Galatians 2

18. To see Peter.** As he himself tells us, his purpose was to form Peter’s acquaintance. He probably thought that the time was come for that concert with the former apostles which he had purposely abstained from seeking as a preliminary qualification for his own ministry. And even now he takes pains to have it understood that he accepted no formal confirmation of his call from the “apostolic college.” He mentions the journey as an illustration of his argument that he did not receive the gospel which he preached (that is, the commission to preach it) from man; and adds the solemn asseveration, “Before God, I lie not,” to the statement, “Other of the apostles saw I none save James the Lord’s brother.” S.

1. THEN fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus 2 with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest 3 by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, be- 4 ing a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: and that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that 5 they might bring us into bondage: to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an 6 hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s 7 person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: but con- trariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as 8 the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (for he that wrought effectually in Peter to 9 the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should 10 go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should re- member the poor; the same which I also was forward to do. 11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be 12 blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the 13 circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas 14 also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not up- rightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, be- ing a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest 15 thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of 16 the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no 17 flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are 18 found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the 19 things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead 20 to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the 21 faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

In the Scriptures, written by the inspiration of the God of love and wisdom, there are encourage- ments and invitations, so simple, affectionate, and comprehensive, that none can remain in doubt as to their meaning; that none can fail to see the willingness of God to receive and bless the returning sinner.

They are clear and frequent; human language can afford no terms more lucid, urgent, and tender. Besides these texts, written so legibly and attractively on the door of revelation, there are other declarations of Scripture which are understood and enjoyed only by those who, obedient to the heavenly voice, have entered in by the open gate. There are, so to say, outside texts and inside texts. What can be more encouraging and comprehensive than the message, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son.” Here is indeed a wide, open, golden gate! But if we enter, we read, “The life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” If we did not possess the outside and comprehensive texts, Scripture would be like a house without a door. The wanderer outside in darkness, loneliness, and danger, seeking shelter and peace, could not enter. But if Scripture did not contain the inside, special, and mysterious texts, it would be like doors that lead to nothing, promises which have no fulfillment, invitations to a feast without the reality of a feast awaiting those who accept them. It would be merely “Come”; but not “All things are ready.” We need not expect to read the inside texts until we are inside. The love of Jesus, what it is, none but his loved ones know. That which describes the experience of the believer and the dealings of God with him can not be known, and can not form the ground of encouragement to an outsider. God speaks to him as one of the world. God loved the world. Believe, and you will be able to say, Christ loved the Church. He loved me. Yet in God’s wisdom the outside texts never become superfluous to the saints who are by grace within the fold. The first and simplest truths of the gospel become of growing value to our souls as we advance along the narrow road which leadeth unto life. A. S.

THE incidents referred to in this chapter will be better understood by a careful reading of page 109. B.

4. These Judaistic errorists, or “false brethren unawares brought in,” should by no means be confounded with the “weak brethren,” i. e., the Jewish Christians, who for their own part moved indeed with scrupulous conscientiousness in the traditional forms of the Mosaic religion, yet at the same time referred all salvation to Christ, and recognized the free Gentile Christians as brethren in the Lord. Toward these Paul was exceedingly indulgent, and claimed for them brotherly love and forbearance. But in opposition to the other errorists he was inflexible; for they annulled the proper essence of the gospel; wished to replace the old yoke of legal bondage; spread division everywhere in his churches, especially in Galatia and Corinth, and even in Philippi; and in all this sought their own glory. To this great controversy of the Gentile apostle with the Pharisaic Judaizers we owe the masterly and profound exhibitions of the evangelical doctrines of the law and the gospel, sin and grace, bondage and freedom, faith and justification, which lie before us in his Epistles. P. S.

5. The point round which the strife was waged was, whether Gentiles could come into the Church as Gentiles without first being incorporated into the Jewish nation by circumcision, and whether they could remain in as Gentiles without conforming to Jewish ceremonial and law. The fight was stubborn and bitter. It is harder to abolish forms than to change opinions. All through Paul’s life he was dogged and tormented by this controversy. There was a deep gulf between the churches he planted and this reactionary section of the Christian community. Its emissaries were continually following in his footsteps. As he bitterly reproaches them, they entered upon another man’s line of things made ready to their hand, not caring to plant churches of circumcised Gentiles themselves, but starting up behind him as soon as his back was turned, and spoiling his work. This Epistle is the memorial of that foot-to-foot feud. It is of perennial use, as the tendencies against which it is directed are constant in human nature. Men are ever apt to confound form and substance, to crave material embodiments of spiritual realities, to elevate the outward means into the place of the inward and real, to which all the outward is but subsidiary. In every period of strife between the two great opponents this letter has been the stronghold of those who fight for the spiritual conception of religion. With it Luther waged his warfare, and in this day, too, its words are precious. A. M.

