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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE GALATIANS
_____________
Introduction:
Address And Salutation (With Benediction)
Gal_1:1-5
This double negation is essentially only a setting forth of the definition of “Apostle.” He would be in no event an Apostle, if he had his office, ἀð ʼ ἀíèñ .; nor yet, if he had it, äé ’ ἀíèñ . He would then stand only on equal footing with a Timothy and others, in short with all laborers in the gospel, who are inducted into their office by men; he is an Apostle only because called and inducted into his office, through Jesus Christ, etc. He was therefore placed in his office immediately through Christ, not through a man; for the activity of Ananias in Damascus had been only secondary and subsequent, the beginnings were divine. But, furthermore he has received his office through Christ from God the Father, so that, as “through Jesus Christ” explains “not through man,” so God the Father explains “not of men.” Yet Paul does not place this èåïῦ ðáôñ . in express antithesis to ἀð ʼ ἀíèñ ., inasmuch as he does not say ἀðὸ èåïῦ ð . There being on the positive side no occasion for so precise a discrimination, he here no longer distinguishes between author and medium: perhaps not without design, in order thus to set his apostleship in a like direct relation, as to Christ, so to God the Father, and thereby to place the dignity of the same so much the more strongly in view. What in the first place constitutes the apostolic office, is the immediate calling through Christ, who is the êýñéïò ἀðïóôÝëëùí (on which account äéὰ Ἰ ×ñ . is placed before êáὶ ðáôñï ̇ ò ). Christ Himself, certainly, cannot be reduced to the same level with men, if “not of men,” etc., is to remain true. And every thought of it is precluded by this very comprehending of Christ with God the Father, as it were, in one conception, under one preposition.
[Ellicott neatly paraphrases thus: “Not from men as an ultimate, nor through man as a mediate authority.” The second ἀðü which we should expect to find before èåïῦ ðáôñüò has not been omitted without good reason: while the preposition äéÜ admits an extension of meaning that would cover both ideas (Meyer), the Apostle’s language, as it stands, is more forcible; the directness of his divine commission is emphasized (Lightfoot), and although an argument for the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son, must not be forced from the passage, “there is something very noticeable in this use of a common preposition with both the first and second Persons of the Trinity, by a writer so cumulative, and yet for the most part so exact in his use of prepositions as St. Paul” (Ellicott). Schaff: “By includes here the instrumental and the more remote originating cause.—The immediate coördination of Christ with God the Father, and this in contrast with the preceding men and man, prove that the Apostle regarded the Saviour as a Divine being.”—R.]
Paul here, probably, designates God the Father [i.e., “of Christ,”—R.] as who raised him from the dead, simply because through this divine act, namely, the resurrection of Christ, his own immediate vocation through Christ had been made possible (1Co_15:8). [While it is not necessary to insist on a polemic reference here, as an answer to the reproach that he had not seen Christ (Calvin), there seems to be an immediate reference to the fact that Paul was called by the exalted Christ, not that he claimed a preëminence on this account (Augustine, Erasmus, and others), but God having raised Christ from the dead, and Christ having immediately chosen him to be an Apostle, it was fitting that he should give prominence here to that act of God which enabled him also to be an Apostle, a witness of the resurrection.—R.]
This laying claim so expressly to apostolic dignity in the very introduction, stands (as is shown by what follows) in connection with the vital questions of the Epistle, since his equal apostolic rank had been impugned by the Galatian false teachers. In Gal_1:11-12 fin. there follows the detailed proof of this “not through man, but through Jesus Christ,” whereby the “not of men” is also indirectly proved. (In other Epistles, where he has not this definite purpose in mind, Paul designates himself more simply, but in substantially the same style as ἀðüóôïëïò or êëçôὸò ἀð . Ἰ . ×ñ . äéὰ èåëÞìáôïò èåïῦ .)
