THE KING’ S BUSINESS
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and “love worketh no ill to its neighbor,” and “love is the fulfilling o f the law” (Rom. 13:10; Gal. 5:14; Rom. 8:4 ). The Bible is a perfectly balanced book. It never allows one truth to stand unbalanced by the other truth. Sunday, May 19 . Gal. 5 : 7 - 9 . . Paul again refers to the early Christian experience o f these Galatian believers. “Ye were running well,” he says, but the road upon which they were running had been broken up by a false teacher, and thus their progress, hindered. How often it happens that a young Christian begins the Christian life well and some subtle and plausible teacher o f error comes along and breaks up the road and spoils the race. This is a favorite method with Satan in our day as well as in Paul’s day. Listen ing to error had kept the Galatian believers from continued obedience-to the truth, and just so listening to error today is keeping many a man and many a woman who did run well from continued obedience to the truth. “This persuasion” (i. e., this per suasion to -put themselves under the law —and by necessary inference similar per suasions today to adopt Seventh Dayism and other forms o f legalism), continues Paul, “came not o f Him that calleth you (i. e., God).” Legalism in any o f its forms is not o f Divine origin, it is not o f God who calleth us (v. 8 ; cf. ch. 1:6; Phil. 3:14; 1 Thess. 5:24). False doctrine is like leaven (or, yeast), which when it is put into a lump gr 9 ws until it leavens the whole lump: And just so false doctrine, even a small amount o f false doctrine introduced into the ' children’s bread will soon leaven the whole lump (cf. 1 Cor. 5:6; Matt. 13:33; 16:6, 12). A little o f the leaven o f legalism in one’s doctrine will soon spoil the whole batch o f bread, and so a little leaven o f other false doc trines will leaven the whole batch o f bread. When we add legal ordinances, or our own works, in the least degree to Christ’s aton ing death, appropriated by simple faith, as the ground' o f our justification, we
Believers are already justified (cf. Acts 13:39),' and being thus justified they “through (or, by) the Spirit (i. e., by His leading and power, and not by the strength of the flesh, their natural strength) by (rather, out o f) faith wait for the hope of righteousness (i. ' e., for that sure hope which is the reward o f the justification that has become theirs through simply believing in Jesus—cf. Rom. 3:26).” What the hope is 1 which is the outcome o f justification by faith ( “the'hope o f righteousness” ) is .seen m Rom. 5:1, 2; 8:17-23; Titus 1:2. When one is “ in Christ,” says Paul, circumcision availeth nothing, but lest some man might rely upon the mere fact that he had not been circumcised, Paul adds, “neither does uncircumcision.” What then does avail ? “ Faith.” But having said that faith is the one thing that avails, Paul adds three sig nificant words that guard against the error of a lawless life, just as he had guarded against the error o f seeking justification by law: those three words are,, “working through love.” The doctrine that a man is not under the law is not at all thé doctrine that a man who believes in Jesus a life he lives. That is a thoroughly per nicious doctrine and as far removed from the doctrine of justification Paul taught as one pole is from another. Paul’s doctrine, or rather the Holy Spirit’s doctrine through Paul, is that a man is justified on the one and only condition o f faith, but that the faith.which justifies will lead to a life o f love (will work “ through loye,” cf. James 2:14-18, R. V.).' This side o f truth that is contained in this epistle, just as truly as the doctrine o f justification on the sole ground of faith, many expounders over look and land their disciples in antinomian- ism and in hell. A man is not justified by “ faith” and “love,” as the .Roman Catholic Church teaches, he is justified by faith alone but the faith which justifies leads inevitably to love, and the man who does not love is thereby proven not to have justifying faith. So the whole essence o f the law will be kept by the justified man for Justifying faith works “through love”
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