_HE SPEAKETH OF HAVING GONE UP TO JERUSALEM AGAIN, AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE: THAT TITUS WAS NOT CIRCUMCISED: AND THAT HE RESISTED PETER, AND TOLD HIM THE REASON, WHY HE AND OTHERS, BEING JEWS, DO BELIEVE THEMSELVES IN CHRIST TO BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, AND NOT BY WORKS: AND THAT THEY LIVE NOT IN SIN, WHO... [ Continue Reading ]
FOURTEEN YEARS AFTER— This was the time when he went up from Antioch to the council at Jerusalem, about the question whether the Gentiles were to be circumcised. See Acts 15:4; Acts 15:41. This is the earliest mention that we meet with of _Titus;_ for he is nowhere mentioned by St. Luke in the _Acts... [ Continue Reading ]
I WENT UP BY REVELATION,— Some suppose that this means only that he went up according to the revelation which he mentions as having received, ch. Galatians 1:12. But it seems rather to be here implied, that in their sending Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, the church at Antioch were directed by a rev... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NEITHER TITUS—WAS COMPELLED, &C.— This served as a plain evidence to the Galatians, that the circumcising of the convert Gentiles was no part of the gospel which he laid before these men of note, as what he preached to the Gentiles; for if it had, Titus must have been circumcised; for no part of... [ Continue Reading ]
INTO BONDAGE:— What this _bondage_ was, see Acts 15:1; Acts 15:5; Acts 15:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
TO WHOM WE GAVE PLACE, &C.— The _neither_ in the 3rd verse, according to propriety of speech, ought to have an _or_ to answer it; and accordingly, in this verse, the word ουδε should be so rendered, _Neither was Titus compelled—nor did we yield to them a moment._ The point which those _false brethre... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT OF THOSE WHO SEEMED TO BE SOMEWHAT,— St. Paul having shewn, in the preceding verses, what passed between the _false brethren,_ and him, now proceeds to shew what passed between _the chief of the brethren_ and himself; and therefore some introduce the verse with these words: _Thus we behaved ours... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT WROUGHT EFFECTUALLY— This may be understood to signify both the operation of the Spirit upon the mind of St. Peter and St. Paul, in sending them, the one to the Jews, the other to the Gentiles; and also the Holy Ghost bestowed on them, whereby they were enabled to do miracles for the confirm... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN JAMES, CEPHAS, AND JOHN, &C.— _And, being sensible of the grace wherewith I am endowed, James, Cephas, and John, who were esteemed main supports of the church in Judea, embraced me and Barnabas as their associates; and agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews._ Heylin.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER THE POOR;— "That we should entreat all believers whom we meet with in our travels, to send some relief to the Christians in Jerusalem, who were at this time in great want and distress.... [ Continue Reading ]
PETER— Had St. Peter observed the law of Moses himself, St. Paul would not have blamed him for that. What he blamed him for was, his acting as if the Gentiles were obliged to live as did the Jews, in order to their being the people of God, and partakers of the blessings and honours of his kingdom. S... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL,— That is, "That freedom from the law of Moses, which was a part of the true doctrine of the gospel." In this sense he uses the word _truth_ throughout the epistle; insisting on it, that this doctrine of freedom from the law of Moses was a part of the true gospel... [ Continue Reading ]
WE WHO ARE JEWS, &C.— What the Jews thought of themselves, in contradistinction to the Gentiles, see Romans 2:17. Dr. Heylin observes, that _sinner_ here, and Galatians 2:17 and often elsewhere, signifies "a man in the state of nature, before that application of the merits of Christ which is termed... [ Continue Reading ]
IF—WE OURSELVES ALSO ARE FOUND SINNERS,— Those who are under the law, having oncetransgressed, remain always sinners, unalterably so, in the eye of the law; which excludes all such from justification. The Apostle, in this place, argues thus: "We Jews, who are by birth God's people, and not, as the p... [ Continue Reading ]
I MAKE MYSELF A TRANSGRESSOR.— Many commentators consider this verse as a continuation of St. Paul's speech at Antioch, and would render and connect it thus: "On the contrary, so far are we from being made sinners by neglecting justification by the law, that if we taught the necessity of its works,... [ Continue Reading ]
THROUGH THE LAW— _By the tenor of the law itself._ See ch. Galatians 3:24 Galatians 4:21, &c. Romans 3:21; Romans 11:14 comp. with Romans 7:4. What St. Paul says here seems to imply, that living under the law was to live not acceptably to God;—a strange doctrine certainly to the Jews! and yet it was... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST:— See this explained, Romans 7:4; Romans 6:2. The general meaning of the verseis, "The whole management of myself is conformable to the doctrine of the gospel, of justification in Christ alone, and not by the deeds of the law." This, and the former verse, seem to be spoken... [ Continue Reading ]
GRACE OF GOD:— See ch. Galatians 1:6 to which this seems here opposed. The latter part of this verse will be found explained in St. Paul's own words, ch. 5. _Inferences,_ drawn from Galatians 2:17. One of the greatest and most plausible objections alleged by unbelievers against the divine institutio... [ Continue Reading ]