Galatians 5 - Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Galatians 4:1-5. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Like little children, the Jewish believers were under the law. They observed this ceremony and that, just as children, even though they may be heirs to vast estates, yet, while they are in their minority, are under tutors and governors. But now in Christ we have come of age, and we have done with those school-books and that tutorship, and we have received the adoption of sons. Now, we have joy and peace in believing; we have begun to enter into our possession; we have the earnest of it already, and by-and-by we shall receive the fullness of the inheritance of the saints in light.

Galatians 4:6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

While the Jewish believers, like children, were under the law, they did not have such direct access to the Father as we have. They could not enter into such close fellowship with God as now we can. We who are the sons of God, really born into his family, feel within us a something that makes us call God, «Father,» not only in prayer, saying, «Our Father, which art in heaven;» but, inwardly, when we are not in the attitude of prayer, our hearts keep on crying, «Father, Father.» The Jew may say, «Abba, and the word is very sweet; but we cry, «Father,» and it means the same thing.

Galatians 4:7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

All God's sons are, in a certain sense, his servants; but there is a sense in which servants are not sons. We, therefore, are not like those servants who have no relationship to their master, and no share in his possessions; but we are sons. Whatever service we render, we are still sons, and we have a share in all that our Father has; we are heirs, «heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.» Are you living up to your privileges, brethren? Are we any of us fully realizing what this heirship means? Do we not often live as if we were only servants toiling for hire? Do we not tremble at God as if we were his slaves rather than his sons? Let us remember that we are God's sons, his heirs; and let us come close to him, let us take possession of the blessed inheritance which he has provided for us.

Galatians 4:8-11. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Among the heathen, there were divers «lucky» and «unlucky» days; sacred days, and days in which they indulged in sensual excess. They had even «holy» months and «unholy» months. Now, all that kind of thing is done away with in the case of a Christian: he is set free from such weak and beggarly superstitions. Among the Jews, there were certain sacred festivals, times that were more notable than other seasons; but they also were done away with in Christ. We observe the Christian Sabbath; but beyond that, to the true believer, there should be no special observance of days, and months, and years. All that is a return to «the weak and beggarly elements» from which Christ has delivered him. That bondage is all ended now; but there are some who still «observe days, and months, and times, and years;» and Paul says to them, «I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.» Every day is holy, every year is holy, to a holy man; and every place is holy, too, to the man who brings a holy heart into it.

Galatians 4:12. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.

«Be perfectly at home with me, for I am so with you. Though you Galatians have treated me very badly, yet ye have not really injured me, and I freely overlook your ill manners toward me.»

Galatians 4:13-15. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

The apostle remembers how they received him at first, his gospel was to them like life from the dead; and though he was full of infirmities, perhaps had weak eyes, perhaps had a stammering tongue, perhaps was at that time very much depressed in spirit, yet, he says, «You received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. You loved me so much that, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.»

Galatians 4:16. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

There come times, with all God's servants, when certain people proclaim something fresh and new in doctrine; and then the old messenger of God, who was blessed to them, comes to be despised. I have lived long enough to see dozens of very fine fancies started, but they have all come to nothing; I daresay I shall see a dozen more, and they will all come to nothing. But here I stand; I am not led astray either by novelties of excitement or novelties of doctrine. The things which I preached at the first, I preach still, and so I shall continue, as God shall help me. But I know, in some little measure, what the apostle meant when he said, «Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?»

Galatians 4:17-20. They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

The point of doubt was, that they had been led astray by legal teachers; they had been made to believe that, after all, there was something in outward ceremonies, something in the works of the law, and so they had come under bondage again. So the apostle says,

Galatians 4:21-23. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh;

By Abraham's own strength;

Galatians 4:23. But he of the freewoman was by promise.

Born when Abraham and his wife were past age, born by the power of God's Spirit, according to promise.

Galatians 4:24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants: the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar.

