Luther on Galatians

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Table of Contents

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 Contents
Information about this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
The Certainty of Our Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Men Should Not Speculate About the Nature of God . . . . . . xii
Christ is God by Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxv
Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lxx
Objections to the Doctrine of Faith Disproved . . . . . . . . . . . . . xc
The Twofold Purpose of the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cvi
Chapter 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cxxiii
Chapter 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . clix
The Doctrine of Good Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . clxxv
Chapter 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cxcvi

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 Contents v

“In my heart reigns this one article, faith in my dear Lord Christ,
the beginning, middle and end of whatever spiritual and divine
thoughts I may have, whether by day or by night.”

The importance of this Commentary on Galatians for the history

of Protestantism is very great. It presents like no other of Luther’s
writings the central thought of Christianity, the justification of the
sinner for the sake of Christ’s merits alone. We have permitted in
the final revision of the manuscript many a passage to stand which
seemed weak and ineffectual when compared with the trumpet tones
of the Latin original. But the essence of Luther’s lectures is there.
 Chapter 1

Verse 1. Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus

Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead).
St. Paul wrote this epistle because, after his departure from
the Galatian churches, Jewish-Christian fanatics moved in, who
perverted Paul’s Gospel of man’s free justification by faith in Christ
Jesus.
The world bears the Gospel a grudge because the Gospel con-
demns the religious wisdom of the world. Jealous for its own re-
ligious views, the world in turn charges the Gospel with being a
subversive and licentious doctrine, offensive to God and man, a
doctrine to be persecuted as the worst plague on earth.
As a result we have this paradoxical situation: The Gospel sup-
plies the world with the salvation of Jesus Christ, peace of con-
science, and every blessing. Just for that the world abhors the Gospel.
These Jewish-Christian fanatics who pushed themselves into
the Galatian churches after Paul’s departure, boasted that they were
the descendants of Abraham, true ministers of Christ, having been
trained by the apostles themselves, that they were able to perform
miracles.
In every way they sought to undermine the authority of St. Paul.
They said to the Galatians: “You have no right to think highly of
Paul. He was the last to turn to Christ. But we have seen Christ. We
heard Him preach. Paul came later and is beneath us. It is possible
for us to be in error—we who have received the Holy Ghost? Paul
stands alone. He has not seen Christ, nor has he had much contact
with the other apostles. Indeed, he persecuted the Church of Christ
for a long time.”
When men claiming such credentials come along, they deceive
not only the naive, but also those who seemingly are well-established
in the faith. This same argument is used by the papacy. “Do you
suppose that God for the sake of a few Lutheran heretics would
disown His entire Church? Or do you suppose that God would
vi
 Chapter 1 vii

have left His Church floundering in error all these centuries?” The
Galatians were taken in by such arguments with the result that Paul’s
authority and doctrine were drawn in question.
Against these boasting, false apostles, Paul boldly defends his
apostolic authority and ministry. Humble man that he was, he will
not now take a back seat. He reminds them of the time when he
opposed Peter to his face and reproved the chief of the apostles.
Paul devotes the first two chapters to a defense of his office and
his Gospel, affirming that he received it, not from men, but from the
Lord Jesus Christ by special revelation, and that if he or an angel
from heaven preach any other gospel than the one he had preached,
he shall be accursed.

The Certainty of Our Calling

Every minister should make much of his calling and impress
upon others the fact that he has been delegated by God to preach
the Gospel. As the ambassador of a government is honored for his
office and not for his private person, so the minister of Christ should [2]
exalt his office in order to gain authority among men. This is not
vain glory, but needful glorying.
Paul takes pride in his ministry, not to his own praise but to
the praise of God. Writing to the Romans, he declares, “Inasmuch
as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office,” i.e., I
want to be received not as Paul of Tarsus, but as Paul the apostle and
ambassador of Jesus Christ, in order that people might be more eager
to hear. Paul exalts his ministry out of the desire to make known the
name, the grace, and the mercy of God.
Verse 1. Paul, an apostle, (not of men, etc.)
Paul loses no time in defending himself against the charge that
he had thrust himself into the ministry. He says to the Galatians:
“My call may seem inferior to you. But those who have come to you
are either called of men or by man. My call is the highest possible,
for it is by Jesus Christ, and God the Father.”
When Paul speaks of those called “by men,” I take it he means
those whom neither God nor man sent, but who go wherever they
like and speak for themselves.
viii Luther on Galatians

When Paul speaks of those called “by man” I take it he means

those who have a divine call extended to them through other persons.
God calls in two ways. Either He calls ministers through the agency
of men, or He calls them directly as He called the prophets and
apostles. Paul declares that the false apostles were called or sent
neither by men, nor by man. The most they could claim is that they
were sent by others. “But as for me I was called neither of men, nor
by man, but directly by Jesus Christ. My call is in every respect like
the call of the apostles. In fact I am an apostle.”
Elsewhere Paul draws a sharp distinction between an apostleship
and lesser functions, as in 1 Corinthians 12:28: “And God hath set
some in the church; first, apostles; secondarily, prophets; thirdly,
teachers.” He mentions the apostles first because they were appointed
directly by God.
Matthias was called in this manner. The apostles chose two
candidates and then cast lots, praying that God would indicate which
one He would have. To be an apostle he had to have his appointment
from God. In the same manner Paul was called as the apostle of the
Gentiles.
The call is not to be taken lightly. For a person to possess
knowledge is not enough. He must be sure that he is properly called.
Those who operate without a proper call seek no good purpose. God
does not bless their labors. They may be good preachers, but they
do no edify. Many of the fanatics of our day pronounce words of
faith, but they bear no good fruit, because their purpose is to turn
men to their perverse opinions. On the other hand, those who have a
divine call must suffer a good deal of opposition in order that they
may become fortified against the running attacks of the devil and
the world.
This is our comfort in the ministry, that ours is a divine office
to which we have been divinely called. Reversely, what an awful
thing it must be for the conscience if one is not properly called. It
spoils one’s best work. When I was a young man I thought Paul was
making too much of his call. I did not understand his purpose. I
did not then realize the importance of the ministry. I knew nothing
of the doctrine of faith because we were taught sophistry instead of
certainty, and nobody understood spiritual boasting. We exalt our
calling, not to gain glory among men, or money, or satisfaction, or
 Chapter 1 ix

favor, but because people need to be assured that the words we speak
are the words of God. This is no sinful pride. It is holy pride.
Verse 1. And God the Father, who raised him from the dead.
Paul is so eager to come to the subject matter of his epistle, the
righteousness of faith in opposition to the righteousness of works,
that already in the title he must speak his mind. He did not think
it quite enough to say that he was an apostle “by Jesus Christ”; he
adds, “and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.”
The clause seems superfluous on first sight. Yet Paul had a good
reason for adding it. He had to deal with Satan and his agents who
endeavored to deprive him of the righteousness of Christ, who was
raised by God the Father from the dead. These perverters of the
righteousness of Christ resist the Father and the Son, and the works
of them both.
In this whole epistle Paul treats of the resurrection of Christ. By [3]
His resurrection Christ won the victory over law, sin, flesh, world,
devil, death, hell, and every evil. And this His victory He donated
unto us. These many tyrants and enemies of ours may accuse and
frighten us, but they dare not condemn us, for Christ, whom God the
Father has raised from the dead is our righteousness and our victory.
Do you notice how well suited to his purpose Paul writes? He
does not say, “By God who made heaven and earth, who is Lord of
the angels,” but Paul has in mind the righteousness of Christ, and
speaks to the point, saying, “I am an apostle, not of men, neither by
man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from
the dead.”
Verse 2. And all the brethren which are with me.
This should go far in shutting the mouths of the false apostles.
Paul’s intention is to exalt his own ministry while discrediting theirs.
He adds for good measure the argument that he does not stand alone,
but that all the brethren with him attest to the fact that his doctrine is
divinely true. “Although the brethren with me are not apostles like
myself, yet they are all of one mind with me, think, write, and teach
as I do.”
Verse 2. Unto the churches of Galatia.
Paul had preached the Gospel throughout Galatia, founding many
churches which after his departure were invaded by the false apostles.
The Anabaptists in our time imitate the false apostles. They do not
x Luther on Galatians

go where the enemies of the Gospel predominate. They go where

the Christians are. Why do they not invade the Catholic provinces
and preach their doctrine to godless princes, bishops, and doctors,
as we have done by the help of God? These soft martyrs take no
chances. They go where the Gospel has a hold, so that they may not
endanger their lives. The false apostles would not go to Jerusalem
of Caiaphas, or to the Rome of the Emperor, or to any other place
where no man had preached before as Paul and the other apostles
did. But they came to the churches of Galatia, knowing that where
men profess the name of Christ they may feel secure.
It is the lot of God’s ministers not only to suffer opposition at
the hand of a wicked world, but also to see the patient indoctrination
of many years quickly undone by such religious fanatics. This hurts
more than the persecution of tyrants. We are treated shabbily on the
outside by tyrants, on the inside by those whom we have restored to
the liberty of the Gospel, and also by false brethren. But this is our
comfort and our glory, that being called of God we have the promise
of everlasting life. We look for that reward which “eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man.”
Jerome raises the question why Paul called them churches that
were no churches, inasmuch as the Galatians had forsaken the grace
of Christ for the law of Moses. The proper answer is: Although the
Galatians had fallen away from the doctrine of Paul, baptism, the
Gospel, and the name of Christ continued among them. Not all the
Galatians had become perverted. There were some who clung to the
right view of the Word and the Sacraments. These means cannot
be contaminated. They remain divine regardless of men’s opinion.
Wherever the means of grace are found, there is the Holy Church,
even though Antichrist reigns there. So much for the title of the
epistle. Now follows the greeting of the apostle.
Verse 3. Grace be to you, and peace, from God the Father, and from
our Lord Jesus Christ.
The terms of grace and peace are common terms with Paul
and are now pretty well understood. But since we are explaining
this epistle, you will not mind if we repeat what we have so often
explained elsewhere. The article of justification must be sounded in
our ears incessantly because the frailty of our flesh will not permit
us to take hold of it perfectly and to believe it with all our heart.
 Chapter 1 xi

The greeting of the Apostle is refreshing. Grace remits sin, and

peace quiets the conscience. Sin and conscience torment us, but
Christ has overcome these fiends now and forever. Only Christians
possess this victorious knowledge given from above. These two [4]
terms, grace and peace, constitute Christianity. Grace involves the
remission of sins, peace, and a happy conscience. Sin is not canceled
by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the Law. The
Law reveals guilt, fills the conscience with terror, and drives men
to despair. Much less is sin taken away by man-invented endeavors.
The fact is, the more a person seeks credit for himself by his own
efforts, the deeper he goes into debt. Nothing can take away sin
except the grace of God. In actual living, however, it is not so easy
to persuade oneself that by grace alone, in opposition to every other
means, we obtain the forgiveness of our sins and peace with God.
The world brands this a pernicious doctrine. The world advances
free will, the rational and natural approach of good works, as the
means of obtaining the forgiveness of sin. But it is impossible to
gain peace of conscience by the methods and means of the world.
Experience proves this. Various holy orders have been launched for
the purpose of securing peace of conscience through religious exer-
cises, but they proved failures because such devices only increase
doubt and despair. We find no rest for our weary bones unless we
cling to the word of grace.
The Apostle does not wish the Galatians grace and peace from
the emperor, or from kings, or from governors, but from God the Fa-
ther. He wishes them heavenly peace, the kind of which Jesus spoke
when He said, “Peace I leave unto you: my peace I give unto you.”
Worldly peace provides quiet enjoyment of life and possessions. But
in affliction, particularly in the hour of death, the grace and peace
of the world will not deliver us. However, the grace and peace of
God will. They make a person strong and courageous to bear and
to overcome all difficulties, even death itself, because we have the
victory of Christ’s death and the assurance of the forgiveness of our
sins.
xii Luther on Galatians

Men Should Not Speculate About the Nature of God

The Apostle adds to the salutation the words, “and from our Lord
Jesus Christ.” Was it not enough to say, “from God the Father”?
It is a principle of the Bible that we are not to inquire curiously
into the nature of God. “There shall no man see me, and live,”
Exodus 33:20. All who trust in their own merits to save them
disregard this principle and lose sight of the Mediator, Jesus Christ.
True Christian theology does not inquire into the nature of God,
but into God’s purpose and will in Christ, whom God incorporated
in our flesh to live and to die for our sins. There is nothing more
dangerous than to speculate about the incomprehensible power,
wisdom, and majesty of God when the conscience is in turmoil
over sin. To do so is to lose God altogether because God becomes
intolerable when we seek to measure and to comprehend His infinite
majesty.
We are to seek God as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:23, 24:
“We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and
unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of
God.” Begin with Christ. He came down to earth, lived among men,
suffered, was crucified, and then He died, standing clearly before us,
so that our hearts and eyes may fasten upon Him. Thus we shall be
kept from climbing into heaven in a curious and futile search after
the nature of God.
If you ask how God may be found, who justifies sinners, know
that there is no other God besides this man Christ Jesus. Embrace
Him, and forget about the nature of God. But these fanatics who
exclude our Mediator in their dealings with God, do not believe me.
Did not Christ Himself say: “I am the way, and the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”? Without Christ
there is no access to the Father, but futile rambling; no truth, but
hypocrisy; no life, but eternal death.
When you argue about the nature of God apart from the question
of justification, you may be as profound as you like. But when you
deal with conscience and with righteousness over against the law,
sin, death, and the devil, you must close your mind to all inquiries
into the nature of God, and concentrate upon Jesus Christ, who says,
 Chapter 1 xiii

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.” Doing this, you will recognize the power, and majesty
condescending to your condition according to Paul’s statement to
the Colossians, “In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and [5]
knowledge,” and, “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily.” Paul in wishing grace and peace not alone from God the
Father, but also from Jesus Christ, wants to warn us against the
curious incursions into the nature of God. We are to hear Christ,
who has been appointed by the Father as our divine Teacher.

Christ is God by Nature

At the same time, Paul confirms our creed, “that Christ is very
God.” We need such frequent confirmation of our faith, for Satan
will not fail to attack it. He hates our faith. He knows that it is the
victory which overcometh him and the world. That Christ is very
God is apparent in that Paul ascribes to Him divine powers equally
with the Father, as for instance, the power to dispense grace and
peace. This Jesus could not do unless He were God.
To bestow peace and grace lies in the province of God, who
alone can create these blessings. The angels cannot. The apostles
could only distribute these blessings by the preaching of the Gospel.
In attributing to Christ the divine power of creating and giving grace,
peace, everlasting life, righteousness, and forgiveness of sins, the
conclusion is inevitable that Christ is truly God. Similarly, St. John
concludes from the works attributed to the Father and the Son that
they are divinely One. Hence, the gifts which we receive from the
Father and from the Son are one and the same. Otherwise Paul
should have written: “Grace from God the Father, and peace from
our Lord Jesus Christ.” In combining them he ascribes them equally
to the Father and the Son. I stress this on account of the many errors
emanating from the sects.
The Arians were sharp fellows. Admitting that Christ had two
natures, and that He is called “very God of very God,” they were
yet able to deny His divinity. The Arians took Christ for a noble
and perfect creature, superior even to the angels, because by Him
God created heaven and earth. Mohammed also speaks highly of
Christ. But all their praise is mere palaver to deceive men. Paul’s
 xiv Luther on Galatians

language is different. To paraphrase him: “You are established in

this belief that Christ is very God because He gives grace and peace,
gifts which only God can create and bestow.”
Verse 4. Who gave himself for our sins.
Paul sticks to his theme. He never loses sight of the purpose
of his epistle. He does not say, “Who received our works,” but
“who gave.” Gave what? Not gold, or silver, or paschal lambs, or
an angel, but Himself. What for? Not for a crown, or a kingdom,
or our goodness, but for our sins. These words are like so many
thunderclaps of protest from heaven against every kind and type of
self-merit. Underscore these words, for they are full of comfort for
sore consciences.
How may we obtain remission of our sins? Paul answers: “The
man who is named Jesus Christ and the Son of God gave himself
for our sins.” The heavy artillery of these words explodes papacy,
works, merits, superstitions. For if our sins could be removed by our
own efforts, what need was there for the Son of God to be given for
them? Since Christ was given for our sins it stands to reason that
they cannot be put away by our own efforts.
This sentence also defines our sins as great, so great, in fact,
that the whole world could not make amends for a single sin. The
greatness of the ransom, Christ, the Son of God, indicates this. The
vicious character of sin is brought out by the words “who gave
himself for our sins.” So vicious is sin that only the sacrifice of
Christ could atone for sin. When we reflect that the one little word
“sin” embraces the whole kingdom of Satan, and that it includes
everything that is horrible, we have reason to tremble. But we are
careless. We make light of sin. We think that by some little work or
merit we can dismiss sin.
This passage, then, bears out the fact that all men are sold under
sin. Sin is an exacting despot who can be vanquished by no created
power, but by the sovereign power of Jesus Christ alone.
All this is of wonderful comfort to a conscience troubled by
the enormity of sin. Sin cannot harm those who believe in Christ,
because He has overcome sin by His death. Armed with this convic-
tion, we are enlightened and may pass judgment upon the papists,
[6] monks, nuns, priests, Mohammedans, Anabaptists, and all who trust
 Chapter 1 xv

in their own merits, as wicked and destructive sects that rob God
and Christ of the honor that belongs to them alone.
Note especially the pronoun “our” and its significance. You will
readily grant that Christ gave Himself for the sins of Peter, Paul, and
others who were worthy of such grace. But feeling low, you find it
hard to believe that Christ gave Himself for your sins. Our feelings
shy at a personal application of the pronoun “our,” and we refuse to
have anything to do with God until we have made ourselves worthy
by good deeds.
This attitude springs from a false conception of sin, the concep-
tion that sin is a small matter, easily taken care of by good works;
that we must present ourselves unto God with a good conscience;
that we must feel no sin before we may feel that Christ was given
for our sins.
This attitude is universal and particularly developed in those
who consider themselves better than others. Such readily confess
that they are frequent sinners, but they regard their sins as of no
such importance that they cannot easily be dissolved by some good
action, or that they may not appear before the tribunal of Christ and
demand the reward of eternal life for their righteousness. Meantime
they pretend great humility and acknowledge a certain degree of
sinfulness for which they soulfully join in the publican’s prayer,
“God be merciful to me a sinner.” But the real significance and
comfort of the words “for our sins” is lost upon them.
The genius of Christianity takes the words of Paul “who gave
himself for our sins” as true and efficacious. We are not to look upon
our sins as insignificant trifles. On the other hand, we are not to
regard them as so terrible that we must despair. Learn to believe that
Christ was given, not for picayune and imaginary transgressions, but
for mountainous sins; not for one or two, but for all; not for sins that
can be discarded, but for sins that are stubbornly ingrained.
Practice this knowledge and fortify yourself against despair,
particularly in the last hour, when the memory of past sins assails
the conscience. Say with confidence: “Christ, the Son of God,
was given not for the righteous, but for sinners. If I had no sin
I should not need Christ. No, Satan, you cannot delude me into
thinking I am holy. The truth is, I am all sin. My sins are not
imaginary transgressions, but sins against the first table, unbelief,
 xvi Luther on Galatians

doubt, despair, contempt, hatred, ignorance of God, ingratitude

towards Him, misuse of His name, neglect of His Word, etc.; and
sins against the second table, dishonor of parents, disobedience of
government, coveting of another’s possessions, etc. Granted that I
have not committed murder, adultery, theft, and similar sins in deed,
nevertheless I have committed them in the heart, and therefore I am
a transgressor of all the commandments of God.
“Because my transgressions are multiplied and my own efforts
at self-justification rather a hindrance than a furtherance, therefore
Christ the Son of God gave Himself into death for my sins.” To
believe this is to have eternal life.
Let us equip ourselves against the accusations of Satan with this
and similar passages of Holy Scripture. If he says, “Thou shalt be
damned,” you tell him: “No, for I fly to Christ who gave Himself
for my sins. In accusing me of being a damnable sinner, you are
cutting your own throat, Satan. You are reminding me of God’s
fatherly goodness toward me, that He so loved the world that He
gave His only-begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. In calling me a sinner, Satan,
you really comfort me above measure.” With such heavenly cunning
we are to meet the devil’s craft and put from us the memory of sin.
St. Paul also presents a true picture of Christ as the virgin-born
Son of God, delivered into death for our sins. To entertain a true
conception of Christ is important, for the devil describes Christ as an
exacting and cruel judge who condemns and punishes men. Tell him
that his definition of Christ is wrong, that Christ has given Himself
for our sins, that by His sacrifice He has taken away the sins of the
whole world.
Make ample use of this pronoun “our.” Be assured that Christ
has canceled the sins, not of certain persons only, but your sins. Do
not permit yourself to be robbed of this lovely conception of Christ.
Christ is no Moses, no law-giver, no tyrant, but the Mediator for
sins, the Giver of grace and life.
[7] We know this. Yet in the actual conflict with the devil, when he
scares us with the Law, when he frightens us with the very person of
the Mediator, when he misquotes the words of Christ, and distorts
for us our Savior, we so easily lose sight of our sweet High-Priest.
 Chapter 1 xvii

For this reason I am so anxious for you to gain a true picture

of Christ out of the words of Paul “who gave himself for our sins.”
Obviously, Christ is no judge to condemn us, for He gave Himself
for our sins. He does not trample the fallen but raises them. He
comforts the broken-hearted. Otherwise Paul should lie when he
writes “who gave himself for our sins.”
I do not bother my head with speculations about the nature of
God. I simply attach myself to the human Christ, and I find joy and
peace, and the wisdom of God in Him. These are not new truths. I
am repeating what the apostles and all teachers of God have taught
long ago. Would to God we could impregnate our hearts with these
truths.
Verse 4. That he might deliver us from this present evil world.
Paul calls this present world evil because everything in it is
subject to the malice of the devil, who reigns over the whole world
as his domain and fills the air with ignorance, contempt, hatred, and
disobedience of God. In this devils’s kingdom we live.
As long as a person is in the world he cannot by his own efforts
rid himself of sin, because the world is bent upon evil. The people
of the world are the slaves of the devil. If we are not in the Kingdom
of Christ, it is certain we belong to the kingdom of Satan and we are
pressed into his service with every talent we possess.
Take the talents of wisdom and integrity. Without Christ, wisdom
is double foolishness and integrity double sin, because they not only
fail to perceive the wisdom and righteousness of Christ, but hinder
and blaspheme the salvation of Christ. Paul justly calls it the evil
or wicked world, for when the world is at its best the world is at its
worst. The grossest vices are small faults in comparison with the
wisdom and righteousness of the world. These prevent men from
accepting the Gospel of the righteousness of Christ. The white devil
of spiritual sin is far more dangerous than the black devil of carnal
sin because the wiser, the better men are without Christ, the more
they are likely to ignore and oppose the Gospel.
With the words, “that he might deliver us,” Paul argues that
we stand in need of Christ. No other being can possibly deliver
us from this present evil world. Do not let the fact disturb you
that a great many people enjoy excellent reputations without Christ.
Remember what Paul says, that the world with all its wisdom, might,
 xviii Luther on Galatians

and righteousness is the devil’s own. God alone is able to deliver us

from the world.
Let us praise and thank God for His mercy in delivering us from
the captivity of Satan, when we were unable to do so by our own
strength. Let us confess with Paul that all our work-righteousness
is loss and dung. Let us condemn as filthy rags all talk about free
will, all religious orders, masses, ceremonies, vows, fastings, and
the like.
In branding the world the devil’s kingdom of iniquity, ignorance,
error, sin, death, and everlasting despair, Paul at the same time
declares the Kingdom of Christ to be a kingdom of equity, light,
grace, remission of sin, peace, saving health, and everlasting life
into which we are translated by our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be
glory forever.
In this passage Paul contends against the false apostles for the
article of Justification. Christ, says Paul, has delivered us from this
wicked kingdom of the devil and the world according to the good
will, the pleasure and commandment of the Father. Hence we are
not delivered by our own will, or shrewdness, or wisdom, but by the
mercy and love of God, as it is written, 1 John 4:10, “Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins.”
Another reason why Paul, like John, emphasizes the Father’s
will is Christ’s habit of directing attention to the Father. For Christ
came into the world to reconcile God with us and to draw us to the
Father.
Not by curious inquiries into the nature of God shall we know
God and His purpose for our salvation, but by taking hold of Christ,
[8] who according to the will of the Father has given Himself into death
for our sins. When we understand this to be the will of the Father in
Christ, then shall we know God to be merciful, and not angry. We
shall realize that He loved us wretched sinners so much indeed that
He gave us His only-begotten Son into death for us.
The pronoun “our” refers to both God and Father. He is our God
and our Father. Christ’s Father and our Father are one and the same.
Hence Christ said to Mary Magdalene: “Go to my brethren, and
say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my
 Chapter 1 xix

God, and your God.” God is our Father and our God, but only in
Christ Jesus.
Verse 5. To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Hebrew writing is interspersed with expressions of praise and
gratitude. This peculiarity can be traced in the apostolic writings,
particularly in those of Paul. The name of the Lord is to be mentioned
with great reverence and thanksgiving.
Verse 6. I marvel.
How patiently Paul deals with his seduced Galatians! He does
not pounce on them but, like a father, he fairly excuses their error.
With motherly affection he talks to them yet he does it in a way that at
the same time he also reproves them. On the other hand, he is highly
indignant at the seducers whom he blames for the apostasy of the
Galatians. His anger bursts forth in elemental fury at the beginning
of his epistle. “If any may,” he cries, “preach any other gospel unto
you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” Later on, in the
fifth chapter, he threatens the false apostles with damnation. “He
that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.” He
pronounces a curse upon them. “I would they were even cut off
which trouble you.”
He might have addressed the Galatians after this fashion: “I am
ashamed of you. Your ingratitude grieves me. I am angry with you.”
But his purpose was to call them back to the Gospel. With this
purpose in his mind he speaks very gently to them. He could not
have chosen a milder expression than this, “I marvel.” It indicates
his sorrow and his displeasure.
Paul minds the rule which he himself lays down in a later chapter
where he says: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye
which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Toward those who
have been misled we are to show ourselves parentally affectionate,
so that they may perceive that we seek not their destruction but their
salvation. Over against the devil and his missionaries, the authors of
false doctrines and sects, we ought to be like the Apostle, impatient,
and rigorously condemnatory, as parents are with the dog that bites
their little one, but the weeping child itself they soothe.
The right spirit in Paul supplies him with an extraordinary facility
in handling the afflicted consciences of the fallen. The Pope and
 xx Luther on Galatians

his bishops, inspired by the desire to lord it over men’s souls, crack
out thunders and curses upon miserable consciences. They have
no care for the saving of men’s souls. They are interested only in
maintaining their position.
Verse 6. That ye are so soon.
Paul deplores the fact that it is difficult for the mind to retain
a sound and steadfast faith. A man labors for a decade before he
succeeds in training his little church into orderly religion, and then
some ignorant and vicious poltroon comes along to overthrow in
a minute the patient labor of years. By the grace of God we have
effected here in Wittenberg the form of a Christian church. The Word
of God is taught as it should be, the Sacraments are administered,
and everything is prosperous. This happy condition, secured by
many years of arduous labors, some lunatic might spoil in a moment.
This happened in the churches of Galatia which Paul had brought
into life in spiritual travail. Soon after his departure, however, these
Galatian churches were thrown into confusion by the false apostles.
The church is a tender plant. It must be watched. People hear a
couple of sermons, scan a few pages of Holy Writ, and think they
[9] know it all. They are bold because they have never gone through any
trials of faith. Void of the Holy Spirit, they teach what they please
as long as it sounds good to the common people who are ever ready
to join something new.
We have to watch out for the devil lest he sow tares among the
wheat while we sleep. No sooner had Paul turned his back on the
churches of Galatia, than the false apostles went to work. Therefore,
let us watch over ourselves and over the whole church.
Verse 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed.
Again the Apostle puts in a gentle word. He does not berate the
Galatians, “I marvel that ye are so unsteady, unfaithful.” He says, “I
marvel that ye are so soon removed.” He does not address them as
evildoers. He speaks to them as people who have suffered great loss.
He condemns those who removed them rather than the Galatians.
At the same time he gently reproves them for rather themselves to
be removed. The criticism is implied that they should have been
permitting a little more settled in their beliefs. If they had taken
better hold of the Word they could not have been removed so easily.
 Chapter 1 xxi

Jerome thinks that Paul is playing upon the name Galatians,

deriving it from the Hebrew word Galath, which means fallen or
carried away, as though Paul wanted to say, “You are true Galatians,
i.e., fallen away in name and in fact.” Some believe that the Germans
are descended from the Galatians. There may be something to
that. For the Germans are not unlike the Galatians in their lack of
constancy. At first we Germans are very enthusiastic, but presently
our emotions cool and we become slack. When the light of the
Gospel first came to us many were zealous, heard sermons greedily,
and held the ministry of God’s Word in high esteem. But now that
religion has been reformed, many who formerly were such earnest
disciples have discarded the Word of God, have become sow-bellies
like the foolish and inconsistent Galatians.
Verse 6. From him that called you into the grace of Christ.
The reading is a little doubtful. The sentence may be construed
to read: “From that Christ that called you into grace”; or it may
be construed to read: “From God that called you into the grace of
Christ.” I prefer the former for it seems to me that Paul’s purpose is
to impress upon us the benefits of Christ. This reading also preserves
the implied criticism that the Galatians withdrew themselves from
that Christ who had called them not unto the law, but unto grace.
With Paul we decry the blindness and perverseness of men in that
they will not receive the message of grace and salvation, or having
received it they quickly let go of it, in spite of the fact that the
Gospel bestows all good things spiritual: forgiveness of sins, true
righteousness, peace of conscience, everlasting life; and all good
things temporal: good judgment, good government and peace.
Why does the world abhor the glad tidings of the Gospel and the
blessings that go with it? Because the world is the devil’s. Under his
direction the world persecutes the Gospel and would if it could nail
again Christ, the Son of God, to the Cross although He gave Himself
into death for the sins of the world. The world dwells in darkness.
The world is darkness.
Paul accentuates the point that the Galatians had been called by
Christ unto grace. “I taught you the doctrine of grace and of liberty
from the Law, from sin and wrath, that you should be free in Christ,
and not slaves to the hard laws of Moses. Will you allow yourselves
 xxii Luther on Galatians

to be carried away so easily from the living fountain of grace and

life?”
Verse 6. Unto another gospel.
Note the resourcefulness of the devil. Heretics do not advertise
their errors. Murderers, adulterers, thieves disguise themselves. So
the devil masquerades all his devices and activities. He puts on
white to make himself look like an angel of light. He is astoundingly
clever to sell his patent poison for the Gospel of Christ. Knowing
Satan’s guile, Paul sardonically calls the doctrine of the false apostles
“another gospel,” as if he would say, “You Galatians have now
another gospel, while my Gospel is no longer esteemed by you.”
We infer from this that the false apostles had depreciated the
Gospel of Paul among the Galatians on the plea that it was incom-
[10] plete. Their objection to Paul’s Gospel is identical to that recorded
in the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Acts to the effect that it was
not enough for the Galatians to believe in Christ, or to be baptized,
but that it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them
to keep the law of Moses, for “except ye be circumcised after the
manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” As though Christ were a
workman who had begun a building and left it for Moses to finish.
Today the Anabaptists and others, finding it difficult to condemn
us, accuse us Lutherans of timidity in professing the whole truth.
They grant that we have laid the foundation in Christ, but claim that
we have failed to go through with the building. In this way these
perverse fanatics parade their cursed doctrine as the Word of God,
and, flying the flag of God’s name, they deceive many. The devil
knows better than to appear ugly and black. He prefers to carry
on his nefarious activities in the name of God. Hence the German
proverb: “All mischief begins in the name of God.”
When the devil sees that he cannot hurt the cause of the Gospel
by destructive methods, he does it under the guise of correcting and
advancing the cause of the Gospel. He would like best of all to per-
secute us with fire and sword, but this method has availed him little
because through the blood of martyrs the church has been watered.
Unable to prevail by force, he engages wicked and ungodly teachers
who at first make common cause with us, then claim that they are
particularly called to teach the hidden mysteries of the Scriptures to
superimpose upon the first principles of Christian doctrine that we
 Chapter 1 xxiii

teach. This sort of thing brings the Gospel into trouble. May we all
cling to the Word of Christ against the wiles of the devil, “for we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Verse 7. Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you.
Here again the apostle excuses the Galatians, while he blames
the false apostles for disturbing their consciences and for stealing
them out of his hand. How angry he gets at these deceivers! He calls
them troublemakers, seducers of poor consciences.
This passage adduces further evidence that the false apostles
defamed Paul as an imperfect apostle and a weak and erroneous
preacher. They condemn Paul, Paul condemns them. Such warfare
of condemnation is always going on in the church. The papists and
the fanatics hate us, condemn our doctrine, and want to kill us. We
in turn hate and condemn their cursed doctrine. In the meanwhile
the people are uncertain whom to follow and which way to turn, for
it is not given to everybody to judge these matters. But the truth will
win out. So much is certain, we persecute no man, neither does our
doctrine trouble men. On the contrary, we have the testimony of
many good men who thank God on their knees for the consolation
that our doctrine has brought them. Like Paul, we are not to blame
that the churches have trouble. The fault lies with the Anabaptists
and other fanatics.
Every teacher of work-righteousness is a trouble-maker. Has
it never occurred to you that the pope, cardinals, bishops, monks,
and that the whole synagogue of Satan are trouble-makers? The
truth is, they are worse than false apostles. The files apostles taught
that in addition to faith in Christ the works of the Law of God were
necessary unto salvation. But the papists omit faith altogether and
teach self-devised traditions and works that are not commanded of
God, indeed are contrary to the Word of God, and for these traditions
they demand preferred attention and obedience.
Paul calls the false apostles troublers of the church because they
taught circumcision and the keeping of the Law as needful unto
salvation. They insisted that the Law must be observed in every
detail. They were supporters in this contention by the Jews, with the
result that those who were not firmly established in faith were easily
 xxiv Luther on Galatians

persuaded that Paul was not a sincere teacher of God because he

ignored the Law. The Jews were offended at the idea that the Law of
God should be entirely ignored by Paul and that the Gentiles, former
idol-worshippers, should gratuitously attain to the station of God’s
people without circumcision, without the penitentiary performance
of the law, by grace alone through faith in Christ Jesus.
[11] These criticisms were amplified by the false apostles. They
accused Paul of designs to abolish the law of God and the Jewish
dispensation, contrary to the law of God, contrary to their Jewish
heritage, contrary to apostolic example, contrary to Paul’s own
example. They demanded that Paul be shunned as a blasphemer and
a rebel, while they were to be heard as true teachers of the Gospel
and authentic disciples of the apostles. Thus Paul stood defamed
among the Galatians. He was forced to attack the false apostles. He
did so without hesitation.
Verse 7. And would pervert the gospel of Christ.
To paraphrase this sentence: “These false apostles do not merely
trouble you, they abolish Christ’s Gospel. They act as if they were
the only true Gospel-preachers. For all that they muddle Law and
Gospel. As a result they pervert the Gospel. Either Christ must
live and the Law perish, or the Law remains and Christ must perish;
Christ and the Law cannot dwell side by side in the conscience. It is
either grace or law. To muddle the two is to eliminate the Gospel of
Christ entirely.”
It seems a small matter to mingle the Law and Gospel, faith and
works, but it creates more mischief than man’s brain can conceive.
To mix Law and Gospel not only clouds the knowledge of grace, it
cuts out Christ altogether.
The words of Paul, “and would pervert the gospel of Christ,”
also indicate how arrogant these false apostles were. They were
shameless boasters. Paul simply had to exalt his own ministry and
Gospel.
Verse 8. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him
be accursed.
Paul’s zeal for the Gospel becomes so fervent that it almost
leads him to curse angels. “I would rather that I, my brethren,
 Chapter 1 xxv

yes, the angels of heaven be anathematized than that my gospel be

overthrown.”
The Greek word anathema, Hebrew herem, means to accurse,
execrate, to damn. Paul first (hypothetically) curses himself. Know-
ing persons first find fault with themselves in order that they may all
the more earnestly reprove others.
Paul maintains that there is no other gospel besides the one he
had preached to the Galatians. He preached, not a gospel of his own
invention, but the very same Gospel God had long ago prescribed
in the Sacred Scriptures. No wonder Paul pronounces curses upon
himself and upon others, upon the angels of heaven, if anyone should
dare to preach any other gospel than Christ’s own.
Verse 9. As we said before, so say I now again. If any man preach
any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed.
Paul repeats the curse, directing it now upon other persons. Be-
fore, he cursed himself, his brethren, and an angel from heaven.
“Now,” he says, “if there are any others who preach a gospel differ-
ent from that you have received from us, let them also be accursed.”
Paul herewith curses and excommunicates all false teachers includ-
ing his opponents. He is so worked up that he dares to curse all who
pervert his Gospel. Would to God that this terrible pronouncement
of the Apostle might strike fear into the hearts of all who pervert the
Gospel of Paul.
The Galatians might say: “Paul, we do not pervert the Gospel
you have brought unto us. We did not quite understand it. That is all.
Now these teachers who came after you have explained everything
so beautifully.”
This explanation the Apostle refuses to accept. They must add
nothing; they must correct nothing. “What you received from me
is the genuine Gospel of God. Let it stand. If any man brings any
other gospel than the one I brought you, or promises to deliver better
things than you have received from me, let him be accursed.”
In spite of this emphatic denunciation so many accept the pope as [12]
the supreme judge of the Scriptures. “The Church,” they say, “chose
only four gospels. The Church might have chosen more. Ergo the
Church is above the Gospel.” With equal force one might argue: “I
approve the Scriptures. Ergo I am above the Scriptures. John the
xxvi Luther on Galatians

Baptist confessed Christ. Hence he is above Christ.” Paul subordi-

nates himself, all preachers, all the angels of heaven, everybody to
the Sacred Scriptures. We are not the masters, judges, or arbiters,
but witnesses, disciples, and confessors of the Scriptures, whether
we be pope, Luther, Augustine, Paul, or an angel from heaven.
Verse 10. For do I now persuade men, or God?
With the same vehemence Paul continues: “You Galatians ought
to be able to tell from my preaching and from the many afflictions
which I have endured, whether I serve men or God. Everybody
can see that my preaching has stirred up persecution against me
everywhere, and has earned for me the cruel hatred of my own
people, in fact the hatred of all men. This should convince you that
by my preaching I do not seek the favor and praise of men, but the
glory of God.”
No man can say that we are seeking the favor and praise of men
with our doctrine. We teach that all men are naturally depraved.
We condemn man’s free will, his strength, wisdom, and righteous-
ness. We say that we obtain grace by the free mercy of God alone
for Christ’s sake. This is no preaching to please men. This sort
of preaching procures for us the hatred and disfavor of the world,
persecutions, excommunications, murders, and curses.
“Can’t you see that I seek no man’s favor by my doctrine?” asks
Paul. “If I were anxious for the favor of men I would flatter them.
But what do I do? I condemn their works. I teach things only that I
have been commanded to teach from above. For that I bring down
upon my head the wrath of Jews and Gentiles. My doctrine must be
right. It must be divine. Any other doctrine cannot be better than
mine. Any other doctrine must be false and wicked.”
With Paul we boldly pronounce a curse upon every doctrine that
does not agree with ours. We do not preach for the praise of men, or
the favor of princes. We preach for the favor of God alone whose
grace and mercy we proclaim. Whosoever teaches a gospel contrary
to ours, or different from ours, let us be bold to say that he is sent of
the devil.
Verse 10. Or do I seek to please men?
“Do I serve men or God?” Paul keeps an eye on the false apostles,
those flatterers of men. They taught circumcision to avoid the hatred
and persecution of men.
 Chapter 1 xxvii

To this day you will find many who seek to please men in order
that they may live in peace and security. They teach whatever is
agreeable to men, no matter whether it is contrary to God’s Word or
their own conscience. But we who endeavor to please God and not
men, stir up hell itself. We must suffer reproach, slanders, death.
For those who go about to please men we have a word from
Christ recorded in the fifth chapter of St. John: “How can ye believe,
which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that
cometh from God alone?”
Verse 10. For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of
Christ.
Observe the consummate cleverness with which the false apos-
tles went about to bring Paul into disrepute. They combed Paul’s
writings for contradictions (our opponents do the same) to accuse
him of teaching contradictory things. They found that Paul had
circumcised Timothy according to the Law, that Paul had purified
himself with four other men in the Temple at Jerusalem, that Paul
had shaven his head at Cenchrea. The false apostles slyly suggested
that Paul had been constrained by the other apostles to observe these
ceremonial laws. We know that Paul observed these decora out of
charitable regard for the weak brethren. He did not want to offend
them. But the false apostles turned Paul’s charitable regard to his
disadvantage. If Paul had preached the Law and circumcision, if
he had commended the strength and free will of man, he would not
have been so obnoxious to the Jews. On the contrary they would
have praised his every action.
Verses 11, 12. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was [13]
preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
This passage constitutes Paul’s chief defense against the accusa-
tions of his opponents. He maintains under oath that he received his
Gospel not from men, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
In declaring that his Gospel is not after man, Paul does not merely
wish to state that his Gospel is not mundane. The false apostles made
the same claim for their gospel. Paul means to say that he learned
his Gospel not in the usual and accepted manner through the agency
of men by hearing, reading, or writing. He received the Gospel by
special revelation directly from Jesus Christ.
xxviii Luther on Galatians

Paul received his Gospel on the way to Damascus when Christ

appeared to him. St. Luke furnishes an account of the incident in the
ninth chapter of the Book of Acts. “Arise,” said Christ to Paul, “and
go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Christ
did not send Paul into the city to learn the Gospel from Ananias.
Ananias was only to baptize Paul, to lay his hands on Paul, to commit
the ministry of the Word unto Paul, and to recommend him to the
Church. Ananias recognized his limited assignment when he said to
Paul: “Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee
in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive
thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Paul did not receive
instruction from Ananias. Paul had already been called, enlightened,
and taught by Christ in the road. His contact with Ananias was
merely a testimonial to the fact that Paul had been called by Christ
to preach the Gospel.
Paul was forced to speak of his conversion to combat the slander-
ous contention of the false apostles to the effect that this apostleship
was inferior to that of the other apostles.
If it were not for the example of the Galatian churches I would
never have thought it possible that anybody who had received the
Word of God with such eagerness as they had, could so quickly let
go of it. Good Lord, what terrible mischief one single false statement
can create.
The article of justification is fragile. Not in itself, of course, but
in us. I know how quickly a person can forfeit the joy of the Gospel.
I know in what slippery places even those stand who seem to have
a good footing in the matters of faith. In the midst of the conflict
when we should be consoling ourselves with the Gospel, the Law
rears up and begins to rage all over our conscience. I say the Gospel
is frail because we are frail.
What makes matters worse is that one-half of ourselves, our own
reason, stands against us. The flesh resists the spirit, or as Paul puts
it, “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit.” Therefore we teach that to
know Christ and to believe in Him is no achievement of man, but
the gift of God. God alone can create and preserve faith in us. God
creates faith in us through the Word. He increases, strengthens and
confirms faith in us through His word. Hence the best service that
anybody can render God is diligently to hear and read God’s Word.
 Chapter 1 xxix

On the other hand, nothing is more perilous than to be weary of the

Word of God. Thinking he knows enough, a person begins little
by little to despise the Word until he has lost Christ and the Gospel
altogether.
Let every believer carefully learn the Gospel. Let him continue
in humble prayer. We are molested not by puny foes, but by mighty
ones, foes who never grow tired of warring against us. These, our
enemies, are many: Our own flesh, the world, the Law, sin, death,
the wrath and judgment of God, and the devil himself.
The arguments which the false apostles advanced impress people
to this day. “Who are you to dissent from the fathers and the entire
Church, and to bring a contradictory doctrine? Are you wiser than
so many holy men, wiser than the whole Church?” When Satan,
abetted by our own reason, advances these arguments against us, we
lose heart, unless we keep on saying to ourselves: “I don’t care if
Cyprian, Ambrose, Augustine, Peter, Paul, John, or an angel from
heaven, teaches so and so. I know that I teach the truth of God in
Christ Jesus.”
When I first took over the defense of the Gospel, I remembered
what Doctor Staupitz said to me. “I like it well,” he said, “that the
doctrine which you proclaim gives glory to God alone and none
to man. For never can too much glory, goodness, and mercy be
ascribed unto God.” These words of the worthy Doctor comforted
and confirmed me. The Gospel is true because it deprives men of [14]
all glory, wisdom, and righteousness and turns over all honor to the
Creator alone. It is safer to attribute too much glory unto God than
unto man.
You may argue that the Church and the fathers are holy. Yet the
Church is compelled to pray: “Forgive us our trespasses,” I am not
to be believed, nor is the Church to be believed, or the fathers, or the
apostles, or an angel from heaven, if they teach anything contrary to
the Word of God. Let the Word of God abide forever.
Peter erred in life and in doctrine. Paul might have dismissed
Peter’s error as a matter of no consequence. But Paul saw that Peter’s
error would lead to the damage of the whole Church unless it were
corrected. Therefore he withstood Peter to his face. The Church,
Peter, the apostles, angels from heaven, are not to be heard unless
they teach the genuine Word of God.
xxx Luther on Galatians

This argument is not always to our advantage. People ask:

