 Chapter 3, Verses 1-5 of Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. This is a LibriVox recording. A LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Bill Mosley Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. By Martin Luther. Translated by Theodore Grabner. Chapter 3. Verse 1. O foolish Galatians. The Apostle Paul manifests his apostolic care for the Galatians. Sometimes he entreats them. Then again he reproaches them. In accordance with his own advice to Timothy, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort. In the midst of his discourse on Christian righteousness, Paul breaks off and turns to address the Galatians. O foolish Galatians, he cries, I have brought you the true Gospel and you received it with eagerness and gratitude. Now all of a sudden you drop the Gospel. What has got into you? Paul reproves the Galatians rather sharply when he calls them fools, bewitched and disobedient. Whether he is indignant or sorry, I cannot say. He may be both. It is the duty of a Christian pastor to reprove the people committed to his charge. Of course, his anger must not flow from malice, but from affection and a real zeal for Christ. There is no question that Paul is disappointed. It hurts him to think that his Galatians showed so little stability. We can hear him say, I am sorry to hear of your troubles and disappointed in you for the disgraceful part you played. I say rather much on this point to save Paul from the charge that he railed upon the churches contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. A certain distance and coolness can be noted in the title with which the apostle addresses the Galatians. He does not now address them as his brethren as he usually does. He addresses them as Galatians in order to remind them of their national trait to be foolish. We have here an example of bad traits that often cling to individual Christians and entire congregations. Grace does not suddenly transform a Christian into a new and perfect creature. Dregs of the old and natural corruption remain. The spirit of God cannot at once overcome human deficiency. Sanctification takes time. Although the Galatians had been enlightened by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of faith, something of their national trait of foolishness plus their original depravity clung to them. Let no man think that once he has received faith he can presently be converted into a faultless creature. The leavings of old vices will stick to him, be he ever so good a Christian. Verse 1 Who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth? Paul calls the Galatians foolish and bewitched. In the fifth chapter he mentions sorcery among the works of the flesh, declaring that witchcraft and sorcery are real manifestations and legitimate activities of the devil. We are all exposed to the influence of the devil because he is the prince and god of the world in which we live. Satan is clever. He does not only be witch-men in a crude manner, but also in a more artful fashion. He bedevils the minds of men with hideous fallacies. Not only is he able to deceive the self-assured, but even those who profess the true Christian faith, there is not one among us who is not at times seduced by Satan into false beliefs. This accounts for the many new battles we have to wage nowadays. But the attacks of the old serpent are not without profit to us, for they confirm our doctrine and strengthen our faith in Christ. Many a time we were wrestled down in those conflicts with Satan, but Christ has always triumphed and always will triumph. Do not think that the Galatians were the only ones to be bewitched by the devil. Let us realize that we too may be seduced by Satan. Verse 1 Who hath bewitched you? In this sentence Paul excuses the Galatians while he blames the false apostles for the apostasy of the Galatians. As if he were saying, I know your defection was not willful. The devil sent the false apostles to you, and they tallied you into believing that you are justified by the law. With this our epistle we endeavor to undo the damage which the false apostles have inflicted upon you. Like Paul we struggle with the word of God against the fanatical anabaptists of our day, and our efforts are not entirely in vain. The trouble is there are many who refuse to be instructed. They will not listen to reason, they will not listen to the scriptures, because they are bewitched by the tricky devil who can make a lie look like the truth. Since the devil has this uncanny ability to make us believe a lie until we would swear a thousand times it were the truth, we must not be proud but walk in fear and humility and call upon the Lord Jesus to save us from temptation. Although I am a doctor of divinity and have preached Christ and fought his battles for a long time, I know from personal experience how difficult it is to hold fast to the truth. I cannot always shake off Satan. I cannot always apprehend Christ as the scriptures portray him. Sometimes the devil distorts Christ to my vision, but thanks be to God who keeps us in his word in faith and in prayer. The spiritual witchery of the devil creates in the heart a wrong idea of Christ. Those who share the opinion that a person is justified by the works of the law are simply bewitched. Their belief goes against faith and Christ. Verse 1. That ye should not obey the truth. Paul incriminates the Galatians in worse failure. You are so bewitched that you no longer obey the truth. I fear many of you have strayed so far that you will never return to the truth. The apostasy of the Galatians is a fine endorsement of the law, all right. You may preach the law ever so fervently. If the preaching of the gospel does not accompany it, the law will never produce true conversion and heartfelt repentance. We do not mean to say that the preaching of the law is without value, but it only serves to bring home to us the wrath of God. The law bows a person down. It takes the gospel and the preaching of faith in Christ to raise and save a person. Verse 1. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth. Paul's increasing severity becomes apparent as he reminds the Galatians that they disobeyed the truth in defiance of the vivid description he had given them of Christ. So vividly had he described Christ to them that they could almost see and handle him. As if Paul were to say, no artist with all his colors could have pictured Christ to you as vividly as I have pictured him to you by my preaching. Yet you permitted yourselves to be seduced to the extent that you disobeyed the truth of Christ. Verse 1. Crucified among you. You have not only rejected the grace of God, you have shamefully crucified Christ among you. Paul employs the same phraseology in Hebrews 6-6. Seeing they crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. It should make any person afraid to hear Paul say that those who seek to be justified by the law not only deny Christ, but also crucify him anew. If those who seek to be justified by the law and its works are crucifiers of Christ, what are they I like to know who seek salvation by the filthy rags of their own work-righteousness? Can there be anything more horrible than the papacy an alliance of people who crucify Christ in themselves in the church and in the hearts of the believers? Of all the diseased and vicious doctrines of the papacy the worst is this. If you want to serve God, you must earn your own remission of sins and everlasting life and in addition help others to obtain salvation by giving them the benefit of your extra work-holiness. Monks, friars and all the rest of them brag that besides the ordinary requirements common to all Christians, they do the works of supraerogation, i.e. the performance of more than is required. This is certainly a fiendish illusion. No wonder Paul employs such sharp language in his effort to recall the Galatians from the doctrine of the false apostles. He says to them, Don't you realize what you have done? You have crucified Christ anew because you seek salvation by the law. True, Christ can no longer be crucified in person, but he is crucified in us when we reject grace, faith, free remission of sins, an endeavor to be justified by our own works or by the works of the law. The apostle is incensed at the presumptuousness of any person who thinks he can perform the law of God to his own salvation. He charges that person with the atrocity of crucifying anew the Son of God. Verse 2 This only would I learn of you received ye the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. There is a touch of irony in these words of the apostle. Come on now, my smart Galatians, you who all of a sudden have become doctors while I seem to be your pupil. Received ye the Holy Ghost by the works of the law or by the preaching of the gospel? This question gave them something to think about because their own experience contradicted them. You cannot say that you received the Holy Spirit by the law. As long as you were servants of the law, you never received the Holy Ghost. Nobody ever heard of the Holy Ghost being given to anybody, be he doctor or dunce, as a result of the preaching of the law. In your own case, you have not only learned the law by heart, you have labored with all your might to perform it. You most of all should have received the Holy Ghost by the law, if that were possible. You cannot show me that this ever happened. But as soon as the gospel came your way, you received the Holy Ghost by the simple hearing of faith before you ever had a chance to do a single good deed. Luke verifies this statement of Paul in the book of Acts. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. Acts 10.44 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning. Acts 11.15 Try to appreciate the force of Paul's argument which is so often repeated in the book of Acts. That book was written for the express purpose of verifying Paul's assertion, that the Holy Ghost comes upon men not in response to the preaching of the law, but in response to the preaching of the gospel. When Peter preached Christ at the first Pentecost, the Holy Ghost fell upon the hearers, and the same day they were added unto them about 3,000 souls. Cornelius received the Holy Ghost while Peter was speaking of Christ. The Holy Ghost fell on all of them which heard the word. These are actual experiences that cannot very well be denied. When Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem and reported what they had been able to accomplish among the Gentiles, the whole church was astonished, particularly when it heard that the uncircumcised Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost by the preaching of faith in Christ. Now as God gave the Holy Ghost to the Gentiles without the law by the simple preaching of the gospel, so He gave the Holy Ghost also to the Jews without the law through faith alone. If the righteousness of the law were necessary unto salvation, the Holy Ghost would never have come to the Gentiles because they did not bother about the law. Hence the law does not justify, but faith in Christ justifies. How was it with Cornelius? Cornelius and his friends whom he had invited over to his house do nothing but sit and listen. Peter is doing the talking. They just sit and do nothing. The law is far removed from their thoughts. They burn no sacrifices. They are not at all interested in circumcision. All they do is to sit and listen to Peter. Suddenly the Holy Ghost enters their hearts. His presence is unmistakable, for they spoke with tongues and magnified God. Right here we have one more difference between the law and the gospel. The law does not bring on the Holy Ghost. The gospel, however, brings on the gift of the Holy Ghost because it is the nature of the gospel to convey good gifts. The law and the gospel are contrary ideas. They have contrary functions and purposes. To endow the law with any capacity to produce righteousness is to plagiarize the gospel. The gospel brings donations. It pleads for open hands to take what is being offered. The law has nothing to give. It demands, and its demands are impossible. Our opponents come back at us with Cornelius. Cornelius, they point out, was a devout man and one that feared God with all his house which gave much alms to the people and prayed God always. Because of these qualifications he merited the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. So reason our opponents. I answer. Cornelius was a Gentile. You cannot deny it. As a Gentile he was uncircumcised. As a Gentile he did not observe the law. He never gave the law any thought. For all that he was justified and received the Holy Ghost. How can the law avail anything unto righteousness? Our opponents are not satisfied. They reply. Granted that Cornelius was a Gentile and did not receive the Holy Ghost by the law. Yet the text plainly states that he was a devout man who feared God, gave alms and prayed. Don't you think he deserved the gift of the Holy Ghost? I answer. Cornelius had the faith of the fathers who were saved by faith in the Christ to come. If Cornelius had died before Christ he would have been saved because he believed in the Christ to come. But because the Messiah had already come Cornelius had to be apprised of the fact. Since Christ has come we cannot be saved by faith in the Christ to come but we must believe that he has come. The object of Peter's visit was to acquaint Cornelius with the fact that Christ was no longer to be looked for because he is here. As to the contingent of our opponents that Cornelius deserved grace and the gift of the Holy Ghost because he was devout and just we say that these attributes are the characteristics of a spiritual person who already has faith in Christ and not the characteristics of a Gentile or of natural man. Luke first praises Cornelius for being a devout and God-fearing man and then Luke mentions the good works, the alms and prayers of Cornelius. Our opponents ignore the sequence of Luke's words. They pounce on this one sentence which gave much alms to the people because it serves their assertion that merit precedes grace. The fact is that Cornelius gave alms and prayed to God because he had faith and because of his faith in the Christ to come Peter was delegated to preach unto Cornelius faith in the Christ who had already come. This argument is convincing enough. Cornelius was justified without the law therefore the law cannot justify. Take the case of Naaman the Syrian was a Gentile and did not belong to the race of Moses yet his flesh was cleansed. The God of Israel was revealed unto him and he received the Holy Ghost. Naaman confessed his faith. Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. 2 Kings 5.15 Naaman does not do a thing. He does not busy himself with the law. He was never circumcised. That does not mean that his faith was inactive. He said to the prophet Elisha, Thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods but unto the Lord. In this thing the Lord pardoned thy servant that when my master goeth into the house of reman to worship there and he leneth on my hand and I bow myself in the house of reman. When I bow down myself in the house of reman the Lord pardoned my servant in this thing. What did the prophet tell him? Go in peace. The Jews do not like to hear the prophet say this. What they exclaim, should this heathen be justified without the law should he be made equal to us who are circumcised? Long before the time of Moses God justified men without the law. He justified many kings of Egypt and Babylonia. He justified Job. Nineveh, that great city, was justified and received the promise of God that he would not destroy the city. Why was Nineveh spared? Not because it fulfilled the law but because Nineveh believed the word of God. The prophet Jonah writes, So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth. They repented. Nowhere in the book of Jonah do you read that the Ninevites received the law of Moses or that they were circumcised or that they offered sacrifices. All this happened long before Christ was born. If the Gentiles were justified without the law and quietly received the Holy Spirit at a time when the law was in full force why should the law count unto righteousness now now that Christ has fulfilled the law and yet many devote much time and labor to the law to the decrees of the fathers and to the traditions of the pope. Many of these specialists have incapacitated themselves for any kind of work, good or bad by their rigorous attention to rules and laws. All the same they could not obtain a quiet conscience and peace in Christ. But the moment the Gospel of Christ touches them certainty comes to them and joy and a right judgment. I have good reason for enlarging upon this point. The heart of man finds it difficult to believe that so great a treasure as the Holy Ghost is gotten by the mere hearing of faith. The hearer likes to reason like this. Forgiveness of sins deliverance from death the gift of the Holy Ghost everlasting life are grand things. If you want to obtain these priceless benefits you must engage in correspondingly great efforts. And the devil says Amen. We must learn that forgiveness of sins Christ and the Holy Ghost are freely granted unto us at the preaching of faith in spite of our sinfulness. We are not to waste time thinking how unworthy we are of the blessings of God. We are to know that it pleased God freely to give us his unspeakable gifts. If he offers his gifts free of charge why not take them? Why worry about our lack of worthiness? Why not accept gifts with joy and thanksgiving? Right away foolish reason is once more offended. It scolds us. When you say that a person can do nothing to obtain the grace of God you foster carnal security. People become shiftless and will do no good at all. Better not preach this doctrine of faith. Rather urge the people to exert and to exercise themselves in good works so that the Holy Ghost will feel like coming to them. What did Jesus say to Martha when she was very careful and troubled about many things and could hardly stand to see her sister Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus just listening? Martha, Martha, Jesus said they are careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. A person becomes a Christian not by working but by hearing. The first step to being a Christian is to hear the Gospel. When a person has accepted the Gospel let him first give thanks unto God with a glad heart and then let him get busy on the good works to strive for works that really please God and not man-made and self-chosen works. Our opponents regard faith as an easy thing but I know from personal experience how hard it is to believe that the Holy Ghost is received by faith is quickly said but not so quickly done. All believers experience this difficulty they would gladly embrace the Word with a full faith but the flesh deters them. You see our reason always thinks it is too easy