Commentary on Galatians 2 part 5/6

that you might leave behind offspring, not defile another man's.

For to commit adultery belongs not to natural desire, but to an outrage contrary to nature;

for desire seeks only union, not this or that particular union.

These things I have not said now without purpose, but we are, as it were, sounding a prelude to certain contests, and skirmishing beforehand against those who say that the handiwork of God is evil, and who leave unchallenged the slothfulness of the soul, but rage against the body and slander our flesh—concerning whom the apostle Paul also afterward discourses, not accusing the flesh, but the diabolical reasonings.

「But you, brethren, were called unto liberty;」

「only turn not your liberty into an occasion for the flesh.」

Here, henceforth, he seems to be entering upon the moral part of his discourse, yet he experiences something new—something he did not experience in any one of his other Epistles.

For whereas he divides all of them into two parts, treating first of doctrines and last of the conduct of life, here, having fallen into the moral discourse, he once again mingles in the doctrinal.

For this part, too, again holds fast to that former one in the battle against the Manichaeans.

But what is meant by 「only turn not your liberty into an occasion for the flesh」? Christ, he says, has set us free from the yoke of bondage; He has left us masters to do whatever we will—yet not that we should use our liberty for wickedness, but that we might have a ground for a greater reward, ascending to a higher practice of the philosophic life.

For since he calls the Law, again and again, a yoke of bondage, and grace a deliverance from the curse,

lest anyone should suspect that he bids them depart from the Law in order that they might live lawlessly, he corrects that surmise, saying:

not that our manner of life should become lawless, but that our practice of virtue should rise above the Law;

for the bonds of the Law have been loosed.

And I too say these things, not that we might become lowlier, but that we might become higher.

For both the fornicator and the one who keeps virginity have alike stepped beyond the measures of the Law—yet not in the same manner: the one has been dragged down to what is worse, the other has been lifted up to what is better;

the one has transgressed the Law, the other has surpassed it.

This, then, is what Paul says: that He has loosed the yoke from you, not that you should frisk about, nor that you should kick out your heels, but that you should walk gracefully without a yoke.

Then he also points out the way by which such a thing might easily be accomplished.

What, then, is the way? 「Through love serve one another,」 he says.

Here again he hints that contentiousness, faction, love of rule, and pride became for them the causes of this error;

for the mother of heresies is the lust for pre-eminence.

For having said, 「Serve one another,」 he showed that this evil took its beginning from pride and conceit;

wherefore he brings in the corresponding remedy.

For since, in your wish to lord it over one another, you were rent asunder, 「serve one another;」

for in this way you shall be brought together again.

But while he does not openly name the fault, he openly sets down its correction, so that through the correction they might learn the fault as well;

as if one should not say to a licentious man that he is licentious, but continually exhort him to be chaste.

For he who loves his neighbor as he ought does not refuse to serve him more humbly than any slave.

For just as fire, coming into contact with wax, easily softens it, so also the warmth of love dissolves all pride and conceit more vehemently than fire.

For this reason he did not say simply, 「Love one another,」 but

「Serve,」 thereby signifying the intensity of their friendship.

For since he had taken away the yoke of the Law, lest they should leap away in freedom, he lays upon them another yoke—that of love—stronger indeed than the former, yet much lighter and far more pleasant.

Then, pointing out its excellence, he says:

「For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.」

For since they kept turning the Law this way and that, 「If you wish,」 he says, 「to fulfill it, be not circumcised;」

for it is fulfilled not in circumcision, but in love.

See how he does not forget his own anguish, but continually stirs the sore that pains him, even after passing into the moral discourse.

「But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one by another.」

He does not make a flat pronouncement, lest he should press too heavily upon them; he knows indeed that it is happening, but he states it with a certain ambiguity.

For he did not say, 「Since you bite one another;」

nor did he there again make a flat declaration, that 「You have been consumed one by another;」

which is the manner of one who alarms and puts on guard, not of one who condemns.

And he made use of the very words with great vividness.

For he did not say merely 「Bite,」 which is the mark of one who is angry, but also 「and devour,」 which is the mark of one who persists in his wickedness.

For he who bites has fulfilled the passion of anger;

but he who devours has furnished a proof of the utmost savagery.

By bitings and devourings he does not mean those of the body, but those far more grievous.

For not so greatly has he done harm who has tasted human flesh, as he who fastens his bites upon the soul;

for by how much the soul is more precious than the body, by so much is the harm done to it the more grievous.

