Galatians · Chapter 6

V. 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in any fault-By surprise, ignorance, or stress of temptation.

Ye who are spiritual-Who continue to live and walk by the Spirit. Restore such an one-By reproof, instruction, or exhortation. Every one who can, ought to help herein; only

in the spirit of meekness-This is essential to a spiritual man; and in this lies the whole force of the cure.

Considering thyself-The plural is beautifully changed into the singular. Let each take heed to himself.

Lest thou also be tempted-Temptation easily and swiftly passes from one to another; especially if a man endeavours to cure another without preserving his own meekness.

Verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken] ean prolhfqh. If he be surprised, seized on without warning, suddenly invaded, taken before he is aware: all these meanings the word has in connections similar to this. Strabo, lib. xvi., page 1120, applies it to the rhinoceros, in its contests with the elephant: he suddenly rips up the belly of the elephant, an mh prolhfqh th proboskioi, that he may not be surprised with his trunk. For, should the elephant seize him with his trunk first, all resistance would be afterwards in vain; therefore he endeavours to rip up the elephant’s belly with the horn which is on his nose, in order to prevent this. It is used also by Arrian, in Peripl. Mar. Eryth., page 164, and page 168, to signify a vessel being suddenly agitated and whirled by the waves, and then dashed on the rocks. See Kypke.

Ye which are spiritual] Ye who still retain the grace of the Gospel, and have wisdom and experience in Divine things;

Restore such a one] katartizete ton toiouton. Bring the man back into his place. It is a metaphor taken from a dislocated limb, brought back by the hand of a skilful and tender surgeon into its place. In the spirit of meekness] Use no severity nor haughty carriage towards him; as the man was suddenly overtaken, he is already deeply humbled and distressed, and needs much encouragement and lenient usage. There is a great difference between a man who being suddenly assailed falls into sin, and the man who transgressed in consequence of having WALKED in the counsel of the UNGODLY, or STOOD in the way of SINNERS. Considering thyself] skopwn seauton. Looking to thyself; as he fell through a moment of unwatchfulness, look about, that thou be not surprised; AS he fell, so mayest thou: thou art now warned at his expense; therefore keep a good look out.

Lest thou also be tempted.] And having had this warning, thou wilt have less to plead in extenuation of thy offence. It is no wonder if a harsh and cruel censurer of a weak, backsliding brother, should be taught moderation and mercy by an awful proof of his own frailty. Such a one may justly dread the most violent attacks from the arch enemy; he will disgrace him if he can, and if he can overtake him he will have no small triumph. Consider the possibility of such a case, and show the mercy and feeling which thou wouldst then wish to receive from another. From the consideration of what we are, what we have been, or what we may be, we should learn to be compassionate. The poet Mantuanus has set this in a fine light in his Eclogue, Deuteronomy honesto Amore:—

Id commune malum; semel insanivimus omnes:

Aut sumus, aut fuimus, aut possemus omne quod hic est

“This is a common evil; at one time or other we have all done wrong. Either we are, or have been, or may be, as bad as he whom we condemn.”

Verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in — Greek, prolhfqh, surprised into; a fault — Through his ignorance, inattention, or the stress of temptation, not considering sufficiently what he is going to do; ye who are spiritual — Who have received the Spirit of truth, grace, and wisdom, and who continue to live and walk by and in the Spirit; restore such a one — By reproof, instruction, or exhortation. Every one who can, ought to help therein; only in the spirit of meekness — Gentleness, and love: qualities essential to a spiritual man, and on these lies the whole force of the cure. Considering thyself — The plural is beautifully changed into the singular. As if he had said, Let each take heed to himself; lest thou also be tempted — That is, fall by temptation; which, being still in the body, thou art liable to do, and therefore may stand in need of the same kind office from thy brother, which thou art now called to render to him. Temptation easily and swiftly passes from one to another, especially if a man endeavours to cure another without preserving his own meekness; and a consciousness of our own frailty should dispose us to be merciful toward those that fall.

Verse 1. If a man, a brother, be overtaken in a fault, by wine, or passion, or some indiscretion, through surprise, or when off his guard. The offender is a brother, who when so overtaken confesses his fault, and avows his sorrow. Now, to rebuke him with anger, and treat him with rigour, is not doing as we would wish to be dealt by; and if we so treat him, how keen and how just would his reproaches be, if we ourselves should fall into the same sin. Truly this is an eloquent and paternal plea for brotherly tenderness and compassion. But the apostle does not mean to extend it to habitual offenders. On the contrary, he directs that we should withdraw from such characters, and by consequence, deny them the sacramental bread. The whole church is more worthy than those who habitually reproach it.

1. Brethren—Calling their affectionate attention to a new start of thought, yet strictly connected with the vainglory of the last verse of the last chapter. The new thought is, Correct a transgressing brother without airing your own superiority. Man—Though speaking specially of a member of a Christian Church, Paul uses the term designating us as a responsible being, carrying the term consistently through verses 3, 4, 5, and

7. Overtaken—Does this mean, overtaken by temptation, and inadvertently involved in fault? or, detected in his fault before he had a chance to escape? The translators, by omitting the word kai, even, and giving fault where the word should be transgression, have preferred the former sense, making it a comparatively venial case. The truer rendering would be, If a man be even unexpectedly detected in the very act of transgression. And the real thought is, Even in the most unequivocal case of a sinner, reprove and restore, not with a display of vainglory, but with meekness. The word for overtaken is prolhfqh, foretaken, that is, taken before he could escape. Spiritual—Those of Galatians 5:16, 18, 25, who walk in, and are led by, the Spirit. Even these need an admonition not only to restore the sinner, but to restore him in the right spirit. No earthly sanctification places us above the need of admonition, or of care over our own spirit and methods. Considering thyself—St. Paul here drops into the singular number very forcibly to carry the admonition to every man’s individual breast. Thou—For thy spirituality exempts thee not from temptation; nay, it may have its own to vainglory and censoriousness. If it be well to “profess sanctification,” it is still better to so “live it” as that others should profess it for you. The neighbours of John Brainard said, that “he was as holy a man as ever his brother David was;” though John is not recorded as himself so saying. Restore—Repair, reconstruct. It is an image taken from any structure broken or disarranged by mishap. It may refer to a machine with its parts disordered, or to a body with its limbs dislocated, or, as here, figuratively to a soul broken or disordered by sin. Tempted—St. Paul delicately avoids fully saying, lest thou also be caught in a fall.

Ver. 1. Brothers; introduces suitably an appeal for brotherly aid. Overtaken: as though the evil deed, i.e. strong temptation to it, had come suddenly upon him; and he had been surprised into sin. Paul thus softens the case he supposes.

Trespass: Romans 4:25; 5:15ff: a moral fall.

Ye, the spiritual ones: 1 Corinthians 2:15; 3:1: men under the influence of the Holy Spirit, in contrast to the man who has fallen. This title recalls the special teaching of § 21. Each reader would judge whether it describes himself and is here reminded of the obligation it involves. Cp. Romans 15:1; Philippians 3:15.

Restore: so as to be again fully equipped for the service of God: same word in 1 Corinthians 1:10, see notes. [The present tense here and in 2 Corinthians 13:11, pictures the restoration as gradual.] Paul bids his fellow-Christians aid the recovery of their fallen brother. In the Spirit of meekness: 1 Corinthians 4:21: the Holy Spirit, as the unseen root and seed (Galatians 5:23) of meekness, and as the all-surrounding element of Christian correction. The conspicuous place of the Holy Spirit in § 21 permits no other exposition. The inserted word Spirit was suggested probably by spiritual. Never are we in greater peril of undue self-assertion, and therefore in greater need of meekness, than in reproving others. For their fall evokes in us a sense of superiority. How deeply Paul felt this, we learn here and in 1 Corinthians 4:21; 2 Corinthians 10:1; 2 Timothy 2:25.

Looking: more fully, looking with a purpose: see note, 2 Corinthians 4:18. The purpose is immediately stated.

Tempted: our loyalty to Christ subjected to a test: see under 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Corinthians 7:5. These words further soften the supposed case by suggesting that if others had been similarly tempted they might also have fallen. A remembrance of this will mingle meekness with our reproof. The change from ye to thou suggests how personal and solitary is temptation. In the hour of trial we stand or fall alone. The exceptional case suggested in this verse implies the moral soundness of the Galatian Christians generally, in striking contrast to the doctrinal unsoundness which evoked in Paul fear lest his labours for them should be in vain. This implies further that morality, apart from correct doctrine, is not sufficient for the vitality of a Church.

V. 2. Bear ye one another's burdens-Sympathize with, and assist, each other, in all your weaknesses, grievances, trials. And so fulfil the law of Christ-The law of Christ (an uncommon expression) is the law of love: this our Lord peculiarly recommends; this he makes the distinguishing mark of his disciples.

Verse 2. Bear ye one another’s burdens] Have sympathy; feel for each other; and consider the case of a distressed brother as your own. And so fulfil the law of Christ.] That law or commandment, Ye shall love one another; or that, Do unto all men as ye would they should do unto you. We should be as indulgent to the infirmities of others, as we can be consistently with truth and righteousness: our brother’s infirmity may be his burden; and if we do not choose to help him to bear it, let us not reproach him because he is obliged to carry the load.

Verses 2-5. Bear ye one another’s burdens — Sympathize with and assist each other, in all your weaknesses, grievances, trials. The apostle alludes to the custom of travellers, who, when too heavily laden with their baggage, relieve one another by bearing the burdens of the weak or fatigued, and in that manner show their good disposition toward each other; and so fulfil the law of Christ — Even that law of love, which he particularly and especially enjoins, terming it his new commandment, and making it the distinguishing mark of his disciples; and surely we may willingly receive that law from one who was himself such an unequalled example of love, and who with so gracious a sympathy bore our burdens of sorrow, and carried away the load of our guilt. For if a man — If any one; think himself to be something — Above his brethren, and take up an overweening opinion of himself; when he is nothing — Like what he apprehends himself to be; and in particular if he be so conceited of his own sufficiency, as to imagine that he is able to resist temptation by his own strength, or by the strength of inherent grace, and thereupon insults over or despises his fallen brother, in comparison of himself, and is not compassionate and friendly to him; he deceiveth himself — Is entirely mistaken in the judgment he forms of his own state and character. But let every man — To prevent so great an evil; prove his own work — Narrowly examine all he is, all he has, and all he doth; and then — If his spirit and conduct be found agreeable to the rule God has given him, and so be approved by God; he shall have rejoicing in himself — In what God has done for him and in him, by pardoning and renewing him, and enabling him to walk before him in all well-pleasing; he will find matter of comfort in knowing that his heart is right with God, and that he has his conversation according to the gospel; and not in another — That is, not in the applause he receives from another, nor in glorying over others, as inferior to himself in gifts or graces, in holiness or usefulness. For every man — In the day of final judgment; shall bear his own burden — Shall give an account of himself to God; shall answer for his own actions only, and not for those of others.

Ver. 2. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil, or as many copies read, and so complete the law of Christ. Sin is a burden, and we should bear the infirmities of the weak. But the injunction applies to the sick and the aged poor, who may be in want of bread. We should love one another, as Christ hath loved us, and went about doing good.

2. Bear—Instead of triumphing over. Burdens—Frailties, and disgraces arising from frailties. Your brother had his heavy liabilities to this sin; he has now the weight of shame for his sin: instead of putting your holy foot upon his weakness, put your shoulder under his load, and share half or all the pressure. Thus you will enable him to tread the straight and narrow path again, without deviating from it yourself. St. Paul’s one another, implies that as fellow travellers, each carrying his knapsack, we shall perpetually need to lend each other a mutual shoulder. Fulfil—An equally good reading makes a future, ye will fulfil. Law of Christ—Namely, the law of love (v, 14,) and liberty. See James 1:25.

Ver. 2. Burdens: literally heavy-weights: same word in 2 Corinthians 4:17; Matthew 20:12; Acts 15:28; Revelation 2:24; 1 Thessalonians 2:6.

One another’s: emphatic, in contrast to bearing only our own burdens. Bear: same word in same sense in Romans 15:1. Galatians 6:1 suggests that Paul refers chiefly to loving and intelligent sympathy with a fallen brother, making his spiritual loss our own loss and sorrow, and using our powers to raise him when pressed down under a consciousness of his own sin. An example of such sympathy we find in 2 Corinthians 11:29. These words imply that this sympathy and aid may involve us in difficulties, like the carrying of a heavy burden; and exhort us to submit to such for our brother’s good.

The law of Christ: the rule of conduct supported by His authority; cp. the Law of Moses; in Luke 2:22; 24:44; John 7:23; Acts 13:39; 15:5; 27:23. It refers evidently to the precept quoted in Galatians 5:14. And the phrase confirms the historical correctness of Matthew 22:39, etc. where Christ is recorded to have paid to this precept special honor.

Fulfil: or, fill up to the full: same strong word in 1 Thessalonians 2:16, fill up their sins; 1 Corinthians 16:17; <508930> Philippians 2:30. To sympathise with, and endeavour to raise, the fallen, is a genuine mark of Christian love. Just as the words spiritual and spirit bring to bear upon the exhortation of Galatians 6:1 the teaching of § 21; so this phrase brings to bear upon it the teaching of § 20. Thus Paul exemplifies each of these foundation principles of Christian morality.

V. 3. If any one think himself to be something-Above his brethren, or by any strength of his own.

When he is nothing, he deceiveth himself-He alone will bear their burdens, who knows himself to be nothing.

Verse 3. If a man think himself to be something] i.e. To be a proper Christian man; when he is nothing; being destitute of that charity which beareth, hopeth, and endureth all things. See 1 Corinthians 13:1, &c. Those who suppose themselves to excel all others in piety, understanding, &c., while they are harsh, censorious, and overbearing, prove that they have not the charity that thinketh no evil; and in the sight of God are only as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. There are no people more censorious or uncharitable than those among some religious people who pretend to more light and a deeper communion with God. They are generally carried away with a sort of sublime, high sounding phraseology, which seems to argue a wonderfully deep acquaintance with Divine things; stripped of this, many of them are like Samson without his hair.

Verses 2-5. Bear ye one another’s burdens — Sympathize with and assist each other, in all your weaknesses, grievances, trials. The apostle alludes to the custom of travellers, who, when too heavily laden with their baggage, relieve one another by bearing the burdens of the weak or fatigued, and in that manner show their good disposition toward each other; and so fulfil the law of Christ — Even that law of love, which he particularly and especially enjoins, terming it his new commandment, and making it the distinguishing mark of his disciples; and surely we may willingly receive that law from one who was himself such an unequalled example of love, and who with so gracious a sympathy bore our burdens of sorrow, and carried away the load of our guilt. For if a man — If any one; think himself to be something — Above his brethren, and take up an overweening opinion of himself; when he is nothing — Like what he apprehends himself to be; and in particular if he be so conceited of his own sufficiency, as to imagine that he is able to resist temptation by his own strength, or by the strength of inherent grace, and thereupon insults over or despises his fallen brother, in comparison of himself, and is not compassionate and friendly to him; he deceiveth himself — Is entirely mistaken in the judgment he forms of his own state and character. But let every man — To prevent so great an evil; prove his own work — Narrowly examine all he is, all he has, and all he doth; and then — If his spirit and conduct be found agreeable to the rule God has given him, and so be approved by God; he shall have rejoicing in himself — In what God has done for him and in him, by pardoning and renewing him, and enabling him to walk before him in all well-pleasing; he will find matter of comfort in knowing that his heart is right with God, and that he has his conversation according to the gospel; and not in another — That is, not in the applause he receives from another, nor in glorying over others, as inferior to himself in gifts or graces, in holiness or usefulness. For every man — In the day of final judgment; shall bear his own burden — Shall give an account of himself to God; shall answer for his own actions only, and not for those of others.

