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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
G A L A T I A N S.
CHAP. I.
In this chapter, after the preface or introduction
(ver. 1-5),
the apostle severely reproves these churches for their defection from
the faith
(ver. 6-9),
and then proves his own apostleship, which his enemies had brought them
to question,
I. From his end and design in preaching the gospel,
II. From his having received it by immediate revelation,
For the proof of which he acquaints them,
1. What his former conversation was,
2. How he was converted, and called to the apostleship,
3. How he behaved himself afterwards,
| The Introductory Address. | A. D. 56. |
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1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus
Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of
Galatia:
3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from
our Lord Jesus Christ,
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from
this present evil world, according to the will of God and our
Father:
5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
In these verses we have the preface or introduction to the epistle,
where observe,
I. The person or persons from whom this epistle is sent–from Paul an
apostle, &c., and all the brethren that were with him.
1. The epistle is sent from Paul; he only was the penman of it. And,
because there were some among the Galatians who endeavoured to lessen
his character and authority, in the front of it he gives a general
account both of his office and of the manner in which he was called to
it, which afterwards, in this and the following chapter, he enlarges
more upon. As to his office, he was an apostle. He is not afraid to
style himself so, though his enemies would scarcely allow him this
title: and, to let them see that he did not assume this character
without just ground, he acquaints them how he was called to this
dignity and office, and assures them that his commission to it was
wholly divine, for he was an apostle, not of man, neither by
man; he had not the common call of an ordinary minister, but an
extraordinary call from heaven to this office. He neither received his
qualification for it, nor his designation to it, by the mediation of
men, but had both the one and the other directly from above; for he was
an apostle by Jesus Christ, he had his instructions and
commission immediately from him, and consequently from God the
Father, who was one with him in respect of his divine nature, and
who had appointed him, as Mediator, to be the apostle and high priest
of our profession, and as such to authorize others to this office. He
adds, Who raised him from the dead, both to acquaint us that
herein God the Father gave a public testimony to Christ’s being his Son
and the promised Messiah, and also that, as his call to the apostleship
was immediately from Christ, so it was after his resurrection from the
dead, and when he had entered upon his exalted state; so that he had
reason to look upon himself, not only as standing upon a level with the
other apostles, but as in some sort preferred above them; for, whereas
they were called by him when on earth, he had his call from him when in
heaven. Thus does the apostle, being constrained to it by his
adversaries, magnify his office, which shows that though men should by
no means be proud of any authority they are possessed of, yet at
certain times and upon certain occasions it may become needful to
assert it. But,
2. He joins all the brethren that were with him in the inscription of
the epistle, and writes in their name as well as his own. By the
brethren that were with him may be understood either the Christians
in common of that place where he now was, or such as were employed as
ministers of the gospel. These, notwithstanding his own superior
character and attainments, he is ready to own as his brethren; and,
though he alone wrote the epistle, yet he joins them with himself in
the inscription of it. Herein, as he shows his own great modesty and
humility, and how remote he was from an assuming temper, so he might do
this to dispose these churches to a greater regard to what he wrote,
since hereby it would appear that he had their concurrence with him in
the doctrine which he had preached, and was now about to confirm, and
that it was no other than what was both published and professed by
others as well as himself.
II. To whom this epistle is sent–to the churches of Galatia.
There were several churches at that time in this country, and it should
seem that all of them were more or less corrupted through the arts of
those seducers who had crept in among them; and therefore Paul, on whom
came daily the care of all the churches, being deeply affected
with their state, and concerned for their recovery to the faith and
establishment in it, writes this epistle to them. He directs it to all
of them, as being all more or less concerned in the matter of it; and
he gives them the name of churches, though they had done enough
to forfeit it, for corrupt churches are never allowed to be churches:
no doubt there were some among them who still continued in the faith,
and he was not without hope that others might be recovered to it.
III. The apostolical benediction,
v. 3.
