The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 120

'l711Tov11 brill'Teo,raµ.,v); did in Ohrist Jema who more or Iese were doin"' its works. This belie'IIB, Tho norist of tho verb poin tR to the verse, viewed as a state~ent of the indi• time offlrst muking Ohrist tho object of trust. vidual experience of the two apostles Peter The cho.nged order, in which our Lord's and Paul themselves, is verified with respect proper name and hie officio.I designation to the la~tcr by th~ accounts given in tho appear in this clause compared with the Acts of_h1s con_vers1?n. _With respect to St. preceding, and which, somewhat strangely, Peter,. its verificat10n 1s suppliecl to the is ignored in our Authorized Version, does refl~c~ve student of the Gospels by his not seem to have any real significance; such reahzmg the process of feeling through variation frequently occurs in St. Paul, as which that apostle's mind passed in the e.g. I Tim. i. 15, 16; 2 Tim. i. 8, 10; Eph. several situations thus indicated: "This i. I, 2. In the present insta.nce it may have day thou shalt deny me thrice;" "He went been dictated by the reversal of the order of out and wept bitterly;" "Go and tell his the ideas, .,,/.,.,,..ws and '171,roi) Xptll'Toii. That disciples and Peter, he goeth before yon into we might be justifted by the faith of Christ Galilee ; " " The Lord is risen indeed, and (1va 6t1ca,w6&µ.e11 l,c .,,[.,.,,...,. Xpi,r,,-oii). Re- hath appeared to Simon;" "Silllon, son of nouncing all thought of gaining righteous- John, loveet thou me ? " " They worshipped ness by (or from) doing works of the Law, him, and returned to Jerusalem with great we fixed our faith upon Christ, in order to joy." Further, the highly animated lan- go.in righteousness by ( or from) believing in guage with which, in their writings, each of him. The form of expression does not these apostles-St. Paul, for instance, in the determine the time when they expected to Romans (v. and viii.) and Ephesians, and become righteous; but the whole com- St. Peter in several passages of his First plexion of the argument points to their Epistle-portrays the peace and exulting justification following immediately upon joy which Christ's disciples experience their believing in Christ. That full recog- through faith in him, is evidently drawn nition of fellow-believers, which is the hinge from their own mental history. And this on which the discussion turns, presupposes happy experience of theirs was, most pal- their being already righteous through their pably, in no degree whatever derived frum faith. And not by the works of the Law works of the Law, but solely from the grace (,cal ov,c l~ lp-ywv 110µ011). Thie is added ez of Christ As St. Peter had recently inti- abundanti, to clench more strongly the mated at Jerusalem, their hearts, as truly as affirmation that works of the Law have no the hearts of their fellow-believers of the effect in making men righteous. For by the Gentiles, "God had cleansed" from the works of the Law shell no 11.eeh be justifted sense of guilt and pollutedness before him (61&..., [or rather,//,,..] ot! 61,ca1w61ill'<Ta1 /( lp-ywv "by faith" (Acts xv. 9). It is necessary 11&µ.o11 .,,;11,. ,rclpO. Thie simply repeo.ts the here to be quite cleur as to tl!e nature of affirmation in the first clause of the verse, those "works of the Law" which the with only an intensified positiveness; the apostle has now in his view. This is de- future tense," shall be justified," expressing, termined by the preceding context. Tlie not the time at which tho act of justification works of the Law now in question wen, takes pince, but the absoluteness of the rule those, the observance of which characterized that no human being is to expect ever to be a man's "living as do the Jews" and their justified by works of the Law. In Rom. iii. non-observance a mo.n's "living as do tho 20 we have identically the same sentence Gentiles." It was the disregard of these with the addition of" in his sight." Instead, works on the part of the Gentile believers however, of the 61&..., found in that passage, which the Jewish Christians, whom St. many recent editors here give 8Tt, there Peter would fain ete.nd well with, considered being no more difference between 6,&,,., and as disqualifying them from free association <lT1 than between " because that" and with themselves. So, again, when St. Peter ·• because." In both passages it looks as if was "living as do the Gentiles," he was the 1tpostle meant to be understood as citing viewed as setting at nought, not the moral u locus probativu.s; e.nd the addition of the precepts of the Le.w, but its positive cere- words, "in his sight," in Roma.ns indico.tes monial precepts only. It is the nll\king that that the 1tuthorite.tive passage referred to is distinotion between believers liviug ns do Ps. cxliii. 2, which in the Septuagint reads, the Gentiles rmd believers living as do the ·o,,.. ov 611<a1w6f/1T•'Tt>I ,.,r1,.,,,6v 11'011 ..-as'"'"· The Jews, which Peter and the brethren from clause, /~ tp-ywv v&µ.011, e.dded in both, is a James were in effeot making, that the ttpostle comment of the apostle's own, founded e.s hero sets himself so sternly to reprobate. it should seem upon the case of the people It is with this view that he here asserts the of Israel, whom the psalmist manifestly in- principle that through fo.ith in Christ a cluded iu his universal statement; those wan is me.de righteous, a.nd that through who had the Law yet lacked justification faith in Christ only can he be, these works before God, every one ; those eveu of them having nothing wht,tover to do with it.  86 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [ea. n. 1-21.