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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible
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Matthew Henry |
G A L A T I A N S.
CHAP. V.
In this chapter the apostle comes to make application of his foregoing
discourse. He begins it with a general caution, or exhortation
(ver. 1),
which he afterwards enforces by several considerations,
He then presses them to serious practical godliness, which would be the
best antidote against the snares of their false teachers; particularly,
I. That they should not strive with one another,
II. That they would strive against sin, where he shows,
1. That there is in every one a struggle between flesh and spirit,
2. That it is our duty and interest, in this struggle, to side with the
better part,
3. He specifies the works of the flesh, which must be watched against
and mortified, and the fruits of the Spirit, which must be brought
forth and cherished, and shows of what importance it is that they be so,
And then concludes the chapter with a caution against pride and
envy.
| Exhortation to Stedfastness; Persuasives to Stedfastness. | A. D. 56. |
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1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath
made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage.
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing.
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he
is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith.
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing,
nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey
the truth?
8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be
none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his
judgment, whosoever he be.
11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet
suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
In the former part of this chapter the apostle cautions the Galatians
to take heed of the judaizing teachers, who endeavoured to bring them
back under the bondage of the law. He had been arguing against them
before, and had largely shown how contrary the principles and spirit of
those teachers were to the spirit of the gospel; and now this is as it
were the general inference or application of all that discourse. Since
it appeared by what had been said that we can be justified only by
faith in Jesus Christ, and not by the righteousness of the law, and
that the law of Moses was no longer in force, nor Christians under any
obligation to submit to it, therefore he would have them to stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and not to be
again entangled with the yoke of bondage. Here observe,
1. Under the gospel we are enfranchised, we are brought into a state of
liberty, wherein we are freed from the yoke of the ceremonial law and
from the curse of the moral law; so that we are no longer tied to the
observance of the one, nor tied up to the rigour of the other, which
curses every one that continues not in all things written therein to do
them,
2. We owe this liberty to Jesus Christ. It is he who has made us
free; by his merits he has satisfied the demands of the broken law,
and by his authority as a king he has discharged us from the obligation
of those carnal ordinances which were imposed on the Jews. And,
3. It is therefore our duty to stand fast in this liberty,
constantly and faithfully to adhere to the gospel and to the liberty of
it, and not to suffer ourselves, upon any consideration, to be again
entangled in the yoke of bondage, nor persuaded to return back to
the law of Moses. This is the general caution or exhortation, which in
the
the apostle enforces by several reasons or arguments. As,
I. That their submitting to circumcision, and depending on the works of
the law for righteousness, were an implicit contradiction of their
faith as Christians and a forfeiture of all their advantages by Jesus
Christ,
And here we may observe,
1. With what solemnity the apostle asserts and declares this:
Behold, I Paul say unto you
(v. 2),
and he repeats it
(v. 3),
I testify unto you; as it he had said, “I, who have proved
myself an apostle of Christ, and to have received my authority and
instructions from him, do declare, and am ready to pawn my credit and
reputation upon it, that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit
you nothing, &c.,” wherein he shows that what he was now saying was
not only a matter of great importance, but what might be most assuredly
depended on. He was so far from being a preacher of circumcision (as
some might report him to be) that he looked upon it as a matter of the
greatest consequence that they did not submit to it.
2. What it is which he so solemnly, and with so much assurance,
declares; it is that, if they were circumcised, Christ would profit
them nothing, &c. We are not to suppose that it is mere
circumcision which the apostle is here speaking of, or that it was his
design to say that none who are circumcised could have any benefit by
Christ; for all the Old-Testament saints had been circumcised, and he
himself had consented to the circumcising of Timothy. But he is to be
understood as speaking of circumcision in the sense in which the
judaizing teachers imposed it, who taught that except they were
circumcised, and kept the law of Moses, they could not be saved,
Acts xv. 1.
That this is his meaning appears from
v. 4,
where he expresses the same thing by their being justified by the
law, or seeking justification by the works of it. Now in this case,
if they submitted to circumcision in this sense, he declares that
Christ would profit them nothing, that they were debtors to do the
whole law, that Christ had become of no effect to them, and
that they were fallen from grace. From all these expressions it
appears that thereby they renounced that way of justification which God
had established; yea, that they laid themselves under an impossibility
of being justified in his sight, for they became debtors to do the
whole law, which required such an obedience as they were not capable of
performing, and denounced a curse against those who failed in it, and
therefore condemned, but could not justify them; and, consequently,
that having thus revolted from Christ, and built their hopes upon the
law, Christ would profit them nothing, nor be of any effect to them.
