Galatians 5

The Old Testament is replete with examplesthat indicate how much God prizes charity. When David and his companions had nofood with which to still their hunger they ate the showbread which lay-peoplewere forbidden to eat. Christ's disciples broke the Sabbath law when theyplucked 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 tobe 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 theGalatians: "Why do you get so worked up over ceremonies, meats, days,places, and such things? Leave off this foolishness and listen to me. The wholeLaw is comprehended in this one sentence, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour asthyself.' God is not particularly interested in ceremonies, nor has He any usefor them. The one thing He requires of you is that you believe in Christ whom Hehath sent. If in addition to faith, which comes first as the most acceptableservice unto God, you want to add laws, then you want to know that all laws arecomprehended in this short commandment, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour asthyself.' "

Paul knows how to explain the law of God. Hecondenses all the laws of Moses into one brief sentence. Reason takes offense atthe brevity with which Paul treats the Law. Therefore reason looks down upon thedoctrine of faith and its truly good works. To serve one another in love, i.e.,to instruct the erring, to comfort the afflicted, to raise the fallen, to helpone's neighbor in every possible way, to bear with his infirmities, to endurehardships, toil, ingratitude in the Church and in the world, and on the otherhand to obey government, to honor one's parents, to be patient at home with anagging wife and an unruly family, these things are not at all regarded as goodworks. The fact is, they are such excellent works that the world cannot possiblyestimate them at their true value.

It is tersely spoken: "Love thyneighbour as thyself." But what more needs to be said? You cannot find abetter or nearer example than your own. If you want to know how you ought tolove your neighbor, ask yourself how much you love yourself. If you were to getinto 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 youought to love your neighbor as yourself.

My neighbor is every person, especially those who need my help, as Christexplained in the tenth 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. Aslong as a person remains a human being, so long is he to be an object of ourlove.

Paul therefore urges his Galatians and,incidentally, all believers to serve each other in love. "You Galatians donot have to accept circumcision. If you are so anxious to do good works, I willtell 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 peoplewho need your help."

VERSE 15.But if yebite and devour one another take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

When faith in Christ is overthrown peace andunity come to an end in the church. Diverse opinions and dissensions aboutdoctrine 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 theexperience of all times bear witness. The many sects at present have come intobeing because one sect condemns the other. When the unity of the spirit has beenlost there can be no agreement in doctrine or life. New errors must appearwithout measure and without end.

For the avoidance of discord Paul lays downthe principle: "Let every person do his duty in the station of life intowhich God has called him. No person is to vaunt himself above others or findfault with the efforts of others while lauding his own. Let everybody serve inlove."

It is not an easy matter to teach faithwithout works, and still to require works. Unless the ministers of Christ arewise in handling the mysteries of God and rightly divide the word, faith andgood works may easily be confused. Both the doctrine of faith and the doctrineof 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 teachwords, as our opponents do, we shall lose the faith. If we only teach faithpeople will come to think that good works are superfluous.

VERSE 16.This I saythen, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

"I have not forgotten what I told youabout faith in the first part of my letter. Because I exhort you to mutual loveyou are not to think that I have gone back on my teaching of justification byfaith alone. I am still of the same opinion. To remove every possibility formisunderstanding I have added this explanatory note: 'Walk in the Spirit, and yeshall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.'"

With this verse Paul explains how he wantsthis sentence to be understood: By love serve one another. When I bid you tolove one another, this is what I mean and require, 'Walk in the Spirit.' I knowvery well you will not fulfill the Law, because you are sinners as long as youlive. Nevertheless, you should endeavor to walk in the spirit, i.e., fightagainst the flesh and follow the leads of the Holy Ghost."

It is quite apparent that Paul had notforgotten the doctrine of justification, for in bidding the Galatians to walk inthe Spirit he at the same time denies that good works can justify. "When Ispeak of the fulfilling of the Law I do not mean to say that you are justifiedby the Law. All I mean to say is that you should take the Spirit for your guideand resist the flesh. That is the most you shall ever be able to do. Obey theSpirit and fight against the flesh."

VERSE 16.And yeshall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

The lust of the flesh is not altogetherextinct in us. It rises up again and again and wrestles with the Spirit. Noflesh, not even that of the true believer, is so completely under the influenceof the Spirit that it will not bite or devour, or at least neglect, thecommandment of love. At the slightest provocation it flares up, demands to berevenged , and hates a neighbor like an enemy, or at least does not love him as much ashe ought to be loved.

