THE apostle has made it perfectly plain that the believer in Jesus is not under law. We are not children of the bondmaid, but of the freewoman, as Isaac of old. What we are, divine grace has made us; it is no question of human effort at all. This is now followed up by urgent exhortation. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (ver. 1). The Galatian movement, instead of being an advance, was retrogression. It was letting slip the blessedness into which God introduces all who have faith in His Son. We have not to make out a place for ourselves with God. He has made one for us on the basis of Christ's work; we have simply to abide there in full enjoyment.
The matter is then put very strongly. “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing” (ver. 2). The Galatians never meant this. They thought that to engraft circumcision &c. into their Christianity was to improve it. But human works and divine grace cannot go together. We cannot be justified on two opposite principles. If we stand upon works, we are ruined men, whether Jews or Gentiles. There is no rest for the soul on such ground, and no confidence. As for Paul, he had abandoned fleshly efforts once for all as useless, and was standing before God in the righteousness which is of God by faith. Christ was all to him.
To adopt circumcision was to incur the whole responsibility of the law. “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law” (vers. 3). This may require a little explanation. It is well known that circumcision was given long before the law. The Lord Jesus remarked to the Jews that it was not of Moses, but of the fathers (John 7:2222Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. (John 7:22)). The institution of it is found in Gen. 17. It is a sign that flesh can have no recognition with God, and that sentence of death must be passed upon it. Faith thus confessed the utter worthlessness of flesh, and availed itself of the provisions of God's grace. This is where Abraham stood, when at ninety-nine years of age, Jehovah renewed His promise as to the Seed, and gave him the sign of circumcision. On this ground he received blessing from God. It is solemn that such an ordinance should become a mere matter for fleshly glorying; but so it was in Israel. Flesh boasted, and took pride in the distinction. Had its meaning been understood, it would have been seen that God was pouring contempt by it on flesh and all its efforts.
In Moses' day the rite became incorporated with the law, hence the apostle's word in this epistle. It became an integral part of the legal system; therefore to take it up placed the soul under responsibility to do the whole law. This is very serious for souls who profess faith in Christ. The man that binds himself to meet the obligation of the law is a lost man, whoever he be. Law makes no distinctions, and shows no mercy.
The apostle becomes more vehement. “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (ver. 4). Christ will not share His glory with another. The tendency of the Galatian movement is plainly shown—it was abandonment of grace. They sought to amalgamate principles that were mutually destructive. “If by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace” (Rom. 11:66And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. (Romans 11:6)). We see in them how souls may be beguiled by Satan into consequences of which, at the beginning, they had no conception. They had no intention of giving up Christ, or of abandoning grace—but this was the tendency of what they were doing; nevertheless, thank God, all was not lost in their case. At heart they were true men, and he said, “I have confidence as to you in the Lord” (ver. 10).
All this is very serious for men in Christendom, if there were any eyes to see, and ears to hear. For what we see around us is not law pure and simple, nor grace in its abstract beauty, but a painful mixture of the two, to the marring of both. Paul trembled for souls in such a position; to him it was grave departure from the gospel of Christ.
The true Christian state, in contrast, is then briefly described. “For we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (ver. 5). This is one of the few bright flashes in this epistle. Notice the words with care. We wait, not for righteousness, nor for the Spirit, but for the hope. Righteousness is ours now, we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ; and this can never be unsettled. The Spirit is God's gift to us now, for by Him we have been sealed for the day of redemption. All Christ's work being accomplished, and God having been glorified, the other Comforter has been sent from heaven, and is God's gift to every believer in the Lord Jesus. Then what wait we for? the hope. We do not get here what it is; it would not suit the character of the epistle. It is the Lord's coming to receive to Himself His own, to introduce us into the glory into which He has entered. To this, divine righteousness entitles us. Such a hope was never attached to legal righteousness. Suppose a man had kept the law in its entirety, would it have given him a claim to heavenly glory? All that God ever set before souls under law was to live long in the land which He had given them. But God is perfectly righteous in placing us in glory with His beloved Son. It is due to Him who suffered all for us and rose again.
For this we wait “by faith.” The Spirit sustains our hearts by the way, ministering Christ to us, and speaking to us constantly of the glory into which He has gone. Unbelief may mock and deride, but faith rests confidently. God will yet make good His word, and take us all out of this scene to be forever with the Lord.