary prophetic inspirations1 through the ,spirit2 ,jesus ,christ1 in ,his ,divine-human person1 made ,himself known to ,his persecutor4 ,paul had seen that ,just ,one and heard a voice from ,his mouth4 ,the appearance of ,jesus to ,saul of ,tarsus was in itself a gospel1 an earnest of the good tidings he was to convey to the world4 ,why persecutest thou ,me8 that ,divine voice said1 in tones of reproach1 yet of infinite pity4 ,the sight of ,jesus the ,lord1 meeting ,saul's eyes1 revealed ,his grace and truth to the persecutor's heart4 ,he was brought in a moment to the obedience of faith2 he said1 ,lord1 what wilt ,thou have me to do8 ,he confessed with his mouth the ,lord ,jesus2 he believed in his heart that ,god had raised ,him from the dead4 ,it was true1 after all1 that ,god had made the crucified ,nazarene both ,lord and ,christ2 for this was ,he6 ,the cross1 which had been ,saul's stumbling-block1 deeply affronting his ,jewish pride1 from this moment was transformed4 ,the glory of the exalted ,redeemer cast back its light upon the tree of shame4 ,the curse of the ,law visibly resting upon ,him1 the rejection of men1 marked ,him out as ,god's chosen sacrifice for sin4 ,this explanation at once presented itself to an instructed and keenly theological mind like ,saul's1 so soon as it was evident that ,jesus was not accursed1 as he had supposed1 but approved by ,god4 ,so ,paul's gospel was given him at a stroke4 ,jesus ,christ dying for our sins1 ,jesus ,christ living to save and to rule--behold the good news6 ,the ,apostle had it on no less authority than that of the risen ,saviour4 ,from ,him he received it to publish wide as the world4 ,thus ,saul of ,tarsus was born again4 ,and with the ,christian man1 the ,christian thinker1 the theologian1 was born in him4 ,the ,pauline doctrine has its root in ,paul's conversion4 ,it was a single1 organic growth1 the seed of which was this revelation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,its creative impulse was given in the experience of the memorable hour1 when ,god who said1 ,light shall shine out of darkness1 in the face of ,jesus ,christ shined into ,saul's heart4 ,as the light of this revelation penetrated his spirit1 he recognised1 step by step1 the fact of the resurrection1 the import of the crucifixion1 the ,divinity of ,jesus1 ,his human mediatorship1 the virtue of faith1 the office of the ,holy ,spirit1 the futility of ,jewish ritual and works of law1 and all the essential principles of his theology4 ,given the genius of ,saul and his religious training1 and the ,pauline system of doctrine was1 one might almost say1 a necessary deduction from the fact of the appearance to him of the glorified ,jesus4 ,if that form of celestial splendour was ,jesus1 then ,he was risen indeed2 then ,he was the ,christ2 ,he was1 as ,he affirmed1 the ,son of ,god4 ,if ,he was ,lord and ,christ1 and yet died by the ,father's will on the cross of shame1 then ,his death could only be a propitiation1 accepted by ,god1 for the sins of men1 whose efficacy had no limit1 and whose merit left no room for legal works of righteousness4 ,if this ,jesus was the ,christ1 then the assumptions of ,saul's ,judaism1 which had led him into blasphemous hatred and outrage towards ,him1 were radically false2 he will purge himself from the old leaven1 that his life may become a new lump4 ,from that moment a world of life and thought began for the future ,apostle1 the opposite in all respects of that in which hitherto he had moved4 ,the old things1 he cries1 passed away2 lo1 they have become new 7#b ,cor4 v4 #ag74 ,paul's conversion was as complete as it was sudden4 ,this intimate relation of doctrine and experience gives to ,paul's teaching a peculiar warmth and freshness1 a vividness of human reality which it everywhere retains1 despite its lofty intellectualism and the scholastic form in which it is largely cast4 ,it is theology alive1 trembling with emotion1 speaking words like flames1 forming dogmas hard as rock1 that when you touch them are yet glowing with the heat of those central depths of the human spirit from which they were cast up4 ,the collision of the two great ,apostles at ,antioch shows how the strength of ,paul's teaching lay in his inward realization of the truth4 ,there was life behind his doctrine4 ,he was1 and for the time the ,jewish ,apostle was not1 acting and speaking out of the reality of spiritual conviction1 of truth personally verified4 ,of the ,apostle ,paul above all divines the saying is true1 ,pectus facit theologum4 ,and this personal knowledge of ,christ1 the master light of all his seeing1 began when on the way to ,damascus his eyes beheld ,jesus our ,lord4 ,his farewell charge to the ,church through ,timothy 7#b ,tim4 i4 #i-ab71 while referring to the general manifestation of ,christ to the world1 does so in language coloured by the recollection of the peculiar revelation made at the beginning to himself3 ,god1 he says1 called us with a holy calling1 according to ,his purpose and grace1 which hath now been manifested by the appearing#ah of our ,saviour ,christ ,jesus1 who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light#ai through the gospel1 whereunto ,i was appointed a preacher and apostle4 ,for which cause ,i also suffer these things4 ,but ,i am not ashamed3 for ,i know ,him in whom ,i have believed4 ,this manifestation of the celestial ,christ shed its brightness along all his path4 #ah 1 a supernatural appearance1 such as that of the ,second ,advent4 #ai 1 comp4 #b ,cor4 iv4 #f4 ,,ii4 ,his assertion of the ,divine origin of his doctrine ,paul sustains by referring to the previous course of his life4 ,there was certainly nothing in that to account for his preaching ,christ crucified4 ,for you have heard1 he continues1 of my manner of life aforetime1 when ,i followed ,judaism4 ,here ends the chain of fors reaching from ver4 #aj to #ac--;a succession of explanations linking ,paul's denunciation of the ,christian ,judaizers to the fact that he had himself been a violent anti-,christian ,judaist4 ,the seeming contradiction is in reality a consistent sequence4 ,only one who had imbibed the spirit of legalism as ,saul of ,tarsus had done1 could justly appreciate the hostility of its principles to the new faith1 and the sinister motives actuating the men who pretended to reconcile them4 ,paul knew ,judaism by heart4 ,he understood the sort of men who opposed him in the ,gentile ,churches4 ,and if his anathema appear needlessly severe1 we must remember that no one was so well able to judge of the necessities of the case as the man who pronounced it4 ,you have heard--from whom8 ,in the first instance1 probably1 from ,paul himself4 ,but on this matter1 we may be pretty sure1 his opponents would have something to say4 ,they did not scruple to assert that he still preached circumcision#bj and played the ,jew even now when it suited him1 charging him with insincerity4 ,or they might say1 ,paul is a renegade4 ,once the most ardent of zealots for ,judaism1 he has passed to the opposite extreme4 ,he is a man you cannot trust4 ,apostates are proverbially bitter against their old faith4 ,in these and in other ways ,paul's ,pharisaic career was doubtless thrown in his teeth4 #bj ,ch4 v4 #aa2 comp4 #a ,cor4 ix4 #bj2 ,acts xvi4 #c2 xxi4 #bj-bf2 xxiii4 #f4 ,the ,apostle sorrowfully confesses that above measure he persecuted the ,church of ,god and laid it waste4 ,his friend ,luke makes the same admission in similar language4#ba ,there is no attempt to conceal or palliate this painful fact1 that the famous ,apostle of the ,gentiles had been a persecutor1 the deadliest enemy of the ,church in its infant days4 ,he was the very type of a determined1 pitiless oppressor1 the forerunner of the ,jewish fanatics who afterwards sought his life1 and of the cruel bigots of the ,inquisition and the ,star-chamber in later times4 ,his restless energy1 his indifference to the feelings of humanity in this work of destruction1 were due to religious zeal4 ,i thought1 he says1 ,i ought to do many things contrary to the name of ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,in him1 as in so many others1 the saying of ,christ was fulfilled3 ,the time cometh1 when whoso killeth you will think that he is offering a sacrifice to ,god4 ,these ,nazarenes were heretics1 traitors to ,israel1 enemies of ,god4 ,their leader had been crucified1 branded with the extremest mark of ,divine displeasure4 ,his followers must perish4 ,their success meant the ruin of ,mosaism4 ,god willed their destruction4 ,such were ,saul's thoughts1 until he heard the protesting voice of ,jesus as he approached ,damascus to ravage ,his little flock4 ,no wonder that he suffered remorse to the end of his days4 #ba ,acts vii4 #eh2 viii4 #a-c2 ix4 #a4 ,saul's persecution of the ,church was the natural result of his earlier training1 of the course to which in his youth he committed himself4 ,the ,galatians had heard also how proficient he was in ,judaism1 beyond many of his kindred and age2 that he was surpassed by none in zeal for their ancestral traditions4 ,his birth 7,phil4 iii4 #d1 #e71 education 7,acts xxii4 #c71 temperament1 circumstances1 all combined to make him a zealot of the first water1 the pink and pattern of ,jewish orthodoxy1 the rising hope of the ,pharisaic party1 and an instrument admirably fitted to crush the hated and dangerous sect of the ,nazarenes4 ,these facts go to prove1 not that ,paul is a traitor to his own people1 still less that he is a ,pharisee at heart1 preaching ,gentile liberty from interested motives2 but that it must have been some extraordinary occurrence1 quite out of the common run of human influences and probabilities1 that set him on his present course4 ,what could have turned this furious ,jewish persecutor all at once into the champion of the cross8 ,what indeed but the revelation of ,christ which he received at the ,damascus gate8 ,his previous career up to that hour had been such as to make it impossible that he should have received his gospel through human means4 ,the chasm between his ,christian and pre-,christian life had only been bridged by a supernatural interposition of the mercy of ,christ4 ,our modern critics1 however1 think that they know ,paul better than he knew himself4 ,they hold that the problem raised by this passage is capable of a natural solution4 ,psychological analysis1 we are told1 sets the matter in a different light4 ,saul of ,tarsus had a tender conscience4 ,underneath his fevered and ambitious zeal1 there lay in the young persecutor's heart a profound misgiving1 a mortifying sense of his failure1 and the failure of his people1 to attain the righteousness of the ,law4 ,the seventh chapter of his ,epistle to the ,romans is a leaf taken out of the inner history of this period of the ,apostle's life4 ,through what a stern discipline the ,tarsian youth had passed in these legal years6 ,how his haughty spirit chafed and tortured itself under the growing consciousness of its moral impotence6 ,the ,law had been truly his 7ch4 iii4 #bd71 a severe tutor1 preparing him unconsciously for ,christ4 ,in this state of mind such scenes as the martyrdom of ,stephen could not but powerfully affect ,saul1 in spite of himself4 ,the bearing of the persecuted ,nazarenes1 the words of peace and forgiveness that they uttered under their sufferings1 stirred questionings in his breast not always to be silenced4 ,self-distrust and remorse were secretly undermining the rigour of his ,judaic faith4 ,they acted like a goad 7,acts xxvi4 #ad71 against which he kicked in vain4 ,he rode to ,damascus--a long and lonely journey--in a state of increasing disquiet and mental conflict4 ,the heat and exhaustion of the desert march1 acting on a nervous temperament naturally excitable and overwrought1 hastened the crisis4 ,saul fell from his horse in an access of fever1 or catalepsy4 ,his brain was on fire4 ,the convictions that haunted him suddenly took form and voice in the apparition of the glorified ,jesus1 whom ,stephen in his dying moments had addressed4 ,from that figure seemed to proceed the reproachful cry which the persecutor's conscience had in vain been striving to make him hear4 ,a flash of lightning1 or1 if you like1 a sunstroke1 is readily imagined to fire this train of circumstances1--and the explanation is complete6 ,when1 besides1 ,m4 ,renan is good enough to tell us that he has himself experienced an attack of this kind at ,byblos1 and with other principles would certainly have taken the hallucinations he then had for visions1#bb what more can we desire8 ,nay1 does not ,paul himself admit1 in ver4 #af of this chapter1 that his conversion was essentially a spiritual and subjective event8 #bb ,les ,aptres1 p4 #ahj1 note #a4 ,such is the diagnosis of ,paul's conversion offered us by rationalism2 and it is not wanting in boldness nor in skill4 ,but the corner-stone on which it rests1 the hinge of the whole theory1 is imaginary and in fatal contradiction with the facts of the case4 ,paul himself knows nothing of the remorse imputed to him previously to the vision of ,jesus4 ,the historian of the ,acts knows nothing of it4 ,in a nature so upright and conscientious as that of ,saul1 this misgiving would at least have induced him to desist from persecution4 ,from first to last his testimony is1 ,i did it ignorantly1 in unbelief4 ,it was this ignorance1 this absence of any sense of wrong in the violence he used against the followers of ,jesus1 that1 in his view1 accounted for his obtaining mercy 7#a ,tim4 i4 #ac74 ,if impressions of an opposite kind were previously struggling in his mind1 with such force that on a mere nervous shock they were ready to precipitate themselves in the shape of an over-mastering hallucination1 changing instantly and for ever the current of his life1 how comes it that the ,apostle has told us nothing about them8 ,that he should have forgotten impressions so poignant and so powerful1 is inconceivable4 ,and if he has of set purpose ignored1 nay1 virtually denied this all-important fact1 what becomes of his sincerity8 ,the ,apostle was manifestly innocent of any such predisposition to ,christian faith as the above theory imputes to him4 ,true1 he was conscious in those ,judaistic days of his failure to attain righteousness1 of the disharmony existing between the law of his reason and that which wrought in his members4 ,his conviction of sin supplied the moral precondition necessary in every case to saving faith in ,christ4 ,but this negative condition does not help us in the least to explain the vision of the glorified ,jesus4 ,by no psychological process whatever could the experience of ,rom4 vii4 #g-bd be made to project itself in such an apparition4 ,with all his mysticism and emotional susceptibility1 ,paul's mind was essentially sane and critical4 ,to call him epileptic is a calumny4 ,no man so diseased could have gone through the ,apostle's labours1 or written these ,epistles4 ,his discussion of the subject of supernatural gifts1 in #a ,cor4 xii4 and xiv41 is a model of shrewdness and good sense4 ,he had experience of trances and ecstatic visions2 and he knew1 perhaps as well as ,m4 ,renan1 how to distinguish them from objective realities4#bc ,the manner in which he speaks of this appearance allows of no reasonable doubt as to the ,apostle's full persuasion that in sober certainty of waking sense he had seen ,jesus our ,lord4 #bc #a ,cor4 xiv4 #ah2 #b ,cor4 xii4 #a-f2 ,acts xvi4 #i2 xviii4 #h1 #i2 xxii4 #ag1 #ah4 ,it was this sensible and outward revelation that led to the inward revelation of the ,redeemer to his soul1 of which ,paul goes on to speak in ver4 #af4 ,without the latter the former would have been purposeless and useless4 ,the objective vision could only have revealed a ,christ after the flesh1 had it not been the means of opening ,saul's closed heart to the influence of the ,spirit of ,christ4 ,it was the means to this1 and in the given circumstances the indispensable means4 ,to a history that knows no miracles1 the ,apostle ,paul must remain an enigma4 ,his faith in the crucified ,jesus is equally baffling to naturalism with that of the first disciples1 who had laid ,him in the grave4 ,when the ,apostle argues that his antecedent relations to ,christianity were such as to preclude his conversion having come about by natural human means1 we are bound to admit both the sincerity and the conclusiveness of his appeal4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,paul',s ,,divine ,,commission4 ,but when it was the good pleasure of ,god1 who separated me1 even from my mother's womb1 and called me through ,his grace1 to reveal ,his ,son in me1 that ,i might preach ,him among the ,gentiles2 immediately ,i conferred not with flesh and blood3 neither went ,i up to ,jerusalem to them which were apostles before me3 but ,i went away into ,arabia2 and again ,i returned unto ,damascus4--,,gal4 i4 #ae-ag4 ,it pleased ,god to reveal ,his ,son in me3 this is after all the essential matter in ,paul's conversion1 as in that of every ,christian4 ,the outward manifestation of ,jesus ,christ served in his case to bring about this result1 and was necessary to qualify him for his extraordinary vocation4 ,but of itself the supernatural vision had no redeeming virtue1 and gave ,saul of ,tarsus no message of salvation for the world4 ,its glory blinded and prostrated the persecutor2 his heart might notwithstanding have remained rebellious and unchanged4 ,i am ,jesus1 said the heavenly ,form1--,go1 and it shall be told thee what thou shalt do2--that was all6 ,and that was not salvation4 ,even though one rose from the dead1 still it is possible not to believe4 ,and faith is possible in its highest degree1 and is exercised to-day by multitudes1 with no celestial light to illumine1 no audible voice from beyond the grave to awaken4 ,the sixteenth verse gives us the inward counterpart of that exterior revelation in which ,paul's knowledge of ,christ had its beginning1--but only its beginning4 ,the ,apostle does not surely mean by in me1 in my case1 through me 7to others74 ,this gives a sense true in itself1 and expressed by ,paul elsewhere 7ver4 #bd2 #a ,tim4 i4 #af71 but unsuitable to the word reveal1 and out of place at this point of the narrative4 ,in the next clause--that ,i might preach ,him among the ,gentiles--we learn what was to be the issue of this revelation for the world4 ,but in the first place it was a ,divine certainty within the breast of ,paul himself4 ,his ,gentile ,apostleship rested upon the most assured basis of inward conviction1 upon a spiritual apprehension of the ,redeemer's person4 ,he says1 laying emphasis on the last two words1 to reveal ,his ,son within me4 ,so ,chrysostom3 ,why did he not say to me1 but in me8 ,showing that not by words alone he learned the things concerning faith2 but that he was also filled with the abundance of the ,spirit1 the revelation shining through his very soul2 and that he had ,christ speaking in himself4 ,i4 ,the substance of ,paul's gospel was1 therefore1 given him by the unveiling of the ,redeemer to his heart4 ,the revelation of ver4 #af takes up and completes that of ver4 #ab4 ,the dazzling appearance of ,christ before his eyes and the summons of ,his voice addressed to ,saul's bodily ears formed the special mode in which it pleased ,god to call him by ,his grace4 ,but whom ,he called1 ,he also justified4 ,in this further act of grace salvation is first personally realised1 and the gospel becomes the man's individual possession4 ,this experience ensued upon the acceptance of the fact that the crucified ,jesus was the ,christ4 ,but this was by no means all4 ,as the revelation penetrated further into the ,apostle's soul1 he began to apprehend its deeper significance4 ,he knew already that the ,nazarene had claimed to be the ,son of ,god1 and on that ground had been sentenced to death by the ,sanhedrim4 ,his resurrection1 now a demonstrated fact1 showed that this awful claim1 instead of being condemned1 was acknowledged by ,god ,himself4 ,the celestial majesty in which ,he appeared1 the sublime authority with which ,he spoke1 witnessed to ,his ,divinity4 ,to ,paul equally with the first ,apostles1 ,he was declared ,son of ,god in power1 by the resurrection of the dead4 ,but this persuasion was borne in upon him in his after reflections1 and could not be adequately realised in the first shock of his great discovery4 ,the language of this verse throws no sort of suspicion on the reality of the vision before ,damascus4 ,quite the opposite4 ,the inward presupposes the outward4 ,understanding follows sight4 ,the subjective illumination1 the inward conviction of ,christ's ,divinity1 in ,paul's case as in that of the first disciples1 was brought about by the appearance of the risen1 ,divine ,jesus4 ,that appearance furnishes in both instances the explanation of the astounding change that took place in the men4 ,the heart full of blasphemy against ,his name has learnt to own ,him as the ,son of ,god1 who loved me and gave ,himself for me4 ,through the bodily eyes of ,saul of ,tarsus the revelation of ,jesus ,christ had entered and transformed his spirit4 ,of this interior revelation the ,holy ,spirit1 according to the ,apostle's doctrine1 had been the organ4 ,the ,lord on first meeting the gathered ,apostles after ,his resurrection breathed upon them1 saying1 ,receive ye the ,holy ,ghost 7,john xx4 #bb74 ,this influence was in truth the power of ,his resurrection2 it was the inspiring breath of the new life of humanity issuing from the open grave of ,christ4 ,the baptism of ,pentecost1 with its mighty rushing wind1 was but the fuller effusion of the power whose earnest the ,church received in that gentle breathing of peace on the day of the resurrection4 ,by ,his ,spirit ,christ made ,himself a dwelling in the hearts of ,his disciples1 raised at last to a true apprehension of ,his nature4 ,all this was recapitulated in the experience of ,paul4 ,in his case the common experience was the more sharply defined because of the suddenness of his conversion1 and the startling effect with which this new consciousness projected itself upon the background of his earlier ,pharisaic life4 ,paul had his ,resurrection-vision on the road to ,damascus4 ,he received his ,pentecostal baptism in the days that followed4 ,it is not necessary to fix the precise occasion of the second revelation1 or to connect it specifically with the visit of ,ananias to ,saul in ,damascus1 much less with his later ecstasy in the temple 7,acts ix4 #aj-ai2 xxii4 #ab-ba74 ,when ,ananias1 sent by ,christ1 brought him the assurance of forgiveness from the injured ,church1 and bade him recover his sight1 and be filled with the ,holy ,ghost1 this message greatly comforted his heart1 and pointed out to him more clearly the way of salvation along which he was groping4 ,but it is the office of the ,spirit of ,god to reveal the ,son of ,god2 so ,paul teaches everywhere in his ,epistles1 taught first by his own experience4 ,not from ,ananias1 nor from any man had he received this knowledge2 ,god revealed ,his ,son in the soul of the ,apostle--sent forth the ,spirit of ,his ,son into his heart 7ch4 iv4 #f74 ,the language of #b ,cor4 iii4 #ab-;iv4 #f is the best commentary on this verse4 ,a veil rested on the heart of ,saul the ,pharisee4 ,he read the ,old ,covenant only in the condemning letter4 ,not yet did he know the ,lord who is the spirit4 ,this veil was done away in ,christ4 ,the glory of the ,lord that burst upon him in his ,damascus journey1 rent it once and for ever from his eyes4 ,god1 the ,light-giver1 had shined in his heart1 in the face of ,jesus ,christ4 ,such was the further scope of the revelation which effected ,paul's conversion4 ,as he writes afterwards to ,ephesus1 the ,god of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,father of glory1 had given him a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of ,christ2 eyes of the heart enlightened to know the hope of ,his calling1 and ,his exceeding power to usward1 according to that ,he wrought in ,christ when ,he raised ,him from the dead1 and set ,him at ,his own right hand 7,eph4 i4 #ag-ba74 ,in these words we hear an echo of the thoughts that passed through the ,apostle's mind when first it pleased ,god in him to reveal ,his ,son4 ,,ii4 ,in the light of this inner revelation ,paul received his ,gentile mission4 ,he speedily perceived that this was the purpose with which the revelation was made3 that ,i should preach ,him among the ,gentiles4 ,the three accounts of his conversion furnished by the ,acts witness to the same effect4 ,whether we should suppose that the ,lord ,jesus gave ,saul this commission directly1 at ,his first appearance1 as seems to be implied in ,acts xxvi41 or infer from the more detailed narrative of chapters ix4 and xxii41 that the announcement was sent by ,ananias and afterwards more urgently repeated in the vision at the ,temple1 in either case the fact remains the same2 from the beginning ,paul knew that he was appointed to be ,christ's witness to the ,gentiles4 ,this destination was included in the ,divine call which brought him to faith in ,jesus4 ,his ,judaic prejudices were swept away4 ,he was ready to embrace the universalism of the ,gospel4 ,with his fine logical instinct1 sharpened by hatred1 he had while yet a ,pharisee discerned more clearly than many ,jewish ,christians the bearing of the doctrine of the cross upon the legal system4 ,he saw that the struggle was one of life and death4 ,the vehemence with which he flung himself into the contest was due to this perception4 ,but it followed from this1 that1 once convinced of the ,messiahship of ,jesus1 ,paul's faith at a bound overleaped all ,jewish barriers4 ,judaism--or the religion of the ,crucified1 was the alternative with which his stern logic pursued the ,nazarenes4 ,judaism and ,christianity--this was a compromise intolerable to his nature4 ,before ,saul's conversion he had left that halting-place behind2 he apprehended already1 in some sense1 the truth up to which the elder ,apostles had to be educated1 that in ,christ ,jesus there is neither ,greek nor ,jew4 ,he passed at a step from the one camp to the other4 ,in this there was consistency4 ,the enlightened1 conscientious persecutor1 who had debated with ,stephen and helped to stone him1 was sure1 if he became a ,christian1 to become a ,christian of ,stephen's school4 ,when he entered the ,church1 ,paul left the ,synagogue4 ,he was ripe for his world-wide commission4 ,there was no surprise1 no unpreparedness in his mind when the charge was given him1 ,go2 for ,i will send thee far hence among the ,gentiles4 ,in the ,apostle's view1 his personal salvation and that of the race were objects united from the first4 ,not as a privileged ,jew1 but as a sinful man1 the ,divine grace had found him out4 ,the righteousness of ,god was revealed to him on terms which brought it within the reach of every human being4 ,the ,son of ,god whom he now beheld was a personage vastly greater than his national ,messiah1 the ,christ after the flesh of his ,jewish dreams1 and ,his gospel was correspondingly loftier and larger in its scope4 ,god was in ,christ1 reconciling1 not a nation1 but a world unto ,himself4 ,the grace conferred on him was given that he might preach among the ,gentiles ,christ's unsearchable riches1 and make all men see the mystery of the counsel of redeeming love 7,eph4 iii4 #a-aa74 ,it was the world's redemption of which ,paul partook2 and it was his business to let the world know it4 ,he had fathomed the depths of sin and self-despair2 he had tasted the uttermost of pardoning grace4 ,god and the world met in his single soul1 and were reconciled4 ,he felt from the first what he expresses in his latest ,epistles1 that the grace of ,god which appeared to him1 was for the salvation of all men 7,tit4 ii4 #aa74 ,faithful is the saying1 and worthy of all acceptation1 that ,christ ,jesus came into the world to save sinners1 of whom ,i am chief 7#a ,tim4 i4 #ae74 ,the same revelation that made ,paul a ,christian1 made him the ,apostle of mankind4 ,,iii4 ,for this vocation the ,apostle had been destined by ,god from the beginning4 ,it pleased ,god to do this1 he says1 who had marked me out from my mother's womb1 and called me by ,his grace4 ,while ,saul was yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of ,jesus1 how different a future was being prepared for him6 ,how little can we forecast the issue of our own plans1 or of those we form for others4 ,his ,hebrew birth1 his rabbinical proficiency1 the thoroughness with which he had mastered the tenets of ,legalism1 had fitted him like no other to be the bearer of the ,gospel to the ,gentiles4 ,this ,epistle proves the fact4 ,only a graduate of the best ,jewish schools could have written it4 ,paul's master1 ,gamaliel1 if he had read the letter1 must perforce have been proud of his scholar2 he would have feared more than ever that those who opposed the ,nazarene might haply be found fighting against ,god4 ,the ,apostle foils the ,judaists with their own weapons4 ,he knows every inch of the ground on which the battle is waged4 ,at the same time1 he was a born ,hellenist and a citizen of the ,empire1 native of no mean city4 ,tarsus1 his birthplace1 was the capital of an important ,roman province1 and a centre of ,greek culture and refinement4 ,in spite of the ,hebraic conservatism of ,saul's family1 the genial atmosphere of such a town could not but affect the early development of so sensitive a nature4 ,he had sufficient tincture of ,greek letters and conversance with ,roman law to make him a true cosmopolitan1 qualified to be all things to all men4 ,he presents an admirable example of that versatility and suppleness of genius which have distinguished for so many ages the sons of ,jacob1 and enable them to find a home and a market for their talents in every quarter of the world4 ,paul was a chosen vessel1 to bear the name of ,jesus before ,gentiles and kings1 and the sons of ,israel4 ,but his mission was concealed till the appointed hour4 ,thinking of his personal election1 he reminds himself of the words spoken to ,jeremiah touching his prophetic call4 ,before ,i formed thee in the belly ,i knew thee2 and before thou camest out of the womb ,i sanctified thee4 ,i appointed thee a prophet unto the nations 7,jer4 i4 #e74 ,or like the ,servant of the ,lord in ,isaiah he might say1 ,the ,lord hath called me from the womb2 from the bowels of my mother hath ,he made mention of my name4 ,and ,he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword1 in the shadow of ,his hand hath ,he hid me2 and ,he hath made me a polished shaft1 in ,his quiver hath ,he kept me close 7,isa4 xlix4 #a1 #b74 ,this belief in a fore-ordaining ,providence1 preparing in secret its chosen instruments1 so deeply rooted in the ,old ,testament faith1 was not wanting to ,paul4 ,his career is a signal illustration of its truth4 ,he applies it1 in his doctrine of ,election1 to the history of every child of grace4 ,whom ,he foreknew1 ,he did predestinate4 ,whom ,he did predestinate1 ,he called4 ,once more we see how the ,apostle's theology was moulded by his experience4 ,the manner in which ,saul of ,tarsus had been prepared all his life long for the service of ,christ1 magnified to his eyes the sovereign grace of ,god4 ,he called me through ,his grace4 ,the call came at precisely the fit time2 it came at a time and in a manner calculated to display the ,divine compassion in the highest possible degree4 ,this lesson ,paul could never forget4 ,to the last he dwells upon it with deep emotion4 ,in me1 he writes to ,timothy1 ,jesus ,christ first showed forth all ,his longsuffering4 ,i was a blasphemer1 a persecutor1 insolent and injurious2 but ,i obtained mercy 7#a ,tim4 i4 #ac-af74 ,he was so dealt with from the beginning1 he had been called to the knowledge of ,christ under such circumstances that he felt he had a right to say1 above other men1 ,by the grace of ,god ,i am what ,i am4 ,the predestination under which his life was conducted from his mother's womb1 had for its chief purpose1 to exhibit ,god's mercy to mankind1 that in the ages to come ,he might show the exceeding riches of ,his grace in kindness toward us in ,christ ,jesus 7,eph4 ii4 #g74 ,to this purpose1 so soon as he discerned it1 he humbly yielded himself4 ,the ,son of ,god1 whose followers he had hunted to death1 whom in his madness he would have crucified afresh1 had appeared to him to save and to forgive4 ,the grace of it1 the infinite kindness and compassion such an act revealed in the ,divine nature1 excited new wonder in the ,apostle's soul till his latest hour4 ,henceforth he was the bondman of grace1 the celebrant of grace4 ,his life was one act of thanksgiving to the praise of the glory of ,his grace6 ,,iv4 ,from ,jesus ,christ in person ,paul had received his knowledge of the ,gospel1 without human intervention4 ,in the revelation of ,christ to his soul he possessed the substance of the truth he was afterwards to teach2 and with the revelation there came the commission to proclaim it to all men4 ,his gospel-message was in its essence complete2 the ,apostleship was already his4 ,such are the assertions the ,apostle makes in reply to his gainsayers4 ,and he goes on to show that the course he took after his conversion sustains these lofty claims3 ,when ,god had been pleased to reveal ,his ,son in me1 immediately 7right from the first7 ,i took no counsel with flesh and blood4 ,i avoided repairing to ,jerusalem1 to the elder ,apostles2 ,i went away into ,arabia1 and back again to ,damascus4 ,it was three years before ,i set foot in ,jerusalem4 ,if that were so1 how could ,paul have received his doctrine or his commission from the ,church of ,jerusalem1 as his traducers alleged8 ,he acted from the outset under the sense of a unique ,divine call1 that allowed of no human validation or supplement4 ,had the case been otherwise1 had ,paul come to his knowledge of ,christ by ordinary channels1 his first impulse would have been to go up to the mother city to report himself there1 and to gain further instruction4 ,above all1 if he intended to be a minister of ,christ1 it would have been proper to secure the approval of the ,twelve1 and to be accredited from ,jerusalem4 ,this was the course which flesh and blood dictated1 which ,saul's new friends at ,damascus probably urged upon him4 ,it was insinuated that he had actually proceeded in this way1 and put himself under the direction of ,peter and the ,judean ,church4 ,but he says1 ,i did nothing of the sort4 ,i kept clear of ,jerusalem for three years2 and then ,i only went there to make private acquaintance with ,peter1 and stayed in the city but a fortnight4 ,although ,paul did not for many years make public claim to rank with the ,twelve1 from the commencement he acted in conscious independence of them4 ,he calls them ,apostles before me1 by this phrase assuming the matter in dispute4 ,he tacitly asserts his equality in official status with the ,apostles of ,jesus1 assigning to the others precedence only in point of time4 ,and he speaks of this equality in terms implying that it was already present to his mind at this former period4 ,under this conviction he held aloof from human guidance and approbation4 ,instead of going up to ,jerusalem1 the centre of publicity1 the head-quarters of the rising ,church1 ,paul went off into ,arabia4 ,there were1 no doubt1 other reasons for this step4 ,why did he choose ,arabia for his sojourn8 and what1 pray1 was he doing there8 ,the ,apostle leaves us to our own conjectures4 ,solitude1 we imagine1 was his principal object4 ,his ,arabian retreat reminds us of the ,arabian exile of ,moses1 of the wilderness discipline of ,john the ,baptist1 and the forty days of ,jesus in the wilderness4 ,in each of these instances1 the desert retirement followed upon a great inward crisis1 and was preparatory to the entrance of the ,lord's servant on his mission to the world4 ,elijah1 at a later period of his course1 sought the wilderness under motives not dissimilar4 ,after such a convulsion as ,paul had passed through1 with a whole world of new ideas and emotions pouring in upon him1 he felt that he must be alone2 he must get away from the voices of men4 ,there are such times in the history of every earnest soul4 ,in the silence of the ,arabian desert1 wandering amid the grandest scenes of ancient revelation1 and communing in stillness with ,god and with his own heart1 the young ,apostle will think out the questions that press upon him2 he will be able to take a calmer survey of the new world into which he has been ushered1 and will learn to see clearly and walk steadily in the heavenly light that at first bewildered him4 ,so the ,spirit immediately driveth him out into the wilderness4 ,in ,arabia one confers1 not with flesh and blood1 but with the mountains and with ,god4 ,from ,arabia ,saul returned in possession of himself1 and of his gospel4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles omits this ,arabian episode 7,acts ix4 #ai-be74 ,but for what ,paul tells us here1 we should have gathered that he began at once after his baptism to preach ,christ in ,damascus1 his preaching after no long time#bd exciting ,jewish enmity to such a pitch that his life was imperilled1 and the ,christian brethren compelled him to seek safety by flight to ,jerusalem4 ,the reader of ,luke is certainly surprised to find a period of three years1#be with a prolonged residence in ,arabia1 interpolated between ,paul's conversion and his reception in ,jerusalem4 ,luke's silence1 we judge1 is intentional4 ,the ,arabian retreat formed no part of the ,apostle's public life1 and had no place in the narrative of the ,acts4 ,paul only mentions it here in the briefest terms1 and because the reference was necessary to put his relations to the first ,apostles in their proper light4 ,for the time the converted ,saul had dropped out of sight2 and the historian of the ,acts respects his privacy4 #bd 1 a considerable time4 ,the expression is indefinite4 #be ,ver4 #ah3 that is1 parts of three years1 according to ancient reckoning--say from #cf to #ch ,a4,d41 possibly less than two in actual duration4 ,the place of the ,arabian journey seems to us to lie between vv4 #ba and #bb of ,acts ix4 ,that passage gives a twofold description of ,paul's preaching in ,damascus1 in its earlier and later stages1 with a double note of time 7vv4 #ai and #bc74 ,saul's first testimony1 taking place straightway1 was1 one would presume1 a mere declaration of faith in ,jesus3 ,in the synagogues he proclaimed ,jesus1 7saying7 that ,he is the ,son of ,god 7,r4,v471 language in striking harmony with that of the ,apostle in the text 7vv4 #ab1 #af74 ,naturally this recantation caused extreme astonishment in ,damascus1 where ,saul's reputation was well-known both to ,jews and ,christians1 and his arrival was expected in the character of ,jewish inquisitor-in-chief4 ,ver4 #bb presents a different situation4 ,paul is now preaching in his established and characteristic style2 as we read it1 we might fancy we hear him debating in the synagogues of ,pisidian ,antioch or ,corinth or ,thessalonica3 ,he was confounding the ,jews1 proving that this is the ,christ4 ,neither ,saul himself nor his ,jewish hearers in the first days after his conversion would be in the mood for the sustained argumentation and ,scriptural dialectic thus described4 ,the explanation of the change lies behind the opening words of the verse3 ,but ,saul increased in strength--a growth due not only to the prolonged opposition he had to encounter1 but still more1 as we conjecture from this hint of the ,apostle1 to the period of rest and reflection which he enjoyed in his ,arabian seclusion4 ,the two marks of time given us in vv4 #ai and #bc of ,luke's narrative1 may be fairly distinguished from each other--certain days1 and sufficient days 7or a considerable time7--as denoting a briefer and a longer season respectively3 the former so short that the excitement caused by ,saul's declaration of his new faith had not yet subsided when he withdrew from the city into the desert--in which case ,luke's note of time does not really conflict with ,paul's immediately2 the latter affording a lapse of time sufficient for ,saul to develope his argument for the ,messiahship of ,jesus1 and to provoke the ,jews1 worsted in logic1 to resort to other weapons4 ,from ,luke's point of view the sojourn in ,arabia1 however extended1 was simply an incident1 of no public importance1 in ,paul's early ministry in ,damascus4 ,the disappearance of ,saul during this interval helps however1 as we think1 to explain a subsequent statement in ,luke's narrative that is certainly perplexing 7,acts ix4 #bf1 #bg74 ,when ,saul1 after his escape from ,damascus1 was come to ,jerusalem1 and essayed to join himself to the disciples1 they1 we are told1 were all afraid of him1 not believing that he was a disciple6 ,for while the ,church at ,jerusalem had doubtless heard at the time of ,saul's marvellous conversion three years before1 his long retirement and avoidance of ,jerusalem threw an air of mystery and suspicion about his proceedings1 and revived the fears of the ,judean brethren2 and his reappearance created a panic4 ,in consequence of his sudden departure from ,damascus1 it is likely that no public report had as yet reached ,juda of ,saul's return to that city and his renewed ministry there4 ,barnabas now came forward to act as sponsor for the suspected convert4 ,what induced him to do this--whether it was that his largeness of heart enabled him to read ,saul's character better than others1 or whether he had some earlier private acquaintance with the ,tarsian--we cannot tell4 ,the account that ,barnabas was able to give of his friend's conversion and of his bold confession in ,damascus1 won for ,paul the place in the confidence of ,peter and the leaders of the ,church at ,jerusalem which he never afterwards lost4 ,the two narratives--the history of ,luke and the letter of ,paul--relate the same series of events1 but from almost opposite standpoints4 ,luke dwells upon ,paul's connection with the ,church at ,jerusalem and its ,apostles4 ,paul is maintaining his independence of them4 ,there is no contradiction2 but there is just such discrepancy as will arise where two honest and competent witnesses are relating identical facts in a different connection4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,paul ,,and ,,the ,,primitive ,,church4 ,then after three years ,i went up to ,jerusalem to visit ,cephas1 and tarried with him fifteen days4 ,but other of the apostles saw ,i none1 but only ,james the ,lord's brother4 ,now touching the things which ,i write unto you1 behold1 before ,god1 ,i lie not4 ,then ,i came into the regions of ,syria and ,cilicia ,and ,i was still unknown by face unto the churches of ,juda which were in ,christ3 but they only heard say1 ,he that once persecuted us now preacheth the faith of which he once made havock2 and they glorified ,god in me4--,,gal4 i4 #ah-bd4 ,for the first two years of his ,christian life1 ,paul held no intercourse whatever with the ,church at ,jerusalem and its chiefs4 ,his relation with them was commenced by the visit he paid to ,peter in the third year after his conversion4 ,and that relation was more precisely determined and made public when1 after successfully prosecuting for fourteen years his mission to the heathen1 the ,apostle again went up to ,jerusalem to defend the liberty of the ,gentile ,church 7ch4 ii4 #a-aj74 ,a clear understanding of this course of events was essential to the vindication of ,paul's position in the eyes of the ,galatians4 ,the troublers told them that ,paul's doctrine was not that of the mother ,church2 that his knowledge of the gospel and authority to preach it came from the elder ,apostles1 with whom since his attack upon ,peter at ,antioch he was at open variance4 ,they themselves had come down from ,juda on purpose to set his pretensions in their true light1 and to teach the ,gentiles the way of the ,lord more perfectly4 ,modern rationalism has espoused the cause of these deceitful workers 7#b ,cor4 xi4 #ac-ae74 ,it endeavours to rehabilitate the ,judaistic party4 ,the critical school maintain that the opposition of the ,circumcisionists to the ,apostle ,paul was perfectly legitimate4 ,they hold that the pseud-apostles of ,corinth1 the certain from ,james1 the troublers and false brethren privily brought in of this ,epistle1 did in truth represent1 as they claimed to do1 the principles of the ,jewish ,christian ,church2 and that there was a radical divergence between the ,pauline and ,petrine gospels1 of which the two ,apostles were fully aware from the time of their encounter at ,antioch4 ,however ,paul may have wished to disguise the fact to himself1 the teaching of the ,twelve was identical1 we are told1 with that other gospel on which he pronounces his anathema2 the original ,church of ,jesus never emancipated itself from the trammels of legalism2 the ,apostle ,paul1 and not his ,master1 was in reality the author of evangelical doctrine1 the founder of the catholic ,church4 ,the conflict between ,peter and ,paul at ,antioch1 related in this ,epistle1 supplies1 in the view of ,baur and his followers1 the key to the history of the ,early ,church4 ,the ,ebionite assumption of a personal rivalry between the two ,apostles and an intrinsic opposition in their doctrine1 hitherto regarded as the invention of a desperate and decaying heretical sect1 these ingenious critics have adopted for the basis of their scientific reconstruction of the ,new ,testament4 ,paul's ,judaizing hinderers and troublers are to be canonized2 and the pseudo-,clementine writings1 forsooth1 must take the place of the discredited ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,verily the whirligig of time hath its revenges4 ,to empanel ,paul on his accusers' side1 and to make this ,epistle above all convict him of heterodoxy1 is an attempt which dazzles by its very daring4 ,let us endeavour to form a clear conception of the facts touching ,paul's connection with the first ,apostles and his attitude and feeling towards the ,jewish ,church1 as they are in evidence in the first two chapters of this ,epistle4 ,i4 ,on the one hand1 it is clear that the ,gentile ,apostle's relations to ,peter and the ,twelve were those of personal independence and official equality4 ,this is the aspect of the case on which ,paul lays stress4 ,his sceptical critics argue that under his assertion of independence there is concealed an opposition of principle1 a radical divergence4 ,the sense of independence is unmistakable4 ,it is on that side that the ,apostle seeks to guard himself4 ,with this aim he styles himself at the outset an ,apostle not from men1 nor by man--neither man-made nor man-sent4 ,such apostles there were2 and in this character1 we imagine1 the ,galatian ,judaistic teachers1 like those of ,corinth1#bf professed to appear1 as the emissaries of the ,church in ,jerusalem and the authorised exponents of the teaching of the pillars there4 ,paul is an ,apostle at first-hand1 taking his commission directly from ,jesus ,christ4 ,in that quality he pronounces his benediction and his anathema4 ,to support this assumption he has shown how impossible it was in point of time and circumstances that he should have been beholden for his gospel to the ,jerusalem ,church and the elder ,apostles4 ,so far as regarded the manner of his conversion and the events of the first decisive years in which his ,christian principles and vocation took their shape1 his position had been altogether detached and singular2 the ,jewish ,apostles could in no way claim him for their son in the gospel4 #bf #b ,cor4 xi4 #ac2 iii4 #a-c4 ,see the remarks on the word ,apostle in ,chapter ,i4 p4 #ab4 ,but at last1 after three years1 ,saul did go up to ,jerusalem4 ,what was it for8 ,to report himself to the authorities of the ,church and place himself under their direction8 ,to seek ,peter's instruction1 in order to obtain a more assured knowledge of the gospel he had embraced8 ,nothing of the kind4 ,not even to question ,cephas1 as some render 1 following an older classical usage--to gain information from him2 but ,i went up to make acquaintance with ,cephas4 ,saul went to ,jerusalem carrying in his heart the consciousness of his high vocation1 seeking1 as an equal with an equal1 to make personal acquaintance with the leader of the ,twelve4 ,cephas 7as he was called at ,jerusalem7 must have been at this time to ,paul a profoundly interesting personality4 ,he was the one man above all others whom the ,apostle felt he must get to know1 with whom it was necessary for him to have a thorough understanding4 ,how momentous was this meeting6 ,how much we could wish to know what passed between these two in the conversations of the fortnight they spent together4 ,one can imagine the delight with which ,peter would relate to his listener the scenes of the life of ,jesus2 how the two men would weep together at the recital of the ,passion1 the betrayal1 trial and denial1 the agony of the ,garden1 the horror of the cross2 with what mingled awe and triumph he would describe the events of the ,resurrection and the ,forty ,days1 the ,ascension1 and the baptism of fire4 ,in ,paul's account of the appearances of the risen ,christ 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #d-h71 written many years afterwards1 there are statements most naturally explained as a recollection of what he had heard privately from ,peter1 and possibly also from ,james1 at this conference4 ,for it is in his gospel message and doctrine1 and his ,apostolic commission1 not in regard to the details of the biography of ,jesus1 that ,paul claims to be independent of tradition4 ,and with what deep emotion would ,peter receive in turn from ,paul's lips the account of his meeting with ,jesus1 of the three dark days that followed1 of the message sent through ,ananias1 and the revelations made and purposes formed during the ,arabian exile4 ,between two such men1 met at such a time1 there would surely be an entire frankness of communication and a brotherly exchange of convictions and of plans4 ,in that case ,paul could not fail to inform the elder ,apostle of the extent of the commission he had received from their common ,master2 although he does not appear to have made any public and formal assertion of his ,apostolic dignity for a considerable time afterwards4 ,the supposition of a private cognizance on ,peter's part of ,paul's true status makes the open recognition which took place fourteen years later easy to understand 7ch4 ii4 #f-aj74 ,but other of the ,apostles1 ,paul goes on to say1 saw ,i none1 but only ,james the brother of the ,lord4 ,james1 no ,apostle surely2 neither in the higher sense1 for he cannot be reasonably identified with ,james the son of ,alphus2 nor in the lower1 for he was1 as far as we can learn1 stationary at ,jerusalem4 ,but he stood so near the ,apostles1 and was in every way so important a person1 that if ,paul had omitted the name of ,james in this connection1 he would have seemed to pass over a material fact4 ,the reference to ,james in #a ,cor4 xv4 #g--;a hint deeply interesting in itself1 and lending so much dignity to the position of ,james--suggests that ,paul had been at this time in confidential intercourse with ,james as well as ,peter1 each relating to the other how he had seen the ,lord4 ,so cardinal are the facts just stated 7vv4 #ae-ai71 as bearing on ,paul's apostleship1 and so contrary to the representations made by the ,judaizers1 that he pauses to call ,god to witness his veracity3 ,now in what ,i am writing to you1 lo1 before ,god1 ,i lie not4 ,the ,apostle never makes this appeal lightly2 but only in support of some averment in which his personal honour and his strongest feelings are involved4#bg ,it was alleged1 with some show of proof1 that ,paul was an underling of the authorities of the ,church at ,jerusalem1 and that all he knew of the gospel had been learned from the ,twelve4 ,from ver4 #aa onwards he has been making a circumstantial contradiction of these assertions4 ,he protests that up to the time when he commenced his ,gentile mission1 he had been under no man's tutelage or tuition in respect to his knowledge of the gospel4 ,he can say no more to prove his case4 ,either his opposers or himself are uttering falsehood4 ,the ,galatians know1 or ought to know1 how incapable he is of such deceit4 ,solemnly therefore he avouches1 closing the matter so far1 as if drawing himself up to his utmost height3 ,behold1 before ,god1 ,i do not lie6 #bg ,see ,rom4 ix4 #a2 #b ,cor4 i4 #ag1 #ah1 #bc2 #a ,thess4 ii4 #e4 ,but now we are confronted with the narrative of the ,acts 7chap4 ix4 #bf-cj71 which renders a very different account of this passage in the ,apostle's life4 7,to vv4 #bf1 #bg of ,luke's narrative we have already alluded in the concluding paragraphs of ,chapter ,v74 ,we are told there that ,barnabas introduced ,saul to the ,apostles2 here1 that he saw none of them but ,cephas1 and only ,james besides4 ,the number of the ,apostolate present in ,jerusalem at the time is a particular that does not engage ,luke's mind2 while it is of the essence of ,paul's affirmation4 ,what the ,acts relates is that ,saul1 through ,barnabas' intervention1 was now received by the ,apostolic fellowship as a ,christian brother1 and as one who had seen the ,lord4 ,the object which ,saul had in coming to ,jerusalem1 and the fact that just then ,cephas was the only one of the ,twelve to be found in the city1 along with ,james--these are matters which only come into view from the private and personal standpoint to which ,paul admits us4 ,for the rest1 there is certainly no contradiction when we read in the one report that ,paul went up to make acquaintance with ,cephas1 and in the other1 that he was with them going in and out at ,jerusalem1 preaching boldly in the name of the ,lord2 that he spake and disputed against the ,hellenists1 moving their anger so violently that his life was again in danger1 and he had to be carried down to ,csarea and shipped off to ,tarsus4 ,saul was not the man to hide his head in ,jerusalem4 ,we can understand how greatly his spirit was stirred by his arrival there1 and by the recollection of his last passage through the city gates4 ,in these very synagogues of the ,hellenists he had himself confronted ,stephen2 outside those walls he had assisted to stone the martyr4 ,paul's address delivered many years later to the ,jewish mob that attempted his life in ,jerusalem1 shows how deeply these remembrances troubled his soul 7,acts xxii4 #ag-bb74 ,and they would not suffer him now to be silent4 ,he hoped that his testimony to ,christ1 delivered in the spot where he had been so notorious as a persecutor1 would produce a softening effect on his old companions4 ,it was sure to affect them powerfully1 one way or the other4 ,as the event proved1 it did not take many words from ,saul's lips to awaken against him the same fury that hurried ,stephen to his death4 ,a fortnight was time quite sufficient1 under the circumstances1 to make ,jerusalem1 as we say1 too hot to hold ,saul4 ,nor can we wonder1 knowing his love for his kindred1 that there needed a special command from heaven 7,acts xxii4 #ba71 joined to the friendly compulsion of the ,church1 to induce him to yield ground and quit the city4 ,but he had accomplished something2 he had made acquaintance with ,cephas4 ,this brief visit to the ,holy ,city was a second crisis in ,paul's career4 ,he was now thrust forth upon his mission to the heathen4 ,it was evident that he was not to look for success among his ,jewish brethren4 ,he lost no opportunity of appealing to them2 but it was commonly with the same result as at ,damascus and ,jerusalem4 ,throughout life he carried with him this great sorrow and unceasing pain of heart1 that to his kinsmen according to the flesh1 for whose salvation he could consent to forfeit his own1 his gospel was hid4 ,in their eyes he was a traitor to ,israel1 and must count upon their enmity4 ,everything conspired to point in one direction3 ,depart1 the ,divine voice had said1 for ,i will send thee far hence unto the ,gentiles4 ,and ,paul obeyed4 ,i went1 he relates here1 into the regions of ,syria and ,cilicia 7ver4 #ba74 ,to ,tarsus1 the ,cilician capital1 ,saul voyaged from ,juda4 ,so we learn from ,acts ix4 #cj4 ,his native place had the first claim on the ,apostle after ,jerusalem1 and afforded the best starting-point for his independent mission4 ,syria1 however1 precedes ,cilicia in the text2 it was the leading province of these two1 in which ,paul was occupied during the fourteen years ensuing1 and became the seat of distinguished ,churches4 ,in ,antioch1 the ,syrian capital1 ,christianity was already planted 7,acts xi4 #ai--ba74 ,the close connection of the ,churches of these provinces1 and their predominantly ,gentile character1 are both evident from the letter addressed to them subsequently by the ,council of ,jerusalem 7,acts xv4 #bc1 #bd74 ,acts xv4 #da shows that a number of ,christian societies owning ,paul's authority were found at a later time in this region4 ,and there was a highroad direct from ,syro-,cilicia to ,galatia1 which ,paul traversed in his second visit to the latter country 7,acts xviii4 #bb1 #bc72 so that the ,galatians would doubtless be aware of the existence of these older ,gentile ,churches1 and of their relation to ,paul4 ,he has no need to dwell on this first chapter of his missionary history4 ,after but a fortnight's visit to ,jerusalem1 ,paul went into these ,gentile regions1 and there for twice seven years--with what success was known to all--preached the faith of which once he made havoc4 ,this period was divided into two parts4 ,for five or six years the ,apostle laboured alone2 afterwards in conjunction with ,barnabas1 who invited his help at ,antioch 7,acts xi4 #be1 #bf74 ,barnabas was ,paul's senior1 and had for some time held the leading position in the ,church of ,antioch2 and ,paul was personally indebted to this generous man 7p4 #hb74 ,he accepted the position of helper to ,barnabas without any compromise of his higher authority1 as yet held in reserve4 ,he accompanied ,barnabas to ,jerusalem in #dd 7or #de7 ,a4,d41 with the contribution made by the ,syrian ,church for the relief of the famine-stricken ,judean brethren--a visit which ,paul seems here to forget4#bh ,but the ,church at ,jerusalem was at that time undergoing a severe persecution2 its leaders were either in prison or in flight4 ,the two delegates can have done little more than convey the moneys entrusted to them1 and that with the utmost secrecy4 ,possibly ,paul on this occasion never set foot inside the city4 ,in any case1 the event had no bearing on the ,apostle's present contention4 #bh ,acts xi4 #bg-cj4 ,it is significant that this ministration was sent to the ,elders4 ,between this journey and the really important visit to ,jerusalem introduced in chap4 ii4 #a1 ,barnabas and ,paul undertook1 at the prompting of the ,holy ,spirit expressed through the ,church of ,antioch 7,acts xiii4 #a-d71 the missionary expedition described in ,acts xiii41 xiv4 ,under the trials of this journey the ascendancy of the younger evangelist became patent to all4 ,paul was marked out in the eyes of the ,gentiles as their born leader1 the ,apostle of heathen ,christianity4 ,he appears to have taken the chief part in the discussion with the ,judaists respecting circumcision1 which immediately ensued at ,antioch2 and was put at the head of the deputation sent up to ,jerusalem concerning this question4 ,this was a turning-point in the ,apostle's history4 ,it brought about the public recognition of his leadership in the ,church4 ,the seal of man was now to be set upon the secret election of ,god4 ,during this long period1 the ,apostle tells us1 he remained unknown by face to the ,churches of ,juda4 ,absent for so many years from the metropolis1 after a fortnight's flying visit1 spent in private intercourse with ,peter and ,james1 and in controversy in the ,hellenistic synagogues where few ,christians of the city would be likely to follow him1#bi ,paul was a stranger to the bulk of the ,judean disciples4 ,but they watched his course1 notwithstanding1 with lively interest and with devout thanksgiving to ,god 7vv4 #bb1 #bc74 ,throughout this first period of his ministry the ,apostle acted in complete independence of the ,jewish ,church1 making no report to its chiefs1 nor seeking any direction from them4 ,accordingly1 when afterwards he did go up to ,jerusalem and laid before the authorities there his gospel to the heathen1 they had nothing to add to it2 they did not take upon themselves to give him any advice or injunction1 beyond the wish that he and ,barnabas should remember the poor1 as he was already forward to do 7ch4 ii4 #a-aj74 ,indeed the three famous ,pillars of the ,jewish ,church at this time openly acknowledged ,paul's equality with ,peter in the ,apostleship1 and resigned to his direction the ,gentile province4 ,finally at ,antioch1 the head-quarters of ,gentile ,christianity1 when ,peter compromised the truth of the gospel by yielding to ,judaistic pressure1 ,paul had not hesitated publicly to reprove him 7ch4 ii4 #aa-ba74 ,he had been compelled in this way to carry the vindication of his gospel to the furthest lengths2 and he had done this successfully4 ,it is only when we reach the end of the second chapter that we discover how much the ,apostle meant when he said1 ,my gospel is not according to man4 #bi ,for the ministry alluded to in ,acts xxvi4 #bj there were other1 later opportunities1 especially in the journey described in ,acts xv4 #c2 see also ,acts xxi4 #ae1 #af4 ,if there was any man to whom as a ,christian teacher he was bound to defer1 any one who might be regarded as his official superior1 it was the ,apostle ,peter4 ,yet against this very ,cephas he had dared openly to measure himself4 ,had he been a disciple of the ,jewish ,apostle1 a servant of the ,jerusalem ,church1 how would this have been possible8 ,had he not possessed an authority derived immediately from ,christ1 how could he have stood out alone1 against the prerogative of ,peter1 against the personal friendship and local influence of ,barnabas1 against the example of all his ,jewish brethren8 ,nay1 he was prepared to rebuke all the ,apostles1 and anathematize all the angels1 rather than see ,christ's gospel set at nought4 ,for it was in his view the gospel of the glory of the blessed ,god1 committed to my trust6 7#a ,tim4 i4 #aa74 ,,ii4 ,but while ,paul stoutly maintains his independence1 he does this in such a way as to show that there was no hostility or personal rivalry between himself and the first ,apostles4 ,his relations to the ,jewish ,church were all the while those of friendly acquaintance and brotherly recognition4 ,that ,nazarene sect which he had of old time persecuted1 was the ,church of ,god 7ver4 #ac74 ,to the end of his life this thought gave a poignancy to the ,apostle's recollection of his early days4 ,to the ,churches of ,juda#cj he attaches the epithet in ,christ1 a phrase of peculiar depth of meaning with ,paul1 which he could never have conferred as matter of formal courtesy1 nor by way of mere distinction between the ,church and the ,synagogue4 ,from ,paul's lips this title is a guarantee of orthodoxy4 ,it satisfies us that the other gospel of the ,circumcisionists was very far from being the gospel of the ,jewish ,christian ,church at large4 ,paul is careful to record the sympathy which the ,judean brethren cherished for his missionary work in its earliest stages1 although their knowledge of him was comparatively distant3 ,only they continued to hear that our old persecutor is preaching the faith which once he sought to destroy4 ,and in me they glorified ,god4 ,nor does he drop the smallest hint to show that the disposition of the ,churches in the mother country toward himself1 or his judgement respecting them1 had undergone any change up to the time of his writing this ,epistle4 #cj ,ver4 #bb4 ,it is arbitrary in ,meyer to exclude from this category the ,church of ,jerusalem4 ,he speaks of the elder ,apostles in terms of unfeigned respect4 ,in his reference in ch4 ii4 #aa-ba to the error of ,peter1 there is great plainness of speech1 but no bitterness4 ,when the ,apostle says that he went up to ,jerusalem to see ,peter1 and describes ,james as the ,lord's brother1 and when he refers to both of them1 along with ,john1 as those accounted to be pillars1 can he mean anything but honour to these honoured men8 ,to read into these expressions a covert jealousy and to suppose them written by way of disparagement1 seems to us a strangely jaundiced and small-minded sort of criticism4 ,the ,apostle testifies that ,peter held a ,divine trust in the ,gospel1 and that ,god had wrought for ,peter to this effect1 as for himself4 ,by claiming the testimony of the ,pillars at ,jerusalem to his vocation1 he shows his profound respect for theirs4 ,when the unfortunate difference arose between ,peter and himself at ,antioch1 ,paul is careful to show that the ,jewish ,apostle on that occasion was influenced by the circumstances of the moment1 and nevertheless remained true in his real convictions to the common gospel4 ,in view of these facts1 it is impossible to believe1 as the ,tendency critics would have us do1 that ,paul when he wrote this letter was at feud with the ,jewish ,church4 ,in that case1 while he taxes ,peter with dissimulation 7ch4 ii4 #aa-ac71 he is himself the real dissembler1 and has carried his dissimulation to amazing lengths4 ,if he is in this ,epistle contending against the ,primitive ,church and its leaders1 he has concealed his sentiments toward them with an art so crafty as to overreach itself4 ,he has taught his readers to reverence those whom on this hypothesis he was most concerned to discredit4 ,the terms under which he refers to ,cephas and the ,judean ,churches would be just so many testimonies against himself1 if their doctrine was the other gospel of the ,galatian troublers1 and if ,paul and the ,twelve were rivals for the suffrages of the ,gentile ,christians4 ,the one word which wears a colour of detraction is the parenthesis in ver4 #f of ch4 ii43 whatever aforetime#ca they 7those of repute7 were1 makes no difference to me4 ,god accepts no man's person4 ,but this is no more than ,paul has already said in ch4 i4 #af1 #ag4 ,at the first1 after receiving his gospel from the ,lord in person1 he felt it to be out of place for him to confer with flesh and blood4 ,so now1 even in the presence of the first ,apostles1 the earthly companions of his ,master1 he cannot abate his pretensions1 nor forget that his ministry stands on a level as exalted as theirs4 ,this language is in precise accord with that of #a ,cor4 xv4 #aj4 ,the suggestion that the repeated conveys a sneer against the leaders at ,jerusalem1 as seeming to be more than they were1 is an insult to ,paul that recoils upon the critics who utter it4 ,the phrase denotes those of repute1 reputed to be pillars1 the acknowledged heads of the mother ,church4 ,their position was recognised on all hands2 ,paul assumes it1 and argues upon it4 ,he desires to magnify1 not to minify1 the importance of these illustrious men4 ,they were pillars of his own cause4 ,it is a maladroit interpretation that would have ,paul cry down ,james and the ,twelve4 ,by so much as he impaired their worth1 he must assuredly have impaired his own4 ,if their status was mere seeming1 of what value was their endorsement of his8 ,but for a preconceived opinion1 no one1 we may safely affirm1 reading this ,epistle would have gathered that ,peter's gospel of the circumcision was the other gospel of ,galatia1 or that the certain from ,james of ch4 ii4 #ab represented the views and the policy of the first ,apostles4 ,the assumption that ,peter's dissimulation at ,antioch expressed the settled doctrine of the ,jewish ,apostolic ,church1 is unhistorical4 ,the ,judaizers abused the authority of ,peter and ,james when they pleaded it in favour of their agitation4 ,so we are told expressly in ,acts xv42 and a candid interpretation of this letter bears out the statements of ,luke4 ,in ,james and ,peter1 ,paul and ,john1 there were indeed diversities of gifts and operations1 but they had received the same ,spirit2 they served the same ,lord4 ,they held alike the one and only gospel of the grace of ,god4 #ca ,we follow ,lightfoot in reading the as in ch4 i4 #bc1 and everywhere else in ,paul1 as a particle of time4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,paul ,,and ,,the ,,false ,,brethren4 ,then after the space of fourteen years ,i went up again to ,jerusalem with ,barnabas1 taking ,titus also with me4 ,and ,i went up by revelation2 and ,i laid before them the gospel which ,i preach among the ,gentiles1 but privately before them who were of repute1 asking them whether ,i am running1 or had run1 in vain3 but not even ,titus who was with me1 being a ,greek1 was compelled to be circumcised4 ,but it was#cb because of the false brethren privily brought in1 who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in ,christ ,jesus1 that they might bring us into bondage3 to whom we gave place in the way of subjection1 no1 not for an hour2 that the truth of the gospel might continue with you4--,,gal4 ii4 #a-e4 #cb ,the writer is compelled in this instance to depart from the rendering of the ,english ,version1 for reasons given in the sequel4 ,see also a paper on ,paul and ,titus at ,jerusalem1 in ,,the ,,expositor1 #crd series1 vol4 vi41 pp4 #dce-ddb4 ,the last three words within the brackets agree with the ,r4,v4 margin4 ,fourteen years had elapsed since ,paul left ,jerusalem for ,tarsus1 and commenced his ,gentile mission4#cc ,during this long period--a full half of his missionary course--the ,apostle was lost to the sight of the ,judean ,churches4 ,for nearly half this time1 until ,barnabas brought him to ,antioch1 we have no further trace of his movements4 ,but these years of obscure labour had1 we may be sure1 no small influence in shaping the ,apostle's subsequent career4 ,it was a kind of ,apostolic apprenticeship4 ,then his evangelistic plans were laid2 his powers were practised2 his methods of teaching and administration formed and tested4 ,this first1 unnoted period of ,paul's missionary life held1 we imagine1 much the same relation to his public ministry that the time of the ,arabian retreat did to his spiritual development4 #cc ,these fourteen years probably amounted to something less in our reckoning1--say1 from #ch to #ea ,a4,d4 ,some six years elapsed before ,paul was summoned to ,antioch4 ,we are apt to think of the ,apostle ,paul only as we see him in the full tide of his activity1 carrying from ,jerusalem round about unto ,illyricum the standard of the cross and planting it in one after another of the great cities of the ,empire1 always triumphing in every place2 or issuing those mighty ,epistles whose voice shakes the world4 ,we forget the earlier term of preparation1 these years of silence and patience1 of unrecorded toil in a comparatively narrow and humble sphere1 which had after all their part in making ,paul the man he was4 ,if ,christ ,himself would not clutch at ,his ,divine prerogatives 7,phil4 ii4 #e-aa71 nor win them by self-assertion and before the time1 how much more did it become ,his servant to rise to his great office by slow degrees4 ,paul served first as a private missionary pioneer in his native land1 then as a junior colleague and assistant to ,barnabas1 until the summons came to take a higher place1 when the signs of an ,apostle had been fully wrought in him4 ,not in a day1 nor by the effect of a single revelation did he become the fully armed and all-accomplished ,apostle of the ,gentiles whom we meet in this ,epistle4 ,after the space of fourteen years it was time for him to stand forth the approved witness and minister of ,jesus ,christ1 whom ,peter and ,john publicly embraced as their equal4 ,paul claims here the initiative in the momentous visit to ,jerusalem undertaken by himself and ,barnabas1 of which he is going to speak4 ,in ,acts xv4 #b he is similarly placed at the head of the deputation sent from ,antioch about the question of circumcision4 ,the account of the preceding missionary tour in ,acts xiii41 xiv41 shows how the headship of the ,gentile ,church had come to devolve on ,paul4 ,in ,luke's narrative they are ,barnabas and ,saul who set out2 ,paul and ,barnabas who return4#cd ,under the trials and hazards of this adventure--at ,paphos1 ,pisidian ,antioch1 ,lystra--,paul's native ascendancy and his higher vocation irresistibly declared themselves4 ,age and rank yielded to the fire of inspiration1 to the gifts of speech1 the splendid powers of leadership which the difficulties of this expedition revealed in ,paul4 ,barnabas returned to ,antioch with the thought in his heart1 ,he must increase2 ,i must decrease4 ,and ,barnabas was too generous a man not to yield cheerfully to his companion the precedence for which ,god thus marked him out4 ,yet the sharp contention in which the two men parted soon after this time 7,acts xv4 #cf-dj71 was1 we may conjecture1 due in some degree to a lingering soreness in the mind of ,barnabas on this account4 #cd ,acts xiii4 #b1 #g1 #ac1 #dc1 #de1 #df1 #ej2 xiv4 #ab1 #ad2 xv4 #b1 #ab4 ,the ,apostle expresses himself with modesty1 but in such a way as to show that he was regarded in this juncture as the champion of the ,gentile cause4 ,the revelation that prompted the visit came to him4 ,the taking up of ,titus was his distinct act 7ver4 #a74 ,unless ,paul has deceived himself1 he was quite the leading figure in the ,council2 it was his doctrine and his ,apostleship that exercised the minds of the chiefs at ,jerusalem1 when the delegates from ,antioch appeared before them4 ,whatever ,peter and ,james may have known or surmised previously concerning ,paul's vocation1 it was only now that it became a public question for the ,church4 ,but as matters stood1 it was a vital question4 ,the status of uncircumcised ,christians1 and the ,apostolic rank of ,paul1 constituted the twofold problem placed before the chiefs of the ,jewish ,church4 ,at the same time1 the ,apostle1 while fixing our attention mainly on his own position1 gives to ,barnabas his meed of honour2 for he says1 ,i went up with ,barnabas1--we never yielded for an hour to the false brethren1--the ,pillars gave to me and ,barnabas the right hand of fellowship1 that we might go to the ,gentiles4 ,but it is evident that the elder ,gentile missionary stood in the background4 ,by the action that he takes ,paul unmistakably declares1 ,i am the ,apostle of the ,gentiles2#ce and that claim is admitted by the consenting voice of both branches of the ,church4 ,the ,apostle stepped to the front at this solemn crisis1 not for his own rank or office' sake1 but at the call of ,god1 in defence of the truth of the gospel and the spiritual freedom of mankind4 #ce ,comp4 ,rom4 xi4 #ac2 xv4 #af1 #ag4 ,this meeting at ,jerusalem took place in #ea1 or it may be1 #eb ,a4,d4 ,we make no doubt that it is the same with the ,council of ,acts xv4 ,the identification has been controverted by several able scholars1 but without success4 ,the two accounts are different1 but in no sense contradictory4 ,in fact1 as ,dr4 ,pfleiderer acknowledges1#cf they admirably supplement each other4 ,the agreement as to the chief points is in any case greater than the discrepancies in the details2 and these discrepancies can for the most part be explained by the different standpoint of the relaters4 ,a difficulty lies1 however1 in the fact that the historian of the ,acts makes this the third visit of ,paul to ,jerusalem subsequently to his conversion2 whereas1 from the ,apostle's statement1 it appears to have been the second4 ,this discrepancy has already come up for discussion in the last ,chapter 7p4 #ib74 ,two further observations may be added on this point4 ,in the first place1 ,paul does not say that he had never been to ,jerusalem since the visit of ch4 i4 #ah2 he does say1 that on this occasion he went up again1 and that meanwhile he remained unknown by face to the ,christians of ,juda 7ch4 i4 #bb7--;a fact quite compatible1 as we have shown1 with what is related in ,acts xi4 #bi1 #cj4 ,and further1 the request addressed at this conference to the ,gentile missionaries1 that they should remember the poor1 and the reference made by the ,apostle to his previous zeal in the same business 7vv4 #i1 #aj71 are in agreement with the earlier visit of charity mentioned by ,luke4 #cf ,hibbert ,lectures1 p4 #ajc4 ,this testimony is the more valuable as coming from the ablest living exponent of the ,baurian theory4 ,i4 ,the emphasis of ver4 #a rests upon its last clause1--taking along with me also ,titus4 ,not ,titus as well as ,barnabas--this cannot be the meaning of the also--for ,barnabas was ,paul's colleague1 deputed equally with himself by the ,church of ,antioch2 nor ,titus as well as others--there were other members of the deputation 7,acts xv4 #b71 but ,paul makes no reference to them4 ,the also 77 calls attention to the fact of ,paul's taking ,titus1 in view of the sequel2 as though he said1 ,i not only went up to ,jerusalem at this particular time1 under ,divine direction1 but ,i took along with me ,titus besides4 ,the prefixed with 7-7 of the ,greek participle refers to ,paul himself3 compare ver4 #c1 ,titus who was with me4 ,as for the certain others referred to in ,acts xv4 #b1 they were most likely ,jews2 or if any of them were ,gentiles1 still it was ,titus whom ,paul had chosen for his companion2 and his case stood out from the rest in such a way that it became the decisive one1 the test-case for the matter in dispute4 ,the mention of ,titus' name in this connection was calculated to raise a lively interest in the minds of the ,apostle's readers4 ,he is introduced as known to the ,galatians2 indeed by this time his name was familiar in the ,pauline ,churches1 as that of a fellow-traveller and trusted helper of the ,apostle4 ,he was with ,paul in the latter part of the third missionary tour--so we learn from the ,corinthian letters--and therefore probably in the earlier part of the same journey1 when the ,apostle paid his second visit to ,galatia4 ,he belonged to the heathen mission1 and was ,paul's true child after a common faith 7,tit4 i4 #d71 an uncircumcised man1 of ,gentile birth equally with the ,galatians4 ,and now they read of his going up to ,jerusalem with ,paul1 to the mother-city of believers1 where are the pillars of the ,church--the ,jewish teachers would say--the true ,apostles of ,jesus1 where ,his doctrine is preached in its purity1 and where every ,christian is circumcised and keeps the ,law4 ,titus1 the unclean ,gentile1 at ,jerusalem6 ,how could he be admitted or tolerated there1 in the fellowship of the first disciples of the ,lord8 ,this question ,paul's readers1 after what they had heard from the ,circumcisionists1 would be sure to ask4 ,he will answer it directly4 ,but the ,apostle goes on to say1 that he went up in accordance with a revelation4 ,for this was one of those supreme moments in his life when he looked for and received the direct guidance of heaven4 ,it was a most critical step to carry this question of ,gentile circumcision up to ,jerusalem1 and to take ,titus with him there1 into the enemies' stronghold4 ,moreover1 on the settlement of this matter ,paul knew that his ,apostolic status depended1 so far as human recognition was concerned4 ,it would be seen whether the ,jewish ,church would acknowledge the converts of the ,gentile mission as brethren in ,christ2 and whether the first ,apostles would receive him1 the untimely one1 as a colleague of their own4 ,never had he more urgently needed or more implicitly relied upon ,divine direction than at this hour4 ,and ,i put before them 7the ,church at ,jerusalem7 the gospel which ,i preach among the ,gentiles--but privately to those of repute3 am ,i running 7said ,i71 or have ,i run1 in vain8 ,the latter clause we read interrogatively1 along with such excellent grammatical interpreters as ,meyer1 ,wieseler1 and ,hofmann4 ,paul had not come to ,jerusalem in order to solve any doubt in his own mind2 but he wished the ,church of ,jerusalem to declare its mind respecting the character of his ministry4 ,he was not running as uncertainly2 nor in view of the revelation just given him could he have any fear for the result of his appeal4 ,but it was in every way necessary that the appeal should be made4 ,the interjected words1 but privately1 etc41 indicate that there were two meetings during the conference1 such as those which seem to be distinguished in ,acts xv4 #d and #f2 and that the ,apostle's statement and the question arising out of it were addressed more pointedly to those of repute4 ,by this term we understand1 here and in ver4 #f1 the apostles and elders 7,acts xv471 headed by ,peter and ,james1 amongst whom those reputed to be pillars are distinguished in ver4 #i4 ,paul dwells upon the phrase 1 because1 to be sure1 it was so often on the lips of the ,judaizers1 who were in the habit of speaking with an imposing air1 and by way of contrast with ,paul1 of the authorities 7at ,jerusalem7--as the designation might appropriately be rendered4 ,these very men whom the ,legalists were exalting at ,paul's expense1 the venerated chiefs of the mother ,church1 had on this occasion1 ,paul is going to say1 given their approval to his doctrine2 they declined to impose circumcision on ,gentile believers4 ,the ,twelve were not stationary at ,jerusalem1 and therefore could not form a fixed court of reference there2 hence a greater importance accrued to the ,elders of the city ,church1 with the revered ,james at their head1 the brother of the ,lord4 ,the ,apostle1 in bringing ,titus1 had brought up the subject-matter of the controversy4 ,the gospel of the uncircumcision stood before the ,jewish authorities1 an accomplished fact4 ,titus was there1 by the side of ,paul1 a sample--and a noble specimen1 we can well believe--of the ,gentile ,christendom which the ,jewish ,church must either acknowledge or repudiate4 ,how will they treat him8 ,will they admit this foreign protege of ,paul to their communion8 ,or will they require him first to be circumcised8 ,the question at issue could not take a form more crucial for the prejudices of the mother ,church4 ,it was one thing to acknowledge uncircumcised fellow-believers in the abstract1 away yonder at ,antioch or ,iconium1 or even at ,csarea2 and another thing to see ,titus standing amongst them in his heathen uncleanness1 on the sacred soil of ,jerusalem1 under the shadow of the ,temple1 and to hear ,paul claiming for him--for this dog of a ,gentile--equally with himself the rights of ,christian brotherhood6 ,the demand was most offensive to the pride of ,judaism1 as no one knew better than ,paul2 and we cannot wonder that a revelation was required to justify the ,apostle in making it4 ,the case of ,trophimus1 whose presence with the ,apostle at ,jerusalem many years afterwards proved so nearly fatal 7,acts xxi4 #bg-cj71 shows how exasperating to the legalist party his action in this instance must have been4 ,had not ,peter and the better spirits of the ,church in ,jerusalem laid to heart the lesson of the vision of ,joppa1 that no man must be called common or unclean1 and had not the wisdom of the ,holy ,spirit eminently guided this first ,council of the ,church1#cg ,paul's challenge would have received a negative answer2 and ,jewish and ,gentile ,christianity must have been driven asunder4 #cg ,acts xv4 #bh3 ,it seemed good to the ,holy ,ghost and to us4 ,this was in the ,early ,church no mere pious official form4 ,the answer1 the triumphant answer1 to ,paul's appeal comes in the next verse3 ,nay1 not even#ch ,titus who was with me1 being a ,greek1 was compelled to be circumcised4 ,titus was not circumcised1 in point of fact--how can we doubt this in view of the language of ver4 #e3 ,not even for an hour did we yield in subjection8 ,and he was not compelled to be circumcised--a mode of putting the denial which implies that in refusing his circumcision urgent solicitation had to be withstood1 solicitation addressed to ,titus himself1 as well as to the leaders of his party4 ,the kind of pressure brought to bear in the case and the quarter from which it proceeded1 the ,galatians would understand from their own experience 7ch4 vi4 #ab2 comp4 ii4 #ad74 #ch ,for this use of ' compare ,acts xix4 #b 7here also after a question72 #a ,cor4 iii4 #b2 iv4 #c4 ,we observe a similar instance of the phrase in schylus1 ,pers1 l4 #gib4 ' opposes itself to the expectation of the ,judaistic compellers1 present to the mind of ,paul and his readers4 ,the attempt made to bring about ,titus' circumcision