 Chapter 5 verses 6 through 12 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. Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther, translated by Theodore Gravener. Chapter 5 verse 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Faith must, of course, be sincere. It must be a faith that performs good works through love. If faith lacks love, it is not true faith. Thus the apostle bars the way of hypocrites to the kingdom of Christ on all sides. He declares on the one hand, in Christ Jesus circumcision availeth nothing, i.e. works avail nothing, but faith alone and that without any merit whatever avails before God. On the other hand, the apostle declares that without fruits faith serves no purpose. To think, if faith justifies without works, let us work nothing, is to despise the grace of God. Idle faith is not justifying faith. In this terse manner Paul presents the whole life of a Christian. Inwardly it consists in faith towards God, outwardly in love towards our fellow men. Verse 7 Ye did run well, who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth. This is plain speaking. Paul asserts that he teaches the same truth now, which he has always taught, and that the Galatians ran well as long as they obeyed the truth. But now, misled by the false apostles, they no longer run. He compares the Christian life to a race. When everything runs along smoothly, the Hebrews spoke of it as a race. Ye did run well means that everything went along smoothly and happily with the Galatians. They lived a Christian life and were on the right way to everlasting life. The words, ye did run well, are encouraging indeed. Often our lives seem to creep rather than to run. But if we abide in the true doctrine and walk in the spirit, we have nothing to worry about. God judges our lives differently. What may seem to us a life slow in Christian development may seem to God a life of rapid progression in grace. Verse 7 Who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth? The Galatians were hindered in the Christian life when they turned from faith and grace to the law. Covertly the apostle blames the false apostles for impeding the Christian progress of the Galatians. The false apostles persuaded the Galatians to believe that they were in error and that they had made little or no progress under the influence of Paul. Under the baneful influence of the false apostles, the Galatians thought they were well off and advancing rapidly in Christian knowledge and living. Verse 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. Paul explains how those who had been deceived by false teachers may be restored to spiritual health. The false apostles were amiable fellows. Apparently they surpassed Paul in learning and godliness. The Galatians were easily deceived by outward appearances. They supposed they were being taught by Christ himself. Paul proved to them that their new doctrine was not of Christ but of the devil. In this way he succeeded in regaining many. We also are able to win back many from the errors into which they were seduced by showing that their beliefs are imaginary, wicked, and contrary to the word of God. The devil is a cunning persuader. He knows how to enlarge the smallest sin into a mountain until we think we have committed the worst crime ever committed on earth. Such stricken consciences must be comforted and set straight as Paul corrected the Galatians by showing them that their opinion is not of Christ because it runs counter to the gospel which describes Christ as a meek and merciful savior. Satan will circumvent the gospel and explain Christ in this his own diabolical way. Indeed Christ is meek, gentle, and merciful but only to those who are holy and righteous. If you are a sinner you stand no chance. Did not Christ say that unbelievers are already damned and did not Christ perform many good deeds and suffer many evils patiently, including us to follow his example? You do not mean to say that your life is in accord with Christ's precepts, for example? You are a sinner, you are no good at all. Satan is to be answered in this way. The scriptures present Christ in a two-fold aspect, first as a gift. He of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 1 Corinthians 1.30. Hence my many and grievous sins are nullified if I believe in him. Secondly, the scriptures present Christ for our example. As an exemplar he is to be placed before me only at certain times. In times of joy and gladness that I may have him as a mirror to reflect upon my shortcomings, but in the day of trouble I will have Christ only as a gift. I will not listen to anything else except that Christ died for my sins. To those that are cast down on account of their sins Christ must be introduced as a savior and gift, and not as an example. But to sinners who live in a false assurance Christ must be introduced as an example. The hard sayings of scripture and the awful judgments of God upon sin must be impressed upon them. Defy Satan in times of despair. Say, O cursed Satan, you choose a nice time to talk to me about doing and working when you know very well that I am in trouble over my sins. I will not listen to you. I will listen to Christ who says that he came into the world to save sinners. This is the true Christ and there is none other. I can find plenty of examples for a holy life in Abraham, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Paul and other saints. But they cannot forgive my sins. They cannot save me. They cannot procure for me everlasting life. Therefore I will not have you for my teacher, O Satan. Verse 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Paul's concern for them meant nothing to some of the Galatians. Many had disowned him as their teacher and gone over to the false apostles. No doubt the false apostles took every occasion to defame Paul as a stubborn and contemptuous fellow who thought nothing of disrupting the unity of the churches for no other reason than his selfish pride and jealousy. Others of the Galatians perhaps saw no harm in deviating a trifle from the doctrine of justification and faith. When they noticed that Paul made so much a do about a matter that seemed of no particular importance to them, they raised their eyebrows and thought within themselves, What if we did deviate a little from the doctrine of Paul? What if we are a little to blame? He ought to overlook the whole matter and not make such an issue out of it, lest the unity of the churches be disturbed? To this Paul replies, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Our opponents record the same complaints about us. They put us down as contentious, ill-tempered fault-finders, but these are the crafty passes of the devil with which he seeks to overthrow our faith. We answer with Paul, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Small faults grow into big faults. To tolerate a trifling error inevitably leads to crass heresy. The doctrine of the Bible is not ours to take or to allow liberties with. We have no right to change even a tittle of it. When it comes to life, we are ready to do, to suffer, to forgive anything our opponents demand as long as faith and doctrine remain pure and uncorrupt. The apostle James says, For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. This passage supports us over against our critics, who claim that we disregard all charity to the great injury of the churches. We protest, we desire nothing more than peace with all men, if they would only permit us to keep our doctrine of faith. The pure doctrine takes precedence before charity, apostles, or an angel from heaven. Let others praise charity and concord to the skies. We magnify the authority of the word and faith. Charity may be neglected at times without peril, but not the word and faith. Charity suffers all things it gives in. Faith suffers nothing, it never yields. Charity is often deceived, but is never put out, because it has nothing to lose. It continues to do well even to the ungrateful. When it comes to faith and salvation in the midst of lies and errors that parade as truth and deceive many, charity has no voice or vote. Let us not be influenced by the popular cry for charity and unity. If we do not love God and His word, what difference does it make if we love anything at all? Paul therefore admonishes both teachers and hearers not to esteem lightly the doctrine of faith as if it were a toy with which to amuse oneself in idle hours. Verse 10. I have confidence in you through the Lord. I have taught, admonished, and reproved you enough. I hope the best for you. The question occurs to us whether Paul did well to trust the Galatians. Does not holy writ forbid us to trust in men? Faith trusts in God and is never wrong. Charity trusts in men and is often wrong. This charitable trust in man is necessary to life. Without it, life would be impossible in the world. What kind of life would ours be if nobody could trust anybody else? True Christians are more ready to believe in men than the children of this world. Such charitable confidence is the fruit of the spirit. Paul had such trust in the Galatians, although they had forsaken his doctrine. He trusts them through the Lord, insofar as they were in Christ and Christ in them. Once they had forsaken Christ altogether, the apostle will trust the Galatians no longer. Verse 10. That ye will be none otherwise minded. Not minded otherwise than I have taught you. In other words, I have confidence that you will accept no doctrine that is contrary to the one you have learned from me. Verse 10. But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment whosoever he be. Paul assumes the role of a judge and condemns the false apostles as troublers of the Galatians. He wants to frighten the Galatians with his severe judgments of the false apostles into avoiding false doctrine like a contagious disease. We can hear him say to the Galatians, Why do you give these pestilent fellows a hearing in the first place? They only trouble you. The doctrine they bring causes your conscience only trouble. The clause whosoever he be seems to indicate that the false apostles, in outward appearance at least, were very good and devout men. It may be that among them was some outstanding disciple of the apostles, a man of fame and authority. The apostle must have been faced by this very situation, otherwise his vehemence would have been uncalled for. No doubt many of the Galatians were taken back with the vehemence of the apostle. They perhaps thought, Why should he be so stubborn in such small matters? Why is he so quick to pronounce damnation upon his brethren in the ministry? I cannot say it often enough that we must carefully differentiate between doctrine and life. Doctrine is a piece of heaven, life is a piece of earth. Life is sin, error, uncleanness, misery, and charity must forbear, believe, hope, and suffer all things. Forgiveness of sins must be continuous so that sin and error may not be defended and sustained. But with doctrine there must be no error, no need of pardon. There can be no comparison between doctrine and life. The least little point of doctrine is of greater importance than heaven and earth. Therefore we cannot allow the least jot of doctrine to be corrupted. We may overlook the offenses and errors of life, for we daily sin much, even the saints sin, as they themselves confess in the Lord's