The law is not against A. M. cir. 4056. An. Imp. Claudii CHAP. III. the promises of God. was added because of trans- 21 Is the law then against A. M. cir. 4056. gressions, till the seed should the promises of God? God come to whom the promise forbid: for if there had been с b was made; and it was or- a law given which could have dained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of d but God is one. one; Ver. 16. Acts vii. 53. Hebr. i. 2. c Exod. xx. 19, 21, 22. Deut. v. 5, 22, 23, 27, 31. John i. 17. Acts vii. years; so that, with their sojourning in Canaan, was 430 years," the sum given here, and in Exod. xii. 40, where see the notes. Verse 18. For if the inheritance be of the law] See the preceding arguments, in which this is proved. Verse 19. Wherefore then serveth the law?] If the law does not annul the Abrahamic covenant, and cannot confer salvation on its votaries, why did God give it? This was a very natural objection, and must arise in the mind of any Jew who had paid attention to the apostle's reasoning. It was added because of transgressions] It was given that we might know our sinfulness, and the need we stood in of the mercy of God. The law is the right lime, the straight edge, that determines the obliquity of our conduct. See the notes on Rom. iv. 15; and especially on Rom. v. 20, where this subject is largely discussed, and the figure explained. Till the seed should come] The law was to be in force till the advent of the Messiah. After that it Was to cease. It was ordained by angels] The ministry of angels was certainly used in giving the law; see Psal. lxviii. 17; Acts vii. 53; and Heb. ii. 2; but they were only instruments for transmitting; Moses was the mediator between God and the people, Deut. v. 5. Verse 20. A mediator is not a mediator of one] As a mediator, peoirns, signifies a middle person, there must necessarily be two parties, between whom he stands, and acts in reference to both, as he is supposed to have the interests of both equally at heart. This verse is allowed to be both obscure and difficult; and it is certain that there is little consent among learned men and critics in their opinions concerning it. Rosenmüller thinks that the opinion of Noselt is to be preferred to all others. He first translates the words o de peoirns vos our Fy thus: But he (viz. Moses) is not the mediator of that one race of Abraham, viz. the Christians; for evoç relates to the σπερμα ή επηγγελται, the seed that should come, ver. 19, of which he said, we eq' ¿voc, as of one, ver. 16. If Paul had written ò de μEOITAS TOV EVOC Ekelvou our toti, he is not the mediator of one, no person would have had any doubt that oneоparos, seed, ought to be supplied after ivos, of one, ver. 19. The same mode of speaking Paul uses, Rom. v. 17; ólt, but he, ò for avros, Matt. xii. 3, 11,39, ò de eltev, but he said. Though Moses was the mediator between God and the Israelites, yet he was not the mediator between God and that one seed which was to come; viz. the Gentiles who should believe in Christ. A. D. cir. 52. A. U. C. 805. An. Imp. Claudii Cæsaris 12. given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded & all 38. 1 Tim. ii. 5. d Rom. iii. 29, 30.f Ver. 8.-5 Rom. iii. 9, 19, 23. xi. 32. e Ch. ii. 21. But God is one.] He is the one God, who is the Father of the spirits of all flesh; the God of the Gentiles as well as the God of the Jews. That this is St. Paul's meaning is evident from his use of the same words in other places, 1 Tim. ii. 5: ç yap Oɛos, &c., for there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, that is, there is only one God and one mediator for the whole human race; Eph. iv. 5, 6: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, eiç Otoç Kaι Taτηρ TaνTOV, ONE GOD and father of ALL. The sense of the whole is: Moses was the mediator of one part of Abraham's seed, viz. the Israelites; but of the other seed, the Gentiles, he was certainly not the mediator; for the mediator of that seed, according to the promise of God, and covenant made with Abraham, is Christ. Though Nosselt has got great credit for this interpretation, it was given in substance long before him by Dr. Whitby, as may be seen in the following words: "But this mediator (Moses) was only the mediator of the Jews, and so was only the mediator of one party, to whom belonged the blessings of Abraham, ver. 8, 14. But God, who made the promise that in one should all the families of the earth be blessed, is ONE; the God of the other party, the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, Teɩtep eis à Deos, seeing he is ONE GOD, who will justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. Rom. iii. 30." This exposition is so plain, and so well supported by the different scriptures already quoted, that there can be but small, if any, doubt of its propriety. The clause has been translated thus: "Now a mediator supposes two parties, of which God is but one." Verse 21. Is the law then against the promises of God? Is it possible that the intervention of the law, in reference to one part of the Abrahamic seed, should annul the promise made to the other? It is impossible. For if there had been a law, &c.] If any law or rule of life could have been found out that would have given life-saved sinners from death, and made them truly happy, then righteousness-justification, should have been by that law. Verse 22. But the scripture hath concluded] All the writings of the prophets have uniformly declared that men are all sinners, and the law declares the same by the continual sacrifices which it prescribes. All, therefore, have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; and, being tried and found guilty, συνεκλεισεν ή γραφη, the scripture hath shut All believers in Christ Jesus A. M. cir. 4056. a GALATIANS. e are on an equal footing. under sin, that the promise by by faith in Christ Jesus. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should-afterwards be revealed. b 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. A. M. cir. 4056. Cæsaris 12. have been baptized into Christ, An. Imp. Claudi have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. k 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye 25 But, after that faith is come, we are no Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the longer under a schoolmaster. them up put them in prison, and locked them up, till the time should come in which the sentence of the law should be executed upon them: (See Rom. iii. 9-20, and the notes there; and particularly Rom. xi. 32, where the apostle uses the same metaphor, and which in the note is particularly explained.) That the promise of justification, by faith of Jesus Christ, might be given to them that believe. Verse 23. But before faith came] Before the gospel was published, We were kept under the law, shut up] Eppovpovμela We were kept as in a strong hold, ovyrerdeioμevoi, locked up, unto the faith-the religion of the Lord Jesus, which should afterwards be revealed. Here the same metaphor is used as above, and for its explanation I must refer the reader to the same place, Rom. xi. 32. Verse 24. The law was our schoolmaster] O vouoc παιδαγωγος ἡμων γεγονεν εις Χριστον The law was our pedagogue unto Christ. The raidaywyos, pedagogue, is not the schoolmaster, but the servant who had the care of the children to lead them to and bring them back from school, and had the care of them out of school hours. Thus the law did not teach us the living, saving knowledge; but, by its rites and ceremonies, and especially by its sacrifices, it directed us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. This is a beautiful metaphor, and highly illustrative of the apostle's doctrine. See the note on Rom. x. 4, where this figure is farther explained. Verse 25. But, after that faith is come] When Christ was manifested in the flesh, and the gospel was preached, we were no longer under the pedagogue; we came to Christ, learned of him, became wise unto salvation, had our fruit unto holiness, and the end eternal life. promise. 1 Cor. xii. 13. Ch. v. 6. Col. iii. 11.- h John x. 16. xvii, 20, 21. Eph. ii. 14, 15, 16. iv. 4, 15.- Gen. xxi. 10, 12. Rom. ix. 7. Hebr. xi. 18.- k Rom. viii. 17. Ch. iv. 7, 28. Eph. iii. 6. all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.] But no man is a child of God by circumcision, nor by any observance of the Mosaic law. Verse 27. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ] All of you who have believed in Christ as the promised Messiah, and received baptism as a public proof that ye had received Christ as your Lord and Saviour, have put on Christ-have received his Spirit, and entered into his interests, and copied his manners. To put on, or to be clothed with one, is to assume the person and character of that one; and they who do so are bound to act his part, and to sustain the character which they have assumed. The profession of Christianity is an assumption of the character of Christ; he has left us an example that we should follow his steps, and we should, as Christians, have that mind in us which was in him. See the notes on Rom. vi. 3, 4; and especially those on Rom. xiii. 14, where this phrase is farther explained. Verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek] 'EXny, Greek, is put here for Ovikos, heathen. Under the gospel all distinctions are done away, as either helping or hindering; all are equally welcome to Christ, and all have an equal need of him; all persons of all sects, and conditions, and sexes, who believe in him, become one family through him; they are one body, of which he is the head. Neither male nor female] With great reason the apostle introduces this. Between the privileges of men and women there was a great disparity among the Jews. A man might shave his head, and rend his clothes in the time of mourning; a woman was not permitted to do so. A man might impose the vow of nasirate upon his son; a woman could not do this on her daughter. A man might be shorn on account of the nasirate of his father; a woman could not. A It is worthy of remark that, as ò voμos, the LAW, man might betroth his daughter; a woman had no used by St. Paul to signify, not only the law, properly such power. A man might sell his daughter; a woman so called, but the whole of the Mosaic economy, so could not. In many cases they were treated more TOTIS, the FAITH, is used by him to express, not like children than adults; and to this day are not merely the act of believing in Christ, but the whole permitted to assemble with the men in the synaof the gospel. gogues, but are put up in galleries, where they can Verse 26. For ye, who have believed the gospel, are scarcely see, nor can they be seen. Under the blessed is The condition of an heir CHAP. IV. spirit of Christianity, they have equal rights, equal privileges, and equal blessings; and, let me add, they are equally useful. Verse 29. And if ye be Christ's] Or, as several good MSS. read, If ye be one in Christ. If ye have all received justification through his blood, and the mind that was in him, then are ye Abraham's seed ; ye are that real, spiritual posterity of Abraham, that other seed, to whom the promises were made; and then heirs, according to that promise, being fitted for the rest that remains for the people of God, that heavenly inheritance which was typified by the earthly Canaan, even to the Jews. 1. The Galatians, it appears, had begun well, and for a time run well, but they permitted Satan to hinder, and they stopped short of the prize. Let us beware of those teachers who would draw us away from trusting in Christ crucified. By listening to such the Galatians lost their religion. 