Three Crosses And The Treasures Of The World

By S. Lewis Johnson, Jr.

An Exposition Of Galatians 6:11-18 [1]

Lewis Johnson served as a teaching elder and regularly ministered the Word at Believers Chapel in Dallas for more than thirty years. During that time he spoke at conferences in Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Australia, Jamaica, and Europe. During his academic career he held professorships in New Testament and Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He also served as visiting Professor of New Testament at Grace Theological Seminary and as visiting Professor of Systematic Theology at Tyndale Theological Seminary in Amsterdam, Netherlands. At the time of his death in January 2004 he was Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies at Dallas Seminary. Both MP3 files and printed notes of Dr. Johnson’s sermons and theological lectures may be downloaded from the web site of the SLJ Institute «www.sljinstitute.net».

Introduction

The apostle has now reached the end of his great letter. Only a few lines remain. The labored writing in the scrawling, sprawling hand is coming to its close. In his other letters it was his custom to dictate the body of the letter and add a final salutation and signature, as he says in his second letter to the Thessalonians, “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write” (2 Thess. 3:17).

This time, however, it is not a line and a signature. The entire letter has been his own composition and writing. It is to this that he now calls attention. “See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!” (Gal. 6:11, NKJV). [2] The large letters (not “how large a letter,” as the KJV has it) [3] are not written to suggest to his immature readers that he is treating them like children, that is, accentuating their immaturity by sending them a message in the large, untidy letters of a child. [4] Nor has he used the large letters for emphasis “to arrest the eye and rivet the mind,” as Lightfoot puts it. [5] No, the large letters are a necessity, arising from his poor eyesight (cf. 4:13-15; 2 Cor. 12:7-10). [6] It is the fact that he wrote the letter, and not an amanuensis, that is important.

The cause of his action was his concern, his deep concern for his beloved, straying converts. It was his way of pointing to his anxiety over their spiritual condition. It was his raised voice: “Don’t you see how troubled I am? I have not taken the time to obtain a secretary. I have wanted desperately to get this message to you, so I have labored over it myself, although my eyes can hardly stand the strain of the effort. Don’t miss what I am saying. Listen! It is important!”

What was so important to Paul? It was, of course, the fundamental difference between the systems of law and grace. They are diametrically opposed to one another, and in his eyes the issue was one of life and death (cf. Gal. 1:8– 9). They represent two different gospels, not simply two different emphases in the one message. In the one a man stands before God on the basis of human merit, while in the other he stands before God only in the merit of a crucified Savior. In the one the emphasis rests upon human doing, while in the other the emphasis rests upon that which Christ has done. In the one the initial movement toward salvation comes from the mind and heart of man, while in the other the movement comes from the effectual grace of God, making the unwilling heart of man willing. In the one it is, “This do and live,” while in the other it is, “Live by God’s grace and do this.” It is the law that commands and demands, but it is grace that offers and gives. In the one it is human pride that is inflated, while in the other it is the cross of Christ that shrinks our boasting to a boasting only in the Lord. No wonder the apostle cries out, “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14).

The final paragraphs of this epistle of law and grace enshrine another truth that bears emphasis in this worldly age. When one looks for the church today, one finds her in the world. And when one looks for the world, one finds it in the church. The church has become the friend of the world, that vicious system that crucified the Savior. For Paul, however, the world had been crucified in the cross of Christ. The world had preferred the lie and nailed love incarnate to the tree. Thus, to Paul the world was crucified. Henceforth he was released from its pursuits. He lost his love for its “truths,” its pleasures, and treasures. It was to him as a dead felon. His philosophy had become that of James, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). It is a lesson the church needs today, desperately.

The Final Warning Against The Judaizers

Their Swollen Pride And Craven Fear, Verses 11-12

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

As we have suggested above, Paul’s opening comment in this section (“See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand”) calls attention to his love and intense zeal for the Galatians. He wrote the letter himself, not bothering to secure the services of a secretary, as he usually did, because of his concern that the Galatians hear what he had to say about the Judaizers and their false doctrine.

