The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 142

nice points, coul<l be gone into with them that could not BO s11ifa.bly be gone into at a pu,bhc confe~ence. 'l'hey were, moreover, men of repute, men of leading, who might oe expected to mfluence the others. If, then, he secured a good understandino- with them, his course, both what it hnd been :ind what it might yet be, would have it~ full effect. Wherea~, if for want of' the proper means befog t\sed, he failed in securing a good understanding, he woulcl really be impairing the effect of what he bad done or might yet do. Results of private conference as bearing on the question of independence,- !. HE DID NOT YIELD ON 1'HE QUESTION OF LIBERTY. 1. No compulsion was used in the case of Titus. "But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised." This was a good case for trying the question of liberty. Timothy, who was.after this circ;umcised in accommodation to Jewish feelino-, was of half-Jewish e·xtractic.in. Titus w'as of pure Gentile extraction. • Was he, then: necessi- ta:ted to circumcise 'l'itus? No; it was.a notorious fact that under the eye of the three, under the eye of the whole Church, he was allowed to go about Jerusalem with an uncircumcised Gentile convert as his recognized companion and assistant. That was not as though he had weakly yielded at the conference. It was, on the contrary, a signal triumph obtained for liberty. 2. The reason of his takin_g so firm a stand was that it was made a question of liberty. Character of the false bretl,ren. "And that because of the false brethren privily brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage." They were false, men who had never really agreed to the terms of Christian membership. They had become connected with the society of Christians, not as genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, but on falsely pretending faith. They climbed into the Christian fold by some. other way than Christ. There were others in the background \vho prompted them to make a false profession. They acted as the tools of others for illegitimate purposea. Espionage was one purpose. They stole into the Christian camp, not because they bad any delight in being there, but simply as spies. What they wished to spy out was the liberty enjoyed by the Gentile Christians, i.e. liberation from circumcision in the possession of Christ. More particularly it was the i.ction of the Church in Jerusalem in view of the association of an uncircumcised Gentile convert with Paul. A further purpose was bondage. They spied out the liberty that they might I.Jave it al! an object for their attack. Their tact.ics were to make a demand for the circumcisi,m of Titus. Their success would have been the enslavement of Gentile Christians. Stand made by Paul against the false breth-ren. "To whom we gave place in the way of subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you." It was a bold step, in the first pince, to take Titus to Jerusalem. Feeling may have b~en stronger than he expected to find it. How was he to act? It would, no doubt, h~ve been pleasing to many if he bad seen his way to circumcise Titus. Under certain circumstances he might have been free to do it in the way of accommodation. But seeing that the false brethren, by the circumcision of Titus, meant the enslavement for ever of Gentile Christians, he gave place in the way of subjection, no, not for an hour. He acted thus decisively in the interests of all his Gentile constituents. And his successful resistance on this occasion, which some were now seeking to turn against him (as though he had then given in his submission to Peter and the rest), was really a triumph obtained for the Gentile Christians everywhere, for which particularly they, the Galatians, should show gratitude in the way of resisting the assaults of the J udaists on them. Let the truth of the gospel-justification simply by faith-continue wi.th them. II. HE PRESERVED HIS EQUALITY WITH THE THnEE. 1. They imparted nothing to h~m. "But from those who were reputed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God accepteth not man's person)-they, I say, who were of repute imparted nothing to me." The construction with which the sentence commences iij not carried out to the end. "From them of repute" would naturally be followed up by "I received nothing." But instead of that, after the parenthesis which is in three clauses, it is ta.ken up in the form-" they of repute," which is followed by "imparted nothing to me." The three were reputed to be somewhat, and Paul does not mean to hint that this reputation was not deserved. What he has to do with is that their reputation should be thought to destroy his independence. He_esteemed_ theI?, and he was glad to know of their being esteemed. In that respect their reputation did matter to him, but it mattered nothing for his independence, It is not upon reputation that 108 THE EPISTLE TO 'l'HE GALATIANS, [OH, 11, 1-21. ·