V. (1) STAND FAST THEREFORE. — The external evidence is very strong in favour of a different reading: _With_ (or, perhaps, _For_)_ liberty did Christ make us free. Stand fast, then, and be not entangled,_ &c. There seems to be no sufficient reason why this should not be adopted. IN THE LIBERTY. —... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I PAUL. — The strong personality of the Apostle asserts itself; instead of going into an elaborate proof, he speaks with dogmatic authority, as though his bare word were enough. SHALL PROFIT YOU NOTHING. — ”Profit,” _i.e.,_ in the way of justification, as producing that state of righteousne... [ Continue Reading ]
(2-6) There can be no compromise between Christianity and Judaism. If you accept the one you must give up the other. Circumcision is a pledge or engagement to live by the rule of the Law. That rule must be taken as a whole. You are committed to the practice of the whole Law, and in that way alone yo... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I TESTIFY AGAIN. — Translate rather, _Nay, I protest again,_ introducing a further argument. He who allows himself to be circumcised thereby commits himself wholly to the Law, just as, it might be said, he who is baptised commits himself wholly to Christ. The act of circumcision placed a man und... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRIST IS BECOME OF NO EFFECT UNTO YOU. — Literally, _Ye were_ (or, more idiomatically, _are_)_ abolished, made nothing, from Christ;_ a condensed form of expression for, _Ye are made nothing_ (unchristianised), _and cut off from Christ._ Your relations to Christ are cancelled, and you are Christian... [ Continue Reading ]
THROUGH THE SPIRIT. — Through the operation of the Spirit. It is the Spirit which makes faith effectual and righteousness real. The righteousness which comes by the Law is entirely human or “carnal,” the product of a man’s own efforts. The righteousness which is by faith is the gift of God, and that... [ Continue Reading ]
IN JESUS CHRIST. — When the Christian has entered into those close relations with Christ which his Christianity assumes. AVAILETH ANY THING. — As “shall profit” in Galatians 5:2; avail in the way of justification. FAITH WHICH WORKETH BY LOVE. — Faith in Christ, the devoted attachment to Christ, is... [ Continue Reading ]
YE DID RUN WELL. — Again, as in Galatians 2:2, a metaphor from foot racing. The Galatians had made a good start, but suddenly changed their course. WHO DID HINDER YOU? — The metaphor here is not quite the same, but is somewhat akin to that just used. The original meaning of the word translated “hin... [ Continue Reading ]
(7-12) All was going well at first. What sudden intruder has stopped your path and led you astray? Certainly it is not God, to whom you owe your calling, that has persuaded you to such a course. You tell me that not many have fallen away. But those few are enough to infect the whole. Not that I wish... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS PERSUASION... — He who _calls_ the Galatians is here, as elsewhere, God; and certainly, the Apostle says, it can have been by no intimation or guidance from Him that they were led to accept such perverted teaching.... [ Continue Reading ]
A LITTLE LEAVEN... — A pregnant expression, which leaves a good deal to the reader to supply. The proverb is true which says that _a little leaven leavens the whole mass of dough._ And so, in your case, the malcontents may be few, but they will soon ruin the whole Church. It seems decidedly more in... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU THROUGH THE LORD. — Literally, _I have confidence wish regard to you in the Lord_ — _i.e.,_ such confidence as a Christian teacher ought to have in Christian scholars. This has reference to the main body of the Church; an exception is immediately made as to the disaffected p... [ Continue Reading ]
(11)AND I, BRETHREN. — Rather, _But I, brethren._ Another abrupt transition. We should naturally infer from this passage that St. Paul had at one time seemed to preach, or at least to _permit,_ circumcision. Thus, in the Acts, we should gather, from the account of the conference at Jerusalem in Acts... [ Continue Reading ]
I WOULD THEY WERE EVEN CUT OFF. — The Authorised version is undoubtedly wrong here. The words may mean “cut themselves off,” _i.e.,_ from your communion, but it seems far best to take the words, with all the ancient Greek interpreters and a large majority of modern commentators, including Dr. Lightf... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR. — This connecting particle supplies the reason for the Apostle’s severe treatment of the Judaisers. AN OCCASION TO THE FLESH. — Do not, under the name “liberty,” give way to sensual excesses. This was the especial danger of the Gentile churches, such as Corinth, from which, as we have seen, th... [ Continue Reading ]
