PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians
Edgar Huxtable [1810-1897] · 361,419 words · 379 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 241
(For the phrase, "after/' or "according to, ordination (Gen. XNi. 4). That both mother the Spirit," see note on ver. 23.) It mUBt be 11.n? son were very greatly in the wrong is conceded that the apostle somewhat strains evidenced by the sanction which Heaven the expression in o.pplying it to the case accord~ ~othe pnni…
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favours the helief that by "the Scripture" Hagar and Ishmael were driven forth beyond the apo8tle does not mean Scripture in the pale of God's most espeoial guardianship general (as ~.g. John x. 35), but the part.i- and blessing, the apostle hears the voioe of cular "pR,Ssago of Scripture" to which he is God bidding…
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difference who.tever in the sense; (2) they whe.~ her condition is. With freedom did expunge the oiv after i/l.rn6epl'f; (3) they Ohnst strt u.s free_ ( T~ ill.Eu6epl<f f,µ.as Xp<(ITO• insert oiv o.fter (IT~"'"'· The forms (3) and -l,11.w6lpu,"•). Thie clause both justifies and (4) are identical except in the punctu…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-3.-The Church of God in -its minority. The apostle now passes to a new phase of argument. He _h~ used t~e similitudes of a testament, a prison, a school. master, to mark the condition of believers under the Law; he now, uses the similitude of an heir in his nonage. The Galatians are here taught …
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asks, "children or full-grown men?" It also condemns the J adaists for going back to" elements of the world," which hacl their place and use only in a condition of nonacre; "Yet the pope and Mahomct have tried to bring back the race, free and of full age, to its minority again.'' Vers. 4, 5.-ThefulnesB of time with it…
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accounted righteous (Rom. v. 19). Thus he fulfilled all the claims of the Law for us, bot.h as to precept and penalty. V. 'lirn DESIGN OF THE MISSION OF TIIE SoN. "To redeem thetn that were under the Law." His object was to redeem both Jews and Gentiles from the curHe of the Law, and from subjection to it. He was v…
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Ver. 8.-An appeal to the Gentile Galaeians. "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods." The apostle here seems to turn to the Gentile portion of the Chnrch, and impresses upon them the folly of placing themselves nnder the yoke of Mosaic Law. I. CONSIDER THEIR FORMER IGN…
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"·ere the Jewi~h s1tl,bath~, with other times of religious observance; the months were the 11cw-moons, always ex:,,ctly observed; the seasons were annual fcstivnls, QS Passover, Pentecost, and :!<'east of 'fabernacles; and the years were the sabbatical year and the yenr ol" jubilee. I. THE GROUNDS OF THE APOSTLE!S CO…
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Vers. 13-16.:......A retrospect with its lessQ'll,8, The apostle seeks an explanation of their changed attitude toward himself. I. HE RECALLS THE 0IRCUMSTAN0ES OF HIS FIBBT RELATIONS WITH THE GALATIANS. "Ye know how'on account of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first,!' , 1. His visit w…
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Galatians the truth a.t the sacrifice of their personal friendship 11.nd love. Truth was a more precious thing than man's esteem. It was the very truth of the a-ospol, with man's Sltivation banging upon it, 11.nd therefore incapable of being betrayed or sur- rendered through any spirit of unworthy compliance or men-…
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the Law, do ye not hear the Law?" The apostle makes a. fresh appeal to convince the Galatians of the essential difference between the La.w a.ad the promise. The rea.sonin:s is conveyed in limgnage of affectionate remonstrance. Consider- I. Tum IMPORTANCE OF ms ARGUMENT. The Law itself, upon which the Ga.la.tians laid …
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Vers. 28--31.-0onclusion of the whok ma;tter, The apostle points to a fui'thei· coincidence between the type and the antitype. . I. MARK THE HISTORIC FACT, "He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born a.ftcr the Spirit." He refers to Ishmael's mockery of Isaac. As the elder son, with the right of …