and cheap to have righteousness the Holy Spirit and life everlasting by the mere hearing of the Gospel. Verse 3 Are ye so foolish having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Paul now begins to warn the Galatians against a twofold danger. The first danger is are ye so foolish that after you have begun in the Spirit you would now end in the flesh. Flesh stands for the righteousness of reason which seeks justification by the accomplishments of the law. I am told that I began in the Spirit under the papacy ending up in the flesh because I got married as though single life or a spiritual life and married life a carnal life. They are silly. All the duties of a Christian husband e.g. to love his wife to bring up his children to govern his family, etc. are the very fruits of the Spirit. The righteousness of the law which Paul also terms the righteousness of the flesh is so far from justifying a person that those who once had the Holy Spirit and lost him end up in the law to their complete destruction. Verse 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? The other danger against which the apostle warns the Galatians is this. Have ye suffered so many things in vain? Paul wants to say consider not only the good start you had and lost but consider also the many things you have suffered for the sake of the gospel and for the name of Christ. You have suffered the loss of your possessions. You have borne reproaches. You have passed through many dangers of body and life. You endured much for the name of Christ and you endured it faithfully. But now you have lost everything. The gospel, faith and the spiritual benefit of your sufferings for Christ's sake. What a miserable thing to endure so many amictions for nothing. Verse 4 If it be yet in vain? The apostle adds the afterthought. If it be yet in vain I do not despair of all hope for you but if you continue to look to the law for righteousness I think you should be told that all your past true worship of God and all the afflictions that you have endured for Christ's sake are going to help you not at all. I do not mean to discourage you altogether. I do hope you will repent and amend. Verse 5 This argument based on the experience of the Galatians pleased the apostle so well that he returns to it after he had warned them against their twofold danger. You have not only received the spirit by the preaching of the gospel but by the same gospel you were enabled to do so. You have not only received the spirit by the preaching of the gospel but by the same gospel you were enabled to do so by the same gospel you were enabled to do things. What things we ask? Miracles. At least the Galatians and manifested the striking fruits of faith which true disciples of the gospel manifested in those days. On one occasion the apostle wrote the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. This power revealed itself not only in readiness of speech but in demonstrations of the supernatural ability of the Holy Spirit. When the gospel is preached unto faith hope, love and patience God gives his wonder-working spirit. Paul reminds the Galatians of this God had not only brought you to faith by my preaching he had also sanctified you to bring forth the fruits of faith and one of the fruits of your faith was that you loved me so devotedly that you were willing to pluck out your eyes for me. To love a fellow man so devotedly as to be ready to bestow upon him money, goods, eyes in order to secure his salvation such love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. These products of the Spirit you enjoyed before the false apostles misled you. The apostle reminds the Galatians but you haven't manifested any of these fruits in the regime of the law. How does it come that you do not grow the same fruits now? You no longer teach truly you do not believe boldly you do not live well you do not work hard you do not bear things patiently. Who has spoiled you that you no longer love me that you are not now ready to pluck out your eyes for me? What has happened to cool your personal interest in me? The same thing happened to me when I began to proclaim the gospel there were many, very many who were delighted with our doctrine and had a good opinion of us. And now now they have succeeded in making us so odious to those who formerly loved us that they now hate us like poison. Paul argues your experience ought to teach you that the fruits of love do not grow on the stump of the law you had not virtue prior to the preaching of the gospel and you have no virtues now under the regime of the false apostles. We too may say to those who misnamed themselves evangelical and flout their newfound liberty have you put down the tyranny of the Pope and obtained liberty in Christ through the Anabaptists and other fanatics or have you obtained your freedom from us who preach faith in Christ Jesus? If there is any honesty left in them they will have to confess that their freedom dates from the preaching of the gospel. End of Chapter 3 Verses 1-5 of commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians Recording by Bill Moseley Frillsburg, Texas USA Chapter 3 Verses 6-9 of commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Bill Moseley Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther Translated by Theodore Grabner Chapter 3 Verses 6 Even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness The Apostle next adduces the example of Abraham and reviews the testimony of the scriptures concerning faith The first passage is taken from Genesis 16-6 and he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness. The Apostle makes the most of this passage Abraham may have enjoyed a good standing with men for his upright life, but not with God In the sight of God Abraham was a condemned sinner. That he was justified before God was not due to his own assertions, but due to his faith The scriptures expressly state Abraham believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness Paul places the emphasis upon the two words Abraham believed Faith in God constitutes the highest worship the prime duty, the first obedience, and the foremost sacrifice. Without faith God forfeits his glory wisdom, truth and mercy in us The first duty of man is to believe in God and to honor him with his faith Faith is truly the height of wisdom the right kind of righteousness the only real religion This will give us an idea of the excellence of faith To believe in God as Abraham did is to be right with God because faith honors God Faith says to God I believe what you say When we pay attention to reason God seems to propose impossible matters in the Christian creed To reason it seems absurd that Christ should offer his body and blood to the Lord's Supper that baptism should be the washing of regeneration that the dead shall rise that Christ the Son of God was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, etc Reason shouts that all this is preposterous Are you surprised that reason thinks little of faith? Reason thinks that ludicrous that faith should be the foremost service unto God Let your faith supplant reason Abraham mastered reason by faith in the Word of God Not as though reason ever yields meekly it put up a fight against the faith of Abraham Reason protested that it was absurd to think that Sarah who was 90 years old and barren by nature should give birth to a son But faith won the victory and routed reason that ugly beast and enemy of God Everyone who by faith slays reason the world's biggest monster renders God a real service a better service than the religions of all races and all the drudgery of meritorious monks can render Men fast pray watch suffer They intend to appease the wrath of God and to deserve God's grace by their exertions But there is no glory in it for God because by their exertions these workers pronounce God an unmerciful slave driver an unfaithful and angry judge They despise God make a liar out of him snub Christ and all his benefits In short, they pull God out of their throne and perch themselves on it Faith truly honors God and because faith honors God God counts faith for righteousness Christian righteousness is the confidence of the heart in God through Christ Jesus Such confidence is accounted righteousness for Christ's sake Two things make for Christian righteousness For Christ, which is a gift of God and God's acceptance of this imperfect faith of ours for perfect righteousness Because of my faith in Christ God overlooks my distrust the unwillingness of my spirit my many other sins because the shadow of Christ's wing covers me I have no fear that God will cover all my sins in my imperfections for perfect righteousness God winks at my sins and covers them up God says because you believe in my son I will forgive your sins until death shall deliver you from the body of sin Learn to understand the constitution of your Christian righteousness Faith is weak but it means enough to God that he will not lay sin to our charge He will not punish nor condemn us for it He will forgive our sins as though the amount to nothing at all He will do it not because we are worthy of such mercy He will do it for Jesus' sake in whom we believe Paradoxically a Christian is both right and wrong holy and profane an enemy of God and a child of God In the end, no person can harmonize who does not understand the true way of salvation under the papacy we were told to toil until the feeling of guilt had left us but the authors of this