Spurgeon's notes on GALATIANS
We shall now read parts of the epistle to the Galatians, in which Paul stands in opposition to the Jewish professors who denied his apostleship, and strove to bring the church under the yoke of the law.
Galatians 1:1-5
Paul is very fond of writing doxologies. His heart was full of praise, and he could not help giving it vent. Would it not be well if every now and then, even in the midst of other things, we paused to bless the Lord? The apostle was answering opponents, but he sweetened the controversy with grateful adoration.
Galatians 1:8, 9
Paul makes short work with newfangled gospels. He was not one of the broad school whose wanton charity trifles with divine truth, as if it were a matter of no consequence what is preached, or what is believed.
Galatians 1:10
persuade or seek to win the favor of
Galatians 1:10
Christ's ministers must never be men-pleasers, or they are false to their trust. Offend or please, their one business is to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Galatians 1:11, 12
He was no retailer of other men's stuffs: he preached what he had been taught of the Holy Spirit in his own soul. Lord, send us more such ministries.
Galatians 1:13-17
None could say that he was a copyist. In the solitudes of Arabia he had studied the Old Testament, communed with God, and obtained insight into the deep things of God; and his testimony was therefore fresh from Heaven. More of God and less of man is what we all need.
Galatians 1:21-23
His remarkable conversion and independent course made him very decided in his teaching. The more certainly grace works in us, the more attached shall we be to the gospel of grace, and the more opposed shall we be to all those errors which rob God of his glory.
Galatians 1:24
May we so live that others may glorify God, because of his grace displayed in us.
Galatians 2:1, 2
He went up to Jerusalem lest he might be misrepresented and thought to be a teacher of some novel doctrine, and not one at heart with the rest of the brotherhood. We must be careful not to create misunderstandings by holding too much aloof from other believers.
Galatians 1:3-5
There were many who wished to make Paul exchange the liberty of the gospel for the yoke of the Jewish law, but he would not for a moment submit to them. We need to be equally staunch against Romanism in these days.
Galatians 1:11-14
Good men are sometimes afraid of a straight course of action because it may cause trouble, or appear to be too bold. In such a case we must not be silent out of respect for them, but openly oppose them. Dear is Peter, but dearer still the truth.
Galatians 1:15, 16
How boldly is this stated! Faith alone and not works justify the soul before God. He who does not believe this rejects the gospel.
Galatians 1:17
Justification by faith does not make us think lightly of sin; on the contrary, it creates in us such love to God that we loathe the very idea of offending him.
Galatians 1:21
We cannot be saved by our own merits, for if so, the atonement was unnecessary,—a blasphemous idea not to be tolerated for a moment. Are we all believers in Jesus?
Galatians 3:1
What strange, Satanic influence has come over you? By what horrible deceit have you been entangled and held captive? You have heard and known the way of salvation by faith in the crucified Savior—how could you then have been duped by legal teachers?
Galatians 3:5
Paul's argument is, that hitherto all the good they had received had come to them by grace and not by works, by the Spirit and not by the flesh, by faith and not by ceremonies, and he chides them for yielding in any degree to the delusive teaching of Judaizers. We have the best reason for keeping to the gospel, for no real good ever comes to men by the opposite teaching. The following testimony is only one of many, and establishes the point:—"I preached up sanctification very earnestly for six years in a former parish," says Mr. Bennet, in a letter, "and never brought one soul to Christ. I did the same at this parish for two years, without having any success at all; but as soon as ever I preached Jesus Christ, and faith in his blood, then believers were added to the Church, and the people flocked from all parts to hear the glorious sound of the gospel, some coming six, others eight, and others ten miles, and that constantly. The reason why my ministry was not blessed when I preached up salvation partly by faith and partly by works is, because the doctrine is not of God; and he will prosper no ministers but such as preach salvation in his own appointed way, namely, by faith in Jesus Christ."
Galatians 3:6-18
In this passage the apostle shows that Abraham's righteousness was gained by his faith; that the covenant made with him was upon the tenure of faith; and that by the way of faith alone we who are sinners of the Gentiles are made partakers of covenant blessings.
Galatians 3:6-7
Not the trusters in works and boasters in circumcision; these, even among the Jews, are but his children by the power of nature, to whom no more belongs than to Ishmael. Abraham was the father of the faithful, or believing. In his grandest aspect he is not the sire of a rebellious nation, but of the believing seed.
Galatians 3:8-9
For in no other way can all nations share in the blessing, since they neither inherit it by descent, nor obtain it by circumcision, nor earn it by merit.