Therefore the Apostle establishes this ruleof love for the believers. Serve one another in love. Bear the infirmities ofyour brother. Forgive one another. Without such bearing and forbearing, givingand forgiving, there can be no unity because to give and to take offense areunavoidably human.

Whenever you are angry with your brother forany cause, repress your violent emotions through the Spirit. Bear with hisweakness and love him. He does not cease to be your neighbor or brother becausehe offended you. On the contrary, he now more than ever before requires yourloving attention.

The scholastics take the lust of the flesh tomean carnal lust. True, believers too are tempted with carnal lust. Even themarried are not immune to carnal lusts. Men set little value upon that whichthey have and covet what they have not, as the poet says:

"The things most forbidden we alwaysdesire,

And things most denied we seek to acquire."

I do not deny that the lust of the fleshincludes carnal lust. But it takes in more. It takes in all the corrupt desireswith which the believers are more or less infected, as pride, hatred,covetousness, impatience. Later on Paul enumerates among the works of the flesheven idolatry and heresy. The apostle's meaning is clear. "I want you tolove one another. But you do not do it. In fact you cannot do it, because ofyour flesh. Hence we cannot be justified by deeds of love. Do not for a momentthink that I am reversing myself on my stand concerning faith. Faith and hopemust continue. By faith we are justified, by hope we endure to the end. Inaddition we serve each other in love because true faith is not idle. Our love,however, is faulty. In bidding you to walk in the Spirit I indicate to you thatour love is not sufficient to justify us. Neither do I demand that you shouldget rid of the flesh, but that you should control and subdue it."

VERSE 17.For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and theSpirit against the flesh.

When Paul declares that "the fleshlusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh," he means tosay that we are not to think, speak or do the things to which the flesh incitesus. "I know," he says, "that the flesh courts sin. The thing foryou to do is to resist the flesh by the Spirit. But if you abandon theleadership of the Spirit for that of the flesh, you are going to fulfill thelust of the flesh and die in your sins."

VERSE 17.And theseare contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that yewould.

These two leaders, the flesh and the Spirit,are bitter opponents. Of this opposition the Apostle writes in the seventhchapter of the Epistle to the Romans: "I see another law in my members,warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into the captivity to thelaw of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliverme from the body of this death?"

The scholastics are at a loss to understandthis confession of Paul and feel obliged to save his honor. That the chosenvessel of Christ should have had the law of sin in his members seems to themincredible and absurd. They circumvent the plain-spoken statement of the Apostleby saying that he was speaking for the wicked. But the wicked never complain ofinner conflicts, or of the captivity of sin. Sin has its unrestricted way withthem. This is Paul's very own complaint and the identical complaint of allbelievers.

Paul never denied that he felt the lust ofthe 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 hefelt angry or impatient, he resisted these feelings by the Spirit. We are notgoing to stand by idly and see such a comforting statement as this explainedaway. The scholastics, monks, and others of their ilk fought only against carnal lust and were proud of a victory which they neverobtained. In the meanwhile they harbored within their breasts pride, hatred,disdain, self-trust, contempt of the Word of God, disloyalty, blasphemy, andother lusts of the flesh. Against these sins they never fought because theynever took them for sins.

Christ alone can supply us with perfectrighteousness. Therefore we must always believe and always hope in Christ."Whosoever believeth shall not be ashamed." (Rom. 9:33.)

Do not despair if you feel the flesh battlingagainst the Spirit or if you cannot make it behave. For you to follow theguidance of the Spirit in all things without interference on the part of theflesh is impossible. You are doing all you can if you resist the flesh and donot fulfill its demands.

When I was a monk I thought I was lostforever whenever I felt an evil emotion, carnal lust, wrath, hatred, or envy. Itried to quiet my conscience in many ways, but it did not work, because lustwould always come back and give me no rest. I told myself: "You havepermitted this and that sin, envy, impatience, and the like. Your joining thisholy 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 againstthe Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh," I could have spared myselfmany a day of self- torment. I would have said to myself: "Martin, you willnever be without sin, for you have flesh. Despair not, but resist theflesh."

I remember how Doctor Staupitz used to say tome: "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 mefor Christ's sake and grants unto me a blessed departure, I shall not be able tostand before Him." His was a God-pleasing despair. No true believer trustsin his own righteousness, but says with David, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living bejustified." (Ps. 143:2) Again, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" (Ps. 130:3.)