deranged idea were frequently driven to despair in the hour of death it would have happened to me if Christ had not mercifully delivered me from this error we comfort the afflicted sinner in this manner Brother, you can never be perfect in this life but you can be holy He will say, how can I be holy when I feel my sins I answer, you feel sin that is a good sign to realize that one is ill is a step and a very necessary step toward recovery but how will I get rid of my sin He will ask I answer, see the heavenly Christ who heals the brokenhearted do not consult that quack doctor reason believe in Christ and your sins will be hardened his righteousness will become your righteousness and your sins will become his sins on one occasion Jesus said to his disciples the Father loveth you why not because the disciples were Pharisees or circumcised or particularly attentive to the law Jesus said the Father loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out from God it pleased you to know that the Father sent me into the world and because you believed it the Father loves you on another occasion Jesus called his disciples evil and commanded them for forgiveness a Christian is beloved of God and a sinner how can these two contradictions be harmonized I am a sinner and deserve God's wrath and punishment and yet the Father loves me Christ alone can harmonize these contradictions he is the mediator do you now see how faith justifies without works sin lingers in us and God hates sin a transfusion of righteousness therefore becomes vitally necessary this transfusion of righteousness we obtain from Christ because we believe in him verse 7 know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham this is the main point of Paul's argument against the Jews the children of Abraham are those who believe and not those who are born of Abraham's flesh and blood this point Paul drives home with all his might because the Jews attached saving value to the genealogical fact we are the seed and children of Abraham let us begin with Abraham and learn how this friend of God was justified and saved not because he left his country his relatives his father's house not because he was circumcised not because he stood ready to sacrifice his own son Isaac in whom he had the promise of posterity Abraham was justified because he believed Paul's argumentation runs like this since this is the unmistakable testimony of holy writ why do you take your stand upon circumcision and the law was not Abraham your father of whom you make so much justified and saved without circumcision and the law by faith alone Paul therefore concludes they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham Abraham was the father of the faithful in order to be a child of the believing Abraham you must believe as he did otherwise you are merely the physical offspring of the procreating Abraham i.e. you were conceived and born in sin unto wrath and condemnation Ishmael and Isaac were both the natural children of Abraham by rights Ishmael should have enjoyed the prerogatives born if physical generation had any special value nevertheless he was left out in the cold while Isaac was called this goes to prove that the children of faith are the real children of Abraham some vie in fault with Paul for applying the term faith in Genesis 156 to Christ they think Paul's use of the term too wide in general is reflected to the context they claim Abraham's faith had no more in it than a belief in the promise of God that he should have seed we reply faith presupposes the assurance of God's mercy this assurance takes in the confidence that our sins are forgiven for Christ's sake never will the conscience trust in God unless it can be sure of God's and promises in Christ now all the promises of God lead back to the first promise concerning Christ and I will put enmity between the and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel the faith of the fathers in the Old Testament era and our faith in the New Testament are one and the same faith in Christ Jesus although times and conditions may differ Peter acknowledged this in the words which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear but we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Acts 15, 10, 11 and Paul writes and did all drink the spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ 1 Corinthians 10, 4 and Christ himself declared your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad John 8, 56 the faith of the fathers was directed at the Christ who was to come while ours rests in the Christ who has come time does not change the object of true faith or the Holy Spirit there has always been and always will be one mind, one impression one faith concerning Christ among true believers whether they live in times past now or in times to come we too believe in the Christ to come as the fathers did in the Old Testament look for Christ to come again on the last day to judge the quick and the dead. Verse 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham Paul is saying you know from the example of Abraham and from the plain testimony of the scriptures that they are the children of Abraham who have faith in Christ regardless of their nationality or law regardless of works regardless of their parentage the promise was made unto Abraham thou shalt be a father of many nations again and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed to prevent the Jews from misinterpreting the word nations the scriptures are careful to say many nations the true children of Abraham and Christ from all nations verse 8 and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith ear boasting does not get you anywhere says Paul to the Galatians because the sacred scriptures foresaw and foretold long before the law was ever given that the heathen should be justified by the blessed seed of Abraham not by the law this promise was made 430 years before the law was given because the law was given so many years after Abraham it could not abolish the promised blessing this argument is strong because it is based on the exact factor of time why should you boast of the law my Galatians when the law came 430 years after the promise the false apostles glorified the law and despised the promise made unto Abraham although it antedated the law by many years it was after Abraham was accounted righteous because of his faith that the scriptures first make mention of circumcision the scriptures says Paul meant to forestall your infatuation for the righteousness of the law by installing the righteousness of faith before circumcision and the law were ever ordained verse 8 preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying in thee shall all nations be blessed the Jews misconstrued this passage they want the term to bless to mean to praise they want the passage to read in thee shall all the nations be praised but this is a perversion of the words of holy writ with the words Abraham believed Paul describes a spiritual Abraham renewed by faith and regenerated by the holy ghost that he should be the spiritual father of many nations in that way all the Gentiles could be given to him for an inheritance the scriptures ascribe no righteousness to Abraham except through faith the scriptures speak of Abraham as he stands before God a man justified by faith because of his faith God extends to him the promise in thee shall all nations be blessed verse 9 so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham the emphasis lies on the words with faithful Abraham Paul distinguishes between Abraham and Abraham there is a working and there is a believing Abraham with the working Abraham we have nothing to do let the Jews glory in the generating Abraham we glory in the believing Abraham of whom the scriptures say that he received the blessing of righteousness by faith not only for himself but for all who believe as he did the world was promised Abraham because he believed the whole world is blessed if it believes as Abraham believed the blessing is the promise of the gospel that all nations are to be blessed means that all nations are to hear the gospel all nations are to be declared righteous before God through faith in Christ Jesus to bless simply means to spread abroad the knowledge of Christ's salvation this is the office of the New Testament church which distributes the promised blessing by preaching the gospel by administering the sacraments by comforting the broken hearted in short by dispensing the benefits of Christ the Jews exhibited a working Abraham it's a working Christ or an exemplary Christ the Pope quotes Christ saying recorded in John 1315 I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you we do not deny that Christians ought to imitate the example of Christ but mere imitation will not satisfy God and bear in mind that Paul is not now discussing the example of Christ but the salvation of Christ that Abraham submitted to circumcision at the command of God that he was endowed with excellent virtues that he obeyed God in all things was certainly admirable of him to follow the example of Christ to love one's neighbor to do good to them that persecutes you to pray for one's enemies patiently and bear the ingratitude of those who return evil for good is certainly praiseworthy but praiseworthy or not such virtues do not acquit us before God it takes more than that to make us righteous before God we need Christ himself not his example to save us we need a redeeming not an