_ VERSE 1. O FOOLISH GALATIANS._ VERSE 1. Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? VERSE 1. Who hath bewitched you? VERSE 1. That ye should not obey the truth. VERSE 1. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth. VERSE 1. Crucifed among you. "You have not on... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 1. O FOOLISH GALATIANS._ VERSE 1. Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? VERSE 1. Who hath bewitched you? VERSE 1. That ye should not obey the truth. VERSE 1. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth. VERSE 1. Crucifed among you. "You have not on... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 2. THIS ONLY WOULD I LEARN OF YOU, RECEIVED YE THE SPIRIT BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW, OR BY THE HEARING OF FAITH?_ "You cannot say that you received the Holy Spirit by the Law. As long as you were servants of the Law, you never received the Holy Ghost. Nobody ever heard of the Holy Ghost being g... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 3. ARE YE SO FOOLISH? HAVING BEGUN IN THE SPIRIT, ARE YE NOW MADE PERFECT BY THE FLESH?_... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 4. HAVE YE SUFFERED SO MANY THINGS IN VAIN?_ VERSE 4. If it be yet in vain.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 5. HE THEREFORE THAT MINISTERETH TO YOU THE SPIRIT, AND WORKETH MIRACLES AMONG YOU, DOETH HE IT BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW, OR BY THE HEARING OF FAITH?_... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 6. EVEN AS ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS._ The Apostle next adduces the example of Abraham and reviews the testimony of the Scriptures concerning faith. The first passage is taken from Genesis 15:6: "And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 7. KNOW YE THEREFORE THAT THEY WHICH ARE OF FAITH, THE SAME ARE THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM._ Some find fault with Paul for applying the term "faith" in Genesis 15:6 to Christ. They think Paul's use of the term too wide and general. They think its meaning should be restricted to the context. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 8. AND THE SCRIPTURE, FORESEEING THAT GOD WOULD JUSTIFY THE HEATHEN THROUGH FAITH._ VERSE 8. Preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 9. SO THEN THEY WHICH BE OF FAITH ARE BLESSED WITH FAITHFUL ABRAHAM._ The Jews exhibited a working Abraham. The Pope exhibits a working Christ, or an exemplary Christ. The Pope quotes Christ's saying recorded in John 13:15, "I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to y... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 10. FOR AS MANY AS ARE OF THE WORKS OF THE LAW ARE UNDER THE CURSE._ VERSE 10. For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Our opponents have their answer ready-made. They quote Paul's own statement in Romans... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 11. BUT THAT NO MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, IT IS EVIDENT: FOR, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH._... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 12. AND THE LAW IS NOT OF FAITH._ In direct opposition to the scholastics Paul declares: "The law is not of faith." What is this charity the scholastics talk so much about? Does not the Law command charity? The fact is the Law commands nothing but charity, as we may gather from the following... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 13. CHRIST HATH REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW, BEING MADE A CURSE FOR US: FOR IT IS WRITTEN, CURSED IS EVERY ONE THAT HANGETH ON A TREE._ Jerome and his present-day followers rack their miserable brains over this comforting passage in an effort to save Christ from the fancied insult o... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 14. THAT THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM MIGHT COME, ON THE GENTILES THROUGH JESUS CHRIST._ VERSE 14. That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Long ago the prophets visualized the happy changes Christ would effect in all things. Despite the fact that the Jews had the Law of G... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 15. BRETHREN, I SPEAK AFTER THE MANNER OF MEN; THOUGH IT BE BUT A MAN'S COVENANT, YET IF IT BE CONFIRMED, NO MAN DISANNULLETH, OR ADDETH THERETO._ After the preceding, well-taken argument, Paul offers another based on the similarity between a man's testament and God's testament. A man's test... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 16. NOW TO ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED WERE THE PROMISES MADE. HE SAITH NOT, AND TO SEEDS, AS OF MANY; BUT AS OF ONE, AND TO THY SEED, WHICH IS CHRIST._... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 17. AND THIS I SAY, THAT THE COVENANT, THAT WAS CONFIRMED BEFORE OF GOD IN CHRIST, THE LAW WHICH WAS FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS AFTER, CANNOT DISANNUL, THAT IT SHOULD MAKE THE PROMISE OF NONE EFFECT._... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 18. FOR IF THE INHERITANCE BE OF THE LAW, IT IS NO MORE OF PROMISE._ In Romans 4:14, the Apostle writes: "For if they which are made of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect." It cannot be otherwise. That the Law is something entirely different from the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 19. WHEREFORE THEN SERVETH THE LAW?_ The Jews believed if they kept the Law they would be saved. When they heard that the Gospel proclaimed a Christ who had come into the world to save sinners and not the righteous; when they heard that sinners were to enter the kingdom of heaven before the... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 20. NOW A MEDIATOR IS NOT A MEDIATOR OF ONE._ Of this better Mediator Paul says: "A mediator is not a mediator of one." We are the offending party; God is the party offended. The offense is of such a nature that God cannot pardon it. Neither can we render adequate satisfaction for our offen... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 21. IS THE LAW THEN AGAINST THE PROMISES OF GOD?_ VERSE 21. God forbid. VERSE 21. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 22. BUT THE SCRIPTURE HATH CONCLUDED ALL UNDER SIN._ Where? First in the promises concerning Christ in Genesis 3:15 and in Genesis 22:18, which speak of the seed of the woman and the seed of Abraham. The fact that these promises were made unto the fathers concerning Christ implies that the f... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 23. BUT BEFORE FAITH CAME._ VERSE 23. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. VERSE 23. Shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 24. WHEREFORE THE LAW WAS OUR SCHOOLMASTER TO BRING US UNTO CHRIST._ This simile of the schoolmaster is striking. Schoolmasters are indispensable. But show me a pupil who loves his schoolmaster. How little love is lost upon them the Jews showed by their attitude toward Moses. They would have... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 25. BUT AFTER THAT FAITH IS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A SCHOOLMASTER._ The Apostle declares that we are free from the Law. Christ fulfilled the Law for us. We may live in joy and safety under Christ. The trouble is, our flesh will not let us believe in Christ with all our heart. The fault... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 26. FOR WE ARE ALL THE CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS._ Paul as a true apostle of faith always has the word "faith" on the tip of his tongue. By faith, says he, we are the children of God. The Law cannot beget children of God. It cannot regenerate us. It can only remind us of the o... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 27. FOR AS MANY OF YOU AS HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST HAVE PUT ON CHRIST._ To "put on Christ" may be understood in two ways, according to the Law and according to the Gospel. According to the Law as in Romans 13:14, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ," which means to follow the example of C... [ Continue Reading ]
_VERSE 28. THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, THERE IS NEITHER BOND NOR FREE, THERE IS NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE; FOR YE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS._ There is much disparity among men in the world, but there is no such disparity before God. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Ro... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VERSE 29. AND IF YE BE CHRIST'S, THEN ARE YE ABRAHAM'S SEED, AND HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE._... [ Continue Reading ]