Character of Seducing Teachers; Efficacy of the Cross of
Christ; Apostolical Benediction. A. D. 56.
11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own
hand. 12 As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain
you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the
cross of Christ. 13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep
the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your
flesh. 14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 16 And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks
of the Lord Jesus. 18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
your spirit. Amen.
The apostle, having at large established the doctrine of the gospel,
and endeavoured to persuade these Christians to a behaviour agreeable to
it, seems as if he intended here to have put an end to the epistle, especially
when he had acquainted them that, as a particular mark of his respect for
them, he had written this large letter with his own hand, and had not made
use of another as his amanuensis, and only subscribed his name to it, as
he was wont to do in his other epistles: but such is his affection to them
such his concern to recover them from the bad impressions made upon them
by their false teachers, that he cannot break off till he has once again
given them the true character of those teachers, and an account of his
own contrary temper and behaviour, that by comparing these together they
might the more easily see how little reason they had to depart from the
doctrine he had taught them and to comply with theirs.
I. He gives them the true character of those teachers who were industrious
to seduce them, in several particulars. As, 1. They were men who desired
to make a fair show in the flesh, v. 12. They were very zealous for the
externals of religion, forward to observe, and to oblige others to observe,
the rites of the ceremonial law, though at the same time they had little
or no regard to real piety; for, as the apostle says of them in the following
verse, neither do they themselves keep the law. Proud, vain, and carnal
hearts desire nothing more than to make a fair show in the flesh, and they
can easily be content with so much religion as will help them to keep up
such a fair show; but frequently those have least of the substance of religion
who are most solicitous to make a show of it. 2. They were men who were
afraid of suffering, for they constrained the Gentile Christians to be
circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. It was not so much out of a regard to the law as to themselves;
they were willing to sleep in a whole skin, and to save their worldly cargo,
and cared not though they made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience.
That which they chiefly aimed at was to please the Jews, and to keep up
their reputation among them, and so to prevent the trouble that Paul, and
other faithful professors of the doctrine of Christ, lay open to. And,
3. Another part of their character was that they were men of a party spirit,
and who had no further zeal for the law than as it subserved their carnal
and selfish designs; for they desired to have these Christians circumcised,
that they might glory in their flesh (v. 13), that they might say they
had gained them over to their side, and made proselytes of them, of which
they carried the mark in their flesh. And thus, while they pretended to
promote religion, they were the greatest enemies of it; for nothing has
been more destructive to the interest of religion than men-siding and party-making.
II. He acquaints us, on the other hand, with his own temper and behaviour,
or makes profession of his own faith, hope, and joy; particularly,
1. That his principle glory was in the cross of Christ: God forbid,
says he, that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
v. 14. By the cross of Christ is here meant his sufferings and death on
the cross, or the doctrine of salvation by a crucified Redeemer. This was
what the Jews stumbled at and the Greeks accounted foolishness; and the
judaizing teachers themselves, though they had embraced Christianity, yet
were so far ashamed of it that in compliance with the Jews, and to avoid
persecution from them, they were for mixing the observance of the law of
Moses with faith in Christ, as necessary to salvation. But Paul had a very
different opinion of it; he was so far from being offended at the cross
of Christ, or ashamed of it, or afraid to own it, that he gloried in it;
yea, he desired to glory in nothing else, and rejected the thought of setting
up anything in competition with it, as the object of his esteem, with the
utmost abhorrence; God forbid, &c. This was the ground of all his hope
as a Christian: this was the doctrine which, as an apostle, he was resolved
to preach; and, whatever trials his firm adherence to it might bring upon
him, he was ready, not only to submit to them, but to rejoice in them.
Note, The cross of Christ is a good Christian's chief glory, and there
is the greatest reason why we should glory in it, for to it we owe all
our joys and hopes.