In verse 12 Paul attacks the pride and the fear of the legalists. In their desire to have the Galatians accept their doctrine of circumcision there lurks a wicked desire to look good themselves. They evidently were more concerned for their own showing before their cohorts than they were for the spiritual well being of their converts. They saw the Galatians as “ecclesiastical statistics.” [7] And if we are inclined to smile at that, it is only necessary for us to remind ourselves of how many Christian churches pride themselves on the number of baptisms that take place in a year. Such statistics are highly prized, in fact so highly prized that they are often the be-all and end-all of the church’s life. Paul calls it making a fair show in the flesh.

The swollen pride of the Judaizers is not accompanied by great courage. The apostle claims that the legalists are not so much motivated by desire to see the Galatians grow in spiritual knowledge as they are by fear of being identified with the cross of Christ. The Galatians are constrained to be circumcised “so that they [the Judaizers] will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ” (v. 12). The apostle was made of sterner stuff, and he was not afraid of having to bear the offense of the cross. He wrote in the preceding chapter, “But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished” (5:11).

The cross is an offense. “We, today,” Wiersbe points out, “are prone to look at the cross (and crucifixion) in a sentimental way. We wear crosses on our lapels or on chains around our necks. But to the first-century citizen, the cross was not a beautiful piece of jewelry; it was the lowest form of death and the ultimate humiliation. The proper Roman citizen would never mention the cross in polite conversation. It stood for rejection and shame.” [8] The Judaizers did not like the cross, for it was a stumbling-block to the Jews, and they wished to be acceptable to them. Further, the cross is a stumbling-block to human morality, for it declares that works cannot justify. It is an offense to our culture, for its truths are revealed to the simple, to babes. It is an offense to our pride, for it declares that we are wicked enough to put to death the Son of God. And it is an offense to our wills—in fact, to our inmost being—for it declares us dead in sin and in need of a new birth! Every time we look at the cross, it says to us that Christ is there because of our curse, debt, and condemnation. Stott expresses it well: “Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.” [9]

Those who preach the cross of Christ may expect the same kind of response that Paul had. Those who are happy with a Christianity without a crucified Savior, who are attached to a salvation by human merit and works, will always be offended by the blood of Calvary. It inflicts its own wounds on human pride. Men find the doctrine of the cross detestable, but it is the only power of God unto salvation, and they who desire to be in apostolic succession will determine to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified (cf. 1 Cor. 2:2).

Their Lawless Hypocrisy And Arrogant Bombast, Verse 13

For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.

The apostle now frontally attacks the Judaizers, accusing them of hypocrisy and impugning their motives. They cannot seriously believe that salvation is earned by keeping the precepts of the Mosaic law, for they do not keep the law themselves. They are followers of the same crowd of which Jesus said, “They say things and do not do them” (cf. Matt. 23:3). Paul is not by any means suggesting that they ought to keep the law as a code. He is simply condemning their dishonesty in urging others to keep it, while not keeping it themselves.

Their reverence for the law was really a cover-up of their real aim, which was to their statistics. They wished to be able to report to Jerusalem another long list of the circumcised! That would bring glory to them.

The Praise Of Paul

The Cross And Its Separation, Verse 14

But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

We might have expected the apostle to say that, contrary to the circumcision party, he boasted in uncircumcision. That, however, he could not do, for he was a circumcised Jew, although he was not trusting in his circumcision for salvation. Further, neither of the outward states was now relevant. Only one thing, however, was and is relevant. It is the cross, and in this the apostle may and does boast. He writes, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (KJV). The relationship to Christ has broken the connection of Paul with the world, with the Mosaic law, and with the rite of circumcision.