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from the condemning power of Law, and secured their adoption as sons. The world at the advent of the Son must have looked differently to the eye of God the Father. For millcniums he had been looking anxiously down to see if there were any that did under- stand· and seek God. But, alas I the verdict bad to be that "they…
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philosophy of idolatry is a most interesting inquiry. Nowhere is it more succinctly set before us tha.n in Ps. cxv. The ~dols e.re _there shown to be_ a~tel' the image of their makers (ver. 8), e.nd, conversely, their worshippers become ass1m1lated to them. The stolid idols which the poor artists make e.re simply co…
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Vore. 12-20.-The appeal of the s11,ffering apostle. To render Paul's appeal more emphatic, he proceeds next to remind them of the tender relations in which he had stood to them when he preached the gospel to them the first time. He had been suffering from the thorn in the flesh; he was consequently a very weak specimen…
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Ver. 21-ch. v. 1.-'Z'he children of the bondwoman and of the f1·ee. Paul now passes from a .12ersonal 9:ppeal to an allegorical arg~me~1t ~rom _the Law. As legalists, they are a8ked 1t they will not hear the Law which m its history really condemns them as children of the bondwoman and not children of the freewoman..…
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Vers. 1-11.-Majority and, minority. I. 'l'HE CIIILD COMING TO ms MAJORITY. Analogy. "But I say that BO long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bond-servant, though be is lord of all; but is under guardians and stewards until the term appointed of,the father." At the close of the preceding chapter Chris…
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the plain meaning, confined the spirit. This was the Churoh in its state of minority. 2. The Oh1trch's mmjority. It is matter for thought that the Church came to its majority in connection with the greatest manifestation of Godhead. (1) Time of the Ohristwn manifesta.tion. " But when the fulness of the time came." T…
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though brought up a Jew, in his teaching and life he did not give the impression of belonging to one nation more than to another. Still, the Mosaic system had authority over him, and had to do with his training as the Messiah. (3) Twofold aim of the manifestation. (a) Deliverance from the Mosaic system. "'!'hat he migh…
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by any means I have besoowed!labour upon you in vain." They had come to know God, i.e. w_hen. the _gospel ~as preached among them. It was then that they first knew God m his unity and m bis rel\l character as a God of love. But havino- said this, he corrects himself. It was rather that they had come to be known' of …
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or inordinate observance, but merely a statement of the fact. The view, then, is that the ordinary obsorvanoe of a Christian sabbath supposes the making of distinctions as to days which are all done away with under Christianity. How, then, is this observance of one sacred day in seven regarded by the apostle? It is con…
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endangering the gospel; thev were forgetting their privileges as sons. ('Y) We are to understand the language of the apostle to have ,·efe1·ence to Jewish institutions in so far as lhey were Jewish. The sabbath was not a purely Jewish institution; it existed from the beginning. The essential idea of it was a proport…
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pointed forward to a sacrifice to be offered for sin. And it was a nourishing ordinance as the shadow of the coming sacrifice. But when Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us (and it happened at the very time of the offering of the paschal lamb), the great reality was put by Christ into the New Testament instituti…
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The thorn in the flesh, as following upon Paul being in the third heavens, and ae pointi_ng to something acute, agrees with the supposition of his being a sufferer from an affection of the eyes. Whether we interpret the words here as deriving point from a weakness of Paul's eyes or not, they are manifestly expressive o…