Herein the apostle, and the brethren who were with him, wish these
churches grace and peace from God the Father, and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is the usual blessing wherewith he blesses the
churches in the name of the Lord–grace and peace. Grace
includes God’s good-will towards us and his good work upon us; and
peace implies in it all that inward comfort, or outward prosperity,
which is really needful for us; and they come from God the Father as
the fountain, through Jesus Christ as the channel of conveyance. Both
these the apostle wishes for these Christians. But we may observe,
First grace, and then peace, for there can be no true peace without
grace. Having mentioned the Lord Jesus Christ, he cannot pass without
enlarging upon his love; and therefore adds
(v. 4),
Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver, &c. Jesus
Christ gave himself for our sins, as a great sacrifice to make
atonement for us; this the justice of God required, and to this he
freely submitted for our sakes. One great end hereof was to deliver
us from this present evil world; not only to redeem us from the
wrath of God, and the curse of the law, but also to recover us from the
corruption that is in the world through lust, and to rescue us from the
vicious practices and customs of it, unto which we are naturally
enslaved; and possibly also to set us free from the Mosaic
constitution, for so aion houtos is used,
From this we may note,
1. This present world is an evil world: it has become so by the sin of
man, and it is so on account of the sin and sorrow with which it
abounds and the many snares and temptations to which we are exposed as
long as we continue in it. But,
2. Jesus Christ has died to deliver us from this present evil world,
not presently to remove his people out of it, but to rescue them from
the power of it, to keep them from the evil of it, and in due time to
possess them of another and better world. This, the apostle informs
us, he has done according to the will of God and our Father. In
offering up himself a sacrifice for this end and purpose, he acted by
the appointment of the Father, as well as with his own free consent;
and therefore we have the greatest reason to depend upon the efficacy
and acceptableness of what he has done and suffered for us; yea, hence
we have encouragement to look upon God as our Father, for thus the
apostle here represents him: as he is the Father of our Lord Jesus, so
in and through him he is also the Father of all true believers, as our
blessed Saviour himself acquaints us
(John xx. 17),
when he tells his disciples that he was ascending to his Father and
their Father.
The apostle, having thus taken notice of the great love wherewith
Christ hath loved us, concludes this preface with a solemn ascription
of praise and glory to him
(v. 5):
To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Intimating that on
this account he is justly entitled to our highest esteem and regard. Or
this doxology may be considered as referring both to God the Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom he had just before been wishing grace
and peace. They are both the proper objects of our worship and
adoration, and all honour and glory are perpetually due to them, both
on account of their own infinite excellences, and also on account of
the blessings we receive from them.
| The Apostle’s Concern at Their Defection. | A. D. 56. |
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6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you
into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and
would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach
any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed.
Here the apostle comes to the body of the epistle; and he begins it
with a more general reproof of these churches for their unsteadiness in
the faith, which he afterwards, in some following parts of it, enlarges
more upon. Here we may observe,
I. How much he was concerned at their defection: I marvel, &c.
It filled him at once with the greatest surprise and sorrow. Their sin
and folly were that they did not hold fast the doctrine of Christianity
as it had been preached to them, but suffered themselves to be removed
from the purity and simplicity of it. And there were several things by
which their defection was greatly aggravated; as,
1. That they were removed from him that had called them; not
only from the apostle, who had been the instrument of calling them into
the fellowship of the gospel, but from God himself, by whose order and
direction the gospel was preached to them, and they were invited to a
participation of the privileges of it: so that herein they had been
guilty of a great abuse of his kindness and mercy towards them.
2. That they had been called into the grace of Christ. As the
gospel which had been preached to them was the most glorious discovery
of divine grace and mercy in Christ Jesus; so thereby they had been
called to partake of the greatest blessings and benefits, such as
justification, and reconciliation with God here, and eternal life and
happiness hereafter. These our Lord Jesus has purchased for us at the
expense of his precious blood, and freely bestows upon all who
sincerely accept of him: and therefore, in proportion to the greatness
of the privilege they enjoyed, such were their sin and folly in
deserting it and suffering themselves to be drawn off from the
established way of obtaining these blessings.
3. That they were so soon removed. In a very little time they
lost that relish and esteem of this grace of Christ which they seemed
to have, and too easily fell in with those who taught justification by
the works of the law, as many did, who had been bred up in the opinions
and notions of the Pharisees, which they mingled with the doctrine of
Christ, and so corrupted it; and this, as it was an instance of their
weakness, so it was a further aggravation of their guilt.
4. That they were removed to another gospel, which yet was not
another. Thus the apostle represents the doctrine of these
judaizing teachers; he calls it another gospel, because it opened a
different way of justification and salvation from that which was
revealed in the gospel, namely, by works, and not by faith in Christ.
And yet he adds, “Which is not another–you will find it to be
no gospel at all–not really another gospel, but the perverting of the
gospel of Christ, and the overturning of the foundations of
that”–whereby he intimates that those who go about to establish any
other way to heaven than what the gospel of Christ has revealed are
guilty of a gross perversion of it, and in the issue will find
themselves wretchedly mistaken. Thus the apostle endeavours to impress
upon these Galatians a due sense of their guilt in forsaking the gospel
way of justification; and yet at the same time he tempers his reproof
with mildness and tenderness towards them, and represents them as
rather drawn into it by the arts and industry of some that troubled
them than as coming into it of their own accord, which, though it did
not excuse them, yet was some extenuation of their fault. And hereby he
teaches us that, in reproving others, as we should be faithful, so we
should also be gentle, and endeavour to restore them in the spirit
of meekness,
ch. vi. 1.