prayer and in the creed. But our doctrine, God be praised, is pure, because all the articles of our faith are grounded on the holy scriptures. Verse 11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution, then is the offense of the cross ceased. In his great desire to recall the Galatians, Paul draws himself into the argument. He says, Because I refuse to recognize circumcision as a factor in our salvation, I have brought upon myself the hatred and persecution of my whole nation. If I were to acknowledge circumcision, the Jews would cease to persecute me. In fact, they would love and praise me. But because I preach the gospel of Christ and the righteousness of faith, I must suffer persecution. The false apostles know how to avoid the cross and the deadly hatred of the Jewish nation. They preach circumcision, and thus retain the favor of the Jews. If they had their way, they would ignore all differences in doctrine and preserve unity at all cost. But their unionistic dreams cannot be realized without loss to the pure doctrine of the cross. It would be too bad if the offense of the cross were to cease. To the Corinthians, he expressed the same conviction. Christ sent me to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 1 Corinthians 117 Here someone may be tempted to call the Christians crazy, deliberately to court danger by preaching and confessing the truth, and thus to bring upon themselves the hatred and enmity of the whole world. Is this not madness? But Paul does not mind the enmity of the world. It made him all the bolder to confess Christ. The enmity of the world, in his estimation, argues well for the success and growth of the church, which bears best in times of persecution. When the offense of the cross ceases, when the rage of the enemies of the cross abates, when everything is quiet, it is a sign that the devil is the doorkeeper of the church, and that the pure doctrine of God's word has been lost. St. Bernard observed that the church is in best shape when Satan assaults it on every side by trickery and violence, and in worst shape when it is at peace. In support of his statement, he quotes the passage from the song of Hezekiah. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness. Paul looks with suspicion upon any doctrine that does not provoke antagonism. Persecution always follows on the heels of the word of God as the psalmist experienced. Quote, I believe, therefore I have spoken, I was greatly afflicted. Psalm 116 verse 10. The Christians are accused and slandered without mercy. Murderers and thieves receive better treatment than Christians. The world regards true Christians as the worst offenders for whom no punishment can be too severe. The world hates the Christians with amazing brutality and without compunction commits them to the most shameful death, congratulating itself that it has rendered God and the cause of peace a distinct service by ridding the world of the undesired presence of these Christians. We are not to let such treatment cause us to falter in our adherence to Christ. As long as we experience such persecutions, we know all is well with the gospel. Jesus held out the same comfort to his disciples in the fifth chapter of Saint Matthew. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. The church must not come short of this joy. I would not want to be at peace with the pope, the bishops, the princes, and the sectarians unless they consent to our doctrine. Unity with them would be an unmistakable sign that we have lost the true doctrine. Briefly, as long as the church proclaims the doctrine, she must suffer persecution because the gospel declares the mercy and glory of God. In turn stirs up the devil because the gospel shows him up for what he is, the devil and not God. Therefore, as long as the gospel holds sway, persecution plays the accompaniment, or else there is something the matter with the devil. When he is hit, you will know it by the havoc he raises everywhere. So do not be surprised or offended when hell breaks loose. Look upon it as a happy indication that all is well with the gospel of the cross. God forbid that the offense of the cross should ever be removed. This would be the case if we were to preach what the prince of this world and his followers would be only too glad to hear the righteousness of works. You would never know the devil could be so gentle, the world so sweet, the pope so gracious, and the princes so charming. But because we seek the advantage and honor of Christ, they persecute us all around. Verse 12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you. It hardly seems befitting an apostle not only to denounce the false apostles as troublers of the church and to consign them to the devil, but also to wish that they were utterly cut off. What else could you call it but plain cursing? Paul, I suppose, is alluding to the right of circumcision. As if he were saying to the Galatians, the false apostles compel you to cut off the foreskin of your flesh, while I wish they themselves were utterly cut off by the roots. We had better answer at once the question whether it is right for Christians to curse, certainly not always, nor for every little cause. But when things have come to such a past that God and his word are openly blasphemed, then we must say, blessed be God and his word, and cursed be everything that is contrary to God and his word, even though it should be an apostle or an angel from heaven. This goes to show again how much importance Paul attached to the least points of Christian doctrine that he dared to curse the false apostles, evidently men of great popularity and influence. What right, then, have we to make little of doctrine? No matter how non-essential a point of doctrine may seem, if slighted, it may prove the gradual disintegration of the truths of our salvation. Let us do everything to advance the glory and authority of God's word. Every tittle of it is greater than heaven and earth. Christian charity and unity have nothing to do with the word of God. We are bold to curse and condemn all men who in the least point corrupt the word of God, for a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Paul does right to curse these troublers of the Galatians, wishing that they were cut off and rooted out of the church of God and that their doctrine might perish forever. Such cursing is the gift of the Holy Ghost. Thus Peter cursed Simon the sorcerer, thy money perish with thee. Many instances of this holy cursing are recorded in the sacred scriptures, especially in the Psalms. For example, let death seize upon them and let them go down quick into hell. Psalm 55 verse 15. End of chapter 5 verses 6 through 12 of commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. Chapter 5 verses 13 through 17 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. Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther, translated by Theodore Grabner. Chapter 5 The Doctrine of Good Works Now come all kinds of admonitions and precepts. It was the custom of the apostles that after they had taught faith and instructed the conscience, they followed it up with admonitions unto good works that the believers might manifest the duties of love toward each other. In order to avoid the appearance as if Christianity militated against good works or opposed civil government, the apostle also urges us to give ourselves unto good works to lead an honest life and to keep faith and love with one another. This will give the lie to the accusations of the world that we Christians are the enemies of decency and of public peace. The fact is we Christians know better what constitutes a truly good work than all the philosophers and legislators of the world because we link believing with doing. Verse 13 For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. In other words, you have gained liberty through Christ, i.e. you are above all laws as far as conscience is concerned. You are saved. Christ is your liberty and life. Therefore, law, sin, and death may not hurt you or drive you to despair. This is the constitution of your priceless liberty. Now take care that you do not use your wonderful liberty for an occasion of the flesh. Satan likes to turn this liberty which Christ has gotten for us into licentiousness. Already the apostle Jude complained in his day, there are certain men crept in unawares, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, Jude 4. The flesh reasons. If we are without the law, we may as well indulge ourselves. Why do good? Why give alms? Why suffer evil when there is no law to force us to do so? This attitude is common enough. People talk about Christian liberty and then go and cater to the desires of covetousness, pleasure, pride, envy, and other vices. Nobody wants to fulfill his duties. Nobody wants to help out a brother in distress. This sort of thing makes me so impatient at times that I wish the swine who trampled precious pearls underfoot were back once again under the tyranny of the pope. You cannot wake up the people of Gomorrah with the gospel of peace. Even we creatures of the world do not perform our duties as zealously in the light of the gospel as we did before in the darkness of ignorance. Because the sureer we are of the liberty purchased for us by Christ, the more we neglect the word, prayer, well-doing, and suffering. If Satan were not continually molesting us with trials, with the persecution of our enemies, and the ingratitude of our brethren, we would become so careless and indifferent to all good works that in time we would lose our faith in Christ, resign the ministry of the word, and look for an easier life. Many of our ministers are beginning to do that very thing. They complain about the ministry. They maintain they cannot live on their salaries. They whimper about the miserable treatment they receive at the hand of those whom they delivered from the servitude of the law by the preaching of the gospel. These ministers desert our poor and maligned Christ, involve themselves in the affairs of the world, seek advantages for themselves and not for Christ, with what results they shall presently find out. Since the devil lies in ambush for those in particular who hate the world and seeks to deprive us of our liberty of the spirit or to brutalize it into the liberty of the flesh, we plead with our brethren after the manner of Paul that they may never use this liberty of the spirit purchased for us by Christ as an excuse for carnal living or as Peter expresses it, 1 Peter 2.16, for a cloak of maliciousness. In order that Christians may not abuse their liberty, the apostle encumbers them with the rule of mutual love that they should serve each other in love, let everybody perform the duties of his station and vocation diligently and help his neighbor to the limit of his capacity. Christians are glad to hear and obey this teaching of love. When others hear about this Christian liberty of ours, they at once infer, if I am free, I may do what I like. If salvation is not a matter of doing, why should we do anything for the poor? In this crude manner they turn the liberty of the spirit into wantonness and licentiousness. We want them to know, however, that if they use their lives and possessions after their own pleasure, if they do not help the poor, if they cheat their fellow men in business and snatch and scrape by hook and by crook