Thus, as by being circumcised they renounced their Christianity, so
they cut themselves off from all advantage by Christ; and therefore
there was the greatest reason why they should stedfastly adhere to that
doctrine which they had embraced, and not suffer themselves to be
brought under this yoke of bondage. Note,
(1.) Though Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost, yet there
are multitudes whom he will profit nothing.
(2.) All those who seek to be justified by the law do thereby render
Christ of no effect to them. By building their hopes on the works of
the law, they forfeit all their hopes from him; for he will not be the
Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only
Saviour.
II. To persuade them to stedfastness in the doctrine and liberty of the
gospel, he sets before them his own example, and that of other Jews who
had embraced the Christian religion, and acquaints them what their
hopes were, namely, That through the Spirit they were waiting for
the hope of righteousness by faith. Though they were Jews by
nature, and had been bred up under the law, yet being, through the
Spirit, brought to the knowledge of Christ, they had renounced all
dependence on the works of the law, and looked for justification and
salvation only by faith in him; and therefore it must needs be the
greatest folly in those who had never been under the law to suffer
themselves to be brought into subjection to it, and to found their
hopes upon the works of it. Here we may observe,
1. What it is that Christians are waiting for: it is the hope of
righteousness, by which we are chiefly to understand the happiness
of the other world. This is called the hope of Christians, as it is
the great object of their hope, which they are above every thing else
desiring and pursuing; and the hope of righteousness, as their hopes of
it are founded on righteousness, not their own, but that of our Lord
Jesus: for, though a life of righteousness is the way that leads to
this happiness, yet it is the righteousness of Christ alone which has
procured it for us, and on account of which we can expect to be brought
to the possession of it.
2. How they hope to obtain this happiness, namely, by faith, that is,
in our Lord Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law, or any thing
they can do to deserve it, but only by faith, receiving and relying
upon him as the Lord our righteousness. It is in this way only that
they expect either to be entitled to it here or possessed of it
hereafter. And,
3. Whence it is that they are thus waiting for the hope of
righteousness: it is through the Spirit. Herein they act under
the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit; it is under his
conduct, and by his assistance, that they are both persuaded and
enabled to believe on Christ, and to look for the hope of righteousness
through him. When the apostle thus represents the case of Christians,
it is implied that if they expected to be justified and saved in any
other way they were likely to meet with a disappointment, and therefore
that they were greatly concerned to adhere to the doctrine of the
gospel which they had embraced.
III. He argues from the nature and design of the Christian institution,
which was to abolish the difference between Jew and Gentile, and to
establish faith in Christ as the way of our acceptance with God. He
tells them
(v. 6)
that in Christ Jesus, or under the gospel dispensation,
neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision.
Though, while the legal state lasted, there was a difference put
between Jew and Greek, between those who were and those who were not
circumcised, the former being admitted to those privileges of the
church of God from which the other were excluded, yet it was otherwise
in the gospel state: Christ, who is the end of the law, having
come, now it was neither here nor there whether a man were circumcised
or uncircumcised; he was neither the better for the one nor the worse
for the other, nor would either the one or the other recommend him to
God; and therefore as their judaizing teachers were very unreasonable
in imposing circumcision upon them, and obliging them to observe the
law of Moses, so they must needs be very unwise in submitting to them
herein. But, though he assures them that neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision would avail to their acceptance with God, yet he informs
them what would do so, and that is faith, which worketh by love:
such a faith in Christ as discovers itself to be true and genuine by a
sincere love to God and our neighbour. If they had this, it mattered
not whether they were circumcised or uncircumcised, but with out it
nothing else would stand them in any stead. Note,
1. No external privileges nor profession will avail to our acceptance
with God, without a sincere faith in our Lord Jesus.
2. Faith, where it is true, is a working grace: it works by love, love
to God and love to our brethren; and faith, thus working by love, is
all in all in our Christianity.
IV. To recover them from their backslidings, and engage them to greater
stedfastness for the future, he puts them in mind of their good
beginnings, and calls upon them to consider whence it was that they
were so much altered from what they had been,
v. 7.
