<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>LESSON XVIII</h2>
<h3>THE CONFLICT WITH THE JUDAIZERS</h3>
<h4>1. APOLLOS</h4>
<p>Before the arrival of Paul at Ephesus an important event had
taken place in that city—the meeting of Aquila and Priscilla with
Apollos. Apollos was a Jew of Alexandrian descent. He had already
received instruction about Jesus—perhaps in his native city. Of all
the great cities of the Roman Empire Alexandria alone was approximately
as near to Jerusalem as was Syrian Antioch. The founding
of the church at Alexandria is obscure, but undoubtedly it took
place at a very early time. At a later period Alexandria was of the
utmost importance as the center of Christian learning, as it had
been already the center of the learning of the pagan world. Until
instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos had known only the
baptism of John the Baptist. Apparently one important thing that
he had lacked was an acquaintance with the peculiar Christian
manifestation of the Holy Spirit. He seems to have been trained
in Greek rhetoric, whether the word translated "eloquent" in Acts
18:24 means "eloquent" or "learned." Apollos did not remain
long in Ephesus, but went to Corinth, where, as can be learned
from First Corinthians as well as from The Acts, his work was of
great importance.</p>
<h4>2. GALATIANS A POLEMIC</h4>
<p>After studying first the Thessalonian epistles and then Galatians
in succession the student should be able to form some conception
of the variety among the epistles of Paul. Certainly there could
be no sharper contrast. First and Second Thessalonians are simple,
affectionate letters written to a youthful church; Galatians is one of
the most passionate bits of polemic in the whole Bible. We ought
to honor Paul for his anger. A lesser man might have taken a calmer
view of the situation. After all, it might have been said, the
observance of Jewish fasts and feasts was not a serious matter;
even circumcision, though useless, could do no great harm. But
Paul penetrated below the surface. He detected the great principles
that were at stake. The Judaizers were disannulling the grace of God.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</SPAN></span></p>
<h4>3. THE ADDRESS. GAL. 1:1-5</h4>
<p>The addresses of the Pauline epistles are never merely formal.
Paul does not wait for the beginning of the letter proper in order
to say what he has in mind. Even the epistolary forms are suffused
with the deepest religious feeling.</p>
<p>The opening of the present letter is anticipatory of what is to
follow. Dividing the opening into three parts—the nominative
(name and title of the writer), the dative (name of those to whom
the letter is addressed), and the greeting—it will be observed that
every one of these parts has its peculiarity as compared with the
other Pauline epistles.</p>
<p>The peculiarity of the nominative is the remarkable addition
beginning with "not from men," which is a summary of the first
great division of the epistle, Paul's defense against the personal attack
of his opponents. Since the Epistle to the Galatians is polemic from
beginning to end, it is not surprising that the very first word after
the bare name and title of the author is "not." Paul cannot mention
his title "apostle"—in the addresses of First and Second Thessalonians
he had not thought it necessary to mention it at all—without
thinking of the way in which in Galatia it was misrepresented.
"My apostleship," he says, "came not only from Christ,
but directly from Christ."</p>
<p>The peculiarity of the dative is its brevity—not "beloved of God,
called to be saints," or the like, but just the bare and formal "to
the churches of Galatia." The situation was not one which called
for pleasant words!</p>
<p>The greeting is the least varied part in the addresses of the
Pauline epistles. The long addition to the greeting in Galatians
is absolutely unique. It is a summary of the second and central
main division of the epistle, Paul's defense of his gospel. "Christ
has died to free you. The Judaizers in bringing you into bondage
are making of none effect the grace of Christ, manifested on the
cross." That is the very core of the letter. In all of the Pauline
epistles there is scarcely a passage more characteristic of the man
than the first five verses of Galatians. An ordinary writer would
have been merely formal in the address. Not so Paul!</p>
<p>The exultant supernaturalism of the address should be noticed.
This supernaturalism appears, in the first place, in the sphere of
external history—"God the Father, who raised him from the dead."
Pauline Christianity is based upon the miracle of the resurrection.
Supernaturalism appears also, however, in the sphere of Christian<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</SPAN></span>
experience—"who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver
us out of this present evil world." Christianity is no mere easy
development of the old life, no mere improvement of the life, but
a new life in a new world. In both spheres, supernaturalism is
being denied in the modern Church. Pauline Christianity is very
different from much that is called Christianity to-day.</p>
<p>Finally, this passage will serve to exhibit Paul's lofty view of the
person of Christ. "Neither through man," says Paul, "but through
Jesus Christ." Jesus Christ is here distinguished sharply from
men and placed clearly on the side of God. What is more, even
the Judaizers evidently accepted fundamentally the same view.