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Vor. 21-ch. v. 1.-Allegory of Hagar and Sarah. To them that desired to be wnder the Law he propoees to read a lesson out of the Law. "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, do ye not hear the Law?" He conceives of them as men who could not do without the bondage of the Mosaic Law, and he will read their condem…
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Christ is repr~sented by the freewoman. We are taught to regard it as the home of freedom. We feel free in our covenant position before God, in our immediate relation to him, and_ iyi our glorious prospects. (b) It has a numerous offspring. "For it is written, ReJ01ce, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and c…
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"denth." Consider how this incnrnation of Christ leads to our adoption. 1. It is tbe secret of his influence over us. Attraction is in proportion to nearness. To influence a me.n you must descend to his level. '!'here the power of sympathy is most felt. So Christ stooped to us that he might lift us (see Heb. iv. 15). 2…
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Ver. 7.-Theson and the slave. The Christian is compared to the son, the Jew to the slave. The gospel bring~ sonship, Law inflicts bondage. The sonship of the new order involves liberty and heirship. Consider some of the privileges herein implied.· I. h"'I'ELLIGE::\'.T PRINCIPLES SUBSTITUTED FOR SPECIFIC COMMANDMENTS…
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euporstitions of their Celtic forefathers with the immoral mysticism of their Phrygian neighbours. The result was e. bondage at once of fear e.nd of lust. But all heathen religions keep their devotees in subjection. Religious liberty is a fruit of Christianity. II. TRE NEW CHRISTIANITY. This was in all respects a del…
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sympathetic emotions. The same applies to the great Christian anniversaries, aud the power of association may help us to profit by the lessons of the Incarnation at Christmas and of the Resurrection at Easter. H. THERE IS A DANGEROUS OBSERVANCE OF SEASONS. 1. Regardin,q the mere observ- ance of the seasons as a 'Vi…
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Ver. 16.-Afriend miBlalcenfor an enemy. On his first visit to Galatia, St. Paul was received, so he tells us," as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus." He paid, it appears, a second visit to the province, and then the fickle people treated him with coldness and suspicion because he found it necessary to point out the…
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Scripture. T~us S~ Paul argues from the history of Abraham (eh. iii. 6) before making use of the typical significance of Hagar. I. BOTH SARAH AND HAGAR WERE OF TllE BOUSEIIOLD OF ABnAIIAM. The very honours conferred upon Hagar led to her ultimate rejection from the home through the spirit of insubordination they br…
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boing justified by tho La.w; not, as has just points, not to the !111.bste.nce of the subsequent boen remarked, by obeying the whole Law, affirmation, e.s if it were " repetition of that but by submiLting themselves to the La.w so made in the preceding verse, which in fact for as undergoing this one rite prescribed it …
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and not to be meddled with by ,my who did cities of Greece, were compelled by a more not mean to become naturalized as fellow- po,verful adverse party to submit to exile· citizens with them. (For the use of o<Jm>..&.,s its correlative verb being l1</3d.>,.>,.o,, Th~ ,rrrtv, comp. Rom. viii. 14.) The noun more fact l…
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'l'itns ii. 13, "looking for the blissful hope." is us~d. with reference to objects or events Tho genitive, "of righteousness," may be per.,a1010g to the close of the present dis- (I) the "genitive of apposition," the hope pensation : Rom. viii. 19, 23 25; 1 Cor. i. which ie, or which consists of, righteousness, 7; Phi…
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must be meant than a mere completing of Paul always to have for its subject an im- the sentenc,e by ndding to the mention of personal agont (Winer, • Gmm. N. T.,' § 38, "circnmcisi0n" the mention of its opposite. 6); and such an agent is said '••p-y,,uOa., in It is ckitr t.hat there were those who ima- tho sense alw…