Gal_1:2. And all the brethren who are with me.—Hardly his companions in travel at that time merely, especially helpers in his office (Meyer), but rather all the Christians of his place of residence at that time. This addition has, at all events, the special purpose of adding the authority of others to his own. He wishes the Galatians to understand, that he has on his side all the brethren in the midst of whom he writes, that these have the same opinion of their conduct, and thus indicates that the Galatians, unless they came to another mind, would sever themselves from the great communion of the brethren, who stand and abide upon the foundation of faith which Paul had laid. Of course the Apostle alone wrote the Epistle. He can, however, bring in the brethren as joint authors, so far as they may, after a previous communication of the leading thoughts, or, more probably, after hearing the Epistle itself read, have signified their agreement with it. [The more restricted meaning is allowable (see Php_4:21-22, where “the brethren which are with me” are distinguished from “all the saints.”) The idea of the patristic commentators, that thus additional authority would be given, is incorrect; “the Epistle, being the product of an infallible Apostle, required no such help” (Schaff). Calvin’s remark is just, however: “The concurrence of so many godly persons must have had some degree of influence in softening the minds of the Galatians, and preparing them to receive instruction.” Ellicott: “He adopts the inclusive term to show the unanimity that was felt on the subject of the Epistle; did it mean the whole Christian community we should certainly have expected ‘with whom I am’ rather than ‘who are with me.’ ”—R.]
Unto the churches of Galatia.—The same title, 1Co_16:1. There existed there, it seems, therefore, different local congregations, of which each one constituted at least a relatively complete whole, and the Epistle was so far a circular letter. The omission of a phrase of commendation, such as is usually found in the other Epistles of the Apostle, has perhaps its ground in dissatisfaction with the Galatians. Perhaps, however, the omission is in part attributable to the external circumstance, that ἐêêëçóßáé , whole congregations, are addressed, hence any such titles as êëçôïß , ἅãéïé , would have been less suitable. [The dissatisfaction of the Apostle is so natural and evident a reason for the omission of any commendatory addition to the simple address, that any other explanation is farfetched. Alford quotes Meyer as saying that 1 and 2 Thess. present a similar instance, but in the 4th ed. Meyer expressly mentions these Epistles as no exceptions. Wordsworth: “a remarkable address in what it does not, as well as in what it does say.”—R.]
Gal_1:3. Grace be to you—and peace.—Respecting the Pauline form of salutation, ÷Üñéò êáὶ åἰñÞíç , consult remarks on the other Epistles.—From God the Father and our Lord, etc. As in Gal_1:1. Christ and the Father were comprehended under the one preposition äéÜ , without distinction of the Father through an ἀðü , so here the reverse takes place, an evident token how little Paul has in mind a severance of the Divine Persons. Christ is by no means, then, the merely instrumental medium of grace, but, as well as the Father Himself, the Bestower of grace (see Doctrinal and Ethical notes). Here, however, “God the Father” is placed first; in Gal_1:1 the order was reversed. There is, moreover, a special reason here for placing “our Lord Jesus Christ” last, namely, that it receives in addition a predicate defining it more closely. Grace and peace, Paul wishes for the Galatians, especially in view of the path of error into which they had been led, and for this very reason with especial allusion to that, which alone secures this grace and this peace, namely, the atoning death of Christ.
Who gave Himself for us.—In this clause the Apostle anticipates the other main point which he has to unfold. Instead of regarding the cross of Christ alone as the ground of salvation, the false teachers had influenced the Galatians to seek salvation again in observance of the law. In Gal_1:1 Paul touches on the personal, here he touches on the doctrinal question, which he afterwards handles. Äüíôïò ἑáõôüí “gave Himself,” nothing less than His own person, which could be fully accomplished only in His death, Ðåñß undefined: “in respect to our sins.” The sense, however, clearly appears not only from the following, “that He might deliver us,” but also in the very form of the expression, which sets forth an expiatory sacrifice that has been offered, in which Christ was the Offerer and the Offered, the Highpriest and the Sacrifice, in one person (comp. Wieseler’s careful investigation of the use of ðåñß , ὑðÝñ , ἀíôß , in declarations respecting the death of Christ). [Ellicott: In its ethical sense, ὑðÝñ retains some trace of its local meaning, “bending over to protect,” and thus points more immediately to the action, than to the object or circumstance from which the action is supposed to spring. The latter relation is more correctly defined by ðåñß , which is thus more naturally used with the thing, “sins,” ὑðÝñ with the persons, “sinners.” Often, however, in the N. T. the distinction is scarcely appreciable.—R.]