everything they can lay their hands on, we want to tell them that they are not free no matter how much they think they are, but they are the dirty slaves of the devil and are seven times worse than they ever were as slaves of the pope. As for us, we are obliged to preach the gospel which offers to all men liberty from the law, sin, death and God's wrath. We have no right to conceal or revoke this liberty proclaimed by the gospel, and so we cannot do anything with the swine who dive headlong into the filth of licentiousness. We do what we can, we diligently admonish them to love and to help their fellow men. If our admonitions bear no fruit, we leave them to God, who will in his own good time take care of these disrespecters of his goodness. In the meanwhile, we comfort ourselves with the thought that our labors are not lost upon the true believers. They appreciate the spiritual liberty and stand ready to serve others in love, and though their number is small, the satisfaction they give us far outweighs the discouragement which we receive at the hands of the large number of those who misuse this liberty. Paul cannot possibly be misunderstood, for he says, Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. In order that nobody might mistake the liberty of which he speaks for the liberty of the flesh, the apostle adds the explanatory note, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Paul now explains at the hand of the Ten Commandments what it means to serve one another in love. Verse 14 It is customary with Paul to lay the doctrinal foundation first, and then to build on it the gold, silver, and gems of good deeds. Now there is no other foundation than Jesus Christ. Upon this foundation, the apostle erects the structure of good works which he defines in this one sentence, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. In adding such precepts of love, the apostle embarrasses the false apostles very much, as if he were saying to the Galatians, I have described to you what spiritual life is. Now I will also teach you what truly good works are. I am doing this in order that you may understand that the silly ceremonies of which the false apostles make so much are far inferior to the works of Christian love. This is the hallmark of all false teachers, that they not only pervert the true doctrine, but also fail in doing good. Their foundation vitiated, they can only build wood, hay, and stubble. Oddly enough, the false apostles who were such earnest champions of good works never required the work of charity, such as Christian love and the practical charity of a helpful tongue, hand, and heart. Their only requirement was that circumcision, days, months, years, and times should be observed. They could not think of any other good works. The apostle exhorts all Christians to practice good works after they have embraced the pure doctrine of faith, because even though they have been justified, they still have the old flesh to refrain them from doing good. Therefore it becomes necessary that sincere preachers cultivate the doctrine of good works as diligently as the doctrine of faith, for Satan is a deadly enemy of both. Nevertheless, faith must come first, because without faith it is impossible to know what a God-pleasing deed is. Let nobody think that he knows all about this commandment, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. It sounds short and easy, but show me the man who can teach, learn, and do this commandment perfectly. None of us heed or urge or practice this commandment properly. Though the conscience hurts when we fail to fulfill this commandment in every respect, we are not overwhelmed by our failure to bear our neighbor sincere and brotherly love. The words, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, entail a criticism of the Galatians. You are so taken up by your superstitions and ceremonies that serve no good purpose that you neglect the most important thing, love. Saint Jerome says, We wear our bodies out with watching, fasting, and labor, and neglect charity the queen of all good works. Look at the monks who meticulously fast watch, etc. To skip the least requirement of their order would be a crime of the first magnitude. At the same time, they blithely ignored the duties of charity and hated each other to death. That is no sin, they think. The Old Testament is replete with examples that indicate how much God prizes charity. When David and his companions had no food with which to still their hunger, they ate the showbread which lay people were forbidden to eat. Christ's disciples broke the Sabbath law when they plucked the ears of corn. Christ himself broke the Sabbath, as the Jews claimed, by healing the sick on the Sabbath. These incidents indicate that love ought to be given consideration above all laws and ceremonies. Verse 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word. We can imagine the apostle saying to the Galatians, Why do you get so worked up over ceremonies, meets, days, places, and such things? Leave off this foolishness and listen to me. The whole law is comprehended in this one sentence. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. God is not particularly interested in ceremonies, nor has he any use for them. The one thing he requires of you is that you believe in Christ whom he hath sent. If, in addition to faith, which comes first as the most acceptable service unto God, you want to add laws, then you want to know that all laws are comprehended in this short commandment. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Paul knows how to explain the law of God. He condenses all the laws of Moses into one brief sentence. Reason takes offense at the brevity with which Paul treats the law. Therefore, reason looks down upon the doctrine of faith and its truly good works. To serve one another in love, i.e., to instruct the airing to comfort the afflicted, to raise the fallen, to help one's neighbor in every possible way, to bear with his infirmities, to endure hardships, toil, ingratitude in the church and in the world, and on the other hand, to obey government, to honor one's parents, to be patient at home with a nagging wife and an unruly family, these things are not at all regarded as good works. The fact is, they are such excellent works that the world cannot possibly estimate them at their true value. It is tersely spoken, love thy neighbor as thyself, but what more needs to be said? You cannot find a better or nearer example than your own. If you want to know how you ought to love your neighbor, ask yourself how much you love yourself. If you were to get into trouble or danger, you would be glad to have the love and help of all men. You do not need any book of instructions to teach you how to love your neighbor. All you have to do is to look into your own heart, and it will tell you how you ought to love your neighbor as yourself. My neighbor is every person, especially those who need my help, as Christ explained in the 10th chapter of Luke. Even if a person has done me some wrong, or has hurt me in any way, he is still a human being with flesh and blood, as long as a person remains a human being, so long as he to be an object of our love. Paul therefore urges his Galatians, and incidentally all believers, to serve each other in love. You Galatians do not have to accept circumcision. If you are so anxious to do good works, I will tell you in one word how you can fulfill all laws. By love serve one another. You will never lack people to whom you may do good. The world is full of people who need your help. Verse 15. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. When faith in Christ is overthrown, peace and unity come to an end in the church. Diverse opinions and dissensions about doctrine and life spring up, and one member bites and devours the other, i.e. they condemn each other until they are consumed. To this the scriptures and the experience of all times bear witness. The many sects at present have come into being because one sect condemns the other. When the unity of the spirit has been lost, there can be no agreement in doctrine or life. New errors must appear without measure and without end. For the avoidance of discord Paul lays down the principle, let every person do his duty in the station of life into which God has called him. No person is to want himself above others, or find fault with the efforts of others while lauding his own. Let everybody serve in love. It is not an easy matter to teach faith without works and still to require works. Unless the ministers of Christ are wise in handling the mysteries of God and rightly divide the word, faith and good works may easily be confused. Both the doctrine of faith and the doctrine of good works must be diligently taught, and yet in such a way that both the doctrines stay within their God-given sphere. If we only teach works, as our opponents do, we shall lose the faith. If we only teach faith, people will come to think that good works are superfluous. Verse 16. This I say then, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. I have not forgotten what I told you about faith in the first part of my letter. Because I exhort you to mutual love, you are not to think that I have gone back on my teaching of justification by faith alone. I am still of the same opinion. To remove every possibility for misunderstanding, I have added this explanatory note. Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. With this verse, Paul explains how he wants this sentence to be understood. By love serve one another. When I bid you to love one another, this is what I mean and require. Walk in the spirit. I know very well you will not fulfill the law, because you are sinners as long as you live. Nevertheless, you should endeavor to walk in the spirit, i.e., fight against the flesh, and follow the leads of the Holy Ghost. It is quite apparent that Paul had not forgotten the doctrine of justification, for in bidding the Galatians to walk in the spirit, he at the same time denies that good works can justify. When I speak of the fulfilling of the law, I do not mean to say that you are justified by the law. All I mean to say is that you should take the spirit for your guide and resist the flesh. That is the most you shall ever be able to do. Obey the spirit and fight against the flesh. Verse 16. And ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The lust of the flesh is not altogether extinct in us. It rises up again and again and wrestles with the spirit. No flesh, not even that of the true believer, is so completely under the influence of the spirit that it will not bite or devour or at least neglect the commandment of love. At the slightest provocation it flares up, demands to be revenged, and hates a neighbor like an enemy, or at least does not love him as much as he ought to be loved. Therefore the apostle establishes this rule of love for the believers. Serve one another in love. Bear the infirmities of your brother. Forgive one another. Without such bearing and forbearing, giving and forgiving, there can be no unity because to give and to take offense are unavoidably human. Whenever you are angry with your brother for any cause, repress your violent emotions through the spirit. Bear with his weakness and love him. He does not cease to be your neighbor or brother because he offended you. On