3. For if, in the spirit of the above vainglory, forgetting the spirit of meekness, with which we should bear. A man… something—A proper corrector and restorer of others. The maxim is, indeed, general, but Paul uses it now in special reference here to the spiritual reprover. Nothing— As he truly would be, if, while correcting his neighbour’s fault, he is falling into vainglory. Deceiveth himself—A very expressive single Greek word, not found in any previous author, perhaps invented by St. Paul, and used by himself again in Titus 1:10, and may be rendered cheats-his-own-brain.

Ver. 3. To be something: of intrinsic worth: same words in Galatians 2:6; cp. Acts 5:36.

He being nothing: a suggestion which each reader would test in reference to his own case. It was Paul’s judgment about himself: 2 Corinthians 12:11. The wisest and best cannot in the least degree, by his own skill or strength, avoid the perils which surround him and attain his highest interest. To think we can, is to inflict on ourselves mental-deception: a word akin to this last, in Titus 1:10; cp. James 1:26. By making Galatians 6:3 a reason for Galatians 6:2, Paul suggests the all-important lesson that an inflated self-estimate makes us careless about the burdens of others, and thus hinders us from fulfilling the law of love. Similar teaching is suggested in Galatians 5:26; 1 Corinthians 4:6; 5:2. Vainglory is a subtle and dangerous form of selfishness; and always obscures moral vision and weakens brotherly affection. There is therefore no need to join Galatians 6:3 to Galatians 6:1, making Galatians 6:2 a sort of parenthesis: and the importance of Galatians 6:2 forbids this.

V. 4. But let every man try his own work-Narrowly examine all he is, and all he doeth.

And then he shall have rejoicing in himself-He will find in himself matter of rejoicing, if his works are right before God. And not in another-Not in glorying over others.

Verse 4. Prove his own work] Let him examine himself and his conduct by the words and example of Christ; and if he find that they bear this touchstone, then he shall have rejoicing in himself alone, feeling that he resembles his Lord and Master, and not in another-not derive his consolation from comparing himself with another who may be weaker, or less instructed than himself. The only rule for a Christian is the word of Christ; the only pattern for his imitation is the example of Christ. He should not compare himself with others; they are not his standard. Christ hath left us an example that we should follow his steps.

Verses 2-5. Bear ye one another’s burdens — Sympathize with and assist each other, in all your weaknesses, grievances, trials. The apostle alludes to the custom of travellers, who, when too heavily laden with their baggage, relieve one another by bearing the burdens of the weak or fatigued, and in that manner show their good disposition toward each other; and so fulfil the law of Christ — Even that law of love, which he particularly and especially enjoins, terming it his new commandment, and making it the distinguishing mark of his disciples; and surely we may willingly receive that law from one who was himself such an unequalled example of love, and who with so gracious a sympathy bore our burdens of sorrow, and carried away the load of our guilt. For if a man — If any one; think himself to be something — Above his brethren, and take up an overweening opinion of himself; when he is nothing — Like what he apprehends himself to be; and in particular if he be so conceited of his own sufficiency, as to imagine that he is able to resist temptation by his own strength, or by the strength of inherent grace, and thereupon insults over or despises his fallen brother, in comparison of himself, and is not compassionate and friendly to him; he deceiveth himself — Is entirely mistaken in the judgment he forms of his own state and character. But let every man — To prevent so great an evil; prove his own work — Narrowly examine all he is, all he has, and all he doth; and then — If his spirit and conduct be found agreeable to the rule God has given him, and so be approved by God; he shall have rejoicing in himself — In what God has done for him and in him, by pardoning and renewing him, and enabling him to walk before him in all well-pleasing; he will find matter of comfort in knowing that his heart is right with God, and that he has his conversation according to the gospel; and not in another — That is, not in the applause he receives from another, nor in glorying over others, as inferior to himself in gifts or graces, in holiness or usefulness. For every man — In the day of final judgment; shall bear his own burden — Shall give an account of himself to God; shall answer for his own actions only, and not for those of others.

4. Prove—In the manner suggested by St. James 1:25, by bringing the law of love to bear upon his work, to see if it is a work, not of vainglory, but of love. Work—His work of reproof; but inferentially applicable to all other moral work in life. That Paul means this special work is clear from the blessed result that he next deduces. Rejoicing—A true glory instead of a vainglory. The test by which we are to prove our own work, namely, the law of love, is not only an easy one but a delightful one: easy, because we can easily know whether love has pervaded our whole work or not, if we honestly examine our thoughts in the act; and delightful, if we find that the work of reproving has truly been a work of meek, restoring love. To find this love in our hearts is a matter of rejoicing far above any glory. To find it absent is truly to catch ourselves in a transgression as bad, perhaps, as our fellow sinners. In himself—In his own case, as it stands in the sight of conscience and of God. Another—And that other the poor transgressor over whose case we were gathering glory to ourselves in pretending to restore him. The words rejoicing and other should both have the article. He shall have the exultation in reference to himself alone, and not to the other.

Ver. 4. His own work: looked upon as one whole, (cp. 1 Corinthians 3:13ff; 9:1,) including (2 Corinthians 11:15) various works. Conspicuous contrast to the mental hallucination of Galatians 6:3. Prove: test with good intent; see under 2 Corinthians 13:5. Paul bids us, instead of indulging in vain subjective dreams, to put to the test, and thus discover the worth of, the total objective result of our labours. And then; emphasises the above exhortation as the condition of what follows.

Exultation: see under Romans 2:17.

Ground-of-exultation in-reference-to: similar words in same sense in Romans 4:2. We are all prone to indulge in an exultation based upon a comparison of ourselves with others who seem to be inferior to us. A conspicuous example of this, was the Pharisee of Luke 18:11. All such exultation is delusive: for the inferiority of others is no measure of our absolute worth. But a consideration of God’s work in us and through our agency, leaving out of sight all comparison with others, may justly give rise to deep gratitude and exultant joy that He has condescended to use us as agents of good: for all such is exultation in God. Of this, a conspicuous example is Paul himself: cp. Romans 15:17; 1 Corinthians 9:15f; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 11:10. Moreover, if we limit our exultation to actual results, (each one his own work,) our exultation will frequently be turned into deep self-abasement. In 2 Corinthians 10:12-18 we find the same thought as in this verse, more fully developed.

V. 5. For every one shall bear his own burden-In that day shall give an account of himself to God.

Verse 5. Every man shall bear his own burden.] All must answer for themselves, not for their neighbours. And every man must expect to be dealt with by the Divine Judge, as his character and conduct have been. The greater offences of another will not excuse thy smaller crimes. Every man must give account of himself to God.

Verses 2-5. Bear ye one another’s burdens — Sympathize with and assist each other, in all your weaknesses, grievances, trials. The apostle alludes to the custom of travellers, who, when too heavily laden with their baggage, relieve one another by bearing the burdens of the weak or fatigued, and in that manner show their good disposition toward each other; and so fulfil the law of Christ — Even that law of love, which he particularly and especially enjoins, terming it his new commandment, and making it the distinguishing mark of his disciples; and surely we may willingly receive that law from one who was himself such an unequalled example of love, and who with so gracious a sympathy bore our burdens of sorrow, and carried away the load of our guilt. For if a man — If any one; think himself to be something — Above his brethren, and take up an overweening opinion of himself; when he is nothing — Like what he apprehends himself to be; and in particular if he be so conceited of his own sufficiency, as to imagine that he is able to resist temptation by his own strength, or by the strength of inherent grace, and thereupon insults over or despises his fallen brother, in comparison of himself, and is not compassionate and friendly to him; he deceiveth himself — Is entirely mistaken in the judgment he forms of his own state and character. But let every man — To prevent so great an evil; prove his own work — Narrowly examine all he is, all he has, and all he doth; and then — If his spirit and conduct be found agreeable to the rule God has given him, and so be approved by God; he shall have rejoicing in himself — In what God has done for him and in him, by pardoning and renewing him, and enabling him to walk before him in all well-pleasing; he will find matter of comfort in knowing that his heart is right with God, and that he has his conversation according to the gospel; and not in another — That is, not in the applause he receives from another, nor in glorying over others, as inferior to himself in gifts or graces, in holiness or usefulness. For every man — In the day of final judgment; shall bear his own burden — Shall give an account of himself to God; shall answer for his own actions only, and not for those of others.

5. Prove your own work, for each one has a responsibility laid upon him for his own work. You are as responsible for the style and spirit in which you restore him, as he is for the fault from which you work to restore him. Every man—You, as well as the transgressor. His own burden— Each must, in the final hour, bear his own burden of frailty, sin, and guilt. We can put shoulder under each other’s burdens for awhile, but the time must at length come when each shall answer for himself alone. The contradiction in form, with consistency in truth, between vv. 2 and 5, is intended by St. Paul, in order, by the apparent paradox, to fasten the thought upon the attention and memory.

b. Mutual co-operation of teacher and Church in solemnly responsible and unwearied good-doing, 6-10.

Ver. 5. Load: something to be carried, whether heavy or light; akin to a verb denoting to carry. Hence we have, with the same word, both light and heavy loads: Matthew 11:30; 23:4; Luke 11:46. It thus differs from the word in Galatians 6:2, of which the chief idea is heavy weight. In Acts 27:10, it denotes a ship’s cargo. Paul’s exhortation to cease comparing ourselves with others and look at ourselves alone, he now supports by saying that there is a load from which no one can release us, a load of his own which in spite of all brotherly help each one will himself bear. This is the solitary side of every one’s Christian life. Remembrance of it should deter us from comparisons with others, all which overlook our solitary personal responsibility, And, that the help we can render is thus limited, should move us to render to our brethren all the help we can.

V. 6. Let him that is taught impart to him that teacheth all such temporal good things as he stands in need of.

Verse 6. Let him that is taught in the word] He who receives instructions in Christianity by the public preaching of the word; Communicate unto him that teacheth] Contribute to the support of the man who has dedicated himself to the work of the ministry, and who gives up his time and his life to preach the Gospel. It appears that some of the believers in Galatia could receive the Christian ministry without contributing to its support. This is both ungrateful and base. We do not expect that a common schoolmaster will give up his time to teach our children their alphabet without being paid for it; and can we suppose that it is just for any person to sit under the preaching of the Gospel in order to grow wise unto salvation by it, and not contribute to the support of the spiritual teacher? It is unjust.

Verse 6. Let him that is taught in the word — Who is instructed in the doctrines and precepts of the gospel; communicate unto him that teacheth — According to the ability that God hath given him; in all good things — All such temporal things as he stands in need of. If, says Macknight, “the teachers, who by spiritual gifts were supernaturally qualified to instruct others, deserved to be liberally maintained, how much more is a liberal maintenance due to those, who, not possessing the [extraordinary] spiritual gifts, are obliged to spend a great deal of time and money in fitting themselves for their office, and who employ themselves assiduously in discharging it!”

Ver. 6, 7. Let him that is taught in the word, communicate to him that teacheth. In the patriarchal age, when lands were often of uncertain tenure, the Lord provided for the altar by tithes of cattle and corn. Labour merits the reward of labour. This minister rises at an early hour; he spends the morning in his study, that he may the more edify and delight his auditory in preaching. He instructs the children, he rebukes vice, he heals breaches, and is the common father of all his flock. He needs and requires bread for his family, books for his study, and alms for the sick and aged poor. His labours merit remuneration. What a pity that human nature should need the injunction to communicate to him in all good things. — If the infidel lord, the wicked, the covetous deny or withhold from him his just and ancient rights, let them take heed. God is not mocked; sooner or later he will display his high displeasure. 1 Corinthians 9:14. See also on Amos 4:4. Malachi 3:10.

6. Communicate—Co-operate, share with. From the idea of carrying common burdens upon common shoulders, between Church brethren, the apostle passes to a common co-operation between teachers, preachers, and people in all good doings. With Meyer, against the general run of commentators, we agree that good things refers, not to temporal maintenance, but to Christian and Churchly labours. Leave not Christian activities to ministers and teachers alone. Every one is a responsible labourer in the probationary field. Let all be at work, and always at it.

Ver. 6. From a specific exhortation in Galatians 6:1 to aid the fallen, Paul passed on in Galatians 6:2 to a more general exhortation to help the burdened ones, and supported this in Galatians 6:3 by a warning against inflated self-estimate and in Galatians 6:4 by a suggestion that each test his own work apart from comparison with others and in view (Galatians 6:5) of his own personal and solitary responsibility. He now goes a step further from the specific to the general, by bidding all his readers, whom he divides into two all-inclusive classes, to join together in doing every kind of good.

Let-him-take-part or be-partner-with: either join with others in some action, or share with them something belonging to them or to him. Same or cognate word in Romans 12:13; 15:26f; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:16; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 8:4; 9:13; 13:13.

Instructed: the Greek original of the English word catechumen: same word in Romans 2:18; 1 Corinthians 14:19; Luke 1:4; Acts 18:25; 21:21, 24. From the standpoint of Galatians 6:5, Paul looks at each one, instructed or instructing, singly cp. Galatians 6:1. The simple term, the word, (Colossians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:6,) reveals the unique grandeur of the Gospel as the one Word of God and of life.

Him that instructs: including Paul himself and all those who, church-officers or others, exercise the gift of teaching. This division of church-members implies that regular instruction was even then a part of church order.

All good things: either material good; as in Luke 1:53; 12:18f; Luke 16:25; or good actions, especially beneficence, as always with Paul, e.g. Galatians 6:10; Romans 10:15; 2:10; 7:13; 8:28; 9:11; Romans 12:9,21; 13:3f; 14:16; 15:2; 16:19. The plural number suggests the variety of good things. To these belong (1) the restoration of the fallen and (2) the bearing of others’ burdens. This exhortation is included in the final exhortation of Galatians 6:10. Paul intimates that they who teach others must practise good things; and that in this they are to be joined by their pupils.

Following Chrysostom and Jerome, many expositors suppose that all good things denotes liberal maintenance for Christian teachers; chiefly on the ground that the word rendered take-part has the sense of Christian liberality in three of four other places in Paul’s Epistles, and that not otherwise can we account, for the unexpected mention here of the teachers and the taught. But it is inconceivable that Paul would touch for a moment, in language altogether indefinite and ambiguous, and then leave, a matter so definite and specific, and one of which there is no hint in the foregoing or following context. Moreover, the tremendous warning of Galatians 6:7 leads us to expect in Galatians 6:6 some indication of an error or peril proportionately great, as we find in the other places where similar though less solemn language is used; and a correction of the error in the words following, i.e. in Galatians 6:7b, 8. Again, the maintenance of those set apart from secular work to serve the Church is not liberality but payment of a just debt. It is most unlikely that Paul would urge his readers to this duty by bidding them share with their teachers all their earthly goods. Indeed, he seems rather to dissuade from having many paid teachers in the infant Church. Although claiming for himself and others a right to be paid, he refused ( 1 Corinthians 9:15) to assert his claim; and in this he was setting ( 2 Thessalonians 3:9) an example for others. Once only (1 Timothy 5:17f) apparently, near the close of his life, Paul refers to the maintenance of ordinary church-teachers. And, in the absence of other proof, this general and sweeping exhortation cannot be accepted as evidence that such teachers were supported in the Churches of Galatia. For it gives good sense, as shown in the above exposition, without supposing any such reference.