1. He tells them that they did run well; at their first setting
out in Christianity they had behaved themselves very commendably, they
had readily embraced the Christian religion, and discovered a becoming
zeal in the ways and work of it; as in their baptism they were devoted
to God, and had declared themselves the disciples of Christ, so their
behaviour was agreeable to their character and profession. Note,
(1.) The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold
on, if he would obtain the prize.
(2.) It is not enough that we run in this race, by a profession of
Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession.
Thus these Christians had done for awhile, but they had been obstructed
in their progress, and were either turned out of the way or at least
made to flag and falter in it. Therefore,
2. He asks them, and calls upon them to ask themselves, Who did
hinder you? How came it to pass that they did not hold on in the
way wherein they had begun to run so well? He very well knew who they
were, and what it was that hindered them; but he would have them to put
the question to themselves, and seriously consider whether they had any
good reason to hearken to those who gave them this disturbance, and
whether what they offered was sufficient to justify them in their
present conduct. Note,
(1.) Many who set out fair in religion, and run well for awhile–run
within the bounds appointed for the race, and run with zeal and
alacrity too–are yet by some means or other hindered in their
progress, or turned out of the way.
(2.) It concerns those who have run well, but now begin either to turn
out of the way or to tire in it, to enquire what it is that hinders
them. Young converts must expect that Satan will be laying stumbling
blocks in their way, and doing all he can to divert them from the
course they are in; but, whenever they find themselves in danger of
being turned out of it, they would do well to consider who it is that
hinders them. Whoever they were that hindered these Christians, the
apostle tells them that by hearkening to them they were kept from
obeying the truth, and were thereby in danger of losing the
benefit of what they had done in religion. The gospel which he had
preached to them, and which they had embraced and professed, he assures
them was the truth; it was therein only that the true way of
justification and salvation was fully discovered, and, in order to
their enjoying the advantage of it, it was necessary that they should
obey it, that they should firmly adhere to it, and continue to govern
their lives and hopes according to the directions of it. If therefore
they should suffer themselves to be drawn away from it they must needs
be guilty of the greatest weakness and folly. Note,
[1.] The truth is not only to be believed, but to be obeyed, to be
received not only in the light of it, but in the love and power of it.
[2.] Those do not rightly obey the truth, who do not stedfastly adhere
to it.
[3.] There is the same reason for our obeying the truth that there was
for our embracing it: and therefore those act very unreasonably who,
when they have begun to run well in the Christian race, suffer
themselves to be hindered, so as not to persevere in it.
V. He argues for their stedfastness in the faith and liberty of the
gospel from the ill rise of that persuasion whereby they were drawn
away from it
(v. 8):
This persuasion, says he, cometh not of him that calleth
you. The opinion or persuasion of which the apostle here speaks was
no doubt that of the necessity of their being circumcised, and keeping
the law of Moses, or of their mixing the works of the law with faith in
Christ in the business of justification. This was what the judaizing
teachers endeavoured to impose upon them, and what they had too easily
fallen into. To convince them of their folly herein, he tells them that
this persuasion did not come of him that called them, that is, either
of God, by whose authority the gospel had been preached to them and
they had been called into the fellowship of it, or of the apostle
himself, who had been employed as the instrument of calling them
hereunto. It could not come from God, for it was contrary to that way
of justification and salvation which he had established; nor could they
have received it from Paul himself; for, whatever some might pretend,
he had all along been an opposer and not a preacher of circumcision,
and, if in any instance he had submitted to it for the sake of peace,
yet he had never pressed the use of it upon Christians, much less
imposed it upon them as necessary to salvation. Since then this
persuasion did not come of him that had called them, he leaves them to
judge whence it must arise, and sufficiently intimates that it could be
owing to none but Satan and his instruments, who by this means were
endeavouring to overthrow their faith and obstruct the progress of the
gospel, and therefore that the Galatians had every reason to reject it,
and to continue stedfast in the truth which they had before embraced.
Note,
1. In order to our judging aright of the different persuasions in
religion which there are among Christians, it concerns us to enquire
whether they come of him that calleth us, whether or no they are
founded upon the authority of Christ and his apostles.
2. If, upon enquiry, they appear to have no such foundation, how
forward soever others may be to impose them upon us, we should by no
means submit to them, but reject them.