Gal_1:4. That He might deliver us.—Effect of the expiation accomplished through Christ.— Ἐîáéñåῖóèáé , to tear away from a power. The evil world is viewed as possessor by force, as a tyrant, who brings destruction, and in whose power we are by nature. This deliverance Paul doubtless understands in a double sense, as a making free from the moral corruption of the world, and also as a keeping from the destruction which it thereby brings upon its own at the judgment day. The immediate reference is to the latter, which, however, in view of the ethical character of Christianity, cannot take place without the former, as indeed there can be no doubt that the death of Christ has an ethical intent. It is false, however, to think only of this here.—“Present world” may mean, present or impending age. The latter signification is, however, hardly to be assumed here—contrary to Meyer, who would take it as meaning the evil times which, according to many passages of Scripture, are shortly to precede the second coming of Christ, and on this account are wont elsewhere to be called the last times. But “our phrase, on account of the union of ἐíåóôþò with áἰþí , is most naturally regarded as parallel with ὁ áἰὼí ïῦôïò or ὁ íῦí áἰþí . The expression ὁ áἰþí , since this appears to denote a period of time complete in itself, is nowhere used of the last times, preparatory only, as the pangs of travail, to the áἰὼí ìÝëëùí . Nor, finally, is there in the connection the least reason why Paul should have confined the salutary workings of the redeeming death of Jesus to the last times.” (Wieseler). Therefore we must take it as, “the present period of time,” in sense the same as ὁ êüóìïò , so that the translation “present world,” is substantially correct.—“Evil” emphasizes the ethical character of “this world,” which is besides included in the very conception of “the present world.” It is equivalent to “ruined by sin,” and therefore a deliverance out of it was necessary in the twofold relation given above. [Schaff: “The words contain an allusion to the Jewish distinction between ‘this world,’ and ‘the world to come,’ or the period before, and the period after the appearance of the Messiah. But the sense of these terms is modified in the N. T., so as to make the second coming of Christ the dividing line between the two æons.” Lightfoot: “The distinction of time between the two, which is the primary distinction, becomes lost in the moral and spiritual conception.” The second adjective ðïíçñüò , emphatically placed, gives prominence to the ethical idea, especially if the better supported order of the Rec., ἐê ôïῦ ἐíåóôῶôïò áἰῶíïò ðïíçñïῦ , be adopted.—R.]
According to the will of God and our Father.—It is best to connect this with the whole of Gal_1:4. It refers the redeeming work as a whole to the gracious will of the Father, and thus cuts off every ground of objection against this work from the legal point of view. The thought of this redemptive counsel of the Father moves him very naturally, then, to the concluding doxology.—In ôïῦ èåïῦ êáὶ ðáôñὸò ἡìῶí , ἡìῶí belongs probably only to ðáôñüò . By èåüò God is meant to be designated as the God of all alike; by ðáôÞñ , according to His special relation to the Christian. By the prefixed article two predicates are ascribed to the same person. The same who is God is also our Father. [Lightfoot argues from the absence of the article before ðáôñüò , that ἡìῶí belongs to both nouns, but as Ellicott well remarks, “ ðáôÞñ is anarthrous according to rule.” Calvin, Meyer and most, restrict the pronoun to Father, giving the last words somewhat of a predicative force: “God, who is our Father.” It is to be remarked that in Gal_1:1-3 Paul speaks of “God the Father,” i.e., the Father of Christ—but having in this verse spoken of the redemptive act of Christ, and its redeeming design for us he calls God, who has purposed this “our Father.”—Wordsworth: “Specially our Father by the redemption of us His children by the blood of His Son.”—R.]