exemplary Christ to save us from Christ and the believing Abraham not of the model Christ or the sweating Abraham the believing Abraham is not to lie buried in the grave he is to be dusted off and brought out before the world he is to be praised to the sky for his faith heaven and earth ought to know about him and about his faith in Christ the working Abraham ought to look pretty small but next to the believing Abraham Paul's words contain the implication of contrast when he quotes Scripture to the effect that all nations that share the faith of faithful Abraham are to be blessed Paul means to imply the contrast that all nations are accursed without faith in Christ end of chapter 3 verses 6 through 9 of commentary on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians recording by Bill Moseley Frelsburg, Texas USA Chapter 3 verses 10 through 12 of commentary on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Bill Moseley commentary on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther translated by Theodore Grabner Chapter 3 verse 10 for as many as are the works of the law are under the curse the curse of God is like a flood that swallows everything that is not of faith to avoid the curse we must hold on to the promise of the blessing in Christ the reader is reminded that all this has no bearing upon civil laws, customs or political matters civil laws and ordinances have their place and purpose let every government enact the best possible laws but civil righteousness will never deliver a person from the condemnation of God's law I have good reason for calling your attention to this people easily mistake civil righteousness for spiritual righteousness in civil life we must of course pay attention to laws and deeds but in the spiritual life we must not think to be justified by laws and works but always keep in mind the promise and blessing of Christ our only saviour according to Paul everything that is not of faith is sin when our opponents hear us repeat this statement of Paul they make it appear as if we taught that governments should not be honored as if we favored rebellion against the constituted authorities as if we condemned all laws our opponents do us a great wrong for we make a clear cut distinction between civil and spiritual affairs governmental laws and ordinances are blessings of God for this life only as for everlasting life temporal blessings are not good enough unbelievers enjoy more temporal blessings than the Christians civil or legal righteousness may be good enough for this life but not for the life hereafter otherwise the infidels would be nearer heaven than the Christians for infidels often excel in civil righteousness verse 10 for it is written cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them Paul goes on to prove from this quotation out of the book of Deuteronomy that all men who are under the law are under the sentence of sin of the wrath of God of everlasting death Paul produces his proof in a roundabout way he turns the negative statement cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them into a positive statement as many as are of the works the law are under the curse these two statements one by Paul and the other by Moses appear to conflict Paul declares whosoever shall do the works of the law is accursed Moses declares whoever shall not do the works of the law is accursed how can these two contradictory statements be reconciled how can the one statement prove the other no person can hope to understand Paul unless he understands the article of justification these two statements are not at all inconsistent we must bear in mind that to do the works of the law does not mean only to live up to the superficial requirements of the law but to obey the spirit of the law to perfection but where will you find the person who can do that let him step forward and we will praise him our opponents have their answer ready made they quote Paul's own statement in Romans two thirteen the doers of the law shall be justified very well but let us first find out who the doers of the law are they call a doer of the law one who performs the law in its literal sense this is not to do the law this is to sin when our opponents go about to perform the law they sin against the first the second and the third commandments in fact they sin against the whole law for God requires above all that we worship him in spirit and in faith in observing the law for the purpose of obtaining righteousness without faith in Christ go smack against the law and against God they deny the righteousness of God his mercy and his promises they deny Christ and all his benefits in their ignorance of the true purpose of the law the exponents of the law abuse the law as Paul says Romans ten three for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going out to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God in their folly our opponents rush into the scriptures pick out a sentence here and a sentence there about the law and imagine they know all about it their work righteousness is plain idolatry and blasphemy against God no wonder they abide under the curse of God because God saw that we could not fulfill the law he provided a way of salvation long before the law was ever given a salvation that he promised Abraham saying in thee shall all nations be blessed the very first thing for us to do is to believe in Christ we must receive the Holy Spirit who enlightens and sanctifies us so that we can begin to do the law i.e. to love God and our neighbor now the Holy Ghost is not obtained by the law but by faith in Christ in the last analysis to do the law means to believe in Jesus Christ the tree comes first and then come the fruits the scholastics admit that a mere external and superficial performance of the law without sincerity and goodwill is plain hypocrisy Judas acted like the other disciples what was wrong with Judas Mark what Rome answers Judas was a reprobate his motives were perverse therefore his works were hypocritical and no good well well Rome does admit after all that works in themselves do not justify unless they issue from a sincere heart why do our opponents not profess the same truth in spiritual matters there above all faith must precede everything the heart must be purified by faith there are two classes of doers of the law true doers and hypocritical doers the true doers of the law are those who are moved by faith in Christ to do the law the hypocritical doers of the law are those who seek to obtain righteousness by a mechanical performance of good works while their hearts are moved from God they act like the foolish carpenter who starts with the roof when he builds a house instead of doing the law these law conscious hypocrites break the law they break the very first commandment of God by denying his promise in Christ they do not worship God in faith they worship themselves no wonder Paul was able to foretell the abominations that Antichrist would bring into the church that Antichrist would come Christ himself prophesied Matthew 24.5 for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many whoever seeks righteousness by works denies God and makes himself God he is an Antichrist to his own works the omnipotent capability of conquering sin death, devil, hell and the wrath of God Antichrist lays claim to the honor of Christ he is an idolater of himself the law righteous person is the worst kind of infidel those who intend to obtain righteousness by their own efforts in so many words I am God I am Christ but it amounts to that they usurp the divinity and office of Christ the effect is the same as if they said I am Christ I am a savior I save myself and others this is the impression the monks give out the Pope is the Antichrist because he is against Christ because he takes liberties with the things of God because he lords it over the temple of God I cannot tell you in words how criminal it is to seek righteousness before God without faith in Christ by the works of the law it is the abomination standing in the holy place it deposes the creator and deifies the creature the real doers and the law are the true believers the Holy Spirit enables them to love God and their neighbor but because we have only the first fruits of the Spirit and not the tenth fruits we do not observe the law perfectly this imperfection of ours however is not imputed to us for Christ's sake hence the statement of Moses is not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them is not contrary to Paul Moses requires perfect doers of the law but where will you find them nowhere Moses himself confessed that he was not a perfect doer of the law he said to the Lord pardon our iniquity and our sin by the gift of any transgression how so? first by the forgiveness of our sins and the imputation of his righteousness secondly by the gift of the Holy Ghost who engenders new life and activity in us objections to the doctrine of faith disproved here we shall take the time to enter upon the objections against the doctrine of faith there are many passages in the Bible that deal with works and the reward of works which our opponents side against us in the belief that these will disprove the doctrine of faith which we teach the scholastics grant that according to the reasonable order of nature being proceeds doing they grant that any act is faulty unless it proceeds by right motive they grant that a person must be right before he can do right why don't they grant that the