No man is to despair of salvation justbecause he is aware of the lust of the flesh. Let him be aware of it so long ashe does not yield to it. The passion of lust, wrath, and other vices may shakehim, but they are not to get him down. Sin may assail him, but he is not towelcome it. Yes, the better Christian a man is, the more he will experience theheat of the conflict. This explains the many expressions of regret in the Psalmsand in the entire Bible.

Everybody is to determine his peculiarweakness and guard against it. Watch and wrestle in spirit against yourweakness. Even if you cannot completely overcome it, at least you ought to fightagainst it.

According to this description a saint is notone who is made of wood and never feels any lusts or desires of the flesh. Atrue saint confesses his righteousness and prays that his sins may be forgiven.The whole Church prays for the forgiveness of sins and confesses that itbelieves in the forgiveness of sins. If our antagonists would read theScriptures they would soon discover that they cannot judge rightly of anything,either of sin or of holiness.

VERSE 18.But if yebe led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Here someone may object: "How come weare not under the law? You yourself say, Paul, that we have the flesh which warsagainst the Spirit, and brings us into subjection."

But Paul says not to let it trouble us. Aslong as we are led by the Spirit, and are willing to obey the Spirit who resiststhe flesh, we are not under the Law. True believers are not under the Law. TheLaw cannot condemn them although they feel sin and confess it.

Great then is the power of the Spirit. Led bythe 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 theSpirit and are free from the Law. Even as he teaches good works, the Apostledoes not lose sight of the doctrine of justification, but shows at every turnthat 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 timesthat anger, hatred, impatience, carnal desire, fear, sorrow, or some other lustof the flesh so overwhelms a man that he cannot shake them off, though he tryever so hard. What should he do? Should he despair? God forbid. Let him say tohimself: "My flesh seems to be on a warpath against the Spirit again. Go toit, flesh, and rage all you want to. But you are not going to have your way. Ifollow the leading of the Spirit."

When the flesh begins to cut up the onlyremedy is to take the sword of the Spirit, the word of salvation, and fightagainst the flesh. If you set the Word out of sight, you are helpless againstthe flesh. I know this to be a fact. I have been assailed by many violentpassions, but as soon as I took hold of some Scripture passage, my temptationsleft me. Without the Word I could not have helped myself against the flesh.

VERSE 19.Now the worksof the flesh are manifest, which are these.

Paul is saying: "That none of you mayhide 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 theGalatians, as there are also among us, who pretend to be Christians and talkmuch about the Spirit, but they walk not according to the Spirit; ratheraccording to the flesh. Paul is out to show them that they are not as holy asthey like to have others think they are.

Every period of life has its own peculiar temptations. Not one true believerwhom the flesh does not again and again incite to impatience, anger, pride. Butit is one thing to be tempted by the flesh, and another thing to yield to theflesh, to do its bidding without fear or remorse, and to continue in sin.

Christians also fall and perform the lusts ofthe flesh. David fell horribly into adultery. Peter also fell grievously when hedenied Christ. However great these sins were, they were not committed to spiteGod, but from weakness. When their sins were brought to their attention thesemen did not obstinately continue in their sin, but repented. Those who sinthrough weakness are not denied pardon as long as they rise again and cease tosin. There is nothing worse than to continue in sin. If they do not repent, butobstinately continue to fulfill the desires of the flesh, it is a sure sign thatthey are not sincere.

No person is free from temptations. Some aretempted in one way, others in another way. One person is more easily tempted tobitterness and sorrow of spirit, blasphemy, distrust, and despair. Another ismore easily tempted to carnal lust, anger, envy, covetousness. But no matter towhich 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 toattain perfection that they lost the capacity to feel anything. When I was amonk I often wished I could see a saint. I pictured him as living in thewilderness, abstaining from meat and drink and living on roots and herbs andcold water. This weird conception of those awesome saints I had gained out ofthe books of the scholastics and church fathers. But we know now from theScriptures who the true saints are. Not those who live a single life, or make afetish of days, meats, clothes, and such things. The true saints are those whobelieve that they are justified by the death of Christ. Whenever Paul writes tothe 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 viewof their own works, but in view of the merits of God which they appropriate byfaith. 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 takeChrist for their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and whenthey fulfill the duties of their several vocations according to the standard ofGod's Word and repress the lust and desires of the flesh by the Spirit. Noteverybody can resist temptations with equal facilities. Imperfections are boundto show up. But this does not prevent them from being holy. Their unintentionallapses are forgiven if they pull themselves together by faith in Christ. Godforbid that we should sit in hasty judgment on those who are weak in faith andlife, as long as they love the Word of God and make use of the supper of theLord.