the contrary, he now more than ever before requires your loving attention. The scholastics take the lust of the flesh to mean carnal lust. True believers too are tempted with carnal lust. Even the married are not immune to carnal lusts. Men set little value upon that which they have, and covet what they have not, as the poet says, quote, The things most forbidden we always desire, and things most denied we seek to acquire, end quote. I do not deny that the lust of the flesh includes carnal lust, but it takes in more. It takes in all the corrupt desires with which the believers are more or less infected as pride, hatred, covetousness, impatience. Later on Paul enumerates among the works of the flesh even idolatry and heresy. The apostles' meaning is clear. I want you to love one another, but you do not do it. In fact you cannot do it because of your flesh. Hence we cannot be justified by deeds of love. Do not for a moment think that I am reversing myself on my stand concerning faith. Faith and hope must continue. By faith we are justified, by hope we endure to the end. In addition we serve each other in love because true faith is not idle. Our love, however, is faulty. Inviting you to walk in the spirit, I indicate to you that our love is not sufficient to justify us. Neither do I demand that you should get rid of the flesh, but that you should control and subdue it. Verse 17 For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. When Paul declares that the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, he means to say that we are not to think, speak, or do the things to which the flesh incites us. I know, he says, that the flesh courts sin. The thing for you to do is to resist the flesh by the spirit, but if you abandon the leadership of the spirit for that of the flesh, you are going to fulfill the lust of the flesh and die in your sins. Verse 17 And these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. These two leaders, the flesh and the spirit, are bitter opponents. Of this opposition, the apostle writes in the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, quote, I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into the captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death," end quote. The scholastics are at a loss to understand this confession of Paul and feel obliged to save his honor. That the chosen vessel of Christ should have had the law of sin in his members seems to them incredible and absurd. They circumvent the plain spoken statement of the apostle by saying that he was speaking for the wicked, but the wicked never complain of inner conflicts or of the captivity of sin. Sin has its unrestricted way with them. This is Paul's very own complaint and the identical complaint of all believers. Paul never denied that he felt the lust of the flesh. It is likely that at times he felt even the stirrings of carnal lust, but there is no doubt that he quickly suppressed them, and if at any time he felt angry or impatient, he resisted these feelings by the spirit. We are not going to stand by idly and see such a comforting statement as this explained away. The scholastics, monks, and others of their ilk fought only against carnal lust and were proud of a victory which they never obtained. In the meanwhile, they harbored within their breasts pride, hatred, disdain, self-trust, contempt of the word of God, disloyalty, blasphemy, and other lusts of the flesh. Against these sins they never fought because they never took them for sins. Christ alone can supply us with perfect righteousness, therefore we must always believe and always hope in Christ, whosoever believeth shall not be ashamed. Do not despair if you feel the flesh battling against the spirit, or if you cannot make it behave. For you to follow the guidance of the spirit in all things without interference on the part of the flesh is impossible. You are doing all you can if you resist the flesh and do not fulfill its demands. When I was a monk I thought I was lost forever whenever I felt an evil emotion, carnal lust, wrath, hatred, or envy. I tried to quiet my conscience in many ways, but it did not work because lust would always come back and give me no rest. I told myself, you have permitted this and that sin and be impatient and the like. Your joining this holy order has been in vain and all your good works are good for nothing. If at that time I had understood this passage, the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, I could have spared myself many a day of self-tournament. I would have said to myself, Martin, you will never be without sin, for you have flesh. Despair not, but resist the flesh. I remember how Dr. Stelpitz used to say to me, I have promised God a thousand times that I would become a better man, but I never kept my promise. From now on I am not going to make any more vows. Experience has taught me that I cannot keep them. Unless God is merciful to me for Christ's sake and grants unto me a blessed departure, I shall not be able to stand before Him. His was a God-pleasing despair. No true believer trusts in his own righteousness, but says with David, Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. Psalm 143 verse 2. Again, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Psalm 130 verse 3. No man is to despair of salvation just because he is aware of the lust of the flesh. Let him be aware of it so long as he does not yield to it. The passion of lust, wrath, and other vices may shake him, but they are not to get him down. Sin may assail him, but he is not to welcome it. Yes, the better Christian a man is, the more he will experience the heat of the conflict. This explains the many expressions of regret in the Psalms and in the entire Bible. Everybody is to determine his peculiar weakness and guard against it. Watch and wrestle in spirit against your weakness. Even if you cannot completely overcome it, at least you ought to fight against it. According to this description, a saint is not one who is made of wood and never feels any lusts or desires of the flesh. A true saint confesses his righteousness and prays that his sins may be forgiven. The whole Church prays for the forgiveness of sins and confesses that it believes in the forgiveness of sins. If our antagonists would read the scriptures, they would soon discover that they cannot judge brightly of anything, either of sin or of holiness. End of chapter 5 verses 13 through 17 of Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians Chapter 5 verses 18 through 26 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 Eric Longman Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther Translated by Theodore Grabner Chapter 5 verse 18 But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law Here someone may object. How come we are not under the law? You yourself say, Paul, that we have the flesh which wars against the spirit and brings us into subjection. But Paul says not to let it trouble us, as long as we are led by the spirit and are willing to obey the spirit who resists the flesh, we are not under the law. True believers are not under the law. The law cannot condemn them, although they feel sin and confess it. Great, then, is the power of the spirit. Led by the spirit, the law cannot condemn the believer, though he commits real sin. For Christ, in whom we believe, is our righteousness. He is without sin, and the law cannot accuse him. As long as we cling to him, we are led by the spirit and are free from the law. Even as he teaches good works, the apostle does not lose sight of the doctrine of justification, but shows at every turn that it is impossible for us to be justified by works. The words, if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law, are replete with comfort. It happens at times that anger, hatred, impatience, carnal desire, fear, sorrow, or some other lust of the flesh so overwhelms a man that he cannot shake them off, though he try ever so hard. What should he do? Should he despair? God forbid. Let him say to himself, my flesh seems to be on a war-path against the spirit again. Go to it, flesh, and rage all you want to, but you're not going to have your way. I follow the leading of the spirit. When the flesh begins to cut up the only remedy is to take the sword of the spirit, the word of salvation, and fight against the flesh. If ye set the word out of sight, ye are helpless against the flesh. I know this to be a fact. I have been assailed by many violent passions, but as soon as I took hold of some scripture passage my temptations left me. Without the word I could not have helped myself against the flesh. Verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these. Paul is saying that none of you may hide behind the plea of ignorance. I will enumerate first the works of the flesh, and then also the works of the spirit. There were many hypocrites among the Galatians, as there are also among us, who pretend to be Christians, and talk much about the spirit, but they walk not according to the spirit, rather according to the flesh. Paul is out to show them that they are not as holy as they like to have others think they are. Every period of life has its own peculiar temptations, not one true believer whom the flesh does not again and again incite to impatience, anger, pride. But it is one thing to be tempted by the flesh, and another thing to yield to the flesh, to do its bidding without fear or remorse, and to continue in sin. Christians also fall and perform the lusts of the flesh. David fell horribly into adultery. Peter also fell grievously when he denied Christ. However great these sins were, they were not committed to spite God, but from weakness. When their sins were brought to their attention, these men did not obstinately continue in their sin but repented. Those who sin through weakness are not denied pardon as long as they rise again and cease to sin. There is nothing worse than to continue in sin. If they do not repent, but obstinately continue to fulfill the desires of the flesh, it is a sure sign that they are not sincere. No person is free from temptations. Some are tempted in one way, others in another way. One person is more easily tempted to bitterness and sorrow of spirit, blasphemy, distrust and despair. Another is more easily tempted to carnal lust, anger, envy, covetousness. But no matter to which sins we are disposed, we are to walk in the spirit and resist the flesh. Those who are Christ's own crucify their flesh. Some of the old saints labored so hard to attain perfection that they lost the capacity to feel anything. When I was a monk I often wished I could see a saint. I pictured him as living in the wilderness, abstaining from meat and drink, and living on roots and herbs and cold water. This weird conception of those awesome saints I had gained out of the books of the scholastics and church fathers. But we know now from the scriptures who the true saints are, not those who live in a single life or make a fetish of days, meats, clothes and such things. The true saints are those who believe that they are justified by the death of Christ. Whenever Paul writes to the Christians here and there he calls them the holy children and heirs of God. All who believe in Christ, whether male or female, bond or free, are saints, not in view of their own works, but in view of the merits of God which they appropriate