02 LIFE BY
THE FAITH OF CHRIST, THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL
There are
doubtless many who are reading this little book, not out of curiosity to see
what another person thinks about the Epistle to the Galatians, but for help in
arriving at an understanding of that much-discussed portion of Scripture. With
each one of these I wish to hold a little personal talk before we proceed
further with our study. Every portion of Scripture is connected with every
other portion; as soon as we learn one thing thoroughly, making it a part of
ourselves, it joins us and aids us in the search for more knowledge, just as
each morsel of food that we eat and assimilate assists us in our labor for our
daily bread. If, therefore, we proceed in the right way with the study of the
Epistle to the Galatians, we shall have opened a wide door to the whole Bible.
The way to
knowledge is very simple, so simple that many people despise it. It is not,
however, to be despised, for, in spite of the oft-repeated statement to the
contrary, there is
A Royal Road to Knowledge,
and that
road is open to all. Here are the directions, laid down by the king who, to the
highest degree, proved it to be the right way:-- "My son, if thou wilt
receive My words, and hide My commandments with thee; so that thou incline
thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou
criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou
seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt
thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the
Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."
Prov.2:1-6.
It was in
a dream that God appeared to Solomon, and promised to give him wisdom, but it
was not by idle dreaming that the wisdom came. Solomon did not go to sleep, and
wake up to find himself the wisest man that ever lived. He longed for knowledge
so much that he did, indeed, dream of it by night, but he worked for it by day.
The foregoing Scripture tells his experience.
Wisdom and knowledge concerning everything are to be found in God's
Word; and if you would understand the Word of God, you must study it. No man on
earth can give you his knowledge.
Another may aid you by his experience, so that it need not take you as long as
it took him; he may direct you how and where to work; but whatever any one
really knows he must acquire for himself. When you have traveled over a
road a thousand times, you know every turn in it, no matter how many there are,
and can see the whole way in your mind. So after you have thought through a
portion of Scripture time after time, you will at last be able to see the whole
of it, and every separate statement in it, at a single glance. And when you can
do that, you will see in it what no man on earth can tell you. 56 It is useless to think to understand a
detached sentence that may present special difficulty, without reference to the
connection. If I should bring you a letter, and, pointing to a sentence near
the close, should ask you to tell me what my correspondent means, you would at
once ask, "What is he writing about? what does he say in what
precedes?" If I should reply that I didn't wish you to know the subject of
the letter, and would not allow you to read it from the beginning, you would
say, "Then I can not help you." But if I should put the letter into
your hands, asking you to help me to understand the difficult sentence, you
would at once read the letter carefully from the beginning, making sure that
you understood everything as you read, and then, with all that preceded the
difficult sentence clearly in your mind, you would expect to understand the
sentence itself. Even thus reasonably should we deal with the Bible. Therefore, to each one I say: Study the very
words of the text. Go over them again and again; and every time you begin the
study of a new portion, go back to the beginning and review all that you have
been over. It is a royal method, and it yields royal results.
The first
chapter of Galatians gives us a brief, comprehensive view of what the Gospel
is, of the condition of the Galatian brethren, and of Paul's personal
experience. The second chapter refers to the meeting held in Jerusalem,
seventeen years after Paul's conversion, and tells us what was the subject of
controversy, and Paul's relation to it. The apostle's sole burden was to
preserve "the truth of the Gospel" among the brethren. Having the
first chapter clearly in mind, we may proceed to the study of the second,
remembering that it is but a continuation of the first. "Then after the space of fourteen years
I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. And I
went up by revelation; and I laid before them the Gospel which I preach among
the Gentiles, but privately before them who were of repute, lest by any means I
should be running, or had run, in vain. But not even Titus who was with me,
being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised; and that because of the false
brethren privily brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which
we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage; to whom we gave
place in the way of subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the
Gospel might continue with you. But from those who were reputed to be somewhat
(whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's
person)--they, I say, who were of repute, imparted nothing to me; but
contrariwise, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the Gospel of
uncircumcision, even as Peter with the Gospel of the circumcision (for He that
wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also
unto the Gentiles); and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me,
James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and
Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles,
and they unto the circumcision; only they would that we should remember 58 the
poor; which very thing I was also zealous to do. "But when Cephas came to Antioch, I
resisted him to the face, because he stood condemned. For before that certain
came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he drew back
and separated himself, fearing them that were of the circumcision. And the rest
of the Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that even Barnabas was
carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not
uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto Cephas before them
all, If thou, being a Jew, livest as do the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews,
how compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We being Jews by
nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, yet knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, save through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed
on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the
works of the law; because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found
sinners, is Christ a minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build up again those
things which I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law
died unto the law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with
Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me; and that life
which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me. I do not make void the grace of
God; for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for
naught." Galatians 2, R.V.