I thank God that He has permitted me to see(what as a monk I so earnestly desired to see) not one but many saints, wholemultitudes of true saints. Not the kind of saints the papists admire, but thekind of saints Christ wants. I am sure I am one of Christ's true saints. I ambaptized. I believe that Christ my Lord has redeemed me from all my sins, andinvested me with His own eternal righteousness and holiness. To hide in cavesand dens, to have a bony body, to wear the hair long in the mistaken idea thatsuch departures from normalcy will obtain some special regard in heaven is notthe holy life. A holy life is to be baptized and to believe in Christ, and tosubdue the flesh with the Spirit.

To feel the lusts of the flesh is not withoutprofit to us. It prevents us from being vain and from being puffed up with thewicked opinion of our own work-righteousness. The monks were so inflated withthe opinion of their own righteousness, they thought they had so much holinessthat they could afford to sell some of it to others, although their own hearts convinced them of unholiness. The Christian feels the unholycondition of his heart, and it makes him feel so low that he cannot trust in hisgood works. He therefore goes to Christ to find perfect righteousness. Thiskeeps a Christian humble.

VERSES 19, 20.Nowthe works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornification,uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft ...

Paul does not enumerate all the works of theflesh, but only certain ones. First, he mentions various kinds of carnal lusts,as adultery, fornication, wantonness, etc. But carnal lust is not the only workof 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 notrequire lengthy explanations.

IDOLATRY

The best religion, the most fervent devotionwithout Christ is plain idolatry. It has been considered a holy act when themonks in their cells meditate upon God and His works, and in a religious frenzykneel down to pray and to weep for joy. Yet Paul calls it simply idolatry. Everyreligion which worships God in ignorance or neglect of His Word and will isidolatry.

They may think about God, Christ, andheavenly things, but they do it after their own fashion and not after the Wordof God. They have an idea that their clothing, their mode of living, and theirconduct are holy and pleasing to Christ. They not only expect to pacify Christby the strictness of their life, but also expect to be rewarded by Him for theirgood deeds. Hence their best "spiritual" thoughts are wicked thoughts.Any worship of God, any religion without Christ is idolatry. In Christ alone isGod well pleased.

I have said before that the works of theflesh 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 ofthe Gospel appeared. When I was a child there were many witches and sorcerersaround who "bewitched" cattle, and people, particularly children, anddid much harm. But now that the Gospel is here you do not hear so much about itbecause the Gospel drives the devil away. Now he bewitches people in a worse waywith spiritual sorcery.

Witchcraft is a brand of idolatry. As witchesused to bewitch cattle and men, so idolaters, i.e., all the self-righteous, goaround to bewitch God and to make Him out as one who justifies men not by gracethrough faith in Christ but by the works of men's own choosing. They bewitch anddeceive themselves. If they continue in their wicked thoughts of God they willdie in their idolatry.

SECTS

Under sects Paul here understands heresies.Heresies have always been found in the church. What unity of faith can existamong all the different monks and the different orders? None whatever. There isno 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, amongevangelical Christians the Word, faith, religion, sacraments, service, Christ,God, heart, and mind are common to all. This unity is not disturbed by outwarddifferences of station or of occupation.

DRUNKENESS, GLUTTONY

Paul does not say that eating and drinkingare works of the flesh, but intemperance in eating and drinking, which is acommon vice nowadays, is a work of the flesh. Those who are given to excess areto know that they are not spiritual but carnal. Sentence is pronounced upon themthat they shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Paul desires that Christiansavoid drunkenness and gluttony , that they live temperate and sober lives, in order that the body may not growsoft and sensual.

VERSE 21.Of thewhich I tell you before, as I have also told you in the past, that they which dosuch things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

This is a hard saying, but very necessary forthose false Christians and hypocrites who speak much about the Gospel, aboutfaith, and the Spirit, yet live after the flesh. But this hard sentence isdirected chiefly at the heretics who are large with their own self-importance,that they may be frightened into taking up the fight of the Spirit against theflesh.