The Cross Of Jesus Christ

There are three crosses in verse 14, and they each are important. In the first place, there is the cross upon which Jesus Christ died. In this Paul glories. It is a bold statement, and we, to whom the cross has become a sentimental piece of jewelry or a religious symbol, have difficulty in appreciating the boldness of the apostle’s statement. Perhaps we should put it this way: “God forbid that I should glory, except in the felon’s tree, the hangman’s gibbet, the criminal’s cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In fact, Paul does not soften his words by saying that he gloried in the death of Christ. It is the cross of Christ. “A family sensitively shrinks if one of its members has been hanged; and much the same would be the natural feeling of one who was told that his leader was crucified. Paul puts it thus badly, he lets it jar thus harshly, though it may prove to some a stumbling-block, and to others foolishness; but he will not cloak it, he glories in ‘the cross!’” [10]

Why does the apostle glory in the cross? He glories in it for it is the matchless revelation of the attributes of our Triune God. It is a revelation of the love of Christ. But, most of all, the apostle glories in the cross as the basis of the atonement by which our sins are forgiven. The heart craves for some assurance of the forgiveness of sins that the conscience may be calmed. In making his soul an offering for sin the Lord Jesus has answered the need of the human heart. His “It is finished” (John 19:30) has sealed our pardon, and it is now freely preached in the world. And we glory in the fact that our sins are removed from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12). They are buried in the deepest sea of the divine forgiveness, and we are justified. [11] No wonder Paul gloried in the cross; so do all the saints. It saves the soul, ennobles the life, gives strength for the tasks of life, and provides us with a hope that upholds us through death.

The Cross Of The World

In the second place, the apostle speaks of the cross of the world. He says, “through which [i.e., the cross] [12] the world has been crucified to me.” What does he mean? Well, at least, he means that the cross condemns the character of the world, for the world crucified the Lord Jesus. It hounded perfect innocence to death. Now Paul knows what to think of “public opinion,” “popular belief,” “the conviction of our scholars,” “scientific opinion,” and “the spirit of our age.” All of these things were crucified to Paul. He had done with them. The world, with its allurements, was as if dead to him. It was hanging on the cross for Paul; he thought that little of it. Its great cries, “Make money!” “Enjoy yourself,” and “Have fun and fulfill yourself,” were sirens for which he had no ears. Mr. Spurgeon says, “When the apostle said that the world was crucified to him, he meant just this. ‘I am not enslaved by any of its pursuits. I care nothing for its maxims. I am not governed by its spirit. I do not court its smiles. I do not fear its threatenings. It is not my master, nor am I its slave. The whole world cannot force Paul to lie, or to sin, but Paul will tell the world the truth, come what may.’” [13]

The Cross Of The Apostle

In the third place Paul was crucified to the world. That is the third cross. If it is true that Paul was done with the world, it is also true that the world was done with Paul (cf. 3:13; John 15:19). He was the object of the world’s contempt. Although a great rabbi, a man profoundly versed in mental powers, a former leader in the circles of the learned, when he began to preach, they cried out, “Fool! Apostate! Stone him!” Paul was crucified to the world, but he still gloried in the cross. Cf. Philippians 3:7-8.

The New Creation, Verse 15

For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

The “for” (γάρ, gar) of verse 15 links the verse with the preceding. The new creation, brought about by the cross and our union with Christ in his work, has made both circumcision and uncircumcision irrelevant. We live now in a new sphere, the sphere of a heavenly union with our great Representative, who stood for us under the judgment of God and has risen for us to the right hand of the majesty on high. The fundamental error of all legalists is the failure to see that believers have died with Christ to the old man and to the Mosaic law (cf. 2:18– 19; Rom. 6:1-14; 7:1-6, etc.).

The Benediction Of Peace And Mercy, Verse 16

And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

The apostle wishes a blessing of mercy and peace upon those who walk “by this rule.” The meaning of the “rule” (κανών, kanōn) is debated, but it probably does not refer to the cross, or the doctrines of grace, but simply to the principle of the new creation, mentioned in the immediately preceding context. [14] The walking can be accomplished only by the Holy Spirit, and the use of the same word found in 5:25 suggests that.