2. The temptation that leads us astray may be as radden as it is successful. We may lose in one moment the fruit of a whole life! How frequently is this the case, and how few lay it to heart! A man may fall by the means of his understanding, as well as by means of his passions. 3. How strange is it that there should be found my backslider! that one who once felt the power of Christ should ever turn aside! But it is still stranger while in a state of nonage. that any one who has felt it, and given in his life and conversation full proof that he has felt it, should not only let it slip, but at last deny that he ever had it, and even ridicule a work of grace in the heart! Such instances have appeared among men. 4. The Jewish covenant, the sign of which was circumcision, is annulled, though the people with whom it was made are still preserved, and they preserve the rite or sign. Why then should the covenant be annulled? This question admits a twofold answer. 1. This covenant was designed to last only for a time, and when that time came, having waxed old, it vanished away. 2. It was long before that void, through want of the performance of the conditions. The covenant did not state merely, ye shall be circumcised, and observe all the rites and ceremonies of the law; but, ye shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbour as yourself. This condition, which was the very soul of the covenant, was universally broken by that people. Need they wonder, therefore, that God has cast them off? Jesus alone can restore them, and him they continue to reject. To us the new covenant says the same things: Ye shall love the Lord, &c.; if we do not so, we also shall be cut off. Take heed, lest he who did not spare the natural branches, spare not thee; therefore, make a profitable use of the goodness and severity of God. CHAPTER IV. The apostle shows that, as an heir in nonage is under tutors and guardians, so were the Galatians while under the law; and, as the heir when he comes of age is no longer under guardians, so they, when the gospel came, arrived at full maturity, and were redeemed from the law, 1-3. He shows, farther, that when the fulness of the time came God sent forth his Son, that we might obtain the adoption of sons, and have the strongest evidence of that adoption, 4-6. Those who are children of God are heirs of heaven, 7. He compares their former and latter state, and shows the reason he had to fear that his labour on their behalf was in vain, 8-11. He mentions his trials among them, and their kindness to him, 12-16. Shows his tender affection for them, and exhorts them to return to the gospel, 17-20. Shows the excellence of the gospel beyond that of the law, by the allegory of Mount Sinai and Jerusalem, 21-27. Shows also that the believing Gentiles are children of the promise, as Isaac was; and have been elected in the place of the Jews, who have been cast out according to the scriptures, 28–31. The great privileges A. M. cir. 4056. A. D. cir. 52. An. Imp. Claudii GALATIANS. children, a were in bondage b of the children of God. 7 Wherefore thou art no more under the elements of the a servant, but a son; and if a world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, "made of a woman, made under the law, h е f 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. i 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. son, then an heir through Christ. 8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, mye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. The time gives us a place in the heavenly family. On the nature of adoption see the notes on Rom. viii. 15. Until the time appointed of the father.] mentioned in the father's will or testament. Verse 3. Even so we] The whole Jewish people were in a state of nonage while under the law. The elements of the world] A mere Jewish phrase, yesodey olam hazzeh, "the principles of this world;" that is, the rudiments or principles of the Jewish religion. The apostle intimates that the law was not the science of salvation, it was only the clements or alphabet of it; and in the gospel this alphabet is composed into a most glorious system of divine knowledge: but as the alphabet is nothing of itself, unless compounded into syllables, words, sentences, and discourses; so the law, taken by itself, gives no salvation; it contains indeed the outlines of the gospel, but it is the gospel alone that fills up these outlines. Verse 4. When the fulness of the time was come] The time which God in his infinite wisdom counted best; in which all his counsels were filled up; and the time which his Spirit, by the prophets, had specified; and the time to which he intended the Mosaic institutions should extend, and beyond which they should be of no avail. Verse 6. And because ye are sons] By faith in Christ Jesus, being redeemed both from the bondage and curse of the law; GOD-the Father, called generally the first person of the glorious TRINITY, hath sent forth the SPIRIT-the Holy Ghost, the second person of that Trinity, of his Son-Jesus Christ, the third person of the Trinity-crying, Abba, Father! from the fullest and most satisfactory evidence that God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, had become their portion. For the explanation of this phrase, and why the Greek and Syriac terms are joined together here, see the notes on Mark xiv. 36, and on Rom. vii. 