Gal_1:5. To whom be glory.—To be taken as optative; for äüîá means Honor, Praise—not Essential Glory, although it is true that the äüîá which should be given to God, rests upon the äüîá which He has. [Schaff: “The doxology in this place is likewise an indirect reproof of the Galatians for dividing the glory of our salvation between God and man.” It is an affirmation rather than a wish. There can be no reasonable doubt that ôïὺò áἰῶíáò ôῶí áἰþíùí here is an expression for eternity.—R.]
b. In the decision and certainty with which Paul insists upon his apostolic rank, there is implied, on the one hand, a justifiable sense of personal dignity in opposition to all who would question it, and especially to false teachers: “I am an Apostle and nothing less.” This personal feeling, however, was certainly counterpoised at once, by the feeling of humility in view of the momentous duties involved, for the discharge of which grace alone could give strength. But, above all, the Apostle lays stress on this his dignity, not in his personal interest, but in the interest of his Lord, and the gospel of his Lord; in order to shield this against the “perverting” (Gal_1:7) of the false teachers, he is forced to lay this emphasis on the fact that he is really an Apostle of Christ, and therefore was such in his preaching of the gospel.
c. The care with which he proves his fundamental authority and capacity for preaching the gospel, is a pledge to us of the soundness of this preaching. The Christian church has, therefore, in this foundation laid by the Apostle, a standard for all time by which to prove doctrine.
d. That Christ has been raised, and now lives, is the fundamental truth, which to the Apostle stands immovably firm, and on which rests, for Paul, the certainty of his calling, and for him and the other Apostles the vigor and joyfulness of their labor in their vocation. For the Apostles were in a special sense to be witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, and to be persuaded of it by a personal beholding of the Risen One. It was only because the risen Jesus had appeared to him, that Paul was an Apostle.
2. The brethren. This strong emphasizing of his particular vocation (or office) does not imply the least prejudice to his brotherly relation toward other Christians, who have no such vocation. Far from it. Paul not only mentions them in immediate connection with himself, including himself and them in the same salutation, but even treats them as fellow-writers, hence as those who, together with him, impart instruction and admonition, thus strengthening the weight of his own words by their concurrence. He is only called to preach what, as the substance of his faith, is the substance of theirs also; and he wishes to bring back his erring readers to the same faith in which these, his companions, stand and have remained firm. [Their concurrence could add nothing to the real authority of his apostolic teaching, but might aid in establishing that authority among the Galatians. Yet the Apostle seems fond of thus associating others of lower rank with himself in his Epistles.—R.] Here is a hint for the behavior of office-bearers towards other Christians now as well; in personal conduct, to regard and treat them as “brethren,” standing on precisely the same footing; to lay claim to no precedence; and in official activity also, while maintaining full consciousness of their own special vocation, and of the authority inherent in it, never to ignore the might which dwells in the personal faith and believing life of the members of the Church, when there is an opportunity of joining them with one’s self in exhortation and rebuke.
3. “Churches” still. Paul, it is true, gives to the Galatian Christians no especial title of honor, “yet he still counts them worthy to be called churches, because, though they were indeed for the most part fallen from the truth in some main points, they had, notwithstanding this, retained many parts of the pure Christian doctrine; he cherishes then the hope that they would still suffer themselves to be brought right again” (Starke). Hence important doctrinal and ethical defects of a church do not of themselves warrant us in withholding or withdrawing from it the predicate ἐêêëçóßá . A judgment, whether in any place there is the Church of Christ or not, depends, although largely, yet not in the chief degree, upon subjective character, but in the chief degree stand the objective factors, namely, that verbum divinum recte docetur, and sacramenta recte administrantur. This, as is well known, is one of Luther’s prime principles. In the objective factors, there certainly resides the power (even if latent) to work subjectively.—Yet it cannot therefore be denied that there may be, notwithstanding, a subjective character of the congregation as respects doctrine and morals, where the predicate ἐêêëçóßá ceases to be applicable; we cannot, however, pronounce a judgment thereon, but must leave this to the searcher of hearts, so far as it is not a question of scandalous offences in the case of individuals.
4. God and Christ. Both in Gal_1:1 and in Gal_1:3, Christ is placed in the closest connection with God the Father; and in Gal_1:3 in such a way that Grace and Peace are invoked in the same manner from God the Father, and from Christ. From this appears, in immediate certainty, the eminent, godlike position of Christ. For the highest and best things, those which are needful for all men, proceed from Him, as much as from the Father. As respects grace, as much depends on His dispositions towards us, as on those of the Father. As Christ is thus placed with the Father on one Divine level, so is the Father, on the other side, placed on the same level with the Son, who, through His Incarnation, has drawn so near to us. Luther: “Therefore Paul, in wishing grace and peace not only from God the Father, but also from Jesus Christ, teacheth, first, that we should abstain from the curious searching of the Divine Majesty (for God no man knoweth), and hear Christ, who is in the bosom of the Father, and uttereth to us His will.”