(13-15) The Judaisers would deserve such a fate; for they are undoing the whole object with which you were called. You were called, not to legal bondage, but to _freedom._ This caution only is needed: Do not make freedom a pretext for self-indulgence. One servitude you may submit to — the service of... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is another of the marked points of contact between this Epistle and that to the Romans. The theme of it is worked out at length in Romans 13:8. THY NEIGHBOUR. — In the original command this appears to mean “thy fellow Israelite.” Our Lord, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, had given... [ Continue Reading ]
WALK. — Conduct yourselves: a metaphor very common in the writings of St. Paul, but not peculiar to them. It occurs three times in the Gospels, once in the Acts, thirty-three times in St. Paul’s Epistles, once in the Hebrews, ten times in the Epistles of St. John, and once in the Apocalypse. IN THE... [ Continue Reading ]
(16-26) To follow the guidance of the Spirit is to obtain a double release: on the one hand, from the evil appetites and passions of the flesh or of sense — which is the direct antithesis to the Spirit — and on the other hand, from the dominion of the Law. It is easy to tell which has the upper hand... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE FLESH... — In this verse we have brought out most distinctly the antithesis between the flesh and the Spirit, which is one of the root ideas in the psychology of St. Paul. It does not amount to dualism, for the body, as such, is not regarded as evil. There is nothing to show that St. Paul co... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW. — Strictly, _Ye are not under law_ — law in the abstract. The flesh and law are correlative terms: to be free from the one is to be free from the other. The flesh represents unaided human nature, and law is the standard which this unaided human nature strives, but strives i... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THE WORKS OF THE FLESH ARE MANIFEST. — It needs no elaborate disquisition to show what is meant by fulfilling the lust of the flesh. The effects which the flesh produces are plain and obvious enough. The catalogue which follows is not drawn up on any exact scientific principle, but divides itsel... [ Continue Reading ]
IDOLATRY. — When the Christian is warned against idolatry, it is not, of course, _systematic_ idolatry that is meant, but that occasional compliance with idolatrous customs — taking part in the idol feasts, or eating of things offered to idols — which he might easily be led into by his intercourse w... [ Continue Reading ]
MURDERS. — There is considerable doubt as to whether this word ought to stand in the text. It is wanting in the two oldest MSS. and in some other good authorities. Internal considerations may be made to tell either for its omission or for its retention. I TELL YOU BEFORE. — _I foretell_ (or, _forew... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. — There does not seem to be any essential difference between this term and that used above: “the _works_ of the flesh.” The fruit of the Spirit is that which naturally grows out of the operation of the Spirit, in which it naturally results. The expression “fruit” is, however... [ Continue Reading ]
MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE. — ”Meekness” is something more than “mildness,” which has been suggested as an alternative translation. “Mildness” would represent that side of the virtue which is turned towards men; but it has also another side, which is turned towards God — a gentle submissiveness to the div... [ Continue Reading ]
But such things are just what the Christian would do. He will have nothing to make him act differently. He will not need to be taught peaceableness, goodness, or self-control, for the impulses which run counter to these are dead within him: they were killed at the moment when he gave himself up whol... [ Continue Reading ]
IF WE LIVE IN THE SPIRIT. — It seems, on the whole, best to translate: _If we live by the Spirit;_ if we derive our life from the Spirit; if it is by the action of the Spirit that our moral activity as Christians is kept alive. At the same time, another way of taking the words is possible: _If we li... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US NOT BE. — Strictly, _Let us not become._ When he left the Galatian Church St. Paul was satisfied with their condition, but he fears that they will change. The warning that he addresses to them exactly hits the weak points in the national character — fickleness, vanity, and a quarrelsome dispo... [ Continue Reading ]