“Whom then shall we believe?” Our opponents maintain that they
teach the pure Word of God. We do not believe them. They in
turn hate and persecute us for vile heretics. What can we do about
it? With Paul we glory in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What do we
gain? We are told that our glorying is idle vanity and unadulterated
blasphemy. The moment we abase ourselves and give in to the rage
of our opponents, Papists and Anabaptists grow arrogant. The An-
abaptists hatch out some new monstrosity. The Papists revive their
old abominations. What to do? Let everybody become sure of his
calling and doctrine, that he may boldly say with Paul: “But though
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than
ye have received, let him be accursed.”
Verses 13, 14. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in
the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church
of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many
my equals in mine own nation.
This passage does not contain doctrine. Paul adduces his own
case for an example. “I have,” he says, “at one time defended
the traditions of the Pharisees more fiercely than any of your false
apostles. Now, if the righteousness of the Law had been worth
anything I would never have forsaken it. So carefully did I live up to
the Law that I excelled many of my companions. So zealous was I
in defense of the Law that I wasted the church of God.”
Verse 14. Being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my
fathers.
Speaking now of the Mosaic Law, Paul declares that he was
wrapped up in it. To the Philippians he wrote: “As touching the law,
a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the
righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” He means to say, “I
can compare myself with the best and holiest of all those who are
of the circumcision. Let them show me if they can, a more earnest
defender of the Mosaic Law than I was at one time. This fact, O
Galatians, should have put you on your guard against these deceivers
who make so much of the Law. If anybody ever had reason to glory
in the righteousness of the Law, it was I.”
I too may say that before I was enlightened by the Gospel, I was
as zealous for the papistical laws and traditions of the fathers as ever
 Chapter 1 xxxi

a man was. I tried hard to live up to every law as best I could. I

punished myself with fasting, watching, praying, and other exercises
more than all those who today hate and persecute me. I was so much
in earnest that I imposed upon my body more than it could stand. I
honored the pope as a matter of conscience. Whatever I did, I did
with a single heart to the glory of God. But our opponents, well-fed
idlers that they are, will not believe what I and many others have
endured.
Verses 15, 16, 17. But when it pleased God, who separated me from
my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace.
To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen;
immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before
me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Here Paul relates that immediately upon being called by God [15]
to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, he went into Arabia without
consulting a single person. “When it had pleased God,” he writes, “I
did not deserve it. I had been an enemy of Christ. I had blasphemed
His Gospel. I had shed innocent blood. In the midst of my frenzy I
was called. Why? On account of my outrageous cruelty? Indeed not.
My gracious God who shows mercy unto whom He will, pardoned
all mine iniquities. He bestowed His grace upon me, and called me
for an apostle.”
We also have come to the knowledge of the truth by the same
kindness of God. I crucified Christ daily in my cloistered life, and
blasphemed God by my wrong faith. Outwardly I kept myself chaste,
poor, and obedient. I was much given to fasting, watching, praying,
saying of masses, and the like. Yet under the cloak of my outward
respectability I continually mistrusted, doubted, feared, hated, and
blasphemed God. My righteousness was a filthy puddle. Satan loves
such saints. They are his darlings, for they quickly destroy their
body and soul by depriving them of the blessings of God’s generous
gifts.
I tell you I stood in awe of the pope’s authority. To dissent from
him I considered a crime worthy of eternal death. I thought of John
Huss as a cursed heretic. I counted it a sin even to think of him. I
would gladly have furnished the wood to burn him. I would have
felt I had done God a real service.
xxxii Luther on Galatians

In comparison with these sanctimonious hypocrites of the pa-

pacy, publicans and harlots are not bad. They at least feel remorse.
They at least do not try to justify their wicked deeds. But these pre-
tended saints, so far from acknowledging their errors, justify them
and regard them as acceptable sacrifices unto God.
Verse 15a. When it pleased God.
“By the favor of God I, a wicked and cursed wretch, a blasphe-
mer, persecutor, and rebel, was spared. Not content to spare me,
God granted unto me the knowledge of His salvation, His Spirit, His
Son, the office of an apostle, everlasting life.” Paul speaking.
God not only pardoned our iniquities, but in addition over-
whelmed us with blessings and spiritual gifts. Many, however, are
ungrateful. Worse, by opening again a window to the devil many
begin to loathe God’s Word, and end by perverting the Gospel.
Verse 15. Who separated me from my mother’s womb.
This is a Hebrew expression, meaning to sanctify, ordain, pre-
pare. Paul is saying, “When I was not yet born God ordained me
to be an apostle, and in due time confirmed my apostleship before
the world. Every gift, be it small or great, spiritual or temporal, and
every good thing I should ever do, God has ordained while I was yet
in my mother’s womb where I could neither think nor perform any
good thing. After I was born God supported me. Heaping mercy
upon mercy, He freely forgave my sins, replenishing me with His
grace to enable me to learn what great things are ours in Christ. To
crown it all, He called me to preach the Gospel to others.”
Verse 15. And called me by his grace.
“Did God call me on account of my holy life? Or on account
of my pharisaical religion? Or on account of my prayers, fastings,
and works? Never. Well, then, it is certain God did not call me
on account of my blasphemies, persecutions, oppressions. What
prompted Him to call me? His grace alone.”
Verse 16. To reveal his Son to me.
We now hear what kind of doctrine was committed to Paul: The
doctrine of the Gospel, the doctrine of the revelation of the Son of
God. This doctrine differs greatly from the Law. The Law terrorizes
the conscience. The Law reveals the wrath and judgment of God.
The Gospel does not threaten. The Gospel announces that Christ is
 Chapter 1 xxxiii

come to forgive the sins of the world. The Gospel conveys to us the
inestimable treasures of God.
Verse 16. That I might preach him among the heathen. [16]
“It pleased God,” says the Apostle, “to reveal himself in me.
Why? For a twofold purpose. That I personally should believe in
the Son of God, and that I should reveal Him to the Gentiles.”
Paul does not mention the Jews, for the simple reason that he
was the called and acknowledged apostle of the Gentiles, although
he preached Christ also to the Jews.
We can hear the Apostle saying to himself: “I will not burden
the Gentiles with the Law, because I am their apostle and not their
lawgiver. Not once did you Galatians hear me speak of the righ-
teousness of the Law or of works. My job was to bring you the
Gospel. Therefore you ought to listen to no teachers of the Law, but
the Gospel: not Moses, but the Son of God; not the righteousness
of works, but the righteousness of faith must be proclaimed to the
Gentiles. That is the right kind of preaching for Gentiles.”
Verse 16. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.
Once Paul had received the Gospel from Christ, he conferred
with nobody in Damascus. He asked no man to teach him. He
did not go up to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of Peter and the other
apostles. At once he preached Jesus Christ in Damascus.
Verse 17. Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apos-
tles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto
Damascus.
“I went to Arabia before I saw any of the apostles. I took it upon
myself to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles without delay, because
Christ had called me for that purpose.” This statement refutes the
assertion of the false apostles that Paul had been a pupil of the
apostles, from which the false apostles inferred that Paul had been
instructed in the obedience of the Law, that therefore the Gentiles
also ought to keep the Law and submit to circumcision.
Verses 18, 19. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see
Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw
I none, save James the Lord’s brother.
Paul minutely recounts his personal history to stop the cavil of
the false apostles. Paul does not deny that he had been with some of
the apostles. He went to Jerusalem uninvited, not to be instructed,
 xxxiv Luther on Galatians

but to visit with Peter. Luke reports the occasion in the ninth chapter
of the Book of Acts. Barnabas introduced Paul to the apostles and
related to them how Paul had met the Lord Jesus on the way to
Damascus, also how Paul had preached boldly at Damascus in the
name of Jesus. Paul says that he saw Peter and James, but he denies
that he learned anything from them.
Why does Paul harp on this seemingly unimportant fact? To
convince the churches of Galatia that his Gospel was the true Word
of Christ which he learned from Christ Himself and from no man.
Paul was forced to affirm and re-affirm this fact. His usefulness to
all the churches that had used him as their pastor and teacher was at
stake.
Verse 20. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before
God, I lie not.
Was it necessary for Paul to go under oath? Yes. Paul is reporting
personal history. How else would the churches believe him? The
false apostles might say, “Who knows whether Paul is telling the
truth?” Paul, the elect vessel of God, was held in so little esteem
by his own Galatians to whom he had preached Christ that it was
necessary for him to swear an oath that he spoke the truth. If this
happened to Paul, what business have we to complain when people
doubt our words, or hold us in little regard, we who cannot begin to
compare ourselves with the Apostle?
Verse 21. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
Syria and Cilicia are adjacent countries. Paul traces his move-
ments carefully in order to convince the Galatians that he had never
been the disciple of any apostle.
[17] Verse 22, 23, 24. And was unknown by face unto the churches of
Judaea which were in Christ: But they had heard only, that he which
persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he
destroyed. And they glorified God in me.
In Syria and Cilicia Paul won the indorsement of all the churches
of Judea, by his preaching. All the churches everywhere, even
those of Judea, could testify that he had preached the same faith
everywhere. “And,” Paul adds, “these churches glorified God in me,
not because I taught that circumcision and the law of Moses should
be observed, but because I urged upon all faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ.”
 Chapter 2

Verse 1. Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem.

Paul taught justification by faith in Christ Jesus, without the
deeds of the Law. He reported this to the disciples at Antioch.
Among the disciples were some that had been brought up in the
ancient customs of the Jews. These rose against Paul in quick indig-
nation, accusing him of propagating a gospel of lawlessness.
Great dissension followed. Paul and Barnabas stood up for the
truth. They testified: “Wherever we preached to the Gentiles, the
Holy Ghost came upon those who received the Word. This happened
everywhere. We preached not circumcision, we did not require
observance of the Law. We preached faith in Jesus Christ. At our
preaching of faith, God gave to the hearers the Holy Ghost.” From
this fact Paul and Barnabas inferred that the Holy Ghost approved
the faith of the Gentiles without the Law and circumcision. If the
faith of the Gentiles had not pleased the Holy Ghost, He would not
have manifested His presence in the uncircumcised hearers of the
Word.
Unconvinced, the Jews fiercely opposed Paul, asserting that the
Law ought to be kept and that the Gentiles ought to be circumcised,
or else they could not be saved.
When we consider the obstinacy with which Romanists cling to
their traditions, we can very well understand the zealous devotion
of the Jews for the Law. After all, they had received the Law from
God. We can understand how impossible it was for recent converts
from Judaism suddenly to break with the Law. For that matter, God
did bear with them, as He bore with the infirmity of Israel when the
people halted between two religions. Was not God patient with us
also while we were blindfolded by the papacy? God is longsuffering
and full of mercy. But we dare not abuse the patience of the Lord.
We dare no longer continue in error now that the truth has been
revealed in the Gospel.

xxxv
 xxxvi Luther on Galatians

The opponents of Paul had his own example to prefer against

him. Paul had circumcised Timothy. Paul defended his action on the
ground that he had circumcised Timothy, not from compulsion, but
from Christian love, lest the weak in faith should be offended. His
opponents would not accept Paul’s explanation.
When Paul saw that the quarrel was getting out of hand he obeyed
the direction of God and left for Jerusalem, there to confer with the
other apostles. He did this not for his own sake, but for the sake of
the people.
Verse 1. With Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.
Paul chose two witnesses, Barnabas and Titus. Barnabas had
been Paul’s preaching companion to the Gentiles. Barnabas was
an eye-witness of the fact that the Holy Ghost had come upon the
Gentiles in response to the simple preaching of faith in Jesus Christ.
Barnabas stuck to Paul on this point, that it was necessary for the
Gentiles to be bothered with the Law as long as they believed in
Christ.
Titus was superintendent of the churches in Crete, having been
placed in charge of the churches by Paul. Titus was a former Gentile.
Verse 2. And I went up by revelation.
[18] If God had not ordered Paul to Jerusalem, Paul would never have
gone there.
Verse 2. And communicated unto them that gospel.
After an absence of fourteen years, respectively eighteen years,
Paul returned to Jerusalem to confer with the other apostles.
Verse 2. Which I preach among the Gentiles.
Among the Jews Paul allowed Law and circumcision to stand for
the time being. So did all the apostles. Nevertheless Paul held fast
to the liberty of the Gospel. On one occasion he said to the Jews:
“Through this man (Christ) is preached unto you forgiveness of sins;
and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which
ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:39.) Always
remembering the weak, Paul did not insist that they break at once
with the Law.
Paul admits that he conferred with the apostles concerning his
Gospel. But he denies that the conference benefited or taught him
anything. The fact is he resisted those who wanted to force the
practice of the Law upon the Gentiles. They did not overcome him,
 Chapter 2 xxxvii

he overcame them. “Your false apostles lie, when they say that I
circumcised Timothy, shaved my head in Cenchrea, and went up to
Jerusalem, at the request of the apostles. I went to Jerusalem at the
request of God. What is more, I won the indorsement of the apostles.
My opponents lost out.”
The matter upon which the apostles deliberated in conference
was this: Is the observance of the Law requisite unto justification?
Paul answered: “I have preached faith in Christ to the Gentiles, and
not the Law. If the Jews want to keep the Law and be circumcised,
very well, as long as they do so from a right motive.”
Verse 2. But privately to them which were of reputation.
This is to say, “I conferred not only with the brethren, but with
the leaders among them.”
Verse 2. Lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
Not that Paul himself ever thought he had run in vain. However,
many did think that Paul had preached the Gospel in vain, because
he kept the Gentiles free from the yoke of the Law. The opinion that
obedience to the Law was mandatory unto salvation was gaining
ground. Paul meant to remedy this evil. By this conference he hoped
to establish the identity of his Gospel with that of the other apostles,
to stop the talk of his opponents that he had been running around in
vain.
Verse 3. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was
compelled to be circumcised.
The word “compelled” acquaints us with the outcome of the
conference. It was resolved that the Gentiles should not be compelled
to be circumcised.
Paul did not condemn circumcision in itself. Neither by word
nor deed did he ever inveigh against circumcision. But he did protest
against circumcision being made a condition for salvation. He cited
the case of the Fathers. “The fathers were not justified by circumci-
sion. It was to them a sign and seal of righteousness. They looked
upon circumcision as a confession of their faith.”
The believing Jews, however, could not get it through their heads
that circumcision was not necessary for salvation. They were en-
couraged in their wrong attitude by the false apostles. The result
was that the people were up in arms against Paul and his doctrine.
 xxxviii Luther on Galatians

Paul did not condemn circumcision as if it were a sin to receive

it. But he insisted, and the conference upheld him, that circumcision
had no bearing upon salvation and was therefore not to be forced
upon the Gentiles. The conference agreed that the Jews should be
permitted to keep their ancient customs for the time being, so long
as they did not regard those customs as conveying God’s justification
of the sinner.
[19] The false apostles were dissatisfied with the verdict of the con-
ference. They did not want to rest circumcision and the practice of
the Law in Christian liberty. They insisted that circumcision was
obligatory unto salvation.
As the opponents of Paul, so our own adversaries [Luther’s, the
enemies of the Reformation] contend that the traditions of the Fathers
dare not be neglected without loss of salvation. Our opponents will
not agree with us on anything. They defend their blasphemies. They
go as far to enforce them with the sword.
Paul’s victory was complete. Titus, who was with Paul, was
not compelled to be circumcised, although he stood in the midst of
the apostles when this question of circumcision was debated. This
was a blow to the false apostles. With the living fact that Titus
was not compelled to be circumcised Paul was able to squelch his
adversaries.
Verse 4, 5. And that because of false brethren unawares brought in,
who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ
Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the
truth of the gospel might continue with you.
Paul here explains his motive for going up to Jerusalem. He did
not go to Jerusalem to be instructed or confirmed in his Gospel by
the other apostles. He went to Jerusalem in order to preserve the
true Gospel for the Galatian churches and for all the churches of the
Gentiles.
When Paul speaks of the truth of the Gospel he implies by con-
trast a false gospel. The false apostles also had a gospel, but it
was an untrue gospel. “In holding out against them,” says Paul, “I
conserved the truth of the pure Gospel.”
Now the true Gospel has it that we are justified by faith alone,
without the deeds of the Law. The false gospel has it that we are
 Chapter 2 xxxix

justified by faith, but not without the deeds of the Law. The false
apostles preached a conditional gospel.
So do the papists. They admit that faith is the foundation of
salvation. But they add the conditional clause that faith can save
only when it is furnished with good works. This is wrong. The true
Gospel declares that good works are the embellishment of faith, but
that faith itself is the gift and work of God in our hearts. Faith is
able to justify, because it apprehends Christ, the Redeemer.
Human reason can think only in terms of the Law. It mumbles:
“This I have done, this I have not done.” But faith looks to Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, given into death for the sins of the whole
world. To turn one’s eyes away from Jesus means to turn them to
the Law.
True faith lays hold of Christ and leans on Him alone. Our
opponents cannot understand this. In their blindness they cast away
the precious pearl, Christ, and hang onto their stubborn works. They
have no idea what faith is. How can they teach faith to others?
Not satisfied with teaching an untrue gospel, the false apostles
tried to entangle Paul. “They went about,” says Paul, “to spy out our
liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into
bondage.”
When Paul saw through their scheme, he attacked the false apos-
tles. He says, “We did not let go of the liberty which we have in
Christ Jesus. We routed them by the judgment of the apostles, and
we would not give in to them, no, not an inch.”
We too were willing to make all kinds of concessions to the
papists. Yes, we are willing to offer them more than we should. But
we will not give up the liberty of conscience which we have in Christ
Jesus. We refuse to have our conscience bound by any work or law,
so that by doing this or that we should be righteous, or leaving this
or that undone we should be damned.
Since our opponents will not let it stand that only faith in Christ
justifies, we will not yield to them. On the question of justification
we must remain adamant, or else we shall lose the truth of the Gospel.
It is a matter of life and death. It involves the death of the Son of
God, who died for the sins of the world. If we surrender faith in
Christ, as the only thing that can justify us, the death and resurrection
of Jesus are without meaning; that Christ is the Savior of the world
 xl Luther on Galatians

would be a myth. God would be a liar, because He would not have

[20] fulfilled His promises. Our stubbornness is right, because we want
to preserve the liberty which we have in Christ. Only by preserving
our liberty shall we be able to retain the truth of the Gospel inviolate.
Some will object that the Law is divine and holy. Let it be divine
and holy. The Law has no right to tell me that I must be justified
by it. The Law has the right to tell me that I should love God and
my neighbor, that I should live in chastity, temperance, patience, etc.
The Law has no right to tell me how I may be delivered from sin,
death, and hell. It is the Gospel’s business to tell me that. I must
listen to the Gospel. It tells me, not what I must do, but what Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, has done for me.
To conclude, Paul refused to circumcise Titus for the reason that
the false apostles wanted to compel him to circumcise Titus. Paul
refused to accede to their demands. If they had asked it on the plea
of brotherly love, Paul would not have denied them. But because
they demanded it on the ground that it was necessary for salvation,
Paul defied them, and prevailed. Titus was not circumcised.
Verse 6. But of those who seemed to be somewhat, whatsoever they
were, it maketh no matter to me.
This is a good point in Paul’s refutation. Paul disparages the
authority and dignity of the true apostles. He says of them, “Which
seemed to be somewhat.” The authority of the apostles was indeed
great in all the churches. Paul did not want to detract from their
authority, but he had to speak disparagingly of their authority in order
to conserve the truth of the Gospel, and the liberty of conscience.
The false apostles used this argument against Paul: “The apostles
lived with Christ for three years. They heard His sermons. They
witnessed His miracles. They themselves preached and performed
miracles while Christ was on earth. Paul never saw Jesus in the flesh.
Now, whom ought you to believe: Paul, who stands alone, a mere
disciple of the apostles, one of the last and least; or will you believe
those grand apostles who were sent and confirmed by Christ Himself
long before Paul?”
What could Paul say to that? He answered: “What they say
has no bearing on the argument. If the apostles were angels from
heaven, that would not impress me. We are not now discussing the
excellency of the apostles. We are talking about the Word of God
 Chapter 2 xli

now, and the truth of the Gospel. That Gospel is more excellent than
all apostles.
Verse 6. God accepteth no man’s person.
Paul is quoting Moses: “Thou shalt not respect the person of the
poor, nor honor the person of the mighty.” (Leviticus 19:15) This
quotation from Moses ought to shut the mouths of the false apostles.
“Don’t you know that God is no respecter of persons?” cries Paul.
The dignity or authority of men means nothing to God. The fact is
that God often rejects just such who stand in the odor of sanctity
and in the aura of importance. In doing so God seems unjust and
harsh. But men need deterring examples. For it is a vice with us to
esteem personality more highly than the Word of God. God wants
us to exalt His Word and not men.
There must be people in high office, of course. But we are not
to deify them. The governor, the mayor, the preacher, the teacher,
the scholar, father, mother, are persons whom we are to love and
revere, but not to the extent that we forget God. Least we attach too
much importance to the person, God leaves with important persons
offenses and sins, sometimes astounding shortcomings, to show us
that there is a lot of difference between any person and God. David
was a good king. But when the people began to think too well of
him, down he fell into horrible sins, adultery and murder. Peter,
excellent apostle that he was, denied Christ. Such examples of which
the Scriptures are full, ought to warn us not to repose our trust in
men. In the papacy appearance counts for everything. Indeed, the
whole papacy amounts to nothing more than a mere kowtowing of
persons and outward mummery. But God alone is to be feared and
honored.
I would honor the Pope, I would love his person, if he would
leave my conscience alone, and not compel me to sin against God.
But the Pope wants to be adored himself, and that cannot be done [21]
without offending God. Since we must choose between one or the
other, let us choose God. The truth is we are commissioned by God
to resist the Pope, for it is written, “We ought to obey God rather
than men.” (Acts 5:29)
We have seen how Paul refutes the argument of the false apostles
concerning the authority of the apostles. In order that the truth
of the Gospel may continue; in order that the Word of God and
xlii Luther on Galatians

the righteousness of faith may be kept pure and undefiled, let the
apostles, let an angel from heaven, let Peter, let Paul, let them all
perish.
Verse 6. For they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added
nothing to me.
The Apostle repeats: “I did not so confer with the apostles that
they taught me anything. What could they possibly teach me since
Christ by His revelation had taught me all things? It was but a
conference, and no disputation. I learned nothing, neither did I
defend my cause. I only stated what I had done, that I had preached
to the Gentiles faith in Christ, without the Law, and that in response
to my preaching the Holy Ghost came down upon the Gentiles.
When the apostles heard this, they were glad that I had taught the
truth.”
If Paul would not give in to the false apostles, much less ought
we to give in to our opponents. I know that a Christian should be
humble, but against the Pope I am going to be proud and say to him:
“You, Pope, I will not have you for my boss, for I am sure that my
doctrine is divine.” Such pride against the Pope is imperative, for if
we are not stout and proud we shall never succeed in defending the
article of the righteousness of faith.
If the Pope would concede that God alone by His grace through
Christ justifies sinners, we would carry him in our arms, we would
kiss his feet. But since we cannot obtain this concession, we will
give in to nobody, not to all the angels in heaven, not to Peter, not
to Paul, not to a hundred emperors, not to a thousand popes, not
to the whole world. If in this matter we were to humble ourselves,
they would take from us the God who created us, and Jesus Christ
who has redeemed us by His blood. Let this be our resolution, that
we will suffer the loss of all things, the loss of our good name, of
life itself, but the Gospel and our faith in Jesus Christ—we will not
stand for it that anybody take them from us.
Verses 7, 8. But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of
the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the
circumcision was unto Peter;
[For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the
circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles.]
 Chapter 2 xliii

Here the Apostle claims for himself the same authority which the
false apostles attributed to the true apostles. Paul simply inverts their
argument. “to bolster their evil cause,” says he, “the false apostles
quote the authority of the great apostles against me. I can quote the
same authority against them, for the apostles are on my side. They
gave me the right hand of fellowship. They approved my ministry.
O my Galatians, do not believe the counterfeit apostles!”
What does Paul mean by saying that the gospel of the uncir-
cumcision was committed unto him, and that of the circumcision to
Peter? Did not Paul preach to the Jews, while Peter preached to the
Gentiles also? Peter converted the Centurion. Paul’s custom was to
enter into the synagogues of the Jews, there to preach the Gospel.
Why then should he call himself the apostle of the Gentiles, while
he calls Peter the apostle of the circumcision?
Paul refers to the fact that the other apostles remained in
Jerusalem until the destruction of the city became imminent. But
Paul was especially called the apostle of the Gentiles. Even before
the destruction of Jerusalem Jews dwelt here and there in the cities
of the Gentiles. Coming to a city, Paul customarily entered the syna-
gogues of the Jews and first brought to them as the children of the
kingdom, the glad tidings that the promises made unto the fathers
were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. When the Jews refused to hear these
glad tidings, Paul turned to the Gentiles. He was the apostle of the
Gentiles in a special sense, as Peter was the apostle of the Jews.
Paul reiterates that Peter, James, and John, the accepted pillars [22]
of the Church, taught him nothing, nor did they commit unto him the
office of preaching the Gospel unto the Gentiles. Both the knowledge
of the Gospel and the commandment to preach it to the Gentiles,
Paul received directly from God. His case was parallel to that of
Peter’s, who was particularly commissioned to preach the Gospel to
the Jews.
The apostles had the same charge, the identical Gospel. Peter
did not proclaim a different Gospel, nor had he appointed his fellow
apostles. They were equals. They were all taught of God. None
was greater than the other, none could point to prerogatives above
the other. To justify his usurped primacy in the Church the Pope
claims that Peter was the chief of the apostles. This is an impudent
falsehood.
xliv Luther on Galatians

Verse 8. For he that wrought effectually in Peter.

With these words Paul refutes another argument of the false
apostles. “What reason have the false apostles to boast that the
Gospel of Peter was mighty, that he converted many, that he wrought
great miracles, and that his very shadow healed the sick? These
reports are true enough. But where did Peter acquire this power?
God gave him the power. I have the same power. I received my
power, not from Peter, but from the same God. The same Spirit
who was mighty in Peter was mighty in me also.” Luke corroborates
Paul’s statement in the words: “And God wrought special miracles
by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the
sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them,
and the evil spirits went out of them.” (Acts 19:11, 12.)
To conclude, Paul is not going to be inferior to the rest of the
apostles. Some secular writers put Paul’s boasting down as carnal
pride. But Paul had no personal interest in his boasting. It was with
him a matter of faith and doctrine. The controversy was not about
the glory of Paul, but the glory of God, the Word of God, the true
worship of God, true religion, and the righteousness of faith.
Verse 9. And when James, Cephas and John, who seemed to be
pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me
and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto
the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
“The fact is, when the apostles heard that I had received the
charge to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles from Christ; when they
heard that God had wrought many miracles through me; that great
numbers of the Gentiles had come to the knowledge of Christ through
my ministry; when they heard that the Gentiles had received the Holy
Ghost without Law and circumcision, by the simple preaching of
faith; when they heard all this they glorified God for His grace in
me.” Hence, Paul was justified in concluding that the apostles were
for him, and not against him.
Verse 9. The right hands of fellowship.
As if the apostles had said to him: “We, Paul, do agree with you
in all things. We are companions in doctrine. We have the same
Gospel with this difference, that to you is committed the Gospel
for the uncircumcised, while the Gospel for the circumcision is
 Chapter 2 xlv

committed unto us. But this difference ought not to hinder our
friendship, since we preach one and the same Gospel.”
Verse 10. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the
same which I also was forward to do.
Next to the preaching of the Gospel, a true and faithful pastor will
take care of the poor. Where the Church is, there must be the poor,
for the world and the devil persecute the Church and impoverish
many faithful Christians.
Speaking of money, nobody wants to contribute nowadays to the
maintenance of the ministry, and the erection of schools. When it
comes to establishing false worship and idolatry, no cost is spared.
True religion is ever in need of money, while false religions are
backed by wealth.
Verse 11. But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to [23]
the face, because he was to be blamed.
Paul goes on in his refutation of the false apostles by saying
that in Antioch he withstood Peter in the presence of the whole
congregation. As he stated before, Paul had no small matter in hand,
but the chief article of the Christian religion. When this article is
endangered, we must not hesitate to resist Peter, or an angel from
heaven. Paul paid no regard to the dignity and position of Peter,
when he saw this article in danger. It is written: “He that loveth
father or mother or his own life, more than me, is not worthy of me.”
(Matthew 10:37.)
For defending the truth in our day, we are called proud and
obstinate hypocrites. We are not ashamed of these titles. The cause
we are called to defend, is not Peter’s cause, or the cause of our
parents, or that of the government, or that of the world, but the cause
of God. In defense of that cause we must be firm and unyielding.
When he says, “to his face,” Paul accuses the false apostles of
slandering him behind his back. In his presence they dared not to
open their mouths. He tells them, “I did not speak evil of Peter
behind his back, but I withstood him frankly and openly.”
Others may debate here whether an apostle might sin. I claim
that we ought not to make Peter out as faultless. Prophets have
erred. Nathan told David that he should go ahead and build the
Temple of the Lord. But his prophecy was afterwards corrected by
the Lord. The apostles erred in thinking of the Kingdom of Christ
xlvi Luther on Galatians

as a worldly state. Peter had heard the command of Christ, “Go ye

into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” But if
it had not been for the heavenly vision and the special command of
Christ, Peter would never have gone to the home of Cornelius. Peter
also erred in this matter of circumcision. If Paul had not publicly
censured him, all the believing Gentiles would have been compelled
to receive circumcision and accept the Jewish law. We are not to
attribute perfection to any man.
Luke reports “that the contention between Paul and Barnabas
was so sharp that they departed asunder one from the other.” The
cause of their disagreement could hardly have been small since it
separated these two, who had been joined together for years in a
holy partnership. Such incidents are recorded for our consolation.
After all, it is a comfort to know that even saints might and do sin.
Samson, David, and many other excellent men, fell into grievous
sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth. Elijah and Jonah
became weary of life and prayed for death. Such offenses on the
part of the saints, the Scriptures record for the comfort of those who
are near despair. No person has ever sunk so low that he cannot rise
again. On the other hand, no man’s standing is so secure that he
may not fall. If Peter fell, I may fall. If he rose again, I may rise
again. We have the same gifts that they had, the same Christ, the
same baptism and the same Gospel, the same forgiveness of sins.
They needed these saving ordinances just as much as we do.
Verse 12. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with
the Gentiles.
The Gentiles who had been converted to faith in Christ, ate meats
forbidden by the Law. Peter, visiting some of these Gentiles, ate
meat and drank wine with them, although he knew that these things
were forbidden in the Law. Paul declared that he did likewise, that
he became as a Jew to the Jews, and to them that were without law,
as without law. He ate and drank with the Gentiles unconcerned
about the Jewish Law. When he was with the Jews, however, he
abstained from all things forbidden in the Law, for he labored to
serve all men, that he “might by all means save some.” Paul does
not reprove Peter for transgressing the Law, but for disguising his
attitude to the Law.
 Chapter 2 xlvii

Verse 12. But when they were come, he withdrew and separated
himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Paul does not accuse Peter of malice or ignorance, but of lack
of principle, in that he abstained from meats, because he feared the
Jews that came from James. Peter’s weak attitude endangered the
principle of Christian liberty. It is the deduction rather than the fact
which Paul reproves. To eat and to drink, or not to eat and drink, is [24]
immaterial. But to make the deduction “If you eat, you sin; if you
abstain you are righteous”—this is wrong.
Meats may be refused for two reasons. First, they may be refused
for the sake of Christian love. There is no danger connected with a
refusal of meats for the sake of charity. To bear with the infirmity of
a brother is a good thing. Paul himself taught and exemplified such
thoughtfulness. Secondly, meats may be refused in the mistaken
hope of thereby obtaining righteousness. When this is the purpose
of abstaining from meats, we say, let charity go. To refrain from
meats for this latter reason amounts to a denial of Christ. If we must
lose one or the other, let us lose a friend and brother, rather than
God, our Father.
Jerome, who understood not this passage, nor the whole epistle
for that matter, excuses Peter’s action on the ground “that it was
done in ignorance.” But Peter offended by giving the impression that
he was indorsing the Law. By his example he encouraged Gentiles
and Jews to forsake the truth of the Gospel. If Paul had not reproved
him, there would have been a sliding back of Christians into the
Jewish religion, and a return to the burdens of the Law.
It is surprising that Peter, excellent apostle that he was, should
have been guilty of such vacillation. In a former council at Jerusalem
he practically stood alone in defense of the truth that salvation is
by faith, without the Law. Peter at that time valiantly defended the
liberty of the Gospel. But now by abstaining from meats forbidden
in the Law, he went against his better judgment. You have no idea
what danger there is in customs and ceremonies. They so easily tend
to error in works.
Verse 13. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch
that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
It is marvelous how God preserved the Church by one single per-
son. Paul alone stood up for the truth, for Barnabas, his companion,
 xlviii Luther on Galatians

was lost to him, and Peter was against him. Sometimes one lone
person can do more in a conference than the whole assembly.
I mention this to urge all to learn how properly to differentiate
between the Law and the Gospel, in order to avoid dissembling.
When it come to the article of justification we must not yield, if we
want to retain the truth of the Gospel.
When the conscience is disturbed, do not seek advice from rea-
son or from the Law, but rest your conscience in the grace of God
and in His Word, and proceed as if you had never heard of the Law.
The Law has its place and its own good time. While Moses was in
the mountain where he talked with God face to face, he had no law,
he made no law, he administered no law. But when he came down
from the mountain, he was a lawgiver. The conscience must be kept
above the Law, the body under the Law.
Paul reproved Peter for no trifle, but for the chief article of Chris-
tian doctrine, which Peter’s hypocrisy had endangered. For Barnabas
and other Jews followed Peter’s example. It is surprising that such
good men as Peter, Barnabas, and others should fall into unexpected
error, especially in a matter which they knew so well. To trust in
our own strength, our own goodness, our own wisdom, is a perilous
thing. Let us search the Scriptures with humility, praying that we
may never lose the light of the Gospel. “Lord, increase our faith.”
Verse 14. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according
to the truth of the gospel.
No one except Paul had his eyes open. Consequently it was his
duty to reprove Peter and his followers for swerving from the truth
of the Gospel. It was no easy task for Paul to reprimand Peter. To
the honor of Peter it must be said that he took the correction. No
doubt, he freely acknowledged his fault.
The person who can rightly divide Law and Gospel has reason
to thank God. He is a true theologian. I must confess that in times
of temptation I do not always know how to do it. To divide Law
and Gospel means to place the Gospel in heaven, and to keep the
Law on earth; to call the righteousness of the Gospel heavenly, and
the righteousness of the Law earthly; to put as much difference
between the righteousness of the Gospel and that of the Law, as
[25] there is difference between day and night. If it is a question of faith
or conscience, ignore the Law entirely. If it is a question of works,
 Chapter 2 xlix

then lift high the lantern of works and the righteousness of the Law.
If your conscience is oppressed with a sense of sin, talk to your
conscience. Say: “You are now groveling in the dirt. You are now a
laboring ass. Go ahead, and carry your burden. But why don’t you
mount up to heaven? There the Law cannot follow you!” Leave the
ass burdened with laws behind in the valley. But your conscience,
let it ascend with Isaac into the mountain.
In civil life obedience to the law is severely required. In civil life
Gospel, conscience, grace, remission of sins, Christ Himself, do not
count, but only Moses with the lawbooks. If we bear in mind this
distinction, neither Gospel nor Law shall trespass upon each other.
The moment Law and sin cross into heaven, i.e., your conscience,
kick them out. On the other hand, when grace wanders unto the
earth, i.e., into the body, tell grace: “You have no business to be
around the dreg and dung of this bodily life. You belong in heaven.”
By his compromising attitude Peter confused the separation of
Law and Gospel. Paul had to do something about it. He reproved
Peter, not to embarrass him, but to conserve the difference between
the Gospel which justifies in heaven, and the Law which justifies on
earth.
The right separation between Law and Gospel is very important
to know. Christian doctrine is impossible without it. Let all who
love and fear God, diligently learn the difference, not only in theory
but also in practice.
When your conscience gets into trouble, say to yourself: “There
is a time to die, and a time to live; a time to learn the Law, and a time
to unlearn the Law; a time to hear the Gospel, and a time to ignore
the Gospel. Let the Law now depart, and let the Gospel enter, for
now is the right time to hear the Gospel, and not the Law.” However,
when the conflict of conscience is over and external duties must be
performed, close your ears to the Gospel, and open them wide to the
Law.
Verse 14. I said unto Peter before them all, If thou being a Jew, livest
after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest
thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews.
To live as a Jew is nothing bad. To eat or not to eat pork, what
difference does it make? But to play the Jew, and for conscience’
sake to abstain from certain meats, is a denial of Christ. When Paul
 l Luther on Galatians

saw that Peter’s attitude tended to this, he withstood Peter and said
to him: “You know that the observance of the law is not needed unto
righteousness. You know that we are justified by faith in Christ. You
know that we may eat all kinds of meats. Yet by your example you
obligate the Gentiles to forsake Christ, and to return to the Law. You
give them reason to think that faith is not sufficient unto salvation.”
Peter did not say so, but his example said quite plainly that the
observance of the Law must be added to faith in Christ, if men are
to be saved. From Peter’s example the Gentiles could not help but
draw the conclusion that the Law was necessary unto salvation. If
this error had been permitted to pass unchallenged, Christ would
have lost out altogether.
The controversy involved the preservation of pure doctrine. In
such a controversy Paul did not mind if anybody took offense.
Verse 15. We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles.
“When we Jews compare ourselves with the Gentiles, we look
pretty good. We have the Law, we have good works. Our rectitude
dates from our birth, because the Jewish religion is natural to us.
But all this does not make us righteous before God.”
Peter and the others lived up to the requirements of the Law.
They had circumcision, the covenant, the promises, the apostleship.
But because of these advantages they were not to think themselves
righteous before God. None of these prerogatives spell faith in
Christ, which alone can justify a person. We do not mean to imply
that the Law is bad. We do not condemn the Law, circumcision,
etc., for their failure to justify us. Paul spoke disparagingly of these
ordinances, because the false apostles asserted that mankind is saved
by them without faith. Paul could not let this assertion stand, for
without faith all things are deadly.
[26] Verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
For the sake of argument let us suppose that you could fulfill the
Law in the spirit of the first commandment of God: “Thou shalt love
the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart.” It would do you no good. A
person simply is not justified by the works of the Law.
The works of the Law, according to Paul, include the whole Law,
judicial, ceremonial, moral. Now, if the performance of the moral
 Chapter 2 li

law cannot justify, how can circumcision justify, when circumcision

is part of the ceremonial law?
The demands of the Law may be fulfilled before and after justi-
fication. There were many excellent men among the pagans of old,
men who never heard of justification. They lived moral lives. But
that fact did not justify them. Peter, Paul, all Christians, live up to
the Law. But that fact does not justify them. “For I know nothing by
myself,” says Paul, “yet am I not hereby justified.” (1 Corinthians
4:4.)
The nefarious opinion of the papists, which attributes the merit of
grace and the remission of sins to works, must here be emphatically
rejected. The papists say 1 that a good work performed before grace
has been obtained, is able to secure grace for a person, because it
is no more than right that God should reward a good deed. When
grace has already been obtained, any good work deserves everlasting
life as a due payment and reward for merit. For the first, God is no
debtor, they say; but because God is good and just, it is no more
than right (they say) that He should reward a good work by granting
grace for the service. But when grace has already been obtained,
they continue, God is in the position of a debtor, and is in duty bound
to reward a good work with the gift of eternal life. This is the wicked
teaching of the papacy.
Now, if I could perform any work acceptable to God and de-
serving of grace, and once having obtained grace my good works
would continue to earn for me the right and reward of eternal life,
why should I stand in need of the grace of God and the suffering and
death of Christ? Christ would be of no benefit to me. Christ’s mercy
would be of no use to me.
This shows how little insight the pope and the whole of his
religious coterie have into spiritual matters, and how little they
concern themselves with the spiritual health of their forlorn flocks.
They cannot believe that the flesh is unable to think, speak, or do
anything except against God. If they could see evil rooted in the
nature of man, they would never entertain such silly dreams about
man’s merit or worthiness.
1 Luther here accurately outlines the Roman doctrine of grace de congruo and de-
condigno.
 lii Luther on Galatians

With Paul we absolutely deny the possibility of self merit. God

never yet gave to any person grace and everlasting life as a reward for
merit. The opinions of the papists are the intellectual pipe-dreams of
idle pates, that serve no other purpose but to draw men away from
the true worship of God. The papacy is founded upon hallucinations.
The true way of salvation is this. First, a person must realize that
he is a sinner, the kind of a sinner who is congenitally unable to do
any good thing. “Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.” Those who seek
to earn the grace of God by their own efforts are trying to please
God with sins. They mock God, and provoke His anger. The first
step on the way to salvation is to repent.
The second part is this. God sent His only-begotten Son into
the world that we may live through His merit. He was crucified and
killed for us. By sacrificing His Son for us God revealed Himself to
us as a merciful Father who donates remission of sins, righteousness,
and life everlasting for Christ’s sake. God hands out His gifts freely
unto all men. That is the praise and glory of His mercy.
The scholastics explain the way of salvation in this manner.
When a person happens to perform a good deed, God accepts it and
as a reward for the good deed God pours charity into that person.
They call it “charity infused.” This charity is supposed to remain in
the heart. They get wild when they are told that this quality of the
heart cannot justify a person.
They also claim that we are able to love God by our own natural
strength, to love God above all things, at least to the extent that
we deserve grace. And, say the scholastics, because God is not
satisfied with a literal performance of the Law, but expects us to
[27] fulfill the Law according to the mind of the Lawgiver, therefore we
must obtain from above a quality above nature, a quality which they
call “formal righteousness.”
We say, faith apprehends Jesus Christ. Christian faith is not an
inactive quality in the heart. If it is true faith it will surely take Christ
for its object. Christ, apprehended by faith and dwelling in the heart,
constitutes Christian righteousness, for which God gives eternal life.
In contrast to the doting dreams of the scholastics, we teach this:
First a person must learn to know himself from the Law. With the
prophet he will then confess: “All have sinned, and come short of
 Chapter 2 liii

the glory of God.” And, “there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
And, “against thee, thee only, have I sinned.”
Having been humbled by the Law, and having been brought to a
right estimate of himself, a man will repent. He finds out that he is
so depraved, that no strength, no works, no merits of his own will
ever deliver him from his guilt. He will then understand the meaning
of Paul’s words: “I am sold under sin”; and “they are all under sin.”
At this state a person begins to lament: “Who is going to help
me?” In due time comes the Word of the Gospel, and says: “Son, thy
sins are forgiven thee. Believe in Jesus Christ who was crucified for
your sins. Remember, your sins have been imposed upon Christ.”
In this way are we delivered from sin. In this way are we justified
and made heirs of everlasting life.
In order to have faith you must paint a true portrait of Christ.
The scholastics caricature Christ into a judge and tormentor. But
Christ is no law giver. He is the Lifegiver. He is the Forgiver of sins.
You must believe that Christ might have atoned for the sins of the
world with one single drop of His blood. Instead, He shed His blood
abundantly in order that He might give abundant satisfaction for our
sins.
Here let me say, that these three things, faith, Christ, and impu-
tation of righteousness, are to be joined together. Faith takes hold of
Christ. God accounts this faith for righteousness.
This imputation of righteousness we need very much, because
we are far from perfect. As long as we have this body, sin will dwell
in our flesh. Then, too, we sometimes drive away the Holy Spirit;
we fall into sin, like Peter, David, and other holy men. Nevertheless
we may always take recourse to this fact, “that our sins are covered,”
and that “God will not lay them to our charge.” Sin is not held against
us for Christ’s sake. Where Christ and faith are lacking, there is no
remission or covering of sins, but only condemnation.
After we have taught faith in Christ, we teach good works. “Since
you have found Christ by faith,” we say, “begin now to work and
do well. Love God and your neighbor. Call upon God, give thanks
unto Him, praise Him, confess Him. These are good works. Let
them flow from a cheerful heart, because you have remission of sin
in Christ.”
 liv Luther on Galatians

When crosses and afflictions come our way, we bear them pa-
tiently. “For Christ’s yoke is easy, and His burden is light.” When
sin has been pardoned, and the conscience has been eased of its
dreadful load, a Christian can endure all things in Christ.
To give a short definition of a Christian: A Christian is not
somebody who has no sin, but somebody against whom God no
longer chalks sin, because of his faith in Christ. This doctrine brings
comfort to consciences in serious trouble. When a person is a
Christian he is above law and sin. When the Law accuses him, and
sin wants to drive the wits out of him, a Christian looks to Christ.
A Christian is free. He has no master except Christ. A Christian is
greater than the whole world.
Verse 16. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified.
The true way of becoming a Christian is to be justified by faith
in Jesus Christ, and not by the works of the Law.
We know that we must also teach good works, but they must be
taught in their proper turn, when the discussion is concerning works
and not the article of justification.
[28] Here the question arises by what means are we justified? We
answer with Paul, “By faith only in Christ are we pronounced righ-
teous, and not by works.” Not that we reject good works. Far from it.
But we will not allow ourselves to be removed from the anchorage
of our salvation.
The Law is a good thing. But when the discussion is about
justification, then is no time to drag in the Law. When we discuss
justification we ought to speak of Christ and the benefits He has
brought us.
Christ is no sheriff. He is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world.” (John 1:29.)
Verse 16. That we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not
by the works of the Law.
We do not mean to say that the Law is bad. Only it is not able
to justify us. To be at peace with God, we have need of a far better
mediator than Moses or the Law. We must know that we are nothing.
We must understand that we are merely beneficiaries and recipients
of the treasures of Christ.
 Chapter 2 lv

So far, the words of Paul were addressed to Peter. Now Paul

turns to the Galatians and makes this summary statement:
Verse 16. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
By the term “flesh” Paul does not understand manifest vices.
Such sins he usually calls by their proper names, as adultery, for-
nication, etc. By “flesh” Paul understands what Jesus meant in the
third chapter of John, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh”.
(John 3:6.) “Flesh” here means the whole nature of man, inclusive
of reason and instincts. “This flesh,” says Paul, “is not justified by
the works of the law.”
The papists do not believe this. They say, “A person who per-
forms this good deed or that, deserves the forgiveness of his sins. A
person who joins this or that holy order, has the promise of everlast-
ing life.”
To me it is a miracle that the Church, so long surrounded by vi-
cious sects, has been able to survive at all. God must have been able
to call a few who in their failure to discover any good in themselves
to cite against the wrath and judgment of God, simply took to the
suffering and death of Christ, and were saved by this simple faith.
Nevertheless God has punished the contempt of the Gospel and of
Christ on the part of the papists, by turning them over to a reprobate
state of mind in which they reject the Gospel, and receive with gusto
the abominable rules, ordinances, and traditions of men in preference
to the Word of God, until they went so far as to forbid marriage.
God punished them justly, because they blasphemed the only Son of
God.
This is, then, our general conclusion: “By the works of the law
shall no flesh be justified.”
Verse 17. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves
also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God
forbid.
Either we are not justified by Christ, or we are not justified by
the Law. The fact is, we are justified by Christ. Hence, we are not
justified by the Law. If we observe the Law in order to be justified,
or after having been justified by Christ, we think we must further
be justified by the Law, we convert Christ into a legislator and a
minister of sin.
 lvi Luther on Galatians

