TO THE GALATIANS. Greeting. I. INTRODUCTION. To the Churches in Galatia, FROM Paul, an Apostle whose commission is not from men and is given, not by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead; AND FROM all the Brothers here. I 1 2 May God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, bless you 3 and give you peace. For Christ, to rescue us from this. present wicked age, gave himself for our sins, in accordance with the will of our God and Father, to whom be 5 ascribed all glory for ever and ever. The Apostle's Amen. 4. 7 I am astonished at your so soon deserting him, 6 Disappoint- who called you through the love of Christ, ment. for a different Good News,' which is really no Good News at all. But then, I know that there are people who are harassing you, and who want to pervert the Good News of the Christ. Yet even if we--or if an angel from 8 Heaven were to tell you any other 'Good News' than that which we told you, may he be accursed! We have said it before, and I repeat it now--If any one tells you a 'Good News' other than that which you received, may he be accursed! Is this, I ask, trying to conciliate men, or God? Am I seeking to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I should not be a servant of Christ. II. THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE APOSTLE'S GOSPEL. 9 10 Its Special I would remind you, Brothers, that the Good: 11 Revelation. News which I told is no mere human invention. I, at least, did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but 12 it came to me through a revelation made by Jesus Christ. L* His Special Call. But 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 You heard, no doubt, of my conduct when I 13 was devoted to Judaism-how I persecuted the Church of God to an extent beyond belief, and made havoc of it, and how, in my devotion to Judaism, I surpassed many of my contemporaries among my own people in my intense earnestness in upholding the traditions of my ancestors. when God, who had set me apart even before my birth, and who called me by his love, saw fit to reveal his Son in me, so that I might tell the Good News of him among the Gentiles, then at once, instead of consulting any human being, or even going up to Jerusalem to see those who were Apostles before me, I went into Arabia, and came back again to Damascus. Three years afterwards I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Peter, and I stayed a fortnight with him. I did not, however, see any other Apostle, except James, the Master's brother. (As to what I am now writing to you, I call God to witness that I am speaking the truth). Afterwards I went to the districts of Syria and Cilicia. But I was still unknown even by sight to the Christian Churches in Judaea; all that they had heard was-'The man who once persecuted us is now telling the Good News of the very Faith of which he once made havoc." And they praised God on my account. Fourteen years afterwards independent I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, Action. and I took Titus also with me. It was in obedience to a revelation that I went; and I laid before the Apostles the Good News that I am proclaiming among the Gentiles. I did this privately before those who are thought highly of, for fear that I might possibly be taking, or might have already taken, a course which would prove useless. His Yet even 21 2233 24 I 2 2 6 3 my companion, Titus, though a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised. But, on account of the false Brothers who 4 had stolen in, the men who had crept in to spy upon the liberty which we have through union with Christ Jesus, in order to bring us back to slavery—why, we did not for a moment yield 5 submission to them, that the Truth of the Good News might be yours always! Of those who are thought somewhat highly of what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not recognise human distinctions-those, I say, who are thought highly of added nothing to my Message. On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the 7 Good News for the Gentiles, just as Peter had been for the Jews. For he who gave Peter power for his mission to the 8 Jews gave me, also, power to go to the Gentiles. Recognizing 9 the charge entrusted to me, James, Peter, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the Church, openly acknowledged Barnabas and me as fellow-workers, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. Only we were to 10 15 Isa. 49. I. His Rebuke remember the poor-the very thing I was myself anxious to do. But, when Peter came to Antioch, I II to Peter. opposed him to his face; for he stood self-condemned. Before certain persons came from James, he had 12 been in the habit of eating with the Gentile converts; but, when they came, he began to withdraw and hold aloof, for fear of offending those who still held to circumcision. The 13 rest of the Jewish converts were guilty of the same hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led away by it. But, when I saw that they were not dealing straightforwardly with the Truth of the Good News, I said to Peter, before them all, "If you, who were born a Jew, adopt Gentile customs, instead of Jewish, why are you trying to compel the Gentile converts to adopt Jewish customs?" The Failure III. THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. 