The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 352

duty implies B fuHiln1i'nt of Oh1i.st'1 l&w. This law is not to be ooncelved of ae If lb had come in the place of the moral Law, or ae if believers were now exempt from Law e\'en as B rule of life. "Lo\'e is the fulfilling of the Law." It wu so in Old Testament time~; for the sum of the Decalogue is love (Me.tt. xxii. 40) 1 l\nd the Apostle Paul exhorts believers to lo\'e one another, on the ground of its being I\ requirement of the moral Law (Rom. xiii. 8, 9). We need Law ae well as love. Lawtelle me what todo• lo\'e gives me power to do it. Our Lord never enjoined & greater love than the La.w of Moses, though he pre...scribed more modes of it.a manifest&tion, The law of Obrist t.herrforo, is only new in so far as it is enjoined upon a new model, "Love one anothe; n~ 1 hn,·e loved you "-as it is addressed only to believers, 88 it sprang out of a new, ll<'C<'ssity as the distinp:uishin11; ma.rk of dil!Ciplcshlp, and. as it goos forth into. ,life ,•;i t.h a new impressiveness. So regarded, the injunction to the Galatians becomes· clou bly impl"<'ssi,·e, as our Lord's e1mrople has the force of a law for us, for he bore with us in our weaknesses, and cannot but be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, ,, VC't. 3.-.A warning against self-deceit. The high but false estirnn;te that men' m~y form of themselves is the i,-eat hindrance to th.is mutual burden-bearing, Consider-, I. 'l'HE STBANGENEES 01- SELF-DECEPTION. It is not remarkable tha.t a man should: be the dupe of others, but strange that he should be ,the dup11- of, himself, , Yet ,there are many who think themselves to be something when they are nothing-partly.from the want of self-knowledge ; partly from the deceitfulness and pride of .the human heart; partly from the fallacious habit of measuring themselves by ,the attainmeut11 ,of others; partly, too, from the influence of false teachings. ,, 1: :, , II. ITS EVIL EFFECTS Ul'ON THE JUN m»sELF, He deceives himself,. but he cannot deceive either God or man. It is a fatal delusion while it lasts, for it etanda in the' way of all improvement. He lives in a fool's paradise.. Ifhe,had once discoverecf.that he was nothing he would be put in the way of getting the foundation rightly 18id, a.b.d he would be the more likely t,o have points of sympathy with the outcast' al)d fallen.. 'l'he s()llse of our own weakness ii the best motive to an indulgent ~onsider8tion for others. , r.,, III. lTs EVIL EFFECTS AS BEG.A.RDS OTHERS. ,. This is the crowning idea of the passage. The self-deceived man is incapabletof beariug others' burdens. , In fact, the imagin!!.tion of superior piety leads •him t,o be :harsh and censorious and. ovel'beariai?; ,to. others. There are sects in our day which pretend to a deeper communion with God, than other Christi.Jms, and they are only remarkable for a censorious pride which kills love. The self-deceived man tbiriks meanly of others' attainments, in opposition :to the gospel temper, which counsels Christians "io .lowliness of mind to think others l1etter than themselves;" while be takes no delight· in their graces or gifts; and will accept neither instruction nor correction from others. J:[e seems self-supporting and self-contained, exempt from frailty, sin, and sorrow, .anti therefore car~ nothing for the sins or the sorrows of others. It is only the disposj,tioD that can S'i/-Y, ",No_t I, but,t!i.!I grace of God in me," that will be ready for that mutup.J burden~bearing which.conduces so much to the comfort and cohesion of Christian soci,ety. l'er. 4.-The necessity of testing our work. "But let each one prc;,ve h~.own wo~k." It is not a mere call to self-examination, though that is a commai;tded duty, which tends to deepen the sense of oar infirmity ai;td our need of a higher strength ; it is a call to prove~ not himself, but his work-for there is a i;ort of introspection which 11,ight only f06ter his self-importance; but a powerful check. is provide4, by a rigorous account being taken of "work." The self-deception is m'1,inly subjective;, th~ <:Or•, rection is supplieti b,y ai;t objective stand11J"d applied to the WQrk .d.ol\e-p~q :l;,road practical result of his life. 'l'he result will .be that" then," Qi:\ the ,iuppo~1hon that the work ha.s stood the test, "he shall have his ground of boasting only. in ,~tion to himself, and not in relation to the other "-the man with whom he w~ coµiparing himself. He may test his own work, but he cannot test the work of the other ma1,1. '11,e apostle does not mean to say that the test would be favourable, for, judging by him;;elf, self-exa!llIDation would discover, along with gr~eJI and virtues, many frailties aod fo1lies, that would lead him to glory, not in himself, but in the mercy p.u~ love of the L,,rd. Stlf-eumination is not dci,igIJ.ed to leave 1,1s satisfied with ourselves qr  THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 319