'Take heed that ye be not consumed one of another,' he says.

For since those who commit injustice and lay plots go about it as though they were consuming others, on this account he says:

Consider lest the matter be turned back upon yourselves.

For dissension and strife are destructive and consuming both to those who receive them and to those who introduce them, and they gnaw through everything more than a moth.

But I say, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Behold, he points out yet another way which makes virtue easy and brings to perfection the things that have been spoken of—a way that gives birth to love, and is itself bound fast by love.

For nothing, nothing so makes men loving as to be spiritual, and nothing so persuades the Spirit to abide with us as the strength of love.

Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

For since he had named that which produces the disease, he names also the remedy which bestows health.

And what is this, and what is the power of the good things spoken of, but to live in the Spirit? Wherefore he says:

Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

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.

Here certain persons assail him, saying that the Apostle has divided man into two, as though bringing him in as constituted of two opposing substances, and showing that there is a battle of the body against the soul.

But this is not so, it is not so;

for by 'flesh' here he does not mean the body;

for if he meant this, how would what follows have any sense? For it lusteth, he says, against the Spirit.

And indeed this belongs not to things that move but to things that are moved, not to things that act but to things that are acted upon;

how then does it lust? For lust belongs not to the flesh but to the soul.

'My soul longeth exceedingly;'

and, 'What doth thy soul desire, and I will do it for thee?' And, 'Go not after the desire of thy soul;'

and again, 'So longeth my soul.'

How then does Paul say, The flesh lusteth against the Spirit? He is wont to call 'flesh' not the nature of the body, but the evil will, as when he says:

Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit;

they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

What then? Must we destroy the flesh? And did not he himself who says these things bear flesh about him? These are the teachings not of the flesh, but of the devil;

for he was a murderer from the beginning.

What then does he say? Here by 'flesh' he calls the earthbound reasoning, the slothful and neglectful.

But this is no accusation of the body, but a charge against the slothful soul;

for the flesh is an instrument, and no one turns away from and hates the instrument, but rather him who handles the instrument badly.

For indeed we do not hate and punish the iron, but the murderer.

But, someone says, this very thing is an accusation of the body—that the sins of the soul are called by the name of the flesh.

Now I, for my part, confess that the flesh is inferior to the soul, yet that it too is good.

For that which is inferior to the good is itself also good;

but the evil is not inferior to the good, but contrary to it.

But you, if you are able to show that wickedness is fashioned out of the body, then accuse the flesh;

but if you attempt to malign it from the mere name, then it is high time for you to accuse the soul as well;

for the man deprived of the truth is called 'soulish' (natural), and the multitudes of demons are called 'spirits of wickedness.'

But again, by the name of 'flesh' the Scripture is also wont to call the mysteries, and it speaks of the whole Church as being the body of Christ.

And if you will, call the good deeds that are wrought through it: quench the senses by reason, and you will see the soul left desolate of all knowledge, knowing nothing of what it knows.

For if the power of God is clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made, how could we see without eyes? And if faith comes by hearing, how shall we hear without ears? And the preaching and the going about are by tongue and by feet.

For how shall they preach except they be sent? And the writing is by the hands.

Do you see that the ministry of the flesh is to us the cause of countless good things? But if he says, The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, he speaks of two ways of reasoning;

for these are contrary to one another, virtue and vice—not the soul and the body.

For if these were contrary, they would be mutually destructive, as fire is to water, as darkness to light;

but if the soul cares for the body and takes much forethought for it and suffers countless things so as not to abandon it, and when torn from it resists, and the body ministers to the soul and brings it much knowledge, and is fashioned for the soul's activity—

how could these be contrary and warring against one another? For I see them not only as not contrary, but even as being in great concord, and holding fast to one another through their works.

He does not therefore say concerning these that they are contrary to one another, but he introduces a battle of evil reasonings and good ones.

For to will and not to will belong to the soul.

And these are contrary, that you may not permit the soul to walk in its own evil lusts.

For like some tutor and teacher inspiring fear, he uttered these things.

But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

What kind of consequence is this? A very great and clear one.

For he who has the Spirit as he ought, quenches through it every evil lust;

and he who is delivered from these has no need of the help that comes from the law, having become far higher than its injunction.

For he who is not angry, how does he need to hear, Thou shalt not kill? He who does not look with unchaste eyes, how does he need the one who teaches not to commit adultery? For who discourses about the fruit of vice to him who has plucked up the very root? For the root of murder is wrath, and of adultery the curious gazing of the eyes.

If ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

And here he seems to me to have spoken also a great and wonderful eulogy of the law;

for the law, according to its own power, was in the rank of the Spirit before

the coming of the Spirit; yet not on this account ought one to remain with the tutor.

Then indeed we were reasonably under the law, that by fear we might chastise our lusts, the Spirit not yet having appeared;

but now, grace having been given, which not only commands to abstain from them but even withers them and leads up to a greater way of life, what need is there of the law? For to him who by himself accomplishes the greater things, where is the need of a tutor? For neither does one who is a philosopher need a schoolmaster.

Why then do you debase yourselves, having first given yourselves to the Spirit, and now sitting at the feet of the law? Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are: fornication, adultery, uncleanness, lasciviousness, sorcery, idolatry, enmities, strifes, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I also foretold you, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Here now, tell me, you who accuse your flesh and suppose that these things are spoken of it as of an enemy and foe (for granted that adultery and fornication are, according to you, of the flesh)—the enmities, and the strifes, and the jealousies, and the factions, and the heresies, and the sorceries (for these belong only to a corrupt will, as indeed do the rest also)—how could they be of the flesh? Do you see that he does not here mean the flesh, but the earthbound reasoning that grovels along the ground? Wherefore he strikes fear, saying that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

But if these things were of an evil nature and not of a wicked will, he would have said superfluously, 'They practise,' and would instead have said, 'They suffer.'

And for what reason do they also fall from the kingdom? For neither the crowns nor the punishments belong to things by nature, but to things by choice.

Wherefore Paul also threatened these things.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

He did not say 'the work of the Spirit,' but 'the fruit.'

For if the discourse is about flesh and spirit, where is the soul? Does he then discourse about things without soul? For when the evil things are of the flesh and the useful things of the spirit, the soul is superfluous.

For self-control over the passions belongs to this and concerns this very thing;

and since the body lies midway between vice and virtue, if a man uses it as he ought, he renders it spiritual;

but if he withdraws from the Spirit and gives himself over to wicked lusts, he makes it more earthly.

You see from every side how his discourse here is not about the substance of the flesh, but about a corrupt choice of the will—and one that is not necessarily so. And why does he call it the fruit of the Spirit? Because evil works come from us alone;

but good works require not only our own diligence, but also the loving-kindness of God.

Then, being about to enumerate them, he first lays down the root of good things, speaking thus:

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.

Against such there is no law.

For what command could one give to him who has all things within himself, and who possesses love as a perfect teacher of the highest wisdom? For just as horses well-broken to the rein, who do everything of their own accord, would have no need of the whip;

so also the soul that achieves virtue by the Spirit has no need of a law to admonish it.

And here too he cast out the law in a most admirable way—not as being base, but as being inferior to the higher wisdom given by the Spirit.

But they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.

And who is such a one? He points out by their works those who accomplish such things, here again calling the wicked deeds 'flesh.'

For surely they did not destroy the flesh itself;

for how then were they to live? For that which is crucified is dead and inactive;

rather, he indicates the exact and perfect way of wisdom.

For the lusts, even though they trouble us, rage in vain;

since therefore so great is the strength of the Spirit, let us live by it, let us be content with it.

Let us then live in the Spirit, and let us walk by the Spirit, conducting ourselves according to its laws.

For this is the meaning of 'let us walk';

that is, let us be content with the power of the Spirit, and not seek the addition that comes from the law.

Then, showing that those who were bringing in circumcision did this out of vainglory, he says:

Let us not become vainglorious—which is the cause of all evils—provoking one another, envying one another.

For from vainglory comes envy, and from envy these countless evils.

Brethren, if a man be even overtaken.

For since under the pretext of rebuke they were avenging their own passions, and seemed indeed to be doing this on account of sins, while in fact they wished to establish their own love of rule, he says:

Brethren, if a man be even overtaken.

He did not say, 'If he commit it,' but, 'If he be overtaken,' that is, if he be swept away.

You who are spiritual, restore such a one.

He did not say, 'Punish,' nor, 'Condemn,' but, 'Set right.'

And he did not stop even here, but showing that they must be exceedingly gentle toward those who are tripped up, he added thus:

He did not say, 'in meekness,' but, 'in a spirit of meekness';

showing that this too is pleasing to the Spirit, and that to be able to set right sinners with gentleness is a spiritual gift.