Paul divided his readers into teachers and taught in order perhaps to say that restoration of the fallen and help for the burdened must not be left to the shepherds of the flock, but that all must join in all such works of mercy. That the metaphor of seed (Galatians 6:7) refers in 1 Corinthians 9:11; 2 Corinthians 9:6 to liberality, has little weight: for it is very common in various applications. And the tremendous language which introduces the metaphor suggests that Paul was thinking of something more solemn than maintenance of Christian teachers.

The spread of the other exposition is easily explained by its usefulness to Church authorities.

V. 7. God is not mocked-Although they attempt to mock him, who think to reap otherwise than they sow.

Verse 7. Be not deceived] Neither deceive yourselves, nor permit yourselves to be deceived by others. He seems to refer to the Judaizing teachers.

God is not mocked] Ye cannot deceive him, and he will not permit you to mock him with pretended instead of real services.

Whatsoever a man soweth] Whatsoever kind of grain a man sows in his field, of that shall he reap; for no other species of grain can proceed from that which is sown. Darnel will not produce wheat, nor wheat, darnel.

Verses 7, 8. Be not deceived — As if he had said, It is an easy thing for interested men to find excuses for the neglect of this and other liberalities, which are required for the support and propagation of the gospel of Christ; but do not delude yourselves in this or any other such matter, by the treachery of your own hearts, which may more fatally impose upon yourselves than upon any others. For God — Who searches all hearts, and observes all external circumstances; is not mocked — Or, to be mocked by such vain pretences, although they attempt to mock him, who think to reap otherwise than they sow. For — As in the natural, so in the moral world; whatsoever a man soweth — Whether it be good or bad, whether he be liberal or sparing in it; that shall he also reap — The return shall be answerable thereto, both with respect to the kind and degree of it. For he that soweth to his flesh — That yields to his unhallowed passions and appetites, and follows the desires of his corrupt nature; or that employs his substance, time, and thoughts, merely or chiefly in gratifying and indulging the flesh, or for the satisfaction of his own bodily necessities, conveniences, or pleasures; shall of the flesh — Out of this very seed; reap corruption — The utter destruction of his soul and body. But he that soweth to the Spirit — That follows the Spirit’s guidance in his dispositions, words, and actions, and, under the influences thereof, employs his abilities of body and mind, his time, talents, and possessions, to promote true religion in himself and in those about him; shall of the Spirit — By his continued assistance and grace, and as the fruit of what is thus sown; reap life everlasting — When he shall leave the world, his immortal spirit shall inherit eternal felicity; and whatsoever his portion may be now, he shall be fully recompensed at the resurrection of the just, (Luke 14:14,) when all the hope of the sinner is perished.

Ver. 6, 7. Let him that is taught in the word, communicate to him that teacheth. In the patriarchal age, when lands were often of uncertain tenure, the Lord provided for the altar by tithes of cattle and corn. Labour merits the reward of labour. This minister rises at an early hour; he spends the morning in his study, that he may the more edify and delight his auditory in preaching. He instructs the children, he rebukes vice, he heals breaches, and is the common father of all his flock. He needs and requires bread for his family, books for his study, and alms for the sick and aged poor. His labours merit remuneration. What a pity that human nature should need the injunction to communicate to him in all good things. — If the infidel lord, the wicked, the covetous deny or withhold from him his just and ancient rights, let them take heed. God is not mocked; sooner or later he will display his high displeasure. 1 Corinthians 9:14. See also on Amos 4:4. Malachi 3:10.

7. Be not deceived—Beware how you work amiss. Mocked—God cannot be put off with lazy not-doing, or hypocritical mis-doing. Mocked is derived from the contemptuous turning up the nose at one. God is in earnest, and will hold the nondoer and misdoer to a strict account. He will hold all such as showing contempt to himself. Soweth… reap—An expressive image of human responsibility, which has been noted by thoughtful men of all ages. As according to the seed we sow is the harvest we reap, so according to the deeds we perform is the retribution we shall receive. Though the retributions of God’s judgment are judicial, there is, perhaps, a natural side to them. They may be at once both provided penalties and natural consequences.

Ver. 7. Be not deceived: 1 Corinthians 6:9; 15:33, in each case introducing a safeguard against a serious moral error referred to in the foregoing words: cp. James 1:16.

Is-not-mocked: treated with open ridicule and contempt: same word in Proverbs 1:30; 15:20; Job 22:19; Psalms 80:6Psalm 80:6; Jeremiah 20:7; 1 Macc. vii. 34; 2 Macc. vii. 39. It implies that to disregard what follows is outrageous insult to God, and declares solemnly that such insult God will not tolerate. Verse 7b justifies this solemn protest, by stating a great principle worthy of it.

He will also reap: same words in 2 Corinthians 9:6, referring to the measure of the harvest. But here Paul refers to its kind. If we sow wheat, we shall reap wheat, etc. A universal principle of widest application, viz. that actions are seeds reappearing in a harvest of results, by the outworking of their own organic laws, to be their authors’ abiding possession. Thus (cp. 2 Corinthians 5:10) a man’s own actions become, in their developed consequences, their own exact retribution. Same favourite metaphor in 2 Corinthians 9:6, where see notes, 1 Corinthians 9:11; James 3:18; Job 4:8; <19C605>Psalm 126:5; Hosea 8:7.

V. 8. For he that now soweth to the flesh-That follows the desires of corrupt nature.

Shall hereafter of the flesh-Out of this very seed.

Reap corruption-Death everlasting.

But he that soweth to the Spirit-That follows his guidance in all his tempers and conversation.

Shall of the Spirit-By the free grace and power of God, reap life everlasting.

Verse 8. He that soweth to his flesh] In like manner, he that sows to the flesh-who indulges his sensual and animal appetites, shall have corruption as the crop: you cannot expect to lead a bad life and go to heaven at last. According as your present life is, so will be your eternal life whether your sowing be to the flesh or to the Spirit, so will your eternal reaping be. To sow, here, means transacting the concerns of a man’s natural life. To reap, signifies his enjoyment or punishment in another world. Probably by flesh and Spirit the apostle means Judaism and Christianity. Circumcision of the flesh was the principal rite of the former; circumcision in the heart, by the Spirit, the chief rite of the latter; hence the one may have been called flesh, the other, Spirit. He who rejects the Gospel, and trusts only in the rites and ceremonies of the law for salvation, will reap endless disappointment and misery. He who trusts in Christ, and receives the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, shall reap life everlasting.

Verses 7, 8. Be not deceived — As if he had said, It is an easy thing for interested men to find excuses for the neglect of this and other liberalities, which are required for the support and propagation of the gospel of Christ; but do not delude yourselves in this or any other such matter, by the treachery of your own hearts, which may more fatally impose upon yourselves than upon any others. For God — Who searches all hearts, and observes all external circumstances; is not mocked — Or, to be mocked by such vain pretences, although they attempt to mock him, who think to reap otherwise than they sow. For — As in the natural, so in the moral world; whatsoever a man soweth — Whether it be good or bad, whether he be liberal or sparing in it; that shall he also reap — The return shall be answerable thereto, both with respect to the kind and degree of it. For he that soweth to his flesh — That yields to his unhallowed passions and appetites, and follows the desires of his corrupt nature; or that employs his substance, time, and thoughts, merely or chiefly in gratifying and indulging the flesh, or for the satisfaction of his own bodily necessities, conveniences, or pleasures; shall of the flesh — Out of this very seed; reap corruption — The utter destruction of his soul and body. But he that soweth to the Spirit — That follows the Spirit’s guidance in his dispositions, words, and actions, and, under the influences thereof, employs his abilities of body and mind, his time, talents, and possessions, to promote true religion in himself and in those about him; shall of the Spirit — By his continued assistance and grace, and as the fruit of what is thus sown; reap life everlasting — When he shall leave the world, his immortal spirit shall inherit eternal felicity; and whatsoever his portion may be now, he shall be fully recompensed at the resurrection of the just, (Luke 14:14,) when all the hope of the sinner is perished.

Ver. 8-10. He that soweth to his flesh, shall reap corruption. He who wastes the superfluities of his earnings, or his fortune, to gratify his concupiscence in alehouses, on dogs and pleasures, shall reap disease, and an early death. On the contrary, he who sows to the Spirit, in every form of benevolence to the poor, shall amalgamate his soul with a charity that never dies. He who imitates God, in doing good according to his means, shall reap the fruits of peace here, and life eternal in the world to come. Charity asks not the name or nation of a fellow-creature in distress; suffering has the first claim on the judgment and the heart. Love never faileth, though it may meet with ungrateful returns. The good man, like the Giver of harvests, is never weary in welldoing.

8. To his flesh—Flesh and Spirit do not designate the different fields in which we sow, nor the different seeds, but the different interests to please which we sow. Yet the seed is different according to the different interests in which we sow, as the responsible act is different according to which interest it regards. To his flesh—To the gratification of his flesh. Reap corruption—That absolute ruin of which bodily putrefaction is the image, and which, as the opposite of eternal life, is eternal death. Of the Spirit—As the flesh is corruptible, so from the flesh is reaped corruption; as the Spirit is pure, perfect, living and eternal, so the life from him is eternal life. There is a lower and a higher system of things in life, including different masses of men. The one is the system of the flesh, particularly conspicuous in a sensual age like the present. It runs to sensual gratifications and excitements, to the revelling room, the liquor saloon, the horse race, the gambling hell, and the theatre. Opposite to this is the system of intellectual and spiritual aspiration; which tends to the school, the Christian association, the Sabbath dedicated to self-improvement, the Bible, and the Church. The latter accords with the healthful recreation in which reason, but not mere animal, is gratified. The former tends downward, and ends in endless ruin; the latter is upward, and rises to eternal life. Let no one be deceived; for as sure as God is not mocked, these, to the fleshly, will be the result.

Ver. 8. Restatement of the metaphor of Galatians 6:7 in view of the contrast of the flesh and the Spirit asserted and expounded in § 21. The metaphor was introduced because two widely different harvests are possible.

[The all-important Greek word eiv, which I have here rendered for, (see under Romans 1:1,) denotes in its simple local sense movement towards the inside of something, e.g. Galatians 1:17 into Jerusalem, Arabia, Damascus, Galatians 4:6 into our hearts; then a tendency of action whether desired or not, e.g. Galatians 4:24, brings forth children for bondage; and is a favourite word for mental direction, or purpose, i.e. for the aim of action, some desired object towards which the actor looks, e.g. Galatians 2:8, for apostleship… for the Gentiles. Sometimes, as in Galatians 6:4 in reference to himself alone, it is still less definite noting merely a point of view from which an object is regarded. But in every case it denotes direction, either of actual movement, or tendency, or thought.] In the words for his own flesh Paul forsakes the form of his metaphor in order to describe more clearly and fully the reality underlying it. Had he continued the form adopted in Galatians 6:7, he would have written he that sows carnal things will also reap carnal things. But he describes the only two kinds of action and result possible to men not (as in Galatians 6:7) by their nature but by their aim, suggesting that this is the true test of conduct. Yet he retains the words sow and reap to keep before us the great truth that, by the outworking of their own nature, actions will reappear, multiplied, in their results.

The flesh: not the organized body with its various members; but the material constitution of the body, common to men and animals and desiring (Galatians 6:16) various material objects needful or pleasant to it. The seeds sown for the flesh are actions designed to gratify desires prompted by bodily life.

His own flesh; suggests the essential selfishness of these desires. From the flesh: or out of the flesh: same transition of prepositions in Romans 1:17. If to gratify our own flesh be our aim, the flesh will be to us a source of corruption. For corruption is inseparable from flesh of all kinds: by its own nature it goes to ruin, and in repulsive forms. For this reason ( 1 Corinthians 15:50: cp. 1 Corinthians 15:42) it cannot enter the kingdom of God. It is needless to say that Paul refers here to the ruin of eternal death. On the principle that a man’s actions will reappear in their results, Paul declares that they who choose as their aim gratification of the flesh will as an appropriate and inevitable consequence receive back from the flesh that corruption which essentially belongs to it. It is useless and needless to make this important and clear teaching fit in at all points with the metaphor of seed and harvest. See under Romans 11:24. All suggestions about different fields in which the seed is sown fail utterly: for the kind of harvest depends not on the field but on the seed. The metaphor simply teaches that actions, like seeds, reproduce themselves in their results. This great truth justifies and satisfies the metaphor. The Spirit, can be no other than the Spirit of God, as throughout Div. III. Like the material of our bodies, He claims that the aim of our life be to follow His guidance and to work out His purposes. To act with this in view, is to sow for the Spirit. And such action will, in virtue of the essential nature of the Spirit, be followed by eternal life. For He is the Spirit of life who makes free from the law of sin and of death. Cp. Romans 6:21-23, where, without the metaphor, we have the same thought. In this verse Paul teaches that the consequences of actions, and therefore their moral worth, are determined by their aim: a truth indisputable and of the highest importance. Many actions in themselves good are yet, because of a selfish aim, universally condemned and despised. By associating this truth with the metaphor of seed and harvest, Paul teaches that the consequences which follow different aims do so by organic and essential laws of human action. And he places the same truth in a more conspicuous light by deviating in some measure, in order to assert it in plainest terms, from a favourite metaphor.

V. 9. But let us not be weary in well doing-Let us persevere in sowing to the Spirit.

For in due season-When the harvest is come, we shall reap, if we faint not.

Verse 9. Let us not be weary] Well-doing is easier in itself than ill-doing; and the danger of growing weary in the former arises only from the opposition to good in our own nature, or the outward hinderances we may meet with from a gainsaying and persecuting world.

In due season we shall reap] As the husbandman, in ploughing, sowing, and variously labouring in his fields, is supported by the hope of a plentiful harvest, which he cannot expect before the right and appointed time; so every follower of God may be persuaded that he shall not be permitted to pray, weep, deny himself, and live in a conformity to his Maker’s will, without reaping the fruit of it in eternal glory. And although no man obtains glory because he has prayed, &c., yet none can expect glory who do not seek it in this way. This is sowing to the Spirit; and the Spirit and the grace are furnished by Christ Jesus, and by him the kingdom of heaven is opened to all believers; but only those who believe, love, and obey, shall enter into it.

Verses 9, 10. And — Having then such a prospect of felicity before us; let us not be weary — Greek, mh ekkakwmen, let us not be discouraged, or flag; in well-doing — Or in sowing to the Spirit, whatever labour and fatigue, whatever expense and difficulty, it may be attended with; for in due season — When the harvest is come, or in that proper time which the wisdom and goodness of God hath appointed, and for which it is our duty and interest patiently to wait; we shall reap — Abundant and ample fruit; if we faint not — If we do not suffer our hands to hang down, either through lukewarmness and sloth, or through timidity and fear. As we have, therefore, opportunity — That is, while God continues life to us, and the season of sowing lasts; let us — According to our ability, at whatever time or place, and in whatever manner we can; do good — Of every possible kind, and in every possible degree; unto all men — Neighbours or strangers, good or evil, friends or enemies; but especially unto them who are of the household of faith — Who, being united to us in the bonds of Christian faith and love, are on that account of the family of God, and our brethren and sisters in Christ; and therefore have a peculiar claim to our regard. Observe, reader, the opportunity here spoken of for doing good, generally speaking, is our life-time; but there are also many particular opportunities frequently occurring from time to time. Let us remember Satan is quickened in doing hurt by the shortness of the time; (Revelation 12:12;) by the same consideration let us be quickened in doing good.