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alone can make oven the love of Christ thus pation of attaining hereafter the a.wards to influential with our souls, which but for his be rendered to the justified. Compare the quickening grace remain, even in sight of general strain of thought, strikin;;ly similar the cross, still numbed and cold. The accord- to th…
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~h011lrl hnn• been ahlc to work them so mnch tom observes, " It we.a not men'e persuasion mischief; ns in oh. iii. 1. N cverthcless, the (,muµovh lr.v6pc..-lv11), but the power of God, author of the ruisc.hicf had c1rnse to tremble which persuaded the souls of those who (ere ver. 12, 1md note). That ye should not be…
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uns11tisHed with wlrnt they 11s yet possess, their rase from that of any who were 11nd nevertheless only toying with spiritual "troubling them;" kindly implying that, in things, 11ro rc11dy to 11clopt 11lmost nny novelty the main, they were still unperverted. That of religious behnviour offering itself for ye will b…
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sion of tl,r jnrl.c::c upon his conduct;, nnd (1) thnt his persecutions were mninly oo• the oonscq11c11t punishment. The apostle casioned by the hostility of the Jews; nnd thrcntens that be will bring into exercise (2) _that th_e h?stility _ot' the Jews ma.inly the "power" which, as he says in 2 Cor. xiii. ongmated …
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bolicvcrs nt, Jorusulcm appear to hnvo seen mother towards these two of its most impor- it, tho inference to which the finger of tant elements. By-and-bye, when circum- Divine providence pointed in the particular stances allowed, the same great apostle, who Corm of death which, in the counsels of God, in hie Epistle de…
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of" ii We foolishness of mine! [might I hope led now to allude to it ae he seems to do for it 0J:" Rei'. iii. 15,"0q,EAOV tuxpos ~ •• etc., in this malediction. For it is a malediction "Would tlrnt thou ,vcrt cold," eto. With an as Chrysostom describes it; a. malediction' indfonth·e j,iture (an extremelv rare com- h…
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trou!Jlers wore driving his readers; that cenaries for me I (µf, µo, µup,&ur ... !lvou,);" Jmppy sto.to (the apostle s11ys) was the very Sophocles,' Ant.,' 573, "No more loitr,ringa ! glory and essence of their "co.Hing." 'fhis, but . . . (µ11 Tp,Eds fr' lr.M& ...); "Aristo- of oourse, wns that condition of free men ph…
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suppMe such evils were now especially pnss11gc renppears in the 1r,1r1'tJpo,1e• of the rife amongst the Gnlntin)1s, whose natural other. The sentence in Romans, 11 He that chnrncter, commonly described as qnarrel- loveth his neighbour (-rov li-r,pov) hnth ful- sonw, w~s nppA.re.ntly evincing itself in filled the Law…
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tnken of tho spiritunl sense in which the fmther ilh,slrntion of a point alrenrlyrcfr nr rl npostle uses the terms "Jo.w" nn<l "Jove." to. It points back to the lino of remark com- Under the term "hiw" he no longer in- menced in vor. 13 in the words, "No freedom tonda lho Law of Moses, either as n cete- to be an occasi…
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the ren,lcring in our Authorized Version, Dy writing thus the apostle strongly a.o- "in the Spirit," ns the o.ntive is used with centuates the statement that walking hy ..-op«',,cr6a, (Authorizco. Version," walk") in the Spirit is absolutely incompatible with Acts ix. 31; xiv. 16, and with ..-,p11raniv, an indulgenc…
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eeeme betokened by the 31. If the o.poetle fain would, that dol practise;" ibid., 16, •o o,, lmd just hero mco.nt to se.y, "There a.re two 8/A.,, ToiiTo 1ro1Cd, " What thing I fain wonld mutue.lJy opposing principles e.t work within not., that I do;" ibid., 19, Ov -yc\p 1l 6,M,, 11"0tw you," for the purpose of justi…
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hardly seem to ho.rmonize, either with the in Romans (viii. 14), "Ae mnny ns oro led almigbtinese of the Divine Agent engaged by tho Spirit of God (nv,oµan e,ov ~-ywra,), in the conflict or "\\ith the triumphant lnn- these are sons of Gcd." The dative ouee with gue.ge of Rom, viii. 1---4. In actual ex- li-vo,ua, in bot…
