The salutation is more than a kindly expression of good will; it is a true benediction based on the grand assurance of grace and peace that grows out of a right understanding of the sacrifice of Christ. St. Paul describes the bearings of that wonderful sacrifice in order to give support to his benediction. But it is clear that he does this with great fulness and distinctness for a further purpose. He wishes at the outset to set forth the fundamental principles of that gospel which the Galatians are forsaking for "a different gospel, which is not another gospel." We have here, then, St. Paul's compendium of the gospel which, for force and terseness, will even bear comparison with St. John's - the most perfect of all compendiums of the gospel (John 3:16). The two do not cover exactly the same ground, for the gospel is so large that no sentence can comprehend even its leading truths, and so many-sided that no two minds can see it in the same light. Consider the main points of the one now before us.

I. CHRIST VOLUNTARILY SACRIFICED HIMSELF. In the passage just referred to St. John tells us how God gave his only begotten Son on our behalf, now St. Paul reminds us that Christ also freely gave himself. It was of his own will, subject also to the will of his Father, that he lived a life of humiliation. He could have escaped the cross by abandoning his mission. He went right on to death clearly knowing what was before him, able to deliver himself at the last by calling legions of angels to his aid (Matthew 26:53), yet willingly submitting to death. The self-sacrifice of Christ was distinct from suicide in the fact that he did not seek death, and only met it in the course necessary for the carrying out of his life's mission. It is important to bear in mind that the essence of the sacrifice of Christ lies in this conscious, willing surrender of himself. It is not the mere tortures he suffered, nor the bare fact of his death that gives a value to his endurance. If he had died of a natural disease after bearing worse pain he could have made no atonement thereby. The willing "obedience unto death" gives a sacrificial value to his death.

1. This only could be a "satisfaction" to God.

2. This only could be a claim upon our faith and love.

II. THE OCCASION OF THE SACRIFICE WAS OUR SINS. We cannot say that God would not have become incarnate if man had not fallen. But if the happy event at Bethlehem would still have taken place, the awful tragedy at Calvary would have been spared. It is not only that the sin of the world directly caused the rejection and killing of Christ; his submission to death was occasioned by sin; it was to save us from the power and curse of sin.

1. Sin alienated us from God and occasioned the need of a reconciling sacrifice.

2. Sin cast us into bondage and created the necessity for a redeeming ransom.

III. THE OBJECT OF THE SACRIFICE WAS TO DELIVER US FROM THE PRESENT EVIL WORLD.

1. It was not to deliver us from God, as false notions of the atonement have almost suggested, but the very opposite, i.e. to deliver us from that which is most opposed to God.

2. It was not primarily to deliver us from the future evil world, from the pains and penalties of sin there to be endured. A most degrading view of redemption is that which regards it as having little effect on our life now - as chiefly a means of escape from future suffering.

3. It was essentially deliverance from the dominion of the evil present, of our own bad habits, of the corrupt customs of the age.

IV. THE DELIVERANCE THUS EFFECTED WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WILL OF GOD.

1. The object was in accordance with the will of God. He was the first to desire the deliverance of his poor lost children. When they are delivered they are brought out of conflict into harmony with his will.

2. The method of the deliverance was also in agreement with God's will. It was God's will to send his Son. What Christ did was accepted by God as well-pleasing in his sight. The whole sacrifice of Christ was an obedience and submission to God's will. Herein lay its value (Hebrews 10:9, 10). The fact is here declared by St. Paul. He offers no theory to account for it. Theories of the atonement are after-growths of theology, and valuable as some of them may be, they are not of essential importance. The fact is the one ground for our faith. - W.F.A.

Here is the salutation, wherein he wishes them God's gracious favour and goodwill, whereby He is well-pleased with the elect, in and for Christ (Romans 3:24), and peace; i.e. —

1. Peace of conscience, and with God (Romans 5:1).

2. Peace with the creatures, as with the angels (Colossians 1:20); with the godly (Isaiah 11:9); with ourselves, all within us being conformed to the rule of the renewed mind (Romans 8:1); and in some respects with our enemies (Proverbs 16:7); and with the beasts of the field (Hosea 2:18).