“What are these false apostles doing?” Paul cries. “They are
turning Law into grace, and grace into Law. They are changing
Moses into Christ, and Christ into Moses. By teaching that besides
Christ and His righteousness the performance of the Law is necessary
unto salvation, they put the Law in the place of Christ, they attribute
to the Law the power to save, a power that belongs to Christ only.”
The papists quote the words of Christ: “If thou wilt enter into
life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew 19:17.) With His own
words they deny Christ and abolish faith in Him. Christ is made to
lose His good name, His office, and His glory, and is demoted to
the status of a law enforcer, reproving, terrifying, and chasing poor
sinners around.
[29] The proper office of Christ is to raise the sinner, and extricate
him from his sins.
Papists and Anabaptists deride us because we so earnestly require
faith. “Faith,” they say, “makes men reckless.” What do these law-
workers know about faith, when they are so busy calling people back
from baptism, from faith, from the promises of Christ to the Law?
With their doctrine these lying sects of perdition deface the
benefits of Christ to this day. They rob Christ of His glory as the
Justifier of mankind and cast Him into the role of a minister of sin.
They are like the false apostles. There is not a single one among
them who knows the difference between law and grace.
We can tell the difference. We do not here and now argue whether
we ought to do good works, or whether the Law is any good, or
whether the Law ought to be kept at all. We will discuss these
questions some other time. We are now concerned with justification.
Our opponents refuse to make this distinction. All they can do is to
bellow that good works ought to be done. We know that. We know
that good works ought to be done, but we will talk about that when
the proper time comes. Now we are dealing with justification, and
here good works should not be so much as mentioned.
Paul’s argument has often comforted me. He argues: “If we
who have been justified by Christ are counted unrighteous, why seek
justification in Christ at all? If we are justified by the Law, tell me,
what has Christ achieved by His death, by His preaching, by His
victory over sin and death? Either we are justified by Christ, or we
are made worse sinners by Him.”
 Chapter 2 lvii

The Sacred Scriptures, particularly those of the New Testament,

make frequent mention of faith in Christ. “Whosoever believeth
in him is saved, shall not perish, shall have everlasting life, is not
judged,” etc. In open contradiction to the Scriptures, our opponents
misquote, “He that believeth in Christ is condemned, because he has
faith without works.” Our opponents turn everything topsy-turvy.
They make Christ over into a murderer, and Moses into a savior. Is
not this horrible blasphemy?
Verse 17. Is therefore Christ the minister of sin?
This is Hebrew phraseology, also used by Paul in II Corinthians,
chapter 3. There Paul speaks of two ministers: The minister of the
letter, and the minister of the spirit; the minister of the Law, and
the minister of grace; the minister of death, and the minister of life.
“Moses,” says Paul, “is the minister of the Law, of sin, wrath, death,
and condemnation.”
Whoever teaches that good works are indispensable unto salva-
tion, that to gain heaven a person must suffer afflictions and follow
the example of Christ and of the saints, is a minister of the Law, of
sin, wrath, and of death, for the conscience knows how impossible it
is for a person to fulfill the Law. Why, the Law makes trouble even
for those who have the Holy Spirit. What will not the Law do in the
case of the wicked who do not even have the Holy Spirit?
The Law requires perfect obedience. It condemns all do not
accomplish the will of God. But show me a person who is able to
render perfect obedience. The Law cannot justify. It can only con-
demn according to the passage: “Cursed is every one that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”
Paul has good reason for calling the minister of the Law the
minister of sin, for the Law reveals our sinfulness. The realization
of sin in turn frightens the heart and drives it to despair. Therefore
all exponents of the Law and of works deserve to be called tyrants
and oppressors.
The purpose of the Law is to reveal sin. That this is the purpose
of the Law can be seen from the account of the giving of the Law as
reported in the nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Exodus. Moses
brought the people out of their tents to have God speak to them
personally from a cloud. But the people trembled with fear, fled,
and standing aloof they begged Moses: “Speak thou with us, and
 lviii Luther on Galatians

we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” The proper
office of the Law is to lead us out of our tents, in other words, out of
the security of our self-trust, into the presence of God, that we may
perceive His anger at our sinfulness.
[30] All who say that faith alone in Christ does not justify a person,
convert Christ into a minister of sin, a teacher of the Law, and a cruel
tyrant who requires the impossible. All merit-seekers take Christ for
a new lawgiver.
In conclusion, if the Law is the minister of sin, it is at the same
time the minister of wrath and death. As the Law reveals sin it fills
a person with the fear of death and condemnation. Eventually the
conscience wakes up to the fact that God is angry. If God is angry
with you, He will destroy and condemn you forever. Unable to
stand the thought of the wrath and judgment of God, many a person
commits suicide.
Verse 17. God forbid.
Christ is not the minister of sin, but the Dispenser of righteous-
ness and the Giver of life. Christ is Lord over law, sin and death. All
who believe in Him are delivered from law, sin and death.
The Law drives us away from God, but Christ reconciles God
unto us, for “He is the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of
the world.” Now if the sin of the world is taken away, it is taken
away from me. If sin is taken away, the wrath of God and His
condemnation are also taken away. Let us practice this blessed
conviction.
Verse 18. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make
myself a transgressor.
“I have not preached to the end that I build again the things which
I destroyed. If I should do so, I would not only be laboring in vain,
but I would make myself guilty of a great wrong. By the ministry
of the Gospel I have destroyed sin, heaviness of heart, wrath, and
death. I have abolished the Law, so that it should not bother your
conscience any more. Should I now once again establish the Law,
and set up the rule of Moses? This is exactly what I should be doing,
if I would urge circumcision and the performance of the Law as
necessary unto salvation. Instead of righteousness and life, I would
restore sin and death.”
 Chapter 2 lix

By the grace of God we know that we are justified through faith

in Christ alone. We do not mingle law and grace, faith and works.
We keep them far apart. Let every true Christian mark the distinction
between law and grace, and mark it well.
We must not drag good works into the article of justification as
the monks do who maintain that not only good works, but also the
punishment which evildoers suffer for their wicked deeds, deserve
everlasting life. When a criminal is brought to the place of execution,
the monks try to comfort him in this manner: “You want to die
willingly and patiently, and then you will merit remission of your
sins and eternal life.” What cruelty is this, that a wretched thief,
murderer, robber should be so miserably misguided in his extreme
distress, that at the very point of death he should be denied the sweet
promises of Christ, and directed to hope for pardon of his sins in the
willingness and patience with which he is about to suffer death for
his crimes? The monks are showing him the paved way to hell.
These hypocrites do not know the first thing about grace, the
Gospel, or Christ. They retain the appearance and the name of the
Gospel and of Christ for a decoy only. In their confessional writings
faith or the merit of Christ are never mentioned. In their writings
they play up the merits of man, as can readily be seen from the
following form of absolution used among the monks.
True, the merit of Christ is mentioned in this formula of abso-
lution. But if you look closer you will notice that Christ’s merit
is belittled, while monkish merits are aggrandized. They confess
Christ with their lips, and at the same time deny His power to save. I
myself was at one time entangled in this error. I thought Christ was
a judge and had to be pacified by a strict adherence to the rules of
my order. But now I give thanks unto God, the Father of all mercies,
who has called me out of darkness into the light of His glorious
Gospel, and has granted unto me the saving knowledge of Christ
Jesus, my Lord.
We conclude with Paul, that we are justified by faith in Christ,
without the Law. Once a person has been justified by Christ, he will
not be unproductive of good, but as a good tree he will bring forth
good fruit. A believer has the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will
not permit a person to remain idle, but will put him to work and stir [31]
lx Luther on Galatians

him up to the love of God, to patient suffering in affliction, to prayer,

thanksgiving, to the habit of charity towards all men.
Verse 19. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live
unto God.
This cheering form of speech is frequently met with in the Scrip-
tures, particularly in the writings of St. Paul, when the Law is set
against the Law, and sin is made to oppose sin, and death is arrayed
against death, and hell is turned loose against hell, as in the fol-
lowing quotations: “Thou hast led captivity captive,” Psalm 68:18.
“O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction,”
Hosea 13:14. “And for sin, condemned sin in the flesh,” Romans
8:3.
Here Paul plays the Law against the Law, as if to say: “The Law
of Moses condemns me; but I have another law, the law of grace and
liberty which condemns the accusing Law of Moses.”
On first sight Paul seems to be advancing a strange and ugly
heresy. He says, “I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”
The false apostles said the very opposite. They said, “If you do not
live to the law, you are dead unto God.”
The doctrine of our opponents is similar to that of the false
apostles in Paul’s day. Our opponents teach, “If you want to live
unto God, you must live after the Law, for it is written, Do this and
thou shalt live.” Paul, on the other hand, teaches, “We cannot live
unto God unless we are dead unto the Law.” If we are dead unto the
Law, the Law can have no power over us.
Paul does not only refer to the Ceremonial Law, but to the whole
Law. We are not to think that the Law is wiped out. It stays. It
continues to operate in the wicked. But a Christian is dead to the
Law. For example, Christ by His resurrection became free from
the grave, and yet the grave remains. Peter was delivered from
prison, yet the prison remains. The Law is abolished as far as I am
concerned, when it has driven me into the arms of Christ. Yet the
Law continues to exist and to function. But it no longer exists for
me.
“I have nothing to do with the Law,” cries Paul. He could not
have uttered anything more devastating to the prestige of the Law.
He declares that he does not care for the Law, that he does not intend
ever to be justified by the Law.
 Chapter 2 lxi

To be dead to the Law means to be free of the Law. What right,

then, has the Law to accuse me, or to hold anything against me?
When you see a person squirming in the clutches of the Law, say
to him: “Brother, get things straight. You let the Law talk to your
conscience. Make it talk to your flesh. Wake up, and believe in Jesus
Christ, the Conqueror of Law and sin. Faith in Christ will lift you
high above the Law into the heaven of grace. Though Law and sin
remain, they no longer concern you, because you are dead to the
Law and dead to sin.”
Blessed is the person who knows how to use this truth in times
of distress. He can talk. He can say: “Mr. Law, go ahead and accuse
me as much as you like. I know I have committed many sins, and I
continue to sin daily. But that does not bother me. You have got to
shout louder, Mr. Law. I am deaf, you know. Talk as much as you
like, I am dead to you. If you want to talk to me about my sins, go
and talk to my flesh. Belabor that, but don’t talk to my conscience.
My conscience is a lady and a queen, and has nothing to do with the
likes of you, because my conscience lives to Christ under another
law, a new and better law, the law of grace.”
We have two propositions: To live unto the Law, is to die unto
God. To die unto the Law, is to live unto God. These two proposi-
tions go against reason. No law-worker can ever understand them.
But see to it that you understand them. The Law can never justify
and save a sinner. The Law can only accuse, terrify, and kill him.
Therefore to live unto the Law is to die unto God. Vice versa, to die
unto the Law is to live unto God. If you want to live unto God, bury
the Law, and find life through faith in Christ Jesus.
We have enough arguments right here to conclude that justifica-
tion is by faith alone. How can the Law effect our justification, when
Paul so plainly states that we must be dead to the Law if we want to
live unto God? If we are dead to the Law and the Law is dead to us,
how can it possibly contribute anything to our justification? There is
nothing left for us but to be justified by faith alone.
This nineteenth verse is loaded with consolation. It fortifies a [32]
person against every danger. It allows you to argue like this:
“I confess I have sinned.” “Then God will punish you.” “No, He
will not do that.” “Why not? Does not the Law say so?” “I have
nothing to do with the Law.” “How so?” “I have another law, the law
lxii Luther on Galatians

of liberty.” “What do you mean—‘liberty’?” “The liberty of Christ,

for Christ has made me free from the Law that held me down. That
Law is now in prison itself, held captive by grace and liberty.”
By faith in Christ a person may gain such sure and sound comfort,
that he need not fear the devil, sin, death, or any evil. “Sir Devil,” he
may say, “I am not afraid of you. I have a Friend whose name is Jesus
Christ, in whom I believe. He has abolished the Law, condemned
sin, vanquished death, and destroyed hell for me. He is bigger than
you, Satan. He has licked you, and holds you down. You cannot
hurt me.” This is the faith that overcomes the devil.
Paul manhandles the Law. He treats the Law as if it were a thief
and a robber He treats the Law as contemptible to the conscience, in
order that those who believe in Christ may take courage to defy the
Law, and say: “Mr. Law, I am a sinner. What are you going to do
about it?”
Or take death. Christ is risen from death. Why should we now
fear the grave? Against my death I set another death, or rather life,
my life in Christ.
Oh, the sweet names of Jesus! He is called my law against the
Law, my sin against sin, my death against death. Translated, it means
that He is my righteousness, my life, my everlasting salvation. For
this reason was He made the law of the Law, the sin of sin, the death
of death, that He might redeem me from the curse of the Law. He
permitted the Law to accuse Him, sin to condemn Him, and death to
take Him, to abolish the Law, to condemn sin, and to destroy death
for me.
This peculiar form of speech sounds much sweeter than if Paul
had said: “I through liberty am dead to the law.” By putting it in this
way, “I through the law am dead to the law,” he opposes one law
with another law, and has them fight it out.
In this masterly fashion Paul draws our attention away from the
Law, sin, death, and every evil, and centers it upon Christ.
Verse 20. I am crucified with Christ.
Christ is Lord over the Law, because He was crucified unto the
Law. I also am lord over the Law, because by faith I am crucified
with Christ.
Paul does not here speak of crucifying the flesh, but he speaks of
that higher crucifying wherein sin, devil, and death are crucified in
 Chapter 2 lxiii

Christ and in me. By my faith in Christ I am crucified with Christ.

Hence these evils are crucified and dead unto me.
Verse 20. Nevertheless I live.
“I do not mean to create the impression as though I did not live
before this. But in reality I first live now, now that I have been
delivered from the Law, from sin, and death. Being crucified with
Christ and dead unto the Law, I may now rise unto a new and better
life.”
We must pay close attention to Paul’s way of speaking. He says
that we are crucified and dead unto the Law. The fact is, the Law is
crucified and dead unto us. Paul purposely speaks that way in order
to increase the portion of our comfort.
Verse 20. Yet not I.
Paul explains what constitutes true Christian righteousness. True
Christian righteousness is the righteousness of Christ who lives in us.
We must look away from our own person. Christ and my conscience
must become one, so that I can see nothing else but Christ crucified
and raised from the dead for me. If I keep on looking at myself, I
am gone.
If we lose sight of Christ and begin to consider our past, we sim-
ply go to pieces. We must turn our eyes to the brazen serpent, Christ
crucified, and believe with all our heart that He is our righteousness [33]
and our life. For Christ, on whom our eyes are fixed, in whom we
live, who lives in us, is Lord over Law, sin, death, and all evil.
Verse 20. But Christ liveth in me.
“Thus I live,” the Apostle starts out. But presently he corrects
himself, saying, “Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” He is the form
of my perfection. He embellishes my faith.
Since Christ is now living in me, He abolishes the Law, con-
demns sin, and destroys death in me. These foes vanish in His
presence. Christ abiding in me drives out every evil. This union with
Christ delivers me from the demands of the Law, and separates me
from my sinful self. As long as I abide in Christ, nothing can hurt
me.
Christ domiciling in me, the old Adam has to stay outside and
remain subject to the Law. Think what grace, righteousness, life,
peace, and salvation there is in me, thanks to that inseparable con-
junction between Christ and me through faith!
lxiv Luther on Galatians

Paul has a peculiar style, a celestial way of speaking. “I live,” he

says, “I live not; I am dead, I am not dead; I am a sinner, I am not a
sinner; I have the Law, I have no Law.” When we look at ourselves
we find plenty of sin. But when we look at Christ, we have no sin.
Whenever we separate the person of Christ from our own person,
we live under the Law and not in Christ; we are condemned by the
Law, dead before God.
Faith connects you so intimately with Christ, that He and you
become as it were one person. As such you may boldly say: “I am
now one with Christ. Therefore Christ’s righteousness, victory, and
life are mine.” On the other hand, Christ may say: “I am that big
sinner. His sins and his death are mine, because he is joined to me,
and I to him.”
Whenever remission of sins is freely proclaimed, people misin-
terpret it according to Romans 3:8, “Let us do evil, that good may
come.” As soon as people hear that we are not justified by the Law,
they reason maliciously: “Why, then let us reject the Law. If grace
abounds, where sin abounds, let us abound in sin, that grace may all
the more abound.” People who reason thus are reckless. They make
sport of the Scriptures and slander the sayings of the Holy Ghost.
However, there are others who are not malicious, only weak,
who may take offense when told that Law and good works are
unnecessary for salvation. These must be instructed as to why good
works do not justify, and from what motives good works must be
done. Good works are not the cause, but the fruit of righteousness.
When we have become righteous, then first are we able and willing
to do good. The tree makes the apple; the apple does not make the
tree.
Verse 20. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God.
Paul does not deny the fact that he is living in the flesh. He
performs the natural functions of the flesh. But he says that this is
not his real life. His life in the flesh is not a life after the flesh.
“I live by the faith of the Son of God,” he says. “My speech is no
longer directed by the flesh, but by the Holy Ghost. My sight is no
longer governed by the flesh, but by the Holy Ghost. My hearing is
no longer determined by the flesh, but by the Holy Ghost. I cannot
teach, write, pray, or give thanks without the instrumentality of the
 Chapter 2 lxv

flesh; yet these activities do not proceed from the flesh, but from
God.”
A Christian uses earthly means like any unbeliever. Outwardly
they look alike. Nevertheless there is a great difference between
them. I may live in the flesh, but I do not live after the flesh. I do
my living now “by the faith of the Son of God.” Paul had the same
voice, the same tongue, before and after his conversion. Before his
conversion his tongue uttered blasphemies. But after his conversion
his tongue spoke a spiritual, heavenly language.
We may now understand how spiritual life originates. It enters
the heart by faith. Christ reigns in the heart with His Holy Spirit,
who sees, hears, speaks, works, suffers, and does all things in and
through us over the protest and the resistance of the flesh.
Verse 20. Who loved me, and gave himself for me.
The sophistical papists assert that a person is able by natural [34]
strength to love God long before grace has entered his heart, and
to perform works of real merit. They believe they are able to fulfill
the commandments of God. They believe they are able to do more
than God expects of them, so that they are in a position to sell their
superfluous merits to laymen, thereby saving themselves and others.
They are saving nobody. On the contrary, they abolish the Gospel,
they deride, deny, and blaspheme Christ, and call upon themselves
the wrath of God. This is what they get for living in their own
righteousness, and not in the faith of the Son of God.
The papists will tell you to do the best you can, and God will
give you His grace. They have a rhyme for it:
This may hold true in ordinary civic life. But the papists apply it
to the spiritual realm where a person can perform nothing but sin,
because he is sold under sin.
Our opponents go even further than that. They say, nature is
depraved, but the qualities of nature are untainted. Again we say:
This may hold true in everyday life, but not in the spiritual life.
In spiritual matters a person is by nature full of darkness, error,
ignorance, malice, and perverseness in will and in mind.
In view of this, Paul declares that Christ began and not we. “He
loved me, and gave Himself for me. He found in me no right mind
and no good will. But the good Lord had mercy upon me. Out of
lxvi Luther on Galatians

pure kindness He loved me, loved me so that He gave Himself for

me, that I should be free from the Law, from sin, devil, and death.”
The words, “The Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself
for me,” are so many thunderclaps and lightning bolts of protest
from heaven against the righteousness of the Law. The wickedness,
error, darkness, ignorance in my mind and my will were so great,
that it was quite impossible for me to be saved by any other means
than by the inestimable price of Christ’s death.
Let us count the price. When you hear that such an enormous
price was paid for you, will you still come along with your cowl,
your shaven pate, your chastity, your obedience, your poverty, your
works, your merits? What do you want with all these trappings?
What good are the works of all men, and all the pains of the martyrs,
in comparison with the pains of the Son of God dying on the Cross,
so that there was not a drop of His precious blood, but it was all shed
for your sins. If you could properly evaluate this incomparable price,
you would throw all your ceremonies, vows, works, and merits into
the ash can. What awful presumption to imagine that there is any
work good enough to pacify God, when to pacify God required the
invaluable price of the death and blood of His own and only Son?
Verse 20. For me.
Who is this “me”? I, wretched and damnable sinner, dearly
beloved of the Son of God. If I could by work or merit love the Son
of God and come to Him, why should He have sacrificed Himself for
me? This shows how the papists ignore the Scriptures, particularly
the doctrine of faith. If they had paid any attention at all to these
words, that it was absolutely necessary for the Son of God to be
given into death for me, they would never have invented so many
hideous heresies.
I always say, there is no remedy against the sects, no power to
resist them, except this article of Christian righteousness. If we lose
this article we shall never be able to combat errors or sects. What
business have they to make such a fuss about works or merits? If I, a
condemned sinner, could have been purchased and redeemed by any
other price, why should the Son of God have given Himself for me?
Just because there was no other price in heaven and on earth big and
good enough, was it necessary for the Son of God to be delivered
 Chapter 2 lxvii

for me. This He did out of His great love for me, for the Apostle
says, “Who loved me.”
Did the Law ever love me? Did the Law ever sacrifice itself for
me? Did the Law ever die for me? On the contrary, it accuses me,
it frightens me, it drives me crazy. Somebody else saved me from
the Law, from sin and death unto eternal life. That Somebody is the
Son of God, to whom be praise and glory forever.
Hence, Christ is no Moses, no tyrant, no lawgiver, but the Giver [35]
of grace, the Savior, full of mercy. In short, He is no less than
infinite mercy and ineffable goodness, bountifully giving Himself
for us. Visualize Christ in these His true colors. I do not say that
it is easy. Even in the present diffusion of the Gospel light, I have
much trouble to see Christ as Paul portrays Him. So deeply has the
diseased opinion that Christ is a lawgiver sunk into my bones. You
younger men are a good deal better off than we who are old. You
have never become infected with the nefarious errors on which I
suckled all my youth, until at the mention of the name of Christ I
shivered with fear. You, I say, who are young may learn to know
Christ in all His sweetness.
For Christ is Joy and Sweetness to a broken heart. Christ is a
Lover of poor sinners, and such a Lover that He gave Himself for
us. Now if this is true, and it is true, then are we never justified by
our own righteousness.
Read the words “me” and “for me” with great emphasis. Print
this “me” with capital letters in your heart, and do not ever doubt
that you belong to the number of those who are meant by this “me.”
Christ did not only love Peter and Paul. The same love He felt for
them He feels for us. If we cannot deny that we are sinners, we
cannot deny that Christ died for our sins.
Verse 21. I do not frustrate the grace of God.
Paul is now getting ready for the second argument of his Epistle,
to the effect that to seek justification by works of the Law, is to reject
the grace of God. I ask you, what sin can be more horrible than to
reject the grace of God, and to refuse the righteousness of Christ?
It is bad enough that we are wicked sinners and transgressors of all
the commandments of God; on top of that to refuse the grace of God
and the remission of sins offered unto us by Christ, is the worst sin
of all, the sin of sins. That is the limit. There is no sin which Paul
lxviii Luther on Galatians

and the other apostles detested more than when a person despises
the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Still there is no sin more common.
That is why Paul can get so angry at the Antichrist, because he snubs
Christ, rebuffs the grace of God, and refuses the merit of Christ.
What else would you call it but spitting in Christ’s face, pushing
Christ to the side, usurping Christ’s throne, and to say: “I am going
to justify you people; I am going to save you.” By what means? By
masses, pilgrimages, pardons, merits, etc. For this is Antichrist’s
doctrine: Faith is no good, unless it is reinforced by works. By this
abominable doctrine Antichrist has spoiled, darkened, and buried
the benefit of Christ, and in place of the grace of Christ and His
Kingdom, he has established the doctrine of works and the kingdom
of ceremonies.
We despise the grace of God when we observe the Law for the
purpose of being justified. The Law is good, holy, and profitable, but
it does not justify. To keep the Law in order to be justified means to
reject grace, to deny Christ, to despise His sacrifice, and to be lost.
Verse 21. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead
in vain.
Did Christ die, or did He not die? Was His death worth while, or
was it not? If His death was worth while, it follows that righteousness
does not come by the Law. Why was Christ born anyway? Why was
He crucified? Why did He suffer? Why did He love me and give
Himself for me? It was all done to no purpose if righteousness is to
be had by the Law.
Or do you think that God spared not His Son, but delivered Him
for us all, for the fun of it? Before I would admit anything like that,
I would consign the holiness of the saints and of the angels to hell.
To reject the grace of God is a common sin, of which everybody
is guilty who sees any righteousness in himself or in his deeds. And
the Pope is the sole author of this iniquity. Not content to spoil the
Gospel of Christ, he has filled the world with his cursed traditions,
e.g., his bulls and indulgences.
We will always affirm with Paul that either Christ died in vain,
or else the Law cannot justify us. But Christ did not suffer and die
in vain. Hence, the Law does not justify.
If my salvation was so difficult to accomplish that it necessitated
the death of Christ, then all my works, all the righteousness of the
 Chapter 2 lxix

Law, are good for nothing. How can I buy for a penny what cost a [36]
million dollars? The Law is a penny’s worth when you compare it
with Christ. Should I be so stupid as to reject the righteousness of
Christ which cost me nothing, and slave like a fool to achieve the
righteousness of the Law which God disdains?
Man’s own righteousness is in the last analysis a despising and
rejecting of the grace of God. No combination of words can do
justice to such an outrage. It is an insult to say that any man died
in vain. But to say that Christ died in vain is a deadly insult. To say
that Christ died in vain is to make His resurrection, His victory, His
glory, His kingdom, heaven, earth, God Himself, of no purpose and
benefit whatever.
That is enough to set any person against the righteousness of the
Law and all the trimmings of men’s own righteousness, the orders
of monks and friars, and their superstitions.
Who would not detest his own vows, his cowls, his shaven crown,
his bearded traditions, yes, the very Law of Moses, when he hears
that for such things he rejected the grace of God and the death of
Christ. It seems that such a horrible wickedness could not enter a
man’s heart, that he should reject the grace of God, and despise the
death of Christ. And yet this atrocity is all too common. Let us be
warned. Everyone who seeks righteousness without Christ, either
by works, merits, satisfactions, actions, or by the Law, rejects the
grace of God, and despises the death of Christ.
 Chapter 3

Verse 1. O foolish Galatians.

The Apostle Paul manifests his apostolic care for the Galatians.
Sometimes he entreats them, then again he reproaches them, in
accordance with his own advice to Timothy: “Preach the word; be
instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort.”
In the midst of his discourse on Christian righteousness Paul
breaks off, and turns to address the Galatians. “O foolish Galatians,”
he cries. “I have brought you the true Gospel, and you received
it with eagerness and gratitude. Now all of a sudden you drop the
Gospel. What has got into you?”
Paul reproves the Galatians rather sharply when he calls them
“fools, bewitched, and disobedient.” Whether he is indignant or
sorry, I cannot say. He may be both. It is the duty of a Christian
pastor to reprove the people committed to his charge. Of course, his
anger must not flow from malice, but from affection and a real zeal
for Christ.
There is no question that Paul is disappointed. It hurts him to
think that his Galatians showed so little stability. We can hear him
say: “I am sorry to hear of your troubles, and disappointed in you for
the disgraceful part you played.” I say rather much on this point to
save Paul from the charge that he railed upon the churches, contrary
to the spirit of the Gospel.
A certain distance and coolness can be noted in the title with
which the Apostle addresses the Galatians. He does not now address
them as his brethren, as he usually does. He addresses them as
Galatians in order to remind them of their national trait to be foolish.
We have here an example of bad traits that often cling to indi-
vidual Christians and entire congregations. Grace does not suddenly
transform a Christian into a new and perfect creature. Dregs of the
old and natural corruption remain. The Spirit of God cannot at once
overcome human deficiency. Sanctification takes time.

lxx
 Chapter 3 lxxi

Although the Galatians had been enlightened by the Holy Spirit

through the preaching of faith, something of their national trait of
foolishness plus their original depravity clung to them. Let no man
think that once he has received faith, he can presently be converted
into a faultless creature. The leavings of old vices will stick to him,
be he ever so good a Christian.
Verse 1. Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?
Paul calls the Galatians foolish and bewitched. In the fifth chap- [37]
ter he mentions sorcery among the works of the flesh, declaring
that witchcraft and sorcery are real manifestations and legitimate
activities of the devil. We are all exposed to the influence of the
devil, because he is the prince and god of the world in which we
live.
Satan is clever. He does not only bewitch men in a crude manner,
but also in a more artful fashion. He bedevils the minds of men with
hideous fallacies. Not only is he able to deceive the self-assured,
but even those who profess the true Christian faith. There is not one
among us who is not at times seduced by Satan into false beliefs.
This accounts for the many new battles we have to wage nowa-
days. But the attacks of the old Serpent are not without profit to
us, for they confirm our doctrine and strengthen our faith in Christ.
Many a time we were wrestled down in these conflicts with Satan,
but Christ has always triumphed and always will triumph. Do not
think that the Galatians were the only ones to be bewitched by the
devil. Let us realize that we too may be seduced by Satan.
Verse 1. Who hath bewitched you?
In this sentence Paul excuses the Galatians, while he blames the
false apostles for the apostasy of the Galatians.
As if he were saying: “I know your defection was not willful.
The devil sent the false apostles to you, and they tallied you into
believing that you are justified by the Law. With this our epistle we
endeavor to undo the damage which the false apostles have inflicted
upon you.”
Like Paul, we struggle with the Word of God against the fanatical
Anabaptists of our day; and our efforts are not entirely in vain. The
trouble is there are many who refuse to be instructed. They will not
listen to reason; they will not listen to the Scriptures, because they
 lxxii Luther on Galatians

are bewitched by the tricky devil who can make a lie look like the
truth.
Since the devil has this uncanny ability to make us believe a lie
until we would swear a thousand times it were the truth, we must
not be proud, but walk in fear and humility, and call upon the Lord
Jesus to save us from temptation.
Although I am a doctor of divinity, and have preached Christ and
fought His battles for a long time, I know from personal experience
how difficult it is to hold fast to the truth. I cannot always shake off
Satan. I cannot always apprehend Christ as the Scriptures portray
Him. Sometimes the devil distorts Christ to my vision. But thanks
be to God, who keeps us in His Word, in faith, and in prayer.
The spiritual witchery of the devil creates in the heart a wrong
idea of Christ. Those who share the opinion that a person is justified
by the works of the Law, are simply bewitched. Their belief goes
against faith and Christ.
Verse 1. That ye should not obey the truth.
Paul incriminates the Galatians in worse failure. “You are so
bewitched that you no longer obey the truth. I fear many of you have
strayed so far that you will never return to the truth.”
The apostasy of the Galatians is a fine indorsement of the Law,
all right. You may preach the Law ever so fervently; if the preaching
of the Gospel does not accompany it, the Law will never produce
true conversion and heartfelt repentance. We do not mean to say that
the preaching of the Law is without value, but it only serves to bring
home to us the wrath of God. The Law bows a person down. It takes
the Gospel and the preaching of faith in Christ to raise and save a
person.
Verse 1. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set
forth.
Paul’s increasing severity becomes apparent as he reminds the
Galatians that they disobeyed the truth in defiance of the vivid de-
scription he had given them of Christ. So vividly had he described
Christ to them that they could almost see and handle Him. As if Paul
were to say: “No artist with all his colors could have pictured Christ
[38] to you as vividly as I have pictured Him to you by my preaching.
Yet you permitted yourselves to be seduced to the extent that you
disobeyed the truth of Christ.”
 Chapter 3 lxxiii

Verse 1. Crucifed among you.

“You have not only rejected the grace of God, you have shame-
fully crucified Christ among you.” Paul employs the same phraseol-
ogy in Hebrews 6:6: “Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of
God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
It should make any person afraid to hear Paul say that those who
seek to be justified by the Law, not only deny Christ, but also crucify
Him anew. If those who seek to be justified by the Law and its
works are crucifiers of Christ, what are they, I like to know, who
seek salvation by the filthy rags of their own work-righteousness?
Can there be anything more horrible than the papacy, an alliance
of people who crucify Christ in themselves, in the Church, and in
the hearts of the believers?
Of all the diseased and vicious doctrines of the papacy the worst
is this: “If you want to serve God you must earn your own remission
of sins and everlasting life, and in addition help others to obtain
salvation by giving them the benefit of your extra work-holiness.”
Monks, friars, and all the rest of them brag that besides the ordi-
nary requirements common to all Christians, they do the works of
supererogation, i.e., the performance of more than is required. This
is certainly a fiendish illusion.
No wonder Paul employs such sharp language in his effort to
recall the Galatians from the doctrine of the false apostles. He says
to them: “Don’t you realize what you have done? You have crucified
Christ anew because you seek salvation by the Law.”
True, Christ can no longer be crucified in person, but He is
crucified in us when we reject grace, faith, free remission of sins
and endeavor to be justified by our own works, or by the works of
the Law.
The Apostle is incensed at the presumptuousness of any person
who thinks he can perform the Law of God to his own salvation. He
charges that person with the atrocity of crucifying anew the Son of
God.
Verse 2. This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
There is a touch of irony in these words of the Apostle. “Come
on now, my smart Galatians, you who all of a sudden have become
doctors, while I seem to be your pupil: Received ye the Holy Ghost
 lxxiv Luther on Galatians

by the works of the Law, or by the preaching of the Gospel?” This

question gave them something to think about, because their own
experience contradicted them.
“You cannot say that you received the Holy Spirit by the Law.
As long as you were servants of the Law, you never received the
Holy Ghost. Nobody ever heard of the Holy Ghost being given to
anybody, be he doctor or dunce, as a result of the preaching of the
Law. In your own case, you have not only learned the Law by heart,
you have labored with all your might to perform it. You most of
all should have received the Holy Ghost by the Law, if that were
possible. You cannot show me that this ever happened. But as soon
as the Gospel came your way, you received the Holy Ghost by the
simple hearing of faith, before you ever had a chance to do a single
good deed.” Luke verifies this statement of Paul in the Book of Acts:
“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the word.” (Acts 10:44.) “And as I began to speak, the
Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.” (Acts 11:15.)
Try to appreciate the force of Paul’s argument which is so often
repeated in the Book of Acts. That Book was written for the express
purpose of verifying Paul’s assertion, that the Holy Ghost comes
upon men, not in response to the preaching of the Law, but in
response to the preaching of the Gospel. When Peter preached
Christ at the first Pentecost, the Holy Ghost fell upon the hearers,
“and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand
souls.” Cornelius received the Holy Ghost while Peter was speaking
of Christ. “The Holy Ghost fell on all of them which heard the word.”
These are actual experiences that cannot very well be denied. When
[39] Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem and reported what they
had been able to accomplish among the Gentiles, the whole Church
was astonished, particularly when it heard that the uncircumcised
Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost by the preaching of faith in
Christ.
Now as God gave the Holy Ghost to the Gentiles without the
Law by the simple preaching of the Gospel, so He gave the Holy
Ghost also to the Jews, without the Law, through faith alone. If the
righteousness of the Law were necessary unto salvation, the Holy
Ghost would never have come to the Gentiles, because they did not
 Chapter 3 lxxv

bother about the Law. Hence the Law does not justify, but faith in
Christ justifies.
How was it with Cornelius? Cornelius and his friends whom he
had invited over to his house, do nothing but sit and listen. Peter
is doing the talking. They just sit and do nothing. The Law is far
removed from their thoughts. They burn no sacrifices. They are not
at all interested in circumcision. All they do is to sit and listen to
Peter. Suddenly the Holy Ghost enters their hearts. His presence is
unmistakable, “for they spoke with tongues and magnified God.”
Right here we have one more difference between the Law and
the Gospel. The Law does not bring on the Holy Ghost. The Gospel,
however, brings on the gift of the Holy Ghost, because it is the
nature of the Gospel to convey good gifts. The Law and the Gospel
are contrary ideas. They have contrary functions and purposes. To
endow the Law with any capacity to produce righteousness is to
plagiarize the Gospel. The Gospel brings donations. It pleads for
open hands to take what is being offered. The Law has nothing to
give. It demands, and its demands are impossible.
Our opponents come back at us with Cornelius. Cornelius, they
point out, was “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his
house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed God always.”
Because of these qualifications, he merited the forgiveness of sins,
and the gift of the Holy Ghost. So reason our opponents.
I answer: Cornelius was a Gentile. You cannot deny it. As a
Gentile he was uncircumcised. As a Gentile he did not observe
the Law. He never gave the Law any thought. For all that, he
was justified and received the Holy Ghost. How can the Law avail
anything unto righteousness?
Our opponents are not satisfied. They reply: “Granted that
Cornelius was a Gentile and did not receive the Holy Ghost by the
Law, yet the text plainly states that he was a devout man who feared
God, gave alms, and prayed. Don’t you think he deserved the gift of
the Holy Ghost?”
I answer: Cornelius had the faith of the fathers who were saved
by faith in the Christ to come. If Cornelius had died before Christ,
he would have been saved because he believed in the Christ to come.
But because the Messiah had already come, Cornelius had to be
apprized of the fact. Since Christ has come we cannot be saved by
 lxxvi Luther on Galatians

faith in the Christ to come, but we must believe that he has come.
The object of Peter’s visit was to acquaint Cornelius with the fact
that Christ was no longer to be looked for, because He is here.
As to the contention of our opponents that Cornelius deserved
grace and the gift of the Holy Ghost, because he was devout and
just, we say that these attributes are the characteristics of a spiritual
person who already has faith in Christ, and not the characteristics
of a Gentile or of natural man. Luke first praises Cornelius for
being a devout and God-fearing man, and then Luke mentions the
good works, the alms and prayers of Cornelius. Our opponents
ignore the sequence of Luke’s words. They pounce on this one
sentence, “which gave much alms to the people,” because it serves
their assertion that merit precedes grace. The fact is that Cornelius
gave alms and prayed to God because he had faith. And because of
his faith in the Christ to come, Peter was delegated to preach unto
Cornelius faith in the Christ who had already come. This argument
is convincing enough. Cornelius was justified without the Law,
therefore the Law cannot justify.
Take the case of Naaman, the Syrian, who was a Gentile and did
not belong to the race of Moses. Yet his flesh was cleansed, the God
of Israel was revealed unto him, and he received the Holy Ghost.
Naaman confessed his faith: “Behold, now I know that there is no
God in all the earth, but in Israel.” (2 Kings 5:15.) Naaman does not
do a thing. He does not busy himself with the Law. He was never
circumcised. That does not mean that his faith was inactive. He said
[40] to the Prophet Elisha: “Thy servant will henceforth offer neither
burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord. In
this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth
into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my
hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down
myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this
thing.” What did the Prophet tell him?” Go in peace.” The Jews do
not like to hear the prophet say this. “What,” they exclaim, “should
this heathen be justified without the Law? Should he be made equal
to us who are circumcised?”
Long before the time of Moses, God justified men without the
Law. He justified many kings of Egypt and Babylonia. He justified
Job. Nineveh, that great city, was justified and received the promise
 Chapter 3 lxxvii

of God that He would not destroy the city. Why was Nineveh spared?
Not because it fulfilled the Law, but because Nineveh believed the
word of God. The Prophet Jonah writes: “So the people of Nin-
eveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth.”
They repented. Nowhere in the Book of Jonah do you read that the
Ninevites received the Law of Moses, or that they were circumcised,
or that they offered sacrifices.
All this happened long before Christ was born. If the Gentiles
were justified without the Law and quietly received the Holy Spirit
at a time when the Law was in full force, why should the Law count
unto righteousness now, now that Christ has fulfilled the Law?
And yet many devote much time and labor to the Law, to the
decrees of the fathers, and to the traditions of the Pope. Many of
these specialists have incapacitated themselves for any kind of work,
good or bad, by their rigorous attention to rules and laws. All the
same, they could not obtain a quiet conscience and peace in Christ.
But the moment the Gospel of Christ touches them, certainty comes
to them, and joy, and a right judgment.
I have good reason for enlarging upon this point. The heart of
man finds it difficult to believe that so great a treasure as the Holy
Ghost is gotten by the mere hearing of faith. The hearer likes to
reason like this: Forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death, the gift
of the Holy Ghost, everlasting life are grand things. If you want to
obtain these priceless benefits, you must engage in correspondingly
great efforts. And the devil says, “Amen.”
We must learn that forgiveness of sins, Christ, and the Holy
Ghost, are freely granted unto us at the preaching of faith, in spite
of our sinfulness. We are not to waste time thinking how unworthy
we are of the blessings of God. We are to know that it pleased
God freely to give us His unspeakable gifts. If He offers His gifts
free of charge, why not take them? Why worry about our lack of
worthiness? Why not accept gifts with joy and thanksgiving?
Right away foolish reason is once more offended. It scolds us.
“When you say that a person can do nothing to obtain the grace of
God, you foster carnal security. People become shiftless and will do
no good at all. Better not preach this doctrine of faith. Rather urge
the people to exert and to exercise themselves in good works, so that
the Holy Ghost will feel like coming to them.”
 lxxviii Luther on Galatians

What did Jesus say to Martha when she was very “careful and
troubled about many things” and could hardly stand to see her sister
Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, just listening? “Martha, Martha,”
Jesus said, “thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one
thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall
not be taken away from her.” A person becomes a Christian not by
working, but by hearing. The first step to being a Christian is to hear
the Gospel. When a person has accepted the Gospel, let him first
give thanks unto God with a glad heart, and then let him get busy on
the good works to strive for, works that really please God, and not
man-made and self-chosen works.
Our opponents regard faith as an easy thing, but I know from
personal experience how hard it is to believe. That the Holy Ghost
is received by faith, is quickly said, but not so quickly done.
All believers experience this difficulty. They would gladly em-
brace the Word with a full faith, but the flesh deters them. You see,
our reason always thinks it is too easy and cheap to have righteous-
ness, the Holy Spirit, and life everlasting by the mere hearing of the
Gospel.
Verse 3. Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now
made perfect by the flesh?
[41] Paul now begins to warn the Galatians against a twofold danger.
The first danger is: “Are ye so foolish, that after ye have begun in
the Spirit, ye would now end in the flesh?”
“Flesh” stands for the righteousness of reason which seeks justi-
fication by the accomplishment of the Law. I am told that I began in
the spirit under the papacy, but am ending up in the flesh because I
got married. As though single life were a spiritual life, and married
life a carnal life. They are silly. All the duties of a Christian husband,
e.g., to love his wife, to bring up his children, to govern his family,
etc., are the very fruits of the Spirit.
The righteousness of the Law which Paul also terms the righ-
teousness of the flesh is so far from justifying a person that those
who once had the Holy Spirit and lost Him, end up in the Law to
their complete destruction.
Verse 4. Have ye suffered so many things in vain?
The other danger against which the Apostle warns the Galatians
is this: “Have ye suffered so many things in vain?” Paul wants to say:
 Chapter 3 lxxix

“Consider not only the good start you had and lost, but consider also
the many things you have suffered for the sake of the Gospel and for
the name of Christ. You have suffered the loss of your possessions,
you have borne reproaches, you have passed through many dangers
of body and life. You endured much for the name of Christ and you
endured it faithfully. But now you have lost everything, the Gospel,
faith, and the spiritual benefit of your sufferings for Christ’s sake.
What a miserable thing to endure so many amictions for nothing.”
Verse 4. If it be yet in vain.
The Apostle adds the afterthought: “If it be yet in vain. I do
not despair of all hope for you. But if you continue to look to the
Law for righteousness, I think you should be told that all your past
true worship of God and all the afflictions that you have endured
for Christ’s sake are going to help you not at all. I do not mean to
discourage you altogether. I do hope you will repent and amend.”
Verse 5. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh
miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?
This argument based on the experience of the Galatians, pleased
the Apostle so well that he returns to it after he had warned them
against their twofold danger. “You have not only received the Spirit
by the preaching of the Gospel, but by the same Gospel you were
enabled to do things.” “What things?” we ask. Miracles. At least
the Galatians had manifested the striking fruits of faith which true
disciples of the Gospel manifested in those days. On one occasion
the Apostle wrote: “The kingdom of God is not in word, but in
power.” This “power” revealed itself not only in readiness of speech,
but in demonstrations of the supernatural ability of the Holy Spirit.
When the Gospel is preached unto faith, hope, love, and patience,
God gives His wonder-working Spirit. Paul reminds the Galatians
of this. “God had not only brought you to faith by my preaching. He
had also sanctified you to bring forth the fruits of faith. And one of
the fruits of your faith was that you loved me so devotedly that you
were willing to pluck out your eyes for me.” To love a fellow-man so
devotedly as to be ready to bestow upon him money, goods, eyes in
order to secure his salvation, such love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
“These products of the Spirit you enjoyed before the false apos-
tles misled you,” the Apostle reminds the Galatians. “But you
 lxxx Luther on Galatians

haven’t manifested any of these fruits under the regime of the Law.
How does it come that you do not grow the same fruits now? You
no longer teach truly; you do not believe boldly; you do not live
well; you do not work hard; you do not bear things patiently. Who
has spoiled you that you no longer love me; that you are not now
ready to pluck out your eyes for me? What has happened to cool
your personal interest in me?”
The same thing happened to me. When I began to proclaim the
Gospel, there were many, very many who were delighted with our
doctrine and had a good opinion of us. And now? Now they have
succeeded in making us so odious to those who formerly loved us
that they now hate us like poison.
[42] Paul argues: “Your experience ought to teach you that the fruits
of love do not grow on the stump of the Law. You had not virtue
prior to the preaching of the Gospel and you have no virtues now
under the regime of the false apostles.”
We, too, may say to those who misname themselves “evangel-
ical” and flout their new-found liberty: Have you put down the
tyranny of the Pope and obtained liberty in Christ through the An-
abaptists and other fanatics? Or have you obtained your freedom
from us who preach faith in Christ Jesus? If there is any honesty left
in them they will have to confess that their freedom dates from the
preaching of the Gospel.
Verse 6. Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness.
The Apostle next adduces the example of Abraham and reviews
the testimony of the Scriptures concerning faith. The first passage
is taken from Genesis 15:6: “And he believed in the Lord; and he
counted it to him for righteousness.” The Apostle makes the most of
this passage. Abraham may have enjoyed a good standing with men
for his upright life, but not with God. In the sight of God, Abraham
was a condemned sinner. That he was justified before God was
not due to his own exertions, but due to his faith. The Scriptures
expressly state: “Abraham believed in the Lord; and he counted it to
him for righteousness.”
Paul places the emphasis upon the two words: Abraham believed.
Faith in God constitutes the highest worship, the prime duty, the first
obedience, and the foremost sacrifice. Without faith God forfeits
 Chapter 3 lxxxi