signally failed4 ,its failure was the practical reply to the question which ,paul tells us 7ver4 #b7 he had put to the authorities in ,jerusalem2 or1 according to the more common rendering of ver4 #b;b1 it was the answer to the apprehension under which he addressed himself to them4 ,on the former of these views of the connection1 which we decidedly prefer1 the authorities are clear of any share in the compulsion of ,titus4 ,when the ,apostle gives the statement that his ,gentile companion was not compelled to be circumcised as the reply to his appeal to those of repute1 it is as much as to say3 ,the chiefs at ,jerusalem did not require ,titus' circumcision4 ,they repudiated the attempt of certain parties to force this rite upon him4 ,this testimony precisely accords with the terms of the rescript of the ,council1 and with the speeches of ,peter and ,james1 given in ,acts xv4 ,but it was a great point gained to have the liberality of the ,jewish ,christian leaders put to the proof in this way1 to have the generous sentiments of speech and letter made good in this example of uncircumcised ,christianity brought to their doors4 ,to the authorities at ,jerusalem the question put by the delegates from ,antioch on the one side1 and by the ,circumcisionists on the other1 was perfectly clear4 ,if they insist on ,titus' circumcision1 they disown ,paul and the ,gentile mission3 if they accept ,paul's gospel1 they must leave ,titus alone4 ,paul and ,barnabas stated the case in a manner that left no room for doubt or compromise4 ,their action was marked1 as ver4 #e declares1 with the utmost decision4 ,and the response of the ,jewish leaders was equally frank and definite4 ,we have no business1 says ,james 7,acts xv4 #ai71 to trouble those from the ,gentiles that turn to ,god4 ,their judgement is virtually affirmed in ver4 #c1 in reference to ,titus1 in whose person the ,galatians could not fail to see that their own case had been settled by anticipation4 ,those of repute disowned the ,circumcisionists2 the demand that the yoke of circumcision should be imposed on the ,gentiles had no sanction from them4 ,if the ,judaizers claimed their sanction1 the claim was false4 ,here the ,apostle pauses1 as his ,gentile readers must have paused and drawn a long breath of relief or of astonishment at what he has just alleged4 ,if ,titus was not compelled to be circumcised1 even at ,jerusalem1 who1 they might ask1 was going to compel them8--,the full stop should therefore be placed at the end of ver4 #c1 not ver4 #b4 ,vv4 #a-c form a paragraph complete in itself4 ,its last sentence resolves the decisive question raised in this visit of ,paul's to ,jerusalem1 when he took with him also ,titus4 ,,ii4 ,the opening words of ver4 #d have all the appearance of commencing a new sentence4 ,this sentence1 concluded in ver4 #e1 is grammatically incomplete2 but that is no reason for throwing it upon the previous sentence1 to the confusion of both4 ,there is a transition of thought1 marked by the introductory ,but1#ci from the issue of ,paul's second critical visit to ,jerusalem 7vv4 #a-c7 to the cause which made it necessary4 ,this was the action of false brethren1 to whom the ,apostle made a determined and successful resistance 7vv4 #d1 #e74 ,the opening ,but does not refer to ver4 #c in particular1 rather to the entire foregoing paragraph4 ,the ellipsis 7after ,but7 is suitably supplied in the marginal rendering of the ,revisers1 where we take it was to mean1 not ,because of the false brethren ,titus was not 7or was not compelled to be7 circumcised1 but ,because of the false brethren this meeting came about1 or1 ,i took the course aforesaid4 #ci ,this particle is a serious obstacle in the way of the ordinary punctuation1 which attaches the following clause to ver4 #c4 ,the is similar to that of ver4 #f 7 4 72 not of ' in ver4 #b1 nor of 7,phil4 ii4 #h71 which are parenthetical qualifications4 ,and to say1 ,because of the false brethren ,titus was not compelled to be circumcised1 is simply an inconsequence4 ,would he have been compelled to be circumcised if they had not required it8 ,this is the assumption implied by the above construction4 ,to know what ,paul means by false brethren1 we must turn to ch4 i4 #f-i1 iii4 #a1 iv4 #ag1 v4 #g-ab1 vi4 #ab-ad1 in this ,epistle2 and again to #b ,cor4 ii4 #ag-;iii4 #a1 iv4 #b1 xi4 #c1 #d1 #ab-bb1 #bf2 ,rom4 xvi4 #ag1 #ah2 ,phil4 iii4 #b4 ,they were men bearing the name of ,christ and professing faith in ,him1 but ,pharisees at heart1 self-seeking1 rancorous1 unscrupulous men1 bent on exploiting the ,pauline ,churches for their own advantage1 and regarding ,gentile converts to ,christ as so many possible recruits for the ranks of the ,circumcision4 ,but where1 and how1 were these traitors privily brought in8 ,brought in1 we answer1 to the field of the ,gentile mission2 and doubtless by local ,jewish sympathisers1 who introduced them without the concurrence of the officers of the ,church4 ,they came in privily--slipped in by stealth--to spy out our liberty which we have in ,christ ,jesus4 ,now it was at ,antioch and in the pagan ,churches that this liberty existed in its normal exercise--the liberty for which our ,epistle contends1 the enjoyment of ,christian privileges independently of ,jewish law--in which ,paul and his brother missionaries had identified themselves with their ,gentile followers4 ,the false brethren were ,jewish spies in the ,gentile ,christian camp4 ,we do not see how the ,galatians could have read the ,apostle's words otherwise2 nor how it could have occurred to them that he was referring to the way in which these men had been originally brought into the ,jewish ,church4 ,that concerned neither him nor them4 ,but their getting into the ,gentile fold was the serious thing4 ,they are the certain who came down from ,juda1 and taught the 7,gentile7 brethren1 saying1 ,except ye be circumcised after the custom of ,moses1 ye cannot be saved2 and whom their own ,church afterwards repudiated 7,acts xv4 #bd74 ,with ,antioch for the centre of their operations1 these mischief-makers disturbed the whole field of ,paul and ,barnabas' labours in ,syria and ,cilicia 7,acts xv4 #bc2 comp4 ,gal4 i4 #ba74 ,for the ,galatian readers1 the terms of this sentence1 coming after the anathema of ch4 i4 #f-i1 threw a startling light on the character of the ,judean emissaries busy in their midst4 ,this description of the former troublers strikes at the ,judaic opposition in ,galatia4 ,it is as if the ,apostle said3 ,these false brethren1 smuggled in amongst us1 to filch away our liberties in ,christ1 wolves in sheep's clothing--,i know them well2 ,i have encountered them before this4 ,i never yielded to their demands a single inch4 ,i carried the struggle with them to ,jerusalem4 ,there1 in the citadel of ,judaism1 and before the assembled chiefs of the ,judean ,church1 ,i vindicated once and for all1 under the person of ,titus1 your imperilled ,christian rights4 ,but as the ,apostle dilates on the conduct of these ,jewish intriguers1 the precursors of such an army of troublers1 his heart takes fire2 in the rush of his emotion he is carried away from the original purport of his sentence1 and breaks it off with a burst of indignation3 ,to whom1 he cries1 not even for an hour did we yield by subjection1 that the truth of the gospel might abide with you4 ,a breakdown like this--an anacoluthon1 as the grammarians call it--is nothing strange in ,paul's style4 ,despite the shipwrecked grammar1 the sense comes off safely enough4 ,the clause1 we did not yield1 etc41 describes in a negative form1 and with heightened effect1 the course the ,apostle had pursued from the first in dealing with the false brethren4 ,in this unyielding spirit he had acted1 without a moment's wavering1 from the hour when1 guided by the ,holy ,spirit1 he set out for ,jerusalem with the uncircumcised ,titus by his side1 until he heard his ,gentile gospel vindicated by the lips of ,peter and ,james1 and received from them the clasp of fellowship as ,christ's acknowledged ,apostle to the heathen4 ,it was therefore the action of ,jewish interlopers1 men of the same stamp as those infesting the ,galatian ,churches1 which occasioned ,paul's second1 public visit to ,jerusalem1 and his consultation with the heads of the ,judean ,church4 ,this decisive course he was himself inspired to take2 while at the same time it was taken on behalf and under the direction of the ,church of ,antioch1 the metropolis of ,gentile ,christianity4 ,he had gone up with ,barnabas and certain others--including the ,greek ,titus chosen by himself--the company forming a representative deputation1 of which ,paul was the leader and spokesman4 ,this measure was the boldest and the only effectual means of combatting the ,judaistic propaganda4 ,it drew from the authorities at ,jerusalem the admission that ,circumcision is nothing1 and that ,gentile ,christians are free from the ritual law4 ,this was a victory gained over ,jewish prejudice of immense significance for the future of ,christianity4 ,the ground was already cut from under the feet of the ,judaic teachers in ,galatia1 and of all who should at any time seek to impose external rites as things essential to salvation in ,christ4 ,to all his readers ,paul can now say1 so far as his part is concerned3 ,the truth of the gospel abides with you4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,paul ,,and ,,the ,,three ,,pillars4 ,but from those who were reputed to be somewhat 7what they once were1 it maketh no matter to me3 ,god accepteth not man's person7--they1 ,i say1 who were of repute imparted nothing to me3 but contrariwise1 when they saw that ,i had been intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision1 even as ,peter with the gospel of the circumcision 7for he that wrought for ,peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also unto the ,gentiles72 and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me1 ,james and ,cephas and ,john1 they who were reputed to be pillars1 gave to me and ,barnabas the right hands of fellowship1 that we should go unto the ,gentiles1 and they unto the circumcision2 only they would that we should remember the poor2 which very thing ,i was also zealous to do4--,,gal4 ii4 #f-aj4 ,we have dealt by anticipation1 in ,chapter ,,vi41 with several of the topics raised in this section of the ,epistle--touching particularly the import of the phrase those of repute1 and the tone of disparagement in which these dignitaries appear to be spoken of in ver4 #f4 ,but there still remains in these verses matter in its weight and difficulty more than sufficient to occupy another ,chapter4 ,the grammatical connection of the first paragraph1 like that of vv4 #b1 #c1 is involved and disputable4 ,we construe its clauses in the following way3--7#a7 ,ver4 #f begins with a ,but1 contrasting those of repute with the false brethren dealt with in the last sentence4 ,it contains another anacoluthon 7or incoherence of language71 due to the surge of feeling remarked in ver4 #d1 which still disturbs the ,apostle's grammar4 ,he begins3 ,but from those reputed to be something--as though he intended to say1 ,i received on my part nothing1 no addition or qualification to my gospel4 ,but he has no sooner mentioned those of repute than he is reminded of the studied attempt that was made to set up their authority in opposition to his own1 and accordingly throws in this protest3 what they were aforetime1#dj makes no difference to me3 man's person ,god doth not accept4 ,but in saying this1 ,paul has laid down one of his favourite axioms1 a principle that filled a large place in his thoughts2#da and its enunciation deflects the course of the main sentence1 so that it is resumed in an altered form3 ,for to me those of repute imparted nothing4 ,here the me receives a greater emphasis2 and for takes the place of but4 ,the fact that the first ,apostles had nothing to impart to ,paul1 signally illustrates the ,divine impartiality1 which often makes the last and least in human eyes equal to the first4 #dj ,for this rendering of comp4 ch4 i4 #ac1 #bc2 and see ,lightfoot1 or ,beet1 in loc44 #da ,comp4 ,rom4 ii4 #aa2 #a ,cor4 i4 #bg-ca2 xv4 #i1 #aj2 ,eph4 vi4 #i2 ,col4 iii4 #be4 7#b7 ,vv4 #g-i state the positive1 as ver4 #f the negative side of the relation between ,paul and the elder ,apostles1 still keeping in view the principle laid down in the former verse4 ,nay1 on the contrary1 when they saw that ,i have in charge the gospel of the uncircumcision1 as ,peter that of the circumcision 7ver4 #g7--;and when they perceived the grace that had been given me1 ,james and ,cephas and ,john1 those renowned pillars of the ,church1 gave the right hand of fellowship to myself and ,barnabas1 agreeing that we should go to the ,gentiles1 while they laboured amongst the ,jews 7ver4 #i74 7#c7 ,ver4 #h comes in as a parenthesis1 explaining how the authorities at ,jerusalem came to see that this trust belonged to ,paul4 ,for1 he says1 ,he that in ,peter's case displayed ,his power in making him 7above all others7 ,apostle of the ,circumcision1 did as much for me in regard to the ,gentiles4 ,it is not human ordination1 but ,divine inspiration that makes a minister of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the noble ,apostles of ,jesus had the wisdom to see this4 ,it had pleased ,god to bestow this grace on their old ,tarsian persecutor2 and they frankly acknowledged the fact4 ,thus ,paul sets forth1 in the first place1 the completeness of his ,apostolic qualifications1 put to proof at the crisis of the circumcision controversy2 and in the second place1 the judgement formed respecting him and his office by the first ,apostles and companions of the ,lord4 ,i4 ,to me those of repute added nothing4 ,paul had spent but a fortnight in the ,christian circle of ,jerusalem1 fourteen years ago4 ,of its chiefs he had met at that time only ,peter and ,james1 and them in the capacity of a visitor1 not as a disciple or a candidate for office4 ,he had never sought the opportunity1 nor felt the need1 of receiving instruction from the elder ,apostles during all the years in which he had preached ,christ amongst the heathen4 ,it was not likely he would do so now4 ,when he came into conference and debate with them at the ,council1 he showed himself their equal1 neither in knowledge nor authority a whit behind the very chiefest4 ,and they were conscious of the same fact4 ,on the essentials of the gospel ,paul found himself in agreement with the ,twelve4 ,this is implied in the language of ver4 #f4 ,when one writes1 ,a adds nothing to ,b1 one assumes that ,b has already what belongs to ,a1 and not something different4 ,paul asserts in the most positive terms he can command1 that his intercourse with the holders of the primitive ,christian tradition left him as a minister of ,christ exactly where he was before4 ,on me1 he says1 they conferred nothing--rather1 perhaps1 addressed no communication to me4 ,the word used appears to deny their having made any motion of the kind4 ,the ,greek verb is the same that was employed in ch4 i4 #af1 a rare and delicate compound4#db ,its meaning varies1 like that of our confer1 communicate1 as it is applied in a more or less active sense4 ,in the former place ,paul had said that he did not confer with flesh and blood2 now he adds1 that flesh and blood did not confer anything upon him4 ,formerly he did not bring his commission to lay it before men2 now they had nothing to bring on their part to lay before him4 ,the same word affirms the ,apostle's independence at both epochs1 shown in the first instance by his reserve toward the dignitaries at ,jerusalem1 and in the second by their reserve toward him4 ,conscious of his ,divine call1 he sought no patronage from the elder ,apostles then2 and they1 recognising that call1 offered him no such patronage now4 ,paul's gospel for the ,gentiles was complete1 and sufficient unto itself4 ,his ministry showed no defect in quality or competence4 ,there was nothing about it that laid it open to correction1 even on the part of those wisest and highest in dignity amongst the personal followers of ,jesus4 #db ,we cannot explain here by the of ver4 #b1 as though ,paul wished to say1 ,i imparted to them my gospel2 they imparted to me nothing further4 ,for- implies direction1 rather than addition4 ,see ,meyer on this verb in ch4 i4 #af4 ,so ,paul declares2 and we can readily believe him4 ,nay1 we are tempted to think that it was rather the ,pillars who might need to learn from him1 than he from them4 ,in doctrine1 ,paul holds the primacy in the band of the ,apostles4 ,while all were inspired by the ,spirit of ,christ1 the ,gentile ,apostle was in many ways a more richly furnished man than any of the rest4 ,the ,paulinism of ,peter's ,first ,epistle goes to show that the debt was on the other side4 ,their earlier privileges and priceless store of recollections of all that ,jesus did and taught1 were matched on ,paul's side by a penetrating logic1 a breadth and force of intellect applied to the facts of revelation1 and a burning intensity of spirit1 which in their combination were unique4 ,the ,pauline teaching1 as it appears in the ,new ,testament1 bears in the highest degree the marks of original genius1 the stamp of a mind whose inspiration is its own4 ,modern criticism even exaggerates ,paul's originality4 ,it leaves the other ,apostles little more than a negative part to play in the development of ,christian truth4 ,in some of its representations1 the figure of ,paul appears to overshadow even that of the ,divine ,master4 ,it was ,paul's creative genius1 it is said1 his daring idealism1 that deified the human ,jesus1 and transformed the scandal of the cross into the glory of an atonement reconciling the world to ,god4 ,such theories ,paul himself would have regarded with horror4 ,i received of the ,lord that which ,i delivered unto you3 such is his uniform testimony4 ,if he owed so little as a minister of ,christ to his brother ,apostles1 he felt with the most sincere humility that he owed everything to ,christ4 ,the agreement of ,paul's teaching with that of the other ,new ,testament writers1 and especially with that of ,jesus in the ,gospels1 proves that1 however distinct and individual his conception of the common gospel1 none the less there was a common gospel of ,christ1 and he did not speak of his own mind4 ,the attempts made to get rid of this agreement by postdating the ,new ,testament documents1 and by explaining away the larger utterances of ,jesus found in the ,gospels as due to ,paulinist interpolation1 are unavailing4 ,they postulate a craftiness of ingenuity on the part of the writers of the incriminated books1 and an ignorance in those who first received them1 alike inconceivable4 ,paul did not build up the splendid and imperishable fabric of his theology on some speculation of his own4 ,its foundation lies in the person and the teaching of ,jesus ,christ1 and was common to ,paul with ,james and ,cephas and ,john4 ,whether ,i or they1 he testifies1 so we preach1 and so ye believed 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #aa74 ,paul satisfied himself at this conference that he and the ,twelve taught the same gospel4 ,not in its primary data1 but in their logical development and application1 lies the specifically ,pauline in ,paulinism4 ,the harmony between ,paul and the other ,apostolic leaders has the peculiar value which belongs to the agreement of minds of different orders1 working independently4 ,the ,judaizers1 however1 persistently asserted ,paul's dependence on the elder ,apostles4 ,the authority of the ,primitive ,church1 the ,apostolic tradition of ,jerusalem--this was the fulcrum of their argument4 ,where could ,paul1 they asked1 have derived his knowledge of ,christ1 but from this fountain-head8 ,and the power that made him1 could unmake him4 ,those who commissioned him had the right to overrule him1 or even to revoke his commission4 ,was it not known that he had from time to time resorted to ,jerusalem2 that he had once publicly submitted his teaching to the examination of the heads of the ,church there8 ,the words of ver4 #f contradict these malicious insinuations4 ,hence the positiveness of the ,apostle's self-assertion4 ,in the ,corinthian ,epistles his claim to independence is made in gentler style1 and with expressions of humility that might have been misunderstood here4 ,but the position ,paul takes up is the same in either case3 ,i am an ,apostle4 ,i have seen ,jesus our ,lord4 ,you--,corinthians1 ,galatians--are my work in the ,lord4 ,that ,peter and the rest were in the old days so near to the ,master1 makes no difference to ,paul4 ,they are what they are--their high standing is universally acknowledged1 and ,paul has no need or wish to question it2 but1 by the grace of ,god1 he also is what he is 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #aj74 ,their ,apostleship does not exclude or derogate from his4 ,the self-depreciation1 the keen sense of inferiority in outward respects1 so evident in ,paul's allusions to this subject elsewhere1 is after all not wanting here4 ,for when he says1 ,god regards not man's person1 it is evident that in respect of visible qualifications ,paul felt that he had few pretensions to make4 ,appearances were against him4 ,and those who glory in appearance were against him too 7#b ,cor4 v4 #ab74 ,such men could not appreciate the might of the ,spirit that wrought in ,paul1 nor the sovereignty of ,divine election4 ,they reckoned of the ,apostle as though he walked according to flesh 7#b ,cor4 x4 #b74 ,it seemed to them obvious1 as a matter of course1 that he was far below the ,twelve4 ,with men of worldly wisdom the ,apostle did not expect that his arguments would prevail4 ,his appeal was to the spiritual1 who judge all things4 ,so we come back to the declaration of the ,apostle in ch4 i4 #aa3 ,i give you to know1 brethren1 that my gospel is not according to man4 ,man had no hand either in laying its foundation or putting on the headstone4 ,paul's predecessors in ,apostolic office did not impart the gospel to him at the outset2 nor at a later time had they attempted to make any addition to the doctrine he had taught far and wide amongst the heathen4 ,his ,apostleship was from first to last a supernatural gift of grace4 ,,ii4 ,instead1 therefore1 of assuming to be his superiors1 or offering to bestow something of their own on ,paul1 the three renowned pillars of the faith at ,jerusalem acknowledged him as a brother ,apostle4 ,they saw that ,i am intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision4 ,the form of the verb implies a trust given in the past and taking effect in the present1 a settled fact4 ,once for all1 this charge had devolved on ,paul4 ,he is appointed herald and apostle of ,christ ,jesus1 who gave ,himself a ransom for all1--teacher of the ,gentiles in faith and truth 7#a ,tim4 ii4 #f1 #g74 ,that office ,paul still holds4 ,he is the leader of ,christian evangelism4 ,every new movement in heathen missionary enterprise looks to his teaching for guidance and inspiration4 ,the conference at ,jerusalem in itself furnished conclusive evidence of ,paul's ,apostolic commission4 ,the circumcision controversy was a test not only for ,gentile ,christianity1 but at the same time for its ,apostle and champion4 ,paul brought to this discussion a knowledge and insight1 a force of character1 a conscious authority and unction of the ,holy ,spirit1 that powerfully impressed the three great men who listened to him4 ,the triumvirate at ,jerusalem well knew that ,paul had not received his marvellous gifts through their hands4 ,nor was there anything lacking to him which they felt themselves called upon to supply4 ,they could only say1 ,this is the ,lord's doing2 and it is marvellous in our eyes4 ,knowing1 as ,peter at least1 we presume1 had done for many years1#dc the history of ,paul's conversion1 and seeing as they now did the conspicuous ,apostolic signs attending his ministry1 ,james and ,cephas and ,john could only come to one conclusion4 ,the gospel of the uncircumcision1 they were convinced1 was committed to ,paul1 and his place in the ,church was side by side with ,peter4 ,peter must have felt as once before on a like occasion3 ,if ,god gave unto him a gift equal to that ,he gave to me1 who am ,i1 that ,i should be able to hinder ,god8 7,acts xi4 #ag74 ,it was not for them because of their elder rank and dignity to debate with ,god in this matter1 and to withhold their recognition from ,his chosen vessel4 #dc ,ch4 i4 #ah4 ,see ,chapter ,v41 p4 #hg4 ,john had not forgotten his ,master's reproof for banning the man that followeth not with us 7,luke ix4 #di2 ,mark ix4 #ch74 ,they recognised1 ,paul says1 the grace that had been given me2 and by that he means1 to be sure1 the undeserved favour that raised him to his ,apostolic office4#dd ,this recognition was given to ,paul4 ,barnabas shared the fellowship4 ,his hand was clasped by the three chiefs at ,jerusalem1 not less warmly than that of his younger comrade4 ,but it is in the singular number that ,paul speaks of the grace that was given me1 and of the trust in the gospel and the working of ,god unto ,apostleship4 #dd ,see ,rom4 i4 #e2 #a ,cor4 xv4 #aj2 ,eph4 iii4 #b1 #g1 #h2 #a ,tim4 i4 #ac4 ,why then does not ,paul say outright1 they acknowledged me an ,apostle1 the equal of ,peter8 ,some are bold enough to say--,holsten in particular--,because this is just what the ,jerusalem chiefs never did1 and never could have done4#de ,we will only reply1 that if this were the case1 the passage is a continued suggestio falsi4 ,no one could write the words of vv4 #g-i1 without intending his readers to believe that such a recognition took place4 ,paul avoids the point-blank assertion1 with a delicacy that any man of tolerable modesty will understand4 ,even the appearance of glorying was hateful to him 7#b ,cor4 x4 #ag2 xi4 #a2 xii4 #a-e1 #aa74 #de ,zum ,evangelien d4 ,paulus und d4 ,petrus1 p4 #bgc4 ,holsten is the keenest and most logical of all the ,baurian succession4 ,the ,church at ,jerusalem1 as we gather from vv4 #g1 #h1 observed in ,paul signs of the ,apostle resembling those borne by ,peter4 ,his ,gentile commission ran parallel with ,peter's ,jewish commission4 ,the labours of the two men were followed by the same kind of success1 and marked by similar displays of miraculous power4 ,the like seal of ,god was stamped on both4 ,this correspondence runs through the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,compare1 for example1 ,paul's sermon at ,antioch in ,pisidia with that of ,peter on the ,day of ,pentecost2 the healing of the ,lystran cripple and the punishment of ,elymas1 with the case of the lame man at the ,temple gate and the encounter of ,peter and ,simon ,magus4 ,the conjunction of the names of ,peter and ,paul was familiar to the ,apostolic ,church4 ,the parallelism between the course of these great ,apostles was no invention of second-century orthodoxy1 set up in the interests of a reconciling hypothesis2 it attracted public attention as early as #ea ,a4,d41 while they were still in their mid career4 ,if this idea so strongly possessed the minds of the ,jewish ,christian leaders and influenced their action at the ,council of ,jerusalem1 we need not be surprised that it should dominate ,luke's narrative to the extent that it does4 ,the allusions to ,peter in #a ,corinthians#df afford further proof that in the lifetime of the two ,apostles it was a common thing to link their names together4 #df ,ch4 i4 #ab2 iii4 #bb2 ix4 #e4 ,but had not ,peter also a share in the ,gentile mission8 ,does not the division of labour made at this conference appear to shut out the senior ,apostle from a field to which he had the prior claim8 ,ye know1 said ,peter at the ,council1 how that a good while ago ,god made choice among you1 that by my mouth the ,gentiles should hear the word of the gospel1 and believe 7,acts xv4 #g74 ,to ,peter was assigned the double honour of opening the door of faith both to ,jew and ,gentile4 ,this experience made him the readier to understand ,paul's position1 and gave him the greater weight in the settlement of the question at issue4 ,and not ,peter alone1 but ,philip the evangelist and other ,jewish ,christians had carried the gospel across the line of ,judaic prejudice1 before ,paul appeared on the scene4 ,barnabas and ,silas were both emissaries of ,jerusalem4 ,so that the mother ,church1 if she could not claim ,paul as her son1 had nevertheless a large stake in the heathen mission4 ,but when ,paul came to the front1 when his miraculous call1 his incomparable gifts and wonderful success had made themselves known1 it was evident to every discerning mind that he was the man chosen by ,god to direct this great work4 ,peter had opened the door of faith to the heathen1 and had bravely kept it open2 but it was for ,paul to lead the ,gentile nations through the open door1 and to make a home for them within the fold of ,christ4 ,the men who had laboured in this field hitherto were ,paul's forerunners4 ,and ,peter does not hesitate to acknowledge the younger ,apostle's special fitness for this wider province of their common work2 and with the concurrence of ,james and ,john he yields the charge of it to him4 ,let us observe that it is two different provinces1 not different gospels1 that are in view4 ,when the ,apostle speaks of the gospel of the uncircumcision as committed to himself1 and that of the circumcision to ,peter1 he never dreams of any one supposing1 as some of his modern critics persist in doing1 that he meant two different doctrines4 ,how can that be possible1 when he has declared those anathema who preach any other gospel8 ,he has laid his gospel before the heads of the ,jerusalem ,church4 ,nothing has occurred there1 nothing is hinted here1 to suggest the existence of a radical divergence4 ,if ,james and the body of the ,judean ,church really sympathised with the ,circumcisionists1 with those whom the ,apostle calls false brethren1 how could he with any sincerity have come to an agreement with them1 knowing that this tremendous gulf was lying all the while between the ,pillars and himself8 ,zeller argues that the transaction was simply a pledge of reciprocal toleration1 a merely external concordat between ,paul and the original ,apostles4#dg ,the clasp of brotherly friendship was a sorry farce1 if that were all it meant--if ,paul and the ,three just consented for the time to slur over irreconcilable differences2 while ,paul in turn has glossed over the affair for us in these artful verses6 ,baur1 with characteristic finesse1 says on the same point3 ,the was always a division2 it could only be brought into effect by one party going 1 the other 4 ,as the ,jewish ,apostles could allege nothing against the principles on which ,paul founded his evangelical mission1 they were obliged to recognise them in a certain manner2 but their recognition was a mere outward one4 ,they left him to work on these principles still further in the cause of the gospel among the ,gentiles2 but for themselves they did not desire to know anything more about them4#dh ,so that1 according to the ,tbingen critics1 we witness in ver4 #i not a union1 but a divorce6 ,the ,jewish ,apostles recognise ,paul as a brother1 only in order to get rid of him4 ,can misinterpretation be more unjust than this8 ,paul does not say1 ,they gave us the right hand of fellowship on condition that1 but1 in order that we should go this way1 they that4 ,as much as to say3 ,the two parties came together and entered into a closer union1 so that with the best mutual understanding each might go its own way and pursue its proper work in harmony with the other4 ,for ,paul it would have been a sacrilege to speak of the diplomatic compromise which ,baur and ,zeller describe as giving the right hand of fellowship4 #dg ,the ,acts of the ,apostles critically investigated1 vol4 ii41 pp4 #bh1 #cj3 ,eng4 ,trans4 #dh ,paulus1 vol4 i41 p4 #acj3 ,eng4 ,trans4 ,never did the ,church more deeply realise than at her first ,council the truth1 that there is one body and one ,spirit2 one ,lord1 one faith1 one baptism2 one ,god and ,father of all1 who is above all1 and through all1 and in all 7,eph4 iv4 #d-f74 ,paul still seems to feel his hand in the warm grasp of ,peter and of ,john when he writes to the ,ephesians of the foundation of the ,apostles and prophets1 with ,christ ,jesus ,himself for chief corner-stone2 in whom the whole building fitly framed together1 groweth unto an holy temple in the ,lord 7ch4 ii4 #bj1 #ba74 ,alas for the criticism that is obliged to see in words like these the invention of second-century churchmanship1 putting into the mouth of ,paul catholic sentiments of which in reality he knew nothing6 ,such writers know nothing of the power of that fellowship of the ,spirit which reigned in the glorious company of the ,apostles4 ,only they would have us remember the poor--a circumstance mentioned partly by way of reminder to the ,galatians touching the collection for ,jerusalem1 which ,paul had already set on foot amongst them 7#a ,cor4 xvi4 #a74 ,the request was prompted by the affectionate confidence with which the ,jewish chiefs embraced ,paul and ,barnabas4 ,it awakened an eager response in the ,apostle's breast4 ,his love to his ,jewish kindred made him welcome the suggestion4 ,moreover every deed of charity rendered by the wealthier ,gentile ,churches to the poor saints in ,jerusalem1 was another tie helping to bind the two communities to each other4 ,of such liberality ,antioch1 under the direction of the ,gentile missionaries1 had already set the example 7,acts xi4 #bi1 #cj74 99 99 99 99 99 ,james1 ,peter1 ,john1 and ,paul--it was a memorable day when these four men met face to face4 ,what a mighty quaternion6 ,amongst them they have virtually made the ,new ,testament and the ,christian ,church4 ,they represent the four sides of the one foundation of the ,city of ,god4 ,of the ,evangelists1 ,matthew holds affinity with ,james2 ,mark with ,peter2 and ,luke with ,paul4 ,james clings to the past and embodies the transition from ,mosaism to ,christianity4 ,peter is the man of the present1 quick in thought and action1 eager1 buoyant1 susceptible4 ,paul holds the future in his grasp1 and schools the unborn nations4 ,john gathers present1 past1 and future into one1 lifting us into the region of eternal life and love4 ,with ,peter and ,james ,paul had met before1 and was to meet again4 ,but so far as we can learn1 this was the only occasion on which his path crossed that of ,john4 ,nor is this ,apostle mentioned again in ,paul's letters4 ,in the ,acts he appears but once or twice1 standing silent in ,peter's shadow4 ,a holy reserve surrounds ,john's person in the earlier ,apostolic history4 ,his hour was not yet come4 ,but his name ranked in public estimation amongst the three foremost of the ,jewish ,church2 and he exercised1 doubtless1 a powerful1 though quiet1 conciliatory influence in the settlement of the ,gentile question4 ,the personality of ,paul excited1 we may be sure1 the profoundest interest in such a mind as that of ,john4 ,he absorbed1 and yet in a sense transcended1 the ,pauline theology4 ,the ,apocalypse1 although the most ,judaic book of the ,new ,testament1 is penetrated with the influence of ,paulinism4 ,the detection in it of a covert attack on the ,gentile ,apostle is simply one of the mare's nests of a super-subtle and suspicious criticism4 ,john was to be the heir of ,paul's labours at ,ephesus and in ,asia ,minor4 ,and ,john's long life1 touching the verge of the second century1 his catholic position1 his serene and lofty spirit1 blending in itself and resolving into a higher unity the tendencies of ,james and ,peter and ,paul1 give us the best assurance that in the ,apostolic age there was indeed ,one1 holy1 catholic1 ,apostolic ,church4 ,paul's fellowship with ,peter and with ,james was cordial and endeared4 ,but to hold the hand of ,john1 the disciple whom ,jesus loved1 was a yet higher satisfaction4 ,that clasp symbolized a union between men most opposite in temperament and training1 and brought to the knowledge of ,christ in very different ways1 but whose communion in ,him was deep as the life eternal4 ,paul and ,john are the two master minds of the ,new ,testament4 ,of all men that ever lived1 these two best understood ,jesus ,christ4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,paul ,,and ,,peter ,,at ,,antioch4 ,but when ,cephas came to ,antioch1 ,i resisted him to the face1 because he stood condemned4 ,for before that certain came from ,james1 he did eat with the ,gentiles2 but when they came1 he drew back and separated himself1 fearing them that were of the circumcision4 ,and the rest of the ,jews dissembled likewise with him2 insomuch that even ,barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation4 ,but when ,i saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel1 ,i said unto ,cephas before them all1 ,if thou1 being a ,jew1 livest as do the ,gentiles1 and not as do the ,jews1 how compellest thou the ,gentiles to live as do the ,jews8 ,we being ,jews by nature1 and not sinners of the ,gentiles1 yet knowing that a man is not justified by works of law1 but only through faith in ,jesus ,christ1 even we believed on ,christ ,jesus1 that we might be justified by faith in ,christ1 and not by the works of the law3 because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified4 ,but if1 while we sought to be justified in ,christ1 we ourselves also were found sinners1 is ,christ a minister of sin8 ,god forbid4 ,for if ,i build up again those things which ,i destroyed1 ,i prove myself a transgressor4--,,gal4 ii4 #aa-ah4 ,the conference at ,jerusalem issued in the formal recognition by the ,primitive ,church of ,gentile ,christianity1 and of ,paul's plenary ,apostleship4 ,and it brought ,paul into brotherly relations with the three great leaders of ,jewish ,christianity4 ,but this fellowship was not to continue undisturbed4 ,the same cause was still at work which had compelled the ,apostle to go up to ,jerusalem1 taking ,titus with him4 ,the leaven of ,pharisaic legalism remained in the ,church4 ,indeed1 as time went on and the national fanaticism grew more violent1 this spirit of intolerance became increasingly bitter and active4 ,the address of ,james to ,paul on the occasion of his last visit to the ,holy ,city1 shows that the ,church of ,jerusalem was at this time in a state of the most sensitive jealousy in regard to the ,law1 and that the legalistic prejudices always existing in it had gained a strength with which it was difficult to cope 7,acts xxi4 #ag-be74 ,but for the present the ,judaizing faction had received a check4 ,it does not appear that the party ever again insisted on circumcision as a thing essential to salvation for the ,gentiles4 ,the utterances of ,peter and ,james at the ,council1 and the circular addressed therefrom to the ,gentile ,churches1 rendered this impossible4 ,the ,legalists made a change of front2 and adopted a subtler and seemingly more moderate policy4 ,they now preached circumcision as the prerogative of the ,jew within the ,church1 and as a counsel of perfection for the ,gentile believer in ,christ 7ch4 iii4 #c74 ,to quote the rescript of ,acts xv4 against this altered form of the circumcisionist doctrine1 would have been wide of the mark4 ,it is against this newer type of ,judaistic teaching that our ,epistle is directed4#di ,circumcision1 its advocates argued1 was a ,divine ordinance that must have its benefit4 ,god has given to ,israel an indefeasible pre-eminence in ,his kingdom4#ej ,law-keeping children of ,abraham enter the new ,covenant on a higher footing than sinners of the ,gentiles3 they are still the elect race1 the holy nation4 ,if the ,gentiles wish to share with them1 they must add to their faith circumcision1 they must complete their imperfect righteousness by legal sanctity4 ,so they might hope to enter on the full heritage of the sons of ,abraham2 they would be brought into communion with the first ,apostles and the ,brother of the ,lord2 they would be admitted to the inner circle of the kingdom of ,god4 ,the new ,legalists sought1 in fact1 to superimpose ,jewish on ,gentile ,christianity4 ,they no longer refused all share in ,christ to the uncircumcised2 they offered them a larger share4 ,so we construe the teaching which ,paul had to combat in the second stage of his conflict with ,judaism1 to which his four major ,epistles belong4 ,and the signal for this renewed struggle was given by the collision with ,peter at ,antioch4 #di ,rom4 ii4 #be-;iii4 #a4 #ej ,rom4 i4 #af2 ii4 #i1 #aj2 ix4 #d1 #e2 xi4 #a1 #b4 ,this encounter did not1 we think1 take place on the return of ,paul and ,barnabas from the ,council4 ,the compact of ,jerusalem secured to the ,church a few years of rest from the ,judaistic agitation4 ,the ,thessalonian ,epistles1 written in #eb or #ec ,a4,d41 go to show1 not only that the ,churches of ,macedonia were free from the legalist contention1 but that it did not at this period occupy the ,apostle's mind4 ,judas ,barsabbas and ,silas--not ,peter--accompanied the ,gentile missionaries in returning to ,antioch2 and ,luke gives1 in ,acts xv41 a tolerably full account of the circumstances which transpired there in the interval before the second missionary tour1 without the slightest hint of any visit made at this time by the ,apostle ,peter4 ,we can scarcely believe that the circumcision party had already recovered1 and increased its influence1 to the degree that it must have done when even ,barnabas was carried away2 still less that ,peter on the very morrow of the settlement at ,jerusalem and of his fraternal communion there with ,paul would show himself so far estranged4 ,when1 therefore1 did ,cephas come down to ,antioch8 ,the ,galatians evidently knew4 ,the ,judaizers had given their account of the matter1 to ,paul's disadvantage4 ,perhaps he had referred to it himself on his last visit to ,galatia1 when we know he spoke explicitly and strongly against the ,circumcisionists 7ch4 i4 #i74 ,just before his arrival in ,galatia on this occasion he had spent some time at ,antioch 7,acts xviii4 #bb1 #bc71 in the interval between the second and third missionary journeys4 ,luke simply mentions the fact1 without giving any details4 ,this is the likeliest opportunity for the meeting of the two ,apostles in the ,gentile capital4 ,m4 ,sabatier1#ea in the following sentences1 appears to us to put the course of events in its true light3--,evidently the ,apostle had quitted ,jerusalem and undertaken his second missionary journey full of satisfaction at the victory he had gained1 and free from anxiety for the future4 ,the decisive moment of the crisis therefore necessarily falls between the ,thessalonian and ,galatian ,epistles4 ,what had happened in the meantime8 ,the violent discussion with ,peter at ,antioch 7,gal4 ii4 #aa-ba71 and all that this account reveals to us1--the arrival of the emissaries from ,james in the pagan-,christian circle1 the counter-mission organized by the ,judaizers to rectify the work of ,paul4 ,a new situation suddenly presents itself to the eyes of the ,apostle on his return from his second missionary journey4 ,he is compelled to throw himself into the struggle1 and in doing so to formulate in all its rigour his principle of the abolishment of the ,law4 #ea ,in his ,l'aptre ,paul3 esquisse d'une histoire de sa pense1 an admirable work1 to which the writer is under great obligation4 ,the troublers in this instance were certain from ,james4 ,like the false brethren#eb who appeared at ,antioch three years before1 they came from the mother ,church1 over which ,james presided4 ,the ,judaizing teachers at ,corinth had their commendatory letters 7#b ,cor4 iii4 #a71 derived assuredly from the same quarter4 ,in all likelihood1 their confederates in ,galatia brought similar credentials4 ,we have already seen that the authority of the ,primitive ,church was the chief weapon used by ,paul's adversaries4 ,these letters of commendation were part of the machinery of the anti-,pauline agitation4 ,how the ,judaizers obtained these credentials1 and in what precise relation they stood to ,james1 we can only conjecture4 ,had the ,apostle held ,james responsible for their action1 he would not have spared him any more than he has done ,peter4 ,james held a quasi-pastoral relation to ,christian ,jews of the ,dispersion4 ,and as he addressed his ,epistle to them1 so he would be likely on occasion to send delegates to visit them4 ,perhaps the ,circumcisionists found opportunity to pass themselves off in this character2 or they may have abused a commission really given them1 by interfering with ,gentile communities4 ,that the ,judaistic emissaries in some way or other adopted false colours1 is plainly intimated in #b ,cor4 xi4 #ac4 ,james1 living always at ,jerusalem1 being moreover a man of simple character1 could have little suspected the crafty plot which was carried forward under his name4 #eb ,see ,chapter ,,vii4 pp4 #aji1 #aaj4 ,these agents addressed themselves in the first instance to the ,jews1 as their commission from ,jerusalem probably entitled them to do4 ,they plead for the maintenance of the sacred customs4 ,they insist that the ,mosaic rites carry with them an indelible sanctity2 that their observance constitutes a ,church within the ,church4 ,if this separation is once established1 and the ,jewish believers in ,christ can be induced to hold themselves aloof and to maintain the advantage of circumcision1 the rest will be easy4 ,the way will then be open to compel the ,gentiles to ,judaize4 ,for unless they do this1 they must be content to remain on a lower level1 in a comparatively menial position1 resembling that of uncircumcised proselytes in the ,synagogue4 ,the circular of the ,jerusalem ,council may have been interpreted by the ,judaists in this sense1 as though it laid down the terms1 not of full communion between ,jew and ,gentile believers1 but only of a permissive1 secondary recognition4 ,at ,antioch the new campaign of the ,legalists was opened1 and apparently with signal success4 ,in ,galatia and ,corinth we see it in full progress4 ,the withdrawal of ,peter and the other ,jews at ,antioch from the table of the ,gentiles virtually compelled the latter to ,judaize4 ,not that the ,jewish ,apostle had this intention in his mind4 ,he was made the tool of designing men4 ,by separating himself he virtually said to every uncircumcised brother1 ,stand by thyself1 ,i am holier than thou4 ,legal conformity on the part of the ,gentiles was made the condition of their communion with ,jewish ,christians--a demand simply fatal to ,christianity4 ,it re-established the principle of salvation by works in a more invidious form4 ,to supplement the righteousness of faith by that of law1 meant to supplant it4 ,to admit that the ,israelite by virtue of his legal observances stood in a higher position than sinners of the ,gentiles1 was to stultify the doctrine of the cross1 to make ,christ's death a gratuitous sacrifice4 ,peter's error1 pushed to its logical consequences1 involved the overthrow of the ,gospel4 ,this the ,gentile ,apostle saw at a glance4 ,the situation was one of imminent danger4 ,paul needed all his wisdom1 and all his courage and promptitude to meet it4 ,it had been ,peter's previous rule1 since the vision of ,joppa1 to lay aside ,jewish scruples of diet and to live in free intercourse with ,gentile brethren4 ,he was wont to eat with the ,gentiles4 ,though a born ,jew1 he lived in ,gentile fashion--words unmistakably describing ,peter's general habit in such circumstances4 ,this ,gentile conformity of ,peter was a fact of no small moment for the ,galatian readers4 ,it contravenes the assertion of a radical divergence between ,petrine and ,pauline ,christianity1 whether made by ,ebionites or ,baurians4 ,the ,jewish ,apostle's present conduct was an act of dissimulation4 ,he was belying his known convictions1 publicly expressed and acted on for years4 ,paul's challenge assumes that his fellow-,apostle is acting insincerely4 ,and this assumption is explained by the account furnished in the ,acts of the ,apostles respecting ,peter's earlier relations with ,gentile ,christianity 7ch4 x4 #a-xi4 #ah2 xv4 #f-aa74 ,the strength of ,paul's case lay in the conscience of ,peter himself4 ,the conflict at ,antioch1 so often appealed to in proof of the rooted opposition between the two ,apostles1 in reality gives evidence to the contrary effect4 ,here the maxim strictly applies1 ,exceptio probat regulam4 ,peter's lapse is quite intelligible4 ,no man who figures in the ,new ,testament is better known to us4 ,honest1 impulsive1 ready of speech1 full of contagious enthusiasm1 brave as a lion1 firm as a rock against open enemies1 he possessed in a high degree the qualities which mark out a leader of men4 ,he was of the stuff of which ,christ makes ,his missionary heroes4 ,but there was a strain of weakness in ,peter's nature4 ,he was pliable4 ,he was too much at the mercy of surroundings4 ,his denial of ,jesus set this native fault in a light terribly vivid and humiliating4 ,it was an act of dissimulation4 ,in his soul there was a fervent love to ,christ4 ,his zeal had brought him to the place of danger4 ,but for the moment he was alone4 ,public opinion was all against him4 ,a panic fear seized his brave heart4 ,he forgot himself2 he denied the ,master whom he loved more than life4 ,his courage had failed2 never his faith4 ,turned back again from his coward flight1 ,peter had indeed strengthened his brethren 7,luke xxii4 #ca1 #cb74 ,he proved a tower of strength to the infant ,church1 worthy of his cognomen of the rock4 ,for more than twenty years he had stood unshaken4 ,no name was so honoured in the ,church as ,peter's4 ,for ,paul to be compared to him was the highest possible distinction4 ,and yet1 after all this lapse of time1 and in the midst of so glorious a career1 the old1 miserable weakness betrays him once more4 ,how admonitory is the lesson6 ,the sore long since healed over1 the infirmity of nature out of which we seemed to have been completely trained1 may yet break out again1 to our shame and undoing4 ,had ,peter for a moment forgotten the sorrowful warning of ,gethsemane8 ,be it ours to watch and pray1 lest we enter into temptation4 ,we have reason to believe that1 if ,peter rashly erred1 he freely acknowledged his error1 and honoured his reprover4 ,both the ,epistles that bear his name1 in different ways1 testify to the high value which their author set upon the teaching of our beloved brother ,paul4 ,tradition places the two men at ,rome side by side in their last days2 as though even in their death these glorious ,apostles should not be divided1 despite the attempts of faction and mistrust to separate them4 ,few incidents exhibit more strongly than this the grievous consequences that may ensue from a seemingly trivial moral error4 ,it looked a little thing that ,peter should prefer to take his meals away from ,gentile company4 ,and yet1 as ,paul tells him1 his withdrawal was a virtual rejection of the ,gospel1 and imperilled the most vital interests of ,christianity4 ,by this act the ,jewish ,apostle gave a handle to the adversaries of the ,church which they have used for generations and for ages afterwards4 ,the dispute which it occassioned could never be forgotten4 ,in the second century it still drew down on ,paul the bitter reproaches of the ,judaizing faction4 ,and in our own day the rationalistic critics have been able to turn it to marvellous account4 ,it supplies the corner-stone of their scientific reconstruction of ,biblical theology4 ,the entire theory of ,baur is evolved out of ,peter's blunder4 ,let it be granted that ,peter in yielding to the certain from ,james followed his genuine convictions and the tradition of ,jewish ,christianity1 and we see at once how deep a gulf lay between ,paul and the ,primitive ,church4 ,all that ,paul argues in the subsequent discussion only tends1 in this case1 to make the breach more visible4 ,this false step of ,peter is the thing that chiefly lends a colour to the theory in question1 with all the far-reaching consequences touching the origin and import of ,christianity1 which it involves4 ,so long the evil that men do lives after them6 ,paul's rebuke of his brother ,apostle extends to the conclusion of the chapter4 ,some interpreters cut it short at the end of ver4 #ad2 others at ver4 #af2 others again at ver4 #ah4 ,but the address is consecutive and germane to the occasion throughout4 ,paul does not1 to be sure1 give a verbatim report1 but the substance of what he said1 and in a form suited to his readers4 ,the narrative is an admirable prelude to the argument of chap4 iii4 ,it forms the transition from the historical to the polemical part of the ,epistle1 from the ,apostle's personal to his doctrinal apology4 ,the condensed form of the speech makes its interpretation difficult and much contested4 ,we shall in the remainder of this ,chapter trace the general course of ,paul's reproof1 proposing in the following ,chapter to deal more fully with its doctrinal contents4 ,i4 ,in the first place1 ,paul taxes the ,jewish ,apostle with insincerity and unfaithfulness toward the gospel4 ,i saw1 he says1 that they were not holding a straight course1 according to the truth of the gospel4 ,it is a moral1 not a doctrinal aberration1 that ,paul lays at the door of ,cephas and ,barnabas4 ,they did not hold a different creed from himself2 they were disloyal to the common creed4 ,they swerved from the path of rectitude in which they had walked hitherto4 ,they had regard no longer to the truth of the gospel--the supreme consideration of the servant of ,christ--but to the favour of men1 to the public opinion of ,jerusalem4 ,what will be said of us there8 they whispered to each other1 if these messengers of ,james report that we are discarding the sacred customs1 and making no difference between ,jew and ,gentile8 ,we shall alienate our ,judean brethren4 ,we shall bring a scandal on the ,christian cause in the eyes of ,judaism4 ,this withdrawal of the ,jews from the common fellowship at ,antioch was a public matter4 ,it was an injury to the whole ,gentile-,christian community4 ,if the reproof was to be salutary1 it must be equally public and explicit4 ,the offence was notorious4 ,every one deplored it1 except those who shared it1 or profited by it4 ,cephas stood condemned4 ,and yet his influence and the reverence felt toward him were so great1 that no one dared to put this condemnation into words4 ,his sanction was of itself enough to give to this sudden recrudescence of ,jewish bigotry the force of authoritative usage4 ,the truth of the gospel was again in jeopardy4 ,once more ,paul's intervention foiled the attempts of the ,judaizers and saved ,gentile liberties4 ,and this time he stood quite alone4 ,even the faithful ,barnabas deserted him4 ,but what mattered that1 if ,christ and truth were on his side8 ,amicus ,cephas1 amicus ,barnabas2 sed magis amicus ,veritas4 ,solitary amid the circle of opposing or dissembling ,jews1 ,paul withstood the chief of the ,apostles of ,jesus to the face4 ,he rebuked him before them all4 ,,ii4 ,peter's conduct is reproved by ,paul in the light of their common knowledge of salvation in ,christ4 ,paul is not content with pointing out the inconsistency of his brother ,apostle4 ,he must probe the matter to the bottom4 ,he will bring ,peter's delinquency to the touchstone of the ,gospel1 in its fundamental principles4 ,so he passes in ver4 #ae from the outward to the inward1 from the circumstances of ,peter's conduct to the inner world of spiritual consciousness1 in which his offence finds its deeper condemnation4 ,you and ,i1 he goes on to say1 not ,gentile sinners1 but men of ,jewish birth--yet for all that1 knowing that there is no justification for man in works of law1 only#ec through faith in ,christ--we too put our faith in ,christ1 in order to be justified by faith in ,him1 not by works of law2 for as ,scripture taught us1 in that way no flesh will be justified4 #ec has the same partially exceptive force as in ch4 i4 #g1 #ai4 ,comp4 ,rom4 xiv4 #ad2 also ,luke iv4 #bf1 #bg4 ,paul makes no doubt that the ,jewish ,apostle's experience of salvation corresponded with his own4 ,doubtless1 in their previous intercourse1 and especially when he first made acquaintance with ,cephas 7ch4 i4 #ah7 in ,jerusalem1 the hearts of the two men had been opened to each other2 and they had found that1 although brought to the knowledge of the truth in different ways1 yet in the essence of the matter--in respect of the personal conviction of sin1 in the yielding up of self-righteousness and native pride1 in the abandonment of every prop and trust but ,jesus ,christ--their history had run the same course1 and face answered to face4 ,yes1 ,paul knew that he had an ally in the heart of his friend4 ,he was not fighting as one that beateth the air1 not making a rhetorical flourish1 or a parade of some favourite doctrine of his own2 he appealed from ,peter dissembling to ,peter faithful and consistent4 ,peter's dissimulation was a return to the ,judaic ground of legal righteousness4 ,by refusing to eat with uncircumcised men1 he affirmed implicitly that1 though believers in ,christ1 they were still to him common and unclean1 that the ,mosaic rites imparted a higher sanctity than the righteousness of faith4 ,now the principles of evangelical and legal righteousness1 of salvation by faith and by law-works1 are diametrically opposed4 ,it is logically impossible to maintain both4 ,peter had long ago accepted the former doctrine4 ,he had sought salvation1 just like any ,gentile sinner1 on the common ground of human guilt1 and with a faith that renounced every consideration of ,jewish privilege and legal performance4 ,by what right can any ,hebrew believer in ,christ1 after this1 set himself above his ,gentile brother1 or presume to be by virtue of his circumcision and ritual law-keeping a holier man8 ,such we take to be the import of ,paul's challenge in vv4 #ae1 #af4 ,,iii4 ,paul is met at this point by the stock objection to the doctrine of salvation by faith--an objection brought forward in the dispute at ,antioch not1 we should imagine1 by ,peter himself1 but by the ,judaistic advocates4 ,to renounce legal righteousness was in effect1 they urged1 to promote sin--nay1 to make ,christ ,himself a minister of sin 7ver4 #ag74 ,paul retorts the charge on those who make it4 ,they promote sin1 he declares1 who set up legal righteousness again 7ver4 #ah74 ,the objection is stated and met in the form of question and answer1 as in ,rom4 iii4 #e4 ,we have in this sharp thrust and parry an example of the sort of fence which ,paul must often have carried on in his discussions with ,jewish opponents on these questions4 ,we must not overlook the close verbal connection of these verses with the two last4 ,the phrase seeking to be justified in ,christ carries us back to the time when the two ,apostles1 self-condemned sinners1 severally sought and found a new ground of righteousness in ,him4 ,now when ,peter and ,paul did this1 they were themselves also found#ed to be sinners1--an experience how abasing to their ,jewish pride6 ,they made the great discovery that stripped them of legal merit1 and brought them down in their own esteem to the level of common sinners4 ,peter's confession may stand for both1 when he said1 abashed by the glory of ,christ1 ,depart from me1 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord4 ,now this style of penitence1 this profound self-abasement in the presence of ,jesus ,christ1 revolted the ,jewish moralist4 ,to ,pharisaic sentiment it was contemptible4 ,if justification by faith requires this1 if it brings the ,jew to so abject a posture and makes no difference between lawless and law-keeping1 between pious children of ,abraham and heathen outcasts--if this be the doctrine of ,christ1 all moral distinctions are confounded1 and ,christ is a minister of sin6 ,this teaching robs the ,jew of the righteousness he before possessed2 it takes from him the benefit and honour that ,god bestowed upon his race6 ,so1 we doubt not1 many a ,jew was heard angrily exclaiming against the ,pauline doctrine1 both at ,antioch and elsewhere4 ,this conclusion was1 in the view of the ,legalist1 a reductio ad absurdum of ,paulinism4 #ed ,for this emphatic found1 describing a process of moral conviction and inward discovery1 comp4 ,rom4 vii4 #aj1 #ah1 #ba2 the whole passage strikingly illustrates the reminiscence of our text4 ,the ,apostle repels this inference with the indignant 1 ,far be it6 ,his reply is indicated by the very form in which he puts the question3 ,if we were found sinners 7,christ did not make us such74 ,the complaint was this1 as ,calvin finely says3 ,has ,christ therefore come to take away from us the righteousness of the ,law1 to make us polluted who were holy8 ,nay1 ,paul says2--he repels the blasphemy with detestation4 ,for ,christ did not introduce sin1 but revealed it4 ,he did not rob them of righteousness1 but of the false show thereof4#ee ,the reproach of the ,judaizers was in reality the same that is urged against evangelical doctrine still--that it is immoral1 placing the virtuous and vicious in the common category of sinners4 #ee ,commentarii1 in loc4 ,ver4 #ah throws back the charge of promoting sin upon the ,legalist4 ,it is the counterpart1 not of ver4 #ai1 but rather of ver4 #ag4 ,the transgressor is the sinner in a heightened and more specific sense1 one who breaks known and admitted law4#ef ,this word bears1 in ,paul's vocabulary1 a precise and strongly marked signification which is not satisfied by the common interpretation4 ,it is not that ,peter in setting up the ,law which he had in principle overthrown1 puts himself in the wrong2 nor that ,peter in re-establishing the ,law1 contradicts the purpose of the ,law itself 7,chrysostom1 ,lightfoot1 ,beet74 ,this is to anticipate the next verse4 ,in ,paul's view and according to the experience common to ,peter with himself1 law and transgression are concomitant1 every man under law is ipso facto a transgressor4 ,he who sets up the first1 constitutes himself the second4 ,and this is what ,peter is now doing2 although ,paul courteously veils the fact by putting it hypothetically1 in the first person4#eg ,after dissolving1 so far as in him lay1 the validity of legal righteousness and breaking down the edifice of justification by works1 ,peter is now building it up again1 and thereby constructing a prison-house for himself4 ,returning to legal allegiance1 he returns to legal condemnation2#eh with his own hands he puts on his neck the burden of the ,law's curse1 which through faith in ,christ he had cast off4 ,by this act of timid conformity he seeks to commend himself to ,jewish opinion2 but it only serves1 in the light of the ,gospel1 to prove him a transgressor1 to commend#ei him in that unhappy character4 ,this is ,paul's retort to the imputation of the ,judaist4 ,it carries the war into the enemies' camp4 ,no1 says ,paul1 ,christ is no patron of sin1 in bidding men renounce legal righteousness4 ,but those promote sin--in themselves first of all--who after knowing ,his righteousness1 turn back again to legalism4 #ef ,see ,grimm's ,lexicon1 or ,trench's ,n4 ,t4 ,synonyms1 on this word4 ,comp4 ch4 iii4 #ai2 ,rom4 ii4 #bc-bg2 iv4 #ae2 v4 #ad4 #eg ,the ,i of this sentence is quite indefinite4 ,on the other hand ver4 #ai1 with its emphatic 1 brings us into a new vein of thought4 #eh ,comp4 ch4 iii4 #aj-ab1 #ai2 ,rom4 iii4 #bj2 iv4 #ae4 #ei ,this verb has1 as ,schott suggests1 a tinge of irony4 ,,iv4 ,the conviction of ,peter is now complete4 ,from the sad bondage to which the ,jewish ,apostle1 by his compliance with the ,judaizers1 was preparing to submit himself1 the ,apostle turns to his own joyous sense of deliverance 7vv4 #ai-ba74 ,those who resort to legalism1 he has said1 ensure their own condemnation4 ,it is1 on the other hand1 by an entire surrender to ,christ1 by realizing the import of ,his death1 that we learn to live unto ,god4 ,so ,paul had proved it4 ,at this moment he is conscious of a union with the crucified and living ,saviour1 which lifts him above the curse of the law1 above the power of sin4 ,to revert to the ,judaistic state1 to dream any more of earning righteousness by legal conformity1 is a thing for him inconceivable4 ,it would be to make void the cross of ,christ6 ,and it was the ,law itself that first impelled ,paul along this path4 ,through law he died to law4 ,the ,law drove him from itself to seek salvation in ,jesus ,christ4 ,its accusations allowed him no shelter1 left him no secure spot on which to build the edifice of his self-righteousness4 ,it said to him unceasingly1 ,thou art a transgressor4#fj ,he who seeks justification by its means contradicts the ,law1 while he frustrates the grace of ,god4 #fj ,rom4 vii4 #g-viii4 #a4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,principles ,,at ,,stake4 ,for ,i through law died unto law1 that ,i might live unto ,god4 ,i have been crucified with ,christ2 and it is no longer ,i that live1 but ,christ liveth in me3 and that life which ,i now live in the flesh ,i live in faith1 the faith which is in the ,son of ,god1 who loved me1 and gave ,himself up for me4 ,i do not make void the grace of ,god3 for if righteousness is through law1 then ,christ died for nought--,,gal4 ii4 #ai-ba4 ,paul's personal apology is ended4 ,he has proved his ,apostolic independence1 and made good his declaration1 ,my ,gospel is not according to man4 ,if he owed his commission to any man1 it was to ,peter2 so his traducers persistently alleged4 ,he has shown that1 first without ,peter1 then in equality with ,peter1 and finally in spite of ,peter1 he had received and maintained it4 ,similarly in regard to ,james and the ,jerusalem ,church4 ,without their mediation ,paul commenced his work2 when that work was challenged1 they could only approve it2 and when afterwards men professing to act in their name disturbed his work1 the ,apostle had repelled them4 ,he acted all along under the consciousness of a trust in the gospel committed to him directly by ,jesus ,christ1 and an authority in its administration second to none upon earth4 ,and events had justified this confidence4 ,paul is compelled to say all this about himself4 ,the vindication of his ministry is forced from him by the calumnies of false brethren4 ,from the time of the conference at ,jerusalem1 and still more since he withstood ,peter at ,antioch1 he had been a mark for the hatred of the ,judaizing faction4 ,he was the chief obstacle to their success4 ,twice he had foiled them1 when they counted upon victory4 ,they had now set on foot a systematic agitation against him1 with its head-quarters at ,jerusalem1 carried on under some pretext of sanction from the authorities of the ,church there4 ,at ,corinth and in ,galatia the legalist emissaries had appeared simultaneously2 they pursued in the main the same policy1 adapting it to the character and disposition of the two ,churches1 and appealing with no little success to the ,jewish predilections common even amongst ,gentile believers in ,christ4 ,in this controversy ,paul and the gospel he preached were bound together4 ,i am set1 he says1 for the defence of the gospel 7,ph4 i4 #af74 ,he was the champion of the cross1 the impersonation of the principle of salvation by faith4 ,it is the gospel of ,christ1 the truth of the gospel1 he reiterates1 that is at stake4 ,if he wards off blows falling upon him1 it is because they are aimed through him at the truth for which he lives--nay1 at ,christ who lives in him4 ,in his self-assertion there is no note of pride or personal anxiety4 ,never was there a man more completely lost in the greatness of a great cause1 nor who felt himself in comparison with it more worthless4 ,but that cause has lifted ,paul with it to imperishable glory4 ,of all names named on earth1 none stands nearer than his to that which is above every name4 ,while ,paul in ch4 i4 and ii4 is busy with his own vindication1 he is meantime behind the personal defence preparing the doctrinal argument4 ,his address to ,peter is an incisive outline of the gospel of grace4 ,the three closing verses--the in particular--are the heart of ,paul's theology--summa ac medulla ,christianismi 7,bengel74 ,such a testimony was the ,apostle's best defence before his audience at ,antioch2 it was the surest means of touching the heart of ,peter and convincing him of his error4 ,and its recital was admirably calculated to enlighten the ,galatians as to the true bearing of this dispute which had been so much misrepresented4 ,from ver4 #ae onwards1 ,paul has been all the while addressing1 under the person of ,peter1 the conscience of his readers1#fa and paving the way for the assault that he makes upon them with so much vigour in the first verses of ch4 iii4 ,read in the light of the foregoing narrative1 this passage is a compendium of the ,pauline ,gospel1 invested with the peculiar interest that belongs to a confession of personal faith1 made at a signal crisis in the author's life4 ,let us examine this momentous declaration4 #fa ,hofmann is so far right when he makes the ,apostle turn to the ,galatians in ch4 ii4 #ae1 and draws at this point the line between the historical and doctrinal sections of the ,epistle4 ,i4 ,at the foundation of ,paul's theology lies his conception of the grace of ,god4 ,,grace is the ,apostle's watchword4 ,the word occurs twice as often in his ,epistles as it does in the rest of the ,new ,testament4 ,outside the ,pauline ,luke and ,hebrews1 and #a ,peter with its large infusion of ,paulinism1 it is exceedingly rare4#fb ,in this word the character1 spirit1 and aim of the revelation of ,christ1 as ,paul understood it1 are summed up4 ,the grace of ,god is the touchstone to which ,peter's dissimulation is finally brought4 ,christ is the embodiment of ,divine grace--above all1 in ,his death4 ,so that it is one and the same thing to bring to nought the grace of ,god1 and the death of ,christ4 ,hence ,god's grace is called the grace of ,christ1--of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,from ,romans to ,titus and ,philemon1 grace reigns in every ,epistle4 ,no one can counterfeit this mark of ,paul1 or speak of grace in his style and accent4 #fb ,what is said of 1 applies also to its derivatives1 1 444 ,god's grace is not ,his love alone2 it is redeeming love--love poured out upon the undeserving1 love coming to seek and save the lost1 bringing salvation to all men 7,rom4 v4 #a-h2 ,tit4 ii4 #aa74 ,grace decreed redemption1 made the sacrifice1 proclaims the reconciliation1 provides and bestows the new sonship of the ,spirit1 and schools its children into all the habits of godliness and virtue that beseem their regenerate life1 which it brings finally to its consummation in the life eternal4#fc #fc ,eph4 i4 #e-i2 #b ,tim4 i4 #i2 ,rom4 iii4 #bd2 ,heb4 ii4 #i2 #b ,cor4 v4 #bj-vi4 #a2 ,gal4 iv4 #e2 ,tit4 iii4 #e-g2 ii4 #aa-ad2 ,rom4 v4 #ba4 ,grace in ,god is therefore the antithesis of sin in man1 counterworking and finally triumphing over it4 ,grace belongs to the last ,adam as eminently as sin to the first4 ,the later thoughts of the ,apostle on this theme are expressed in ,tit4 iii4 #d-g1 a passage singularly rich in its description of the working of ,divine grace on human nature4 ,we were senseless1 he says1 disobedient1 wandering in error1 in bondage to lusts and pleasures of many kinds1 living in envy and malice1 hateful1 hating each other4 ,but when the kindness and love to man of our ,saviour ,god shone forth1--then all was changed3 not by works wrought in our own righteousness1 but according to ,his mercy ,he saved us1 through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the ,holy ,spirit1 that1 justified by ,his grace1 we might be made heirs in hope of life eternal4 ,the vision of the grace of ,god drives stubbornness1 lust1 and hatred from the soul4 ,it brings about1 for man and for society1 the palingenesia1 the new birth of ,creation1 rolling back the tide of evil and restoring the golden age of peace and innocence2 and crowns the joy of a renovated earth with the glories of a recovered heaven4 ,being the antagonist of sin1 grace comes of necessity into contrast with the law4 ,law is intrinsically the opposer of sin2 sin is lawlessness1 with ,paul as much as with ,john4#fd ,but law was powerless to cope with sin3 it was weak through the flesh4 ,instead of crushing sin1 the interposition of law served to inflame and stimulate it1 to bring into play its latent energy1 reducing the man most loyally disposed to moral despair4 ,by the law therefore is the knowledge of sin2 it worketh out wrath4 ,inevitably1 it makes men transgressors2 it brings upon them an inward condemnation1 a crushing sense of the ,divine anger and hostility4#fe ,that is all that law can do by itself4 ,holy and just and good1 notwithstanding1 to our perverse nature it becomes death 7,rom4 vii4 #ac2 #a ,cor4 xv4 #ef74 ,it is actually the strength of sin1 lending itself to extend and confirm its power4 ,we find in it a law of sin and death4 ,so that to be under law and under grace are two opposite and mutually exclusive states4 ,in the latter condition only is sin no longer our lord 7,rom4 vi4 #ad74 ,peter and the ,jews of ,antioch therefore1 in building up the legal principle again1 were in truth abolishing the grace of ,god4 ,if the ,galatians follow their example1 ,paul warns them that they will fall from grace4 ,accepting circumcision1 they become debtors to perform the whole law1--and that means transgression and the curse 7ch4 v4 #a-d2 iii4 #aj-ab2 ii4 #af-ah74 #fd ,rom4 vii4 #ab1 #ad2 #b ,thess4 ii4 #d-h2 comp4 #a ,john iii4 #d4 #fe ,rom4 iii4 #bj2 iv4 #ae2 v4 #bj2 vii4 #e1 #bd2 ,gal4 ii4 #af2 iii4 #aj1 #aa1 #ai4 ,while sin is the reply which man's nature makes to the demands of law1 faith is the response elicited by grace2 it is the door of the heart opening to grace4#ff ,grace and ,faith go hand in hand1 as ,law and ,transgression4 ,limiting the domain of faith1 ,peter virtually denied the sovereignty of grace4 ,he belied his confession made at the ,council of ,jerusalem3 ,by the grace of the ,lord ,jesus we trust to be saved1 even as the ,gentiles 7,acts xv4 #aa74 ,with ,law are joined such terms as ,works1 ,debt1 ,reward1 ,glorying1 proper to a righteousness of one's own4#fg ,with ,grace we associate ,gift1 ,promise1 ,predestination1 ,call1 ,election1 ,adoption1 ,inheritance1 belonging to the dialect of the righteousness which is of ,god by faith4#fh ,grace operates in the region of the ,spirit1 making for freedom2 but law1 however spiritual in origin1 has come to seek its accomplishment in the sphere of the flesh1 where it gendereth to bondage 7ch4 iv4 #bc-v4 #e2 #b ,cor4 iii4 #f1 #ag74 #ff ,rom4 iii4 #bd1 #be2 ,eph4 ii4 #h2 etc4 #fg ,rom4 iv4 #a-d2 xi4 #f2 ,gal4 ii4 #af2 iii4 #ab4 #fh ,rom4 iv4 #af2 viii4 #bh-ci2 xi4 #e2 ,eph4 i4 #d-f2 ,tit4 iii4 #g2 ,acts xx4 #cb2 ,gal4 iii4 #ah3 ' 4 ,grace appears1 however1 in another class of passages in ,paul's ,epistles1 of which ch4 i4 #ae1 ii4 #i are examples4 ,to the ,divine grace ,paul ascribes his personal salvation and ,apostolic call4 ,the revelation which made him a ,christian and an ,apostle1 was above all things a manifestation of grace4 ,wearing this aspect1 the glory of ,god appeared to him in the face of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the splendour that blinded and overwhelmed ,saul on his way to ,damascus1 was the glory of ,his grace4 ,the voice of ,jesus that fell on the persecutor's ear spoke in the accents of grace4 ,no scourge of the ,law1 no thunders of ,sinai1 could have smitten down the proud ,pharisee1 and beaten or scorched out of him his strong self-will1 like the complaint of ,jesus4 ,all the circumstances tended to stamp upon his soul1 fused into penitence in that hour1 the ineffaceable impression of the grace of ,god and of our ,saviour ,jesus ,christ4 ,such confessions as those of #a ,cor4 xv4 #h-aj1 and ,eph4 ii4 #g1 iii4 #g1 #h1 show how constantly this remembrance was present with the ,apostle ,paul and suffused his views of revelation1 giving to his ministry its peculiar tenderness of humility and ardour of gratitude4 ,this sentiment of boundless obligation to the grace of ,god1 with its pervasive effect upon the ,pauline doctrine1 is strikingly expressed in the doxology of #a ,tim4 i4 #aa-ag1--words which it is almost a sacrilege to put into the mouth of a falsarius3 ,according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed ,god1 wherewith ,i was intrusted1 444 who was aforetime a blasphemer and persecutor4444 ,but the grace of our ,lord abounded even more exceedingly4 ,faithful is the saying1 worthy to be received of all1 ',christ ,jesus came into the world to save sinners'--of whom ,i am chief4444 ,in me as chief ,christ ,jesus showed forth all ,his long-suffering4444 ,now to the ,king of the ages be honour and glory for ever4 ,amen4 ,who1 reading the ,apostle's story1 does not echo that ,amen8 ,no wonder that ,paul became the ,apostle of grace2 even as ,john1 the disciple whom ,jesus loved1 must perforce be the ,apostle of love4 ,first to him was ,god's grace revealed in its largest affluence1 that through him it might be known to all men and to all ages4 ,,ii4 ,side by side with the grace of ,god1 we find in ver4 #ba the death of ,christ4 ,he sets aside the former1 the ,apostle argues1 who by admitting legal righteousness nullifies the latter4 ,while grace embodies ,paul's fundamental conception of the ,divine character1 the death of ,christ is the fundamental fact in which that character manifests itself4 ,so the cross becomes the centre of ,paul's theology4 ,but it was1 in the first place1 the basis of his personal life4 ,faith in the ,son of ,god1 who loved me and gave ,himself up for me1 is the foundation of the life he now lives in the flesh4 ,here lay the stumbling-block of ,judaism4 ,theocratic pride1 ,pharisaic tradition1 could not1 as we say1 get over it4 ,a crucified ,messiah6 ,how revolting the bare idea4 ,but when1 as in ,paul's case1 ,judaistic pride did surmount this huge scandal and in spite of the offence of the cross arrive at faith in ,jesus1 it was at the cost of a severe fall4 ,it was broken in pieces1--destroyed once and for ever4 ,with the elder ,apostles the change had been more gradual2 they were never steeped in ,judaism as ,saul was4 ,for him to accept the faith of ,jesus was a revolution the most complete and drastic possible4 ,as a ,judaist1 the preaching of the cross was an outrage on his faith and his ,messianic hopes2 now it was that which most of all subdued and entranced him4 ,its power was extreme1 whether to attract or repel4 ,the more he had loathed and mocked at it before1 the more he is bound henceforth to exalt the cross of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,a proof of the ,divine anger against the ,nazarene he had once deemed it2 now he sees in it the token of ,god's grace in ,him to the whole world4 ,for ,paul therefore the death of ,christ imported the end of ,judaism4 ,i died to law1 he writes1--,i am crucified with ,christ4 ,once understanding what this death meant1 and realising his own relation to it1 on every account it was impossible to go back to ,legalism4 ,the cross barred all return4 ,the law that put ,him1 the sinless ,one1 to death1 could give no life to sinful men4 ,the ,judaism that pronounced ,his doom1 doomed itself4 ,who would make peace with it over the ,saviour's blood8 ,from the moment that ,paul knew the truth about the death of ,jesus1 he had done with ,judaism for ever4 ,henceforth he knew nothing--cherished no belief or sentiment1 acknowledged no maxim1 no tradition1 which did not conform itself to ,his death4 ,the world to which he had belonged died1 self-slain1 when it slew ,him4 ,from ,christ's grave a new world was rising1 for which alone ,paul lived4 ,but why should the grace of ,god take expression in a fact so appalling as ,christ's death8 ,what has death to do with grace8 ,it is the legal penalty of sin4 ,the conjunction of sin and death pervades the teaching of ,scripture1 and is a principle fixed in the conscience of mankind4 ,death1 as man knows it1 is the inevitable consequence and the universal witness of his transgression4 ,he carries about in his mortality the testimony that ,god is angry with the wicked every day 7,augustine74 ,the death of ,jesus ,christ cannot be taken out of this category4 ,he died a sinner's death4 ,he bore the penalty of guilt4 ,the prophetic antecedents of ,calvary1 the train of circumstances connected with it1 ,his own explanations in chief--are all in keeping with this purpose4 ,with amazement we behold the ,sinless made sin1 the ,just dying for the unjust4 ,he was born of a woman1 born under law3 under law ,he lived--and died4 ,grace is no law-breaker4 ,god must above all things be just ,himself1 if ,he is to justify others 7,rom4 iii4 #bf74 ,the death of ,jesus declares it4 ,that sublime sacrifice is1 as one might say1 the resultant of grace and law4 ,grace gives ,him up for us all2 it meets the law's claims in ,him1 even to the extreme penalty1 that from us the penalty may be lifted off4 ,he puts ,himself under law1 in order to buy out those under law 7ch4 iv4 #d1 #e74 ,in virtue of the death of ,christ1 therefore1 men are dealt with on an extra-legal footing1 on terms of grace2 not because law is ignored or has broken down2 but because it is satisfied beforehand4 ,god has set forth ,christ ,jesus a propitiation2 and in view of that accomplished fact1 ,he proceeds in the present time to justify him who is of faith in ,jesus 7,rom4 iii4 #bb-bf74 ,legalism is at an end1 for the ,law has spent itself on our ,redeemer4 ,for those that are in ,him there is now no condemnation4 ,this is to anticipate the fuller teaching of ch4 iii42 but the vicarious sacrifice is already implied when ,paul says1 ,he gave ,himself up for me--gave ,himself for our sins 7ch4 i4 #d74 ,the resurrection of ,christ is1 in ,paul's thought1 the other side of ,his death4 ,they constitute one event1 the obverse and reverse of the same reality4 ,for ,paul1 as for the first ,apostles1 the resurrection of ,jesus gave to ,his death an aspect wholly different from that it previously wore4 ,but the transformation wrought in their minds during the forty days1 in his case came about in a single moment1 and began from a different starting-point4 ,instead of being the merited punishment of a blasphemer and false ,messiah1 the death of ,calvary became the glorious self-sacrifice of the ,son of ,god4 ,the dying and rising of ,jesus were blended in the ,apostle's mind2 he always sees the one in the light of the other4 ,the faith that saves1 as he formulates it1 is at once a faith that ,christ died for our sins1 and that ,god raised ,him from the dead on the third day4#fi ,whichever of the two one may first apprehend1 it brings the other along with it4 ,the resurrection is not an express topic of this ,epistle4 ,nevertheless it meets us in its first sentence1 where we discern that ,paul's knowledge of the gospel and his call to proclaim it1 rested upon this fact4 ,in the passage before us the resurrection is manifestly assumed4 ,if the ,apostle is crucified with ,christ1--and yet ,christ lives in him1 it is not simply the teaching1 or the mission of ,jesus that lives over again in ,paul2 the life of the risen ,saviour has itself entered into his soul4 #fi #a ,cor4 xv4 #c1 #d1 #aa2 ,rom4 iv4 #bd1 #be2 x4 #i2 #a ,thess4 iv4 #ad4 ,,iii4 ,this brings us to the thought of the union of the believer with ,christ in death and life1 which is expressed in terms of peculiar emphasis and distinctness in ver4 #bj4 ,with ,christ ,i have been crucified2 and ,i live no longer2 it is ,christ that lives in me4 ,my earthly life is governed by faith in ,him who loved me and died for me4 ,christ and ,paul are one4 ,when ,christ died1 ,paul's former self died with ,him4 ,now it is the ,spirit of ,christ in heaven that lives within ,paul's body here on earth4 ,this union is first of all a communion with the dying ,saviour4 ,paul does not think of the sacrifice of ,calvary as something merely accomplished for him1 outside himself1 by a legal arrangement in which one person takes the place of another and1 as it were1 personates him4 ,the nexus between ,christ and ,paul is deeper than this4 ,christ is the centre and soul of the race1 holding towards it a spiritual primacy of which ,adam's natural headship was a type1 mediating between men and ,god in all the relations which mankind holds to ,god4#gj ,the death of ,jesus was more than substitutionary2 it was representative4 ,he had every right to act for us4 ,he was the ,one who alone could die for all2 in ,him all died 7#b ,cor4 v4 #ad1 #ae74 ,he carried us with ,him to the cross2 ,his death was in effect the death of those who sins ,he bore4 ,there was no legal fiction here2 no federal compact extemporised for the occasion4 ,the second ,man from heaven1 if second in order of time1 was first and fundamental in the spiritual order1 the organic ,head of mankind1 the root1 as well as the offspring of humanity4#ga ,the judgement that fell upon the race was a summons to ,him who held in ,his hands its interests and destinies4 ,paul's faith apprehends and endorses what ,christ has done on his behalf1--who loved me1 he cries1 and gave ,himself up for me4 ,when the ,apostle says1 ,i have been crucified with ,christ1 he goes back in thought to the scene of ,calvary2 there1 potentially1 all that was done of which he now realises in himself the issue4 ,his present salvation is1 so to speak1 a rehearsal of the ,saviour's death1 a likeness 7,rom4 vi4 #e7 of the supreme act of atonement1 which took place once for all when ,christ died for our sins4 #gj ,rom4 v4 #ad2 #a ,cor4 xv4 #bb1 #de-dh2 #a ,tim4 ii4 #e4 #ga #a ,cor4 xv4 #de-di2 comp4 ,col4 i4 #ae-ag2 ,john i4 #d1 #i1 #ae1 #af4 ,faith is the link between the past1 objective sacrifice1 and the present1 subjective apprehension of it1 by which its virtue becomes our own4 ,without such faith1 ,christ would have died in vain4 ,his death must then have been a great sacrifice thrown away4 ,wilful unbelief repudiates what the ,redeemer has done1 provisionally1 on our behalf4 ,this repudiation1 as individuals1 we are perfectly free to make4 ,the objective reconciliation effected in ,christ's death can after all benefit actually1 in their own personal consciousness1 only those who know and acknowledge it1 and feel themselves in their solidarity with ,christ to be so much one with ,him as to be able to appropriate inwardly ,his death and celestial life1 and to live over again ,his life and death2 those only1 in a word1 who truly believe in ,christ4 ,thus the idea of substitution in ,paul receives its complement and realisation in the mysticism of his conception of faith4 ,while ,christ objectively represents the whole race1 that relation becomes a subjective reality only in the case of those who connect themselves with ,him in faith in such a way as to fuse together with ,him into one spirit and one body1 as to find in ,him their ,head1 their soul1 their life and self1 and ,he in them ,his body1 ,his members and ,his temple4 ,thereby the idea of 'one for all' receives the stricter meaning of 'all in and with one4'#gb #gb ,pfleiderer1 ,hibbert ,lectures1 pp4 #fe1 #f4 ,dr4 ,pfleiderer's delicate and sympathetic interpretation of ,paul's teaching 7in these ,lectures1 and still more in his ,paulinism7 has made all students of the ,apostle his debtors1 however much they may quarrel with his historical criticism4 ,partaking the death of ,christ1 ,paul has come to share in ,his risen life4 ,on the cross he owned his ,saviour--owned ,his wounds1 ,his shame1 ,his agony of death1 and felt himself therein shamed1 wounded1 slain to death4 ,thus joined to his ,redeemer1 as by the nails that fastened ,him to the tree1 ,paul is carried with ,him down into the grave--into the grave1 and out again6 ,christ is risen from the dead3 so therefore is ,paul4 ,he died to sin once1 and now liveth to ,god2 death lords it over ,him no more3 this ,paul reckons equally true for himself 7,rom4 vi4 #c-aa74 ,the ,ego1 the old man that ,paul once was1 lies buried in the grave of ,jesus4 ,jesus ,christ alone1 the ,lord of the ,spirit has risen from that sepulchre1--has risen in the spirit of ,paul4 ,if any one should come to ,paul's doors and ask1 ,who lives here8 he would answer1 ,not ,saul of ,tarsus1 but ,jesus ,christ lives in this body of mine4 ,in this appropriation of the death and rising of the ,lord ,jesus1 this interpenetration of the spirit of ,paul and that of ,christ1 there are three stages corresponding to the ,friday1 ,saturday1 and ,sunday of ,eastertide4 ,christ died for our sins2 ,he was buried2 ,he rose again the third day3 so1 by consequence1 ,i am crucified with ,christ2 no longer do ,i live2 ,christ liveth in me4 ,this mystic union of the soul and its ,saviour bears fruit in the activities of outward life4 ,faith is no mere abstract and contemplative affection2 but a working energy1 dominating and directing all our human faculties4 ,it makes even the flesh its instrument1 which defied the law of ,god1 and betrayed the man to the bondage of sin and death4 ,there is a note of triumph in the words1--the life ,i now live in the flesh1 ,i live in faith6 ,the impossible has been accomplished4 ,the body of death is possessed by the ,spirit of life in ,christ ,jesus 7,rom4 vi4 #ab2 vii4 #bc-viii4 #a74 ,the flesh--the despair of the law--has become the sanctified vessel of grace4 ,paul's entire theology of ,redemption is contained in this mystery of union with ,christ4 ,the office of the ,holy ,spirit1 whose communion holds together the glorified ,lord and ,his members upon earth1 is implied in the teaching of ver4 #bj4 ,this is manifest1 when in ch4 iii4 #b-e we find the believer's union with ,christ described as receiving the ,spirit1 beginning in the ,spirit2 and when a little later the promise of the ,spirit embraces the essential blessings of the new life4#gc ,the doctrine of the ,church is also here4 ,for those in whom ,christ dwells have therein a common life1 which knows no ,jew and ,greek2 all are one man in ,him4#gd ,justification and sanctification alike are here2 the former being the realisation of our share in ,christ's propitiation for sin1 the latter our participation in ,his risen life1 spent to ,god4 ,finally1 the resurrection to eternal life and the heavenly glory of the saints spring from their present fellowship with the ,redeemer4 ,the ,spirit that raised ,jesus from the dead1 dwelling in us1 shall raise our mortal body to share with the perfected spirit ,his celestial life4 ,the resurrection of ,christ is the earnest of that which all ,his members will attain1--nay1 the material creation is to participate in the glory of the sons of ,god1 made like to ,him1 the firstborn of many brethren 7,rom4 viii4 #aa1 #af-bc1 #bi1 #cj2 ,phil4 iii4 #bj1 #ba74 #gc ,ch4 iii4 #ad2 iv4 #f1 #g2 v4 #e2 #a ,cor41 vi4 #ag1 #ai2 ,rom4 viii4 #i-af4 #gd ,ch4 iii4 #bh2 ,col4 iii4 #aa2 ,rom4 xv4 #e-g4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in all these vital truths ,paul's gospel was traversed by the ,legalism countenanced by ,peter at ,antioch4 ,the ,judaistic doctrine struck directly1 if not avowedly1 at the cross1 whose reproach its promoters sought to escape4 ,this charge is the climax of the ,apostle's contention against ,peter1 and the starting-point of his expostulation with the ,galatians in the following chapter4 ,if righteousness could be obtained by way of law1 then ,christ died for nought6 ,what could one say worse of any doctrine or policy1 than that it led to this8 ,and if works of law actually justify men1 and circumcision is allowed to make a difference between ,jew and ,greek before ,god1 the principle of legalism is admitted1 and the intolerable consequence ensues which ,paul denounces4 ,what did ,christ die for1 if men are able to redeem themselves after this fashion8 ,how can any one dare to build up in face of the cross his paltry edifice of self-wrought goodness1 and say by doing so that the expiation of ,calvary was superfluous and that ,jesus ,christ might have spared ,himself all that trouble6 ,and so1 on the one hand1 ,legalism impugns the grace of ,god4 ,it puts human relations to ,god on the footing of a debtor and creditor account2 it claims for man a ground for boasting in himself 7,rom4 iv4 #a-d71 and takes from ,god the glory of ,his grace4 ,in its devotion to statute and ordinance1 it misses the soul of obedience--the love of ,god1 only to be awakened by the knowledge of ,his love to us 7ch4 v4 #ad2 #a ,john iv4 #g-aa74 ,it sacrifices the ,father in ,god to the ,king4 ,it forgets that trust is the first duty of a rational creature toward his ,maker1 that the law of faith lies at the basis of all law for man4 ,on the other hand1 and by the same necessity1 ,legalism is fatal to the spiritual life in man4 ,whilst it clouds the ,divine character1 it dwarfs and petrifies the human4 ,what becomes of the sublime mystery of the life hid with ,christ in ,god1 if its existence is made contingent on circumcision and ritual performance8 ,to men who put meat and drink on a level with righteousness and peace and joy in the ,holy ,ghost1 or in their intercourse with fellow-,christians set points of ceremony above justice1 mercy1 and faith1 the very idea of a spiritual kingdom of ,god is wanting4 ,the religion of ,jesus and of ,paul regenerates the heart1 and from that centre regulates and hallows the whole ongoing of life4 ,legalism guards the mouth1 the hands1 the senses1 and imagines that through these it can drill the man into the ,divine order4 ,the latter theory makes religion a mechanical system2 the former conceives it as an inward1 organic life4 ,,the ,,doctrinal ,,polemic4 ,,chap4 iii4 #a-v4 #ab4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,galatian ,,folly4 ,o foolish ,galatians1 who did bewitch you1 before whose eyes ,jesus ,christ was openly set forth crucified8 ,this only would ,i learn from you1 ,received ye the ,spirit by the works of the law1 or by the hearing of faith8 ,are ye so foolish8 having begun in the ,spirit1 are ye now perfected in the flesh8 ,did ye suffer so many things in vain8 if it be indeed in vain4 ,he therefore that supplieth to you the ,spirit1 and worketh miracles among you1 doeth he it by the works of the law1 or by the hearing of faith8--,,gal4 iii4 #a-e4 ,at the beginning of ch4 iii4 falls the most marked division of this ,epistle4 ,so far1 since the exordium1 its course has been strictly narrative4 ,the ,apostle has been giving his readers to know many things concerning himself and his relations to the ,judean ,church of which they had been ignorant or misinformed4 ,now this preliminary task is over4 ,from explanation and defence he passes suddenly to the attack4 ,he turns sharply round upon the ,galatians1 and begins to ply them with expostulation and argument4 ,it is for their sake that ,paul has been telling this story of his past career4 ,in the light of the narration just concluded1 they will be able to see their folly and to understand how much they have been deceived4 ,here also the indignation so powerfully expressed in the ,introduction1 breaks forth again1 directed this time1 however1 against the ,galatians themselves and breathing grief more than anger4 ,and just as after that former outburst the letter settled down into the sober flow of narrative1 so from these words of reproach ,paul passes on to the measured course of argument which he pursues through the next two chapters4 ,in ch4 iv4 #h-bj1 and again in ch4 v4 #a-ab1 doctrine gives way to appeal and warning4 ,but these paragraphs still belong to the polemical division of the ,epistle1 extending from this point to the middle of ch4 v4 ,this section forms the central and principal part of the letter1 and is complete in itself4 ,its last words1 in ch4 v4 #f-ab1 will bring us round to the position from which we are now setting out4 ,this chapter stands1 nevertheless1 in close connection of thought with the foregoing4 ,the ,apostle's doctrine is grounded in historical fact and personal experience4 ,the theological argument has behind it the weight of his proved ,apostleship4 ,the ,judaistic dispute at ,antioch1 in particular1 bears immediately on the subject-matter of the third chapter4 ,peter's vacillation had its counterpart in the defection of the ,galatians4 ,the reproof and refutation which the elder ,apostle brought upon himself1 ,paul's readers must have felt1 touched them very nearly4 ,in the crafty intriguers who made mischief at ,antioch1 they could see the image of the ,judaists who had come into their midst4 ,above all1 it was the cross which ,cephas had dishonoured1 whose efficacy he had virtually denied4 ,his act of dissimulation1 pushed to its issue1 nullified the death of ,christ4 ,this is the gravamen of ,paul's impeachment4 ,and it is the foundation of all his complaints against the ,galatians4 ,round this centre the conflict is waged4 ,by its tendency to enhance or diminish the glory of the ,saviour's cross1 ,paul judges of the truth of every teaching1 the worth of every policy4 ,angel or ,apostle1 it matters not--whoever disparages the cross of ,jesus ,christ finds in ,paul an unflinching enemy4 ,the thought of ,christ dying in vain rouses in him the strong emotion under which he indites the first verses of this chapter4 ,what greater folly1 what stranger bewitchment can there be1 than for one who has seen ,jesus ,christ crucified to turn away to some other spectacle1 to seek elsewhere a more potent and diviner charm6 ,o senseless ,galatians6 ,i4 ,here then was the beginning of their folly4 ,the ,galatians forgot their ,saviour's cross4 ,this was the first step in their backsliding4 ,had their eyes continued to be fixed on ,calvary1 the ,legalists would have argued and cajoled in vain4 ,let the cross of ,christ once lose its spell for us1 let its influence fail to hold and rule the soul1 and we are at the mercy of every wind of doctrine4 ,we are like sailors in a dark night on a perilous coast1 who have lost sight of the lighthouse beacon4 ,our ,christianity will go to pieces4 ,if ,christ crucified should cease to be its sovereign attraction1 from that moment the ,church is doomed4 ,this forgetfulness of the cross on the part of the ,galatians is the more astonishing to ,paul1 because at first they had so vividly realised its power1 and the scene of ,calvary1 as ,paul depicted it1#ge had taken hold of their nature with extraordinary force4 ,he was conscious at the time--so his words seem to intimate--that it was given him1 amongst this susceptible people1 to draw the picture with unwonted effect4 ,the gaze of his hearers was rivetted upon the sight4 ,it was as if the ,lord ,jesus hung there before their eyes4 ,they beheld the ,divine sufferer4 ,they heard ,his cries of distress and of triumph4 ,they felt the load which crushed ,him4 ,nor was it their sympathies alone and their reverence1 to which the spectacle appealed4 ,it stirred their conscience to its depths4 ,it awakened feelings of inward humiliation and contrition1 of horror at the curse of sin1 of anguish under the bitterness and blackness of its death4 ,it was you1 ,paul would say--you and ,i1 for whom ,he died4 ,our sins laid on ,him that ignominy1 those agonies of body and of spirit4 ,he died the ,just for the unjust1 that ,he might bring us to ,god4 ,they looked1 they listened1 till their hearts were broken1 till all their sins cried out against them2 and in a passion of repentance they cast themselves before the ,crucified1 and took ,him for their ,christ and ,king4 ,from the foot of the cross they rose new men1 with heaven's light upon their brow1 with the cry ,abba1 ,father rising from their lips1 with the ,spirit of ,god and of ,jesus ,christ1 the consciousness of a ,divine sonship1 filling their breast4 #ge ,the verb 7openly set forth7 probably means painted up rather than placarded4 ,this more vivid meaning belongs to 1 and there is no sufficient reason why it should not attach to -4 ,it is entirely in place here4 ,jesus ,christ crucified is not an announcement to be made1 but an object to be delineated4 ,has all this passed away8 ,have the ,galatians forgotten the shame1 the glory of that hour--the tears of penitence1 the cries of joy and gratitude which the vision of the cross drew from their souls1 the new creation it had wrought within them1 the ardour of spirit and high resolve with which they pledged themselves to ,christ's service8 ,was the influence of that transforming experience to prove no more enduring than the morning cloud and early dew8 ,foolish ,galatians6 ,had they not the wit to see that the teaching of the ,legalists ran counter to all they had then experienced1 that it made the death of ,christ of none effect1 which had so mighty and saving an effect upon themselves8 ,were they so senseless1 so bereft of reason and recollection8 ,the ,apostle is amazed4 ,he cannot understand how impressions so powerful should prove so transient1 and that truths thus clearly perceived and realised should come to be forgotten4 ,some fatal spell has been cast over them4 ,they are bewitched to act as they are doing4 ,a deadly fascination1 like that of the evil eye1 has paralyzed their minds4 ,the ancient belief alluded to in the word the ,apostle uses here1#gf is not altogether a superstition4 ,the malignity that darts out in the glance of the evil eye is a presage of mischief4 ,not without reason does it cause a shudder4 ,it is the sign of a demonic jealousy and hate4 ,satan has entered into the soul which emits it1 as once into ,judas4 ,behind the spite of the ,jewish false brethren ,paul recognised a preternatural malice and cunning1 like that with which the ,serpent beguiled ,eve4#gg ,to this darker source of the fascination his question1 ,who hath bewitched you8 appears to point4 #gf ,on see the note in ,lightfoot's ,commentary in loc42 also ,grimm's ,n4 ,t4 ,lexicon4 ,the ,scripture calleth envy an 'evil eye2' 444 so there still seemeth to be acknowledged in the act of envy an ejaculation or irradiation of the eye4 ,envy hath in it something of witchcraft4444 ,it is the proper attribute of the ,devil1 who is called ',the envious man1 that soweth tares among the wheat by night4'--7,lord ,bacon3 ,essay ix47 #gg ,comp4 #b ,cor4 xi4 #a-d1 a passage closely parallel to this context1 containing what is expressed here and in ,gal4 i4 #f1 #g2 iv4 #aa1 #ag1 #ah4 ,,ii4 ,losing sight of the cross of ,christ1 the ,galatians were furthermore rejecting the ,holy ,spirit of ,god4 ,this heavy reproach the ,apostles urges upon his readers through the rest of the paragraph1 pausing only for a moment in ver4 #d to recall their earlier sufferings for ,christ's sake in further witness against them4 ,i have but one question to put to you1 he says--,you received the ,spirit3 how did that come about8 ,was it through what you did according to law8 or what you heard in faith8 ,you know well that this great blessing was given to your faith4 ,can you expect to retain this gift of ,god on other terms than those on which you received it8 ,have you begun with the ,spirit to be brought to perfection by the flesh8 7ver4 #c74444 ,nay1 ,god still bestows on you ,his ,spirit1 with gifts of miraculous energy2 and ,i ask again1 whether these displays attend on the practice of law-works1 or upon faith's hearing8 7ver4 #e74 ,the ,apostle wished the ,galatians to test the competing doctrines by their effects4 ,the ,spirit of ,god had put ,his seal on the ,apostle's teaching1 and on the faith of his hearers4 ,did any such manifestation accompany the preaching of the ,legalist8 ,that is all he wants to know4 ,his cause must stand or fall by the demonstration of the ,spirit4 ,by signs and wonders1 and diverse gifts of the ,holy ,spirit1 ,god was wont to bear witness with the ministers and witnesses of ,jesus ,christ 7,heb4 ii4 #c1 #d2 #a ,cor4 xii4 #d-aa73 was this testimony on the side of ,paul1 or the ,circumcisionists8 ,did it sustain the gospel of the grace of ,god1 or the other gospel of ,legalism8 ,he1 the ,spirit of truth1 shall testify of ,me1 ,christ had said2 and so ,john1 at the end of the ,apostolic age3 ,it is the ,spirit that beareth witness1 because the ,spirit is truth4 ,when the ,galatians accepted the message of the cross proclaimed by ,paul's lips1 the ,holy ,spirit fell on them1 as on the ,jewish ,church at the ,pentecost1 and the ,gentile believers in the house of ,cornelius 7,acts x4 #dd72 the love of ,god was poured out in their hearts through the ,holy ,ghost that was given them 7,rom v4 #e74 ,as a mighty1 rushing wind this supernatural influence swept through their souls4 ,like fire from heaven it kindled in their spirit1 consuming their lusts and vanities1 and fusing their nature into a new1 holy passion of love to ,christ and to ,god the ,father4 ,it broke from their lips in ecstatic cries1 unknown to human speech2 or moved them to unutterable groans and pangs of intercession 7,rom4 viii4 #bf74 ,there were men in the ,galatian ,churches on whom the baptism of the ,spirit conferred besides miraculous charismata1 superhuman powers of insight and of healing4 ,these gifts ,god continued to minister amongst them 7,god is unquestionably the agent in ver4 #e74 ,paul asks them to observe on what conditions1 and to whom1 these extraordinary gifts are distributed4 ,for the receiving of the ,spirit was an infallible sign of true ,christian faith4 ,this was the very proof which in the first instance had convinced ,peter and the ,judean ,church that it was ,god's will to save the ,gentiles1 independently of the ,mosaic law 7,acts xi4 #ae-ah74 ,receiving the ,spirit1 the ,galatian believers knew that they were the sons of ,god4 ,god sent forth the ,spirit of ,his ,son into their hearts1 crying1 ,abba1 ,father 7ch4 iv4 #f1 #g74 ,when ,paul speaks of receiving the ,spirit1 it is this that he thinks of most of all4 ,the miraculous phenomena attending ,his visitations were facts of vast importance2 and their occurrence is one of the historical certainties of the ,apostolic age4 ,they were signs1 conspicuous1 impressive1 indispensable at the time--monuments set up for all time4 ,but they were in their nature variable and temporary4 ,there are powers greater and more enduring than these4 ,the things that abide are faith1 hope1 love2 love chiefest of the three4 ,hence when the ,apostle in a later chapter enumerates the qualities that go to make up the fruit of the ,spirit1 he says nothing of tongues or prophecies1 or gifts of healing2 he begins with love4 ,wonder-working powers had their times and seasons1 their peculiar organs2 but every believer in ,christ--whether ,jew or ,greek1 primitive or medival or modern ,christian1 the heir of sixty generations of faith or the latest convert from heathenism--joins in the testimony1 ,the love of ,god is shed abroad in our heart by the ,holy ,ghost given unto us4 ,this mark of ,god's indwelling ,spirit the ,galatians had possessed4 ,they were sons of ,god through faith in ,christ ,jesus 7ch4 iii4 #bf74 ,and with the filial title they had received the filial nature4 ,they were taught of ,god to love one another4 ,being sons of ,god in ,christ1 they were also heirs 7ch4 iv4 #g2 ,rom viii4 #ag74 ,they possessed the earnest of the heavenly inheritance 7,eph4 i4 #ad71 the pledge of their bodily redemption 7,rom4 viii4 #aj-bc71 and of eternal life in the fellowship of ,christ4 ,in their initial experience of the salvation which is in ,jesus ,christ they had the foretaste of its eternal glory1 of the grace belonging to them that love our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 which is in incorruption4#gh #gh #b ,tim4 ii4 #aj2 ,eph4 vi4 #bd 7 is incorruption everywhere else in ,paul3 why not here87 ,no legal condition was laid down at this beginning of their ,christian life2 no work of any kind interposed between the belief of the heart and the conscious reception of the new life in ,christ4 ,even their baptism1 significant and memorable as it was1 had not been required as in itself a precondition of salvation4 ,sometimes after baptism1 but often--as in the case of ,cornelius' household--before the rite was administered1 the ,holy ,ghost fell on believing souls 7,acts x4 #dd-dh2 xi4 #ae1 #af74 ,they confessed with their mouth the ,lord ,jesus2 they believed in their hearts that ,god had raised ,him from the dead1--and they were saved4 ,baptism is1 as ,paul's teaching elsewhere shows1#gi the expression1 not the medium--the symbol1 and not the cause1 of the new birth which it might precede or follow4 ,the ,catholic doctrine of the opus operatum in the sacraments is radically anti-,pauline2 it is ,judaism over again4 ,the process by which the ,galatians became ,christians was essentially spiritual4 ,they had begun in the ,spirit4 #gi ,ch4 iii4 #bf1 #bg2 ,rom4 vi4 #b-d2 ,col4 ii4 #aa-ac2 ,tit4 iii4 #e4 ,and so they must continue4 ,to begin in the ,spirit1 and then look for perfection to the flesh1 to suppose that the work of faith and love was to be consummated by ,pharisaic ordinances1 that ,moses could lead them higher than ,christ1 and circumcision effect for them what the power of the ,holy ,ghost failed to do--this was the height of unreason4 ,are you so senseless8 the ,apostle asks4 ,he dwells on this absurdity1 pressing home his expostulation with an emphasis that shows he is touching the centre of the controversy between himself and the ,judaizers4 ,they admitted1 as we have shown in ,chapter ,,ix41 that ,gentiles might enter the kingdom of ,god through faith and by the baptism of the ,spirit4 ,this was settled at the ,council of ,jerusalem4 ,without a formal acceptance of this evangelical principle1 we do not see how the ,legalists could again have found entrance into ,gentile ,christian ,churches1 much less have carried ,peter and ,barnabas and the liberal ,jews of ,antioch with them1 as they did4 ,they no longer attempted to deny salvation to the uncircumcised2 but they claimed for the circumcised a more complete salvation1 and a higher status in the ,church4 ,yes1 ,paul has laid the foundation1 they would say2 now we have come to perfect his work1 to give you the more advanced instruction1 derived from the fountain-head of ,christian knowledge1 from the first ,apostles in ,jerusalem4 ,if you would be perfect1 keep the commandments2 be circumcised1 like ,christ and ,his disciples1 and observe the law of ,moses4 ,if you be circumcised1 ,christ will profit you much more than hitherto2 and you will inherit all the blessings promised in ,him to the children of ,abraham4 ,such was the style of persuasion employed by the ,judaizers4 ,it was well calculated to deceive ,jewish believers1 even those best affected to their ,gentile brethren4 ,it appeared to maintain the prescriptive rights of ,judaism and to satisfy legitimate national pride1 without excluding the ,gentiles from the fold of ,christ4 ,nor is it difficult to understand the spell which the circumcisionist doctrine exerted over susceptible ,gentile minds1 after some years of ,christian training1 of familiarity with the ,old ,testament and the early history of ,israel4 ,who is there that does not feel the charm of ancient memories and illustrious names8 ,many a noble mind is at this present time bewitched1 many a gifted and pious spirit is carried away by influences precisely similar4 ,apostolical succession1 patristic usage1 catholic tradition1 the authority of the ,church--what words of power are these6 ,how wilful and arbitrary it appears to rely upon any present experience of the grace of ,god1 upon one's own reading of the gospel of ,christ1 in contradiction to claims advanced under the patronage of so many revered and time-honoured names4 ,the man1 or the community1 must be deeply conscious of having received the ,spirit1 that can feel the force of attractions of this nature1 and yet withstand them4 ,it requires a clear view of the cross of ,jesus ,christ1 an absolute faith in the supremacy of spiritual principles to enable one to resist the fascinations of ceremonialism and tradition4 ,they offer us a more ornate worship1 a more refined type of piety1 consecrated by antiquity2 they invite us to enter a selecter circle1 and to place ourselves on a higher level than that of the vulgar religionism of faith and feeling4 ,it is the ,galatian persuasion over again4 ,ceremony1 antiquity1 ecclesiastical authority are after all poor substitutes for faith and love4 ,if they come between us and the living ,christ1 if they limit and dishonour the work of ,his ,spirit1 we have a right to say1 and we will say with the ,apostle ,paul1 ,away with them6 ,the men of tradition are well content that we should begin in the ,spirit1 provided they may have the finishing of our faith4 ,to prey upon the ,pauline ,churches is their ancient and natural habit4 ,an evangelical beginning is too often followed by a ritualistic ending4 ,and ,paul is ever begetting spiritual children1 to see himself robbed of them by these bewitching ,judaizers4 ,o foolish ,galatians1 he seems still to be saying1 ,what is it that charms you so much in all this ritual and externalism8 ,does it bring you nearer to the cross of ,christ8 ,does it give you more of ,his ,spirit8 ,is it a spiritual satisfaction that you find in these works of ,church law1 these priestly ordinances and performances8 ,how can the sons of ,god return to such childish rudiments8 ,why should a religion which began so spiritually seek its perfection by means so formal and mechanical8 ,the conflict which this ,epistle signalised is one that has never ceased4 ,its elements belong to human nature4 ,it is the contest between the religion of the ,spirit and that of the letter1 between the spontaneity of personal faith and the rights of usage and prescription4 ,the history of the ,church is largely the record of this incessant struggle4 ,in every ,christian community1 in every earnest and devout spirit1 it is repeated in some new phase4 ,when the ,fathers of the ,church in the second and third centuries began to write about the new law and to identify the ,christian ministry with the ,aaronic priesthood1 it was evident that ,legalism was regaining its ascendancy4 ,already the foundations were laid of the ,catholic ,church-system1 which culminated in the ,papacy of ,rome4 ,what ,paul's opponents sought to do by means of circumcision and ,jewish prerogatives1 that the ,catholic legalists have done1 on a larger scale1 through the claims of the priesthood and the sacramental offices4 ,the spiritual functions of the private ,christian1 one after another1 were usurped or carelessly abandoned4 ,step by step the hierarchy interposed itself between ,christ and ,his people's souls1 till its mediation became the sole channel and organ of the ,holy ,spirit's influence4 ,so it has come to pass1 by a strange irony of history1 that under the forms of ,pauline doctrine and in the name of the ,apostle of the ,gentiles joined with that of ,peter1 catholic ,christendom1 delivered by him from the ,jewish yoke1 has been entangled in a bondage in some respects even heavier and more repressive4 ,if tradition and prescription are to regulate our ,christian belief1 they lead us infallibly to ,rome1 as they would have lead the ,galatians to perishing ,jerusalem4 ,,iii4 ,paul said he had but one question to ask his readers1 that which we have already discussed4 ,and yet he does put to them1 by way of parenthesis1 another 7ver4 #d71 suggested by what he has already called to mind1 touching the beginning of their ,christian course3 ,have ye suffered so many things in vain8 ,their folly was the greater in that it threatened to deprive them of the fruit of their past sufferings in the cause of ,christ4 ,the ,apostle does not say this without a touch of softened feeling4 ,remembering the trials these ,galatians had formerly endured1 the sacrifices they had made in accepting the gospel1 he cannot bear to think of their apostasy4 ,hope breaks through his fear1 grief passes into tenderness as he adds1 ,if it be indeed in vain4 ,the link of reminiscence connecting vv4 #c and #d is the same as that we find in #a ,thess4 i4 #f3 ,ye received the word in much affliction1 with joy of the ,holy ,ghost4#hj #hj ,comp4 #b ,thess4 i4 #d-f2 ,ph4 i4 #bh-cj2 ,rom4 viii4 #ag2 #b ,tim4 i4 #h4 ,we need not seek for any peculiar cause of these sufferings2 nor wonder that the ,apostle does not mention them elsewhere4 ,every infant ,church had its baptism of persecution4 ,no one could come out of heathen society and espouse the cause of ,jesus1 without making himself a mark for ridicule and violence1 without the rupture of family and public ties1 and many painful sacrifices4 ,the hatred of ,paul's fellow-countrymen towards him was an additional cause of persecution to the ,churches he had founded4 ,they were followers of the crucified ,nazarene1 of the apostate ,saul4 ,and they had to suffer for it4 ,with the joy of their new life in ,christ1 there had come sharp pangs of loss and grief1 heart-wounds deep and lasting4 ,this slight allusion sufficiently reminds the ,apostle's readers of what they had passed through at the time of their conversion4 ,and now were they going to surrender the faith won by such a struggle8 ,would they let themselves be cheated of blessings which had cost them so dear8 ,so many things1 he asks1 did you suffer in vain8 ,he will not believe it4 ,he cannot think that this brave beginning will have so mean an ending4 ,if ,god counts them worthy of ,his kingdom for which they suffered1 let them not deem themselves unworthy4 ,surely they have not escaped from the tyranny of heathenism1 in order to yield up their liberties to ,jewish intrigue1 to the cozenage of false brethren who seek to exalt themselves at their expense 7ch4 ii4 #d2 iv4 #ag2 vi4 #ab1 #ac74 ,will flattery beguile from them the treasure to which persecution had made them cling the more closely8 ,too often1 alas1 the ,galatian defection is repeated4 ,the generous devotion of youth is followed by the lethargy and formalism of a prosperous age2 and the man who at twenty-five was a pattern of godly zeal1 at fifty is a finished worldling4 ,the ,christ whom he adored1 the cross at which he bowed in those early days--he seldom thinks of them now4 ,i remember thee1 the kindness of thy youth1 the love of thine espousals2 how thou wentest after ,me in the wilderness4 ,success has spoiled him4 ,the world's glamour has bewitched him4 ,he bids fair to end in the flesh4 ,in a broader sense1 the ,apostle's question addresses itself to ,churches and communities untrue to the spiritual principles that gave them birth4 ,the faith of the primitive ,church1 that endured three centuries of persecution1 yielded its purity to ,imperial blandishments4 ,our fathers1 ,puritan and ,scottish1 staked their lives for the crown-rights of ,jesus ,christ and the freedom of faith4 ,through generations they endured social and civil ostracism in the cause of religious liberty4 ,and now that the battle is won1 there are those amongst their children who scarcely care to know what the struggle was about4 ,out of indolence of mind or vanity of scepticism1 they abandon at the bidding of priest or sophist the spiritual heritage bequeathed to them4 ,did they then suffer so many things in vain8 ,was it an illusion that sustained those heroic souls1 and enabled them to stop the mouths of lions and subdue kingdoms8 ,was it for nought that so many of ,christ's witnesses in these realms since the ,reformation days have suffered the loss of all things rather than yield by subjection to a usurping and worldly priesthood8 ,and can we1 reaping the fruit of their faith and courage1 afford in these altered times to dispense with the principles whose maintenance cost our forefathers so dear a price8 ,o foolish ,galatians1 ,paul in that case might well say to us again6 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,abraham',s ,,blessing ,,and ,,the ,,law',s ,,curse4 ,even as ,abraham believed ,god1 and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness4 ,know therefore that they which be of faith1 the same are sons of ,abraham4 ,and the scripture1 foreseeing that ,god justifieth the ,gentiles by faith1 preached the gospel beforehand unto ,abraham1 saying1 ,in thee shall all the nations be blessed4 ,so then they which be of faith are blessed with the faithful ,abraham4 ,for as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse3 for it is written1 ,cursed is every one which continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law1 to do them4 ,now that no man is justified in the law in the sight of ,god1 is evident3 for1 ,the righteous shall live by faith2 and the law is not of faith2 but1 ,he that doeth them shall live in them4 ,christ redeemed us from the curse of the law1 having become a curse for us3 for it is written1 ,cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree3 that upon the ,gentiles might come the blessing of ,abraham in ,christ ,jesus2 that we might receive the promise of the ,spirit through faith4--,,gal4 iii4 #f-ad4 ,faith then1 we have learnt1 not works of law1 was the condition on which the ,galatians received the ,spirit of ,christ4 ,by this gate they entered the ,church of ,god1 and had come into possession of the spiritual blessings common to all ,christian believers1 and of those extraordinary gifts of grace which marked the ,apostolic days4 ,in this mode of salvation1 the ,apostle goes on to show1 there was after all nothing new4 ,the righteousness of faith is more ancient than legalism4 ,it is as old as ,abraham4 ,his religion rested on this ground4 ,the promise of the ,spirit1 held by him in trust for the world1 was given to his faith4 ,you received the ,spirit1 ,god works in you ,his marvellous powers1 by the hearing of faith--even as ,abraham believed ,god1 and it was reckoned to him for righteousness4 ,in the hoary patriarchal days as now1 in the time of promise as of fulfilment1 faith is the root of religion2 grace invites1 righteousness waits upon the hearing of faith4 ,so ,paul declares in vv4 #f-i1 and re-affirms with emphasis in ver4 #ad4 ,the intervening sentences set forth by contrast the curse that hangs over the man who seeks salvation by way of law and personal merit4 ,thus the two standing types of religion1 the two ways by which men seek salvation1 are put in contrast with each other--faith with its blessing1 law with its curse4 ,the former is the path on which the ,galatians had entered1 under the guidance of ,paul2 the latter1 that to which the ,judaic teachers were leading them4 ,so far the two principles stand only in antagonism4 ,the antinomy will be resolved in the latter part of the chapter4 ,but why does ,paul make so much of the faith of ,abraham8 ,not only because it furnished him with a telling illustration1 or because the words of ,gen4 xv4 #f supplied a decisive proof-text for his doctrine3 he could not well have chosen any other ground4 ,abraham's case was the instantia probans in this debate4 ,we are ,abraham's seed3#ha this was the proud consciousness that swelled every ,jewish breast4 ,abraham's bosom was the ,israelite's heaven3 even in ,hades his guilty sons could claim pity from ,father ,abraham 7,luke xvi4 #ai-ca74 ,in the use of this title was concentrated all the theocratic pride and national bigotry of the ,jewish race4 ,to the example of ,abraham the ,judaistic teacher would not fail to appeal4 ,he would tell the ,galatians how the patriarch was called1 like themselves1 out of the heathen world to the knowledge of the true ,god2 how he was separated from his ,gentile kindred1 and received the mark of circumcision to be worn thenceforth by all who followed in his steps1 and who sought the fulfilment of the promise granted to ,abraham and his seed4 #ha ,matt4 iii4 #i2 ,john viii4 #cc-ei4 ,the ,apostle holds1 as strongly as any ,judaist1 that the promise belongs to the children of ,abraham4 ,but what makes a son of ,abraham8 ,birth1 true ,jewish blood1 of course1 replied the ,judaist4 ,the ,gentile1 in his view1 could only come into a share of the heritage by receiving circumcision1 the mark of legal adoption and incorporation4 ,paul answers this question by raising another4 ,what was it that brought ,abraham his blessing8 ,to what did he owe his righteousness8 ,it was faith3 so ,scripture declares--,abraham believed ,god4 ,righteousness1 covenant1 promise1 blessing--all turned upon this4 ,and the true sons of ,abraham are those who are like him3 ,know then that the men of faith1 these are ,abraham's sons4 ,this declaration is a blow1 launched with studied effect full in the face of ,jewish privilege4 ,only a ,pharisee1 only a ,rabbi1 knew how to wound in this fashion4 ,like the words of ,stephen's defence1 such sentences as these stung ,judaic pride to the quick4 ,no wonder that his fellow-countrymen1 in their fierce fanaticism of race1 pursued ,paul with burning hate and set a mark upon his life4 ,but the identity of ,abraham's blessing with that enjoyed by ,gentile ,christians is not left to rest on mere inference and analogy of principle4 ,another quotation clinches the argument3 ,in thee1 ,god promised to the patriarch1 shall be blessed--not the natural seed1 not the circumcised alone--but all the nations 7,gentiles76#hb ,and the ,scripture said this1 foreseeing what is now taking place1 namely1 that ,god justifieth the ,gentiles by faith4 ,so that in giving this promise to ,abraham it gave him his gospel before the time 774 ,good news indeed it was to the noble patriarch1 that all the nations--of whom as a wide traveller he knew so much1 and over whose condition he doubtless grieved--were finally to be blessed with the light of faith and the knowledge of the true ,god2 and thus blessed through himself4 ,in this prospect he rejoiced to see ,christ's day2 nay the ,saviour tells us1 like ,moses and ,elijah1 he saw it and was glad4 ,up to this point in ,abraham's history1 as ,paul's readers would observe1 there was no mention of circumcision or legal requirement 7ver4 #ag2 ,rom4 iv4 #i-ac74 ,it was on purely evangelical principles1 by a declaration of ,god's grace listened to in thankful faith1 that he had received the promise which linked him to the universal ,church and entitled every true believer to call him father4 ,so that the men of faith are blessed1 along with faithful ,abraham4 #hb ,gen4 xii4 #c3 the first promise to ,abraham4 ,in this text the ,hebrew and the ,greek 7,,lxx7 say1 ,all the tribes 7families7 of the earth4 ,the synonymous 1 with its special ,jewish connotation1 suited ,paul's purpose better2 and it is used in the repetition of the promise in ,gen4 xviii4 #ah4 ,i4 ,what then1 we ask1 was the nature of ,abraham's blessing8 ,in its essence1 it was righteousness4 ,the blessing of vv4 #i and #ad is synonymous with the justification of vv4 #f and #h1 embracing with it all its fruits and consequences4 ,no higher benediction could come to any man than that ,god should count him righteous4 ,paul and the ,legalists agreed in designating righteousness before ,god man's chief good4 ,but they and he intended different things by it4 ,nay1 ,paul's conception of righteousness1 it is said1 differed radically from that of the ,old ,testament1 and even of his companion writers in the ,new ,testament4 ,confessedly1 his doctrine presents this idea under a peculiar aspect4 ,but there is a spiritual identity1 a common basis of truth1 in all the ,biblical teaching on this vital subject4 ,abraham's righteousness was the state of a man who trustfully accepts ,god's word of grace1 and is thereby set right with ,god1 and put in the way of being and doing right thenceforward4 ,in virtue of his faith1 ,god regarded and dealt with ,abraham as a righteous man4 ,righteousness of character springs out of righteousness of standing4 ,god makes a man righteous by counting him so6 ,this is the ,divine paradox of ,justification by ,faith4 ,when the ,hebrew author says1 ,god counted it to him for righteousness1 he does not mean in lieu of righteousness1 as though faith were a substitute for a righteousness not forthcoming and now rendered superfluous2 but so as to amount to righteousness1 with a view to righteousness4 ,this reckoning is the sovereign act of the ,creator1 who gives what ,he demands1 who maketh alive the dead1 and calleth the things that are not as though they were 7,rom4 iv4 #ag-bb74 ,he sees the fruit in the germ4 ,there is nothing arbitrary1 or merely forensic in this imputation4 ,faith is1 for such a being as man1 the spring of all righteousness before ,god1 the one act of the soul which is primarily and supremely right4 ,what is more just than that the creature should trust his ,creator1 the child his ,father8 ,here is the root of all right understanding and right relations between men and ,god--that which gives ,god1 so to speak1 a moral hold upon us4 ,and by this trust of the heart1 yielding itself in the obedience of faith to its ,lord and ,redeemer1 it comes into communion with all those energies and purposes in ,him which make for righteousness4 ,hence from first to last1 alike in the earlier and later stages of revelation1 man's righteousness is not his own2 it is the righteousness that is of ,god1 based upon faith 7,phil4 iii4 #i74 ,faith unites us to the source of righteousness1 from which unbelief severs us4 ,so that ,paul's teaching leads us to the fountain-head1 while other ,biblical teachers for the most part guide us along the course of the same ,divine righteousness for man4 ,his doctrine is required by theirs2 their doctrine is implied1 and indeed more than once expressly stated1 in his4#hc #hc ,rom4 viii4 #d2 #a ,cor4 vi4 #i2 ,eph4 v4 #i2 ,tit4 ii4 #ab-ad2 etc4 ,the ,old ,testament deals with the materials of character1 with the qualities and behaviour constituting a righteous man1 more than with the cause or process that makes him righteous4 ,all the more significant therefore are such pronouncements as that of ,gen4 xv4 #f1 and the saying of ,hab4 ii4 #d1 ,paul's other leading quotation on this subject4 ,this second reference1 taken from the times of ,israel's declension1 a thousand years and more after ,abraham1 gives proof of the vitality of the righteousness of faith4 ,the haughty1 sensual ,chaldean is master of the earth4 ,kingdom after kingdom he has trampled down4 ,judah lies at his mercy1 and has no mercy to expect4 ,but the prophet looks beyond the storm and ruin of the time4 ,art ,thou not from everlasting1 my ,god1 my ,holy ,one8 ,we shall not die 7,hab4 i4 #ab74 ,the faith of ,abraham lives in his breast4 ,the people in whom that faith is cannot die4 ,while empires fall1 and races are swept away in the flood of conquest1 ,the just shall live by his faith4#hd ,if faith is seen here at a different point from that given before1 it is still the same faith of ,abraham1 the grasp of the soul upon the ,divine word--there first evoked1 here steadfastly maintained1 there and here the one ground of righteousness1 and therefore of life1 for man or for people4 ,habakkuk and the remnant of his day were blessed with faithful ,abraham2 how blessed1 his splendid prophecy shows4 ,righteousness is of faith2 life of righteousness3 this is the doctrine of ,paul1 witnessed to by law and prophets4 #hd ,of faith qualifies live in the ,hebrew of the prophet1 and in the ,,lxx1 also in the quotation of ,heb4 x4 #ch4 ,the presumption is that it does so in ,rom4 i4 #ag1 and ,gal4 iii4 #aa4 ,we can see no sufficient reason in these passages to the contrary4 ,into what a life of blessing the righteousness of faith introduced faithful ,abraham1 these ,galatian students of the ,old ,testament very well knew4 ,twice#he is he designated the friend of ,god4 ,the ,arabs still call him el khalil1--the friend4 ,his image has impressed itself with singular force on the ,oriental mind4 ,he is the noblest figure of the ,old ,testament1 surpassing ,isaac in force1 ,jacob in purity1 and both in dignity of character4 ,the man to whom ,god said1 ,fear not1 ,abraham3 ,i am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward2 and again1 ,i am ,god ,almighty2 walk before me1 and be thou perfect3 on how lofty a platform of spiritual eminence was he set6 ,the scene of ,gen4 xviii4 throws into striking relief the greatness of ,abraham1 the greatness of our human nature in him2 when the ,lord says1 ,shall ,i hide from ,abraham the thing that ,i do8 and allows him to make his bold intercession for the guilty cities of the ,plain4 ,even the trial to which the patriarch was subjected in the sacrifice of ,isaac1 was a singular honour1 done to one whose faith was counted worthy to endure this unexampled strain4 ,his religion exhibits an heroic strength and firmness1 but at the same time a large-hearted1 genial humanity1 an elevation and serenity of mind1 to which the temper of those who boasted themselves his children was utterly opposed4 ,father of the ,jewish race1 ,abraham was no ,jew4 ,he stands before us in the morning light of revelation a simple1 noble1 archaic type of man1 true father of many nations4 ,and his faith was the secret of the greatness which has commanded for him the reverence of four thousand years4 ,his trust in ,god made him worthy to receive so immense a trust for the future of mankind4 #he #b ,chron4 xx4 #g2 ,isai4 xli4 #h2 comp4 ,jas4 ii4 #bc4 ,with ,abraham's faith1 the ,gentiles inherit his blessing4 ,they were not simply blessed in him1 through his faith which received and handed down the blessing1--but blessed with him4 ,their righteousness rests on the same principle as his4 ,religion reverts to its earlier purer type4 ,just as in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews ,melchizedek's priesthood is adduced as belonging to a more ,christlike order1 antecedent to and underlying the ,aaronic2 so we find here1 beneath the cumbrous structure of legalism1 the evidence of a primitive religious life1 cast in a larger mould1 with a happier style of experience1 a piety broader1 freer1 at once more spiritual and more human4 ,reading the story of ,abraham1 we witness the bright dawn of faith1 its spring-time of promise and of hope4 ,these morning hours passed away2 and the sacred history shuts us in to the hard school of ,mosaism1 with its isolation1 its mechanical routine and ritual drapery1 its yoke of legal exaction ever growing more burdensome4 ,of all this the ,church of ,christ was to know nothing4 ,it was called to enter into the labours of the legal centuries1 without the need of sharing their burdens4 ,in the ,father of the faithful and the ,friend of ,god ,gentile believers were to see their exemplar1 to find the warrant for that sufficiency and freedom of faith of which the natural children of ,abraham unjustly strove to rob them4 ,,ii4 ,but if the ,galatians are resolved to be under the ,law1 they must understand what this means4 ,the legal state1 ,paul declares1 instead of the blessing of ,abraham1 brings with it a curse3 ,as many as are of law-works1 are under a curse4 ,this the ,apostle1 in other words1 had told ,peter at ,antioch4 ,he maintained that whoever sets up the law as a ground of salvation1 makes himself a transgressor 7ch4 ii4 #ah72 he brings upon himself the misery of having violated law4 ,this is no doubtful contingency4 ,the law in explicit terms pronounces its curse against every man who1 binding himself to keep it1 yet breaks it in any particular4 ,the ,scripture which ,paul quotes to this effect1 forms the conclusion of the commination uttered by the people of ,israel1 according to the directions of ,moses1 from ,mount ,ebal1 on their entrance into ,canaan3 ,cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them4#hf ,how terribly had that imprecation been fulfilled6 ,they had in truth pledged themselves to the impossible4 ,the ,law had not been kept--could not be kept on merely legal principles1 by man or nation4 ,the confessions of the ,old ,testament1 already cited in ch4 ii4 #af1 were proof of this4 ,that no one had continued in all things written in the law to do them1 goes without saying4 ,if ,gentile ,christians adopt the law of ,moses1 they must be prepared to render an obedience complete and unfaltering in every detail 7ch4 v4 #c7--or have this curse hanging perpetually above their heads4 ,they will bring on themselves the very condemnation which was lying so heavily upon the conscience of ,israel after the flesh4 #hf ,deut4 xxvii4 #bf2 ,jos4 viii4 #cb-ce4 ,all things1 given by the ,,lxx in the former passage1 is wanting in the ,hebrew4 ,but the phrase is true to the spirit of this text1 and is read in the parallel ,deut4 xxviii4 #ae4 ,this sequence of law and transgression belonged to ,paul's deepest convictions4 ,the law1 he says1 worketh out wrath 7,rom4 iv4 #ad1 #ae74 ,this is an axiom of ,paulinism4 ,human nature being what it is1 law means transgression2 and the law being what it is1 transgression means ,divine anger and the curse 7see p4 #adc74 ,the law is just2 the penalty is necessary4 ,the conscience of the ancient people of ,god compelled them to pronounce the imprecation dictated by ,moses4 ,the same thing occurs every day1 and under the most varied moral conditions4 ,every man who knows what is right and will not do it1 execrates himself4 ,the consciousness of transgression is a clinging1 inward curse1 a witness of ill-desert1 foreboding punishment4 ,the law of conscience1 like that of ,ebal and ,gerizim1 admits of no exceptions1 no intermission4 ,in the majesty of its unbending sternness it can only be satisfied by our continuing in all things that it prescribes4 ,every instance of failure1 attended with whatever excuse or condonation1 leaves upon us its mark of self-reproach4 ,and this inward condemnation1 this consciousness of guilt latent in the human breast1 is not self-condemnation alone1 not a merely subjective state2 but it proceeds from ,god's present judgement on the man4 ,it is the shadow of ,his just displeasure4 ,what ,paul here proves from ,scripture1 bitter experience had taught him4 ,as the law unfolded itself to his youthful conscience1 he approved it as holy and just and good4 ,he was pledged and resolved to observe it in every point4 ,he must despise himself if he acted otherwise4 ,he strove to be--in the sight of men indeed he was--touching the righteousness which is in the law1 blameless4 ,if ever a man carried out to the letter the legal requirements1 and fulfilled the moralist's ideal1 it was ,saul of ,tarsus4 ,yet his failure was complete1 desperate6 ,while men accounted him a paragon of virtue1 he loathed himself2 he knew that before ,god his righteousness was worthless4 ,the law of sin in his members defied the law of his reason1 and made its power the more sensible the more it was repressed4 ,the curse thundered by the six tribes from ,ebal resounded in his ears4 ,and there was no escape4 ,the grasp of the law was relentless1 because it was just1 like the grasp of death4 ,against all that was holiest in it the evil in himself stood up in stark1 immitigable opposition4 ,o wretched man that ,i am1 groans the proud ,pharisee1 who shall deliver me6 ,from this curse ,christ had redeemed him4 ,and he would not1 if he could help it1 have the ,galatians expose themselves to it again4 ,on legal principles1 there is no safety but in absolute1 flawless obedience1 such as no man ever has rendered1 or ever will4 ,let them trust the experience of centuries of ,jewish bondage4 ,verses #aa1 #ab support the assertion that the ,law issues in condemnation1 by a further1 negative proof4 ,the argument is a syllogism1 both whose premises are drawn from the ,old ,testament4 ,it may be formally stated thus4 ,major premise 7evangelical maxim73 ,the just man lives of faith#hg 7ver4 #aa74 ,minor3 ,the man of law does not live of faith 7for he lives by doing3 legal maxim1 ver4 #ab74hh ,ergo3 ,the man of law is not just before ,god 7ver4 #aa74 ,while therefore the ,scripture by its afore-cited commination closes the door of life against righteousness of works1 that door is opened to the men of faith4 ,the two principles are logical contradictories4 ,to grant righteousness to faith is to deny it to legal works4 ,this assumption furnishes our minor premise in ver4 #ab4 ,the legal axiom is1 ,he that doeth them shall live in them3 that is to say1 ,the law gives life for doing--not therefore for believing2 we get no sort of legal credit for that4 ,the two ways have different starting-points1 as they lead to opposite goals4 ,from faith one marches1 through ,god's righteousness1 to blessing2 from works1 through self-righteousness1 to the curse4 #hg ,hab4 ii4 #d4 ,for the construction1 see note on p4 #ahf4 #hh ,lev4 xviii4 #e4 ,the two paths now lie before us--the ,pauline and the legal method of salvation1 the ,abrahamic and the ,mosaic scheme of religion4 ,according to the latter1 one begins by keeping so many rules--ethical1 ceremonial1 or what not2 and after doing this1 one expects to be counted righteous by ,god4 ,according to the former1 the man begins by an act of self-surrendering trust in ,god's word of grace1 and ,god already reckons him just on that account1 without his pretending to anything in the way of merit for himself4 ,in short1 the ,legalist tries to make ,god believe in him3 ,abraham and ,paul are content to believe in ,god4 ,they do not set themselves over against ,god1 with a righteousness of their own which ,he is bound to recognise2 they commit themselves to ,god1 that ,he may work out ,his righteousness in them4 ,along this path lies blessing--peace of heart1 fellowship with ,god1 moral strength1 life in its fulness1 depth1 and permanence4 ,from this source ,paul derives all that was noblest in the ,church of the ,old ,covenant4 ,and he puts the calm1 grand image of ,father ,abraham before us for our pattern1 in contrast with the narrow1 painful1 bitter spirit of ,jewish legalism1 inwardly self-condemned4 ,,iii4 ,but how pass from this curse to that blessing8 ,how escape from the nemesis of the broken law into the freedom of ,abraham's faith8 ,to this question ver4 #ac makes answer3 ,christ bought us out of the curse of the law1 having become a curse for us4 ,christ's redemption changes the curse into a blessing4 ,we entered this ,epistle under the shadow of the cross4 ,it has been all along the centre of the writer's thought4 ,he has found in it the solution of the terrible problem forced upon him by the law4 ,law had led him to ,christ's cross2 laid him in ,christ's grave2 and there left him1 to rise with ,christ a new1 free man1 living henceforth to ,god 7ch4 ii4 #ai-ba74 ,so we understand the purpose and the issue of the death of ,jesus ,christ2 now we must look more narrowly at the fact itself4 ,christ became a curse6 ,verily the ,apostle was not seeking to please or persuade men4 ,this expression throws the scandal of the cross into the strongest relief4 ,far from veiling it or apologizing for it1 ,paul accentuates this offence4 ,his experience taught him that ,jewish pride must be compelled to reckon with it4 ,no1 he would not have the offence of the cross abolished 7ch4 v4 #aa74 ,and did not ,christ become a curse8 ,could the fact be denied by any ,jew8 ,his death was that of the most abandoned criminals4 ,by the combined verdict of ,jew and ,gentile1 of civil and religious authority1 endorsed by the voice of the populace1 ,he was pronounced a malefactor and blasphemer4 ,but this was not all4 ,the hatred and injustice of men are hard to bear2 yet many a sensitive man has borne them in a worthy cause without shrinking4 ,it was a darker dread1 an infliction far more crushing1 that compelled the cry1 ,my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me6 ,against the maledictions of men ,jesus might surely at the worst have counted on the ,father's good pleasure4 ,but even that failed ,him4 ,there fell upon ,his soul the death of death1 the very curse of sin--abandonment by ,god6 ,men did esteem ,him--and for the moment ,he esteemed ,himself--smitten of ,god4 ,he hung there abhorred of men1 forsaken of ,his ,god2 earth all hate1 heaven all blackness to ,his view4 ,are the ,apostle's words too strong8 ,delivering up ,his ,son to pass through this baptism1 ,god did in truth make ,him a curse for us4 ,by ,his determinate counsel the ,almighty set ,jesus ,christ in the place of condemned sinners1 and allowed the curse of this wicked world to claim ,him for its victim4 ,the death that befell ,him was chosen as if for the purpose of declaring ,him accursed4 ,the ,jewish people have thus stigmatized ,him4 ,they made the ,roman magistrate and the heathen soldiery their instrument in gibbeting their ,messiah4 ,shall ,i crucify your ,king8 said ,pilate4 ,yes1 they answered1 crucify ,him6 ,their rulers thought to lay on the hated ,nazarene an everlasting curse4 ,was it not written1 ,a curse of ,god is every one that hangeth on a tree8#hi ,this saying attached in the ,jewish mind a peculiar loathing to the person of the dead thus exposed4 ,once crucified1 the name of ,jesus would surely perish from the lips of men2 no ,jew would hereafter dare to profess faith in ,him4 ,his cause could never surmount this ignominy4 ,in later times the bitterest epithet that ,jewish scorn could fling against our ,saviour 7,god forgive them671 was just this word of ,deuteronomy1 hattaly--the hangd one4 #hi ,the ,hebrew of ,deut4 xxi4 #bc reads a curse of ,god2 the ,,lxx1 cursed by ,god 7 however1 not as in ,paul's phrase74 ,the ,apostle omits the two last words1 not inadvertently1 as ,meyer supposes1 for he must have had a painfully vivid remembrance of the wording of the original1 but out of a reverence that made it impossible to speak of the ,redeemer as accursed by ,god4 ,this sentence of execration1 with its shame freshly smarting1 ,paul has seized and twined into a crown of glory4 ,hanged on a tree1 crushed with reproach--accursed1 you say1 ,he was1 my ,lord1 my ,saviour6 ,it is true4 ,but the curse ,he bore was ours4 ,his death1 unmerited by ,him1 was our ransom-price1 endured to buy us out of our curse of sin and death4 ,this is the doctrine of the vicarious sacrifice4 ,in speaking of ransom and redemption1 using the terms of the market1 ,christ and ,his ,apostles are applying human language to things in their essence unutterable1 things which we define in their effects rather than in themselves4 ,we know1 we prophesy1 in part4 ,we know that we were condemned by ,god's holy law2 that ,christ1 ,himself sinless1 came under the law's curse1 and taking the place of sinners1 became sin for us2 and that ,his interposition has brought us out of condemnation into blessing and peace4 ,how can we conceive the matter otherwise than as it is put in ,his own words3 ,he gave ,himself a ransom--,the ,good ,shepherd giveth ,his life for the sheep8 ,he suffers in our room and stead2 ,he bears inflictions incurred by our sins1 and due to ourselves2 ,he does this at the ,divine ,will1 and under the ,divine ,law3 what is this but to buy us out1 to pay the price which frees us from the prison-house of death8 99 99 99 99 99 ,christ redeemed us1 says the ,apostle1 thinking questionless of himself and his ,jewish kindred1 on whom the law weighed so heavily4 ,his redemption was offered to the ,jew first4 ,but not to the ,jew alone1 nor as a ,jew4 ,the time of release had come for all men4 ,abraham's blessing long withheld1 was now to be imparted1 as it had been promised1 to all the tribes of the earth4 ,in the removal of the legal curse1 ,god comes near to men as in the ancient days4 ,his love is shed abroad2 ,his spirit of sonship dwells in human hearts4 ,in ,christ ,jesus crucified1 risen1 reigning--a new world comes into being1 which restores and surpasses the promise of the old4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,covenant ,,of ,,promise4 ,brethren1 ,i speak after the manner of men3 ,though it be but a man's testament1 yet when it hath been confirmed1 no one maketh it void1 or addeth thereto4 ,now to ,abraham were the promises spoken1 and to his seed4 ,he saith not1 ,and to seeds1 as of many1 but as of one1 ,and to thy seed1 which is ,christ4 ,now this ,i say2 ,a testament confirmed beforehand by ,god1 the law1 which came four hundred and thirty years after1 doth not disannul1 so as to make the promise of none effect4 ,for if the inheritance is of the law1 it is no more of promise3 but ,god hath granted it to ,abraham by promise4--,,gal4 iii4 #ae-ah4 ,gentile ,christians1 ,paul has shown1 are already sons of ,abraham4 ,their faith proves their descent from the father of the faithful4 ,the redemption of ,christ has expiated the law's curse1 and brought to its fulfilment the primeval promise4 ,it has conferred on ,jew and ,gentile alike the gift of the ,holy ,spirit1 sealing the ,divine inheritance4 ,abraham's blessing has come upon the ,gentiles in ,christ ,jesus4 ,what can ,judaism do for them more8 ,except1 in sooth1 to bring them under its inevitable curse4 ,but here the ,judaist might interpose3 ,granting so much as this1 allowing that ,god covenanted with ,abraham on terms of faith1 and that believing ,gentiles are entitled to his blessing1 did not ,god make a second covenant with ,moses1 promising further blessings upon terms of law8 ,if the one covenant remains valid1 why not the other8 ,from the school of ,abraham the ,gentiles must pass on to the school of ,moses4 ,this inference might appear to follow1 by parity of reasoning1 from what the ,apostle has just advanced4 ,and it accords with the position which the legalistic opposition had now taken up4 ,the people of the circumcision1 they argued1 retained within the ,church of ,christ their peculiar calling2 and ,gentiles1 if they would be perfect ,christians1 must accept the covenant-token and the unchangeable ordinances of ,israel4 ,faith is but the first step in the new life2 the discipline of the law will bring it to completion4 ,release from the curse of the law1 they might contend1 leaves its obligations still binding1 its ordinances unrepealed4 ,christ came not to destroy1 but to fulfil4 ,so we are brought to the question of the relation of law and promise1 which is the theoretical1 as that of ,gentile to ,jewish ,christianity is the practical problem of the ,epistle4 ,the remainder of the chapter is occupied with its discussion4 ,this section is the special contribution of the ,epistle to ,christian theology--a contribution weighty enough of itself to give to it a foremost place amongst the documents of ,revelation4 ,paul has written nothing more masterly4 ,the breadth and subtlety of his reason1 his grasp of the spiritual realities underlying the facts of history1 are conspicuously manifest in these paragraphs1 despite the extreme difficulty and obscurity of certain sentences4 ,this part of the ,epistle is in fact a piece of inspired historical criticism2 it is a magnificent reconstruction of the course of sacred history4 ,it is ,paul's theory of doctrinal development1 condensing into a few pregnant sentences the rationale of ,judaism1 explaining the method of ,god's dealings with mankind from ,abraham down to ,christ1 and fitting the legal system into its place in this order with an exactness and consistency that supply an effectual verification of the hypothesis4 ,to such a height has the ,apostle been raised1 so completely is he emancipated from the fetters of ,jewish thought1 that the whole ,mosaic economy becomes to his mind no more than an interlude1 a passing stage in the march of ,revelation4 ,this passage finds its counterpart in ,romans xi4 ,here the past1 there the future fortunes of ,israel are set forth4 ,together the two chapters form a ,jewish theodicy1 a vindication of ,god's treatment of the chosen people from first to last4 ,rom4 v4 #ab-ba and #a ,cor4 xv4 #bj-eg supply a wider exposition1 on the same principles1 of the fortunes of mankind at large4 ,the human mind has conceived nothing more splendid and yet sober1 more humbling and exalting1 than the view of man's history and destiny thus sketched out4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,apostle seeks to establish1 in the first place1 the fixedness of the ,abrahamic covenant4 ,this is the main purport of the passage4 ,at the same time1 in ver4 #af1 he brings into view the ,object of the covenant1 the person designated by it--,christ1 its proper ,heir4 ,this consideration1 though stated here parenthetically1 lies at the basis of the settlement made with ,abraham2 its importance is made manifest by the after course of ,paul's exposition4 ,at this point1 where the discussion opens out into its larger proportions1 we observe that the sharp tone of personal feeling with which the chapter commenced has disappeared4 ,in ver4 #ae the writer drops into a conciliatory key4 ,he seems to forget the wounded ,apostle in the theologian and instructor in ,christ4 ,brethren1 he says1 ,i speak in human fashion--,i put this matter in a way that every one will understand4 ,he lifts himself above the ,galatian quarrel1 and from the height of his argument addresses himself to the common intelligence of mankind4 ,but is it covenant1 or testament1 that the ,apostle intends here8 ,i speak after the manner of men1 he continues2 if the case were that of a man's 1 once ratified1 no one would set it aside1 or add to it4 ,the presumption is that the word is employed in its accepted1 every-day significance4 ,and that unquestionably was testament4 ,it would never occur to an ordinary ,greek reader to interpret the expression otherwise4 ,philo and ,josephus1 the representatives of contemporary ,hellenistic usage1 read this term1 in the ,old ,testament1 with the connotation of in current ,greek4#ij ,the context of this passage is in harmony with their usage4 ,the covenant of ver4 #ae corresponds to the blessing of ,abraham1 and the promise of the ,spirit in the two preceding verses4 ,again in ver4 #ag1 promise and covenant are synonymous4 ,now a covenant of promise amounts to a testament4 ,it is the prospective nature of the covenant1 the bond which it creates between ,abraham and the ,gentiles1 which the ,apostle has been insisting on ever since ver4 #f4 ,it belongs to ,abraham and to his seed2 it comes by way of gift and grace 7vv4 #ah1 #bb72 it invests those taking part in it with sonship and rights of inheritance 7vv4 #ah1 #bf1 #bi1 etc47 ,these ideas cluster round the thought of a testament2 they are not inherent in covenant1 strictly considered4 ,even in the ,old ,testament this latter designation fails to convey all that belongs to the ,divine engagements there recorded4 ,in a covenant the two parties are conceived as equals in point of law1 binding themselves by a compact that bears on each alike4 ,here it is not so4 ,the disposition of affairs is made by ,god1 who in the sovereignty of ,his grace hath granted it to ,abraham4 ,it was surely a reverent sense of this difference which dictated to the men of the ,septuagint the use of rather than 1 the ordinary term for covenant or compact1 in their rendering of the ,hebrew berith4 #ij ,see the able and convincing elucidation of in ,cremer's ,biblico-,theological ,lexicon of ,n4,t4 ,greek4 ,this aspect of the covenants now becomes their commanding feature4 ,our ,lord's employment of this word at the ,last ,supper gave it the affecting reference to ,his death which it has conveyed ever since to the ,christian mind4#ia ,the ,latin translators were guided by a true instinct when in the ,scriptures of the ,new ,covenant they wrote testamentum everywhere1 not fdus or pactum1 for this word4 ,the testament is a covenant--and something more4 ,the testator designates his heir1 and binds himself to grant to him at the predetermined time 7ch4 iv4 #b7 the specified boon1 which it remains for the beneficiary simply to accept4 ,such a ,divine testament has come down from ,abraham to his ,gentile sons4 #ia ,see ,heb4 ix4 #af-ah1 where so much ingenuity has been expended to turn testament into covenant4 ,sweet is the memory of ,his name1 ,who blessed us in ,his will4 ,i4 ,now when a man has made a testament1 and it has been ratified--proved1 as we should say--it stands good for ever4 ,no one has afterwards any power to set it aside1 or to attach to it a new codicil1 modifying its previous terms4 ,there it stands--a document complete and unchangeable 7ver4 #ae74 ,such a testament ,god gave to ,abraham and his seed4 ,it was ratified 7or confirmed7 by the final attestation made to the patriarch after the supreme trial of his faith in the sacrifice of ,isaac3 ,by myself have ,i sworn1 saith the ,lord1 that in blessing ,i will bless thee1 and in multiplying multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven2 444 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed4#ib ,in human testaments the ratification takes place through another2 but ,god having no greater1 yet to show to the heirs of the promise the immutability of ,his counsel confirmed it by ,his own oath4 ,nothing was wanting to mark the ,abrahamic covenant with an indelible character1 and to show that it expressed an unalterable purpose in the mind of ,god4 #ib ,gen4 xxii4 #af-ah2 ,heb4 vi4 #ag4 ,with such ,divine asseveration were the promises spoken to ,abraham1 and his seed4 ,this last word diverts the ,apostle's thoughts for a moment1 and he gives a side-glance at the person thus designated in the terms of the promise4 ,then he returns to his former statement1 urging it home against the ,legalists3 ,now this is what ,i mean3 a testament previously ratified by ,god1 the ,law which dates four hundred and thirty years later cannot annul1 so as to abrogate the ,promise 7ver4 #ag74 ,the bearing of ,paul's argument is now perfectly clear4 ,he is using the promise to ,abraham to overthrow the supremacy of the ,mosaic law4 ,the ,promise was1 he says1 the prior settlement4 ,no subsequent transaction could invalidate it or disqualify those entitled under it to receive the inheritance4 ,that testament lies at the foundation of the sacred history4 ,the ,jew least of all could deny this4 ,how could such an instrument be set aside8 ,or what right has any one to limit it by stipulations of a later date8 ,when a man amongst ourselves bequeaths his property1 and his will is publicly attested1 its directions are scrupulously observed2 to tamper with them is a crime4 ,shall we have less respect to this ,divine settlement1 this venerable charter of human salvation8 ,you say1 ,the ,law of ,moses has its rights3 it must be taken into account as well as the ,promise to ,abraham4 ,true2 but it has no power to cancel or restrict the ,promise1 older by four centuries and a half4 ,the later must be adjusted to the earlier dispensation1 the ,law interpreted by the ,promise4 ,god has not made two testaments--the one solemnly committed to the faith and hope of mankind1 only to be retracted and substituted by something of a different stamp4 ,he could not thus stultify ,himself4 ,and we must not apply the ,mosaic enactments1 addressed to a single people1 in such a way as to neutralise the original provisions made for the race at large4 ,our human instincts of good faith1 our reverence for public compacts and established rights1 forbid our allowing the ,law of ,moses to trench upon the inheritance assured to mankind in the ,covenant of ,abraham4 ,this contradiction necessarily arises if the ,law is put on a level with the ,promise4 ,to read the ,law as a continuation of the older instrument is virtually to efface the latter1 to make the promise of none effect4 ,the two institutes proceed on opposite principles4 ,if the inheritance is of law1 it is no longer of promise 7ver4 #ah74 ,law prescribes certain things to be done1 and guarantees a corresponding reward--so much pay for so much work4 ,that1 in its proper place1 is an excellent principle4 ,but the promise stands on another footing3 ,god hath bestowed it on ,abraham by way of grace 71 ver4 #ah74 ,it holds out a blessing conferred by the ,promiser's good will1 to be conveyed at the right time without demanding anything more from the recipient than faith1 which is just the will to receive4 ,so ,god dealt with ,abraham1 centuries before any one had dreamed of the ,mosaic system of law4 ,god appeared to ,abraham in ,his sovereign grace2 ,abraham met that grace with faith4 ,so the ,covenant was formed4 ,and so it abides1 clear of all legal conditions and claims of human merit1 an everlasting covenant 7,gen4 xvii4 #g2 ,heb4 xiii4 #bj74 ,its permanence is emphasized by the tense of the verb relating to it4 ,the ,greek perfect describes settled facts1 actions or events that carry with them finality4 ,accordingly we read in vv4 #ae and #ag of a ratified covenant--one that stands ratified4 ,in ver4 #ah1 ,god hath granted it to ,abraham--a grace never to be recalled4 ,again 7ver4 #ai71 the seed to whom the promise hath been made--once for all4 ,a perfect participle is used of the ,law in ver4 #ag 771 for it is a fact of abiding significance that it was so much later than the ,promise2 and in ver4 #bd1 the ,law hath been our tutor1--its work in that respect is an enduring benefit4 ,otherwise1 the verbs relating to ,mosaism in this context are past in tense1 describing what is now matter of history1 a course of events that has come and gone4 ,meanwhile the ,promise remains1 an immovable certainty1 a settlement never to be disturbed4 ,the emphatic position of 7ver4 #ah71 at the very end of the paragraph1 serves to heighten this effect4 ,it is ,god that hath bestowed this grace on ,abraham4 ,there is a challenge in the word1 as though ,paul asked1 ,who shall make it void8#ic #ic ,comp4 ,rom4 viii4 #cc1 #cd2 ,acts xi4 #ag2 #b ,cor4 i4 #ba1 for a similar emphasis4 ,paul's chronology in ver4 #ag has been called in question4 ,we are not much concerned to defend it4 ,whether ,abraham preceded ,moses by four hundred and thirty years1 as the ,septuagint and the ,samaritan text of ,exod4 xii4 #dj1 #da affirm1 and as ,paul's contemporaries commonly supposed2 or whether1 as it stands in the ,hebrew text of ,exodus1 this was the length of time covered by the sojourn in ,egypt1 so that the entire period would be about half as long again1 is a problem that ,old ,testament historians must settle for themselves2 it need not trouble the reader of ,paul4 ,the shorter period is amply sufficient for his purpose4 ,if any one had said1 ,no1 ,paul2 you are mistaken4 ,it was six hundred and thirty1 not four hundred and thirty years from ,abraham to ,moses2 he would have accepted the correction with the greatest goodwill4 ,he might have replied1 ,so much the better for my argument4#id ,it is possible to strain out the gnats of ,biblical criticism1 and yet to swallow huge camels of improbability4 #id ,we gain nothing1 and we may lose much1 in trying to settle questions of ,old ,testament historical criticism by casual allusions in the ,new ,testament4 7,see ,mr4 ,beet's sensible observations1 in his ,commentary ad loc47 ,,ii4 ,ver4 #af remains for our consideration4 ,in proving the steadfastness of the covenant with ,abraham1 the ,apostle at the same time directs our attention to the ,person designated by it1 to whom its fulfilment was guaranteed4 ,to ,abraham were the promises spoken1 and to his seed--'to thy seed1' which is ,christ4 ,this identification the ,judaist would not question4 ,he made no doubt that the ,messiah was the legatee of the testament1 the seed to whom it hath been promised4 ,whatever partial and germinant fulfilments the ,promise had received1 it is on ,christ in chief that the inheritance of ,israel devolves4 ,in its true and full intent1 this promise1 like all predictions of the triumph of ,god's kingdom1 was understood to be waiting for ,his advent4 ,the fact that this ,promise looked to ,christ1 lends additional force to the ,apostle's assertion of its indelibility4 ,the words unto ,christ1 which were inserted in the text of ver4 #ag at an early time1 are a correct gloss4 ,the covenant did not lie between ,god and ,abraham alone4 ,it embraced ,abraham's descendants in their unity1 culminating in ,christ4 ,it looked down the stream of time to the last ages4 ,abraham was its starting-point2 ,christ its goal4 ,to thee--and to thy seed3 these words span the gulf of two thousand years1 and overarch the ,mosaic dispensation4 ,so that the covenant vouchsafed to ,abraham placed him1 even at that distance of time1 in close personal relationship with the ,saviour of mankind4 ,no wonder that it was so evangelical in its terms1 and brought the patriarch an experience of religion which anticipated the privileges of ,christian faith4 ,god's covenant with ,abraham1 being in effect ,his covenant with mankind in ,christ1 stands both first and last4 ,the ,mosaic economy holds a second and subsidiary place in the scheme of ,revelation4 ,the reason the ,apostle gives for reading ,christ into the promise is certainly peculiar4 ,he has been taxed with false exegesis1 with rabbinical hair-splitting and the like4 ,here1 it is said1 is a fine example of the art1 familiar to theologians1 of torturing out of a word a predetermined sense1 foreign to its original meaning4 ,he doth not say1 and to seeds1 as referring to many2 but as referring to one1 and to thy seed1 which is ,christ4 ,paul appears to infer from the fact that the word seed is grammatically singular1 and not plural1 that it designates a single individual1 who can be no other than ,christ4 ,on the surface this does1 admittedly1 look like a verbal quibble4 ,the word seed1 in ,hebrew and ,greek as in ,english1 is not used1 and could not in ordinary speech be used in the plural to denote a number of descendants4 ,it is a collective singular4 ,the plural applies only to different kinds of seed4 ,the ,apostle1 we may presume1 was quite as well aware of this as his critics4 ,it does not need philological research or grammatical acumen to establish a distinction obvious to common sense4 ,this piece of word-play is in reality the vehicle of an historical argument1 as unimpeachable as it is important4 ,abraham was taught1 by a series of lessons1#ie to refer the promise to the single line of ,isaac4 ,paul elsewhere lays great stress on this consideration2 he brings ,isaac into close analogy with ,christ2 for he was the child of faith1 and represented in his birth a spiritual principle and the communication of a supernatural life4#if ,the true seed of ,abraham was in the first instance one1 not many4 ,in the primary realisation of the ,promise1 typical of its final accomplishment1 it received a singular interpretation2 it concentrated itself on the one1 spiritual offspring1 putting aside the many1 natural and heterogeneous 7,hagarite or ,keturite7 descendants4 ,and this sifting principle1 this law of election which singles out from the varieties of nature the ,divine type1 comes into play all along the line of descent1 as in the case of ,jacob1 and of ,david4 ,it finds its supreme expression in the person of ,christ4 ,the ,abrahamic testament devolved under a law of spiritual selection4 ,by its very nature it pointed ultimately to ,jesus ,christ4 ,when ,paul writes ,not to seeds1 as of many1 he virtually says that the word of inspiration was singular in sense as well as in form2 in the mind of the ,promiser1 and in the interpretation given to it by events1 it bore an individual reference1 and was never intended to apply to ,abraham's descendants at large1 to the many and miscellaneous children according to flesh4 #ie ,gen4 xii4 #b1 #c2 xv4 #b-f2 xvii4 #d-h1 #ae-ba2 xxii4 #af-ah4 #if ,ch4 iv4 #ba-ca2 ,rom4 iv4 #ag-bb2 comp4 ,heb4 xi4 #aa1 #ab4 ,paul's interpretation of the ,promise has abundant analogies4 ,all great principles of human history tend to embody themselves in some chosen seed4 ,they find at last their true heir1 the one man destined to be their fulfilment4 ,moses1 ,david1 ,paul2 ,socrates and ,alexander2 ,shakespere1 ,newton1 are examples of this4 ,the work that such men do belongs to themselves4 ,had any promise assured the world of the gifts to be bestowed through them1 in each case one might have said beforehand1 ,it will have to be1 ,not as of many1 but as of one4 ,it is not multitudes1 but men that rule the world4 ,by one man sin entered into the world3 we shall reign in life through the one ,jesus ,christ4 ,from the first words of hope given to the repentant pair banished from ,eden1 down to the latest predictions of the ,coming ,one1 the ,promise became at every stage more determinate and individualising4 ,the finger of prophecy pointed with increasing distinctness1 now from this side1 now from that1 to the veiled form of the ,chosen of ,god--the seed of the woman1 the seed of ,abraham1 the star out of ,jacob1 the ,son of ,david1 the ,king ,messiah1 the suffering ,servant of the ,lord1 the smitten ,shepherd1 the ,son of man1 coming in the clouds of heaven4 ,in ,his person all the lines of promise and preparation meet2 the scattered rays of ,divine light are brought to a focus4 ,and the desire of all nations1 groping1 half-articulate1 unites with the inspired foresight of the seers of ,israel to find its goal in ,jesus ,christ4 ,there was but ,one who could meet the manifold conditions created by the world's previous history1 and furnish the key to the mysteries and contradictions which had gathered round the path of ,revelation4 ,notwithstanding1 the ,promise had and has a generic application1 attending its personal accomplishment4 ,salvation is of the ,jews4 ,christ belongs to the ,jew first4 ,israel was raised up and consecrated to be the trustee of the ,promise given to the world through ,abraham4 ,the vocation of this gifted race1 the secret of its indestructible vitality1 