nothing of growth in grace. Paul s gospel is the gospel, not one among many. There is no other (vs. 6, 7). Eerdman, “The false teachers were ‘accursed.’ Fearing lest such strong language should be thought mere ex travagance in the writer, he enforces it by repetition. ‘I say again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed’ (vs. 8, 9). They were ‘ae- CRADLE A N D THRONE Earth gave Thee a cradle, O Christ, and a cross, Hard roads for Th y journey, reviling and loss; Earth gave Thee Th y wounding, Th y shroud, and Th y tomb; But earth gave no welcome, and earth gave no home. Oh, W ronged One, return to the land Thou hast left, The land that is desolate, lone, and bereft; The world is a chaos of comfortless woes; M e n 's wisdom has failed them, no help they propose. Thou art the one hope, Lord, oh, lend me Thine aid A n d see T h y creation — the world Thou hast made. A new earth shall greet Thee, a new world shall sing The greatness and glories of Jesus its King. Earth that once gave Thee its scorn ing and shame, Its thorns and its scourging, shall yet hail Th y Name; The earth, once rebellious, allegiance shall own, Shall give Thee a sceptre, a crown, and a throne. cursed’ because they perverted (not denied) the gospel. They admitted it was needful for Christ to die upon the cross, but denied that faith alone in that sacrifice was sufficient for salva tion. They taught that to be saved there must be added to faith the keep ing of some part of the law, at least. They thus pleased man, not God (v. 10), and proved themselves not true 33
man." He holds his office from “Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead.” This, his appointment by Christ, he constantly maintains. (See Acts 22:6-15; 26:12- 18.) “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Vine, “In none of the saluta tions found in the Epistles does peace precede grace. Grace is always first. Without grace there can be no peace, and the measure of peace enjoyed is ever the measure of grace accepted. The unsaved sinner under conviction of sin seeks peace by doing many things, such as offering prayers or turning over ‘new leaves,’ but peace never comes to him until he puts away all his ‘doing’ and accepts the grace offered him. The backslidden saint likewise finds trouble and distress until he returns and relies wholly upon the Father’s grace. The grace and peace are from ‘God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.’ ” THE OCCASION The occasion for writing the Epistle is found in the deflection of the Gala tians (vs. 6-10). They were removing from Paul, thinking, because of the false teaching, he had no authority. They were removing from his gospel, thinking, for the same reason, it was not sufficient. It is the gospel of the grace of God that Paul preached. This gospel shuts out all works, and justi fies the ungodly. “To him that work- eth not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). Grace cannot begin until the law has made us speechless,. as it is writ ten, “We know that what things so ever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). As long as one clings to law in any measure, grace cannot operate. They were also becoming disorder ly, because a gospel of mixed law and grace has no power. The legalist knows
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