All question of natural ties drops in death; as the cross is the disproof of any right to Christ in either. another; And this is the thing that you try to describe to people, and they don't understand. But in the old days the child who was born in the ordinary human way persecuted the child who was born in the spiritual way; and exactly the same thing happens now. No, rejoins the apostle; you are going back to heathenism. But to the end of the day there remained for Paul two obligations. They think that it is quite right, for the church especially, to appoint days for this and that saint; to have certain seasons to remind one of the Lord's incarnation, ministry, and crucifixion, of His resurrection, ascension, and so on. Abraham never. He refuses all cover for different thoughts. The man who makes law the principle of his life is in the position of a slave; whereas the man who makes grace the principle of his life is free, for, as a great saint put it, the Christian's maxim is, "Love God and do what you like." Hence the effect of the law in all its ramifications on man is the same. If I sow to the flesh, I shall of the flesh reap corruption; if I sow to the Spirit, I shall reap life everlasting. But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. You do not want to become the children of Abraham in that sense, which would be the revival of the flesh. It's a solemn warning to every one of us who would live after the flesh or would want to live after the flesh to know that you cannot do these things and inherit the kingdom of God. 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. . It can mean the beneficent use of drugs by a doctor; but it can also mean poisoning, and it came to be very specially connected with the use of drugs for sorcery, of which the ancient world was full. 1. "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. According to the prince of the power of the air, among whom we all had our manner of living. Impossible to serve two masters! And I can just go and pass it by.And so, another issue arises in five minutes. But there was no sense of union then. What is the difference? This, be it observed, was part of God's way with him beyond all others. If he wrote to the Romans;, it was transcribed, or at any rate written, by another. There is a work of God's Spirit within his heart, and he is born of the Spirit, and now again has a spirit that is alive and is conscious of God. Why, that though there were "false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage," Paul did not give place by subjection even for an hour, "that the truth of the gospel might continue with them." There can be no doubt about the matter. You can see the Santa Rosa and San Miguel and San Nicolas and say, "Hey, hey, all right, we're right on course." Self-control; the word is egkrateia ( G1466) which Plato uses of self-mastery. And this I say, that the covenant confirmed before by God unto Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not annul so that it should make the promise of none effect." Thus, the idea is, in their contentions they would destroy the spirituality and happiness of each other; their characters would be ruined; and the church be overthrown. Here I've got this new twist on the scripture. "Love suffereth long and is kind." (b) It means being teachable, being not too proud to learn ( James 1:21). Indeed, we may say that now he thunders on the Galatians that were dragging in the law. What throws most light on its meaning is that the adjective praus ( G4239) is used of an animal that has been tamed and brought under control; and so the word speaks of that self-control which Christ alone can give. Theirs was the slave's son Ishmael. Aristotle defined praotes ( G4236) as the mean between excessive anger and excessive angerlessness, the quality of the man who is always angry at the right time and never at the wrong time. He saw that the tree was pleasant to look upon, it was tasty to eat and it would make him wise as God. One of these covenants--the one which originated on Mount Sinai--bears children who are destined for slavery--and that one is represented by Hagar. All that I have as a living man in the world is gone, not, of course, as a mere matter of fact, but, what is far more important, as a matter of faith. . Again, it is not a liberty to do anything I please. The apostle had heard enough of circumcision: it was repulsive to him henceforth. comfort be destroyed, which is oftentimes done this way, though a They had been idolaters before they became Christians; and to take up Jewish principles in addition to Christ is to turn back again to their cast-off idols. Basil called it "grief at your neighbours good fortune." Such is the effect of Christianity, and such in perfection was Christ Himself. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these ( Galatians 5:18-19 ). And he justifies this strength of warning: "For do I now persuade men or God? There is no law which condemns thing; like that. And thus the blessing of Abraham could flow freely towards the Gentiles who never were there. 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. If I preach circumcision, then why would they keep persecuting me? He gives us a catalogue of evil things. Liberty from the law and from the bondage of the law, because that cannot make you righteous. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. As in their baptism they were obliged hereunto (for, being baptized into Christ, they were baptized into his death, Romans 6:3), 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. If they took that gr. "Here we have the Gentiles expressly named, and to this the apostle refers. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith ( Galatians 5:5 ). "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" ( John 4:24 ). Hereon the apostle puts before them another expostulation: "I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain." (89) , . "The theme of love . It's just, you know, too difficult. So, I think Paul could also have included here baptism or no baptism as far as the physical immersion in water. There is no comparison of countless seed; there is not an allusion to the sand of the sea, or to the stars of the sky. All this vanishes in Christ; we are all one in Him; and if you are Christ's, what need to be circumcised! In this case it was God that gave the promise; it was He that confirmed the covenant to Christ, without saying a word about the law till four hundred and thirty years after. You can't do anything to buy redemption. It is quite obvious that there was a hindrance of some sort. Under law all is lost; under grace all is saved. Even though it might be a minor departure from the truth, be careful. But at the same time it is plain that the apostle Paul here starts with the instructive fact, that the very thing for which some Judaizers then blamed him was the distinctive glory of that to which the Lord had called him. Walk on the spiritual side of your nature. In it there is one party, even God Himself, who gave it, and accordingly fulfils it in that Seed to whom the covenant was confirmed. It is not only that we are put now where we can be the witness to grace in all its outgoings, but, besides that, we are where flesh might show itself. "Unless," he says, "you solve the problem of living together you will make life impossible." No doubt also his line of procedure did not at all consort with their desires, who were sticklers for earthly order, and a line that looks safe and respectable to natural eyes. Having brought in the true character of the Christian's life as flowing simply and solely from Christ, and from Christ crucified too, so here he takes up the Holy Ghost. And no wonder. I'd say, "Open the doors and let me off." 