_Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us freer and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage._ THE FREEDOM OF THE CHRISTIAN It is necessary that we first see generally what that “liberty” is, “wherewith Christ maketh His people free.” I cannot hold any one “free,” so... [ Continue Reading ]
_If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing._ THE LAW AND GRACE I. God will deal with us either altogether by works or altogether by Christ; these things cannot be mixed. II. To piece up therefore the righteousness of Christ by our own works, and to add anything to the passion as a mer... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law._ THE GREAT DILEMMA I. Justification by the law. 1. What this means. (1) Circumcision which commits a man to the law. (2) Obedience to all the requirements of the law to which the circumcised are comm... [ Continue Reading ]
_Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are Justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace._ IS CHRIST PREACHED “OF NO EFFECT” I think, the sum and substance of my text amounts simply to this: that the attempt to add anything to Christ’s perfect work in the salvation of a ruined... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, _ SALVATION BY FAITH AND THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT Faith is not opposed to the spirit, but is the child of it. Through the Spirit we wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. I. Declare the Christian’s hope. 1. Its singul... [ Continue Reading ]
_For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love._ THE ORDER OF GRACIOUS EXERCISES IN THE RENEWED HEART All evangelical writers and preachers maintain that none can be real Christians without exercising faith, repentance, and love; bu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye did run well; who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth._ I. The concession--“Ye did run well.” 1. Christianity is like a race. (1) It is laborious. (2) It is brief. (3) It gives the prize only to the persevering. 2. Christianity differs from a race. (1) In other races many ru... [ Continue Reading ]
_This persuasion cometh not of Him that calleth you._ THIS PERSUASION “We learn-- I. That the cause of religious declension is unbelief in God’s Word, and surrender to plausible persuasions. Thus-- 1. Eve, by the persuasion of the devil. 2. Papists, by persuasion that the Church cannot err. 3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump._ LEAVEN AS A SYMBOL OF EVIL I. Leaven corrupts: evil corrupts. II. Leaven infects: evil infects. III. Leaves is subtle and secret in its movements: So is evil. It is a virus whose antecedents and consequents it is impossible to trace. IV. Leaven is not... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have confidence in you through the Lord that ye will be none otherwise minded--(Comp, _Galatians 4:11_)._ THE TROUBLED CHURCH AND ITS TROUBLERS I. Paul’s treatment of the Galatian Church shows us-- 1. To hope the best of men so long as they are curable. (1) Objection: Those that hope the best... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?_ then is the offence of the Cross ceased. THE PERVERSION OF APOSTOLIC PREACHING There are two attempts or resolves in constant operation as to the Cross. One is man’s, to accommodate it to human liking and taste: the... [ Continue Reading ]
_I would they were even cut off that trouble you._ REASONS FOR PAUL’S INDIGNATION Not content with argument he charges the Judaizers with what is base, cowardly, and corrupt. They are mean and time-serving, and dread the loss of caste among their fellow-countrymen. His whole being at last becomes... [ Continue Reading ]
_For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another._ CHRISTIAN LIBERTY I. The nature of that liberty of which the apostle here speaks. There is a charm in the very sound of liberty; it awakens many grateful recollectio... [ Continue Reading ]
_For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself._ THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW I. Love is of perpetual obligation. II. A true response to the obligation of neighbourly love will ensure the faithful discharge of every other obligation. III. Therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another._ UNCHARITABLE CONTENTIONS IN THE CHURCH OF GOD I. There ever were, are, and will be, differences among God’s own people in the matters of religion. Even amongst the Jews, who had such punctual rules prescribe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh._ FLESH VERSUS SPIRIT A Galatian Christian might argue that the religion of Christ had not wrought for him the deliverance which he had expected; that whereas he had been taught to believe in the Almighty power of Christ, and of Ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh._ CONTEST BETWEEN FLESH AND SPIRIT Here is a battle--a struggle--described: one in which we must all fight. Our own corrupt and wilful hearts, and the Holy Spirit of God, are ever drawing us different ways; and we have to... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law._ THE GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT 1. The Spirit is a person. The personality of the Spirit is a doctrine freely confessed by us in our creed, but often denied by us in thought, converse, prayers. He comes to have with us only the indefiniteness o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now the works of the flesh are manifest._ THE WORKS OF THE FLESH OUR OWN It is the same with all the passions and appetites. No one of them ever leaves a man, who indulges them, just where he was before. No one of them is a mere dry, isolated fact, that drops into his record and stops there. If a... [ Continue Reading ]
_That they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God._ SIN’S DOMINION FATAL TO THE SOUL It is not said: They that do such things daily; for even though one does any such thing only now and then, on certain occasions, yea even only once, but voluntarily, he forfeits the Kingdom of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the fruit of the Spirit is love._ THE SPIRITUAL LIFE The works of the flesh are manifest, known and plain to all. But the fruit of the Spirit is not so manifest: the life of God in the soul is a hidden life: still it is a real life, producing genuine fruit; cherish therefore and cultivate it.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts._ ON THE MARKS WHICH DISTINGUISH A REAL CHRISTIAN Thus those that are Christ’s are occasionally characterized as born of the Spirit; walking in the Spirit; the children of God; the elect of God; the doers of the law... [ Continue Reading ]
_If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit._ (Cf. Galatians 5:16; Galatians 5:18.) I. The supposition. 1. We have been born of the Spirit. 2. We are living in the continual exercise of faith in Christ who is our life. II. The obligation. 1. Living a life of spirituality in oppos... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another._ I. Disunion may exist in a Christian community. II. Entire sympathy with Christ will heighten man’s appreciation of man without selfseeking. III. Christianity is the only humanizing and fraternizing religion. Iv. S... [ Continue Reading ]