Ver. 6. Religion is Faith working by Love.
I. External and bodily privileges are of no use and moment in the kingdom of Christ.—1. We are not to esteem men’s religion by their riches and external dignities. 2. We are to moderate our affections in respect of all outward things, neither sorrowing too much for them nor joying too much in them.
II. Faith is of great use and acceptance in the kingdom of Christ.—1. We must labour to conceive faith aright in our hearts, by the use of the right means—the Word, prayer, and sacraments, and in and by the exercises of spiritual invocation and repentance. 2. Faith in Christ must reign and bear sway in our hearts and have command over reason, will, affection, lust. 3. It is to be bewailed that the common faith of our day is but a ceremonial faith.
III. True faith works by love.—Faith is the cause of love, and love is the fruit of faith.—Perkins.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 7–12.
Disturber of the Faith—
I. Checks the prosperous career of the most ardent Christian.—“Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” (ver. 7). The Galatians were charmed with the truth as it fell from the lips of the apostle; it was to them a new revelation; they eagerly embraced it, it changed their lives, and they strove to conform their conduct to its high moral teachings. The apostle was delighted with the result and commended their Christian enthusiasm. They were running finely. But the intrusion of false teaching changed all this. Their progress was arrested, their faith was disturbed, they wavered in their allegiance, and were in danger of losing all the advantages they had gained. The influence of false doctrine is always baneful, especially so to new beginners, in whom the principles of truth have not become firmly rooted. The loss of truth, like inability to believe, may be traced back to an unhealthy corruption of the mind. The great danger of unsound doctrine lies in this, that, like a cancer, it rankles because it finds in the diseased condition of the religious life ever fresh nourishment.
II. Is opposed to the Divine method of justification.—“This persuasion cometh not of Him that calleth you” (ver. 8). The disturber of the Galatians taught a human method of salvation—a salvation by the works of the law. This was diametrically opposed to the Divine calling, which is an invitation to the whole race to seek salvation by faith. The persuasion to which the Galatians were yielding was certainly not of God. It was a surrender to the enemy. All error is a wild fighting against God, an attempt to undermine the foundations that God has fixed for man’s safety and happiness.
III. Suggests errors that are contagious in their evil influence.—“A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump” (ver. 9). A proverbial expression the meaning of which is at once obvious. A small infusion of false doctrine, or the evil influence of one bad person, corrupts the purity of the Gospel. It is a fact well known in the history of science and philosophy that men, gifted by nature with singular intelligence, have broached the grossest errors and even sought to undermine the grand primitive truths on which human virtue, dignity, and hope depend. The mind that is always open to search into error is itself in error, or at least unstable (1 Cor. xv. 33; Eccles. ix. 18).
IV. Shall not escape chastisement whatever his rank or pretensions.—1. Either by direct Divine judgment. “He that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be” (ver. 10). The reference here may be to some one prominent among the seducers, or to any one who plays the troubler. God will not only defend His own truth but will certainly punish the man who from wicked motives seeks to corrupt the truth or to impair the faith of those who have embraced it. The seducer not only deceives himself but shall suffer judgment for his self-deception and the injury he has done to others.