9. This is the only meeting of Paul and John recorded in the Scripture. John had been silent during the public discussion (Acts 15); but at the close of it he expressed his cordial union with Paul in “the truth of the gospel.” They stand together among the pillars of the holy temple; and the Church of God is thankful to learn how contemplation may be united with action, and faith with love, in the spiritual life. H.

9,10. The reputed “pillars” of the Church “added nothing to Paul”—no new truth for him and his converts to learn, no new law for them to observe. They cordially recognized what God himself had made clear, that “the gospel of the uncircumcision” had been committed to Paul, like “the gospel of the circumcision” to Peter, and that the one could show miracles as convincing as the other; and they gave Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, as the pledge of the solemn compact, that these two should go to the Gentiles and they themselves to the Jews. Paul adds one point which proves that, amid these questions of doctrine and ritual, all the Apostles were agreed on the supreme importance of the fruit of practical beneficence in Christianity: “Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.”

11-14. Peter proved his full adoption of the new law of liberty by eating with the Gentiles, till certain Jewish Christians “came from James,” when, for fear of them, he withdrew from all such intercourse. The other Jews, to use the strong phrase of Paul, “played the hypocrite with him,” and even Barnabas was carried away with the rest. Paul, regarding their conduct as an open departure from “walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel,” “withstood Peter to the face.” This was is free, having them all for its element and its conversation in them, as in heaven. The unknowing state, the old, blank ignorance that was, because of the blindness of the heart, is gone, and a wondrous knowledge opens because the heart can see. Oh, what strength and majesty and general height of being are felt in the new life begun! And this is salvation! great because it saves, not some small part of the soul, but because it saves and glorifies the sublime whole, restoring its integrity and proportion, and setting it complete in God’s own order, as in everlasting life. H. B.

18. To see Peter. As he himself tells us, his purpose was to form Peter’s acquaintance. He probably thought that the time was come for that concert with the former apostles which he had purposely abstained from seeking as a preliminary qualification for his own ministry. And even now he takes pains to have it understood that he accepted no formal confirmation of his call from the “apostolic college.” He mentions the journey as an illustration of his argument that he did not receive the gospel which he preached (that is, the commission to preach it) from man; and adds the solemn asseveration, “Before God, I lie not,” to the statement, “Other of the apostles saw I none save James the Lord’s brother.” S.

1. THEN fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus 2 with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest 3 by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, be- 4 ing a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: and that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that 5 they might bring us into bondage: to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an 6 hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s 7 person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: but contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as 8 the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (for he that wrought effectually in Peter to 9 the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should 10 go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do. 11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be 12 blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the 13 circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas 14 also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest 15 thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of 16 the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no 17 flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are 18 found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the 19 things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead 20 to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the 21 faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Is the Scriptures, written by the inspiration of the God of love and wisdom, there are encouragements and invitations, so simple, affectionate, and comprehensive, that none can remain in doubt as to their meaning; that none can fail to see the willingness of God to receive and bless the returning sinner.

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They are clear and frequent; human language can afford no terms more lucid, urgent, and tender. Besides these texts, written so legibly and attractively on the door of revelation, there are other declarations of Scripture which are understood and enjoyed only by those who, obedient to the heavenly voice, have entered in by the open gate. There are, so to say, outside texts and inside texts. What can be more encouraging and comprehensive than the message, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son.” Here is indeed a wide, open, golden gate! But if we enter, we read, “The life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” If we did not possess the outside and comprehensive texts, Scripture would be like a house without a door. The wanderer outside in darkness, loneliness, and danger, seeking shelter and peace, could not enter. But if Scripture did not contain the inside, special, and mysterious texts, it would be like doors that lead to nothing, promises which have no fulfillment, invitations to a feast without the reality of a feast awaiting those who accept them. It would be merely “Come”; but not “All things are ready.” We need not expect to read the inside texts until we are inside. The love of Jesus, what it is, none but his loved ones know. That which describes the experience of the believer and the dealings of God with him can not be known, and can not form the ground of encouragement to an outsider. God speaks to him as one of the world. God loved the world. Believe, and you will be able to say, Christ loved the Church. He loved me. Yet in God’s wisdom the outside texts never become superfluous to the saints who are by grace within the fold. The first and simplest truths of the gospel become of growing value to our souls as we advance along the narrow road which leadeth unto life. A. S.