15. Verse 7. Thou art no more a servant] Thou who hast believed in Christ art no longer a slave, ither under the dominion of sin or under obligation to the Mosaic ritual; but a son of God, adopted into the heavenly family. And if a son, then an heir] Having a right to the inheritance, because one of the family, for none can inherit but the children; but this heirship is the most extraordinary of all: it is not an heirship of any tan possess a part or even the whole of either, it is to possess Him who made all things; not God's works, but God himself: heirs of GOD through Christ. God sent forth his Son] Him who came immedi-gible possession, either in heaven or earth; it is not to ately from God himself, made of a woman, according to the promise, Gen. iii. 15; produced by the power of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary without any intervention of man; hence he was called the Son of God. See Luke, chap. i. 35, and the note there. Made under the law] In subjection to it, that in him all its designs might be fulfilled, and by his death the whole might be abolished; the law dying when the Son of God expired upon the cross. Verse 5. To redeem them] Ekayopaoy To pay down a price for them, and thus buy them off from the necessity of observing circumcision, offering brute sacrifices, performing different ablutions, &c., &c. That we might receive the adoption of sons.] Which adoption we could not obtain by the law; for it is the gospel only that puts us among the children, and i Verse 8. When ye knew not God] Though it is evident, from the complexion of the whole of this epistle, that the great body of the Christians in the churches of Galatia were converts from among the Jews or proselytes to Judaism; yet from this verse it appears that there were some who had been converted from heathenism; unless we suppose that the apostle here particularly addresses those who had been proselytes to Judaism and thence converted to Christianity; which appears to be most likely from the following verses. Verse 9. Now, after that ye have known God] After having been brought to the knowledge of God as your Saviour. The apostle's trials A. M. cir. 4056. CHAP. IV. d A.U.C. 805 months, and times, and years. Or rather are known of God] Are approved of him, having received the adoption of sons. To the weak and beggarly elements] After receiving all this, will ye turn again to the ineffectual rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law-rites too weak to Counteract your sinful habits, and too poor to purchase pardon and eternal life for you? If the Galatians were turning again to them, it is evident that they had been once addicted to them. And this they might have been, allowing that they had become converts from heathenism to Judaism, and from Judaism to Christianity. This makes the sense consistent between the 8th and 9th verses. Verse 10. Ye observe days] Ye superstitiously regard the sabbaths and particular days of your own appointment; And months] New moons; times-festivals, such as those of tabernacles, dedication, passover, &c. among the Galatians. 13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first: A. M. cir. 4056. A. D. cir. 52. A. U. C. 805. An. Imp. Claudii Cæsaris 12. And is this any strange thing, that a minister, so laborious as St. Paul was, should be sometimes overdone and overcome by the severity of his labours? Surely not. This might have been only an occasional affliction, while labouring in that part of Asia Minor; and not a continual and incurable infirmity, as some have too hastily conjectured. Verse 14. And my temptation which was in my flesh On this verse there are a great many various readings, as there are various opinions. Instead of μov, MY temptation, ABC*D*FG, some others, with the Coptic, Vulgate, Itala, and several of the primitive Fathers, have iμwv, YOUR temptation. The word parpov, which we translate temptation, signifies trial of any kind. The verse therefore may be read, "Ye despised not the trial which was in my flesh;" or, "Ye despised not your trial, which was in my flesh:" i. e. what my flesh suffered on Tear.] Annual atonements, sabbatical years, and your account, the afflictions I passed through in coniiices. Verse 11. I am afraid of you] I begin now to be seriously alarmed for you, and think you are so thoroughly perverted from the gospel of Christ, that a my pains and labour in your conversion have been thrown away. Verse 12. Be as I am] Thoroughly addicted to the Christian faith and worship, from the deepest convetion of its truth. For I am as ye are] I was formerly a Jew, and as zealously addicted to the rites and ceremonies of Judaism as ye are, but I am saved from that mean and unprofitable dependance: "Be therefore as I am now; who was once as you now are." Others think the sense to be this: "Be as affectionate to me as I am to you; for ye were once as loving to me as I am now to you." Ye have not injured me at all.] I do not thus earrestly entreat you to return to your Christian profession because your perversion has been any loss to me, nor because your conversion can be to me any an: ye have not injured me at all, ye only injure yourselves; and I entreat you, through the intense love I bear to you, as my once beloved brethren in Christ Jesus, to return to him from whom ye have revolted. Verse 13. Ye know how through infirmity] The apostle seems to say that he was much afflicted in body when he first preached the gospel to them. sequence of my severe labours on your account. This Verse 15. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of?] Ye spake of should be in italics, there being no corresponding word in the Greek text. Perhaps there is |