VI. The danger there was of the spreading of this infection, and the
ill influence it might have upon others, are a further argument which
the apostle urges against their complying with their false teachers in
what they would impose on them. It is possible that, to extenuate their
fault, they might be ready to say that there were but few of those
teachers among them who endeavoured to draw them into this persuasion
and practice, or that they were only some smaller matters wherein they
complied with them–that though they submitted to be circumcised, and
to observe some few rites of the Jewish laws, yet they had by no means
renounced their Christianity and gone over to Judaism. Or, suppose
their complying thus far was as faulty as he could represent it, yet
perhaps they might further say that there were but few among them who
had done so, and therefore he needed not be so much concerned about it.
Now, to obviate such pretences as these, and to convince them that
there was more danger in it than they were aware of, he tells them
(v. 9)
that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump–that the whole
lump of Christianity may be tainted and corrupted by one such erroneous
principle, or that the whole lump of the Christian society may be
infected by one member of it, and therefore that they were greatly
concerned not to yield in this single instance, or, if any had done so,
to endeavour by all proper methods to purge out the infection from
among them. Note, It is dangerous for Christian churches to encourage
those among them who entertain, especially who set themselves to
propagate, destructive errors. This was the case here. The doctrine
which the false teachers were industrious to spread, and which some in
these churches had been drawn into, was subversive of Christianity
itself, as the apostle had before shown; and therefore, though the
number either of the one or the other of these might be but small, yet,
considering the fatal tendency of it and the corruption of human
nature, whereby others were too much disposed to be infected with it,
he would not have them on that account to be easy and unconcerned, but
remember that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. If these
were indulged the contagion might soon spread further and wider; and,
if they suffered themselves to be imposed upon in this instance, it
might soon issue in the utter ruin of the truth and liberty of the
gospel.
VII. That he might conciliate the greater regard to what he had said,
he expresses the hopes he had concerning them
(v. 10):
I have confidence in you, says he, through the Lord, that you
will be none otherwise minded. Though he had many fears and doubts
about them (which was the occasion of his using so much plainness and
freedom with them), yet he hoped that through the blessing of God upon
what he had written they might be brought to be of the same mind with
him, and to own and abide by that truth and that liberty of the gospel
which he had preached to them, and was now endeavouring to confirm them
in. Herein he teaches us that we ought to hope the best even of those
concerning whom we have cause to fear the worst. That they might be the
less offended at the reproofs he had given them for their
unstedfastness in the faith, he lays the blame of it more upon others
than themselves; for he adds, But he that troubleth you shall bear
his judgment, whosoever he be. He was sensible that there were
some that troubled them, and would pervert the gospel of Christ
(as
ch. i. 7),
and possibly he may point to some one particular man who was more busy
and forward than others, and might be the chief instrument of the
disorder that was among them; and to this he imputes their defection or
inconstancy more than to any thing in themselves. This may give us
occasion to observe that, in reproving sin and error, we should always
distinguish between the leaders and the led, such as set themselves to
draw others thereinto and such as are drawn aside by them. Thus the
apostle softens and alleviates the fault of these Christians, even
while he is reproving them, that he might the better persuade them to
return to, and stand fast in, the liberty wherewith Christ had made
them free: but as for him or those that troubled them, whoever he or
they were, he declares they should bear their judgment, he did
not doubt but God would deal with them according to their deserts, and
out of his just indignation against them, as enemies of Christ and his
church, he wishes that they were even cut off–not cut off from
Christ and all hopes of salvation by him, but cut off by the censures
of the church, which ought to witness against those teachers who thus
corrupted the purity of the gospel. Those, whether ministers or others,
who set themselves to overthrow the faith of the gospel, and disturb
the peace of Christians, do thereby forfeit the privileges of Christian
communion and deserve to be cut off from them.
VIII. To dissuade these Christians from hearkening to their judaizing
teachers, and to recover them from the ill impressions they had made
upon them, he represents them as men who had used very base and
disingenuous methods to compass their designs, for they had
misrepresented him, that they might the more easily gain their ends
upon them. That which they were endeavouring was to bring them to
submit to circumcision, and to mix Judaism with their Christianity;
and, the better to accomplish this design, they had given out among
them that Paul himself was a preacher of circumcision: for when he says
(v. 11),
And I brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, it plainly appears
that they had reported him to have done so, and that they had made use
of this as an argument to prevail with the Galatians to submit to it.