Ver. 8-10. He that soweth to his flesh, shall reap corruption. He who wastes the superfluities of his earnings, or his fortune, to gratify his concupiscence in alehouses, on dogs and pleasures, shall reap disease, and an early death. On the contrary, he who sows to the Spirit, in every form of benevolence to the poor, shall amalgamate his soul with a charity that never dies. He who imitates God, in doing good according to his means, shall reap the fruits of peace here, and life eternal in the world to come. Charity asks not the name or nation of a fellow-creature in distress; suffering has the first claim on the judgment and the heart. Love never faileth, though it may meet with ungrateful returns. The good man, like the Giver of harvests, is never weary in welldoing.

9. Not be weary—Like the reaper, through the long, hot, toilsome day, the good man is sometimes likely to faint. Holy life has its weary side to it; but it has, too, its side of hope and cheer. In well doing—In doing to kalon, the honourable, the excellent, in contrast to the flesh, which tends to corruption, and is base. In due season—At the harvest season of the world, which, however distant in time, is ever near in its value. Reap— Eternal life in eternal joy. Faint not—And decline into apostasy.

Ver. 9. Another point in the same subject, viz. continuance, even under difficulties.

Well-doing: or doing the excellent thing, that which is morally beautiful. Same word in Romans 7:21.

Fail: turn out badly in something, lose heart and give up through weariness or fear; as in 2 Corinthians 4:1, 16. It suggests that circumstances may arise to test our perseverance.

In due season: literally in its own season, the set time when, in virtue of the laws of the moral world, the seed will produce fruit.

Faint not: through failure in spiritual strength. The parallel term fail denotes rather failure in Christian courage. Each term involves the other: for the brave heart will find strength. We have no hint that Paul refers to the weariness of sowing: and toil is not specially conspicuous in the sower. Certainly he does not refer to the weariness of harvest: for in the eternal harvest there will be no toil.

V. 10. Therefore as we have opportunity-At whatever time or place, and in whatever manner we can. The opportunity in general is our lifetime; but there are also many particular opportunities. Satan is quickened in doing hurt, by the shortness of the time, Revelation 12:12. By the same consideration let us be quickened in doing good.

Let us do good-In every possible kind, and in every possible degree. Unto all men-Neighbours or strangers, good or evil, friends or enemies. But especially to them who are of the household of faith. For all believers are but one family.

Verse 10. As we have-opportunity] While it is the time of sowing let us sow the good seed; and let our love be, as the love of Christ is, free, manifested to all. Let us help all who need help according to the uttermost of our power; but let the first objects of our regards be those who are of the household of faith-the members of the Church of Christ, who form one family, of which Jesus Christ is the head. Those have the first claims on our attention , but all others have their claims also, and therefore we should do good unto all.

Verses 9, 10. And — Having then such a prospect of felicity before us; let us not be weary — Greek, mh ekkakwmen, let us not be discouraged, or flag; in well-doing — Or in sowing to the Spirit, whatever labour and fatigue, whatever expense and difficulty, it may be attended with; for in due season — When the harvest is come, or in that proper time which the wisdom and goodness of God hath appointed, and for which it is our duty and interest patiently to wait; we shall reap — Abundant and ample fruit; if we faint not — If we do not suffer our hands to hang down, either through lukewarmness and sloth, or through timidity and fear. As we have, therefore, opportunity — That is, while God continues life to us, and the season of sowing lasts; let us — According to our ability, at whatever time or place, and in whatever manner we can; do good — Of every possible kind, and in every possible degree; unto all men — Neighbours or strangers, good or evil, friends or enemies; but especially unto them who are of the household of faith — Who, being united to us in the bonds of Christian faith and love, are on that account of the family of God, and our brethren and sisters in Christ; and therefore have a peculiar claim to our regard. Observe, reader, the opportunity here spoken of for doing good, generally speaking, is our life-time; but there are also many particular opportunities frequently occurring from time to time. Let us remember Satan is quickened in doing hurt by the shortness of the time; (Revelation 12:12;) by the same consideration let us be quickened in doing good.

Ver. 8-10. He that soweth to his flesh, shall reap corruption. He who wastes the superfluities of his earnings, or his fortune, to gratify his concupiscence in alehouses, on dogs and pleasures, shall reap disease, and an early death. On the contrary, he who sows to the Spirit, in every form of benevolence to the poor, shall amalgamate his soul with a charity that never dies. He who imitates God, in doing good according to his means, shall reap the fruits of peace here, and life eternal in the world to come. Charity asks not the name or nation of a fellow-creature in distress; suffering has the first claim on the judgment and the heart. Love never faileth, though it may meet with ungrateful returns. The good man, like the Giver of harvests, is never weary in welldoing.

10. St. Paul now reverts back to the precept of verse 6, in enforcement of which the deep warning of 7-9 was interposed. Opportunity—Improving every opening. Do good—Rather, Let us work, to agaqon, the good, the true, the highest good. Especially—Inasmuch as they are often excluded from many worldly modes of gain, and are impoverished by persecution. Household—Belonging to the great family of which God is Father, and Christ the older Brother. With this solemn and urgent paragraph our epistle comes to its essential close.

c. Autographic summary of the epistle and closing benediction, 11-18. “At this point the apostle takes the pen from his amanuensis, and the concluding paragraph is written with his own hand. From the time when letters began to be forged in his name (2 Thessalonians 2:2; 3:17) it seems to have been his practice to close with a few words in his own handwriting as a precaution against such forgeries. Frequently he confined himself to adding the final benediction, (2 Thessalonians 3:17, 18,) with perhaps a single sentence of exhortation, as, ‘If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ,’ etc., (1 Corinthians 16:21-24,) or, ‘Remember my bonds.’ Colossians 4:18. In the Epistle to the Romans he seems to have appended the ascription of praise, which reads like a postscript. Romans 16:25-27. In the present case he writes a whole paragraph, summing up the main lessons of the epistle in terse, eager, disjointed sentences. He writes it, too, in large characters, that his handwriting may reflect the energy and determination of his soul.”—Prof. Lightfoot.

Ver. 10. Practical inference, summing up § 22.

As we have, etc.: let our action correspond with our opportunity. [wv combines here the senses of inasmuch as and while: cp. John 12:35,

36. For, although grammatically it merely denotes that the opportunity is looked upon from the speaker’s subjective point of view, yet evidently the opportunity is mentioned as a motive, and as one which will last only for a time.]

Opportunity: same word as season in Galatians 6:9. The harvest has a season of its own, and so has the sowing.

Do good, literally work the good: same words in Romans 2:10; Ephesians 4:28. Contrast Romans 13:10. It suggests the labour of doing good.

Good: including (Galatians 6:1) the restoration of the fallen brother, bearing (Galatians 6:2) the burdens of others, joining (Galatians 6:6) with teachers in all good works, sowing (Galatians 6:8) for the Spirit, and (Galatians 6:9) continuing in all this without weariness. To (or towards) all men: the direction of our beneficence. They of the household of faith, or those belonging to the house of faith: same word in Ephesians 2:19; 1 Timothy 5:8; in 1 Samuel 10:14 for a male domestic servant, and in Leviticus 18:6, 12f, 17 for relatives in blood or law. The word is sometimes used in a more general sense for any close relationship; and for those who devote themselves to some special matter, e.g.. gewgrafiav oikeiov, belonging to the household of geography, in Strabo bk. i. p. 13. But here it reminds us that the Church is the house (1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 3:6; 10:21; 1 Peter 4:17) and family of God. Paul bids us use towards all within our reach the opportunity which we all have of doing good; and recalls the special claim of our companions in the household bound together by our common faith.

In § 22 Paul illustrates the two great principles of Christian morality expounded in §§ 20 and 21 respectively, by applying them to the mutual intercourse of members of a Christian Church. These he exhorts to show Christian love by bearing burdens one for another, e.g. by restoring any one who has fallen; and warns against inflated self-estimate, a chief hindrance to mutual help, urging rather a reasonable estimate of each one’s own work and independent responsibility. This thought reminds Paul that life is a seed time to be followed by harvest, a truth which he applies to the two principles of action expounded at length in § 21, the Flesh and the Spirit; as already while speaking of a brother’s fall he has pointed, to the Spirit as the source of the meekness needful in those who try to restore him. And upon all his readers, teachers and taught, he urges good doing of all kinds; and patient continuance therein. While all men have a claim to help, our fellow Christians have a special claim.

DIVISION III. is the needful complement of the doctrine of Justification by Faith asserted in its native ruggedness in DIV. II. This doctrine, Paul does not qualify by expounding at length what he means by faith and by justification, lest by so doing he should weaken its force or perplex his readers; but guards it from abuse by placing beside it the moral teaching of Div. III.

Although none can, by good works, obtain the favour of God, and although all who believe the Gospel are already sons of God and heirs of His kingdom, yet from that kingdom will be excluded all who commit sin and consciously or unconsciously make self-indulgence the aim of life. This plainly asserted truth makes intelligent belief of the Gospel promise impossible except to those who earnestly resolve to forsake sin. On the other hand, the immovable certainty of the promise assures us that God will work in us the victory over sin needful for its fulfillment. In this way we have a practical harmony of these all-important doctrines. And neither of them invalidates or dilutes the other. This harmony is further discussed in Diss. vi.

Christian morality is here, made to rest on two massive pillars: (1) the great commandment which in the Mosaic Law sums up our whole duty to our fellows, viz. to love them as ourselves; and (2) the Christian doctrine that the Holy Spirit given to those who believe the Gospel seeks to guide their steps and is essentially hostile to the influences of bodily life. These great principles of morality Paul expounds; and in a few words gives examples, both general and in detail, of their application to matters of daily life.

V. 11. Ye see how large a letter-St. Paul had not yet wrote a larger to any church.

I have written with my own hand-He generally wrote by an amanuensis.

Verse 11. Ye see how large a letter] There is a strange diversity of opinions concerning the apostle’s meaning in this place. Some think he refers to the length of the epistle, others to the largeness of the letters in which this epistle is written, others to the inadequacy of the apostle’s writing. It appears plain that most of his epistles were written by an amanuensis, and simply subscribed by himself; but the whole of the Epistle to the Galatians was written by his own hand. To say that the apostle was unskilled in Greek, and especially in the Greek characters, is in my opinion absurd. He was born in Tarsus, a city which, according to Strabo, rivalled both Athens and Alexandria in philosophy, and in arts and sciences; and therefore he could not be ignorant of a tongue which must have been the very means of conveying all this instruction. As to writing it, there was in his time nothing difficult, because the uncial character was that which was alone in use in those days, and this character is as easily made as the capitals in the Roman alphabet, which have been taken from it. I conclude, therefore, that what the apostle says must be understood of the length of the epistle, in all probability the largest he had ever written with his own hand; though several, much larger, have been dictated by him, but they were written by his scribe or amanuensis.

Verse 11. Ye see how large a letter — St. Paul had not yet written a larger to any church; I have written with my own hand — In testimony of my great affection for you, and concern for your spiritual welfare. He generally wrote by an amanuensis. The original expression here used, phlikoiv grammasin, which we render how large a letter, is, by Whitby, Doddridge, and some others, following Jerome, Chrysostom, and Theophylact, translated, with what kind of, or with what large letters I have written unto you, supposing it to be an apology for the in elegance of the writing. For from the apostle’s making use of an amanuensis in his other letters, they infer that he was not accustomed to write Greek. “The inference, however,” says Macknight, “does not follow. Eminent men, much engaged in affairs, commonly employ others to write for them, notwithstanding they are able to write very well themselves. I therefore prefer the translation in our Bibles, which represents the apostle as informing the Galatians that he wrote this large epistle with his own hand, to show how anxious he was to reclaim them from their errors, and to give them the fullest assurance of the truth of the doctrines contained in it; and that he uniformly preached the same doctrines everywhere.”

Ver. 11. Ye see how large a letter I have written to you with mine own hand. I have opened all my soul, and uttered all my heart. I have written, not by dictation to others, but with mine own hand. In writing to the Romans he employed Tertius to transcribe his words: Romans 16:22. In the epistle to the Colossians he seems to have written the salutation only: Colossians 4:18. Be that as it might, Tertullian affirms in his apology, that the churches to whom St. Paul wrote, had preserved his original manuscripts down to his time, which was about one hundred and fifty years after they were written.

11. Ye see how large a letter I have written—More accurately, Behold ye, in what large letters I wrote to you with my own hand. “Letters” is the alphabetic characters; and it is unquestionable that he refers to their size, not to their unshapeliness, as some think. It may be, as Professor Lightfoot says, that the largeness of their size was intended by Paul to indicate the firmness of his purpose. So we have been inclined to think that John Hancock’s large signature on the Declaration of American Independence was intended as a manly defiance of the ignominious death he dared by it. But we are rather inclined to think that St. Paul calls the attention of the Galatians to the distinctive point between his handwriting and that of his amanuensis. The rapid professional writer, doubtless, wrote in the smaller and lighter hand. Yet both purposes may have blended. I have written— The term called the epistolary aorist I wrote. The writer speaks as at the standpoint, or rather timepoints of the reader’s perusal, and says, I wrote thus and so to you.

The summary of the epistle which follows seems intended, in some degree, for the same purpose as his autograph, namely, for identification. It is an after-piece adjustable to this epistle only. There is a triumphant tone in this entire peroration. Paul lays bare the motives of his opponents, and contrasts their cowardly courting the foe with his own heroic proclamation of the cross, 12-14. He pronounces the nothingness of circumcision, and this efficacy of the cross as the blessed canon of the true Israel; and sweeps away every obstacle as himself bearing the true mark of Jesus, 15-17.

GALATIANS

SECTION 23. — THE ADVERSARIES ARE

INSINCERE. CH. 6:11-16.

See with how large letters I have written to you with my own hand. So many as wish to look well in the flesh, these are commanding you to receive circumcision; only in order that they may not, through the cross of Christ, be persecuted. For neither do they who are receiving circumcision themselves keep law. But they wish you to receive circumcision, in order that in your flesh they may exult. But far from me be it to exult except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; through which to me the world is crucified, and I crucified to the world. For neither circumcision is anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And so many as walk by this rule peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Ver. 11. With how large letters: so R.V. This rendering is determined by the Greek dative which denotes the instrument with which Paul wrote, viz. large characters, not the epistles written; by the word rendered large which denotes not number but size, whereas a long epistle would involve merely the number of characters used; and by Paul’s constant use (17 times) of another word, the Greek original of our word epistle, to denote a written communication. That Galatians 6:11 refers to Galatians 6:11-18, and not to the foregoing Epistle, is suggested by Paul’s custom of adding to each Epistle ( 2 Thessalonians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 16:21; Colossians 4:18) a short autograph, as a mark of genuineness and perhaps also as an expression of warm friendship. If so, the past tense, I-have-written, may have been suggested to Paul by the four preceding words lying already written before him while writing this word; and by easy transition of thought to his readers’ point of view. Cp. sent, in Acts 15:27; 23:30. But we cannot safely quote Philemon 1:19, 21 as examples: for these refer in each case to foregoing words. The general usage of the Greek language forbids us to accept the word I-have-written as proof that the whole Epistle was written in large characters by Paul’s own hand. And his custom suggests that only this closing paragraph was so written. The size of the letters used proclaims, like capitals in modern printing, the earnestness of this concluding summary of the foregoing Epistle.