But what does Paul mean by “the Israel of God”? There are differing views. First, there is the view of Hendriksen, that the καί (kai, “and”) following the word “mercy” should be rendered “even”. [15] Now καί, which most commonly means “and” in Greek, may mean “even” when used in an ascensive, appositional, or explicative sense (“even,” “that is,” or “namely”). If this interpretation is followed, then Paul would be saying that “the Israel of God” is simply another term for those who walk according to the rule of the new creation, that is, another term for the church. There are difficulties with the view. (a) In the first place, καί in the sense of “even” is almost never ascensive, but Hendriksen’s view makes it explicative, or appositional, a sense that it rarely has. (b) Further, never are believers in this age called Israel elsewhere in the New Testament. It is true, as Hendriksen points out, that Paul has been clear in pointing out that all believers in the present age are “children of Abraham” (cf. 3:14, 16, 29). (c) Further, in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek (cf. 3:28). That, however, does not mean that all sex distinctions have been obliterated. It simply means that “in Christ” the blessings are bestowed equally upon Jews, Gentiles, males, and females. (d) Finally, the word Israel makes it plain that Paul has in mind ethnic Israel.

Second, Burton has suggested a different rendering of the verse, “And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy upon the Israel of God.” This rendering, following a different punctuation of the original text (perfectly permissible), is based upon the consideration that if both peace and mercy have reference to one class of persons, the rendering of the KJV and NASB is illogical, since the effect, “peace,” is placed first and the cause, “mercy,” afterwards. [16] Burton also points out that there is no instance of Paul using Israel except of the Jewish nation or a part of it. Thus, he understands the apostle to be urging a blessing upon the church, and upon those Jewish elect ones who have not yet come to faith in their Messiah, the remnant according to the election of grace (cf. Rom. 11:5-6). Perhaps there is also a glance at the national salvation of the nation in the future. [17]

Third, there is another, and perhaps simpler and more exegetically defensible, view. The rendering of the NASB being accepted, the words refer to the genuine Israelites in the church, the remnant according to the election of grace who have already come to faith in Christ. The words then make a sharp contrast to the Judaizers. It is as if Paul were saying, “May mercy and peace be upon the church, those who walk according to the rule of the new creation, and also upon those genuine Jewish or Israelitish believers, ‘the Israel of God,’ who have not succumbed to the errors of the so-called Israel, the Judaizers.” In this case the words “Israel of God” refer simply to Jewish believers in the body of Christ who live by the principles of grace. They are the Israel of God; the Judaizers are not. The sense is excellent, and the context supports the thought. [18]

The Appeal For Peace And The Conclusion

The Appeal For Peace, Verse 17a

From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.

Paul draws to a conclusion, calling upon all involved to cease giving him trouble.

The Testimony Of A Slave, Verse 17b

The “for” (γάρ) assigns the reason for the appeal to let him alone. He bears in his body the marks of Jesus. The “I” (ἐγώ, egō) in the expression “I bear” is emphatic in the original text, and it indicates that the apostle is drawing a contrast between himself and the Judaizers. They had the marks of the knife in their bodies (circumcision). He had that, too, and more. He had the marks of Jesus in his body. His distinguishing marks reveal that he belonged, not to Jewry, but to Jesus Christ. What were the marks? Somewhat fancifully, later Christians interpreted his words as meaning that he bore in his body marks that corresponded to the wounds of Christ on the cross, and that they had appeared supernaturally in his body. We are reminded of the foolish claims made regarding St. Francis of Assisi. Up to the 20th century over 321 claims had been made of such stigmatization. [19]

The word “brand-marks” (στίγματα, stigmata) was used in many ways, but in the background of its usage here there may be a reference to the custom of branding slaves attached to some temple in the service of the deity. [20] That usage would make good sense here. The apostle would then be alluding to the many wounds and injuries he had received in the service of Christ, many of which had left their scars in his body (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23-25; also Acts 14:19). The stonings, floggings, and beatings were the brand marks of the servant of Christ, far more precious and significant to the true man of God than any ritual cut or gash, such as that involved in the rite of circumcision. It is to these scars that he appeals. They attest the genuineness of his discipleship. The Judaizers were shouters, but shirkers; swell preachers, but poor sufferers. They had no scars, however, for they were frauds. The application to all servants of Christ is obvious.

The Benediction Of Grace, Verse 18

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

Fittingly the letter closes on the note of grace. At the end of the letter we are back to its beginning (cf. 1:3, 6). The word “brethren” is in an emphatic position in the original text. The letter closes on the note of family relationships. It is the touch of love, and on that note the truly great epistle of grace ends.