Galatians 3:10
Let us learn this verse well, and may it ring the death knell of all legal hopes. All that the law can do for sinners is to judge them, condemn them, and curse them. Let us flee from the vain hope of ignorant and proud men, and look to another way of salvation; which, indeed, is the only one.
Galatians 3:11
The only just men before God are the men of faith, and these do not live by their works, but by believing; hence it is clear that the law has nothing to do with their righteousness.
Galatians 3:12
Hence we cannot be saved partly by faith and partly by works. The roads are distinct. We must keep the whole law if we would be saved by it. Our only hope is in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ received by faith.
Galatians 3:13, 14
His the curse, that ours might be the blessing. By the gate of Substitution all blessings come to us, and even that best of blessings—the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 3:15
Once made, a covenant cannot be justly altered by an afterthought, or affected by an unforeseen event. What consolation is here!
Galatians 3:16
Mark how the apostle believed in verbal inspiration, for he finds a meaning in so small a matter as the use of a singular word instead of a plural.
Galatians 3:17
Sinai and Leviticus cannot supersede the covenant of grace. Notwithstanding the law, the believer is secure in faith.
Galatians 3:18
And we by faith grasping the promise are made partakers of it, not at all by our doings, but by the simple act of reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:19
If it cannot save, why was it given? It was given to discover and lay bare our sin to us. A sight of misery must go before a sense of mercy. Lex, lux, the law is a light, and shows us our need of a mediator. Therefore the apostle says—
Galatians 3:20
And this proves that God and men were opposed, or a mediator would not have been needed. Thus the giving of the law showed mans state of alienation.
Galatians 3:21, 22
concluded or shut up as prisoners
Galatians 3:21, 22
The law is not therefore the opponent of the promise, but an agent for putting men where they feel themselves to be in need of mercy, and therefore accept salvation by grace.
Galatians 3:23-27
We are not baptized unto Moses, we have put off legal robes, and are dressed in the garments of grace.
Galatians 3:28, 29
So that we obtain all the blessings of the law by faith, even in the same manner as Abraham became the heir of all things. Evermore in our hearts let us make a clear distinction between the law and the grace of God, so shall we be sound in doctrine and preserved from much bondage.
Galatians 4:1-5
So that the Mosaic law of rites and ceremonies was only a temporary arrangement for the childhood of the church, which now, having reached full age, has come into possession of liberty in the truth, and rejoices in the free grace of the gospel. It would be ridiculous for a full-grown heir to go to school again, or continue under guardians, and so it is absurd to return to the service of forms and rituals, which are too childish for men in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 4:6
Here is our true position, we are moved by the Spirit to claim our adoption, and we no more live in bondage to the law. Many even among Christians are afraid of being too sure of their sonship, lest they should be presumptuous; this is very dishonoring to their heavenly Father.
Galatians 4:7
Therefore live as such. By faith possess and enjoy the treasures of divine grace. Cast doubts and tremblings to the wind, for why should heirs of God live like bondsmen?
Galatians 4:8, 9
How can you go back to the things of your spiritual childhood? As well may full-grown men begin again to read their A B C, and learn from baby picture books!
Galatians 4:10, 11
To keep holy days and practice symbolical ceremonies is contrary to the very spirit of Christianity; and those who do so lead us to suspect that they do not know the gospel at all.
Galatians 4:12-16
Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am one with you in heart
Galatians 4:12-16
Bad teachers had weaned them from the apostle and led them into legal bondage.
Galatians 4:17, 18
yes, they would exclude you from us
Galatians 4:17, 18
that you might affect them and be of their party
Galatians 4:19, 20
All his anxiety arose from their falling into ritualism and legalism. He wanted to see them living by faith upon Jesus, and worshiping God with free spiritual worship. The fashionable religion of the present day is overlaid with pompous forms, and the plain gospel of salvation by faith in Jesus is despised: nevertheless to the doctrine of grace let us steadfastly cleave, for it alone is truth, and in it alone is salvation.
Galatians 4:21-31
Paul teaches us how to gather instruction from the ancient story of Ishmael and Isaac. Writing to those who were anxious to introduce Jewish ceremonialism into the Christian church, he says in—Galatians 4:21-31.
Galatians 4:21
Are you not able to see a meaning in the incidents it records? Will you only learn one part of its teaching, and shut your ears to the rest?
Galatians 4:28
We were not made sons of God by the energy of nature, but by the power of divine grace.
