iator for sins,
the Giver of grace and life.

We know this. Yet in the actual conflict with the devil, when he scares
us with the Law, when he frightens us with the very person of the
Mediator, when he misquotes the words of Christ, and distorts for us
our Savior, we so easily lose sight of our sweet High-Priest.

For this reason I am so anxious for you to gain a true picture of
Christ out of the words of Paul "who gave himself for our sins."
Obviously, Christ is no judge to condemn us, for He gave Himself for
our sins. He does not trample the fallen but raises them. He comforts
the broken-hearted. Otherwise Paul should lie when he writes "who gave
himself for our sins."

I do not bother my head with speculations about the nature of God. I
simply attach myself to the human Christ, and I find joy and peace, and
the wisdom of God in Him. These are not new truths. I am repeating what
the apostles and all teachers of God have taught long ago. Would to God
we could impregnate our hearts with these truths.

VERSE 4. That he might deliver us from this present evil world.

Paul calls this present world evil because everything in it is subject
to the malice of the devil, who reigns over the whole world as his
domain and fills the air with ignorance, contempt, hatred, and
disobedience of God. In this devil's kingdom we live.

As long as a person is in the world he cannot by his own efforts rid
himself of sin, because the world is bent upon evil. The people of the
world are the slaves of the devil. If we are not in the Kingdom of
Christ, it is certain we belong to the kingdom of Satan and we are
pressed into his service with every talent we possess.

Take the talents of wisdom and integrity. Without Christ, wisdom is
double foolishness and integrity double sin, because they not only fail
to perceive the wisdom and righteousness of Christ, but hinder and
blaspheme the salvation of Christ. Paul justly calls it the evil or
wicked world, for when the world is at its best the world is at its
worst. The grossest vices are small faults in comparison with the
wisdom and righteousness of the world. These prevent men from accepting
the Gospel of the righteousness of Christ. The white devil of spiritual
sin is far more dangerous than the black devil of carnal sin because
the wiser, the better men are without Christ, the more they are likely
to ignore and oppose the Gospel.

With the words, "that he might deliver us," Paul argues that we stand
in need of Christ. No other being can possibly deliver us from this
present evil world. Do not let the fact disturb you that a great many
people enjoy excellent reputations without Christ. Remember what Paul
says, that the world with all its wisdom, might, and righteousness is
the devil's own. God alone is able to deliver us from the world.

Let us praise and thank God for His mercy in delivering us from the
captivity of Satan, when we were unable to do so by our own strength.
Let us confess with Paul that all our work-righteousness is loss and
dung. Let us condemn as filthy rags all talk about free will, all
religious orders, masses, ceremonies, vows, fastings, and the like.

In branding the world the devil's kingdom of iniquity, ignorance,
error, sin, death, and everlasting despair, Paul at the same time
declares the Kingdom of Christ to be a kingdom of equity, light, grace,
remission of sin, peace, saving health, and everlasting life into which
we are translated by our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever.

In this passage Paul contends against the false apostles for the
article of Justification. Christ, says Paul, has delivered us from this
wicked kingdom of the devil and the world according to the good will,
the pleasure and commandment of the Father. Hence we are not delivered
by our own will, or shrewdness, or wisdom, but by the mercy and love of
God, as it is written, I John 4:10, "Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins."

Another reason why Paul, like John, emphasizes the Father's will is
Christ's habit of directing attention to the Father. For Christ came
into the world to reconcile God with us and to draw us to the Father.

Not by curious inquiries into the nature of God shall we know God and
His purpose for our salvation, but by taking hold of Christ, who
according to the will of the Father has given Himself into death for
our sins. When we understand this to be the will of the Father in
Christ, then shall we know God to be merciful, and not angry. We shall
realize that He loved us wretched sinners so much indeed that He gave
us His only-begotten Son into death for us.

The pronoun "our" refers to both God and Father. He is our God and our
Father. Christ's Father and our Father are one and the same. Hence
Christ said to Mary Magdalene: "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I
ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
God is our Father and our God, but only in Christ Jesus.

VERSE 5. To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrew writing is interspersed with expressions of praise and
gratitude. This peculiarity can be traced in the apostolic writings,
particularly in those of Paul. The name of the Lord is to be mentioned
with great reverence and thanksgiving.