His glory, wisdom, truth, and mercy in us. The first duty of man
is to believe in God and to honor Him with his faith. Faith is truly
the height of wisdom, the right kind of righteousness, the only real
religion. This will give us an idea of the excellence of faith.
To believe in God as Abraham did is to be right with God because
faith honors God. Faith says to God: “I believe what you say.”
When we pay attention to reason, God seems to propose im-
possible matters in the Christian Creed. To reason it seems absurd
that Christ should offer His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper;
that Baptism should be the washing of regeneration; that the dead
shall rise; that Christ the Son of God was conceived in the womb
of the Virgin Mary, etc. Reason shouts that all this is preposterous.
Are you surprised that reason thinks little of faith? Reason thinks it
ludicrous that faith should be the foremost service any person can
render unto God.
Let your faith supplant reason. Abraham mastered reason by
faith in the Word of God. Not as though reason ever yields meekly.
It put up a fight against the faith of Abraham. Reason protested that
it was absurd to think that Sarah who was ninety years old and barren
by nature, should give birth to a son. But faith won the victory and
routed reason, that ugly beast and enemy of God. Everyone who by
faith slays reason, the world’s biggest monster, renders God a real
service, a better service than the religions of all races and all the
drudgery of meritorious monks can render.
Men fast, pray, watch, suffer. They intend to appease the wrath
of God and to deserve God’s grace by their exertions. But there
is no glory in it for God, because by their exertions these workers
pronounce God an unmerciful slave driver, an unfaithful and angry
Judge. They despise God, make a liar out of Him, snub Christ and
all His benefits; in short they pull God from His throne and perch
themselves on it.
Faith truly honors God. And because faith honors God, God
counts faith for righteousness.
Christian righteousness is the confidence of the heart in God
through Christ Jesus. Such confidence is accounted righteousness
for Christ’s sake. Two things make for Christian righteousness:
Faith in Christ, which is a gift of God; and God’s acceptance of this
imperfect faith of ours for perfect righteousness. Because of my
 lxxxii Luther on Galatians

faith in Christ, God overlooks my distrust, the unwillingness of my

spirit, my many other sins. Because the shadow of Christ’s wing
covers me I have no fear that God will cover all my sins and take my
imperfections for perfect righteousness.
God “winks” at my sins and covers them up. God says: “Because
you believe in My Son I will forgive your sins until death shall deliver
you from the body of sin.”
[43] Learn to understand the constitution of your Christian righteous-
ness. Faith is weak, but it means enough to God that He will not lay
sin to our charge. He will not punish nor condemn us for it. He will
forgive our sins as though they amount to nothing at all. He will do
it not because we are worthy of such mercy. He will do it for Jesus’
sake in whom we believe.
Paradoxically, a Christian is both right and wrong, holy and
profane, an enemy of God and a child of God. These contradictions
no person can harmonize who does not understand the true way of
salvation. Under the papacy we were told to toil until the feeling
of guilt had left us. But the authors of this deranged idea were
frequently driven to despair in the hour of death. It would have
happened to me, if Christ had not mercifully delivered me from this
error.
We comfort the afflicted sinner in this manner: Brother, you can
never be perfect in this life, but you can be holy. He will say: “How
can I be holy when I feel my sins?” I answer: You feel sin? That is
a good sign. To realize that one is ill is a step, and a very necessary
step, toward recovery. “But how will I get rid of my sin?” he will
ask. I answer: See the heavenly Physician, Christ, who heals the
broken-hearted. Do not consult that Quackdoctor, Reason. Believe
in Christ and your sins will be pardoned. His righteousness will
become your righteousness, and your sins will become His sins.
On one occasion Jesus said to His disciples: “The Father loveth
you.” Why? Not because the disciples were Pharisees, or circum-
cised, or particularly attentive to the Law. Jesus said: “The Father
loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came
out from God. It pleased you to know that the Father sent me into
the world. And because you believed it the Father loves you.” On
another occasion Jesus called His disciples evil and commanded
them to ask for forgiveness.
 Chapter 3 lxxxiii

A Christian is beloved of God and a sinner. How can these two

contradictions be harmonized: I am a sinner and deserve God’s
wrath and punishment, and yet the Father loves me? Christ alone
can harmonize these contradictions. He is the Mediator.
Do you now see how faith justifies without works? Sin lingers
in us, and God hates sin. A transfusion of righteousness therefore
becomes vitally necessary. This transfusion of righteousness we
obtain from Christ because we believe in Him.
Verse 7. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are
the children of Abraham.
This is the main point of Paul’s argument against the Jews: The
children of Abraham are those who believe and not those who are
born of Abraham’s flesh and blood. This point Paul drives home
with all his might because the Jews attached saving value to the
genealogical fact: “We are the seed and children of Abraham.”
Let us begin with Abraham and learn how this friend of God was
justified and saved. Not because he left his country, his relatives,
his father’s house; not because he was circumcised; not because
he stood ready to sacrifice his own son Isaac in whom he had the
promise of posterity. Abraham was justified because he believed.
Paul’s argumentation runs like this: “Since this is the unmistakable
testimony of Holy Writ, why do you take your stand upon circum-
cision and the Law? Was not Abraham, your father, of whom you
make so much, justified and saved without circumcision and the Law
by faith alone?” Paul therefore concludes: “They which are of faith,
the same are the children of Abraham.”
Abraham was the father of the faithful. In order to be a child of
the believing Abraham you must believe as he did. Otherwise you
are merely the physical offspring of the procreating Abraham, i.e.,
you were conceived and born in sin unto wrath and condemnation.
Ishmael and Isaac were both the natural children of Abraham. By
rights Ishmael should have enjoyed the prerogatives of the firstborn,
if physical generation had any special value. Nevertheless he was
left out in the cold while Isaac was called. This goes to prove that
the children of faith are the real children of Abraham.
Some find fault with Paul for applying the term “faith” in Genesis
15:6 to Christ. They think Paul’s use of the term too wide and
general. They think its meaning should be restricted to the context. [44]
lxxxiv Luther on Galatians

They claim Abraham’s faith had no more in it than a belief in the

promise of God that he should have seed.
We reply: Faith presupposes the assurance of God’s mercy. This
assurance takes in the confidence that our sins are forgiven for
Christ’s sake. Never will the conscience trust in God unless it can be
sure of God’s mercy and promises in Christ. Now all the promises
of God lead back to the first promise concerning Christ: “And I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
The faith of the fathers in the Old Testament era, and our faith in the
New Testament are one and the same faith in Christ Jesus, although
times and conditions may differ. Peter acknowledged this in the
words: “Which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But
we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall
be saved, even as they.” (Acts 15:10, 11.) And Paul writes: “And
did all drink the spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock
that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:4.)
And Christ Himself declared: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day: and he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56.) The faith of the
fathers was directed at the Christ who was to come, while ours rests
in the Christ who has come. Time does not change the object of true
faith, or the Holy Spirit. There has always been and always will be
one mind, one impression, one faith concerning Christ among true
believers whether they live in times past, now, or in times to come.
We too believe in the Christ to come as the fathers did in the Old
Testament, for we look for Christ to come again on the last day to
judge the quick and the dead.
Verse 7. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are
the children of Abraham.
Paul is saying: “You know from the example of Abraham and
from the plain testimony of the Scriptures that they are the children
of Abraham, who have faith in Christ, regardless of their national-
ity, regardless of the Law, regardless of works, regardless of their
parentage. The promise was made unto Abraham, ‘Thou shalt be
a father of many nations’; again, ‘And in thee shall all families of
the earth be blessed.’” To prevent the Jews from misinterpreting the
word “nations,” the Scriptures are careful to say “many nations.”
 Chapter 3 lxxxv

The true children of Abraham are the believers in Christ from all
nations.
Verse 8. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through faith.
“Your boasting does not get you anywhere,” says Paul to the
Galatians, “because the Sacred Scriptures foresaw and foretold long
before the Law was ever given, that the heathen should be justified
by the blessed ‘seed’ of Abraham and not by the Law. This promise
was made four hundred and thirty years before the Law was given.
Because the Law was given so many years after Abraham, it could
not abolish the promised blessing.” This argument is strong because
it is based on the exact factor of time. “Why should you boast of
the Law, my Galatians, when the Law came four hundred and thirty
years after the promise?”
The false apostles glorified the Law and despised the promise
made unto Abraham, although it antedated the Law by many years. It
was after Abraham was accounted righteous because of his faith that
the Scriptures first make mention of circumcision. “The Scriptures,”
says Paul, “meant to forestall your infatuation for the righteousness
of the Law by installing the righteousness of faith before circumci-
sion and the Law ever were ordained.”
Verse 8. Preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee
shall all nations be blessed.
The Jews misconstrue this passage. They want the term “to
bless” to mean “to praise.” They want the passage to read: In thee
shall all the nations of the earth be praised. But this is a perversion
of the words of Holy Writ. With the words “Abraham believed” Paul
describes a spiritual Abraham, renewed by faith and regenerated
by the Holy Ghost, that he should be the spiritual father of many
nations. In that way all the Gentiles could be given to him for an
inheritance.
The Scriptures ascribe no righteousness to Abraham except
through faith. The Scriptures speak of Abraham as he stands before
God, a man justified by faith. Because of his faith God extends to
him the promise: “In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
Verse 9. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful [45]
Abraham.
lxxxvi Luther on Galatians

The emphasis lies on the words “with faithful Abraham.” Paul

distinguishes between Abraham and Abraham. There is a working
and there is a believing Abraham. With the working Abraham we
have nothing to do. Let the Jews glory in the generating Abraham;
we glory in the believing Abraham of whom the Scriptures say
that he received the blessing of righteousness by faith, not only for
himself but for all who believe as he did. The world was promised
to Abraham because he believed. The whole world is blessed if it
believes as Abraham believed.
The blessing is the promise of the Gospel. That all nations are
to be blessed means that all nations are to hear the Gospel. All
nations are to be declared righteous before God through faith in
Christ Jesus. To bless simply means to spread abroad the knowledge
of Christ’s salvation. This is the office of the New Testament Church
which distributes the promised blessing by preaching the Gospel, by
administering the sacraments, by comforting the broken-hearted, in
short, by dispensing the benefits of Christ.
The Jews exhibited a working Abraham. The Pope exhibits a
working Christ, or an exemplary Christ. The Pope quotes Christ’s
saying recorded in John 13:15, “I have given you an example, that
ye should do as I have done to you.” We do not deny that Christians
ought to imitate the example of Christ; but mere imitation will not
satisfy God. And bear in mind that Paul is not now discussing the
example of Christ, but the salvation of Christ.
That Abraham submitted to circumcision at the command of God,
that he was endowed with excellent virtues, that he obeyed God in
all things, was certainly admirable of him. To follow the example of
Christ, to love one’s neighbor, to do good to them that persecute you,
to pray for one’s enemies, patiently to bear the ingratitude of those
who return evil for good, is certainly praiseworthy. But praiseworthy
or not, such virtues do not acquit us before God. It takes more than
that to make us righteous before God. We need Christ Himself, not
His example, to save us. We need a redeeming, not an exemplary
Christ, to save us. Paul is here speaking of the redeeming Christ
and the believing Abraham, not of the model Christ or the sweating
Abraham.
The believing Abraham is not to lie buried in the grave. He is to
be dusted off and brought out before the world. He is to be praised
 Chapter 3 lxxxvii

to the sky for his faith. Heaven and earth ought to know about him
and about his faith in Christ. The working Abraham ought to look
pretty small next to the believing Abraham.
Paul’s words contain the implication of contrast. When he quotes
Scripture to the effect that all nations that share the faith of faithful
Abraham are to be blessed, Paul means to imply the contrast that all
nations are accursed without faith in Christ.
Verse 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse.
The curse of God is like a flood that swallows everything that is
not of faith. To avoid the curse we must hold on to the promise of
the blessing in Christ.
The reader is reminded that all this has no bearing upon civil
laws, customs, or political matters. Civil laws and ordinances have
their place and purpose. Let every government enact the best possible
laws. But civil righteousness will never deliver a person from the
condemnation of God’s Law.
I have good reason for calling your attention to this. People
easily mistake civil righteousness for spiritual righteousness. In civil
life we must, of course, pay attention to laws and deeds, but in the
spiritual life we must not think to be justified by laws and works, but
always keep in mind the promise and blessing of Christ, our only
Savior.
According to Paul everything that is not of faith is sin. When
our opponents hear us repeat this statement of Paul, they make it
appear as if we taught that governments should not be honored, as
if we favored rebellion against the constituted authorities, as if we
condemned all laws. Our opponents do us a great wrong, for we
make a clear-cut distinction between civil and spiritual affairs.
Governmental laws and ordinances are blessings of God for [46]
this life only. As for everlasting life, temporal blessings are not
good enough. Unbelievers enjoy more temporal blessings than the
Christians. Civil or legal righteousness may be good enough for this
life but not for the life hereafter. Otherwise the infidels would be
nearer heaven than the Christians, for infidels often excel in civil
righteousness.
Verse 10. For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
lxxxviii Luther on Galatians

Paul goes on to prove from this quotation out of the Book of

Deuteronomy that all men who are under the Law are under the
sentence of sin, of the wrath of God, and of everlasting death. Paul
produces his proof in a roundabout way. He turns the negative state-
ment, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them,” into a positive state-
ment, “As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.”
These two statements, one by Paul and the other by Moses, appear to
conflict. Paul declares, “Whosoever shall do the works of the Law,
is accursed.” Moses declares, “Whosoever shall not do the works of
the Law, is accursed.” How can these two contradictory statements
be reconciled? How can the one statement prove the other? No
person can hope to understand Paul unless he understands the article
of justification. These two statements are not at all inconsistent.
We must bear in mind that to do the works of the Law does not
mean only to live up to the superficial requirements of the Law, but
to obey the spirit of the Law to perfection. But where will you find
the person who can do that? Let him step forward and we will praise
him.
Our opponents have their answer ready-made. They quote Paul’s
own statement in Romans 2:13, “The doers of the law shall be
justified.” Very well. But let us first find out who the doers of the
law are. They call a “doer” of the Law one who performs the Law
in its literal sense. This is not to “do” the Law. This is to sin. When
our opponents go about to perform the Law they sin against the first,
the second, and the third commandments, in fact they sin against
the whole Law. For God requires above all that we worship Him in
spirit and in faith. In observing the Law for the purpose of obtaining
righteousness without faith in Christ these law-workers go smack
against the Law and against God. They deny the righteousness of
God, His mercy, and His promises. They deny Christ and all His
benefits.
In their ignorance of the true purpose of the Law the exponents
of the Law abuse the Law, as Paul says, Romans 10:3, “For they,
being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of God.”
 Chapter 3 lxxxix

In their folly our opponents rush into the Scriptures, pick out a
sentence here and a sentence there about the Law and imagine they
know all about it. Their work-righteousness is plain idolatry and
blasphemy against God. No wonder they abide under the curse of
God.
Because God saw that we could not fulfill the Law, He provided
a way of salvation long before the Law was ever given, a salvation
that He promised to Abraham, saying, “In thee shall all nations be
blessed.”
The very first thing for us to do is to believe in Christ. First, we
must receive the Holy Spirit, who enlightens and sanctifies us so that
we can begin to do the Law, i.e., to love God and our neighbor. Now,
the Holy Ghost is not obtained by the Law, but by faith in Christ.
In the last analysis, to do the Law means to believe in Jesus Christ.
The tree comes first, and then come the fruits.
The scholastics admit that a mere external and superficial perfor-
mance of the Law without sincerity and good will is plain hypocrisy.
Judas acted like the other disciples. What was wrong with Judas?
Mark what Rome answers, “Judas was a reprobate. His motives
were perverse, therefore his works were hypocritical and no good.”
Well, well. Rome does admit, after all, that works in themselves
do not justify unless they issue from a sincere heart. Why do our
opponents not profess the same truth in spiritual matters? There,
above all, faith must precede everything. The heart must be purified
by faith before a person can lift a finger to please God.
There are two classes of doers of the Law, true doers and hypo- [47]
critical doers. The true doers of the Law are those who are moved by
faith in Christ to do the Law. The hypocritical doers of the Law are
those who seek to obtain righteousness by a mechanical performance
of good works while their hearts are far removed from God. They
act like the foolish carpenter who starts with the roof when he builds
a house. Instead of doing the Law, these law-conscious hypocrites
break the Law. They break the very first commandment of God by
denying His promise in Christ. They do not worship God in faith.
They worship themselves.
No wonder Paul was able to foretell the abominations that An-
tichrist would bring into the Church. That Antichrists would come,
Christ Himself prophesied, Matthew 24:5, “For many shall come
xc Luther on Galatians

in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Who-

ever seeks righteousness by works denies God and makes himself
God. He is an Antichrist because he ascribes to his own works the
omnipotent capability of conquering sin, death, devil, hell, and the
wrath of God. An Antichrist lays claim to the honor of Christ. He is
an idolater of himself. The law-righteous person is the worst kind of
infidel.
Those who intend to obtain righteousness by their own efforts do
not say in so many words: “I am God; I am Christ.” But it amounts
to that. They usurp the divinity and office of Christ. The effect is
the same as if they said, “I am Christ; I am a Savior. I save myself
and others.” This is the impression the monks give out.
The Pope is the Antichrist, because he is against Christ, because
he takes liberties with the things of God, because he lords it over the
temple of God.
I cannot tell you in words how criminal it is to seek righteousness
before God without faith in Christ, by the works of the Law. It is the
abomination standing in the holy place. It deposes the Creator and
deifies the creature.
The real doers of the Law are the true believers. The Holy Spirit
enables them to love God and their neighbor. But because we have
only the first- fruits of the Spirit and not the tenth-fruits, we do not
observe the Law perfectly. This imperfection of ours, however, is
not imputed to us, for Christ’s sake.
Hence, the statement of Moses, “Cursed is every one that con-
tinueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to
do them,” is not contrary to Paul. Moses requires perfect doers of
the Law. But where will you find them? Nowhere. Moses himself
confessed that he was not a perfect doer of the Law. He said to the
Lord: “Pardon our iniquity and our sin.” Christ alone can make us
innocent of any transgression. How so? First, by the forgiveness of
our sins and the imputation of His righteousness. Secondly, by the
gift of the Holy Ghost, who engenders new life and activity in us.

Objections to the Doctrine of Faith Disproved

Here we shall take the time to enter upon the objections which
our opponents raise against the doctrine of faith. There are many
 Chapter 3 xci

passages in the Bible that deal with works and the reward of works
which our opponents cite against us in the belief that these will
disprove the doctrine of faith which we teach.
The scholastics grant that according to the reasonable order of
nature being precedes doing. They grant that any act is faulty unless
it proceeds from a right motive. They grant that a person must be
right before he can do right. Why don’t they grant that the right
inclination of the heart toward God through faith in Christ must
precede works?
In the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews we find
a catalogue of various works and deeds of the saints of the Bible.
David, who killed a lion and a bear, and defeated Goliath, is men-
tioned. In the heroic deeds of David the scholastic can discover
nothing more than outward achievement. But the deeds of David
must be evaluated according to the personality of David. When we
understand that David was a man of faith, whose heart trusted in
the Lord, we shall understand why he could do such heroic deeds.
David said: “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion,
and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand
of this Philistine.” Again: “Thou comest to me with a sword, and
with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of [48]
the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast
defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will
smite thee, and take shine head from thee.” (1 Samuel 17:37, 45,
46.) Before David could achieve a single heroic deed he was already
a man beloved of God, strong and constant in faith.
Of Abel it is said in the same Epistle: “By faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” When the scholastics
come upon the parallel passage in Genesis 4:4 they get no further
than the words: “And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his
offering.” “Aha!” they cry. “See, God has respect to offerings. Works
do justify.” With mud in their eyes they cannot see that the text says
in Genesis that the Lord had respect to the person of Abel first. Abel
pleased the Lord because of his faith. Because the person of Abel
pleased the Lord, the offering of Abel pleased the Lord also. The
Epistle to the Hebrews expressly states: “By faith Abel offered unto
God a more excellent sacrifice.”
xcii Luther on Galatians

In our dealings with God the work is worth nothing without faith,
for “without faith it is impossible to please him.” (Hebrews 11:6.)
The sacrifice of Abel was better than the sacrifice of Cain, because
Abel had faith. As to Cain he had no faith or trust in God’s grace,
but strutted about in his own fancied worth. When God refused to
recognize Cain’s worth, Cain got angry at God and at Abel.
The Holy Spirit speaks of faith in different ways in the Sacred
Scriptures. Sometimes He speaks of faith independently of other
matters. When the Scriptures speak of faith in the absolute or ab-
stract, faith refers to justification directly. But when the Scripture
speaks of rewards and works it speaks of compound or relative faith.
We will furnish some examples. Galatians 5:6, “Faith which wor-
keth by love.” Leviticus 18:5, “Which if a man do, he shall live in
them.” Matthew 19:17, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the com-
mandments.” Psalm 37:27, “Depart from evil, and do good.” In these
and other passages where mention is made of doing, the Scriptures
always speak of a faithful doing, a doing inspired by faith. “Do this
and thou shalt live,” means: First have faith in Christ, and Christ
will enable you to do and to live.
In the Word of God all things that are attributed to works are
attributable to faith. Faith is the divinity of works. Faith permeates
all the deeds of the believer, as Christ’s divinity permeated His
humanity. Abraham was accounted righteous because faith pervaded
his whole personality and his every action.
When you read how the fathers, prophets, and kings accom-
plished great deeds, remember to explain them as the Epistle to the
Hebrews accounts for them: “Who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of
lions.” (Hebrews 11:33.) In this way will we correctly interpret all
those passages that seem to support the righteousness of works.
The Law is truly observed only through faith. Hence, every “holy,”
“moral” law-worker is accursed.
Supposing that this explanation will not satisfy the scholastics,
supposing that they should completely wrap me up in their arguments
(they cannot do it), I would rather be wrong and give all credit to
Christ alone. Here is Christ. Paul, Christ’s apostle, declares that
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us.” (Galatians 3:13.) I hear with my own ears that I
 Chapter 3 xciii

cannot be saved except by the blood and death of Christ. I conclude,

therefore, that it is up to Christ to overcome my sins, and not up to
the Law, or my own efforts. If He is the price of my redemption, if
He was made sin for my justification, I don’t give a care if you quote
me a thousand Scripture passages for the righteousness of works
against the righteousness of faith. I have the Author and Lord of
the Scriptures on my side. I would rather believe Him than all that
riffraff of “pious” law-workers.
Verse 11. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
The Apostle draws into his argument the testimony of the Prophet [49]
Habakkuk: “The just shall live by his faith.” This passage carries
much weight because it eliminates the Law and the deeds of the Law
as factors in the process of our justification.
The scholastics misconstrue this passage by saying: “The just
shall live by faith, if it is a working faith, or a faith formed and
performed by charitable works.” Their annotation is a forgery. To
speak of formed or unformed faith, a sort of double faith, is contrary
to the Scriptures. If charitable works can form and perfect faith I am
forced to say eventually that charitable deeds constitute the essential
factor in the Christian religion. Christ and His benefits would be lost
to us.
Verse 12. And the law is not of faith.
In direct opposition to the scholastics Paul declares: “The law is
not of faith.” What is this charity the scholastics talk so much about?
Does not the Law command charity? The fact is the Law commands
nothing but charity, as we may gather from the following Scripture
passages: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5.)
“Strewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep
my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6.) “On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:40.) If the law
requires charity, charity is part of the Law and not of faith. Since
Christ has displaced the Law which commands charity, it follows
that charity has been abrogated with the Law as a factor in our
justification, and only faith is left.
Verse 12. But, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
xciv Luther on Galatians

Paul undertakes to explain the difference between the righteous-

ness of the Law and the righteousness of faith. The righteousness
of the Law is the fulfillment of the Law according to the passage:
“The man that doeth them shall live in them.” The righteousness of
faith is to believe the Gospel according to the passage: “The just
shall live by faith.” The Law is a statement of debit, the Gospel a
statement of credit. By this distinction Paul explains why charity
which is the commandment of the Law cannot justify, because the
Law contributes nothing to our justification.
Indeed, works do follow after faith, but faith is not therefore a
meritorious work. Faith is a gift. The character and limitations of
the Law must be rigidly maintained.
When we believe in Christ we live by faith. When we believe in
the Law we may be active enough but we have no life. The function
of the Law is not to give life; the function of the Law is to kill. True,
the Law says: “The man that doeth them shall live in them.” But
where is the person who can do “them,” i.e., love God with all his
heart, soul, and mind, and his neighbor as himself?
Paul has nothing against those who are justified by faith and
therefore are true doers of the Law. He opposes those who think they
can fulfill the Law when in reality they can only sin against the Law
by trying to obtain righteousness by the Law. The Law demands that
we fear, love, and worship God with a true faith. The law-workers
fail to do this. Instead, they invent new modes of worship and new
kinds of works which God never commanded. They provoke His
anger according to the passage: “But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:9.)
Hence, the law-righteous workers are downright rebels against God,
and idolaters who constantly sin against the first commandment. In
short, they are no good at all, though outwardly they seem to be
extremely solicitous of the honor of God.
We who are justified by faith as the saints of old, may be under
the Law, but we are not under the curse of the Law because sin is not
imputed to us for Christ’s sake. If the Law cannot be fulfilled by the
believers, if sin continues to cling to them despite their love for God,
what can you expect of people who are not yet justified by faith,
who are still enemies of God and His Word, like the unbelieving
 Chapter 3 xcv

law-workers? It goes to show how impossible it is for those who

have not been justified by faith to fulfill the Law.
Verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree.
Jerome and his present-day followers rack their miserable brains [50]
over this comforting passage in an effort to save Christ from the
fancied insult of being called a curse. They say: “This quotation
from Moses does not apply to Christ. Paul is taking liberties with
Moses by generalizing the statements in Deuteronomy 21:23. Moses
has ‘he that is hanged.’ Paul puts it ‘every one that hangeth.’ On the
other hand, Paul omits the words ‘of God’ in his quotation from
Moses: ‘For he that is hanged is accursed of God.’ Moses speaks of
a criminal who is worthy of death.” “How,” our opponents ask, “can
this passage be applied to the holy Christ as if He were accursed of
God and worthy to be hanged?” This piece of exegesis may impress
the naive as a zealous attempt to defend the honor and glory of
Christ. Let us see what Paul has in mind.
Paul does not say that Christ was made a curse for Himself. The
accent is on the two words “for us.” Christ is personally innocent.
Personally, He did not deserve to be hanged for any crime of His
own doing. But because Christ took the place of others who were
sinners, He was hanged like any other transgressor. The Law of
Moses leaves no loopholes. It says that a transgressor should be
hanged. Who are the other sinners? We are. The sentence of death
and everlasting damnation had long been pronounced over us. But
Christ took all our sins and died for them on the Cross. “He was
numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and
made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12.)
All the prophets of old said that Christ should be the greatest
transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, blasphemer that ever was or
ever could be on earth. When He took the sins of the whole world
upon Himself, Christ was no longer an innocent person. He was
a sinner burdened with the sins of a Paul who was a blasphemer;
burdened with the sins of a Peter who denied Christ; burdened with
the sins of a David who committed adultery and murder, and gave
the heathen occasion to laugh at the Lord. In short, Christ was
charged with the sins of all men, that He should pay for them with
xcvi Luther on Galatians

His own blood. The curse struck Him. The Law found Him among
sinners. He was not only in the company of sinners. He had gone so
far as to invest Himself with the flesh and blood of sinners. So the
Law judged and hanged Him for a sinner.
In separating Christ from us sinners and holding Him up as a holy
exemplar, errorists rob us of our best comfort. They misrepresent
Him as a threatening tyrant who is ready to slaughter us at the
slightest provocation.
I am told that it is preposterous and wicked to call the Son of God
a cursed sinner. I answer: If you deny that He is a condemned sinner,
you are forced to deny that Christ died. It is not less preposterous to
say, the Son of God died, than to say, the Son of God was a sinner.
John the Baptist called Him “the lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world.” Being the unspotted Lamb of God, Christ was
personally innocent. But because He took the sins of the world His
sinlessness was defiled with the sinfulness of the world. Whatever
sins I, you, all of us have committed or shall commit, they are
Christ’s sins as if He had committed them Himself. Our sins have to
be Christ’s sins or we shall perish forever.
Isaiah declares of Christ: “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all.” We have no right to minimize the force of this declaration.
God does not amuse Himself with words. What a relief for a Chris-
tian to know that Christ is covered all over with my sins, your sins,
and the sins of the whole world.
The papists invented their own doctrine of faith. They say charity
creates and adorns their faith. By stripping Christ of our sins, by
making Him sinless, they cast our sins back at us, and make Christ
absolutely worthless to us. What sort of charity is this? If that is a
sample of their vaunted charity we want none of it.
Our merciful Father in heaven saw how the Law oppressed us
and how impossible it was for us to get out from under the curse of
the Law. He therefore sent His only Son into the world and said to
Him: “You are now Peter, the liar; Paul, the persecutor; David, the
adulterer; Adam, the disobedient; the thief on the cross. You, My
Son, must pay the world’s iniquity.” The Law growls: “All right. If
Your Son is taking the sin of the world, I see no sins anywhere else
but in Him. He shall die on the Cross.” And the Law kills Christ.
But we go free.
 Chapter 3 xcvii

The argument of the Apostle against the righteousness of the [51]

Law is impregnable. If Christ bears our sins, we do not bear them.
But if Christ is innocent of our sins and does not bear them, we must
bear them, and we shall die in our sins. “But thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Let us see how Christ was able to gain the victory over our ene-
mies. The sins of the whole world, past, present, and future, fastened
themselves upon Christ and condemned Him. But because Christ is
God He had an everlasting and unconquerable righteousness. These
two, the sin of the world and the righteousness of God, met in a death
struggle. Furiously the sin of the world assailed the righteousness of
God. Righteousness is immortal and invincible. On the other hand,
sin is a mighty tyrant who subdues all men. This tyrant pounces on
Christ. But Christ’s righteousness is unconquerable. The result is
inevitable. Sin is defeated and righteousness triumphs and reigns
forever.
In the same manner was death defeated. Death is emperor of
the world. He strikes down kings, princes, all men. He has an idea
to destroy all life. But Christ has immortal life, and life immortal
gained the victory over death. Through Christ death has lost her
sting. Christ is the Death of death.
The curse of God waged a similar battle with the eternal mercy
of God in Christ. The curse meant to condemn God’s mercy. But it
could not do it because the mercy of God is everlasting. The curse
had to give way. If the mercy of God in Christ had lost out, God
Himself would have lost out, which, of course, is impossible.
“Christ,” says Paul, “spoiled principalities and powers, He made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians
2:15.) They cannot harm those who hide in Christ. Sin, death, the
wrath of God, hell, the devil are mortified in Christ. Where Christ
is near the powers of evil must keep their distance. St. John says:
“And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
(1 John 5:4.)
You may now perceive why it is imperative to believe and confess
the divinity of Christ. To overcome the sin of a whole world, and
death, and the wrath of God was no work for any creature. The
power of sin and death could be broken only by a greater power.
God alone could abolish sin, destroy death, and take away the curse
 xcviii Luther on Galatians

of the Law. God alone could bring righteousness, life, and mercy
to light. In attributing these achievements to Christ the Scriptures
pronounce Christ to be God forever. The article of justification is
indeed fundamental. If we remain sound in this one article, we
remain sound in all the other articles of the Christian faith. When
we teach justification by faith in Christ we confess at the same time
that Christ is God.
I cannot get over the blindness of the Pope’s theologians. To
imagine that the mighty forces of sin, death, and the curse can be
vanquished by the righteousness of man’s paltry works, by fasting,
pilgrimages, masses, vows, and such gewgaws. These blind leaders
of the blind turn the poor people over to the mercy of sin, death, and
the devil. What chance has a defenseless human creature against
these powers of darkness? They train sinners who are ten times
worse than any thief, whore, murderer. The divine power of God
alone can destroy sin and death, and create righteousness and life.
When we hear that Christ was made a curse for us, let us believe
it with joy and assurance. By faith Christ changes places with us.
He gets our sins, we get His holiness.
By faith alone can we become righteous, for faith invests us with
the sinlessness of Christ. The more fully we believe this, the fuller
will be our joy. If you believe that sin, death, and the curse are void,
why, they are null, zero. Whenever sin and death make you nervous
write it down as an illusion of the devil. There is no sin now, no
curse, no death, no devil because Christ has done away with them.
This fact is sure. There is nothing wrong with the fact. The defect
lies in our lack of faith.
In the Apostolic Creed we confess: “I believe in the holy Chris-
tian Church.” That means, I believe that there is no sin, no curse,
no evil in the Church of God. Faith says: “I believe that.” But if
you want to believe your eyes you will find many shortcomings and
offenses in the members of the holy Church. You see them succumb
to temptation, you see them weak in faith, you see them giving way
to anger, envy, and other evil dispositions. “How can the Church
[52] be holy?” you ask. It is with the Christian Church as it is with the
individual Christian. If I examine myself I find enough unholiness to
shock me. But when I look at Christ in me I find that I am altogether
holy. And so it is with the Church.
 Chapter 3 xcix

Holy Writ does not say that Christ was under the curse. It says
directly that Christ was made a curse. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul
writes: “For he (God) hath made him (Christ) to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him.” Although this and similar passages may be properly explained
by saying that Christ was made a sacrifice for the curse and for sin,
yet in my judgment it is better to leave these passages stand as they
read: Christ was made sin itself; Christ was made the curse itself.
When a sinner gets wise to himself he does not only feel miserable,
he feels like misery personified; he does not only feel like a sinner,
he feels like sin itself.
To finish with this verse: All evils would have overwhelmed us,
as they shall overwhelm the unbelievers forever, if Christ had not
become the great transgressor and guilty bearer of all our sins. The
sins of the world got Him down for a moment. They came around
Him like water. Of Christ, the Old Testament Prophet complained:
“Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.” (Psalm
88:16.) By Christ’s salvation we have been delivered from the terrors
of God to a life of eternal felicity.
Verse 14. That the blessing of Abraham might come, on the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ.
Paul always keeps this text before him: “In thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed.” The blessing promised unto
Abraham could come upon the Gentiles only by Christ, the seed of
Abraham. To become a blessing unto all nations Christ had to be
made a curse to take away the curse from the nations of the earth.
The merit that we plead, and the work that we proffer is Christ who
was made a curse for us.
Let us become expert in the art of transferring our sins, our death,
and every evil from ourselves to Christ; and Christ’s righteousness
and blessing from Christ to ourselves.
Verse 14. That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith.
“The promise of the Spirit” is Hebrew for “the promised Spirit.”
The Spirit spells freedom from the Law, sin, death, the curse, hell,
and the judgment of God. No merits are mentioned in connection
with this promise of the Spirit and all the blessings that go with Him.
 c Luther on Galatians

This Spirit of many blessings is received by faith alone. Faith alone

builds on the promises of God, as Paul says in this verse.
Long ago the prophets visualized the happy changes Christ
would effect in all things. Despite the fact that the Jews had the Law
of God they never ceased to look longingly for Christ. After Moses
no prophet or king added a single law to the Book. Any changes
or additions were deferred to the time of Christ’s coming. Moses
told the people: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet
from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye
shall hearken.” (Deuteronomy 18:15.)
God’s people of old felt that the Law of Moses could not be
improved upon until the Messiah would bring better things than the
Law, i.e., grace and remission of sins.
Verse 15. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be
but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or
addeth thereto.
After the preceding, well-taken argument, Paul offers another
based on the similarity between a man’s testament and God’s testa-
ment. A man’s testament seems too weak a premise for the Apostle
to argue from in confirmation of so important a matter as justifica-
tion. We ought to prove earthly things by heavenly things, and not
heavenly things by earthly things. But where the earthly thing is an
ordinance of God we may use it to prove divine matters. In Matthew
7:11 Christ Himself argued from earthly to heavenly things when
[53] He said: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children; how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give
good things to them that ask him?”
To come to Paul’s argument. Civil law, which is God’s ordinance,
prohibits tampering with any testament of man. Any person’s last
will and testament must be respected. Paul asks: “Why is it that
man’s last will is scrupulously respected and not God’s testament?
You would not think of breaking faith with a man’s testament. Why
do you not keep faith with God’s testament?”
The Apostle says that he is speaking after the manner of men.
He means to say: “I will give you an illustration from the customs
of men. If a man’s last will is respected, and it is, how much more
ought the testament of God be honored: ‘In thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed.’ When Christ died, this testament was
 Chapter 3 ci

sealed by His blood. After His death the testament was opened, it
was published to the nations. No man ought to alter God’s testament
as the false apostles do who substitute the Law and traditions of men
for the testament of God.”
As the false prophets tampered with God’s testament in the days
of Paul, so many do in our day. They will observe human laws
punctiliously, but the laws of God they transgress without the flicker
of an eyelid. But the time will come when they will find out that it
is no joke to pervert the testament of God.
Verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy
seed, which is Christ.
The word testament is another name for the promise that God
made unto Abraham concerning Christ. A testament is not a law,
but an inheritance. Heirs do not look for laws and assessments when
they open a last will; they look for grants and favors. The testament
which God made out to Abraham did not contain laws. It contained
promises of great spiritual blessings.
The promises were made in view of Christ, in one seed, not in
many seeds. The Jews will not accept this interpretation. They insist
that the singular “seed” is put for the plural “seeds.” We prefer the
interpretation of Paul, who makes a fine case for Christ and for us
out of the singular “seed,” and is after all inspired to do so by the
Holy Ghost.
Verse 17. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before
of God in Christ, the law which was four hundred and thirty years
after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
The Jews assert that God was not satisfied with His promises, but
after four hundred and thirty years He gave the Law. “God,” they say,
“must have mistrusted His own promises, and considered them inad-
equate for salvation. Therefore He added to His promises something
better, the Law. The Law,” they say, “canceled the promises.”
Paul answers: “The Law was given four hundred and thirty
years after the promise was made to Abraham. The Law could not
cancel the promise because the promise was the testament of God,
confirmed by God in Christ many years before the Law. What God
has once promised He does not take back. Every promise of God is
a ratified promise.”
 cii Luther on Galatians

Why was the Law added to the promise? Not to serve as a

medium by which the promise might be obtained. The Law was
added for these reasons: That there might be in the world a special
people, rigidly controlled by the Law, a people out of which Christ
should be born in due time; and that men burdened by many laws
might sigh and long for Him, their Redeemer, the seed of Abraham.
Even the ceremonies prescribed by the Law foreshadowed Christ.
Therefore the Law was never meant to cancel the promise of God.
The Law was meant to confirm the promise until the time should
come when God would open His testament in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
God did well in giving the promise so many years before the
Law, that it may never be said that righteousness is granted through
the Law and not through the promise. If God had meant for us to
be justified by the Law, He would have given the Law four hundred
and thirty years before the promise, at least He would have given the
Law at the same time He gave the promise. But He never breathed a
word about the Law until four hundred years after. The promise is
therefore better than the Law. The Law does not cancel the promise,
but faith in the promised Christ cancels the Law.
[54] The Apostle is careful to mention the exact number of four hun-
dred and thirty years. The wide divergence in the time between the
promise and the Law helps to clinch Paul’s argument that righteous-
ness is not obtained by the Law.
Let me illustrate. A man of great wealth adopts a strange lad
for his son. Remember, he does not owe the lad anything. In due
time he appoints the lad heir to his entire fortune. Several years later
the old man asks the lad to do something for him. And the young
lad does it. Can the lad then go around and say that he deserved
the inheritance by his obedience to the old man’s request? How can
anybody say that righteousness is obtained by obedience to the Law
when the Law was given four hundred and thirty years after God’s
promise of the blessing?
One thing is certain, Abraham was never justified by the Law,
for the simple reason that the Law was not in his day. If the Law was
non-existent how could Abraham obtain righteousness by the Law?
Abraham had nothing else to go by but the promise. This promise
he believed and that was counted unto him for righteousness. If the
 Chapter 3 ciii

father obtained righteousness through faith, the children get it the

same way.
We use the argument of time also. We say our sins were taken
away by the death of Christ fifteen hundred years ago, long before
there were any religious orders, canons, or rules of penance, merits,
etc. What did people do about their sins before these new inventions
were hatched up?
Paul finds his arguments for the righteousness of faith every-
where. Even the element of time serves to build his case against the
false apostles. Let us fortify our conscience with similar arguments.
They help us in the trials of our faith. They turn our attention from
the Law to the promises, from sin to righteousness; from death to
life.
It is not for nothing that Paul bears down on this argument. He
foresaw this confusion of the promise and the Law creeping into
the Church. Accustom yourself to separate Law and Gospel even
in regard to time. When the Law comes to pay your conscience a
visit, say: “Mister Law, you come too soon. The four hundred and
thirty years aren’t up yet. When they are up, you come again. Won’t
you?”
Verse 18. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise.
In Romans 4:14, the Apostle writes: “For if they which are made
of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none
effect.” It cannot be otherwise. That the Law is something entirely
different from the promise is plain. The Law thunders: “Thou shalt,
thou shalt not.” The promise of the “seed” pleads: “Take this gift
of God.” If the inheritance of the gifts of God were obtained by the
Law, God would be a liar. We would have the right to ask Him:
“Why did you make this promise in the first place: ‘In thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed’? Why did you not say: ‘In
thy works thou shalt be blessed’?”
Verse 18. But God gave it to Abraham by promise.
So much is certain, before the Law ever existed, God gave Abra-
ham the inheritance or blessing by the promise. In other words, God
granted unto Abraham remission of sins, righteousness, salvation,
and everlasting life. And not only to Abraham but to all believers,
because God said: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed.” The blessing was given unconditionally. The Law had no
 civ Luther on Galatians

chance to butt in because Moses was not yet born. “How then can
you say that righteousness is obtained by the Law?”
The Apostle now goes to work to explain the province and pur-
pose of the Law.
Verse 19. Wherefore then serveth the law?
The question naturally arises: If the Law was not given for
righteousness or salvation, why was it given? Why did God give the
Law in the first place if it cannot justify a person?
The Jews believed if they kept the Law they would be saved.
When they heard that the Gospel proclaimed a Christ who had come
into the world to save sinners and not the righteous; when they heard
that sinners were to enter the kingdom of heaven before the righteous,
[55] the Jews were very much put out. They murmured: “These last have
wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which
have borne the burden and heat of the day.” (Matthew 20:12.) They
complained that the heathen who at one time had been worshipers
of idols obtained grace without the drudgery of the Law that was
theirs.
Today we hear the same complaints. “What was the use of
our having lived in a cloister, twenty, thirty, forty years; what was
the sense of having vowed chastity, poverty, obedience; what good
are all the masses and canonical hours that we read; what profit is
there in fasting, praying, etc., if any man or woman, any beggar or
scour woman is to be made equal to us, or even be considered more
acceptable unto God than we?”
Reason takes offense at the statement of Paul: “The law was
added because of transgressions.” People say that Paul abrogated the
Law, that he is a radical, that he blasphemed God when he said that.
People say: “We might as well live like wild people if the Law does
not count. Let us abound in sin that grace may abound. Let us do
evil that good may come of it.”
What are we to do? Such scoffing distresses us, but we cannot
stop it. Christ Himself was accused of being a blasphemer and rebel.
Paul and all the other apostles were told the same things. Let the
scoffers slander us, let them spare us not. But we must not on their
account keep silent. We must speak frankly in order that afflicted
consciences may find surcease. Neither are we to pay any attention
to the foolish and ungodly people for abusing our doctrine. They are
 Chapter 3 cv

the kind that would scoff, Law or no Law. Our first consideration
must be the comfort of troubled consciences, that they may not
perish with the multitudes.
When he saw that some were offended at his doctrine, while oth-
ers found in it encouragement to live after the flesh, Paul comforted
himself with the thought that it was his duty to preach the Gospel to
the elect of God, and that for their sake he must endure all things.
Like Paul we also do all these things for the sake of God’s elect. As
for the scoffers and skeptics, I am so disgusted with them that in all
my life I would not open my mouth for them once. I wish that they
were back there where they belong under the iron heel of the Pope.
People foolish but wise in their conceits jump to the conclusion:
If the Law does not justify, it is good for nothing. How about that?
Because money does not justify, would you say that money is good
for nothing? Because the eyes do not justify, would you have them
taken out? Because the Law does not justify it does not follow
that the Law is without value. We must find and define the proper
purpose of the Law. We do not offhand condemn the Law because
we say it does not justify.
We say with Paul that the Law is good if it is used properly.
Within its proper sphere the Law is an excellent thing. But if we
ascribe to the Law functions for which it was never intended, we
pervert not only the Law but also the Gospel.
It is the universal impression that righteousness is obtained
through the deeds of the Law. This impression is instinctive and
therefore doubly dangerous. Gross sins and vices may be recognized
or else repressed by the threat of punishment. But this sin, this
opinion of man’s own righteousness refuses to be classified as sin.
It wants to be esteemed as high-class religion. Hence, it constitutes
the mighty influence of the devil over the entire world. In order
to point out the true office of the Law, and thus to stamp out that
false impression of the righteousness of the Law, Paul answers the
question: “Wherefore then serveth the Law?” with the words.
Verse 19. It was added because of transgressions.
All things differ. Let everything serve its unique purpose. Let the
sun shine by day, the moon and the stars by night. Let the sea furnish
fish, the earth grain, the woods trees, etc. Let the Law also serve its
unique purpose. It must not step out of character and take the place
 cvi Luther on Galatians

of anything else. What is the function of the Law? “Transgression,”

answers the Apostle.

