The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 80

p:reeting or kindly remembrance, such as we find in his addresses t.o other Churohes. 'He does not address them as" faithful brethren," as "the saints in Christ Jesus." There is something suggestive in this method of prefacing the Epistle. He ends it with a perceptible softening of tone, his last word being " brethren." Ver. 3.-The apostolic benedicwm. "Grace to s-ou and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ." This benediction is a proof of the hearty love of th; apostle, as well as a mark of his unswerving loyalty t.o the doctrine of salvation by Uhrist only. I: TRE BLESSINGS WISHED FOR. .. Grace and peace." Nearly twenty times in Scnpture are these two graces linked together, but never so significantly as at present, when the Galatians manifested a disposition to return to the Law with its terrors and disquietudes. 1. Grace is free, undeserved lave manifesting itself in a free gift. (Rom. Y. 15.) It is the foundation of our redemption. It is also an operation of that free love in our hearts-grace, quickening, sanctifying, comforting, strengthenina. It is the first ?lessing the apostle asks '.or; it is what '!'e all need; it is but tlie begin~ing of blessings rnnumerable. 2. Peace is not peace with God (Rom. v. 1), but the peace that springs from it. The true order of blessing and experience is not peace and grace, but grace and peace. Grace is t~e root of peace ; peace is the inner comfort that springs from grace. The apostle desires that the Galatians may not only share in Divine grace, but possess the assurance of it. Without peace, thousands a.re unhappy, and the desire of it causes many a pagan to bear labour and pain in the vain effort to enjoy it. The worldly wan longs for peace without grace. But the two a.re inseparably linked. Without it there is no progress in religion, and no real test of the value of a man's religion. Luther says, "Grace releaseth sin, and peace maketh the conscience quiet. The two fiends that torment us are sin and conscience." Another says, " If you have peace, you are rich without money; if you have it not, you are poor with millions." 11 TRE SOURCE OF THESE BLESSINGS. "From God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ "-from God ihe Father as Fountain, and Jesus Christ as the Channel of convey- ance to us. The highest blessings of the gospel, as well as the appointment t.o apostolic office, spring alike from Father and Son. They are here both associated as objects of Divine worship, and as the sources of spiritual blessing. This proves Christ's Deity. "The living fountain of grace which ever flowed and never ebbed in the bosom of our God has been gloriously opened to a thirsty world in the bleeding side of Christ." Vers. 4, 5.-The sum and nibstance of the Epistle. He here declares the true ground of acceptance with God which the Galatians practically ignored by their system of lc~alism. -1. MA..B.E: THE SELF-OBLATION OF CRBIBT. "Who gave himself for our sins." Our Redeemer wu not killed by the hand of violence, though "by lawless hands" he was crucified and slain; he spontaneously offered himself, and his offering was not the impulse of mere excited feeling. The expression," gave himself," always points _to ~e free surrender of his life (1 Tim. ii. 6; Titus L 14; Matt. xx. 28). It accords with his own language, "I lay down my life of myself" (John x. 17}; "How am I strai~ned till it be accomplished I• The Father is elsewhere described as providing the ~1fice, &Dd delivering hiw up for us all (Rom. viii. 32), but the text describes his own pnestly act in accordance "with the Father's will." It is needless to say that the phrase does uot P<'int to his incarnation, but to his death. 11. '1'111:; mu.ATION 11.ETWEEN HIS DE.\TH AND OUR snra. "Who gave himself for our ~iu:;." Som•• didnes connect Christ's death, not with the pardon of sin, but w!th our dt'liverance fl'l.>W its pow&. Tht>y rl'pud sin as a tlisc.'I.Se rather than as an oflence, a ,·lllamitv rat.ha than a crime a,,,"'lliu,t Goo; tl1,•y I'l!pn•.sent the difficulty as not on God's $illt!', bu, OU wau'$, so that forgi,·t1ne.ss is sure '° follow upon spiritual recovery. In ,,11,,..r w,ll'l.h th,·,· pl&OI! lire finst and J\SI\l.ou next, basing our accepL'Ulce, not upon l.'hrist',; ,fr:1(h. l>1i1 upon the ~ i o n of the l)i,·iuc life. The Bible sense is tha~ "his l•I,,,! wa.,, "11,-J f,11" Wt' ~lllillaii,,n Q( sins. u The life is reg1'nlt'1 as the eff~c or rew:inl ,,r 1l1< l'rudti.r..i..w.. 'l'hen> is a ..iin:'C't t':lwal c,mu.-.::th:m betwl!O!n Chris1's desth and tho! 1.u,.i,>t1 lll. ,,ur s.:us. Thi! ~ \ U wh_~- _h~ g:1,·e hi~~li i$ _here L<sign~. _ Our sin~ we~ uw pNt,--wiug cu. of hiii ~'-"'YI.. 'l hi. us the pl&in lelehing of Isa. Lli. -> ; R=. 1v. ~ ; OH, I. 1-24,] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 45