William Burkitt Notes and Observations - Galatians 3:5 - 3:5

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William Burkitt Notes and Observations - Galatians 3:5 - 3:5


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Observe here, 1. That God did accompany the first preaching and planting of the gospel with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, with a power to work miracles, to heal diseases, and to speak with tongues which were so many attestations and confirmations that the doctrine of the gospel was from God; for here St. Paul appeals to the Galatians, as men that had the Spirit and miracles amongst them, He that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles; implying, that almighty God had given to them his holy Spirit, both in the sanctifying graces, and miraculous gifts of it.

Observe, 2. That the Spirit thus communicated in the first and early days of Christianity, was not given to the Galatians, or any other Gentiles, by the preaching of the law, but by the ministry and dispensation of the gospel, which is here called the hearing of faith: He that ministereth to you the Spirit, doth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Learn hence, that although the gifts and graces of God's holy Spirit are conveyed to the hearers of the gospel by the ministry of the word, yet God is the author, the minister, and dispenser of them, and the gospel only the instrument and mean of their conveyance: He ministereth to you the Spirit.