It is probable that they grounded this report upon his having
circumcised Timothy,
But, though for good reasons he had yielded to circumcision in that
instance, yet that he was a preacher of it, and especially in that
sense wherein they imposed it, he utterly denies. To prove the
injustice of that charge upon him, he offers such arguments as, if they
would allow themselves to consider, could not fail to convince them of
it.
1. If he would have preached circumcision, he might have avoided
persecution. If I yet preach circumcision, says he, why do I yet
suffer persecution? It was evident, and they could not but be
sensible of it, that he was hated and persecuted by the Jews; but what
account could be given of this their behaviour towards him, if he had
so far symbolized with them as to preach up circumcision, and the
observance of the law of Moses, as necessary to salvation? This was the
great point they were contending for; and, if he had fallen in with
them herein, instead of being exposed to their rage he might have been
received into their favour. When therefore he was suffering
persecution from them, this was a plain evidence that he had not
complied with them; yea, that he was so far from preaching the doctrine
he was charged with, that, rather than do so, he was willing to expose
himself to the greatest hazards.
2. If he had yielded to the Jews herein, then would the offence of
the cross have ceased. They would not have taken so much offence
against the doctrine of Christianity as they did, nor would he and
others have been exposed to so much suffering on the account of it as
they were. He informs us
that the preaching of the cross of Christ (or the doctrine of
justification and salvation only by faith in Christ crucified) was
to the Jews a stumbling-block. That which they were most offended
at in Christianity was, that thereby circumcision, and the whole frame
of the legal administration, were set aside, as no longer in force.
This raised their greatest outcries against it, and stirred them up to
oppose and persecute the professors of it. Now if Paul and others could
have given into this opinion, that circumcision was still to be
retained, and the observance of the law of Moses joined with faith in
Christ as necessary to salvation, then their offence against it would
have been in a great measure removed, and they might have avoided the
sufferings they underwent for the sake of it. But though others, and
particularly those who were so forward to asperse him as a preacher of
this doctrine, could easily come into it, yet so could not he. He
rather chose to hazard his ease and credit, yea his very life itself,
than thus to corrupt the truth and give up the liberty of the gospel.
Hence it was that the Jews continued to be so much offended against
Christianity, and against him as the preacher of it. Thus the apostle
clears himself from the unjust reproach which his enemies had cast upon
him, and at the same time shows how little regard was due to those men
who could treat him in such an injurious manner, and how much reason he
had to wish that they were even cut off.
| Practical Godliness Enforced; Works of the Flesh and of the Spirit; The Fruits of the Spirit. | A. D. 56. |
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13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use
not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one
another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be
not consumed one of another.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not
fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other:
so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:
of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another,
envying one another.
In the latter part of this chapter the apostle comes to exhort these
Christians to serious practical godliness, as the best antidote against
the snares of the false teachers. Two things especially he presses upon
them:–
I. That they should not strive with one another, but love one another.
He tells them
(v. 13)
that they had been called unto liberty, and he would have them
to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free; but
yet he would have them be very careful that they did not use this
liberty as an occasion to the flesh–that they did not thence take
occasion to indulge themselves in any corrupt affections and practices,
and particularly such as might create distance and disaffection, and be
the ground of quarrels and contentions among them: but, on the
contrary, he would have them by love to serve one another, to
maintain that mutual love and affection which, notwithstanding any
minor differences there might be among them, would dispose them to all
those offices of respect and kindness to each other which the Christian
religion obliged them to. Note,
1. The liberty we enjoy as Christians is not a licentious liberty:
though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet he has not
freed us from the obligation of it; the gospel is a doctrine
according to godliness
(1 Tim. vi. 3),
and is so far from giving the least countenance to sin that it lays us
under the strongest obligations to avoid and subdue it.
2. Though we ought to stand fast in our Christian liberty, yet we
should not insist upon it to the breach of Christian charity; we should
not use it as an occasion of strife and contention with our fellow
Christians, who may be differently minded from us, but should always
maintain such a temper towards each other as may dispose us by love to
serve one another. To this the apostle endeavours to persuade these
Christians, and there are two considerations which he sets before them
for this purpose:–
(1.) That all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,
v. 14.