It is the strength of the flesh which leads to bondage.

Galatians 4:25-26. For this Hgar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

That is, of all of us who believe in Christ Jesus. We are born of the free-woman, not of the bondwoman; not born of the covenant of works, and in the strength of the creature; but born of the covenant of grace, in the power of God, according to promise.

Galatians 4:27-28. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

If we are God's children, it is not by our own strength, or by the strength of the flesh, in any measure or degree; but it is by the grace of God, and the promise of God, that we are what we are.

Galatians 4:29-30. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture?

Make a compromise, and be friends? Let Isaac and Ishmael live in the same house, and lie in the same bed? No!

Galatians 4:30-31. Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Galatians 5:1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

God grant us grace to keep to grace! God grant us faith enough to live by faith, even to the end, as the freeborn children of God, for his name's sake! Amen.

Galatians 5:1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

«You are not under the law, but under grace. Do not subject yourselves, therefore, to legal principles. Do not live as if you were working for wages, and were earning your own salvation. Do not submit yourselves to the ritual and commandments of man, which would rob you of your liberty in many ways, but having once become a free man, never again wear the chain of a slave: ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.' Because you are the seed of Isaac, who was born according to the promise, you are not the children of the bondwoman, you are not Ishmaelites; therefore, as you were born free, as Christ has made you free by virtue of your new birth, stand fast in that glorious liberty.»

Galatians 5:2-3. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

If you begin being saved by the law, you must go through with it. You cannot take the principle of law and the principle of grace, and blend those two together. They are like oil and water, they will never mix. If salvation be of works, it is not of grace; and if it be of grace, it is not of works. You cannot go upon the two contrary principles of merit and of favour.

Galatians 5:4. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

You have turned aside from it you are not standing with one foot upon grace and one foot upon the law but you have gone right away from grace. You must cleave to one or the other. If you take the law to be your hope, you must keep to it; and the end will be that you will die in despair.

Galatians 5:5-6. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love.

It is not any rite, and it is not the neglect of any rite which can produce righteousness. It is as easy to trust in your non-observance of a ceremony as to trust in the ceremony itself, and it will be quite as delusive. It is faith in Christ that brings righteousness, the «faith which worketh by love.»

Galatians 5:7. Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

«You Galatians seemed to receive the gospel very readily, and to be very earnest in obeying it; what has caused you to turn aside to the old legal righteousness? You are very changeable, very fickle; you seemed very energetic in running the Christian race; whatever has got in your way?

‘Who did hinder you?' Somebody or other must have done so.»

Galatians 5:8. This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.

«It does not come from God. He called you to faith in his dear Son, and to all those virtues and graces which naturally spring from the root of faith. Somebody else has called you aside, some false shepherd, who is but a wolf in sheep's clothing, and who would destroy you if he could.»

Galatians 5:9. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

One false doctrine very soon sours all your belief; the whole lump is leavened with it. If you have a wrong ground of confidence, you are wrong altogether.

Galatians 5:10. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.

Depend upon it, every man who troubles a church with false doctrine is amenable to the High Court above; and, sooner or later, he may expect even a temporal judgment here below.

Galatians 5:11. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

«The offence of the Cross» is that it sets up faith as the infinite merit of Christ's atonement, and knocks down all confidence in outward ritual and ceremonies. Paul says that, if he had preached the flesh-pleasing doctrines of men, he would not have been persecuted; but the fact that he was persecuted was a proof that he was standing fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made him free.

Galatians 5:12. I would they were even cut off which trouble you.

Excommunicated, and put out of the church; nay, it would be better if they were even dead, rather than that they should live to spread such evil even in a Christian church. Sometimes, when we think of the interests of immortal souls, we are apt to grow indignant, and rightly so, towards willfully false teachers.