Another
Visit to Jerusalem
"Fourteen
years after," following the natural course of the narrative, means
fourteen years after the visit recorded in Gal.1:18, which was three years
after the apostle Paul's conversion. The second visit, therefore, was seventeen
years after his conversion, or about the year 51 A.D., which coincides with the
time of the conference in Jerusalem, which is recorded in Acts 15. It is with
that conference, and the things that led to it, and grew out of it, that the
second chapter of Galatians deals. In reading this chapter, therefore, the
fifteenth of Acts must be understood and borne in mind.
The New
Gospel
In the
first chapter of Galatians (verses 6,7) we are told that some were troubling the
brethren, by perverting the Gospel of Christ, presenting a false gospel, and
pretending that it was the true Gospel. In Acts 15:1 we read that "certain
men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be
circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye can not be saved." This, we see,
was the other gospel, which was not another, since there is only one, but which
was being palmed off upon the brethren as the true Gospel. That these men who
brought this teaching professed to be preaching the Gospel, is evident from the
fact that they professed to tell the people what they must do to be saved. Paul
and Barnabas would not give any place to the new preaching, but withstood it,
in order, as Paul tells the Galatians, "that the truth of the Gospel might
continue with you." 60
Gal.2:5.
The apostles had "no small dissension and disputation with them."
Acts 15:2. The controversy was no insignificant one, but was between the real
Gospel and a counterfeit. The question was a vital one for the new believers,
and has no less interest for us; it concerns our salvation.
A Denial
of Christ
A glance
at the experience of the church at Antioch, to whom this new gospel was
brought, will show that it did in the most direct manner deny the power of
Christ to save. The Gospel was first brought to them by brethren who had been
scattered by the persecution that arose on the death of Stephen. These brethren
came to Antioch "preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was
with them; and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord." Acts
11:19-21.
Then the
apostles sent Barnabas to assist in the work; and he, "when he came, and
had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose
of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of
the Holy Ghost and of faith; and much people was added unto the Lord."
Verses 22-24. Then Barnabas found Saul, and together they labored with the
church in Antioch for more than a year. Verses 25,26. There were in the church
prophets and teachers, and as they ministered unto the Lord, and fasted, the
Holy Ghost spoke to them, telling them to separate Barnabas and Saul to the
work to which He had called them. Acts 13:1-3. So we see that the church there
had had much experience in the things of God. They 61 were acquainted with the
Lord and with the voice of the Holy Spirit, who witnessed that they were
children of God. And now after all this, these men said to them, "Except
ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye can not be saved." That
was as much as to say, All your faith in Christ, and all the witness of the
Spirit, are nothing without the sign of circumcision. The sign of circumcision,
without faith, was exalted above faith in Christ without any outward sign. The
new gospel was a most direct assault upon the Gospel, and a flat denial of
Christ.
"False
Brethren."
It is no
wonder that Paul styles those who presented this teaching, "false
brethren," who had, as the Danish strongly expresses it, "sneaked
in." Gal.2:4. To the Galatians he said of them, "There be some that
trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ." Gal.1:7. The
apostles and elders, in their letter to the churches, said of those men,
"Certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting
your souls." Acts 15:24. And they further added that they "gave no
commandment" to them. Verse 24, R.V. That is to say, these teachers were
"false brethren," who were not recognized by the apostles as
teachers, who were speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves.
There have been many such since that time. So vicious was their work that the
apostle said, "Let them be accursed." They were deliberately seeking
to undermine the Gospel of Christ, and thus to destroy the souls of the
believers.
"The
Sign of Circumcision."