lies in its relationship to ,jesus ,christ4 ,they are ,his own1 though they received ,him not4 ,apart from ,him1 ,israel is nothing to the world--nothing but a witness against itself4 ,premising its essential fulfilment in ,christ1 ,paul still reserves for his own people their peculiar share in the ,testament of ,abraham--not a place of exclusive privilege1 but of richer honour and larger influence4 ,hath ,god cast away ,his people8 he asks3 ,nay indeed4 ,for ,i also am an ,israelite1 of the seed of ,abraham4 ,so that1 after all1 it is something to be of ,abraham's children by nature4 ,despite his hostility to ,judaism1 the ,apostle claims for the ,jewish race a special office in the dispensation of the ,gospel1 in the working out of ,god's ultimate designs for mankind4#ig ,would they only accept their ,messiah1 how exalted a rank amongst the nations awaits them6 ,the title seed of ,abraham with ,paul1 like the ,servant of ,jehovah in ,isaiah1 has a double significance4 ,the sufferings of the elect people made them in their national character a pathetic type of the great ,sufferer and ,servant of the ,lord1 ,his supreme ,elect4 ,in ,jesus ,christ the collective destiny of ,israel is attained2 its prophetic ideal1 the spiritual conception of its calling1 is realised1--the seed to whom it hath been promised4 #ig ,rom4 xi4 99 99 99 99 99 ,paul is not alone in his insistence on the relation of ,christ to ,abraham4 ,it is announced in the first sentence of the ,new ,testament3 the book of the generation of ,jesus ,christ1 son of ,abraham1 son of ,david4 ,and it is set forth with singular beauty in the ,gospel of the ,infancy4 ,mary's song and ,zacharias' prophecy recall the freedom and simplicity of an inspiration long silenced1 as they tell how the ,lord hath visited and redeemed ,his people2 ,he hath shown mercy to our fathers1 in remembrance of ,his holy covenant1 the oath which ,he sware unto ,abraham our father4 ,and again1 ,he hath helped ,israel ,his servant in remembrance of ,his mercy1 as ,he spake to our fathers1 to ,abraham and to his seed for ever4#ih ,these pious and tender souls who watched over the cradle of our ,lord and stood in the dawning of ,his new day1 instinctively cast their thoughts back to the ,covenant of ,abraham4 ,in it they found matter for their songs and a warrant for their hopes1 such as no ritual ordinances could furnish4 ,their utterances breathe a spontaneity of faith1 a vernal freshness of joy and hope to which the ,jewish people for ages had been strangers4 ,the dull constraint and stiffness1 the harsh fanaticism of the ,hebrew nature1 have fallen from them4 ,they have put on the beautiful garments of ,zion1 her ancient robes of praise4 ,for the time of the ,promise draws near4 ,abraham's ,seed is now to be born2 and ,abraham's faith revives to meet ,him4 ,it breaks forth anew out of the dry and long-barren soil of ,judaism2 it is raised up to a richer and an enduring life4 ,paul's doctrine of ,grace does but translate into logic the poetry of ,mary's and ,zacharias' anthems4 ,the ,testament of ,abraham supplies their common theme4 #ih ,luke i4 #ed1 #ee1 #fh-gc4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,design ,,of ,,the ,,law4 ,what then is the law8 ,it was added because of transgressions1 till the seed should come to whom the promise hath been made2 and it was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator4 ,now a mediator is not a mediator of one2 but ,god is one4 ,is the law then against the promises of ,god8 ,god forbid3 for if there had been a law given which could make alive1 verily righteousness would have been of the law4 ,howbeit the ,scripture hath shut up all things under sin1 that the promise by faith in ,jesus ,christ might be given to them that believe4 ,but before faith came1 we were kept in ward under the law1 shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed4 ,so that the law hath been our tutor to bring us unto ,christ1 that we might be justified by faith4--,,gal4 iii4 #ai-bd4 ,what then is the law8 ,so the ,jew might well exclaim4 ,paul has been doing nothing but disparage it4--,you say that the ,law of ,moses brings no righteousness or blessing1 but only a curse2 that the covenant made with ,abraham ignores it1 and does not admit of being in any way qualified by its provisions4 ,what then do you make of it8 ,is it not ,god's voice that we hear in its commands8 ,have the sons of ,abraham ever since ,moses' day been wandering from the true path of faith8 ,such inferences might be drawn1 not unnaturally1 from the ,apostle's denunciation of ,legalism4 ,they were actually drawn by ,marcion in the second century1 in his extreme hostility to ,judaism and the ,old ,testament4 ,this question must indeed have early forced itself upon ,paul's mind4 ,how could the doctrine of ,salvation by ,faith and the supremacy of the ,abrahamic ,covenant be reconciled with the ,divine commission of ,moses8 ,how1 on the other hand1 could the displacement of the ,law by the ,gospel be justified1 if the former too was authorised and inspired by ,god8 ,can the same ,god have given to men these two contrasted revelations of ,himself8 ,the answer1 contained in the passage before us1 is that the two revelations had different ends in view4 ,they are complementary1 not competing institutes4 ,of the two1 the ,covenant of ,promise has the prior right2 it points immediately to ,christ4 ,the ,legal economy is ancillary thereto2 it never professed to accomplish the work of grace1 as the ,judaists would have it do4 ,its office was external1 but nevertheless accessory to that of the ,promise4 ,it guarded and schooled the infant heirs of ,abraham's ,testament1 until the time of its falling due1 when they should be prepared in the manhood of faith to enter on their inheritance4 ,the law hath been our tutor for ,christ1 with the intent we should be justified by faith 7ver4 #bd74 ,this aspect of the ,law1 under which1 instead of being an obstacle to the life of faith1 it is seen to subserve it1 has been suggested already4 ,for ,i1 the ,apostle said1 through law died to law 7ch4 ii4 #ai74 ,the ,law first impelled him to ,christ4 ,it constrained him to look beyond itself4 ,its discipline was a preparation for faith4 ,paul reverses the relation in which faith and ,law were set by the ,judaists4 ,they brought in the ,law to perfect the unfinished work of faith 7ver4 #c73 he made it preliminary and propdeutic4 ,what they gave out for more advanced doctrine1 he treats as the weak rudiments1 belonging to the infancy of the sons of ,god 7ch4 iv4 #a-aa74 ,up to this point1 however1 the ,mosaic law has been considered chiefly in a negative way1 as a foil to the ,covenant of grace4 ,the ,apostle has now to treat of its nature more positively and explicitly1 first indeed in contrast with the promise 7vv4 #ai1 #bj72 and secondly1 in its co-operation with the promise 7vv4 #bb-bd74 ,ver4 #ba is the transition from the first to the second of these conceptions4 ,i4 ,for the sake of the transgressions 7committed against it7#ii the law was added4 ,the ,promise1 let us remember1 was complete in itself4 ,its testament of grace was sealed and delivered ages before the ,mosaic legislation1 which could not therefore retract or modify it4 ,the ,law was superadded1 as something over and above1 attached to the former revelation for a subsidiary purpose lying outside the proper scope of the ,promise4 ,what then was this purpose8 #ii 3 the definite article can scarcely mean less than this4 #a4 ,for the sake of transgressions4 ,in other words1 the object of the law of ,moses was to develope sin4 ,this is not the whole of the ,apostle's answer2 but it is the key to his explanation4 ,this design of the ,mosaic revelation determined its form and character4 ,here is the standpoint from which we are to estimate its working1 and its relation to the kingdom of grace4 ,the saying of ,rom4 v4 #bj is ,paul's commentary upon this sentence3 ,the law came in by the way1 in order that the trespass 7of ,adam7 might multiply4 ,the same necessity is expressed in the paradox of #a ,cor4 xv4 #ef3 ,the strength of sin is the law4 ,this enigma1 as a psychological question1 is resolved by the ,apostle in ,rom4 vii4 #ac-bd4 ,the law acts as a spur and provocative1 rousing the power of sin to conscious activity4 ,however good in itself1 coming into contact with man's evil flesh1 its promulgation is followed inevitably by transgression4 ,its commands are so many occasions for sin to come into action1 to exhibit and confirm its power4 ,so that the ,law practically assumes the same relation to sin as that in which the ,promise stands to righteousness and life4 ,in its union with the ,law our sinful nature perpetually brings forth fruit unto death4 ,and this mournful result ,god certainly contemplated when ,he gave the ,law of ,moses4 ,but are we compelled to put so harsh a sense on the ,apostle's words8 ,may we not say that the ,law was imposed in order to restrain sin1 to keep it within bounds8 ,some excellent interpreters read the verse in this way4 ,it is quite true that1 in respect of public morals and the outward manifestations of evil1 the ,jewish law acted beneficially1 as a bridle upon the sinful passions4 ,but this is beside the mark4 ,the ,apostle is thinking only of inward righteousness1 that which avails before ,god4 ,the wording of the clause altogether excludes the milder interpretation4 ,for the sake of 71 ,latin gratia7 signifies promotion1 not prevention4 ,and the word transgression1 by its ,pauline and ,jewish usage1 compels us to this view4#ajj ,transgression presupposes law4 ,it is the specific form which sin takes under law--the re-action of sin against law4 ,what was before a latent tendency1 a bias of disposition1 now starts to light as a flagrant1 guilty fact4 ,by bringing about repeated transgressions the ,law reveals the true nature of sin1 so that it becomes exceeding sinful4 ,it does not make matters worse2 but it shows how bad they really are4 ,it aggravates the disease1 in order to bring it to a crisis4 ,and this is a necessary step towards the cure4 #ajj ,comp4 the reference to this word in ,chapter ,,ix41 p4 #adc4 #b4 ,the ,law of ,moses was therefore a provisional dispensation1--added until the seed should come to whom the promise hath been made4 ,its object was to make itself superfluous4 ,it is not made for a righteous man2 but for the lawless and unruly 7#a ,tim4 i4 #i74 ,like the discipline and drill of a strictly governed boyhood1 it was calculated to produce a certain effect on the moral nature1 after the attainment of which it was no longer needed and its continuance would be injurious4 ,the essential part of this effect lay1 however1 not so much in the outward regularity it imposed1 as in the inner repugnancy excited by it1 the consciousness of sin unsubdued and defiant4 ,by its operation on the conscience the ,law taught man his need of redemption4 ,it thus prepared the platform for the work of ,grace4 ,the ,promise had been given4 ,the coming of the ,covenant-heir was assured4 ,but its fulfilment was far off4 ,the ,lord is not slack concerning ,his promise1--and yet it was two thousand years before ,abraham's seed came to birth4 ,the degeneracy of the patriarch's children in the third and fourth generation showed how little the earlier heirs of the ,promise were capable of receiving it4 ,a thousand years later1 when the ,covenant was renewed with ,david1 the ancient predictions seemed at last nearing their fulfilment4 ,but no2 the times were still unripe2 the human conscience but half-disciplined4 ,the bright dawn of the ,davidic monarchy was overclouded4 ,the legal yoke is made more burdensome2 sore chastisements fall on the chosen people1 marked out for suffering as well as honour4 ,prophecy has many lessons yet to inculcate4 ,the world's education for ,christ has another millennium to run4 ,nor when ,he came1 did the ,son of man find faith in the earth6 ,the people of the ,law had no sooner seen than they hated ,him to whom the law and the prophets gave witness4 ,yet1 strangely enough1 the very manner of their rejection showed how complete was the preparation for ,his coming4 ,two features1 rarely united1 marked the ethical condition of the ,jewish people at this time--an intense moral consciousness1 and a deep moral perversion2 reverence for the ,divine law1 combined with an alienation from its spirit4 ,the chapter of ,paul's autobiography to which we have so often referred 7,rom4 vii4 #g-bd7 is typical of the better mind of ,judaism4 ,it is the ne plus ultra of self-condemnation4 ,the consciousness of sin in mankind has ripened4 #c4 ,and further1 the ,law of ,moses revealed ,god's will in a veiled and accommodated fashion1 while the ,promise and the ,gospel are its direct emanations4 ,this is the inference which we draw from vv4 #ai1 #bj4 ,we are well aware of the extreme difficulty of this passage4 ,ver4 #bj has received1 it is computed1 some four hundred and thirty distinct interpretations4 ,of all the hard things our beloved brother ,paul has written1 this is the very hardest4 ,the words which make up the sentence are simple and familiar2 and yet in their combination most enigmatic4 ,and it stands in the midst of a paragraph among the most interesting and important that the ,apostle ever wrote4 ,let us look first at the latter clause of ver4 #ai3 ordained through angels1 in the hand 7i4e4 by means7 of a mediator4 ,these circumstances1 as the orthodox ,jew supposed1 enhanced the glory of the ,law4 ,the pomp and formality under which ,mosaism was ushered in1 the presence of the angelic host to whose agency the terrific manifestations attending the ,law-giving were referred1 impressed the popular mind with a sense of the incomparable sacredness of the ,sinaitic revelation4 ,it was this assumption which gave its force to the climax of ,stephen's speech1 of which we hear an echo in these words of ,paul3 who received the law at the disposition of angels--and have not kept it6#aja ,the simplicity and informality of the ,divine communion with ,abraham1 and again of ,christ's appearance in the world and ,his intercourse with men1 afford a striking contrast to all this4 #aja ,acts vii4 #ec3 comp4 and ' 4 ,stephen's last words may well have lingered in the ear of ,saul4 ,from the lips of ,stephen1 they were something of an argumentum ad hominem4 ,more is hinted than is expressly said in ,scripture of the part taken by the angels in the ,law-giving4 ,deut4 xxxiii4 #bajb and ,ps4 lxviii4 #ag give the most definite indications of the ancient faith of ,israel on this point4 ,but the ,angel of the ,lord is a familiar figure of ,old ,testament revelation4 ,in ,hebrew thought impressive physical phenomena were commonly associated with the presence of spiritual agents4#ajc ,the language of ,heb4 i4 #g and ii4 #b endorses this belief1 which in no way conflicts with natural science1 and is in keeping with the ,christian faith4 #ajb ,a doubtful citation at the best3 the reading of the ,,lxx is more to the point than the ,hebrew text4 #ajc ,see the quotations from ,jewish writers to this effect given by ,meyer or ,lightfoot4 ,but while such intermediacy1 from the ,jewish standpoint1 increased the splendour and authority of the ,law1 believers in ,christ had learned to look at the matter otherwise4#ajd ,a revelation administered through angels1 spoke to them of a ,god distant and obscured1 of a people unfit for access to ,his presence4 ,this is plainly intimated in the added clause1 by means of a mediator1--a title commonly given to ,moses1 and recalling the entreaty of ,exod4 xx4 #ai2 ,deut4 v4 #bb-bh3 ,the people said1 ,speak thou with us1 and we will hear2 but let not ,god speak with us1 lest we die4 ,these are the words of sinful men1 receiving a law given1 as the ,apostle has just declared1 on purpose to convict them of their sins4 ,the form of the ,mosaic revelation tended therefore in reality not to exalt the ,law1 but to exhibit its difference from the ,promise and the distance at which it placed men from ,god4 #ajd ,comp4 ,heb4 ii4 #b-d2 also ,col4 ii4 #ae3 7scil4 ,god7 having stripped off the principalities and powers--the earlier forms of angelic mediation4 ,the writer may refer on this latter passage to his note in the ,pulpit ,commentary1 also to ,the ,expositor1 #ast series1 x4 #djc-dba4 ,the same thought is expressed1 as ,bishop ,lightfoot aptly shows1 by the figure of the veil on ,moses' face1 which ,paul employs with so much felicity in #b ,cor4 iii4 #ac-ah4 ,in the external glory of the ,sinaitic law-giving1 as on the illuminated face of the ,law-giver1 there was a fading brightness1 a visible lustre concealing its imperfect and transitory character4 ,the theophanies of the ,old ,covenant were a magnificent veil1 hiding while they revealed4 ,under the ,law1 angels1 ,moses came between ,god and man4 ,it was ,god who in ,his own grace conveyed the promise to justified ,abraham 7ver4 #ah74aje #aje ,but the title mediator belongs to ,christ1 given by ,paul himself--the one mediator between ,god and men1 the man ,christ ,jesus 7#a ,tim4 ii4 #e74 7,comp4 ,heb4 viii4 #f2 ix4 #ae2 xii4 #bd47 ,christ is so styled however under an aspect very different from that in which the word appears here4 ,there is one mediator1 the ,apostle writes in #a ,timothy1 who gave ,himself a ransom for all1 the one atoning mediator4 ,but ,christ's manifestation of ,god was direct1 as that of ,moses was not4 ,his ,person does not come between men and ,god1 like that of the ,sinaitic mediator2 it brings ,god into immediate contact with men4 ,moses acted for a distant ,god3 ,christ is ,immanuel1 ,god with us4 ,on the human side ,christ is mediator 7 72 ,he acts for individual men with ,god4 ,on the ,divine side1 ,he is more than mediator1 being ,god ,himself4 ,the ,law employed a mediator2 the ,promise did not 7ver4 #ai474 ,with this contrast in our minds we approach ver4 #bj4 ,on the other side of it 7ver4 #ba71 we find ,law and ,promise again in sharp antithesis4 ,the same antithesis runs through the intervening sentence4 ,the two clauses of ver4 #bj belong to the ,law and ,promise respectively4 ,now a mediator is not of one3 that is an axiom which holds good of the ,law4 ,but ,god is one3 this glorious truth1 the first article of ,israel's creed1 applies to the ,promise4 ,where a mediator is necessary1 unity is wanting1--not simply in a numerical1 but in a moral sense1 as matter of feeling and of aim4 ,there are separate interests1 discordant views to be consulted4 ,this was true of ,mosaism4 ,although in substance holy and just and good1 it was by no means purely ,divine4 ,it was not the absolute religion4 ,not only was it defective2 it contained1 in the judgement of ,christ1 positive elements of wrong1 precepts given for the hardness of men's hearts4#ajf ,it largely consisted of carnal ordinances1 imposed till the time of rectification 7,heb4 ix4 #aj74 ,the theocratic legislation of the ,pentateuch is lacking in the unity and consistency of a perfect revelation4 ,its disclosures of ,god were refracted in a manifest degree by the atmosphere through which they passed4 #ajf ,matt4 xix4 #h4 ,comp4 ,ezek4 xx4 #be4 ,but ,god is one4 ,here again the unity is moral and essential--of character and action1 rather than of number4 ,in the ,promise ,god spoke immediately and for ,himself4 ,there was no screen to intercept the view of faith1 no go-between like ,moses1 with ,god on the mountain-top shrouded in thunder-clouds and the people terrified or wantoning far below4 ,of all differences between the ,abrahamic and ,judaic types of piety this was the chief4 ,the man of ,abraham's faith sees ,god in ,his unity4 ,the ,legalist gets his religion at second-hand1 mixed with undivine elements4 ,he believes that there is one ,god2 but his hold upon the truth is formal4 ,there is no unity1 no simplicity of faith in his conception of ,god4 ,he projects on to the ,divine image confusing shadows of human imperfection4 ,,god ,,is ,,one3 this great article of faith was the foundation of ,israel's life4 ,it forms the first sentence of the ,shem1 the ,hear1 ,o ,israel 7,deut4 vi4 #d-i71 which every pious ,jew repeats twice a day1 and which in literal obedience to the ,law-giver's words he fixes above his house-door1 and binds upon his arm and brow at the time of prayer4 ,three times besides has the ,apostle quoted this sentence4 ,the first of these passages1 ,rom4 iii4 #bi1 #cj1ajg may help us to understand its application here4 ,in that place he employs it as a weapon against ,jewish exclusiveness4 ,if there is but one ,god1 he argues1 there can be only one way of justification1 for ,jew and ,gentile alike4 ,the inference drawn here is even more bold and singular4 ,there is one ,god1 who appeared in ,his proper character in the ,covenant with ,abraham4 ,if the ,law of ,moses gives us a conception of ,his nature in any wise different from this1 it is because other and lower elements found a place in it4 ,through the whole course of revelation there is one ,god--manifest to ,abraham1 veiled in ,mosaism1 revealed again in ,his perfect image in the face of ,jesus ,christ4 #ajg ,comp4 #a ,cor4 viii4 #f2 #a ,tim4 ii4 #e2 also ,mark xii4 #bi1 #cj2 ,jas4 ii4 #ai4 ,,ii4 ,so far the ,apostle has pursued the contrast between the systems of ,law and ,grace4 ,when finally he has referred the latter rather than the former to the one ,god1 we naturally ask1 ,is the ,law then against the promises of ,god8 7ver4 #ba74 ,was the ,legal dispensation a mere reaction1 a retrogression from the ,promise8 ,this would be to push ,paul's argument to an antinomian extreme4 ,he hastens to protest4--,the law against the promises8 ,away with the thought4 ,not on the ,apostle's premises1 but on those of his opponents1 did this consequence ensue4 ,it is they who set the two at variance1 by trying to make law do the work of grace4 ,for if a law had been given that could bring men to life1 righteousness would verily in that case have been of law 7ver4 #ba74 ,that righteousness1 and therefore life1 is not of law1 the ,apostle has abundantly shown 7ch4 ii4 #af2 iii4 #aj-ac74 ,had the ,law provided some efficient means of its own for winning righteousness1 there would then indeed have been a conflict between the two principles4 ,as matters stand1 there is none4 ,law and ,promise move on different planes4 ,their functions are distinct4 ,yet there is a connection between them4 ,the design of the ,law is to mediate between the ,promise and its fulfilment4 ,the trespass must be multiplied1 the knowledge of sin deepened1 before ,grace can do its office4 ,the fever of sin has to come to its crisis1 before the remedy can take effect4 ,law is therefore not the enemy1 but the minister of ,grace4 ,it was charged with a purpose lying beyond itself4 ,christ is the end of the law1 for righteousness 7,rom4 x4 #d74 #a4 ,for1 in the first place1 the law cuts men off from all other hope of salvation4 ,on the ,judaistic hypothesis1 righteousness would have been of law4 ,but quite on the contrary1 the ,scripture shuts up everything under sin1 that the promise might be given in the way of faith in ,jesus ,christ1 to them that believe 7ver4 #bb74 ,condemnation inevitable1 universal1 was pronounced by the ,divine word under the ,law1 not in order that men might remain crushed beneath its weight1 but that1 abandoning vain hopes of self-justification1 they might find in ,christ their true deliverer4 ,the ,apostle is referring here to the general purport of the ,scripture4 ,his assertion embraces the whole teaching of the ,old ,testament concerning human sinfulness1 embodied1 for example1 in the chain of citations drawn out in ,rom4 iii4 #aj-ah4 ,wherever the man looking for legal justification turned1 the ,scripture met him with some new command which drove him back upon the sense of his moral helplessness4 ,it fenced him in with prohibitions2 it showered on him threatenings and reproaches2 it besieged him in ever narrowing circles4 ,and if he felt less the pressure of its outward burdens1 all the more was he tormented by inward disharmony and self-accusation4 ,now the judgement of ,scripture is not uttered against this class of men or that1 against this type of sin or that4 ,its impeachment sweeps the entire area of human life1 sounding the depths of the heart1 searching every avenue of thought and desire4 ,it makes of the world one vast prison-house1 with the ,law for gaoler1 and mankind held fast in chains of sin1 waiting for death4 ,in this position the ,apostle had found himself 7,rom4 vii4 #bd-viii4 #b72 and in his own heart he saw a mirror of the world4 ,every mouth was stopped1 and all the world brought in guilty before ,god 7,rom4 iii4 #ai74 ,this condition he graphically describes in terms of his former experience1 in ver4 #bc3 ,before faith came1 under law we were kept in ward1 being shut up unto the faith that was to be revealed4 ,the ,law was all the while standing guard over its subjects1 watching and checking every attempt to escape1#ajh but intending to hand them over in due time to the charge of ,faith4 ,the ,law posts its ordinances1 like so many sentinels1 round the prisoner's cell4 ,the cordon is complete4 ,he tries again and again to break out2 the iron circle will not yield4 ,but deliverance will yet be his4 ,the day of ,faith approaches4 ,it dawned long ago in ,abraham's ,promise4 ,even now its light shines into his dungeon1 and he hears the word of ,jesus1 ,thy sins are forgiven thee2 go in peace4 ,law1 the stern gaoler1 has after all been a good friend1 if it has reserved him for this4 ,it prevents the sinner escaping to a futile and illusive freedom4 #ajh ,hence the present participle1 7,revised reading of ver4 #bc71 in combination with the imperfect of the foregoing verb1 4 ,in this dramatic fashion ,paul shows how the ,mosaic law by its ethical discipline prepared men for a life which by itself it was incapable of giving4 ,where ,law has done its work well1 it produces1 as in the ,apostle's earlier experience1 a profound sense of personal demerit1 a tenderness of conscience1 a contrition of heart which makes one ready thankfully to receive the righteousness which is of ,god by faith4 ,in every age and condition of life a like effect is wrought upon men who honestly strive to live up to an exacting moral standard4 ,they confess their failure4 ,they lose self-conceit4 ,they grow poor in spirit1 willing to accept the abundance of the gift of righteousness in ,jesus ,christ4 ,faith is trebly honoured here4 ,it is the condition of the gift1 the characteristic of its recipient 7vv4 #bb1 #bd71 and the end for which he was put under the charge of ,law 7ver4 #bc74 ,to them that believe is given1 as it was in foretaste to ,abraham 7ver4 #f71 a righteousness unearned1 and bestowed on ,christ's account 7ch4 iii4 #ac2 ,rom4 v4 #ag1 #ah72 which brings with it the indwelling of the ,holy ,spirit1 reserved in its conscious possession for ,abraham's children in the faith of ,christ 7ch4 iii4 #ad2 iv4 #d74 ,these blessings form the commencement of that true life1 whose root is a spiritual union with ,christ1 and which reaches on to eternity 7ch4 ii4 #bj2 ,rom4 v4 #ba2 vi4 #bc74 ,of such life the ,law could impart nothing2 but it taught men their need of it1 and disposed them to accept it4 ,this was the purpose of its institution4 ,it was the forerunner1 not the finisher1 of ,faith4 #b4 ,paul makes use of a second figure to describe the office of the ,law2 under which he gives his final answer to the question of ver4 #ai4 ,the metaphor of the gaoler is exchanged for that of the tutor4 ,the law hath been our for ,christ4 ,this ,greek word 7boy-leader7 has no ,english equivalent2 we have not the thing it represents4 ,the pedagogue was a sort of nursery governor1--a confidential servant in the ,greek household1 commonly a slave1 who had charge of the boy from his infancy1 and was responsible for his oversight4 ,in his food1 his clothes1 his home-lessons1 his play1 his walks--at every point the pedagogue was required to wait upon his young charge1 and to control his movements4 ,amongst other offices1 his tutor might have to conduct the boy to school2 and it has been supposed that ,paul is thinking of this duty1 as though he meant1 ,the ,law has been our pedagogue1 to take us to ,christ1 our true teacher4 ,but he adds1 ,that we might be justified of faith4 ,the tutor of ver4 #bd is parallel to the guard of the last verse2 he represents a distinctly disciplinary influence4 ,this figure implies not like the last the imprisoned condition of the subject--but his childish1 undeveloped state4 ,this is an advance of thought4 ,the ,law was something more than a system of restraint and condemnation4 ,it contained an element of progress4 ,under the tutelage of his pedagogue the boy is growing up to manhood4 ,at the end of its term the ,law will hand over its charge mature in capacity and equal to the responsibilities of faith4 ,if then the ,law is a 1 it is not hostile to ,grace1 but its fellow-worker2 but should it continue to hold us fast when ,grace has come1 then it would be hostile 7,chrysostom74 ,although the highest function1 that of giving life1 is denied to the ,law1 a worthy part is still assigned to it by the ,apostle4 ,it was a tutor to lead men to ,christ4 ,judaism was an education for ,christianity4 ,it prepared the world for the ,redeemer's coming4 ,it drilled and moralised the religious youth of the human race4 ,it broke up the fallow-ground of nature1 and cleared a space in the weed-covered soil to receive the seed of the kingdom4 ,its moral regimen deepened the conviction of sin1 while it multiplied its overt acts4 ,its ceremonial impressed on sensuous natures the idea of the ,divine holiness2 and its sacrificial rites gave definiteness and vividness to men's conceptions of the necessity of atonement1 failing indeed to remove sin1 but awakening the need and sustaining the hope of its removal 7,heb4 x4 #a-ah74 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,law of ,moses has formed in the ,jewish nation a type of humanity like no other in the world4 ,they dwell alone1 said ,balaam1 and shall not be reckoned amongst the nations4 ,disciplined for ages under their harsh pedagogue1 this wonderful people acquired a strength of moral fibre and a spiritual sensibility that prepared them to be the religious leaders of mankind4 ,israel has given us ,david and ,isaiah1 ,paul and ,john4 ,christ above all was born under law--of ,david's seed according to flesh4 ,the influence of ,jewish minds at this present time on the world's higher thought1 whether for good or evil1 is incalculable2 and it penetrates everywhere4 ,the ,christian ,church may with increased emphasis repeat ,paul's anticipation1 ,what will the receiving of them be1 but life from the dead6 ,they have a great service still to do for the ,lord and for ,his ,christ4 ,it was well for them and for us that they have borne the yoke in their youth4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,emancipated ,,sons ,,of ,,god4 ,but now that faith is come1 we are no longer under a tutor4 ,for ye are all sons of ,god1 through faith in ,christ ,jesus4 ,for as many of you as were baptized into ,christ did put on ,christ4 ,there can be neither ,jew nor ,greek1 there can be neither bond nor free1 there can be no male and female3 for ye all are one man in ,christ ,jesus4 ,and if ye are ,christ's1 then are ye ,abraham's seed1 heirs according to promise4--,,gal4 iii4 #be-bi4 ,faith has come6 ,at this announcement ,law the tutor yields up his charge2 ,law the gaoler sets his prisoner at liberty4 ,the age of servitude has passed4 ,in truth it endured long enough4 ,the iron of its bondage had entered into the soul4 ,but at last ,faith is come2 and with it comes a new world4 ,the clock of time cannot be put back4 ,the soul of man will never return to the old tutelage1 nor submit again to a religion of rabbinism and sacerdotalism4 ,we are no longer under a pedagogue2 we have ceased to be children in the nursery1 schoolboys at our tasks--ye are all sons of ,god4 ,in such terms the newborn1 free spirit of ,christianity speaks in ,paul4 ,he had tasted the bitterness of the ,judaic yoke2 no man more deeply4 ,he had felt the weight of its impossible exactions1 its fatal condemnation4 ,this sentence is a shout of deliverance4 ,wretch that ,i am1 he had cried1 who shall deliver me8--,i give thanks to ,god through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord2 444 for the law of the ,spirit of life in ,him hath freed me from the law of sin and death 7,rom4 vii4 #bd-viii4 #b74 ,faith is the true emancipator of the human mind4 ,it comes to take its place as mistress of the soul1 queen in the realm of the heart2 to be henceforth its spring of life1 the norm and guiding principle of its activity4 ,the life that ,i live in the flesh1 ,paul testifies1 ,i live in faith4 ,the ,mosaic law--a system of external1 repressive ordinances--is no longer to be the basis of religion4 ,law itself1 and for its proper purposes1 ,faith honours and magnifies 7,rom4 iii4 #ca74 ,it is in the interests of ,law that the ,apostle insists on the abolishment of its ,judaic form4 ,faith is an essentially just principle1 the rightful1 original ground of human fellowship with ,god4 ,in the age of ,abraham1 and even under the ,mosaic rgime1 in the religion of the ,prophets and ,psalmists1 faith was the quickening element1 the well-spring of piety and hope and moral vigour4 ,now it is brought to light4 ,it assumes its sovereignty1 and claims its inheritance4 ,faith is come--for ,christ is come1 its author and finisher4 ,the efficacy of faith lies in its object4 ,works assume an intrinsic merit in the doer2 faith has its virtue in ,him it trusts4 ,it is the soul's recumbency on ,christ4 ,through faith in ,christ ,jesus1 ,paul goes on to say1 ye are all sons of ,god4 ,christ evokes the faith which shakes off legal bondage1 leaving the age of formalism and ritual behind1 and beginning for the world an era of spiritual freedom4 ,in ,christ ,jesus faith has its being2 ,he constitutes for the soul a new atmosphere and habitat1 in which faith awakens to full existence1 bursts the confining shell of legalism1 recognises itself and its destiny1 and unfolds into the glorious consciousness of its ,divine sonship4 ,we prefer1 with ,ellicott and ,meyer1 to attach the complement in ,christ ,jesus#aji to faith 7so in ,a4,v471 rather than to the predicate1 ,ye are sons--the construction endorsed by the ,revised comma after faith4 ,the former connection1 more obvious in itself1 seems to us to fall in with the ,apostle's line of thought4 ,and it is sustained by the language of ver4 #bg4 ,faith in ,christ1 baptism into ,christ1 and putting on ,christ are connected and correspondent expressions4 ,the first is the spiritual principle1 the ground or element of the new life2 the second1 its visible attestation2 and the third indicates the character and habit proper thereto4 #aji ,the phrase faith in ,christ ,jesus is a link between this ,epistle and those of the third and fourth groups4 ,comp4 ,col4 i4 #d2 ,eph4 i4 #ae2 #a ,tim4 iii4 #ac2 #b ,tim4 i4 #ac2 iii4 #ae4 ,more frequently in this connection our in represents 7into71 not as here4 ,i4 ,it is faith in ,christ then which constitutes us sons of ,god4 ,this principle is the foundation-stone of the ,christian life4 ,in the ,old ,testament the sonship of believers lay in shadow4 ,jehovah was the ,king1 the ,lord of ,hosts1 the ,shepherd of ,israel4 ,they are ,his people1 the sheep of ,his pasture--,my servant ,jacob1 ,he says1 ,israel whom ,i have chosen4 ,if ,he is named ,father1 it is of the collective ,israel1 not the individual2 otherwise the title occurs only in figure and apostrophe4 ,the promise of this blessedness had never been explicitly given under the ,covenant of ,moses4 ,the assurance quoted in #b ,cor4 vi4 #ah is pieced together from scattered hints of prophecy4 ,old-,testament faith hardly dared to dream of such a privilege as this4 ,it is not ascribed even to ,abraham4 ,only to the kingly ,son of ,david is it said1 ,i will be a ,father unto him2 and he shall be to me for a son 7#b ,sam4 vii4 #ad74 ,but beloved1 now are we children of ,god 7#a ,john iii4 #b74 ,the filial consciousness is the distinction of the ,church of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the ,apostolic writings are full of it4 ,the unspeakable dignity of this relationship1 the boundless hopes which it inspires1 have left their fresh impress on the pages of the ,new ,testament4 ,the writers are men who have made a vast discovery4 ,they have sailed out into a new ocean4 ,they have come upon an infinite treasure4 ,thou art no longer a slave1 but a son6 ,what exultation filled the soul of ,paul and of ,john as they penned such words6 ,the ,spirit of glory and of ,god rested upon them4 ,the ,apostle is virtually repeating here what he said in vv4 #b-e touching the receiving of the ,spirit1 which is1 he declared1 the distinctive mark of the ,christian state1 and raises its possessor ipso facto above the religion of externalism4 ,the antithesis of flesh and spirit now becomes that of sonship and pupilage4 ,christ ,himself1 in the words of ,luke xi4 #ac1 marked out the gift of the ,holy ,spirit as the bond between the heavenly ,father and ,his human children4 ,accordingly ,paul writes immediately1 in ch4 iv4 #f1 #g1 of ,god sending forth the ,spirit of ,his ,son into our hearts to show that we are sons1 where we find again the thought which follows here in ver4 #bg1 viz4 that union with ,christ imparts this exalted status4 ,this is after all the central conception of the ,christian life4 ,paul has already stated it as the sum of his own experience3 ,christ lives in me 7ch4 ii4 #bj74 ,i have put on ,christ is the same thing in other words4 ,in ch4 ii4 #bj he contemplates the union as an inner1 vitalising force2 here it is viewed as matter of status and condition4 ,the believer is invested with ,christ4 ,he enters into the filial estate and endowments1 since he is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,for if ,christ is ,son of ,god1 and thou hast put on ,him1 having the ,son in thyself and being made like to ,him1 thou wast brought into one kindred and one form of being with ,him 7,chrysostom74 ,this was true of so many as were baptized into ,christ--an expression employed not in order to limit the assertion1 but to extend it coincidently with the all of ver4 #bf4 ,there was no difference in this respect between the circumcised and uncircumcised4 ,every baptized ,galatian was a son of ,god4 ,baptism manifestly presupposes faith4 ,to imagine that the opus operatum1 the mechanical performance of the rite apart from faith present or anticipated in the subject1 clothes us with ,christ1 is to hark back to ,judaism4 ,it is to substitute baptism for circumcision--a difference merely of form1 so long as the doctrine of ritual regeneration remains the same4 ,this passage is as clear a proof as could well be desired1 that in the ,pauline vocabulary baptized is synonymous with believing4 ,the baptism of these ,galatians solemnised their spiritual union with ,christ4 ,it was the public acceptance1 in trust and submission1 of ,god's covenant of grace--for their children haply1 as well as for themselves4 ,in the case of the infant1 the household to which it belongs1 the religious community which receives it to be nursed in its bosom1 stand sponsors for its faith4 ,on them will rest the blame of broken vows and responsibility disowned1 if their baptized children are left to lapse into ignorance of ,christ's claims upon them4 ,the ,church which practises infant baptism assumes a very serious obligation4 ,if it takes no sufficient care to have the rite made good1 if children pass through its laver to remain unmarked and unshepherded1 it is sinning against ,christ4 ,such administration makes ,his ordinance an object of superstition1 or of contempt4 ,the baptism of the ,galatians signalised their entrance into ,christ1 the union of their souls with the dying1 risen ,lord4 ,they were baptized1 as ,paul phrases it elsewhere1 into ,his death1 to walk henceforth with ,him in newness of life4 ,by its very form--the normal and most expressive form of primitive baptism1 the descent into and rising from the symbolic waters--it pictured the soul's death with ,christ1 its burial and its resurrection in ,him1 its separation from the life of sin and entrance upon the new career of a regenerated child of ,god 7,rom4 vi4 #c-ad74 ,this power attended the ordinance through faith in the operation of ,god who raised ,christ from the dead 7,col4 ii4 #aa-ac74 ,baptism had proved to them the laver of regeneration in virtue of the renewing of the ,holy ,spirit1 under those spiritual conditions of accepted mercy and justification by grace through faith1#aaj without which it is a mere law-work1 as useless as any other4 ,it was the outward and visible sign of the inward transaction which made the ,galatian believers sons of ,god and heirs of life eternal4 ,it was therefore a putting on of ,christ1 a veritable assumption of the ,christian character1 the filial relationship to ,god4 ,every such baptism announced to heaven and earth the passage of another soul from servitude to freedom1 from death unto life1 the birth of a brother into the family of ,god4 ,from this day the new convert was a member incorporate of the ,body of ,christ1 affianced to his ,lord1 not alone in the secret vows of his heart1 but pledged to ,him before his fellow-men4 ,he had put on ,christ--to be worn in his daily life1 while ,he dwelt in the shrine of his spirit4 ,and men would see ,christ in him1 as they see the robe upon its wearer1 the armour glittering on the soldier's breast4 #aaj ,rom4 vi4 #a1 #b2 ,tit4 iii4 #d-g 7not of works 444 that we had done74 ,by receiving ,christ1 inwardly accepted in faith1 visibly assumed in baptism1 we are made sons of ,god4 ,he makes us free of the house of ,god1 where ,he rules as ,son1 and where no slave may longer stay4 ,those who called themselves ,abraham's seed and yet were slaves of sin1 must be driven from the place in ,god's household which they dishonoured1 and must forfeit their abused prerogatives4 ,they were not ,abraham's children1 for they were utterly unlike him2 the ,devil surely was their father1 whom by their lusts they featured4 ,so ,christ declared to the unbelieving ,jews 7,john viii4 #ca-dd74 ,and so the ,apostle identifies the children of ,abraham with the sons of ,god1 by faith united to the ,son4 ,alike in the historical sonship toward ,abraham and the supernatural sonship toward ,god1 ,christ is the ground of filiation4 ,our sonship is grafted upon ,his4 ,he is the vine1 we branches in ,him4 ,he is the seed of ,abraham1 the ,son of ,god2 we1 sons of ,god and ,abraham's seed--if we are ,christ's4 ,through ,him we derive from ,god2 through ,him all that is best in the life of humanity comes down to us4 ,christ is the central stock1 the spiritual root of the human race4 ,his manifestation reveals ,god to man1 and man also to himself4 ,in ,jesus ,christ we regain the ,divine image1 stamped upon us in ,him at our creation 7,col4 i4 #ae1 #af2 iii4 #aj1 #aa71 the filial likeness to ,god which constitutes man's proper nature4 ,its attainment is the essential blessing1 the promise which descended from ,abraham along the succession of faith4 ,now this dignity belongs universally to ,christian faith4 ,ye are all1 the ,apostle says1 sons of ,god through faith in ,him4 ,sonship is a human1 not a ,jewish distinction4 ,the discipline ,israel had endured1 it endured for the world4 ,the ,gentiles have no need to pass through it again4 ,abraham's blessing1 when it came1 was to embrace all the families of the earth4 ,the new life in ,christ in which it is realised1 is as large in scope as it is complete in nature4 ,faith in ,christ ,jesus is a condition that opens the door to every human being1--,jew or ,greek1 bond or free1 male or female4 ,if then baptized1 believing ,gentiles are sons of ,god1 they stand already on a level higher than any to which ,mosaism raised its professors4 ,putting on ,christ1 they are robed in a righteousness brighter and purer than that of the most blameless legalist4 ,what can ,judaism do for them more8 ,how could they wish to cover their glorious dress with its faded1 worn-out garments8 ,to add circumcision to their faith would be not to rise1 but to sink from the state of sons to that of serfs4 ,,ii4 ,on this first principle of the new life there rests a second4 ,the sons of ,god are brethren to each other4 ,christianity is the perfection of society1 as well as of the individual4 ,the faith of ,christ restores the broken unity of mankind4 ,in ,christ ,jesus there is no ,jew or ,greek2 there is no bondman or freeman2 there is no male and female4 ,you are all one in ,him4 ,the ,galatian believer at his baptism had entered a communion which gave him for the first time the sense of a common humanity4 ,in ,jesus ,christ he found a bond of union with his fellows1 an identity of interest and aim so commanding that in its presence secular differences appeared as nothing4 ,from the height to which his ,divine adoption raised him these things were invisible4 ,distinctions of race1 of rank1 even that of sex1 which bulk so largely in our outward life and are sustained by all the force of pride and habit1 are forgotten here4 ,these dividing lines and party-walls have no power to sunder us from ,christ1 nor therefore from each other in ,christ4 ,the tide of ,divine love and joy which through the gate of faith poured into the souls of these ,gentiles of many nations1 submerged all barriers4 ,they are one in the brotherhood of the eternal life4 ,when one says ,i am a child of ,god1 one no longer thinks1 ,i am a ,greek or ,jew1 rich or poor1 noble or ignoble--man or woman4 ,a son of ,god6--that sublime consciousness fills his being4 ,paul1 to be sure1 does not mean that these differences have ceased to exist4 ,he fully recognises them2 and indeed insists strongly on the proprieties of sex1 and on the duties of civil station4 ,he values his own ,jewish birth and ,roman citizenship4 ,but in ,christ ,jesus he counts them refuse 7,phil4 iii4 #d-h74 ,our relations to ,god1 our heritage in ,abraham's ,testament1 depend on our faith in ,christ ,jesus and our possession of ,his ,spirit4 ,neither birth nor office affects this relationship in the least degree4 ,as many as are led by the ,spirit of ,god1 they are the sons of ,god 7,rom4 viii4 #ad74 ,this is the ,divine criterion of churchmanship1 applied to prince or beggar1 to archbishop or sexton1 with perfect impartiality4 ,god is no respecter of persons4 ,this rule of the ,apostle's was a new principle in religion1 pregnant with immense consequences4 ,the ,stoic cosmopolitan philosophy made a considerable approach to it1 teaching as it did the worth of the moral person and the independence of virtue upon outward conditions4 ,buddhism previously1 and ,mohammedanism subsequently1 each in its own way1 addressed themselves to man as man1 declaring all believers equal and abolishing the privileges of race and caste4 ,to their recognition of human brotherhood the marvellous victories won by these two creeds are largely due4 ,these religious systems1 with all their errors1 were a signal advance upon ,paganism with its gods many and lords many1 its local and national deities1 whose worship belittled the idea of ,god and turned religion into an engine of hostility instead of a bond of union amongst men4 ,greek culture1 moreover1 and ,roman government1 as it has often been observed1 had greatly tended to unify mankind4 ,they diffused a common atmosphere of thought and established one imperial law round the circuit of the ,mediterranean shores4 ,but these conquests of secular civilization1 the victories of arms and arts1 were achieved at the expense of religion4 ,polytheism is essentially barbarian4 ,it flourishes in division and in ignorance4 ,to bring together its innumerable gods and creeds was to bring them all into contempt4 ,the one law1 the one learning now prevailing in the world1 created a void in the conscience of mankind1 only to be filled by the one faith4 ,without a centre of spiritual unity1 history shows that no other union will endure4 ,but for ,christianity1 the ,grco-,roman civilization would have perished1 trampled out by the feet of ,goths and ,huns4 ,the ,jewish faith failed to meet the world's demand for a universal religion4 ,it could never have saved ,european society4 ,nor was it designed for such a purpose4 ,true1 its ,jehovah was the ,god of the whole earth4 ,the teaching of the ,old ,testament1 as ,paul easily showed1 had a universal import and brought all men within the scope of its promises4 ,but in its actual shape and its positive institutions it was still tribal and exclusive4 ,mosaism planted round the family of ,abraham a fence of ordinances1 framed of set purpose to make them a separate people and preserve them from heathen contamination4 ,this system1 at first maintained with difficulty1 in course of time gained control of the ,israelitish nature1 and its exclusiveness was aggravated by every device of ,pharisaic ingenuity4 ,without an entire transformation1 without in fact ceasing to be ,judaism1 the ,jewish religion was doomed to isolation4 ,under the ,roman ,empire1 in consequence of the ubiquitous dispersion of the ,jews1 it spread far and wide4 ,it attracted numerous and influential converts4 ,but these proselytes never were1 and never could have been generally amalgamated with the sacred people4 ,they remained in the outer court1 worshipping the ,god of ,israel afar off 7,eph4 ii4 #aa-bb2 iii4 #d-f74 ,this particularism of the ,mosaic system was1 to ,paul's mind1 a proof of its temporary character4 ,the abiding faith1 the faith of ,abraham and his seed1 must be broad as humanity4 ,it could know nothing of ,jew and ,gentile1 of master and slave1 nor even of man and woman2 it knows only the soul and ,god4 ,the gospel of ,christ allied itself thus with the nascent instinct of humanity1 the fellow-feeling of the race4 ,it adopted the sentiment of the ,roman poet1 himself an enfranchised slave1 who wrote3 ,homo sum1 et humani a me nil alienum puto4 ,in our religion human kinship at last receives adequate expression4 ,the ,son of man lays the foundation of a world-wide fraternity4 ,the one ,father claims all men for ,his sons in ,christ4 ,a new1 tenderer1 holier humanity is formed around ,his cross4 ,men of the most distant climes and races1 coming across their ancient battle-fields1 clasp each other's hands and say1 ,beloved1 if ,god so loved us1 we ought also to love one another4 ,the practice of the ,church has fallen far below the doctrine of ,christ and ,his ,apostles4 ,in this respect ,mohammedans and ,buddhists might teach ,christian congregations a lesson of fraternity4 ,the arrangements of our public worship seem often designed expressly to emphasize social distinctions1 and to remind the poor man of his inequality4 ,our native hauteur and conventionality are nowhere more painfully conspicuous than in the house of ,god4 ,english ,christianity is seamed through and through with caste-feeling4 ,this lies at the root of our sectarian jealousies4 ,it is largely due to this cause that the social ideal of ,jesus ,christ has been so deplorably ignored1 and that a frank brotherly fellowship amongst the ,churches is at present impossible4 ,sacerdotalism first destroyed the ,christian brotherhood by absorbing in the official ministry the functions of the individual believer4 ,and the ,protestant ,reformation has but partially re-established these prerogatives4 ,its action has been so far too exclusively negative and protstant1 too little constructive and creative4 ,it has allowed itself to be secularised and identified with existing national limitations and social distinctions4 ,how greatly has the authority of our faith and the influence of the ,church suffered from this error4 ,the filial consciousness should produce the fraternal consciousness4 ,with the former we may have a number of private ,christians2 with the latter only can we have a ,church4 ,ye are all1 says the ,apostle1 one 7man7 in ,christ ,jesus4 ,the numeral is masculine1 not neuter--one person 7no abstract unity71#aaa as though possessing one mind and will1 and that the mind that was in ,christ4 ,just so far as individual men are in ,christ and ,he becomes the soul of their life1 do they realise this unity4 ,the ,christ within them recognises the ,christ without1 as face answereth to face in a glass4 ,in this recognition social disparity vanishes4 ,we think of it no more than we shall do before the judgement-seat of ,christ4 ,what matters it whether my brother wears velvet or fustian1 if ,christ be in him8 ,the humbleness of his birth or occupation1 the uncouthness of his speech1 cannot separate him1 nor can the absence of these peculiarities separate his neighbour1 from the love of ,god in ,christ ,jesus our ,lord4 ,why should these differences make them strangers to each other in the ,church8 ,if both are in ,christ1 why are they not one in ,christ8 ,a tide of patriotic emotion1 a scene of pity or terror--a shipwreck1 an earthquake--levels all classes and makes us feel and act as one man4 ,our faith in ,christ should do no less4 ,or do we love ,god less than we fear death8 ,is our country more to us than ,jesus ,christ8 ,in rare moments of exaltation we rise1 it may be1 to the height at which ,paul sets our life4 ,but until we can habitually and by settled principle in our ,church-relations know no man after the flesh1 we come short of the purpose of ,jesus ,christ 7comp4 ,john xvii4 #bj-bc74 #aaa ,comp4 ,eph4 ii4 #ae2 iv4 #ac2 but neuter in ii4 #ad4 ,the unity ,paul desiderates would effectually counteract the ,judaistic agitation4 ,the force of the latter lay in antipathy4 ,paul's opponents contended that there must be ,jew and ,greek4 ,they fenced off the ,jewish preserve from uncircumcised intruders4 ,gentile nonconformists must adopt their ritual2 or they will remain a lower caste1 outside the privileged circle of the covenant-heirs of ,abraham4 ,compelled under this pressure to accept the ,mosaic law1 it was anticipated that they would add to the glory of ,judaism and help to maintain its institutions unimpaired4 ,but the ,apostle has cut the ground from under their feet4 ,it is faith1 he affirms1 which makes men sons of ,god4 ,and faith is equally possible to ,jew or ,gentile4 ,then ,judaism is doomed4 ,no system of caste1 no principle of social exclusion has1 on this assumption1 any foothold in the ,church4 ,spiritual life1 nearness and likeness to the common ,saviour--in a word character1 is the standard of worth in ,his kingdom4 ,and the range of that kingdom is made wide as humanity2 its charity1 deep as the love of ,god4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and if you--whether ,jews or ,greeks--are ,christ's1 then are you ,abraham's seed1 heirs in terms of the ,promise4 ,so the ,apostle brings to a close this part of his argument1 and links it to what he has said before touching the fatherhood of ,abraham4 ,since ver4 #ah we have lost sight of the patriarch2 but he has not been forgotten4 ,from that verse ,paul has been conducting us onward through the legal centuries which parted ,abraham from ,christ4 ,he has shown how the law of ,moses interposed between promise and fulfilment1 schooling the ,jewish race and mankind in them for its accomplishment4 ,now the long discipline is over4 ,the hour of release has struck4 ,faith resumes her ancient sway1 in a larger realm4 ,in ,christ a new1 universal humanity comes into existence1 formed of men who by faith are grafted into ,him4 ,partakers of ,christ1 ,gentiles also are of the seed of ,abraham2 the wild scions of nature share the root and fatness of the good olive-tree4 ,all things are theirs2 for they are ,christ's 7#a ,cor4 iii4 #ba-bc74 ,christ never stands alone4 ,in the midst of the ,church--firstborn of many brethren ,he presents ,himself1 standing in the presence of ,god for us4 ,he has secured for mankind and keeps in trust its glorious heritage4 ,in ,him we hold in fee the ages past and to come4 ,the sons of ,god are heirs of the universe4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,heir',s ,,coming ,,of ,,age4 ,but ,i say that so long as the heir is a child1 he differeth nothing from a bondservant1 though he is lord of all2 but is under guardians and stewards until the term appointed of the father4 ,so we also1 when we were children1 were held in bondage under the rudiments of the world3 but when the fulness of the time came1 ,god sent forth ,his ,son1 born of a woman1 born under the law1 that ,he might redeem them which were under the law1 that we might receive the adoption of sons4 ,and because ye are sons1 ,god sent forth the ,spirit of ,his ,son into our hearts1 crying1 ,abba ,father4 ,so that thou art no longer a bondservant1 but a son2 and if a son1 then an heir through ,god4--,,gal4 iv4 #a-g4 ,the main thesis of the ,epistle is now established4 ,gentile ,christians1 ,paul has shown1 are in the true ,abrahamic succession of faith4 ,and this devolution of the ,promise discloses the real intent of the ,mosaic law1 as an intermediate and disciplinary system4 ,christ was the heir of ,abraham's testament2 ,he was therefore the end of ,moses' law4 ,and those who are ,christ's inherit the blessings of the ,promise1 while they escape the curse and condemnation of the ,law4 ,the remainder of the ,apostle's polemic1 down to ch4 v4 #ab1 is devoted to the illustration and enforcement of this position4 ,in this1 as in the previous chapter1 the pre-,christian state is assigned to the ,jew1 who was the chief subject of ,divine teaching in the former dispensation2 it is set forth under the first person 7ver4 #c71 in the language of recollection4 ,describing the opposite condition of sonship1 the ,apostle reverts from the first to the second person1 identifying his readers with himself 7comp4 ch4 iii4 #be1 #bf74 ,true1 the ,gentiles had been in bondage 7vv4 #g1 #h74 ,this goes without saying4 ,paul's object is to show that ,judaism is a bondage4 ,upon this he insists with all the emphasis he can command4 ,moreover1 the legal system contained worldly1 unspiritual elements1 crude and childish conceptions of truth1 marking it1 in comparison with ,christianity1 as an inferior religion4 ,let the ,galatians be convinced of this1 and they will understand what ,paul is going to say directly2 they will perceive that ,judaic conformity is for them a backsliding in the direction of their former heathenism 7vv4 #h-aj74 ,but the force of this latter warning is discounted and its effect weakened when he is supposed1 as by some interpreters1 to include ,gentile along with ,jewish rudiments already in ver4 #c4 ,his readers could not have suspected this4 ,the ,so we also and the held in bondage of this verse carry them back to ch4 iii4 #bc4 ,by calling the ,mosaic ceremonies rudiments of the world he gives ,jewish susceptibilities just such a shock as prepares for the declaration of ver4 #i1 which puts them on a level with heathen rites4 ,the difference between ,judaism and ,christianity1 historically unfolded in ch4 iii41 is here restated in graphic summary4 ,we see1 first1 the heir of ,god in his minority2 and again1 the same heir in possession of his estate4 ,i4 ,one can fancy the ,jew replying to ,paul's previous argument in some such style as this4 ,you pour contempt1 he would say1 on the religion of your fathers4 ,you make them out to have been no better than slaves4 ,abraham's inheritance1 you pretend1 under the ,mosaic dispensation lay dormant1 and is revived in order to be taken from his children and conferred on aliens4 ,no1 ,paul would answer3 ,i admit that the saints of ,israel were sons of ,god2 ,i glory in the fact--who are ,israelites1 whose is the adoption of sons and the glory and the covenants and the law-giving and the promises1 whose are the fathers 7,rom4 ix4 #d1 #e74 ,but they were sons in their minority4 ,and ,i say that as long as the heir is 7legally7 an infant1 he differs in nothing from a slave1 though 7by title7 lord of all4 ,the man of the ,old ,covenant was a child of ,god in posse1 not in esse1 in right but not in fact4 ,the infant is his father's trueborn son4 ,in time he will be full owner4 ,meanwhile he is as subject as any slave on the estate4 ,there is nothing he can command for his own4 ,he is treated and provided for as a bondman might be2 put under stewards who manage his property1 and guardians in charge of his person1 until the day fore-appointed of the father4 ,this situation does not exclude1 it implies fatherly affection and care on the one side1 and heirship on the other4 ,but it forbids the recognition of the heir1 his investment with filial rights4 ,it precludes the access to the father and acquaintance with him1 which the boy will gain in after years4 ,he sees him at a distance and through others1 under the aspect of authority rather than of love4 ,in this position he does not yet possess the spirit of a son4 ,such was in truth the condition of ,hebrew saints--heirs of ,god1 but knowing it not4 ,this illustration raises in ver4 #b an interesting legal question1 touching the latitude given by ,roman or other current law to the father in dealing with his heirs4 ,paul's language is good evidence for the existence of the power he refers to4 ,in ,roman and in ,jewish law the date of civil majority was fixed4 ,local usage may have been more elastic4 ,but the case supposed1 we observe1 is not that of a dead father1 into whose place the son steps at the proper age4 ,a grant is made by a father still living1 who keeps his son in pupilage till he sees fit to put him in possession of the promised estate4 ,there is nothing to show that paternal discretion was limited in these circumstances1 any more than it is in ,english law4 ,the father might fix eighteen1 or twenty-one1 or thirty years as the age at which he would give his son a settlement1 just as he thought best4 ,this analogy1 like that of the testament in ch4 iii41 is not complete at all points2 nor could any human figure of these ,divine things be made so4 ,the essential particulars involved in it are first1 the childishness of the infant heir2 secondly1 the subordinate position in which he is placed for the time2 and thirdly1 the right of the father to determine the expiry of his infancy4 #a4 ,when we were children1 says the ,apostle4 ,this implies1 not a merely formal and legal bar1 but an intrinsic disqualification4 ,to treat the child as a man is preposterous4 ,the responsibilities of property are beyond his strength and his understanding4 ,such powers in his hands could only be instruments of mischief1 to himself most of all4 ,in the ,divine order1 calling is suited to capacity1 privilege to age4 ,the coming of ,christ was timed to the hour4 ,the world of the ,old ,testament1 at its wisest and highest1 was unripe for ,his gospel4 ,the revelation made to ,paul could not have been received by ,moses1 or ,david1 or ,isaiah4 ,his doctrine was only possible after and in consequence of theirs4 ,there was a training of faculty1 a deepening of conscience1 a patient course of instruction and chastening to be carried out1 before the heirs of the promise were fit for their heritage4 ,looking back to his own youthful days1 the ,apostle sees in them a reflex of the discipline which the people of ,god had required4 ,the views he then held of ,divine truth appear to him low and childish1 in comparison with the manly freedom of spirit1 the breadth of knowledge1 the fulness of joy which he has attained as a son of ,god through ,christ4 #b4 ,but what is meant by the stewards and guardians of this ,jewish period of infancy8 ,ver4 #c tells us this1 in language1 however1 somewhat obscure3 ,we were held in bondage under the rudiments 7or elements7 of the world--a phrase synonymous with the foregoing under law 7ch4 iii4 #bc74 ,the guard and tutor of the previous section re-appears1 with these rudiments of the world in his hand4 ,they form the system under which the young heir was schooled1 up to the time of his majority4 ,they belonged to the world#aab inasmuch as they were1 in comparison with ,christianity1 unspiritual in their nature1 uninformed by the ,spirit of ,god's ,son 7ver4 #f74 ,the language of ,heb4 ix4 #a1 #aj explains this phrase3 ,the first covenant had a worldly sanctuary1 with ordinances of flesh1 imposed till the time of rectification4 ,the sensuous factor that entered into the ,jewish revelation formed the point of contact with ,paganism which ,paul brings into view in the next paragraph4 ,yet rude and earthly as the ,mosaic system was in some of its features1 it was ,divinely ordained and served an essential purpose in the progress of revelation4 ,it shielded the ,church's infancy4 ,it acted the part of a prudent steward1 a watchful guardian4 ,the heritage of ,abraham came into possession of his heirs enriched by their long minority4 ,mosaism therefore1 while spiritually inferior to the ,covenant of grace in ,christ1 has rendered invaluable service to it 7comp4 ver4 #bd3 ,chapter ,,xiv41 p4 #bbe74 #aab ,surely the world of men1 not the cosmical elements2 comp4 ,col4 ii4 #h1 #bj 7where rudiments of the world is parallel to tradition of men72 also ,gal4 vi4 #ad2 ,heb4 ix4 #a4 #a ,cor4 iii4 #a-c supplies an interesting parallel3 those who are babes in ,christ1 are so far carnal and walk according to man1 animated by the spirit of this world 7#a ,cor4 ii4 #ab74 #c4 ,the will of the ,father determined the period of this guardianship4 ,however it may be in human law1 this right of fore-ordination resides in the ,divine ,fatherhood4 ,in ,his unerring foresight ,he fixed the hour when ,his sons should step into their filial place4 ,all such times and seasons1 ,christ declared1 the ,father hath appointed on ,his own authority 7,acts i4 #g74 ,he imposed the law of ,moses1 and annulled it1 when ,he would4 ,he kept the ,jewish people1 for their own and the world's benefit1 tied to the legal rudiments1 held in the leading-strings of ,judaism4 ,it was ,his to say when this subjection should cease1 when the ,church might receive the ,spirit of ,his ,son4 ,if this decree appeared to be arbitrary1 if it was strange that the ,jewish fathers--men so noble in faith and character--were kept in bondage and fear1 we must remind ourselves that so it seemed good in the ,father's sight4 ,hebrew pride found this hard to brook4 ,to think that ,god had denied this privilege in time past to ,his chosen people1 to bestow it all at once and by mere grace on ,gentile sinners1 making them at the eleventh hour equal to those who had borne for so long the burden and heat of the day6 that the children of ,abraham had been1 as ,paul maintains1 for centuries treated as slaves1 and now these heathen aliens are made sons just as much as they6 ,but this was ,god's plan2 and it must be right4 ,who art thou1 ,o man1 that repliest against ,god8 ,,ii4 ,however1 the nonage of the ,church has passed4 ,god's sons are now to be owned for such4 ,it is ,christ's mission to constitute men sons of ,god 7vv4 #d1 #e74 ,his advent was the turning-point of human affairs1 the fulness of time4 ,paul's glance in these verses takes in a vast horizon4 ,he views ,christ in ,his relation both to ,god and to humanity1 both to law and redemption4 ,the appearance of the ,son of ,god1 woman-born1 completes the previous course of time2 it is the goal of antecedent revelation1 unfolding the mystery kept secret through times eternal1 but now made known to all the nations 7,rom4 xvi4 #be1 #bf74 ,promise and ,law both looked forward to this hour4 ,sin had been passed by in prospect of it1 receiving hitherto a partial and provisional forgiveness4 ,the aspirations excited1 the needs created by earlier religion demanded their satisfaction4 ,the symbolism of type and ceremony1 with their rude picture-writing1 waited for their ,interpreter4 ,the prophetic soul of the wide world1 dreaming of things to come1 watched for this day4 ,they that looked for ,israel's redemption1 the ,simeons and ,annas of the time1 the authentic heirs of the promise1 knew by sure tokens that it was near4 ,their aged eyes in the sight of the infant ,jesus descried its rising4 ,the set time had come1 to which all times looked since ,adam's fall and the first promise4 ,at the moment when ,israel seemed farthest from help and hope1 the horn of salvation was raised up in the house of ,david1--,god sent forth ,his ,son4 #a4 ,the sending of the ,son brought the world's servitude to an end4 ,henceforth1 said ,jesus1 ,i call you not servants 7,john xv4 #ae74 ,till now servant of ,god had been the highest title men could wear4 ,the heathen were enslaved to false gods 7ver4 #h74 ,and ,israel1 knowing the true ,god1 knew ,him at a distance1 serving too often in the spirit of the elder son of the parable1 who said1 ,lo these many years do ,i slave for thee 7,luke xv4 #bi74 ,none could with free soul lift his eyes to heaven and say1 ,abba1 ,father4 ,men had great thoughts about ,god1 high speculations4 ,they had learnt imperishable truths concerning ,his unity1 ,his holiness1 ,his majesty as ,creator and ,lawgiver4 ,they named ,him the ,lord1 the ,almighty1 the ,i ,,am4 ,but ,his ,fatherhood as ,christ revealed it1 they had scarcely guessed4 ,they thought of ,him as humble bondmen of a revered and august master1 as sheep might of a good shepherd4 ,the idea of a personal sonship towards the ,holy ,one of ,israel was inconceivable1 till ,christ brought it with ,him into the world1 till ,god sent forth ,his ,son4 ,he sent ,him as ,his ,son4 ,to speak of ,christ1 with the mystical ,germans1 as the ideal ,urmensch--the ideal ,son of man1 the foretype of humanity--is to express a great truth4 ,mankind was created in ,christ1 who is the image of ,god1 firstborn of all creation4 ,but this is not what ,paul is saying here4 ,the doubly compounded ,greek verb at the head of this sentence 7repeated with like emphasis in ver4 #f7 signifies sent forth from ,himself3 ,he came in the character of ,god's ,son1 bringing ,his sonship with ,him4 ,he was the ,son of ,god before ,he was sent out4 ,he did not become so in virtue of ,his mission to mankind4 ,his relations with men1 in ,paul's conception1 rested upon ,his pre-existing relationship to ,god4 ,the ,word who became flesh1 was with ,god1 was ,god in the beginning4 ,he called ,god ,his own ,father1 making ,himself equal with ,god 7,john v4 #ah73 so the ,jews had gathered from ,his own declarations4 ,paul admitted the claim when ,god revealed ,his ,son to him1 and affirms it here unequivocally4 ,the ,son of ,god1 arriving in the fulness of time1 enters human life4 ,like any other son of man1 ,he is born of a woman1 born under law4 ,here is the kenosis1 the emptying of ,divinity1 of which the ,apostle speaks in ,phil4 ii4 #e-h4 ,the phrase born of woman1 does not refer specifically to the virgin-birth2 this term describes human origin on the side of its weakness and dependence 7,job xiv4 #a2 ,matt4 xi4 #aa74 ,paul is thinking not of the difference1 but of the identity of ,christ's birth and our own4 ,we are carried back to ,bethlehem4 ,we see ,jesus a babe lying in ,his mother's arms--,god's ,son a human infant1 drawing ,his life from a weak woman6#aac #aac ,comp4 ,rom4 i4 #c1 #d2 ix4 #e2 #b ,cor4 xiii4 #d2 ,eph4 iv4 #i1 #aj2 ,ph4 ii4 #f-h2 ,col4 i4 #ae1 #ah2 ii4 #i2 #a ,tim4 iii4 #af4 ,nor is born under law a distinction intended to limit the previous term1 as though it meant a born ,jew1 and not a mere woman's son4 ,this expression1 to the mind of the reader of ch4 iii41 conveys the idea of subjection1 of humiliation rather than eminence4 ,though ,he was 7,god's7 ,son1 ,christ must needs learn ,his obedience 7,heb4 v4 #h74 ,the ,jewish people experienced above all others the power of the law to chasten and humble4 ,their law was to them more sensibly1 what the moral law is in varying degree to the world everywhere1 an instrument of condemnation4 ,god's ,son was now put under its power4 ,as a man ,he was under law2 as a ,jew ,he came under its most stringent application4 ,he declined none of the burdens of ,his birth4 ,he submitted not only to the general moral demands of the ,divine law for men1 but to all the duties and proprieties incident to ,his position as a man1 even to those ritual ordinances which ,his coming was to abolish4 ,he set a perfect example of loyalty4 ,thus it becometh us1 ,he said1 to fulfil all righteousness4 ,the ,son of ,god who was to end the legal bondage1 was sent into it ,himself4 ,he wore the legal yoke that ,he might break it4 ,he took the form of a servant1 to win our enfranchisement4 ,god sent forth ,his ,son1 human1 law-bound--that ,he might redeem those under law4 ,redemption was ,christ's errand4 ,we have learned already how ,he redeemed us from the curse of the law1 by the sacrifice of the cross 7ch4 iii4 #ac74 ,this was the primary object of ,his mission3 to ransom men from the guilt of past sin4 ,now we discern its further purpose--the positive and constructive side of the ,divine counsel4 ,justification is the preface to adoption4 ,the man under law is not only cursed by his failure to keep it2 he lives in a servile state1 debarred from filial rights4 ,christ bought us out of this condition4 ,while the expiation rendered in ,his death clears off the entail of human guilt1 ,his incarnate life and spiritual union with believing men sustain that action1 making the redemption complete and permanent4 ,as enemies1 we were reconciled to ,god by the death of ,his ,son2 now reconciled1 we shall be saved by ,his life 7,rom4 v4 #aj74 ,salvation is not through the death of ,christ alone4 ,the ,babe of ,bethlehem1 the crowned ,lord of glory is our ,redeemer1 as well as the ,man of ,calvary4 ,the cross is indeed the centre of ,his redemption2 but it has a vast circumference4 ,all that ,christ is1 all that ,he has done and is doing as the ,incarnate ,son1 the ,god-man1 helps to make men sons of ,god4 ,the purpose of ,his mission is therefore stated a second time and made complete in the words of ver4 #e b3 that we might receive the adoption of sons4 ,the sonship carries everything else with it--if children1 then heirs 7ver4 #g74 ,there is no room for any supplementary office of ,jewish ritual4 ,that is left behind with our babyhood4 #b4 ,so much for the ground of sonship4 ,its proof lay in the sending forth of the ,spirit of the ,son4 ,the mission of the ,son and that of the ,spirit are spoken of in vv4 #c-f in parallel terms3 ,god sent forth ,his ,son--sent forth the ,spirit of ,his ,son1 the former into the world of men1 the latter into their individual hearts4 ,the second act matches the first1 and crowns it4 ,pentecost is the sequel of the ,incarnation 7,john ii4 #ba2 #a ,cor4 vi4 #ai1 #bj74 ,and ,pentecost is repeated in the heart of every child of ,god4 ,the ,apostle addresses himself to his readers' experience 7because ye are sons7 as in ch4 iii4 #c-f1 and on the same point4 ,they had received the ,spirit3 this marked them indubitably as heirs of ,abraham 7ch4 iii4 #ad7--;and what is more1 sons of ,god4 ,had not the mystic cry1 ,abba1 ,father1 sounded in their hearts8 ,the filial consciousness was born within them1 supernaturally inspired4 ,when they believed in ,christ1 when they saw in ,him the ,son of ,god1 their ,redeemer1 they were stirred with a new1 ecstatic impulse2 a ,divine glow of love and joy kindled in their breasts2 a voice not their own spoke to their spirit--their soul leaped forth upon their lips1 crying to ,god1 ,father1 ,father6 ,they were children of ,god1 and knew it4 ,the ,spirit ,himself bore them witness 7,rom4 viii4 #ae74 ,this sentiment was not due to their own reflection1 not the mere opening of a buried spring of feeling in their nature4 ,god sent it into their hearts4 ,the outward miracles which attended the first bestowment of this gift1 showed from what source it came 7ch4 iii4 #e74 ,nor did ,christ personally impart the assurance4 ,he had gone1 that the ,paraclete might come4 ,here was another ,witness1 sent by a second mission from the ,father 7,john xvi4 #g74 ,his advent is signalised in clear distinction from that of the ,son4 ,he comes in the joint name of ,father and of ,son4 ,jesus called ,him the ,spirit of the ,father2#aad the ,apostle1 the ,spirit of ,god's ,son4 #aad ,matt4 x4 #bj2 ,luke xi4 #ac2 ,john xiv4 #af2 ,acts i4 #d1 #e4 ,to us ,he is the ,spirit of adoption1 replacing the former spirit of bondage unto fear4 ,for by ,his indwelling we are joined to the ,lord and made one spirit with ,him1 so that ,christ lives in us 7ch4 ii4 #bj74 ,and since ,christ is above all things the ,son1 ,his ,spirit is a spirit of sonship2 those who receive ,him are sons of ,god4 ,our sonship is through the ,holy ,spirit derived from ,his4 ,till ,christ's redemption was effected1 such adoption was in the nature of things impossible4 ,this filial cry of ,gentile hearts attested the entrance of a ,divine life into the world4 ,the ,spirit of ,god's ,son had become the new spirit of mankind4 ,abba1 the ,syrian vocative for father1 was a word familiar to the lips of ,jesus4 ,the instance of its use recorded in ,mark xiv4 #cf1 was but one of many such4 ,no one had hitherto approached ,god as ,he did4 ,his utterance of this word1 expressing the attitude of ,his life of prayer and breathing the whole spirit of ,his religion1 profoundly affected ,his disciples4 ,so that the ,abba of ,jesus became a watchword of ,his ,church1 being the proper name of the ,god and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,gentile believers pronounced it1 conscious that in doing so they were joined in spirit to the ,lord who said1 ,my ,father1 and your ,father6 ,greek-speaking ,christians supplemented it by their own equivalent1 as we by the ,english ,father4 ,this precious vocable is carried down the ages and round the whole world in the mother-tongue of ,jesus1 a memorial of the hour when through ,him men learned to call ,god ,father4 ,because ye are sons1 ,god sent forth the ,spirit1 with this cry4 ,the witness of sonship follows on the adoption1 and seals it4 ,the child is born1 then cries2 the cry is the evidence of life4 ,but this is not the first office of the ,holy ,spirit to the regenerate soul4 ,many a silent impulse has ,he given1 frequent and long continued may have been ,his visitations1 before ,his presence reveals itself audibly4 ,from the first the new life of grace is implanted by ,his influence4 ,that which is born of the ,spirit1 is spirit4 ,he dwelleth with you1 and is in you1#aae said ,jesus to ,his disciples1 before the ,pentecostal effusion4 ,important and decisive as the witness of the ,holy ,spirit to our sonship is1 we must not limit ,his operation to this event4 ,deeply has ,he wrought already on the soul in which ,his work reaches this issue2 and when it is reached1 ,he has still much to bestow1 much to accomplish in us4 ,all truth1 all holiness1 all comfort are ,his2 and into these ,he leads the children of ,god4 ,living by the ,spirit1 in ,him we proceed to walk 7ch4 v4 #be74 #aae ,john xiv4 #ag2 the present 77 is the preferable reading4 ,see ,westcott ad loc4 ,the interchange of person in the subject of vv4 #e-h is very noticeable4 ,this agitated style betrays high-strung emotion4 ,writing first1 in ver4 #c1 in the language of ,jewish experience1 in ver4 #f ,paul turns upon his readers and claims them for witnesses to the same adoption which ,jewish believers in ,christ 7ver4 #e7 had received4 ,instantly he falls back into the first person2 it is his own joyous consciousness that breaks forth in the filial cry of ver4 #f;b4 ,in the more calm concluding sentence the second person is resumed2 and now in the individualising singular1 as though he would lay hold of his readers one by one1 and bid them look each into his own heart to find the proof of sonship1 as he writes3 ,so that thou art no longer a slave1 but a son2 and if a son1 also an heir through ,god4 ,an heir through ,god--this is the true reading1 and is greatly to the point4 ,it carries to a climax the emphatic repetition of ,god observed in vv4 #d and #f4 ,god sent ,his ,son into the world2 ,god sent in turn ,his ,son's ,spirit into your hearts4 ,god then1 and no other1 has bestowed your inheritance4 ,it is yours by ,his fiat4 ,who dares challenge it8#aaf ,words how suitable to reassure ,gentile ,christians1 browbeaten by arrogant ,judaism6 ,our reply is the same to those who at this day deny our ,christian and churchly standing1 because we reject their sacerdotal claims4 #aaf ,comp4 ,rom4 viii4 #ca-ce2 ,acts xi4 #ag4 ,what this inheritance includes in its final attainment1 doth not yet appear4 ,enough to know that now are we children of ,god4 ,the redemption of the body1 the deliverance of nature from its sentence of dissolution1 the abolishment of death--these are amongst its certainties4 ,its supreme joy lies in the promise of being with ,christ1 to witness and share ,his glory4#aag ,heirs of ,god1 joint-heirs with ,christ--a destiny like this overwhelms thought and makes hope a rapture4 ,god's sons may be content to wait and see how their heritage will turn out4 ,only let us be sure that we are ,his sons4 ,doctrinal orthodoxy1 ritual observance1 moral propriety do not impart1 and do not supersede the earnest of the ,spirit in our hearts4 ,the religion of ,jesus the ,son of ,god is the religion of the filial consciousness4 #aag ,john xii4 #bf2 xvii4 #bd2 ,rev4 iii4 #ba2 ,phil4 i4 #bc2 ,col4 iii4 #d2 #a ,pet4 v4 #a4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,return ,,to ,,bondage4 ,howbeit at that time1 not knowing ,god1 ye were in bondage to them which by nature are no gods3 but now that ye have come to know ,god1 or rather to be known of ,god1 how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments1 whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again8 ,ye observe days1 and months1 and seasons1 and years4 ,i am afraid of you1 lest by any means ,i have bestowed labour upon you in vain--,,gal4 iv4 #h-aa4 ,sons of ,god1 whom ,he made ,his heirs in ,christ1 how are you turning back to legal bondage6 ,such is the appeal with which the ,apostle follows up his argument4 ,foolish ,galatians1 we seem to hear him say again1 who has bewitched you into this8 ,they forget the call of the ,divine grace2 they turn away from the sight of ,christ crucified2 nay1 they are renouncing their adoption into the family of ,god4 ,paul knew something of the fickleness of human nature2 but he was not prepared for this4 ,how can men who have tasted liberty prefer slavery1 or fullgrown sons desire to return to the rudiments of childhood8 ,after knowing ,god as ,he is in ,christ1 is it possible that these ,galatians have begun to dote on ceremonial1 to make a religion of times and seasons2 that they are becoming devotees of ,jewish ritual8 ,what can be more frivolous1 more irrational than this8 ,on such people ,paul's labours seem to be thrown away4 ,you make me fear1 he says1 that ,i have toiled for you in vain4 ,in this expostulation two principles emerge with especial prominence4 ,i4 ,first1 that knowledge of ,god1 bringing spiritual freedom1 lays upon us higher responsibilities4 ,then indeed1 he says1 not knowing ,god1 you were in bondage to false gods4 ,your heathen life was in a sense excusable4 ,but now something very different is expected from you1 since you have come to know ,god4 ,we are reminded of the ,apostle's memorable words spoken at ,athens3 ,the times of ignorance ,god overlooked 7,acts xvii4 #cj74 ,ye say1 ,we see1 said ,jesus2 your sin remaineth 7,john ix4 #da74 ,increased light brings stricter judgement4 ,if this was true of men who had merely heard the message of ,christ1 how much more of those who had proved its saving power4 ,ritualism was well enough for ,pagans1 or even for ,jews before ,christ's coming and the outpouring of ,his ,spirit--but for ,christians6 ,for those into whose hearts ,god had breathed the ,spirit of ,his ,son1 who had learned to worship ,god in the ,spirit and to have no confidence in the flesh--for ,paul's ,galatians to yield to the legalist persuasion was a fatal relapse4 ,in principle1 and in its probable issue1 this course was a reverting toward their old heathenism4 ,the ,apostle again recalls them1 as he does so often his children in ,christ1 to the time of their conversion4 ,they had been1 he reminds them1 idolaters2 ignorant of the true ,god1 they were enslaved to things that by nature are no gods4 ,two definitions ,paul has given of idolatry3 ,there is no idol in the world2 and again1 ,the things which the ,gentiles sacrifice1 they sacrifice to demons1 and not to ,god 7#a ,cor4 viii4 #d2 x4 #bj74 ,half lies1 half devilry3 such was the popular heathenism of the day4 ,gods many and lords many the ,galatian ,pagans worshipped--a strange ,pantheon4 ,there were their old1 weird ,celtic deities1 before whom our ,british forefathers trembled4 ,on this ancestral faith had been superimposed the frantic rites of the ,phrygian ,mother1 ,cybele1 with her mutilated priests2 and the more genial and humanistic cultus of the ,greek ,olympian gods4 ,but they were gone1 the whole damnd crew1 as ,milton calls them2 for those whose eyes had seen the glory in the face of ,jesus ,christ1 their spell was broken2 heaven was swept clear and earth pure of their foul presence4 ,the old gods are dead4 ,no renaissance of humanism1 no witchcraft of poetry can re-animate them4 ,to us after these eighteen centuries1 as to the ,galatian believers1 there is one ,god the ,father1 of whom are all things1 and we for ,him2 and one ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 through whom are all things1 and we through ,him4 ,a man who knew the ,old ,testament1 to say nothing of the teaching of ,christ1 could never sacrifice to ,jupiter and ,mercurius any more1 nor shout ,great is ,diana of the ,ephesians4 ,they were painted idols1 shams2 he had seen through them4 ,they might frighten children in the dark2 but the sun was up4 ,christianity destroyed ,paganism as light kills darkness4 ,paul did not fear that his readers would slide back into actual heathenism4 ,that was intellectually impossible4 ,there are warnings in his ,epistles against the spirit of idolatry1 and against conformity with its customs2 but none against return to its beliefs4 ,the old heathen life was indeed a slavery1 full of fear and degradation4 ,the religious ,pagan could never be sure that he had propitiated his gods sufficiently1 or given to all their due4 ,they were jealous and revengeful1 envious of human prosperity1 capable of infinite wrongdoing4 ,in the worship of many of them acts were enjoined revolting to the conscience4 ,and this is true of ,polytheism all over the world4 ,it is the most shameful bondage ever endured by the soul of man4 ,but ,paul's readers had come to know ,god4 ,they had touched the great ,reality4 ,the phantoms had vanished2 the ,living ,one stood before them4 ,his glory shone into their hearts in the face of ,jesus ,christ4 ,this1 whenever it takes place1 is for any man the crisis of his life--when he comes to know ,god1 when the ,god-consciousness is born in him4 ,like the dawn of self-consciousness1 it may be gradual4 ,there are those1 the happy few1 who were born again so soon as they were born to thought and choice2 they cannot remember a time when they did not love ,god1 when they were not sensible of being known of ,him4 ,but with others1 as with ,paul1 the revelation is made at an instant1 coming like a lightning-flash at midnight4 ,but unlike the lightning it remained4 ,let the manifestation of ,god come how or when it may1 it is decisive4 ,the man into whose soul the ,almighty has spoken ,his ,i ,,am1 can never be the same afterwards4 ,he may forget2 he may deny it3 but he has known ,god2 he has seen the light of life4 ,if he returns to darkness1 his darkness is blacker and guiltier than before4 ,on his brow there rests in all its sadness ,sorrow's crown of sorrow1 remembering happier things4 ,offences venial1 excusable hitherto1 from this time assume a graver hue4 ,things that in a lower stage of life were innocent1 and even possessed religious value1 may now be unlawful1 and the practice of them a declension1 the first step in apostasy4 ,what is delightful in a child1 becomes folly in a grown man4 ,the knowledge of ,god in ,christ has raised us in the things of the spirit to man's estate1 and it requires that we should put away childish things1 and amongst them ritual display and sacerdotal officiations1 ,pagan1 ,jewish1 or ,romish4 ,these things form no part of the knowledge of ,god1 or of the true worship of the ,father4 ,the ,jewish rudiments were designed for men who had not known ,god as ,christ declares ,him1 who had never seen the ,saviour's cross4 ,jewish saints could not worship ,god in the ,spirit of adoption4 ,they remained under the spirit of servitude and fear4 ,their conceptions were so far weak and poor that they supposed the ,divine favour to depend on such matters as the washing of cups and pots1 and the precise number of feet that one walked on the ,sabbath4 ,these ideas belonged to a childish stage of the religious life4 ,pharisaism had developed to the utmost this lower element of the ,mosaic system1 at the expense of everything that was spiritual in it4 ,men who had been brought up in ,judaism might indeed1 after conversion to ,christ1 retain their old customs as matters of social usage or pious habit1 without regarding them as vital to religion4 ,with ,gentiles it was otherwise4 ,adopting ,jewish rites de novo1 they must do so on grounds of distinct religious necessity4 ,for this very reason the duty of circumcision was pressed upon them4 ,it was a means1 they were told1 essential to their spiritual perfection1 to the attainment of full ,christian privileges4 ,but to know ,god by the witness of the ,holy ,spirit of ,christ1 as the ,galatians had done1 was an experience sufficient to show that this persuasion was false4 ,it did not come of ,him that called them4 ,it introduced them to a path the opposite of that they had entered at their conversion1 a way that led downwards and not upwards1 from the spiritual to the sensuous1 from the salvation of faith to that of self-wrought work of law4 ,known ,god1 ,paul says1--or rather were known of ,god4 ,he hastens to correct himself4 ,he will not let an expression pass that seems to ascribe anything simply to human acquisition4 ,ye have not chosen ,me1 said ,jesus2 ,i have chosen you4 ,so the ,apostle ,john3 ,not that we loved ,god1 but that ,he loved us4 ,this is true through the entire range of the ,christian life4 ,we apprehend that for which we were apprehended by ,christ ,jesus4 ,our love1 our knowledge--what are they but the sense of the ,divine love and knowledge in us8 ,religion is a bestowment1 not an achievement4 ,it is ,god working in us to will and work for the sake of ,his good pleasure4 ,in this light the gospel presented itself at first to the ,galatians4 ,the preaching of the ,apostle1 the vision of the cross of ,christ1 made them sensible of ,god's living presence4 ,they felt the gaze of an ,infinite purity and compassion1 of an ,all-wise1 ,all-pitiful ,father1 fixed upon them4 ,he was calling them1 slaves of idolatry and sin1 into the fellowship of ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ4 ,the illuminating glance of ,god pierced to their inmost being4 ,in that light ,god and the soul met1 and knew each other4 ,and now1 after this profound1 transforming revelation1 this sublime communion with ,god1 will they turn back to a life of puerile formalities1 of slavish dependence and fear8 ,is the strength of their devotion to be spent1 its fragrance exhaled in the drudgery of legal service8 ,surely they know ,god better than to think that ,he requires this4 ,and ,he who knew them1 as they have proved1 and knows what was right and needful for them1 has imposed no such burden4 ,he granted them the rich gifts of ,his grace--the ,divine sonship1 the heavenly heirship--on terms of mere faith in ,christ1 and without legal stipulation of any kind4 ,is it not enough that ,god knows them1 and counts them for ,his children6 ,so knowing1 and so known1 let them be content4 ,let them seek only to keep themselves in the love of ,god1 and in the comfort of ,his ,spirit4 ,raised to this high level1 they must not decline to a lower4 ,their heathen rudiments were excusable before2 but now even ,jewish rudiments are things to be left behind4 ,,ii4 ,it further appears that the ,apostle saw an element existing in ,judaism common to it with the ethnic religions4 ,for he says that his readers1 formerly enslaved to idols1 are now turning back to the weak and beggarly rudiments1 to which they would fain be in bondage over again4 ,the rudiments of ver4 #i cannot1 without exegetical violence1 be detached from the rudiments of the world of ver4 #c4 ,and these latter plainly signify the ,judaic rites 7see ,chapter ,,xvi474 ,the ,judaistic practices of the ,galatians were1 ,paul declares1 a backsliding toward their old idolatries4 ,we can only escape this construction of the passage at the cost of making the ,apostle's remonstrance inconsequent and pointless4 ,the argument of the letter hitherto has been directed with concentrated purpose against ,judaic conformity4 ,to suppose that just at this point1 in making its application1 he turns aside without notice or explanation to an entirely different matter1 is to stultify his reasoning4 ,the only ground for referring the days and seasons of ver4 #aj to any other than a ,jewish origin1 lies in the apprehension that such reference disparages the ,christian ,sabbath4 ,but how1 we ask1 was it possible for ,paul to use language which identifies the revered law of ,god with rites of heathenism1 which he accounted a fellowship with demons8 ,bishop ,lightfoot has answered this question in words we cannot do better than quote3 ,the ,apostle regards the higher element in heathen religion as corresponding1 however imperfectly1 to the lower in the ,mosaic law4 ,for we may consider both the one and the other as made up of two component parts1 the spiritual and the ritualistic4 ,now viewed in their spiritual aspect1 there is no comparison between the one and the other4 ,in this respect the heathen religions1 so far as they added anything of their own to that sense of dependence on ,god which is innate in man and which they could not entirely crush1 were wholly bad4 ,on the contrary1 in the ,mosaic law the spiritual element was most truly divine4 ,but this does not enter into our reckoning here4 ,for ,christianity has appropriated all that was spiritual in its predecessor4444 ,the ritualistic element alone remains to be considered1 and here is the meeting-point of ,judaism and ,heathenism4 ,in ,judaism this was as much lower than its spiritual element1 as in ,heathenism it was higher4 ,hence the two systems approach within such a distance that they can1 under certain limitations1 be classed together4 ,they have at least so much in common that a lapse into ,judaism can be regarded as a relapse into the position of unconverted ,heathenism4 ,judaism was a system of bondage like ,heathenism4 ,heathenism had been a disciplinary training like ,judaism 7,commentary in loc474 ,this line of explanation may perhaps be carried a step further4 ,judaism was rudimentary throughout4 ,a religion so largely ritualistic could not but be spiritually and morally defective4 ,in its partial apprehension of the ,divine attributes1 its limitation of ,god's grace to a single people1 its dim perception of immortality1 there were great deficiencies in the ,jewish creed4 ,its ethical code1 moreover1 was faulty2 it contained precepts given for the hardness of men's hearts--touching1 for example1 the laws of marriage1 and the right of revenge4 ,there was not a little in ,judaism1 especially in its ,pharisaic form1 that belonged to a half-awakened conscience1 to a rude and sensuous religious faculty4 ,christ came to fulfil the law2 but in that fulfilment ,he did not shrink from correcting it4 ,he emended the letter of its teaching1 that its true spirit might be elicited4 ,for an enlightened ,christian who had learned of ,jesus the royal law1 the law of liberty1 to conform to ,judaism was unmistakably to turn back4 ,moreover1 it was just the weakest and least spiritual part of the system of ,moses that the legalist teachers inculcated on ,gentile ,christians2 while their own lives fell short of its moral requirements 7ch4 vi4 #ab74 ,mosaism had been in the days of its inspiration and creative vigour the great opponent of idolatry4 ,it was the ,lord's witness throughout long centuries of heathen darkness and oppression1 and by its testimony has rendered splendid service to ,god and man4 ,but from the standpoint of ,christianity a certain degree of resemblance begins to be seen underlying this antagonism4 ,the faith of the ,israelitish people combatted idolatry with weapons too much like its own4 ,a worldly and servile element remained in it4 ,to one who has advanced in front1 positions at an earlier stage of his progress lying apart and paths widely divergent now assume the same general direction4 ,to resort either to ,jewish or heathen rites1 meant to turn back from ,christ4 ,it was to adopt principles of religion obsolete and unfit for those who had known ,god through ,him4 ,what in its time and for its purpose was excellent1 nay indispensable1 in doctrine and in worship1 in time also had decayed and waxed old4 ,to tie the living spirit of ,christianity to dead forms is to tie it to corruption4 ,weak and beggarly rudiments--it is a hard sentence2 and yet what else were ,jewish ceremonies and rules of diet1 in comparison with righteousness and peace and joy in the ,holy ,ghost8 ,what was circumcision1 now that there was no longer ,jew and ,greek8 ,what was there in ,saturday more than in any other day of the week1 if it ceased to be a sign between the ,lord of the ,sabbath and ,his people8 ,these things were1 as ,paul saw them1 the cast-clothes of religion4 ,for ,gentile ,christians the history of the ,jewish ordinances had much instruction2 but their observance was no whit more binding than that of heathen ceremonies4 ,even in the ancient times ,god valued them only as they were the expression of a devout1 believing spirit4 ,your new moons and your appointed feasts1 ,he had said to an ungodly generation1 ,my soul hateth 7,isa4 i4 #ad74 ,and was ,he likely to accept them now1 when they were enforced by ambition and party-spirit1 at the expense of ,his ,church's peace2 when their observance turned men's thoughts away from faith in ,his ,son1 and in the power of ,his life-giving ,spirit8 ,there is nothing too severe1 too scornful for ,paul to say of these venerable rites of ,israel1 now that they stand in the way of a living faith and trammel the freedom of the sons of ,god4 ,he tosses them aside as the swaddling-bands of the ,church's infancy--childish fetters1 too weak to hold the limbs of grown men4 ,he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that ,moses had made2 for the children of ,israel did burn incense to it2 and he called it ,nehushtan--a piece of brass 7#b ,kings xviii4 #d74 ,brave ,hezekiah6 ,paul does the same with the whole ceremonial of ,moses4 ,beggarly rudiments1 he says4 ,what divine refreshment there is in a blast of wholesome scorn6 ,it was their traditions1 their ritual that the ,judaists worshipped1 not the ,holy ,one of ,israel4 ,they would compass sea and land to make one proselyte1 and then make him twofold more the child of hell than themselves4 ,this was the only result that the success of the ,judaistic agitation could have achieved4 ,in thus decrying ,jewish ordinances1 the ,apostle by implication allows a certain value to the rites of ,paganism4 ,the ,galatians were formerly in bondage to them that are no gods4 ,now1 he says1 they are turning again to the like servitude by conforming to ,mosaic legalism4 ,they wish to come again under subjection to the weak and poor rudiments4 ,in ,galatian heathenism ,paul appears to recognise rudiments of truth and a certain preparation for ,christianity4 ,while ,judaic rites amounted to no more than rudiments of a spiritual faith1 there were influences at work in ,paganism that come under the same category4 ,paul believed that ,god had not left ,himself without witness to any4 ,he never treated heathen creeds with indiscriminate contempt1 as though they were utterly corrupt and worthless4 ,witness his address to the religious ,athenians1 and to the wild people of ,lycaonia 7,acts xiv4 #ae-ag2 xvii4 #bb-ca74 ,he finds his text in certain of your own 7heathen7 poets4 ,he appeals to the sense of a ,divine presence not far from any one of us2 and declares that though ,god was unknown to the nations1 they were under ,his guidance and were feeling after ,him4 ,to this extent ,paul admits a ,preparatio evangelica in the ,gentile world2 he would have been prepared1 with ,clement of ,alexandria and ,origen1 and with modern students of comparative religion1 to trace in the poets and wise men of ,greece1 in the lawgivers of ,rome1 in the mystics of the ,east1 presentiments of ,christianity1 ideas and aspirations that pointed to it as their fulfilment4 ,the human race was not left in total darkness beyond the range of the light shining on ,zion's hill4 ,the old ,pagans1 suckled in a creed outworn1 were not altogether ,god-forsaken4 ,they too1 amid darkness like the shadow of death1 had glimpses that might make them less forlorn4 ,and so have the heathen still4 ,we must not suppose either that revealed religion was perfect from the beginning2 or that the natural religions were altogether without fragments and rudiments of saving truth4 ,days you are scrupulously keeping1 and months1 and seasons1 and years1--the weekly sabbath1 the new moon1 the annual festivals1 the sacred seventh year1 the round of the ,jewish ,kalendar4 ,on these matters the ,galatians had1 as it seems1 already fallen in with the directions of the ,jewish teachers4 ,the word by which the ,apostle describes their practice1 1 denotes1 besides the fact1 the manner and spirit of the observance--an assiduous1 anxious attention1 such as the spirit of legal exaction dictated4 ,these prescriptions the ,galatians would the more readily adopt1 because in their heathen life they were accustomed to stated celebrations4 ,the ,pagan ,kalendar was crowded with days sacred to gods and divine heroes4 ,this resemblance justified ,paul all the more in taxing them with relapsing towards heathenism4 ,the ,church of later centuries1 both in its ,eastern and ,western branch1 went far in the same direction4 ,it made the keeping of holy days a prominent and obligatory part of ,christianity2 it has multiplied them superstitiously and beyond all reason4 ,amongst the rest it incorporated heathen festivals1 too little changed by their consecration4 ,paul's remonstrance condemns in principle the enforcement of sacred seasons as things essential to salvation1 in the sense in which the ,jewish ,sabbath was the bond of the ancient ,covenant4 ,we may not place even the ,lord's ,day upon this footing4 ,far different from this is the unforced and grateful celebration of the ,first ,day of the week1 which sprang up in the ,apostolic ,church1 and is assumed by the ,apostles ,paul and ,john 7#a ,cor4 xvi4 #b2 ,rev4 i4 #aj74 ,the rule of the seventh day's rest has so much intrinsic fitness1 and has brought with it so many benefits1 that after it had been enforced by strict law in the ,jewish ,church for so long1 its maintenance could now be left1 without express re-enactment1 as a matter of freedom to the good sense and right feeling of ,christian believers1 sons of the resurrection4 ,its legislative sanction rests on grounds of public propriety and national well-being1 which need not to be asserted here4 ,wherever the ,lord of the ,sabbath rules1 ,his ,day will be gladly kept for ,his sake4 ,the ,apostle in protecting ,gentile liberties is no enemy to order in worship and outward life4 ,no one can justly quote his authority in opposition to such appointments as a ,christian community may make1 for reasons of expediency and decorum1 in the regulation of its affairs4 ,but he teaches that the essence of ,christianity does not lie in things of this kind1 not in questions of meat and drink1 nor of time and place4 ,to put these details1 however important in their own order1 on a level with righteousness1 mercy1 and faith1 is to bring a snare upon the conscience2 it is to introduce once more into the ,church the leaven of justification by works of law4 99 99 99 99 99 ,weak and poor the best forms of piety become1 without inward knowledge of ,god4 ,liturgies1 creeds and confessions1 church music and architecture1 ,sundays1 fasts1 festivals1 are beautiful things when they are the transcript of a living faith4 ,when that is gone1 their charm1 their spiritual worth is gone4 ,they no longer belong to religion2 they have ceased to be a bond between the souls of men and ,god4 ,according to our faith--our actual1 not professional or confessional faith--it shall be done unto us3 such is the rule of ,christ4 ,to cling to formularies which have lost their meaning and to which the ,spirit of truth gives no present witness1 is a demoralising bondage4 ,but this is not the only1 nor the commonest way in which the sons of ,god are tempted to return to bondage4 ,whosoever committeth sin1 ,christ said1 is the servant of sin4 ,and the ,apostle will have to warn his readers that by their abuse of liberty1 by their readiness to make it an occasion to the flesh1 they were likely to forfeit it4 ,they that are ,christ's have crucified the flesh 7ch4 v4 #bd74 ,this warning must be balanced against the other4 ,our liberty from outward constraint should be still more a liberty from the dominion of self1 from pride and desire and anger2 or it is not the liberty of ,god's children4 ,inward servitude is after all the vilest and worst4 99 99 99 99 99 ,you make me afraid1 at last the ,apostle is compelled to say1 that ,i have laboured in vain4 ,his enemies had caused him no such fear4 ,while his children in the faith were true to him1 he was afraid of nothing4 ,now we live1 he says in one of his ,epistles1 if ye stand fast in the ,lord6 ,but if they should fall away8 ,he trembles for his own work1 for these wayward children who had already caused him so many pangs4 ,it is in a tone of the deepest solicitude that he continues his expostulation in the following paragraph4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,paul',s ,,entreaty4 ,i beseech you1 brethren1 be as ,i am1 for ,i am as ye are4 ,ye did me no wrong3 but ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh ,i preached the gospel unto you the first time3 and that which was a temptation to you in my flesh ye despised not1 nor rejected2 but ye received me as an angel of ,god1 even as ,christ ,jesus4 ,where then is that gratulation of yourselves8 for ,i bear you witness1 that1 if possible1 ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me4 ,so then am ,i become your enemy1 because ,i tell you the truth8 ,they zealously seek you in no good way2 nay1 they desire to shut you out1 that ye may seek them4 ,but it is good to be zealously sought in a good matter at all times1 and not only when ,i am present with you1--my children1 of whom ,i am again in travail until ,christ be formed in you4#aah ,yea1 ,i could wish to be present with you now1 and to change my voice2 for ,i am perplexed about you4--,,gal4 iv4 #ab-bj4 #aah ,for the rendering of this clause1 see the exposition which follows4 ,the reproof of the last paragraph ended in a sigh4 ,to see ,christ's freemen relapsing into bondage1 and exchanging their ,divine birthright for childish toys of ceremonial1 what can be more saddening and disappointing than this8 ,their own experience of salvation1 the ,apostle's prayers and toils on their behalf1 are1 to all appearance1 wasted on these foolish ,galatians4 ,one resource is still left him4 ,he has refuted and anathematized the other gospel4 ,he has done what explanation and argument can do to set himself right with his readers1 and to destroy the web of sophistry in which their minds had been entangled4 ,he will now try to win them by a gentler persuasion4 ,if reason and authority fail1 for love's sake he will rather beseech them4 ,he had reminded them of their former idolatry2 and this calls up to the ,apostle's mind the circumstances of his first ministry in ,galatia4 ,he sees himself once more a stranger amongst this strange people1 a traveller fallen sick and dependent on their hospitality1 preaching a gospel with nothing to recommend it in the appearance of its advocate1 and which the sickness delaying his journey had compelled him1 contrary to his intention1 to proclaim amongst them4 ,yet with what ready and generous hospitality they had received the infirm ,apostle6 ,had he been an angel from heaven--nay1 the ,lord ,jesus ,himself1 they could scarcely have shown him more attention than they did4 ,his physical weakness1 which would have moved the contempt of others1 called forth their sympathies4 ,however severely he may be compelled to censure them1 however much their feelings toward him have changed1 he will never forget the kindness he then received4 ,surely they cannot think him their enemy1 or allow him to be supplanted by the unworthy rivals who are seeking their regard4 ,so ,paul pleads with his old friends1 and seeks to win for his arguments a way to their hearts through the affection for himself which he fain hopes is still lingering there4 ,hoc prudentis est pastoris1 ,calvin aptly says4 ,but there is more in this entreaty than a calculated prudence4 ,it is a cry of the heart4 ,paul's soul is in the pangs of travail 7ver4 #ai74 ,we have seen the sternness of his face relax while he pursues his mighty argument4 ,as he surveys the working of ,god's counsel in past ages1 the promise given to ,abraham for all nations1 the intervening legal discipline1 the coming of ,christ in the fulness of time1 the bursting of the ancient bonds1 the sending forth of the ,spirit of adoption--and all this for the sake of these ,galatian ,gentiles1 and then thinks how they are after all declining from grace and renouncing their ,divine inheritance1 the ,apostle's heart aches with grief4 ,foolish1 fickle as they have proved1 they are his children4 ,he will travail over them in birth a second time1 if ,christ may yet be formed in them4 ,perhaps he has written too harshly4 ,he half repents of his severity4#aai ,fain would he change his voice4 ,if he could only be with them1 and see them face to face1 haply his tears1 his entreaties1 would win them back4 ,a rush of tender emotion wells up in ,paul's soul4 ,all his relentings are stirred4 ,he is no longer the master in ,christ rebuking unfaithful disciples2 he is the mother weeping over her misguided sons4 #aai ,comp4 #b ,cor4 ii4 #d2 vii4 #h4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there are considerable difficulties in the exegesis of this passage4 ,we note them in succession as they arise3--7#a7 ,in ver4 #ab we prefer1 with ,meyer and ,lightfoot1 to read1 ,be as ,i1 for ,i became 7rather than am7 as you--brethren1 ,i beseech you4 ,the verses preceding and following both suggest the past tense in the ellipsis4 ,paul's memory is busy4 ,he appeals to the auld lang syne4 ,he reminds the ,galatians of what he had been amongst them for their sake1#abj how he then behaved in regard to the matters in dispute4 ,he assumed no airs of ,jewish superiority4 ,he did not separate himself from his ,gentile brethren by any practice in which they could not join4 ,he became as they1 placing himself by their side on the ground of a common ,christian faith4 ,he asks for reciprocity1 for a recompense in like kind 7#b ,cor4 vi4 #ac74 ,are they going to set themselves above their ,apostle1 to take their stand on that very ground of ,mosaic privilege which he had abandoned for their sake8 ,he implores them not to do this thing4 ,the beseechment1 in the proper order of the words1 comes in at the close of the sentence1 with a pathetic emphasis4 ,he makes himself a suppliant4 ,i beg you1 he says1 by our old affection1 by our brotherhood in ,christ1 not to desert me thus4 #abj ,comp4 #a ,thess4 i4 #e2 ii4 #g1 #h4 7#b7 ,suddenly ,paul turns to another point1 according to his wont in this emotional mood3 ,there is nothing in which you have wronged me4 ,is he contradicting some allegation which had helped to estrange the ,galatians8 ,had some one been saying that ,paul was affronted by their conduct1 and was actuated by personal resentment8 ,in that case we should have looked for a specific explanation and rebutment of the charge4 ,rather he is anticipating the thought that would naturally arise in the minds of his readers at this point4 ,paul is asking us1 they would say1 to let bygones be bygones1 to give up this ,judaistic attachment for his sake1 and to meet him frankly on the old footing4 ,but supposing we try to do so1 he is very angry with us1 as this letter shows2 he thinks we have treated him badly2 he will always have a grudge against us4 ,things can never be again as they were between ourselves and him4 ,such feelings often arise upon the breach of an old friendship1 to prevent the offending party from accepting the proffered hand of reconciliation4 ,paul's protest removes this hindrance4 ,he replies1 ,i have no sense of injury1 no personal grievance against you4 ,it is impossible ,i should cherish ill-will towards you4 ,you know how handsomely you treated me when ,i first came amongst you4 ,nothing can efface from my heart the recollection of that time4 ,you must not think that ,i hate you1 because ,i tell you the truth 7ver4 #af74 7#c7 ,because of an infirmity of the flesh 7physical weakness71 is the truer rendering of ver4 #ac2 and your temptation in my flesh the genuine reading of ver4 #ad1 restored by the ,revisers4 ,sickness had arrested the ,apostle's course during his second missionary tour1 and detained him in the ,galatic country4 ,so that he had not only been with the ,galatians in weakness1 as afterwards when during the same journey he preached at ,corinth 7#a ,cor4 ii4 #c72 but actually because of weakness4 ,his infirmities gave him occasion to minister there1 when he had intended to pass them by4 ,paul had no thought of evangelizing ,galatia2 another goal was in view4 ,it was patent to them--indeed he confessed as much at the time--that if he had been able to proceed1 he would not have lingered in their country4 ,this was certainly an unpromising introduction4 ,and the ,apostle's state of health made it at that time a trial for any one to listen to him4 ,there was something in the nature of his malady to excite contempt1 even loathing for his person4 ,that which tried you in my flesh1 ye did not despise1 nor spit out3 such is ,paul's vivid phrase4 ,how few men would have humility enough to refer to a circumstance of this kind2 or could do so without loss of dignity4 ,he felt that the condition of the messenger might well have moved this ,galatian people to derision1 rather than to reverence for his message4 ,at the best ,paul's appearance and address were none of the most prepossessing4#aba ,the ugly little ,jew ,m4 ,renan calls him1 repeating the taunts of his ,corinthian contemners4 ,his sickness in ,galatia1 connected1 it would appear1 with some constitutional weakness1 from which he suffered greatly during his second and third missionary tours1 assumed a humiliating as well as a painful form4 ,yet this thorn in the flesh1 a bitter trial assuredly to himself1#abb had proved at once a trial and a blessing to his unintended hearers in ,galatia4 #aba #a ,cor4 ii4 #c2 #b ,cor4 iv4 #g2 x4 #a1 #aj2 xi4 #f4 #abb ,comp4 #b ,cor4 xii4 #g-aj1 referring apparently to the first outbreak of this mysterious affliction4 7#d7 ,so far from taking offence at ,paul's unfortunate condition1 they welcomed him with enthusiasm4 ,they blessed themselves that he had come 7ver4 #ae74 ,they said one to another1 ,how fortunate we are in having this good man amongst us6 ,what a happy thing for us that ,paul's sickness obliged him to stay and give us the opportunity of hearing his good news6 ,such was their former gratulation4 ,the regard they conceived for the sick ,apostle was unbounded4 ,for ,i bear you witness1 he says1 that1 if possible1 you would have dug out your eyes and given them me6 ,is this no more than a strong hyperbole1 describing the almost extravagant devotion which the ,galatians expressed to the ,apostle8 ,or are we to read the terms more literally8 ,so it has been sometimes supposed4 ,in this expression some critics have discovered a clue to the nature of ,paul's malady4 ,the ,galatians1 as they read the sentence1 wished they could have taken out their own eyes and given them to ,paul1 in place of his disabled ones4 ,this hypothesis1 it is argued1 agrees with other circumstances of the case and gives shape to a number of scattered intimations touching the same subject4 ,infirmity of the eyes would explain the large characters of ,paul's handwriting 7ch4 vi4 #aa71 and his habit of using an amanuensis4 ,it would account for his ignorance of the person of the ,high ,priest at his trial in ,jerusalem 7,acts xxiii4 #b-e74 ,the blindness that struck him on the way to ,damascus may have laid the foundation of a chronic affection of this kind1 afterwards developed and aggravated by the hardships of his missionary life4 ,and such an affliction would correspond to what is said respecting the thorn of #b ,cor4 xii4 #g1 and the temptation of this passage4 ,for it would be excessively painful1 and at the same time disabling and disfiguring in its effects4 ,this conjecture has much to recommend it4 ,but it finds a very precarious support in the text4 ,paul does not say1 ,you would have plucked out your own 7,a4,v47 eyes and given them me1 as though he were thinking of an exchange of eyes2 but1 ,you would have plucked out your eyes and given them me--as much as to say1 ,you would have done anything in the world for me then1--even taken out your eyes and given them to me4#abc ,in the phrase dug out we may detect a touch of irony4 ,this was the genuine ,galatian style4 ,the ,celtic temperament loves to launch itself out in vehemencies and flourishes of this sort4 ,these ardent ,gauls had been perfectly enraptured with ,paul4 ,they lavished upon him their most exuberant metaphors4 ,they said these things in all sincerity2 he bears them record to this4 ,however cool they have become since1 they were gushing enough and to spare in their affection towards him then4 ,and now have they so quickly turned against him8 ,because he crosses their new fancies and tells them unwelcome truths1 they rush to the opposite extreme and even think him their enemy6 #abc ,comp4 ,matt4 xviii4 #i4 7#e7 ,suddenly the ,apostle turns upon his opposers 7ver4 #ag74 ,the ,judaizers had disturbed his happy relations with his ,galatian flock2 they had made them half believe that he was their enemy4 ,the ,galatians must choose between ,paul and his traducers4 ,let them scrutinise the motives of these new teachers4 ,let them call to mind the claims of their father in ,christ4 ,they are courting you1 he says1--these present suitors for your regard--dishonourably2 they want to shut you out and have you to themselves1 that you may pay court to them4 ,they pretend to be zealous for your interests2 but it is their own they seek 7ch4 vi4 #ab74 ,so far the ,apostle's meaning is tolerably clear4 ,but ver4 #ah is obscure4 ,it may be construed in either of two ways1 as ,paul or the ,galatians are taken for the subject glanced at in the verb to be courted in its first clause3 ,but it is honourable to be courted always in an honourable way1 and not only when ,i am present with you4 ,does ,paul mean that he has no objection to the ,galatians making other friends in his absence8 or1 that he thinks they ought not to forget him in his absence8 ,the latter1 as we think4 ,the ,apostle complains of their inconstancy towards himself4 ,this is a text for friends and lovers4 ,where attachment is honourable1 it should be lasting4 ,set me as a seal upon thine heart1 says the ,bride of the ,song of ,songs4 ,with the ,galatians it seemed to be1 ,out of sight1 out of mind4 ,they allowed ,paul to be pushed out by scheming rivals4 ,he was far away2 they were on the spot4 ,he told them the truth2 the ,judaizers flattered them4 ,so their foolish heads were turned4 ,they were positively bewitched by these new admirers2 and preferred their sinister and designing compliments to ,paul's sterling honour and proved fidelity4 ,the connection of vv4 #ag1 #ah turns on the words honourable and court1#abd each of which is thrice repeated4 ,there is a kind of play on the verb 4 ,in ver4 #ah it implies a true1 in ver4 #ag a counterfeit affection 7an affectation74 ,paul might have said1 ,it is good one should be loved1 followed with affection1 always1 but for the sake of the verbal antithesis4 ,in ver4 #ag he taxes his opponents with unworthily courting the favour of the ,galatians2 in ver4 #ah he intimates his grief that he himself in his absence is no longer courted by them4 #abd 1 to have zeal towards a person or thing1 to affect 7,a4,v43 in its older ,english sense of seeking1 paying regard to any one74 7#f7 ,in the next verse this grief of wounded affection1 checked at first by a certain reserve1 breaks out uncontrollably3 ,my children1 for whom again ,i am in travail1 till ,christ be formed in you6#abe ,this outcry is a pathetic continuance of his expostulation4 ,he cannot bear the thought of losing these children of his heart4 ,he stretches out his arms to them4 ,tears stream from his eyes4 ,he has been speaking in measured1 almost playful terms1 in comparing himself with his supplanters4 ,but the possibility of their success1 the thought of the mischief going on in ,galatia and of the little power he has to prevent it1 wrings his very soul4 ,he feels a mother's pangs for his imperilled children1 as he writes these distressful words4 #abe ,the full stop placed in the ,english ,version at the end of ver4 #ah1 on this view1 is out of place4 ,there is nothing gained by substituting little children 7,john's phrase7 for children1 everywhere else used by ,paul1 and attested here by the best witnesses4 ,the sentiment is that of #a ,thess4 ii4 #g1 #h2 #a ,cor4 iv4 #ad-af4 ,the ,apostle is not thinking of the littleness or feebleness of the ,galatians1 but simply of their relation to himself4 ,his sorrow is the sorrow of bereavement4 ,you have not many mothers1 he seems to say3 ,i have travailed over you in birth2 and now a second time you bring on me a mother's pains1 which ,i must endure until ,christ is formed in you and ,his image is renewed in your souls4 99 99 99 99 99 ,paul stands before us as an injured friend1 a faithful minister of ,christ robbed of his people's love4 ,he is wounded in his tenderest affections4 ,for the sake of the ,gentile ,churches he had given up everything in life that he prized 7ver4 #ab2 #a ,cor4 ix4 #ba72 he had exposed himself to the contempt and hatred of his fellow-countrymen--and this is his reward1 to be loved the less1 the more abundantly he loves6 7#b ,cor4 xii4 #ae74 ,but if he is grieved at this defection1 he is equally perplexed4 ,he cannot tell what to make of the ,galatians1 or in what tone to address them4 ,he has warned1 denounced1 argued1 protested1 pleaded as a mother with her children2 still he doubts whether he will prevail4 ,if he could only see them and meet them as in former days1 laying aside the distance1 the sternness of authority which he has been forced to assume1 he might yet reach their hearts4 ,at least he would know how matters really stand1 and in what language he ought to speak4 ,so his entreaty ends3 ,i wish ,i could only be present with you now1 and speak in some different voice4 ,for ,i am at a loss to know how to deal with you4 ,this picture of estrangement and reproach tells its own tale1 when its lines have once been clearly marked4 ,we may dwell1 however1 a little longer on some of the lessons which it teaches3-- ,i4 ,in the first place1 it is evident that strong emotions and warm affections are no guarantee for the permanence of religious life4 ,the ,galatians resembled the stony ground hearers of our ,lord's parable1--such as hear the word1 and immediately with joy receive it2 but they have no root in themselves2 they believe for a time4 ,it was not persecution indeed that offended them2 but flattery proved equally effectual4 ,they were of the same fervid temper as ,peter on the night of the ,passion1 when he said1 ,though ,i should die with ,thee1 yet will ,i not deny ,thee in anywise1--within a few hours thrice denying his ,master1 with oaths and curses4 ,they lacked seriousness and depth4 ,they had fine susceptibilities and a large fund of enthusiasm2 they were full of eloquent protestations2 and under excitement were capable of great efforts and sacrifices4 ,but there was a flaw in their nature4 ,they were creatures of impulse--soon hot1 soon cold4 ,one cannot help liking such people--but as for trusting them1 that is a different matter4 ,nothing could be more delightful or promising than the appearance these ,churches presented in the early days of their conversion4 ,they heard the ,apostle's message with rapt attention2 they felt its ,divine power1 so strangely contrasting with his physical feebleness4 ,they were amazingly wrought upon4 ,the new life in ,christ kindled all the fervour of their passionate nature4 ,how they triumphed in ,christ6 ,how they blessed the day when the gospel visited their land6 ,they almost worshipped the ,apostle4 ,they could not do enough for him4 ,their hearts bled for his sufferings4 ,where are all these transports now8 ,paul is far away4 ,other teachers have come1 with another gospel4 ,and the cross is already forgotten6 ,they are contemplating circumcision2 they are busy studying the ,jewish ritual1 making arrangements for feast-days and functions1 eagerly discussing points of ceremony4 ,their minds are poisoned with mistrust of their own ,apostle1 whose heart is ready to break over their folly and frivolity4 ,all this for the want of a little reflection1 for want of the steadiness of purpose without which the most genial disposition and the most ardent emotions inevitably run to waste4 ,their faith had been too much a matter of feeling1 too little of principle4 ,,ii4 ,further1 we observe how prone are those who have put themselves in the wrong to fix the blame on others4 ,the ,apostle was compelled in fidelity to truth to say hard things to his ,galatian disciples4 ,he had previously1 on his last visit1 given them a solemn warning on account of their ,judaic proclivities 7ch4 i4 #i74 ,in this ,epistle he censures them roundly4 ,he wonders at them2 he calls them senseless ,galatians2 he tells them they are within a step of being cut off from ,christ 7ch4 v4 #d74 ,and now they cry out1 ,paul is our enemy4 ,if he cared for us1 how could he write so cruelly6 ,we were excessively fond of him once1 we could not do too much for him2 but that is all over now4 ,if we had inflicted on him some great injury1 he could scarcely treat us more roughly4 ,thoughtless and excitable people commonly reason in this way4 ,personalities with them take the place of argument and principle4 ,the severity of a holy zeal for truth is a thing they can never understand4 ,if you disagree with them and oppose them1 they put it down to some petty animosity4 ,they credit you with a private grudge against them2 and straightway enroll you in the number of their enemies1 though you may be in reality their best friend4 ,flatter them1 humour their vanity1 and you have them at your bidding4 ,such men it is the hardest thing in the world honestly to serve4 ,they will always prefer the kisses of an enemy to the faithful wounds of a friend4 ,,iii4 ,men of the ,galatian type are the natural prey of self-seeking agitators4 ,however sound the principles in which they were trained1 however true the friendships they have enjoyed1 they must have change4 ,the accustomed palls upon them4 ,giddy ,athenians1 they love nothing so much as to hear and tell some new thing4 ,they ostracize ,aristides1 simply because they are tired of hearing him always called the ,just4 ,to hear the same things1 however safe it may be1 even from an ,apostle's lips is to them intolerably grievous4 ,they never think earnestly and patiently enough to find the deeper springs1 the fresh delight and satisfaction lying hidden in the great unchanging truths4 ,these are they who are carried about with divers and strange doctrines1 who run after the newest thing in ritualistic art1 or sensational evangelism1 or well-spiced heterodoxy4 ,truth and plain dealing1 apostolic holiness and godly sincerity1 are outmatched in dealing with them by the craft of worldly wisdom4 ,a little judicious flattery1 something to please the eye and catch the fancy--and they are persuaded to believe almost anything1 or to deny what they have most earnestly believed4 ,what had the ,legalists to offer compared with the gifts bestowed on these ,churches through ,paul8 ,what was there that could make them rivals to him in character or spiritual power8 ,and yet the ,galatians flock round the ,judaist teachers1 and accept without inquiry their slanders and perversions of the gospel2 while the ,apostle1 their true friend and father1 too true to spare their faults1 stands suspected1 almost deserted4 ,he must forsooth implore them to come down from the heights of their would-be legal superiority1 and to meet him on the common ground of grace and saving faith4 ,the sheep will not hear their shepherd's voice2 they follow strangers1 though they be thieves and hirelings4 ,o foolish ,galatians6 99 99 99 99 99 ,whether the ,apostle's entreaty prevailed to recall them or did not1 we cannot tell4 ,from the silence with which these ,churches are passed over in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 and the little that is heard of them afterwards1 an unfavourable inference appears probable4 ,the ,judaistic leaven1 it is to be feared1 went far to leaven the whole lump4 ,paul's apprehensions were only too well-grounded4 ,and these hopeful converts who had once run well1 were fatally hindered and fell far behind in the ,christian race4 ,such1 in all likelihood1 was the result of the departure from the truth of the gospel into which the ,galatians allowed themselves to be drawn4 ,whatever was the sequel to this story1 ,paul's protest remains to witness to the sincerity and tenderness of the great ,apostle's soul1 and to the disastrous issues of the levity of character which distinguished his ,galatian disciples4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,hagar4 ,tell me1 ye that desire to be under the law1 do ye not hear the law8 ,for it is written1 that ,abraham had two sons1 one by the handmaid1 and one by the freewoman4 ,howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh2 but the son by the freewoman is born through promise4 ,which things contain an allegory3 for these women are two covenants2 one from mount ,sinai1 bearing children unto bondage1 which is ,hagar4 ,for ,sinai is a mountain in ,arabia1 and answereth to the ,jerusalem that now is3 for she is in bondage with her children4 ,but the ,jerusalem that is above is free1 which is our mother4 ,for it is written1 ,rejoice1 thou barren that bearest not2 ,break forth and cry1 thou that travailest not3 ,for more are the children of the desolate than of her which hath the husband4 ,now we1 brethren1 as ,isaac was1 are children of promise4 ,but as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the ,spirit1 even so it is now4 ,howbeit what saith the scripture8 ,cast out the handmaid and her son2 for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman4 ,wherefore1 brethren1 we are not children of a handmaid1 but of the freewoman4 ,for freedom did ,christ set us free3 stand fast therefore1 and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage4--,,gal4 iv4 #ba-v4 #a4 ,the ,apostle wished that he could change his voice 7ver4 #bj74 ,indeed he has changed it more than once4 ,any one who looks closely may see that there is much change and alteration of feeling in what the ,apostle has previously written 7,theodorus74 ,now he will try another tone2 he proceeds in fact to address his readers in a style which we find nowhere else in his ,epistles4 ,he will tell his children a story6 ,perhaps he may thus succeed better than by graver argument4 ,their quick fancy will readily apprehend the bearing of the illustration2 it may bring home to them the force of his doctrinal contention1 and the peril of their own position1 as he fears they have not seen them yet4 ,and so1 after the pathetic appeal of the last paragraph1 and before he delivers his decisive1 official protest to the ,galatians against their circumcision1 he interjects this allegory of the two sons of ,abraham4 ,paul cites the history of the sons of ,abraham4 ,no other example would have served his purpose4 ,the controversy between himself and the ,judaizers turned on the question1 ,who are the true heirs of ,abraham8 7ch4 iii4 #g1 #af1 #bi74 ,he made faith in ,christ1 they circumcision and law-keeping1 the ground of sonship4 ,so the inheritance was claimed in a double sense4 ,but now1 if it should appear that this antithesis existed in principle in the bosom of the patriarchal family1 if we should find that there was an elder son of ,abraham's flesh opposed to the child of promise1 how powerfully will this analogy sustain the ,apostle's position4 ,judaism will then be seen to be playing over again the part of ,ishmael2 and the ,jerusalem that now is takes the place of ,hagar1 the slave-mother4 ,the moral situation created by the ,judaic controversy had been rehearsed in the family life of ,abraham4 ,tell me1 the ,apostle asks1 you that would fain be subject to the law1 do you not know what it relates concerning ,abraham8 ,he had two sons1 one of free1 and the other of servile birth4 ,do you wish to belong to the line of ,ishmael1 or ,isaac8 ,in this way ,paul resumes the thread of his discourse dropped in ver4 #g4 ,faith1 he had told his readers1 had made them sons of ,god4 ,they were1 in ,christ1 of ,abraham's spiritual seed1 heirs of his promise4 ,god had sent ,his ,son to redeem them1 and the ,spirit of ,his ,son to attest their adoption4 ,but they were not content4 ,they were ambitious of ,jewish privileges4 ,the ,legalists persuaded them that they must be circumcised and conform to ,moses1 in order to be ,abraham's children in full title4 ,very well1 the ,apostle says1 you may become ,abraham's sons in this fashion4 ,only you must observe that ,abraham had two sons4 ,and the ,law will make you his sons by ,hagar1 whose home is ,sinai--not ,israelites1 but ,ishmaelites6 ,paul's ,galatian allegory has greatly exercised the minds of his critics4 ,the word is one of ill repute in exegesis4 ,allegory was the instrument of ,rabbinical and ,alexandrine ,scripturists1 an infallible device for extracting the predetermined sense from the letter of the sacred text4 ,the spiritualising of ,christian interpreters has been carried1 in many instances1 to equal excess of riot4 ,for the honest meaning of the word of ,god anything and everything has been substituted that lawless fancy and verbal ingenuity could read into it4 ,the most arbitrary and grotesque distortions of the facts of ,scripture have passed current under cover of the clause1 which things are an allegory4 ,but ,paul's allegory1 and that of ,philo and the ,allegorical school1 are very different things1 as widely removed as the words of truth and soberness from the intoxications of a mystical idealism4 ,with ,paul the spiritual sense of ,scripture is based on the historical1 is in fact the moral content and import thereof2 for he sees in history a continuous manifestation of ,god's will4 ,with the ,allegorists the spiritual sense1 arrived at by priori means1 replaces the historical1 destroyed to make room for it4 ,the ,apostle points out in the story of ,hagar a spiritual intent1 such as exists in every scene of human life if we had eyes to see it1 something other than the literal relation of the facts1 but nowise alien from it4 ,here lies the difference between legitimate and illegitimate allegory4 ,the utmost freedom may be given to this employment of the imagination1 so long as it is true to the moral of the narrative which it applies4 ,in principle the ,pauline allegory does not differ from the type4 ,in the type the correspondence of the sign and thing signified centres in a single figure or event2 in such an allegory as this it is extended to a group of figures and a series of events4 ,but the force of the application depends on the actuality of the original story1 which in the illicit allegory is matter of indifference4 ,which things are allegorized--so the ,apostle literally writes in ver4 #bd--made matters of allegory4 ,the phrase intimates1 as ,bishop ,lightfoot suggests1 that the ,hagarene episode in ,genesis 7ch4 xvi41 xxi4 #a-ba7 was commonly interpreted in a figurative way4 ,the ,galatians had heard from their ,jewish teachers specimens of this popular mode of exposition4 ,paul will employ it too2 and will give his own reading of the famous story of ,ishmael and ,isaac4 ,philo of ,alexandria1 the greatest allegorist of the day1 has expounded the same history4 ,these eminent interpreters both make ,sarah the mother of the spiritual1 ,hagar of the worldly offspring2 both point out how the barren is exalted over the fruitful wife4 ,so far1 we may imagine1 ,paul is moving on the accepted lines of ,jewish exegesis4 ,but ,philo knows nothing of the correspondence between ,isaac and ,christ1 which lies at the back of the ,apostle's allegory4 ,and there is this vital difference of method between the two divines1 that whereas ,paul's comparison is the illustration of a doctrine proved on other grounds--the painting which decorates the house already built 7,luther7--with the ,alexandrine idealist it forms the substance and staple of his teaching4 ,under this allegorical dress the ,apostle expounds once more his doctrine1 already inculcated1 of the difference between the ,legal and ,christian state4 ,the former constitutes1 as he now puts the matter1 a bastard sonship like that of ,ishmael1 conferring only an external and provisional tenure in the ,abrahamic inheritance4 ,it is contrasted with the spiritual sonship of the true ,israel in the following respects3--,it is a state of nature as opposed to grace2 of bondage as opposed to freedom2 and further1 it is temporary and soon to be ended by the ,divine decree4 ,i4 ,he who is of the maid-servant is after the flesh2 but he that is of the free-woman is through promise4444 ,just as then he that was after the flesh persecuted him that was after the ,spirit1 so now 7vv4 #bc1 #bi74 ,the ,apostle sees in the different parentage of ,abraham's sons the ground of a radical divergence of character4 ,one was the child of nature1 the other was the son of a spiritual faith4 ,ishmael was in truth the fruit of unbelief2 his birth was due to a natural but impatient misreading of the promise4 ,the patriarch's union with ,hagar was ill-assorted and ill-advised4 ,it brought its natural penalty by introducing an alien element into his family life4 ,the low-bred insolence which the serving-woman1 in the prospect of becoming a mother1 showed toward the mistress to whom she owed her preferment1 gave a foretaste of the unhappy consequences4 ,the promise of posterity made to ,abraham with a childless wife1 was expressly designed to try his faith2 and he had allowed it to be overborne by the reasonings of nature4 ,it was no wonder that the son of the ,egyptian slave1 born under such conditions1 proved to be of a lower type1 and had to be finally excluded from the house4 ,in ,ishmael's relation to his father there was nothing but the ordinary play of human motives4 ,the son of the handmaid was born after the flesh4 ,he was a natural son4 ,but ,ishmael was not on that account cut off from the ,divine mercies4 ,nor did his father's prayer1 ,o that ,ishmael might live before ,thee 7,gen4 xvii4 #ah71 remain unanswered4 ,a great career was reserved by ,divine ,providence for his race4 ,the ,arabs1 the fiery sons of the desert1 through him claim descent from ,abraham4 ,they have carved their name deeply upon the history and the faith of the world4 ,but sensuousness and lawlessness are everywhere the stamp of the ,ishmaelite4 ,with high gifts and some generous qualities1 such as attracted to his eldest boy the love of ,abraham1 their fierce animal passion has been the curse of the sons of ,hagar4 ,mohammedanism is a bastard ,judaism2 it is the religion of ,abraham sensualised4 ,ishmael stands forth as the type of the carnal man4 ,on outward grounds of flesh and blood he seeks inheritance in the kingdom of ,god2 and with fleshly weapons passionately fights its battles4 ,to a similar position ,judaism1 in the ,apostle's view1 had now reduced itself4 ,and to this footing the ,galatian ,churches would be brought if they yielded to the ,judaistic solicitations4 ,to be circumcised would be for them to be born again after the flesh1 to link themselves to ,abraham in the unspiritual fashion of ,hagar's son4 ,ishmael was the first to be circumcised 7,gen4 xvii4 #bc-bf74 ,it was to renounce salvation by faith and the renewing of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,this course could only have one result4 ,the ,judaic ritualism they were adopting would bear fruit after its kind1 in a worldly1 sensuous life4 ,like ,ishmael they would claim kinship with the ,church of ,god on fleshly grounds2 and their claim must prove as futile as did his4 ,the persecution of the ,church by ,judaism gave proof of the ,ishmaelite spirit1 the carnal animus by which it was possessed4 ,a religion of externalism naturally becomes repressive4 ,it knows not the demonstration of the ,spirit2 it has confidence in the flesh4 ,it relies on outward means for the propagation of its faith2 and naturally resorts to the secular arm4 ,the ,inquisition and the ,auto-da-f are a not unfitting accompaniment of the gorgeous ceremonial of the ,mass4 ,ritualism and priestly autocracy go hand in hand4 ,so now1 says ,paul1 pointing to ,ishmael's persecution of the infant ,isaac1 hinted at in ,gen4 xxi4 #h-aj4 ,the laughter of ,hagar's boy at ,sarah's weaning-feast seems but a slight offence to be visited with the punishment of expulsion2 and the incident one beneath the dignity of theological argument4 ,but the principle for which ,paul contends is there2 and it is the more easily apprehended when exhibited on this homely scale4 ,the family is the germ and the mirror of society4 ,in it are first called into play the motives which determine the course of history1 the rise and fall of empires or churches4 ,the gravamen of the charge against ,ishmael lies in the last word of ,gen4 xxi4 #i1 rendered in the ,authorized ,version mocking1 and by the ,revisers playing1 after the ,septuagint and the ,vulgate4 ,this word in the ,hebrew is evidently a play on the name ,isaac1 i4e41 laughter1 given by ,sarah to her boy with genial motherly delight 7vv4 #f1 #g74 ,ishmael1 now a youth of fourteen1 takes up the child's name and turns it1 on this public and festive occasion1 into ridicule4 ,such an act was not only an insult to the mistress of the house and the young heir at a most untimely moment1 it betrayed a jealousy and contempt on the part of ,hagar's son towards his half-brother which gravely compromised ,isaac's future4 ,the wild1 ungovernable and pugnacious character ascribed to his descendants began to display itself in ,ishmael1 and to appear in language of provoking insolence2 offended at the comparative indifference with which he was treated1 he indulged in mockery1 especially against ,isaac1 whose very name furnished him with satirical sneers4#abf ,ishmael's jest cost him dear4 ,the indignation of ,sarah was reasonable2 and ,abraham was compelled to recognise in her demand the voice of ,god 7vv4 #aj-ab74 ,the two boys1 like ,esau and ,jacob in the next generation1 represented opposite principles and ways of life1 whose counterworking was to run through the course of future history4 ,their incompatibility was already manifest4 #abf ,kalisch1 ,commentary1 on ,genesis xxi4 #i4 ,the ,apostle's comparison must have been mortifying in the extreme to the ,judaists4 ,they are told in plain terms that they are in the position of outcast ,ishmael2 while uncircumcised ,gentiles1 without a drop of ,abraham's blood in their veins1 have received the promise forfeited by their unbelief4 ,paul could not have put his conclusion in a form more unwelcome to ,jewish pride4 ,but without this radical exposure of the legalist position it was impossible for him adequately to vindicate his gospel and defend his ,gentile children in the faith4 ,,ii4 ,from this contrast of birth according to flesh and through promise is deduced the opposition between the slave-born and free-born sons4 ,for these 7the slave-mother and the free-woman7 are two covenants1 one indeed bearing children unto bondage--which is ,hagar 7ver4 #bd74 ,the other side of the antithesis is not formally expressed2 it is obvious4 ,sarah the princess1 ,abraham's true wife1 has her counterpart in the original covenant of promise renewed in ,christ1 and in the ,jerusalem above1 which is our mother 7ver4 #bf74 ,sarah is the typical mother1#abg as ,abraham is the father of the children of faith4 ,in the systoichia1 or tabular comparison1 which the ,apostle draws up after the manner of the schools1 ,hagar and the ,mosaic covenant1 ,sinai and the ,jerusalem that now is stand in one file and answer to each other2 ,sarah and the ,abrahamic covenant1 ,zion and the heavenly ,jerusalem succeed in the same order1 opposite to them4 ,zion is wanting in the second file2 but ,sinai and ,zion form a standing antithesis 7,heb4 xii4 #ah-bb72 the second is implied in the first4 ,it was to ,zion that the words of ,isaiah cited in ver4 #bg1 were addressed4 #abg ,comp4 ,heb4 xi4 #aa1 #ab2 #a ,pet4 iii4 #f4 ,the first clause of ver4 #be is best understood in the shorter1 marginal reading of the ,r4 ,v41 also preferred by ,bishop ,lightfoot 7 44474 ,it is a parenthesis--for mount ,sinai#abh is in ,arabia--covenant running on in the mind from ver4 #bd as the continued subject of ver4 #be b3 and it answereth to the present ,jerusalem4 ,this is the simplest and most consistent construction of the passage4 ,the interjected geographical reference serves to support the identification of the ,sinaitic covenant with ,hagar1 ,arabia being the well-known abode of the ,hagarenes4 ,paul had met them in his wanderings there4 ,some scholars have attempted to establish a verbal agreement between the name of the slave-mother and that locally given to the ,sinaitic range2 but this explanation is precarious1 and after all unnecessary4 ,there was a real correspondence between place and people on the one hand1 as between place and covenant on the other4 ,sinai formed a visible and imposing link between the race of ,ishmael and the ,mosaic law-giving4 ,that awful1 desolate mountain1 whose aspect1 as we can imagine1 had vividly impressed itself on ,paul's memory 7ch4 i4 #ag71 spoke to him of bondage and terror4 ,it was a true symbol of the working of the law of ,moses1 exhibited in the present condition of ,judaism4 ,and round the base of ,sinai ,hagar's wild sons had found their dwelling4 #abh ,paul writes the ,sinai mountain 7 7 in tacit opposition to the other1 familiar ,mount ,zion 7,hofmann in loc474 ,in ,heb4 xii4 #bb the same inversion appears1 with the same significance4 ,jerusalem was no longer the mother of freemen4 ,the boast1 we are ,abraham's sons2 we were never in bondage 7,john viii4 #cc71 was an unconscious irony4 ,her sons chafed under the ,roman yoke4 ,they were loaded with self-inflicted legal burdens4 ,above all1 they were1 notwithstanding their professed law-keeping1 enslaved to sin1 in servitude to their pride and evil lusts4 ,the spirit of the nation was that of rebellious1 discontented slaves4 ,they were ,ishmaelite sons of ,abraham1 with none of the nobleness1 the reverence1 the calm and elevated faith of their father4 ,in the ,judaism of the ,apostle's day the ,sinaitic dispensation1 uncontrolled by the higher patriarchal and prophetic faith1 had worked out its natural result4 ,it gendered to bondage4 ,a system of repression and routine1 it had produced men punctual in tithes of mint and anise1 but without justice1 mercy1 or faith2 vaunting their liberty while they were servants of corruption4 ,the law of ,moses could not form a new creature4 ,it left the ,ishmael of nature unchanged at heart1 a child of the flesh1 with whatever robes of outward decorum his nakedness was covered4 ,the ,pharisee was the typical product of law apart from grace4 ,under the garb of a freeman he carried the soul of a slave4 ,but ver4 #bf sounds the note of deliverance3 ,the ,jerusalem above is free2 and she is our mother6 ,paul has escaped from the prison of ,legalism1 from the confines of ,sinai2 he has left behind the perishing earthly ,jerusalem1 and with it the bitterness and gloom of his ,pharisaic days4 ,he is a citizen of the heavenly ,zion1 breathing the air of a ,divine freedom4 ,the yoke is broken from the neck of the ,church of ,god2 the desolation is gone from her heart4 ,there come to the ,apostle's lips the words of the great prophet of the ,exile1 depicting the deliverance of the spiritual ,zion1 despised and counted barren1 but now to be the mother of a numberless offspring4 ,in ,isaiah's song1 ,rejoice1 thou barren that bearest not 7ch4 liv471 the laughter of the childless ,sarah bursts forth again1 to be gloriously renewed in the persecuted ,church of ,jesus4 ,robbed of all outward means1 mocked and thrust out as she is by ,israel after the flesh1 her rejection is a release1 an emancipation4 ,conscious of the ,spirit of sonship and freedom1 looking out on the boundless conquests lying before her in the ,gentile world1 the ,church of the ,new ,covenant glories in her tribulations4 ,in ,paul is fulfilled the joy of prophet and psalmist1 who sang in former days of gloom concerning ,israel's enlargement and world-wide victories4 ,no legalist could understand words like these4 ,the veil was upon his heart in the reading of the ,old ,testament4 ,but with the ,spirit of the ,lord comes liberty4 ,the prophetic inspiration has returned4 ,the voice of rejoicing is heard again in the dwellings of ,israel4 ,if the ,son make you free1 said ,jesus1 ye shall be free indeed4 ,this ,epistle proves it4 ,,iii4 ,and the bondman abideth not in the house for ever2 the ,son abideth for ever 7,john viii4 #ce74 ,this also the ,lord had testified3 the ,apostle repeats ,his warning in the terms of this allegory4 ,sooner or later the slave-boy was bound to go4 ,he has no proper birthright1 no permanent footing in the house4 ,one day he exceeds his licence1 he makes himself intolerable2 he must begone4 ,what saith the ,scripture8 ,cast out the maidservant and her son2 for the son of the maidservant shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman 7ver4 #cj74 ,paul has pronounced the doom of ,judaism4 ,his words echo those of ,christ3 ,behold your house is left unto you desolate 7,matt4 xxiii4 #ch72 they are taken up again in the language of ,heb4 xiii4 #ac1 #ad1 uttered on the eve of the fall of ,jerusalem3 ,let us go forth unto ,jesus without the camp1 bearing ,his reproach4 ,we have here no continuing city1 but we seek that which is to come4 ,on the walls of ,jerusalem ichabod was plainly written4 ,since it crucified our ,lord it was no longer the ,holy ,city2 it was spiritually ,sodom and ,egypt 7,rev4 xi4 #h71--;,egypt1 the country of ,hagar4 ,condemning ,him1 the ,jewish nation passed sentence on itself4 ,they were slaves who in blind rage slew their ,master when ,he came to free them4 ,the ,israelitish people showed more than ,ishmael's jealousy towards the infant ,church of the ,spirit4 ,no weapon of violence or calumny was too base to be used against it4 ,the cup of their iniquity was filling fast4 ,they were ripening for the judgement which ,christ predicted 7#a ,thess4 ii4 #af74 ,year by year they became more hardened against spiritual truth1 more malignant towards ,christianity1 and more furious and fanatical in their hatred towards their civil rulers4 ,the cause of ,judaism was hopelessly lost4 ,in ,rom4 ix4-xi41 written shortly after this ,epistle1 ,paul assumes this as a settled thing1 which he has to account for and to reconcile with ,scripture4 ,in the demand of ,sarah for the expulsion of her rival1 complied with by ,abraham against his will1 the ,apostle reads the secret judgement of the ,almighty on the proud city which he himself so ardently loved1 but which had crucified his ,lord and repented not4 ,cut it down1 ,jesus cried2 why cumbereth it the ground8 7,luke xiii4 #g74 ,the voice of ,scripture speaks again3 ,cast her out2 she and her sons are slaves4 ,they have no place amongst the sons of ,god4 ,ishmael was in the way of ,isaac's safety and prosperity4 ,and the ,judaic ascendency was no less a danger to the ,church4 ,the blow which shattered ,judaism1 at once cleared the ground for the outward progress of the gospel and arrested the legalistic reaction which hindered its internal development4 ,the two systems were irreconcilable4 ,it was ,paul's merit to have first apprehended this contradiction in its full import4 ,the time had come to apply in all its rigour ,christ's principle of combat1 ,he that is not with ,me1 is against ,me4 ,it is the same rule of exclusion which ,paul announces3 ,if any man hath not the ,spirit of ,christ1 he is none of ,his 7,rom4 viii4 #i74 ,out of ,christ is no salvation4 ,when the day of judgement comes1 whether for men or nations1 this is the touchstone3 ,have we1 or have we not the ,spirit of ,god's ,son8 ,is our character that of sons of ,god1 or slaves of sin8 ,on the latter falls inevitably the sentence of expulsion1 ,he will gather out of ,his kingdom all things that offend1 and them that do iniquity 7,matt4 xiii4 #da74 ,this passage signalises the definite breach of ,christianity with ,judaism4 ,the elder ,apostles lingered in the porch of the ,temple2 the primitive ,church clung to the ancient worship4 ,paul does not blame them for doing so4 ,in their case this was but the survival of a past order1 in principle acknowledged to be obsolete4 ,but the ,church of the future1 the spiritual seed of ,abraham gathered out of all nations1 had no part in ,legalism4 ,the ,apostle bends all his efforts to convince his readers of this1 to make them sensible of the impassable gulf lying between them and outworn ,mosaism4 ,again he repeats1 ,we are not children of a maidservant1 but of her that is free 7ver4 #ca74 ,the ,church of ,christ can no more hold fellowship with ,judaism than could ,isaac with the spiteful1 mocking ,ishmael4 ,paul leads the ,church across the ,rubicon4 ,there is no turning back4 ,ver4 #a of ch4 v4 is the application of the allegory4 ,it is a triumphant assertion of liberty1 a ringing summons to its defence4 ,its separation from ch4 iv4 is ill-judged1 and runs counter to the ancient divisions of the ,epistle4 ,christ set us free1 ,paul declares2 and it was for freedom#abi--not that we might fall under a new servitude4 ,stand fast therefore2 do not let yourselves be made bondmen over again4 ,bondmen the ,galatians had been before 7ch4 iv4 #h71 bowing down to false and vile gods4 ,bondmen they will be again1 if they are beguiled by the ,legalists to accept the yoke of circumcision1 if they take the ,jerusalem that now is for their mother4 ,they have tasted the joys of freedom2 they know what it is to be sons of ,god1 heirs of ,his kingdom and partakers of ,his ,spirit2 why do they stoop from their high estate8 ,why should ,christ's freemen put a yoke upon their own neck8 ,let them only know their happiness and security in ,christ1 and refuse to be cheated out of the substance of their spiritual blessings by the illusive shadows which the ,judaists offer them4 ,freedom once gained is a prize never to be lost4 ,no care1 no vigilance in its preservation can be too great4 ,such liberty inspires courage and good hope in its defence4 ,stand fast therefore4 ,quit yourselves like men4 #abi ,the reading of this clause is doubtful4 ,the ancient witnesses disagree4 ,dr4 ,hort suggests that the ,revised reading--the best attested1 but scarcely grammatical--may be due to a primitive corruption1 for 774 ,this emendation gives an excellent and apposite sense3 for 7with a view to7 freedom ,christ set us free4 ,the phrase ' is found in ver4 #ac1 and would gain additional force there1 if read as a repetition of what is affirmed here4 ,the confusion of letters involved is a natural one2 and once made at an early time in some standard copy1 it would account for the extraordinary confusion of reading into which the verse has fallen4 ,if conjectural emendation may be admitted anywhere in the ,n4 ,t41 it is legitimate in this instance4 99 99 99 99 99 ,how the ,galatians responded to the ,apostle's challenge1 we do not know4 ,but it has found an echo in many a heart since4 ,the ,lutheran ,reformation was an answer to it2 so was the ,scottish ,covenant4 ,the spirit of ,christian liberty is eternal4 ,jerusalem or ,rome may strive to imprison it4 ,they might as well seek to bind the winds of heaven4 ,its home is with ,god4 ,its seat is the throne of ,christ4 ,it lives by the breath of ,his ,spirit4 ,the earthly powers mock at it1 and drive it into the wilderness4 ,they do but assure their own ruin4 ,it leaves the house of the oppressor desolate4 ,whosoever he be--,judaist or ,papist1 priest1 or king1 or demagogue--that makes himself lord of ,god's heritage and would despoil ,his children of the liberties of faith1 let him beware lest of him also it be spoken1 ,cast out the bondwoman and her son4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,shall ,,the ,,galatians ,,be ,,circumcised ,behold1 ,i ,paul say unto you1 that1 if ye receive circumcision1 ,christ will profit you nothing4 ,yea1 ,i testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision1 that he is a debtor to do the whole law4 ,ye are severed from ,christ1 ye who would be justified by the law2 ye are fallen away from grace4 ,for we through the ,spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness4 ,for in ,christ ,jesus neither circumcision availeth anything1 nor uncircumcision2 but faith working through love4--,,gal4 v4 #b-f4 ,shall the ,galatians be circumcised1 or shall they not8 ,this is the decisive question4 ,the denunciation with which ,paul begins his letter1 the narrative which follows1 the profound argumentation1 the tender entreaty of the last two chapters1 all converge toward this crucial point4 ,so far the ,galatian ,churches had been only dallying with ,judaism4 ,they have been tempted to the verge of apostasy2 but they are not yet over the edge4 ,till they consent to be circumcised1 they have not finally committed themselves2 their freedom is not absolutely lost4 ,the ,apostle still hopes1 despite his fears1 that they will stand fast 7ver4 #aj2 ch4 iv4 #aa2 iii4 #d74 ,the fatal step is eagerly pressed on them by the ,judaizers 7ch4 vi4 #ab1 #ac71 whose persuasion the ,galatians had so far entertained1 that they had begun to keep the ,hebrew sabbath and feast-days 7ch4 iv4 #aj74 ,if they yield to this further demand1 the battle is lost2 and this powerful ,epistle1 with all the ,apostle's previous labour spent upon them1 has been in vain4 ,to sever this section from the polemical in order to attach it to the practical part of the ,epistle1 as many commentators do1 is to cut the nerve of the ,apostle's argument and reduce it to an abstract theological discussion4 ,this momentous question is brought forward with the greater emphasis and effect1 because it has hitherto been kept out of sight4 ,the allusion to ,titus in ch4 ii4 #a-e has already indicated the supreme importance of the matter of circumcision4 ,but the ,apostle has delayed dealing with it formally and directly1 until he is able to do so with the weight of the foregoing chapters to support his interdict4 ,he has shattered the enemies' position with his artillery of logic1 he has assailed the hearts of his readers with all the force of his burning indignation and subduing pathos4 ,now he gathers up his strength for the final charge home1 which must decide the battle4 ,i4 ,,lo1 ,i ,,paul ,,tell ,,you6 ,when he begins thus1 we feel that the decisive moment is at hand4 ,everything depends on the next few words4 ,paul stands like an archer with his bow drawn at full stretch and the arrow pointed to the mark4 ,let others say what they may2 this is what ,i tell you4 ,if my word has any weight with you1 give heed to this3--,,if ,,you ,,be ,,circumcised1 ,,christ ,,will ,,profit ,,you ,,nothing4 ,now his bolt is shot2 we see what the ,apostle has had in his mind all this time4 ,language cannot be more explicit4 ,some of his readers will have failed to catch the subtler points of his argument1 or the finer tones of his voice of entreaty2 but every one will understand this4 ,the most senseless and volatile amongst the ,galatians will surely be sobered by the terms of this warning4 ,there is no escaping the dilemma4 ,legalism and ,paulinism1 the true and the false gospel1 stand front to front1 reduced to their barest form1 and weighed each in the balance of its practical result4 ,christ--or ,circumcision3 which shall it be8 ,this declaration is no less authoritative and judicially threatening than the anathema of ch4 i4 ,that former denouncement declared the false teachers severed from ,christ4 ,those who yield to their persuasion1 will be also severed from ,christ4 ,they will fall into the same ditch as their blind leaders4 ,the ,judaizers have forfeited their part in ,christ2 they are false brethren1 tares among the wheat1 troublers and hinderers to the ,church of ,god4 ,and ,gentile ,christians who choose to be led astray by them must take the consequences4 ,if they obey the other gospel1 ,christ's gospel is theirs no longer4 ,if they rest their faith on circumcision1 they have withdrawn it from ,his cross4 ,adopting the ,mosaic regimen1 they forego the benefits of ,christ's redemption4 ,christ will profit you nothing4 ,the sentence is negative1 but no less fearful on that account4 ,it is as though ,christ should say1 ,thou hast no part with ,me4 ,circumcision will cost the ,galatian ,christians all they possess in ,jesus ,christ4 ,but is not this1 some one will ask1 an over-strained assertion8 ,is it consistent with ,paul's professions and his policy in other instances8 ,in ver4 #f1 and again in the last chapter1 he declares that ,circumcision is nothing1 and uncircumcision nothing2 and yet here he makes it everything6 ,the ,apostle's position is this4 ,in itself the rite is valueless4 ,it was the sacrament of the ,old ,covenant1 which was brought to an end by the death of ,christ4 ,for the new ,church of the ,spirit1 it is a matter of perfect indifference whether a man is circumcised or not4 ,paul had therefore circumcised ,timothy1 whose mother was a ,jewess 7,acts xvi4 #a-c71 though neither he nor his young disciple supposed that it was a religious necessity4 ,it was done as a social convenience2 uncircumcision was nothing1 and could in such a case be surrendered without prejudice4 ,on the other hand1 he refused to submit ,titus to the same rite2 for he was a pure ,greek1 and on him it could only have been imposed on religious grounds and as a passport to salvation4 ,for this1 and for no other reason1 it was demanded by the ,judaistic party4 ,in this instance it was needful to show that circumcision is nothing4 ,the ,galatians stood in the same position as ,titus4 ,circumcision1 if performed on them1 must have denoted1 not as in ,timothy's case1 the fact of ,jewish birth1 but subjection to the ,mosaic law4 ,regarded in this light1 the question was one of life or death for the ,pauline ,churches4 ,to yield to the ,judaizers would be to surrender the principle of salvation by faith4 ,the attempt of the legalist party was in effect to force ,christianity into the grooves of ,mosaism1 to reduce the world-wide ,church of the ,spirit to a sect of moribund ,judaism4 ,with what views1 with what aim were the ,galatians entertaining this ,judaic persuasion8 ,was it to make them sons of ,god and heirs of ,his kingdom8 ,this was the object with which ,god sent forth ,his ,son2 and the ,spirit of sonship assured them that it was realised 7ch4 iv4 #d-g74 ,to adopt the former means to this end was to renounce the latter4 ,in turning their eyes to this new bewitchment1 they must be conscious that their attention was diverted from the ,redeemer's cross and their confidence in it weakened 7ch4 iii4 #a74 ,to be circumcised would be to rest their salvation formally and definitely on works of law1 in place of the grace of ,god4 ,the consequences of this ,paul has shown in relating his discussion with ,peter1 in ch4 ii4 #ae-ba4 ,they would make themselves transgressors2 they would make ,christ's death of none effect4 ,in the soul's salvation ,christ will be all1 or nothing4 ,if we trust ,him1 we must trust ,him altogether4 ,the ,galatians had already admitted a suspicion of the power of ,his grace1 which if cherished and acted on in the way proposed1 must sever all communion between their souls and ,him4 ,their circumcision would be the sacrament of their excision from ,christ 7,huxtable74 ,the tense of the verb is present4 ,paul's readers may be in the act of making this disastrous compliance4 ,he bids them look for a moment at the depth of the gulf on whose brink they stand4 ,stop6 he cries1 another step in that direction1 and you have lost ,christ4 ,and what will they get in exchange8 ,they will saddle themselves with all the obligations of the ,mosaic law 7ver4 #c74 ,this probably was more than they bargained for4 ,they wished to find a via media1 some compromise between the new faith and the old1 which would secure to them the benefits of ,christ without ,his reproach1 and the privileges of ,judaism without its burdens4 ,this at least was the policy of the ,judaic teachers 7ch4 vi4 #ab1 #ac74 ,but it was a false and untenable position4 ,circumcision verily profiteth1 if thou art a doer of the law 7,rom4 ii4 #be72 otherwise it brings only condemnation4 ,he who receives the sacrament of ,mosaism1 by doing so pledges himself to keep and do every one of its ordinances1 statutes1 and judgements--a yoke which1 honest ,peter said1 ,neither we nor our fathers were able to bear 7,acts xv4 #aj74 ,let the ,galatians read the law1 and consider what they are going to undertake4 ,he who goes with the ,judaists a mile1 will be compelled to go twain4 ,they will not find themselves at liberty to pick and choose amongst the legal requirements4 ,their legalist teachers will not raise a finger to lighten the yoke 7,luke xi4 #df71 when it is once fastened on their necks2 nor will their own consciences acquit them of its responsibilities4 ,this obligation ,paul1 himself a master in ,jewish law1 solemnly affirms3 ,i protest 7,i declare before ,god7 to every man that is circumcised1 that he is a debtor to perform the whole law4 ,now this is a proved impossibility4 ,whoever sets up the law1 he had avouched to ,cephas1 makes himself a transgressor 7ch4 ii4 #ah74 ,nay1 it was established of set purpose to multiply transgressions1 to deepen and sharpen the consciousness of sin 7ch4 iii4 #ai2 ,rom4 iii4 #bj2 iv4 #ae2 v4 #bj74 ,jewish believers in ,christ1 placed under its power by their birth1 had thankfully found in the faith of ,christ a refuge from its accusations 7ch4 ii4 #af2 ,rom4 vii4 #bd-viii4 #d74 ,surely the ,galatians1 knowing all this1 will not be so foolish as to put themselves gratuitously under its power4 ,to do this would be an insult to ,christ1 and an act of moral suicide4 ,this further warning reinforces the first1 and is uttered with equal solemnity4 ,i tell you1 ,christ will profit you nothing2 and again ,i testify1 the law will lay its full weight upon you4 ,they will be left1 without the help of ,christ1 to bear this tremendous burden4 ,this double threatening is blended into one in ver4 #d4 ,the pregnant force of ,paul's ,greek is untranslatable4 ,literally his words run1 ,you were nullified from ,christ 7 7--brought to nought 7being severed7 from ,him1 you that in law are seeking justification4 ,he puts his assertion in the past 7aorist7 tense1 stating that which ensues so soon as the principle of legal justification is endorsed4 ,from that moment the ,galatians cease to be ,christians4 ,in this sense they are abolished1 just as the cross is virtually abolished if the ,apostle preaches circumcision 7ver4 #aa71 and death is being abolished under the reign of ,christ 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #bf74 ,he has said in ver4 #b that ,christ will be made of none effect to them2 now he adds that they are made of none effect in relation to ,christ4 ,their ,christian standing is destroyed4 ,the joyous experiences of their conversion1 their share in ,abraham's blessing1 their ,divine sonship witnessed to by the ,holy ,spirit--all this is nullified1 cancelled at a stroke1 if they are circumcised4 ,the detachment of their faith from ,christ is involved in the process of attaching it to ,jewish ordinances1 and brings spiritual destruction upon them4 ,the root of the ,christian life is