by their faith. Their holiness is a gift and not their own personal achievement. Ministers of the gospel, public officials, parents, children, masters, servants, etc., are true saints when they take Christ for their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, and when they fulfill the duties of their several vocations according to the standard of God's word, and repress the lust and desires of the flesh by the spirit. Not everybody can resist temptations with equal facilities. Imperfections are bound to show up. But this does not prevent them from being holy. Their unintentional lapses are forgiven if they pull themselves together by faith in Christ. God forbid that we should sit in hasty judgment on those who are weak in faith and life as long as they love the word of God and make use of the supper of the Lord. I thank God that he has permitted me to see what as a monk I so earnestly desire to see not one but many saints, whole multitudes of true saints. Not the kind of saints the papists admire, but the kind of saints Christ wants. I am sure that I am one of Christ's true saints. I am baptized. I believe that Christ my Lord has redeemed me from all my sins and invested me with his own eternal righteousness and holiness. To hide in caves and dens, to have a bony body, to wear the hair long in the mistaken idea that such departures from normalcy will obtain some special regard in heaven is not the holy life. A holy life is to be baptized and to believe in Christ and to subdue the flesh with the spirit. To feel the lusts of the flesh is not without profit to us. It prevents us from being vain and from being puffed up with a wicked opinion of our own work righteousness. The monks were so inflated with the opinion of their own righteousness they thought they had so much holiness that they could afford to sell some of it to others, although their own hearts convinced them of unholiness. The Christian feels the unholy condition of his heart, and it makes him feel so low that he cannot trust in his good works. He therefore goes to Christ to find perfect righteousness. This keeps a Christian humble. Verses 19 and 20. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft. Paul does not enumerate all the works of the flesh but only certain ones. First he mentions various kinds of carnal lusts as adultery, fornication, wantonness, etc. But carnal lust is not the only work of the flesh, and so he counts among the works of the flesh also idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and the like. These terms are so familiar that they do not require lengthy explanations. Idolatry. The best religion, the most fervent devotion, without Christ, is plain idolatry. It has been considered a holy act when the monks in their cells meditate upon God and his works, and in a religious frenzy kneel down to pray and to weep for joy. Yet Paul calls it simply idolatry. Every religion which worships God in ignorance or neglect of his word and his will is idolatry. They may think about God, Christ, and heavenly things, but they do it after their own fashion and not after the word of God. They have an idea that their clothing, their mode of living, and their conduct are holy and pleasing to Christ. They not only expect to pacify Christ by the strictness of their life, but also expect to be rewarded by him for their good deeds. Hence their best spiritual thoughts are wicked thoughts. Any worship of God, any religion without Christ is idolatry. In Christ alone is God well pleased. I have said before that the works of the flesh are manifest, but idolatry puts on such a good front and acts so spiritual that the sham of it is recognized only by true believers. Witchcraft. This sin was very common before the light of the Gospel appeared. When I was a child there were many witches and sorcerers around who bewitched cattle and people, particularly children, and did much harm. But now that the Gospel is here you do not hear so much about it because the Gospel drives the devil away. Now he bewitches people in a worse way with spiritual sorcery. Witchcraft is a brand of idolatry. As witches used to bewitch cattle and men, so idolaters, i.e. all the self-righteous, go around to bewitch God and to make him out as one who justifies men not by grace through faith in Christ, but by the works of men's own choosing. They bewitch and deceive themselves. If they continue in their wicked thoughts of God they will die in their idolatry. Sects. Under sects Paul here understands heresies. Heresies have always been found in the Church. What unity of faith can exist among all the different monks in the different orders? None, whatever. There is no unity of spirit, no agreement of minds, but great dissension in the papacy. There is no conformity in doctrine, faith, and life. On the other hand among evangelical Christians the word faith, religion, sacraments, service, Christ, God, heart, and mind are common to all. This unity is not disturbed by outward differences of station or of occupation. Drunkenness. Gluttony. Paul does not say that eating and drinking are works of the flesh, but intemperance in eating and drinking, which is a common vice nowadays, is a work of the flesh. Those who are given to excess are to know that they are not spiritual but carnal. Sentence is pronounced upon them that they shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Paul desires that Christians avoid drunkenness and gluttony, that they live temperate and sober lives in order that the body may not grow soft and sensual. Verse 21. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in the past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This is a hard saying, but very necessary for those false Christians and hypocrites who speak much about the gospel, about faith, and the spirit, yet live after the flesh. But this hard sentence is directed chiefly at the heretics who are at large with their own self-importance that they may be frightened into taking up the fight of the spirit against the flesh. Verses 22 and 23. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The apostle does not speak of the works of the spirit as he spoke of the works of the flesh, but he attaches to these Christian virtues a better name. He calls them the fruits of the spirit. Love. It would have been enough to mention only the single fruit of love, for love embraces all the fruits of the spirit. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul attributes to love all the fruits of the spirit, charity, suffereth long, and is kind, etc. Here he lets love stand by itself among other fruits of the spirit, to remind the Christians to love one another, in honor preferring one another, to esteem others more than themselves because they have Christ and the Holy Ghost within them. Joy. Joy means sweet thoughts of Christ, melodious hymns and psalms, praises and thanksgiving with which Christians instruct, inspire, and refresh themselves. God does not like doubt and dejection. He hates dreary doctrine, gloomy and melancholy thought. God likes cheerful hearts. He did not send his son to fill us with sadness, but to gladden our hearts. For this reason the prophets, apostles, and Christ Himself urge, yes, command us to rejoice and be glad. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold thy King, cometh unto thee. In the Psalms we are repeatedly told to be joyful in the Lord. Paul says, rejoice in the Lord always. Christ says, rejoice, for your names are written in heaven. Peace. Peace towards God and men. Christians are to be peaceful and quiet, not argumentative, not hateful, but thoughtful and patient. There can be no peace without long suffering, and therefore Paul lists this virtue next. Long suffering. Long suffering is that quality which enables a person to bear adversity, injury, reproach, and makes them patient to wait for the improvement of those who have done him wrong. When the devil finds that he cannot overcome certain persons by force, he tries to overcome them in the long run. He knows that we are weak and cannot stand anything long. Therefore he repeats his temptation time and again until he succeeds. To withstand his continued assaults we must be long suffering and patiently wait for the devil to get tired of his game. Gentleness. Gentleness in conduct and life. True followers of the gospel must not be sharp and bitter, but gentle, mild, courteous, and soft-spoken, which should encourage others to seek their company. Gentleness can overlook other people's faults and cover them up. Gentleness is always glad to give in to others. Gentleness can get along with forward and difficult persons according to the old pagan saying you must know the manners of your friends but you must not hate them. Such a gentle person was our Savior Jesus Christ as the gospel portrays him. Of Peter it is recorded that he wept whenever he remembered the sweet gentleness of Christ in his daily contact with people. Gentleness is an excellent virtue and very useful in every walk of life. Goodness. A person is good when he's willing to help others in their need. Faith. Enlisting faith among the fruits of the Spirit, Paul obviously does not mean faith in Christ but faith in men. Such faith is not suspicious of people but believes the best. Naturally the possessor of such faith will be deceived but he lets it pass. He is ready to believe all men but he will not trust all men. Where this virtue is lacking men are suspicious, forward and wayward and will believe nothing or yield to anybody. No matter how well a person says or does anything they will find fault with it and if you do not humor them you can never please them. It is quite impossible to get along with them. Such faith in people therefore is quite necessary. What kind of life would this be if one person could not believe another person? Meekness. A person is meek when he's not quick to get angry. Many things occur in daily life to provoke a person's anger but the Christian gets over his anger by meekness. Temperance. Christians are to lead sober and chaste lives. They should not be adulterers, fornicators or sensualists. They should not be quarrelers or drunkards. In the first and second chapters of the Epistle to Titus the apostle admonishes bishops, young women and married folks to be chaste and pure. Verse 23 Against such there is no law. There is a law, of course, but it does not apply to those who bear these fruits of the spirit. The law is not given for the righteous man. A true Christian conducts himself in such a way that he does not need any law to warn or restrain him. He obeys the law without compulsion. The law does not concern him. As far as he's concerned they would not have to be any law. Verse 24 And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. True believers are no hypocrites. They crucified the flesh with its evil desires and lusts. Inasmuch as they have not altogether put off the sinful flesh they are inclined to sin. They do not fear or love God as they should. They are likely to be provoked to anger, to envy, to impatience, to carnal lust and other emotions. But they will not do the things to which the flesh incites them. They crucify the flesh with its evil desires and lusts by fasting and exercise and above all by a walk in the spirit. To resist the flesh in this manner is to nail it to the cross. Although the flesh is still