V. 12. As many as desire to make a fair appearance in the flesh-To preserve a fair character.

These constrain you-Both by their example and importunity. To be circumcised-Not so much from a principle of conscience, as lest they should suffer persecution-From the unbelieving Jews. For the cross of Christ-For maintaining that faith in a crucified Saviour is alone sufficient for justification.

Verse 12. A fair show in the flesh.] The Jewish religion was general in the region of Galatia, and it was respectable, as it appears that the principal inhabitants were either Jews or proselytes. As it was then professed and practised among the Jews, this religion had nothing very grievous to the old man; an unrenewed nature might go through all its observances with little pain or cross-bearing. On the other hand, Christianity could not be very popular; it was too strict. A Jew made a fair show there, according to his carnal system, and it was a temptation to a weak Christian to swerve into Judaism, that he might be exempted from persecution, and be creditable among his countrymen. This is what the apostle intimates: “They constrain you to be circumcised, lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.”

Verses 12, 13. The sum of all is this: As many as desire to make a fair show — Or appearance; that is, to preserve a fair character; in the flesh — In external things, or with respect to their observing the Jewish rites and ceremonies; these would constrain you — Gentile converts, both by their example and importunity; to be circumcised — And subject, with them, to the carnal ordinances of the law. The apostle’s meaning is, that the false teachers wished to appear well in the eyes of the Jews, on account of their attachment to the law of Moses, which in other passages he terms the flesh, in opposition to the spiritual dispensation of the gospel. Only lest, &c. — As if he had said, They do not act thus with a single eye to the glory of God, or from a principle of conscience, but only lest they should suffer persecution — From the unbelieving Jews; for the cross of Christ — For maintaining that faith in a crucified Saviour is alone sufficient for justification. It is well known that the Jewish chief priests and elders were great persecutors of the disciples of Christ, and began their persecution very early. See John 9:22; 12:22; 19:38. Now it seems the mandates of their council were received with implicit submission, even by the synagogues in the Gentile countries, Acts 9:2. The false teachers, therefore, of whom the apostle speaks, to recommend themselves to these rulers at Jerusalem, who stirred up the unbelieving Jews every where against the Christians, fell upon the scheme of blending Judaism with the gospel; and, as the apostle informs us, urged the Gentiles to receive circumcision, merely that they themselves might not be persecuted for the gospel doctrine of salvation through a crucified Messiah. For neither they themselves — Who are circumcised, and so are solemnly obliged to observe the whole of it; keep the law — Namely, in other points of greater importance; so far are they from a real zeal for it, or from acting uprightly and conscientiously in this matter; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh — May boast of you as their proselytes, and make a merit of this with the other Jews.

Ver. 12. As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, the false apostles and judaizing teachers, who magnify the Leviticum, constrain you to be circumcised, that they may glory and boast of the proselytes they have made, and receive their stipends and applause from Jerusalem. They affect to be utterly ashamed of a crucified Redeemer.

12. For—Proof of the motive assigned above; the Judaists disregard that very law which circumcision is a pledge to keep. Glory in your flesh— May make a merit with the Jewish powers of having converted you to circumcision. The Galatian Judaists were, therefore, courting the lenity of Judaism to escape persecution. To this cowardice St. Paul opposes his own fearless, uncompromising display of the cross.

Ver. 12. To-look-well: literally to-put-on-a-good-face; cp. Galatians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 5:12; 10:7; Matthew 16:3. In-the-flesh: in outward bodily life, the element of the desired good appearance.

Are-commanding-you: so Galatians 2:3: by proclaiming (Acts 15:1) that in order to be saved you must be circumcised; and by a personal influence which the Galatian Christians seemed unable to resist. [The Greek presents in Galatians 6:12, 13 direct attention to a process going on, but which Paul hopes to stay. So Galatians 1:6; 3:3; 5:3, 4.]

That they may not be persecuted: their only aim.

For the cross of Christ: on the ground that they preach a crucified Messiah. A close parallel in Galatians 5:11. It implies that the seducers were professed Christians; that of Christian teaching the death of Christ was an essential and conspicuous element; and that this element (cp. 1 Corinthians 1:23) was the professed ground of the Jews’ hostility to the Gospel. But that the seducers hoped to escape persecution on this ground by proclaiming the necessity of circumcision, suggests that the real ground of the Jews’ opposition was that the Gospel overturned the exclusive spiritual prerogatives claimed by them under the Old Covenant, of which covenant circumcision was a conspicuous element; and that their scorn of the Crucified One was chiefly a means of pouring contempt on those who were breaking down, by a Gospel free for all men, the Jewish wall of partition. And we can well conceive the mass of the Jews looking with indifference or with favour on a profession of Christianity which did not interfere with, but rather exalted, their fancied spiritual pre-eminence. Possibly, the early success of the Gospel at Jerusalem (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:1) was aided by oversight on the part of all concerned, of the logical consequence of the Gospel so boldly preached by Jews and so numerously accepted.

The word only implies that the men referred to cared nothing for circumcision in itself, (or for the Old Covenant,) that their apparently eager advocacy of it was only a means by which they hoped to escape persecution while yet remaining members of the Church of Christ. To believe in Him while preaching circumcision, was thus a safe and cheap form of religion. Such an aim Paul properly calls a desire to make a good appearance in outward bodily life, i.e. in that side of life which is under the eyes of men around. And since their aim was to avoid, while yet believing the Gospel and thus as they vainly thought securing the blessings of the life to come, the bodily hardship and peril which otherwise, Jewish hostility might cause them; their conduct was really a sowing for the flesh, and their actions were works of the flesh. For, protection of the body was to them a guiding principle. Paul thus reveals the secret and unworthy thought of the seducers, and brings to bear upon it (hence the word flesh) the teaching of §§ 21, 22. And this personal and skilful application reveals still further the appropriateness and value of that teaching.

The men referred to here were probably Jewish Christians chiefly. For such were most likely to press Gentile converts to be circumcised, and to look upon this as a way of escape from persecution by non-Christian Jews. But, since even Gentile Christians may have been exposed to the same persecution, some circumcised Gentiles may have joined their Jewish brethren in eagerness for the rite as a means of escape from Jewish hostility.

V. 13. For neither they themselves keep the whole law-So far are they from a real zeal for it.

But yet they desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh-That they may boast of you as their proselytes, and make a merit of this with the other Jews.

Verse 13. Neither they themselves who are circumcised] They receive circumcision and profess Judaism, not from a desire to be conformed to the will of God; but Judaism was popular, and the more converts the false teachers could make; the more occasion of glorying they had, and they wished to get those Christian converts, who had been before proselytes of the gate, to receive circumcision, that they might glory in their flesh. Behold my converts! Thus they gloried, or boasted, not that the people were converted to God, but that they were circumcised.

Verses 12, 13. The sum of all is this: As many as desire to make a fair show — Or appearance; that is, to preserve a fair character; in the flesh — In external things, or with respect to their observing the Jewish rites and ceremonies; these would constrain you — Gentile converts, both by their example and importunity; to be circumcised — And subject, with them, to the carnal ordinances of the law. The apostle’s meaning is, that the false teachers wished to appear well in the eyes of the Jews, on account of their attachment to the law of Moses, which in other passages he terms the flesh, in opposition to the spiritual dispensation of the gospel. Only lest, &c. — As if he had said, They do not act thus with a single eye to the glory of God, or from a principle of conscience, but only lest they should suffer persecution — From the unbelieving Jews; for the cross of Christ — For maintaining that faith in a crucified Saviour is alone sufficient for justification. It is well known that the Jewish chief priests and elders were great persecutors of the disciples of Christ, and began their persecution very early. See John 9:22; 12:22; 19:38. Now it seems the mandates of their council were received with implicit submission, even by the synagogues in the Gentile countries, Acts 9:2. The false teachers, therefore, of whom the apostle speaks, to recommend themselves to these rulers at Jerusalem, who stirred up the unbelieving Jews every where against the Christians, fell upon the scheme of blending Judaism with the gospel; and, as the apostle informs us, urged the Gentiles to receive circumcision, merely that they themselves might not be persecuted for the gospel doctrine of salvation through a crucified Messiah. For neither they themselves — Who are circumcised, and so are solemnly obliged to observe the whole of it; keep the law — Namely, in other points of greater importance; so far are they from a real zeal for it, or from acting uprightly and conscientiously in this matter; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh — May boast of you as their proselytes, and make a merit of this with the other Jews.

Ver. 13. Proof of the foregoing unworthy motive.

They who receive circumcision: Gentile converts made from time to time by the false teachers.

Not even do these themselves keep prescriptions of law: although they are enrolling themselves among the people of the Old Covenant. Whether this refers to ritual or moral prescriptions, is not stated: and it does not affect the argument; for both elements had the same authority. It implies that some of these Gentile converts to Judaism lived in evident disregard of Jewish legal restrictions, or possibly of morality. And that their seducers tolerated this neglect proves that regard for the Law was not the motive of this zealous advocacy of circumcision.

But they wish: including probably the seducers and referring chiefly to them. For, to them chiefly refers the same word wish in Galatians 6:12: they are the chief matter of Galatians 6:12, 13, their converts being introduced only casually in proof of the motive of the seducers: and theirs chiefly must have been this desire and exultation, though shared by their Gentile converts. The change of subject between Galatians 6:13a and 13b is but an easy return to the chief matter of the paragraph. And it would be the more easy because the class referred to in Galatians 6:13b included some, or most, of those referred to in Galatians 6:13a; for Gentiles undergoing circumcision would themselves wish other Gentiles to follow their example, feeling that each fresh circumcision was a tribute to their recently adopted principles. Thus all the Christians in Galatia eager for circumcision, whether Jews or Gentiles, would form practically one body in opposition to the teaching of Paul.

The reading in the R.V. text, they who receive (or are receiving) circumcision, is preferred by all editors since Lachmann, and has rather better documentary evidence than that in the R.V. margin, who have been circumcised. And this latter looks suspiciously like a correction by copyists who could not understand the other reading. The above exposition gives to the reading adopted its most natural meaning. Certainly it is easier to suppose a return, after the parenthesis of Galatians 6:13a, to Paul’s chief matter than to expound they who receive circumcision as “the advocates of circumcision.”

In order that, etc.: selfish purpose of the seducers.

Exult: see under Romans 2:17; 1 Corinthians 1:29. Your flesh: your circumcised bodies. These were the sought for element of exultation. They wished to point in triumph to the visible mark of proselyting success, as a tribute to their personal influence and to the grandeur of Jewish privileges; and to use this mark as a shelter for themselves against Jewish persecution. The word flesh, instead of body, reminds us that the matter of their triumph belonged to the outward and perishing and seductive side of human life. Cp. 2 Corinthians 11:18, boast according to flesh; and Philippians 3:3f, confidence in the flesh. Thus, as in Galatians 6:12, this word keeps before us the teaching of §§ 21, 22.

V. 14. But God forbid that I should glory-Should boast of anything I have, am, or do; or rely on anything for my acceptance with God, but what Christ hath done and suffered for me.

By means of which the world is crucified to me-All the things and persons in it are to me as nothing.

And I unto the world-I am dead to all worldly pursuits, cares, desires, and enjoyments.

Verse 14. But God forbid that I should glory] Whatever others may do, or whatever they may exult or glory in, God forbid that I should exult, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; in the grand doctrine, that justification and salvation are only through Christ crucified, he having made an atonement for the sin of the world by his passion and death. And I glory, also, in the disgrace and persecution which I experience through my attachment to this crucified Christ.

By whom the world is crucified unto me] Jewish rites and Gentile vanities are equally insipid to me; I know them to be empty and worthless. If Jews and Gentiles despise me, I despise that in which they trust; through Jesus, all are crucified to me-their objects of dependence are as vile and execrable to me, as I am to them, in whose sight these things are of great account.

Verse 14. But God forbid that I should be actuated by any such selfish or worldly views, or should glory — Should boast of any thing I have, or am, or do, or rely on any thing for my acceptance with God; save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ — In what Christ hath done and suffered for me; by whom — Or, as the words may be understood, by which cross; the world is crucified to me — All the things and persons in it are to me as dead things, and therefore as nothing; and I unto the world — I am dead to all worldly pursuits, cares, desires, and enjoyments. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the clause, By the reliance which I have for justification on Christ’s sufferings and death, and by the believing views I have thereof, I am made indifferent to all things here below; “so that I view the world, as little impressed by all its charms, as a spectator would be by any thing which had been graceful in the countenance of a crucified person, when he beholds it blackened in the agonies of death; and am no more affected by the objects round me, than one who is expiring would be struck with any of those prospects which his dying eyes might view from the cross on which he was suspended.” Or, more concisely, the world is crucified to believers, in that, by the firm expectation of eternal life, grounded on Christ’s cross, that is, on his death and resurrection, the world, like the dead carcass of a crucified malefactor, is stripped to them of all its vain allurements. And they are crucified to the world by Christ’s cross, in that “it inspires them with such principles, and leads them to such a course of life, as renders them, in the eyes of the world, as contemptible, and as unfit for their purposes, as if they were dead carcasses. All believers, therefore, after the apostle’s example, justly glory in the crucifixion of their Master, not only as it is the foundation of that assured hope of pardon which they entertain, but as it is an effectual principle of their sanctification.” — Macknight.

Ver. 14, 15. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. God spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all. The cross is the high altar from whence the blood flows that washes away the guilt of the nations. The cross confers truth, honour, and glory on all the tragic altars of the patriarchs, and on the whole Hebrew ritual. A crucified Messiah is the true brazen serpent, exalted on the pole to heal the wounded camp. The cross is the weeping theme of all the prophets, which loses all its obloquy in the rising glory of the Son of God, putting death beneath his feet, and opening the gates of immortality. With Christ the believer is crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to him. In his resurrection we become new creatures, having, as is designated by the outward sign of baptism, put off the body of the sins of the flesh. The cross is the theatre of unexampled love, and the grand scene of triumph over all our foes.

14. Glory—Their glory is converting you to circumcision; my glory is the shame and suffering of the cross. The world, which you court, with all its glory. Is crucified—Is ignominiously reduced to death, as regards me. I unto the world—So that the world and I are even; we are nothing to each other, so far as our seeking glory from each other is concerned. Paul uses the word crucified with a prompt boldness; as if to face down the scorn that salutes the victim of that shameful death.

Ver. 14. Me: in emphatic contrast to those who boast in circumcision; literally, to me let there be no exultation.

In the cross: a marked contrast to in your flesh. Various matters, e.g. those quoted in 2 Corinthians 11:22; Philippians 3:4ff, and Paul’s matchless mental and moral power, might have aroused in him emotions of confidence and joy. But to him all these were nothing. Yet the heart which was indifferent to them was kindled into a glow of emotion by a symbol of his nation’s degradation, (for the cross was a Roman punishment,) by the cross on which his beloved Master died a death of pain and shame.

The above wonderful statement, Galatians 6:14b explains. Paul cannot boast except in the cross of Christ because on that cross himself has been crucified.