Galatians 5:13. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Do not let liberty become license; do not say, «I may do this or that, and therefore I will do it because it pleases me.» You are not to do anything because it pleases you, but you are to do everything because it pleases God. When a man is no longer a slave to sin, or self, or Satan, let him begin to serve his brethren: «By love serve one another.»

Galatians 5:14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The legal spirit is all for expansion; it multiplies it commands, and lays down its ritual for this, and that, and the other; but the gospel spirit is all for condensation. It has condensed the whole law into a single word, that is «love.»

Galatians 5:15. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

This man finds fault, the other must have his own way, a third is for something quite new, a fourth is for nothing but what is antique, and so they fall to squabbling and quarrelling.

Galatians 5:16. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Be obedient to that great principle of the Spirit which goes with the doctrine of grace and salvation by faith, and then you will not be obedient to that lusting of the flesh which is in you by nature.

Galatians 5:17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

You are pulled about by two contrary forces; you are dragged downward by the flesh, and you are drawn upward by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:18. But if ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law.

The Spirit never brings the soul into bondage, the terrors and the fears which come of legal slavery are not the work of the Spirit of God. Where he works, holiness is delight, and the service of God is a continual joy. Oh, that we may be thus led of the Spirit!

Galatians 5:19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest,

They are clear, plain, self-condemned.

Galatians 5:19-21. Which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Observe that the gospel gives no toleration to sin. Some people tell us that the doctrine of faith is not practical, but they know better although they say that. They have only to observe those who are actuated by the principle of faith, and they will find them abounding in good works, while the men who are swayed by the principle of law talk a great deal about works, but have little enough of them in practice. The gospel denounces sin, ay, and kills it; it gives us the force with which we fight against it and overcome it.

Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Either human or divine; everybody is agreed that these things are all good.

Galatians 5:24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Condemned it to die, nailed it up to the cross, and kept it in a dying, mortifying posture.

Galatians 5:25. If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit.

If our spiritual life is the result of a divine work, let our actions be in harmony with it: «If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit.»

Galatians 5:26. Let us not be desirous of vain glory,-

We call it glory, but it is vain glory. It is marred by vanity if it arises from anything done by us. Glory for you or for me because of anything that we can do is too absurd an idea to be entertained for a moment: «Let us not be desirous of vain glory,»-

Galatians 5:26. Provoking one another,-

For, whenever a man is proud, and blustering, and vain-glorious, he is sure to provoke somebody or other, and then they who are so provoked fall into another sin, the sin of-

Galatians 5:26. Envying one another.

O brethren, let us try to get over all this, and reach out to that blessed state of love which will bring to us peace and joy in the Holy Ghost!

Galatians 5:1-4. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ had made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

If you mean to have anything to with salvation by works, get you gone; you are the children of the bond-woman.

Galatians 5:19-21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like:

A black catalogue, but sin is very prolific. We must take care that we avoid each one of these works of the flesh, or else we shall give no proof that we are led by the Spirit of God and possess the grace of God.

Galatians 5:21. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Read over the list. Put the question to conscience, «Am I guilty of such things?» If so, do not suppose that the holding of orthodox doctrine will save you, or that any kind of religious ceremony will save you. You must be delivered from these lusts of the flesh these deeds of the flesh, or you cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Surely, neither human nor divine. These are things which are commended on all hands. But if we do not have them if they are not found in us then we have not the Spirit, for if we had the Spirit, we should boast the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:24-26. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory,

A very common sin wishing to shine. Whether we deserve to be honoured or not, still wanting to be fore-horse in the team, and to take the leading place. «Let us not be desirous of vain glory.»

Galatians 5:26. Provoking one another, envying one another.

If each would strive who should do the greatest deeds of love, and each were willing to take the lowest place, then this evil would never be known again.

This exposition consisted of readings from Galatians 4:12-31; Galatians 5:1-4; Galatians 5:19-26; Galatians 6:1-11.