alive it cannot very well act upon its desires because it is bound and nailed to the cross. Verse 25 If we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit. A little while ago the apostle had condemned those who are envious and start heresies and schisms. As if he had forgotten that he had already berated them the apostle once more reproves those who provoke and envy others. Was not one reference to them sufficient? He repeats his admonition in order to emphasize the viciousness of pride that had caused all the trouble in the churches of Galatia and has always caused the Church of Christ no end of difficulties. In his epistle to Titus the apostle states that a vain glorious man should not be ordained as a minister, for pride, as St. Augustine points out, is the mother of all heresies. Now vain glory has always been a common poison in the world. There is no village too small to contain someone who wants to be considered wiser or better than the rest. Those who have been bitten by pride usually stand upon the reputation for learning and wisdom. Vain glory is not nearly so bad in a private person or even in an official as it is in a minister. When the poison of vain glory gets into the church you have no idea what havoc it can cause. You may argue about knowledge, art, money, countries and the like without doing particular harm, but you cannot quarrel about salvation or damnation, about eternal life and eternal death without grave damage to the church. No wonder Paul exhorts all ministers of the word to guard against this poison. He writes, if we live in the spirit where the spirit is men gain new attitudes where formerly they were vain glorious, spiteful and envious they now become humble, gentle and patient. Such men seek not their own glory but the glory of God. They do not provoke each other to wrath or envy but prefer others to themselves. As dangerous to the church as this abominable pride is yet there is nothing more common. The trouble with the ministers of Satan is that they look upon the ministry as a stepping stone to fame and glory and right there you have the seed for all sorts of dissensions. Because Paul knew that the vain glory of the false apostles had caused the churches of Galatia endless trouble he makes it his business to suppress this abominable vice. In his absence the false apostles went to work in Galatia. They pretended that they had been on intimate terms with the apostles while Paul had never seen Christ in person or had much contact with the rest of the apostles. Because of this they delivered him, rejected his doctrine and boosted their own. In this way they troubled the Galatians and caused quarrels among them until they provoked and envied each other. Which goes to show that neither the false apostles nor the Galatians walked after the spirit but after the flesh. The gospel is not there for us to aggrandize ourselves. The gospel is to aggrandize Christ and the mercy of God. It holds out to men eternal gifts that are not gifts of our own manufacture. What right have we to receive praise and glory for gifts that are not of our own making? No wonder that God, in his special grace, subjects the ministers of the gospel to all kinds of afflictions. Otherwise they could not cope with this ugly beast called vain glory. If no persecution, no cross or reproach trailed the doctrine of the gospel but only praise and reputation, the ministers of the gospel would choke with pride. Paul had the spirit of Christ. Nevertheless there was given unto him the messenger of Satan to buffet him in order that he should not come to exalt himself because of the grandeur of his revelations. St. Augustine's opinion is well taken. If a minister of the gospel is praised he is in danger. If he is despised he is also in danger. The ministers of the gospel should be men who are not too easily affected by praise or criticism but simply speak out the benefit and the glory of Christ and seek the salvation of souls. Whenever you are being praised remember it is not you who is being praised but Christ to whom all praise belongs. When you preach the word of God in its purity and also live accordingly it is not your own doing but God's doing. And when people praise you they really mean to praise God in you. When you understand this and you should because what hast thou that thou didst not receive? You will not flatter yourself on the one hand and on the other hand you will not carry yourself with the thought of resigning from the ministry when you are insulted, reproached or persecuted. It is really kind of God to send so much infamy, reproach, hatred and cursing our way to keep us from getting proud of the gifts of God in us. We need a millstone around our neck to keep us humble. There are a few on our side who love and revere us for the ministry of the word but for every one of these there are a hundred on the other side who hate and persecute us. The Lord is our glory. Such gifts as we possess we acknowledge to be the gifts of God given to us for the good of the Church of Christ. Therefore we are not proud because of them. We know that more is required of them to whom much is given than of such to whom little is given. We also know that God is no respecter of persons, a plain factory hand who does his work faithfully pleases God just as much as a minister of the word. Verse 26. Let us not be desirous of vain glory. To desire vain glory is to desire lies because when one person praises another he tells lies. What is there in anybody to praise? But it is different when the ministry is praised. We should not only desire people to praise the ministry of the gospel but also do our utmost to make the ministry worthy of praise because this will make the ministry more effective. Paul warns the Romans not to bring Christianity into disrepute. Let not then your good be evil spoken of, Romans 14-16. He also begged the Corinthians to give no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed, 1 Corinthians 6-3. When people praise our ministry they are not praising our persons but God. Verse 26. Provoking one another, envying one another. Such is the ill effect of vain glory. Those who teach errors provoke others. When others disapprove and reject the doctrine the teachers of errors get angry in turn and then you have strife and trouble. The sectarians hate us furiously because we will not approve their errors. We did not attack them directly. We merely called attention to certain abuses in the church. They did not like it and became sore at us because it hurt their pride. They wished to be the lone rulers of the church. End of Chapter 5 of Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. Recording by Eric Lungman, Marietta, Georgia. Chapter 6 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 6. Verse 1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. If we carefully weigh the words of the apostle, we perceive that he does not speak of doctrinal faults and errors, but of much lesser faults by which a person is overtaken through the weakness of his flesh. This explains why the apostle chooses the softer term, fault. To minimize the offense still more, as if he meant to excuse it altogether and to take the whole blame away from the person who has committed the fault. He speaks of him as having been overtaken, seduced by the devil and of the flesh. As if he meant to say, what is more human than for a human being to fall, to be deceived and to err. This comforting sentence at one time saved my life, because Satan always assails both the purity of doctrine which he endeavors to take away by sisms, and the purity of life which he spoils with his continual temptations to sin. Paul explains how the fallen should be treated. Those who are strong are to raise up the fallen in the spirit of meekness. This ought to be borne in mind, particularly by the ministers of the word, in order that they may not forget the parental attitude which Paul here requires of those who have the keeping of souls. Pastors and ministers must, of course, rebuke the fallen, but when they see that the fallen are sorry, they are to comfort them by excusing the fault as well as they can. As unyielding as the Holy Spirit is in the matter of maintaining and defending the doctrine of faith, so mild and merciful is he toward men for their sins as long as sinners repent. The Pope's synagogue teaches the exact opposite of what the apostle commands. The clerics are tyrants and butchers of men's conscience. Every small offense is closely scrutinized. To justify the cruel inquisitiveness they quote the statement of Pope Gregory. It is the property of good lives to be afraid of a fault where there is no fault. Our censors must be feared even if they are unjust and wrong. On these pronouncements the papists base their doctrine of excommunication. Rather than terrifying condemn men's consciences, they ought to raise them up and comfort them with the truth. Let the ministers of the gospel learn from Paul how to deal with those who have sinned. Brethren, he says, if any man be overtaken with a fault, do not aggravate his grief, do not scold him, do not condemn him, but lift him up and gently restore his faith. If you see a brother despondent over a sin he has committed, run up to him, reach out your hand to him, comfort him with the gospel, and embrace him like a mother. When you meet a willful sinner who does not care, go after him and rebuke him sharply. But this is not the treatment for one who has been overtaken by a sin and is sorry. He must be dealt with in the spirit of meekness and not in the spirit of severity. A repentant sinner is not to be given gall and vinegar to drink. Verse 1. Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. This consideration is very much needed to put a stop to the severity of some pastors who show the fallen no mercy. Saint Augustine says, there is no sin which one person has committed that another person may not commit it also. We stand in slippery places. If we become overbearing and neglect our duty, it is easy enough to fall into sin. In the book entitled, The Lives of Our Fathers, one of the fathers is reported to have said when informed that a brother had fallen into adultery, he fell yesterday, I may fall today. Paul therefore warns the pastors not to be too rigorous and unmerciful towards offenders, but to show them every affection, always remembering, this man fell into sin, I may fall into worse sin. If those who are always so eager to condemn others would investigate themselves, they would find that the sins of others are motes in comparison to their own. Wherefore, let him that thinketh ye standeth, take ye lest ye fall. Verse Corinthians 10, 12. If David, who was a hero of faith, and did so many great things for the Lord, could fall so badly that in spite of his advanced age he was overcome by youthful lusts after he had withstood so many different temptations with which the Lord had tested his faith, who are we to think that we are more stable? These object lessons of God should convince us that of all things God hates pride. Verse 2. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. The law of Christ is the law of love. Christ gave us no other law than this law of mutual love, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. To love means to bear another's burdens. Christians must have strong shoulders to bear the burdens of their fellow Christians. Faithful pastors recognize many errors and offenses in the church which they oversee. In civil affairs an official has to overlook much if he is fit to rule. If we can overlook our own shortcomings and wrongdoings, we ought to overlook the shortcomings of others in accordance with the words, bear ye one another's burdens. Those who fail to do so expose their lack of understanding of the law of Christ. Love, according to Paul, believeth all things, hopeeth all things, endureth all things. This commandment is not meant for those who deny Christ. Neither is it meant for those who continue to live in sin. Only those who are willing to hear the word of God and then inadvertently fall into sin to their own great sorrow and regret carry the burdens which the apostle encourages us to bear. Let us not be hard on them. If Christ did not punish them, what right have we to do it? Verse 3 For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Again the apostle takes the authors of sects to task for being hard-hearted tyrants. They despise the weak and demand that everything be just so. Nothing suits them except what they do. Unless you eulogize whatever they say or do, unless you adapt yourself to their slightest whim, they become angry with you. They are that way because, as Saint Paul says, they think themselves to be something. They think they know all about the scriptures. Paul has their number when he calls them zeros. They deceive themselves with their self-suggested wisdom and holiness. They have no understanding of Christ or the law of Christ. By insisting that everything be perfect, they not only fail to bear the burdens of the weak, they actually offend the weak by their severity. People begin to hate and shun them and refuse to accept counsel or comfort from them. Paul describes these stiff and ungracious saints accurately when he says of them, they think themselves to be something. Bloated by their own silly ideas and schemes, they entertain a pretty fair opinion of themselves when in reality they amount to nothing. Verse 4 But let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. In this verse the apostle continues his attack upon the vanglorious sectarians. Although this passage may be applied to any work, the apostle has in mind particularly the work of the ministry. The trouble with these seekers after glory is that they never stop to consider whether their ministry is straightforward and faithful. All they think about is whether people will like and praise them. Theirs is a threefold sin. First they are greedy of praise. Secondly, they are very sly and wily in suggesting that the ministry of other pastors is not what it should be. By way of contrast they hope to rise in the estimation of the people. Thirdly, once they have established a reputation for themselves, they become so chesty that they stop short of nothing. When they have won the praise of men, pride leads them to belittle the work of other men and to applaud their own. In this artful manner they hoodwink the people who rather enjoy to see their former pastors taken down a few notches by such upstarts. Let a minister be faithful in his office is the apostolic injunction. Let him not seek his own glory or look for praise. Let him desire to do good work and to preach the gospel in all its purity. Whether an ungrateful world appreciates his efforts is to give him no concern because, after all, he is in the ministry not for his own glory, but for the glory of Christ. A faithful minister cares little what people think of him as long as his conscience approves of him. The approval of his own good conscience is the best praise a minister can have. To know that we have taught the word of God and administered the sacraments rightly used to have a glory that cannot be taken away. The glory which the sectarian seek is quite unstable because it rests in the whim of people. If Paul had to depend on this kind of glory for his ministry he would have disbared when he saw the many offenses and evils following in the wake of his preaching. If we had to feel that the success of our ministry depended upon our popularity with men we would die because we are not popular. On the contrary, we are hated by the world with rare bitterness. Nobody praises us, everybody finds fault with us, but we can glory in the Lord and attend to our work cheerfully. Who cares whether our efforts please or displease the devil? Who cares whether the world praises or hates us? We go ahead by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report. 2 Corinthians 6-8 The Gospel entails persecution. The Gospel is that kind of a doctrine. Furthermore, the disciples of the Gospel are not all dependable. Many embrace the Gospel today and tomorrow discarded. To preach the Gospel for praise is bad business, especially when people stop praising you. Find your praise in the testimony of a good conscience. This passage may also be applied to other work besides the ministry. When an official, a servant, a teacher minds his business and performs his duty faithfully without concerning himself about matters that are not in his line, he may rejoice in himself. The best commendation of any work is to know that one has done the work that God has given him well and that God is pleased with his effort. Verse 5 Every man shall bear his own burden. That means for anybody to covet praise is foolish because the praise of men will be of no help to you in the hour of death. Before the judgment thrown of Christ, everybody will have to bear his own burden. As it is, the praise of men stops when we die. Before the eternal judge, it is not praise that counts but your own conscience. True, the consciousness of work well done cannot quiet the conscience, but it is well to have the testimony of a good conscience in the last judgment that we have performed our duty faithfully in accordance with God's will. For the suppression of pride, we need the strength of prayer. What man, even if he is a Christian, is not delighted with his own praise. Only the Holy Spirit can preserve us from the misfortune of pride. Verse 6 Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Now the apostle also addresses the hearers of the Word, requesting them to bestow all good things upon those who have taught them the gospel. I have often wondered why all the apostles reiterated this request with such embarrassing frequency. In the papacy I saw the people give generously for the erection and maintenance of luxurious church buildings and for the sustenance of men appointed to the idolatrous service of Rome. I saw bishops and priests grow rich until they possessed the choicest real estate. I thought then that Paul's admonitions were overdone. I thought he should have requested the people to curtail their contributions. I saw how the generosity of the people of the church was encouraging covetousness on the part of the clergy. I know better now. As often as I read the admonitions of the apostle to the effect that the churches should have support their pastors and raise funds for the relief of impoverished Christians, I am half ashamed to think that the great apostle Paul had to touch upon this subject so frequently. In writing to the Corinthians he needed two chapters to impress this matter upon them. I would not want to discredit Wittenberg as Paul discredited the Corinthians by urging them at such length to contribute to the relief of the poor. It seems to be a byproduct of the gospel that nobody wants to contribute to the maintenance of the gospel ministry. When the doctrine of the devil is preached people are prodigal in their willing support of those who deceive them. We have come to understand why it is so necessary to repeat the admonition of this verse. When Satan cannot suppress the preaching of the gospel by force he tries to accomplish his purpose by striking the ministers of the gospel with poverty. He curtailes their income to such an extent that they are forced out of the ministry because they cannot live by the gospel. Without ministers to proclaim the word of God the people go wild like savage beasts. Paul's admonition that the hearers of the gospel share all good things with their pastors and teachers is certainly in order. To the Corinthians he wrote, If we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things. 1 Corinthians 9-11 In the old days when the Pope reigned supreme everybody paid plenty for masses. The begging friars brought in their share. Commercial priests counted the daily offerings. From these extortions our countrymen are now delivered by the gospel. You would think they would be grateful for their emancipation and give generously for the support of the ministry of the gospel and the relief of impoverished Christians. Instead they rob Christ. When the members of a Christian congregation permit their pastor to struggle along in penury they are worse than heathen. Before very long they are going to suffer for their ingratitude. They will lose their temporal and spiritual possessions. This sin merits the severest punishment. The reason why the churches of Galatia, Corinth and other places were troubled by false apostles was this. That they had so little regard for their faithful ministers. You cannot refuse to give God a penny who gives you all good things. Even life eternal and turn around and give the devil the giver of all evil and death eternal pieces of gold and not be punished for it. The words in all good things are not to be understood to mean that people are to give all they have to their ministers but that they should support them liberally and give them enough to live well. Verse 7 The apostle is so worked up over this matter that he is not content with a mere admonition. He utters the threatening words, God is not mocked. Our countrymen think it is good sport to despise the ministry. It is good to treat the ministers like servants and slaves. Be not deceived, warns the apostle. God is not mocked. God will not be mocked in his ministers. Christ said, he that despiseth you despiseth me. Luke 10.16 To Samuel God said, they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me. Verse Samuel 8.7 Be careful you scoffers. God may postpone his punishments for a time but he will find you out in time and punish you for despising his servants. You cannot laugh at God. Maybe the people are a little impressed by the threats of God but in the hour of their death they shall know whom they have mocked. God is not ever going to let his ministers starve. When the rich suffer the pangs of hunger God will feed his own servants. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied. Psalm 37.19 Verse 7. For whatever a man soweth that shall he also reap. These passages are well meant to benefit us ministers. I must say I do not find much pleasure in explaining these verses. I am made to appear as if I am speaking for my own benefit. If a minister preaches on money he is likely to be accused of covetousness. Still people must be told these things that they may know their duty over against their pastors. Our Savior says, Eating and drinking such things as they give for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Luke 10.7 And Paul says elsewhere, Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar. Even so hath the Lord ordained. That they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Verse Corinthians 9, 13 and 14. Verse 8. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life. This simile of sowing and reaping also refers to the proper support of ministers. He that soweth to the spirit, i.e. he that honors the ministers of God, is doing a spiritual thing and will reap everlasting life. He that soweth to the flesh, i.e. he that has nothing left for the ministers of God, but only thinks of himself, that person will reap of the flesh corruption. Not only in this life, but also in the life to come. The apostle wants to stir up his readers to be generous to their pastors. That the ministers of the church need support any man with common sense can see. Though this support is something physical, the apostle does not hesitate to call it sowing to the spirit. When people scrape up everything they can lay their hands on and keep everything for themselves, the apostle calls it a sowing to the flesh. He pronounces those who sow to the spirit blessed for this life and the life to come, while those who sow to the flesh are accursed now and for ever. Verse 9 And let us not be weary and well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. The apostle intends soon to close his epistle and therefore repeats once more the general exhortation unto good deeds. He means to say, Let us do good not only to the ministers of the gospel, but to everybody, and let us do it without weariness. It is easy enough to do good once or twice, but to keep on doing good without getting disgusted with the ingratitude of those whom we have benefited, that is not so easy. Therefore the apostle does not only admonish us to do good, but to do good untiringly. For our encouragement he adds the promise, For in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Wait for the harvest and then you will reap the reward of your sowing to the spirit. Think of that when you do good and the ingratitude of men will not stop you from doing good. Verse 10 As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. In this verse the apostle summarizes his instructions on the proper support of the ministers and of the poor. He paraphrases the words of Christ, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. John 9.4 Our good deeds are to be directed primarily at those who share the Christian faith with us, the household of faith, as Paul calls them, among whom the ministers rank first as objects of our well-doing. Verse 11 You see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. With these words the apostle intends to draw the Galatians on. I never, he says, wrote such a long letter with my own hand to any of the other churches. His other epistles, he dictated and only subscribed his greetings at his signature with his own hand. Verse 12 As many as desire to make a fair shoe in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Paul once more scores the false apostles in an effort to draw the Galatians away from their false doctrine. The teachers you have now do not seek the glory of Christ in the salvation of your souls, but only their own glory. They avoid the cross. They do not understand what they teach. These three counts against the false apostles are of so serious a nature that no Christian could have fellowship with them. But not all the Galatians obeyed the warning of Paul. The apostle's attack upon the false apostles was not unjustified. Neither are our attacks upon the papacy. When we call the Pope the Antichrist and his minions an evil brood, we do not slander them. We merely judge them by the touchstone of God's word recorded in the first chapter of this epistle. Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Verse 13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcise that they may glory in your flesh. In other words, I shall tell you what kind of teachers you have now. They avoid the cross. They teach no certain truths. They think they are performing the law, but they are not. They have not the Holy Spirit, and without him nobody can keep the law. Where the Holy Ghost does not dwell in men, there dwells an unclean spirit, a spirit that despises God and turns every effort at keeping the law into a double sin. Mark what the apostle is saying. Those who are circumcised do not fulfil the law. No self-righteous person ever does. To work, pray, or suffer apart from Christ is to work, pray, and to suffer in vain. For whatsoever is not of faith is sin. It does a person no good to be circumcised, to fast, to pray, or to do anything if in his heart he despises Christ. Why do the fossil-possels insist that you should be circumcised, not for the sake of your righteousness, although they give that impression, but that they may glory in your flesh? Now what sort of an ambition is that? Worst of all, they force circumcision upon you for no other reason than the satisfaction they get out of your submission. Verse 14, But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid, says the apostle, that I should glory in anything as dangerous as the false apostles glory in because what they glory in is a poison that destroys many souls and I wish it were buried in hell. Let them glory in the flesh if they wish and let them perish in their glory as for me I glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He expresses the same sentiment in the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans where he says we glory in tribulations and in the 12th chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities. According to these expressions a glory of a Christian consists in tribulations, reproaches, and infirmities and this is our glory today with the Pope and the whole world persecuting us and trying to kill us. We know that we suffer these things not because we are thieves and murderers but for Christ's sake whose gospel we proclaim. We have no reason to complain. The world of course looks upon us as unhappy and accursed creatures but Christ for whose sake we suffer pronounces us, blessed and bids us to rejoice. Blessed are ye says he when men shall revalue and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Matthew 5, 11, and 12 By the cross of Christ is not to be understood here the two pieces of wood to which he was nailed but all the afflictions of the believers whose sufferings are Christ's sufferings. Elsewhere Paul writes who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ and my flesh for his body's sake which is the church. Colossians 1, 24 It is good for us to know this lest we think into despair when our opponents persecute us. Let us bear the cross for Christ's sake. It will ease our sufferings and make them light as Christ says Matthew 11, 30 My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Verse 14 By whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world the world is crucified unto me means that I condemn the world. I am crucified unto the world means that the world in turn condemns me. I detest the doctrine, the self-righteousness and the works of the world. The world in turn detests my doctrine and condemns me as a revolutionary heretic. Thus the world is crucified unto us and we unto the world. The monks imagined the world was crucified unto them when they entered the monastery. Not the world, but Christ is crucified in the monasteries. In this verse, Paul expresses his hatred of the world. The hatred was mutual as Paul, so we are to despise the world and the devil. With Christ on our side we can defy him and say Satan the more you hurt me the more I oppose you. Verse 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new creature. Since circumcision and uncircumcision are contrary matters we would expect the apostle to say that one or the other might accomplish some good but he denies that either of them do any good. Both are of no value because in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avail anything. Reason fails to understand this. For the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God in verse 14 It therefore seeks righteousness in externals. However, we learn from the word of God that there is nothing under the sun that can make us righteous before God and a new creature except Christ Jesus. A new creature is one in whom the image of God has been renewed. Such a creature cannot be brought into life by good works but by Christ alone. Good works may improve the outward appearance but they cannot produce a new creature. A new creature is the work of the Holy Ghost who imbues our hearts with faith love and other Christian virtues grants us the strength to subdue the flesh and to reject the righteousness of the world. Verse 16 And as many as walk according to this rule peace beyond them and mercy. This is the rule by which we ought to live. That ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4.24 Those who walk after this rule enjoy the favor of God the forgiveness of their sins and peace of conscience. Should they ever be overtaken by any sin the mercy of God supports them. Verse 17 From henceforth let no man trouble me. The apostle speaks these words with a certain amount of indignation. I have preached the gospel to you in conformity with the revelation which I received from Jesus Christ. If you do not care for it very well trouble me no more. Trouble me no more. Verse 17 For I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. The marks of my body indicate whose servant I am. If I was anxious to please men if I approved of vision and good works as factors in our salvation if I would take delight in your flesh as the false apostles do I would not have these marks on my body. But because I am the servant of Jesus Christ and publicly declare that no person can obtain the salvation of his soul outside of Christ I must bear the badge of my Lord. These marks were given to me against my will as decorations from the devil and for no other merit but that I made known Jesus. Of the marks of suffering which he bore in his body the apostle makes frequent mention in his epistles. I think he says God has set forth us the apostles last as it were appointed to death for we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men. 1 Corinthians 4 9 Again, unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place and labor working with our hands being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we entreat we are made as the filth of the world and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day. 1 Corinthians 4 11-13 verse 18 rather than the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit Amen This is the apostles farewell he ends his epistle as he began it by wishing the Colossians the grace of God we can hear him say I have presented Christ to you I have pleaded with you I have reproved you I have overlooked nothing that I thought might be of benefit to you All I can do now is to pray that our Lord Jesus Christ would bless my epistle and grant you the guidance of the Holy Ghost The Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour who gave me the strength and the grace to explain this epistle and granted you the grace to hear it preserve and strengthen us in faith unto the day of our redemption to him the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit be glory world without end Amen End of Chapter 6 Bill Noseley Frillsburg, Texas U.S.A End of commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians by Martin Luther translated by Theodore Rabner