Paul said, "Not by man, but by Jesus Christ"; the Judaizers said,
"Not by Jesus Christ, but by man." But if so, then the Judaizers,
no less than Paul, distinguished Jesus sharply from ordinary
humanity. About other things there was debate, but about the
person of Christ Paul appears in harmony even with his opponents.
Evidently the original apostles had given the Judaizers on this point
no slightest excuse for differing from Paul. The heavenly Christ of
Paul was also the Christ of those who had walked and talked with
Jesus of Nazareth. They had seen Jesus subject to all the petty
limitations of human life. Yet they thought him divine! Could
they have been deceived?</p>
<h4>4. THE PURPOSE OF THE EPISTLE. GAL. 1:6-10</h4>
<p>The thanksgiving for the Christian state of the readers, which
appears in practically every other of the Pauline epistles, is here
conspicuous by its absence. Here it would have been a mockery.
The Galatians were on the point of giving up the gospel. There
was just a chance of saving them. The letter was written in a
desperate crisis. Pray God it might not be too late! No time here
for words of thanks!</p>
<p>In vs. 6-10, Paul simply states the purpose of the letter in a few
uncompromising words: "You are falling away from the gospel
and I am writing to stop you."</p>
<h4>5. PAUL'S DEFENSE OF HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY. GAL. 1:11 to 2:21</h4>
<p>After stating, Gal. 1:11,12, the thesis that is to be proved in
this section, Paul defends his independent apostolic authority by
three main arguments.</p>
<p>In the first place, vs. 13-24, he was already launched upon his<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</SPAN></span>
work as apostle to the Gentiles before he had even come into any
effective contact with the original apostles. Before his conversion,
he had been an active persecutor. His conversion was wrought,
not, like an ordinary conversion, through human agency, but by
an immediate act of Christ. After his conversion it was three
years before he saw any of the apostles. Then he saw only Peter
(and James) and that not long enough to become, as his opponents
said, a disciple of these leaders.</p>
<p>In the second place, Gal. 2:1-10, when he finally did hold a
conference with the original apostles, they themselves, the very
authorities to whom the Judaizers appealed, recognized that his
authority was quite independent of theirs, and, like theirs, of
directly divine origin.</p>
<p>In the third place, Gal. 2:11-21, so independent was his
authority that on one occasion he could even rebuke the chief of
the original apostles himself. What Paul said at that time to
Peter happened to be exactly what he wanted to say, in the epistle,
to the Galatians. This section, therefore, forms a transition to
the second main division of the epistle. It has sometimes been
thought surprising that Paul does not say how Peter took his
rebuke. The conclusion has even been drawn that if Peter had
acknowledged his error Paul would have been sure to say so.
Such reasoning ignores the character of this section. In reporting
the substance of what he said to Peter, Paul has laid bare the very
depths of his own life. To return, after such a passage, to the
incident at Antioch would have been pedantic and unnecessary.
Long before the end of the second chapter Paul has forgotten all
about Peter, all about Antioch, and all about the whole of his past
history. He is thinking only of the grace of Christ, and how
some men are trampling it under foot. O foolish Galatians, to
desert so great a salvation!</p>
<h4>6. PAUL'S DEFENSE OF HIS GOSPEL. GAL. 3:1 to 5:12</h4>
<p>Salvation cannot be earned by human effort, but must be received
simply as a free gift: Christ has died to save us from the
curse of the law: to submit again to the yoke of bondage is
disloyalty to him—that is the great thesis that Paul sets out to
prove.</p>
<p>He proves it first by an argument from experience. Gal. 3:1-5.
You received the Holy Spirit, in palpable manifestation, before you
ever saw the Judaizers, before you ever thought of keeping the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</SPAN></span>
Mosaic law. You received the Spirit by faith alone. How then
can you now think that the law is necessary? Surely there can be
nothing higher than the Spirit.</p>
<p>In the second place, there is an argument from Scripture. Not
those who depend upon the works of the law, but those who believe,
have the benefit of the covenant made with Abraham. Vs. 6-22.</p>
<p>In the third place, by the use of various figures, Paul contrasts
the former bondage with the present freedom. Gal. 3:23 to 4:7.
