The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 158

unto him /01' rigltLP01tsnes8, The answer to WOTds: "Now it was not written for liis the question in the foregoing V81'Se is so sake alone that it was reckoned to him [for obvious that the apostle goes on as if that righteousness]; but for our sake also, unto answer hod been given, namely, that it was whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on simply in consequence of the hearing of him that raised Jesus our Lord from the faith that God conferred on o.ny the Holy dead, who was delivered up for oar offences, Spirit and his powers. This, he now adds, and was raised for onr justification." Christ's was in exe.ct conformity with what was death and resnrrection are God's word and recorded of Abraham; as soon as Abraham guarantee to the whole human race, assuring heard the promise made to him, " So shall us of his forgiveness and of his offer to us thy seed be," he believed it, e.nd by the of eternal life. If we hear this word with hearing of faith was justified. The mutual faith, committing ourselves to his love, God correspondence of the two cases lay in this, on that ground at once justifies also us. It that in imparting to those believers the is evident that, in the apostle's view, the word Holy Spirit, God showed that they were in "righteousness," e.e used in the recited his favour, were justified people, simply passage of Genesis, does not mean " a because of their faith; even as Abraham righteous act,"-that is, that Abraham's was shown to be in hie favour, having believing God's promise was viewed by likewise by faith been justified. The Heaven with approval; but complete ac- apostle weaves into his sentence the very ceptableness investing Abraham himself. words of Gen. xv. 6, as they appear in the In consideratiou of that exercise of faith Septuagint, with scarcely any modification; God accounted him a righteous man. The the Septuagint reading thus: Kal br!crnucrEV Greek phrase, /J\o-yio·871 eis o,Ka,ocr~v71v, '' was • A{Jpa.p. -r,; 0ecp, Kai lJ\o-y(cr871 a./mji els 61Ka10- reckoned for righteousness," i.e. reckoned cr{Jl/'1,v. But in doing so he both himself as being righteousness, is similar to J\o-y,- feels, and will have his readers feel, that tT6ijva, els oVOEv, '' reckoned as nought,, they are words of Scripture from which, as (Acts xix. 27); els ..-ep1-roµt,v J\o;,,<T871rre-ra,, such, reliable conclusions might be drawn, "reclfoned for circnmcision" (Rom. ii. 26); as is shown by the next verse. In the Aoi'l(e-ra., els· <Nr(,µa., "reckoned for a seed" Hebrew, however, the passage runs as in our (Rom. ix. 8). Are we to infer from these Authorized Version, "He believed in the two verses, 5 and 6, that in the apostle's Lord, and he accounted it to him for view all who received spiritual gifts were righteousness." The words are quoted with thereby proved to be, or to ha ,e been, substantially the like agreement with the justified persons and in enjoyment of the Septuagint and divergence from the Hebrew Divine favour? We can hardly think also in Rom. iv. 3, and by St. James in his this. The phenomena disclosed to :11s in the Epistle (ii. 23) (ln-lcr-reucre 6~ 'AfJpa.a.p., etc.). two Epistles addressed to the Corinthians, "It was reckoned; " in the Hebrew, " he as to the moral and spiritual behaviour of reckoned it; " "iti' that is, his believing: some at least of their body, tend to show God regarded it as imparting to him perfect that individuals possessed of charisma were acceptableness, his sins no longer disquali- found in some instances to make a very vain- fying him for being an object of the Divine glorious use of them, and needed to be fovour. It is of the greatest importance to reminded that the thaumaturgic gifts were take note what the kind of faith was which of a fleeting character and of incompnro.bly God reckoned to him for righteousnese. less vo.lue than qualities of moral goodness. It was not simply a persuasion that what Certainly Christ himself has told us thnt God says must be true. As Calvin remarks, "many" will o.t the last be found to haYe Co.in might have a hundred times exercised been possessed of such miraculous gifts, faith in what God had said to him, without whom nevertheless he "never knew." One thereby receiving righteousness from God. of the very apostles was a Judas. Perhaps 'rhe reason why Abraham was justified by be- the solution is this: companies of men lieving was th1s: o. promise ha.d been given were dealt with in the diffusion of these him by God of his fatherly goodness towards gifts according as they were characterized, him; and this word of God's he embro.ced o.s viewed each as B whole, though there might certainty. The faith, therefore, which the be individunls in ench company imperfectly, apostle is thinking of is the faith which has very superficially, some perhaps not at all, respect to some word of God which is of animated by the sentiment generally pre- such a sort that reliance upon it will enable vailing in the body. If a community as a a man to repose in God's love to him for whole was pervaded extensively by a spirit time and for eternity. The reference to of frank e.cceptanoe of the gospel doctrine Abraham's case which St. Paul makos in and of pious devotion, its members brought suoh very brief terms be expands in the by baptism into the "body which is Chri;;;_" fourth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans the Holy Spirit made such a comm&-.ity -to a considerable length, ending with these his habitation (1 Cor. iii. 16, 17; vi. 19; 124 THE EPISTLE TO 'l'HE GALATIANS, (CH, III, 1-20,