VERSE 6. I marvel.

How patiently Paul deals with his seduced Galatians! He does not pounce
on them but, like a father, he fairly excuses their error. With
motherly affection he talks to them yet he does it in a way that at the
same time he also reproves them. On the other hand, he is highly
indignant at the seducers whom he blames for the apostasy of the
Galatians. His anger bursts forth in elemental fury at the beginning of
his epistle. "If any may," he cries, "preach any other gospel unto you
than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Later on, in the
fifth chapter, he threatens the false apostles with damnation. "He that
troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be." He pronounces
a curse upon them. "I would they were even cut off which trouble you."

He might have addressed the Galatians after this fashion: "I am ashamed
of you. Your ingratitude grieves me. I am angry with you." But his
purpose was to call them back to the Gospel. With this purpose in his
mind he speaks very gently to them. He could not have chosen a milder
expression than this, "I marvel." It indicates his sorrow and his
displeasure.

Paul minds the rule which he himself lays down in a later chapter where
he says: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are
spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Toward those who have been misled
we are to show ourselves parentally affectionate, so that they may
perceive that we seek not their destruction but their salvation. Over
against the devil and his missionaries, the authors of false doctrines
and sects, we ought to be like the Apostle, impatient, and rigorously
condemnatory, as parents are with the dog that bites their little one,
but the weeping child itself they soothe.

The right spirit in Paul supplies him with an extraordinary facility in
handling the afflicted consciences of the fallen. The Pope and his
bishops, inspired by the desire to lord it over men's souls, crack out
thunders and curses upon miserable consciences. They have no care for
the saving of men's souls. They are interested only in maintaining
their position.

VERSE 6. That ye are so soon.

Paul deplores the fact that it is difficult for the mind to retain a
sound and steadfast faith. A man labors for a decade before he succeeds
in training his little church into orderly religion, and then some
ignorant and vicious poltroon comes along to overthrow in a minute the
patient labor of years. By the grace of God we have effected here in
Wittenberg the form of a Christian church. The Word of God is taught as
it should be, the Sacraments are administered, and everything is
prosperous. This happy condition, secured by many years of arduous
labors, some lunatic might spoil in a moment. This happened in the
churches of Galatia which Paul had brought into life in spiritual
travail. Soon after his departure, however, these Galatian churches
were thrown into confusion by the false apostles.

The church is a tender plant. It must be watched. People hear a couple
of sermons, scan a few pages of Holy Writ, and think they know it all.
They are bold because they have never gone through any trials of faith.
Void of the Holy Spirit, they teach what they please as long as it
sounds good to the common people who are ever ready to join something
new.

We have to watch out for the devil lest he sow tares among the wheat
while we sleep. No sooner had Paul turned his back on the churches of
Galatia, than the false apostles went to work. Therefore, let us watch
over ourselves and over the whole church.

VERSE 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed.

Again the Apostle puts in a gentle word. He does not berate the
Galatians, "I marvel that ye are so unsteady, unfaithful." He says, "I
marvel that ye are so soon removed." He does not address them as
evildoers. He speaks to them as people who have suffered great loss. He
condemns those who removed them rather than the Galatians. At the same
time he gently reproves them for permitting themselves to be removed.
The criticism is implied that they should have been rather a little
more settled in their beliefs. If they had taken better hold of the
Word they could not have been removed so easily.

Jerome thinks that Paul is playing upon the name Galatians, deriving it
from the Hebrew word Galath, which means fallen or carried away, as
though Paul wanted to say, "You are true Galatians, i.e., fallen away
in name and in fact." Some believe that the Germans are descended from
the Galatians. There may be something to that. For the Germans are not
unlike the Galatians in their lack of constancy. At first we Germans
are very enthusiastic, but presently our emotions cool and we become
slack. When the light of the Gospel first came to us many were zealous,
heard sermons greedily, and held the ministry of God's Word in high
esteem. But now that religion has been reformed, many who formerly were
such earnest disciples have discarded the Word of God, have become
sow-bellies like the foolish and inconsistent Galatians.