right inclination of the heart toward God through faith in Christ must precede works in the 11th chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews we find a catalog of various works and deeds of the saints of the Bible David who killed a lion and a bear and defeated Goliath is mentioned in the heroic deeds of David the scholastic can discover nothing more than outward achievement but the deeds of David must be evaluated according to the personality of David when we understand that David was a man of faith whose heart trusted in the Lord we shall understand why he could do such heroic deeds David said the Lord that delivereth me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine again thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee 1 Samuel 17 37 45 46 before David could achieve a single heroic deed he was already a man beloved of God strong and constant in faith of Abel it is said in the same epistle by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain when the Scholastics come upon the parallel passage in Genesis 4-4 they get no further than the words and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering aha they cry see God has respect to offerings works do justify with mud in their eyes they cannot see that the text says in Genesis that the Lord had respect to the person of Abel first Abel please the Lord because of his faith because the person of Abel please the Lord the offering of Abel please the Lord also the epistle to the Hebrews expressly states by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice in our dealings with God the work is worth nothing without faith for without faith it is impossible to please him Hebrews 11-6 the sacrifice of Abel was better than the sacrifice of Cain because Abel had faith as to Cain he had no faith or trust in God's grace but strutted about at his own need worth when God refused to recognize Cain's worth Cain got angry at God and at Abel the Holy Spirit speaks of faith in different ways in the sacred scriptures sometimes he speaks of faith independently of other matters when the scriptures speak of faith in the absolute or abstract faith refers to justification directly the scripture speaks of rewards and works it speaks of compound or relative faith we will furnish some examples Galatians 5-6 faith which worketh by love Leviticus 18-5 which if a man do he shall live in them Matthew 19-17 if thou wilt enter into life commandments Psalm 37-27 depart from evil and do good in these and other passages where mention is made of doing the scriptures always speak of a faithful doing a doing inspired by faith do this and thou shalt live means first have faith in Christ and Christ will enable you to do and to live in the word of God all things that are attributed to works are attributable to faith faith is the divinity of works faith permeates all the deeds of the believer as Christ's divinity permeated his humanity Abraham was accounted righteous because faith pervaded his whole personality and his every action when you read how the fathers prophets and kings accomplished great deeds remember to explain them as the epistle to the Hebrews accounts for them who through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions Hebrews 11-33 in this way will we correctly interpret all those passages in the fullness of works the law is truly observed only through faith hence every holy, moral law worker is accursed supposing that this explanation will not satisfy the scholastics supposing that they should completely wrap me up in their arguments they cannot do it I would rather be wrong to call credit to Christ alone here is Christ Paul, Christ's apostle declares that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us Galatians 3-13 I hear with my own ears that I cannot be saved except by the blood and death of Christ I conclude therefore that it is up to Christ to overcome my sins and not up to the law or my own efforts if he is the price of my redemption if he was made sin for my justification I don't give a care if you quote me a thousand scripture passages for the righteousness of works against the righteousness of faith I have the author and lord of the scriptures on my side I would rather believe him than all that riff-raff of pious law workers verse 11 but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident for the just shall live by faith the apostle draws into his argument the testimony of the prophet Habakkuk the just shall live by his faith this passage carries much weight because it eliminates the law and the deeds of the law as factors in the process of our justification the scholastics misconstrue this passage by saying the just shall live by faith if it is a working faith or a faith formed and performed by charitable works their annotation is a forgery to speak of formed or unformed faith a sort of double faith is contrary to the scriptures if charitable works can form and perfect faith I am forced to say eventually that charitable deeds constitute the essential factor in the Christian religion Christ and his benefits would be lost to us verse 12 and the law is not of faith in direct opposition to the scholastics Paul declares the law is not of faith what is this charity the scholastics talk so much about does not the law command charity the fact is the law commands nothing but charity as we may gather from the following scripture passages I shall love the Lord thy God with all thine heart with all thy soul and with all thy might Deuteronomy 6.5 screwing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments Exodus 26 on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets Matthew 22.40 if the law requires charity charity is part of the law and not of faith since Christ has displaced the law which commands charity it follows that charity has been abrogated with the law as a factor in our justification and only faith is left verse 12 but the man that doeth them shall live in them Paul undertakes to explain the difference between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of faith the righteousness of the law is the fulfillment of the law according to the passage the man that doeth them shall live in them the righteousness of faith is to believe the gospel according to the passage the just shall live by faith the law is a statement of debit the gospel a statement of credit by this distinction Paul explains why charity a statement of the law cannot justify because the law contributes nothing to our justification indeed works do follow after faith but faith is not therefore a meritorious work faith is a gift the character and limitations of the law must be rigidly maintained when we believe in Christ we live by faith when we believe in the law we can be active enough but we have no life the function of the law is not to give life the function of the law is to kill true the law says the man that doeth them shall live in them but where is the person who can do them i.e. love God with all his heart, soul and mind and his neighbor as himself are justified by faith and therefore are true doers of the law he opposes those who think they can fulfill the law when in reality they can only sin against the law by trying to obtain righteousness by the law the law demands that we fear love and worship God with a true faith the law workers fail to do this instead they invent new modes and new kinds of works which God never commanded they provoke his anger according to the passage but in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men Matthew 15.9 hence the law righteous workers are downright rebels against God and idolaters who constantly sin against the first commandment in short they are put at all though outwardly they seem to be extremely solicitous of the honor of God we who are justified by faith as the saints of old may be under the law but we are not under the curse of the law because sin is not imputed to us for Christ's sake if the law cannot be fulfilled by the believers if sin continues to cling to them despite love for God what can you expect of people who are not yet justified by faith who are still enemies of God in his word like the unbelieving law workers it goes to show how impossible it is for those who have not been justified by faith to fulfill the law end of chapter 3 verses 10 through 12 of commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians recording by Bill Mosley Frillsburg, Texas USA chapter 3 verses 13 through 19 of commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Bill Mosley commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther translated by Theodore Grabner chapter 3 verse 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law made a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree Jerome and his present day followers rack their miserable brains over this comforting passage in an effort to save Christ from the fancied insult of being called a curse they say this quotation from Moses does not apply to Christ Paul is taking liberties by generalizing the statements in Deuteronomy 21 23 Moses has he that is hanged Paul puts it everyone that hangeth on the other hand Paul omits the words of God in his quotation from Moses for he that is hanged is a curse of God Moses speaks of a criminal death how our opponents ask can this passage be applied to the holy Christ as if he were a curse of God and worthy to be hanged this piece of exegesis may impress the naive as a zealous attempt to defend the honor