Remember, beloved brethren, that the Epistle to the Galatians is one in which Paul, with especial clearness, proves the doctrine of justification by faith alone. So much is this the case, that the famous Commentary of Martin Luther upon this Epistle is perhaps the strongest work extant upon the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. But that doctrine was never intended to be separated from the Scriptural teaching concerning the fruit of faith, namely, good works; and, hence, we find, in the close of this very Epistle, the strongest possible declaration that, if men live in sin, they will reap the result of sin; and that only if, by grace, they are brought to walk in holiness, will they win the rewards of grace.

Galatians 5:13. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,

«Do not make licence out of your liberty. Remember that liberty from sin is not liberty to sin.»

Galatians 5:13-14. But by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

The condensation of the whole law is contained in that one word «love.» In the first table, we are taught to love God; and the commands of the second table teach us to love our neighbor.

Galatians 5:15. But if ye bite and devour one another,

Finding fault, slandering, injuring, bearing malice, and so on: «If ye bite and devour one another,»

Galatians 5:15. Take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

«You will eat one another up; you will, each one, condemn his neighbor.» Paul represents the great Judge coming, and waiting outside the door; and when he hears two men condemning one another, he says to himself, «I will confirm their verdict; they have mutually condemned each other, I will say ‘Amen' to it.» What a sad thing it is if professed Christians are found thus condemning one another!

Galatians 5:16. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Walk under the Spirit's power, following his guidance. The Spirit never leads a man into sin. He never conducts him into self-indulgence and excess.

Galatians 5:17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

How often that is the case! Ye would be perfect, but «ye cannot do the things that ye would.» We would, if possible, escape from every evil thought; we would not even hear of anything sinful, if we could help it.

Galatians 5:18-19. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Any kind of sensual indulgence whatever it may be a lustful glance, the cherishing of an unclean desire, the utterance of a foul expression, all this is condemned, as well as the overt acts of adultery and fornication.

Galatians 5:20-21. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,

Is drunkenness actually put by the apostle after murder, as though it were something worse than that terrible crime? Or is it not, oftentimes, the case that drunkenness lies at the bottom of the murder?

Galatians 5:21. Revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul never said, nor ever thought of saying, that a man might live in sin, that grace might abound. No, no; these evil things must be given up. Christ has come to save us from every evil work. And this is the salvation that we preach, not simply salvation from hell, but salvation from sin, which is the very fire that has kindled the infernal flame. But how different from all this evil is the fruit of the Spirit!

Galatians 5:22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love,

Universal love; first, to God; next, to his people; and, then, to all mankind. Have we that fruit of the Spirit? If so, it will make us of a very amiable disposition; it will dethrone selfishness, and set up holy affections within our heart.

Galatians 5:22-23. Joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:

Joy and peace seem to blossom and ripen out of love. Longsuffering, too, is part of the fruit of the Spirit. You will be hourly tried, but the Spirit of God will give you patience to suffer long and to endure much. You will also have gentleness. Some people are very hard, stern, severe, quick-tempered, passionate; but the true follower of Christ will be gentle and tender, even as he was.

Galatians 5:23. Against such there is no law.

Neither God nor man has ever made a law against these things; the more there is of them, the better will it be for everybody. Oh, that they prevailed all over the world!

Galatians 5:24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

A crucified Christ is the leader of a crucified people. Oh, to have all the affections and lusts of the flesh nailed up! They may not be actually dead; for those who are crucified may still live on for some hours, but they are doomed to die, their life is a very painful one, and it is hastening to a close. A man who is crucified cannot get down from the cross to do what he wills; and, oh! it is a great blessing to have our sinful self thus nailed up. Ah, sir! you may struggle, but you cannot get down; you may strive and cry, but your hands and feet are nailed; you cannot go into active, actual sin. The Lord grant that the nails may hold very fast, that none of the strugglings of our old nature may be able to pull out those nails that have fastened it up to the cross!

Galatians 5:25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

If that be our real life, let it also be our course of action.