Then, lest he who sets another right should be lifted up, he placed even him under the same fear, speaking thus:

Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

For just as the rich contribute funds to those in need, so that, if ever they themselves should fall into poverty, they may obtain the same;

so too must we do.

Wherefore he sets down a compelling reason, speaking thus:

Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

And he pleads on behalf of the one who has sinned: first by saying, 'If he be even overtaken'; second by the term of great weakness; then, 'Lest you also be tempted,' laying the blame rather on the assault of the demon than on the sloth of the soul.

Bear one another's burdens.

For since it is impossible for one who is a man to be without fault, he exhorts them not to be exacting scrutinizers of the faults committed by others, but to bear also the failings of their neighbors, that their own too may be borne by others.

For just as in a building not all the stones occupy the same place, but one is suited for a corner and no longer for the foundations, while another is fit for the foundations but no longer for a corner;

so also it is with the body of the Church.

And one may see this very thing in the case of our own flesh as well; and yet the one member bears with the other, and we do not demand all things from all.

For the contribution that comes from the common store forms both a body and a building.

And so fulfill the law of Christ.

He did not say, 'Fulfill,' but, 'Fulfill together,' that is, all of you in common fulfill it, through those things by which you bear one another;

for instance, so-and-so is quick-tempered, while you are sluggish;

bear therefore his vehement impulse, that he too may bear your slowness.

And thus neither will he sin, being borne with by you, nor will you offend in the things wherein you are burdensome, since your brother bears with you.

And thus, reaching out a hand to one another in the things wherein you are about to fall, fulfill the law together through one another, each filling up what is lacking in his neighbor by his own endurance.

But if you do not act thus, and each is bent on prosecuting his neighbor's faults, nothing of what is fitting will ever come to pass for you.

For just as in the body, if one should demand the same service from all its parts, the body would never stand;

so also it is with the brethren.

Great is the warfare, if we demand all things from all.

For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Here again he examines arrogance closely.

For he who thinks himself to be something is nothing, betraying by such conceit the very first proof of his own worthlessness.

But let each one prove his own work.

Here he shows that we must be examiners of our life, and not carelessly, but must test with exactness the things done by you.

For instance, have you done something good? Consider whether it was not for vainglory, nor from necessity, nor out of enmity, nor in hypocrisy, nor for some other human motive.

For just as gold seems to be bright before the refining furnace, but when it is delivered to the fire it is then exactly displayed, all the base being separated from the genuine;

so too our works, when we examine them with exactness, are then clearly uncovered, and we shall see ourselves to be liable to many charges.

And then he will have his boasting in himself alone, and not in another.

He says these things not as laying down a law, but as condescending;

and if indeed you will boast, let it not be against your neighbor, as the Pharisee did.

For he who has been thus trained will speedily depart from that other course as well.

Wherefore he made even this concession, that he might little by little take away the whole.

For he who has been accustomed to boast in himself alone, and not against others, will speedily correct even this fault.

For he who does not reckon himself better than others (for this is what is meant by, 'not in another'), but examines himself by himself and takes pride in that, will in time cease to do even this.

And that you may learn that this is what he wishes to establish, observe how he checks him with fear.

Above he said, 'Let him prove his own work'; but here he adds:

'For every man shall bear his own burden.'

For he seems to be laying down a consideration that forbids boasting over another, yet he is correcting the one who boasts, so that he should not even think highly of himself, bringing him to the recollection of his own sins, and pressing hard upon his conscience with the words 'burden' and 'the bearing of a load.'

'Let him that is taught in the word share with him that teacheth in all good things.'

Here his discourse turns next to teachers, so that they may enjoy much care from those who are being taught.

And for what reason did Christ ordain thus? For indeed this law is laid down in the New Covenant as well, that those who proclaim the Gospel should live of the Gospel;

and in the Old Covenant likewise many were the revenues that came to the Levites from those under their charge.

For what reason, then, did He ordain these things? To lay beforehand a foundation of humility and love.

For since the dignity of teaching often puffs up those who possess it, in order to abate his pride He set him under the necessity of depending on those who are taught;

and those in turn He brought to an occasion of becoming more readily disposed to goodwill, training them through their goodwill toward their teachers to be gentle toward others also;

which also wrought no small love on either side.