VERSES 22, 23.Butthe fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

The Apostle does not speak of the works ofthe Spirit as he spoke of the works of the flesh, but he attaches to theseChristian virtues a better name. He calls them the fruits of the Spirit.

LOVE

It would have been enough to mention only thesingle fruit of love, for love embraces all the fruits of the Spirit. In ICorinthians 13, Paul attributes to love all the fruits of the Spirit:"Charity suffereth long, and is kind," etc. Here he lets love stand byitself among other fruits of the Spirit to remind the Christians to love oneanother, "in honor preferring one another," to esteem others more thanthemselves because they have Christ and the Holy Ghost within them.

JOY

Joy means sweet thoughts of Christ, melodioushymns and psalms, praises and thanksgiving, with which Christians instruct,inspire, and refresh themselves. God does not like doubt and dejection. He hatesdreary 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. Forthis reason the prophets, apostles, and Christ Himself urge, yes, command us torejoice and be glad. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thyking cometh unto thee." (Zech. 9:9.) In the Psalms we are repeatedly told to be "joyful inthe 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 tobe peaceful and quiet. Not argumentative, not hateful, but thoughtful andpatient. There can be no peace without longsuffering, and therefore Paul liststhis virtue next.

LONGSUFFERING

Longsuffering is that quality which enables aperson to bear adversity, injury, reproach, and makes them patient to wait forthe improvement of those who have done him wrong. When the devil finds that hecannot overcome certain persons by force he tries to overcome them in the longrun. He knows that we are weak and cannot stand anything long. Therefore herepeats his temptation time and again until he succeeds. To withstand hiscontinued assaults we must be longsuffering and patiently wait for the devil toget tired of his game.

GENTLENESS

Gentleness in conduct and life. Truefollowers 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 isalways glad to give in to others. Gentleness can get along with forward anddifficult persons, according to the old pagan saying: "You must know themanners of your friends, but you must not hate them." Such a gentle personwas our Savior Jesus Christ, as the Gospel portrays Him. Of Peter it is recorded that he wept whenever he remembered the sweet gentleness ofChrist in His daily contact with people. Gentleness is an excellent virtue andvery useful in every walk of life.

GOODNESS

A person is good when he is willing to helpothers in their need.

FAITH

In listing faith among the fruits of theSpirit, Paul obviously does not mean faith in Christ, but faith in men. Suchfaith is not suspicious of people but believes the best. Naturally the possessorof such faith will be deceived, but he lets it pass. He is ready to believe allmen, but he will not trust all men. Where this virtue is lacking men aresuspicious, forward, and wayward and will believe nothing nor 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 impossibleto get along with them. Such faith in people therefore, is quite necessary. Whatkind of life would this be if one person could not believe another person?

MEEKNESS

A person is meek when he is not quick to getangry. Many things occur in daily life to provoke a person's anger, but theChristian gets over his anger by meekness.

TEMPERANCE

Christians are to lead sober and chastelives. They should not be adulterers, fornicators, or sensualists. They shouldnot be quarrelers or drunkards. In the first and second chapters of the Epistleto Titus, the Apostle admonishes bishops, young women, and married folks to bechaste and pure.

VERSE 23.Againstsuch there is no law.

There is a law, of course, but it does notapply to those who bear these fruits of the Spirit. The Law is not given for therighteous man. A true Christian conducts himself in such a way that he does not need any law to warn or to restrain him. He obeysthe Law without compulsion. The Law does not concern him. As far as he isconcerned there would not have to be any Law.

VERSE 24.And theythat are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

True believers are no hypocrites. Theycrucify the flesh with its evil desires and lusts. Inasmuch as they have notaltogether put off the sinful flesh they are inclined to sin. They do not fearor love God as they should. They are likely to be provoked to anger, to envy, toimpatience, to carnal lust, and other emotions. But they will not do the thingsto which the flesh incites them. They crucify the flesh with its evil desiresand lusts by fasting and exercise and, above all, by a walk in the Spirit.

To resist the flesh in this manner is to nailit to the Cross. Although the flesh is still alive it cannot very well act uponits desires because it is bound and nailed to the Cross.

VERSE 25.If we livein the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

A little while ago the Apostle had condemnedthose who are envious and start heresies and schisms. As if he had forgottenthat he had already berated them, the Apostle once more reproves those whoprovoke and envy others. Was not one reference to them sufficient? He repeatshis admonition in order to emphasize the viciousness of pride that had causedall the trouble in the churches of Galatia, and has always caused the Church ofChrist no end of difficulties. In his Epistle to Titus the Apostle states that avainglorious man should not be ordained as a minister, for pride, as St.Augustine points out, is the mother of all heresies.

