(Excerpt)
Hindered
Gal
3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made
perfect by the flesh?
Gal
5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the
truth?
The
Galatian brethren had started well, for they had "begun in the
Spirit;" but somebody had hindered them in the way. The question is,
"Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" God's law is
the truth (Ps.119:142), and the Galatian brethren had started out to obey it;
they had succeeded in the beginning, but later on had been hindered in their
progress. Why?--"Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by
the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone." Christ
is the way, and the truth, and the life, and there is no stumbling in Him. He
is made unto us righteousness; the perfection of the law is in Him, for His
life is the law.
Rom_9:32
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of
the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Gal
2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might
be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
"The
Offense of the Cross."
The cross
is and always has been a symbol of disgrace. To be crucified was to be subjected
to the most ignominious death known. The apostle said that if he preached
circumcision, that is, righteousness by works, the offense of the cross would
cease. The offense of the cross is that it is a confession of human frailty and
sin, and of inability to do any good thing. To take the cross of Christ means
to depend solely on Him for everything, and this is the abasement of all human
pride. Men love to fancy themselves independent. They have no objection to any
goodness that they themselves can do. One might preach "morality" to
a band of robbers, or to any heathen, and it would be well received, so long as
they were exhorted to get it by their own efforts. Indeed, they would feel
flattered, rather than otherwise, for such preaching would imply that they were
already righteous in themselves. But let the cross be preached; let it be made
known that in man dwelleth no good thing, and that all must be received as a
gift, and straightway somebody is offended.
Liberty to
Serve, Not to Sin
Gal_5:1
"For,
brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an
occasion to the flesh; but by love serve one another." The two preceding
chapters tell about bondage, imprisonment. Before faith comes, we are shut up
under sin, debtors to the law. The faith of Christ sets us free, but as we are
set at liberty, the admonition is given us,
"Go, and sin no more." We have been set at liberty from sin, not at
liberty to sin. How many make a mistake here! Many sincere people
imagine that in Christ we are at liberty to ignore the law, and to set it at
defiance, forgetting that the transgression of the law is sin. 1Joh.3:4. To
serve the flesh is to commit sin, "because the carnal mind is enmity
against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be." Rom.8:7. So when the apostle
exhorts us not to use our liberty for an occasion of the flesh, he simply warns
us not to misuse the liberty which Christ gives us, and to bring ourselves into
bondage again by transgressing the law. Instead of this, we should by
love serve one another; for love is the fulfilling of the law. Recall what has been said in this chapter
concerning the liberty wherewith Christ makes us free. He gives us the liberty of
the first dominion. But remember that God gave the dominion to mankind, and that
in Christ all are made kings. This shows that the only human being over whom any Christian has the right to rule
is himself. The great man in Christ's kingdom is he who rules his own
spirit. As kings, our subjects are found in the lower orders of created beings,
in the elements, and in our own flesh, but not in our fellow-men. We are to
serve them. We are to have in us the mind that was in Christ while He was still
in the royal court in heaven, "in the form of God," which led Him to
take "the form of a servant." Phil.2:5-7. He did not change His
nature in coming to this earth, but only His form; therefore, as Anointed King
in Zion, He was a servant. This is further seen by the fact that He washed the
feet of the disciples, with full consciousness of the fact that He was their
Master and Lord, and that He came from God and went to God. John 13:3-13. Moreover,
when all the redeemed saints appear in glory, Christ Himself "shall gird
Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve
them." Luke 12:37. The greatest freedom is found in service--in service
rendered to our fellows in the name of Jesus. He who does the greatest
service--not greatest as men reckon, but what they would call lowest--is the
greatest. This we learn from Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords,
because He is servant of all, performing service that nobody else would or
could do. God's servants are all kings.
Love
Fulfills the Law
Gal
5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself.
Love is
not a substitute for the keeping of the law, but is the perfection of it. Just
here it would be well to read 1Cor.13.
1Co
13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
1Co
13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
1Co
13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
1Co
13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co
13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily
provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co
13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co
13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things.
1Co
13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall
fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge,
it shall vanish away.
1Co
13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co
13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away.
1Co
13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I
thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co
13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now
I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co
13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest
of these is charity.
"Love
worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the
law." Rom.13:10. "If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother,
he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he
love God whom he hath not seen?" 1Joh. 4:20. If, therefore, a man loves
his neighbor it must be that he loves God. "Love is of God," for
"God is love." Therefore love is the life of God. If that life be in
us, and be given free course, the law will necessarily be in us, for God's life
is the law for all creation. That life of love was manifested in the gift of
Himself for the world. "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He
laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren."
Love Is
Unselfishness
This
follows from the foregoing; for since love means service, and service means the
doing of something for others, it is evident that love takes no thought of
itself, and that he who loves has no thought but of how he may bless others. So
we read, "Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh
not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil." 1Cor.13:4,5,
R.V. It is just on this vital point that
everybody in the world is making or has made a mistake. Happy are they who have
found out their mistake, and have come to the understanding and practice of
true love. "Love seeketh not her
own." Therefore self-love is not love at all, in the right sense of
the word. It is only a base counterfeit. Yet the most of that which in the
world is called love, is not really love for another, but is love of self. Even
that which should be the highest form of love known on earth, the love which is
used by the Lord as a representation of His love for His people,--the love of
husband and wife,--is more often selfishness than real love. Leaving out of the
question, as unworthy of notice, marriages that are formed for the purpose of
gaining wealth or position in society, it is a fact, which all will recognize
when their attention is called to it, that in nearly every case the parties to
a marriage are thinking more of their own individual happiness than of the
happiness of the other. Of course this condition of things exists in varying
degrees, and in proportion as real, unselfish love exists, is there real
happiness; for it is a lesson that the world is slow to learn, that true happiness is found only when one ceases
to seek for it, and sets about making it for others.
"Love
Never Faileth."
Here again
is a test which shows that much that is called love is not love. Love never
ceases. The statement is absolute, never. There is no exception, and no
allowance made for circumstances. Love is not affected by circumstances. We
often hear about one's love growing cold, but that is something that can never
happen. Love is always warm, always flowing; nothing can freeze the fountain of
love. Love is absolutely endless and unchangeable, simply because it is the
life of God. There is no other love
than the love of God, therefore the only possibility for true love to be
manifested among mankind is for the love of God to be shed abroad in the heart
by the Holy Spirit.
Why Love?
Sometimes
when a declaration of love is made, the loved one asks, "Why do you love
me?" Just as if anybody could give a reason for love! Love is its own
reason. If the lover can tell just why he loves another, then that very answer
shows that he does not really love. Whatever object he names as a reason for
love, may sometime cease to exist, and then his supposed love ceases to exist;
but "love never faileth." Therefore love can not depend upon
circumstances. So the only answer that can be given to the question as to why
one loves, is "because," because of love. Love loves, simply because
it is love. Love is the quality of the individual who loves, and he loves
because he has love, irrespective of the character of the object. The truth of
this is seen when we go back to God, the Fountain of love. He is love; love is
His life; but no explanation of His existence
can be
given. The highest human conception of love is to love because we are loved, or
because the object of our love is lovable. But God loves the unlovely, and
those who hate Him. "We also were aforetime foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and His
love toward man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did
ourselves, but according to His mercy He saved us." Titus 3:3,4, R.V.
"If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the
publicans the same?" "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect." Matt.5:46,48.
The Glad
Tidings
By E. J.
WAGGONER
(Excerpt- To be continued)
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