faith in ,him4 ,let that root be severed1 let the branch no longer abide in the vine--it is dead already4#acj #acj ,comp4 ,john xv4 #e1 #f1 where in 1 1 there is a like summary aorist4 ,cut off from ,christ1 they have fallen from grace4 ,paul has already twice identified ,christ and grace1 in ch4 i4 #f and ii4 #ba4 ,the ,divine mercies centre in ,jesus ,christ2 and he who separates himself from ,him1 shuts these out of his soul4 ,the verb here used by the ,apostle 77 is commonly applied 7four times e4g4 in ,acts xxvii47 to a ship driven out of her course4 ,some such image seems to be in the writer's mind in this passage4 ,these racers made an excellent start1 but they have stumbled 7ver4 #g2 ch4 iii4 #c72 the vessel set out from harbour in gallant style1 but she is drifting fast upon the rocks4 ,this sentence is the exact opposite of 'stand in the grace1' ,rom4 v4 #b 7,beet74#aca #aca ,comp4 #b ,pet4 iii4 #ag2 for the figure suggested1 ,eph4 iv4 #ad2 #a ,tim4 i4 #ai4 ,that he who seeks justification in law has fallen from grace1 needs no proof after the powerful demonstration of ch4 ii4 #ad-ba4 ,the moralist claims quittance on the ground of his deservings4 ,he pleads the quality of his works1 his punctual discharge of every stipulated duty1 from circumcision onwards4 ,i fast twice a week1 he tells his ,divine ,judge2 ,i tithe all my gains4 ,i have kept all the commandments from my youth up4 ,what can ,god expect more than this8 ,but with these performances ,grace has nothing to do4 ,the man is not in its order4 ,if he invokes its aid1 it is as a make-weight1 a supplement to the possible shortcomings in a virtue for the most part competent for itself4 ,now the grace of ,god is not to be set aside in this way2 it refuses to be treated as a mere succedaneum of human virtue4 ,grace1 like ,christ1 insists on being all in all4 ,if salvation is by grace1 it is no longer of works2 and if of works1 it is no more grace 7,rom4 xi4 #f74 ,these two methods of justification imply different moral tempers1 an opposite set and direction of the current of life4 ,this question of circumcision brings the ,galatians to the parting of the ways4 ,grace or ,law--which of the two roads will they follow8 ,both they cannot4 ,they may become ,jewish proselytes2 but they will cease to be ,christians4 ,leaving behind them the light and joy of the heavenly ,zion1 they will find themselves wandering in the gloomy desolations of ,sinai4 ,,ii4 ,from this prospect the ,apostle bids his readers turn to that which he himself beholds1 and which they erewhile shared with him4 ,again he seems to say1 ,be ye as ,i am1 brethren 7ch4 iv4 #ab72 not in outward condition alone1 but still more in inward experience and aspiration4 ,for we by the ,spirit1 on the ground of faith1 are awaiting the hope of righteousness 7ver4 #e74 ,look on this picture1 and on that4 ,yonder are the ,galatians1 all in tumult about the legalistic proposals1 debating which of the ,hebrew feasts they shall celebrate and with what rites1 absorbed in the details of ,mosaic ceremony1 all but persuaded to be circumcised and to settle their scruples out of hand by a blind submission to the ,law4 ,and here1 on the other side1 is ,paul with the ,church of the ,spirit1 walking in the righteousness of faith and the communion of the ,holy ,spirit1 joyfully awaiting the ,saviour's final coming and the hope that is laid up in heaven4 ,how vexed1 how burdened1 how narrow and puerile is the one condition of life2 how large and lofty and secure the other4 ,we1 says the ,apostle1 are looking forwards not backwards1 to ,christ and not to ,moses4 ,every word in this sentence is full of meaning4 ,faith carries an emphasis similar to that it has in ch4 ii4 #af2 iii4 #bb2 and in ,rom4 iv4 #af4 ,paul supports by contrast what he has just said3 ,your share in the kingdom of grace is lost who seek a legal righteousness 7ver4 #d72 it is by faith that we look for our heritage4 ,hope is clearly matter of hope1 the future glory of the redeemed1 described in ,rom4 viii4 #ah-be1 ,phil4 iii4 #bj1 #ba1 in both of which places there appears the remarkably compounded verb 7--7 that concludes this verse4 ,it implies an intent expectancy1 sure of its object and satisfied with it4 ,the hope is righteousness' hope--the hope of the righteous--for it has in righteousness its warrant4 ,the saying of ,psalm xvi41 verified in ,christ's rising from the dead1 contains its principle3 ,thou wilt not leave my soul to death2 nor suffer ,thine holy one to see the pit4 ,this was the secret hope of ,israel1#acb that grew up in the hearts of the men of faith1 whose accomplishment is the crowning glory of the redemption of ,christ4 ,it is the goal of faith4 ,righteousness is the path that leads to it4 ,the ,galatians had been persuaded of this hope and embraced it2 if they accept the other gospel1 with its phantom of a legal righteousness1 their hope will perish4 #acb ,acts xxiii4 #f2 xxiv4 #ae2 xxvi4 #f-h2 comp4 ,john vi4 #ci1 #dj1 #dd4 ,the ,apostle is always true to the order of thought here indicated4 ,faith saves from first to last4 ,the present righteousness and future glory of the sons of ,god alike have their source in faith4 ,the act of reliance by which the initial justification of the sinner was attained1 now becomes the habit of the soul1 the channel by which its life is fed1 rooting itself ever more deeply into ,christ and absorbing more completely the virtue of ,his death and heavenly life4 ,faith has its great ventures2 it has also its seasons of endurance1 its moods of quiet expectancy1 its unweariable patience4 ,it can wait as well as work4 ,it rests upon the past1 seeing in ,christ crucified its author2 then it looks on to the future1 and claims ,christ glorified for its finisher4 ,so faith prompts her sister ,hope and points her to the glory that shall be revealed4 ,if faith fails1 hope quickly dies4 ,unbelief is the mother of despair4 ,of faith1 the ,apostle says1 we look out6 ,a second condition1 inseparable from the first1 marks the hope proper to the ,christian righteousness4 ,it is sustained by the ,spirit4 ,the connection of faith and hope respectively with the gift of the ,holy ,spirit is marked very clearly by ,paul in ,eph4 i4 #ac1 #ad3 ,having believed1 you were sealed with the ,holy ,spirit1 who is the earnest of our inheritance4 ,the ,holy ,spirit seals the sons of ,god--sons1 then heirs 7ch4 iv4 #f1 #g2 ,rom4 viii4 #ae-ag74 ,this stamps on ,christian hope a spiritual character4 ,the conception which we form of it1 the means by which it is pursued1 the temper and attitude in which it is expected1 are determined by the ,holy ,spirit who inspires it4 ,this pure and celestial hope is therefore utterly removed from the selfish ambitions and the sensuous methods that distinguished the ,judaistic movement 7ch4 iv4 #c1 #i2 vi4 #ab-ad74 ,men of worldly1 low design like ,paul's opponents in ,galatia1 had no right to entertain the hope of righteousness4 ,these matters are spiritually discerned2 they are the things of the ,spirit1 the things which ,god hath prepared for them that love ,him 7#a ,cor4 ii4 #i-ad74 ,if faith and hope are in sight1 love cannot be far off4 ,in the next verse it comes to claim its place beside the other two3 faith working through love4 ,and so the blessed trio is complete1 ,fides1 amor1 spes3 summa ,christianismi 7,bengel74 ,faith waits1 but it also works2#acc and love is its working energy4 ,love gives faith hands and feet2 hope lends it wings4 ,love is the fire at its heart1 the life-blood coursing in its veins2 hope the light that gleams and dances in its eyes4 ,looking back to the ,christ that hath been manifested1 faith kindles into a boundless love2 looking onward to the ,christ that shall be revealed1 it rises into an exultant hope4 #acc ,working through love1 not wrought 7,r4,v4 margin74 ,the latter rendering of the participle is found in some of the ,fathers1 and is preferred by ,romanist interpreters in the interest of their doctrine of fides formata4 ,paul's theology and his verbal usage alike require the middle sense of this verb1 adopted by modern commentators with one consent4 ,the middle voice implies that through love faith gets into action1 is operative1 efficacious1 shows what it can do4 ,comp41 for ,pauline usage1 ,rom4 vii4 #e2 #b ,cor4 i4 #f1 iv4 #ab2 ,eph4 iii4 #bj2 ,col4 i4 #bi2 #a ,thess4 ii4 #ac2 #b ,thess4 ii4 #g2 and see ,moulton's ,winer's ,n4 ,t4 ,grammar1 p4 #cah 7note on dynamic middle74 ,these closing words are of no little theological importance4 ,they bridge over the gulf which seems to separate the language of ,paul and ,james4 ,both assert a principle of practical energy1 as opposed to a barren1 inactive theory 7,lightfoot74 ,had the faith of ,paul's readers been more practical1 had they been of a diligent1 enterprising spirit1 ready for every good word and work1 they would not have felt1 to the same degree1 the spell of the ,judaistic fascination4 ,idle hands1 vain and restless minds1 court temptation4 ,a manly1 energetic faith will never play at ritualism or turn religion into a round of ceremonial1 an sthetic exhibition4 ,loving and self-devoting faith in ,christ is the one thing ,paul covets to see in the ,galatians4 ,this is the working power of the gospel1 the force that will lift and regenerate mankind4 ,in comparison with this1 questions of ,church-order and forms of worship are nothing4 ,the body is more than the raiment4 ,church organization is a means to a certain end2 and that end consists in the life of faith and love in ,christian souls4 ,each man is worth to ,christ and to ,his ,church just so much as he possesses of this energy of the ,spirit1 just so much as he has of love to ,christ and to men in ,him4 ,other gifts and qualities1 offices and orders of ministry1 are but instruments for love to employ1 machinery for love to energize4 ,the ,apostle wishes it to be understood that he does not condemn circumcision on its own account1 as though the opposite condition were in itself superior4 ,if circumcision does not avail anything1 neither does uncircumcision4 ,the ,jew is no better or worse a ,christian because he is circumcised2 the ,gentile no worse or better1 because he is not4 ,this difference in no way affects the man's spiritual standing or efficiency4 ,let the ,galatians dismiss the whole question from their minds4 ,one thing is needful1 to be filled with the ,spirit of love4 ,god's kingdom is not meat and drink2 it is not days and seasons and years2 it is not circumcision1 nor rubrics and vestments and priestly functions2 it is righteousness and peace and joy in the ,holy ,spirit4 ,these are the true notes of the ,church2 by love1 said ,christ1 all men will know that you are ,my disciples4 ,in these two sentences 7vv4 #e and #f7 the religion of ,christ is summed up4 ,ver4 #e gives us its statics2 ver4 #f its dynamics4 ,it is a condition1 and an occupation2 a grand outlook1 and an intent pursuit2 a ,divine hope for the future1 and a sovereign power for the present1 with an infinite spring of energy in the love of ,christ4 ,the active and passive elements of the ,christian life need to be justly balanced4 ,many of the errors of the ,church have arisen from one-sidedness in this respect4 ,some do nothing but sit with folded hands till the ,lord comes2 others are too busy to think of ,his coming at all4 ,so waiting degenerates into indolence2 and serving into feverish hurry and anxiety1 or mechanical routine4 ,let hope give calmness and dignity1 buoyancy and brightness to our work2 let work make our hope sober1 reasonable1 practical4 99 99 99 99 99 ,these three abide--faith1 hope1 and love4 ,they cannot change while ,god is ,god and man is man4 ,forms of dogma and of worship have changed and must change4 ,there is a perpetual removing of the things that are shaken1 as of things that are made2 but through all revolutions there remain the things which are not shaken4 ,to these let us rally4 ,on these let us build4 ,new questions thrust themselves to the front1 touching matters as little essential to the ,church's life as that of circumcision in the ,apostolic age4 ,the evil is that we make so much of them4 ,in the din of controversy we grow bewildered2 our eyes are blinded with its dust2 our souls chafed with its fretting4 ,we lose the sense of proportion2 we fail to see who are our true friends1 and who our foes4 ,we need to return to the simplicity that is in ,christ4 ,let us consider ,him--,christ incarnate1 dying1 risen1 reigning--till we are changed into the same image1 till ,his life has wrought itself into ours4 ,then these questions of dispute will fall into their proper place4 ,they will resolve themselves2 or wait patiently for their solution4 ,loyalty to ,jesus ,christ is the only solvent of our controversies4 ,will the ,galatians be true to ,christ8 ,or will they renounce their righteousness in ,him for a legal status1 morally worthless1 and which will end in taking from them the hope of eternal life8 ,they have nothing to gain1 they have everything to lose in submitting to circumcision4 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,hinderers ,,and ,,troublers4 ,ye were running well2 who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth8 ,this persuasion came not of him that calleth you4 ,a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump4 ,i have confidence to you-ward1 in the ,lord1 that ye will be none otherwise minded3 but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgement1 whosoever he be4 ,but ,i1 brethren1 if ,i still preach circumcision1 why am ,i still persecuted8 then hath the stumblingblock of the cross been done away4 ,i would that they which unsettle you would even mutilate themselves4--,,gal4 v4 #g-ab4 ,the ,apostle's controversy with the ,legalists is all but concluded4 ,he has pronounced on the question of circumcision4 ,he has shown his readers1 with an emphasis and clearness that leave nothing more to be said1 how fearful is the cost at which they will accept the other gospel1 and how heavy the yoke which it will impose upon them4 ,a few further observations remain to be made--of regret1 of remonstrance1 blended with expressions of confidence more distinct than any the ,apostle has hitherto employed4 ,then with a last contemptuous thrust1 a sort of coup de grace for the ,circumcisionists1 ,paul passes to the practical and ethical part of his letter4 ,this section is made up of short1 disconnected sentences1 shot off in various directions2 as though the writer wished to have done with the ,judaistic debate1 and would discharge at a single volley the arrows remaining in his quiver4 ,its prevailing tone is that of conciliation towards the ,galatians 7comp4 ,chapter ,,xviii471 with increasing severity towards the legalist teachers4 ,see how bitter he is against the deceivers4 ,for indeed at the beginning he directed his censures against the deceived1 calling them 'senseless' both once and again4 ,but now that he has sufficiently chastened and corrected them1 for the rest he turns against their deceivers4 ,and we should observe his wisdom in both these things1 in that he admonishes the one party and brings them to a better mind1 being his own children and capable of amendment2 but the deceivers1 who are a foreign element and incurably diseased1 he cuts off 7,chrysostom74 ,there lie before us therefore in this paragraph the following considerations3--,paul's hope concerning the ,galatian ,churches1 his protest on his own behalf1 and finally1 his judgement respecting the troublers4 ,i4 ,the more hopeful strain of the letter at this point appears to be due to the effect of his argument upon the writer's own mind4 ,as the breadth and grandeur of the ,christian faith open out before him1 and he contrasts its spiritual glory with the ignoble aims of the ,circumcisionists1 ,paul cannot think that the readers will any longer doubt which is the true gospel4 ,surely they will be disenchanted4 ,his irrefragable reasonings1 his pleading entreaties and solemn warnings are bound to call forth a response from a people so intelligent and so affectionate4 ,for my part1 he says1 ,i am confident in the ,lord that you will be no otherwise minded 7ver4 #aj71 that you will be faithful to your ,divine calling1 despite the hindrances thrown in your way4 ,they will1 he is persuaded1 come to see the proposals of the ,judaizers in their proper light4 ,they will think about the ,christian life--its objects and principles--as he himself does2 and will perceive how fatal would be the step they are urged to take4 ,they will be true to themselves and to the ,spirit of sonship they have received4 ,they will pursue more earnestly the hope set before them and give themselves with renewed energy to the work of faith and love 7vv4 #e1 #f71 and forget as soon as possible this distracting and unprofitable controversy4 ,in the ,lord ,paul cherishes this confidence4 ,in ,christ's grace the ,galatians were called to enter the kingdom of ,god 7ver4 #h2 ch4 i4 #f72 and ,he was concerned that the work begun in them should be completed 7,phil4 i4 #f74 ,it may be the ,apostle at this moment was conscious of some assurance from his ,master that his testimony in this ,epistle would not prove in vain4 ,the recent#acd submission of the ,corinthians would tend to increase ,paul's confidence in his authority over the ,gentile ,churches4 #acd ,see ,chapter ,i1 pp4 #ae1 #af1 on the date of the ,epistle4 ,another remembrance quickens the feeling of hope with which the ,apostle draws the conflict to a close4 ,he reminds himself of the good confession the ,galatians had aforetime witnessed1#ace the zeal with which they pursued the ,christian course1 until this deplorable hindrance arose3 ,you were running well--finely4 ,you had fixed your eyes on the heavenly prize4 ,filled with an ardent faith1 you were zealously pursuing the great spiritual ends of the ,christian life 7comp4 vv4 #e1 #f74 ,your progress has been arrested4 ,you have yielded to influences which are not of ,god who called you1 and admitted amongst you a leaven that1 if not cast out1 will corrupt you utterly 7vv4 #h1 #i74 ,but ,i trust that this result will be averted4 ,you will return to better thoughts4 ,you will resume the interrupted race1 and by ,god's mercy will be enabled to bring it to a glorious issue 7ver4 #aj74 #ace ,comp4 ch4 iii4 #d3 ye suffered so many things4 ,there is kindness and true wisdom in this encouragement4 ,the ,apostle has told them the truth2 he has reproved with all authority2 now that this is done1 their remains nothing in his heart but good-will and good wishes for his ,galatian children4 ,if his chiding has wrought the effect it was intended to produce1 then these words of softened admonition will be grateful and healing4 ,they have stumbled1 but not that they might fall4 ,the ,apostle holds out the hand of restoration2 his confidence animates them to hope better things for themselves4 ,he turns his anger away from them1 and directs it altogether upon their injurers4 ,,ii4 ,the ,judaizers had troubled the ,churches of ,galatia2 they had also maligned the ,apostle ,paul4 ,from them undoubtedly the imputation proceeded which he repudiates so warmly in ver4 #aa3 ,and ,i1 brethren1 if ,i am still preaching circumcision1 why am ,i still persecuted8 ,this supposition a moment's reflection would suffice to refute4 ,the contradiction was manifest4 ,the persecution which everywhere followed the ,apostle marked him out in all men's eyes as the adversary of ,legalism4 ,there were circumstances1 however1 that lent a certain colour to this calumny4 ,the circumcision of ,timothy1 for instance1 might be thought to look in this direction 7,acts xvi4 #a-c74 ,and ,paul valued his ,hebrew birth4 ,he loved his ,jewish brethren more than his own salvation 7,rom4 ix4 #a-e2 xi4 #a74 ,there was nothing of the revolutionary or the iconoclast about him4 ,personally he preferred to conform to the ancient usages1 when doing so did not compromise the honour of ,christ 7,acts xviii4 #ah2 xxi4 #ag-bf74 ,it was false that he taught the ,jews not to circumcise their children1 nor to walk by the customs 7,acts xxi4 #bj-bf74 ,he did teach them that these things were of no avail in ,christ ,jesus2 that they were in no sense necessary to salvation2 and that it was contrary to the will of ,christ to impose them upon ,gentiles4 ,but it was no part of his business to alter the social customs of his people1 or to bid them renounce the glories of their past4 ,while he insists that there is no difference between ,jew and ,gentile in their need of the gospel and their rights in it1 he still claims for the ,jew the first place in the order of its manifestation4 ,this was an entirely different thing from preaching circumcision in the legalist sense1 from heralding 73 ver4 #aa7 and crying up the ,jewish ordinance1 and making it a religious duty4 ,this difference the ,circumcisionists affected not to understand4 ,some of ,paul's critics will not understand it even now4 ,they argue that the ,apostle's hostility to ,judaism in this ,epistle discredits the narrative of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 inasmuch as the latter relates several instances of ,jewish conformity on his part4 ,what pragmatical narrowness is this6 ,paul's adversaries said1 ,he derides ,judaism amongst you ,gentiles1 who know nothing of his antecedents1 or of his practice in other places4 ,but when he pleases1 this liberal ,paul will be as zealous for circumcision as any of us4 ,indeed he boasts of his skill in 'becoming all things to all men2' he trims his sail to every breeze4 ,in ,galatia he is all breadth and tolerance2 he talks about our 'liberty which we have in ,christ ,jesus2' he is ready to 'become as you are2' no one would imagine he had ever been a ,jew4 ,in ,judea he makes a point of being strictly orthodox1 and is indignant if any one questions his devotion to the ,law4 ,paul's position was a delicate one1 and open to misrepresentation4 ,men of party insist on this or that external custom as the badge of their own side2 they have their party-colours and their uniform4 ,men of principle adopt or lay aside such usages with a freedom which scandalizes the partisan4 ,what right1 he says1 has any one to wear our colours1 to pronounce our shibboleth1 if he is not one of ourselves8 ,if the man will not be with us1 let him be against us4 ,had ,paul renounced his circumcision and declared himself a ,gentile out and out1 the ,judaists might have understood him4 ,had he said1 ,circumcision is evil1 they could have endured it better2 but to preach that ,circumcision is nothing1 to reduce this all-important rite to insignificance1 vexed them beyond measure4 ,it was in their eyes plain proof of dishonesty4 ,they tell the ,galatians that ,paul is playing a double part1 that his resistance to their circumcision is interested and insincere4 ,the charge is identical with that of man-pleasing which the ,apostle repelled in ch4 i4 #aj 7see ,chapter ,,iii74 ,the emphatic still of that passage recurs twice in this1 bearing the same meaning as it does there4 ,its force is not temporal1 as though the ,apostle were thinking of a former time when he did preach circumcision3 no such reference appears in the context1 and these terms are inappropriate to his pre-,christian career4 ,the particle points a logical contrast1 as e4g4 in ,rom4 iii4 #g2 ix4 #ai3 ,if ,i still 7notwithstanding my professions as a ,gentile apostle7 preach circumcision1 why am ,i still 7notwithstanding my so preaching7 persecuted8 ,had ,paul been known by the ,jews to be in other places a promoter of circumcision1 they would have treated him very differently4 ,he could not then have been1 as the ,galatians knew him everywhere to be1 in perils from his fellow-countrymen4 ,the rancour of the ,legalists was sufficient proof of ,paul's sincerity4 ,they were themselves guilty of the baseness with which they taxed him4 ,it was in order to escape the reproach of the cross 7ver4 #aa71 to atone for their belief in the ,nazarene1 that they persuaded ,gentile ,christians to be circumcised 7ch4 vi4 #aa1 #ab74 ,they were the man-pleasers4 ,the ,judaizers knew perfectly well that the ,apostle's observance of ,jewish usage was no endorsement of their principles4 ,the print of the ,jewish scourge upon his back attested his loyalty to ,gentile ,christendom 7ch4 vi4 #ag2 #b ,cor4 xi4 #bd74 ,a further consequence would have ensued from the duplicity imputed to ,paul1 which he resents even more warmly3 ,then1 he says1 if ,i preach circumcision1 the offence of the cross is done away6 ,he is charged with treason against the cross of ,christ4 ,he has betrayed the one thing in which he glories 7ch4 vi4 #ad71 to which the service of his life was consecrated6 ,for the doctrine of the cross was at an end if the legal ritual were re-established and men were taught to trust in the saving efficacy of circumcision--above all1 if the ,apostle of the ,gentiles had preached this doctrine6 ,the ,legalists imputed to him the very last thing of which he was capable4 ,this was in fact the error into which ,peter had weakly fallen at ,antioch4 ,the ,jewish ,apostle had then acted as though ,christ died in vain 7ch4 ii4 #ba74 ,for himself ,paul indignantly denies that his conduct bore any such construction4 ,but he says1 the scandal of the cross--that scandalous1 offensive cross1 the stumbling-block of ,jewish pride 7#a ,cor4 i4 #bc74 ,the death of ,christ was not only revolting in its form to ,jewish sentiment2#acf it was a fatal event for ,judaism itself4 ,it imported the end of the ,mosaic economy4 ,the ,church at ,jerusalem had not yet fully grasped this fact2 they sought1 as far as possible1 to live on good terms with their non-,christian ,jewish brethren1 and admitted perhaps too easily into their fellowship men who cared more for ,judaism than for ,christ and ,his cross4 ,for them also the final rupture was approaching1 when they had to go forth unto ,jesus without the camp4 ,paul had seen from the first that the breach was irreparable4 ,he determined to keep his ,gentile ,churches free from ,judaic entanglements4 ,in his view1 ,calvary was the terminus of ,mosaism4 #acf ,comp4 ,chapter ,,xii1 pp4 #aic-d4 ,this was true historically4 ,the crime of national ,judaism in slaying its ,messiah was capital4 ,its spiritual blindness and its moral failure had received the most signal proof4 ,the congregation of ,israel had become a synagogue of ,satan4 ,and these were the chosen people1 the world's lite1 who crucified the ,lord of glory6 ,mankind had done this thing4 ,the world has both seen and hated both ,him and the ,father4 ,now to set up circumcision again1 or any kind of human effort or performance1 as a ground of justification before ,god1 is to ignore this judgement2 it is to make void the sentence which the cross of ,christ has passed upon all works of righteousness which we have done4 ,this teaching sorely offends moralists and ceremonialists1 of whatever age or school2 it is the offence of the cross4 ,and further1 as matter of ,divine appointment the sacrifice of ,calvary put an end to ,jewish ordinances4 ,their significance was gone4 ,the ,epistle to the ,hebrews developes this consequence at length in other directions4 ,for himself the ,apostle views it from a single and very definite standpoint4 ,the ,law1 he says1 had brought on men a curse2 it stimulated sin to its worst developments 7ch4 iii4 #aj1 #ai74 ,christ's death under this curse has expiated and removed it for us 7ch4 iii4 #ac74 ,his atonement met man's guilt in its culmination4 ,the ,law had not prevented--nay1 it gave occasion to the crime2 it necessitated1 but could not provide expiation1 which was supplied outside the law 7,rom4 iii4 #ba3 74 ,the offence of the doctrine of the cross lay just here4 ,it reconciled man with ,god on an extra-legal footing4 ,it provided a new ground of justification and pronounced the old worthless4 ,it fixed the mark of moral impotence and rejection upon the system to which the ,jewish nature clung with passionate pride4 ,to preach the cross was to declare legalism abolished3 to preach circumcision was to declare the cross and its offence abolished4 ,this dilemma the ,circumcisionists would fain escape4 ,they fought shy of ,calvary4 ,like some later moralists1 they did not see why the cross should be always pushed to the front1 and its offence forced upon the world4 ,surely there was in the wide range of ,christian truth abundance of other profitable topics to discuss1 without wounding ,jewish susceptibilities in this way4 ,but this endeavour of theirs is just what ,paul is determined to frustrate4 ,he confronts ,judaism at every turn with that dreadful cross4 ,he insists that it shall be realised in its horror and its shame1 that men shall feel the tremendous shock which it gives to the moral conceit1 the self-justifying spirit of human nature1 which in the ,jew of this period had reached its extreme point4 ,if law could save1 if the world were not guilty before ,god1 he reiterates1 why that death of the cross8 ,god hath set ,him forth a propitiation4 ,and whoso accepts ,jesus ,christ must accept ,him crucified1 with all the offence and humiliation that the fact involves4 ,in later days the death of ,christ has been made void in other ways4 ,it is veiled in the steam of our incense4 ,it is invested with the halo of a sensuous glorification4 ,the cross has been for many turned into an artistic symbol1 a beautiful idol1 festooned with garlands1 draped in poetry1 but robbed of its spiritual meaning1 its power to humble and to save4 ,let men see it openly set forth1 in its naked terror and majesty1 that they may know what they are and what their sins have done4 ,we rely on birth and good breeding1 on art and education as instruments of moral progress4 ,improved social arrangements1 a higher environment1 these1 we think1 will elevate the race4 ,within their limits these forces are invaluable2 they are ordained of ,god4 ,but they are only law at the best4 ,when they have done their utmost1 they leave man still unsaved--proud1 selfish1 unclean1 miserable4 ,to rest human salvation on self-improvement and social reform1 is legalism over again4 ,to civilise is not to regenerate4 ,these methods were tried in ,mosaism1 under circumstances in many respects highly favourable4 ,the scandal of the cross was the result4 ,education and social discipline may produce a ,pharisee1 nothing higher4 ,legislation and environment work from the outside4 ,they cannot touch the essential human heart4 ,nothing has ever done this like the cross of ,jesus ,christ4 ,he who makes it of none effect1 whether in the name of ,jewish tradition or of modern progress1 takes away the one practicable hope of the moral regeneration of mankind4 ,,iii4 ,we are now in a position to estimate more precisely the character and motives of the ,judaistic party1 the hinderers and troublers of this ,epistle4 ,in the first place1 it appears that they had entered the ,galatian communities from without4 ,the fact that they are called troublers 7disturbers7 of itself suggests this 7ver4 #aj2 ch4 i4 #g74 ,they came with a professed gospel1 as messengers bringing new tidings2 the ,apostle compares them to himself1 the first ,galatian evangelist1 or an angel from heaven 7ch4 i4 #h1 #i74 ,he glances at them in his reference to false brethren at an earlier time brought into 7the ,gentile ,church7 unawares 7ch4 ii4 #d74 ,these men are courting the favour of ,paul's ,galatian disciples1 endeavouring to gain them over in his absence 7ch4 iv4 #ag1 #ah74 ,they have made misleading statements respecting his early career and relations to the ,church1 which he is at pains to correct4 ,they professed to represent the views of the ,pillars at ,jerusalem1 and quoted their authority against the ,apostle ,paul4 ,from these considerations we infer that the troublers were ,judaistic emissaries from ,palestine4 ,the second ,epistle to ,corinth1 contemporaneous with this letter1 reveals the existence of a similar propaganda in the ,greek capital at the same period4 ,paul had given the ,galatians warning on the subject at his last visit 7ch4 i4 #i74 ,there were already1 we should suppose1 in the ,galatian societies1 before the arrival of the ,judaizers1 ,jewish believers in ,christ of legalistic tendencies1 prepared to welcome and support the new teachers4 ,but it was the coming of these agitators from without that threw the ,churches of ,galatia into such a ferment1 and brought about the situation disclosed in this ,epistle4 ,the allusion made in chap4 ii4 #ab to certain from ,james1#acg taken in connection with other circumstances1 points1 as we think1 to the outbreak of a systematic agitation against the ,apostle ,paul1 which was carried on during his third missionary tour1 and drew from him the great evangelical ,epistles of this epoch4 ,this anti-,pauline movement emanated from ,jerusalem and pretended to official sanction4 ,set on foot at the time of the collision with ,peter at ,antioch1 the conflict is now in full progress4 ,the ,apostle's denunciation of his opponents is unsparing4 ,they hinder the ,galatians from obeying truth 7ver4 #g72 they entice them from the path in which they had bravely set out1 and are robbing them of their heritage in ,christ4 ,it was a false1 a perverted gospel that they taught 7ch4 i4 #g74 ,they cast on their hearers an envious spell which drew them away from the cross and its salvation 7ch4 ii4 #ba2 iii4 #a74 ,not truth1 but self-interest and party-ends were the objects they pursued 7ch4 iv4 #ag2 vi4 #ab1 #ac74 ,their persuasion was assuredly not of ,god1 who had called the ,galatians through the ,apostle's voice4 ,if ,god had sent ,paul amongst them1 as the ,galatians had good reason to know1 clearly ,he had not sent these men1 with their other gospel4 #acg ,compare ,chapter ,,ix1 pp4 #aca-d4 ,we refer this occurrence to the interval between the second and third of ,paul's missionary journeys 7,acts xviii4 #bb71 ,a4,d4 #ed4 ,the vitiating leaven at work in the spiritual life of the ,galatians1 if not arrested1 would soon leaven the whole lump4 ,the ,apostle applies to the ,judaistic doctrine the same figure under which he described the taint of immorality found in the ,church of ,corinth 7#a ,cor4 v4 #f-h74 ,so zealous and unscrupulous1 so deadly in its effect on evangelical faith and life was the spirit of ,jewish legalism4 ,the ,apostle trusts that his ,galatians will after all escape from this fatal infection1 that they will leave the troublers alone to bear the judgement which must fall upon them 7ver4 #aj74 ,the ,lord is the ,keeper1 and the ,avenger of ,his ,church4 ,no one1 whosoever he be1 will injure it with impunity4 ,let the man that makes mischief in the ,church of ,jesus ,christ take care what he is about4 ,the tempted may escape2 sins of ignorance and weakness can be forgiven4 ,but woe unto the tempter6 ,against the wilful perverters of the gospel the ,apostle at the outset delivered his anathema4 ,for these ,circumcisionists in particular he has one further wish to express4 ,it is a grim sort of suggestion1 to be read rather by way of sarcasm than in the strict letter of fulfilment4 ,the devotees of circumcision1 he means to say1 might as well go a step farther4 ,if the physical mark of ,judaism1 the mere surgical act1 is so salutary1 why not cut off the member altogether1 like the emasculated priests of ,cybel8 7ver4 #ab74ach ,this mutilation belonged to the worship of the great heathen goddess of ,asia ,minor1 and was associated with her debasing cultus4 ,moreover it excluded its victim from a place in the congregation of ,israel 7,deut4 xxiii4 #a74 #ach ,the rendering of the ,r4,v4 margin is that of all the ,greek interpreters1 and of ,meyer1 ,lightfoot1 ,beet1 and the strict grammatical commentators amongst the moderns4 ,the form and usage of the verb do not allow of any other4 ,apart from its unseemliness1 the expression is powerfully appropriate4 ,this condemnation of the ,old-,testament sacrament is not more severe than the language of ,isa4 lxvi4 #c3 ,he that slaughtereth an ox is a man-slayer1 he that bringeth a meal-offering--it is swine's blood4 ,this mockery1 though not to be judged by modern sentiment1 in any case went to the verge of what charity and decency permit4 ,it breathes a burning contempt for the ,judaizing policy4 ,it shows how utterly circumcision had lost its sacredness for the ,apostle4 ,its spiritual import being gone1 it was now a mere concision 7,phil4 iii4 #b71 a cutting of the body--nothing more4 ,such language was well calculated to disgust ,gentile ,christians with the rite of circumcision4 ,it helps to account for the implacable hatred with which ,paul was regarded by orthodox ,jews4 ,it accords with what he intimated in ch4 iv4 #i1 to the effect that ,jewish conformity was for the ,gentiles in effect heathenish4 ,apart from its relation to the obsolete ,mosaic covenant1 circumcision was in itself no holier than the deformities inflicted by ,paganism on its votaries4 ,the ,judaizers are finally described1 not merely as troublers and hinderers1 but as those that unsettle you--or more strongly still1 overthrow you4 ,the ,greek word 77 occurs in ,acts xvii4 #f1 xxi4 #ch1 where it is rendered1 turn upside down1 stir to sedition4 ,these men were carrying on a treasonable agitation4 ,false themselves to the gospel of ,christ1 they incited the ,galatians to belie their ,christian professions1 to betray the cause of ,gentile liberty1 and to desert their own ,apostle4 ,they deserved to suffer some degrading punishment4 ,full as they were of subtlety and mischief1 perverting the right ways of the ,lord1 ,paul did well to denounce them and to turn their zeal for circumcision to derisive scorn4 ,,the ,,ethical ,,application4 ,,chapter v4 #ac-vi4 #aj4 ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,perils ,,of ,,liberty4 ,for ye1 brethren1 were called for freedom2 only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh1 but through love be servants one to another4 ,for the whole law is fulfilled in one word1 even in this2 ,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself4 ,but if ye bite and devour one another1 take heed that ye be not consumed one of another4--,,gal4 v4 #ac-ae4 ,our analysis has drawn a strong line across the middle of this chapter4 ,at ver4 #ac the ,apostle turns his mind in the ethical direction4 ,he has dismissed the troublers with contempt in ver4 #ab2 and until the close of the ,epistle does not mention them again2 he addresses his readers on topics in which they are left out of view4 ,but this third1 ethical section of the letter is still continuous with its polemical and doctrinal argument4 ,it applies the maxim of ver4 #f1 ,faith works through love2 it reminds the ,galatians how they had received the ,spirit of ,god 7ch4 iii4 #b1 #c2 iv4 #f74 ,the rancours and jealousies opposed to love1 the carnal mind that resists the ,spirit--these are the objects of ,paul's dehortations4 ,the moral disorders which the ,apostle seeks to correct arose largely out of the mischief caused by the ,judaizers4 ,and his exhortations to love and good works are themselves indirectly polemical4 ,they vindicate ,paul's gospel from the charge of antinomianism1 while they guard ,christians from giving occasion to the charge4 ,they protect from exaggeration and abuse the liberty already defended from legalistic encroachments4 ,the more precious and sacred is the freedom of ,gentile believers1 the more on the one hand do those deserve punishment who would defraud them of it2 and the more earnestly must they on their part guard this treasure from misuse and dishonour4 ,in this sense ver4 #ac;a stands between the sentence against the ,circumcisionists in ver4 #ab and the appeal to the ,galatians that follows4 ,it repeats the proclamation of freedom made in ver4 #a1 making it the ground at once of the judgement pronounced against the foes of freedom and the admonition addressed to its possessors4 ,for you were called 7summoned by ,god to enter the kingdom of ,his ,son7 with a view to liberty--not to legal bondage2 nor1 on the other hand1 that you might run into licence and give the reins to self-will and appetite--not liberty for an occasion to the flesh4 ,i4 ,here lies the danger of liberty1 especially when conferred on a young1 untrained nature1 and in a newly emancipated community4 ,freedom is a priceless boon2 but it is a grave responsibility4 ,it has its temptations1 as well as its joys and dignities4 ,the ,apostle has spoken at length of the latter3 it is the former that he has now to urge4 ,keep your liberties1 he seems to say2 for ,christ's sake and for truth's sake hold them fast1 guard them well4 ,you are ,god's regenerated sons4 ,never forego your high calling4 ,god is on your side2 and those who assail you shall feel the weight of ,his displeasure4 ,yes1 stand fast in the liberty wherewith ,christ made you free4 ,but take care how you employ your freedom2 only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh4 ,this significant only turns the other side of the medal1 and bids us read the legend on its reverse front4 ,on the obverse we have found it written1 ,the ,lord knoweth them that are ,his 7#b ,tim4 ii4 #ai2 comp4 ,gal4 iv4 #f1 #i74 ,this is the side of privilege and of grace1 the spiritual side of the ,christian life4 ,on the reverse it bears the motto1 ,let every one that nameth the name of the ,lord depart from iniquity4 ,this is the second1 the ethical side of our calling1 the side of duty1 to which we have now to turn4 ,the man1 or the nation that has won its freedom1 has won but half the battle4 ,it has conquered external foes2 it has still to prevail over itself4 ,and this is the harder task4 ,men clamour for liberty1 when they mean licence2 what they seek is the liberty of the flesh1 not of the ,spirit1 freedom to indulge their lusts and to trample on the rights of others1 the freedom of outlaws and brigands4 ,the natural man defines freedom as the power to do as he likes2 not the right of self-regulation1 but the absence of regulation is what he desires4 ,and this is just what the ,spirit of ,god will never allow 7ver4 #ag74 ,when such a man has thrown off outward constraint and the dread of punishment1 there is no inward law to take its place4 ,it is his greed1 his passion1 his pride and ambition that call for freedom2 not his conscience4 ,and to all such libertarians our ,saviour says1 ,he that committeth sin is the slave of sin4 ,no tyrant is so vile1 so insatiable as our own self-indulged sin4 ,a pitiable triumph1 for a man to have secured his religious liberty only to become the thrall of his vices6 ,it is possible that some men accepted the gospel under the delusion that it afforded a shelter for sin4 ,the sensualist1 deterred from his indulgences by fear of the ,law1 joined in ,paul's campaign against it1 imagining that ,grace would give him larger freedom4 ,if where sin abounded grace did superabound1 he would say in his heart1 ,why not sin the more1 so that grace might have a greater victory8 ,this is no fanciful inference4 ,hypocrisy has learned to wear the garb of evangelical zeal2 and teachers of the gospel have not always guarded sufficiently against this shocking perversion4 ,even the man whose heart has been truly touched and changed by ,divine grace1 when the freshness of his first love to ,christ has passed away and temptation renews its assaults1 is liable to this deception4 ,he may begin to think that sin is less perilous1 since forgiveness was so easily obtained4 ,he may presume that as a son of ,god1 sealed by the ,spirit of adoption1 he will not be allowed to fall1 even though he stumble4 ,he is one of ,god's elect2 what shall separate him from the ,divine love in ,christ8 ,in this assurance he holds a talisman that secures his safety4 ,what need to watch and pray lest he enter into temptation1 when the ,lord is his keeper8 ,he is ,god's enfranchised son2 all things are lawful to him2 things present as well as things to come are his in ,christ4 ,by such reasonings his liberty is turned into an occasion to the flesh4 ,and men who before they boasted themselves sons of ,god were restrained by the spirit of bondage and fear1 have found in this assurance the occasion1 the starting-point 77 for a more shameless course of evil4 ,in the view of ,legalism1 this is the natural outcome of ,pauline teaching4 ,from the first it has been charged with fostering lawlessness4 ,in the ,lutheran ,reformation ,rome pointed to the ,antinomians1 and moralists of our own day speak of canting ,evangelicals1 just as the ,judaists alleged the existence of immoral ,paulinists1 whose conduct1 they declared1 was the proper fruit of the preaching of emancipation from the ,law4 ,these1 they would say to the ,apostle1 are your spiritual children2 they do but carry your doctrine to its legitimate issue4 ,this reproach the gospel has always had to bear2 there have been those1 alas1 amongst its professors whose behaviour has given it plausibility4 ,sensualists will turn the grace of our ,god into lasciviousness2 swine will trample under their feet the pure pearls of the gospel4 ,but they are pure and precious none the less4 ,this possibility is1 however1 a reason for the utmost watchfulness in those who are stewards in the administration of the gospel4 ,they must be careful1 like ,paul1 to make it abundantly clear that they establish and do not make void law through faith 7,rom4 iii4 #ca74 ,there is an evangelical ,ethics1 as well as an evangelical ,dogmatics4 ,the ethics of the ,gospel have been too little studied and applied4 ,hence much of the confessed failure of evangelical ,churches in preserving and building up the converts that they win4 ,,ii4 ,faith in ,christ gives in truth a new efficacy to the moral law4 ,for it works through love2 and love fulfils all laws in one 7vv4 #ac;b1 #ad74 ,where faith has this operation1 liberty is safe2 not otherwise4 ,love's slaves are the true freemen4 ,the legalist practically takes the same view of human nature as the sensualist4 ,he knows nothing of the desire of the ,spirit arrayed against that of the flesh 7ver4 #ag71 nothing of the mastery over the heart that belongs to the love of ,christ4 ,in his analysis the soul consists of so many desires1 each blindly seeking its own gratification1 which must be drilled into order under external pressure1 by an intelligent application of law4 ,modern ,utilitarians agree with the ancient ,judaists in their ethical philosophy4 ,fear of punishment1 hope of reward1 the influence of the social environment--these are1 as they hold1 the factors which create character and shape our moral being4 ,pain and pleasure1 they tell us1 are the masters of human life4 ,without the faith that man is the child of ,god1 formed in ,his image1 we are practically shut up to this suicidal theory of morals4 ,suicidal we say1 for it robs our spiritual being of everything distinctive in it1 of all that raises the moral above the natural2 it makes duty and personality illusions4 ,judaism is a proof that this scheme of life is impracticable4 ,for the ,pharisaic system which produced such deplorable moral results1 was an experiment in external ethics4 ,it was in fact the application of a highly developed and elaborate traditional code of law1 enforced by the strongest outward sanctions1 without personal loyalty to the ,divine ,lawgiver4 ,in the national conscience of the ,jews this was wanting4 ,their faith in ,god1 as the ,epistle of ,james declares1 was a dead faith1 a bundle of abstract notions4 ,loyalty is true law-keeping4 ,and loyalty springs from the personal relationship of the subject and the law-making power4 ,this nexus ,christian sonship supplies1 in its purest and most exalted form4 ,when ,i see in the ,lawgiver my ,almighty ,father1 when the law has become incarnate in the person of my ,saviour1 my heart's ,king and ,lord1 it wears a changed aspect4 ,his commandments are not grievous4 ,duty1 required by ,him1 is honour and delight4 ,no abstract law1 no stream of tendency can command the homage or awaken the moral energy that is inspired by the love of ,god in ,christ ,jesus our ,lord4 ,here the ,apostle traverses antinomian deductions from his doctrine of liberty4 ,in the ,epistle to the ,romans 7ch4 vi47 he deals at length with the theoretical objection to his teaching on this subject4 ,he shows there that salvation by faith1 rightly understood and experienced1 renders continuance in sin impossible4 ,for faith in ,christ is in effect the union of the soul with ,christ1 first in ,his death1 and then consequently in ,his risen life1 wherein ,he lives only to ,god4 ,nay1 ,christ ,himself lives in the believing man 7,gal4 ii4 #bj74 ,instead of our sinning because we are not under the law1 but under grace1 this is precisely the reason why we need not and must not sin4 ,faith joins us to the risen ,christ1 whose life we share--so ,paul argues--and we should not sin any more than ,he4 ,here1 from the practical standpoint1 he lays it down that faith works by love2 and love casts out sin1 for it unites all laws in itself4 ,faith links us to ,christ in heaven 7,romans72 faith fills us with ,his love on earth 7,galatians74 ,so love1 marked out in ver4 #f as the energy of faith1 now serves as the guard of liberty4 ,neither legalist nor law-breaker understands the meaning of faith in ,christ4 ,at this point ,paul throws in one of his bold paradoxes4 ,he has been contending all through the ,epistle for freedom1 bidding his readers scorn the legal yoke1 breathing into them his own contempt for the pettiness of ,judaistic ceremonial4 ,but now he turns round suddenly and bids them be slaves3 but let love1 he says1 make you bondmen to each other 7ver4 #ac74 ,instead of breaking bonds1 he seeks to create stronger bonds1 stronger because dearer4 ,paul preaches no gospel of individualism1 of egotistic salvation-seeking4 ,the self-sacrifice of ,christ becomes in turn a principle of sacrifice in those who receive it4 ,paul's own ideal is1 to be conformed to ,his death 7,phil4 iii4 #aj74 ,there is nothing anarchic or self-asserting in his plea for freedom4 ,he opposes the law of ,pharisaic externalism in the interests of the law of ,christian love4 ,the yoke of ,judaism must be broken1 its bonds cast aside1 in order to give free play to the law of the ,spirit of life in ,christ ,jesus4 ,faith transfers authority from flesh to spirit1 giving it a surer seat1 a more effective1 and in reality more lawful command over man's nature4 ,it restores the normal equipoise of the soul4 ,now the ,divine law is written on the tablets of the heart2 and this makes it far more sovereign than when engraved on the stone slabs of ,sinai4 ,love and law for the believer in ,christ are fused into one4 ,in this union law loses nothing of its holy severity2 and love nothing of its tenderness4 ,united they constitute the ,christian sense of duty1 whose sternest exactions are enforced by gratitude and devotion4 ,and love is ever conqueror4 ,to it toil and endurance that mock the achievement of other powers1 are a light thing4 ,needing neither bribe nor threat1 love labours1 waits1 braves a thousand dangers1 keeps the hands busy1 the eye keen and watchful1 the feet running to and fro untired through the longest day4 ,there is no industry1 no ingenuity like that of love4 ,love makes the mother the slave of the babe at her breast1 and wins from the friend for his friend service that no compulsion could exact1 rendered in pure gladness and free-will4 ,its power alone calls forth what is best and strongest in us all4 ,love is mightier than death4 ,in ,jesus ,christ1 love has laid down life for its friends2 the fulness of life has encountered and overcome the uttermost of death4 ,love esteems it bondage to be prevented1 liberty only to be allowed to serve4 ,without love1 freedom is an empty boon4 ,it brings no ease1 no joy of heart4 ,it is objectless and listless4 ,bereft of faith and love1 though possessing the most perfect independence1 the soul drifts along like a ship rudderless and masterless1 with neither haven nor horizon4 ,wordsworth1 in his ,ode to ,duty1 has finely expressed the weariness that comes of such liberty1 unguided by an inward law and a ,divine ideal3 ,me this unchartered freedom tires2 ,i feel the weight of chance desires3 ,my hopes no more must change their name2 ,i long for a repose that ever is the same4 ,but on the other hand1 ,serene will be our days and bright1 ,and happy will our nature be1 ,when love is an unerring light1 ,and joy its own security4 ,this royal law 7,jam4 ii4 #h7 blends with its sovereignty of power the charm of simplicity4 ,the whole law1 says the ,apostle1 hath been fulfilled in one word--,,love 7ver4 #ad74 ,the ,master said1 ,i came not to destroy the law1 but to fulfil4 ,the key to ,his fulfilment was given in the declaration of the twofold command of love to ,god and to our neighbour4 ,on these two hang all the law and the prophets4 ,hence the ,apostle's phrase1 hath been fulfilled4 ,this unification of the moral code is accomplished4 ,christ's life and death have given to this truth full expression and universal currency4 ,love's fulfilment of law stands before us a positive attainment1 an incontestable fact4 ,paul does not speak here1 as in ,rom4 xiii4 #i1 of the comprehending1 the summing up of all laws in one2 but of the bringing of law to its completion1 its realisation and consummation in the love of ,christ4 ,o how ,i love ,thy law1 said the purer spirit of the ,old ,testament4 ,thy love is my law1 says the true spirit of the ,new4 ,it is remarkable that this supreme principle of ,christian ethics is first enunciated in the most legal part of the ,old ,testament4 ,leviticus is the ,book of the ,priestly ,legislation4 ,it is chiefly occupied with ceremonial and civil regulations4 ,yet in the midst of the legal minuti is set this sublime and simple rule1 than which ,jesus ,christ could prescribe nothing more ,divine3 ,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself 7,levit4 xix4 #ah74 ,this sentence is the conclusion of a series of directions 7vv4 #i-ah7 forbidding unneighbourly conduct1 each of them sealed with the declaration1 ,i am ,jehovah4 ,this brief code of brotherly love breathes a truly ,christian spirit2 it is a beautiful expression of the law of kindness that is on the lips and in the heart of the child of ,god4 ,we find in the law-book of ,mosaism1 side by side with elaborate rules of sacrificial ritual and the homeliest details touching the life of a rude agricultural people1 conceptions of ,god and of duty of surpassing loftiness and purity1 such as meet us in the religion of no other ancient nation4 ,the law1 therefore1 opposed and cast out in the name of faith1 is brought in again under the shield of love4 ,if ye love ,me1 said ,jesus1 keep my commandments4 ,love reconciles law and faith4 ,law by itself can but prohibit this and that injury to one's neighbour1 when they are likely to arise4 ,love excludes the doing of any injury2 it worketh no ill to its neighbour1 therefore love is the fulfilling of the law 7,rom4 xiii4 #aj74 ,that which law restrains or condemns after the fact1 love renders impossible beforehand4 ,it is not content with the negative prevention of wrong2 it overcomes and displaces evil with good4 ,what law could not do1 with all its multiplied enactments and redoubled threats1 faith working by love has accomplished at a stroke4 ,the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk not after the flesh1 but after the ,spirit 7,rom4 viii4 #c1 #d74 ,gentile ,christians have been raised to the level of a righteousness exceeding that of scribes and pharisees 7,matt4 v4 #bj74 ,the flesh which defied law's terrors and evaded its control1 is subdued by the love of ,christ4 ,law created the need of salvation2 it defined its conditions and the direction which it must take4 ,but there its power ceased4 ,it could not change the sinful heart4 ,it supplied no motive adequate to secure obedience4 ,the moralist errs in substituting duty for love1 works for faith4 ,he would make the rule furnish the motive1 the path supply strength to walk in it4 ,the distinction of the gospel is that it is the power of ,god unto salvation1 while the law is weak through the flesh4 ,paul does not therefore override the law in the interest of faith4 ,quite the contrary1 he establishes1 he magnifies it4 ,his theology rests on the idea of ,righteousness1 which is strictly a legal conception4 ,but he puts the law in its proper place4 ,he secures for it the alliance of love4 ,the legalist1 desiring to exalt law1 in reality stultifies it4 ,striving to make it omnipotent1 he makes it impotent4 ,in the ,apostle's teaching1 law is the rule1 faith the spring of action4 ,law marks the path1 love gives the will and power to follow it4 ,who then are the truest friends of law--,legalists or ,paulinists1 moralists or evangelicals8 ,,iii4 ,alas1 the ,galatians at the present moment afford a spectacle far different from the ideal which ,paul has drawn4 ,instead of serving each other in love1 they are biting and devouring one another4 ,the ,church is in danger of being consumed by their jealousies and quarrels 7ver4 #ae74 ,these ,asiatic ,gauls were men of a warm temperament1 quick to resent wrong and prone to imagine it4 ,the dissensions excited by the ,judaic controversy had excited their combative temper to an unusual degree4 ,biting describes the wounding and exasperating effect of the manner in which their contentions were carried on2 devour warns them of its destructiveness4 ,taunts were hurled across the field of debate2 vituperation supplied the lack of argument4 ,differences of opinion engendered private feuds and rankling injuries4 ,in ,corinth the spirit of discord had taken a factious form4 ,it arrayed men in conflicting parties1 with their distinctive watchwords and badges and sectional platforms4 ,in these ,churches it bore fruit in personal affronts and quarrels1 in an angry1 vindictive temper1 which spread through the ,galatian societies and broke out in every possible form of contention 7v4 #bj74 ,if this state of things continued1 the ,churches of ,galatia would cease to exist4 ,their liberty would end in complete disintegration4 ,like some other communities1 the ,galatian ,christians were oscillating between despotism and anarchy2 they had not attained the equilibrium of a sober1 ordered liberty1 the freedom of a manly self-control4 ,they had not sufficient respect either for their own or for each other's rights4 ,some men must be bridled or they will bite2 they must wear the yoke or they run wild4 ,they are incapable of being a law unto themselves4 ,they have not faith enough to make them steadfast1 nor love enough to be an inward guide1 nor the ,spirit of ,god in measure sufficient to overcome the vanity and self-indulgence of the flesh4 ,but the ,apostle still hopes to see his ,galatian disciples worthy of their calling as sons of ,god4 ,he points out to them the narrow but sure path that leads between the desert of legalism on the one hand1 and the gulf of anarchy and licence on the other4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the problem of the nature and conditions of ,christian liberty occupies the ,apostle's mind in different ways in all the letters of this period4 ,the young ,churches of the ,gentiles were in the gravest peril4 ,they had come out of ,egypt to enter the ,promised ,land1 the heritage of the sons of ,god4 ,the ,judaists sought to turn them aside into the ,sinaitic wilderness of ,mosaism2 while their old habits and associations powerfully tended to draw them back into heathen immorality4 ,legalism and licence were the ,scylla and ,charybdis on either hand1 between which it needed the most firm and skilful pilotage to steer the bark of the ,church4 ,the helm of the vessel is in ,paul's hands4 ,and1 through the grace of ,god1 he did not fail in his task4 ,it is in the love of ,christ that the ,apostle found his guiding light4 ,love1 he has written1 never faileth4 ,love is the handmaid of faith1 and the firstborn fruit of the ,spirit of ,christ 7vv4 #f1 #bb74 ,blending with the law1 love refashions it1 changing it into its own image4 ,thus moulded and transfigured1 law is no longer an exterior yoke1 a system of restraint and penalty2 it becomes an inner1 sweet constraint4 ,upon the child of ,god it acts as an organic and formative energy1 the principle of his regenerated being1 which charges with its renovating influence all the springs of life4 ,evil is met no longer by a merely outward opposition1 but by a repugnance proceeding from within4 ,the ,spirit lusteth against the flesh 7v4 #ag74 ,the law of the ,spirit of life in ,christ ,jesus becomes the law of the man's new nature4 ,god known and loved in ,christ is the central object of his life4 ,within the ,divine kingdom so created1 the realm of love and of the ,spirit1 the soul henceforth dwells2 and under that kingdom it places for itself all other souls1 loved like itself in ,christ4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,christ',s ,,spirit ,,and ,,human ,,flesh4 ,he showeth the battell of the flesh and the ,spirit2 and the fruits of them both4 ,heading in ,genevan ,bible4 ,but ,i say1 ,walk by the ,spirit1 and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh4 ,for the flesh lusteth against the ,spirit1 and the ,spirit against the flesh2 for these are contrary the one to the other2 that ye may not do the things that ye would4 ,but if ye are led by the ,spirit1 ye are not under the law4444 ,and they that are of ,christ ,jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof4 ,if we live by the ,spirit1 by the ,spirit let us also walk4 ,let us not be vainglorious1 provoking one another1 envying one another4--,,gal4 v4 #af-bf4 ,love is the guard of ,christian freedom4 ,the ,holy ,spirit is its guide4 ,these principles accomplish what the law could never do4 ,it withheld liberty1 and yet did not give purity4 ,the ,spirit of love and of sonship bestows both1 establishing a happy1 ordered freedom1 the liberty of the sons of ,god4 ,from the first of these two factors of ,christian ethics the ,apostle passes in ver4 #af to the second4 ,he conducts us from the consequence to the cause1 from the human aspect of spiritual freedom to the ,divine4 ,love1 he has said1 fulfils all laws in one4 ,it casts out evil from the heart2 it stays the injurious hand and tongue2 and makes it impossible for liberty to give the rein to any wanton or selfish impulse4 ,but the law of love is no natural1 automatic impulse4 ,it is a ,divine inspiration4 ,love is of ,god4 ,it is the characteristic fruit of the ,spirit of adoption 7ver4 #bb71 implanted and nourished from above4 ,when ,i bid you by love serve each other1 the ,apostle says1 ,i do not expect you to keep this law of yourselves1 by force of native goodness3 ,i know how contrary it is to your ,galatic nature2 but ,i say1 walk in the ,spirit1 and this will be an easy yoke2 to fulfil the desire of the flesh will then be for you a thing impossible4 ,the word ,spirit 77 is written indefinitely2 but the ,galatians knew well what ,spirit the ,apostle meant4 ,it is the ,spirit of whom he has spoken so often in this letter1 the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 who had entered their hearts when they first believed in ,christ and taught them to call ,god ,father4 ,he gave them their freedom3 ,he will teach them how to use it4 ,the absence of the definite article in ,pneuma does not destroy its personal force1 but allows it at the same time a broad1 qualitative import1 corresponding to that of the opposed desire of the flesh4 ,the walk governed by the ,spirit is a spiritual walk4 ,as for the interpretation of the dative case 7rendered variously by1 or in1 or even for the ,spirit71 that is determined by the meaning of the noun itself4 ,the ,spirit is not the path in which one walks2 rather ,he supplies the motive principle1 the directing influence of the new life4#aci ,ver4 #af is interpreted by vv4 #ah and #be4 ,to walk in the ,spirit is to be led by the ,spirit2 it is so to live in the ,spirit that one habitually moves 7marches3 ver4 #be7 under ,his direction4 #aci ,the construction of ch4 vi4 #af2 ,rom4 iv4 #ab2 ,phil4 iii4 #af1 is not strictly analogous4 ,this conception of the indwelling ,spirit of ,god as the actuating power of the ,christian's moral life predominates in the rest of this chapter4 ,we shall pursue the general line of the ,apostle's teaching on the subject in the present ,chapter1 leaving for future exposition the detailed enumeration of the fruit of the ,spirit and works of the flesh contained in vv4 #ai-bc4 ,this antithesis of ,flesh and ,spirit presents the following considerations3--7#a7 the diametrical opposition of the two forces2 7#b7 the effect of the predominance of one or the other2 7#c7 the mastery over the flesh which belongs to those who are ,christ's4 ,in a word1 ,christ's ,spirit is the absolute antagonist and the sure vanquisher of our sinful human flesh4 ,i4 ,i say1 ,walk by the ,spirit1 and you will verily not fulfil the lust of the flesh4 ,on what ground does this bold assurance rest8 ,because1 the ,apostle replies1 the ,spirit and the flesh are opposites 7ver4 #ag74 ,each is bent on destroying the ascendency of the other4 ,their cravings and tendencies stand opposed at every point4 ,where the former rules1 the latter must succumb4 ,for the flesh lusteth against the ,spirit1 and the ,spirit against the flesh4 ,the verb lust in ,greek1 as in ,english1 bears commonly an evil sense2 but not necessarily so1 nor by derivation4 ,it is a sad proof of human corruption that in all languages words denoting strong desire tend to an impure significance4 ,paul extends to the desire of the ,spirit the term which has just been used of the lust of the flesh1 in this way sharpening the antithesis4#adj ,words appropriated to the vocabulary of the flesh and degraded by its use1 may be turned sometimes to good account and employed in the service of the ,holy ,spirit1 whose influence redeems our speech and purges the uncleanness of our lips4 #adj ,comp4 ,jas4 iv4 #e3 ,the ,spirit which ,he made to dwell in us1 yearneth even unto jealous envy 7,r4 ,v4 margin72 also the double use of in ch4 iv4 #ag1 #ah 7,chapter ,,xviii1 pp4 #bgi1 #bhj474 ,the opposition here affirmed exists on the widest scale4 ,all history is a battlefield for the struggle between ,god's ,spirit and man's rebellious flesh4 ,in the soul of a half-sanctified ,christian1 and in ,churches like those of ,corinth and ,galatia whose members are yet carnal and walk as men1 the conflict is patent4 ,the ,spirit of ,christ has established ,his rule in the heart2 but ,his supremacy is challenged by the insurrection of the carnal powers4 ,the contest thus revived in the soul of the ,christian is internecine2 it is that of the kingdoms of light and darkness1 of the opposite poles of good and evil4 ,it is an incident in the war of human sin against the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 which extends over all time and all human life4 ,every lust1 every act or thought of evil is directed1 knowingly or unknowingly1 against the authority of the ,holy ,spirit1 against the presence and the rights of ,god immanent in the creature4 ,nor is there any restraint upon evil1 any influence counteracting it in man or nation or race1 which does not proceed from the ,spirit of the ,lord4 ,the spirit of man has never been without a ,divine ,paraclete4 ,god hath not left ,himself without witness to any2 and it is the ,spirit that beareth witness1 because the ,spirit is truth4 ,the ,spirit of truth1 the ,holy ,spirit1 is the ,spirit of all truth and holiness4 ,in the truth as it is in ,jesus ,he possesses ,his highest instrument4 ,but from the beginning it was ,his office to be ,god's ,advocate1 to uphold law1 to convict the conscience1 to inspire the hope of mercy1 to impart moral strength and freedom4 ,we believe in the ,holy ,ghost1 the ,lord and ,giver of life4 ,this war of ,spirit and ,flesh is first ostensibly declared in the words of ,gen4 vi4 #c4 ,this passage indicates the moral reaction of ,god's ,spirit against the world's corruption1 and the protest which in the darkest periods of human depravity ,he has maintained4 ,god had allowed men to do despite to ,his good ,spirit4 ,but it cannot always be so4 ,a time comes when1 outraged and defied1 ,he withdraws ,his influence from men and from communities2 and the ,flesh bears them along to swift destruction4 ,so it was in the world before the ,flood4 ,so largely amongst later heathen peoples1 when ,god suffered all nations to walk in their own ways4 ,even the ,mosaic law had proved rather a substitute than a medium for the free action of the ,spirit of ,god on men4 ,the law was spiritual1 but weak through the flesh4 ,it denounced the guilt which it was powerless to avert4 ,with the advent of ,christ all this is changed4 ,the ,spirit of ,god is now1 for the first time1 sent forth in ,his proper character and ,his full energy4 ,at last ,his victory draws near4 ,he comes as the ,spirit of ,christ and the ,father1 poured out upon all flesh4 ,a new heart will ,i give you1 and a new spirit will ,i put within you4 ,i will put ,my ,spirit within you 7,ezek4 xxxvi4 #be-bg73 this was the great hope of prophecy2 and it is realised4 ,the ,spirit of ,god's ,son regenerates the human heart1 subdues the flesh1 and establishes the communion of ,god with men4 ,the reign of the ,spirit on earth was the immediate purpose of the manifestation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,but what does ,paul really mean by the flesh8 ,it includes everything that is not of the ,spirit4 ,it signifies the entire potency of sin4 ,it is the contra-spiritual1 the undivine in man4 ,its works1 as we find in vv4 #bj1 #ba1 are not bodily vices only1 but include every form of moral debasement and aberration4 ,flesh in the ,apostle's vocabulary follows the term spirit1 and deepens and enlarges its meaning precisely as the latter does4 ,where spirit denotes the supersensible in man1 flesh is the sensible1 the bodily nature as such4 ,when spirit rises into the supernatural and superhuman1 flesh becomes the natural1 the human by consequence4 ,when spirit receives its highest signification1 denoting the holy ,effluence of ,god1 ,his personal presence in the world1 flesh sinks to its lowest and represents unrenewed nature1 the evil principle oppugnant and alien to ,god4 ,it is identical with sin4 ,but in this profound moral significance the term is more than a figure4 ,under its use the body is marked out1 not indeed as the cause1 but as the instrument1 the vehicle of sin4 ,sin has incorporated itself with our organic life1 and extends its empire over the material world4 ,when the ,apostle speaks of the body of sin and of death1 and bids us mortify the deeds of the body and the members which are upon the earth1#ada his expressions are not to be resolved into metaphors4 #ada ,see ,rom4 vi4 #f1 #ab2 vii4 #d1 #e1 #bc1 #bd2 viii4 #aj-ac2 ,col4 ii4 #aa-ac2 iii4 #e4 ,on this definition of the terms1 it is manifest that the antagonism of the ,flesh and ,spirit is fundamental4 ,they can never come to terms with each other1 nor dwell permanently in the same being4 ,sin must be extirpated1 or the ,holy ,spirit will finally depart4 ,the struggle must come to a definitive issue4 ,human character tends every day to a more determinate form2 and an hour comes in each case when the victory of flesh or spirit is irrevocably fixed1 when the filthy will henceforth be filthy still1 and the holy1 holy still 7,rev4 xxii4 #aa74 ,the last clause of ver4 #ag1 that ye may not do the things that ye would1 has been variously interpreted4 ,the rendering of the ,authorized ,version 7so that ye cannot7 is perilously misleading4 ,is it that the flesh prevents the ,galatians doing the good they would8 ,or is the ,spirit to prevent them doing the evil they otherwise would8 ,or are both these oppositions in existence at once1 so that they waver between good and evil1 leading a partly spiritual1 partly carnal life1 consistent neither in right nor wrong8 ,the last is the actual state of the case4 ,paul is perplexed about them 7ch4 iv4 #bj72 they are in doubt about themselves4 ,they did not walk in the ,spirit1 they were not true to their ,christian principles2 the flesh was too strong for that4 ,nor would they break away from ,christ and follow the bent of their lower nature2 the ,holy ,spirit held them back from doing this4 ,so they have two wills1--or practically none4 ,this state of things was designed by ,god1--in order that ye may not do the things ye haply would2 it accords with the methods of ,his government4 ,irresolution is the necessary effect of the course the ,galatians had pursued4 ,so far they stopped short of apostasy2 and this restraint witnessed to the power of the ,holy ,spirit still at work in their midst 7ch4 iii4 #e2 vi4 #a74 ,let this ,divine hand cease to check them1 and the flesh would carry them1 with the full momentum of their will1 to spiritual ruin4 ,their condition is just now one of suspense4 ,they are poised in a kind of moral equilibrium1 which cannot continue long1 but in which1 while it lasts1 the action of the conflicting forces of ,flesh and ,spirit is strikingly manifest4 ,,ii4 ,these two principles in their development lead to entirely opposite results4 7#a7 ,the works of the flesh--manifest alas1 both then and now--exclude from the kingdom of ,god4 ,i tell you beforehand1 the ,apostle writes1 as ,i have already told you3 they who practise such things will not inherit ,god's kingdom 7v4 #ba74 ,this warning is essential to ,paul's gospel 7,rom4 ii4 #af72 it is good news for a world where wrong so often and so insultingly triumphs1 that there is a judgement to come4 ,whatever may be our own lot in the great award1 we rejoice to believe that there will be a righteous settlement of human affairs1 complete and final2 and that this settlement is in the hands of ,jesus ,christ4 ,in view of ,his tribunal the ,apostle goes about warning and teaching every man4 ,and this is his constant note1 amongst profligate heathen1 or hypocritical ,jews1 or backsliding and antinomian ,christians1--,the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of ,god4 ,for that kingdom is1 above all1 righteousness4 ,men of fleshly minds1 in the nature of things1 have no place in it4 ,they are blind to its light1 dead to its influence1 at war with its aims and principles4 ,if we say that we have fellowship with ,him--the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ--and walk in darkness1 we lie 7#a ,john i4 #f74 ,those who do such things forfeit by doing them the character of sons of ,god4 ,his children seek to be perfect as their heavenly ,father is perfect4 ,they are blameless and harmless1 imitators of ,god1 walking in love as ,christ loved us 7,phil4 ii4 #ae2 ,eph4 v4 #a1 #b74 ,the ,spirit of ,god's ,son is a spirit of love and peace1 of temperance and gentleness 7v4 #bb74 ,if these fruits are wanting1 the ,spirit of ,christ is not in us and we are none of ,his4 ,we are without the one thing by which ,he said all men would know ,his disciples 7,john xiii4 #ce74 ,when the ,galatians bite and devour one another1 they resemble ,ishmael the persecutor 7ch4 iv4 #bi71 rather than the gentle ,isaac1 heir of the ,covenant4 ,if children1 then heirs4 ,future destiny turns upon present character4 ,the ,spirit of ,god's ,son1 with ,his fruit of love and peace1 is the earnest of our inheritance1 sealing us against the day of redemption 7,eph4 i4 #ad2 iv4 #cj74 ,by selfish tempers and fleshly indulgences ,he is driven from the soul2 and ,losing ,him1 it is shut out from the kingdom of grace on earth1 and from the glory of the redeemed4 ,there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean2 such is the excommunication written above the gate of the ,heavenly ,city 7,rev4 xxi4 #bg74 ,this sentence of the ,apocalypse puts a final seal upon the teaching of ,scripture4 ,the ,god of revelation is the ,holy ,one2 ,his ,spirit is the ,holy ,spirit2 ,his kingdom is the kingdom of the saints1 whose atmosphere burns like fire against all impurity4 ,concerning the men of the flesh the ,apostle can only say1 ,whose end is perdition 7,phil4 iii4 #ai74 ,writing to the ,corinthians1 ,paul entreats his readers not to be deceived upon this point 7#a ,cor4 vi4 #i1 #aj2 ,eph4 v4 #e74 ,it seems so obvious1 so necessary a principle1 that one wonders how it should be mistaken1 why he is compelled to reiterate it as he does in this place4 ,and yet this has been a common delusion4 ,no form of religion has escaped being touched by ,antinomianism4 ,it is the divorce of piety from morality4 ,it is the disposition to think that ceremonial works on the one hand1 or faith on the other1 supersede the ethical conditions of harmony with ,god4 ,foisting itself on evangelical doctrine this error leads men to assume that salvation is the mere pardon of sin4 ,the sinner appears to imagine he is saved in order to remain a sinner4 ,he treats ,god's mercy as a kind of bank1 on which he may draw as often as his offences past or future may require4 ,he does not understand that sanctification is the sequel of justification1 that the evidence of a true pardon lies in a changed heart that loathes sin4 7#b7 ,of the opposite principle the ,apostle states not the ultimate1 but the more immediate consequences4 ,led by the ,spirit1 ye are not under the law 7ver4 #ah72 and ,against such things--love1 peace1 goodness1 and the like--there is no law 7ver4 #bc74 ,the declaration of ver4 #ah is made with a certain abruptness4 ,paul has just said1 in ver4 #ag1 that the ,spirit is the appointed antagonist of the flesh4 ,and now he adds1 that if we yield ourselves to ,his influence we shall be no longer under the law4 ,this identification of sin and the law was established in ch4 ii4 #af-ah2 iii4 #aj-bb4 ,the law by itself1 the ,apostle showed1 does not overcome sin1 but aggravates it2 it shuts men up the hopeless prisoners of their own past mis-doing4 ,to be under law is to be in the position of ,ishmael1 the slave-born and finally outcast son1 whose nature and temper are of the flesh 7ch4 iv4 #ba-ca74 ,after all this we can understand his writing law for sin in this passage1 just as in #a ,cor4 xv4 #ef he calls the law the power of sin4 ,to be under law was1 in ,paul's view1 to be held consciously in the grasp of sin4 ,this was the condition to which ,legalism would reduce the ,galatians4 ,from this calamity the ,spirit of ,christ would keep them free4 ,the phrase under law reminds us once more of the imperilled liberty of the ,galatians4 ,their spiritual freedom and their moral safety were assailed in common4 ,in ver4 #af he had said1 ,let the ,holy ,spirit guide you1 and you will vanquish sin2 and now1 ,by the same guidance you will escape the oppressive yoke of the law4 ,freedom from sin1 freedom from the ,jewish law--these two liberties were virtually one4 ,sin shall not lord it over you1 because ye are not under law1 but under grace 7,rom4 vi4 #ad74 ,ver4 #bc explains this double freedom4 ,those who possess the ,spirit of ,christ bear ,his moral fruits4 ,their life fulfils the demands of the law1 without being due to its compulsion4 ,law can say nothing against them4 ,it did not produce this fruit2 but it is bound to approve it4 ,it has no hold on the men of the ,spirit1 no charge to bring against them4 ,its requirements are satisfied2 its constraints and threatenings are laid aside4 ,law therefore1 in its ,judaistic sense and application1 has been abolished since faith has come4 ,no longer does it rule the soul by fear and compulsion4 ,this office1 necessary once for the infant heirs of the ,covenant1 it has no right to exercise over spiritual men4 ,law cannot give life 7ch4 iii4 #ba74 ,this is the prerogative of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,law says1 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god2 but it never inspired such love in any man's breast4 ,if he does so love1 the law approves him1 without claiming credit to itself for the fact4 ,if he does not love his ,god1 law condemns him and brands him a transgressor4 ,but the love of ,god is shed abroad in our hearts by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,the teaching of this paragraph on the relation of the believer in ,christ to ,god's law is summed up in the words of ,rom4 viii4 #b3 ,the law of the ,spirit of life in ,christ ,jesus made me free from the law of sin and death4 ,law has become my friend1 instead of my enemy and accuser4 ,for ,god's ,spirit fills my soul with the love in which its fulfilment is contained4 ,and now eternal life is the goal that stands in my view1 in place of the death with the prospect of which1 as a man of the flesh1 the law appalled me4 ,,iii4 ,we see then that deliverance from sin belongs not to the subjects of the law1 but to the freemen of the ,spirit4 ,this deliverance1 promised in ver4 #af1 is declared in ver4 #bd as an accomplished fact4 ,walk by the ,spirit1 and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh4444 ,they that are of ,christ ,jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts4 ,the tyranny of the flesh is ended for those who are in ,christ ,jesus4 ,his cross has slain their sins4 ,the entrance of ,his ,spirit imports the death of all carnal affections4 ,they who are ,christ's did crucify the flesh4 ,this is the moral application of ,paul's mystical doctrine1 central to all his theology1 of the believer's union with the ,redeemer 7see ,chapter ,x1 pp4 #aef-afj74 ,christ in me--,i in ,him3 there is ,paul's secret4 ,he was one spirit with ,jesus ,christ--dying1 risen1 ascended1 reigning1 returning in glory4 ,his old self1 his old world was dead and gone--slain by ,christ's cross1 buried in ,his grave 7ch4 ii4 #bj2 vi4 #ad74 ,and the flesh1 common to the evil world and the evil self--that above all was crucified4 ,the death of shame and legal penalty1 the curse of ,god had overtaken it in the death of ,jesus ,christ4 ,christ has risen1 the ,lord of the ,spirit 7#b ,cor4 iii4 #ah71 who could not be holden by the death which fell on the body of ,his flesh4 ,they who are ,christ's rose with ,him2 while the flesh of sin stays in ,his grave4 ,faith sees it there1 and leaves it there4 ,we reckon ourselves dead unto sin1 and living unto ,god1 in ,christ ,jesus4 ,for such men1 the flesh that was once--imperious1 importunate1 law-defying--is no more4 ,it has received its death-stroke4 ,god1 sending ,his own ,son in the likeness of sinful flesh and a sacrifice for sin1 condemned sin in the flesh 7,rom4 viii4 #c74 ,sin is smitten with the lightning of ,his anger4 ,doom has taken hold of it4 ,destroyed already in principle1 it only waits for men to know this and to understand what has been done1 till it shall perish everywhere4 ,the destruction of the sinful flesh--more strictly of sin in the flesh--occurred1 as ,paul understood the matter1 virtually and potentially in the moment of ,christ's death4 ,it was our human flesh that was crucified in ,him--slain on the cross because1 though in ,him not personally sinful1 yet in us with whom ,he had made ,himself one1 it was steeped in sin4 ,our sinful flesh hung upon ,his cross2 it has risen1 cleansed and sanctified1 from ,his grave4 ,what was then accomplished in principle when ,one died for all1 is realised in point of fact when we are baptized into ,his death--when1 that is to say1 faith makes ,his death ours and its virtue passes into the soul4 ,the scene of the cross is inwardly rehearsed4 ,the wounds which pierced the ,redeemer's flesh and spirit now pierce our consciences4 ,it is a veritable crucifixion through which the soul enters into communion with its risen ,saviour1 and learns to live ,his life4 ,nor is its sanctification complete till it is conformed unto ,his death 7,phil4 iii4 #aj74 ,so with all his train of passions and of lusts1 the old man is fastened and nailed down upon the new1 interior ,calvary1 set up in each penitent and believing heart4 ,the flesh may still1 as in these ,galatians1 give mournful evidence of life4 ,but it has no right to exist a single hour4 ,de jure it is dead--dead in the reckoning of faith4 ,it may die a lingering1 protracted death1 and make convulsive struggles2 but die it must in all who are of ,christ ,jesus4 99 99 99 99 99 ,let the ,galatians consider what their calling of ,god signified4 ,let them recall the prospects which opened before them in the days of their first faith in ,christ1 the love that glowed in their hearts1 the energy with which the ,holy ,spirit wrought upon their nature4 ,let them know how truly they were called to liberty1 and in good earnest were made sons of ,god4 ,they have only to continue as heretofore to be led by the ,spirit of ,christ and to march forward along the path on which they had entered1 and neither ,jewish law