These
false brethren had said, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of
Moses, ye can not be saved." Literally, you have not power to be saved.
They made salvation only a human thing, resulting solely from the exercise of
human power. They had no knowledge of what circumcision really is. "He is
not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision
is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not
of men, but of God." Rom.2:28,29. There was a time, after Abraham believed
God, when he listened to the voice of Sarai, instead of to God, and sought to
fulfil the promises of God by the power of his own flesh. See Genesis 16. The
result was a failure--a bond-servant instead of an heir. Then God appeared to
him again, exhorting him to walk before Him with singleness of heart, and
repeating His covenant. As a reminder of his failure, and of the fact that
"the flesh profiteth nothing," Abraham received "the sign of
circumcision,"--a cutting off of the flesh. This was to show that since in
the flesh "dwelleth no good thing," the promises of God can be
realized only by the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, through
the Spirit. "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit,
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Phil.3:3.
Abraham was, therefore, really circumcised as soon as he received the Spirit
through faith in God. "And he received the sign of 63 circumcision, a seal
of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised."
Rom.4:11. Outward circumcision was never anything more than a sign of the real
circumcision of the heart; when this was absent, the sign was a fraud; but when
the real circumcision was present, the sign could be dispensed with. Abraham is
"the father of all them that believe, though they be not
circumcised." The "false brethren" who visited the church at
Antioch, subverting the souls of the disciples, and those of the same class who
afterwards troubled the Galatians, perverting the Gospel of Christ, were
substituting the empty sign for the reality. With them the shell of the nut
without the kernel counted for more than the kernel without the shell.
"The
Flesh Profiteth Nothing."
Jesus
said, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the
words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life." John
6:63. The people of Antioch and Galatia had trusted in Christ for salvation;
now there were some who sought to induce them to trust in the flesh. They did
not tell them that they were at liberty to sin. Oh, no; they told them that
they must keep the law! Yes, they must do it themselves; they must make
themselves righteous without Jesus Christ. For circumcision stood for the
keeping of the law. Now the real circumcision was the law written in the heart
by the Spirit; but these "false brethren" wished the believers to
trust in the outward form of circumcision, as a substitute for the Spirit's
work; so that the thing which was given as a sign of righteousness 64 by faith,
became only a sign of self-righteousness. The false brethren would have them
circumcised for righteousness and salvation; but Peter said, "Through the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved." Just as Paul
wrote, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation." Rom.10:10. "Whatsoever is
not of faith is sin." Rom.14:23. Therefore, all the efforts of men to keep
the law of God by their own power, no matter how earnest and sincere they may
be, can never result in anything but imperfection--sin. "All our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Is.64:6.
"A
Yoke of Bondage."
When the
question came up in Jerusalem, Peter said to those who would have men seek to
be justified by their own works, instead of by faith in Christ, "Now
therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which
neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" Acts 15:10. This yoke was a
yoke of bondage, as is shown by Paul's words, that the "false
brethren" sneaked in "to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ
Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage." Gal.2:4. Christ gives
freedom from sin. His life is "the perfect law of liberty." "By
the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom.3:20), but not freedom from it.
"The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Rom.
7:12), just because it gives the knowledge of sin by condemning it. It is a
signpost, which points out the way, but does not carry us. It can tell us that
we are out of the way; but 65 Jesus Christ alone can make us walk in it; for He
is the way. Sin is bondage. Prov.5:22.
Pro
5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be
holden with the cords of his sins.
Only those
who keep the commandments of God are at liberty (Ps.119:45);
Psa
119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
and the commandments can be kept only by faith
in Christ (Rom.8:3,4).
Rom
8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh:
Rom
8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Therefore,
whoever induces people to trust in the law for righteousness, without Christ,
simply puts a yoke upon them, and fastens them in bondage. When a man has been
convicted by the law as a transgressor, and cast into prison, he can not be
delivered from his chains by the law which holds him there. But that is no
fault of the law: just because it is a good law, it can not say that a guilty
man is innocent. So these Galatian brethren were brought into bondage by men
who were foolishly and vainly seeking to exalt the law of God by denying Him
who gave it, and in whom alone its righteousness is found.
The Glad
Tidings
By E. J.
WAGGONER
(Excerpt- To be continued)
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