and glory of Christ let us see what Paul has in mind Paul does not say that Christ was made a curse the axon is on the two words for us Christ is personally innocent personally he did not deserve to be hanged for any crime of his own doing but because Christ took the place of others who were sinners he was hanged like any other transgressor the law of Moses leaves no loopholes it says that a transgressor who are the other sinners we are the sentence of death and everlasting damnation had long been pronounced over us but Christ took all our sins and died for them on the cross he was numbered with the transgressors and he bear the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors Isaiah 53 12 all the prophets of old said that Christ should be the greatest transgressor murderer, adulterer, thief blasphemer that ever was or ever could be on earth when he took the sins of the whole world upon himself Christ was no longer an innocent person he was a sinner burdened with the sins of a Paul who was a blasphemer burdened with the sins of a Peter who denied Christ burdened with the sins of a David who committed adultery and murder and gave the heathen occasion to laugh at the Lord in short Christ was charged with the sins of all men that he should pay for them with his own blood the curse struck him the law found him among sinners he was not only in the company of sinners he had gone so far as to invest himself with the flesh and blood of sinners so the law judged and hanged him for a sinner in separating Christ from us sinners and holding him up as a holy exemplar errorists rob us of our best comfort they misrepresent him as a threatening tyrant who is ready to slaughter us at the slightest provocation I am told that it is preposterous and wicked to call the Son of God a cursed sinner I answer if you deny that he is a condemned sinner you are forced to deny that Christ died it is not less preposterous to say the Son of God died than to say the Son of God was a sinner John the Baptist called him the Lamb of God which taketh away the Son of the world being the unspotted Lamb of God Christ was personally innocent but because he took the sins of the world his sinlessness was defiled with the sinfulness of the world whatever sins I you all of us have committed or shall commit they are Christ's sins as if he had committed them himself our sins have to be Christ's sins or we shall perish forever Isaiah declares of Christ the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all we have no right to minimize the force of this declaration God does not amuse himself with words what a relief for a Christian to know that Christ is covered all over with my sins your sins and the sins of the whole world the papas invented their own doctrine of faith they say charity creates and adorns their faith by stripping Christ of our sins by making him sinless they cast our sins back at us and make Christ absolutely worthless to us what sort of charity is this if that is a sample of their vaunted charity we want none of it our merciful father in heaven saw how the law oppressed us and how impossible it was for us to get out from under the curse of the law he therefore sent his only son into the world and said to him now Peter the liar Paul the persecutor David the adulterer Adam the disobedient the thief on the cross you my son must pay the world's iniquity the law growls all right if your son is taking the sin of the world I see no sins anywhere else but in him he shall die on the cross and the law kills Christ but we go free the argument of the apostle against the righteousness of the law is impregnable if Christ bears our sins we do not bear them but if Christ is innocent of our sins and does not bear them we must bear them and we shall die in our sins but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ let us see how Christ was able to gain the victory over our enemies the sins of the whole world past present and future fastened themselves upon Christ and condemned him but because Christ is God he had an everlasting and uncockerable righteousness these two the sin of the world and the righteousness of God met in a death struggle furiously the sin of the world assailed the righteousness of God righteousness is immortal and invincible on the other hand sin is a mighty tyrant who subdues all men this tyrant pounces on Christ but Christ's righteousness is unconquerable the result is inevitable sin is defeated and righteousness triumphs and reigns forever in the same manner was death defeated death is emperor of the world he strikes down kings princes all men he has an idea to destroy all life but Christ has immortal life and life immortal gained the victory over death through Christ death has lost her sting Christ is the death of death the curse of God waged a similar battle with the eternal mercy of God in Christ the curse meant to condemn God's mercy but he could not do it because the mercy of God is everlasting the curse had to give way the mercy of God in Christ had lost out God himself would have lost out which of course is impossible Christ says Paul spoiled principalities and powers he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it Colossians 2 15 they cannot harm those who hide in Christ sin death the wrath of God hell the devil are mortified in Christ where Christ is near the powers of evil must keep their distance Saint John says and this is the victory that over cometh the world even our faith 1st John 5 4 you may now perceive why it is imperative to believe and confess the divinity of Christ to overcome the sin of a whole world and death and the wrath of God was no work for any creature power of sin and death could be broken only by a greater power God alone could abolish sin destroy death and take away the curse of the law God alone could bring righteousness life and mercy to light in attributing these achievements to Christ the scriptures pronounce Christ to be God forever the article of justification is indeed fundamental if we remain sound in this one article we remain sound in all the other articles of the Christian faith when we teach justification by faith in Christ we confess at the same time Christ is God I cannot get over the blindness of the Pope's theologians to imagine that the mighty forces of sin death and the curse can be vanquished by the righteousness of man's paltry works by fasting pilgrimages masses vows and such Jew jaws these blind leaders of the blind turn the poor people over to the mercy of sin death and the devil what chance has a defenseless human creature against these powers of darkness they train sinners who are ten times worse than any thief whore murderer the divine power of God alone can destroy sin and death and create righteousness and life when we hear that Christ was made a curse for us let us believe it with joy and assurance by faith Christ changes places with us he gets our sins we get his holiness by faith alone can we become righteous for faith invests us with the sinlessness of Christ the more fully we believe this the fuller will be our joy if you believe that sin death and the curse are void why they are null zero whenever sin and death make you nervous write it down as an illusion of the devil there is no sin now no curse, no death, no devil because Christ has done away with them this fact is sure there is nothing wrong with the fact the defect lies in our lack of faith in the apostolic creed we confess I believe in the holy christian church that means I believe that there is no sin, no curse no evil in the church of God faith says I believe that but if you want to believe your eyes you will find many shortcomings and offenses in the members of the holy church you see them succumb to temptation you see them weak in faith you see them giving way to anger, envy and other evil dispositions how can the church be holy you ask it is with the christian church as it is with the individual christian if I examine myself I find enough unholiness to shock me but when I look at Christ in me I find that I am all together holy and so it is with the church holy writ does not say that Christ was under the curse it says directly that Christ was made a curse in 2nd Corinthians 521 Paul writes for he God hath made him Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him although this and similar passages may be properly explained by saying that the Christ was made a sacrifice for the curse and for sin yet in my judgment it is better to leave these passages stand as they read Christ was made sin itself Christ was made the curse itself when a sinner gets wise to himself he does not only feel miserable he feels like misery personified he does not only feel like a sinner he feels like sin itself to finish with this verse all evils would have overwhelmed us as they shall overwhelm the unbelievers forever if Christ had not become the great transgressor and guilty bearer of all our sins the sins of the world got him down for a moment they came around him like water of Christ the Old Testament prophet complained thy fears wrath goeth over me thy terrors have cut me off Psalm 88 16 by Christ's salvation we have been delivered from the terrors of God to a life of eternal felicity verse 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ Paul always keeps this text before him in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed the blessing promise unto Abraham could come upon the Gentiles only by Christ the seed of Abraham to become