2. That he was dead to the world. By Christ, or by the cross of Christ,
the world was crucified to him, and he to the world; he had experienced
the power and virtue of it in weaning him from the world, and this was
one great reason of his glorying in it. The false teachers were men of
a worldly temper, their chief concern was about their secular interests,
and therefore they accommodated their religion thereunto. But Paul was
a man of another spirit; as the world had no kindness for him, so neither
had he any great regard to it; he had got above both the smiles and the
frowns of it, and had become as indifferent to it as one who is dying out
of it. This is a temper of mind that all Christians should be labouring
after; and the best way to attain it is to converse much with the cross
of Christ. The higher esteem we have of him the meaner opinion shall we
have of the world, and the more we contemplate the sufferings our dear
Redeemer met with from the world the less likely shall we be to be in love
with it.
3. That he did not lay the stress of his religion on one side or the
other of the contesting interests, but on sound Christianity, v. 15. There
was at that time an unhappy division among Christians; circumcision and
uncircumcision had become names by which they were distinguished from each
other; for (ch. ii. 9, 12) the Jewish Christians are called the circumcision,
and those of the circumcision. The false teachers were very zealous for
circumcision; yea, to such a degree as to represent it as necessary to
salvation, and therefore they did all they could to constrain the Gentile
Christians to submit to it. In this they had carried the matter much further
than others did; for, though the apostles connived at the use of it among
the Jewish converts, yet they were by no means for imposing it upon the
Gentiles. But what they laid so great a stress upon Paul made very little
account of. It was indeed of great importance to the interest of Christianity
that circumcision should not be imposed on the Gentile converts, and therefore
this he had set himself with the utmost vigour to oppose; but as for mere
circumcision or uncircumcision, whether those who embraced the Christian
religion had been Jews or Gentiles, and whether they were for or against
continuing the use of circumcision, so that they did not place their religion
in it--this was comparatively a matter of little moment with him; for he
very well knew that in Jesus Christ, that is, in his account, or under
the Christian dispensation, neither circumcision availed any thing nor
uncircumcision, as to men's acceptance with God, but a new creature. Here
he instructs us both wherein real religion does not and wherein it does
consist. It does not consist in circumcision or uncircumcision, in our
being in this or the other denomination of Christians; but it consists
in our being new creatures; not in having a new name, or putting on a new
face, but in our being renewed in the spirit of our minds and having Christ
formed in us: this is of the greatest account with God, and so it was with
the apostle. If we compare this text with some others, we may more fully
see what it is that renders us most acceptable to God, and about which
we should therefore be chiefly concerned. Here we are told that it is a
new creature, and in ch. v. 6 that it is faith which worketh by love, and
in 1 Cor. vii. 19 that it is the keeping of the commandments of God, from
all which it appears that it is a change of mind and heart, whereby we
are disposed and enabled to believe in the Lord Jesus and to live a life
of devotedness to God; and that where this inward, vital, practical religion
is wanting, no outward professions, nor particular names, will ever stand
us in any stead, or be sufficient to recommend us to him. Were Christians
duly concerned to experience this in themselves, and to promote it in others,
if it did not make them lay aside their distinguishing names, yet it would
at least take them off from laying so great a stress upon them as they
too often do. Note, Christians should take care to lay the stress of their
religion where God has laid it, namely, on those things which are available
to our acceptance with him; so we see the apostle did, and it is our wisdom
and interest herein to follow his example. The apostle having shown what
was of chief consideration in religion, and what he laid the greatest stress
upon, namely, not a mere empty name or profession, but a sound and saving
change, in v. 16 he pronounces a blessing upon all those who walk according
to this rule: And as many as walk according to this rule peace be upon
them, and mercy upon the Israel of God. The rule which he here speaks of
may signify more generally the whole word of God, which is the complete
and perfect rule of faith and life, or that doctrine of the gospel, or
way of justification and salvation, which he had laid down in this epistle,
namely, by faith in Christ without the works of the law; or it may be considered
as more immediately referring to the new creature, of which he had just
before been speaking. The blessings which he desires for those who walk
according to this rule, or which he gives them the hope and prospect of
(for the words may be taken either as a prayer or a promise), are peace
and mercy--peace with God and conscience, and all the comforts of this
life as far as they are needful for them, and mercy, or an interest in
the free love and favour of God in Christ, which are the spring and fountain
of all other blessings. A foundation is laid for these in that gracious
change which is wrought in them; and while they behave themselves as new
creatures, and govern their lives and hopes by the rule of the gospel,
they may most assuredly depend upon them. These, he declares, shall be
the portion of all the Israel of God, by whom he means all sincere Christians,
whether Jews or Gentiles, all who are Israelites indeed, who, though they
may not be the natural, yet are become the spiritual seed of Abraham; these,
being heirs of his faith, are also heirs together with him of the same
promise, and consequently entitled to the peace and mercy here spoken of.