The Twofold Purpose of the Law

The Law has a twofold purpose. One purpose is civil. God has
ordained civil laws to punish crime. Every law is given to restrain
[56] sin. Does it not then make men righteous? No. In refraining from
murder, adultery, theft, or other sins, I do so under compulsion
because I fear the jail, the noose, the electric chair. These restrain
me as iron bars restrain a lion and a bear. Otherwise they would
tear everything to pieces. Such forceful restraint cannot be regarded
as righteousness, rather as an indication of unrighteousness. As a
wild beast is tied to keep it from running amuck, so the Law bridles
mad and furious man to keep him from running wild. The need for
restraint shows plainly enough that those who need the Law are not
righteous, but wicked men who are fit to be tied. No, the Law does
not justify.
The first purpose of the Law, accordingly, is to restrain the
wicked. The devil gets people into all kinds of scrapes. Therefore
God instituted governments, parents, laws, restrictions, and civil
ordinances. At least they help to tie the devil’s hands so that he does
not rage up and down the earth. This civil restraint by the Law is
intended by God for the preservation of all things, particularly for
the good of the Gospel that it should not be hindered too much by
the tumult of the wicked. But Paul is not now treating of this civil
use and function of the Law.
The second purpose of the Law is spiritual and divine. Paul
describes this spiritual purpose of the Law in the words, “Because of
transgressions,” i.e., to reveal to a person his sin, blindness, misery,
his ignorance, hatred, and contempt of God, his death, hell, and
condemnation.
This is the principal purpose of the Law and its most valuable
contribution. As long as a person is not a murderer, adulterer, thief,
he would swear that he is righteous. How is God going to humble
such a person except by the Law? The Law is the hammer of death,
the thunder of hell, and the lightning of God’s wrath to bring down
the proud and shameless hypocrites. When the Law was instituted
 Chapter 3 cvii

on Mount Sinai it was accompanied by lightning, by storms, by

the sound of trumpets, to tear to pieces that monster called self-
righteousness. As long as a person thinks he is right he is going to
be incomprehensibly proud and presumptuous. He is going to hate
God, despise His grace and mercy, and ignore the promises in Christ.
The Gospel of the free forgiveness of sins through Christ will never
appeal to the self-righteous.
This monster of self-righteousness, this stiff-necked beast, needs
a big axe. And that is what the Law is, a big axe. Accordingly, the
proper use and function of the Law is to threaten until the conscience
is scared stiff.
The awful spectacle at Mount Sinai portrayed the proper use of
the Law. When the children of Israel came out of Egypt a feeling of
singular holiness possessed them. They boasted: “We are the people
of God. All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” (Exodus 19:8)
This feeling of holiness was heightened when Moses ordered them
to wash their clothes, to refrain from their wives, and to prepare
themselves all around. The third day came and Moses led the people
out of their tents to the foot of the mountain into the presence of the
Lord. What happened? When the children of Israel saw the whole
mountain burning and smoking, the black clouds rent by fierce
lightning flashing up and down in the inky darkness, when they
heard the sound of the trumpet blowing louder and longer, shattered
by the roll of thunder, they were so frightened that they begged
Moses: “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak
with us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:19.) I ask you, what good did their
scrubbing, their snow-white clothes, and their continence do them?
No good at all. Not a single one could stand in the presence of the
glorious Lord. Stricken by the terror of God, they fled back into
their tents, as if the devil were after them.
The Law is meant to produce the same effect today which it
produced at Mount Sinai long ago. I want to encourage all who fear
God, especially those who intend to become ministers of the Gospel,
to learn from the Apostle the proper use of the Law. I fear that after
our time the right handling of the Law will become a lost art. Even
now, although we continually explain the separate functions of the
Law and the Gospel, we have those among us who do not understand
 cviii Luther on Galatians

how the Law should be used. What will it be like when we are dead
and gone?
We want it understood that we do not reject the Law as our
opponents claim. On the contrary, we uphold the Law. We say the
Law is good if it is used for the purposes for which it was designed,
to check civil transgression, and to magnify spiritual transgressions.
The Law is also a light like the Gospel. But instead of revealing the
[57] grace of God, righteousness, and life, the Law brings sin, death, and
the wrath of God to light. This is the business of the Law, and here
the business of the Law ends, and should go no further.
The business of the Gospel, on the other hand, is to quicken, to
comfort, to raise the fallen. The Gospel carries the news that God for
Christ’s sake is merciful to the most unworthy sinners, if they will
only believe that Christ by His death has delivered them from sin
and everlasting death unto grace, forgiveness, and everlasting life.
By keeping in mind the difference between the Law and the Gospel
we let each perform its special task. Of this difference between
the Law and the Gospel nothing can be discovered in the writings
of the monks or scholastics, nor for that matter in the writings of
the ancient fathers. Augustine understood the difference somewhat.
Jerome and others knew nothing of it. The silence in the Church
concerning the difference between the Law and the Gospel has
resulted in untold harm. Unless a sharp distinction is maintained
between the purpose and function of the Law and the Gospel, the
Christian doctrine cannot be kept free from error.
Verse 19. It was added because of transgressions.
In other words, that transgressions might be recognized as such
and thus increased. When sin, death, and the wrath of God are
revealed to a person by the Law, he grows impatient, complains
against God, and rebels. Before that he was a very holy man; he
worshipped and praised God; he bowed his knees before God and
gave thanks, like the Pharisee. But now that sin and death are
revealed to him by the Law he wishes there were no God. The Law
inspires hatred of God. Thus sin is not only revealed by the Law; sin
is actually increased and magnified by the Law.
The Law is a mirror to show a person what he is like, a sinner
who is guilty of death, and worthy of everlasting punishment. What
is this bruising and beating by the hand of the Law to accomplish?
 Chapter 3 cix

This, that we may find the way to grace. The Law is an usher to
lead the way to grace. God is the God of the humble, the miserable,
the afflicted. It is His nature to exalt the humble, to comfort the
sorrowing, to heal the broken-hearted, to justify the sinners, and to
save the condemned. The fatuous idea that a person can be holy
by himself denies God the pleasure of saving sinners. God must
therefore first take the sledge-hammer of the Law in His fists and
smash the beast of self-righteousness and its brood of self-confi-
dence, self-wisdom, self-righteousness, and self-help. When the
conscience has been thoroughly frightened by the Law it welcomes
the Gospel of grace with its message of a Savior who came into the
world, not to break the bruised reed, nor to quench the smoking flax,
but to preach glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted,
and to grant forgiveness of sins to all the captives.
Man’s folly, however, is so prodigious that instead of embracing
the message of grace with its guarantee of the forgiveness of sin for
Christ’s sake, man finds himself more laws to satisfy his conscience.
“If I live,” says he, “I will mend my life. I will do this, I will do that.”
Man, if you don’t do the very opposite, if you don’t send Moses with
the Law back to Mount Sinai and take the hand of Christ, pierced
for your sins, you will never be saved.
When the Law drives you to the point of despair, let it drive you
a little farther, let it drive you straight into the arms of Jesus who
says: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.”
Verse 19. Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.
The Law is not to have its say indefinitely. We must know how
long the Law is to put in its licks. If it hammers away too long, no
person would and could be saved. The Law has a boundary beyond
which it must not go. How long ought the Law to hold sway? “Till
the seed should come to whom the promise was made.”
That may be taken literally to mean until the time of the Gospel.
“From the days of John the Baptist,” says Jesus, “until now the king-
dom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” (Matthew
11:12, 13.) When Christ came the Law and the ceremonies of Moses
ceased.
Spiritually, it means that the Law is not to operate on a person [58]
cx Luther on Galatians

after he has been humbled and frightened by the exposure of his sins
and the wrath of God. We must then say to the Law: “Mister Law,
lay off him. He has had enough. You scared him good and proper.”
Now it is the Gospel’s turn. Now let Christ with His gracious lips
talk to him of better things, grace, peace, forgiveness of sins, and
eternal life.
Verse 19. And it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
The Apostle digresses a little from his immediate theme. Some-
thing occurred to him and he throws it in by the way. It occurred
to him that the Law differs from the Gospel in another respect, in
respect to authorship. The Law was delivered by the angels, but the
Gospel by the Lord Himself. Hence, the Gospel is superior to the
Law, as the word of a lord is superior to the word of his servant.
The Law was handed down by a being even inferior to the angels,
by a middleman named Moses. Paul wants us to understand that
Christ is the mediator of a better testament than mediator Moses of
the Law. Moses led the people out of their tents to meet God. But
they ran away. That is how good a mediator Moses was.
Paul says: “How can the Law justify when that whole sanctified
people of Israel and even mediator Moses trembled at the voice of
God? What kind of righteousness do you call that when people run
away from it and hate it the worst way? If the Law could justify,
people would love the Law. But look at the children of Israel running
away from it.”
The flight of the children of Israel from Mount Sinai indicates
how people feel about the Law. They don’t like it. If this were the
only argument to prove that salvation is not by the Law, this one
Bible history would do the work. What kind of righteousness is this
law-righteousness when at the commencement exercises of the Law
Moses and the scrubbed people run away from it so fast that an iron
mountain, the Red Sea even, could not have stopped them until they
were back in Egypt once again? If they could not hear the Law, how
could they ever hope to perform the Law?
If all the world had stood at the mountain, all the world would
have hated the Law and fled from it as the children of Israel did.
The whole world is an enemy of the Law. How, then, can anyone be
justified by the Law when everybody hates the Law and its divine
author?
 Chapter 3 cxi

All this goes to show how little the scholastics know about the
Law. They do not consider its spiritual effect and purpose, which is
not to justify or to pacify afflicted consciences, but to increase sin, to
terrify the conscience, and to produce wrath. In their ignorance the
papists spout about man’s good will and right judgment, and man’s
capacity to perform the Law of God. Ask the people of Israel who
were present at the presentation of the Law on Mount Sinai whether
what the scholastics say is true. Ask David, who often complains
in the Psalms that he was cast away from God and in hell, that he
was frantic about his sin, and sick at the thought of the wrath and
judgment of God. No, the Law does not justify
Verse 20. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one.
Here the Apostle briefly compares the two mediators: Moses
and Christ. “A mediator,” says Paul, “is not a mediator of one.” He
is necessarily a mediator of two: The offender and the offended.
Moses was such a mediator between the Law and the people who
were offended at the Law. They were offended at the Law because
they did not understand its purpose. That was the veil which Moses
put over his face. The people were also offended at the Law because
they could not look at the bare face of Moses. It shone with the glory
of God. When Moses addressed the people he had to cover his face
with that veil of his. They could not listen to their mediator Moses
without another mediator, the veil. The Law had to change its face
and voice. In other words, the Law had to be made tolerable to the
people.
Thus covered, the Law no longer spoke to the people in its
undisguised majesty. It became more tolerable to the conscience.
This explains why men fail to understand the Law properly, with the
result that they become secure and presumptuous hypocrites. One
of two things has to be done: Either the Law must be covered with
a veil and then it loses its full effectiveness, or it must be unveiled [59]
and then the full blast of its force kills. Man cannot stand the Law
without a veil over it. Hence, we are forced either to look beyond
the Law to Christ, or we go through life as shameless hypocrites and
secure sinners.
Paul says: “A mediator is not a mediator of one.” Moses could
not be a mediator of God only, for God needs no mediator. Again,
Moses could not be a mediator of the people only. He was a mediator
cxii Luther on Galatians

between God and the people. It is the office of a mediator to con-

ciliate the party that is offended and to placate the party that is the
offender. However, Moses’ mediation consisted only in changing
the tone of the Law to make it more tolerable to the people. Moses
was merely a mediator of the veil. He could not supply the ability to
perform the Law.
What do you suppose would have happened if the Law had
been given without a mediator and the people had been denied the
services of a go-between? The people would have perished, or
in case they had escaped they would have required the services of
another mediator to preserve them alive and to keep the Law in force.
Moses came along and he was made the mediator. He covered his
face with a veil. But that is as much as he could do. He could not
deliver men’s consciences from the terror of the Law. The sinner
needs a better mediator.
That better mediator is Jesus Christ. He does not change the
voice of the Law, nor does He hide the Law with a veil. He takes
the full blast of the wrath of the Law and fulfills its demands most
meticulously.
Of this better Mediator Paul says: “A mediator is not a mediator
of one.” We are the offending party; God is the party offended. The
offense is of such a nature that God cannot pardon it. Neither can
we render adequate satisfaction for our offenses. There is discord
between God and us. Could not God revoke His Law? No. How
about running away from God? It cannot be done. It took Christ
to come between us and God and to reconcile God to us. How did
Christ do it? “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross.” (Colossians 2:14.)
This one word, “mediator,” is proof enough that the Law cannot
justify. Otherwise we should not need a mediator.
In Christian theology the Law does not justify. In fact it has the
contrary effect. The Law alarms us, it magnifies our sins until we
begin to hate the Law and its divine Author. Would you call this
being justified by the Law?
Can you imagine a more arrant outrage than to hate God and
to abhor His Law? What an excellent Law it is. Listen: “I am the
Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out
 Chapter 3 cxiii

of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods...showing

mercy unto thousands ... honor thy father and thy mother; that thy
days may be long upon the land...” (Exodus 20:2, 3, 6, 12.) Are
these not excellent laws, perfect wisdom? “Let not God speak with
us, lest we die,” cried the children of Israel. Is it not amazing that
a person should refuse to hear things that are good for him? Any
person would be glad to hear, I should think, that he has a gracious
God who shows mercy unto thousands. Is it not amazing that people
hate the Law that promotes their safety and welfare, e.g., “Thou
shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal”?
The Law can do nothing for us except to arouse the conscience.
Before the Law comes to me I feel no sin. But when the Law comes,
sin, death, and hell are revealed to me. You would not call this being
made righteous. You would call it being condemned to death and
hell-fire.
Verse 20. But God is one.
God does not offend anybody, therefore He needs no mediator.
But we offend God, therefore we need a mediator. And we need a
better mediator than Moses. We need Christ.
Verse 21. Is the law then against the promises of God?
Before he digressed Paul stated that the Law does not justify.
Shall we then discard the Law? No, no. It supplies a certain need.
It supplies men with a needed realization of their sinfulness. Now
arises another question: If the Law does no more than to reveal sin,
does it not oppose the promises of God? The Jews believed that by [60]
the restraint and discipline of the Law the promises of God would
be hastened, in fact earned by them.
Paul answers: “Not so. On the contrary, if we pay too much
attention to the Law the promises of God will be slowed up. How
can God fulfill His promises to a people that hates the Law?”
Verse 21. God forbid.
God never said to Abraham: “In thee shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed because thou hast kept the Law.” When Abraham
was still uncircumcised and without the Law or any law, indeed,
when he was still an idol worshiper, God said to him: “Get thee out
of thy country, etc.; I am thy shield, etc.; In thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed.” These are unconditional promises
which God freely made to Abraham without respect to works.
cxiv Luther on Galatians

This is aimed especially at the Jews who think that the promises
of God are impeded by their sins. Paul says: “The Lord is not
slack concerning His promises because of our sins, or hastens His
promises because of any merit on our part.” God’s promises are not
influenced by our attitudes. They rest in His goodness and mercy.
Just because the Law increases sin, it does not therefore obstruct
the promises of God. The Law confirms the promises, in that it
prepares a person to look for the fulfillment of the promises of God
in Christ.
The proverb has it that Hunger is the best cook. The Law makes
afflicted consciences hungry for Christ. Christ tastes good to them.
Hungry hearts appreciate Christ. Thirsty souls are what Christ wants.
He invites them: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.” Christ’s benefits are so precious that
He will dispense them only to those who need them and really desire
them.
Verse 21. For if there had been a law given which could have given
life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
The Law cannot give life. It kills. The Law does not justify
a person before God; it increases sin. The Law does not secure
righteousness; it hinders righteousness. The Apostle declares em-
phatically that the Law of itself cannot save.
Despite the intelligibility of Paul’s statement, our enemies fail
to grasp it. Otherwise they would not emphasize free will, natural
strength, the works of supererogation, etc. To escape the charge of
forgery they always have their convenient annotation handy, that
Paul is referring only to the ceremonial and not to the moral law.
But Paul includes all laws. He expressly says: “If there had been a
law given.”
There is no law by which righteousness may be obtained, not a
single one. Why not?
Verse 22. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin.
Where? First in the promises concerning Christ in Genesis 3:15
and in Genesis 22:18, which speak of the seed of the woman and the
seed of Abraham. The fact that these promises were made unto the
fathers concerning Christ implies that the fathers were subject to the
curse of sin and eternal death. Otherwise why the need of promises?
 Chapter 3 cxv

Next, Holy Writ “concludes” all under sin in this passage from
Paul: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.”
Again, in the passage which the Apostle quotes from Deuteronomy
27:26, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them.” This passage clearly
submits all men to the curse, not only those who sin openly against
the Law, but also those who sincerely endeavor to perform the Law,
inclusive of monks, friars, hermits, etc.
The conclusion is inevitable: Faith alone justified without works.
If the Law itself cannot justify, much less can imperfect performance
of the Law or the works of the Law, justify.
Verse 22. That the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe.
The Apostle stated before that “the Scripture hath concluded all [61]
under sin.” Forever? No, only until the promise should be fulfilled.
The promise, you will recall, is the inheritance itself or the blessing
promised to Abraham, deliverance from the Law, sin, death, and the
devil, and the free gift of grace, righteousness, salvation, and eternal
life. This promise, says Paul, is not obtained by any merit, by any
law, or by any work. This promise is given. To whom? To those
who believe. In whom? In Jesus Christ.
Verse 23. But before faith came.
The Apostle proceeds to explain the service which the Law is to
render. Previously Paul had said that the Law was given to reveal
the wrath and death of God upon all sinners. Although the Law kills,
God brings good out of evil. He uses the Law to bring life. God
saw that the universal illusion of self-righteousness could not be put
down in any other way but by the Law. The Law dispels all self-
illusions. It puts the fear of God in a man. Without this fear there
can be no thirst for God’s mercy. God accordingly uses the Law for
a hammer to break up the illusion of self- righteousness, that we
should despair of our own strength and efforts at self-justification.
Verse 23. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up
unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
The Law is a prison to those who have not as yet obtained grace.
No prisoner enjoys the confinement. He hates it. If he could he
would smash the prison and find his freedom at all cost. As long as
he stays in prison he refrains from evil deeds. Not because he wants
cxvi Luther on Galatians

to, but because he has to. The bars and the chains restrain him. He
does not regret the crime that put him in jail. On the contrary, he is
mighty sore that he cannot rob and kill as before. If he could escape
he would go right back to robbing and killing.
The Law enforces good behavior, at least outwardly. We obey
the Law because if we don’t we will be punished. Our obedience
is inspired by fear. We obey under duress and we do it resentfully.
Now what kind of righteousness is this when we refrain from evil
out of fear of punishment? Hence, the righteousness of the Law is at
bottom nothing but love of sin and hatred of righteousness.
All the same, the Law accomplishes this much, that it will out-
wardly at least and to a certain extent repress vice and crime.
But the Law is also a spiritual prison, a veritable hell. When the
Law begins to threaten a person with death and the eternal wrath of
God, a man just cannot find any comfort at all. He cannot shake off at
will the nightmare of terror which the Law stirs up in his conscience.
Of this terror of the Law the Psalms furnish many glimpses.
The Law is a civil and a spiritual prison. And such it should be.
For that the Law is intended. Only the confinement in the prison of
the Law must not be unduly prolonged. It must come to an end. The
freedom of faith must succeed the imprisonment of the Law.
Happy the person who knows how to utilize the Law so that it
serves the purposes of grace and of faith. Unbelievers are ignorant
of this happy knowledge. When Cain was first shut up in the prison
of the Law he felt no pang at the fratricide he had committed. He
thought he could pass it off as an incident with a shrug of the shoul-
der. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he answered God flippantly. But
when he heard the ominous words, “What hast thou done? the voice
of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground,” Cain began
to feel his imprisonment. Did he know how to get out of prison? No.
He failed to call the Gospel to his aid. He said: “My punishment is
greater than I can bear.” He could only think of the prison. He forgot
that he was brought face to face with his crime so that he should
hurry to God for mercy and for pardon. Cain remained in the prison
of the Law and despaired.
As a stone prison proves a physical handicap, so the spiritual
prison of the Law proves a chamber of torture. But this it should only
be until faith be revealed. The silly conscience must be educated to
 Chapter 3 cxvii

this. Talk to your conscience. Say: “Sister, you are now in jail all
right. But you don’t have to stay there forever. It is written that we [62]
are ‘shut up unto faith which should afterwards be revealed.’ Christ
will lead you to freedom. Do not despair like Cain, Saul, or Judas.
They might have gone free if they had called Christ to their aid. Just
take it easy, Sister Conscience. It’s good for you to be locked up for
a while. It will teach you to appreciate Christ.”
How anybody can say that he by nature loves the Law is beyond
me. The Law is a prison to be feared and hated. Any unconverted
person who says he loves the Law is a liar. He does not know what
he is talking about. We love the Law about as well as a murderer
loves his gloomy cell, his straight-jacket, and the iron bars in front
of him. How then can the Law justify us?
Verse 23. Shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
We know that Paul has reference to the time of Christ’s coming.
It was then that faith and the object of faith were fully revealed.
But we may apply the historical fact to our inner life. When Christ
came He abolished the Law and brought liberty and life to light.
This He continues to do in the hearts of the believers. The Christian
has a body in whose members, as Paul says, sin dwells and wars. I
take sin to mean not only the deed but root, tree, fruit, and all. A
Christian may perhaps not fall into the gross sins of murder, adultery,
theft, but he is not free from impatience, complaints, hatreds, and
blasphemy of God. As carnal lust is strong in a young man, in a
man of full age the desire for glory, and in an old man covetousness,
so impatience, doubt, and hatred of God often prevail in the hearts
of sincere Christians. Examples of these sins may be garnered from
the Psalms, Job, Jeremiah, and all the Sacred Scriptures.
Accordingly each Christian continues to experience in his heart
times of the Law and times of the Gospel. The times of the Law
are discernible by heaviness of heart, by a lively sense of sin, and
a feeling of despair brought on by the Law. These periods of the
Law will come again and again as long as we live. To mention my
own case. There are many times when I find fault with God and am
impatient with Him. The wrath and the judgment of God displease
me, my wrath and impatience displease Him. Then is the season
of the Law, when “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh.”
 cxviii Luther on Galatians

The time of grace returns when the heart is enlivened by the

promise of God’s mercy. It soliloquizes: “Why art thou cast down,
O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Can you
see nothing but law, sin, death, and hell? Is there no grace, no
forgiveness, no joy, peace, life, heaven, no Christ and God? Trouble
me no more, my soul. Hope in God who has not spared His own
dear Son but has given Him into death for thy sins.” When the Law
carries things too far, say: “Mister Law, you are not the whole show.
There are other and better things than you. They tell me to trust in
the Lord.”
There is a time for the Law and a time for grace. Let us study
to be good timekeepers. It is not easy. Law and grace may be miles
apart in essence, but in the heart, they are pretty close together. In
the heart fear and trust, sin and grace, Law and Gospel cross paths
continually.
Whether reason hears that justification before God is obtained
by grace alone, it draws the inference that the Law is without value.
The doctrine of the Law must therefore be studied carefully lest we
either reject the Law altogether, or are tempted to attribute to the
Law a capacity to save.
There are three ways in which the Law may be abused. First,
by the self-righteous hypocrites who fancy that they can be justified
by the Law. Secondly, by those who claim that Christian liberty
exempts a Christian from the observance of the Law. “These,” says
Peter, “use their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness,” and bring the
name and the Gospel of Christ into ill repute. Thirdly, the Law is
abused by those who do not understand that the Law is meant to
drive us to Christ. When the Law is properly used its value cannot
be too highly appraised. It will take me to Christ every time.
Verse 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ.
This simile of the schoolmaster is striking. Schoolmasters are
indispensable. But show me a pupil who loves his schoolmaster.
[63] How little love is lost upon them the Jews showed by their attitude
toward Moses. They would have been glad to stone Moses to death.
(Exodus 17:4) You cannot expect anything else. How can a pupil
love a teacher who frustrates his desires? And if the pupil disobeys,
the schoolmaster whips him, and the pupil has to like it and even kiss
 Chapter 3 cxix

the rod with which he was beaten. Do you think the schoolboy feels
good about it? As soon as the teacher turns his back, the pupil breaks
the rod and throws it into the fire. And if he were stronger than the
teacher he would not take the beatings, but beat up the teacher. All
the same, teachers are indispensable, otherwise the children would
grow up without discipline, instruction, and training.
But how long are the scolding and the whippings of the school-
master to continue? Only for a time, until the boy has been trained to
be a worthy heir of his father. No father wants his son to be whipped
all the time. The discipline is to last until the boy has been trained
to be his father’s worthy successor.
The Law is such a schoolmaster. Not for always, but until we
have been brought to Christ. The Law is not just another schoolmas-
ter. The Law is a specialist to bring us to Christ. What would you
think of a schoolmaster who could only torment and beat a child?
Yet of such schoolmasters there were plenty in former times, regular
bruisers. The Law is not that kind of a schoolmaster. It is not to
torment us always. With its lashings it is only too anxious to drive
us to Christ. The Law is like the good schoolmaster who trains his
children to find pleasure in doing things they formerly detested.
Verse 24. That we might be justified by faith.
The Law is not to teach us another Law. When a person feels
the full force of the Law he is likely to think: I have transgressed all
the commandments of God; I am guilty of eternal death. If God will
spare me I will change and live right from now on. This natural but
entirely wrong reaction to the Law has bred the many ceremonies
and works devised to earn grace and remission of sins.
The Law means to enlarge my sins, to make me small, so that I
may be justified by faith in Christ. Faith is neither law nor word; but
confidence in Christ “who is the end of the law.” How so is Christ
the end of the Law? Not in this way that He replaced the old Law
with new laws. Nor is Christ the end of the Law in a way that makes
Him a hard judge who has to be bribed by works as the papists teach.
Christ is the end or finish of the Law to all who believe in Him. The
Law can no longer accuse or condemn them.
But what does the Law accomplish for those who have been
justified by Christ? Paul answers this question next.
 cxx Luther on Galatians

Verse 25. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster.
The Apostle declares that we are free from the Law. Christ
fulfilled the Law for us. We may live in joy and safety under Christ.
The trouble is, our flesh will not let us believe in Christ with all our
heart. The fault lies not with Christ, but with us. Sin clings to us as
long as we live and spoils our happiness in Christ. Hence, we are
only partly free from the Law. “With the mind I myself serve the
law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25.)
As far as the conscience is concerned it may cheerfully ignore
the Law. But because sin continues to dwell in the flesh, the Law
waits around to molest our conscience. More and more, however,
Christ increases our faith and in the measure in which our faith is
increased, sin, Law, and flesh subside.
If anybody objects to the Gospel and the sacraments on the
ground that Christ has taken away our sins once and for always,
you will know what to answer. You will answer: Indeed, Christ has
taken away my sins. But my flesh, the world, and the devil interfere
with my faith. The little light of faith in my heart does not shine
all over me at once. It is a gradual diffusion. In the meanwhile I
console myself with the thought that eventually my flesh will be
made perfect in the resurrection.
Verse 26. For we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
[64] Paul as a true apostle of faith always has the word “faith” on
the tip of his tongue. By faith, says he, we are the children of God.
The Law cannot beget children of God. It cannot regenerate us. It
can only remind us of the old birth by which we were born into the
kingdom of the devil. The best the Law can do for us is to prepare
us for a new birth through faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in Christ
regenerates us into the children of God. St. John bears witness to
this in his Gospel: “As many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
(John 1:12.) What tongue of man or angel can adequately extol the
mercy of God toward us miserable sinners in that He adopted us for
His own children and fellow-heirs with His Son by the simple means
of faith in Christ Jesus!
Verse 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have
put on Christ.
 Chapter 3 cxxi

To “put on Christ” may be understood in two ways, according to

the Law and according to the Gospel. According to the Law as in
Romans 13:14, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,” which means to
follow the example of Christ.
To put on Christ according to the Gospel means to clothe oneself
with the righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and Spirit of Christ.
By nature we are clad in the garb of Adam. This garb Paul likes
to call “the old man.” Before we can become the children of God
this old man must be put off, as Paul says, Ephesians 4:29. The
garment of Adam must come off like soiled clothes. Of course,
it is not as simple as changing one’s clothes. But God makes it
simple. He clothes us with the righteousness of Christ by means of
Baptism, as the Apostle says in this verse: “As many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” With this change of
garments a new birth, a new life stirs in us. New affections toward
God spring up in the heart. New determinations affect our will. All
this is to put on Christ according to the Gospel. Needless to say,
when we have put on the robe of the righteousness of Christ we must
not forget to put on also the mantle of the imitation of Christ.
Verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor
free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus.
The list might be extended indefinitely: There is neither preacher
nor hearer, neither teacher nor scholar, neither master nor servant, etc.
In the matter of salvation, rank, learning, righteousness, influence
count for nothing.
With this statement Paul deals a death blow to the Law. When a
person has put on Christ nothing else matters. Whether a person is a
Jew, a punctilious and circumcised observer of the Law of Moses,
or whether a person is a noble and wise Greek does not matter.
Circumstances, personal worth, character, achievements have no
bearing upon justification. Before God they count for nothing. What
counts is that we put on Christ.
Whether a servant performs his duties well; whether those who
are in authority govern wisely; whether a man marries, provides
for his family, and is an honest citizen; whether a woman is chaste,
obedient to her husband, and a good mother: all these advantages do
not qualify a person for salvation. These virtues are commendable,
 cxxii Luther on Galatians

of course; but they do not count points for justification. All the best
laws, ceremonies, religions, and deeds of the world cannot take away
sin guilt, cannot dispatch death, cannot purchase life.
There is much disparity among men in the world, but there is no
such disparity before God. “For all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23.) Let the Jews, let the Greeks, let
the whole world keep silent in the presence of God. Those who are
justified are justified by Christ. Without faith in Christ the Jew with
his laws, the monk with his holy orders, the Greek with his wisdom,
the servant with his obedience, shall perish forever.
Verse 28. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
There is much imparity among men in the world. And it is a
good thing. If the woman would change places with the man, if the
[65] son would change places with the father, the servant with the master,
nothing but confusion would result. In Christ, however, all are equal.
We all have one and the same Gospel, “one faith, one baptism, one
God and Father of all,” one Christ and Savior of all. The Christ
of Peter, Paul, and all the saints is our Christ. Paul can always be
depended on to add the conditional clause, “In Christ Jesus.” If we
lose sight of Christ, we lose out.
Verse 29. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and
heirs according to the promise.
“If ye be Christ’s” means, if you believe in Christ. If you believe
in Christ, then are you the children of Abraham indeed. Through
our faith in Christ Abraham gains paternity over us and over the
nations of the earth according to the promise: “In thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Through faith we belong to
Christ and Christ to us.
 Chapter 4

Verse 1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth

nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all;
Verse 2. But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed
of the father.
The Apostle had apparently finished his discourse on justification
when this illustration of the youthful heir occurred to him. He throws
it in for good measure. He knows that plain people are sooner
impressed by an apt illustration than by learned discussion.
“I want to give you another illustration from everyday life,” he
writes to the Galatians. “As long as an heir is under age he is treated
very much like a servant. He is not permitted to order his own affairs.
He is kept under constant surveillance. Such discipline is good for
him, otherwise he would waste his inheritance in no time. This
discipline, however, is not to last forever. It is to last only until ‘the
time appointed of the father.’”
Verse 3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under
the elements of the world.
As children of the Law we were treated like servants and prison-
ers. We were oppressed and condemned by the Law. But the tyranny
of the Law is not to last forever. It is to last only until “the time
appointed of the father,” until Christ came and redeemed us.
Verse 3. Under the elements of the world.
By the elements of the world the Apostle does not understand
the physical elements, as some have thought. In calling the Law “the
elements of the world” Paul means to say that the Law is something
material, mundane, earthly. It may restrain evil, but it does not
deliver from sin. The Law does not justify; it does not bring a
person to heaven. I do not obtain eternal life because I do not kill,
commit adultery, steal, etc. Such mere outward decency does not
constitute Christianity. The heathen observe the same restraints to
avoid punishment or to secure the advantages of a good reputation.
In the last analysis such restraint is simple hypocrisy. When the Law
cxxiii
 cxxiv Luther on Galatians

exercises its higher function it accuses and condemns the conscience.

All these effects of the Law cannot be called divine or heavenly.
These effects are elements of the world.
In calling the Law the elements of the world Paul refers to the
whole Law, principally to the ceremonial law which dealt with exter-
nal matters, as meat, drink, dress, places, times, feasts, cleansings,
sacrifices, etc. These are mundane matters which cannot save the
sinner. Ceremonial laws are like the statutes of governments dealing
with purely civil matters, as commerce, inheritance, etc. As for the
pope’s church laws forbidding marriage and meats, Paul calls them
elsewhere the doctrines of devils. You would not call such laws
elements of heaven.
The Law of Moses deals with mundane matters. It holds the
mirror to the evil which is in the world. By revealing the evil that
is in us it creates a longing in the heart for the better things of God.
The Law forces us into the arms of Christ, “who is the end of the law
[66] for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Romans 1:4.) Christ
relieves the conscience of the Law. In so far as the Law impels us to
Christ it renders excellent service.
I do not mean to give the impression that the Law should be
despised. Neither does Paul intend to leave that impression. The
Law ought to be honored. But when it is a matter of justification
before God, Paul had to speak disparagingly of the Law, because the
Law has nothing to do with justification. If it thrusts its nose into the
business of justification we must talk harshly to the Law to keep it in
its place. The conscience ought not to be on speaking terms with the
Law. The conscience ought to know only Christ. To say this is easy,
but in times of trial, when the conscience writhes in the presence
of God, it is not so easy to do. As such times we are to believe in
Christ as if there were no Law or sin anywhere, but only Christ. We
ought to say to the Law: “Mister Law, I do not get you. You stutter
so much. I don’t think that you have anything to say to me.”
When it is not a question of salvation or justification with us,
we are to think highly of the Law and call it “holy, just, and good.”
(Romans 7:12) The Law is of no comfort to a stricken conscience.
Therefore it should not be allowed to rule in our conscience, particu-
larly in view of the fact that Christ paid so great a price to deliver the
conscience from the tyranny of the Law. Let us understand that the
 Chapter 4 cxxv

Law and Christ are impossible bedfellows. The Law must leave the
bed of the conscience, which is so narrow that it cannot hold two, as
Isaiah says, chapter 28:20.
Only Paul among the apostles calls the Law “the elements of the
world, weak and beggarly elements, the strength of sin, the letter that
killeth,” etc. The other apostles do not speak so slightingly of the
Law. Those who want to be first-class scholars in the school of Christ
want to pick up the language of Paul. Christ called him a chosen
vessel and equipped with a facility of expression far above that of
the other apostles, that he as the chosen vessel should establish the
doctrine of justification in clear-cut words.
Verse 4, 5. 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.
“The fullness of the time” means when the time of the Law was
fulfilled and Christ was revealed. Note how Paul explains Christ.
“Christ,” says he, “is the Son of God and the son of a woman. He
submitted Himself under the Law to redeem us who were under
the Law.” In these words the Apostle explains the person and office
of Christ. His person is divine and human. “God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman.” Christ therefore is true God and true man.
Christ’s office the Apostle describes in the words: “Made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law.”
Paul calls the Virgin Mary a woman. This has been frequently
deplored even by some of the ancient fathers who felt that Paul
should have written “virgin” instead of woman. But Paul is now
treating of faith and Christian righteousness, of the person and office
of Christ, not of the virginity of Mary. The inestimable mercy of
God is sufficiently set forth by the fact that His Son was born of a
woman. The more general term “woman” indicates that Christ was
born a true man. Paul does not say that Christ was born of man and
woman, but only of woman. That he has a virgin in mind is obvious.
This passage furthermore declares that Christ’s purpose in com-
ing was the abolition of the Law, not with the intention of laying
down new laws, but “to redeem them that were under the law.” Christ
himself declared: “I judge no man.” (John 8:15.) Again, “I came not
to judge the world, but to save the world.” (John 12:47.) In other
words: “I came not to bring more laws, or to judge men according to
 cxxvi Luther on Galatians

the existing Law. I have a higher and better office. I came to judge
and to condemn the Law, so that it may no more judge and condemn
the world.”
How did Christ manage to redeem us? “He was made under the
law.” When Christ came He found us all in prison. What did He
do about it? Although He was the Lord of the Law, He voluntarily
placed Himself under the Law and permitted it to exercise dominion
over Him, indeed to accuse and to condemn Him. When the Law
takes us into judgment it has a perfect right to do so. “For we are by
nature the children of wrath, even as others.” (Ephesians 2:3.) Christ,
however, “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” (1 Peter
2:22.) Hence the Law had no jurisdiction over Him. Yet the Law
treated this innocent, just, and blessed Lamb of God as cruelly as it
[67] treated us. It accused Him of blasphemy and treason. It made Him
guilty of the sins of the whole world. It overwhelmed him with such
anguish of soul that His sweat was as blood. The Law condemned
Him to the shameful death on the Cross.
It is truly amazing that the Law had the effrontery to turn upon
its divine Author, and that without a show of right. For its insolence
the Law in turn was arraigned before the judgment seat of God and
condemned. Christ might have overcome the Law by an exercise
of His omnipotent authority over the Law. Instead, He humbled
Himself under the Law for and together with them that were under
the Law. He gave the Law license to accuse and condemn Him. His
present mastery over the Law was obtained by virtue of His Sonship
and His substitutionary victory.
Thus Christ banished the Law from the conscience. It dare no
longer banish us from God. For that matter,—the Law continues
to reveal sin. It still raises its voice in condemnation. But the
conscience finds quick relief in the words of the Apostle: “Christ
has redeemed us from the law.” The conscience can now hold its
head high and say to the Law: “You are not so holy yourself. You
crucified the Son of God. That was an awful thing for you to do.
You have lost your influence forever.”
The words, “Christ was made under the law,” are worth all the
attention we can bestow on them. They declare that the Son of God
did not only fulfill one or two easy requirements of the Law, but that
He endured all the tortures of the Law. The Law brought all its fright
 Chapter 4 cxxvii

to bear upon Christ until He experienced anguish and terror such

as nobody else ever experienced. His bloody sweat. His need of
angelic comfort, His tremulous prayer in the garden, His lamentation
on the Cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” bear
eloquent witness to the sting of the Law. He suffered “to redeem
them that were under the law.”
The Roman conception of Christ as a mere lawgiver more strin-
gent than Moses, is quite contrary to Paul’s teaching. Christ, accord-
ing to Paul, was not an agent of the Law but a patient of the Law.
He was not a law-giver, but a law-taker.
True enough, Christ also taught and expounded the Law. But it
was incidental. It was a sideline with Him. He did not come into
the world for the purpose of teaching the Law, as little as it was the
purpose of His coming to perform miracles. Teaching the Law and
performing miracles did not constitute His unique mission to the
world. The prophets also taught the Law and performed miracles.
In fact, according to the promise of Christ, the apostles performed
greater miracles than Christ Himself. (John 14:12.) The true purpose
of Christ’s coming was the abolition of the Law, of sin, and of death.
If we think of Christ as Paul here depicts Him, we shall never go
wrong. We shall never be in danger of misconstruing the meaning
of the Law. We shall understand that the Law does not justify. We
shall understand why a Christian observes laws: For the peace of the
world, out of gratitude to God, and for a good example that others
may be attracted to the Gospel.
Verse 5. That we might receive the adoption of sons.
Paul still has for his text Genesis 22:18, “In thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed.” In the course of his Epistle he calls
this promise of the blessing righteousness, life, deliverance from the
Law, the testament, etc. Now he also calls the promise of blessing
“the adoption of sons,” the inheritance of everlasting life.
What ever induced God to adopt us for His children and heirs?
What claim can men who are subservient to sin, subject to the curse
of the Law, and worthy of everlasting death, have on God and eternal
life? That God adopted us is due to the merit of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, who humbled Himself under the Law and redeemed us
law-ridden sinners.
 cxxviii Luther on Galatians

Verse 6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of
his Son into your hearts.
In the early Church the Holy Spirit was sent forth in visible form.
He descended upon Christ in the form of a dove (Matthew 3:16), and
in the likeness of fire upon the apostles and other believers. (Acts
2:3.) This visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit was necessary to
[68] the establishment of the early Church, as were also the miracles
that accompanied the gift of the Holy Ghost. Paul explained the
purpose of these miraculous gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14:22,
“Tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that
believe not.” Once the Church had been established and properly
advertised by these miracles, the visible appearance of the Holy
Ghost ceased.
Next, the Holy Ghost is sent forth into the hearts of the believers,
as here stated, “God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts.” This
sending is accomplished by the preaching of the Gospel through
which the Holy Spirit inspires us with fervor and light, with new
judgment, new desires, and new motives. This happy innovation is
not a derivative of reason or personal development, but solely the
gift and operation of the Holy Ghost.
This renewal by the Holy Spirit may not be conspicuous to the
world, but it is patent to us by our better judgment, our improved
speech, and our unashamed confession of Christ. Formerly we did
not confess Christ to be our only merit, as we do now in the light
of the Gospel. Why, then, should we feel bad if the world looks
upon us as ravagers of religion and insurgents against constituted
authority? We confess Christ and our conscience approves of it.
Then, too, we live in the fear of God. If we sin, we sin not on
purpose, but unwittingly, and we are sorry for it. Sin sticks in our
flesh, and the flesh gets us into sin even after we have been imbued
by the Holy Ghost. Outwardly there is no great difference between
a Christian and any honest man. The activities of a Christian are
not sensational. He performs his duty according to his vocation.
He takes good care of his family, and is kind and helpful to others.
Such homely, everyday performances are not much admired. But
the setting-up exercises of the monks draw great applause. Holy
works, you know. Only the acts of a Christian are truly good and
 Chapter 4 cxxix

acceptable to God, because they are done in faith, with a cheerful

heart, out of gratitude to Christ.
We ought to have no misgivings about whether the Holy Ghost
dwells in us. We are “the temple of the Holy Ghost.” (1 Corinthians
3:16.) When we have a love for the Word of God, and gladly hear,
talk, write, and think of Christ, we are to know that this inclination
toward Christ is the gift and work of the Holy Ghost. Where you
come across contempt for the Word of God, there is the devil. We
meet with such contempt for the Word of God mostly among the
common people. They act as though the Word of God does not
concern them. Wherever you find a love for the Word, thank God
for the Holy Spirit who infuses this love into the hearts of men. We
never come by this love naturally, neither can it be enforced by laws.
It is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Roman theologians teach that no man can know for a cer-
tainty whether he stands in the favor of God or not. This teaching
forms one of the chief articles of their faith. With this teaching
they tormented men’s consciences, excommunicated Christ from the
Church, and limited the operations of the Holy Ghost.
St. Augustine observed that “every man is certain of his faith, if
he has faith.” This the Romanists deny. “God forbid,” they exclaim
piously, “that I should ever be so arrogant as to think that I stand in
grace, that I am holy, or that I have the Holy Ghost.” We ought to
feel sure that we stand in the grace of God, not in view of our own
worthiness, but through the good services of Christ. As certain as
we are that Christ pleases God, so sure ought we to be that we also
please God, because Christ is in us. And although we daily offend
God by our sins, yet as often as we sin, God’s mercy bends over us.
Therefore sin cannot get us to doubt the grace of God. Our certainty
is of Christ, that mighty Hero who overcame the Law, sin, death,
and all evils. So long as He sits at the right hand of God to intercede
for us, we have nothing to fear from the anger of God.
This inner assurance of the grace of God is accompanied by
outward indications such as gladly to hear, preach, praise, and to
confess Christ, to do one’s duty in the station in which God has
placed us, to aid the needy, and to comfort the sorrowing. These are
the affidavits of the Holy Spirit testifying to our favorable standing
with God.
 cxxx Luther on Galatians

If we could be fully persuaded that we are in the good grace of

God, that our sins are forgiven, that we have the Spirit of Christ, that
we are the beloved children of God, we would be ever so happy and
grateful to God. But because we often feel fear and doubt we cannot
come to that happy certainty.
[69] Train your conscience to believe that God approves of you. Fight
it out with doubt. Gain assurance through the Word of God. Say:
“I am all right with God. I have the Holy Ghost. Christ, in whom I
do believe, makes me worthy. I gladly hear, read, sing, and write of
Him. I would like nothing better than that Christ’s Gospel be known
throughout the world and that many, many be brought to faith in
Him.”
Verse 6. Crying, Abba, Father.
Paul might have written, “God sent forth the Spirit of his Son
into your hearts, calling Abba, Father.” Instead, he wrote, “Crying,
Abba, Father.” In the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans
the Apostle describes this crying of the Spirit as “groanings which
cannot be uttered.” He writes in the 26th verse: “Likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray
for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered.”
The fact that the Spirit of Christ in our hearts cries unto God and
makes intercession for us with groanings should reassure us greatly.
However, there are many factors that prevent such full reassurance
on our part. We are born in sin. To doubt the good will of God
is an inborn suspicion of God with all of us. Besides, the devil,
our adversary, goeth about seeking to devour us by roaring: “God
is angry at you and is going to destroy you forever.” In all these
difficulties we have only one support, the Gospel of Christ. To hold
on to it, that is the trick. Christ cannot be perceived with the senses.
We cannot see Him. The heart does not feel His helpful presence.
Especially in times of trials a Christian feels the power of sin, the
infirmity of his flesh, the goading darts of the devil, the agues of
death, the scowl and judgment of God. All these things cry out
against us. The Law scolds us, sin screams at us, death thunders
at us, the devil roars at us. In the midst of the clamor the Spirit of
Christ cries in our hearts: “Abba, Father.” And this little cry of the
 Chapter 4 cxxxi