Now vainglory has always been a common poisonin the world. There is no village too small to contain someone who wants to beconsidered wiser or better than the rest. Those who have been bitten by pride usually stand upon the reputation forlearning and wisdom. Vainglory is not nearly so bad in a private person or evenin an official as it is in a minister.

When the poison of vainglory gets into theChurch 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 youcannot quarrel about salvation or damnation, about eternal life and eternaldeath without grave damage to the Church. No wonder Paul exhorts all ministersof the Word to guard against this poison. He writes: "If we live in theSpirit." Where the Spirit is, men gain new attitudes. Where formerly theywere vainglorious, spiteful and envious, they now become humble, gentle andpatient. Such men seek not their own glory, but the glory of God. They do notprovoke each other to wrath or envy, but prefer others to themselves.

As dangerous to the Church as this abominablepride is, yet there is nothing more common. The trouble with the ministers ofSatan 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 vainglory of thefalse Apostles had caused the churches of Galatia endless trouble, he makes ithis business to suppress this abominable vice. In his absence the false apostleswent to work in Galatia. They pretended that they had been on intimate termswith the apostles, while Paul had never seen Christ in person or had muchcontact with the rest of the apostles. Because of this they delivered him,rejected his doctrine, and boosted their own. In this way they troubled theGalatians and caused quarrels among them until they provoked and envied eachother; which goes to show that neither the false apostles nor the Galatianswalked after the Spirit, but after the flesh.

The Gospel is not there for us to aggrandizeourselves. The Gospel is to aggrandize Christ and the mercy of God. It holds outto men eternal gifts that are not gifts of our own manufacture. What right have we to receive praise and glory for gifts thatare not of our own making?

No wonder that God in His special gracesubjects the ministers of the Gospel to all kinds of afflictions, otherwise theycould not cope with this ugly beast called vainglory. If no persecution, nocross, or reproach trailed the doctrine of the Gospel, but only praise andreputation, the ministers of the Gospel would choke with pride. Paul had theSpirit of Christ. Nevertheless there was given unto him the messenger of Satanto buffet him in order that he should not come to exalt himself, because of thegrandeur of his revelations. St. Augustine'sopinion is well taken: "If a minister of the Gospel is praised, he is indanger; if he is despised, he is also in danger."

The ministers of the Gospel should be men whoare not too easily affected by praise or criticism, but simply speak out thebenefit and the glory of Christ and seek the salvation of souls.

Whenever you are being praised, remember itis not you who is being praised but Christ, to whom all praise belongs. When youpreach the Word of God in its purity and also live accordingly, it is not yourown doing, but God's doing. And when people praise you, they really mean topraise God in you. When you understand this--and you should because "whathast thou that thou didst not receive?"--you will not flatter yourself onthe one hand and on the other hand you will not carry yourself with the thoughtof resigning from the ministry when you are insulted, reproached, or persecuted.

It is really kind of God to send so muchinfamy, reproach, hatred, and cursing our way to keep us from getting proud ofthe 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 andpersecute us.

The Lord is our glory. Such gifts as wepossess 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. Weknow that more is required of them to whom much is given, than of such to whomlittle is given. We also know that God is no respecter of persons. A plainfactory hand who does his work faithfully pleases God just as much as a ministerof the Word.

VERSE 26.Let us notbe desirous of vain glory.

To desire vainglory is to desire lies,because when one person praises another he tells lies. What is there in anybodyto praise? But it is different when the ministry is praised. We should not onlydesire people to praise the ministry of the Gospel but also do our utmost tomake the ministry worthy of praise because this will make the ministry moreeffective. Paul warns the Romans not to bring Christianity into disrepute."Let not then your good be evil spoken of." (Rom. 14:16.) He also begged the Corinthians to "give no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed." (I Cor. 6:3.) When people praise our ministry they are not praising ourpersons, but God.

VERSE 26.Provokingone another, envying one another.

Such is the ill effect of vainglory. Thosewho teach errors provoke others. When others disapprove and reject the doctrinethe 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. Wedid not attack them directly. We merely called attention to certain abuses inthe Church. They did not like it and became sore at us, because it hurt theirpride. They wish to be the lone rulers of the church.