Ver. 26.-No departure allowed from tfie spiritual standard. If the Spirit is our Guide and Upl;lolder, there ought tc;> be no room for the indulgence of a proud or con-, tentious or envious disposition. ,. ' , L VAIN-GLORY. "Let us not become vain-glorious." A, mild and suggestive warning against an evil only in its incipiency. ·It is yain because it rests on no basis of reality; because, like a bubble, it bursts in a moment and is. seen. no more; because it leads to strife and envy. 11 "PROVOKING Ol\"E ANOTHER." This applies to the habit of challenging others to combat, as if Galatian Christianity had not been already sufficiently spoiled by con- troversies. III. "EKVYING ONE ANOTHER." The challenges of the strong might excite the. envy of the weak. How beautifully. the gospel calls the saints to peace, not to doubtful disputations I
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS.· Vers. 2-12.-Falling from grace. Paul in tbe present section exposes the legal and ceremonial spirit as a fall from the moral magnificence of grace. It has been well said that " it is harder to abolish forms than to change opinions. Ceremonies stand long after the thought which they express has fled, as a dead king may sit on his throne stiff and stark in his golden mantle, and no one come near enough to see that : ihe light is gone out of his eyes and the will departed from the hand that still clutches the sceptre." Circumcision was such a form, and against its improper use Paul has all through this Epistle to protest. 'l'he thought of the present section is elevating and sublime. Let us follow the outline. L PAUL HERE IMPLIES THE MORAL MAGNIFICENCE OF SALVATION BY GilA0E. (Vers. 4, 6.) For when we consider how this plan of salvation turns our minds away from self to God in Christ, giving all the glory to the Saviour and taking all the blame to self, we see that it is morally magnificent. Self-confidence is destroyed, .and confidence in Christ becomes all in all. 'fhe whole 11phere of activity is illumined by devotedness to him who has lived and died for our redemption.. Gratitude thus is the foundation of morality, and all idea of merit is put out of sight. The more the gospel is studied as a moral system, the more marvellous and magnificent will it appear. This will further exhibit itself if we consider what the worlcing principle of the gospel is. It is, as Paul here shows," faith working through love" (ver. 6, Revised Version). .,And faith is the mightiest factor in the world's progress. Suppose that faith were supplanted by suspicion, and men, instead of trustiag one another, lived lives of mutual suspicion, • the world's progress would come spef:!dily to an end. '!'he gospel, then, takes this ~ight,y principle of faith and, tl!rning it tow~rdl, Christ, it secures_love as its practical <lit. v. l.,_26.) 'liltlll FlPIS'l'LE 'rO THf GALATIA?il'El. 277