nor their own lawless flesh will be able to bring them into bondage4 ,where the ,spirit of the ,lord is1 there is liberty4 ,where ,he is not1 there is legalism1 or licence2 or1 it may be1 both at once4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,the ,,flesh4 ,now the works of the flesh are manifest1 which are these1 fornication1 uncleanness1 lasciviousness1 idolatry1 sorcery1 enmities1 strife1 jealousies1 wraths1 factions1 divisions1 parties1 envyings1 drunkenness1 revellings1 and such like3 of the which ,i forewarn you1 even as ,i did forewarn you1 that they which practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of ,god4--,,gal4 v4 #ai-ba4 ,the tree is known by its fruits3 the flesh by its works4 ,and these works are manifest4 ,the field of the world--this present evil world 7ch4 i4 #d7--;exhibits them in rank abundance4 ,perhaps at no time was the civilised world so depraved and godless as in the first century of the ,christian era1 when ,tiberius1 ,caligula1 ,nero1 ,domitian1 wore the imperial purple and posed as masters of the earth4 ,it was the cruelty and vileness of the times which culminated in these deified monsters4 ,by no accident was mankind cursed at this epoch with such a race of rulers4 ,the world that worshipped them was worthy of them4 ,vice appeared in its most revolting and abandoned forms4 ,wickedness was rampant and triumphant4 ,the age of the early ,roman ,empire has left a foul mark in human history and literature4 ,let ,tacitus and ,juvenal speak for it4 ,paul's enumeration of the current vices in this passage has however a character of its own4 ,it differs from the descriptions drawn by the same hand in other ,epistles2 and this difference is due doubtless to the character of his readers4 ,their temperament was sanguine2 their disposition frank and impulsive4 ,sins of lying and injustice1 conspicuous in other lists1 are not found in this4 ,from these vices the ,galatic nature was comparatively free4 ,sensual sins and sins of passion--unchastity1 vindictiveness1 intemperance--occupy the field4 ,to these must be added idolatry1 common to the ,pagan world4 ,gentile idolatry was allied with the practice of impurity on the one side2 and on the other1 through the evil of sorcery1 with enmities and jealousies4 ,so that these works of the flesh belong to four distinct types of depravity2 three of which come under the head of immorality1 while the fourth is the universal principle of ,pagan irreligion1 being in turn both cause and effect of the moral debasement connected with it4 ,i4 ,the works of the flesh are these--fornication1 uncleanness1 lasciviousness4 ,a dark beginning6 ,sins of impurity find a place in every picture of ,gentile morals given by the ,apostle4 ,in whatever direction he writes--to ,romans or ,corinthians1 ,galatians1 ,ephesians1 or ,thessalonians--it is always necessary to warn against these evils4 ,they are equally manifest in heathen literature4 ,the extent to which they stain the pages of the ,greek and ,roman classics sets a heavy discount against their value as instruments of ,christian education4 ,civilised society in ,paul's day was steeped in sexual corruption4 ,fornication was practically universal4 ,few were found1 even among severe moralists1 to condemn it4 ,the overthrow of the splendid classical civilisation1 due to the extinction of manly virtues in the dominant race1 may be traced largely to this cause4 ,brave men are the sons of pure women4 ,john in the ,apocalypse has written on the brow of ,rome1 the great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth1 this legend3 ,babylon the great1 mother of harlots 7,rev4 xvii4 #e74 ,whatever symbolic meaning the saying has1 in its literal sense it was terribly true4 ,our modern ,babylons1 unless they purge themselves1 may earn the same title and the same doom4 ,in writing to ,corinth1 the metropolis of ,greek licentiousness1 ,paul deals very solemnly and explicitly with this vice4 ,he teaches that this sin1 above others1 is committed against the man's own body4 ,it is a prostitution of the physical nature which ,jesus ,christ wore and still wears1 which ,he claims for the temple of ,his ,spirit1 and will raise from the dead to share ,his immortality4 ,impurity degrades the body1 and it affronts in an especial degree the ,holy ,spirit which we have from ,god4 ,therefore it stands first amongst these works of the flesh in which it shows itself hostile and repugnant to the ,spirit of our ,divine sonship4 ,joined to the harlot in one body1 the vile offender gives himself over in compact and communion to the dominion of the flesh1 as truly as he who is joined to the ,lord is one spirit with ,him 7#a ,cor4 vi4 #ac-bj74 ,on this subject it is difficult to speak faithfully and yet directly4 ,there are many happily in our sheltered ,christian homes who scarcely know of the existence of this heathenish vice1 except as it is named in ,scripture4 ,to them it is an evil of the past1 a nameless thing of darkness4 ,and it is well it should be so4 ,knowledge of its horrors may be suitable for seasoned social reformers1 and necessary to the publicist who must understand the worst as well as the best of the world he has to serve2 but common decency forbids its being put within the reach of boys and innocent maidens4 ,newspapers and novels which reek of the divorce-court and trade in the garbage of human life1 in things of which it is a shame even to speak1 are no more fit for ordinary consumption than the air of the pest-house is for breathing4 ,they are sheer poison to the young imagination1 which should be fed on whatsoever things are honourable and pure and lovely4 ,but bodily self-respect must be learned in good time4 ,modesty of feeling and chastity of speech must adorn our youth4 ,let marriage be honourable in the eyes of all1 let the old chivalrous sentiments of reverence and gentleness towards women be renewed in our sons1 and our country's future is safe4 ,perhaps in our revolt from ,mariolatry we ,protestants have too much forgotten the honour paid by ,jesus to the ,virgin ,mother1 and the sacredness which ,his birth has conferred on motherhood4 ,blessed1 said the heavenly voice1 art thou among women4 ,all our sisters are blessed and dignified in her1 the holy mother of our ,lord 7,luke i4 #db1 #dc74adb #adb ,comp41 #a ,tim4 ii4 #ac-ae3 saved through the childbearing--i4e41 surely1 the bearing of the ,child ,jesus1 the seed of the woman4 ,wherever1 and in whatever form1 the offence exists which violates this relationship1 ,paul's fiery interdict is ready to be launched upon it4 ,the anger of ,jesus burned against this sin4 ,in the wanton look ,he discerns the crime of adultery1 which in the ,mosaic law was punished with death by stoning4 ,the ,lord is an avenger in all these things--in everything that touches the honour of the human person and the sanctity of wedded life 7#a ,thess4 iv4 #a-h74 ,the interests that abet whoredom should find in the ,church of ,jesus ,christ an organization pledged to relentless war against them4 ,the man known to practise this wickedness is an enemy of ,christ and of his race4 ,he should be shunned as we would shun a notorious liar--or a fallen woman4 ,paul's rule is explicit1 and binding on all ,christians1 concerning the fornicator1 the drunkard1 the extortioner--with such a one no1 not to eat 7#a ,cor4 v4 #i-aa74 ,that ,church little deserves the name of a ,church of ,christ1 which has not means of discipline sufficient to fence its communion from the polluting presence of such a one4 ,uncleanness and lasciviousness are companions of the more specific impurity4 ,the former is the general quality of this class of evils1 and includes whatever is contaminating in word or look1 in gesture or in dress1 in thought or sentiment4 ,lasciviousness is uncleanness open and shameless4 ,the filthy jest1 the ogling glance1 the debauched and sensual face1 these tell their own tale2 they speak of a soul that has rolled in corruption till respect for virtue has died out of it4 ,in this direction the works of the flesh can go no further4 ,a lascivious human creature is loathsomeness itself4 ,to see it is like looking through a door into hell4 ,a leading critic of our own times has1 under this word of ,paul's1 put his finger upon the plague-spot in the national life of our ,gallic neighbours--,aselgeia1 or ,wantonness4 ,there may be a certain truth in this charge4 ,their disposition in several respects resembles that of ,paul's ,galatians4 ,but we can scarcely afford to reproach others on this score4 ,english society is none too clean4 ,home is for our people everywhere1 thank ,god1 the nursery of innocence4 ,but outside its shelter1 and beyond the reach of the mother's voice1 how many perils await the weak and unwary4 ,in the night-streets of the city the strange woman spreads her net1 whose feet go down to death4 ,in workshops and business-offices too often coarse and vile language goes on unchecked1 and one unchaste mind will infect a whole circle4 ,schools1 wanting in moral discipline1 may become seminaries of impurity4 ,there are crowded quarters in large towns1 and wretched tenements in many a country village1 where the conditions of life are such that decency is impossible2 and a soil is prepared in which sexual sin grows rankly4 ,to cleanse these channels of social life is indeed a task of ,hercules2 but the ,church of ,christ is loudly called to it4 ,her vocation is in itself a purity crusade1 a war declared against all filthiness of flesh and spirit4 ,,ii4 ,next to lust in this procession of the ,vices comes idolatry4 ,in ,paganism they were associated by many ties4 ,some of the most renowned and popular cults of the day were open purveyors of sensuality and lent to it the sanctions of religion4 ,idolatry is found here in fit company 7comp4 #a ,cor4 x4 #f-h74 ,peter's ,first ,epistle1 addressed to the ,galatian with other ,asiatic ,churches1 speaks of the desire of the ,gentiles as consisting in lasciviousness1 lusts1 winebibbings1 revellings1 carousings1 and abominable idolatries 7ch4 iv4 #c74 ,idolatry forms the centre of the awful picture of ,gentile depravity drawn by our ,apostle in his letter to ,rome 7ch4 i474 ,it is1 as he there shows1 the outcome of man's native antipathy to the knowledge of ,god4 ,willingly men took lies in the place of truth1 and served the creature rather than the ,creator4 ,they merged ,god in nature1 debasing the spiritual conception of the ,deity with fleshly attributes4 ,this blending of ,god with the world gave rise1 amongst the mass of mankind1 to ,polytheism2 while in the minds of the more reflective it assumed a ,pantheistic shape4 ,the manifold of nature1 absorbing the ,divine1 broke it up into gods many and lords many--gods of the earth and sky and ocean1 gods and goddesses of war1 of tillage1 of love1 of art1 of statecraft and handicraft1 patrons of human vices and follies as well as of excellencies1 changing with every climate and with the varying moods and conditions of their worshippers4 ,no longer did it appear that ,god made man in ,his image2 now men made gods in the likeness of the image of corruptible man1 and of winged and four-footed and creeping things4 ,when at last under the ,roman ,empire the different ,pagan races blended their customs and faiths1 and the ,orontes flowed into the ,tiber1 there came about a perfect chaos of religions4 ,gods ,greek and ,roman1 ,phrygian1 ,syrian1 ,egyptian jostled each other in the great cities--a colluvies deorum more bewildering even than the colluvies gentium1--each cultus striving to outdo the rest in extravagance and licence4 ,the system of classic ,paganism was reduced to impotence4 ,the false gods destroyed each other4 ,the mixture of heathen religions1 none of them pure1 produced complete demoralisation4 ,the ,jewish monotheism remained1 the one rock of human faith in the midst of this dissolution of the old nature-creeds4 ,its conception of the ,godhead was not so much metaphysical as ethical4 ,hear ,o ,israel1 says every ,jew to his fellows1 the ,lord our ,god is one ,lord4 ,but that one ,lord was also the ,holy ,one of ,israel4 ,let his holiness be sullied1 let the thought of the ,divine ethical transcendence suffer eclipse1 and ,he sinks back again into the manifold of nature4 ,till ,god was manifest in the flesh through the sinless ,christ1 it was impossible to conceive of a perfect purity allied to the natural4 ,to the mind of the ,israelite1 ,god's holiness was one with the aloneness in which he held ,himself sublimely aloof from all material forms1 one with the pure spirituality of ,his being4 ,there is none holy save the ,lord2 neither is there any rock like our ,god3 such was his lofty creed4 ,on this ground prophecy carried on its inspired struggle against the tremendous forces of naturalism4 ,when at length the victory of spiritual religion was gained in ,israel1 unbelief assumed another form2 the knowledge of the ,divine unity hardened into a sterile and fanatic legalism1 into the idolatry of dogma and tradition2 and ,scribe and ,pharisee took the place of ,prophet and of ,psalmist4 ,the idolatry and immorality of the ,gentile world had a common root4 ,god's anger1 the ,apostle declared1 blazed forth equally against both 7,rom4 i4 #ah74 ,the monstrous forms of uncleanness then prevalent were a fitting punishment1 an inevitable consequence of heathen impiety4 ,they marked the lowest level to which human nature can fall in its apostasy from ,god4 ,self-respect in man is ultimately based on reverence for the ,divine4 ,disowning his ,maker1 he degrades himself4 ,bent on evil1 he must banish from his soul that warning1 protesting image of the ,supreme ,holiness in which he was created4 ,he tempts his reason to deny ,god whom his passions dare defy4 ,they did not like to retain ,god in their knowledge4 ,they loved darkness rather than light1 because their deeds were evil4 ,these are terrible accusations4 ,but the history of natural religion confirms their truth4 ,sorcery is the attendant of idolatry4 ,a low1 naturalistic conception of the ,divine lends itself to immoral purposes4 ,men try to operate upon it by material causes1 and to make it a partner in evil4 ,such is the origin of magic4 ,natural objects deemed to possess supernatural attributes1 as the stars and the flight of birds1 have divine omens ascribed to them4 ,drugs of occult power1 and things grotesque or curious made mysterious by the fancy1 are credited with influence over the ,nature-gods4 ,from the use of drugs in incantations and exorcisms the word pharmakeia1 here denoting sorcery1 took its meaning4 ,the science of chemistry has destroyed a world of magic connected with the virtues of herbs4 ,these superstitions formed a chief branch of sorcery and witchcraft1 and have flourished under many forms of idolatry4 ,and the magical arts were common instruments of malice4 ,the sorcerer's charms were in requisition1 as in the case of ,balaam1 to curse one's enemies1 to weave some spell that should involve them in destruction4 ,accordingly sorcery finds its place there between idolatry and enmities4 ,,iii4 ,on this latter head the ,apostle enlarges with edifying amplitude4 ,enmities1 strife1 jealousies1 ragings1 factions1 divisions1 parties1 envyings--what a list6 ,eight out of fifteen of the works of the flesh manifest to ,paul in writing to ,galatia belong to this one category4 ,the ,celt all over the world is known for a hot-tempered fellow4 ,he has high capabilities2 he is generous1 enthusiastic1 and impressionable4 ,meanness and treachery are foreign to his nature4 ,but he is irritable4 ,and it is in a vain and irritable disposition that these vices are engendered4 ,strife and division have been proverbial in the history of the ,gallic nations4 ,their jealous temper has too often neutralised their engaging qualities2 and their quickness and cleverness have for this reason availed them but little in competition with more phlegmatic races4 ,in ,highland clans1 in ,irish septs1 in ,french wars and ,revolutions the same moral features reappear which are found in this delineation of ,galatic life4 ,this persistence of character in the races of mankind is one of the most impressive facts of history4 ,enmities are private hatreds or family feuds1 which break out openly in strife4 ,this is seen in ,church affairs1 when men take opposite sides not so much from any decided difference of judgement1 as from personal dislike and the disposition to thwart an opponent4 ,jealousies and wraths 7or rages7 are passions attending enmity and strife4 ,there is jealousy where one's antagonist is a rival1 whose success is felt as a wrong to oneself4 ,this may be a silent passion1 repressed by pride but consuming the mind inwardly4 ,rage is the open eruption of anger which1 when powerless to inflict injury1 will find vent in furious language and menacing gestures4 ,there are natures in which these tempests of rage take a perfectly demonic form4 ,the face grows livid1 the limbs move convulsively1 the nervous organism is seized by a storm of frenzy2 and until it has passed1 the man is literally beside himself4 ,such exhibitions are truly appalling4 ,they are works of the flesh in which1 yielding to its own ungoverned impulse1 it gives itself up to be possessed by ,satan and is set on fire of hell4 ,factions1 divisions1 parties are words synonymous4 ,divisions is the more neutral term1 and represents the state into which a community is thrown by the working of the spirit of strife4 ,factions imply more of self-interest and policy in those concerned2 parties are due rather to self-will and opinionativeness4 ,the ,greek word employed in this last instance1 as in #a ,cor4 xi4 #ai1 has become our heresies4 ,it does not imply of necessity any doctrinal difference as the ground of the party distinctions in question4 ,at the same time1 this expression is an advance on those foregoing1 pointing to such divisions as have grown1 or threaten to grow into distinct and organized parties 7,lightfoot74 ,envyings 7or grudges7 complete this bitter series4 ,this term might have found a place beside enmities and strife4 ,standing where it does1 it seems to denote the rankling anger1 the persistent ill-will caused by party-feuds4 ,the ,galatian quarrels left behind them grudges and resentments which became inveterate4 ,these envyings1 the fruit of old contentions1 were in turn the seed of new strife4 ,settled rancour is the last and worst form of contentiousness4 ,it is so much more culpable than jealousy or rage1 as it has not the excuse of personal conflict2 and it does not subside1 as the fiercest outburst of passion may1 leaving room for forgiveness4 ,it nurses its revenge1 waiting1 like ,shylock1 for the time when it shall feed fat its ancient grudge4 ,where jealousy and faction are1 there1 says ,james1 is confusion and every vile deed4 ,this was the state of things to which the ,galatian societies were tending4 ,the ,judaizers had sown the seeds of discord1 and it had fallen on congenial soil4 ,paul has already invoked ,christ's law of love to exorcise this spirit of destruction 7vv4 #ac-ae74 ,he tells the ,galatians that their vainglorious and provoking attitude towards each other and their envious disposition are entirely contrary to the life in the ,spirit which they professed to lead 7vv4 #be1 #bf71 and fatal to the existence of the ,church4 ,these were the passions of the flesh which most of all they needed to crucify4 ,,iv4 ,finally1 we come to sins of intemperance--drunkenness1 revellings1 and the like4 ,these are the vices of a barbarous people4 ,our ,teutonic and ,celtic forefathers were alike prone to this kind of excess4 ,peter warns the ,galatians against wine-bibbings1 revellings1 carousings4 ,the passion for strong drink1 along with lasciviousness and lusts on the one hand1 and abominable idolatries on the other1 had in ,asia ,minor swelled into a cataclysm of riot1 overwhelming the ,gentile world 7#a ,pet4 iv4 #c1 #d74 ,the ,greeks were a comparatively sober people4 ,the ,romans were more notorious for gluttony than for hard drinking4 ,the practice of seeking pleasure in intoxication is a remnant of savagery1 which exists to a shameful extent in our own country4 ,it appears to have been prevalent with the ,galatians1 whose ancestors a few generations back were northern barbarians4 ,a strong and raw animal nature is in itself a temptation to this vice4 ,for men exposed to cold and hardship1 the intoxicating cup has a potent fascination4 ,the flesh1 buffeted by the fatigues of a rough day's work1 finds a strange zest in its treacherous delights4 ,the man drinks and forgets his poverty1 and remembers his misery no more4 ,for the hour1 while the spell is upon him1 he is a king2 he lives under another sun2 the world's wealth is his4 ,he wakes up to find himself a sot6 ,with racked head and unstrung frame he returns to the toil and squalor of his life1 adding new wretchedness to that he had striven to forget4 ,anon he says1 ,i will seek it yet again6 ,when the craving has once mastered him1 its indulgence becomes his only pleasure4 ,such men deserve our deepest pity4 ,they need for their salvation all the safeguards that ,christian sympathy and wisdom can throw around them4 ,there are others given to much wine1 for whom one feels less compassion4 ,their convivial indulgences are a part of their general habits of luxury and sensuality1 an open1 flagrant triumph of the flesh over the ,spirit4 ,these sinners require stern rebuke and warning4 ,they must understand that those who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of ,god1 that he who soweth to his own flesh1 shall of the flesh reap corruption4 ,of these and their like it was that ,jesus said1 ,woe unto you that laugh now2 for ye shall mourn and weep4 ,our ,british ,churches at the present time are more alive to this than perhaps to any other social evil4 ,they are setting themselves sternly against drunkenness1 and none too soon4 ,of all the works of the flesh this has been1 if not the most potent1 certainly the most conspicuous in the havoc it has wrought amongst us4 ,its ruinous effects are manifest in every prison and asylum1 and in the private history of innumerable families in every station of life4 ,who is there that has not lost a kinsman1 a friend1 or at least a neighbour or acquaintance1 whose life was wrecked by this accursed passion8 ,much has been done1 and is doing1 to check its ravages4 ,but more remains to be accomplished before civil law and public opinion shall furnish all the protection against this evil necessary for a people so tempted by climate and by constitution as our own4 ,with fornication at the beginning and drunkenness at the end1 ,paul's description of the works of the flesh is1 alas6 far indeed from being out of date4 ,the dread procession of the ,vices marches on before our eyes4 ,races and temperaments vary2 science has transformed the visible aspect of life2 but the ruling appetites of human nature are unchanged1 its primitive vices are with us to-day4 ,the complicated problems of modern life1 the gigantic evils which confront our social reformers1 are simply the primeval corruptions of mankind in a new guise--the old lust and greed and hate4 ,under his veneer of manners1 the civilized ,european1 untouched by the grace of the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 is still apt to be found a selfish1 cunning1 unchaste1 revengeful1 superstitious creature1 distinguished from his barbarian progenitor chiefly by his better dress and more cultivated brain1 and his inferior agility4 ,witness the great ,napoleon1 a very god of this world1 but in all that gives worth to character no better than a savage6 ,with ,europe turned into one vast camp and its nations groaning audibly under the weight of their armaments1 with hordes of degraded women infesting the streets of its cities1 with discontent and social hatred smouldering throughout its industrial populations1 we have small reason to boast of the triumphs of modern civilisation4 ,better circumstances do not make better men4 ,james' old question has for our day a terrible pertinence3 ,whence come wars and fightings among you8 ,come they not hence1 even of your pleasures that war in your members8 ,ye lust1 and have not3 ye kill1 and covet1 and cannot obtain4 ,ye ask and receive not1 because ye ask amiss1 that ye may spend it on your pleasures4 ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,the ,,fruit ,,of ,,the ,,spirit4 ,but the fruit of the ,spirit is love1 joy1 peace1 longsuffering1 kindness1 goodness1 faith1 meekness1 temperance3 against such there is no law4--,,gal4 v4 #bb1 #bc4 ,the tree is known by its fruits4 ,such was the criterion of religious profession laid down by the ,founder of ,christianity4 ,this test ,his religion applies in the first instance to itself4 ,it proclaims a final judgement for all men2 it submits itself to the present judgement of all men--a judgement resting in each case on the same ground1 namely that of fruit1 of moral issue and effects4 ,for character is the true summum bonum2 it is the thing which in our secret hearts and in our better moments we all admire and covet4 ,the creed which produces the best and purest character1 in the greatest abundance and under the most varied conditions1 is that which the world will believe4 ,these verses contain the ideal of character furnished by the gospel of ,christ4 ,here is the religion of ,jesus put in practice4 ,these are the sentiments and habits1 the views of duty1 the temper of mind1 which faith in ,jesus ,christ tends to form4 ,paul's conception of the ideal human life at once commends itself to every man's conscience4 ,and he owed it to the gospel of ,christ4 ,his ethics are the fruit of his dogmatic faith4 ,what other system of belief has produced a like result1 or has formed in men's minds ideas of duty so reasonable and gracious1 so just1 so balanced and perfect1 and above all so practicable1 as those inculcated in the ,apostle's teaching8 ,men do not gather grapes of thorns1 or figs of thistles4 ,thoughts of this kind1 lives of this kind1 are not the product of imposture or delusion4 ,the works of systems of error are manifest in the moral wrecks they leave behind them1 strewing the track of history4 ,but the virtues here enumerated are the fruits which the ,spirit of ,christ has brought forth1 and brings forth at this day more abundantly than ever4 ,as a theory of morals1 a representation of what is best in conduct1 ,christian teaching has held for #ahjj years an unrivalled place4 ,christ and ,his ,apostles are still the masters of morality4 ,few have been bold enough to offer any improvements on the ethics of ,jesus2 and smaller still has been the acceptance which their proposals have obtained4 ,the new idea of virtue which ,christianity has given to the world1 the energy it has imparted to the moral will1 the immense and beneficial revolutions it has brought about in human society1 supply a powerful argument for its divinity4 ,making every deduction for unfaithful ,christians1 who dishonour the worthy name they bear1 still the fruit of the ,spirit gathered in these eighteen centuries is a glorious witness to the virtue of the tree of life from which it grew4 ,this picture of the ,christian life takes its place side by side with others found in ,paul's ,epistles4 ,it recalls the figure of ,charity in #a ,cor4 xiii41 acknowledged by moralists of every school to be a master-piece of characterization4 ,it stands in line also with the oft-quoted enumeration of ,phil4 iv4 #h3 ,whatsoever things are true1 whatsoever things are reverend1 whatsoever things are just1 whatsoever things are chaste1 whatsoever things are lovely1 whatsoever things are kindly spoken1 if there be any virtue1 and if there be any praise1 think on these things4 ,these representations do not pretend to theoretical completeness4 ,it would be easy to specify important virtues not mentioned in the ,apostle's categories4 ,his descriptions have a practical aim1 and press on the attention of his readers the special forms and qualities of virtue demanded from them1 under the given circumstances1 by their faith in ,christ4 ,it is interesting to compare the ,apostle's definitions with ,plato's celebrated scheme of the four cardinal virtues4 ,they are wisdom1 courage1 temperance1 with righteousness as the union and co-ordination of the other three4 ,the difference between the cast of the ,platonic and ,pauline ethics is most instructive4 ,in the ,apostle's catalogue the first two of the philosophical virtues are wanting2 unless courage be included1 as it properly may1 under the name of virtue in the ,philippian list4 ,with the ,greek thinker1 wisdom is the fundamental excellence of the soul4 ,knowledge is in his view the supreme desideratum1 the guarantee for moral health and social well-being4 ,the philosopher is the perfect man1 the proper ruler of the commonwealth4 ,intellectual culture brings in its train ethical improvement4 ,for no man is knowingly vicious3 such was the dictum of ,socrates1 the father of ,philosophy4 ,in the ethics of the gospel1 love becomes the chief of virtues1 parent of the rest4 ,love and humility are the two features whose predominance distinguishes the ,christian from the purest classical conceptions of moral worth4 ,the ethics of ,naturalism know love as a passion1 a sensuous instinct 772 or again1 as the personal affection which binds friend to friend through common interest or resemblance of taste and disposition 774 ,love in its highest sense 77 ,christianity has re-discovered1 finding in it a universal law for the reason and spirit4 ,it assigns to this principle a like place to that which gravitation holds in the material universe1 as the attraction which binds each man to his ,maker and to his fellows4 ,its obligations neutralise self-interest and create a spiritual solidarity of mankind1 centring in ,christ1 the ,god-man4 ,pre-,christian philosophy exalted the intellect1 but left the heart cold and vacant1 and the deeper springs of will untouched4 ,it was reserved for ,jesus ,christ to teach men how to love1 and in love to find the law of freedom4 ,if love was wanting in natural ethics1 humility was positively excluded4 ,the pride of philosophy regarded it as a vice rather than a virtue4 ,lowliness is ranked with pettiness and repining and despondency as the product of littleness of soul4 ,on the contrary1 the man of lofty soul is held up to admiration1 who is worthy of great things and deems himself so1--who is not given to wonder1 for nothing seems great to him1--who is ashamed to receive benefits1 and has the appearance indeed of being supercilious 7,aristotle74 ,how far removed is this model from our ,example who has said1 ,learn of ,me1 for ,i am meek and lowly in heart4 ,the classical idea of virtue is based on the greatness of man2 the ,christian1 on the goodness of ,god4 ,before the ,divine glory in ,jesus ,christ the soul of the believer bows in adoration4 ,it is humbled at the throne of grace1 chastened into self-forgetting4 ,it gazes on this ,image of love and holiness1 till it repeats itself within the heart4 99 99 99 99 99 ,nine virtues are woven together in this golden chain of the ,holy ,spirit's fruit4 ,they fall into three groups of three1 four1 and two respectively--according as they refer primarily to ,god1 love1 joy1 peace2 to one's fellow-men1 longsuffering1 kindness1 goodness1 faith2 and to oneself1 meekness1 temperance4 ,but the successive qualities are so closely linked and pass into one another with so little distance1 that it is undesirable to emphasize the analysis2 and while bearing the above distinctions in mind1 we shall seek to give to each of the nine graces its separate place in the catalogue4 #a4 ,the fruit of the ,spirit is love4 ,that fitliest first4 ,love is the ,alpha and ,omega of the ,apostle's thoughts concerning the new life in ,christ4 ,this queen of graces is already enthroned within this chapter4 ,in ver4 #f ,love came forward to be the minister of ,faith2 in ver4 #ad it reappeared as the ruling principle of ,divine law4 ,these two offices of love are united here1 where it becomes the prime fruit of the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 to whom the heart is opened by the act of faith1 and who enables us to keep ,god's law4 ,love is the fulfilling of the law2 for it is the essence of the gospel2 it is the spirit of sonship2 without this ,divine affection1 no profession of faith1 no practice of good works has any value in the sight of ,god or intrinsic moral worth4 ,though ,i have all other gifts and merits--wanting this1 ,i am nothing 7#a ,cor4 xiii4 #a-c74 ,the cold heart is dead4 ,whatever appears to be ,christian that has not the love of ,christ1 is an unreality--a matter of orthodox opinion or mechanical performance--dead as the body without the spirit4 ,in all true goodness there is an element of love4 ,here then is the fountain-head of ,christian virtue1 the well of water springing up into eternal life which ,christ opens in the believing soul1 from which flow so many bounteous streams of mercy and good fruits4 ,this love is1 in the first instance and above all1 love to ,god4 ,it springs from the knowledge of ,his love to man4 ,god is love1 and love is of ,god 7#a ,john iv4 #g1 #h74 ,all love flows from one fountain1 from the ,one ,father4 ,and the ,father's love is revealed in the ,son4 ,love has the cross for its measure and standard4 ,he sent the ,only-begotten into the world1 that we might live through ,him4 ,herein is love3 hereby know we love 7#a ,john iii4 #af2 iv4 #i1 #aj74 ,the man who knows this love1 whose heart responds to the manifestation of ,god in ,christ1 is born of ,god4 ,his soul is ready to become the abode of all pure affections1 his life the exhibition of all ,christ-like virtues4 ,for the love of the ,father is revealed to him2 and the love of a son is enkindled in his soul by the ,spirit of the ,son4 ,in ,paul's teaching1 love forms the antithesis to knowledge4 ,by this opposition the wisdom of ,god is distinguished from the wisdom of this world and of its princes1 which come to nought 7#a ,cor4 i4 #bc2 ii4 #h2 viii4 #a1 #c74 ,not that love despises knowledge1 or seeks to dispense with it4 ,it requires knowledge beforehand in order to discern its object1 and afterwards to understand its work4 ,so the ,apostle prays for the ,philippians that their love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment 7ch4 i4 #i1 #aj74 ,it is not love without knowledge1 heat without light1 the warmth of an ignorant1 untempered zeal that the ,apostle desiderates4 ,but he deplores the existence of knowledge without love1 a clear head with a cold heart1 an intellect whose growth has left the affections starved and stunted1 with enlightened apprehensions of truth that awaken no corresponding emotions4 ,hence comes the pride of reason1 the knowledge that puffeth up4 ,love alone knows the art of building up4 ,loveless knowledge is not wisdom4 ,for wisdom is lowly in her own eyes1 mild and gracious4 ,what the man of cold intellect sees1 he sees clearly2 he reasons on it well4 ,but his data are defective4 ,he discerns but the half1 the poorer half of life4 ,there is a whole heaven of facts of which he takes no account4 ,he has an acute and sensitive perception of phenomena coming within the range of his five senses1 and of everything that logic can elicit from such phenomena4 ,but he cannot see afar off4 ,above all1 he that loveth not1 knoweth not ,god4 ,he leaves out the ,supreme ,factor in human life2 and all his calculations are vitiated4 ,hath not ,god made foolish the wisdom of the world8 ,if knowledge then is the enlightened eye1 love is the throbbing1 living heart of ,christian goodness4 #b4 ,the fruit of the ,spirit is joy4 ,joy dwells in the house of ,love2 nor elsewhere will she tarry4 ,love is the mistress both of joy and sorrow4 ,wronged1 frustrated1 hers is the bitterest of griefs4 ,love makes us capable of pain and shame2 but equally of triumph and delight4 ,therefore the ,lover of mankind was the ,man of sorrows1 whose love bared its breast to the arrows of scorn and hate2 and yet for the joy that was set before ,him1 ,he endured the cross1 despising the shame4 ,there was no sorrow like that of ,christ rejected and crucified2 no joy like the joy of ,christ risen and reigning4 ,this joy1 the delight of love satisfied in those it loves1 is that whose fulfilment ,he has promised to ,his disciples 7,john xv4 #h-aa74 ,such joy the selfish heart never knows4 ,life's choicest blessings1 heaven's highest favours fail to bring it happiness4 ,sensuous gratification1 and even intellectual pleasure by itself wants the true note of gladness4 ,there is nothing that thrills the whole nature1 that stirs the pulses of life and sets them dancing1 like the touch of a pure love4 ,it is the pearl of great price1 for which if a man would give all the substance of his house1 he would be utterly contemned4 ,but of all the joys love gives to life1 that is the deepest which is ours when the love of ,god is shed abroad in our heart4 ,then the full tide of blessedness pours into the human spirit4 ,then we know of what happiness our nature was made capable1 when we know the love that ,god hath toward us4 ,this joy in the ,lord quickens and elevates1 while it cleanses1 all other emotions4 ,it raises the whole temperature of the heart4 ,it gives a new glow to life4 ,it lends a warmer and a purer tone to our natural affections4 ,it sheds a diviner meaning1 a brighter aspect over the common face of earth and sky4 ,it throws a radiance of hope upon the toils and weariness of mortality4 ,it glories in tribulation4 ,it triumphs in death4 ,he who lives in the ,spirit cannot be a dull1 or peevish1 or melancholy man4 ,one with ,christ his heavenly ,lord1 he begins already to taste ,his joy1--a joy which none taketh away and which many sorrows cannot quench4 ,joy is the beaming countenance1 the elastic step1 the singing voice of ,christian goodness4 #c4 ,but joy is a thing of seasons4 ,it has its ebb and flow1 and would not be itself if it were constant4 ,it is crossed1 varied1 shadowed unceasingly4 ,on earth sorrow ever follows in its track1 as night chases day4 ,no one knew this better than ,paul4 ,sorrowful1 he says of himself 7#b ,cor4 vi4 #aj71 yet always rejoicing3 a continual alternation1 sorrow threatening every moment to extinguish1 but serving to enhance his joy4 ,joy leans upon her graver sister ,peace4 ,there is nothing fitful or febrile in the quality of ,peace4 ,it is a settled quiet of the heart1 a deep1 brooding mystery that passeth all understanding1 the stillness of eternity entering the spirit1 the ,sabbath of ,god 7,heb4 iv4 #i74 ,it is theirs who are justified by faith 7,rom4 v4 #a1 #b74 ,it is the bequest of ,jesus ,christ 7,john xiv4 #bg74 ,he made peace for us through the blood of ,his cross4 ,he has reconciled us with the eternal law1 with the ,will that rules all things without effort or disturbance4 ,we pass from the region of misrule and mad rebellion into the kingdom of the ,son of ,god's love1 with its ordered freedom1 its clear and tranquil light1 its central peace1 subsisting at the heart of endless agitation4 ,after the war of the passions1 after the tempests of doubt and fear1 ,christ has spoken1 ,peace1 be still6 ,a great calm spreads over the troubled waters2 wind and wave lie down hushed at ,his feet4 ,the demonic powers that lashed the soul into tumult1 vanish before ,his holy presence4 ,the ,spirit of ,jesus takes possession of mind and heart and will4 ,and ,his fruit is peace--always peace4 ,this one virtue takes the place of the manifold forms of contention which make life a chaos and a misery4 ,while ,he rules1 the peace of ,god guards the heart and thoughts and holds them safe from inward mutiny or outward assault2 and the dissolute1 turbulent train of the works of the flesh find the gates of the soul barred against them4 ,peace is the calm1 unruffled brow1 the poised and even temper which ,christian goodness wears4 #d4 ,the heart at peace with ,god has patience with men4 ,charity suffereth long4 ,she is not provoked by opposition2 nor soured by injustice2 no1 nor crushed by men's contempt4 ,she can afford to wait2 for truth and love will conquer in the end4 ,she knows in whose hand her cause is1 and remembers how long ,he has suffered the unbelief and rebellion of an insensate world2 she considers ,him that endured such contradiction of sinners against ,himself4 ,mercy and longsuffering are qualities that we share with ,god ,himself1 in which ,god was1 and is1 manifest in the flesh4 ,in this ripe fruit of the ,spirit there are joined the love of ,god1 and the patience of ,christ 7#b ,thess4 iii4 #e74 ,longsuffering is the patient magnanimity of ,christian goodness1 the broad shoulders on which it beareth all things 7#a ,cor4 xiii4 #g74 #e4 ,charity suffereth long and is kind4 ,gentleness 7or kindness1 as the word is more frequently and better rendered17 resembles longsuffering in finding its chief objects in the evil and unthankful4 ,but while the latter is passive and self-contained1 kindness is an active1 busy virtue4 ,she is moreover of a humble and tender spirit1 stooping to the lowest need1 thinking nothing too small in which she may help1 ready to give back blessing for cursing1 benefit for harm and wrong4 ,kindness is the thoughtful insight1 the delicate tact1 the gentle ministering hand of ,charity4 #f4 ,linked with kindness comes goodness1 which is its other self1 differing from it only as twin sisters may1 each fairer for the beauty of the other4 ,goodness is perhaps more affluent1 more catholic in its bounty2 kindness more delicate and discriminating4 ,the former looks to the benefit conferred1 seeking to make it as large and full as possible2 the latter has respect to the recipients1 and studies to suit their necessity4 ,while kindness makes its opportunities1 and seeks out the most needy and miserable1 goodness throws its doors open to all comers4 ,goodness is the more masculine and large-hearted form of charity2 and if it errs1 errs through blundering and want of tact4 ,kindness is the more feminine2 and may err through exclusiveness and narrowness of view4 ,united1 they are perfect4 ,goodness is the honest1 generous face1 the open hand of ,charity4 #g4 ,this procession of the ,virtues has conducted us1 in the order of ,divine grace1 from the thought of a loving1 forgiving ,god1 the ,object of our love1 our joy and peace1 to that of an evil-doing1 unhappy world1 with its need of longsuffering and kindness2 and we now come to the inner1 sacred circle of brethren beloved in ,christ1 where1 with goodness1 faith--that is1 trustfulness1 confidence--is called into exercise4 ,the ,authorised rendering faith seems to us in this instance preferable to the faithfulness of the ,revisers4 ,possibly1 says ,bishop ,lightfoot31 may here signify 'trustfulness1 reliance1' in one's dealings with others2 comp4 #a ,cor4 xiii4 #g3 we should prefer to say probably1 or even unmistakably1 to this4 ,the use of pistis in any other sense is rare and doubtful in ,paul's ,epistles4 ,it is true that ,god or ,christ is elsewhere implied as the object of faith2 but where the word stands1 as it does here1 in a series of qualities belonging to human relationships1 it finds1 in agreement with its current meaning1 another application4 ,as a link between goodness and meekness1 trustfulness1 and nothing else1 appears to be in place4 ,the parallel expression of #a ,cor4 xiii41 of which chapter we find so many echoes in the text1 we take to be decisive3 ,charity believeth all things4 ,the faith that unites man to ,god1 in turn joins man to his fellows4 ,faith in the ,divine ,fatherhood becomes trust in the human brotherhood4 ,in this generous attribute the ,galatians were sadly deficient4 ,honour all men1 wrote ,peter to them2 love the brotherhood 7#a ,pet4 ii4 #ag74 ,their factiousness and jealousies were the exact opposite of this fruit of the ,spirit4 ,little was there to be found in them of the love that envieth and vaunteth not1 which imputeth not evil1 nor rejoiceth in unrighteousness1 which beareth1 believeth1 hopeth1 endureth all things4 ,they needed more faith in man1 as well as in ,god4 ,the true heart knows how to trust4 ,he who doubts every one is even more deceived than the man who blindly confides in every one4 ,there is no more miserable vice than cynicism2 no man more ill-conditioned than he who counts all the world knaves or fools except himself4 ,this poison of mistrust1 this biting acid of scepticism is a fruit of irreligion4 ,it is one of the surest signs of social and national decay4 ,the ,christian man knows not only how to stand alone and to bear all things1 but also how to lean on others1 strengthening himself by their strength and supporting them in weakness4 ,he delights to think others better than himself2 and here meekness is one with faith4 ,his own goodness gives him an eye for everything that is best in those around him4 ,trustfulness is the warm1 firm clasp of friendship1 the generous and loyal homage which goodness ever pays to goodness4 #h4 ,meekness1 as we have seen1 is the other side of faith4 ,it is not tameness and want of spirit1 as those who judge after the flesh are apt to think4 ,nor is meekness the mere quietness of a retiring disposition4 ,the man ,moses was very meek1 above all the men which were upon the face of the earth4 ,it comports with the highest courage and activity2 and is a qualification for public leadership4 ,jesus ,christ stands before us as the perfect pattern of meekness4 ,i intreat you1 pleads the ,apostle with the self-asserting ,corinthians1 by the meekness and gentleness of ,christ6 ,meekness is self-repression in view of the claims and needs of others2 it is the charity which seeketh not her own1 looketh not to her own things1 but to the things of others4 ,for her1 self is of no account in comparison with ,christ and ,his kingdom1 and the honour of ,his brethren4 ,meekness is the content and quiet mien1 the willing self-effacement that is the mark of ,christlike goodness4 #i4 ,finally temperance1 or self-control1--third of ,plato's cardinal virtues4 ,by this last link the chain of the virtues1 at its higher end attached to the throne of the ,divine love and mercy1 is fastened firmly down into the actualities of daily habit and bodily regimen4 ,temperance1 to change the figure1 closes the array of the graces1 holding the post of the rear-guard which checks all straggling and protects the march from surprise and treacherous overthrow4 ,if meekness is the virtue of the whole man as he stands before his ,god and in the midst of his fellows1 temperance is that of his body1 the tenement and instrument of the regenerate spirit4 ,it is the antithesis of drunkenness and revellings1 which closed the list of works of the flesh1 just as the preceding graces1 from peace to meekness1 are opposed to the multiplied forms of enmity and strife4 ,amongst ourselves very commonly the same limited contrast is implied4 ,but to make temperance signify only or chiefly the avoidance of strong drink is miserably to narrow its significance4 ,it covers the whole range of moral discipline1 and concerns every sense and passion of our nature4 ,temperance is a practised mastery of self4 ,it holds the reins of the chariot of life4 ,it is the steady and prompt control of the outlooking sensibilities and appetencies1 and inwardly moving desires4 ,the tongue1 the hand and foot1 the eye1 the temper1 the tastes and affections1 all require in turn to feel its curb4 ,he is a temperate man1 in the ,apostle's meaning1 who holds himself well in hand1 who meets temptation as a disciplined army meets the shock of battle1 by skill and alertness and tempered courage baffling the forces that outnumber it4 ,this also is a fruit of the ,spirit--though we may count it the lowest and least1 yet as indispensable to our salvation as the love of ,god itself4 ,for the lack of this safeguard how many a saint has stumbled into folly and shame6 ,it is no small thing for the ,holy ,spirit to accomplish in us1 no mean prize for which we strive in seeking the crown of a perfect self-control4 ,this mastery over the flesh is in truth the rightful prerogative of the human spirit1 the dignity from which it fell through sin1 and which the gift of the ,spirit of ,christ restores4 ,and this virtue in a ,christian man is exercised for the behoof of others1 as well as for his own4 ,i keep my body under1 cries the ,apostle1 ,i make it my slave and not my master2 lest1 having preached to others1 ,i myself should be a castaway--that is self-regard1 mere common prudence2 but again1 ,it is good not to eat flesh1 nor drink wine1 nor to do anything whereby a brother is made to stumble or made weak 7#a ,cor4 ix4 #bg2 ,rom4 xiv4 #ba74 ,temperance is the guarded step1 the sober1 measured walk in which ,christian goodness keeps the way of life1 and makes straight paths for stumbling and straying feet4 ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,our ,,brother',s ,,burden ,,and ,,our ,,own4 ,brethren1 even if a man be overtaken in any trespass1 ye which are spiritual1 restore such a one in a spirit of meekness2 looking to thyself1 lest thou also be tempted4 ,bear ye one another's burdens1 and so fulfil the law of ,christ4 ,for if a man thinketh himself to be something1 when he is nothing1 he deceiveth himself4 ,but let each man prove his own work1 and then shall he have his glorying in regard of himself alone1 and not of his neighbour4 ,for each man shall bear his own burden4--,,gal4 vi4 #a-e4 ,the division of the chapters at this point is almost as unfortunate as that between chaps4 iv4 and v4 ,the introductory ,brethren is not a form of transition to a new topic2 it calls in the brotherly love of the ,galatians to put an end to the bickerings and recriminations which the ,apostle has censured in the preceding verses4 ,how unseemly for brethren to be vainglorious towards each other1 to be provoking and envying one another6 ,if they are spiritual men1 they should look more considerately on the faults of their neighbours1 more seriously on their own responsibilities4 ,the ,galatic temperament1 as we have seen1 was prone to the mischievous vanity which the ,apostle here reproves4 ,those who had1 or fancied they had1 some superiority over others in talent or in character1 prided themselves upon it4 ,even spiritual gifts were made matter of ostentation2 and display on the part of the more gifted excited the jealousy of inferior brethren4 ,the same disposition which manifests itself in arrogance on the one side1 on the other takes the form of discontent and envy4 ,the heart-burnings and the social tension which this state of things creates1 make every chance collision a danger2 and the slightest wound is inflamed into a rankling sore4 ,the stumbling brother is pushed on into a fall2 and the fallen man1 who might have been helped to his feet1 is left to lie there1 the object of unpitying reproach4 ,indeed1 the lapse of his neighbour is to the vainglorious man a cause of satisfaction rather than of sorrow4 ,the other's weakness serves for a foil to his strength4 ,instead of stooping down to restore such a one1 he holds stiffly aloof in the eminence of conscious virtue2 and bears himself more proudly in the lustre added to his piety by his fellow's disgrace4 ,god1 ,i thank ,thee1 he seems to say1 that ,i am not as other men1--nor even as this wretched backslider6 ,the compellation ,brethren is itself a rebuke to such heartless pride4 ,there are two reflections which should instantly correct the spirit of vain-glory4 ,the ,apostle appeals in the first place to brotherly love1 to the claims that an erring fellow-,christian has upon our sympathy1 to the meekness and forbearance which the ,spirit of grace inspires1 in fine to ,christ's law which makes compassion our duty4 ,at the same time he points out to us our own infirmity and exposure to temptation4 ,he reminds us of the weight of our individual responsibility and the final account awaiting us4 ,a proper sense at once of the rights of others and of our own obligations will make this shallow vanity impossible4 ,this double-edged exhortation takes shape in two leading sentences1 sharply clashing with each other in the style of paradox in which the ,apostle loves to contrast the opposite sides of truth3 ,bear ye one another's burdens 7ver4 #b72 and yet ,every man shall bear his own burden 7ver4 #e74 ,i4 ,what then are the considerations that commend the burdens of others for our bearing8 ,the burden the ,apostle has in view is that of a brother's trespass3 ,brethren1 if a man be overtaken in some trespass4 ,here the question arises as to whether ,paul means overtaken by the temptation1 or by the discovery of his sin--surprised into committing1 or in committing the trespass4 ,winer1 ,lightfoot1 and some other interpreters1 read the words in the latter sense3 surprised1 detected in the act of committing any sin1 so that his guilt is placed beyond a doubt 7,lightfoot74 ,we are persuaded1 notwithstanding1 that the common view of the text is the correct one4 ,the manner of the offender's detection has little to do with the way in which he should be treated2 but the circumstances of his fall have everything to do with it4 ,the suddenness1 the surprise of his temptation is both a reason for more lenient judgment1 and a ground for hope of his restoration4 ,the preposition in 771 it is urged1 stands in the way of this interpretation4 ,we might have expected to read 7surprised7 by1 or perhaps into 7any sin74 ,but the word is trespass1 not sin4 ,it points not to the cause of the man's fall1 but to the condition in which it has placed him4 ,the ,greek preposition 7according to a well known idiom of verbs of motion7#adc indicates the result of the unexpected assault to which the man has been subject4 ,a gust of temptation has caught him unawares2 and we now see him lying overthrown and prostrate1 involved in some trespass4 #adc ,for this pregnant force of see the grammarians3 ,moulton's ,winer1 pp4 #ead1 #e2 ,a4 ,buttmann1 pp4 #cbh1 #i4 7,eng4 ,ver474 ,the ,apostle is supposing an instance--possibly an actual case--in which the sin committed was due to weakness and surprise1 rather than deliberate intention2 like that of ,eve1 when the woman being beguiled fell into transgression4#add ,such a fall deserves commiseration4 ,the attack was unlooked for2 the man was off his guard4 ,the ,gallic nature is heedless and impulsive4 ,men of this temperament should make allowance for each other4 ,an offence committed in a rash moment1 under provocation1 must not be visited with implacable severity1 nor magnified until it become a fatal barrier between the evil-doer and society4 ,and ,paul says expressly1 ,if a man be overtaken--a delicate reminder of our human infirmity and common danger 7comp4 #a ,cor4 x4 #ac74 ,let us remember that it is a man who has erred1 of like passions with ourselves2 and his trespass will excite pity for him1 and apprehension for ourselves4 #add #a ,tim4 ii4 #ad3 the expression is parallel in point of grammar1 as well as sense2 4 ,such an effect the occurrence should have upon the spiritual1 on the men of love and peace1 who walk in the ,spirit4 ,the ,apostle's appeal is qualified by this definition4 ,vain and self-seeking men1 the irritable1 the resentful1 are otherwise affected by a neighbour's trespass4 ,they will be angry with him1 lavish in virtuous scorn2 but it is not in them to restore such a one4 ,they are more likely to aggravate than heal the wound1 to push the weak man down when he tries to rise1 than to help him to his feet4 ,the work of restoration needs a knowledge of the human heart1 a self-restraint and patient skill1 quite beyond their capability4 ,the restoration here signified1 denotes not only1 or not so much1 the man's inward1 spiritual renewal1 as his recovery for the ,church1 the mending of the rent caused by his removal4 ,in #a ,cor4 i4 #aj2 #b ,cor4 xiii4 #aa2 #a ,thess4 iii4 #aj1 where1 as in other places1 the ,english verb perfect enters into the rendering of 1 it gives the idea of re-adjustment1 the right fitting of part to part1 member to member1 in some larger whole4 ,writing to the ,corinthian ,church at this time respecting a flagrant trespass committed there1 for which the transgressor was now penitent1 the ,apostle bids its members confirm their love to him 7#b ,cor4 ii4 #e-aa74 ,so here the spiritual amongst the ,galatians are urged to make it their business to set right the lapsed brother1 to bring him back as soon and safely as might be to the fold of ,christ4 ,of all the fruits of the ,spirit1 meekness is most required for this office of restoration1 the meekness of ,christ the ,good ,shepherd--of ,paul who was gentle as a nurse amongst his children1 and even against the worst offenders preferred to come in love and a spirit of meekness1 rather than with a rod 7#a ,thess4 ii4 #g2 #a ,cor4 iv4 #ba74 ,to reprove without pride or acrimony1 to stoop to the fallen without the air of condescension1 requires the spirit of meekness in a singular degree4 ,such a bearing lends peculiar grace to compassion4 ,this gentleness of ,christ is one of the finest and rarest marks of the spiritual man4 ,the moroseness sometimes associated with religious zeal1 the disposition to judge hardly the failings of weaker men is anything but according to ,christ4 ,it is written of ,him1 ,a bruised reed shall ,he not break1 and the smoking flax shall ,he not quench 7,isa4 xlii4 #c2 ,matt xii4 #bj74 ,meekness becomes sinful men dealing with fellow-sinners4 ,considering thyself1 says the ,apostle1 lest thou also be tempted4 ,it is a noticeable thing that men morally weak in any given direction are apt to be the severest judges of those who err in the same respect1 just as people who have risen out of poverty are often the harshest towards the poor4 ,they wish to forget their own past1 and hate to be reminded of a condition from which they have suffered4 ,or is the judge1 in sentencing a kindred offender1 seeking to reinforce his own conscience and to give a warning to himself8 ,one is inclined sometimes to think so4 ,but reflection on our own infirmities should counteract1 instead of fostering censoriousness4 ,every man knows enough of himself to make him chary of denouncing others4 ,look to thyself1 cries the ,apostle4 ,thou hast considered thy brother's faults4 ,now turn thine eye inward1 and contemplate thine own4 ,hast thou never aforetime committed the offence with which he stands charged2 or haply yielded to the like temptation in a less degree8 ,or if not even that1 it may be thou art guilty of sins of another kind1 though hidden from human sight1 in the eyes of ,god no less heinous4 ,judge not1 said the ,judge of all the earth1 lest ye be judged4 ,with what measure ye mete1 it shall be measured unto you 7,matt4 vii4 #a-e74 ,this exhortation begins in general terms2 but in the latter clause of ver4 #a it passes into the individualising singular--looking to thyself1 lest even thou be tempted4 ,the disaster befalling one reveals the common peril2 it is a signal for every member of the ,church to take heed to himself4 ,the scrutiny which it calls for belongs to each man's private conscience4 ,and the faithfulness and integrity required in those who approach the wrongdoer with a view to his recovery1 must be chastened by personal solicitude4 ,the fall of a ,christian brother should be in any case the occasion of heart-searching1 and profound humiliation4 ,feelings of indifference towards him1 much more of contempt1 will prove the prelude of a worse overthrow for ourselves4 ,the burden of a brother's trespass is the most painful that can devolve upon a ,christian man4 ,but this is not the only burden we bring upon each other4 ,there are burdens of anxiety and sorrow1 of personal infirmity1 of family difficulty1 of business embarrassment1 infinite varieties and complications of trial in which the resources of brotherly sympathy are taxed4 ,the injunction of the ,apostle has an unlimited range4 ,that which burdens my friend and brother cannot be otherwise than a solicitude to me4 ,whatever it be that cripples him and hinders his running the race set before him1 ,i am bound1 according to the best of my judgement and ability1 to assist him to overcome it4 ,if ,i leave him to stagger on alone1 to sink under his load when my shoulder might have eased it for him1 the reproach will be mine4 ,this is no work of supererogation1 no matter of mere liking and choice4 ,i am not at liberty to refuse to share the burdens of the brotherhood4 ,bear ye one another's burdens1 ,paul says1 and so fulfil the law of ,christ4 ,this law the ,apostle has already cited and enforced against the contentions and jealousies rife in ,galatia 7ch4 v4 #ad1 #ae74 ,but it has a further application4 ,christ's law of love not only says1 ,thou shalt not bite and devour2 thou shalt not provoke and envy thy brother2 but also1 ,thou shalt help and comfort him1 and regard his burden as thine own4 ,this law makes of the ,church one body1 with a solidarity of interests and obligations4 ,it finds employment and discipline for the energy of ,christian freedom1 in yoking it to the service of the over-burdened4 ,it reveals the dignity and privilege of moral strength1 which consist not in the enjoyment of its own superiority1 but in its power to bear the infirmities of the weak4 ,this was the glory of ,christ1 who pleased not ,himself 7,rom4 xv4 #a-d74 ,the ,giver of the law is its great ,example4 ,being in the form of ,god1 ,he took the form of a servant1 that in love ,he might serve mankind2 ,he became obedient1 unto the death of the cross 7,phil4 ii4 #a-h74 ,justly is the inference drawn1 ,we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren 7#a ,john iii4 #af74 ,there is no limit to the service which the redeemed brotherhood of ,christ may expect from its members4 ,only this law must not be abused by the indolent and the overreaching1 by the men who are ready to throw their burdens on others and make every generous neighbour the victim of their dishonesty4 ,it is the need not the demand of our brother which claims our help4 ,we are bound to take care that it is his necessity to which we minister1 not his imposture or his slothfulness4 ,the warning that each man shall bear his own burden is addressed to those who receive1 as well as to those who render aid in the common burden-bearing of the ,church4 ,,ii4 ,the adjustment of social and individual duty is often far from easy1 and requires the nicest discernment and moral tact4 ,both are brought into view in this paragraph1 in its latter as well as in its former section4 ,but in vv4 #a1 #b the need of others1 in vv4 #c-e our personal responsibility forms the leading consideration4 ,we see on the one hand1 that a true self-regard teaches us to identify ourselves with the moral interests of others3 while1 on the other hand1 a false regard to others is excluded 7ver4 #d7 which disturbs the judgement to be formed respecting ourselves4 ,the thought of his own burden to be borne by each man now comes to the front of the exhortation4 ,ver4 #c stands between the two counterpoised estimates4 ,it is another shaft directed against ,galatian vain-glory1 and pointed with ,paul's keenest irony4 ,for if a man thinketh he is something1 being nothing he deceiveth himself4 ,this truth is very evident4 ,but what is its bearing on the matter in hand8 ,the maxim is advanced to support the foregoing admonition4 ,it was their self-conceit that led some of the ,apostle's readers to treat with contempt the brother who had trespassed2 he tells them that this opinion of theirs is a delusion1 a kind of mental hallucination 7 74 ,it betrays a melancholy ignorance4 ,the spiritual man who thinks himself to be something1 says to you1 ,i am quite above these weak brethren1 as you see4 ,their habits of life1 their temptations are not mine4 ,their sympathy would be useless to me4 ,and ,i shall not burden myself with their feebleness1 nor vex myself with their ignorance and rudeness4 ,if any man separates himself from the ,christian commonalty and breaks the ties of religious fellowship on grounds of this sort1 and yet imagines he is following ,christ1 he deceives himself4 ,others will see how little his affected eminence is worth4 ,some will humour his vanity2 many will ridicule or pity it2 few will be deceived by it4 ,the fact of a man's thinking himself to be something goes far to prove that he is nothing4 ,woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes1 and prudent in their own sight4 ,real knowledge is humble2 it knows its nothingness4 ,socrates1 when the oracle pronounced him the wisest man in ,greece1 at last discovered that the response was right1 inasmuch as he alone was aware that he knew nothing1 while other men were confident of their knowledge4 ,and a greater than ,socrates1 our ,all-wise1 ,all-holy ,saviour1 says to us1 ,learn of ,me1 for ,i am meek and lowly in heart4 ,it is in humility and dependence1 in self-forgetting that true wisdom begins4 ,who are we1 although the most refined or highest in place1 that we should despise plain1 uncultured members of the ,church1 those who bear life's heavier burdens and amongst whom our ,saviour spent ,his days on earth1 and treat them as unfit for our company1 unworthy of fellowship with us in ,christ8 ,they are themselves the greatest losers who neglect to fulfil ,christ's law4 ,such men might learn from their humbler brethren1 accustomed to the trials and temptations of a working life and a rough world1 how to bear more worthily their own burdens4 ,how foolish of the eye to say to the hand or foot1 ,i have no need of thee6 ,god hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith4 ,there are truths of which they are our best teachers--priceless lessons of the power of ,divine grace and the deep things of ,christian experience4 ,this isolation robs the poorer members of the ,church in their turn of the manifold help due to them from communion with those more happily circumstanced4 ,how many of the evils around us would be ameliorated1 how many of our difficulties would vanish1 if we could bring about a truer ,christian fraternisation1 if caste-feeling in our ,english ,church-life were once destroyed1 if men would lay aside their stiffness and social hauteur1 and cease to think that they are something on grounds of worldly distinction and wealth which in ,christ are absolutely nothing4 ,the vain conceit of their superiority indulged in by some of his readers1 the ,apostle further corrects by reminding the self-deceivers of their own responsibility4 ,the irony of ver4 #c passes into a sterner tone of warning in vv4 #d and #e4 ,let each man try his own work1 he cries4 ,judge yourselves1 instead of judging one another4 ,mind your own duty1 rather than your neighbours' faults4 ,do not think of your worth or talents in comparison with theirs2 but see to it that your work is right4 ,the question for each of us is not1 ,what do others fail to do8 but1 ,what am ,i myself really doing8 ,what will my life's work amount to1 when measured by that which ,god expects from me8 ,this question shuts each man up within his own conscience4 ,it anticipates the final judgement-day4 ,every one of us must give account of himself to ,god 7,rom4 xiv4 #ab74 ,reference to the conduct of others is here out of place4 ,the petty comparisons which feed our vanity and our class-prejudices are of no avail at the bar of ,god4 ,i may be able for every fault of my own to find some one else more faulty4 ,but this makes me no whit better4 ,it is the intrinsic1 not the comparative worth of character and daily work of which ,god takes account4 ,if we study our brother's work1 it should be with a view to enable him to do it better1 or to learn to improve our own by his example2 not in order to find excuses for ourselves in his shortcomings4 ,and then--if our work abide the test--we shall have our glorying in ourselves alone1 not in regard to our neighbour4 ,not his flaws and failures1 but my own honest work will be the ground of my satisfaction4 ,this was ,paul's glorying in face of the slanders by which he was incessantly pursued4 ,it lay in the testimony of his conscience4 ,he lived under the severest self-scrutiny4 ,he knew himself as the man only can who knows the fear of the ,lord1 who places himself every day before the dread tribunal of ,christ ,jesus4 ,he is made manifest unto ,god2 and in the light of that searching ,presence he can affirm that he knows nothing against himself4#ade ,but this boast makes him humble4 ,by the grace of ,god he is enabled to have his conversation in the world in holiness and sincerity coming of ,god4 ,if he had seemed to claim any credit for himself1 he at once corrects the thought3 ,yet not ,i1 he says1 but ,god's grace that was with me4 ,i have my glorying in ,christ ,jesus in the things pertaining to ,god1 in that which ,christ hath wrought in me 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #aj2 ,rom4 xv4 #af-ai74 #ade #a ,cor4 iv4 #a-e2 #b ,cor4 i4 #ab2 v4 #aj-ab4 ,so that this boast of the ,apostle1 in which he invites the vainglorious ,galatians to secure a share1 resolves itself after all into his one boast1 in the cross of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ 7ver4 #ad74 ,if his work on trial should prove to be gold1 abiding amongst the world's imperishable treasures and fixed foundations of truth 7#a ,cor4 iii4 #aj-ae71 ,christ only was to be praised for this4 ,paul's glorying is the opposite of the ,legalist's1 who presumes on his works as his own achievements1 commending him for righteous before ,god4 ,justified by works1 such a man hath whereof to glory1 but not toward ,god 7,rom4 iv4 #b74 ,his boasting redounds to himself4 ,whatever glory belongs to the work of the ,christian must be referred to ,god4 ,such work furnishes no ground for magnifying the man at the expense of his fellows4 ,if we praise the stream1 it is to commend the fountain4 ,if we admire the lives of the saints and celebrate the deeds of the heroes of faith1 it is ad majorem ,dei gloriam--that in all things ,god may be glorified through ,jesus ,christ 7#a ,pet4 iv4 #aa74 ,for each will bear his own load4 ,here is the ultimate reason for the self-examination to which the ,apostle has been urging his readers1 in order to restrain their vanity4 ,the emphatic repetition of the words each man in vv4 #d and #e brings out impressively the personal character of the account to be rendered4 ,at the same time1 the deeper sense of our own burdens thus awakened will help to stir in us sympathy for the loads under which our fellows labour4 ,so that this warning indirectly furthers the appeal for sympathy with which the chapter began4 ,faithful scrutiny of our work may give us reasons for satisfaction and gratitude towards ,god4 ,but it will yield matter of another kind4 ,it will call to remembrance old sins and follies1 lost opportunities1 wasted powers1 with their burden of regret and humiliation4 ,it will set before us the array of our obligations1 the manifold tasks committed to us by our heavenly ,master1 compelling us to say1 ,who is sufficient for these things8 ,and beside the reproofs of the past and the stern demands of the present1 there sounds in the soul's ear the message of the future1 the summons to our final reckoning4 ,each of us has his own life-load1 made up of this triple burden4 ,a thousand varying circumstances and individual experiences go to constitute the ever-growing load which we bear with us from youth to age1 like the wayfarer his bundle1 like the soldier his knapsack and accoutrements--the individual lot1 the peculiar untransferable vocation and responsibility fastened by the hand of ,god upon our shoulders4 ,this burden we shall have to carry up to ,christ's judgement-seat4 ,he is our ,master2 ,he alone can give us our discharge4 ,his lips must pronounce the final ,well done--or1 ,thou wicked and slothful servant6 ,in this sentence the ,apostle employs a different word from that used in ver4 #b4 ,there he was thinking of the weight1 the burdensomeness of our brother's troubles1 which we haply may lighten for him1 and which is so far common property4 ,but the second word1 7applied for instance to a ship's lading71 indicates that which is proper to each in the burdens of life4 ,there are duties that we have no power to devolve1 cares and griefs that we must bear in secret1 problems that we must work out severally and for ourselves4 ,to consider them aright1 to weigh well the sum of our duty will dash our self-complacency2 it will surely make us serious and humble4 ,let us wake up from dreams of self-pleasing to an earnest1 manly apprehension of life's demands--while1 like the ,apostle1 we look not at the things which are seen1 but at the things which are not seen and eternal 7#b ,cor4 iv4 #ah74 99 99 99 99 99 ,after all1 it is the men who have the highest standard for themselves that as a rule are most considerate in their estimate of others4 ,the holiest are the most pitiful4 ,they know best how to enter into the struggles of a weaker brother4 ,they can appreciate his unsuccessful resistance to temptation2 they can discern where and how he has failed1 and how much of genuine sorrow there is in his remorse4 ,from the fulness of their own experience they can interpret a possibility of better things in what excites contempt in those who judge by appearance and by conventional rules4 ,he who has learned faithfully to consider himself and meekly to bear his own burden1 is most fit to do the work of ,christ1 and to shepherd ,his tempted and straying sheep4 ,strict with ourselves1 we shall grow wise and gentle in our care for others4 ,in the ,christian conscience the sense of personal and that of social responsibility serve each to stimulate and guard the other4 ,duty and sympathy1 love and law are fused into one4 ,for ,christ is all in all2 and these two hemispheres of life unite in ,him4 ,,chapter ,,xxvii4 ,,sowing ,,and ,,reaping4 ,but let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things4 ,be not deceived2 ,god is not mocked3 for whatsoever a man soweth1 that shall he also reap4 ,for he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption2 but he that soweth unto the ,spirit shall of the ,spirit reap eternal life4 ,and let us not be weary in well-doing3 for in due season we shall reap1 if we faint not4 ,so then1 as we have opportunity1 let us work that which is good toward all men1 and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith--,,gal4 vi4 #f-aj4 ,each shall bear his own burden 7ver4 #e7--;but let there be communion of disciple with teacher in all that is good4 ,the latter sentence is clearly intended to balance the former4 ,the transition turns upon the same antithesis between social and individual responsibility that occupied us in the foregoing ,chapter4 ,but it is now presented on another side4 ,in the previous passage it concerned the conduct of the spiritual toward erring brethren whom they were tempted to despise2 here1 their behaviour toward teachers whom they were disposed to neglect4 ,there it is inferiors1 here superiors that are in view4 ,the ,galatian vain-glory manifested itself alike in provocation toward the former1 and in envy toward the latter 7ch4 v4 #bf74 ,in both ways it bred disaffection1 and threatened to break up the ,church's unity4 ,the two effects are perfectly consistent4 ,those who are harsh in their dealings with the weak1 are commonly rude and insubordinate toward their betters1 where they dare to be so4 ,self-conceit and self-sufficiency engender in the one direction a cold contempt1 in the other a jealous independence4 ,the former error is corrected by a due sense of our own infirmities2 the latter by the consideration of our responsibility to ,god4 ,we are compelled to feel for the burdens of others when we realise the weight of our own4 ,we learn to respect the claims of those placed over us1 when we remember what we owe to ,god through them4 ,personal responsibility is the last word of the former paragraph2 social responsibility is the first word of this4 ,such is the contrast marked by the transitional ,but4 ,from this point of view ver4 #f gains a very comprehensive sense4 ,all good things cannot surely be limited to the carnal things of #a ,cor4 ix4 #aa4 ,as ,meyer and ,beet amongst recent commentators clearly show1 the context gives to this phrase a larger scope4 ,at the same time1 there is no necessity to exclude the thought of temporal good4 ,the ,apostle designedly makes his appeal as wide as possible4 ,the reasoning of the corresponding passage in the ,corinthian letter is a deduction from the general principle laid down here4 ,but it is spiritual fellowship that the ,apostle chiefly desiderates4 ,the true minister of ,christ counts this vastly more sacred1 and has this interest far more at heart than his own temporalities4 ,he labours for the unity of the ,church2 he strives to secure the mutual sympathy and co-operation of all orders and ranks-- teachers and taught1 officers and private members--in every good word and work4 ,he must have the heart of his people with him in his work1 or his joy will be faint and his success scant indeed4 ,christian teaching is designed to awaken this sympathetic response4 ,and it will take expression in the rendering of whatever kind of help the gifts and means of the hearer and the needs of the occasion call for4 ,paul requires every member of the ,body of ,christ to make her wants and toils his own4 ,we have no right to leave the burdens of the ,church's work to her leaders1 to expect her battles to be fought and won by the officers alone4 ,this neglect has been the parent of innumerable mischiefs4 ,indolence in the laity fosters sacerdotalism in the clergy4 ,but when1 on the contrary1 an active1 sympathetic union is maintained between him that is taught and him that teacheth1 that other matter of the temporal support of the ,christian ministry1 to which this text is so often exclusively referred1 comes in as a necessary detail1 to be generously and prudently arranged1 but which will not be felt on either side as a burden or a difficulty4 ,everything depends on the fellowship of spirit1 on the strength of the bond of love that knits together the members of the ,body of ,christ4 ,here1 in ,galatia1 that bond had been grievously weakened4 ,in a ,church so disturbed1 the fellowship of teachers and taught was inevitably strained4 ,such communion the ,apostle craves from his children in the faith with an intense yearning4 ,this is the one fruit of ,god's grace in them which he covets to reap for himself1 and feels he has a right to expect4 ,be ye as ,i am1 he cries--do not desert me1 my children1 for whom ,i travail in birth4 ,let me not have to toil for you in vain 7ch4 iv4 #ab-ai74 ,so again1 writing to the ,corinthians3 ,it was ,i that begat you in ,christ ,jesus2 ,i beseech you then1 be followers of me4 ,let me remind you of my ways in the ,lord4444 ,o ye ,corinthians1 to you our mouth is open1 our heart enlarged4 ,pay me back in kind 7you are my children71 and be ye too enlarged 7#a ,cor4 iv4 #ad-ag2 #b ,cor4 vi4 #aa-ac74 ,he thanks ,god for the ,philippians on every remembrance of them1 and makes his supplication for them with joy1 because of their fellowship in regard to the gospel from the first day until now 7,phil4 i4 #c-g74 ,such is the fellowship which ,paul wished to see restored in the ,galatian ,churches4 ,in ver4 #aj he extends his appeal to embrace in it all the kindly offices of life4 ,for the love inspired by the ,church1 the service rendered to her1 should quicken all our human sympathies and make us readier to meet every claim of pity or affection4 ,while our sympathies1 like those of a loving family1 will be concerned especially with the household of faith1 and within that circle more especially with our pastors and teachers in ,christ1 they have no limit but that of opportunity2 they should work that which is good toward all men4 ,true zeal for the ,church widens instead of narrowing1 our charities4 ,household affection is the nursery1 not the rival1 of love to our fatherland and to humanity4 ,now the ,apostle is extremely urgent in this matter of communion between teachers and taught4 ,it concerns the very life of the ,christian community4 ,the welfare of the ,church and the progress of the kingdom of ,god depend on the degree to which its individual members accept their responsibility in its affairs4 ,ill-will towards ,christian teachers is paralyzing in its effects on the ,church's life4 ,greatly are they to blame1 if their conduct gives rise to discontent4 ,only less severe is the condemnation of those in lower place who harbour in themselves and foster in the minds of others sentiments of disloyalty4 ,to cherish this mistrust1 to withhold our sympathy from him who serves us in spiritual things1 this1 the ,apostle declares1 is not merely a wrong done to the man1 it is an affront to ,god ,himself4 ,if it be ,god's ,word that ,his servant teaches1 then ,god expects some fitting return to be made for the gift ,he has bestowed4 ,of that return the pecuniary contribution1 the meed of carnal things with which so many seem to think their debt discharged1 is often the least and easiest part4 ,how far have men a right to be hearers--profited and believing hearers--in the ,christian congregation1 and yet decline the duties of ,church fellowship8 ,they eat the ,church's bread1 but will not do her work4 ,they expect like children to be fed and nursed and waited on2 they think that if they pay their minister tolerably well1 they have communicated with him quite sufficiently4 ,this apathy has much the same effect as the ,galatian bickerings and jealousies4 ,it robs the ,church of the help of the children whom she has nourished and brought up4 ,those who act thus are trying in reality to mock ,god4 ,they expect ,him to sow his bounties upon them1 but will not let ,him reap4 ,they refuse ,him the return that ,he most requires for ,his choicest benefits4 ,now1 the ,apostle says1 ,god is not to be defrauded in this way4 ,men may wrong each other2 they may grieve and affront ,his ministers4 ,but no man is clever enough to cheat ,god4 ,it is not ,him1 it is themselves they will prove to have deceived4 ,vain and selfish men who take the best that ,god and man can do for them as though it were a tribute to their greatness1 envious and restless men who break the ,church's fellowship of peace1 will reap at last even as they sow4 ,the mischief and the loss may fall on others now2 but in its full ripeness it will come in the end upon themselves4 ,the final reckoning awaits us in another world4 ,and as we act by ,god and by ,his ,church now1 in our day1 so ,he will act hereafter by us in ,his day4 ,thus the ,apostle1 in vv4 #f and #g1 places this matter in the searching light of eternity4 ,he brings to bear upon it one of the great spiritual maxims characteristic of his teaching4 ,paul's unique influence as a religious teacher lies in his mastery of principles of this kind1 in the keenness of insight and the incomparable vigour with which he applies eternal truths to commonplace occurrences4 ,the paltriness and vulgarity of these local broils and disaffections lend to his warning a more severe impressiveness4 ,with what a startling and sobering force1 one thinks1 the rebuke of these verses must have fallen on the ears of the wrangling ,galatians6 ,how unspeakably mean their quarrels appear in the light of the solemn issues opening out before them6 ,it was ,god whom their folly had presumed to mock4 ,it was the harvest of eternal life of which their factiousness threatened to defraud them4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the principle on which this warning rests is stated in terms that give it universal application3 ,whatsoever a man soweth1 that shall he also reap4 ,this is in fact the postulate of all moral responsibility4 ,it asserts the continuity of personal existence1 the connection of cause and effect in human character4 ,it makes man the master of his own destiny4 ,it declares that his future doom hangs upon his present choice1 and is in truth its evolution and consummation4 ,the twofold lot of corruption or life eternal is in every case no more1 and no less1 than the proper harvest of the kind of sowing practised here and now4 ,the use made of our seed-time determines exactly1 and with a moral certainty greater even than that which rules in the natural field1 what kind of fruitage our immortality will render4 ,this great axiom deserves to be looked at in its broadest aspect4 ,it involves the following considerations3-- ,i4 ,our present life is the seed-time of an eternal harvest4 ,each recurring year presents a mirror of human existence4 ,the analogy is a commonplace of the world's poetry4 ,the