3. Prosperity and good success (Psalm 122:7). All which he seeks from God the Father as the fountain of grace, and from Jesus Christ as the conduit or pipe to convey grace from the Father unto us (John 1:16).

(James Fergusson.)

1. God's gracious favour and goodwill is to be sought by us in the first place, whether for ourselves (Psalm 4:6) or others. All things are mercy to the man who has obtained that mercy.

2. Peace also is to be sought — after grace, not before it. Peace without grace is no peace (Isaiah 57:21).

3. Grace and peace are such as we cannot acquire unto ourselves by our own industry or pains: they come from God, are to be sought from Him, and His blessing is more to be depended upon for attaining of anything which comes under the compass of grace and peace, than our own wisdom, industry, or diligence.

4. Whatever favour we seek from God, we are to seek it also from Jesus Christ as mediator; for He has purchased it (Ephesians 1:7). He is appointed Lord of His own purchase, and there is no coming to, or meeting with, the Father but in Him (John 14:6).

5. They to whom grace and peace belong, are such as acknowledge Jesus for their Lord to command and rule them, and do yield subjection to Him in their heart and life.

(James Fergusson. .)

Grace releases sin, and peace makes the conscience quiet. The two friends that torment us are sin and conscience. But Christ has vanquished these two monsters, and trodden them under foot, both in this world and in the world to come. This the world does not know, and therefore it can teach no certainty of the overcoming of sin, conscience, and death. Only Christians have this kind of doctrine, and are exercised and armed with it, to get victory against sin, despair, and everlasting death. And it is a kind of doctrine, neither proceeding of freewill, nor invented by the reason or wisdom of man, but given from above. Moreover, these two words, grace and peace, do contain in them the whole sum of Christianity. Grace contains the remission of sins; peace, a quiet and joyful conscience. But peace of conscience can never be had, unless sin be first forgiven. But sin is not forgiven for the fulfilling of the law: for no man is able to satisfy the law. But the law rather shows sin, accuses and terrifies the conscience, declares the wrath of God, and drives to desperation. Much less is sin taken away by the works and inventions of men, as wicked worshippings, strange religions, vows, and pilgrimages. Finally, there is no work that can take away sin, but sin is rather increased by works. For the justiciaries and meritmongers, the more they labour and sweat to bring themselves out of sin, the deeper they are plunged therein. For there is no means to take away sin, but grace alone. Therefore Paul, in all the greetings of his Epistle, sets grace and peace against sin and an evil conscience.

(Luther.)

The apostle fitly distinguishes this grace and peace from all other kinds of grace and peace whatsoever. He wishes to the Galatians grace and peace, not from the emperor or kings and princes, for those do commonly persecute the godly, and rise up against the Lord and Christ but from God our Father: which is as much as to say, he wished them a heavenly peace. The peace of the world grants nothing but the peace of our goods and bodies. So the grace or favour of the world gives us leave to enjoy our goods, and casts us not out of our possessions. But in affliction, and in the hour of death, the grace and favour of the world cannot help us; they cannot deliver us from affliction, despair, and death. But when the grace and peace of God are in the heart, then is man strong, so that he can neither be cast down with adversity, nor puffed up with prosperity, but walketh on plainly, and keepeth the highway. For he taketh heart and courage in the victory of Christ's death: and the confidence thereof beginneth to reign in his conscience over sin and death; because, through Him, he hath assured forgiveness of his sins: which, after he has once obtained, his conscience is at rest, and by the word of grace is comforted.

(Luther.)

A Greek and Hebrew salutation, expressingthe apostle's best wish.

I. GRACE. A Greek thought Christianized. Takes the conception of beauty of form, gesture, tone, into the spiritual realm. As here used —

1. It is to be regarded as the attitude of God in Christ towards men. The Divine pity, gentleness, favour; the bearing of a condescending, forgiving, loving God.

2. It is to be possessed as the spirit of a Christian. "Grace of life." Moral beauty. The indwelling in Christian character of all that the Greeks conceived in their "Three Graces."

II. PEACE. May include —

1. Freedom from persecution — a great desideratum.

2. Absence of internal dissention — main purpose of this letter.

3. Inward calm and quiet confidence in God — ideal peace. The wish of Paul the gift of Jesus.

(U. R. Thomas.)