The life under the law was a period of restraint like that of childhood,
preliminary to faith in Christ. The law was intended to
produce the consciousness of sin, in order that the resultant hopelessness
might lead men to accept the Saviour. Vs. 23-25. But
now all Christians alike, both Jews and Gentiles, are sons of God
in Christ, and therefore heirs of the promise made to Abraham.
Vs. 26-29. Being sons of God, with all the glorious freedom of
sonship, with the Spirit crying, "Abba, Father," in the heart, how
can we think of returning to the miserable bondage of an external
and legalistic religion? Gal. 4:1-11.</p>
<p>In the fourth place, Paul turns away from argument to make a
personal appeal. Vs. 12-20. What has become of your devotion
to me? Surely I have not become your enemy just because I tell
you the truth. The Judaizers are estranging you from me. Listen
to me, my spiritual children, even though I can speak to you only
through the cold medium of a letter!</p>
<p>In the fifth place, Paul, in his perplexity, bethinks himself of one
more argument. It is an argument that would appeal especially
to those who were impressed by the Judaizers' method of using the
Old Testament, but it also has permanent validity. The fundamental
principle, says Paul, for which I am arguing, the principle
of grace, can be illustrated from the story of Ishmael and Isaac.
Ishmael had every prospect of being the heir of Abraham. It
seemed impossible for the aged Abraham to have another son.
Nature was on Ishmael's side. But nature was overruled. So it
is to-day. As far as nature is concerned, the Jews are the heirs
of Abraham—they have all the outward marks of sonship. But
God has willed otherwise. He has chosen to give the inheritance
to the heirs according to promise. The principle of the divine
choice, operative on a small scale in the acceptance of Isaac, is
operative now on a large scale in the acceptance of the Gentile church.</p>
<p>Finally, Paul concludes the central section of the epistle by
emphasizing the gravity of the crisis. Gal. 5:1-12. Do not be<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</SPAN></span>
deceived. Circumcision as the Judaizers advocate it is no innocent
thing; it means the acceptance of a law religion. You must choose
either the law or grace; you cannot have both.</p>
<h4>7. THE RESULTS OF PAUL'S GOSPEL. GAL. 5:13 to 6:10</h4>
<p>In this third main division of the epistle Paul exhibits the practical
working of faith. Paul's gospel is more powerful than the teaching of
the Judaizers. Try to keep the law in your own strength and you
will fail, for the flesh is too strong. But the Spirit is stronger than
the flesh, and the Spirit is received by faith.</p>
<h4>8. CONCLUSION. GAL. 6:11-18</h4>
<p>This concluding section, if not the whole epistle, was written
with Paul's own hand. V. 11. In his other letters Paul dictated
everything but a brief closing salutation.</p>
<p>In the closing section, Paul lays the alternative once more before
his readers. The Judaizers have worldly aims, they boast of
worldly advantages; but the true Christian boasts of nothing but
the cross. Christianity, as here portrayed, is not the gentle, easy-going
doctrine that is being mistaken for it to-day. It is no light
thing to say, "The world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto
the world." But the result is a new creature!</p>
<hr class="tb" />
<p><span class="smcap">In the Library.</span>—Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age,"
pp. 203-213. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": article on "Ephesus";
Purves, articles on "Galatia" and "Galatians, Epistle to the" (supplemented).
Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible": Ramsay, article on
"Ephesus"; Dods, article on "Galatians, Epistle to the." Ramsay,
"St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen," pp. 262-282; "Pictures
of the Apostolic Church," pp. 247-269, 293-300. Lewin, "The Life
and Epistles of St. Paul," chs. xii, xiii. Conybeare and Howson, "The
Life and Epistles of St. Paul," chs. xii, xiii, xiv, xv and xvi. Stalker,
"The Life of St. Paul," pp. 82-84, 108-118. Lumby, pp. 239-266.
Cook, pp. 476-485. Plumptre, pp. 124-136. Rackham, pp. 331-370.
M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 70-76.
Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol.
ii, pp. 419-468: Sanday, "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the
Galatians." "The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges":
Perowne, "The Epistle to the Galatians." Zahn, "Introduction to
the New Testament," vol. i, pp. 164-202. Lightfoot, "Saint Paul's
Epistle to the Galatians." The two last-named works are intended
primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also
be used by others.</p>
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