JUSTIFICATION IS BY FAITH, NOT WORKS 1-14. The Apostle upbraids the Galatians with their speedy change from faith to legal observances, reminding them of the fact that their reception of the Spirit had not been through the works of the Law, but through faith, and appealing both to the testimony of... [ Continue Reading ]
FOOLISH] thoughtless, undiscerning, inconsistent. BEWITCHED] and so perverted you. BEFORE WHOSE EYES] Paul had vividly (EVIDENTLY, RV 'openly') portrayed the crucified Christ as Saviour.... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS ONLY] one question will reveal your error and inconsistency. RECEIVED YE, etc.] Of course the latter was the case.... [ Continue Reading ]
SPIRIT and FLESH denote the characteristics of Gospel and Law respectively—the spheres to which they belong: cp. Galatians 6:12. The Galatians had begun by putting their trust in Christ, and living a new life under His abiding influence. To forget this beginning and to aim not at living according to... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE YE SUFFERED.. IN VAIN] It was all for naught, and might better not have been endured, unless the gospel is deserving of their consistent adherence. IF _it be_ YET IN VAIN] There was still hope that they might be reached and convinced by the appeal now made to them.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT, etc.] i.e. God. MIRACLES] cp. 1 Corinthians 12. _Doeth he it_, etc.] Of course, in the latter way, or on the latter condition.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS ABRAHAM] a typical case, which the Judaisers could not gainsay: cp. Genesis 15:6. St. Paul declares: Our Jewish sacred Scriptures teach salvation by faith. Abraham was blessed because he trusted in God absolutely, and did His will, before the Law even existed. So men are now to trust in Christ th... [ Continue Reading ]
Sonship to Abraham, therefore (in the spiritual sense), is determined by faith.... [ Continue Reading ]
PREACHED BEFORE (RV 'beforehand')] proclaimed long in advance the central principle of the Christian gospel.... [ Continue Reading ]
The conclusion which follows from Galatians 3:2; Galatians 3:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
Why men cannot be saved by legal works of merit; they must be perfect and complete, or they never can be: cp. Deuteronomy 27:26; Romans 2:13; Romans 3:20; Romans 4:4; Romans 8:3; Romans 10:5. 11, 12. Further scriptural confirmation: cp. Hab24. Even under the Law a man was counted righteous not beca... [ Continue Reading ]
REDEEMED] a figure drawn from the analogy of ransoming captives. US] i.e. Jews. THE CURSE] the condemnation pronounced by the Law upon sin. BEING MADE] by submitting to the shame of being crucified: cp. Deuteronomy 21:23. The Law declared that any one who died a criminal's death upon a cross was acc... [ Continue Reading ]
COVENANT] better as mg. 'testament,' or will. It is an 'inheritance' that is in question (Galatians 3:18). According to Ramsay, this word 'will' as understood in the Galatian cities meant 'a provision to maintain the family with its religious obligations... The appointment of an heir was the adoptio... [ Continue Reading ]
THY SEED, WHICH IS CHRIST] St. Paul here argues from the fact that the singular number is used—'seed,' not 'seeds'; but the verbal reasoning does not affect the argument. The word is collective. He regards Christ as including all who are united to Him by faith, who are the true seed of Abraham.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAW.. CANNOT DISANNUL] the will of God is irrevocable (as is seen even in the case of the wills of men); the Law, therefore, cannot be contrary to it, but must be explained in some other way. FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS] The giving of the Law is dated 430 years after Abraham's sojourn in Canaa... [ Continue Reading ]
THE INHERITANCE] the blessings promised to Abraham, here understood in the sense of the spiritual blessing of salvation through Christ. OF THE LAW.. OF PROMISE] two contrasted dispensations; salvation cannot be by both. Scripture is explicit in favour of the latter. It is better to depend upon a pro... [ Continue Reading ]
Inferior character of the Law shown (1) by its aim to make transgressions abound, cp. Romans 3:20; Romans 4:15; Romans 5:20; Romans 7:7 and (2) by its mediation through the angels and Moses: cp. Deuteronomy 33:2; Acts 7:53. ORDAINED BY ANGELS] an addition of the rabbis to Scripture. St. Paul is just... [ Continue Reading ]
There is no place for a mediator where there is but one party to a transaction. Now, in issuing His promise to Abraham, God stands forth independent and alone. The point is the contrast between the conditions of the giving of the Law and of the promise. The former depends upon the fulfilling of a co... [ Continue Reading ]
It does not follow because the Law and the promise are of different rank that they are contrary.... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCLUDED ALL] RV 'shut up all things.' The OT. teaches what the Gospel teaches, that all need a gracious salvation. Both Law and Gospel contemplate the same ultimate end. 'The connexion of the argument is, that if the Law could give men spiritual life, and so enable them to fulfil its precepts, it... [ Continue Reading ]
FAITH] i.e. the Gospel, whose principle is faith. Both Faith and Law are here personified. KEPT] RV 'kept in ward,' imprisoned by the Law's verdict upon sin, awaiting the time of our deliverance through Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
SCHOOLMASTER] cp. Romans 7:7. Tutor, or trainer, who by his chastisement for our faults made us see our need of grace and pardon. St. Paul may have been thinking of the Jewish custom of fathers daily conducting their sons to school.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Law is the stern jailer or disciplinarian; Faith the liberator from bondage and chastisement. WE] i.e. the Jews.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE.. ALL] whether Jews or Gentiles, are no longer bondsmen (cp. Romans 8:14.), but sons: see Galatians 3:16; Galatians 3:17 are a kind of parenthesis.... [ Continue Reading ]
BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST] entered by baptism into the relation of fellowship with Christ. The argument is: Baptism means union with Christ, and union with Christ means the liberty of sonship to God.... [ Continue Reading ]
Such distinctions do not separate true believers. There is a unity in Christ which is deeper than differences of nationality, condition, or sex. The GREEK is the Galatian. St. Paul shows his tact in using that name, as the more refined natives would probably like it.... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAHAM'S SEED] his spiritual descendants. Not lineal descent from Abraham, but spiritual kinship to him through a faith like his, determines whether we are heirs of the promise made to him.... [ Continue Reading ]