I. The eternal love of God as it sends the Redeemer for man's salvation is GRACE.

II. The fruit of grace flowing from God through Christ is PEACE.

1. Sometimes mercy is the channel through which grace becomes peace when the invocation is addressed to an individual (1 Timothy 1:16 cf. ver. 2).

2. For the Church it is enough that grace in heaven has peace as its counterpart on earth. It is

(1)reconciliation with God;

(2)the tranquil harmony of all the faculties of the soul;

(3)the fellowship of brotherly love;

(4)victory in the conflict with evil;

(5)the earnest of everlasting rest.

(W. B. Pope, D. D.)

I. A FORMULA. The heathen commenced their letters with "Health!" The apostle wished his readers something higher than health or happiness, so he commences "Grace and peace."

II. A BENEDICTION. But how in the case of those who rejected grace, or, by unbelief, forfeited peace? In the same way as the minister declares absolution, which is lost if a man rejects it. He has done what he could to show that in Christ there is full absolution for the sinner if he will take it.

(F. W. Robertson.).

The child frightened in his play runs to seek his mother. She takes him upon her lap, and presses his head to her bosom; and, with tenderest words of love, she looks down upon him, and smoothes his hair, and kisses his cheek, and wipes away his tears. And then, in a low and gentle voice, she sings some sweet descant, some lullaby of love; and the fear fades out from his face, and a smile of satisfaction plays over it, and at length his eyes close, and he sleeps in the deep depths and delights of peace. God Almighty is the mother, and the soul is the tired child; and He folds it in His arms and dispels its fear, and lulls it to repose, saying, "Sleep, my darling, sleep! It is I who watch thee." "He giveth His beloved sleep." The mother's arms encircle but one; but God clasps every yearning soul to His bosom, and gives to it the peace which passeth understanding, beyond the reach of care or storm.

(H. W. Beecher.)

The tree of peace strikes its roots into the crevices of the everlasting rock. It grows securely from that rock, and casts out its cool shadow in the sunshine, and makes sweet music in the storm; and is to the believer as the shadow of a great rock and fruit of refreshment in a weary and parched land.

(Dr. Cumming.)

I have read that a soldier, dying in the Crimea, requested to have the passage read to him, "Peace I leave with you," etc. When it was done, he said, "I have that peace. I am going to that Saviour. God is with me: I want no more," and expired.

I. The blessings desired — their nature — connexion, grace may exist without peace, but not peace without grace; yet peace flows from grace.

II. Their source — God the Father is the fountain of all grace — Christ is the medium of communication.

III. Their supply — free — sufficient for all — constant — inexhaustible.

(J. Lyth.).

Cephas, Galatians, James, Paul, PeterCilicia, Damascus, Galatia, Jerusalem, Judea, SyriaChrist, Grace, Granted, Peace1. Paul's greeting to the Galatians;
6. He wonders why they have so soon left him and the gospel;
8. and accurses those who preach any other gospel than he did.
11. He learned the gospel not from men, but from God;
14. and shows what he was before his calling;
17. and what he did immediately after it.

Galatians 1:3

     1512   Trinity, equality of
     2027   Christ, grace and mercy
     5058   rest, spiritual
     5308   equality

Galatians 1:1-5

     5328   greeting

Galatians 1:2-5

     8638   benedictions

Galatians 1:3-4

     1115   God, purpose of
     1175   God, will of
     6511   salvation
     6512   salvation, necessity and basis
     6660   freedom, through Christ

Galatians 1:3-5

     1194   glory, divine and human
     8634   amen

Our Manifesto
TO ME it is a pitiful sight to see Paul defending himself as an apostle; and doing this, not against the gainsaying world, but against cold-hearted members of the church. They said that he was not truly an apostle, for he had not seen the Lord; and they uttered a great many other things derogatory to him. To maintain his claim to the apostleship, he was driven to commence his epistles with "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ," though his work was a self-evident proof of his call. If, after God has …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Answer to Mr. W's Fifth Objection.
5. The consideration that none of these raised persons did or could, after the return to their bodies, tell any tales of their separate existence; otherwise the Evangelists had not been silent in this main point, &c. p. 32. None of these persons, Mr. W. says, told any tales of their separate existence. So I suppose with him. As for the two first: How should they? being only, as Mr. W. says, an insignificant boy and girl, of twelve years of age, or thereabouts. Or if they did, the Evangelists were …
Nathaniel Lardner—A Vindication of Three of Our Blessed Saviour's Miracles