5. Christ’s giving Himself. The expression for the death of Christ is here (Gal_1:4) so chosen, that it appears as His own free act, while, as is known, there runs parallel to the series of passages which apprehend it thus, another representing it as something decreed by God concerning Christ, representing Christ as burdened with the Father’s curse (comp. Gal_3:13). This designation is here chosen, in order to render prominent and bring home to the hearts of the Galatians the great love of Christ, displayed in His “giving Himself for us.” “The giving of Himself consisted of many actions, from the incarnation on, but it applies especially to his atoning death.” This “giving Himself”—this morally great act was occasioned by our sins, our moral perversion; a cutting contrast, and yet a necessary nexus between cause and effect!—For its intent was to procure a remedy for our sins, and their ruinous results.
6. This present evil world. Through our sins we belong to this present evil world, bear its character, and are in its power, that is, through it and with it are going to destruction. From this destroying might Christ would rescue us, and has rescued us, by His giving Himself for our sins, that is, through the reconciliation thus accomplished for our sins; because we, when reconciled, lie no longer under the judgment of God upon the sinful world, and therefore do not go with it to ruin. Undoubtedly Christ had in view besides, an inward, moral deliverance from the corrupt course of the world; yet this is the secondary aim; the primary is the deliverance from judgment and perdition.—God’s acts of grace, according to the Biblical view, are throughout directed, first of all, toward a deliverance from destruction, and consequently to the impartation of a good, of a definite happy destiny, not chiefly to the rehabilitation of certain ethical qualities, of a particular direction of life and will. They are directed thus, in a certain measure, towards an outward end, with which however an inward one is inseparably connected, as the economy of the Spirit, whose work it is to bring forth the corresponding ethical quality, is, although inseparable from that of the Father and the Son, yet distinct from it, presupposing it. The deliverance from the evil world, is, so far as concerns its being won, already accomplished by the sacrifice of Christ. Of course a participation in this is only gained through faith (this is implied in ἡìᾶò , which refers to believers), and is actually perfected only on the coming in of the áἰὼí ìÝëëùí . A certain pledge and a joyful foretaste of it, however, the believer has already in justification, because this is an assurance of the divine grace. As to the rest, the apostolical expectation of the áἰὼí ìÝëëùí as near lies at the foundation of this passage. [Whatever indications there may be elsewhere of “this apostolical expectation,” neither the words nor context show any trace of it here, except on the view of Meyer, which refers “present evil world” to the times of danger immediately preceding the second coming of Christ, a view which is not adopted by Schmoller himself, nor by any other commentator of note.—R.]
7. Redemption according to God’s will. The work of redemption was accomplished “according to the will” of the Father. This indicates the other side in the redeeming work, alluded to under 6, namely, that the death of Christ was also decreed to Him, by God for an expiation, and that Christ’s “giving Himself” was accordingly, at the same time an act of obedience to the Father’s will, a suffering Himself to be given up. Love to man and obedience to the Father, all in one, was the source of His sacrifice of Himself. This view is in full harmony with the declarations of Christ Himself, especially in John, with the emphasis which He lays on His having been sent, on His doing the will of the Father. There was nothing whatever self-elected in the redeeming work of Christ; it was a God-appointed work.—In this it first finds its firm, immovable foundation, and all scruples as to the availing worth of this self-sacrifice of Christ before God are taken away from the troubled conscience. At the same time, all clinging to such scruples is also condemned, as a striving against the will of God. We may, but we also ought to believe in the atoning death of Christ; hence especially, we ought not to lessen its significance by a righteousness of works. This will of God is the will that we should be saved, according to which, He willed both the way that should lead to our salvation, Christ’s dying on account of our sins, and also the result, our redemption. It was a loving will, but also a will of holy love, condemning sin and forgiving it; the latter only on the foundation of the former, but the former also for the sake of the latter. Because aiming at our salvation it was in any case the will of God our Father.