Love is the sum of the whole law; as love to God comprises the duties
of the first table, so love to our neighbour those of the second. The
apostle takes notice of the latter here, because he is speaking of
their behaviour towards one another; and, when he makes use of this as
an argument to persuade them to mutual love, he intimates both that
this would be a good evidence of their sincerity in religion and also
the most likely means of rooting out those dissensions and divisions
that were among them. It will appear that we are the disciples of
Christ indeed when we have love one to another
and, where this temper is kept up, if it do not wholly extinguish those
unhappy discords that are among Christians, yet at least it will so far
accommodate them that the fatal consequences of them will be prevented.
(2.) The sad and dangerous tendency of a contrary behaviour
(v. 15):
But, says he, if instead of serving one another in love, and
therein fulfilling the law of God, you bite and devour one another,
take heed that you be not consumed one of another. If, instead of
acting like men and Christians, they would behave themselves more like
brute beasts, in tearing and rending one another, they could expect
nothing as the consequence of it, but that they would be consumed one
of another; and therefore they had the greatest reason not to indulge
themselves in such quarrels and animosities. Note, Mutual strifes
among brethren, if persisted in, are likely to prove a common ruin;
those that devour one another are in a fair way to be consumed one of
another. Christian churches cannot be ruined but by their own hands;
but if Christians, who should be helps to one another and a joy one to
another, be as brute beasts, biting and devouring each other, what can
be expected but that the God of love should deny his grace to them, and
the Spirit of love should depart from them, and that the evil spirit,
who seeks the destruction of them all, should prevail?
II. That they should all strive against sin; and happy would it be for
the church if Christians would let all their quarrels be swallowed up
of this, even a quarrel against sin–if, instead of biting and devouring
one another on account of their different opinions, they would all set
themselves against sin in themselves and the places where they live.
This is what we are chiefly concerned to fight against, and that which
above every thing else we should make it our business to oppose and
suppress. To excite Christians hereunto, and to assist them herein, the
apostle shows,
1. That there is in every one a struggle between the flesh and the
spirit
(v. 17):
The flesh (the corrupt and carnal part of us) lusts
(strives and struggles with strength and vigour) against the
spirit: it opposes all the motions of the Spirit, and resists every
thing that is spiritual. On the other hand, the spirit (the
renewed part of us) strives against the flesh, and opposes the
will and desire of it: and hence it comes to pass that we cannot do
the things that we would. As the principle of grace in us will not
suffer us to do all the evil which our corrupt nature would prompt us
to, so neither can we do all the good that we would, by reason of the
oppositions we meet with from that corrupt and carnal principle. Even
as in a natural man there is something of this struggle (the
convictions of his conscience and the corruption of his own heart
strive with one another; his convictions would suppress his
corruptions, and his corruptions silence his convictions), so in a
renewed man, where there is something of a good principle, there is a
struggle between the old nature and the new nature, the remainders of
sin and the beginnings of grace; and this Christians must expect will
be their exercise as long as they continue in this world.
2. That it is our duty and interest in this struggle to side with the
better part, to side with our convictions against our corruptions and
with our graces against our lusts. This the apostle represents as our
duty, and directs us to the most effectual means of success in it. If
it should be asked, What course must we take that the better interest
may get the better? he gives us this one general rule, which, if duly
observed, would be the most sovereign remedy against the prevalence of
corruption; and that is to walk in the Spirit
(v. 16):
This I say, then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the
lust of the flesh. By the Spirit here may be meant either
the Holy Spirit himself, who condescends to dwell in the hearts of
those whom he has renewed and sanctified, to guide and assist them in
the way of their duty, or that gracious principle which he implants in
the souls of his people and which lusts against the flesh, as that
corrupt principle which still remains in them does against it.