II. How confident he was that the gospel he had preached to them was
the only true gospel. He was so fully persuaded of this that he
pronounced an anathema upon those who pretended to preach any other
gospel
(v. 8),
and, to let them see that this did not proceed from any rashness or
intemperate zeal in him, he repeated it,
v. 9.
This will not justify our thundering out anathemas against those who
differ from us in minor things. It is only against those who forge a
new gospel, who overturn the foundation of the covenant of grace, by
setting up the works of the law in the place of Christ’s righteousness,
and corrupting Christianity with Judaism, that Paul denounces this. He
puts the case: “Suppose we should preach any other gospel; nay, suppose
an angel from heaven should:” not as if it were possible for an angel
from heaven to be the messenger of a lie; but it is expressed so the
more to strengthen what he was about to say. “If you have any other
gospel preached to you by any other person, under our name, or under
colour of having it from an angel himself, you must conclude that you
are imposed upon: and whoever preaches another gospel lays himself
under a curse, and is in danger of laying you under it too.”
| The Apostle’s Integrity. | A. D. 56. |
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10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please
men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of
Christ.
11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the
Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church
of God, and wasted it:
14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in
mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions
of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s
womb, and called me by his grace,
16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the
heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles
before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto
Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter,
and abode with him fifteen days.
19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s
brother.
20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I
lie not.
21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;
22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judæa which
were in Christ:
23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in
times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.
24 And they glorified God in me.
What Paul had said more generally, in the preface of this epistle, he
now proceeds more particularly to enlarge upon. There he had declared
himself to be an apostle of Christ; and here he comes more directly to
support his claim to that character and office. There were some in the
churches of Galatia who were prevailed with to call this in question;
for those who preached up the ceremonial law did all they could to
lessen Paul’s reputation, who preached the pure gospel of Christ to the
Gentiles: and therefore he here sets himself to prove the divinity both
of his mission and doctrine, that thereby he might wipe off the
aspersions which his enemies had cast upon him, and recover these
Christians into a better opinion of the gospel he had preached to them.
This he gives sufficient evidence of,
I. From the scope and design of his ministry, which was not to
persuade men, but God, &c. The meaning of this may be either that
in his preaching the gospel he did not act in obedience to men, but
God, who had called him to this work and office; or that his aim
therein was to bring persons to the obedience, not of men, but of God.
As he professed to act by a commission from God; so that which he
chiefly aimed at was to promote his glory, by recovering sinners into a
state of subjection to him. And as this was the great end he was
pursuing, so, agreeably hereunto, he did not seek to please men.
He did not, in his doctrine, accommodate himself to the humours of
persons, either to gain their affection or to avoid their resentment;
but his great care was to approve himself to God. The judaizing
teachers, by whom these churches were corrupted, had discovered a very
different temper; they mixed works with faith, and the law with the
gospel, only to please the Jews, whom they were willing to court and
keep in with, that they might escape persecution. But Paul was a man of
another spirit; he was not so solicitous to please them, nor to
mitigate their rage against him, as to alter the doctrine of Christ
either to gain their favour or to avoid their fury. And he gives this
very good reason for it, that, if he yet pleased men, he would not
be the servant of Christ. These he knew were utterly inconsistent,
and that no man could serve two such masters; and therefore, though he
would not needlessly displease any, yet he dared not allow himself to
gratify men at the expense of his faithfulness to Christ. Thus, from
the sincerity of his aims and intentions in the discharge of his
office, he proves that he was truly an apostle of Christ. And from this
his temper and behaviour we may note,
1. That the great end which ministers of the gospel should aim at is to
bring men to God.
2. That those who are faithful will not seek to please men, but to
approve themselves to God.