8. God’s honor its end. As and because the will of God is the origin of the work of redemption, so the honor of God is its aim. That He, His name, be honored, is the purpose and result of redemption. To Him belongeth honor—and that honor forever—for redemption, and such honor will be rendered Him by the Redeemed. The phrase åἰò ôïὺò áἰù ̈ í . ô . áἰþí . no doubt looks forward to the áἰὼí ìÝëëùí . The expression is, however, thus indefinitely framed, in order, far as the language admits, to express an eternal duration. There is nothing in this, of course, against the division found elsewhere, into simply two æons, present and future.
The apostolate in its high significance; 1. for the founding, 2. for the continuance of the Christian church which must perpetually rest upon the foundation of the apostolic doctrine.—The divine vocation to office: 1. To have it, is under all circumstances needful; 2.To be certain of it, is often important; 3. To appeal to it, may often be right and proper.—How independent (of men), and yet at the same time, how dependent (on God), the preacher of the gospel is and knows himself (may and should know himself) to be!—Even so the Christian generally: he is what he is, not from men (although through men), for not natural descent nor outward fellowship makes him such—but through Jesus Christ and God the Father.—Christian sense of personal worth: 1. its justification, 2. its limits.—All through Jesus Christ! a) humbling truth—not through us; b) exalting truth—through no less a one than Christ, and thereby through the Highest, God.—[Calvin:—In the church we ought to listen to God alone, and to Jesus Christ, whom He has appointed to be our teacher. Whoever assumes a right to instruct us, must speak in the name of God or of Christ.—Burkitt:—Behold the peculiar prerogative of St. Paul above the rest of the Apostles; they were called by Christ in the day of His humiliation; but he was called by Christ when sitting at His Father’s right hand in heaven. As his call was thus very extraordinary, so his gifts were answerable to his call.—R.]
Gal_1:2. Würt. Summ.:—Although the truth of a doctrine does not rest upon the multitude of people, but alone upon God’s word, yet, when many support a doctrine founded in God’s word, the weak in the faith are noticeably strengthened thereby, because they see that not merely one or two, but many, confess such a doctrine.—Spener:—Christians are “brethren” to each other; for they have one Heavenly Father, one first-born brother, Christ; one mother‚ the Christian church; one seed of regeneration, the divine word; one inheritance of eternal life. That is a more intimate and strict brotherhood than the common one among all men.—Starke:—In names and titles we must give good heed not willingly to commit falsehood, nor attribute to any one, praise that does not belong to him; yet common and authorized titles must be understood not in absolute strictness, but according to common use.—spener:—There remains even in a loose crowd a Christian church, even though grave errors, which remove the ground of faith are found there, so long as God’s word and the holy sacraments are there and are maintained.
On Gal_1:1-2. Let us hear, when we begin to waver in the truth: 1. Apostolic doctrine; 2. The testimony of brethren!—Apostolic doctrine and the voice of brethren; an admonition to every church to abide in the evangelical truth.
Ver.3. Rieger:—Paul flees in this perplexity to the riches of God in Christ Jesus, and entrusts to the grace and the peace from thence, the restoration of the Galatians also; with this greeting, as with a cordial, he not only refreshes their hearts but quickens himself also to a confidence towards God in Christ.—Würt. Summ. We see here where we must begin, when after sin committed we will come to God for grace; namely, not with ourselves, not with our piety! for if we had kept this, we should be already in favor with God, nor even with God Himself out of Christ, for He is to sinners a consuming fire, but alone with Christ, and His bitter passion and death for our sins.—Luther:—Paul wishes the Galatians grace and peace, not from the emperor or kings and princes; for these are wont ofttimes to persecute the godly: nor does he wish them grace and peace from the world, for in the world they shall have tribulation; but from God our Father, that is, he wishes them a godly and heavenly peace.—Lange:—True peace can never exist without grace, for grace is the ground and source of peace; on the other hand there is grace sometimes without peace, especially with the tempted, who may, for awhile fall into great disquietness of soul, and yet remain in God’s grace.