Through which, or whom: each rendering grammatically correct; and certain decision impossible. But since these words evidently explain Paul’s exultation, of which not Christ but the cross of Christ is the specific and astounding element here, this is probably his precise reference. By means of the cross on which Christ died the world itself has been crucified. Crucified: as in Galatians 2:20; 5:24. It gives vividness to the mode of Christ’s death, and declares that in some real sense both the world and Paul have shared that death.

The world: the entire realm of men and things around. [The absence twice of the Greek article bids us look at the world qualitatively, i.e. in view of its magnitude, variety, and power: to Paul a world has been crucified.] The world was once to him a living and vast and tremendous reality, Upon its smile hung all his hopes: its frown was ruin. Consequently, he was the world’s servant and slave: and the world was his absolute and imperious and cruel lord. This service was hopeless and degrading bondage. But now, through the death of Christ upon the cross, it has utterly and for ever passed away. The world can no longer terrify or beguile him. Thus Paul is free. Just so, around the corpse of Henry VIII., his courtiers felt themselves to be for the first time free; and breathed more freely because those lips and that brow and arm were henceforth silent and still and powerless. Also through death came Paul’s freedom; through Christ’s death upon the cross, which had brought about the death of Paul’s tremendous tyrant. But the world was dead relatively, not absolutely. To thousands it was still, and is now, a master possessing irresistible power. Only to those joined to Christ Crucified is the world dead. Hence the word to me, thrust to the front for conspicuous emphasis.

And I to the world: added to remind us that, although it is the world which through Christ’s death has lost its vital power and may therefore be said to be crucified, yet the real change has taken place in Paul. By union with the Crucified his own past life of bondage and sin has come to an end. By his own, as well as by his Master’s death the captive has become free. Thus we have a triple crucifixion. Christ has set up His cross between Paul and the world: and they are separated completely and for ever. This triple crucifixion and its mysterious instrument evoke joy and a shout of liberty. And they forbid all other boasting: for all else belongs to a world which has been crucified. Thus the astounding statement of Galatians 6:14a is explained by the more astounding statement of Galatians 6:14b.

V. 15. For neither circumcision is anything, nor uncircumcision-Neither of these is of any account. But a new creation-Whereby all things in us become new.

Verse 15. In Christ Jesus] Under the dispensation of the Gospel, of which he is head and supreme, neither circumcision- nothing that the Jew can boast of, nothing that the Gentile can call excellent, availeth any thing-can in the least contribute to the salvation of the soul.

But a new creature.] alla kainh ktisiv. But a new creation; not a new creature merely, (for this might be restrained to any new power or faculty,) but a total renewal of the whole man, of all the powers and passions of the soul; and as creation could not be effected but by the power of the Almighty, so this change cannot be effected but by the same energy; no circumcision can do this; only the power that made the man at first can new make him. See Clarke’s note on “1 Corinthians 7:19”, and on “2 Corinthians 5:17”.

Verses 15, 16. For in Christ Jesus — (See on Galatians 5:6,) neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision — To prove that we are accepted of God, and possessed of genuine religion; but a new creature — Or, a new creation, described 2 Corinthians 5:17, where see the note, as also on Galatians 5:6; where the same true and vital religion is termed, faith which worketh by love, implying the renovation of the whole man, by the power of the Divine Spirit, and producing universal, constant, and persevering obedience to God, or the keeping his commandments; which (1 Corinthians 7:19) is opposed to circumcision and uncircumcision, as here a new creation, and Galatians 5:6, faith working by love, is opposed to these things. Compare these passages, and the notes on them, with each other. As many as walk according to this rule — 1st, Glorying only in the cross of Christ; 2d, Being crucified to the world; 3d, Created anew; peace be on them — That peace, which is the fruit of justification and a new creation, Romans 5:1. And mercy — The source of that peace, and of every blessing enjoyed by fallen and sinful man, temporal or spiritual; and upon the Israel of God — That is, the church of God, which consists of those, and only those, of every nation and kindred, tongue and people, who walk by this rule.

Ver. 14, 15. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. God spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all. The cross is the high altar from whence the blood flows that washes away the guilt of the nations. The cross confers truth, honour, and glory on all the tragic altars of the patriarchs, and on the whole Hebrew ritual. A crucified Messiah is the true brazen serpent, exalted on the pole to heal the wounded camp. The cross is the weeping theme of all the prophets, which loses all its obloquy in the rising glory of the Son of God, putting death beneath his feet, and opening the gates of immortality. With Christ the believer is crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to him. In his resurrection we become new creatures, having, as is designated by the outward sign of baptism, put off the body of the sins of the flesh. The cross is the theatre of unexampled love, and the grand scene of triumph over all our foes.

15. I make the cross all; for circumcision is nothing, just as uncircumcision is. Uncircumcision is no condition of salvation, but a new creature, or, rather, creation; a renovation through Christ.

Ver. 15. Galatians 6:14 is practically a refusal to boast in any way about circumcision. This refusal Paul now supports by again saying that circumcision is neither gain nor loss. Since it can (Galatians 5:6) do nothing, it is (cp. 1 Corinthians 7:19) worth nothing. And therefore Paul cannot boast in it.

New creature, or new creation: see under 2 Corinthians 5:17; cp. Ephesians 2:10; 4:24. So utterly lost is man that nothing less than a new putting forth of creative power can save him.

This verse implies that circumcision was not a condition of the putting forth by God of this creative power; as it was a condition (Genesis 17:10) of the covenant with Abraham. That it was a condition also of the New Covenant, the false teachers evidently asserted. And of this Better Covenant Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, also outward rites, are conditions: for they were expressly ordained by Christ, and therefore refusal of them is disobedience to Him: cp. Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:4; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:25. But circumcision belonged to the earlier and now abrogated Covenant. To assert its perpetual obligation was to set up again the Mosaic Covenant which made the favour of God contingent on obedience to a multitude of moral and ritual prescriptions. No such obligation was involved in the requirement of Baptism. In the baptism of converts Paul might justly exult, as a triumph of the Gospel and such exultation would be an exulting in God. So might others in earlier days exult in the circumcision of born heathens, as a turning to the God of Israel. That to Paul circumcision is nothing, proves how completely in his view the Old Covenant had passed away. Thus these words are a summing up, at the close of the Epistle, of its chief argument, which, by their similarity to Galatians 5:6 at the close of that argument, they recall.

V. 16. And as many as walk according to this rule—

1. Glorying only in the cross of Christ.

2. Being crucified to the world. And,

3. Created anew.

Peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel, that is, the Church, of God-Which consists of all those, and those only, of every nation and kindred, who walk by this rule.

Verse 16. As many as walk according to this rule] tw kanoni toutw. This canon; viz. what is laid down in the preceding verses, that redemption is through the sacrifice of Christ; that circumcision and uncircumcision are equally unavailable; and that none can be saved without being created anew. This is the grand canon or rule in Christianity.

Peace be on them] Those who act from this conviction will have the peace and mercy of God; for it is in this way that mercy is communicated and peace obtained.

The Israel of God.] The true Christians, called here the Israel of God, to distinguish them from Israel according to the flesh. See Clarke’s notes on “Romans 2:29”; “Romans 4:12”.

Verses 15, 16. For in Christ Jesus — (See on Galatians 5:6,) neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision — To prove that we are accepted of God, and possessed of genuine religion; but a new creature — Or, a new creation, described 2 Corinthians 5:17, where see the note, as also on Galatians 5:6; where the same true and vital religion is termed, faith which worketh by love, implying the renovation of the whole man, by the power of the Divine Spirit, and producing universal, constant, and persevering obedience to God, or the keeping his commandments; which (1 Corinthians 7:19) is opposed to circumcision and uncircumcision, as here a new creation, and Galatians 5:6, faith working by love, is opposed to these things. Compare these passages, and the notes on them, with each other. As many as walk according to this rule — 1st, Glorying only in the cross of Christ; 2d, Being crucified to the world; 3d, Created anew; peace be on them — That peace, which is the fruit of justification and a new creation, Romans 5:1. And mercy — The source of that peace, and of every blessing enjoyed by fallen and sinful man, temporal or spiritual; and upon the Israel of God — That is, the church of God, which consists of those, and only those, of every nation and kindred, tongue and people, who walk by this rule.

16. Rule—Kanwn, that is, canon. Dr. Westcott, in his work on the Canon, says, “The original meaning of Kanon (connected with tnq, kanh, kanna, canno, [canalis, channel,] cane, canon) is a straight rule; as a ruler, or, rarely, the beam of a balance; and this with the secondary notion, either (1) of keeping any thing straight, or (2) testing straightness, as a carpenter’s rule, and even, improperly, a plumb-line.” From this the acknowledged books of the Bible are called the canon, and canonical. St. Paul lays down the principle of the last verse, and pronounces a benediction on all who walk (or, a better reading, shall walk) according to this canon. Israel of God—In distinction from the Israel of the flesh. In this terse phrase Paul triumphantly embodies his great doctrine that the theocracy has left the old ritual and gone with the new Church of the Spirit.

Ver. 16. Walk: same word in Galatians 5:25; Romans 4:12. Thus, just as Galatians 6:15 sums up the argument of DIV. II., so Galatians 6:16, which bids us make the principle asserted in Galatians 6:15 our rule of conduct, recalls the summary in Galatians 5:25 of the argument of DIV. III.

Rule: literally, canon: see under 2 Corinthians 10:13. It keeps up the metaphor suggested by the word walk. The principle in Galatians 6:15 was a marked out line along which Paul’s readers should direct their steps. Shall walk: throughout all future time.

Peace: as in Romans 1:7, where see notes; cp. Ephesians 6:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:16. It is a profound calm and rest, a consciousness of absolute security, derived from the presence and smile of God; the opposite of discord and of fear.

Upon them: for this peace comes down from heaven.

Mercy: Ephesians 2:4; 1 Timothy 1:2: that which prompts help to the helpless. That we need mercy, implies that we cannot save ourselves from wretchedness. Paul’s thought rises from the peace which fills and keeps our hearts to the mercy of God from which it flows. The Israel of God: that which God recognises as His chosen people: either the entire Church of God, or the Jewish part of it. The latter exposition would mark out (cp. and in Mark 1:5; 16:7) the Jewish Christians as being specially objects of this good wish: the former would imply that they who accept the principle announced in Galatians 6:15 occupy now the place of honour granted of old to the sacred nation. And this latter is probably Paul’s meaning. For it is most unlikely that in this farewell blessing he would separate the Jewish Christians from, and raise them above, their Gentile brethren, when it has been the purpose of the whole Epistle to place Jews and Gentiles on the same level as equally children and heirs of Abraham: see Galatians 3:7, 9, 14, 28; 4:31; cp. Romans 4:11, 16f. Whereas, to speak of uncircumcised Gentile believers as the Israel of God, is a triumphant practical application, at the close of the Epistle, of its chief argument which has just been summed up in the assertion of Galatians 6:15. And it is a suitable conclusion of § 23 which is specially directed against Jewish opponents.

These words recall <19C505>Psalm 125:5; 128:6.

After proving by the arguments of this Epistle that the teaching of the disturbers is false, Paul now covers them with confusion by revealing the secret and unworthy motives of their apparent loyalty to the Law of Moses. Indeed, the proved falsity of the teaching prepares us to find that the teachers are insincere. Paul says that their professed loyalty is for the sake of appearances, a means of shielding themselves against persecution from the acknowledged enemies of the Crucified One. Such fear of men he disowned for himself utterly in Galatians 1:10, before he began the argument of the Epistle, as though indicating beforehand the secret source of the teaching he was about to combat. And to this way of escape from persecution he referred again in Galatians 5:11 at the close of his chief argument. A proof that this is his opponents’ real motive, Paul finds in the conduct of the Gentiles who from time to time receive circumcision. For, as matter of fact, they do not keep the Law. Consequently, desire that the Law be kept cannot be the motive of those who are so eager for the circumcision of Gentiles. Another motive for this eagerness is the tribute to the spiritual prerogatives of Israel, and to the personal influence of the proselyters, involved in the reception of the rite by fresh converts from heathenism. Probably, Galatians 6:12, 13 would come to all parties concerned with an overwhelming force which we cannot now appreciate. For, doubtless, Paul’s charge would be confirmed in various ways unknown to us. His outspoken accusation would explain conduct otherwise inexplicable. For unworthy motives, however carefully concealed, reveal themselves in a multitude of casual indications. These hidden and base aims, thus brought to light, Paul puts utterly to shame by pointing to the Cross of Christ as his only ground of boasting; and to the total separation from the world, from its allurements and its terrors, which that Cross has wrought in him. And this exultation rests on the doctrines advocated throughout the Epistle. Upon all who hold them and make them their rule of life, Paul pronounces a rich blessing from God. In §§ 21, 22 we learn that the Holy Spirit given to believers is designed to save them from the rule of the flesh. The word flesh twice in § 23 brings this teaching to bear upon the disturbers in Galatia. For, their unworthy motives belong altogether to the domain of bodily life. They exult in a merely outward rite deprived now of all inward and spiritual significance, because it offers them deliverance from the bodily affliction with which they are threatened by the enemies of Christ. Consequently, their eagerness for circumcision is but a sowing for the flesh.

V. 17. From henceforth let none trouble me-By quarrels and disputes. For I bear-And afflictions should not be added to the afflicted. In my body the marks of the Lord Jesus-The scars, marks, and brands of my sufferings for Him.

NOTES ON ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE

TO THE EPHESIANS.

EPHESUS was the chief city of that part of Asia, which was a Roman province. Here St. Paul preached for three years, Acts 20:31; and from hence the gospel was spread throughout the whole province, Acts 19:10. At his taking leave of the church there, he forewarned them both of great persecutions from without, and of divers heresies and schisms which would arise among themselves. And accordingly he writes this epistle, nearly resembling that to the Colossians, written about the same time, to establish them in the doctrine he had delivered, to arm them against false teachers, and to build them up in love and holiness, both of heart and conversation.

He begins this, as most of his epistles, with thanksgiving to God for their embracing and adhering to the gospel. He shows the inestimable blessings and advantages they received thereby, as far above all the Jewish privileges, as all the wisdom and philosophy of the heathens. He proves that our Lord is the Head of the whole church; of angels and spirits, the church triumphant, and of Jews and Gentiles, now equally members of the church militant. In the three last chapters he exhorts them to various duties, civil and religious, personal and relative, suitable to their Christian character, privileges, assistances, and obligations.

IN THIS EPISTLE WE MAY OBSERVE,

I. The inscription, Ephesians 1:1, 2

II. The doctrine pathetically explained, which contains,

1. Praise to God for the whole gospel blessing, 3-14 With thanksgiving and prayer for the saints, 15- Ephesians 2:10

2. A more particular admonition concerning their once miserable, but now happy, condition, 11-12 A prayer for their establishment, Ephesians 3:1-19 A doxology, 20, 21

III. The exhortation,

1. General: to walk worthy of their calling, agreeably to, 1.The unity of the Spirit, and the diversity of his gifts, Ephesians 4:1-16

2.The difference between their former and their present state, 17-24

2. Particular To avoid,

1. Lying, 25

2. Anger, 26, 27

3. Theft, 28

4. Corrupt communication, 29, 30

5. Bitterness, 31- Ephesians 5:2

6. Uncleanness, 3-14

7. Drunkenness, 15-21

With a commendation of the opposite virtues To do their duty, as,

1. Wives and husbands, 22-33

2. Children and parents, Ephesians 6:1-4

3. Servants and masters, 5-9

3. Final: to war the spiritual warfare, 10-20

IV. The conclusion, 21-24

Verse 17. From henceforth let no man trouble me] Put an end to your contentions among yourselves; return to the pure doctrine of the Gospel; abandon those who are leading you astray; separate from the Church those who corrupt and disturb it; and let me be grieved no longer with your defections from the truth.