Spirit transcends the hullabaloo of the Law, sin, death, and the devil,
and finds a hearing with God.
The Spirit cries in us because of our weakness. Because of our
infirmity the Holy Ghost is sent forth into our hearts to pray for us
according to the will of God and to assure us of the grace of God.
Let the Law, sin, and the devil cry out against us until their
outcry fills heaven and earth. The Spirit of God outcries them all.
Our feeble groans, “Abba, Father,” will be heard of God sooner than
the combined racket of hell, sin, and the Law.
We do not think of our groanings as a crying. It is so faint we
do not know we are groaning. “But he,” says Paul, “that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:27.)
To this Searcher of hearts our feeble groaning, as it seems to us, is
a loud shout for help in comparison with which the howls of hell,
the din of the devil, the yells of the Law, the shouts of sin are like so
many whispers.
In the fourteenth chapter of Exodus the Lord addresses Moses
at the Red Sea: “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” Moses had not
cried unto the Lord. He trembled so he could hardly talk. His faith
was at low ebb. He saw the people of Israel wedged between the Sea
and the approaching armies of Pharaoh. How were they to escape?
Moses did not know what to say. How then could God say that
Moses was crying to Him? God heard the groaning heart of Moses
and the groans to Him sounded like loud shouts for help. God is
quick to catch the sigh of the heart.
Some have claimed that the saints are without infirmities. But
Paul says: “The Spirit helpeth our infirmities, and maketh inter-
cession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” We need
the help of the Holy Spirit because we are weak and infirm. And
the Holy Spirit never disappoints us. Confronted by the armies of
Pharaoh, retreat cut off by the waters of the Red Sea, Moses was in
a bad spot. He felt himself to blame. The devil accused him: “These
people will all perish, for they cannot escape. And you are to blame
because you led the people out of Egypt. You started all this.” And
then the people started in on Moses. “Because there were no graves
in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? For it
had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should
die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:11, 12.) But the Holy Ghost was
 cxxxii Luther on Galatians

[70] in Moses and made intercession for him with unutterable groanings,
sighings unto the Lord: “O Lord, at Thy commandment have I led
forth this people. So help me now.”
The Spirit intercedes for us not in many words or long prayers,
but with groanings, with little sounds like “Abba.” Small as this word
is, it says ever so much. It says: “My Father, I am in great trouble
and you seem so far away. But I know I am your child, because you
are my Father for Christ’s sake. I am loved by you because of the
Beloved.” This one little word “Abba” surpasses the eloquence of a
Demosthenes and a Cicero.
I have spent much time on this verse in order to combat the cruel
teaching of the Roman church, that a person ought to be kept in a
state of uncertainty concerning his status with God. The monasteries
recruit the youth on the plea that their “holy” orders will assuredly
recruit them for heaven. But once inside the monastery the recruits
are told to doubt the promises of God.
In support of their error the papists quote the saying of Solomon:
“The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of
God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before
them.” (Eccles. 9:1.) They take this hatred to mean the wrath of God
to come. Others take it to mean God’s present anger. None of them
seem to understand this passage from Solomon. On every page the
Scriptures urge us to believe that God is merciful, loving, and patient;
that He is faithful and true, and that He keeps His promises. All
the promises of God were fulfilled in the gift of His only-begotten
Son, that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” The Gospel is reassurance for sinners. Yet this one
saying from Solomon, misinterpreted at that, is made to count for
more than all the many promises of all the Scriptures.
If our opponents are so uncertain about their status with God,
and even go so far as to say that the conscience ought to be kept in
a state of doubt, why is it that they persecute us as vile heretics?
When it comes to persecuting us they do not seem to be in doubt
and uncertainty one minute.
Let us not fail to thank God for delivering us from the doctrine
of doubt. The Gospel commands us to look away from our own
good works to the promises of God in Christ, the Mediator. The
pope commands us to look away from the promises of God in Christ
 Chapter 4 cxxxiii

to our own merit. No wonder they are the eternal prey of doubt and
despair. We depend upon God for salvation. No wonder that our
doctrine is certified, because it does not rest in our own strength, our
own conscience, our own feelings, our own person, our own works.
It is built on a better foundation. It is built on the promises and truth
of God.
Besides, the passage from Solomon does not treat of the hatred
and love of God towards men. It merely rebukes the ingratitude of
men. The more deserving a person is, the less he is appreciated.
Often those who should be his best friends, are his worst enemies.
Those who least deserve the praise of the world, get most. David
was a holy man and a good king. Nevertheless he was chased from
his own country. The prophets, Christ, the apostles, were slain.
Solomon in this passage does not speak of the love and hatred of
God, but of love and hatred among men. As though Solomon wanted
to say: “There are many good and wise men whom God uses for the
advancement of mankind. Seldom, if ever, are their efforts crowned
with gratitude. They are usually repaid with hatred and ingratitude.”
We are being treated that way. We thought we would find favor
with men for bringing them the Gospel of peace, life, and eternal
salvation. Instead of favor, we found fury. At first, yes, many
were delighted with our doctrine and received it gladly. We counted
them as our friends and brethren, and were happy to think that they
would help us in sowing the seed of the Gospel. But they revealed
themselves as false brethren and deadly enemies of the Gospel. If
you experience the ingratitude of men, don’t let it get you down. Say
with Christ: “They hated me without cause.” And, “For my love they
are my adversaries; but I give myself unto prayer.” (Psalm 109:4.)
Let us never doubt the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, but make
up our minds that God is pleased with us, that He looks after us, and
that we have the Holy Spirit who prays for us.
Verse 7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son.
This sentence clinches Paul’s argument. He says: “With the Holy [71]
Spirit in our hearts crying, ‘Abba, Father,’ there can be no doubt that
God has adopted us for His children and that our subjection to the
Law has come to an end.” We are now the free children of God. We
may now say to the Law: “Mister Law, you have lost your throne
to Christ. I am free now and a son of God. You cannot curse me
cxxxiv Luther on Galatians

any more.” Do not permit the Law to lie in your conscience. Your
conscience belongs to Christ. Let Christ be in it and not the Law.
As the children of God we are the heirs of His eternal heaven.
What a wonderful gift heaven is, man’s heart cannot conceive, much
less describe. Until we enter upon our heavenly inheritance we are
only to have our little faith to go by. To man’s reason our faith looks
rather forlorn. But because our faith rests on the promises of the
infinite God, His promises are also infinite, so much so that nothing
can accuse or condemn us.
Verse 7. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
A son is an heir, not by virtue of high accomplishments, but by
virtue of his birth. He is a mere recipient. His birth makes him an
heir, not his labors. In exactly the same way we obtain the eternal
gifts of righteousness, resurrection, and everlasting life. We obtain
them not as agents, but as beneficiaries. We are the children and
heirs of God through faith in Christ. We have Christ to thank for
everything.
We are not the heirs of some rich and mighty man, but heirs
of God, the almighty Creator of all things. If a person could fully
appreciate what it means to be a son and heir of God, he would rate
the might and wealth of nations small change in comparison with his
heavenly inheritance. What is the world to him who has heaven? No
wonder Paul greatly desired to depart and to be with Christ. Nothing
would be more welcome to us than early death, knowing that it
would spell the end of all our miseries and the beginning of all our
happiness. Yes, if a person could perfectly believe this he would not
long remain alive. The anticipation of his joy would kill him.
But the law of the members strives against the law of the mind,
and makes perfect joy and faith impossible. We need the continued
help and comfort of the Holy Spirit. We need His prayers. Paul
himself cried out: “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death?” The body of this death spoiled
the joy of his spirit. He did not always entertain the sweet and glad
expectation of his heavenly inheritance. He often felt miserable.
This goes to show how hard it is to believe. Faith is feeble,
because the flesh wars against the spirit. If we could have perfect
faith, our loathing for this life in the world would be complete. We
would not be so careful about this life. We would not be so attached
 Chapter 4 cxxxv

to the world and the things of the world. We would not feel so good
when we have them; we would not feel so bad when we lose them.
We would be far more humble and patient and kind. But our faith is
weak, because our spirit is weak. In this life we can have only the
first-fruits of the Spirit, as Paul says.
Verse 7. Through Christ.
The Apostle always has Christ on the tip of his tongue. He
foresaw that nothing would be less known in the world some day
than the Gospel of Christ. Therefore he talks of Christ continually.
As often as he speaks of righteousness, grace, the promise, the
adoption, and the inheritance of heaven, he adds the words, “In
Christ,” or “Through Christ,” to show that these blessings are not to
be had by the Law, or the deeds of the Law, much less by our own
exertions, or by the observance of human traditions, but only by and
through and in Christ.
Verses 8, 9. 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?
This concludes Paul’s discourse on justification. From now
to the end of the Epistle the Apostle writes mostly of Christian
conduct. But before he follows up his doctrinal discourse with
practical precepts he once more reproves the Galatians. He is deeply
displeased with them for relinquishing their divine doctrine. He
tells them: “You have taken on teachers who intend to recommit
you to the Law. By my doctrine I called you out of the darkness of [72]
ignorance into the wonderful light of the knowledge of God. I led
you out of bondage into the freedom of the sons of God, not by the
prescription of laws, but by the gift of heavenly and eternal blessings
through Christ Jesus. How could you so soon forsake the light and
return to darkness? How could you so quickly stray from grace into
the Law, from freedom into bondage?”
The example of the Galatians, of Anabaptists, and other sectar-
ians in our day bears testimony to the ease with which faith may
be lost. We take great pains in setting forth the doctrine of faith by
preaching and by writing. We are careful to apply the Gospel and
the Law in their proper turn. Yet we make little headway because
cxxxvi Luther on Galatians

the devil seduces people into misbelief by taking Christ out of their
sight and focusing their eyes upon the Law.
But why does Paul accuse the Galatians of reverting to the weak
and beggarly elements of the Law when they never had the Law?
Why does he not say to them: “At one time you Galatians did not
know God. You then served idols that were no gods. But now
that you have come to know the true God, why do you go back to
the worship of idols?” Paul seems to identify their defection from
the Gospel to the Law with their former idolatry. Indeed he does.
Whoever gives up the article of justification does not know the true
God. It is one and the same thing whether a person reverts to the
Law or to the worship of idols. When the article of justification
is lost, nothing remains except error, hypocrisy, godlessness, and
idolatry.
God will and can be known in no other way than in and through
Christ according to the statement of John 1:18, “The only begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
Christ is the only means whereby we can know God and His will. In
Christ we perceive that God is not a cruel judge, but a most loving
and merciful Father who to bless and to save us “spared not his own
Son, but gave him up for us all.” This is truly to know God.
Those who do not know God in Christ arrive at this erroneous
conclusion: “I will serve God in such and such a way. I will join this
or that order. I will be active in this or that charitable endeavor. God
will sanction my good intentions and reward me with everlasting
life. For is He not a merciful and generous Father who gives good
things even to the unworthy and ungrateful? How much more will
He grant unto me everlasting life as a due payment in return for
my many good deeds and merits.” This is the religion of reason.
This is the natural religion of the world. “The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:14.) “There
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”
(Romans 3:11.) Hence, there is really no difference between a Jew,
a Mohammedan, and any other old or new heretic. There may be a
difference of persons, places, rites, religions, ceremonies, but as far
as their fundamental beliefs are concerned they are all alike.
Is it therefore not extreme folly for Rome and the Mohammedans
to fight each other about religion? How about the monks? Why
 Chapter 4 cxxxvii

should one monk want to be accounted more holy than another

monk because of some silly ceremony, when all the time their basic
beliefs are as much alike as one egg is like the other? They all
imagine, if we do this or that work, God will have mercy on us; if
not, God will be angry.
God never promised to save anybody for his religious observance
of ceremonies and ordinances. Those who rely upon such things do
serve a god, but it is their own invention of a god, and not the true
God. The true God has this to say: No religion pleases Me whereby
the Father is not glorified through His Son Jesus. All who give their
faith to this Son of Mine, to them I am God and Father. I accept,
justify, and save them. All others abide under My curse because they
worship creatures instead of Me.
Without the doctrine of justification there can be only ignorance
of God. Those who refuse to be justified by Christ are idolaters.
They remain under the Law, sin, death, and the power of the devil.
Everything they do is wrong.
Nowadays there are many such idolaters who want to be counted
among the true confessors of the Gospel. They may even teach that
men are delivered from their sins by the death of Christ. But because
they attach more importance to charity than to faith in Christ they
dishonor Him and pervert His Word. They do not serve the true
God, but an idol of their own invention. The true God has never yet [73]
smiled upon a person for his charity or virtues, but only for the sake
of Christ’s merits.
The objection is frequently raised that the Bible commands that
we should love God with all our heart. True enough. But because
God commands it, it does not follow that we do it. If we could
love God with all our heart we should undoubtedly be justified by
our obedience, for it is written, “Which if a man do, he shall live
in them.” (Leviticus 18:5.) But now comes the Gospel and says:
“Because you do not do these things, you cannot live in them.”
The words, “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God,” require perfect
obedience, perfect fear, perfect trust, and perfect love. But where are
the people who can render perfection? Hence, this commandment,
instead of justifying men, only accuses and condemns them. “Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth”
(Romans 10:1.)
cxxxviii Luther on Galatians

How may these two contradictory statements of the Apostle, “Ye

knew not God,” and “Ye worshipped God,” be reconciled? I answer:
By nature all men know that there is a God, “because that which
may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed
it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of
the world are clearly seen.” (Romans 1:19, 20.) Furthermore, the
different religions to be found among all nations at all times bear
witness to the fact that all men have a certain intuitive knowledge of
God.
If all men know God how can Paul say that the Galatians did
not know God prior to the hearing of the Gospel? I answer: There
is a twofold knowledge of God, general and particular. All men
have the general and instinctive recognition that there is a God who
created heaven and earth, who is just and holy, and who punishes
the wicked. How God feels about us, what His intentions are, what
He will do for us, or how He will save us, that men cannot know
instinctively. It must be revealed to them. I may know a person by
sight, and still not know him, because I do not know how he feels
about me. Men know instinctively that there is a God. But what His
will is toward them, they do not know. It is written: “There is none
that understandeth God.” (Romans 3:11.) Again, “No man hath seen
God.” (John 1:18.) Now, what good does it do you if you know that
there is a God, if you do not know how He feels about you, or what
He wants of you? People have done a good deal of guessing. The
Jew imagines he is doing the will of God if he concentrates on the
Law of Moses. The Mohammedan thinks his Koran is the will of
God. The monk fancies he is doing the will of God if he performs
his vows. But they deceive themselves and become “vain in their
imaginations,” as Paul says, Romans 1:21. Instead of worshipping
the true God, they worship the vain imaginations of their foolish
hearts.
What Paul means by saying to the Galatians, “When ye knew
not God,” is simply this: “There was a time when you did not know
the will of God in Christ, but you worshipped gods of your own
invention, thinking that you had to perform this or that labor.”
Whether you understand the “elements of the world” to mean
the Law of Moses, or the religions of the heathen nations, it makes
no difference. Those who lapse from the Gospel to the Law are no
 Chapter 4 cxxxix

better off than those who lapse from grace into idolatry. Without
Christ all religion is idolatry. Without Christ men will entertain false
ideas about God, call their ideas what you like, the laws of Moses,
the ordinances of the Pope, the Koran of the Mohammedans, or what
have you.
Verse 9. But now, after that ye have known God.
“Is it not amazing,” cries Paul, “that you Galatians who knew
God intimately by the hearing of the Gospel, should all of a sudden
revert from the true knowledge of His will in which I thought you
were confirmed, to the weak and beggarly elements of the Law
which can only enslave you again?”
Verse 9. Or rather are known of God.
The Apostle turns the foregoing sentence around. He fears the
Galatians have lost God altogether. “Alas,” he cries, “have you
come to this, that you no longer know God? What else am I to
think? Nevertheless, God knows you.” Our knowledge of God is
rather passive than active. God knows us better than we know God. [74]
“Ye are known of God” means that God brings His Gospel to our
attention, and endows us with faith and the Holy Spirit. Even in
these words the Apostle denies the possibility of our knowing God
by the performance of the Law. “No man knoweth who the Father is,
but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” (Luke 10:22.)
“By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11.)
The Apostle frankly expresses his surprise to the Galatians that
they who had known God intimately through the Gospel, should so
easily be persuaded by the false apostles to return to the weak and
beggarly elements of the Law. I would not be surprised to see my
church perverted by some fanatic through one or two sermons. We
are no better than the apostles who had to witness the subversion of
the churches which they had planted with their own hands. Neverthe-
less, Christ will reign to the end of the world, and that miraculously,
as He did during the Dark Ages.
Paul seems to think rather ill of the Law. He calls it the elements
of the world, the weak and beggarly elements of the world. Was
it not irreverent for him to speak that way about the holy Law of
God? The Law ought to prepare the way of Christ into the hearts of
men. That is the true purpose and function of the Law. But if the
cxl Luther on Galatians

Law presumes to usurp the place and function of the Gospel, it is no

longer the holy Law of God, but a pseudo-Gospel.
If you care to amplify this matter you may add the observation
that the Law is a weak and beggarly element because it makes people
weak and beggarly. The Law has no power and affluence to make
men strong and rich before God. To seek to be justified by the Law
amounts to the same thing as if a person who is already weak and
feeble should try to find strength in weakness, or as if a person with
the dropsy should seek a cure by exposing himself to the pestilence,
or as if a leper should go to a leper, and a beggar to a beggar to find
health and wealth.
Those who seek to be justified by the Law grow weaker and
more destitute right along. They are weak and bankrupt to begin
with. They are by nature the children of wrath. Yet for salvation
they grasp at the straw of the Law. The Law can only aggravate their
weakness and poverty. The Law makes them ten times weaker and
poorer than they were before.
I and many others have experienced the truth of this. I have
known monks who zealously labored to please God for salvation,
but the more they labored the more impatient, miserable, uncertain,
and fearful they became. What else can you expect? You cannot
grow strong through weakness and rich through poverty. People who
prefer the Law to the Gospel are like Aesop’s dog who let go of the
meat to snatch at the shadow of the water. There is no satisfaction
in the Law. What satisfaction can there be in collecting laws with
which to torment oneself and others? One law breeds ten more until
their number is legion.
Who would have thought it possible that the Galatians, taught as
they were by that efficient apostle and teacher, Paul, could so quickly
be led astray by the false apostles? To fall away from the Gospel
is an easy matter because few people appreciate what an excellent
treasure the knowledge of Christ really is. People are not sufficiently
exercised in their faith by afflictions. They do not wrestle against
sin. They live in security without conflict. Because they have never
been tried in the furnace of affliction they are not properly equipped
with the armor of God and know not how to use the sword of the
Spirit. As long as they are being shepherded by faithful pastors,
all is well. But when their faithful shepherds are gone and wolves
 Chapter 4 cxli

disguised as sheep break into the fold, back they go to the weak and
beggarly elements of the Law.
Whoever goes back to the Law loses the knowledge of the truth,
fails in the recognition of his sinfulness, does not know God, nor the
devil, nor himself, and does not understand the meaning and purpose
of the Law. Without the knowledge of Christ a man will always
argue that the Law is necessary for salvation, that it will strengthen
the weak and enrich the poor. Wherever this opinion holds sway
the promises of God are denied, Christ is demoted, hypocrisy and
idolatry are established.
Verse 9. Whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage.
The Apostle pointedly asks the Galatians whether they desire [75]
to be in bondage again to the Law. The Law is weak and poor, the
sinner is weak and poor—two feeble beggars trying to help each
other. They cannot do it. They only wear each other out. But through
Christ a weak and poor sinner is revived and enriched unto eternal
life.
Verse 10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
The Apostle Paul knew what the false apostles were teaching
the Galatians: The observance of days, and months, and times, and
years. The Jews had been obliged to keep holy the Sabbath Day, the
new moons, the feast of the passover, the feast of tabernacles, and
other feasts. The false apostles constrained the Galatians to observe
these Jewish feasts under threat of damnation. Paul hastens to tell
the Galatians that they were exchanging their Christian liberty for
the weak and beggarly elements of the world.
Verse 11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in
vain.
It grieves the Apostle to think that he might have preached the
Gospel to the Galatians in vain. But this statement expresses more
than grief. Behind his apparent disappointment at their failure lurks
the sharp reprimand that they had forsaken Christ and that they
were proving themselves to be obstinate unbelievers. But he does
not openly condemn them for fear that oversharp criticism might
alienate them altogether. He therefore changes the tone of his voice
and speaks kindly to them.
Verse 12. Be as I am; for I am as ye are.
cxlii Luther on Galatians

Up to this point Paul has been occupied with the doctrinal aspect
of the apostasy of the Galatians. He did not conceal his disappoint-
ment at their lack of stability. He had rebuked them. He had called
them fools, crucifiers of Christ, etc. Now that the more important
part of his Epistle has been finished, he realizes that he has handled
the Galatians too roughly. Anxious lest he should do more harm
than good, he is careful to let them see that his criticism proceeds
from affection and a true apostolic concern for their welfare. He is
eager to mitigate his sharp words with gentle sentiments in order to
win them again.
Like Paul, all pastors and ministers ought to have much sym-
pathy for their poor straying sheep, and instruct them in the spirit
of meekness. They cannot be straightened out in any other way.
Oversharp criticism provokes anger and despair, but no repentance.
And here let us note, by the way, that true doctrine always produces
concord. When men embrace errors, the tie of Christian love is
broken.
At the beginning of the Reformation we were honored as the true
ministers of Christ. Suddenly certain false brethren began to hate us.
We had given them no offense, no occasion to hate us. They knew
then as they know now that ours is the singular desire to publish the
Gospel of Christ everywhere. What changed their attitude toward
us? False doctrine. Seduced into error by the false apostles, the
Galatians refused to acknowledge St. Paul as their pastor. The name
and doctrine of Paul became obnoxious to them. I fear this Epistle
recalled very few from their error.
Paul knew that the false apostles would misconstrue his censure
of the Galatians to their own advantage and say: “So this is your
Paul whom you praise so much. What sweet names he is calling you
in his letter. When he was with you he acted like a father, but now he
acts like a dictator.” Paul knew what to expect of the false apostles
and therefore he is worried. He does not know what to say. It is hard
for a man to defend his cause at a distance, especially when he has
reason to think that he personally has fallen into disfavor.
Verse 12. Be as I am; for I am as ye are.
In beseeching the Galatians to be as he is, Paul expresses the
hope that they might hold the same affection for him that he holds
 Chapter 4 cxliii

for them. “Perhaps I have been a little hard with you. Forgive it. Do
not judge my heart according to my words.”
We request the same consideration for ourselves. Our way of
writing is incisive and straightforward. But there is no bitterness in
our heart. We seek the honor of Christ and the welfare of men. We do [76]
not hate the Pope as to wish him ill. We do not desire the death of our
false brethren. We desire that they may turn from their evil ways to
Christ and be saved with us. A teacher chastises the pupil to reform
him. The rod hurts, but correction is necessary. A father punishes his
son because he loves his son. If he did not love the lad he would not
punish him but let him have his own way in everything until he comes
to harm. Paul beseeches the Galatians to look upon his correction
as a sign that he really cared for them. “Now no chastening for the
present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11.)
Although Paul seeks to soften the effect of his reproachful words,
he does not take them back. When a physician administers a bitter
potion to a patient, he does it to cure the patient. The fact that the
medicine is bitter is no fault of the physician. The malady calls
for a bitter medicine. Paul wants the Galatians to judge his words
according to the situation that made them necessary.
Verse 12. Brethren, I beseech you ... Ye have not injured me at all.
Would you call it beseeching the Galatians to call them “be-
witched,” “disobedient,” “crucifiers of Christ”? The Apostle calls it
an earnest beseeching. And so it is. When a father corrects his son it
means as if he were saying, “My son, I beseech you, be a good boy.”
Verse 12. Ye have not injured me at all.
“I am not angry with you,” says Paul. “Why should I be angry
with you, since you have done me no injury at all?”
To this the Galatians reply: “Why, then, do you say that we
are perverted, that we have forsaken the true doctrine, that we are
foolish, bewitched, etc., if you are not angry? We must have offended
you somehow.”
Paul answers: “You Galatians have not injured me. You have
injured yourselves. I chide you not because I wish you ill. I have
no reason to wish you ill. God is my witness, you have done me no
 cxliv Luther on Galatians

wrong. On the contrary, you have been very good to me. The reason
I write to you is because I love you.”
The bitter potion must be sweetened with honey and sugar to
make it palatable. When parents have punished their children they
give them apples, pears, and other good things to show them that
they mean well.
Verses 13, 14. 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.
“You Galatians were very good to me. When I began to preach
the Gospel to you in the infirmity of my flesh and in great temptation
you were not at all offended. On the contrary, you were so loving,
so kind, so friendly towards me, you received me like an angel, like
Jesus Himself.”
Indeed, the Galatians are to be commended for receiving the
Gospel from a man as unimposing and afflicted all around as Paul
was. Wherever he preached the Gospel, Jews and Gentiles raved
against him. All the influential and religious people of his day
denounced him. But the Galatians did not mind it. That was greatly
to their honor. And Paul does not neglect to praise them for it. This
praise Paul bestows on none of the other churches to which he wrote.
St. Jerome and others of the ancient fathers allege this infirmity
of Paul’s to have been some physical defect, or concupiscence.
Jerome and the other diagnosticians lived at a time when the Church
enjoyed peace and prosperity, when the bishops increased in wealth
and standing, when pastors and bishops no longer sat over the Word
of God. No wonder they failed to understand Paul.
When Paul speaks of the infirmity of his flesh he does not mean
some physical defect or carnal lust, but the sufferings and afflictions
which he endured in his body. What these infirmities were he himself
explains in 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10: “Most gladly therefore will I
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
[77] upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when
I am weak, then am I strong.” And in the eleventh chapter of the
same Epistle the Apostle writes: “In labors more abundant, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews
 Chapter 4 cxlv

five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten
with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck,” etc. (2
Corinthians 11:23-25.) By the infirmity of his flesh Paul meant these
afflictions and not some chronic disease. He reminds the Galatians
how he was always in peril at the hands of the Jews, Gentiles, and
false brethren, how he suffered hunger and want.
Now, the afflictions of the believers always offend people. Paul
knew it and therefore has high praise for the Galatians because they
over looked his afflictions and received him like an angel. Christ
forewarned the faithful against the offense of the Cross, saying:
“Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” (Matthew
11:6.) Surely it is no easy thing to confess Him Lord of all and
Savior of the world who was a reproach of men, and despised of the
people, and the laughing stock of the world. (Psalm 22:7.) I say, to
value this poor Christ, so spitefully scorned, spit upon, scourged,
and crucified, more than the riches of the richest, the strength of the
strongest, the wisdom of the wisest, is something. It is worth being
called blessed.
Paul not only had outward afflictions but also inner, spiritual
afflictions. He refers to these in 2 Corinthians 7:6, “Without were
fightings, within were fears.” In his letter to the Philippians Paul
makes mention of the restoration of Epaphroditus as a special act of
mercy on the part of God, “lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.”
Considering the many afflictions of Paul, we are not surprised
to hear him loudly praising the Galatians for not being offended at
him as others were. The world thinks us mad because we go about
to comfort, to help, to save others while we ourselves are in distress.
People tell us: “Physician, heal thyself.” (Luke 4:23.)
The Apostle tells the Galatians that he will keep their kindness
in perpetual remembrance. Indirectly, he also reminds them how
much they had loved him before the invasion of the false apostles,
and gives them a hint that they should return to their first love for
him.
Verses 15. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of?
“How much happier you used to be. And how you Galatians
used to tell me that you were blessed. And how much did I not
praise and commend you formerly.” Paul reminds them of former
and better times in an effort to mitigate his sharp reproaches, lest
 cxlvi Luther on Galatians

the false apostles should slander him and misconstrue his letter to
his disadvantage and to their own advantage. Such snakes in the
grass are equal to anything. They will pervert words spoken from a
sincere heart and twist them to mean just the opposite of what they
were intended to convey. They are like spiders that suck venom out
of sweet and fragrant flowers. The poison is not in the flowers, but it
is the nature of the spider to turn what is good and wholesome into
poison.
Verse 15. 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 continues his praise of the Galatians. “You did not
only treat me very courteously. If it had been necessary you would
have plucked out your eyes and sacrificed your lives for me.” And in
very fact the Galatians sacrificed their lives for Paul. By receiving
and maintaining Paul they called upon their own heads the hatred
and malice of all the Jews and Gentiles.
Nowadays the name of Luther carries the same stigma. Whoever
praises Luther is a worse sinner than an idolater, perjurer, or thief.
Verse 16. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the
truth?
Paul’s reason for praising the Galatians is to avoid giving them
the impression as if he were their enemy because he had reprimanded
them.
A true friend will admonish his erring brother, and if the erring
brother has any sense at all he will thank his friend. In the world truth
[78] produces hatred. Whoever speaks the truth is counted an enemy. But
among friends it is not so, much less among Christians. The Apostle
wants his Galatians to know that just because he had told them the
truth they are not to think that he dislikes them. “I told you the truth
because I love you.”
Verse 17. They zealously affect you, but not well.
Paul takes the false apostles to task for their flattery. Satan’s
satellites softsoap the people. Paul calls it “by good words and fair
speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple.” (Romans 16:18.)
They tell me that by my stubbornness in this doctrine of the
Sacrament I am destroying the harmony of the church. They say it
would be better if we would make some slight concession rather than
cause such commotion and controversy in the Church regarding an
 Chapter 4 cxlvii

article which is not even one of the fundamental doctrines. My reply

is, cursed be any love or harmony which demands for its preservation
that we place the Word of God in jeopardy!
Verses 17. Yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
“Do you Galatians know why the false apostles are so zealous
about you? They expect you to reciprocate. And that would leave
me out. If their zeal were right they would not mind your loving
me. But they hate my doctrine and want to stamp it out. In order
to bring this to pass they go about to alienate your hearts from me
and to make me obnoxious to you.” In this way Paul brings the false
apostles into suspicion. He questions their motives. He maintains
that their zeal is mere pretense to deceive the Galatians. Our Savior
Christ also warned us, saying: “Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep’s clothing.” (Matthew 7:15.)
Paul was considerably disturbed by the commissions and changes
that followed in the wake of his preaching. He was accused of being
“a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout
the world.” (Acts 24:5.) In Philippi the townspeople cried that he
troubled their city and taught customs which were not lawful for
them to receive. (Acts 16:20, 21.)
All troubles, calamities, famines, wars were laid to the charge of
the Gospel of the apostles. However, the apostles were not deterred
by such calumnies from preaching the Gospel. They knew that they
“ought to obey God rather than men,” and that it was better for the
world to be upset than to be ignorant of Christ.
Do you think for a moment that these reactions did not worry
the apostles? They were not made of iron. They foresaw the revolu-
tionary character of the Gospel. They also foresaw the dissensions
that would creep into the Church. It was bad news for Paul when
he heard that the Corinthians were denying the resurrection of the
dead, that the churches he had planted were experiencing all kinds
of difficulties, and that the Gospel was being supplanted by false
doctrines.
But Paul also knew that the Gospel was not to blame. He did not
resign his office because he knew that the Gospel he preached was
the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes.
The same criticism which was leveled at the apostles is leveled
at us. The doctrine of the Gospel, we are told, is the cause of all the
 cxlviii Luther on Galatians

present unrest in the world. There is no wrong that is not laid to our
charge. But why? We do not spread wicked lies. We preach the glad
tidings of Christ. Our opponents will bear us out when we say that
we never fail to urge respect for the constituted authorities, because
that is the will of God.
All of these vilifications cannot discourage us. We know that
there is nothing the devil hates worse than the Gospel. It is one of his
little tricks to blame the Gospel for every evil in the world. Formerly,
when the traditions of the fathers were taught in the Church, the
devil was not excited as he is now. It goes to show that our doctrine
is of God, else “behemoth would lie under shady trees, in the covert
of the reed, and fens.” The fact that he is again walking about as a
roaring lion to stir up riots and disorders is a sure sign that he has
begun to feel the effect of our preaching.
Verses 18. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good
thing, and not only when I am present with you.
[79] “When I was present with you, you loved me, although I
preached the Gospel to you in the infirmity of my flesh. The fact that
I am now absent from you ought not to change your attitude towards
me. Although I am absent in the flesh, I am with you in spirit and in
my doctrine which you ought to retain by all means because through
it you received the Holy Spirit.”
Verse 19. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until
Christ be formed in you.
With every single word the Apostle seeks to regain the confi-
dence of the Galatians. He now calls them lovingly his little children.
He adds the simile: “Of whom I travail in birth again.” As parents
reproduce their physical characteristics in their children, so the apos-
tles reproduced their faith in the hearts of the hearers, until Christ
was formed in them. A person has the form of Christ when he
believes in Christ to the exclusion of everything else. This faith
in Christ is engendered by the Gospel as the Apostle declares in
1 Corinthians 4:15: “In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through
the Gospel”; and in 2 Corinthians 3:3, “Ye are the epistle of Christ
ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the
living God.” The Word of God falling from the lips of the apostle
or minister enters into the heart of the hearer. The Holy Ghost im-
pregnates the Word so that it brings forth the fruit of faith. In this
 Chapter 4 cxlix

manner every Christian pastor is a spiritual father who forms Christ

in the hearts of his hearers.
At the same time Paul indicts the false apostles. He says: “I have
begotten you Galatians through the Gospel, giving you the form of
Christ. But these false apostles are giving you a new form, the form
of Moses.” Note the Apostle does not say, “Of whom I travail in
birth again until I be formed in you,” but “until Christ be formed in
you.” The false apostles had torn the form of Christ out of the hearts
of the Galatians and substituted their own form. Paul endeavors to
reform them, or rather reform Christ in them.
Verses 20. I desire to be present with you now, and to change my
voice.
A common saying has it that a letter is a dead messenger. Some-
thing is lacking in all writing. You can never be sure how the written
page will affect the reader, because his mood, his circumstances, his
affections are so changeable. It is different with the spoken word.
If it is harsh and ill-timed it can always be remodeled. No wonder
the Apostle expresses the wish that he could speak to the Galatians
in person. He could change his voice according to their attitude.
If he saw that they were repentant he could soften the tone of his
voice. If he saw that they were stubborn he could speak to them
more earnestly. This way he did not know how to deal with them
by letter. If his Epistle is too severe it will do more damage than
good. If it is too gentle, it will not correct conditions. But if he could
be with them in person he could change his voice as the occasion
demanded.
Verse 20. For I stand in doubt of you.
“I do not know how to take you. I do not know how to approach
you by letter.” In order to make sure that he leaves no stone unturned
in his effort to recall them to the Gospel of Christ, he chides, entreats,
praises, and blames the Galatians, trying every way to hit the right
note and tone of voice.
Verse 21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear
the law?
Here Paul would have closed his Epistle because he did not know
what else to say. He wishes he could see the Galatians in person
and straighten out their difficulties. But he is not sure whether the
Galatians have fully understood the difference between the Gospel
 cl Luther on Galatians

and the Law. To make sure, he introduces another illustration. He

knows people like illustrations and stories. He knows that Christ
Himself made ample use of parables.
Paul is an expert at allegories. They are dangerous things. Unless
a person has a thorough knowledge of Christian doctrine he had
better leave allegories alone.
The allegory which Paul is about to bring is taken from the Book
of Genesis which he calls the Law. True, that book contains no
mention of the Law. Paul simply follows the custom of the Jews
[80] who included the first book of Moses in the collective term, “Law.”
Jesus even included the Psalms.
Verses 22, 23. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one
by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the
bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was
by promise.
This is Paul’s allegory. Abraham had two sons: Ishmael by Ha-
gar, and Isaac by Sarah. They were both the true sons of Abraham,
with this difference, that Ishmael was born after the flesh, i.e., with-
out the commandment and promise of God, while Isaac was born
according to the promise.
With the permission of Sarah, Abraham took Hagar, Sarah’s
bondwoman, to wife. Sarah knew that God had promised to make
her husband Abraham the father of a nation, and she hoped that she
would be the mother of this promised nation. But with the passage
of the years her hope died out. In order that the promise of God
should not be annulled by her barrenness this holy woman resigned
her right and honor to her maid. This was no easy thing for her to
do. She abased herself. She thought: “God is no liar. What He has
promised He will perform. But perhaps God does not want me to
be the mother of Abraham’s posterity. Perhaps He prefers Hagar for
the honor.”
Ishmael was thus born without a special word or promise of God,
at the mere request of Sarah. God did not command Abraham to
take Hagar, nor did God promise to bless the coalition. It is evident
that Ishmael was the son of Abraham after the flesh, and not after
the promise.
In the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans St. Paul ad-
vances the same argument which he amplifies into an allegory in
 Chapter 4 cli

writing to the Galatians. There he argues that all the children of

Abraham are not the children of God. For Abraham had two kinds
of children, children born of the promise, like Isaac, and other chil-
dren born without the promise, as Ishmael. With this argument Paul
squelched the proud Jews who gloried that they were the children of
God because they were the seed and the children of Abraham. Paul
makes it clear enough that it takes more than an Abrahamic pedigree
to be a child of God. To be a child of God requires faith in Christ.
Verse 24. Which things are an allegory.
Allegories are not very convincing, but like pictures they visual-
ize a matter. If Paul had not brought in advance indisputable argu-
ments for the righteousness of faith over against the righteousness
of works this allegory would do little good. Having first fortified his
case with invincible arguments, he can afford to inject this allegory
to add impressiveness and beauty to his presentation.
Verses 24, 25. For these are the two covenants; the one from the
mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this
Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia.
In this allegory Abraham represents God. Abraham had two sons,
born respectively of Hagar and Sarah. The two women represent the
two Testaments. The Old Testament is Mount Sinai, the bondwoman,
Hagar. The Arabians call Mount Sinai Agar. It may be that the
similarity of these two names gave Paul his idea for this allegory.
As Hagar bore Abraham a son who was not an heir but a servant, so
Sinai, the Law, the allegorical Hagar, bore God a carnal and servile
people of the Law without promise. The Law has a promise but it
is a conditional promise, depending upon whether people fulfill the
Law.
The Jews regarded the conditional promises of the Law as if they
were unconditional. When the prophets foretold the destruction of
Jerusalem, the Jews stoned them as blasphemers of God. They never
gave it any thought that there was a condition attached to the Law
which reads: “If you keep the commandments it shall be well with
thee.”
Verse 25. And answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in
bondage with her children.
A little while ago Paul called Mount Sinai, Hagar. He would
now gladly make Jerusalem the Sarah of the New Testament, but
 clii Luther on Galatians

he cannot. The earthly Jerusalem is not Sarah, but a part of Hagar.

