Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“I who was your teacher, desire now to "learn" this one thing from you. The epithet "Holy" is not prefixed to "Spirit" because that epithet is a joyous one, whereas this Epistle is stern and reproving [BENGEL]. hearing of faith--Faith consists not in working, …”

“Having begun your Christianity in the Spirit, that is, in the divine life that proceeds from faith, are ye seeking after something higher still (the perfecting of your Christianity) in the sensuous and the earthly, which cannot possibly elevate the inner life …”

“Or, shall ye, by falling from grace, lose the reward promised for all your sufferings, so that they shall be "in vain" (Ga 4:11; 2Jo 8)? yet--rather, "If it be really (or 'indeed') in vain" [ELLICOTT]. "If, as it must be, what I have said, 'in vain,' is real…”

“Php 2:13; at your conversion and since [ALFORD]. doeth he it by the works of the law--that is, as a consequence resulting from (so the Greek) the works of the law (compare Ga 3:2). This cannot be because the law was then unknown to you when you received tho…”

“God justifieth the Jews, too, "by faith, not by works." But he specifies the Gentiles in particular here, as it was their case that was in question, the Galatians being Gentiles. preached before the gospel--"announced beforehand the Gospel." For the "promise"…”

“They who depend on the works of the law cannot share the blessing, for they are under the curse "written," De 27:26, Septuagint. PERFECT obedience is required by the words, "in all things." CONTINUAL obedience by the word, "continueth." No man renders this o…”

“Not merely accursed (in the concrete), but a curse in the abstract, bearing the universal curse of the whole human race. So 2Co 5:21, "Sin for us," not sinful, but bearing the whole sin of our race, regarded as one vast aggregate of sin. "Anathema" means "se…”

“Much less would the righteous God do so. The law is here, by personification, regarded as a second person, distinct from, and subsequent to, the promise of God. The promise is everlasting, and more peculiarly belongs to God.”

“This verse is parenthetical. The covenant of promise was not "spoken" (so Greek for "made") to Abraham alone, but "to Abraham and his seed"; to the latter especially; and this means Christ (and that which is inseparable from Him, the literal Israel, and the sp…”

“Here Jacob received the promise of the blessing, for which God had called Abraham out of Ur, repeated for the last time, on the last night of his sojourn in the land of promise. cannot--Greek, "doth not disannul." make . . . of none effect--The promise would…”

“"Wherefore then serveth the law?" as it is of no avail for justification, is it either useless, or contrary to the covenant of God? [CALVIN]. added--to the original covenant of promise.”

“The conclusion understood is, Therefore a mediator cannot appertain to God; and consequently, the law, with its inseparable appendage of a mediator, cannot be the normal way of dealing of God, the one, and unchangeable God, who dealt with Abraham by direct pro…”

“"Is the law (which involves a mediator) against the promises of God (which are without a mediator, and rest on God alone and immediately)? God forbid." life--The law, as an externally prescribed rule, can never internally impart spiritual life to men naturall…”

“But--as the law cannot give life or righteousness [ALFORD]. Or the "But" means, So far is righteousness from being of the law, that the knowledge of sin is rather what comes of the law [BENGEL]. the scripture--which began to be written after the time of the p…”

“Meanwhile the law, by outwardly checking the sinful propensity which was constantly giving fresh proof of its refractoriness--as thus the consciousness of the power of the sinful principle became more vivid, and hence the sense of need both of forgiveness of s…”

“"But now that faith is come," &c. Moses the lawgiver cannot bring us into the heavenly Canaan though he can bring us to the border of it. At that point he is superseded by Joshua, the type of Jesus, who leads the true Israel into their inheritance.”

“It is not, as in earthly inheritances, the death of the father, but our Father's sovereign will simply that makes us heirs. child--Greek, "one under age." differeth nothing, &c.--that is, has no more freedom than a slave (so the Greek for "servant" means).”

“The smallpox had for long committed its ravages before inoculation, and then vaccination, was discovered. It was essential to the honor of God's law to permit evil long before He revealed the full remedy. Compare "the set time" (Ps 102:13). was come--Greek, …”

“To--Greek, "That He might redeem." them . . . under the law--primarily the Jews: but as these were the representative people of the world, the Gentiles, too, are included in the redemption (Ga 3:13). receive--The Greek implies the suitableness of the thing …”

“Abba, Father--The Hebrew says, "Abba" (a Hebrew term), the Greek, "Father" ("Pater," a Greek term in the original), both united together in one Sonship and one cry of faith, "Abba, Father." So "Even so ('Nai,' Greek) Amen (Hebrew)," both meaning the same (Re …”

“Thus the redeemed are heirs THROUGH the Triune GOD, not through the law, nor through fleshly descent [WINDISCHMANN in ALFORD]; (Ga 3:18 confirms this). heir--confirming Ga 3:29; compare Ro 8:17.”

“"How is it that ye turn back again?" weak--powerless to justify: in contrast to the justifying power of faith (Ga 3:24; compare Heb 7:18). beggarly--contrasted with the riches of the inheritance of believers in Christ (Eph 1:18).”

“To regard the observance of certain days as in itself meritorious as a work, is alien to the free spirit of Christianity. This is not incompatible with observing the Sabbath or the Christian Lord's day as obligatory, though not as a work (which was the Jewish …”

“On the other hand, the Galatian Gentiles, by adopting legal ordinances, showed that they regarded them as needful for salvation. This Paul combats. ye have not injured me at all--namely, at the period when I first preached the Gospel among you, and when I mad…”

“An angel is free from the flesh, infirmity, and temptation. as Christ--being Christ's representative (Mt 10:40). Christ is Lord of angels.”