I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.] The stigmata, stigmata, of which the apostle speaks here, may be understood as implying the scars of the wounds which he had received in the work of the ministry; and that he had such scars, we may well conceive, when we know that he had been scourged, stoned, and maltreated in a variety of ways. The writer could show such scars himself, received in the same way. Or, the apostle may allude to the stigmata or marks with which servants and slaves were often impressed, in order to ascertain whose property they were. A Burman servant often has indelible marks on his thighs and elsewhere, which ascertain to whose service he belongs. “Do not trouble me; I bear the marks of my Lord and Master, Jesus; I am his, and will remain so. You glory in your mark of circumcision; I glory in the marks which I bear in my body for the testimony of the Lord; I am an open, professed Christian, and have given full proof of my attachment to the cause of Christianity.” The first sense appears to be the best: “I have suffered already sufficiently; I am suffering still; do not add any more to my afflictions.”

Verses 17, 18. Henceforth let no man trouble me — By calling my commission, my doctrine, or my faithfulness in question; or with contentions against my office, quarrels and disputes on account of my renouncing circumcision and the ceremonies of the Mosaic law; for I bear (and affliction ought not to be added to the afflicted!) in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus — That is, of my being his persecuted servant; marks of far more importance, and which I think much more honourable, than circumcision; even the scars which I have received by stripes, blows, bruises, and chains, endured in his service, which ought to endear me to all who have a due regard to him. Because the word stigmata denotes marks made by burning, some suppose that the apostle had in his eye those servants in the heathen temples on whose foreheads the name of the god to whom they belonged was in that way imprinted, and under the immediate protection of which god such servants were supposed to be. Hence the worshippers of the beast (Revelation 13:16) are represented as having a mark on their right hands, or on their foreheads, whereby they were known to be its worshippers. In like manner the servants of God are said to have his name on their foreheads, Revelation 22:4. In allusion to these customs, it is thought that the apostle calls the scars of the wounds which he received in Christ’s service, the marks of the Lord Jesus. For besides his having been stoned and left for dead in the streets of Lystra, as he was five times scourged by the Jews, and thrice beaten with rods by the Romans, (2 Corinthians 11:24, 25,) it is probable he had suffered some of these punishments before this epistle was written, and that they had left scars in his body, by which he was distinguished as the servant of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace — The unmerited favour, and the enlightening, quickening, sanctifying, and comforting influences of his Spirit; be with your spirit — To guide, animate, renew, purify, and comfort you in the ways of truth and peace, of wisdom, piety, and virtue. Thus, although the apostle’s rebukes in the former part of this epistle were sharp and cutting, and although he seems to have treated the Galatians with some severity; yet having expressed his persuasion, that after reading what he had written they would not think differently from him in the principal articles of the Christian doctrine, (chap. 5:10,) he here shows his love to them, not only by giving them his apostolical benediction, but by calling them brethren; and, as Dr. Macknight observes, by making that appellation (for so it is in the original) the last word of his letter, except the word Amen.

Ver. 17. Henceforth let no man trouble me. The seals of my apostleship you have attested, by miracles, by spiritual endowments, and gifts of the Holy Ghost. I have seen the Lord. Acts 9:4. 22:14. I have lived in conformity to my vocation. I have suffered for the sake of Christ, being stoned, scourged by the Roman lictors, and also in the synagogues. Yea, I have been in deaths often. Let your troublers, who affect some love to Christ, the better to deceive you, come forward with credentials like these. I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. My scars would demonstrate my love to his name, and my courage and warfare in the various fields of battle.

17. From henceforth—From the time-point of the laying down once for all of this unmovable canon. Trouble me—I move above all molestation and obstacles in my apostolic course; for the trueness of my adherence to Christ is placed above question by my scars in his service. Marks— Stigmata, stigmata, derived from stizw, to prick, to brand; hence a brand or mark of ownership or disgrace, (as our English word stigma,) either pricked in or burnt upon the body of man or beast. Two kinds of stigmata are, 1. Upon slaves, more usually those who had tried to escape, and then the marks were not only a security to the owner but a disgrace to the slave. 2. Temple slaves, or persons dedicated to some duty, were branded upon hand or neck, and then they were held too sacred to be touched. We might suppose that it was to this last class that the apostle alludes, and proclaims that his scars for Christ are his brands of dedication and ownership, and that no annoying hand should touch him.

Verse 18. The grace] Favour, benevolence, and continual influence of the Lord Jesus, be with your spirit-may it live in your heart, enlighten and change your souls, and be conspicuous in your life!

Amen.] So let it be; and the prayer which I offer up for you on earth, may it be registered in heaven!

Unto the Galatians, written from Rome.] This, or the major part of it, is wanting in the best and most ancient MSS. Written from Rome is wanting in ACDEFG, and others. Claudius Antissiodor, has egrafh apJ efesou. Written from Ephesus. Some add, by the hands of Paul, others, by Titus. The SYRIAC has, The end of the Epistle to the Galatians, which was written from the city of Rome. The ÆTHIOPIC, To the Galatians. The COPTIC, Written from Rome. The VULGATE, nothing. The ARABIC, Written from the city of Rome by Titus and Luke.

Little respect is to be paid to these subscriptions. The epistle was written by Paul himself, not Titus, Luke nor Tychicus; and there is no evidence that it was written from Rome, but rather from Corinth or Ephesus. See the preface, page 385.

THE great similarity between the Epistle to the Romans and that to the Galatians has been remarked by many; and indeed it is so obvious, that the same mode of interpretation may be safely pursued in the elucidation of both; as not only the great subject, but the phraseology, in many respects, is the same. The design of the apostle is to show that God has called the Gentiles to equal privileges with the Jews, pulling down the partition wall that had separated them and the Gentiles, calling all to believe in Christ Jesus, and forming out of the believers of both people one holy and pure Church, of which, equally, himself was the head; none of either people having any preference to another, except what he might derive from his personal sanctity and superior usefulness. The calling of the Gentiles to this state of salvation was the mystery which had been hidden from all ages, and concerning which the apostle has entered into such a laborious discussion in the Epistle to the Romans; justifying the reprobation as well as the election of the Jews, and vindicating both the justice and mercy of God in the election of the Gentiles. The same subjects are referred to in this epistle, but not in that detail of argumentation as in the former. In both, the national privileges of the Jews are a frequent subject of consideration; and, as these national privileges were intended to point out spiritual advantages, the terms which express them are used frequently in both these senses with no change; and it requires an attentive mind, and a proper knowledge of the analogy of faith, to discern when and where they are to be restricted exclusively to one or the other meaning, as well as where the one is intended to shadow forth the other; and where it is used as expressing what they ought to be, according to the spirit and tenor of their original calling.

Multitudes of interpreters of different sects and parties have strangely mistaken both epistles, by not attending to these most necessary, and to the unprejudiced, most obvious, distinctions and principles. Expressions which point out national privileges have been used by them to point out those which were spiritual; and merely temporal advantages or disadvantages have been used in the sense of eternal blessings or miseries. Hence, what has been spoken of the Jews in their national capacity has been applied to the Church of God in respect to its future destiny; and thus, out of the temporal election and reprobation of the Jews, the doctrine of the irrespective and eternal election of a small part of mankind, and the unconditional and eternal reprobation of the far greater part of the human race, has been formed. The contentions produced by these

misapprehensions among Christians have been uncharitable and destructive. In snatching at the shadow of religion in a great variety of metaphors and figures, the substance of Christianity has been lost: and the man who endeavours to draw the contending parties to a consistent and rational interpretation of those expressions, by showing the grand nature and design of these epistles, becomes a prey to the zealots of both parties! Where is truth in the mean time? It is fallen in the streets, and equity is gone backwards; for the most sinister designs and most heterodox opinions have been attributed to those who, regarding the words of God only, have refused to swim with either torrent; and, without even consulting their own peculiar creed, have sought to find out the meaning of the inspired writers, and with simplicity of heart, and purity of conscience, to lay that meaning before mankind.

The Israelites were denominated a peculiar treasure unto God, above all people; a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation, Exodus 19:5, 6. A holy people whom he had chosen to be a special people unto himself, above all the people who were upon the face of the earth, Deuteronomy 7:6. This was their calling, this was their profession, and this was their denomination; but how far they fell practically short of this character their history most painfully proves. Yet still they were called a holy people, because called to holiness, (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7,) and separated from the impure and degrading idolatries of the neighbouring nations.

Under the New Testament, all those who believe in Christ Jesus are called to holiness-to have their fruit unto holiness, that their end may be eternal life; and hence they are called saints or holy persons. And the same epithets are applied to them as to the Israelites of old; they are lively stones, built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ; they are also called a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that should show forth the praises of him who had called them from darkness into his marvellous light, 1 Peter 2:5, 9. All this they were called to, all this was their profession, and to have all these excellences was their indisputable privilege.

As they professed to be what God had called them to be, they are often denominated by their profession; and this denomination is given frequently to those who, in experience and practice, fall far short of the blessings and privileges of the Gospel. The Church of Corinth, which was in many respects the most imperfect, as well as the most impure, of all the apostolic Churches, is nevertheless denominated the Church of God, sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, 1 Corinthians 1:2. That there were many saints in the Corinthian Church, and many sanctified in Christ Jesus both in it and in the Churches of Galatia, the slightest perusal of the epistles to those Churches will prove: but that there were many, and in the Galatian Churches the majority, of a different character, none can doubt; yet they are all indiscriminately called the Churches of God, saints, &c. And, even in those early times, saint appears to have been as general an appellative for a person professing faith in Christ Jesus, as the term Christian is at the present day, which is given to all who profess the Christian religion; and yet these terms, taken in their strict and proper sense, signify, a holy person, and one who has the Spirit and mind of Christ.

In my notes on the Epistle to the Romans I have entered at large into a discussion of the subjects to which I have referred in these observations; and, to set the subject in a clear point of view, I have made a copious extract from Dr. Taylor’s Key to that epistle; and I have stated, that a consistent exposition of that epistle cannot be given but upon that plan. I am still of the same opinion. It is by attending to the above distinctions, which are most obvious to all unprejudiced persons, that we plainly see that the doctrines of eternal, unconditional reprobation and election, and the impossibility of falling finally from the grace of God, have no foundation in the Epistle to the Romans. Dr. Taylor has shown that the phrases and expressions on which these doctrines are founded refer to national privileges, and those exclusive advantages which the Jews, as God’s peculiar people, enjoyed during the time in which that peculiarity was designed to last; and that it is doing violence to the sense in which those expressions are generally used, to apply them to the support of such doctrines. In reference to this, I have quoted Dr. Taylor; and those illustrations of his which I have adopted, I have adopted on this ground, taking care never to pledge myself to any peculiar or heterodox opinions, by whomsoever held; and, where I thought an expression might be misunderstood, I took care to guard it by a note or observation. Now I say that it is in this sense I understand the quotations I have made, and in this sense alone these quotations ought to be understood; and my whole work sufficiently shows that neither Dr. Taylor’s nor any person’s peculiar theological system makes any part of mine; that, on the doctrine of the fall of man or original sin, the doctrine of the eternal deity of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of justification by faith in the atoning blood, and the doctrine of the inspiration and regenerating influence of the Holy Ghost, I stand on the pure orthodox creed, diametrically opposite to that of the Arians and Socinians. Yet this most distinguishing difference cannot blind me against the excellences I find in any of their works, nor can I meanly borrow from Dr. Taylor, or any other author, without acknowledging my obligation; nor could I suppress a name, however obnoxious that might be, as associated with any heterodox system, when I could mention it with deference and respect. Let this be my apology for quoting Dr. Taylor, and for the frequent use I have made of his industry and learning in my exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. If I have quoted, to illustrate the sacred writings, passages almost innumerable from Greek and Roman heathens; from Jewish Talmudists and rabbinical expositors; from the Koran; from Mohammedan writers, both Arabic and Persian; and from Brahminical polytheists; and these illustrations have been well received by the Christian public; surely I may have liberty to use, in the same way, the works of a very learned man, and a most conscientious believer in the books of Divine revelation, however erroneous he may appear to be in certain doctrines which I myself deem of vital importance to the creed of an experimental Christian. Let it not be said that, by thus largely quoting from his work, I tacitly recommend an Arian creed, or any part of that system of theology peculiar to him and his party; I no more do so than the Indian matron who, while she gives the nourishing farina of the cassava to her household, recommends them to drink the poisonous juice which she has previously expressed from it.

After this declaration, it will be as disingenuous as unchristian for either friends or foes to attribute to me opinions which I never held, or an indifference to those doctrines which (I speak as a fool) stand in no work of the kind, in any language, so fully explained, fortified, and demonstrated, as they do in that before the reader. On such a mode of judgment and condemnation as that to which some resort in matters of this kind, I might have long ago been reputed a Pagan or a Mohammedan, because I have quoted heathen writers and the Koran. And, by the same mode of argumentation, St. Paul might be convicted of having abandoned his Jewish creed and Christian faith, because he had quoted the heathen poets Aratus and Cleanthes. The man is entitled to my pity who refuses to take advantage of useful discoveries in the philosophical researches of Dr. Priestley, because Dr. Priestley, as a theologian, was not sound in the faith. I have made that use of Dr. Taylor which I have done of others; and have reason to thank God that his Key, passing through several wards of a lock which appeared to me inextricable, has enabled me to bring forth and exhibit, in a fair and luminous point of view, objects and meanings in the Epistle to the Romans which, without this assistance, I had perhaps been unable to discover.

I may add, farther, that I have made that use of Dr. Taylor which himself has recommended to his readers: some of his censors will perhaps scarcely believe that the four following articles constitute the charge with which this learned man commences his theological lectures:—

I. “I do solemnly charge you, in the name of the God of truth, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, and before whose judgment seat you must in no long time appear, that, in all your studies and inquiries of a religious nature, present or future, you do constantly, carefully, impartially, and conscientiously attend to evidence, as it lies in the Holy Scriptures, or in the nature of things and the dictates of reason, cautiously guarding against the sallies of imagination, and the fallacy of ill-grounded conjecture. II. “That you admit, embrace, or assent to no principle or sentiment, by me taught or advanced, but only so far as it shall appear to you to be justified by proper evidence from revelation, or the reason of things.

III. “That if at any time hereafter any principle or sentiment by me taught or advanced, or by you admitted or embraced, shall, upon impartial and faithful examination, appear to you to be dubious or false, you either suspect or totally reject such principle or sentiment.

IV. “That you keep your mind always open to evidence; that you labour to banish from your breast all prejudice, prepossession, and party zeal; that you study to live in peace and love with all your fellow Christians; and that you steadily assert for yourself, and freely allow to others, the unalienable rights of judgment and conscience.”-Taylor’s Scheme of Scripture Divinity, preface, page vi.

Thus I have done with Dr. Taylor’s works; and thus I desire every intelligent reader to do with my own.

When I was a child I had for a lesson the following words: Despise not advice, even from the meanest; the cackling of geese once preserved the Roman state. And since I became a man, I have learned wisdom from that saying: Blessed are ye who sow beside ALL WATERS; that send forth thither the feet of the OX and the ASS. May He, who is the way, the truth, and the life, lead the reader into all truth, and bring him to life everlasting! Amen. Finished the correction for a new edition, Dec. 14th, 1831.-A. C.