[81] Hagar lives there in the home of the Law, the Temple, the priesthood,
the ceremonies, and whatever else was ordained in the Law at Mount
Sinai.
I would have been tempted to call Jerusalem, Sarah, or the New
Testament. I would have been pleased with this turn of the allegory.
It goes to show that not everybody has the gift of allegory. Would
you not think it perfectly proper to call Sinai Hagar and Jerusalem
Sarah? True, Paul does call Sarah Jerusalem. But he has the spiritual
and heavenly Jerusalem in mind, not the earthly Jerusalem. Sarah
represents that spiritual Jerusalem where there is no Law but only
the promise, and where the inhabitants are free.
To show that the Law has been quite abolished, the earthly
Jerusalem was completely destroyed with all her ornaments, temples,
and ceremonies.
Verse 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother
of us all.
The earthly Jerusalem with its ordinances and laws represents
Hagar and her offspring. They are slaves to the Law, sin and death.
But the heavenly Jerusalem is Sarah, the free woman. This heavenly
Jerusalem is the Church, that is to say the number of all believers
throughout the world, having one and the same Gospel, one and the
same faith in Christ, one and the same Holy Ghost, and the same
sacraments.
Do not mistake this one word “above” to refer to the triumphant
Church in heaven, but to the militant Church on earth. In Philippians
3:20, the Apostle uses the phrase: “Our conversation is in heaven,”
not locally in heaven, but in spirit. When a believer accepts the
heavenly gifts of the Gospel he is in heaven. So also in Ephesians
1:3, “Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ.” Jerusalem here means the universal Christian
Church on earth.
Sarah, the Church, as the bride of Christ bears free children who
are not subject to the Law.
Verses 27. 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.
 Chapter 4 cliii

Paul quotes the allegorical prophecy of Isaiah to the effect that

the mother of many children must die desolately, while the barren
woman shall have an abundance of children. (Isaiah 54:1.) He ap-
plies this prophecy to Hagar and Sarah, to the Law and the Gospel.
The Law as the husband of the fruitful woman procreates many chil-
dren. For men of all ages have had the idea that they are right when
they follow after the Law and outwardly perform its requirements.
Although the Law has many children, they are not free. They
are slaves. As servants they cannot have a share in the inheritance,
but are driven from the house as Ishmael was cast out of the house
of Abraham. In fact the servants of the Law are even now barred
from the kingdom of light and liberty, for “he that believeth not, is
condemned already.” (John 3:18.) As the servants of the Law they
remain under the curse of the Law, under sin and death, under the
power of the devil, and under the wrath and judgment of God.
On the other hand, Sarah, the free Church, seems barren. The
Gospel of the Cross which the Church proclaims does not have the
appeal that the Law has for men, and therefore it does not find many
adherents. The Church does not look prosperous. Unbelievers have
always predicted the death of the Church. The Jews were quite
certain that the Church would not long endure. They said to Paul:
“As concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken
against.” (Acts 28:22.) No matter how barren and forsaken, how
weak and desolate the Church may seem, she alone is really fruitful
before God. By the Gospel she procreates an infinite number of
children that are free heirs of everlasting life.
The Law, “the old husband,” is really dead. But not all people
know it, or want to know it. They labor and bear the burden and
the heat of the day, and bring forth many children, children that are
bastards like themselves, children born to be put out of the house
like Ishmael to perish forever. Accursed be that doctrine, life, and
religion which endeavors to obtain righteousness before God by the
Law and its creeds.
The scholastics think that the judicial and ceremonial laws of [82]
Moses were abolished by the coming of Christ, but not the moral
law. They are blind. When Paul declares that we are delivered from
the curse of the Law he means the whole Law, particularly the moral
law which more than the other laws accuses, curses, and condemns
cliv Luther on Galatians

the conscience. The Ten Commandments have no right to condemn

that conscience in which Jesus dwells, for Jesus has taken from the
Ten Commandments the right and power to curse us.
Not as if the conscience is now insensitive to the terrors of the
Law, but the Law cannot drive the conscience to despair. “There is
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans
8:1.) “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John
8:36.)
You will complain: “But I am not doing anything.” That is right.
You cannot do a thing to be delivered from the tyranny of the Law.
But listen to the glad tidings which the Holy Ghost brings to you
in the words of the prophet: “Rejoice, thou barren.” As Christ is
greater than the Law, so much more excellent is the righteousness of
Christ than the righteousness of the Law.
In one more respect the Law has been abolished. The civil laws
of Moses do not concern us, and should not be put back in force.
That does not mean that we are exempt from obedience to the civil
laws under which we live. On the contrary, the Gospel commands
Christians to obey government “not only for wrath, but also for
conscience sake.” (Romans 13:5.)
Neither do the ordinances of Moses or those of the Pope concern
us. But because life cannot go on without some ordinances, the
Gospel permits regulations to be made in the Church in regard to
special days, times, places, etc., in order that the people may know
upon what day, at what hour, and in what place to assemble for the
Word of God. Such directions are desirable that “all things be done
decently and in order.” (1 Corinthians 14:40.) These directions may
be changed or omitted altogether, as long as no offense is given to
the weak.
Paul, however, refers particularly to the abolition of the moral
law. If faith alone in Christ justifies, then the whole Law is abolished
without exception. And this the Apostle proves by the testimony of
Isaiah, who bids the barren to rejoice because she will have many
children, whereas she that has a husband and many children will be
forsaken.
Isaiah calls the Church barren because her children are born
without effort by the Word of faith through the Spirit of God. It is a
matter of birth, not of exertion. The believer too works, but not in
 Chapter 4 clv

an effort to become a son and an heir of God. He is that before he

goes to work. He is born a son and an heir. He works for the glory
of God and the welfare of his fellowmen.
Verses 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of
promise.
The Jews claimed to be the children of God because they were
the children of Abraham. Jesus answered them, John 8:39, 40, “If
ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth.” And
in verse 42: “If God were your Father, ye would love me.” In other
words: “You are not the children of God. If you were, you would
know and love me. Brothers born and living together in the same
house recognize each other. You do not recognize me. You are of
your father, the devil.”
We are not like these Jews, the children of the bondwoman, the
Law, who were cast out of the house by Jesus. We are children of
the promise like Isaac, born of grace and faith unto an everlasting
inheritance.
Verses 29. But as that he that was born after the flesh persecuted
him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
This is a cheering thought. We who are born of the Gospel, and
live in Christ, and rejoice in our inheritance, have Ishmael for our
enemy. The children of the Law will always persecute the children
of the Gospel. This is our daily experience. Our opponents tell us
that everything was at peace before the Gospel was revived by us.
Since then the whole world has been upset. People blame us and
the Gospel for everything, for the disobedience of subjects to their
rulers, for wars, plagues, and famines, for revolutions, and every
other evil that can be imagined. No wonder our opponents think [83]
they are doing God a favor by hating and persecuting us. Ishmael
will persecute Isaac.
We invite our opponents to tell us what good things attended the
preaching of the Gospel by the apostles. Did not the destruction of
Jerusalem follow on the heels of the Gospel? And how about the
overthrow of the Roman Empire? Did not the whole world seethe
with unrest as the Gospel was preached in the whole world? We do
not say that the Gospel instigated these upheavals. The iniquity of
man did it.
clvi Luther on Galatians

Our opponents blame our doctrine for the present turmoil. But
ours is a doctrine of grace and peace. It does not stir up trouble.
Trouble starts when the people, the nations and their rulers of the
earth rage and take counsel together against the Lord, and against
His anointed. (Psalm 2.) But all their counsels shall be brought to
naught. “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall
have them in derision.” (Psalm 2:4.) Let them cry out against us as
much as they like. We know that they are the cause of all their own
troubles.
As long as we preach Christ and confess Him to be our Savior,
we must be content to be called vicious trouble makers. “These that
have turned the world upside down are come hither also; and these
all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar,” so said the Jews of Paul
and Silas. (Acts 17:6, 7.) Of Paul they said: “We have found this
man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews
throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”
The Gentiles uttered similar complaints: “These men do exceedingly
trouble our city.”
This man Luther is also accused of being a pestilent fellow who
troubles the papacy and the Roman empire. If I would keep silent,
all would be well, and the Pope would no more persecute me. The
moment I open my mouth the Pope begins to fume and to rage. It
seems we must choose between Christ and the Pope. Let the Pope
perish.
Christ foresaw the reaction of the world to the Gospel. He said:
“I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already
kindled?” (Luke 12:49.)
Do not take the statement of our opponents seriously, that no
good can come of the preaching of the Gospel. What do they know?
They would not recognize the fruits of the Gospel if they saw them.
At any rate, our opponents cannot accuse us of adultery, murder,
theft, and such crimes. The worst they can say about us is that we
have the Gospel. What is wrong with the Gospel? We teach that
Christ, the Son of God, has redeemed us from sin and everlasting
death. This is not our doctrine. It belongs to Christ. If there is
anything wrong with it, it is not our fault. If they want to condemn
Christ for being our Savior and Redeemer, that is their lookout. We
 Chapter 4 clvii

are mere onlookers, watching to see who will win the victory, Christ
or His opponents.
On one occasion Jesus remarked: “If ye were of the world, the
world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
(John 15:19.) In other words: “I am the cause of all your troubles. I
am the one for whose sake you are killed. If you did not confess my
name, the world would not hate you. The servant is not greater than
his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
Christ takes all the blame. He says: “You have not incurred the
hatred and persecutions of the world. I have. But be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.”
Verses 30. Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the
bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be
heir with the son of the free woman.
Sarah’s demand that the bondwoman and her son be cast out of
the house was undoubtedly a blow to Abraham. He felt sorry for
his son Ishmael. The Scripture explicitly states Abraham’s grief in
the words: “And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight,
because of his son.” (Genesis 21:11.) But God approved Sarah’s
action and said to Abraham: “Let it not be grievous in thy sight
because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah
hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy
seed be called.” (Genesis 21:12.)
The Holy Ghost contemptuously calls the admirers of the Law
the children of the bondwoman. “If you do not know your mother, I
will tell you what kind of a woman she is. She is a slave. And you [84]
are slaves. You are slaves of the Law and therefore slaves of sin,
death, and everlasting damnation. You are not fit to be heirs. You
are put out of the house.”
This is the sentence which God pronounces upon the Ishmaelites,
the papists, and all others who trust in their own merits, and persecute
the Church of Christ. Because they are slaves and persecutors of the
children of the free woman, they shall be cast out of the house of
God forever. They shall have no inheritance with the children of the
promise. This sentence stands forever.
This sentence affects not only those popes, cardinals, bishops,
and monks who were notoriously wicked and made their bellies
clviii Luther on Galatians

their Gods. It strikes, also, those who lived in all sincerity to please
God and to merit the forgiveness of their sins through a life of self-
denial. Even these will be cast out, because they are children of the
bondwoman.
Our opponents do not defend their own moral delinquency. The
better ones deplore and abhor it. But they defend and uphold their
doctrine of works which is of the devil. Our quarrel is not with those
who live in manifest sins. Our quarrel is with those among them who
think they live like angels, claiming that they do not only perform
the Ten Commandments of God, but also the sayings of Christ, and
many good works that God does not expect of them. We quarrel
with them because they refuse to have Jesus’ merit count alone for
righteousness.
St. Bernard was one of the best of the medieval saints. He lived
a chaste and holy life. But when it came to dying he did not trust
in his chaste life for salvation. He prayed: “I have lived a wicked
life. But Thou, Lord Jesus, hast a heaven to give unto me. First,
because Thou art the Son of God. Secondly, because Thou hast
purchased heaven for me by Thy suffering and death. Thou givest
heaven to me, not because I earned it, but because Thou hast earned
it for me.” If any of the Romanists are saved it is because they forget
their good deeds and merits and feel like Paul: “Not having mine
own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the
faith of Christ.” (Philippians 3:9.)
Verses 31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman,
but of the free.
With this sentence the Apostle Paul concludes his allegory of
the barren Church. This sentence forms a clear rejection of the
righteousness of the Law and a confirmation of the doctrine of
justification. In the next chapter Paul lays special stress upon the
freedom which the children of the free woman enjoy. He treats of
Christian liberty, the knowledge of which is very necessary. The
liberty which Christ purchased for us is a bulwark to us in our battle
against spiritual tyranny. Therefore we must carefully study this
doctrine of Christian liberty, not only for the confirmation of the
doctrine of justification, but also for the comfort and encouragement
of those who are weak in faith.
 Chapter 5

In this chapter the Apostle Paul presents the doctrine of Christian

liberty in a final effort to persuade the Galatians to give up the
nefarious doctrine of the false apostles. To accomplish his purpose
he adduces threats and promises, trying in every way possible to
keep them in the liberty which Christ purchased for them.
Verse 1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath
made us free.
“Be steadfast, not careless. Lie not down and sleep, but stand
up. Be watchful. Hold fast the liberty wherewith Christ hath made
you free.” Those who loll cannot keep this liberty. Satan hates the
light of the Gospel. When it begins to shine a little he fights against
it with might and main.
What liberty does Paul mean? Not civil liberty (for which we
have the government to thank), but the liberty which Christ has
procured for us.
At one time the emperor was compelled to grant to the bishop of
Rome certain immunities and privileges. This is civil liberty. That
liberty exempts the clergy from certain public charges. Then there is [85]
also another kind of “liberty,” when people obey neither the laws of
God nor the laws of men, but do as they please. This carnal liberty
the people want in our day. We are not now speaking of this liberty.
Neither are we speaking of civil liberty.
Paul is speaking of a far better liberty, the liberty “wherewith
Christ hath made us free,” not from material bonds, not from the
Babylonian captivity, not from the tyranny of the Turks, but from
the eternal wrath of God.
Where is this liberty?
In the conscience.
Our conscience is free and quiet because it no longer has to fear
the wrath of God. This is real liberty, compared with which every
other kind of liberty is not worth mentioning. Who can adequately
express the boon that comes to a person when he has the heart-as-
clix
clx Luther on Galatians

surance that God will nevermore be angry with him, but will forever
be merciful to him for Christ’s sake? This is indeed a marvelous
liberty, to have the sovereign God for our Friend and Father who
will defend, maintain, and save us in this life and in the life to come.
As an outgrowth of this liberty, we are at the same time free from
the Law, sin, death, the power of the devil, hell, etc. Since the wrath
of God has been assuaged by Christ no Law, sin, or death may now
accuse and condemn us. These foes of ours will continue to frighten
us, but not too much. The worth of our Christian liberty cannot be
exaggerated.
Our conscience must he trained to fall back on the freedom
purchased for us by Christ. Though the fears of the Law, the terrors
of sin, the horror of death assail us occasionally, we know that these
feelings shall not endure, because the prophet quotes God as saying:
“In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment: but with
everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee.” (Isaiah 54:8.)
We shall appreciate this liberty all the more when we bear in
mind that it was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who purchased it
with His own blood. Hence, Christ’s liberty is given us not by the
Law, or for our own righteousness, but freely for Christ’s sake. In
the eighth chapter of the Gospel of St. John, Jesus declares: “If the
Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” He only stands
between us and the evils which trouble and afflict us and which He
has overcome for us.
Reason cannot properly evaluate this gift. Who can fully appre-
ciate the blessing of the forgiveness of sins and of everlasting life?
Our opponents claim that they also possess this liberty. But they do
not. When they are put to the test all their self-confidence slips from
them. What else can they expect when they trust in works and not in
the Word of God?
Our liberty is founded on Christ Himself, who sits at the right
hand of God and intercedes for us. Therefore our liberty is sure and
valid as long as we believe in Christ. As long as we cling to Him
with a steadfast faith we possess His priceless gifts. But if we are
careless and indifferent we shall lose them. It is not without good
reason that Paul urges us to watch and to stand fast. He knew that
the devil delights in taking this liberty away from us.
Verse 1. And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
 Chapter 5 clxi

Because reason prefers the righteousness of the Law to the righ-

teousness of faith, Paul calls the Law a yoke, a yoke of bondage.
Peter also calls it a yoke. “Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon
the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able
to bear?” (Acts 15:10.)
In this passage Paul again disparages the pernicious notion that
the Law is able to make men righteous before God, a notion deeply
rooted in man’s reason. All mankind is so wrapped up in this idea
that it is hard to drag it out of people. Paul compares those who seek
to be justified by the Law to oxen that are hitched to the yoke. Like
oxen that toil in the yoke all day, and in the evening are turned out
to graze along the dusty road, and at last are marked for slaughter
when they no longer can draw the burden, so those who seek to be
justified by the Law are “entangled with the yoke of bondage,” and
when they have grown old and broken-down in the service of the
Law they have earned for their perpetual reward God’s wrath and
everlasting torment.
We are not now treating of an unimportant matter. It is a matter [86]
that involves everlasting liberty or everlasting slavery. For as a
liberation from God’s wrath through the kind office of Christ is not
a passing boon, but a permanent blessing, so also the yoke of the
Law is not a temporary but an everlasting affliction.
Rightly are the doors of the Law called devil’s martyrs. They
take more pains to earn hell than the martyrs of Christ to obtain
heaven. Theirs is a double misfortune. First they torture themselves
on earth with self-inflicted penances and finally when they die they
gain the reward of eternal damnation.
Verse 2. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ
shall profit you nothing.
Paul is incensed at the thought of the tyranny of the Law. His
antagonism to the Law is a personal matter with him. “Behold, I,
Paul,” he says, “I who have received the Gospel not from men, but by
the revelation of Jesus Christ: I who have been commissioned from
above to preach the Gospel to you: I Paul say to you, if you submit
to circumcision Christ will profit you nothing.” Paul emphatically
declares that for the Galatians to be circumcised would mean for
them to lose the benefits of Christ’s suffering and death. This passage
may well serve as a criterion for all the religions. To teach that
clxii Luther on Galatians

besides faith in Christ other devices like works, or the observance of

rules, traditions, or ceremonies are necessary for the attainment of
righteousness and everlasting life, is to make Christ and His salvation
of no benefit to anybody.
This passage is an indictment of the whole papacy. All priests,
monks, and nuns—and I am now speaking of the best of them—
who repose their hope for salvation in their own works, and not in
Christ, whom they imagine to he an angry judge, hear this sentence
pronounced against them that Christ shall profit them nothing. If one
can earn the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life through one’s
own efforts to what purpose was Christ born? What was the purpose
of His suffering and death, His resurrection, His victory over sin,
death, and the devil, if men may overcome these evils by their own
endeavor? Tongue cannot express, nor heart conceive what a terrible
thing it is to make Christ worthless.
The person who is not moved by these considerations to leave
the Law and the confidence in his own righteousness for the liberty
in Christ, has a heart that is harder than stone and iron.
Paul does not condemn circumcision in itself. Circumcision
is not injurious to the person who does not ascribe any particular
importance to it. Neither are works injurious provided a person does
not attach any saving value to them. The Apostle does not say that
works are objectionable, but to build one’s hopes for righteousness
on works is disastrous, for that makes Christ good for nothing.
Let us bear this in mind when the devil accuses our conscience.
When that dragon accuses us of having done no good at all, but
only evil, say to him: “You trouble me with the remembrance of my
past sins; you remind me that I have done no good. But this does
not bother me, because if I were to trust in my own good deeds, or
despair because I have done no good deeds, Christ would profit me
neither way. I am not going to make him unprofitable to me. This I
would do, if I should presume to purchase for myself the favor of
God and everlasting life by my good deeds, or if I should despair of
my salvation because of my sins.”
Verse 3. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he
is a debtor to do the whole law.
The first fault with circumcision is that it makes Christ unprof-
itable. The second fault is that it obligates those who are circumcised
 Chapter 5 clxiii

to observe the whole Law. Paul is so very much in earnest about this
matter that he confirms it with an oath. “I testify,” he says, “I swear
by the living God.” Paul’s statement may be explained negatively
to mean: “I testify to every man who is being circumcised that he
cannot perform the Law in any point. In the very act of circumcision
he is not being circumcised, and in the very act of fulfilling the Law
he fulfills it not.” This seems to be the simple meaning of Paul’s
statement. Later on in the sixth chapter he explicitly states, “They
themselves which are circumcised keep not the law. The fact that
you are circumcised does not mean you are righteous and free from
the Law. The truth is that by circumcision you have become debtors [87]
and servants of the Law. The more you endeavor to perform the
Law, the more you will become tangled up in the yoke of the Law.”
The truth of this I have experienced in myself and in others. I
have seen many work themselves down to the bones in their hungry
effort to obtain peace of conscience. But the harder they tried the
more they worried. Especially in the presence of death they were so
uneasy that I have seen murderers die with better grace and courage.
This holds true also in regard to the church regulations. When
I was a monk I tried ever so hard to live up to the strict rules of
my order. I used to make a list of my sins, and I was always on
the way to confession, and whatever penances were enjoined upon
me I performed religiously. In spite of it all, my conscience was
always in a fever of doubt. The more I sought to help my poor
stricken conscience the worse it got. The more I paid attention to
the regulations the more I transgressed them.
Hence those that seek to be justified by the Law are much further
away from the righteousness of life than the publicans, sinners, and
harlots. They know better than to trust in their own works. They
know that they cannot ever hope to obtain forgiveness by their sins.
Paul’s statement in this verse may be taken to mean that those
who submit to circumcision are thereby submitting to the whole Law.
To obey Moses in one point requires obedience to him in all points.
It does no good to say that only circumcision is necessary, and not
the rest of Moses’ laws. The same reasons that obligate a person to
accept circumcision also obligate a person to accept the whole Law.
Thus to acknowledge the Law is tantamount to declaring that Christ
is not yet come. And if Christ is not yet come, then all the Jewish
clxiv Luther on Galatians

ceremonies and laws concerning meats, places, and times are still in
force, and Christ must be awaited as one who is still to come. The
whole Scripture, however, testifies that Christ has come, that by His
death He has abolished the Law, and that He has fulfilled all things
which the prophets have foretold about Him.
Some would like to subjugate us to certain parts of the Mosaic
Law. But this is not to be permitted under any circumstances. If we
permit Moses to rule over us in one thing, we must obey him in all
things.
Verse 4. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you
are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Paul in this verse discloses that he is not speaking so much of
circumcision as the trust which men repose in the outward act. We
can hear him say: “I do not condemn the Law in itself; what I
condemn is that men seek to be justified by the Law, as if Christ
were still to come, or as if He alone were unable to justify sinners.
It is this that I condemn, because it makes Christ of no effect. It
makes you void of Christ so that Christ is not in you, nor can you be
partakers of the knowledge, the spirit, the fellowship, the liberty, the
life, or the achievements of Christ. You are completely separated
from Him, so much so that He has nothing to do with you any more,
or for that matter you with Him.” Can anything worse be said against
the Law? If you think Christ and the Law can dwell together in
your heart, you may be sure that Christ dwells not in your heart.
For if Christ is in your heart He neither condemns you, nor does He
ever bid you to trust in your own good works. If you know Christ
at all, you know that good works do not serve unto righteousness,
nor evil works unto condemnation. I do not want to withhold from
good works their due praise, nor do I wish to encourage evil works.
But when it comes to justification, I say, we must concentrate upon
Christ alone, or else we make Him non-effective. You must choose
between Christ and the righteousness of the Law. If you choose
Christ you are righteous before God. If you stick to the Law, Christ
is of no use to you.
Verse 4. Ye are fallen from grace.
That means you are no longer in the kingdom or condition of
grace. When a person on board ship falls into the sea and is drowned
it makes no difference from which end or side of the ship he falls
 Chapter 5 clxv

into the water. Those who fall from grace perish no matter how they
go about it. Those who seek to be justified by the Law are fallen [88]
from grace and are in grave danger of eternal death. If this holds
true in the case of those who seek to be justified by the moral Law,
what will become of those, I should like to know, who endeavor to
be justified by their own regulations and vows? They will fall to the
very bottom of hell. “Oh, no,” they say, “we will fly straight into
heaven. If you live according to the rules of Saint Francis, Saint
Dominick, Saint Benedict, you will obtain the peace and mercy of
God. If you perform the vows of chastity, obedience, etc., you will
be rewarded with everlasting life.” Let these playthings of the devil
go to the place where they came from and listen to what Paul has
to say in this verse in accordance with Christ’s own teaching: “He
that believeth in the Son of God, hath everlasting life; but he that
believeth not in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abideth in him.”
The words, “Ye are fallen from grace,” must not be taken lightly.
They are important. To fall from grace means to lose the atonement,
the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness, liberty, and life which
Jesus has merited for us by His death and resurrection. To lose the
grace of God means to gain the wrath and judgment of God, death,
the bondage of the devil, and everlasting condemnation.
Verse 5. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith.
Paul concludes the whole matter with the above statement. “You
want to be justified by the Law, by circumcision, and by works. We
cannot see it. To be justified by such means would make Christ of
no value to us. We would be obliged to perform the whole law. We
rather through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness.” The
Apostle is not satisfied to say “justified by faith.” He adds hope to
faith.
Holy Writ speaks of hope in two ways: as the object of the
emotion, and hope as the emotion itself. In the first chapter of the
Epistle to the Colossians we have an instance of its first use: “For the
hope which is laid up for you in heaven,” i.e., the thing hoped for. In
the sense of emotion we quote the passage from the eighth chapter
of the Epistle to the Romans: “For we are saved by hope.” As Paul
uses the term “hope” here in writing to the Galatians, we may take it
 clxvi Luther on Galatians

in either of its two meanings. We may understand Paul to say, “We

wait in spirit, through faith, for the righteousness that we hope for,
which in due time will be revealed to us.” Or we may understand
Paul to say: “We wait in Spirit, by faith for righteousness with great
hope and desire.” True, we are righteous, but our righteousness is
not yet revealed; as long as we live here sin stays with us, not to
forget the law in our members striving against the law of our mind.
When sin rages in our body and we through the Spirit wrestle against
it, then we have cause for hope. We are not yet perfectly righteous.
Perfect righteousness is still to be attained. Hence we hope for it.
This is sweet comfort for us. And we are to make use of it in
comforting the afflicted. We are to say to them: “Brother, you would
like to feel God’s favor as you feel your sin. But you are asking
too much. Your righteousness rests on something much better than
feelings. Wait and hope until it will be revealed to you in the Lord’s
own time. Don’t go by your feelings, but go by the doctrine of faith,
which pledges Christ to you.”
The question occurs to us, what difference is there between faith
and hope? We find it difficult to see any difference. Faith and hope
are so closely linked that they cannot be separated. Still there is a
difference between them.
First, hope and faith differ in regard to their sources. Faith
originates in the understanding, while hope rises in the will.
Secondly, they differ in regard to their functions. Faith says what
is to be done. Faith teaches, describes, directs. Hope exhorts the
mind to be strong and courageous.
Thirdly, they differ in regard to their objectives. Faith concen-
trates on the truth. Hope looks to the goodness of God.
Fourthly, they differ in sequence. Faith is the beginning of life
before tribulation. (Hebrews 11.) Hope comes later and is born of
tribulation. (Romans 5.)
[89] Fifthly, they differ in regard to their effects. Faith is a judge. It
judges errors. Hope is a soldier. It fights against tribulations, the
Cross, despondency, despair, and waits for better things to come in
the midst of evil.
Without hope faith cannot endure. On the other hand, hope with-
out faith is blind rashness and arrogance because it lacks knowledge.
Before anything else a Christian must have the insight of faith, so
 Chapter 5 clxvii

that the intellect may know its directions in the day of trouble and
the heart may hope for better things. By faith we begin, by hope we
continue.
This passage contains excellent doctrine and much comfort. It
declares that we are justified not by works, sacrifices, or ceremonies,
but by Christ alone. The world may judge certain things to be ever
so good; without Christ they are all wrong. Circumcision and the
law and good works are carnal. “We,” says Paul, “are above such
things. We possess Christ by faith and in the midst of our afflictions
we hopefully wait for the consummation of our righteousness.”
You may say, “The trouble is I don’t feel as if I am righteous.”
You must not feel, but believe. Unless you believe that you are
righteous, you do Christ a great wrong, for He has cleansed you by
the washing of regeneration, He died for you so that through Him
you may obtain righteousness and everlasting life.
Verse 6. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing,
nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.
Faith must of course be sincere. It must be a faith that performs
good works through love. If faith lacks love it is not true faith.
Thus the Apostle bars the way of hypocrites to the kingdom of
Christ on all sides. He declares on the one hand, “In Christ Jesus
circumcision availeth nothing,” i.e., works avail nothing, but faith
alone, and that without any merit whatever, avails before God. On
the other hand, the Apostle declares that without fruits faith serves
no purpose. To think, “If faith justifies without works, let us work
nothing,” is to despise the grace of God. Idle faith is not justifying
faith. In this terse manner Paul presents the whole life of a Christian.
Inwardly it consists in faith towards God, outwardly in love towards
our fellow-men.
Verse 7. Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey
the truth?
This is plain speaking. Paul asserts that he teaches the same truth
now which he has always taught, and that the Galatians ran well as
long as they obeyed the truth. But now, misled by the false apostles,
they no longer run. He compares the Christian life to a race. When
everything runs along smoothly the Hebrews spoke of it as a race.
“Ye did run well,” means that everything went along smoothly and
happily with the Galatians. They lived a Christian life and were on
 clxviii Luther on Galatians

the right way to everlasting life. The words, “Ye did run well,” are
encouraging indeed. Often our lives seem to creep rather than to
run. But if we abide in the true doctrine and walk in the spirit, we
have nothing to worry about. God judges our lives differently. What
may seem to us a life slow in Christian development may seem to
God a life of rapid progression in grace.
Verse 7. Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
The Galatians were hindered in the Christian life when they
turned from faith and grace to the Law. Covertly the Apostle blames
the false apostles for impeding the Christian progress of the Gala-
tians. The false apostles persuaded the Galatians to believe that they
were in error and that they had made little or no progress under the
influence of Paul. Under the baneful influence of the false apostles
the Galatians thought they were well off and advancing rapidly in
Christian knowledge and living.
Verse 8. This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
Paul explains how those who had been deceived by false teachers
may be restored to spiritual health. The false apostles were amiable
fellows. Apparently they surpassed Paul in learning and godliness.
The Galatians were easily deceived by outward appearances. They
supposed they were being taught by Christ Himself. Paul proved
[90] to them that their new doctrine was not of Christ, but of the devil.
In this way he succeeded in regaining many. We also are able to
win back many from the errors into which they were seduced by
showing that their beliefs are imaginary, wicked, and contrary to the
Word of God.
The devil is a cunning persuader. He knows how to enlarge the
smallest sin into a mountain until we think we have committed the
worst crime ever committed on earth. Such stricken consciences
must be comforted and set straight as Paul corrected the Galatians
by showing them that their opinion is not of Christ because it runs
counter to the Gospel, which describes Christ as a meek and merciful
Savior.
Satan will circumvent the Gospel and explain Christ in this his
own diabolical way: “Indeed Christ is meek, gentle, and merciful,
but only to those who are holy and righteous. If you are a sinner
you stand no chance. Did not Christ say that unbelievers are already
damned? And did not Christ perform many good deeds, and suffer
 Chapter 5 clxix

many evils patiently, bidding us to follow His example? You do

not mean to say that your life is in accord with Christ’s precepts or
example? You are a sinner. You are no good at all.”
Satan is to be answered in this way: The Scriptures present
Christ in a twofold aspect. First, as a gift. “He of God is made unto
us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.”
(1 Corinthians 1:30.) Hence my many and grievous sins are nullified
if I believe in Him. Secondly, the Scriptures present Christ for our
example. As an exemplar He is to be placed before me only at
certain times. In times of joy and gladness that I may have Him as a
mirror to reflect upon my shortcomings. But in the day of trouble
I will have Christ only as a gift. I will not listen to anything else,
except that Christ died for my sins.
To those that are cast down on account of their sins Christ must
be introduced as a Savior and Gift, and not as an example. But to
sinners who live in a false assurance, Christ must be introduced as
an example. The hard sayings of Scripture and the awful judgments
of God upon sin must be impressed upon them. Defy Satan in times
of despair. Say: “O cursed Satan, you choose a nice time to talk to
me about doing and working when you know very well that I am in
trouble over my sins. I will not listen to you. I will listen to Christ,
who says that He came into the world to save sinners. This is the
true Christ and there is none other. I can find plenty of examples
for a holy life in Abraham, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Paul, and other
saints. But they cannot forgive my sins. They cannot save me. They
cannot procure for me everlasting life. Therefore I will not have you
for my teacher, O Satan.”
Verse 9. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
Paul’s concern for them meant nothing to some of the Galatians.
Many had disowned him as their teacher and gone over to the false
apostles. No doubt the false apostles took every occasion to defame
Paul as a stubborn and contemptuous fellow who thought nothing
of disrupting the unity of the churches for no other reason than his
selfish pride and jealousy.
Others of the Galatians perhaps saw no harm in deviating a trifle
from the doctrine of justification and faith. When they noticed that
Paul made so much ado about a matter that seemed of no particular
importance to them they raised their eyebrows and thought within
 clxx Luther on Galatians

themselves: “What if we did deviate a little from the doctrine of

Paul? What if we are a little to blame? He ought to overlook the
whole matter, and not make such an issue out of it, lest the unity
of the churches be disturbed.” To this Paul replies: “A little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump.”
Our opponents record the same complaints about us. They put
us down as contentious, ill-tempered faultfinders. But these are the
crafty passes of the devil, with which he seeks to overthrow our faith.
We answer with Paul: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
Small faults grow into big faults. To tolerate a trifling error
inevitably leads to crass heresy. The doctrine of the Bible is not
ours to take or to allow liberties with. We have no right to change
even a tittle of it. When it comes to life we are ready to do, to
suffer, to forgive anything our opponents demand as long as faith
and doctrine remain pure and uncorrupt. The Apostle James says,
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point,
[91] he is guilty of all.” This passage supports us over against our critics
who claim that we disregard all charity to the great injury of the
churches. We protest we desire nothing more than peace with all
men. If they would only permit us to keep our doctrine of faith! The
pure doctrine takes precedence before charity, apostles, or an angel
from heaven.
Let others praise charity and concord to the skies; we magnify
the authority of the Word and faith. Charity may be neglected at
times without peril, but not the Word and faith. Charity suffers all
things, it gives in. Faith suffers nothing; it never yields. Charity is
often deceived but is never put out because it lies nothing to lose; it
continues to do well even to the ungrateful. When it comes to faith
and salvation in the midst of lies and errors that parade as truth and
deceive many, charity has no voice or vote. Let us not be influenced
by the popular cry for charity and unity. If we do not love God and
His Word what difference does it make if we love anything at all?
Paul, therefore, admonishes both teachers and hearers not to
esteem lightly the doctrine of faith as if it were a toy with which to
amuse oneself in idle hours.
Verse 10. l have confidence in you through the Lord.
“I have taught, admonished, and reproved you enough. I hope
the best for you.”
 Chapter 5 clxxi

The question occurs to us whether Paul did well to trust the

Galatians. Does not Holy Writ forbid us to trust in men? Faith
trusts in God and is never wrong. Charity trusts in men and is often
wrong. This charitable trust in man is necessary to life. Without
it life would be impossible in the world. What kind of life would
ours be if nobody could trust anybody else? True Christians are
more ready to believe in men than the children of this world. Such
charitable confidence is the fruit of the Spirit. Paul had such trust
in the Galatians although they had forsaken his doctrine. He trusts
them “through the Lord,” insofar as they were in Christ and Christ
in them. Once they had forsaken Christ altogether, the Apostle will
trust the Galatians no longer.
Verse 10. That ye will be none otherwise minded.
“Not minded otherwise than I have taught you. In other words, I
have confidence that you will accept no doctrine that is contrary to
the one you have learned from me.”
Verse 10. But be that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whoso-
ever he be.
Paul assumes the role of a judge and condemns the false apostles
as troublers of the Galatians. He wants to frighten the Galatians
with his severe judgments of the false apostles into avoiding false
doctrine like a contagious disease. We can hear him say to the
Galatians: “Why do you give these pestilent fellows a hearing in the
first place? They only trouble you. The doctrine they bring causes
your conscience only trouble.”
The clause, “whosoever he be,” seems to indicate that the false
apostles in outward appearance at least were very good and devout
men. It may be that among them was some outstanding disciple of
the apostles, a man of fame and authority. The Apostle must have
been faced by this very situation, otherwise his vehemence would
have been uncalled for. No doubt many of the Galatians were taken
back with the vehemency of the Apostle. They perhaps thought:
why should he be so stubborn in such small matters? Why is he so
quick to pronounce damnation upon his brethren in the ministry?
I cannot say it often enough, that we must carefully differentiate
between doctrine and life. Doctrine is a piece of heaven, life is a
piece of earth. Life is sin, error, uncleanness, misery, and charity
must forbear, believe, hope, and suffer all things. Forgiveness of
 clxxii Luther on Galatians

sins must be continuous so that sin and error may not be defended
and sustained. But with doctrine there must be no error, no need
of pardon. There can be no comparison between doctrine and life.
The least little point of doctrine is of greater importance than heaven
and earth. Therefore we cannot allow the least jot of doctrine to be
corrupted. We may overlook the offenses and errors of life, for we
daily sin much. Even the saints sin, as they themselves confess in
[92] the Lord’s Prayer and in the Creed. But our doctrine, God be praised,
is pure, because all the articles of our faith are grounded on the Holy
Scriptures.
Verse 11. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet
suffer persecution? then is the offense of the cross ceased.
In his great desire to recall the Galatians, Paul draws himself into
the argument. He says: “Because I refuse to recognize circumcision
as a factor in our salvation, I have brought upon myself the hatred
and persecution of my whole nation. If I were to acknowledge
circumcision the Jews would cease to persecute me; in fact they
would love and praise me. But because I preach the Gospel of Christ
and the righteousness of faith I must suffer persecution. The false
apostles know how to avoid the Cross and the deadly hatred of the
Jewish nation. They preach circumcision and thus retain the favor of
the Jews. If they had their way they would ignore all differences in
doctrine and preserve unity at all cost. But their unionistic dreams
cannot be realized without loss to the pure doctrine of the Cross. It
would be too bad if the offense of the Cross were to cease.” To the
Corinthians he expressed the same conviction: “Christ sent me...to
preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ
should be made of none effect.” (1 Corinthians 1:17.)
Here someone may be tempted to call the Christians crazy. De-
liberately to court danger by preaching and confessing the truth, and
thus to bring upon ourselves the hatred and enmity of the whole
world, is this not madness? But Paul does not mind the enmity of
the world. It made him all the bolder to confess Christ. The enmity
of the world in his estimation augurs well for the success and growth
of the Church, which fares best in times of persecution. When the
offense of the Cross ceases, when the rage of the enemies of the
Cross abates, when everything is quiet, it is a sign that the devil is
 Chapter 5 clxxiii

the door-keeper of the Church and that the pure doctrine of God’s
Word has been lost.
Saint Bernard observed that the Church is in best shape when
Satan assaults it on every side by trickery and violence; and in worst
shape when it is at peace. In support of his statement he quotes the
passage from the song of Hezekiah: “Behold, for peace I had great
bitterness.” Paul looks with suspicion upon any doctrine that does
not provoke antagonism.
Persecution always follows on the heels of the Word of God as
the Psalmist experienced. “I believe, therefore have I spoken: I was
greatly afflicted.” (Psalm 116:10.) The Christians are accused and
slandered without mercy. Murderers and thieves receive better treat-
ment than Christians. The world regards true Christians as the worst
offenders, for whom no punishment can be too severe. The world
hates the Christians with amazing brutality, and without compunc-
tion commits them to the most shameful death, congratulating itself
that it has rendered God and the cause of peace a distinct service by
ridding the world of the undesired presence of these Christians. We
are not to let such treatment cause us to falter in our adherence to
Christ. As long as we experience such persecutions we know all is
well with the Gospel.
Jesus held out the same comfort to His disciples in the fifth
chapter of St. Matthew. “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile
you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is
your reward in heaven.” The Church must not come short of this
joy. I would not want to be at peace with the pope, the bishops,
the princes, and the sectarians, unless they consent to our doctrine.
Unity with them would be an unmistakable sign that we have lost the
true doctrine. Briefly, as long as the Church proclaims the doctrine
she must suffer persecution, because the Gospel declares the mercy
and glory of God. This in turn stirs up the devil, because the Gospel
shows him up for what he is, the devil, and not God. Therefore as
long as the Gospel holds sway persecution plays the accompaniment,
or else there is something the matter with the devil. When he is hit
you will know it by the havoc he raises everywhere.
So do not be surprised or offended when hell breaks loose. Look
upon it as a happy indication that all is well with the Gospel of
 clxxiv Luther on Galatians

the Cross. God forbid that the offense of the Cross should ever be
removed. This would be the case if we were to preach what the
prince of this world and his followers would be only too glad to
[93] hear, the righteousness of works. You would never know the devil
could be so gentle, the world so sweet, the Pope so gracious, and the
princes so charming. But because we seek the advantage and honor
of Christ, they persecute us all around.
Verse 12. I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
It hardly seems befitting an apostle, not only to denounce the
false apostles as troublers of the Church, and to consign them to
the devil, but also to wish that they were utterly cut off—what else
would you call it but plain cursing? Paul, I suppose, is alluding to
the rite of circumcision. As if he were saying to the Galatians: “The
false apostles compel you to cut off the foreskin of your flesh. Well,
I wish they themselves were utterly cut off by the roots.”
We had better answer at once the question, whether it is right for
Christians to curse. Certainly not always, nor for every little cause.
But when things have come to such a pass that God and His Word
are openly blasphemed, then we must say: “Blessed be God and
His Word, and cursed be everything that is contrary to God and His
Word, even though it should be an apostle, or an angel from heaven.”
This goes to show again how much importance Paul attached to
the least points of Christian doctrine, that he dared to curse the false
apostles, evidently men of great popularity and influence. What
right, then, have we to make little of doctrine? No matter how
nonessential a point of doctrine may seem, if slighted it may prove
the gradual disintegration of the truths of our salvation.
Let us do everything to advance the glory and authority of God’s
Word. Every tittle of it is greater than heaven and earth. Christian
charity and unity have nothing to do with the Word of God. We are
bold to curse and condemn all men who in the least point corrupt
the Word of God, “for a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
Paul does right to curse these troublers of the Galatians, wishing
that they were cut off and rooted out of the Church of God and that
their doctrine might perish forever. Such cursing is the gift of the
Holy Ghost. Thus Peter cursed Simon the sorcerer, “Thy money
perish with thee.” Many instances of this holy cursing are recorded
in the sacred Scriptures, especially in the Psalms, e.g., “Let death
 Chapter 5 clxxv

seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell.” (Psalm
55:15.)

The Doctrine of Good Works

Now come all kinds of admonitions and precepts. It was the cus-
tom of the apostles that after they had taught faith and instructed the
conscience they followed it up with admonitions unto good works,
that the believers might manifest the duties of love toward each other.
In order to avoid the appearance as if Christianity militated against
good works or opposed civil government, the Apostle also urges
us to give ourselves unto good works, to lead an honest life, and
to keep faith and love with one another. This will give the lie to
the accusations of the world that we Christians are the enemies of
decency and of public peace. The fact is we Christians know better
what constitutes a truly good work than all the philosophers and
legislators of the world because we link believing with doing.
Verse 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.
In other words: “You have gained liberty through Christ, i.e.,
You are above all laws as far as conscience is concerned. You are
saved. Christ is your liberty and life. Therefore law, sin, and death
may not hurt you or drive you to despair. This is the constitution
of your priceless liberty. Now take care that you do not use your
wonderful liberty for an occasion of the flesh.”
Satan likes to turn this liberty which Christ has gotten for us into
licentiousness. Already the Apostle Jude complained in his day:
“There are certain men crept in unawares...turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness.” (Jude 4.) The flesh reasons: “If we are
without the law, we may as well indulge ourselves. Why do good,
why give alms, why suffer evil when there is no law to force us to
do so?”
This attitude is common enough. People talk about Christian
liberty and then go and cater to the desires of covetousness, pleasure,
pride, envy, and other vices. Nobody wants to fulfill his duties.
Nobody wants to help out a brother in distress. This sort of thing [94]
makes me so impatient at times that I wish the swine who trampled
precious pearls under foot were back once again under the tyranny
clxxvi Luther on Galatians

of the Pope. You cannot wake up the people of Gomorrah with the
gospel of peace.
Even we creatures of the world do not perform our duties as
zealously in the light of the Gospel as we did before in the darkness
of ignorance, because the surer we are of the liberty purchased for
us by Christ, the more we neglect the Word, prayer, well-doing, and
suffering. If Satan were not continually molesting us with trials, with
the persecution of our enemies, and the ingratitude of our brethren,
we would become so careless and indifferent to all good works that
in time we would lose our faith in Christ, resign the ministry of
the Word, and look for an easier life. Many of our ministers are
beginning to do that very thing. They complain about the ministry,
they maintain they cannot live on their salaries, they whimper about
the miserable treatment they receive at the hand of those whom
they delivered from the servitude of the law by the preaching of
the Gospel. These ministers desert our poor and maligned Christ,
involve themselves in the affairs of the world, seek advantages for
themselves and not for Christ. With what results they shall presently
find out.
Since the devil lies in ambush for those in particular who hate
the world, and seeks to deprive us of our liberty of the spirit or to
brutalize it into the liberty of the flesh, we plead with our brethren
after the manner of Paul, that they may never use this liberty of the
spirit purchased for us by Christ as an excuse for carnal living, or as
Peter expresses it, 1 Peter 2:16, “for a cloak of maliciousness.”
In order that Christians may not abuse their liberty the Apostle
encumbers them with the rule of mutual love that they should serve
each other in love. Let everybody perform the duties of his station
and vocation diligently and help his neighbor to the limit of his
capacity.
Christians are glad to hear and obey this teaching of love. When
others hear about this Christian liberty of ours they at once infer, “If
I am free, I may do what I like. If salvation is not a matter of doing
why should we do anything for the poor?” In this crude manner
they turn the liberty of the spirit into wantonness and licentiousness.
We want them to know, however, that if they use their lives and
possessions after their own pleasure, if they do not help the poor,
if they cheat their fellow-men in business and snatch and scrape by
 Chapter 5 clxxvii

hook and by crook everything they can lay their hands on, we want
to tell them that they are not free, no matter how much they think
they are, but they are the dirty slaves of the devil, and are seven
times worse than they ever were as the slaves of the Pope.
As for us, we are obliged to preach the Gospel which offers to all
men liberty from the Law, sin, death, and God’s wrath. We have no
right to conceal or revoke this liberty proclaimed by the Gospel. And
so we cannot do anything with the swine who dive headlong into the
filth of licentiousness. We do what we can, we diligently admonish
them to love and to help their fellow-men. If our admonitions bear
no fruit, we leave them to God, who will in His own good time take
care of these disrespecters of His goodness. In the meanwhile we
comfort ourselves with the thought that our labors are not lost upon
the true believers. They appreciate this spiritual liberty and stand
ready to serve others in love and, though their number is small, the
satisfaction they give us far outweighs the discouragement which
we receive at the hands of the large number of those who misuse
this liberty.
Paul cannot possibly be misunderstood for he says: “Brethren,
ye have been called unto liberty.” In order that nobody might mistake
the liberty of which he speaks for the liberty of the flesh, the Apostle
adds the explanatory note, “only use not liberty for an occasion to
the flesh, but by love serve one another.” Paul now explains at the
hand of the Ten Commandments what it means to serve one another
in love.
Verse 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
It is customary with Paul to lay the doctrinal foundation first and
then to build on it the gold, silver, and gems of good deeds. Now
there is no other foundation than Jesus Christ. Upon this foundation [95]
the Apostle erects the structure of good works which he defines in
this one sentence: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
In adding such precepts of love the Apostle embarrasses the
false apostles very much, as if he were saying to the Galatians: “I
have described to you what spiritual life is. Now I will also teach
you what truly good works are. I am doing this in order that you
may understand that the silly ceremonies of which the false apostles
make so much are far inferior to the works of Christian love.” This
clxxviii Luther on Galatians

is the hall-mark of all false teachers, that they not only pervert the
pure doctrine but also fail in doing good. Their foundation vitiated,
they can only build wood, hay, and stubble. Oddly enough, the false
apostles who were such earnest champions of good works never
required the work of charity, such as Christian love and the practical
charity of a helpful tongue, hand, and heart. Their only requirement
was that circumcision, days, months, years, and times should be
observed. They could not think of any other good works.
The Apostle exhorts all Christians to practice good works af-
ter they have embraced the pure doctrine of faith, because even
though they have been justified they still have the old flesh to refrain
them from doing good. Therefore it becomes necessary that sincere
preachers cultivate the doctrine of good works as diligently as the
doctrine of faith, for Satan is a deadly enemy of both. Nevertheless
faith must come first because without faith it is impossible to know
what a God-pleasing deed is.
Let nobody think that he knows all about this commandment,
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” It sounds short and easy,
but show me the man who can teach, learn, and do this command-
ment perfectly. None of us heed, or urge, or practice this command-
ment properly. Though the conscience hurts when we fail to fulfill
this commandment in every respect we are not overwhelmed by our
failure to bear our neighbor sincere and brotherly love.
The words, “for all the law is fulfilled in one word,” entail a
criticism of the Galatians. “You are so taken up by your superstitions
and ceremonies that serve no good purpose, that you neglect the
most important thing, love.” St. Jerome says: “We wear our bodies
out with watching, fasting, and labor and neglect charity, the queen
of all good works.” Look at the monks, who meticulously fast, watch,
etc. To skip the least requirement of their order would be a crime
of the first magnitude. At the same time they blithely ignored the
duties of charity and hated each other to death. That is no sin, they
think.
The Old Testament is replete with examples that indicate how
much God prizes charity. When David and his companions had
no food with which to still their hunger they ate the showbread
which lay-people were forbidden to eat. Christ’s disciples broke
the Sabbath law when they plucked the ears of corn. Christ himself
 Chapter 5 clxxix

broke the Sabbath (as the Jews claimed) by healing the sick on
the Sabbath. These incidents indicate that love ought to be given
consideration above all laws and ceremonies.
Verse 14. For all the Law is fulfilled in one word.
We can imagine the Apostle saying to the Galatians: “Why do
you get so worked up over ceremonies, meats, days, places, and such
things? Leave off this foolishness and listen to me. The whole Law
is comprehended in this one sentence, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself.’ God is not particularly interested in ceremonies, nor has
He any use for them. The one thing He requires of you is that you
believe in Christ whom He hath sent. If in addition to faith, which
comes first as the most acceptable service unto God, you want to add
laws, then you want to know that all laws are comprehended in this
short commandment, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’”
Paul knows how to explain the law of God. He condenses all the
laws of Moses into one brief sentence. Reason takes offense at the
brevity with which Paul treats the Law. Therefore reason looks down
upon the doctrine of faith and its truly good works. To serve one
another in love, i.e., to instruct the erring, to comfort the afflicted,
to raise the fallen, to help one’s neighbor in every possible way, to
bear with his infirmities, to endure hardships, toil, ingratitude in the
Church and in the world, and on the other hand to obey government,
to honor one’s parents, to be patient at home with a nagging wife [96]
and an unruly family, these things are not at all regarded as good
works. The fact is, they are such excellent works that the world
cannot possibly estimate them at their true value.
It is tersely spoken: “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” But what
more needs to be said? You cannot find a better or nearer example
than your own. If you want to know how you ought to love your
neighbor, ask yourself how much you love yourself. If you were
to get into trouble or danger, you would be glad to have the love
and help of all men. You do not need any book of instructions to
teach you how to love your neighbor. All you have to do is to look
into your own heart, and it will tell you how you ought to love your
neighbor as yourself.
My neighbor is every person, especially those who need my help,
as Christ explained in the tenth chapter of Luke. Even if a person
has done me some wrong, or has hurt me in any way, he is still a
clxxx Luther on Galatians

human being with flesh and blood. As long as a person remains a

human being, so long is he to be an object of our love.
Paul therefore urges his Galatians and, incidentally, all believers
to serve each other in love. “You Galatians do not have to accept
circumcision. If you are so anxious to do good works, I will tell you
in one word how you can fulfill all laws. ‘By love serve one another.’
You will never lack people to whom you may do good. The world is
full of people who need your help.”
Verse 15. But if ye bite and devour one another take heed that ye be
not consumed one of another.
When faith in Christ is overthrown peace and unity come to an
end in the church. Diverse opinions and dissensions about doctrine
and life spring up, and one member bites and devours the other,
i.e., they condemn each other until they are consumed. To this the
Scriptures and the experience of all times bear witness. The many
sects at present have come into being because one sect condemns
the other. When the unity of the spirit has been lost there can be
no agreement in doctrine or life. New errors must appear without
measure and without end.
For the avoidance of discord Paul lays down the principle: “Let
every person do his duty in the station of life into which God has
called him. No person is to vaunt himself above others or find fault
with the efforts of others while lauding his own. Let everybody serve
in love.”
It is not an easy matter to teach faith without works, and still to
require works. Unless the ministers of Christ are wise in handling
the mysteries of God and rightly divide the word, faith and good
works may easily be confused. Both the doctrine of faith and the
doctrine of good works must be diligently taught, and yet in such a
way that both the doctrines stay within their God-given sphere. If
we only teach words, as our opponents do, we shall lose the faith. If
we only teach faith people will come to think that good works are
superfluous.
Verse 16. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh.
“I have not forgotten what I told you about faith in the first part
of my letter. Because I exhort you to mutual love you are not to
think that I have gone back on my teaching of justification by faith
 Chapter 5 clxxxi

alone. I am still of the same opinion. To remove every possibility

for misunderstanding I have added this explanatory note: ‘Walk in
the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’”
With this verse Paul explains how he wants this sentence to be
understood: “By love serve one another. When I bid you to love one
another, this is what I mean and require, ‘Walk in the Spirit.’ I know
very well you will not fulfill the Law, because you are sinners as
long as you live. Nevertheless, you should endeavor to walk in the
spirit, i.e., fight against the flesh and follow the leads of the Holy
Ghost.”
It is quite apparent that Paul had not forgotten the doctrine of
justification, for in bidding the Galatians to walk in the Spirit he at
the same time denies that good works can justify. “When I speak of
the fulfilling of the Law I do not mean to say that you are justified
by the Law. All I mean to say is that you should take the Spirit for
your guide and resist the flesh. That is the most you shall ever be
able to do. Obey the Spirit and fight against the flesh.”
Verse 16. And ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. [97]
The lust of the flesh is not altogether extinct in us. It rises up
again and again and wrestles with the Spirit. No flesh, not even that
of the true believer, is so completely under the influence of the Spirit
that it will not bite or devour, or at least neglect, the commandment
of love. At the slightest provocation it flares up, demands to be
revenged, and hates a neighbor like an enemy, or at least does not
love him as much as he ought to be loved.
Therefore the Apostle establishes this rule of love for the believ-
ers. Serve one another in love. Bear the infirmities of your brother.
Forgive one another. Without such bearing and forbearing, giving
and forgiving, there can be no unity because to give and to take
offense are unavoidably human.
Whenever you are angry with your brother for any cause, repress
your violent emotions through the Spirit. Bear with his weakness
and love him. He does not cease to be your neighbor or brother
because he offended you. On the contrary, he now more than ever
before requires your loving attention.
The scholastics take the lust of the flesh to mean carnal lust.
True, believers too are tempted with carnal lust. Even the married
clxxxii Luther on Galatians

are not immune to carnal lusts. Men set little value upon that which
they have and covet what they have not, as the poet says:

“The things most forbidden we always desire,

And things most denied we seek to acquire.”