The Jews and judaizing teachers were for confining these blessings to such
as were circumcised and kept the law of Moses; but, on the contrary, the
apostle declares that they belong to all who walk according to the rule
of the gospel, or of the new creature, even to all the Israel of God, intimating
that those only are the true Israel of God who walk according to this rule,
and not that of circumcision, which they insisted so much upon, and therefore
that this was the true way to obtain peace and mercy. Note, (1.) Real Christians
are such as walk by rule; not a rule of their own devising, but that which
God himself has prescribed to them. (2.) Even those who walk according
to this rule do yet stand in need of the mercy of God. But, (3.) All who
sincerely endeavour to walk according to this rule may be assured that
peace and mercy will be upon them: this is the best way to have peace with
God, ourselves, and others; and hereupon, as we may be sure of the favour
of God now, so we may be sure that we shall find mercy with him hereafter.
4. That he had cheerfully suffered persecution for the sake of Christ
and Christianity, v. 17. As the cross of Christ, or the doctrine of salvation
by a crucified Redeemer, was what he chiefly gloried in, so he had been
willing to run all hazards rather than he would betray this truth, or suffer
it to be corrupted. The false teachers were afraid of persecution, and
this was the great reason why they were zealous for circumcision, as we
see, v. 12. But this was the least of Paul's concern; he was not moved
at any of the afflictions he met with, nor did he count his life dear to
him, so that he might finish his course with joy, and the ministry which
he had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of
God, Acts xx. 24. He had already suffered much in the cause of Christ,
for he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus, the scars of those
wounds which he had sustained from persecuting enemies, for his steady
adherence to him, and that doctrine of the gospel which he had received
from him. As from this it appeared that he was firmly persuaded of the
truth and importance of it, and that he was far from being a favourer of
circumcision, as they had falsely reported him to be, so hereupon, with
a becoming warmth and vehemence, suitable to his authority as an apostle
and to the deep concern of mind he was under, he insists upon it that no
man should henceforth trouble him, namely by opposing his doctrine or authority,
or by any such calumnies and reproaches as had been cast upon him; for
as, both from what he had said and what he had suffered, they appeared
to be highly unjust and injurious, so also those were very unreasonable
who either raised or received them. Note, (1.) It may justly be presumed
that men are fully persuaded of those truths in the defence of which they
are willing to suffer. And (2.) It is very unjust to charge those things
upon others which are contrary not only to their profession, but their
sufferings too.
III. The apostle, having now finished what he intended to write for
the conviction and recovery of the churches of Galatia, concludes the epistle
with his apostolical benediction, v. 18. He calls them his brethren, wherein
he shows his great humility, and the tender affection he had for them,
notwithstanding the ill treatment he had met with from them; and takes
his leave of them with this very serious and affectionate prayer, that
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be with their spirit. This was a
usual farewell wish of the apostle's, as we see, Rom. xvi. 20, 24, and
1 Cor. xvi. 23. And herein he prays that they might enjoy the favour of
Christ, both in its special effects and its sensible evidences, that they
might receive from him all that grace which was needful to guide them in
their way, to strengthen them in their work, to establish them in their
Christian course, and to encourage and comfort them under all the trials
of life and the prospect of death itself. This is fitly called the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he is both the sole purchaser and the appointed
dispenser of it; and though these churches had done enough to forfeit it,
by suffering themselves to be drawn into an opinion and practice highly
dishonourable to Christ, as well as dangerous to them, yet, out of his
great concern for them, and knowing of what importance it was to them,
he earnestly desires it on their behalf; yea, that it might be with their
spirit, that they might continually experience the influences of it upon
their souls, disposing and enabling them to act with sincerity and uprightness
in religion. We need desire no more to make us happy than the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ. This the apostle begs for these Christians, and
therein shows us what we are chiefly concerned to obtain; and, both for
their and our encouragement to hope for it, he adds his Amen.