THE incidents referred to in this chapter will be better understood by a careful reading of page 109. B.

4. These Judaistic errorists, or “false brethren unawares brought in,” should by no means be confounded with the “weak brethren,” i. e., the Jewish Christians, who for their own part moved indeed with scrupulous conscientiousness in the traditional forms of the Mosaic religion, yet at the same time referred all salvation to Christ, and recognized the free Gentile Christians as brethren in the Lord. Toward these Paul was exceedingly indulgent, and claimed for them brotherly love and forbearance. But in opposition to the other errorists he was inflexible; for they annulled the proper essence of the gospel; wished to replace the old yoke of legal bondage; spread division everywhere in his churches, especially in Galatia and Corinth, and even in Philippi; and in all this sought their own glory. To this great controversy of the Gentile apostle with the Pharisaic Judaisers we owe the masterly and profound exhibitions of the evangelical doctrines of the law and the gospel, sin and grace, bondage and freedom, faith and justification, which lie before us in his Epistles. P. S.

5. The point round which the strife was waged was, whether Gentiles could come into the Church as Gentiles without first being incorporated into the Jewish nation by circumcision, and whether they could remain in as Gentiles without conforming to Jewish ceremonial and law. The fight was stubborn and bitter. It is harder to abolish forms than to change opinions. All through Paul’s life he was dogged and tormented by this controversy. There was a deep gulf between the churches he planted and this reactionary section of the Christian community. Its emissaries were continually following in his footsteps. As he bitterly reproaches them, they entered upon another man’s line of things made ready to their hand, not caring to plant churches of circumcised Gentiles themselves, but starting up behind him as soon as his back was turned, and spoiling his work. This Epistle is the memorial of that foot-to-foot feud. It is of perennial use, as the tendencies against which it is directed are constant in human nature. Men are ever apt to confound form and substance, to crave material embodiments of spiritual realities, to elevate the outward means into the place of the inward and real, to which all the outward is but subsidiary. In every period of strife between the two great opponents this letter has been the stronghold of those who fight for the spiritual conception of religion. With it Luther waged his warfare, and in this day, too, its words are precious. A. M.

9. This is the only meeting of Paul and John recorded in the Scripture. John had been silent during the public discussion (Acts 15); but at the close of it he expressed his cordial union with Paul in “the truth of the gospel.” They stand together among the pillars of the holy temple; and the Church of God is thankful to learn how contemplation may be united with action, and faith with love, in the spiritual life. H.

9. 10. The reputed “pillars” of the Church “added nothing to Paul”—no new truth for him and his converts to learn, no new law for them to observe. They cordially recognized what God himself had made clear, that “the gospel of the uncircumcision” had been committed to Paul, like “the gospel of the circumcision” to Peter, and that the one could show miracles as convincing as the other; and they gave Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, as the pledge of the solemn compact, that these two should go to the Gentiles and they themselves to the Jews. Paul adds one point which proves that, amid these questions of doctrine and ritual, all the Apostles were agreed on the supreme importance of the fruit of practical beneficence in Christianity: “Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.”

11-14. Peter proved his full adoption of the new law of liberty by eating with the Gentiles, till certain Jewish Christians “came from James,” when, for fear of them, he withdrew from all such intercourse. The other Jews, to use the strong phrase of Paul, “played the hypocrite with him,” and even Barnabas was carried away with the rest. Paul, regarding their conduct as an open departure from “walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel,” “withstood Peter to the face.” This was no opposition of Pauline to Petrine views; it was a faithful rebuke of blamable moral weakness. S.—The point of Paul’s rebuke is plainly this—that, in sanctioning the Jewish feeling which regarded eating with the Gentiles as an unclean thing, Peter was untrue to his principles, was acting hypocritically and from fear. J. B. L.

In verse 13, “dissembled likewise with him,” substitute “also joined in his hypocrisy”; and at the end of the verse, for “dissimulation,” render “hypocrisy.” A.