a blessing unto all nations Christ had to be made a curse to take away the curse from the nations of the earth the merit that we plead and the work that we proffer is Christ who was made a curse for us let us become expert in the art of transferring our sins our death and every evil from ourselves to Christ and Christ's righteousness and blessing from Christ to ourselves verse 14 that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith the promise of the spirit is Hebrew for the promised spirit the spirit spells freedom from the law, sin, death, the curse, hell and the judgment of God no merits are mentioned in connection with this promise of the spirit and all the blessings that go with him this spirit of many blessings is received by faith alone faith alone builds on the promises of God as Paul says in this verse long ago the prophets visualized the happy changes Christ would affect in all things despite the fact that the Jews have the law of God they never cease to look longingly for Christ after Moses no prophet nor king added a single law to the book any changes or additions were deferred to the time of Christ's coming Moses told the people the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me unto him Deuteronomy 1815 God's people of old felt that the law of Moses could not be improved upon until the Messiah would bring better things than the law i.e. grace and remission of sins verse 15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men though it be but a man's covenants yet if it be confirmed no man disannuleth or addeth there too after the preceding well taken argument Paul offers another based on the similarity between a man's testament and God's testament a man's testament seems to weak a premise for the apostle to argue from in confirmation of so important a matter as justification we ought to prove earthly things by heavenly things and not heavenly things by earthly things but where the earthly thing is an ordinance of God we may use it to prove divine matters in Matthew 7 11 Christ himself argued from earthly to heavenly things when he said if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him to come to Paul's argument civil law which is God's ordinance prohibits tampering with any testament of man any persons last will and testament must be respected Paul asks is it that man's last will is scrupulously respected and not God's testament you would not think of breaking faith with a man's testament why do you not keep faith with God's testament the apostle says that he is speaking after the manner of men he means to say I will give you an illustration from the customs of men if a man's last will is respected and it is how much more ought the testament of God be honored in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed when Christ died this testament was sealed by his blood after his death the testament was opened it was published to the nations no man ought to alter God's testament as the false apostles do substitute the law and traditions of men for the testament of God as the false prophets tampered with God's testament in the days of Paul so many do in our day they will observe human laws punctiliously but the laws of God they transgress without the flicker of an eyelid but the time will come when they will find out that it is no joke to pervert the testament of God verse 16 now to Abraham and his seed where the promises made he saith not and to seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ the word testament is another name for the promise that God made unto Abraham concerning Christ a testament is not a law but an inheritance heirs do not look for laws and assessments when they open a last will they look for grants and favors the testament which God made out to Abraham did not contain laws it contained promises of great spiritual blessings the promises were made in view of Christ in one seed not in many seeds the Jews will not accept this interpretation they insist that the singular seed is put for the plural seeds we prefer the interpretation of Paul who makes a fine case for Christ and for us out of the singular seed and is after all inspired to do so by the Holy Ghost verse 17 and this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ the law which was 430 years after cannot disannual that it should make the promise of none effect the Jews assert that God was not satisfied with his promises but after 430 years he gave the law God they say must have mistrusted his own promises and considered them inadequate for salvation therefore he added to his promises something better the law the law they say canceled the promises Paul answers the law was given 430 years after the promise was made to Abraham the law could not cancel the promise because the promise was the testament of God confirmed by God in Christ 430 years before the law what God has once promised he does not take back every promise of God is a ratified promise why was the law added to the promise not to serve as a medium by which the promise might be obtained the law was added for these reasons that there might be in the world a special people rigidly controlled by the law people out of which Christ should be born in due time and that men burdened by many laws might sigh and long for him their redeemer the seed of Abraham even the ceremonies prescribed by the law foreshadowed Christ therefore the law was never meant to cancel the promise of God the law was meant to confirm the promise until the time should come when God would open his testament in the gospel of Jesus Christ God did well in giving the promise so many years before the law that it may never be said that righteousness is granted through the law and not through the promise if God had meant for us to be justified by the law he would have given the law 430 years before the promise at least he would have given the law at the same time he gave the promise but he never breathed the word about the law until 400 years later the promise is therefore better than the law the law does not cancel the promise but faith in the promise Christ cancels the law and the apostle is careful to mention the exact number of 430 years the wide divergence in the time between the promise and the law helps to clinch Paul's argument that righteousness is not obtained by the law let me illustrate a man of great wealth adopts a strange lad for his son remember he does not owe the lad anything in due time he appoints the lad heir to his entire fortune several years later the old man asks the lad to do something for him and the young lad does it can the lad then go around and say that he deserved the inheritance by his obedience to the old man's request how can anybody say that righteousness is obtained by obedience to the law when the law was given 430 years after God's promise of the blessing one thing is certain Abraham was never justified by the law for the simple reason that the law was today if the law was non-existent how could Abraham obtain righteousness by the law Abraham had nothing else to go by but the promise this promise he believed and that was counted unto him for righteousness if the father obtained righteousness through faith the children get it the same way we use the argument of time also we say our sins were taken away by the death of Christ 1500 years ago long before there were any religious orders cannons or rules of penance, merits, etc what did people do about their sins before these new inventions were hatched up Paul finds his arguments for the righteousness of faith everywhere even the element of time serves to build his case against the false let us fortify our conscience with similar arguments they help us in the trials of our faith they turn our attention from the law to the promises from sin to righteousness from death to life it is not for nothing that Paul bears down on this argument he foresaw this confusion of the promise and the law creeping into the church accustom yourself to separate law and gospel even in regard to time when the law comes to pay your conscience a visit say, Mr. Law you come too soon the 430 years aren't up yet when they are up you come again won't you verse 18 for if the inheritance be of the law it is no more of promise in Romans 4 14 the apostle writes for if they which are made of the law be heirs faith is made void and the promise made of none effect it cannot be otherwise that the law is something entirely different from the promise is plain the law thunders thou shalt thou shalt not the promise of the seed please take this gift of God if the inheritance of the gifts of God were obtained by the law God would be a liar we would have the right to ask him why did you make this promise in the first place in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed why did you not say in thy works thou shalt be blessed I mean but God gave it to Abraham by promise so much is certain before the law ever existed God gave Abraham the inheritance or blessing by the promise in other words God granted unto Abraham remission of sins righteousness salvation and everlasting life and not only to Abraham but to all believers as God said in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed the blessing was given unconditionally the law had no chance to bud in because Moses was not yet born how then can you say that righteousness is obtained by the law end of chapter 3 verses 13 through 19 of commentary to the Galatians recording by Bill Moseley Frelsburg, Texas USA