spring is in every land a picture of youth--its morning freshness and innocence1 its laughing sunshine1 its opening blossoms1 its bright and buoyant energy2 and1 alas1 oftentimes its cold winds and nipping frosts and early1 sudden blight6 ,summer images a vigorous manhood1 with all the powers in action and the pulses of life beating at full swing2 when the dreams of youth are worked out in sober1 waking earnest2 when manly strength is tested and matured under the heat of mid-day toil1 and character is disciplined1 and success or failure in life's battle must be determined4 ,then follows mellow autumn1 season of shortening days and slackening steps and gathering snows2 season too of ripe experience1 of chastened thought and feeling1 of widened influence and clustering honours4 ,and the story ends in the silence and winter of the grave6 ,ends8 ,nay1 that is a new beginning6 ,this whole round of earthly vicissitude is but a single spring-time4 ,it is the mere childhood of man's existence1 the threshold of the vast house of life4 ,the oldest and wisest man amongst us is only a little child in the reckoning of eternity4 ,the ,apostle ,paul counted himself no more4 ,we know in part1 he says2 we prophesy in part--talking1 reasoning like children4 ,we shall become men1 seeing face to face1 knowing as we are known 7#a ,cor4 xiii4 #h1 #aa1 #ab74 ,do we not ourselves feel this in our higher moods8 ,there is an instinct of immortality1 a forecasting of some ampler existence1 a stirring of blind life within the soul2 there are visionary gleams of an unearthly ,paradise haunting at times the busiest and most unimaginative men4 ,we are intelligences in the germ1 lying folded up in the chrysalis stage of our existence4 ,eyes1 wings are still to come4 ,it doth not yet appear what we shall be1 no more than he who had seen but the seed-sowing of early spring and the bare wintry furrows1 could imagine what the golden1 waving harvest would be like4 ,there is a glorious1 everlasting kingdom of heaven1 a world which in its duration1 its range of action and experience1 its style of equipment and occupation1 will be worthy of the elect children of ,god4 ,worship1 music1 the purest passages of human affection and of moral elevation1 may give us some foretaste of its joys4 ,but what it will be really like1 ,eye hath not seen1 nor ear heard2 nor heart of man conceived4 ,think of that1 struggling heart1 worn with labour1 broken by sorrow1 cramped and thwarted by the pressure of an unkindly world4 ,the earnest expectancy of the creation waits for your revealing 7,rom4 viii4 #ai74 ,you will have your enfranchisement2 your soul will take wing at last4 ,only have faith in ,god1 and in righteousness2 only be not weary in well-doing4 ,those crippled powers will get their full play4 ,those baffled purposes and frustrated affections will unfold and blossom into a completeness undreamed of now1 in the sunshine of heaven1 in the liberty of the glory of the sons of ,god4 ,why look for your harvest here6 ,it is ,march1 not ,august yet4 ,in due season we shall reap1 if we faint not4 ,see to it that you sow to the ,spirit1 that your life be of the true seed of the kingdom2 and for the rest1 have no care nor fear4 ,what should we think of the farmer who in winter1 when his fields were frost-bound1 should go about wringing his hands and crying that his labour was all lost6 ,are we wiser in our despondent moods8 ,however dreary and unpromising1 however poor and paltry in its outward seeming the earthly seed-time1 your life's work will have its resurrection4 ,heaven lies hidden in those daily acts of humble1 difficult duty1 even as the giant oak with its centuries of growth and all its summer glory sleeps in the acorn-cup4 ,no eye may see it now2 but the ,day will declare it6 ,,ii4 ,in the second place1 the quality of the future harvest depends entirely on the present sowing4 ,in quantity1 as we have seen1 in outward state and circumstance1 there is a complete contrast4 ,the harvest surpasses the seed from which it sprang1 by thirty1 sixty or a hundred-fold4 ,but in quality we find a strict agreement4 ,in degree they may differ infinitely2 in kind they are one4 ,the harvest multiplies the effect of the sower's labour2 but it multiplies exactly that effect1 and nothing else4 ,this law runs through all life4 ,if we could not count upon it1 labour would be purposeless and useless2 we should have to yield ourselves passively to nature's caprice4 ,the farmer sows wheat in his cornfield1 the gardener plants and trains his fig-tree2 and he gets wheat1 or figs1 for his reward--nothing else4 ,or is he a sluggard that will not plow by reason of the cold8 ,does he let weeds and thistledown have the run of his garden-plot8 ,then it yields him a plentiful harvest of thistles and of weeds6 ,what could he expect8 ,men do not gather grapes of thorns1 or figs of thistles4 ,from the highest to the lowest order of living things1 each grows and fructifies after its kind4 ,this is the rule of nature1 the law which constituted ,nature at the beginning4 ,the good tree brings forth good fruit2 and the good seed makes the good tree4 ,all this has its moral counterpart4 ,the law of reproduction in kind holds equally true of the relation of this life to the next4 ,eternity for us will be the multiplied1 consummated outcome of the good or evil of the present life4 ,hell is just sin ripe--rotten ripe4 ,heaven is the fruitage of righteousness4 ,there will be two kinds of reaping1 the ,apostle tells us1 because there are two different kinds of sowing4 ,he that soweth to his flesh1 shall of the flesh reap corruption3 there is nothing arbitrary or surprising in that4 ,corruption--the moral decay and dissolution of the man's being--is the natural retributive effect of his carnality4 ,and he that soweth to the ,spirit1 shall of the ,spirit reap life everlasting4 ,here1 too1 the sequence is inevitable4 ,like breeds its like4 ,life springs of life2 and death eternal is the culmination of the soul's present death to ,god and goodness4 ,the future glory of the saints is at once a ,divine reward1 and a necessary development of their present faithfulness4 ,and eternal life lies germinally contained in faith's earliest beginning1 when it is but as a grain of mustard seed4 ,we may expect in our final state the outcome of our present conduct1 as certainly as the farmer who puts wheat into his furrows in ,november will count on getting wheat out of them again next ,august4 ,under this law of the harvest we are living at this moment1 and sowing every day the seed of an immortality of honour or of shame4 ,life is the seed-plot of eternity2 and youth is above all the seed-time of life4 ,what are our children doing with these precious1 vernal years8 ,what is going into their minds8 ,what ideas1 what desires are rooting themselves in these young souls8 ,if it be pure thoughts and true affections1 love to ,god1 self-denial1 patience and humility1 courage to do what is right--if these be the things that are sown in their hearts1 there will be for them1 and for us1 a glorious harvest of wisdom and love and honour in the years to come1 and in the day of eternity4 ,but if sloth and deceit be there1 and unholy thoughts1 vanity and envy and self-indulgence1 theirs will be a bitter harvesting4 ,men talk of sowing their wild oats1 as though that were an end of it2 as though a wild and prodigal youth might none the less be followed by a sober manhood and an honoured old age4 ,but it is not so4 ,if wild oats have been sown1 there will be wild oats to reap1 as certainly as autumn follows spring4 ,for every time the youth deceives parent or teacher1 let him know that he will be deceived by the ,father of lies a hundred times4 ,for every impure thought or dishonourable word1 shame will come upon him sixty-fold4 ,if his mind be filled with trash and refuse1 then trash and refuse are all it will be able to produce4 ,if the good seed be not timely sown in his heart1 thorns and nettles will sow themselves there fast enough2 and his soul will become like the sluggard's garden1 rank with base weeds and poison-plants1 a place where all vile things will have their resort1--rejected and nigh unto a curse4 ,who is he that soweth to his own flesh8 ,it is1 in a word1 the selfish man4 ,he makes his personal interest1 and as a rule his bodily pleasure1 directly or ultimately1 the object of life4 ,the sense of responsibility to ,god1 the thought of life as a stewardship of which one must give account1 have no place in his mind4 ,he is a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of ,god4 ,his desires1 unfixed on ,god1 steadily tend downwards4 ,idolatry of self becomes slavery to the flesh4 ,every act of selfish pleasure-seeking1 untouched by nobler aims1 weakens and worsens the soul's life4 ,the selfish man gravitates downward into the sensual man2 the sensual man downward into the bottomless pit4 ,this is the minding of the flesh which is death 7,rom4 viii4 #e-h1 #ac74 ,for it is enmity against ,god and defiance of ,his law4 ,it overthrows the course of nature1 the balance of our human constitution2 it brings disease into the frame of our being4 ,the flesh1 unsubdued and uncleansed by the virtue of the ,spirit1 breeds corruption4 ,its predominance is the sure presage of death4 ,the process of decay begins already1 this side the grave2 and it is often made visible by appalling signs4 ,the bloated face1 the sensual leer1 the restless1 vicious eye1 the sullen brow tell us what is going on within4 ,the man's soul is rotting in his body4 ,lust and greed are eating out of him the capacity for good4 ,and if he passes on to the eternal harvest as he is1 if that fatal corruption is not arrested1 what doom can possibly await such a man but that of which our merciful ,saviour spoke so plainly that we might tremble and escape--the worm that dieth not1 and the fire that is not quenched6 ,,iii4 ,and finally1 ,god ,himself is the ,lord of the moral harvest4 ,the rule of retribution1 the nexus that binds together our sowing and our reaping1 is not something automatic and that comes about of itself2 it is directed by the will of ,god1 who worketh all in all4 ,even in the natural harvest we look upwards to ,him4 ,the order and regularity of nature1 the fair procession of the seasons waiting on the silent and majestic march of the heavens1 have in all ages directed thinking and grateful men to the ,supreme ,giver1 to the creative ,mind and sustaining ,will that sits above the worlds4 ,as ,paul reminded the untutored ,lycaonians1 ,he hath not left ,himself without witness1 in that ,he gave us rains from heaven and fruitful seasons1 filling our hearts with food and gladness4 ,it is ,god that gives the increase of the husbandman's toil1 of the merchant's forethought1 of the artist's genius and skill4 ,we do not sing our harvest songs1 with our ,pagan forefathers1 to sun and rain and west wind1 to mother ,earth and the mystic powers of ,nature4 ,in these poetic idolatries were yet blended higher thoughts and a sense of ,divine beneficence4 ,but to us there is one ,god1 the ,father1 of whom are all things1 and we for ,him2 and one ,lord1 ,jesus ,christ1 through whom are all things1 and we through ,him4 ,in the harvest of the earth man is a worker together with ,god4 ,the farmer does his part1 fulfilling the conditions ,god has laid down in nature2 he putteth in the wheat in rows1 and the barley in its appointed place2 for his ,god doth instruct him aright1 and doth teach him4 ,he tills the ground1 he sows the seed--and there he leaves it to ,god4 ,he sleeps and rises night and day2 and the seed springs and grows up1 he knows not how4 ,and the wisest man of science cannot tell him how4 ,god giveth it a body1 as it hath pleased ,him4 ,but how--that is ,his own secret1 which ,he seems likely to keep4 ,all life in its growth1 as in its inception1 is a mystery1 hid with ,christ in ,god4 ,every seed sown in field or garden is a deposit committed to the faithfulness of ,god2 which ,he honours by raising it up again1 thirty1 sixty1 or a hundred-fold1 in the increase of the harvest4 ,in the moral world this ,divine co-operation is the more immediate1 as the field of action lies nearer1 if one may so say1 to the nature of ,god ,himself4 ,the earthly harvest may1 and does often fail4 ,storms waste it2 blights canker it2 drought withers1 or fire consumes it4 ,industry and skill1 spent in years of patient labour1 are doomed not unfrequently to see their reward snatched from them4 ,the very abundance of other lands deprives our produce of its value4 ,the natural creation was made subject to vanity4 ,its frustration and disappointment are over-ruled for higher ends4 ,but in the spiritual sphere there are no casualties1 no room for accident or failure4 ,here life comes directly into contact with the ,living ,god1 its fountain2 and its laws partake of ,his absoluteness4 ,each act of faith1 of worship1 of duty and integrity1 is a compact between the soul and ,god4 ,we commit our souls in well-doing unto a faithful ,creator 7#a ,pet4 iv4 #ai74 ,by every such volition the heart is yielding itself to the direction of the ,divine ,spirit4 ,it sows unto the ,spirit1 whenever in thought or deed ,his prompting is obeyed and ,his will made the law of life4 ,and as in the soil1 by the ,divine chemistry of nature1 the tiny germ is nursed and fostered out of sight1 till it lifts itself from the sod a lovely flower1 a perfect fruit1 so in the order of grace it will prove that from the smallest seeds of goodness in human hearts1 from the feeblest beginnings of the life of faith1 from the lowliest acts of love and service1 ,god in due season will raise up a glorious harvest for which heaven itself will be the richer4 ,,the ,,epilogue4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 #aa-ah4 ,,chapter ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,false ,,and ,,the ,,true ,,glorying4 ,see with how large letters ,i write unto you with mine own hand4 ,as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh1 they compel you to be circumcised2 only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of ,christ4 ,for not even they who receive circumcision do themselves keep the law2 but they desire to have you circumcised1 that they may glory in your flesh4 ,but far be it from me to glory1 save in the cross of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 through which the world hath been crucified unto me1 and ,i unto the world4--,,gal4 vi4 #aa-ad4 ,the rendering of ver4 #aa in the ,authorised ,version is clearly erroneous 7see how large a letter74 ,wickliff1 guided by the ,latin ,vulgate--with what maner lettris--escaped this error4 ,it is a plural term the ,apostle uses1 which occasionally in ,greek writers denotes an epistle 7as in ,acts xxviii4 #ba71 but nowhere else in ,paul4 ,moreover the noun is in the dative 7instrumental7 case1 and cannot be made the object of the verb4 ,paul draws attention at this point to his penmanship1 to the size of the letters he is using and their autographic form4 ,see1 he says1 ,i write this in large characters1 and under my own hand4 ,but does this remark apply to the whole ,epistle1 or to its concluding paragraph from this verse onwards8 ,to the latter only1 as we think4 ,the word look is a kind of nota bene4 ,it marks something new1 designed by its form and appearance in the manuscript to arrest the eye4 ,it was ,paul's practice to write through an amanuensis1 adding with his own hand a few final words of greeting or blessing1 by way of authentication4#adf ,here this usage is varied4 ,the ,apostle wishes to give these closing sentences the utmost possible emphasis and solemnity4 ,he would print them on the very heart and soul of his readers4 ,this intention explains the language of ver4 #aa2 and it is borne out by the contents of the verses that follow4 ,they are a postscript1 or ,epilogue1 to the ,epistle1 rehearsing with incisive brevity the burden of all that it was in the ,apostle's heart to say to these troubled and shaken ,galatians4 #adf ,see #b ,thess4 iii4 #ag1 #ah2 #a ,cor4 xvi4 #ba-bc4 ,in ver4 #bb of the latter passage we can trace a similar autographic message1 on a smaller scale4 ,comp4 also ,philemon #ai4 ,the past tense of the verb 7literally1 ,i have written3 7 is in accordance with ,greek epistolary idiom4 ,the writer associates himself with his readers4 ,when the letter comes to them1 ,paul has written what they now peruse4 ,on the assumption that the whole ,epistle is autographic it is hard to see what object the large characters would serve1 or why they should be referred to just at this point4 ,ver4 #aa is in fact a sensational heading4 ,the last paragraph of the ,epistle is penned in larger type and in the ,apostle's characteristic hand1 in order to fasten the attention of these impressionable ,galatians upon his final deliverance4 ,this device ,paul employs but once4 ,it is a kind of practice easily vulgarised and that loses its force by repetition1 as in the case of loud printing and declamatory speech4 ,in this emphatic final the interest of the ,epistle1 so powerfully sustained and carried through so many stages1 is raised to a yet higher pitch4 ,its pregnant sentences give us--first1 another and still severer denunciation of the troublers 7vv4 #ab1 #ac72 secondly1 a renewed protestation of the ,apostle's devotion to the cross of ,christ 7vv4 #ad1 #ae72 thirdly1 a repetition in animated style of the practical doctrine of ,christianity1 and a blessing pronounced upon those who are faithful to it 7vv4 #ae1 #af74 ,a pathetic reference to the writer's personal sufferings1 followed by the customary benediction1 brings the letter to a close4 ,the first two topics of the ,epilogue stand in immediate contrast with each other4 ,i4 ,the glorying of the ,apostle's adversaries4 ,they would have you circumcised1 that they may glory in your flesh 7ver4 #ab74 ,this is the climax of his reproach against them4 ,it gives us the key to their character4 ,the boast measures the man4 ,the aim of the ,legalists was to get so many ,gentiles circumcised1 to win proselytes through ,christianity to ,judaism4 ,every ,christian brother persuaded to submit himself to this rite was another trophy for them4 ,his circumcision1 apart from any moral or spiritual considerations involved in the matter1 was of itself enough to fill these proselytizers with joy4 ,they counted up their cases2 they rivalled each other in the competition for ,jewish favour on this ground4 ,to glory in your flesh--to be able to point to your bodily condition as the proof of their influence and their devotion to the ,law--this1 ,paul says1 is the object for which they ply you with so many flatteries and sophistries4 ,their aim was intrinsically low and unworthy4 ,they want to make a fair show 7to present a good face7 in the flesh4 ,flesh in this place 7ver4 #ab7 recalls the contrast between ,flesh and ,spirit expounded in the last chapter4 ,paul does not mean that the ,judaizers wish to make a good appearance in outward respects1 in human opinion3 this would be little more than tautology4 ,the expression stamps the ,circumcisionists as carnal men4 ,they are not in the ,spirit1 but in the flesh2 and after the flesh they walk4 ,it is on worldly principles that they seek to commend themselves1 and to unspiritual men4 ,what the ,apostle says of himself in ,phil4 iii4 #c1 #d1 illustrates by contrast his estimate of the ,judaizers of ,galatia3 ,we are the circumcision1 who worship by the ,spirit of ,god1 and glory in ,christ ,jesus1 and have no confidence in the flesh4 ,he explains having confidence in the flesh by enumerating his own advantages and distinctions as a ,jew1 the circumstances which commended him in the eyes of his fellow-countrymen--which were gain to me1 he says1 but ,i counted them loss for ,christ 7ver4 #g74 ,in that realm of fleshly motive and estimate which ,paul had abandoned1 his opponents still remained4 ,they had exchanged ,christian fidelity for worldly favour4 ,and their religion took the colour of their moral disposition4 ,to make a fair show1 an imposing1 plausible appearance in ceremonial and legal observance1 was the mark they set themselves4 ,and they sought to draw the ,church with them in this direction1 and to impress upon it their own ritualistic type of piety4 ,this was a worldly1 and in their case a cowardly policy4 ,they constrain you to be circumcised1 only that for the cross of ,christ they may not suffer persecution 7ver4 #ab74 ,this they were determined by all means to avoid4 ,christ had sent ,his servants forth as sheep in the midst of wolves4 ,the man that would serve ,him1 ,he said1 must follow ,him1 taking up his cross4 ,but the ,judaists thought they knew better than this4 ,they had a plan by which they could be the friends of ,jesus ,christ1 and yet keep on good terms with the world that crucified ,him4 ,they would make their faith in ,jesus a means for winning over proselytes to ,judaism4 ,if they succeeded in this design1 their apostasy might be condoned4 ,the circumcised ,gentiles would propitiate the anger of their ,israelite kindred1 and would incline them to look more favourably upon the new doctrine4 ,these men1 ,paul says to the ,galatians1 are sacrificing you to their cowardice4 ,they rob you of your liberties in ,christ in order to make a shield for themselves against the enmity of their kinsmen4 ,they pretend great zeal on your behalf2 they are eager to introduce you into the blessings of the heirs of ,abraham3 the truth is1 they are victims of a miserable fear of persecution4 ,the cross of ,christ1 as the ,apostle has repeatedly declared 7comp4 ,chapters ,,xii and ,,xxi71 carried with it in ,jewish eyes a flagrant reproach2 and its acceptance placed a gulf between the ,christian and the orthodox ,jew4 ,the depth of that gulf became increasingly apparent the more widely the gospel spread1 and the more radically its principles came to be applied4 ,to ,paul it was now sorrowfully evident that the ,jewish nation had rejected ,christianity4 ,they would not hear the ,apostles of ,jesus any more than the ,master4 ,for the preaching of the cross they had only loathing and contempt4 ,judaism recognised in the ,church of the ,crucified its most dangerous enemy1 and was opening the fire of persecution against it all along the line4 ,in this state of affairs1 for the party of men to compromise and make private terms for themselves with the enemies of ,christ was treachery4 ,they were surrendering1 as this ,epistle shows1 all that was most vital to ,christianity4 ,they gave up the honour of the gospel1 the rights of faith1 the salvation of the world1 rather than face the persecution in store for those who will live godly in ,christ ,jesus4 ,not that they cared so much for the law in itself4 ,their glorying was insincere1 as well as selfish3 ,for neither do the circumcised themselves keep the law4--,these men who profess such enthusiasm for the law of ,moses and insist so zealously on your submission to it1 dishonour it by their own behaviour4 ,the ,apostle is denouncing the same party throughout4 ,some interpreters make the first clause of ver4 #ac a parenthesis1 supposing that the circumcised 7participle present3 those being circumcised7 are ,gentile perverts now being gained over to ,judaism1 while the foregoing and following sentences relate to the ,jewish teachers4 ,but the context does not intimate1 nor indeed allow such a change of subject4 ,it is the circumcised of ver4 #ac a who in ver4 #ac b wish to see the ,galatians circumcised1 in order to boast over their flesh1--the same who1 in ver4 #ab1 desire to make a fair show in the flesh and to escape ,jewish persecution4 ,reading this in the light of the previous chapters1 there seems to us no manner of doubt as to the persons thus designated4 ,they are the ,circumcisionists1 ,jewish ,christians who sought to persuade the ,pauline ,gentile ,churches to adopt circumcision and to receive their own legalistic perversion of the gospel of ,christ4 ,the present tense of the ,greek participle1 used as it is here with the definite article1#adg has the power of becoming a substantive1 dropping its reference to time2 for the act denoted passes into an abiding characteristic1 so that the expression acquires the form of a title4 ,the circumcised are the men of the circumcision1 those known to the ,galatians in this character4 #adg 7,revised ,text74 ,on this idiom1 see ,winer's ,grammar1 p4 #ddd2 ,a4 ,buttmann's ,n4 ,t4 ,grammar1 p4 #bif4 ,in ch4 i4 #bc1 and in ii4 #b 74 71 we have had instances of this usage4 ,the phrase is susceptible1 however1 of a wider application4 ,when ,paul writes thus1 he is thinking of others besides the handful of troublers in ,galatia4 ,in ,rom4 ii4 #ag-bi he levels this identical charge of hypocritical law-breaking against the ,jewish people at large3 ,thou who gloriest in the law1 he exclaims1 through thy transgression of the law dishonourest thou ,god8 ,this shocking inconsistency1 notorious in contemporary ,judaism1 was to be observed in the conduct of the legalist zealots in ,galatia4 ,they broke themselves the very law which they tried to force on others4 ,their pretended jealousy for the ordinances of ,moses was itself their condemnation4 ,it was not the glory of the law they were concerned about1 but their own4 ,the policy of the ,judaizers was dishonourable both in spirit and in aim4 ,they were false to ,christ in whom they professed to believe2 and to the law which they pretended to keep4 ,they were facing both ways1 studying the safest1 not the truest course1 anxious in truth to be friends at once with the world and ,christ4 ,their conduct has found many imitators1 in men who make godliness a way of gain1 whose religious course is dictated by considerations of worldly self-interest4 ,a little persecution1 or social pressure1 is enough to turn them out of the way4 ,they cast off their ,church obligations as they change their clothes1 to suit the fashion4 ,business patronage1 professional advancement1 a tempting family alliance1 the entre into some select and envied circle--such are the things for which creeds are bartered1 for which men put their souls and the souls of their children knowingly in peril4 ,will it pay8--this is the question which comes in with a decisive weight in their estimate of matters of religious profession and the things pertaining to ,god4 ,but what shall it profit8 is the question of ,christ4 ,nor are they less culpable who bring these motives into play1 and put this kind of pressure on the weak and dependent4 ,there are forms of social and pecuniary influence1 bribes and threats quietly applied and well understood1 which are hardly to be distinguished morally from persecution4 ,let wealthy and dominant ,churches see to it that they be clear of these offences1 that they make themselves the protectors1 not the oppressors of spiritual liberty4 ,the adherents that a ,church secures by its worldly prestige do not in truth belong to the kingdom that is not of this world4 ,such successes are no triumphs of the cross4 ,christ repudiates them4 ,the glorying that attends proselytism of this kind is1 like that of ,paul's ,judaistic adversaries1 a glorying in the flesh4 ,,ii4 ,but as for me1 cries the ,apostle1 far be it to glory1 save in the cross of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ 7ver4 #ad74 ,paul knows but one ground of exultation1 one object of pride and confidence--his ,saviour's cross4 ,before he had received his gospel and seen the cross in the light of revelation1 like other ,jews he regarded it with horror4 ,its existence covered the cause of ,jesus with ignominy4 ,it marked ,him out as the object of ,divine abhorrence4 ,to the ,judaistic ,christian the cross was still an embarrassment4 ,he was secretly ashamed of a crucified ,messiah1 anxious by some means to excuse the scandal and make amends for it in the face of ,jewish public opinion4 ,but now this disgraceful cross in the ,apostle's eyes is the most glorious thing in the universe4 ,its message is the good news of ,god to all mankind4 ,it is the centre of faith and religion1 of all that man knows of ,god or can receive from ,him4 ,let it be removed1 and the entire structure of revelation falls to pieces1 like an arch without its keystone4 ,the shame of the cross was turned into honour and majesty4 ,its foolishness and weakness proved to be the wisdom and the power of ,god4 ,out of the gloom in which ,calvary was shrouded there now shone forth the clearest light of holiness and love4 ,paul gloried in the cross of ,christ because it manifested to him the character of ,god4 ,the ,divine love and righteousness1 the entire range of those moral excellences which in their sovereign perfection belong to the holiness of ,god1 were there displayed with a vividness and splendour hitherto inconceivable4 ,god so loved the world1 and yet so honoured the law of right1 that ,he spared not ,his own ,son1 but delivered ,him up for us all4 ,how stupendous is this sacrifice1 which baffles the mind and overwhelms the heart6 ,nowhere in the works of creation1 nor in any other dispensation of justice or mercy touching human affairs1 is there a spectacle that appeals to us with an effect to be compared with that of the ,sufferer of ,calvary4 ,let me look1 let me think again4 ,who is ,he that bleeds on that tree of shame8 ,why does the ,holy ,one of ,god submit to these indignities8 ,why those cruel wounds1 those heart-breaking cries that speak of a soul pierced by sorrows deeper than all that bodily anguish can inflict8 ,has the ,almighty indeed forsaken ,him8 ,has the ,evil ,one sealed his triumph in the blood of the ,son of ,god8 ,is it ,god's mercy to the world1 or is it not rather ,satan's hate and man's utter wickedness that stand here revealed8 ,the issue shows with whom victory lay in the dread conflict fought out in the ,redeemer's soul and flesh4 ,god was in ,christ--living1 dying1 rising4 ,and what was ,he doing in ,christ8--reconciling the world unto ,himself4 ,now we know what the ,maker of the worlds is like4 ,he that hath seen ,me1 said ,jesus on ,passion ,eve1 hath seen the ,father4 ,from henceforth ye know ,him1 and have seen ,him4 ,what the world knew before of the ,divine character and intentions towards man was but poor1 weak rudiments4 ,now the believer has come to ,peniel2 like ,jacob1 he has seen the face of ,god4 ,he has touched the centre of things4 ,he has found the secret of love4 ,moreover1 the ,apostle gloried in the cross because it was the salvation of men4 ,his love for men made him boast of it1 no less than his zeal for ,god4 ,the gospel burning in his heart and on his lips1 was ,god's power unto salvation1 both to ,jew and ,greek4 ,he says this not by way of speculation or theological inference1 but as the testimony of his constant experience4 ,it was bringing men by thousands from darkness into light1 raising them from the slough of hideous vices and guilty despair1 taming the fiercest passions1 breaking the strongest chains of evil1 driving out of human hearts the demons of lust and hate4 ,this message1 wherever it went1 was saving men1 as nothing had done before1 as nothing else has done since4 ,what lover of his kind would not rejoice in this8 ,we are members of a weak and suffering race1 groaning each in his own fashion under the law of sin and death1 crying out ever and anon with ,paul1 ,o wretched man that ,i am6 ,if the misery of our bondage was acute its darkness extreme1 how great is the joy with which we hail our ,redeemer6 ,it is the gladness of an immense relief1 the joy of salvation4 ,and our triumph is redoubled when we perceive that ,his grace brings us not deliverance for ourselves alone1 but commissions us to impart it to our fellow-men4 ,thanks be to ,god1 cries the ,apostle1 who always leadeth us in triumph1 and maketh known the savour of ,his knowledge by us in every place 7#b ,cor4 ii4 #ad74 ,the essence of the gospel revealed to ,paul1 as we have observed more than once1 lay in its conception of the office of the cross of ,christ4 ,not the ,incarnation--the basis of the manifestation of the ,father in the ,son2 not the sinless life and superhuman teaching of ,jesus1 which have moulded the spiritual ideal of faith and supplied its contents2 not the ,resurrection and ,ascension of the ,redeemer1 crowning the ,divine edifice with the glory of life eternal2 but the sacrifice of the cross is the focus of the ,christian revelation4 ,this gives to the gospel its saving virtue4 ,round this centre all other acts and offices of the ,saviour revolve1 and from it receive their healing grace4 ,from the hour of the ,fall of man the manifestations of the ,divine grace to him ever looked forward to ,calvary2 and to ,calvary the testimony of that grace has looked backward ever since4 ,by this sign the ,church has conquered2 the innumerable benefits with which her teaching has enriched mankind must all be laid in tribute at the foot of the cross4 ,the atonement of ,jesus ,christ demands from us a faith like ,paul's1 a faith of exultation1 a boundless enthusiasm of gratitude and confidence4 ,if it is worth believing in at all1 it is worth believing in heroically4 ,let us so boast of it1 so exhibit in our lives its power1 so spend ourselves in serving it1 that we may justly claim from all men homage toward the ,crucified4 ,let us lift up the cross of ,christ till its glory shines world-wide1 till1 as ,he said1 it draws all men unto ,him4 ,if we triumph in the cross1 we shall triumph by it4 ,it will carry the ,church to victory4 ,and the cross of ,jesus ,christ is the salvation of men1 just because it is the revelation of ,god4 ,it is life eternal1 said ,jesus to the ,father1 to know ,thee4 ,the gospel does not save by mere pathos1 but by knowledge--by bringing about a right understanding between man and his ,maker1 a reconciliation4 ,it brings ,god and man together in the light of truth4 ,in this revelation we see ,him1 the ,judge and the ,father1 the ,lord of the conscience and the ,lover of ,his children2 and we see ourselves--what our sins mean1 what they have done4 ,god is face to face with the world4 ,holiness and sin meet in the shock of ,calvary1 and flash into light1 each illuminated by contrast with the other4 ,and the view of what ,god is in ,christ--how ,he judges1 how ,he pities us--once fairly seen1 breaks the heart1 kills the love of sin4 ,the glory of ,god in the face of ,jesus ,christ1 sitting on that thorn-crowned brow1 clothing that bleeding ,form rent with the anguish of ,mercy's conflict with ,righteousness on our behalf--it is this which shines in our hearts as in ,paul's1 and cleanses the soul by its pity and its terror4 ,but this is no dramatic scene1 it is ,divine1 eternal fact4 ,we have beheld and do testify that the ,father sent the ,son to be the ,saviour of the world4 ,we know and have believed the love that ,god hath to us 7#a ,john iv4 #ad1 #af74 ,such is the relation to ,god which the cross has established for the ,apostle4 ,in what position does it place him toward the world8 ,to it1 he tells us1 he has bidden farewell4 ,paul and the world are dead to each other4 ,the cross stands between them4 ,in ch4 ii4 #bj he had said1 ,i am crucified with ,christ2 in ch4 v4 #bd1 that his flesh with its passions and lusts had undergone this fate2 and now he writes1 ,through the cross of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ the world is crucified to me1 and ,i to the world4 ,literally1 a world--a whole world was crucified for ,paul when his ,lord died upon the cross4 ,the world that slew ,him put an end to itself1 so far as he is concerned4 ,he can never believe in it1 never take pride in it1 nor do homage to it any more4 ,it is stripped of its glory1 robbed of its power to charm or govern him4 ,the death of shame that old evil world inflicted upon ,jesus has1 in ,paul's eyes1 reverted to itself2 while for the ,saviour it is changed into a life of heavenly glory and dominion4 ,the ,apostle's life is withdrawn from it1 to be hid with ,christ in ,god4 ,this crucifixion is therefore mutual4 ,the ,apostle also is crucified to the world4 ,saul the ,pharisee was a reputable1 religious man of the world1 recognised by it1 alive to it1 taking his place in its affairs4 ,but that old man has been crucified with ,christ4 ,the present ,paul is in the world's regard another person altogether--the filth of the world1 the offscouring of all things1 no better than his crucified ,master and worthy to share ,his punishment4 ,he is dead--crucified to it4 ,faith in ,jesus ,christ placed a gulf1 wide as that which parts the dead and living1 between the ,church of the ,apostles and men around them4 ,the cross parted two worlds wholly different4 ,he who would go back into that other world1 the world of godless self-pleasing and fleshly idolatry1 must step over the cross of ,christ to do it4 ,to me1 testifies ,paul1 the world is crucified4 ,and the ,church of ,christ has still to witness this confession4 ,we read in it a prophecy4 ,evil must die4 ,the world that crucified the ,son of ,god1 has written its own doom4 ,with its ,satanic ,prince it has been judged 7,john xii4 #ca2 xvi4 #aa74 ,morally1 it is dead already4 ,the sentence has passed the ,judge's lips4 ,the weakest child of ,god may safely defy it1 and scorn its boasting4 ,its visible force is still immense2 its subjects multitudinous2 its empire to appearance hardly shaken4 ,it towers like ,goliath confronting the armies of the living ,god4 ,but the foundation of its strength is gone4 ,decay saps its frame4 ,despair creeps over its heart4 ,the consciousness of its impotence and misery grows upon it4 ,worldliness has lost its old serenity irrecoverably4 ,the cross incessantly disturbs it1 and haunts its very dreams4 ,antichristian thought at the present time is one wide fever of discontent4 ,it is sinking into the vortex of pessimism4 ,its mockery is louder and more brilliant than ever2 but there is something strangely convulsive in it all2 it is the laughter of despair1 the dance of death4 ,christ the ,son of ,god has come down from the cross1 as they challenged ,him4 ,but coming down1 ,he has fastened there in ,his place the world that taunted ,him4 ,struggle as it may1 it cannot unloose itself from its condemnation1 from the fact that it has killed its ,prince of ,life4 ,the cross of ,jesus ,christ must save--or destroy4 ,the world must be reconciled to ,god1 or it will perish4 ,on the foundation laid of ,god in ,zion men will either build or break themselves for ever4 ,the world that hated ,christ and the ,father1 the world that ,paul cast from him as a dead thing1 cannot endure4 ,it passeth away1 and the lust thereof4 ,,chapter ,,xxix4 ,,ritual ,,nothing3 ,,character ,,everything4 ,for neither is circumcision anything1 nor uncircumcision1 but a new creation4 ,and as many as shall walk by this rule1 peace be upon them1 and mercy1 and upon the ,israel of ,god4--,,gal4 vi4 #ae1 #af4 ,verse #ad comprehends the whole theology of the ,epistle1 and ver4 #ae brings to a head its practical and ethical teaching4 ,this apophthegm is one of the landmarks of religious history4 ,it ranks in importance with ,christ's great saying3 ,god is a ,spirit2 and they that worship ,him1 must worship in spirit and truth 7,john iv4 #ba-bd74 ,these sentences of ,jesus and of ,paul taken together mark the dividing line between the ,old and the ,new ,economy4 ,they declare the nature of the absolute religion1 from the ,divine and human side respectively4 ,god's pure spiritual being is affirmed by ,jesus ,christ to be henceforth the norm of religious worship4 ,the exclusive sacredness of ,jerusalem1 or of ,gerizim1 had therefore passed away4 ,on the other hand1 and regarding religion from its psychological side1 as matter of experience and attainment1 it is set forth by our ,apostle as an inward life1 a spiritual condition1 dependent on no outward form or performance whatsoever4 ,paul's principle is a consequence of that declared by his ,master4 ,if ,god is a ,spirit1 to be known and approached as such1 ceremonial at once loses its predominance2 it sinks into the accidental1 the merely provisional and perishing element of religion4 ,faith is no longer bound to material conditions2 it passes inward to its proper seat in the spirit of man4 ,and the dictum that ,circumcision is nothing1 and uncircumcision nothing 7comp4 ch4 v4 #f2 #a ,cor4 vii4 #ai71 becomes a watchword of ,christian theology4 ,this ,pauline axiom is advanced to justify the confession of the ,apostle made in ver4 #ad2 it supports the protest of vv4 #ab-ad against the devotees of circumcision1 who professed faith in ,christ but were ashamed of ,his cross4 ,that ,judaic rite in which you glory1 he says1 is nothing4 ,ritual qualifications and disqualifications are abolished4 ,life in the ,spirit1 the new creation that begins with faith in ,christ crucified--that is everything4 ,the boasts of the ,judaizers were therefore folly3 they rested on nothing4 ,the ,apostle's glorying alone was valid3 the new world of the kingdom of ,god1 with its righteousness and peace and joy in the ,holy ,ghost1 was there to justify it4 ,i4 ,for neither is circumcision anything4--,judaism is abolished at a stroke6 ,with it circumcision was everything4 ,the circumcision and the people of ,god were in ,israelitish phrase terms synonymous4 ,uncircumcision embraced all that was heathenish1 outcast and unclean4 ,the ,mosaic polity made the status of its subjects1 their relation to the ,divine covenant1 to depend on this initiatory rite4 ,circumcised the eighth day1 the child came under the rule and guardianship of the sacred ,law4 ,in virtue of this mark stamped upon his body1 he was ipso facto a member of the congregation of the ,lord1 bound to all its duties1 so far as his age permitted1 and partner in all its privileges4 ,the constitution of ,mosaism--its ordinances of worship1 its ethical discipline1 its methods of administration1 and the type of character which it formed in the ,jewish nation--rested on this fundamental sacrament1 and took their complexion therefrom4 ,the ,judaists necessarily therefore made it their first object to enforce circumcision4 ,if they secured this1 they could carry everything2 and the complete ,judaizing of ,gentile ,christianity was only a question of time4 ,this foundation laid1 the entire system of legal obligation could be reared upon it 7ch4 v4 #c74 ,to resist the imposition of this yoke was for the ,pauline ,churches a matter of life and death4 ,they could not afford to yield by subjection--no1 not for an hour4 ,the ,apostle stands forth as the champion of their freedom1 and casts all ,jewish pretensions to the winds when he says1 ,neither is circumcision anything4 ,this absolute way of putting the matter must have provoked the orthodox ,jew to the last degree4 ,the privileges and ancestral glories of his birth1 the truth of ,god in ,his covenants and revelations to the fathers1 were to his mind wrapped up in this ordinance1 and belonged of right to the ,circumcision4 ,to say that circumcision is nothing seemed to him as good as saying that the ,law and the ,prophets were nothing1 that ,israel had no pre-eminence over the ,gentiles1 no right to claim the ,god of ,abraham as her ,god4 ,hence the bitterness with which the ,apostle was persecuted by his fellow-countrymen1 and the credence given1 even by orthodox ,jewish ,christians1 to the charge that he taught to the ,jews apostasy from ,moses 7,acts xxi4 #ba74 ,in truth ,paul did nothing of the kind1 as ,james of ,jerusalem very well knew4 ,but a sentence like this1 torn from its context1 and repeated amongst ,jewish communities1 naturally gave rise to such imputations4 ,in his subsequent ,epistle to the ,romans the ,apostle is at pains to correct erroneous inferences drawn from this and similar sayings of his concerning the ,law4 ,he shows that circumcision1 in its historical import1 was of the highest value4 ,what is the advantage of the ,jew8 ,what the benefit of circumcision8 ,much every way1 he acknowledges4 ,chiefly in that to them were entrusted the oracles of ,god 7,rom4 iii4 #a1 #b74 ,and again3 ,who are ,israelites2 whose is the adoption1 and the glory1 and the covenants1 and the lawgiving1 and the service of ,god1 and the promises2 whose are the fathers1--and of whom is the ,christ as concerning the flesh1 who is over all1 ,god blessed for ever 7,rom4 ix4 #d1 #e74 ,eloquently has ,paul vindicated himself from the reproach of indifference to the ancient faith4 ,never did he love his ,jewish kindred more fervently1 nor entertain a stronger confidence in their ,divine calling1 than at the moment when in that ,epistle he pronounced the reprobation that ensued on their rejecting the gospel of ,christ4 ,he repeats in the fullest terms the claim which ,jesus ,himself was careful to assert1 in declaring the extinction of ,judaism as a local and tribal religion1 that ,salvation is of the ,jews 7,john iv4 #ba-bd74 ,in the ,divine order of history it is still to the ,jew first4 ,but natural relationship to the stock of ,abraham has in itself no spiritual virtue2 circumcision of the flesh is worthless1 except as the symbol of a cleansed and consecrated heart4 ,the possession of this outward token of ,god's covenant with ,israel1 and the hereditary blessings it conferred1 brought with them a higher responsibility1 involving heavier punishment in case of unfaithfulness 7,rom4 ii4 #ag-;iii4 #h74 ,this teaching is pertinent to the case of children of ,christian families1 to those formally attached to the ,church by their baptism in infancy and by attendance on her public rites4 ,these things certainly have much advantage every way4 ,and yet in themselves1 without a corresponding inner regeneration1 without a true death unto sin and life unto righteousness1 these also are nothing4 ,the limiting phrase in ,christ ,jesus is no doubt a copyist's addition to the text1 supplied from ch4 v4 #f2 but the qualification is in the ,apostle's mind1 and is virtually given by the context4 ,no ceremony is of the essence of ,christianity4 ,no outward rite by itself makes a ,christian4 ,we are joined to the ,lord in one ,spirit4 ,this is the vital tie4 ,nor is uncircumcision anything4 ,this is the counter-balancing assertion1 and it makes still clearer the bearing of the former saying4 ,paul is not contending against ,judaism in any anti-,judaic spirit4 ,he is not for setting up ,gentile in the place of ,jewish customs in the ,church2 he excludes both impartially4 ,neither1 he declares1 have any place in ,christ ,jesus1 and amongst the things that accompany salvation4 ,paul has no desire to humiliate the ,jewish section of the ,church2 but only to protect the ,gentiles from its aggressions4 ,he lays his hand on both parties and by this evenly balanced declaration restrains each of them from encroaching on the other4 ,was any one called circumcised8 he writes to ,corinth3 let him not renounce his circumcision4 ,hath any one been called in uncircumcision8 ,let him not be circumcised4 ,the two states alike are nothing from the ,christian standpoint4 ,the essential thing is keeping the commandments of ,god 7#a ,cor4 vii4 #ah1 #ai74 ,christian ,gentiles retained in some instances1 doubtless1 their former antipathy to ,jewish practices4 ,and while many of the ,galatians were inclined to ,legalism1 others cherished an extreme repugnance to its usages4 ,the pretensions of the ,legalists were calculated to excite in the minds of enlightened ,gentile believers a feeling of contempt1 which led them to retort on ,jewish pride with language of ridicule4 ,anti-,judaists would be found arguing that circumcision was a degradation1 the brand of a servile condition2 and that its possessor must not presume to rank with the free sons of ,god4 ,in their opinion1 uncircumcision was to be preferred and had much advantage every way4 ,amongst ,paul's immediate followers there may have been some who1 like ,marcion in the second century1 would fain be more ,pauline than the ,apostle himself1 and replied to ,jewish intolerance with an anti-legal intolerance of their own4 ,to this party it was needful to say1 ,neither is uncircumcision anything4 ,the pagan in his turn has nothing for which to boast over the man of ,israel4 ,this is the caution which the ,apostle urges on his ,gentile readers so earnestly in ,rom4 xi4 #ac-bd4 ,he reminds them that they owe an immense debt of gratitude to the ancient people of ,god4 ,wild branches grafted into the stock of ,abraham1 they were partaking of the root and fatness of the old olive-tree4 ,if the natural branches had been broken off through unbelief1 much more might they4 ,it became them not to be high-minded but to fear4 ,so ,paul seeks to protect ,israel after the flesh1 in its rejection and sorrowful exile from the fold of ,christ1 against ,gentile insolence4 ,alas6 that his protection has been so little availing4 ,the ,christian persecutions of the ,jews are a dark blot on the ,church's record4 ,the enemies of bigotry and narrowness too oft imbibe the same spirit4 ,when others treat us with contempt1 we are apt to pay them back in their own coin4 ,they unchurch us1 because we cannot pronounce their shibboleths2 they refuse to see in our communion the signs of ,christ's indwelling4 ,it requires our best charity in that case to appreciate their excellencies and the fruit of the ,spirit manifest in them4 ,i am of ,cephas1 say they2 and we answer with the challenge ,i of ,paul4 ,sectarianism is denounced in a sectarian spirit4 ,the enemies of form and ceremony make a religion of their ,anti-ritualism4 ,church controversies are proverbially bitter2 the love which hopeth and believeth all things1 under their influence suffers a sad eclipse4 ,on both sides let us be on our guard4 ,the spirit of partisanship is not confined to the assertors of ,church prerogative4 ,an obstinate and uncharitable pride has been known to spring up in the breasts of the defenders of liberty1 in those who deem themselves the exponents of pure spiritual religion4 ,thus ,i trample on the pride of ,plato1 said the ,cynic1 as he trod on the philosopher's sumptuous carpets2 and ,plato justly retorted1 ,you do it with greater pride4 ,the ,apostle would fain lift his readers above the level of this legalist contention4 ,he bids them dismiss their profitless debates respecting the import of circumcision1 the observance of ,jewish feasts and sabbaths4 ,these debates were a mischief in themselves1 destroying the ,church's peace and distracting men's minds from the spiritual aims of the ,gospel2 they were fatal to the dignity and elevation of the ,christian life4 ,when men allow themselves to be absorbed by questions of this kind1 and become ,circumcisionist or ,uncircumcisionist partisans1 eager ,ritualists or ,anti-ritualists1 they lose the sense of proportion in matters of faith and the poise of a conscientious and charitable judgement4 ,these controversies pre-eminently minister questions to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers1 instead of furthering the dispensation of ,god1 which is in faith 7#a ,tim4 i4 #d74 ,they disturb the ,city of ,god with intestine strife1 while the enemy thunders at the gates4 ,could we only let such disputes alone1 and leave them to perish by inanition6 ,so ,paul would have the ,galatians do2 he tells them that the great ,mosaic rite is no longer worth defending or attacking4 ,the best thing is to forget it4 ,,ii4 ,what then has the ,apostle to put in the place of ritual1 as the matter of cardinal importance and chief study in the ,church of ,christ8 ,he presents to view a new creation4 ,it is something new that he desiderates4 ,mosaism was effete4 ,the questions arising out of it were dying1 or dead4 ,the old method of revelation which dealt with ,jew and ,gentile as different religious species1 and conserved ,divine truth by a process of exclusion and prohibition1 had served its purpose4 ,the middle wall of partition was broken down4 ,the age of faith and freedom had come1 the dispensation of grace and of the ,spirit4 ,the ,legalists minimised1 they practically ignored the significance of ,calvary4 ,race-distinctions and caste-privileges were out of keeping with such a religion as ,christianity4 ,the new creed set up a new order of life1 which left behind it the discussions of rabbinism and the formularies of the legal schools as survivals of bygone centuries4 ,the novelty of the religion of the gospel was most conspicuous in the new type of character that it created4 ,the faith of the cross claims to have produced not a new style of ritual1 a new system of government1 but new men4 ,by this product it must be judged4 ,the ,christian is the new creature which it begets4 ,whatever ,christianity has accomplished in the outer world--the various forms of worship and social life in which it is embodied1 the changed order of thought and of civilisation which it is building up--is the result of its influence over the hearts of individual men4 ,christ1 above all other teachers1 addressed ,himself directly to the heart1 whence proceed the issues of life4 ,there ,his gospel establishes its seat4 ,the ,christian is the man with a new heart4 ,the prophets of the ,old ,testament looked forward to this as the essential blessing of religion1 promised for the ,messianic times 7,heb4 viii4 #h-ac74 ,through them the ,holy ,spirit uttered ,his protest against the mechanical legalism to which the religion of the temple and the priesthood was already tending4 ,but this witness had fallen on deaf ears2 and when ,christ proclaimed1 ,it is the ,spirit that quickeneth1 the flesh profiteth nothing1 when ,he said1 ,the things that defile a man come out of his heart1 ,he preached revolutionary doctrine4 ,it is the same principle that the ,apostle vindicates4 ,the religion of ,christ has to do in the first place with the individual man1 and in man with his heart4 ,what then1 we further ask1 is the character of this hidden man of the heart1 created anew in ,christ ,jesus8 ,our ,epistle has given us the answer4 ,in him faith working by love takes the place of circumcision and uncircumcision--that is1 of ,jewish and ,gentile ceremonies and moralities1 powerless alike to save 7ch4 v4 #f74 ,love comes forward to guarantee the fulfilling of the law1 whose fulfilment legal sanctions failed to secure 7ch4 v4 #ad74 ,and the ,spirit of ,christ assumes ,his sovereignty in this work of new creation1 calling into being ,his array of inward graces to supersede the works of the condemned flesh that no longer rules in the nature of ,god's redeemed sons 7ch4 v4 #af-bd74 ,the ,legalists1 notwithstanding their idolatry of the law1 did not keep it4 ,so the ,apostle has said1 without fear of contradiction 7ver4 #ac74 ,but the men of the ,spirit1 actuated by a power above law1 in point of fact do keep it1 and law's righteousness is fulfilled in them 7,rom4 viii4 #c1 #d74 ,this was a new thing in the earth4 ,never had the law of ,god been so fulfilled1 in its essentials1 as it was by the ,church of the ,crucified4 ,here were men who truly loved ,god with all their soul and strength1 and their neighbour as themselves4 ,from ,love the highest down to ,temperance the humblest1 all the fruit of the ,spirit in its clustered perfection flourished in their lives4 ,jewish discipline and ,pagan culture were both put to shame by this new creation of moral virtue4 ,these graces were produced not in select instances of individuals favoured by nature1 in souls disposed to goodness1 or after generations of ,christian discipline2 but in multitudes of men of every grade of life--,jews and ,greeks1 slaves and freemen1 wise and unwise--in those who had been steeped in infamous vices1 but were now washed1 sanctified1 justified in the name of the ,lord ,jesus and by the ,spirit of our ,god4 ,such regenerated men were the credentials of ,paul's gospel4 ,as he looked on his ,corinthian converts1 drawn out of the very sink of heathen corruption1 he could say1 ,the seal of my apostleship are ye in the ,lord4 ,the like answer ,christianity has still to give to its questioners4 ,if it ever ceases to render this answer1 its day is over2 and all the strength of its historical and philosophical evidences will not avail it4 ,the ,gospel is ,god's power unto salvation--or it is nothing6 ,such is ,paul's canon1 as he calls it in ver4 #af--the rule which applies to the faith and practice of every ,christian man1 to the pretensions of all theological and ecclesiastical systems4 ,the true ,christianity1 the true churchmanship1 is that which turns bad men into good1 which transforms the slaves of sin into sons of ,god4 ,a true faith is a saving faith4 ,the new creation is the sign of the ,creator's presence4 ,it is ,god who quickeneth the dead 7,rom4 iv4 #ag74 ,when the ,apostle exalts character at the expense of ceremonial1 he does this in a spirit the very opposite of religious indifference4 ,his maxim is far removed from that expressed in the famous couplet of ,pope3 ,for modes of faith let graceless zealots fight2 ,his can't be wrong whose life is in the right4 ,the gospel of ,christ is above all things a mode of faith4 ,the new creature is a son of ,god1 seeking to be like ,god4 ,his conception of the ,divine character and of his own relationship thereto governs his whole life4 ,his life is in the right1 because his heart is right with ,god4 ,all attempts to divorce morality from religion1 to build up society on a secular and non-religious basis1 are indeed foredoomed to failure4 ,the experience of mankind is against them4 ,as a nation's religion has been1 so its morals4 ,the ethical standard in its rise or fall1 if at some interval of time1 yet invariably1 follows the advance or decline of spiritual faith4 ,for practical purposes1 and for society at large1 religion supplies the mainspring of ethics4 ,creed is in the long run the determinant of character4 ,the question with the ,apostle is not in the least whether religion is vital to morals2 but whether this or that formality is vital to religion4 99 99 99 99 99 ,one cannot help wondering how ,paul would have applied his canon to the ,church questions of our own day4 ,would he perchance have said1 ,episcopacy is nothing1 and ,presbyterianism is nothing2--but keeping the commandments of ,god8 ,or might he have interposed in another direction1 to testify that ,church ,establishments are nothing1 and ,disestablishment is nothing2 charity is the one thing needful8 ,nay1 can we even be bold enough to imagine the ,apostle declaring1 ,neither ,baptism availeth anything1 nor the ,lord's ,supper availeth anything1--apart from the faith that works by love8 ,his rule at any rate conveys an admonition to us when we magnify questions of ,church ordinance and push them to the front1 at the cost of the weightier matters of our common faith4 ,are there not multitudes of ,romanists on the one hand who have1 as we believe1 perverted sacraments1 and ,quakers on the other hand who have no sacraments1 but who have1 notwithstanding1 a penitent1 humble1 loving faith in ,jesus ,christ8 ,and their faith saves them3 who will doubt it8 ,although faith must ordinarily suffer1 and does in our judgement manifestly suffer1 when deprived of these appointed and most precious means of its expression and nourishment4 ,but what authority have we to forbid to such believers a place in the ,body of ,christ1 in the brotherhood of redeemed souls1 and to refuse them the right hand of fellowship1 who have received the ,holy ,ghost as well as we8 ,it is the ,spirit that beareth witness3 who is he that gainsayeth8 ,grace is more than the means of grace4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and as many as shall walk by this rule1 peace be on them and mercy1 and upon the ,israel of ,god4 ,here is an ,apostolic benediction for every loyal ,church4 ,the walk that the ,apostle approves is the measured1 even pace1 the steady march#adh of the redeemed host of ,israel4 ,on all who are thus minded1 who are prepared to make spiritual perfection the goal of their endeavours for themselves and for the ,church1 ,paul invokes ,god's peace and mercy4 #adh 2 comp4 ch4 v4 #be4 ,peace is followed by the mercy which guards and restores it4 ,mercy heals backslidings and multiplies pardons4 ,she loves to bind up a broken heart1 or a rent and distracted ,church4 ,like the pillar of fire and cloud in the wilderness1 this twofold blessing rests day and night upon the tents of ,israel4 ,through all their pilgrimage it attends the children of ,abraham1 who follow in the steps of their father's faith4 ,with this tender supplication ,paul brings his warnings and dissuasives to an end4 ,for the betrayers of the cross he has stern indignation and alarms of judgement4 ,towards his children in the faith nothing but peace and mercy remains in his heart4 ,as an evening calm shuts in a tempestuous day1 so this blessing concludes the ,epistle so full of strife and agitation4 ,we catch in it once more the chime of the old benediction1 which through all storm and peril ever rings in ears attuned to its note3 ,peace shall be upon ,israel 7,ps4 cxxv4 #e74 ,,chapter ,,xxx4 ,,the ,,brand ,,of ,,jesus4 ,from henceforth let no man trouble me3 for ,i bear branded on my body the marks of ,jesus4 ,the grace of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ be with your spirit1 brethren4 ,amen4--,,gal4 vi4 #ag1 #ah4 ,the ,apostle's pen lingers over the last words of this ,epistle4 ,his historical self-defence1 his theological argument1 his practical admonitions1 with the blended strain of expostulation and entreaty that runs through the whole--now rising into an awful severity1 now sinking into mother-like tenderness--have reached their conclusion4 ,the stream of deep and fervent thought pouring itself out in these pages has spent its force4 ,this prince of the ,apostles in word and doctrine has left the ,church no more powerful or characteristic utterance of his mind4 ,and ,paul has marked the special urgency of his purpose by his closing message contained in the last six verses1 an ,epistle within the ,epistle1 penned in large1 bold strokes from his own hand1 in which his very soul transcribes itself before our eyes4 ,it only remains for him to append his signature4 ,we should expect him to do this in some striking and special way4 ,his first sentence 7ch4 i4 #a-aj7 revealed the profound excitement of spirit under which he is labouring2 not otherwise does he conclude4 ,ver4 #ag sharply contrasts with the words of peace that hushed our thoughts at the close of the last paragraph4 ,perhaps the peace he wishes these troubled ,churches reminds him of his own troubles4 ,or is it that in breathing his devout wishes for the ,israel of ,god1 he cannot but think of those who were of ,israel1 but no sons of peace1 in whose hearts was hatred and mischief toward himself8 ,some such thought stirs anew the grief with which he has been shaken2 and a pathetic cry breaks from him like the sough of the departing tempest4 ,yet the words have the sound of triumph more than of sorrow4 ,paul stands a conscious victor1 though wounded and with scars upon him that he will carry to his grave4 ,whether this letter will serve its immediate purpose1 whether the defection in ,galatia will be stayed by it1 or not1 the cause of the cross is sure of its triumph2 his contention against its enemies has not been in vain4 ,the force of inspiration that uplifted him in writing the ,epistle1 the sense of insight and authority that pervades it1 are themselves an earnest of victory4 ,the vindication of his authority in ,corinth1 which1 as we read the order of events1 had very recently occurred1 gave token that his hold on the obedience of the ,gentile ,churches was not likely to be destroyed1 and that in the conflict with legalism the gospel of liberty was certain to prevail4 ,his courage rises with the danger4 ,he writes as though he could already say1 ,i have fought the good fight4 ,thanks be to ,god1 which always leadeth us in triumph 7#b ,tim4 iv4 #g2 #b ,cor4 ii4 #ad74 ,the warning of ver4 #ag has the ring of ,apostolic dignity4 ,from henceforth let no man give me trouble6 ,paul speaks of himself as a sacred person4 ,god's mark is upon him4 ,let men beware how they meddle with him4 ,he that toucheth you1 the ,lord said to ,his people after the sorrows of the ,exile1 toucheth the apple of ,mine eye 7,zech4 ii4 #h74 ,the ,apostle seems to have had a similar feeling respecting himself4 ,he announces that whosoever from this time lays an injurious hand upon him does so at his peril4 ,henceforth--for the struggle with ,legalism was the crisis of ,paul's ministry4 ,it called forth all his powers1 natural and supernatural1 into exercise4 ,it led him to his largest thoughts respecting ,god and man1 sin and salvation2 and brought him his heaviest sorrows4 ,the conclusion of this letter signalises the culmination of the ,judaistic controversy1 and the full establishment of ,paul's influence and doctrinal authority4 ,the attempt of ,judaism to strangle the infant ,church is foiled4 ,in return it has received at ,paul's hands its death-blow4 ,the position won in this ,epistle will never be lost2 the doctrine of the cross1 as the ,apostle taught it1 cannot be overthrown4 ,looking back from this point to prove his own work1 he can in all humility claim this glorying in regard to himself 7ver4 #d74 ,he stands attested in the light of ,god's approval as a good soldier of ,christ ,jesus4 ,he has done the cause of truth an imperishable service4 ,he takes his place henceforth in the front rank amongst the spiritual leaders of mankind4 ,who now will bring reproach against him1 or do dishonour to the cross which he bears8 ,against that man ,god's displeasure will go forth4 ,some such thoughts were surely present to the ,apostle's mind in writing these final words4 ,they cannot but occur to us in reading them4 ,well done1 we say1 thou faithful servant of the ,lord6 ,ill must it be for him who henceforth shall trouble thee4 ,troubles indeed1 and to spare1 ,paul had encountered4 ,he has just passed through the darkest experience of his life4 ,the language of the ,second ,epistle to ,corinth is a striking commentary upon this verse4 ,we are pressed on every side1 he writes1 perplexed1 pursued1 smitten down 7ch4 iv4 #h1 #i74 ,his troubles came not only from his exhausting labours and hazardous journeys2 he was everywhere pursued by the fierce and deadly hatred of his fellow-countrymen4 ,even within the ,church there were men who made it their business to harass him and destroy his work4 ,no place was safe for him--not even the bosom of the ,church4 ,on land or water1 in the throngs of the city or the solitudes of the desert1 his life was in hourly jeopardy 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #cj2 #b ,cor4 xi4 #bf74 ,beside all this1 the care of the ,churches weighed on his mind heavily4 ,there was no rest either for his flesh or spirit 7#b ,cor4 ii4 #ac2 vii4 #e74 ,recently ,corinth1 then ,galatia was in a ferment of agitation4 ,his doctrine was attacked1 his authority undermined by the ,judaic emissaries1 now in this quarter1 now in that4 ,the tumult at ,ephesus1 so graphically described by ,luke1 happening at the same time as the broils in the ,corinthian ,church and working on a frame already overstrung1 had thrown him into a prostration of body and mind so great that he says1 ,we despaired even of life4 ,we had the answer of death in ourselves 7#b ,cor4 i4 #h1 #i74 ,the expectation that he would die before the ,lord's return had now1 for the first time it appears1 definitely forced itself on the ,apostle1 and cast over him a new shadow1 causing deep ponderings and searchings of heart 7#b ,cor4 v4 #a-aj74 ,the culmination of the legalistic conflict was attended with an inner crisis that left its ineffaceable impression on the ,apostle's soul4 ,but he has risen from his sick bed4 ,he has been comforted by the coming of ,titus with better news from ,corinth 7#b ,cor4 vii4 #f-af74 ,he has written these two letters--the ,second to the ,corinthians1 and this to the ,galatians4 ,and he feels that the worst is past4 ,he who delivered him out of so great a death1 will yet deliver 7#b ,cor4 i4 #aj74 ,so confident is he in the authority which ,christ gave and enabled him to exercise in utter weakness1 so signally is he now stamped as ,god's ,apostle by his sufferings and achievements1 that he can dare any one from this time forth to oppose him4 ,the anathema of this ,epistle might well make his opponents tremble4 ,its remorseless logic left their sophistries no place of refuge4 ,its passionate entreaties broke down suspicion and sullenness4 ,let the ,circumcisionists beware how they slander him4 ,let fickle ,galatians cease to trouble him with their quarrels and caprices4 ,so well assured is he for his part of the rectitude of his course and of the ,divine approval and protection1 that he feels bound to warn them that it will be the worse for those who at such a time lay upon him fresh and needless burdens4 ,one catches in this sentence too an undertone of entreaty1 a confession of weariness4 ,paul is tired of strife4 ,woe is me1 he might say1 that ,i sojourn in ,meshech1 that ,i dwell among the tents of ,kedar6 ,my soul hath long had her dwelling with him that hateth peace4 ,enmities1 ragings1 factions1 divisions--with what a painful emphasis he dwells in the last chapter on these many forms of discord4 ,he has known them all4 ,for months he has been battling with the hydra-headed brood4 ,he longs for an interval of rest4 ,he seems to say1 ,i pray you1 let me be at peace4 ,do not vex me any more with your quarrels4 ,i have suffered enough4 ,the present tense of the ,greek imperative verb 77 brings it to bear on the course of things then going on3 as much as to say1 ,let these weapons be dropped1 these wars and fightings cease4 ,for his own sake the ,apostle begs the ,galatians to desist from the follies that caused him so much trouble1 and to suffer him to share with them ,god's benediction of peace4 ,but what an argument is this with which ,paul enforces his plea1--for ,i bear the brand of ,jesus in my body6 ,the stigmata of ,jesus--what does he mean8 ,it is in my body--some marks branded or punctured on the ,apostle's person1 distinguishing him from other men1 conspicuous and humiliating1 inflicted on him as ,christ's servant1 and which so much resembled the inflictions laid on the ,redeemer's body that they are called the marks of ,jesus4 ,no one can say precisely what these brands consisted in4 ,but we know enough of the previous sufferings of the ,apostle to be satisfied that he carried on his person many painful marks of violence and injury4 ,his perils endured by land and sea1 his imprisonments1 his labour and travail1 hunger and thirst1 cold and nakedness1 his three shipwrecks1 the night and day spent in the deep1 were sufficient to break down the strength of the stoutest frame2 they had given him the look of a worn and haggard man4 ,add to these the stoning at ,lystra1 when he was dragged out for dead4 ,thrice also had he been beaten with the ,roman rods2 five times with the thirty-nine stripes of the ,jewish scourge 7#b ,cor4 xi4 #bc-bg74 ,is it to these last afflictions1 cruel and shameful they were in the extreme1 that the ,apostle specially refers as constituting the brand of ,jesus8 ,for ,jesus was scourged4 ,the allusion of #a ,pet4 ii4 #bd--;by whose stripes 7literally1 bruise or weal7 ye were healed--shows how vividly this circumstance was remembered1 and how strongly it affected ,christian minds4 ,with this indignity upon ,him--,his body lashed with the torturing whip1 scored with livid bruises--our ,blessed ,lord was exposed on the cross4 ,so ,he was branded as a malefactor1 even before ,his crucifixion4 ,and the same brand ,paul had received1 not once but many times1 for his ,master's sake4 ,as the strokes of the scourge fell on the ,apostle's shuddering flesh1 he had been consoled by thinking how near he was brought to his ,saviour's passion3 ,the servant1 ,he had said1 shall be as his ,lord4 ,possibly some recent infliction of the kind1 more savage than the rest1 had helped to bring on the malady which proved so nearly fatal to him4 ,in some way he had been marked with fresh and manifest tokens of bodily suffering in the cause of ,christ4 ,about this time he writes of himself as always bearing about in his body the dying of the ,lord ,jesus 7#b ,cor4 iv4 #aj72 for the corpse-like state of the ,apostle1 with the signs of maltreatment visible in his frame1 pathetically imaged the suffering ,redeemer whom he preached4 ,could the ,galatians have seen him as he wrote1 in physical distress1 labouring under the burden of renewed and aggravated troubles1 their hearts must have been touched with pity4 ,it would have grieved them to think that they had increased his afflictions1 and were persecuting him whom the ,lord had smitten4 ,his scars were badges of dishonour to worldly eyes4 ,but to ,paul himself these tokens were very precious4 ,now ,i rejoice in my sufferings for you1 he writes from his ,roman prison at a later time3 and am filling up what is lacking of the afflictions of ,christ in my flesh 7,col4 i4 #bd74 ,the ,lord had not suffered everything ,himself4 ,he honoured ,his servants by leaving behind a measure of ,his afflictions for each to endure in the ,church's behalf4 ,the ,apostle was companion of his ,master's disgrace4 ,in him the words of ,jesus were signally fulfilled3 ,they have hated ,me2 they will also hate you4 ,he was following1 closely as he might1 in the way that led to ,calvary4 ,all men may know that ,paul is ,christ's servant2 for he wears ,his livery1 the world's contempt4 ,of ,jesus they said1 ,away with ,him1 crucify ,him2 and of ,paul1 ,away with such a fellow from the earth3 for it is not fit that he should live 7,acts xxii4 #bb74 ,enough for the disciple to be as his ,master3 what could he wish more8 ,his condition inspired reverence in all who loved and honoured ,jesus ,christ4 ,paul's ,christian brethren were moved by feelings of the tenderest respect by the sight of his wasted and crippled form4 ,his bodily presence is weak 7#b ,cor4 x4 #aj73 he looks like a corpse6 said his despisers4 ,but under that physical feebleness there lay an immense fund of moral vigour4 ,how should he not be weak1 after so many years of wearying toil and relentless persecution and torturing pain8 ,out of this very weakness came a new and unmatched strength2 he glories in his infirmities1 for there rests upon him the strength of ,christ 7#b ,cor4 xii4 #i74 ,under the expression stigmata of ,jesus there is couched a reference to the practice of marking criminals and runaway slaves with a brand burnt into the flesh1 which is perpetuated in our ,english use of the ,greek words stigma and stigmatize4 ,a man so marked was called stigmatias1 i4e41 a branded scoundrel2 and such the ,apostle felt himself to be in the eyes of men of the world4 ,captain ,lysias of ,jerusalem took him for an ,egyptian leader of banditti4 ,honourable men1 when they knew him better1 learned to respect him2 but such was the reputation that his battered appearance1 and the report of his enemies1 at first sight gained for him4 ,the term stigmata had also another and different signification4 ,it applied to a well-known custom of religious devotees to puncture1 or tattoo1 upon themselves the name of their ,god1 or other sign expressive of their devotion 7,isa4 xiiv4 #e2 ,rev4 iii4 #ab74 ,this signification may be very naturally combined with the former in the employment of the figure4 ,paul's stigmata1 resembling those of ,jesus and being of the same order1 were signs at once of reproach and of consecration4 ,the prints of the world's insolence were witnesses of his devotion to ,christ4 ,he loves to call himself the slave of ,christ ,jesus4 ,the scourge has written on his back his ,master's name4 ,those dumb wounds proclaim him the bondman of the ,crucified4 ,at the lowest point of personal and official humiliation1 when affronts were heaped upon him1 he felt that he was raised in the might of the ,spirit to the loftiest dignity1 even as ,christ was crucified through weakness1 yet liveth through the power of ,god 7#b ,cor4 xiii4 #d47 ,the words ,i bear--not united1 as in our own idiom1 but standing the pronoun at the head and the verb at the foot of the sentence--have each of them a special emphasis4 ,i--in contrast with his opponents1 man-pleasers1 shunning ,christ's reproach2 and bear he says exultantly--this is my burden1 these are the marks ,i carry1 like the standard-bearer of an army who proudly wears his scars 7,chrysostom74 ,in the profound and sacred joy which the ,apostle's tribulations brought him1 we cannot but feel even at this distance that we possess a share4 ,they belong to that richest treasure of the past1 the sum of ,sorrow which is not sorrow1 but delight ,to hear of1 for the glory that redounds ,therefrom to human kind and what we are4 ,the stigmatization of ,paul1 his puncturing with the wounds of ,jesus1 has been revived in later times in a manner far remote from anything that he imagined or would have desired4 ,francis of ,assisi in the year #abbd ,a4,d4 received in a trance the wound-prints of the ,saviour on his body2 and from that time to his death1 it is reported1 the saint had the physical appearance of one who had suffered crucifixion4 ,other instances1 to the number of eighty1 have been recorded in the ,roman ,catholic ,church of the reproduction1 in more or less complete form1 of the five wounds of ,jesus and the agonies of the cross2 chiefly in the case of nuns4 ,the last was that of ,louise ,lateau1 who died in ,belgium in the year #ahhc4 ,that such phenomena have occurred1 there is no sufficient reason to doubt4 ,it is difficult to assign any limits to the power of the human mind over the body in the way of sympathetic imitation4 ,since ,st4 ,francis' day many ,romanist divines have read the ,apostle's language in this sense2 but the interpretation has followed rather than given rise to this fulfilment4 ,in whatever light these manifestations may be regarded1 they are a striking witness to the power of the cross over human nature4 ,protracted meditation on the sufferings of our ,lord1 aided by a lively imagination and a susceptible physique1 has actually produced a rehearsal of the bodily pangs and the wound-marks of ,calvary4 ,this mode of knowing ,christ's sufferings after the flesh1 morbid and monstrous as we deem it to be1 is the result of an aspiration which however misdirected by ,catholic asceticism1 is yet the highest that belongs to the ,christian life4 ,surely we also desire1 with ,paul1 to be made conformable to the death of ,christ4 ,on our hearts ,his wounds must be impressed4 ,along the pathway of our life ,his cross has to be borne4 ,to all ,his disciples1 with the sons of ,zebedee1 ,he says1 ,ye shall indeed drink of ,my cup2 and with the baptism that ,i am baptized withal shall ye be baptized4 ,but it is the ,spirit that quickeneth1 said ,jesus2 the flesh profiteth nothing4 ,the pains endured by the body for ,his sake are only of value when1 as in ,paul's case1 they are the result and the witness of an inward communion of the ,spirit1 a union of the will and the intelligence with ,christ4 ,the cup that ,he would have us drink with ,him1 is one of sorrow for the sins of men4 ,his baptism is that of pity for the misery of our fellows1 of yearning over souls that perish4 ,it will not come upon us without costing many a pang4 ,if we receive it there will be ease to surrender1 gain and credit to renounce1 self to be constantly sacrificed4 ,we need not go out of our way to find our cross2 we have only not to be blind to it1 not to evade it when ,christ sets it before us4 ,it may be part of the cross that it comes in a common1 unheroic form2 the service required is obscure2 it consists of a multitude of little1 vexing1 drudging sacrifices in place of the grand and impressive sacrifice1 which we should be proud to make4 ,to be martyred by inches1 out of sight--this to many is the cruellest martyrdom of all4 ,but it may be ,christ's way1 the fittest1 the only perfect way for us1 of putting ,his brand upon us and conforming us to ,his death4 ,yes1 conformity of spirit to the cross is the mark of ,jesus4 ,if we suffer with ,him--so the ,apostolic ,churches used to sing--we shall also be glorified together4 ,in our recoil from the artificial penances and mortifications of former ages1 we are disposed in these days to banish the idea of mortification altogether from our ,christian life4 ,do we not study our personal comfort in an un-,christlike fashion8 ,are there not many in these days1 bearing the name of ,christ1 who without shame and without reproof lay out their plans for winning the utmost of selfish prosperity1 and put ,christian objects in the second place8 ,how vain for them to cry ,lord1 ,lord6 to the ,christ who pleased not ,himself6 ,they profess at the ,lord's ,table to show ,his death2 but to show that death in their lives1 to know with ,paul the fellowship of ,his sufferings1 is the last thing that enters into their minds4 ,how the scars of the brave ,apostle put to shame the self-indulgence1 the heartless luxury1 the easy friendship with the world1 of fashionable ,christians6 ,be ye followers of me1 he cries1 as ,i also of ,christ4 ,he who shuns that path cannot1 ,jesus said1 be ,my disciple4 ,so the blessed ,apostle has put his mark to this ,epistle4 ,to the ,colossians from his prison he writes1 ,remember my bonds4 ,and to the ,galatians1 ,look on my wounds4 ,these are his credentials2 these are the armorial bearings of the ,apostle ,paul4 ,he places the seal of ,jesus1 the sign-manual of the wounded hand upon the letter written in ,his name4 ,,the ,,benediction4 ,one benediction the ,apostle has already uttered1 in ver4 #af4 ,but that was a general wish1 embracing all who should walk according to the spiritual rule of ,christ's kingdom4 ,on his readers specifically he still has his blessing to pronounce4 ,he does it in language differing in this instance very little from that he is accustomed to employ4 ,the grace of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ is the distinctive blessing of the ,new ,covenant4 ,it is to the ,christian the supreme good of life1 including or carrying with it every other spiritual gift4 ,grace is ,christ's property4 ,it descended with the ,incarnate ,saviour into the world1 coming down from ,god out of heaven4 ,his life displayed it2 ,his death bestowed it on mankind4 ,raised to ,his heavenly throne1 ,he has become on the ,father's behalf the dispenser of its fulness to all who will receive it4 ,there exalted1 thence bestowing on men the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness1 ,he is known and worshipped as our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,what this grace of ,god in ,christ designs1 what it accomplishes in believing hearts1 what are the things that contradict it and make it void1 this ,epistle has largely taught us4 ,of its pure1 life-giving stream the ,galatians already had richly tasted4 ,from ,christ's grace they were now tempted to remove 7ch4 i4 #f74 ,but the ,apostle hopes and prays that it may abide with them4 ,with your spirit1 he says2 for this is the place of its visitation1 the throne of its power4 ,the spirit of man1 breathed upon by the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 receives ,christ's grace and becomes the subject and the witness of its regenerating virtue4 ,this benediction contains therefore in brief all that is set forth in the familiar three fold formula--the grace of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and the love of ,god1 and the communion of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,after all his fears for his wayward flock1 all his chidings and reproofs1 forgiveness and confidence are the last thoughts in ,paul's heart3 ,brethren is the last word that drops from the ,apostle's pen1--followed only by the confirmation of his devout ,amen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to his readers also the writer of this book takes leave to address the ,apostle ,paul's fraternal benediction3 ,,the ,,grace ,,of ,,our ,,lord ,,jesus ,,christ ,,be ,,with ,,your ,,spirit1 ,,brethren4 ,,amen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,small capital text has been replaced with all capitals4 ,variations in spelling1 punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error4 ,the cover for the e,book version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain4 ,page #acj3 ,the transcriber has inserted an anchor for footnote number #di ,rom4 ii4 #be-;iii4 #a4 ,page #baj3 ,the transcriber has changed ,gen4 xxii4 #h #af--a to ,gen4 xxii4 #af-ah4 ,page #bea3 7,as enemies1 we were reconciled to ,god by the death of ,his ,son27 ,missing opening double quote was added by the transcriber4