Ver. 21. προεῖπον. No particular admonition is here specified: warnings against these sins had, of course, formed the staple of many former discourses.
The Epistle has already claimed for
188
Vv. 22---26.
κληρονομήσουσιν. 22. ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἀγάπη, χαρὰ, εἰρήνη, μακροθυμία, χρηστότης, ἀγαθωσύνη, πίστις, 23. πραύ-
της, ἐγκράτεια " κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστι νόμος.
24. οἱ δὲ τοῦ
Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ 1 τὴν σάρκα ἐσταύρωσαν σὺν τοῖς παθήμασι καὶ ταῖς
ἐπιθυμίαις.
25. Εἰ ζῶμεν πνεύματι, πνεύματι καὶ στοιχῶμεν.
26.
μὴ γινώμεθα κενόδοξοι, ἀλλήλους προκαλούμενοι, ἀλλήλοις φθονοῦν-
τες.
VI. 1. ᾿Αδελφοὶ, ἐὰν καὶ προληφθῇ ἄνθρωπος ἔν τινι παρα-
πτώματι, ὑμεῖς οἱ πνευματικοὶ καταρτίζετε τὸν τοιοῦτον ἐν πνεύματι
1 Xp. Ιησον NABCP 17, εἴς. ; om. ἰησον DEFGKL.
Christians the inheritance of sons. That this inheritance included a kingdom needed no proof; for the conception of a Messianic kingdom ran through Hebrew prophecy and covered the whole range of Gospel teaching.
Ver. 22. Since the object of this verse is to exhibit the harmony between the fruit of the spirit and the restraints of law, those qualities only are specified which affect man’s duty to his neighbour, Love with its unfailing attendants, inward joy and peace, supplies the motive power ; .. in the face of wrongs and ill-treatment, kindness in rendering ser- vice to others, and goodness in the free bestowal of bounty on those who need, cannot fail to gain goodwill; good faith, meckness, self-control enlist confidence and τεβρεςί.---πίστις. It is clear from the subordinate place here assigned to - πίστις that it does not here denote the cardinal grace of faith in God which is the very root of all religion, but rather good faith in dealings with men, and due regard to their just claims.
Ver. 23. πραύτης: Meekness is the outcome of true humility, the bearing towards others which results from a lowly estimate of ourselves.—¢yxpdareca : Self-control comprehends every form of temperance, and includes the mastery of all appetites, tempers and passions.
Ver. 24. ἐσταύρωσαν. The Apostle has already traced back his own spiritual life to the fellowship with the crucifixion of Christ, which he had undergone at his conversion (ii. 20). He assumes that his converts have likewise crucified the will of the flesh—not, however (as the pre- vious context shows), that that will is already dead, but that the spirit has by one decisive victory asserted its complete supremacy in all true Christians, and so given an earnest of its entire triumph in the επὰ.-- παθήμασιν. This word de- parts here from its usual meaning, suf- ferings, and expresses inward emotions,
as in Rom. vii. 5. Greek philosophers applied πάθος in like manner to denote active impulses of passion.
CHAPTER V. 25.—VI. 6. RULES oF CONDUCT DICTATED BY THE SPIRIT OF Μύτυλι, Love.—Ver. 25. Here, as in ii, 20, the thought of crucifixion with Christ suggests that of the new life which is its sequel. 17}, then, we live in spirit (i.e., if we have spiritual life), let us take the spirit for the rule to guide our conduct.
Ver. 26. The English version pro- voking introduces an idea of wanton rovocation which does not belong to the
atin provocantes, nor to the Greek προ- καλούμενοι, for this denotes challenges to combat, and so describes the spirit of de- fiance which animated rival parties amid the heated atmosphere of religious con- troversy. The verse denounces the vain-
lorious temper of party leaders which ound vent in mutual defiance and ill-will.
Ver. 1. ᾿Αδελφοὶ. The last verse pro- tested against unbrotherly tempers; this appeal presents, by way οἱ contrast, the claims of brotherly love even in the case of real wrongdoing. —xal προλ ἢ- The English version ena ἐξ ες οὴ ee the idea of sudden temptation, and so tends to palliate the guilt of the offender, but the Greek denotes rather his surprise in the very act, and so lays stress on the reality of his guilt. The passage is urging the tender treatment of actual offenders, and the preceding καί enforces the claims even of guilty brethren on Christian charity: ‘ Brethren, if a man be actually detected . . . deal tenderly with him in a spirit of meekness.”— καταρτίζετε. This verb denotes some- times the original framing of a mechanism (e.g of the human body and of the universe in Heb. x. 5, xi. 3), but more often its readjustment (¢.g., the setting of a broken limb, or the mending of nets in Matt. iv. 21). Here it indicates the correction of an offender with a view to