And who is this who thus exhibited narrowness and moral cowardice on a critical occasion, and drew others away after him into compliance with his mischievous example? This is a saint specially dear to Christ, and specially honored of him; a saint who was enabled to perform many mighty and wonderful works. Verily, “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are.” Every man and woman who lives by Christian principle (that is, by faith), who sustains the life of his immortal spirit by prayer and the word of God, and resists evil watchfully and steadfastly, is a saint. He may have his infirmities, his backslidings, his periods of lukewarmness, his failings of temper, his moral cowardice; so had the Scriptural saints. E. M. G.—The one who suffered himself to be corrected, appears here still more worthy of admiration and harder to imitate, than the one who corrected him. For it is easier to see what may be improved in others, than for each to see what needs improvement in himself; and cheerfully to receive correction from himself for wrong-doing is hard; still harder, from another. This serves as a grand example of humility; and the doctrine of humility is the most important in the Christian system of morals; for by humility love is preserved. Aug.—The generosity and forgiving disposition of Peter is especially manifest from his Epistles, where he endorses the doctrines preached by Paul, and after having spoken of the “long-suffering of our Lord,” and of the prospect of sinless happiness in the world to come, alludes to those very Epistles in one of which his own censure is recorded, and calls their author his “beloved brother”! P. S.

19. To “live unto God” is but to return him his own rights in the human heart; to concentrate on him those affections which originally were formed for him alone. It is to know and feel that, even while this shadowy world encompasses us, there is around and above it a scene real, substantial, and eternal; a scene in which every holier affection, widowed and blighted here, is to be met and satisfied. To live in this belief—this hope; to read in the death of Christ death itself lost in immortality; to make the God of the New Testament the Friend, the Companion, the Consoler, of all earthly sorrow; to feel the brightest colors of ordinary life fade in “the glory that shall be revealed”—this is to live the “life” that heralds the immortality “unto God”! God grant to us a strong desire to live the “life unto God,” by patience and faith “to walk as seeing the invisible,” to yearn after that devotion of heart and soul unto Him, which, begun in this world, shall be perfected and consummated in the world of eternal peace! W. A. B.

20,21. For “am crucified,” substitute “have been crucified.” The following clause should stand: “And it is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.” In verse 20, for “by the faith,” substitute “in the faith.” In verse 21, for “is dead in vain,” render “died without cause.” A.

“I am crucified with Christ,” says Paul. Faith so looks on the death of Christ that it takes the impression of it, sets it on the heart, kills it unto sin: Christ and the believer do not only become one in law so as his death stands for theirs, but are one in nature so as his death for sin causes theirs to it. Baptized into his death. L.—Every believer is dead already for his sins in his Saviour; he need not fear that he shall die again. Comfort thyself, thou penitent and fearful soul, in the confidence of thy safety. Thou shalt not die but live, since thou art already crucified with thy Saviour. He died for thee, thou diedst in Him. Bp. H.

Self-love may impel to his feet, but Christ-love should be the moving spring of life thereafter. Ere we have received anything from him, our whole soul may be a longing to have our emptiness filled; but, when we have received his own great gift, our whole soul should be a thank-offering. The great reformation which Christ produces is that he shifts the center for us from ourselves to himself. Faith may begin with desiring the blessing rather than the Christ. It must end with desiring him more than all besides, and with losing self utterly in his great love. Its starting-point may rightly be, “Save, Lord, or I perish.” Its goal must be, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” A. M.—Christ is so related now to the soul of them that receive him, that he is present with them in all places, at all times, bearing witness with their spirit in guidance and holy society; a friend, a consoler, a glorious illuminator, all that he would or could be, if we had him each to himself in outward company. Oh, what a footing is this for a mortal creature to occupy, an open relationship with Christ and God, in which it shall receive just all which it wants, being consciously girded with strength for whatever it has to do, patience for suffering, wisdom for guidance! Everything flows down upon us from him, and so we begin to speak of being washed, sanctified, justified in him. He is our peace, our light, our bread; the way, the truth, and the life. H. B.

By the faith of the Son of God. The object of faith is Christ. If the object be a living Person, then there follows inseparably this: that faith is not merely the assent of the understanding, that faith is not merely the persuasion of the reality of unseen things, that faith is not merely the confident expectation of future good, but that faith is the personal relation of him that believes to the living Person its object—the relation which is ex-

pressed, not more clearly, but perhaps a little more forcibly to us by substituting another word, and saying, faith is trust. By laying hold of that simple principle, Because Christ is the object of faith, therefore faith must be trust, we get bright and beautiful light upon the grandest truths of the gospel of God. A. M.