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are not subjrd to tho Law of the old cove• his note on the present passage, '' They nout. The connection between the premiss are raised to a hei~ht far nbovc the Law's and tho conclusion ha.a been clearly shown injunction." But in the clcgrce in which by tbo apostle abovo (eh. iv. 5-7); it is they are not spiritual, bu…
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emphntically wnrncd the Gnlatians against arrl7'.')'11s describes a man insolently and making their emancipation from the Mosaic wantonly reckless in his trenbnent of others; Law an occnsion fo1· tl1e flesh, and in ver. but in the New Testament it gonercilly ap- 16 nffirmed the inc0mpatibility of a spiritual pears t…
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ia tbo eeeenoe of goodness-is, strangely or "rivalry," would seem to be tbe more enough as H o.t first eight seems, most prominent notion in the word; but in others readily stimulated into rancour by differ- it appears to mean rather "jealousy;" in ences in religion. As at this very same time some the so.me as m Acts v…
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by en euy transition, "those who followed a.pplioation. of the term afp, .. ,r to the Ohris" a particular way of thinking"-"& eohool tian faith; not, however, on the ground the.• of thonght." Thus it occurs in Dionysius the term denoted a flagrantly erroneous and of HaliC&l'naseus, • De Dem. et Arist.,' 7, eto. vici…
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others, doctrine whioll should vita.Uy deprave frnitleas, he wail thenceforward t6 decline the truth which God had revea.led? Any ho.ving anything to do with him (,rapa,.,.o&); dootrilie which thus tampered with the .gos• for that he might be sure that, being such, pol would, of course, be a a'lp«m-views of he was alre…
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apostle no doubt had in hie eye in this into the eternal kingdom of our Lord o.nd enumeration, "murders" seems too strong a Saviour Jesus Christ," o.nd by St. Jnmee word t.o be o.ppropriate; and this consider- (ii. 5), "heirs of the kingdom which he ation seems t.o prove the word here not au- [God] ·promised to them …
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Phil. i. 11 and Je.s, iii. 17, in consequence that true Christian love hos its root in "o. probably of the feeling which the apoatle pure heart, a good conscience, and genuine had that the combination of graces de- faith." The sonl cannot be free for tb& soribed is in its entirety the proper outcome activity of genuine…
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m contrast with those sine of strife and ma- a traotab~e.flpirit, complia.nt t.o.tho tenohiu•,i lignity noted bdore among the works of the of the D1vmo Wo1-d; COm(>. J.61!. ,.i. 21, "re• flesh, and tbercfore to point to peacefolness oeive with meekness the 1mple.l1ted word," i~ the Christian community. '.l'he two ar…
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here, editors are not , quite une.nimous in a.nd the Spirit. The time when the Christian rete.ining '171.-011 : and Col. ii. 6. -rbv Xp,.--rbv did thus affix the flesh to the cross is indi- '171.-oiJv -rdv K6p1ov. , Xpur-rb, 'l71.-ov• without cated by the fonn 0£ expression, of being the article· is continually met …
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lllBta (<Tov -ro'i< ,rafH,µa,r, r<al -rais tt18up.(a,s); ments of the world, why, as though living unth its affectir>nlJ and w, lusts. The differ- in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ence between "affections" and "lusts" ml\y ordinances, Handle not, etc.? •• So, likewise be probably assumed to be this-that the…
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might be most convenient to render it simi- tive H<J/o3o!ot occurs only here in the New larly here; but even so, it must mean with Testament, as the substantive H•voBo!ia i11 reference to the Spirit as ourrule and guide. only fount!. in Phil. ii. 3. 'l'he B~a from The vorb .,..,.o,x•"'• "to move iv a (u-ro,x••• wbich i…
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HOMILETICS. "Ver. 1.-77ie importance cf standing by Clirutian Uberty. "Stand firm, therefore, in the liberty for which Christ bath made us free, and be not entangled again with. the yoke of bondage." The apostle hopefully assumes that the Galatians had not ·yet surrendered their liberty. , •, I. JUDAISM WAS .A YOKE O…
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.