Gal_1:4. starke—If Christ has for our sakes given His all, ah! should not we surrender ourselves, with all that in us is, to Him? Man! keep thyself from sin, on account of which Christ hath endured so much, lest thou thyself bring to nought for Him this great work, for which He came.—Luther—mark diligently the word: “for our.” For therein lies all the virtue, namely, that all which is said concerning us in the Holy Scriptures, in such passages as “for me,” “for us,” “for our sin,” and the like, we should know how to take well in mind, and apply particularly to ourselves, and hold fast thereto by faith.—For thou hast, no doubt, easily brought thyself to believe that Christ, God’s Son, was given for St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, and other saints’ sins, who were worthy of such grace; but, contrariwise it is especially and thoroughly hard, that thou, for thine own person, a poor, unworthy, condemned sinner, shouldst from thine heart certainly believe, hold, and say, that Christ, God’s Son was given for thy so many and so great sins, who yet nevertheless hast never yet been worthy of such grace.—Therefore should we well train and prepare our hearts with this utterance and the like utterances of St. Paul, that when the devil hereafter comes and accuses us and says: “See, you are a sinner, therefore you must be damned!” we may meet him and answer, “yea, good devil, for the very reason that you accuse me and will be condemning me for a sinner, for that reason will I be righteous and holy, be not damned, but saved the rather. For in this very thing, that you tell me how I am a poor sinner, and a great one, you give me a sword and weapon in hand wherewith I can mightily overcome you, yea, slay you and put you under my feet with your own arms. For if you can tell me that I am a poor sinner, I can say to you again, that Christ died for sinners.”—Count these words of St. Paul as said in earnest, and to be true, and not as a dream, when he says that the world is evil, although many people therein have many noble, beautiful, virtues; and although in outward guise and appearance there is much holiness and brilliant excellence.—To this evil world belongs also all art, wisdom, righteousness, &c., of a godless man. Thy wisdom, which thou hast out of Christ, is a double folly, thy righteousness is a double sin and godlessness, since it knows nothing of the wisdom and righteousness of Christ, and since, over and above this, it darkens, hinders, reviles and persecutes you; wherefore St. Paul may well name the world an evil world; for it is the worst when it will be at the best and most pious. In the religious, wise and learned men, it will be at its most pious and best, and yet it is twice as wicked.
Berlenb. Bible:—Of this present evil world, ordinances of religion form no small part, of which much is instituted whereby men will take one another captive to the spirit of the world. Without religion nevertheless will the world not be; so it dresses up such things as may be congruous with flesh and blood; but true religion burdens and depresses it. Thus the deliverance takes place especially from the Pharisaic leaven.
Starke:—See how availing and certain is our redemption and salvation, because it proceeds from the will of the Father: how can that be unavailing, which has come to pass according to His will.
[Schaff:—God is our Father because He is the Father (not simply of Jesus Christ which would place him on a par with us, but) of our Lord Jesus Christ.—R.]
Gal_1:5. As often as we think on the great work of redemption, we should heartily praise God; and therefore should we often think thereon; that we may be powerfully excited to praise.—To praise God is the best divine service; it is that which must endure unto eternity. Happy he who begins it here, and prepares himself thereby for a blessed eternity. It is a proof that he knows God aright, and has become partaker of His grace, and that he will one day come to the heavenly choirs of angels who praise God.
Jesus’ giving Himself to death: 1. Its occasion (our sins); 2. Its purpose (our deliverance therefrom); or: 1. the strongest testimony against us (our sin); 2. the mightiest consolation for us; or: 1. Its great effect (to deliver us from this evil world); 2. Whence it has this effect (as being a satisfying and bearing and thereby a taking away of the divine wrath; 3. in whom it is thus effectual (only in those who are His in faith).—What defends us from being lost with this evil world? 1. Not our own righteousness whereby we only entangle ourselves in this evil world the more, but 2. Christ’s sacrificial death alone.—The appropriation of the merits of Christ: 1. Every one needs it on account of his sins; 2. The sinner needs it precisely as sinner.—Jesus Christ the Deliverer out of the power of this present evil world: 1. The world the tyrant in whose power we are; 2. Christ the Deliverer that has appeared.—Evil—the character of this world: 1. Therefore the Christian in this world longs for the world to come; 2. He must how-over be delivered from this present world, in order to enter the world to come.—Redemption through Christ rests upon the will of God: 1. A rich consolation (against all doubts); 2. An earnest admonition: Whoever lightly esteems the redemption accomplished through Christ, sins thereby against the will of God Himself.—The honor which is due to God for the redemption in Christ.—The praise of God: 1. a fruit of the redeemed state; 2. a proof of the same.—The praise which the redeemed bring to God: 1. begins in time; 2. continues into eternity.