The Epistles of St. Paul
WHEN we pass from primitive Christian preaching to the epistles of St. Paul, we are embarrassed not by the scantiness but by the abundance of our materials. It is not possible to argue that the death of Christ has less than a central, or rather than the central and fundamental place, in the apostle's gospel. But before proceeding to investigate more closely the significance he assigns to it, there are some preliminary considerations to which it is necessary to attend. Attempts have often been made, …
James Denney—The Death of Christ

Institutions of Jesus.
That Jesus was never entirely absorbed in his apocalyptic ideas is proved, moreover, by the fact that at the very time he was most preoccupied with them, he laid with rare forethought the foundation of a church destined to endure. It is scarcely possible to doubt that he himself chose from among his disciples those who were pre-eminently called the "apostles," or the "twelve," since on the day after his death we find them forming a distinct body, and filling up by election the vacancies that had …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Fourth Conversation
The manner of going to God. * Hearty renunciation. * Prayer and praise prevent discouragement. * Sanctification in common business. * Prayer and the presence of God. * The whole substance of religion. * Self-estimation * Further personal experience. He discoursed with me very frequently, and with great openness of heart, concerning his manner of going to GOD, whereof some part is related already. He told me, that all consists in one hearty renunciation of everything which we are sensible does not …
Brother Lawrence—The Practice of the Presence of God

Exposition of St. Paul's Words, Gal. I. 8.
Exposition of St. Paul's Words, Gal. i. 8. [21.] When therefore certain of this sort wandering about provinces and cities, and carrying with them their venal errors, had found their way to Galatia, and when the Galatians, on hearing them, nauseating the truth, and vomiting up the manna of Apostolic and Catholic doctrine, were delighted with the garbage of heretical novelty, the apostle putting in exercise the authority of his office, delivered his sentence with the utmost severity, "Though we," he …
Vincent of Lérins—The COMMONITORY OF Vincent of Lérins

A Reasonable Service
TEXT: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."--Romans 12:1. There is perhaps no chapter in the New Testament, certainly none in this epistle, with which we are more familiar than this one which is introduced by the text; and yet, however familiar we may be with the statements, if we read them carefully and study them honestly they must always come to us not only in the …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

The Praise of Men.
"They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."--John xii. 43. This is spoken of the chief rulers of the Jews, who, though they believed in Christ's Divine mission, were afraid to confess Him, lest they should incur temporal loss and shame from the Pharisees. The censure passed by St. John on these persons is too often applicable to Christians at the present day; perhaps, indeed, there is no one among us who has not at some time or other fallen under it. We love the good opinion …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Sudden Conversions.
"By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain."--1 Cor. xv. 10. We can hardly conceive that grace, such as that given to the great Apostle who speaks in the text, would have been given in vain; that is, we should not expect that it would have been given, had it been foreseen and designed by the Almighty Giver that it would have been in vain. By which I do not mean, of course, to deny that God's gifts are oftentimes abused and wasted by man, which …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

So Great Blindness, Moreover, Hath Occupied Men's Minds...
43. So great blindness, moreover, hath occupied men's minds, that to them it is too little if we pronounce some lies not to be sins; but they must needs pronounce it to be sin in some things if we refuse to lie: and to such a pass have they been brought by defending lying, that even that first kind which is of all the most abominably wicked they pronounce to have been used by the Apostle Paul. For in the Epistle to the Galatians, written as it was, like the rest, for doctrine of religion and piety, …
St. Augustine—On Lying

Travelling in Palestine --Roads, Inns, Hospitality, Custom-House Officers, Taxation, Publicans
It was the very busiest road in Palestine, on which the publican Levi Matthew sat at the receipt of "custom," when our Lord called him to the fellowship of the Gospel, and he then made that great feast to which he invited his fellow-publicans, that they also might see and hear Him in Whom he had found life and peace (Luke 5:29). For, it was the only truly international road of all those which passed through Palestine; indeed, it formed one of the great highways of the world's commerce. At the time …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Early History of Particular Churches.
A.D. 67-A.D. 500 Section 1. The Church of England. [Sidenote: St. Paul's visit to England.] The CHURCH OF ENGLAND is believed, with good reason, to owe its foundation to the Apostle St. Paul, who probably came to this country after his first imprisonment at Rome. The writings of Tertullian, and others in the second and third centuries speak of Christianity as having spread as far as the islands of Britain, and a British king named Lucius is known to have embraced the Faith about the middle of …
John Henry Blunt—A Key to the Knowledge of Church History