Verses 17, 18. Henceforth let no man trouble me — By calling my commission, my doctrine, or my faithfulness in question; or with contentions against my office, quarrels and disputes on account of my renouncing circumcision and the ceremonies of the Mosaic law; for I bear (and affliction ought not to be added to the afflicted!) in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus — That is, of my being his persecuted servant; marks of far more importance, and which I think much more honourable, than circumcision; even the scars which I have received by stripes, blows, bruises, and chains, endured in his service, which ought to endear me to all who have a due regard to him. Because the word stigmata denotes marks made by burning, some suppose that the apostle had in his eye those servants in the heathen temples on whose foreheads the name of the god to whom they belonged was in that way imprinted, and under the immediate protection of which god such servants were supposed to be. Hence the worshippers of the beast (Revelation 13:16) are represented as having a mark on their right hands, or on their foreheads, whereby they were known to be its worshippers. In like manner the servants of God are said to have his name on their foreheads, Revelation 22:4. In allusion to these customs, it is thought that the apostle calls the scars of the wounds which he received in Christ’s service, the marks of the Lord Jesus. For besides his having been stoned and left for dead in the streets of Lystra, as he was five times scourged by the Jews, and thrice beaten with rods by the Romans, (2 Corinthians 11:24, 25,) it is probable he had suffered some of these punishments before this epistle was written, and that they had left scars in his body, by which he was distinguished as the servant of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace — The unmerited favour, and the enlightening, quickening, sanctifying, and comforting influences of his Spirit; be with your spirit — To guide, animate, renew, purify, and comfort you in the ways of truth and peace, of wisdom, piety, and virtue. Thus, although the apostle’s rebukes in the former part of this epistle were sharp and cutting, and although he seems to have treated the Galatians with some severity; yet having expressed his persuasion, that after reading what he had written they would not think differently from him in the principal articles of the Christian doctrine, (chap. 5:10,) he here shows his love to them, not only by giving them his apostolical benediction, but by calling them brethren; and, as Dr. Macknight observes, by making that appellation (for so it is in the original) the last word of his letter, except the word Amen.

Ver. 18. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. He closes as he began the epistle. He also varies the last words, and adds amen, to show that he did it in the fulness of his soul, and blessed them in the God of truth, as the Lord required. Isaiah 65:16.

18. Brethren—In the Greek this word is the last of the verse and of the epistle. “So,” says Bengel, “he softens with the final word the severity of the whole epistle.” He would part with them as brethren; whether they truly remained brethren, history does not reveal.

GALATIANS

SECTION 24. — FAREWELL. CH. 6:17, 18.

Henceforth let no one cause me trouble. For I bear the brandmarks of Jesus in my body. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit, Brethren, Amen.

Henceforth: the past troubles being more than sufficient. Let no one trouble me: literally, labours let no one afford me, viz. such toil and weariness as that imposed on Paul by his opponents.

The marks: a technical term for tattoo or brand marks, which were frequent with slaves, criminals, soldiers, and even votaries of some particular deity. E.g. Herodotus (bk. vii. 233) says of the Thebans who at Thermopylae turned to the Persians; “the more part of them, by Xerxes command, they marked with royal marks.” So 3 Macc. ii. 29, “marked in the body by fire with the ivy-leaf sign of Dionysus.” Such marks were forbidden to Israel: Leviticus 19:28. Since these marks were evidently a badge of honour, and since there is no reference here to military life, whereas Paul ever rejoices to call himself a servant or slave of Christ and speak of him in Galatians 6:14 and 18 as his Lord, it is easier to understand the word here in this last sense.

In my body; suggests that he refers to the scars received in the many scourgings, imprisonments, and other hardships, (2 Corinthians 11:24,) endured in the service of Christ. These scars proclaimed, in contrast to the disturbers whose chief thought was to escape persecution, how faithful that service had been. Therefore, as insignia of his Master, Paul bore them in triumph. And, because of the sufferings of which these marks were witnesses, he claimed immunity from the weariness caused him by the contention of the Judaizers.

The advocates of circumcision point with pride to the circumcised bodies of their converts. Paul points to his own body which bears marks of hardships endured for Christ, these hardships testifying the faithfulness of his service. This was no mere exultation in the flesh: for these scars in the flesh had deep spiritual significance, inasmuch as they reveal the work in Paul’s spirit of the Spirit of God. They place Paul and his career in significant contrast to his opponents. Than this silent comparison, no appeal could be more forceful.

Ver. 18. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: as in ( 1 Corinthians 16:23;) 2 Corinthians 13:13.

Your spirit: as in Romans 1:9; 8:10, 16; 1 Corinthians 2:11; 5:3-5; 14:14-16, 32; 16:18, 2 Corinthians 2:13; 7:13. It is perhaps suggested here by the contrast of my body: although in 2 Timothy 4:22; Philemon 1:25 we have similar words without any such contrast. Paul desires that in the noblest element of his readers’ nature, in that part of them which is nearest to God and most like God and on which the Spirit of God directly operates, the smile of Christ may shine upon them. Parting with them, after a letter of severe condemnation, he calls them brothers. And with a concluding Amen he confirms his parting benediction. THE DISTURBERS IN GALATIA. The letter before us is evidently an attempt to recall the Galatian Christians from an apostacy already making progress among them and threatening to destroy utterly the Churches of Galatia. Such a letter can be understood only so far as we understand the errors it was designed to correct. We will therefore gather together, before reviewing the Epistle, all indications, which are found chiefly in the Epistle itself, of these errors; and endeavour thus to gain a view of the teaching which Paul here combats.

Beside the errors prevalent in Galatia, we meet in this Epistle with three types of Jewish error, viz. in certain false brethren at Jerusalem, Galatians 2:4; in some men who came from Jerusalem to Antioch, Galatians 2:11, 12; and in the Jews resident at Antioch, Galatians 2:13. (1) That the false brethren at Jerusalem are said to have crept secretly into the Church in order to understand the Gospel that thus they might overthrow it, proves that their Christian profession was only a mask, that they were simply traitors in the camp. They were Jews who rejected Christianity and used against it weapons of deceit. Similar men, apparently connected with the Church at Corinth, are described and denounced in 2 Corinthians 11:13ff. (2) That the Jews whose arrival at Antioch (cp. Acts 15:1) wrought so marked and evil a change there were guilty of like deception, Paul gives no hint. They may have been men who, after Jewish birth and training, finding the Law insufficient to save them, had accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah, had bowed to Him as their Lord and still clung to Him as their Saviour; but who nevertheless felt themselves bound by their ancient Law and believed that without obedience to its prescriptions they could not enjoy the favour of God or obtain the Eternal Life promised by Christ. Possibly, sincerity of belief and purity of life gave weight to their influence. Of the terrible logical consequence of such belief, their Jewish training and surroundings and their sincerity would easily make them unconscious. They looked up to James as their leader: for his teaching was in less marked opposition to their views than was that of Paul. Similar men we find on a visit to Antioch in Acts 15:1; and others at Jerusalem in Acts 15:5, these latter being called believers. But their faith was evidently immature. (3) From these we must distinguish the Jews already at Antioch, who yielded, under Peter’s example, to the influence of the new comers. These last, Paul calls hypocrites. For, living as they did among uncircumcised Gentile Christians, they knew in their hearts that the distinction of meats had passed away; and yet acted as though it were still binding. They did so apparently without any definite aim, influenced merely by the Jewish Christians lately come from Jerusalem who represented, and by their presence brought to bear at Antioch, the weight of the entire Jewish nation.

The foregoing varieties of error had in common the assertion that circumcision and the prescriptions of the Law were still binding on all Christians.

Paul’s condemnatory description of these Jewish Christians at Jerusalem and Antioch was evidently designed to be a mirror in which the Christians of Galatia should see reflected the Jewish teachers who were leading them astray. By these teachers they were treated with (Galatians 4:17) the greatest attention, were led to observe (Galatians 5:10) Jewish festivals, and were strenuously urged (Galatians 6:12) to receive circumcision. But in all this the false teachers were simply endeavouring to shield themselves from persecution. That they were in danger of it, proves that they were, in some imperfect and vain sense, believers in Christ. For against mere hypocrites, like those mentioned in Galatians 2:4, no persecution would be directed. Or, certainly, they might at once have escaped it by proclaiming themselves enemies of Christ. Their danger suggests that in their heart of hearts they believed that Jesus is the Messiah and were hoping for the blessings He promised to bestow. Their religion seems to have been a compromise between desire for the favour of Christ and a wish to propitiate His enemies. The former they sought by professing themselves Christians: the latter by eager advocacy (Galatians 6:12) of Jewish prerogatives. And Paul declares (Galatians 5:11) that he might escape persecution in the same way.

That even in heathen countries the hostility of Jews was an element of danger to Christians, is proved by the ill treatment Paul received, at the instigation of Jews, at Antioch in Pisidia, at Iconium, and at Lystra, cities on the borders of Galatia. And the motive mentioned in Galatians 6:12 suggests that this hostility arose from jealousy for the peculiar spiritual prerogatives claimed by the Jews on the ground of the Old Covenant and strenuously asserted, of which prerogatives circumcision was a conspicuous badge. These prerogatives, the Gospel as preached by Paul utterly trampled under foot.

This motive also suggests that, like the Jewish Christians residing at Antioch, the disturbers in Galatia did not themselves believe their own teaching that circumcision was needful for salvation. Or possibly the convenience of the compromise gradually perverted their judgment. If so their religious belief, and in any case their action, were controlled by care for their bodily life, i.e. by the flesh. That their zeal for circumcision was not prompted by genuine loyalty to the Law, Paul proves by their converts’ practical disregard of its requirements, which they evidently tolerated. Paul’s assertion and careful proof of his apostolic authority and of his independence of the earlier apostles can be explained only by supposing that these were denied by the disturbers in Galatia. And this we can easily understand. For the Gospel he preached repudiated utterly the compromise by which they hoped to escape persecution: and his teaching and influence could be withstood only by saying that he had himself perverted the Gospel of Christ. The distance of the other apostles made possible an insinuation that his authority as a Christian teacher was derived from them, and that he had been unfaithful to the charge thus received. The men before us were thus compelled, by the false position they had taken up, to place themselves in opposition to the greatest of the Apostles. Paul declares in Galatians 1:7; 5:10, 12 that his opponents were unsettling the Christians in Galatia, and were wishing to overturn the Gospel. They even threaten to destroy (Galatians 4:10) the Churches he had planted. For, by asserting the perpetual validity of the Law they proclaimed implicitly a universal curse which shuts out all men from the blessings promised by Christ and renders the death of Christ meaningless and useless. Against such teaching and teachers Paul pronounces a tremendous and repeated Anathema; and almost hopes that they will join the ranks of heathendom. This proves that their conduct was inexcusable and sinful, that their faith in Christ did not influence their inner life, and that their profession of Christianity was an empty name. That Paul, while writing about them, never speaks to them, but only to their victims, proves that in his view their case was utterly hopeless.

All this we can best harmonise by supposing that the disturbers in Galatia had honestly accepted Jesus of Nazareth as the foretold Messiah, had believed His promise of eternal life, and had enrolled themselves among His professed followers. But the words and Spirit of Jesus had not permeated and renovated their heart and thought and life; or had ceased to do so. Consequently, as the first impulse which led them into the Church waned, they yielded to fear of the hostility of their fellow-countrymen. And the Gospel, which would have given them victory over all adverse surroundings had they accepted it without reserve, itself fell, in their conception of it, under the control of the needs of their bodily life and sank into an empty profession powerless to save. Yet the first influence did not altogether leave them. While pursuing eagerly a course subversive of the Church of Christ, they nevertheless called themselves His servants and hoped for a place in His eternal Kingdom. How vain were their hopes, the whole tenor of the Epistle afford tremendous proof. They are to us an abiding monument of the peril of permitting our belief and practice to be moulded by the needs or convenience of our present bodily life; of all compromises between the Spirit and the flesh, between truth and error. REVIEW OF THE EPISTLE. To a Church in which it had been questioned, Paul begins his letter by asserting his independent apostolic authority; and in the greeting of an Epistle devoted chiefly to the doctrine of justification by faith he weaves the correlative historical fact of Christ’s resurrection and the doctrine that He gave Himself for the sins of men. The gratitude with which in other Epistles he turns to his readers gives place here to wonder that they are so soon turning away from God, and to a repeated curse on any who lead them astray. And, in view of the secret motive of the false guides, he declares that to make the favour of men our aim is to renounce the service of Christ.

Paul then proves from known facts that the Gospel he preaches is independent of human authority. His previous life attests the divine source of the revelation which has wrought in him so great a change. For three years after his conversion he did not so much as see the other apostles; and then saw only Peter and James, and for a short time. And when, many years later, he went up to Jerusalem and expounded to the apostles his teaching among the Gentiles, they desired no change in it, but recognised at once his independent mission. Indeed, some time afterwards, at Antioch, he publicly reproved Peter for action similar to that of the disturbers in Galatia; and supported his reproof by an appeal to the past inward experience of Peter and of himself and to his own present life in Christ. Having thus proved by known facts that his teaching is independent of human authority, Paul now comes to defend the teaching itself. That salvation is by faith, he proves from his readers’ own experience, which he shows to be in harmony with the story of Abraham. The Law cannot save: for it pronounces a universal curse, from which Christ saved us by Himself bearing it. Had God made obedience to law a condition of the fulfilment of His promise to Abraham, He would have invalidated the promise by a subsequent addition to it; which even human morality forbids. Yet the Law must have a worthy purpose. It was designed to force us to Christ for salvation by faith. And this purpose has in us been accomplished. The Law belongs to spiritual childhood, which is a state of bondage. But now the set time has come, and we are free: for in our hearts the Spirit proclaims that we are sons of God. Yet, by seeking salvation in sacred seasons, the Galatian Christians are turning back to the bondage of childhood. This complete argument is followed by a direct appeal recalling the joyous founding of the Galatian Churches and revealing the unworthy motive of the earnestness of the disturbers. This again is followed by an historical application of the main argument. Since the Law brings bondage, they who look to it for salvation are in the position of the children of Hagar. And the expulsion of Hagar and her son from the family of Abraham proclaims the exclusion of these their modern representatives from the blessings promised to Abraham’s seed.

The entire foregoing argument, Paul then brings to bear on the matter of circumcision by asserting that to receive the rite is to accept obligation to keep the whole Law. With such obligation he contrasts his own religious life; and concludes the matter of circumcision by sundry appeals. The doctrine of justification by faith apart from works renders absolutely needful an exposition of Christian morals: and this exposition Paul throws into a form specially suitable to the case of his readers. To advocates of the abiding validity of the Mosaic Law, who yet needed to be warned against mutual conflict, he points out the sum of that Law, viz. love to our neighbour: and, in the presence of men whose teaching was moulded by care for the flesh, he proclaims the ceaseless antagonism of the flesh and the Spirit. These two great principles of Christian morality he applies to sundry details.

A mark of his earnestness Paul gives by recurring, at the end of the Epistle, in his own hand-writing, to its chief matter; and reveals the real and specific motive of these eager advocates of circumcision. This evokes an exultant boast in that cross of Christ which his opponents practically trampled under foot.