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The Fundamentals But the confusion of these two diverse principles did not end with the decision of the council. The controversy con tinued, and six years later the Holy Spirit, by the Apostle Paul, launched against the legalistic teachers from Jerusalem the crushing thunderbolt of the Epistle to the churches in Galatia. In this great letter every phase of the question of the respective spheres of law and of grace comes up for discussion and final, authoritative decision. The Apostle had called the Galatians into the grace of Christ (Gal. 1 :6 ) . Now grace means unmerited, unrecompensed favor. It is essential to get this clear. Add never so slight an admixture of law-works, as circumcision, or law effort, as of obedience to commandments, and “grace is no more grace” (Rom. 11:6). So absolutely is this true, that grace cannot even begin with us until the law has reduced us to speechless guilt (Rom. 3 :19 ). So long as there is the slightest question of utter guilt, utter helplessness, there is no place for grace. If I am not, indeed, quite so good as I ought to be, but yet quite too good for hell, I am not an object for the grace of God, but for the illuminating and convicting and death-dealing work of His law. The law is “just” (Rom. 7 :12 ) , and therefore heartily approves goodness, and unsparingly condemns badness; but, save Jesus of Nazareth, the law never saw a man righteous through obedience. Grace, on the contrary, is not looking for good men whom it may approve, for it is not grace, but mere justice, to approve goodness, but it is looking for condemned, guilty, speechless and helpless men whom it may save through faith, sanctify and glorify. Into grace, then, Paul had called the Galatians. What (1 :6 ) was his controversy with them? Just this: they were “removed” from the grace of Christ into “another gospel,” though he is swift to add, “which is not another” (Gal. 1 :7 ).
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