Notes

1. This is the concluding article of a sixteen-part series, “Expositional Studies in the Epistle to the Galatians.”
2. Commentators have advanced two opinions about Paul’s writing of his letter: (1) It is generally held that he used an amanuensis for the writing of his letters and only took the pen in his own hand to write the concluding paragraph [e.g., Rom. 16:22; 1 Cor. 16:21; Col. 4:18; 2 Thess. 3:17]. Most commentators believe that he followed the same practice here, writing only verses 11-18 in his own hand [e.g., J. B. Lightfoot, The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians (1865; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 220; H. A. W. Meyer, Critical and Exegetical handbook to the Epistle to the Galatians (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1884), 259; Ernest De Witt Burton, The Epistle to the Galatians, ICC (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1921), 347; F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 268; Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians, WBC (Dallas: Word, 1990), 289; James D. G. Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians, BNTC (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995), 334-35]. (2) Paul wrote the entire epistle in his own hand [John Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, trans. T. H. L. Parker (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 115; Charles J. Ellicott, A Critical and Grammatical Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Boston: Draper and Halliday, 1860; reprint ed., Minneapolis: James Family, 1978), 149; Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, rev. E. F. Harrison (Chicago: Moody, 1958), 3:64; John Eadie, Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1884), 458; John Albert Bengel, New Testament Word Studies, trans. Charlton T. Lewis and Marvin R. Vincent (Philadelphia: Perkinpine and Higgins, 1864; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1971), 2:380]; William Kelly, Lectures on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians (London: Morrish, 1865), 180. This difference of opinion revolves around the interpretation of the verb ἔγραψα (“I wrote,” v. 11). Again there are two views: (1) Some have argued that ἔγραψα is an epistolary aorist in which “the writer of a letter…puts himself in the place of his reader and describes as past that which is to himself present, but which will be past to his reader” (Ernest De Witt Burton, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek, 3d ed. [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1898), § 44, 21]. The REB substitutes “now that I am writing” for “wrote,” which suggests “that the Apostle here takes the pen from the amanuensis and writes the closing paragraph himself in a notably larger hand” (C. F. D. Moule, An Idiom-Book of New Testament Greek, 2d ed. [Cambridge: CUP, 1963], 12, n. 1; cf. also NRSV, NASB, ESV, NIV). Proponents of this view include: Lightfoot [221], Meyer [260], Burton [Galatians, 348-49], Bruce [268], Longenecker, 289, idem., “Ancient Amanuenses and the Pauline Epistles,” in New Dimensions in New Testament Study, eds. Richard N. Longenecker and Merrill C. Tenney [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974], 281-97 [esp. 290], Dunn [335]. (2) Others say that ἔγραψα is a constative aorist best rendered here by the English perfect, “I have written.” The verb views Paul’s action of writing the epistle (beginning at 1:1 and continuing up to 6:11 and including 6:12-18) as a whole [for the constative aorist see Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 557]. They note that Paul never uses the epistolary aorist ἔγραψα to refer merely to what follows—in this case, the concluding paragraph of Galatians. If that had been his intent he would have used the present tense [γράφω] as he does in 2 Thessalonians 3:17. The apostle’s customary usage of the aorist is: [a] in reference to a previous letter, 1 Cor. 5:9; 2 Cor. 2:3; 4:9; 7:12; cf. 3 John 9; [b] in reference to an epistle now brought to its conclusion, Rom. 15:1; cf. 1 Pet. 5:12; or [c] to a foregoing portion of an epistle, 1 Cor. 9:15; cf. 1 John 2:21. Proponents of this second view include: Ellicott [149]; Eadie [458—who confuses his discussion by accepting the term “epistolary aorist” on p. 457 but offers the opposing arguments on p. 458]; Alford [3:64]; George S. Duncan, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, MNTC [London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1934], 189. Two of the grammarians note that there are two views, neither enjoying universal assent. Cf. GNTG(M), vol. 3: Syntax, by Nigel Turner, 73; GNTG.F § 334, 172.