Accordingly the duty here recommended to us is that we set ourselves to
act under the guidance and influence of the blessed Spirit, and
agreeably to the motions and tendency of the new nature in us; and, if
this be our care in the ordinary course and tenour of our lives, we may
depend upon it that, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and
oppositions of our corrupt nature, we shall be kept from fulfilling it
in the lusts thereof; so that though it remain in us, yet it shall not
obtain a dominion over us. Note, The best antidote against the poison
of sin is to walk in the Spirit, to be much in conversing with
spiritual things, to mind the things of the soul, which is the
spiritual part of man, more than those of the body, which is his carnal
part, to commit ourselves to the guidance of the word, wherein the Holy
Spirit makes known the will of God concerning us, and in the way of our
duty to act in a dependence on his aids and influences. And, as this
would be the best means of preserving them from fulfilling the lusts of
the flesh, so it would be a good evidence that they were Christians
indeed; for, says the apostle
(v. 18),
If you be led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. As if he
had said, “You must expect a struggle between flesh and spirit as long
as you are in the world, that the flesh will be lusting against the
spirit as well as the spirit against the flesh; but if, in the
prevailing bent and tenour of your lives, you be led by the
Spirit,–if you act under the guidance and government of the Holy
Spirit and of that spiritual nature and disposition he has wrought in
you,–if you make the word of God your rule and the grace of God your
principle,–it will hence appear that you are not under the law, not
under the condemning, though you are still under the commanding, power
of it; for there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; and
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God,”
3. The apostle specifies the works of the flesh, which must be watched
against and mortified, and the fruits of the Spirit, which must be
cherished and brought forth
(v. 19,
&c.); and by specifying particulars he further illustrates what he is
here upon.
(1.) He begins with the works of the flesh, which, as they are
many, so they are manifest. It is past dispute that the things he here
speaks of are the works of the flesh, or the product of corrupt and
depraved nature; most of them are condemned by the light of nature
itself, and all of them by the light of scripture. The particulars he
specifies are of various sorts; some are sins against the seventh
commandment, such as adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, by which are meant not only the gross acts of these
sins, but all such thoughts, and words, and actions, as have a tendency
towards the great transgression. Some are sins against the first and
second commandments, as idolatry and witchcraft. Others
are sins against our neighbour, and contrary to the royal law of
brotherly love, such as hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, which too often occasion seditions, heresies,
envyings, and sometimes break out into murders, not only of
the names and reputation, but even of the very lives, of our
fellow-creatures. Others are sins against ourselves, such as
drunkenness and revellings; and he concludes the catalogue with
an et cetera, and gives fair warning to all to take care of
them, as they hope to see the face of God with comfort. Of these and
such like, says he, I tell you before, as I have also told
you in times past, that those who do such things, how much
soever they may flatter themselves with vain hopes, shall not
inherit the kingdom of God. These are sins which will undoubtedly
shut men out of heaven. The world of spirits can never be comfortable
to those who plunge themselves in the filth of the flesh; nor will the
righteous and holy God ever admit such into his favour and presence,
unless they be first washed and sanctified, and justified in the
name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God,
1 Cor. vi. 11.
(2.) He specifies the fruits of the Spirit, or the renewed nature,
which as Christians we are concerned to bring forth,
And here we may observe that as sin is called the work of the
flesh, because the flesh, or corrupt nature, is the principle that
moves and excites men to it, so grace is said to be the fruit of the
Spirit, because it wholly proceeds from the Spirit, as the fruit
does from the root: and whereas before the apostle had chiefly
specified those works of the flesh which were not only hurtful to men
themselves but tended to make them so to one another, so here he
chiefly takes notice of those fruits of the Spirit which had a tendency
to make Christians agreeable one to another, as well as easy to
themselves; and this was very suitable to the caution or exhortation he
had before given
(v. 13),
that they should not use their liberty as an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another. He particularly recommends to us,
love, to God especially, and to one another for his
sake,–joy, by which may be understood cheerfulness in
conversation with our friends, or rather a constant delight in
God,–peace, with God and conscience, or a peaceableness of
temper and behaviour towards others,–long-suffering, patience
to defer anger, and a contentedness to bear
injuries,–gentleness, such a sweetness of temper, and
especially towards our inferiors, as disposes us to be affable and
courteous, and easy to be entreated when any have wronged
us,–goodness (kindness, beneficence), which shows itself in a
readiness to do good to all as we have opportunity,–faith,
fidelity, justice, and honesty, in what we profess and promise to
others,–meekness, wherewith to govern our passions and
resentments, so as not to be easily provoked, and, when we are so, to