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage ( Galatians 5:1 ). Or am I righteous by my simple faith in Jesus Christ? who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? Verse Meaning Apparently the believers who advocated grace and the believers who advocated law bitterly opposed one another in the Galatian churches. "The child of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise." They had somehow become uneasy. And then concludes the chapter with a caution against pride and envy. If he had preached the full truth of the gospel, he insists that they had received it. All of the law is fulfilled. And I encourage you to just read your Bible.Now, why is it that Jehovah Witness can't tell you that? The apostle's discerning eye at once judged by Christ and by that gospel which he had learned from Him. The context behind the Galatians church We have been crucified to the requirements of the law Kill our desire or need to keep the law as a means of gaining justification Galatians 2:15-16 Being crucified to self Matthew 16:24 There is only one throne in our hearts and life, and only one person can sit on it Galatians 5:24 What a condemnation of themselves, that no system which ever seeks for an earthly succession can in the least make Paul answer its purpose! Here he takes up, not the mischievous troublers of the Gentiles, whom he does not hesitate to call "false brethren," but the highest in office he found there. This seems to have been the reason of their being twelve; and it is to me clear that our Lord establishes this as the true reference and key when He declares that, in the regeneration, the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and they shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. One can readily conceive men of strong prejudice and of weak faith thus hesitating, especially in presence of the apostle's strong assertion of entire liberty from the law for the Gentiles. But not from God. The readers ( Galatians 1:2b ) c. The greeting ( Galatians 1:3-5 ) i. Not at all, says the apostle, you are returning straight into your old heathenism without knowing it yourselves. And so, they started telling people, "Well, Chuck believes this." The brethren with him ( Galatians 1:2a ) b. The apostle shows that, so far from bringing in Christians and putting them on the ground of the Old Testament, God is really leading those who were in that connection out of it all by redemption. Consequently it is plain from the beginning, that the apostleship of Paul made a demand upon faith which the other apostolate did not. It is the liberty not to do those things which the flesh once forced me to do. Old wine is called chrestos ( G5543) , mellow. That is to say, the covenant that was made between God and Abraham had reference to the seed which was coming, symbolized by Isaac, but really looking onward to Christ. But it was in no vain glory, in no tone of superiority, though, no doubt, it was a far fuller and higher testimony than theirs; for he adds, "privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain." The Bible says, "The natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit: neither can he know them, they are spiritually discerned" ( 1 Corinthians 2:14 ). It had tainted among others the Galatians; for although, in point of fact, what had converted them was the heavenly testimony of the apostle Paul, nevertheless they had in time become acquainted with Christians who had not been so favoured, perhaps from the churches in Judea. to His Father. If the promise be the only means of enjoying the inheritance, what is the good of the law? He sees the right, feels the good, desires the holy, but never, accomplishes. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. the only system of earthly worship which had ever possessed God's sanction. And no wonder. When He gave the promise to Abraham, He said, "I will give." The allusion is to beasts of prey falling upon and devouring one another: for wolves or dogs to worry sheep is not strange; but for sheep to distress one another is unnatural. At first sight it seems most extraordinary, if the apostle referred to such a Scripture for the proof of the importance of one seed; because, if there is anything that lies on the surface of the passage, it is the multiplicity of the seed a seed expressly said to exceed all reckoning. This may be concluded from what frequently happens in the divine dispensations, as well as from an express declaration by the hand of Moses. How blessed, and how all-important for our souls! In grace, God in the person of His Son speaks and accomplishes ALL; and thus He is glorified from first to last. He strikes accordingly at the root of all successional or derived authority. "Have you been reading this book?" 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," Romans 8:1-14. The word used here ( dakno), means, properly, to bite, to sting; and here seems to be used in the sense of contending and striving - a metaphor probably taken from dogs and wild beasts. You see, laws are for unprincipled people. This closes the course of the apostle's argument. Paul was a trained Rabbi; and that is what he is doing here. Don't become seekers after empty reputation; don't provoke each other: don't envy each other. 5:1 Tell me this--you who want to be subject to the law, you listen to it being read to you, don't you? Selfishness in the end does not exalt a man; it destroys him. At the same time it is shown to be, not what it might seem, a negative power only, but along with it is the new creation into which grace forms us. He does not say, that the Gentiles were under that curse, but that Christ bought off us who were in this position from its curse; for in truth, whatever might be our boast, all we (the Jews) got from the law was a curse, not a blessing; and what Christ did for us was to purchase us from that awful plight in which the law could not but put us because we had transgressed. How little is man to be accounted of! But this is a future prophetic vision not touched on here. He will gain transgression thereby; nothing more, nothing better. Paul says, "If you go on in this way, of which circumcision is the beginning, you might as well end up by castrating yourselves like these heathen priests." He is a new creature in Christ. 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 (Romans 6:12), 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. Democracy means government of the people, by the people, for the people. He tells us that fourteen years after he again went up to Jerusalem. Does not this make very light of it? And it is in the realm of the spirit where man meets God. Coveting is a sin which is almost never considered a crime. If we are living in the Spirit let us also keep step with the Spirit. It describes what in regency England would have been called a rout. 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Pride and envy how all-important for our souls this, be careful are living in the churches.

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