For if this were not so, as I have said, for what reason, while He fed the ungrateful Jews from the manna, did He set the apostles under the necessity of begging? Is it not clear that from this He was fashioning great goods—humility and love—and that the taught should not be ashamed at things that seemed reproachful? For to beg seems to be a matter of shame;

but it no longer seemed so, when the teachers went about it with all boldness.

So that the disciples gained no small profit from this also, being trained through these things to look down on all glory.

'Let him that is taught in the word share with him that teacheth in all good things.'

That is, let him display all liberality toward him;

for this is what he hinted at when he said:

'Let nothing,' he says, 'belong to the disciple as his own, but let all things be in common.'

For he receives more than he gives, and by so much the more as heavenly things are better than earthly;

which he also declared elsewhere, saying:

'If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things?' Therefore he calls the matter a 'fellowship,' showing that a reciprocal exchange takes place.

And from this the things of love became much warmer and more secure.

If, then, the teacher seeks only sufficiency, he remains, even while receiving, in his own dignity.

For this too is a matter of praise—so to devote oneself to the word as to need others, and to be in extreme poverty, and to look down on all the things of this life.

But if he oversteps the measure, he damages his dignity—not by the receiving, but by the excess.

Then, lest the wickedness of the teacher should make the disciple more reluctant in these matters, and should often cause him to pass by one who is poor because of that man's character, he goes on and says:

'But in doing good, let us not lose heart.'

And here he shows the mean between such generosity and the ambition displayed in the affairs of this life, speaking thus:

'For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;'

'for he that soweth to his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;'

'but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.'

For just as in the case of seeds it is not possible, when one has sown vetches, to reap wheat—

for both the sowing and the reaping must be of the same kind—

so also in works: he who has cast into the flesh luxury, drunkenness, and unseemly desire, shall reap the things that come from these.

And what are these? Punishment, retribution, shame, derision, corruption.

For of lavish tables and dainties the end is nothing other than corruption;

for these things themselves perish, and they destroy the body along with them.

But the things of the Spirit are not such, but are in every respect the opposite of these.

You have sown almsgiving—the treasures of the heavens and eternal glory await you;

you have sown chastity—honor and the prize, and the praises of the angels, and the crowns from the Judge of the contest.

'But in doing good, let us not lose heart;'

'for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.'

'Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all, especially toward them who are of the household of faith.'

For lest anyone should suppose that one ought to care for teachers and feed them, but neglect the rest, he brings the discourse out to what is common, and opens to all the door of such generosity, and carries it to such excess as to command us to have mercy even on Jews and Greeks—with fitting order indeed, yet to have mercy nonetheless.

And what is the order? To show greater providence toward the faithful.

And what he does in his other Epistles, this also he works out here, discoursing not only about showing mercy, but also about doing so generously and continually;

for the name of 'sowing' and the words 'not to lose heart' hint at this.

Then, since he demanded a great thing, he sets the reward also at the doors, making mention of a certain new and marvelous harvest.

For in the case of husbandmen, not only he who sows, but also he who reaps, endures much toil, contending with drought and dust and much hardship;

but then there is none of these things, he says:

'For in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.'

And from this side he urges them on and draws them;

and from the other side he presses and thrusts them forward, saying:

'Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good.'

For just as we are not always masters of sowing, so neither are we of showing mercy.

For when we have been carried away from here, though we should wish it ten thousand times, we shall accomplish nothing more.

And the virgins bear witness to us for this saying, who, though they were most eager in countless ways, since they did not depart possessed of abundant almsgiving, were shut out of the bridal chamber;

for that man too, since he was destitute of this ally, and though he mourned and entreated much, was pitied neither by the patriarch nor by anyone else, but remained continually scorched without any pardon whatsoever.

For these reasons he says, 'As we have opportunity, let us work that which is good, and toward all;'

and by this especially delivering us from the Jewish lowliness.

For that people's whole benevolence was toward those of their own race;

but the philosophy of grace calls both land and sea alike to the table of almsgiving, even if it displays greater zeal toward those of the household.

'Ye see with how large letters I have written unto you with mine own hand.'

'As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, these compel you to be circumcised.'

Consider how great an anguish holds fast that blessed soul.

For just as those who have fallen into some grief, or have lost one of their dear ones, or are enduring some unexpected calamity, are at rest neither by night nor by day, since grief besieges their soul;

so also the blessed Paul, having said a few things about morals, comes back again to his former topic—the things that most greatly troubled his soul—speaking thus:

'Ye see with how large letters I have written unto you with mine own hand.'