be soon pacified,–and temperance, in meat and drink, and other
enjoyments of life, so as not to be excessive and immoderate in the use
of them. Concerning these things, or those in whom these fruits of the
Spirit are found, the apostle says, There is no law against
them, to condemn and punish them. Yea, hence it appears that they
are not under the law, but under grace; for these fruits of the Spirit,
in whomsoever they are found, plainly show that such are led by the
Spirit, and consequently that they are not under the law, as
And as, by specifying these works of the flesh and fruits of the
Spirit, the apostle directs us both what we are to avoid and oppose and
what we are to cherish and cultivate, so
(v. 24)
he informs us that this is the sincere care and endeavour of all real
Christians: And those that are Christ’s, says he (those who are
Christians indeed, not only in show and profession, but in sincerity
and truth), have crucified the flesh with the affections and
lusts. As in their baptism they were obliged hereunto (for, being
baptized into Christ, they were baptized into his death,
so they are now sincerely employing themselves herein, and, in
conformity to their Lord and head, are endeavouring to die unto sin, as
he had died for it. They have not yet obtained a complete victory over
it; they have still flesh as well as Spirit in them, and that has its
affections and lusts, which continue to give them no little
disturbance, but as it does not now reign in their mortal bodies, so
as that they obey it in the lusts thereof
(Rom. vi. 12),
so they are seeking the utter ruin and destruction of it, and to put it
to the same shameful and ignominious, though lingering death, which our
Lord Jesus underwent for our sakes. Note, If we should approve
ourselves to be Christ’s, such as are united to him and interested in
him, we must make it our constant care and business to crucify the
flesh with its corrupt affections and lusts. Christ will never own
those as his who yield themselves the servants of sin. But though the
apostle here only mentions the crucifying of the flesh with the
affections and lusts, as the care and character of real Christians,
yet, no doubt, it is also implied that, on the other hand, we should
show forth those fruits of the Spirit which he had just before been
specifying; this is no less our duty than that, nor is it less
necessary to evidence our sincerity in religion. It is not enough that
we cease to do evil, but we must learn to do well. Our Christianity
obliges us not only to die unto sin, but to live unto righteousness;
not only to oppose the works of the flesh, but to bring forth the
fruits of the Spirit too. If therefore we would make it appear that we
do indeed belong to Christ, this must be our sincere care and endeavour
as well as the other; and that it was the design of the apostle to
represent both the one and the other of these as our duty, and as
necessary to support our character as Christians, may be gathered from
what follows
(v. 25),
where he adds, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit; that is, “If we profess to have received the Spirit of
Christ, or that we are renewed in the Spirit of Christ, or that we are
renewed in the spirit of our minds, and endued with a principle of
spiritual life, let us make it appear by the proper fruits of the
Spirit in our lives.” He had before told us that the Spirit of Christ
is a privilege bestowed on all the children of God,
“Now,” says he, “if we profess to be of this number, and as such to
have obtained this privilege, let us show it by a temper and behaviour
agreeable hereunto; let us evidence our good principles by good
practices.” Our conversation will always be answerable to the principle
which we are under the guidance and government of: as those that are
after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, so those that
are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit,
Rom. viii. 5.
If therefore we would have it appear that we are Christ’s, and that we
are partakers of his Spirit, it must be by our walking not after the
flesh, but after the spirit. We must set ourselves in good earnest
both to mortify the deeds of the body, and to walk in newness of
life.
4. The apostle concludes this chapter with a caution against pride and
envy,
He had before been exhorting these Christians by love to serve one
another
(v. 13),
and had put them in mind of what would be the consequence if, instead
of that, they did bite and devour one another,
v. 15.
Now, as a means of engaging them to the one and preserving them from
the other of these, he here cautions them against being desirous of
vain-glory, or giving way to an undue affectation of the esteem and
applause of men, because this, if it were indulged, would certainly
lead them to provoke one another and to envy one another. As far as
this temper prevails among Christians, they will be ready to slight and
despise those whom they look upon as inferior to them, and to be put
out of humour if they are denied that respect which they think is their
due from them, and they will also be apt to envy those by whom their
reputation is in any danger of being lessened: and thus a foundation is
laid for those quarrels and contentions which, as they are inconsistent
with that love which Christians ought to maintain towards each other,
so they are greatly prejudicial to the honour and interest of religion
itself. This therefore the apostle would have us by all means to watch
against. Note,
(1.) The glory which comes from men is vain-glory, which, instead of
being desirous of, we should be dead to.
(2.) An undue regard to the approbation and applause of men is one
great ground of the unhappy strifes and contentions that exist among
Christians.
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