Vv. 13-15. FREEDOM IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF CHRISTIAN LIFE, TO BE USED NOT FOR SELF-INDULGENCE, BUT FOR WILLING SERVICE TO THE LAW OF
186
ἀλλήλοις.
ν.
14. Ὁ γὰρ πᾶς νόμος ἐν ἑνὶ λόγῳ πεπλήρωται,! ἐν τῷ,
᾽Αγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. 15. εἰ δὲ ἀλλή- λους δάκνετε καὶ κατεσθίετε, βλέπετε μὴ ὑπὸ ἀλλήλων ἀναλωθῆτε. 16. Λέγω δὲ, Πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε, καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς οὐ μὴ
τελέσητε.
17. ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ
πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκός’ ταῦτα γὰρ 8. ἀλλήλοις ἀντίκειται," ἵνα μὴ
} πεπλήρωται NABC 17, etc.
; πληρονται DEFGKLP,
Ίσεαντον NABCDEK 17; eavrov FGLP. ὅταυτα γαρ NBD'EFG 17; ταντα δε ΝΑΟΙ ΚΙ Ρ 6αλλ. αντικ. ABCDEFG; αντικ. αλλ. ΝΚΙ.Ρ.
Love.—Ver. 13. ἐπ᾿ ἐλευθερίᾳ. Our versions render this unto (for R.V.) freedom, as though it were the design of the Gospel to lead to freedom. But the Greek text affirms rather that God's call was based upon freedom, and so makes it an essential element in spiritual life and the inalienable right of every true Christian.—pévov μὴ. A warning is added that freedom, essential as it 15 to spiritual life, is open to abuse by carnal men, and that it is subject to the demands of the higher Law of mutual love. “ Only do not treat it as an opening for carnal self-indulgence, but for loving service to each other.” μόνον is used in the same elliptical way in ii. 10 and 2 Thess. ii. 7; and the ellipsis of the verb after μή is common in rhetorical passages.—adop- μήν. This term was applied in military language to a base of operations, and gencrally to any starting-point for action. In Rom. vii. 8, 11, 2 Cor. xi. 12 it denotes an opening for sin, as it does here.— δουλεύετε. This injunction contains an instructive paradox. Christians are freed from the trammels of outward Law, not that they may please themselves, but that they may become slaves to the Law of mutual love. The true ideal of the Christian is not freedom, but unfettered service to the love of God and man, which annihilates self, and subordinates all selfish desires to perfect love. A similar paradox is found in 1 Cor. vii. 22, he that was called, being free, is the bondservant of Christ.
Ver. 14. πεπλή MS. authority is decisive in favour of this perfect against the present πληροῦται. The perfect is
likewise adopted in the parallel passage Rom. xiii. 8, ὁ ἀγαπῶν νόμον πεπλήρω- κεν. For the very existence of love in the heart attests the completion ofa μας inward act of the will.—év ἑνὶ λόγῳ. The single precept which follows em- bodies in itself the whole duty to man,
- τὸν πλησίον. The language of Lev. xix, 18 is here invested with the compre- hensive force which Christ attached to the word neighbour by his teaching.
Ver. 15. If the spirit of mutual love does not prevent Christian brethren from preying on one another, they are in danger of utter destruction.
Vv. 16-24. MEN WHO REGULATE THEIR LIVES BY THE SPIRIT WILL NOT CARRY OUT DESIRES OF THE FLESH. For Gop HAS SET THESE TWO FORCES IN MUTUAL ANTAGONISM WITHIN OUR HEARTS FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF KEEPING DUE CHECK UPON THE WILL. SO IF YE BE GUIDED BY THE SPIRIT, YE ARE NOT SUB- jecT TO LAW: FOR THE SPIRIT MASTERS UNLAWFUL LUSTS BEFORE THEY ISSUE IN ACTION: AND ITS FRUITS ARE SUCH AS NO LaW CAN CONDEMN.—Ver. 16. Πνεύματι περιπ.: Walk by the spirit, i.e., Regulate your lives by the rule of the spirit. You will not then fulfil the desire of the flesh,
Ver. 17. σὰρξ . . . πνεῦμα. All the various motives which operate on the mind and will to prompt intention and action are comprehended under one of the two categories, spirit and flesh. The line of division between them corresponds to that drawn in 1 Cor. ii. τή between the natural man {ψυχικός) and the spiritual. The spirit of man owes its original existence to the quickening inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and depends for its continued life on the constant supply of his life-giving power: its impulses are therefore purely spiritual. In the term flesh are included all other desires of the natural man, not only the appetites and passions which he inherits in common with the animal creation, but all the desires that he conceives for the satis- faction of heart or mind. — ἐπιθυμεῖ. This is a neutral term equally applicable to the good desires of the spirit and the evil lusts of the flesh. ἀντίκειται GAA.