3. The KJV (“how large a letter”) takes the plural γράμματα in the singular sense of “a letter” (cf. Acts 28:21) and not letters of the alphabet. This interpretation of πηλίκοις γράμμασιν as referring to the length of the letter is to be rejected for three reasons: (1) Paul consistently uses another term for “letter” or “epistle” [ἐπιστολή]. (2) The KJV translation would require an accusative [direct object], but Paul uses the dative case here [“with what large letters” (dative of manner) NASB, ESV, NRSV]. (3) Galatians is not especially long when compared with some of Paul’s other letters. Cf. John Eadie, Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1884), 455; Burton, The Epistle to the Galatians, 348; Ronald Y. K. Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 300.
4. This is the view of Adolf Deissmann, Bible Studies, trans. Alexander Grieve (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1901; reprint ed., Winona Lake, IN: Alpha, 1979), 348-49; In Deissmann’s Light From the Ancient East (trans. Lionel R. M. Strachan [London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1927], 166, n. 7) he adds the suggestion that “writing was not an easy thing to his workman’s hand.”
5. Lightfoot, The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, 65; cf. also John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians, BST (London: IVP, 1968), [“Notice how heavily I underline these words to you”]. Also to be rejected is the fantastic view of Turner that Paul “had actually been crucified at Perga in Pamphylia” and sustained permanent damage to his hand, cf. Gal. 2:19; 6:14, 17 (Nigel Turner, Grammatical Insights Into the New Testament [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1965], 94; cf. R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, and to the Philippians [Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961], 313).
6. Frederic Rendall, “The Epistle to the Galatians,” in EGT, 3:190; cf. Alford, The Greek Testament, 3:64.
7. Alan Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, TNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 181.
8. Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Free: An Expository Study of Galatians (Wheaton: Victor, 1975), 154; idem., The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wheaton: Victor, 1989), 1:725.
9. Stott, The Message of Galatians, 179.
10. C. H. Spurgeon, “Three Crosses,” in The Treasury of the Bible (reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981), 7:334.
11. “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19, NASB mg.).
12. The relative pronoun in the phrase δι᾿ οὗ has been interpreted in two ways: Some say the antecedent of οὗ is ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ and translate “through whom,” i.e., through Jesus Christ (KJV, NKJV, Darby, Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, 117; Ellicott, A Critical and Grammatical Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, 152). Others say the antecedent of οὗ is σταυρῷ and translated “through which,” i.e., through the cross (NASB, NIV, ESV, Burton, The Epistle to the Galatians, 355; Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians, 271). “Since the cross is the instrument of crucifixion, ‘through which’ [is most likely correct]” (Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, 306, n. 42). Tannehill wrote, “Even if this phrase should refer to Christ, it is apparent here that it is Christ on the cross through whom [the world and] Paul [were] crucified” (Robert C. Tannehill, Dying and Rising with Christ: A Study in Pauline Theology [Berlin: Alfred To/pelmann, 1967], 63-64).
13. Spurgeon, “Three Crosses,” 338.
14. “The κανών is apparently the principle just laid down about the ‘new creation’: the reference then is to members of the new humanity who are guided by this principle, in contrast to those who maintain the continuing validity of circumcision and similar legal requirements” (Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians, 273).
15. William Hendriksen, Exposition of Galatians, NTC (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1968), 247.
16. Burton notes, “[When] ἔλεος [‘mercy’] is joined with εἰρήνη [‘peace’] elsewhere in benedictions in the NT…[1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; 2 John 3; Jude 2], it always [precedes] εἰρήνη” (The Epistle to the Galatians, 357).
17. Burton, The Epistle to the Galatians, 358.
18. For a fuller discussion of the problem of Paul’s phrase, “the Israel of God,” see S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., “Paul and ‘The Israel of God’: An Exegetical and Eschatological Case Study,” in Essays in Honor of J. Dwight Pentecost, eds. Stanley D. Toussaint (Chicago: Moody, 1986), 181– 96.
19. Cf. Benjamin B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (1918; reprint ed., London: Banner of Truth, 1972), 84-92.
20. Lightfoot, The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, 225.