3. That they must not be solicitous to please men, if they would
approve themselves faithful servants to Christ. But, if this argument
should not be thought sufficient, he goes on to prove his
apostleship,
II. From the manner wherein he received the gospel which he preached to
them, concerning which he assures them
that he had it not by information from others, but by revelation from
heaven. One thing peculiar in the character of an apostle was that he
had been called to, and instructed for, this office immediately by
Christ himself. And in this he here shows that he was by no means
defective, whatever his enemies might suggest to the contrary. Ordinary
ministers, as they receive their call to preach the gospel by the
mediation of others, so it is by means of the instruction and
assistance of others that they are brought to the knowledge of it. But
Paul acquaints them that he had his knowledge of the gospel, as well as
his authority to preach it, directly from the Lord Jesus: the gospel
which he preached was not after man; he neither received it of man,
nor was he taught it by man, but by immediate inspiration, or
revelation from Christ himself. This he was concerned to make out, to
prove himself an apostle: and to this purpose,
1. He tells them what his education was, and what, accordingly, his
conversation in time past had been,
Particularly, he acquaints them that he had been brought up in the
Jewish religion, and that he had profited in it above many his
equals of his own nation–that he had been exceedingly zealous
of the traditions of the elders, such doctrines and customs as had
been invented by their fathers, and conveyed down from one generation
to another; yea, to such a degree that, in his zeal for them, he had
beyond measure persecuted the church of God, and wasted it. He had
not only been a rejecter of the Christian religion, notwithstanding the
many evident proofs that were given of its divine origin; but he had
been a persecutor of it too, and had applied himself with the utmost
violence and rage to destroy the professors of it. This Paul often
takes notice of, for the magnifying of that free and rich grace which
had wrought so wonderful a change in him, whereby of so great a sinner
he was made a sincere penitent, and from a persecutor had become an
apostle. And it was very fit to mention it here; for it would hence
appear that he was not led to Christianity, as many others are, purely
by education, since he had been bred up in an enmity and opposition to
it; and they might reasonably suppose that it must be something very
extraordinary which had made so great a change in him, which had
conquered the prejudices of his education, and brought him not only to
profess, but to preach, that doctrine, which he had before so
vehemently opposed.
2. In how wonderful a manner he was turned from the error of his ways,
brought to the knowledge and faith of Christ, and appointed to the
office of an apostle,
This was not done in an ordinary way, nor by ordinary means, but in an
extraordinary manner; for,
(1.) God had separated him hereunto from his mother’s womb: the
change that was wrought in him was in pursuance of a divine purpose
concerning him, whereby he was appointed to be a Christian and an
apostle, before he came into the world, or had done either good or
evil.
(2.) he was called by his grace. All who are savingly converted
are called by the grace of God; their conversion is the effect of his
good pleasure concerning them, and is effected by his power and grace
in them. But there was something peculiar in the case of Paul, both in
the suddenness and in the greatness of the change wrought in him, and
also in the manner wherein it was effected, which was not by the
mediation of others, as the instruments of it, but by Christ’s personal
appearance to him, and immediate operation upon him, whereby it was
rendered a more special and extraordinary instance of divine power and
favour.
(3.) He had Christ revealed in him. He was not only revealed to
him, but in him. It will but little avail us to have Christ revealed to
us if he is not also revealed in us; but this was not the case of Paul.
It pleased God to reveal his Son in him, to bring him to the
knowledge of Christ and his gospel by special and immediate revelation.
And,
(4.) It was with this design, that he should preach him among the
heathen; not only that he should embrace him himself, but preach him to
others; so that he was both a Christian and an apostle by
revelation.
3. He acquaints them how he behaved himself hereupon, from
to the end. Being thus called to his work and office, he conferred
not with flesh and blood. This may be taken more generally, and so
we may learn from it that, when God calls us by his grace, we must not
consult flesh and blood. But the meaning of it here is that he did not
consult men; he did not apply to any others for their advice and
direction; neither did he go up to Jerusalem, to those that were
apostles before him, as though he needed to be approved by them, or
to receive any further instructions or authority from them: but,
instead of that, he steered another course, and went into
Arabia, either as a place of retirement proper for receiving
further divine revelations, or in order to preach the gospel there
among the Gentiles, being appointed to be the apostle of the Gentiles;
and thence he returned again to Damascus, where he had first
begun his ministry, and whence he had with difficulty escaped the rage
of his enemies,
It was not till three years after his conversion that he went
up to Jerusalem, to see Peter; and when he did so he made but a
very short stay with him, no more than fifteen days; nor, while
he was there, did he go much into conversation; for others of the
apostles he saw none, but James, the Lord’s brother. So that it
could not well be pretended that he was indebted to any other either
for his knowledge of the gospel or his authority to preach it; but it
appeared that both his qualifications for, and his call to, the
apostolic office were extraordinary and divine. This account being of
importance, to establish his claim to this office, to remove the unjust
censures of his adversaries, and to recover the Galatians from the
impressions they had received to his prejudice, he confirms it by a
solemn oath
(v. 20),
declaring, as in the presence of God, that what he had said was
strictly true, and that he had not in the least falsified in what he
had related, which, though it will not justify us in solemn appeals to
God upon every occasion, yet shows that, in matters of weight and
moment, this may sometimes not only be lawful, but duty. After this he
acquaints them that he came into the regions of Syria and
Cilicia: having made this short visit to Peter, he returns to his
work again. He had no communication at that time with the churches
of Christ in Judea, they had not so much as seen his face; but,
having heard that he who persecuted them in times past now preached the
faith which he once destroyed, they glorified God because of him;
thanksgivings were rendered by many unto God on that behalf; the very
report of this mighty change in him, as it filled them with joy, so it
excited them to give glory to God on the account of it.
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