Gal_1:3-5. Lisco:—The Apostle’s invocation of blessings for his churches: 1. What does it contain? The greatest benefits which are bestowed by God on man. 2. On what is this invocation grounded? a. On the free will offering of Christ. b. On the gracious counsel of God, to redeem us by such offering.—The benediction of the Apostle: 1. A proof his hearty love: even to the unthankful, who through their apostasy have so troubled him, he wishes the best things; 2. A proof of his standing fast in the truth: in direct opposition to them he held fast so much the more definitely the evangelical truth, of redemption through Christ’s death alone, and points them to that in contrast with their erroneous opinions.—Right wishing: 1. wishes true benefits; 2. points to the true source of such benefits.—The right behavior toward those who are disposed to depart from the truth: to open the heart fully to them in expressions of desire, full of divine blessing, before closing with and combatting their errors.
Gal_1:1-5. The appearance of the Apostle against the Galatians: 1. in the full dignity of his office, at the same time, however, associating the brethren with himself; 2. with the full love of his heart, at the same time conceding nothing of the truth.
Footnotes:
[Title: Rec. ἡ ðñὸò ÃáëÜôáò ἐðéóôïëὴ Ðáýëïõ . Elz. Ðáýëïõ ôïῦ ἀðïóôüëïõ ἡ ðñὸò ÃáëÜôáò ἐðéóôïëÞ . à . A. B. K., Lachmann, Tischendorf and most editors, ðñὸò ÃáëÜôáò .—R.]
Gal_1:1.—[The comma after “apostle” and the parenthesis are better omitted, since the clauses immediately following “Apostle” are most closely connected with it, and the idea so far from being parenthetical is one of the most prominent in the whole Epistle. “Of” is changed to “from” by Ellicott, while he retains “by” as a sufficiently exact translation of äéÜ —R.]
Gal_1:3.— à . inserts ἡìῶí after ðáôñüò , omitting it after êõñßïõ . [This reading is an alteration to conform with other salutations (Meyer). That of Rec. is undoubtedly correct. So all modern editors.—R.]
Gal_1:4.— Ðåñß (instead of Rec.) is found in most MSS. and in the best MSS. à also, though à 3., reads ὑðÝñ . [The external authorities are decisive against the reading of the Rec; ðåñß is adopted by modern editors almost universally.—R.]
It is one of the anti-scriptural fancies of the Irvingites to believe, notwithstanding this, in the reappearance of Apostles proper in their churches. Wieseler. [In Lightfoot, p. 92 sq., there is an interesting discussion on “the name and office of an Apostle.” He, however, objects to the restriction of the office to the twelve, with only the exception of St. Paul, adducing the apostleship of Barnabas, and implying that “James, the Lord’s brother” (Gal_1:19) was an Apostle, even, though not the same as James, the son of Alpheus. This position is not safe, nor is it accordant with the argument of Paul in this Epistle, where he lays so much stress upon the “immediate call.” Lightfoot is forced, therefore, to deny the necessity for a call from an outward personal communication with our Lord, though his admission that the having seen Christ was a necessary qualification, is a denial of the perpetuation of the office. It is better to hold that there were but Twelve Apostles, to whom was added, by direct call, Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles—Barnabas and others were “apostolic men.” On the relation of Paul to the original college of apostles, see Schaff, History of the Apostolic Church, p. 512 sq., p. 233 sq. His note p. 234 is appropriate here: “The strict hierarchical view, which always looks for an outward, palpable succession, admits no satisfactory explanation of the fact, that the Apostles had no share whatever in the ordination of Paul after his conversion (Act_9:17), and in his being sent to the Gentiles by the Church of Antioch (Act_13:3). The divine irregularity of his call, and the subsequent independence of his labors, make Paul, so to speak, a prototype of evangelical Protestantism, which has always looked to him as its main authority, as Romanism to Peter.”—R.]