Galatians 5:26. Let us not be desirous of vain glory,

Do not let us want to be accounted as somebody; for, if we do, we prove that we are really nobody. Nobody is anybody till he is willing to be nobody; as long as he wants to be somebody, he is nobody and nothing.

Galatians 5:26. Provoking one another, envying one another.

God save us from that and every other form of evil!

This exposition consisted of readings from Galatians 5:13-26; and Galatians 6:1-10.

Galatians 5:13. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Do not turn your liberty into license. The apostle, in this Epistle, had began urging the Christians of Galatians to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free, and never to be again entangled with the yoke of legal bondage. He warned them against that error into which many have fallen. But you know that it is often our tendency, if we escape from one error, to rush into another. So the apostle guards these Christian against that Antinomian spirit which teaches us that freedom from the law allows indulgence in sin: «Use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.»

Galatians 5:14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Oh, if that «one word» were so engraven on our hearts as to influence all our lives, what blessed lives of love to God and love to men we should lead!

Galatians 5:15. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

When dogs and wolves bite one another, it is according to their nature; but it is bad indeed when sheep take to biting one another. If I must be bitten at all, let me rather be bitten by a dog than by a sheep. That is to say, the wounds inflicted by the godly are far more painful to bear, and last much longer, than those caused by wicked men. Besides, we can say with the psalmist, «It was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it.» It is natural that the serpent's seed should nibble at our heel, and seek to do us injury; but when the bite comes from a brother, from a child of God, then it is peculiarly painful. Well might the apostle write, «If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.» I have lived long enough to see churches absolutely destroyed, not by any external attacks, but by internal contention.

Galatians 5:16. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

If your life is guided by the Spirit of God, if you are spiritual men, and your actions are wrought in the power of the Spirit, «ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.»

Galatians 5:17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:

They will never agree; these two powers are always contrary one to the other. If you think that you can help God by getting angry, you make a great mistake. You cannot fight God's battles with the devil's weapons. It is not possible that the power of the flesh should help the power of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:17-18. And these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

The law is ever to you the blessed rule by which you judge your conduct, but it is not a law of condemnation to you, neither are you seeking salvation by it.

Galatians 5:19-21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:

The list is always too long to be completed; we are obliged to sum up with a kind of et cetera: «and such like.»

Galatians 5:21. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

A very solemn, searching, sweeping declaration. Let each man judge himself by this test. «The fruit of the Spirit» is equally manifest, as the apostle goes on to say,

Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Neither human nor divine. Good men make no law against these things, nor does God, for he approves of them. What a wonderful cluster of the grapes of Eshcol we have here! «The fruit of the Spirit» as if all this were but one after all; many luscious berries forming one great cluster. Oh, that all these things may be in us and abound, that we may be neither barren nor unfruitful!

Galatians 5:24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

It is not yet dead, but it is crucified. It hangs up on the cross, straining to break away from the iron hold fast, but it cannot, for it is doomed to die. Happy indeed shall that day be when it shall be wholly dead.

Galatians 5:25-26. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Do Christian people need to be talked to like this? Ay, that they do, for the best of men are but men at their best, and the godliest saint is liable to fall into the fondest sin unless the grace of God prevent. Oh, that we could expel from the Church of Christ all vain glorying, all provoking of one another, and all envying of one another! How often, if one Christian brother does a little more than his fellow-workers, they begin to find fault with him; and if one is blessed with greater success than others are, how frequently that success is disparaged and spoken of slightingly! This spirit of envy is, more or less, in us all; and though, perhaps we are not exhibiting it just now, it only needs a suitable opportunity for its display, and it would be manifested. No man here has any idea of how bad he really is. You do not know how good the grace of God can make you, nor how bad you are by nature, nor how bad you might become if that nature were left to itself.

This exposition consisted of readings from Galatians 5:13-26; and Galatians 6:1-2.