It is Also Written, "But I Say unto You...
28. It is also written, "But I say unto you, Swear not at all." But the Apostle himself has used oaths in his Epistles. [2342] And so he shows how that is to be taken which is said, "I say unto you, Swear not at all:" that is, lest by swearing one come to a facility in swearing, from facility to a custom, and so from a custom there be a downfall into perjury. And therefore he is not found to have sworn except in writing, where there is more wary forethought, and no precipitate tongue withal. And …
St. Augustine—On Lying

Easter Monday
Text: Acts 10, 34-43. 34 And Peter opened his mouth, and said: Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him. 36 The word which he sent unto the children of Israel, preaching good tidings of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)--37 that saying ye yourselves know, which was published throughout all Judaea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; 38 even Jesus of Nazareth, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Colossians 3, 12-17. 12 Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; 13 forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: 14 and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the Word …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Extracts No. vii.
[In this number the objector gives the whole ground of his objections, and the reasons for his doubts: which he states as follows, viz. "1. Mankind, in all ages of the world, have been, and still are prone to superstition. "2. It cannot be denied, but that a part of mankind at least, have believed, and still are believing in miracles and revelation, which are spurious. "3. The facts on which religion is predicated are unlike every thing of which we have any positive knowledge." Under the first …
Hosea Ballou—A Series of Letters In Defence of Divine Revelation

Chrysostom Evades Election to a Bishopric, and Writes his Work on the Priesthood.
About this time several bishoprics were vacant in Syria, and frequent depositions took place with the changing fortunes of orthodoxy and Arianism, and the interference of the court. The attention of the clergy and the people turned to Chrysostom and his friend Basil as suitable candidates for the episcopal office, although they had not the canonical age of thirty. Chrysostom shrunk from the responsibilities and avoided an election by a pious fraud. He apparently assented to an agreement with Basil …
St. Chrysostom—On the Priesthood

The Apostle's Position and Circumstances
PHILIPPIANS i. 12-20 Disloyal "brethren"--Interest of the paragraph--The victory of patience--The Praetorian sentinel--Separatism, and how it was met--St Paul's secret--His "earnest expectation"--"Christ magnified"--"In my body" St Paul has spoken his affectionate greeting to the Philippians, and has opened to them the warm depths of his friendship with them in the Lord. What he feels towards them "in the heart of Christ Jesus," what he prays for them in regard of the growth and fruit of their …
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

Epistle Xlv. To Theoctista, Patrician .
To Theoctista, Patrician [153] . Gregory to Theoctista, &c. We ought to give great thanks to Almighty God, that our most pious and most benignant Emperors have near them kinsfolk of their race, whose life and conversation is such as to give us all great joy. Hence too we should continually pray for these our lords, that their life, with that of all who belong to them, may by the protection of heavenly grace be preserved through long and tranquil times. I have to inform you, however, that I have …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Jesus' First Residence at Capernaum.
^D John II. 12. ^d 12 After this he went down to Capernaum [The site of Capernaum is generally conceded to be marked by the ruins now called Tel-Hum. Jesus is said to have gone "down" because Cana is among the hills, and Capernaum was by the Lake of Galilee, about six hundred feet below sea level], he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples [There is much dispute as to what the New Testament writers mean by the phrase the "brethren of the Lord." This phrase, found in any other than a …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Indeed in all Spiritual Delights, which Unmarried Women Enjoy...
27. Indeed in all spiritual delights, which unmarried women enjoy, their holy conversation ought also to be with caution; lest haply, though their life be not evil through haughtiness, their report be evil through negligence. Nor are they to be listened to, whether they be holy men or women, when (upon occasion of their neglect in some matter being blamed, through which it comes to pass that they fall into evil suspicion, from which they know that their life is far removed) they say that it is enough …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

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