VERSE 6. From him that called you into the grace of Christ.

The reading is a little doubtful. The sentence may be construed to
read: "From that Christ that called you into grace"; or it may be
construed to read: "From God that called you into the grace of Christ."
I prefer the former for it seems to me that Paul's purpose is to
impress upon us the benefits of Christ. This reading also preserves the
implied criticism that the Galatians withdrew themselves from that
Christ who had called them not unto the law, but unto grace. With Paul
we decry the blindness and perverseness of men in that they will not
receive the message of grace and salvation, or having received it they
quickly let go of it, in spite of the fact that the Gospel bestows all
good things spiritual: forgiveness of sins, true righteousness, peace
of conscience, everlasting life; and all good things temporal: good
judgment, good government and peace.

Why does the world abhor the glad tidings of the Gospel and the
blessings that go with it? Because the world is the devil's. Under his
direction the world persecutes the Gospel and would if it could nail
again Christ, the Son of God, to the Cross although He gave Himself
into death for the sins of the world. The world dwells in darkness. The
world is darkness.

Paul accentuates the point that the Galatians had been called by Christ
unto grace. "I taught you the doctrine of grace and of liberty from the
Law, from sin and wrath, that you should be free in Christ, and not
slaves to the hard laws of Moses. Will you allow yourselves to be
carried away so easily from the living fountain of grace and life?"

VERSE 6. Unto another gospel.

Note the resourcefulness of the devil. Heretics do not advertise their
errors. Murderers, adulterers, thieves disguise themselves. So the
devil masquerades all his devices and activities. He puts on white to
make himself look like an angel of light. He is astoundingly clever to
sell his patent poison for the Gospel of Christ. Knowing Satan's guile,
Paul sardonically calls the doctrine of the false apostles "another
gospel," as if he would say, "You Galatians have now another gospel,
while my Gospel is no longer esteemed by you."

We infer from this that the false apostles had depreciated the Gospel
of Paul among the Galatians on the plea that it was incomplete. Their
objection to Paul's Gospel is identical to that recorded in the
fifteenth chapter of the Book of Acts to the effect that it was not
enough for the Galatians to believe in Christ, or to be baptized, but
that it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the
law of Moses, for "except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses,
ye cannot be saved." As though Christ were a workman who had begun a
building and left it for Moses to finish.

Today the Anabaptists and others, finding it difficult to condemn us,
accuse us Lutherans of timidity in professing the whole truth. They
grant that we have laid the foundation in Christ, but claim that we
have failed to go through with the building. In this way these perverse
fanatics parade their cursed doctrine as the Word of God, and, flying
the flag of God's name, they deceive many. The devil knows better than
to appear ugly and black. He prefers to carry on his nefarious
activities in the name of God. Hence the German proverb: "All mischief
begins in the name of God."

When the devil sees that he cannot hurt the cause of the Gospel by
destructive methods, he does it under the guise of correcting and
advancing the cause of the Gospel. He would like best of all to
persecute us with fire and sword, but this method has availed him
little because through the blood of martyrs the church has been
watered. Unable to prevail by force, he engages wicked and ungodly
teachers who at first make common cause with us, then claim that they
are particularly called to teach the hidden mysteries of the Scriptures
to superimpose upon the first principles of Christian doctrine that we
teach. This sort of thing brings the Gospel into trouble. May we all
cling to the Word of Christ against the wiles of the devil, "for we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places."

VERSE 7. Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you.

Here again the apostle excuses the Galatians, while he blames the false
apostles for disturbing their consciences and for stealing them out of
his hand. How angry he gets at these deceivers! He calls them
troublemakers, seducers of poor consciences.

This passage adduces further evidence that the false apostles defamed
Paul as an imperfect apostle and a weak and erroneous preacher. They
condemn Paul, Paul condemns them. Such warfare of condemnation is
always going on in the church. The papists and the fanatics hate us,
condemn our doctrine, and want to kill us. We in turn hate and condemn
their cursed doctrine. In the meanwhile the people are uncertain whom
to follow and which way to turn, for it is not given to everybody to
judge these matters. But the truth will win out. So much is certain, we
persecute no man, neither does our doctrine trouble men. On the
contrary, we have th