14 15 16 We, though we are Jews by birth and not outof the Law. casts of Gentile origin, know that no one is pronounced righteous as the result of obedience to Law, but only through faith in Christ Jesus. So we placed our faith in Christ Jesus, in order that we might be pronounced righteous, as the result of faith in Christ, and not of obedience to Law; for such obedience will not result in even one soul's being pronounced righteous.' If, while seeking to be pronounced 17 righteous through union with Christ, we were ourselves seen to be outcasts, would that make Christ an agent of sin? Heaven forbid! For, if I rebuild the very things that I pulled down, I prove myself to have done wrong. I, indeed, through Law became dead to Law, in order to live for God. I have been crucified with Christ. So it is no longer I that 20 live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and, as for my present earthly life, I am living it by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not reject 21 the love of God. If righteousness comes through Law, then there was no need for Christ to die! The Galatians the Law. 18 19 2 Foolish Galatians! Who has been fascinating I 3 misled as to you-you before whose very eyes Jesus Christ was depicted upon the cross? Here is the one thing that I want to find out from you--Did you receive the Spirit as the result of obedience to Law, or of your having listened with faith? Can you be so foolish? After beginning with 3 what is spiritual, do you now end with what is external? Did you go through so much to no purpose?—if indeed it 4 really was to no purpose! He who supplies you abundantly 5 with his Spirit and endows you with such powers-does he do 16 Ps. 143. 2. this as the result of obedience to Law? or as the result of your having listened with faith? It is just as it was with Abraham 'He had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.' Faith, not You see, then, that those whose lives are based on faith are the Sons of Abraham. And Scripture, Ground of foreseeing that God would pronounce the Gentiles righteous as the result of faith, foretold the Good Acceptance. News to Abraham in the words 'Through thee all the Gentiles shall be blessed.' 6 78 And, therefore, those whose lives are based on faith share the 9 blessings bestowed upon the faith of Abraham. All who rely upon obedience to Law are under a curse, Scripture says—— 'Cursed is every one who does not abide by all that is written in the Book of the Law, and do it.' for 10 Again, it is evident that no one is pronounced righteous before 'Through faith the righteous man shall find Life.' But the Law is not based on faith; no, its words are-- 'Cursed is any one who is hanged on a tree.' And this he did that the blessing given to Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through their union with Jesus Christ; that so, through our faith, we also might receive the promised gift of the Spirit. To take an illustration, Brothers, from daily life :---No one sets aside even an agreement between two men, when once it has been confirmed, nor does he add conditions to it. Now it was to Abraham that the promises were made, ‘and to his offspring.' It was not said 'to his offsprings,' as if many persons were meant, but the words were 'to thy offspring,' showing that one person was meant--and that was Christ. My point is this:--An agreement already confirmed by God cannot be cancelled by the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, so as to cause the promise to be set aside. If our heritage is the result of Law, then it has ceased to be the result of a promise. Yet God conferred it on Abraham by a promise. 11 Hab. 2. 4. 12 Lev. 18. 5. 6 Gen. 15. 6. 8 Gen. 12. 3; 18. 18. 10 Deut. 27. 26. II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 The Purpose What, then, you ask, was the use of the Law? 19 of the Law. It was a later addition, to make men conscious of their wrong-doings, and intended to last only till the coming of that 'offspring' to whom the promise had been made; and it was delivered through angels by a mediator. Now 20 mediation implies more than one person, but God is one only. Does that set the Law in opposition to God's promises? Heaven forbid! For, if a Law had been given capable of bestowing Life, then righteousness would have actually owed its existence to Law. But the words of Scripture represent the whole world as being in bondage to sin, so that the promised blessing, dependent, as it is, upon faith in Jesus Christ, may be given to those who have faith in him. The Effect 21 22 23 24 Before the coming of faith, we were kept under the guard of the Law, in bondage, awaiting the Faith that was destined to be revealed. Thus the Law has proved a guide to lead us to Christ, in order that we may be pronounced righteous as the result of faith. But now that faith has come we no longer need a guide. 25 For you are all Sons of God, through your faith 26 of the in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized 27 Gospel. into union with Christ clothed yourselves with Christ. All distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and 28 freeman, male and female, have vanished; for in union with Christ Jesus you are all one. And, since you belong to Christ, it follows that you are Abraham's offspring and, under the promise, sharers in the inheritance. 29 I 4 2 My point is this :--As long as the heir is under age, there is no difference between him and a slave, though he is master of the whole estate. He is subject to the control of guardians and stewards, during the period for which his father has power to appoint them. And so is it with us; when we were under age, as it were, we were slaves to the puerile teaching of this world; but, when the full time came, God sent his Son-born a woman's child, born subject to Law-to ransom those who 5 were subject to Law, so that we might take our position as sons. 3 4 And it is because you are sons that God sent into our hearts 6 the Spirit of his Son, with the cry-' Abba, our Father.' You, 7 therefore, are no longer a slave, but a son; and, if a son, then an heir also, by God's appointment. The retrograde Spirit of the Galatians. Yet formerly, in your ignorance of God, you became slaves to 'gods' which were no gods. But now that you have found God-or, rather, have been found by him-how is it that you are turning back to that poor and feeble puerile teaching, to which yet once again you are wanting to become slaves? You are scrupulous in keeping Days and Months and Seasons and 8 9 ΙΟ |