Galatians 4:29
Pharisees and self-righteous persons display great enmity towards those who depend upon the grace of God in Christ Jesus. They call them presumptuous, and revile their doctrine as tending to licentiousness.
Galatians 4:30
The system of salvation by works must be banished if grace is to reign; you cannot mix the two systems. The power and energy of self must also be no longer our trust if we desire to be saved through the promise. Human merit, the child of the flesh, will never agree with faith, the offspring of the promise.
Galatians 5:1
Do not go back to legal hopes, and ceremonial observances. You are freeborn; do not submit to the yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:4
If a man could be justified by the law he would have left the system of grace altogether, for the two are diametrically opposed. Thanks be to God, we dare not even hope for a legal righteousness, and if we never fall from grace until we have become justified by the law, that evil will never befall us.
Galatians 5:5
Our confidence is in the promise and grace of God; thus we are true Isaacs, born of the promise of God.
Galatians 5:6
The outward is disregarded and the inward becomes all-important. The flesh, like Ishmael, is sent away, and the newborn nature abides with the father, and inherits the covenant promises. All believers understand this riddle: can all of us in this household interpret it?
The apostle again expostulates with the Galatians for falling into legality, and points out to them the true path of the believer, namely, holiness produced by the Spirit of God.
Galatians 5:7, 8
It is not of God, or it would be consistent with what you have been taught by his Spirit before.
Galatians 5:9
One man's influence may mislead thousands; one piece of false doctrine may taint our whole creed.
Galatians 5:10, 11
Some even said that Paul himself had preached ceremonialism, but he denies it, and backs up his declaration by the fact that men had not left off persecuting him, as they would have done had he diluted the gospel.
Galatians 5:12
It were better that they were cut off from the church than remain to sow false doctrine. As lepers must be put out of the camp, so must evil teachers be cast out of the church.
Galatians 5:13, 14
This is more important than symbolic rites: to destroy love to preserve a ceremony is to kill a child in order to preserve its clothes.
Galatians 5:17
Every new man is two men: there is a warfare within.
Galatians 5:19-21
No matter what they profess, or what sacraments they may partake of, those who live in these sins are not alive unto God. What a list we have here! Surely sin is a prolific mother.
Galatians 5:22, 23
For the works of the flesh there is no gospel, and against the works of the Spirit there is no law. Both God and man agree to commend such actions as those which are here mentioned; let us abound in them.
Galatians 5:24-26
Our evil desires are nailed to the cross, but they are not yet dead; we have need therefore to abide under the influence of the ever-blessed Spirit, and we certainly have no ground for boasting or despising others. Be it ours under the divine guidance to cultivate love and peace, and flee from all pride and envy.
Galatians 6:1
Because men travel so slowly, sin overtakes them, overthrows them, and breaks their bones; believers who are in a better case must lovingly endeavor to heal their brethren, saying to themselves, "They fell yesterday, and we shall fall today unless the Lord shall hold us up."
Galatians 6:3-5
We have each one his own load of responsibility to bear, and therefore we do well to remember our own faults and sympathize with the infirmities of others. When tempted to condemn others, let us look at home.
Galatians 6:6
The preacher who zealously labors for our good in spirituals well deserves to partake of our temporals.
Galatians 6:7-9
The rule of reaping what we sow is not changed under the gospel, but obtains an importance greater than before, for now we sow better seed, and through grace reap a richer harvest. At the same time, those who after hearing the word continue sowing to the flesh, will reap additional misery, because their sin is greatly increased by refusing the gospel light.
Galatians 6:10
Our kindness is to be general and yet special, like the redemption of our Lord Jesus, "who is the Savior of all men, specially of them that believe."
Galatians 6:11
Probably his eyes were weak, and as he resolved to write with his own hand he used what an old divine calls "good great text-hand letters." He mentions this little circumstance to show his earnestness in what he had written.
Galatians 6:12, 13
They wanted to boast of their many followers and to curry favor with the Jews by showing that their converts to Jesus were also proselytes to circumcision. Paul cared not for such boastings.
Galatians 6:17
He cared nothing for the marks in his flesh which proved him to be a Jew, he valued far more those scars which he had received while engaged in the service of Jesus; these he looked upon as being the Lord's brand upon him, like the ear mark which was received by a Hebrew servant when he resolved to abide with his master for life. It is useless to oppose a man of Paul's order, he is too resolute to be turned aside, it is wisest for the enemy to let him alone.