I do not deny that the lust of the flesh includes carnal lust. But
it takes in more. It takes in all the corrupt desires with which the
believers are more or less infected, as pride, hatred, covetousness,
impatience. Later on Paul enumerates among the works of the flesh
even idolatry and heresy. The apostle’s meaning is clear. “I want
you to love one another. But you do not do it. In fact you cannot
do it, because of your flesh. Hence we cannot be justified by deeds
of love. Do not for a moment think that I am reversing myself on
my stand concerning faith. Faith and hope must continue. By faith
we are justified, by hope we endure to the end. In addition we serve
each other in love because true faith is not idle. Our love, however,
is faulty. In bidding you to walk in the Spirit I indicate to you that
our love is not sufficient to justify us. Neither do I demand that you
should get rid of the flesh, but that you should control and subdue
it.”
Verse 17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against
the flesh.
When Paul declares that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh,” he means to say that we are not to think,
speak or do the things to which the flesh incites us. “I know,” he
says, “that the flesh courts sin. The thing for you to do is to resist the
flesh by the Spirit. But if you abandon the leadership of the Spirit
for that of the flesh, you are going to fulfill the lust of the flesh and
die in your sins.”
Verse 17. And these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would.
These two leaders, the flesh and the Spirit, are bitter opponents.
Of this opposition the Apostle writes in the seventh chapter of the
Epistle to the Romans: “I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into the captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am!
who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
 Chapter 5 clxxxiii

The scholastics are at a loss to understand this confession of

Paul and feel obliged to save his honor. That the chosen vessel of
Christ should have had the law of sin in his members seems to them
incredible and absurd. They circumvent the plain-spoken statement
of the Apostle by saying that he was speaking for the wicked. But
the wicked never complain of inner conflicts, or of the captivity of
sin. Sin has its unrestricted way with them. This is Paul’s very own
complaint and the identical complaint of all believers.
Paul never denied that he felt the lust of the flesh. It is likely
that at times he felt even the stirrings of carnal lust, but there is no
doubt that he quickly suppressed them. And if at any time he felt [98]
angry or impatient, he resisted these feelings by the Spirit. We are
not going to stand by idly and see such a comforting statement as
this explained away. The scholastics, monks, and others of their ilk
fought only against carnal lust and were proud of a victory which
they never obtained. In the meanwhile they harbored within their
breasts pride, hatred, disdain, self-trust, contempt of the Word of
God, disloyalty, blasphemy, and other lusts of the flesh. Against
these sins they never fought because they never took them for sins.
Christ alone can supply us with perfect righteousness. Therefore
we must always believe and always hope in Christ. “Whosoever
believeth shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 9:33.)
Do not despair if you feel the flesh battling against the Spirit or
if you cannot make it behave. For you to follow the guidance of the
Spirit in all things without interference on the part of the flesh is
impossible. You are doing all you can if you resist the flesh and do
not fulfill its demands.
When I was a monk I thought I was lost forever whenever I felt
an evil emotion, carnal lust, wrath, hatred, or envy. I tried to quiet
my conscience in many ways, but it did not work, because lust would
always come back and give me no rest. I told myself: “You have
permitted this and that sin, envy, impatience, and the like. Your
joining this holy order has been in vain, and all your good works
are good for nothing.” If at that time I had understood this passage,
“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh,”
I could have spared myself many a day of self-torment. I would have
said to myself: “Martin, you will never be without sin, for you have
flesh. Despair not, but resist the flesh.”
clxxxiv Luther on Galatians

I remember how Doctor Staupitz used to say to me: “I have

promised God a thousand times that I would become a better man,
but I never kept my promise. From now on I am not going to make
any more vows. Experience has taught me that I cannot keep them.
Unless God is merciful to me for Christ’s sake and grants unto me
a blessed departure, I shall not be able to stand before Him.” His
was a God-pleasing despair. No true believer trusts in his own
righteousness, but says with David, “Enter not into judgment with
thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” (Psalm
143:2) Again, “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who
shall stand?” (Psalm 130:3.)
No man is to despair of salvation just because he is aware of
the lust of the flesh. Let him be aware of it so long as he does not
yield to it. The passion of lust, wrath, and other vices may shake
him, but they are not to get him down. Sin may assail him, but he
is not to welcome it. Yes, the better Christian a man is, the more
he will experience the heat of the conflict. This explains the many
expressions of regret in the Psalms and in the entire Bible.
Everybody is to determine his peculiar weakness and guard
against it. Watch and wrestle in spirit against your weakness. Even
if you cannot completely overcome it, at least you ought to fight
against it.
According to this description a saint is not one who is made of
wood and never feels any lusts or desires of the flesh. A true saint
confesses his righteousness and prays that his sins may be forgiven.
The whole Church prays for the forgiveness of sins and confesses
that it believes in the forgiveness of sins. If our antagonists would
read the Scriptures they would soon discover that they cannot judge
rightly of anything, either of sin or of holiness.
Verse 18. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Here someone may object: “How come we are not under the
law? You yourself say, Paul, that we have the flesh which wars
against the Spirit, and brings us into subjection.”
But Paul says not to let it trouble us. As long as we are led by
the Spirit, and are willing to obey the Spirit who resists the flesh, we
are not under the Law. True believers are not under the Law. The
Law cannot condemn them although they feel sin and confess it.
 Chapter 5 clxxxv

Great then is the power of the Spirit. Led by the Spirit, the Law
cannot condemn the believer though he commits real sin. For Christ
in whom we believe is our righteousness. He is without sin, and the
Law cannot accuse Him. As long as we cling to Him we are led
by the Spirit and are free from the Law. Even as he teaches good
works, the Apostle does not lose sight of the doctrine of justification,
but shows at every turn that it is impossible for us to be justified by
works.
The words, “If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law,” [99]
are replete with comfort. It happens at times that anger, hatred,
impatience, carnal desire, fear, sorrow, or some other lust of the flesh
so overwhelms a man that he cannot shake them off, though he try
ever so hard. What should he do? Should he despair? God forbid.
Let him say to himself: “My flesh seems to be on a warpath against
the Spirit again. Go to it, flesh, and rage all you want to. But you
are not going to have your way. I follow the leading of the Spirit.”
When the flesh begins to cut up the only remedy is to take the
sword of the Spirit, the word of salvation, and fight against the flesh.
If you set the Word out of sight, you are helpless against the flesh. I
know this to be a fact. I have been assailed by many violent passions,
but as soon as I took hold of some Scripture passage, my temptations
left me. Without the Word I could not have helped myself against
the flesh.
Verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these.
Paul is saying: “That none of you may hide behind the plea of
ignorance I will enumerate first the works of the flesh, and then also
the works of the Spirit.”
There were many hypocrites among the Galatians, as there are
also among us, who pretend to be Christians and talk much about
the Spirit, but they walk not according to the Spirit; rather according
to the flesh. Paul is out to show them that they are not as holy as
they like to have others think they are.
Every period of life has its own peculiar temptations. Not one
true believer whom the flesh does not again and again incite to
impatience, anger, pride. But it is one thing to be tempted by the
flesh, and another thing to yield to the flesh, to do its bidding without
fear or remorse, and to continue in sin.
clxxxvi Luther on Galatians

Christians also fall and perform the lusts of the flesh. David fell
horribly into adultery. Peter also fell grievously when he denied
Christ. However great these sins were, they were not committed
to spite God, but from weakness. When their sins were brought to
their attention these men did not obstinately continue in their sin, but
repented. Those who sin through weakness are not denied pardon as
long as they rise again and cease to sin. There is nothing worse than
to continue in sin. If they do not repent, but obstinately continue
to fulfill the desires of the flesh, it is a sure sign that they are not
sincere.
No person is free from temptations. Some are tempted in one
way, others in another way. One person is more easily tempted
to bitterness and sorrow of spirit, blasphemy, distrust, and despair.
Another is more easily tempted to carnal lust, anger, envy, covetous-
ness. But no matter to which sins we are disposed, we are to walk in
the Spirit and resist the flesh. Those who are Christ’s own crucify
their flesh.
Some of the old saints labored so hard to attain perfection that
they lost the capacity to feel anything. When I was a monk I often
wished I could see a saint. I pictured him as living in the wilderness,
abstaining from meat and drink and living on roots and herbs and
cold water. This weird conception of those awesome saints I had
gained out of the books of the scholastics and church fathers. But we
know now from the Scriptures who the true saints are. Not those who
live a single life, or make a fetish of days, meats, clothes, and such
things. The true saints are those who believe that they are justified
by the death of Christ. Whenever Paul writes to the Christians here
and there he calls them the holy children and heirs of God. All who
believe in Christ, whether male or female, bond or free, are saints;
not in view of their own works, but in view of the merits of God
which they appropriate by faith. Their holiness is a gift and not their
own personal achievement.
Ministers of the Gospel, public officials, parents, children, mas-
ters, servants, etc., are true saints when they take Christ for their
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and when
they fulfill the duties of their several vocations according to the stan-
dard of God’s Word and repress the lust and desires of the flesh by
the Spirit. Not everybody can resist temptations with equal facilities.
 Chapter 5 clxxxvii

Imperfections are bound to show up. But this does not prevent them
from being holy. Their unintentional lapses are forgiven if they pull
themselves together by faith in Christ. God forbid that we should sit [100]
in hasty judgment on those who are weak in faith and life, as long as
they love the Word of God and make use of the supper of the Lord.
I thank God that He has permitted me to see (what as a monk I so
earnestly desired to see) not one but many saints, whole multitudes
of true saints. Not the kind of saints the papists admire, but the kind
of saints Christ wants. I am sure I am one of Christ’s true saints. I
am baptized. I believe that Christ my Lord has redeemed me from
all my sins, and invested me with His own eternal righteousness and
holiness. To hide in caves and dens, to have a bony body, to wear the
hair long in the mistaken idea that such departures from normalcy
will obtain some special regard in heaven is not the holy life. A holy
life is to be baptized and to believe in Christ, and to subdue the flesh
with the Spirit.
To feel the lusts of the flesh is not without profit to us. It prevents
us from being vain and from being puffed up with the wicked opinion
of our own work-righteousness. The monks were so inflated with the
opinion of their own righteousness, they thought they had so much
holiness that they could afford to sell some of it to others, although
their own hearts convinced them of unholiness. The Christian feels
the unholy condition of his heart, and it makes him feel so low that
he cannot trust in his good works. He therefore goes to Christ to
find perfect righteousness. This keeps a Christian humble.
Verses 19, 20. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these: adultery, fornification, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft ...
Paul does not enumerate all the works of the flesh, but only
certain ones. First, he mentions various kinds of carnal lusts, as
adultery, fornication, wantonness, etc. But carnal lust is not the only
work of the flesh, and so he counts among the works of the flesh also
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and the like. These terms are so familiar
that they do not require lengthy explanations.
 clxxxviii Luther on Galatians

Idolatry
The best religion, the most fervent devotion without Christ is
plain idolatry. It has been considered a holy act when the monks
in their cells meditate upon God and His works, and in a religious
frenzy kneel down to pray and to weep for joy. Yet Paul calls it
simply idolatry. Every religion which worships God in ignorance or
neglect of His Word and will is idolatry.
They may think about God, Christ, and heavenly things, but
they do it after their own fashion and not after the Word of God.
They have an idea that their clothing, their mode of living, and their
conduct are holy and pleasing to Christ. They not only expect to
pacify Christ by the strictness of their life, but also expect to be
rewarded by Him for their good deeds. Hence their best “spiritual”
thoughts are wicked thoughts. Any worship of God, any religion
without Christ is idolatry. In Christ alone is God well pleased.
I have said before that the works of the flesh are manifest. But
idolatry puts on such a good front and acts so spiritual that the sham
of it is recognized only by true believers.

Witchcraft
This sin was very common before the light of the Gospel ap-
peared. When I was a child there were many witches and sorcerers
around who “bewitched” cattle, and people, particularly children,
and did much harm. But now that the Gospel is here you do not hear
so much about it because the Gospel drives the devil away. Now he
bewitches people in a worse way with spiritual sorcery.
Witchcraft is a brand of idolatry. As witches used to bewitch
cattle and men, so idolaters, i.e., all the self-righteous, go around
to bewitch God and to make Him out as one who justifies men not
by grace through faith in Christ but by the works of men’s own
choosing. They bewitch and deceive themselves. If they continue in
their wicked thoughts of God they will die in their idolatry.

Sects
[101] Under sects Paul here understands heresies. Heresies have al-
ways been found in the church. What unity of faith can exist among
all the different monks and the different orders? None whatever.
 Chapter 5 clxxxix

There is no unity of spirit, no agreement of minds, but great dissen-

sion in the papacy. There is no conformity in doctrine, faith, and
life. On the other hand, among evangelical Christians the Word,
faith, religion, sacraments, service, Christ, God, heart, and mind are
common to all. This unity is not disturbed by outward differences
of station or of occupation.

Drunkeness, Gluttony
Paul does not say that eating and drinking are works of the flesh,
but intemperance in eating and drinking, which is a common vice
nowadays, is a work of the flesh. Those who are given to excess are
to know that they are not spiritual but carnal. Sentence is pronounced
upon them that they shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Paul
desires that Christians avoid drunkenness and gluttony, that they live
temperate and sober lives, in order that the body may not grow soft
and sensual.
Verse 21. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in
the past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God.
This is a hard saying, but very necessary for those false Christians
and hypocrites who speak much about the Gospel, about faith, and
the Spirit, yet live after the flesh. But this hard sentence is directed
chiefly at the heretics who are large with their own self-importance,
that they may be frightened into taking up the fight of the Spirit
against the flesh.
Verses 22, 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuf-
fering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
The Apostle does not speak of the works of the Spirit as he spoke
of the works of the flesh, but he attaches to these Christian virtues a
better name. He calls them the fruits of the Spirit.

Love
It would have been enough to mention only the single fruit of
love, for love embraces all the fruits of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthi-
ans 13, Paul attributes to love all the fruits of the Spirit: “Charity
suffereth long, and is kind,” etc. Here he lets love stand by itself
among other fruits of the Spirit to remind the Christians to love one
 cxc Luther on Galatians

another, “in honor preferring one another,” to esteem others more

than themselves because they have Christ and the Holy Ghost within
them.

Joy
Joy means sweet thoughts of Christ, melodious hymns and
psalms, praises and thanksgiving, with which Christians instruct,
inspire, and refresh themselves. God does not like doubt and de-
jection. He hates dreary doctrine, gloomy and melancholy thought.
God likes cheerful hearts. He did not send His Son to fill us with
sadness, but to gladden our hearts. For this reason the prophets,
apostles, and Christ Himself urge, yes, command us to rejoice and
be glad. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem; behold, thy king cometh unto thee.” (Zechariah 9:9.) In
the Psalms we are repeatedly told to be “joyful in the Lord.” Paul
says: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Christ says: “Rejoice, for your
names are written in heaven.”

Peace
Peace towards God and men. Christians are to be peaceful and
quiet. Not argumentative, not hateful, but thoughtful and patient.
There can be no peace without longsuffering, and therefore Paul lists
this virtue next.

Longsuffering
Longsuffering is that quality which enables a person to bear
adversity, injury, reproach, and makes them patient to wait for the
improvement of those who have done him wrong. When the devil
finds that he cannot overcome certain persons by force he tries to
[102] overcome them in the long run. He knows that we are weak and
cannot stand anything long. Therefore he repeats his temptation time
and again until he succeeds. To withstand his continued assaults we
must be longsuffering and patiently wait for the devil to get tired of
his game.
 Chapter 5 cxci

Gentleness
Gentleness in conduct and life. True followers of the Gospel
must not be sharp and bitter, but gentle, mild, courteous, and soft-
spoken, which should encourage others to seek their company. Gen-
tleness can overlook other people’s faults and cover them up. Gen-
tleness is always glad to give in to others. Gentleness can get along
with forward and difficult persons, according to the old pagan say-
ing: “You must know the manners of your friends, but you must not
hate them.” Such a gentle person was our Savior Jesus Christ, as the
Gospel portrays Him. Of Peter it is recorded that he wept whenever
he remembered the sweet gentleness of Christ in His daily contact
with people. Gentleness is an excellent virtue and very useful in
every walk of life.

Goodness
A person is good when he is willing to help others in their need.

Faith
In listing faith among the fruits of the Spirit, Paul obviously
does not mean faith in Christ, but faith in men. Such faith is not
suspicious of people but believes the best. Naturally the possessor of
such faith will be deceived, but he lets it pass. He is ready to believe
all men, but he will not trust all men. Where this virtue is lacking
men are suspicious, forward, and wayward and will believe nothing
nor yield to anybody. No matter how well a person says or does
anything, they will find fault with it, and if you do not humor them
you can never please them. It is quite impossible to get along with
them. Such faith in people therefore, is quite necessary. What kind
of life would this be if one person could not believe another person?

Meekness
A person is meek when he is not quick to get angry. Many things
occur in daily life to provoke a person’s anger, but the Christian gets
over his anger by meekness.
 cxcii Luther on Galatians

Temperance
Christians are to lead sober and chaste lives. They should not be
adulterers, fornicators, or sensualists. They should not be quarrelers
or drunkards. In the first and second chapters of the Epistle to Titus,
the Apostle admonishes bishops, young women, and married folks
to be chaste and pure.
Verse 23. Against such there is no law.
There is a law, of course, but it does not apply to those who bear
these fruits of the Spirit. The Law is not given for the righteous
man. A true Christian conducts himself in such a way that he does
not need any law to warn or to restrain him. He obeys the Law
without compulsion. The Law does not concern him. As far as he is
concerned there would not have to be any Law.
Verse 24. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts.
True believers are no hypocrites. They crucify the flesh with its
evil desires and lusts. Inasmuch as they have not altogether put off
the sinful flesh they are inclined to sin. They do not fear or love God
as they should. They are likely to be provoked to anger, to envy, to
impatience, to carnal lust, and other emotions. But they will not do
the things to which the flesh incites them. They crucify the flesh
with its evil desires and lusts by fasting and exercise and, above all,
by a walk in the Spirit.
To resist the flesh in this manner is to nail it to the Cross. Al-
though the flesh is still alive it cannot very well act upon its desires
because it is bound and nailed to the Cross.
[103] Verse 25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
A little while ago the Apostle had condemned those who are
envious and start heresies and schisms. As if he had forgotten that he
had already berated them, the Apostle once more reproves those who
provoke and envy others. Was not one reference to them sufficient?
He repeats his admonition in order to emphasize the viciousness of
pride that had caused all the trouble in the churches of Galatia, and
has always caused the Church of Christ no end of difficulties. In his
Epistle to Titus the Apostle states that a vainglorious man should
not be ordained as a minister, for pride, as St. Augustine points out,
is the mother of all heresies.
 Chapter 5 cxciii

Now vainglory has always been a common poison in the world.

There is no village too small to contain someone who wants to be
considered wiser or better than the rest. Those who have been bitten
by pride usually stand upon the reputation for learning and wisdom.
Vainglory is not nearly so bad in a private person or even in an
official as it is in a minister.
When the poison of vainglory gets into the Church you have no
idea what havoc it can cause. You may argue about knowledge, art,
money, countries, and the like without doing particular harm. But
you cannot quarrel about salvation or damnation, about eternal life
and eternal death without grave damage to the Church. No wonder
Paul exhorts all ministers of the Word to guard against this poison.
He writes: “If we live in the Spirit.” Where the Spirit is, men gain
new attitudes. Where formerly they were vainglorious, spiteful and
envious, they now become humble, gentle and patient. Such men
seek not their own glory, but the glory of God. They do not provoke
each other to wrath or envy, but prefer others to themselves.
As dangerous to the Church as this abominable pride is, yet there
is nothing more common. The trouble with the ministers of Satan
is that they look upon the ministry as a stepping-stone to fame and
glory, and right there you have the seed for all sorts of dissensions.
Because Paul knew that the vainglory of the false Apostles had
caused the churches of Galatia endless trouble, he makes it his
business to suppress this abominable vice. In his absence the false
apostles went to work in Galatia. They pretended that they had been
on intimate terms with the apostles, while Paul had never seen Christ
in person or had much contact with the rest of the apostles. Because
of this they delivered him, rejected his doctrine, and boosted their
own. In this way they troubled the Galatians and caused quarrels
among them until they provoked and envied each other; which goes
to show that neither the false apostles nor the Galatians walked after
the Spirit, but after the flesh.
The Gospel is not there for us to aggrandize ourselves. The
Gospel is to aggrandize Christ and the mercy of God. It holds out to
men eternal gifts that are not gifts of our own manufacture. What
right have we to receive praise and glory for gifts that are not of our
own making?
 cxciv Luther on Galatians

No wonder that God in His special grace subjects the ministers

of the Gospel to all kinds of afflictions, otherwise they could not
cope with this ugly beast called vainglory. If no persecution, no
cross, or reproach trailed the doctrine of the Gospel, but only praise
and reputation, the ministers of the Gospel would choke with pride.
Paul had the Spirit of Christ. Nevertheless there was given unto him
the messenger of Satan to buffet him in order that he should not
come to exalt himself, because of the grandeur of his revelations. St.
Augustine’s opinion is well taken: “If a minister of the Gospel is
praised, he is in danger; if he is despised, he is also in danger.”
The ministers of the Gospel should be men who are not too easily
affected by praise or criticism, but simply speak out the benefit and
the glory of Christ and seek the salvation of souls.
Whenever you are being praised, remember it is not you who
is being praised but Christ, to whom all praise belongs. When you
preach the Word of God in its purity and also live accordingly, it
is not your own doing, but God’s doing. And when people praise
you, they really mean to praise God in you. When you understand
this—and you should because “what hast thou that thou didst not
receive?”—you will not flatter yourself on the one hand and on the
other hand you will not carry yourself with the thought of resigning
from the ministry when you are insulted, reproached, or persecuted.
It is really kind of God to send so much infamy, reproach, hatred,
and cursing our way to keep us from getting proud of the gifts of
[104] God in us. We need a millstone around our neck to keep us humble.
There are a few on our side who love and revere us for the ministry
of the Word, but for every one of these there are a hundred on the
other side who hate and persecute us.
The Lord is our glory. Such gifts as we possess we acknowledge
to be the gifts of God, given to us for the good of the Church of
Christ. Therefore we are not proud because of them. We know
that more is required of them to whom much is given, than of such
to whom little is given. We also know that God is no respecter of
persons. A plain factory hand who does his work faithfully pleases
God just as much as a minister of the Word.
Verse 26. Let us not be desirous of vain glory.
To desire vainglory is to desire lies, because when one person
praises another he tells lies. What is there in anybody to praise?
 Chapter 5 cxcv

But it is different when the ministry is praised. We should not only

desire people to praise the ministry of the Gospel but also do our
utmost to make the ministry worthy of praise because this will make
the ministry more effective. Paul warns the Romans not to bring
Christianity into disrepute. “Let not then your good be evil spoken
of.” (Romans 14:16.) He also begged the Corinthians to “give no
offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed.” (1 Corinthians
6:3.) When people praise our ministry they are not praising our
persons, but God.
Verse 26. Provoking one another, envying one another.
Such is the ill effect of vainglory. Those who teach errors pro-
voke others. When others disapprove and reject the doctrine the
teachers of errors get angry in turn, and then you have strife and
trouble. The sectarians hate us furiously because we will not ap-
prove their errors. We did not attack them directly. We merely called
attention to certain abuses in the Church. They did not like it and
became sore at us, because it hurt their pride. They wish to be the
lone rulers of the church.
 Chapter 6

Verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are

spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness.
If we carefully weigh the words of the Apostle we perceive
that he does not speak of doctrinal faults and errors, but of much
lesser faults by which a person is overtaken through the weakness
of his flesh. This explains why the Apostle chooses the softer term
“fault.” To minimize the offense still more, as if he meant to excuse
it altogether and to take the whole blame away from the person
who has committed the fault, he speaks of him as having been
“overtaken,” seduced by the devil and of the flesh. As if he meant
to say, “What is more human than for a human being to fall, to be
deceived and to err?” This comforting sentence at one time saved
my life. Because Satan always assails both the purity of doctrine
which he endeavors to take away by schisms and the purity of life
which he spoils with his continual temptations to sin, Paul explains
how the fallen should be treated. Those who are strong are to raise
up the fallen in the spirit of meekness.
This ought to be borne in mind particularly by the ministers of
the Word in order that they may not forget the parental attitude which
Paul here requires of those who have the keeping of souls. Pastors
and ministers must, of course, rebuke the fallen, but when they see
that the fallen are sorry they are to comfort them by excusing the
fault as well as they can. As unyielding as the Holy Spirit is in
the matter of maintaining and defending the doctrine of faith, so
mild and merciful is He toward men for their sins as long as sinners
repent.
The Pope’s synagogue teaches the exact opposite of what the
Apostle commands. The clerics are tyrants and butchers of men’s
conscience. Every small offense is closely scrutinized. To justify
the cruel inquisitiveness they quote the statement of Pope Gregory:
“It is the property of good lives to be afraid of a fault where there
is no fault.” “Our censors must be feared, even if they are unjust
cxcvi
 Chapter 6 cxcvii

and wrong.” On these pronouncements the papists base their doc-

trine of excommunication. Rather than terrify and condemn men’s [105]
consciences, they ought to raise them up and comfort them with the
truth.
Let the ministers of the Gospel learn from Paul how to deal
with those who have sinned. “Brethren,” he says, “if any man be
overtaken with a fault, do not aggravate his grief, do not scold him,
do not condemn him, but lift him up and gently restore his faith. If
you see a brother despondent over a sin he has committed, run up to
him, reach out your hand to him, comfort him with the Gospel and
embrace him like a mother. When you meet a willful sinner who
does not care, go after him and rebuke him sharply.” But this is not
the treatment for one who has been overtaken by a sin and is sorry.
He must be dealt with in the spirit of meekness and not in the spirit
of severity. A repentant sinner is not to be given gall and vinegar to
drink.
Verse 1. Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
This consideration is very much needed to put a stop to the sever-
ity of some pastors who show the fallen no mercy. St. Augustine
says: “There is no sin which one person has committed, that another
person may not commit it also.” We stand in slippery places. If we
become overbearing and neglect our duty, it is easy enough to fall
into sin. In the book entitled “The Lives of Our Fathers,” one of the
Fathers is reported to have said when informed that a brother had
fallen into adultery: “He fell yesterday; I may fall today.” Paul there-
fore warns the pastors not to be too rigorous and unmerciful towards
offenders, but to show them every affection, always remembering:
“This man fell into sin; I may fall into worse sin. If those who are
always so eager to condemn others would investigate themselves
they would find that the sins of others are motes in comparison to
their own.”
“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12.) If David who was a hero of faith and
did so many great things for the Lord, could fall so badly that in
spite of his advanced age he was overcome by youthful lust after he
had withstood so many different temptations with which the Lord
had tested his faith, who are we to think that we are more stable?
 cxcviii Luther on Galatians

These object lessons of God should convince us that of all things

God hates pride.
Verse 2. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of
Christ.
The Law of Christ is the Law of love. Christ gave us no other
law than this law of mutual love: “A new commandment I give unto
you, That ye love one another.” To love means to bear another’s
burdens. Christians must have strong shoulders to bear the burdens
of their fellow Christians. Faithful pastors recognize many errors
and offenses in the church, which they oversee. In civil affairs an
official has to overlook much if he is fit to rule. If we can overlook
our own shortcomings and wrong-doings, we ought to overlook the
shortcomings of others in accordance with the words, “Bear ye one
another’s burdens.”
Those who fail to do so expose their lack of understanding of the
law of Christ. Love, according to Paul, “believeth all things, hopeth
all things, endureth all things.” This commandment is not meant for
those who deny Christ; neither is it meant for those who continue to
live in sin. Only those who are willing to hear the Word of God and
then inadvertently fall into sin to their own great sorrow and regret,
carry the burdens which the Apostle encourages us to bear. Let us
not be hard on them. If Christ did not punish them, what right have
we to do it?
Verse 3. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is
nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Again the Apostle takes the authors of sects to task for being
hard-hearted tyrants. They despise the weak and demand that every-
thing be just so. Nothing suits them except what they do. Unless
you eulogize whatever they say or do, unless you adapt yourself to
their slightest whim, they become angry with you. They are that way
because, as St. Paul says, they “think themselves to be something,”
they think they know all about the Scriptures.
Paul has their number when he calls them zeros. They deceive
themselves with their self-suggested wisdom and holiness. They
have no understanding of Christ or the law of Christ. By insisting
that everything be perfect they not only fail to bear the burdens of
[106] the weak, they actually offend the weak by their severity. People
 Chapter 6 cxcix

begin to hate and shun them and refuse to accept counsel or comfort
from them.
Paul describes these stiff and ungracious saints accurately when
he says of them, “They think themselves to be something.” Bloated
by their own silly ideas and schemes they entertain a pretty fair
opinion of themselves, when in reality they amount to nothing.
Verse 4. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he
have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
In this verse the Apostle continues his attack upon the vainglori-
ous sectarians. Although this passage may be applied to any work,
the Apostle has in mind particularly the work of the ministry.
The trouble with these seekers after glory is that they never stop
to consider whether their ministry is straightforward and faithful.
All they think about is whether people will like and praise them.
Theirs is a threefold sin. First, they are greedy of praise. Secondly,
they are very sly and wily in suggesting that the ministry of other
pastors is not what it should be. By way of contrast they hope to rise
in the estimation of the people. Thirdly, once they have established
a reputation for themselves they become so chesty that they stop
short of nothing. When they have won the praise of men, pride leads
them on to belittle the work of other men and to applaud their own.
In this artful manner they hoodwink the people who rather enjoy to
see their former pastors taken down a few notches by such upstarts.
“Let a minister be faithful in his office,” is the apostolic injunc-
tion. “Let him not seek his own glory or look for praise. Let him
desire to do good work and to preach the Gospel in all its purity.
Whether an ungrateful world appreciates his efforts is to give him
no concern because, after all, he is in the ministry not for his own
glory but for the glory of Christ.”
A faithful minister cares little what people think of him, as long
as his conscience approves of him. The approval of his own good
conscience is the best praise a minister can have. To know that
we have taught the Word of God and administered the sacraments
rightly is to have a glory that cannot be taken away.
The glory which the sectarians seek is quite unstable, because it
rests in the whim of people. If Paul had had to depend on this kind
of glory for his ministry he would have despaired when he saw the
many offenses and evils following in the wake of his preaching.
 cc Luther on Galatians

If we had to feel that the success of our ministry depended upon

our popularity with men we would die, because we are not popular.
On the contrary, we are hated by the whole world with rare bitterness.
Nobody praises us. Everybody finds fault with us. But we can glory
in the Lord and attend to our work cheerfully. Who cares whether
our efforts please or displease the devil? Who cares whether the
world praises or hates us? We go ahead “by honour and dishonour,
by evil report and good report.” (2 Corinthians 6:8.)
The Gospel entails persecution. The Gospel is that kind of
a doctrine. Furthermore, the disciples of the Gospel are not all
dependable. Many embrace the Gospel today and tomorrow discard
it. To preach the Gospel for praise is bad business especially when
people stop praising you. Find your praise in the testimony of a
good conscience.
This passage may also be applied to other work besides the
ministry. When an official, a servant, a teacher minds his business
and performs his duty faithfully without concerning himself about
matters that are not in his line he may rejoice in himself. The best
commendation of any work is to know that one has done the work
that God has given him well and that God is pleased with his effort.
Verse 5. Every man shall bear his own burden.
That means: For anybody to covet praise is foolish because the
praise of men will be of no help to you in the hour of death. Before
the judgment throne of Christ everybody will have to bear his own
burden. As it is the praise of men stops when we die. Before the
eternal Judge it is not praise that counts but your own conscience.
[107] True, the consciousness of work well done cannot quiet the
conscience. But it is well to have the testimony of a good conscience
in the last judgment that we have performed our duty faithfully in
accordance with God’s will.
For the suppression of pride we need the strength of prayer. What
man even if he is a Christian is not delighted with his own praise?
Only the Holy Spirit can preserve us from the misfortune of pride.
Verse 6. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him
that teacheth in all good things.
Now the Apostle also addresses the hearers of the Word request-
ing them to bestow “all good things” upon those who have taught
them the Gospel. I have often wondered why all the apostles reiter-
 Chapter 6 cci

ated this request with such embarrassing frequency. In the papacy I

saw the people give generously for the erection and maintenance of
luxurious church buildings and for the sustenance of men appointed
to the idolatrous service of Rome. I saw bishops and priests grow
rich until they possessed the choicest real estate. I thought then
that Paul’s admonitions were overdone. I thought he should have
requested the people to curtail their contributions. I saw how the gen-
erosity of the people of the Church was encouraging covetousness
on the part of the clergy. I know better now.
As often as I read the admonitions of the Apostle to the effect
that the churches should support their pastors and raise funds for the
relief of impoverished Christians I am half ashamed to think that
the great Apostle Paul had to touch upon this subject so frequently.
In writing to the Corinthians he needed two chapters to impress
this matter upon them. I would not want to discredit Wittenberg as
Paul discredited the Corinthians by urging them at such length to
contribute to the relief of the poor. It seems to be a by-product of the
Gospel that nobody wants to contribute to the maintenance of the
Gospel ministry. When the doctrine of the devil is preached people
are prodigal in their willing support of those who deceive them.
We have come to understand why it is so necessary to repeat the
admonition of this verse. When Satan cannot suppress the preaching
of the Gospel by force he tries to accomplish his purpose by striking
the ministers of the Gospel with poverty. He curtails their income to
such an extent that they are forced out of the ministry because they
cannot live by the Gospel. Without ministers to proclaim the Word
of God the people go wild like savage beasts.
Paul’s admonition that the hearers of the Gospel share all good
things with their pastors and teachers is certainly in order. To the
Corinthians he wrote: “If we have sown unto you spiritual things is
it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” (1 Corinthians
9:11.) In the old days when the Pope reigned supreme everybody
paid plenty for masses. The begging friars brought in their share.
Commercial priests counted the daily offerings. From these extor-
tions our countrymen are now delivered by the Gospel. You would
think they would be grateful for their emancipation and give gen-
erously for the support of the ministry of the Gospel and the relief
of impoverished Christians. Instead, they rob Christ. When the
 ccii Luther on Galatians

members of a Christian congregation permit their pastor to struggle

along in penury, they are worse than heathen.
Before very long they are going to suffer for their ingratitude.
They will lose their temporal and spiritual possessions. This sin
merits the severest punishment. The reason why the churches of
Galatia, Corinth, and other places were troubled by false apostles
was this, that they had so little regard for their faithful ministers. You
cannot refuse to give God a penny who gives you all good things,
even life eternal, and turn around and give the devil, the giver of all
evil and death eternal, pieces of gold, and not be punished for it.
The words “in all good things” are not to be understood to mean
that people are to give all they have to their ministers, but that they
should support them liberally and give them enough to live well.
Verse 7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked.
The Apostle is so worked up over this matter that he is not
content with a mere admonition. He utters the threatening words,
“God is not mocked.” Our countrymen think it good sport to despise
[108] the ministry. They like to treat the ministers like servants and slaves.
“Be not deceived,” warns the Apostle, “God is not mocked.” God
will not be mocked in His ministers. Christ said: “He that despiseth
you, despiseth me.” (Luke 10:16.) To Samuel God said: “They have
not rejected thee, but they have rejected me.” (1 Samuel 8:7.) Be
careful, you scoffers. God may postpone His punishment for a time,
but He will find you out in time, and punish you for despising His
servants. You cannot laugh at God. Maybe the people are little
impressed by the threats of God, but in the hour of their death they
shall know whom they have mocked. God is not ever going to let
His ministers starve. When the rich suffer the pangs of hunger God
will feed His own servants. “In the days of famine they shall be
satisfied.” (Psalm 37:19.)
Verse 7. For whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
These passages are all meant to benefit us ministers. I must say
I do not find much pleasure in explaining these verses. I am made to
appear as if I am speaking for my own benefit. If a minister preaches
on money he is likely to be accused of covetousness. Still people
must be told these things that they may know their duty over against
their pastors. Our Savior says: “Eating and drinking such things as
they give; for the laborer is worthy of his hire.” (Luke 10:7.) And
 Chapter 6 cciii

Paul says elsewhere: “Do ye not know that they which minister
about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which
wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord
ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.”
(1 Corinthians 9:13, 14.)
Verse 8. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap cor-
ruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap
everlasting life.
This simile of sowing and reaping also refers to the proper sup-
port of ministers. “He that soweth to the Spirit,” i.e., he that honors
the ministers of God is doing a spiritual thing and will reap everlast-
ing life. “He that soweth to the flesh,” i.e., he that has nothing left
for the ministers of God, but only thinks of himself, that person will
reap of the flesh corruption, not only in this life but also in the life
to come. The Apostle wants to stir up his readers to be generous to
their pastors.
That the ministers of the Church need support any man with
common sense can see. Though this support is something physical
the Apostle does not hesitate to call it sowing to the Spirit. When
people scrape up everything they can lay their hands on and keep
everything for themselves the Apostle calls it a sowing to the flesh.
He pronounces those who sow to the Spirit blessed for this life and
the life to come, while those who sow to the flesh are accursed now
and forever.
Verse 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we
shall reap, if we faint not.
The Apostle intends soon to close his Epistle and therefore re-
peats once more the general exhortation unto good deeds. He means
to say “Let us do good not only to the ministers of the Gospel, but
to everybody, and let us do it without weariness.” It is easy enough
to do good once or twice, but to keep on doing good without getting
disgusted with the ingratitude of those whom we have benefited, that
is not so easy. Therefore the Apostle does not only admonish us to
do good, but to do good untiringly. For our encouragement he adds
the promise: “For in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” “Wait
for the harvest and then you will reap the reward of your sowing to
the Spirit. Think of that when you do good and the ingratitude of
men will not stop you from doing good.”
 cciv Luther on Galatians

Verse 10. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all

men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
In this verse the Apostle summarizes his instructions on the
proper support of the ministers and of the poor. He paraphrases the
words of Christ: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while
it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” (John 9:4.)
Our good deeds are to be directed primarily at those who share the
Christian faith with us, “the household of faith,” as Paul calls them,
among whom the ministers rank first as objects of our well doing.
[109] Verse 11. Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine
own hand.
With these words the Apostle intends to draw the Galatians on.
“I never,” he says, “wrote such a long letter with my own hand to
any of the other churches.” His other epistles he dictated, and only
subscribed his greetings and his signature with his own hand.
Verse 12. As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they con-
strain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution
for the cross of Christ.
Paul once more scores the false apostles in an effort to draw
the Galatians away from their false doctrine. “The teachers you
have now do not seek the glory of Christ and the salvation of your
souls, but only their own glory. They avoid the Cross. They do not
understand what they teach.”
These three counts against the false apostles are of so serious a
nature that no Christian could have fellowship with them. But not
all the Galatians obeyed the warning of Paul.
The Apostle’s attack upon the false apostles was not unjustified.
Neither are our attacks upon the papacy. When we call the Pope the
Antichrist and his minions an evil brood, we do not slander them.
We merely judge them by the touchstone of God’s Word recorded
in the first chapter of this Epistle: “Though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
Verse 13. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the
law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your
flesh.
In other words: “I shall tell you what kind of teachers you have
now. They avoid the Cross, they teach no certain truths. They think
 Chapter 6 ccv

they are performing the Law, but they are not. They have not the
Holy Spirit and without Him nobody can keep the Law.” Where the
Holy Ghost does not dwell in men there dwells an unclean spirit, a
spirit that despises God and turns every effort at keeping the Law
into a double sin.
Mark what the Apostle is saying: Those who are circumcised
do not fulfill the Law. No self-righteous person ever does. To work,
pray, or suffer apart from Christ is to work, pray, and to suffer in
vain, “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” It does a person no good
to be circumcised, to fast, to pray, or to do anything, if in his heart
he despises Christ.
“Why do the false apostles insist that you should be circumcised?
Not for the sake of your righteousness,” although they give that
impression, but “that they may glory in your flesh.” Now what sort
of an ambition is that? Worst of all, they force circumcision upon
you for no other reason than the satisfaction they get out of your
submission.
Verse 14. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
“God forbid,” says the Apostle, “that I should glory in anything
as dangerous as the false apostles glory in because what they glory
in is a poison that destroys many souls, and I wish it were buried in
hell. Let them glory in the flesh if they wish and let them perish in
their glory. As for me I glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
He expresses the same sentiment in the fifth chapter of the Epistle
to the Romans, where he says: “We glory in tribulations”; and in
the twelfth chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians: “Most
gladly, therefore, will l rather glory in my infirmities.” According
to these expressions the glory of a Christian consists in tribulations,
reproaches, and infirmities.
And this is our glory today with the Pope and the whole world
persecuting us and trying to kill us. We know that we suffer these
things not because we are thieves and murderers, but for Christ’s sake
whose Gospel we proclaim. We have no reason to complain. The
world, of course, looks upon us as unhappy and accursed creatures,
but Christ for whose sake we suffer pronounces us blessed and bids
us to rejoice. “Blessed are ye,” says He, “when men shall revile
you, and persecute you. and shall say all manner of evil against you
 ccvi Luther on Galatians

falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad.” (Matthew

5:11, 12.)
[110] By the Cross of Christ is not to be understood here the two
pieces of wood to which He was nailed, but all the afflictions of the
believers whose sufferings are Christ’s sufferings. Elsewhere Paul
writes: “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s
sake, which is the church.” (Colossians 1:24.)
It is good for us to know this lest we sink into despair when our
opponents persecute us. Let us bear the cross for Christ’s sake. It
will ease our sufferings and make them light as Christ says, Matthew
11:30, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Verse 14. By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world.
“The world is crucified unto me,” means that I condemn the
world. “I am crucified unto the world,” means that the world in
turn condemns me. I detest the doctrine, the self-righteousness, and
the works of the world. The world in turn detests my doctrine and
condemns me as a revolutionary heretic. Thus the world is crucified
unto us and we unto the world.
The monks imagined the world was crucified unto them when
they entered the monastery. Not the world, but Christ, is crucified in
the monasteries.
In this verse Paul expresses his hatred of the world. The hatred
was mutual. As Paul, so we are to despise the world and the devil.
With Christ on our side we can defy him and say: “Satan, the more
you hurt me, the more I oppose you.”
Verse 15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Since circumcision and uncircumcision are contrary matters we
would expect the Apostle to say that one or the other might accom-
plish some good. But he denies that either of them do any good.
Both are of no value because in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision avail anything.
Reason fails to understand this, “for the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:14.) It therefore
seeks righteousness in externals. However, we learn from the Word
 Chapter 6 ccvii

of God that there is nothing under the sun that can make us righteous
before God and a new creature except Christ Jesus.
A new creature is one in whom the image of God has been re-
newed. Such a creature cannot be brought into life by good works,
but by Christ alone. Good works may improve the outward appear-
ance, but they cannot produce a new creature. A new creature is the
work of the Holy Ghost, who imbues our hearts with faith, love, and
other Christian virtues, grants us the strength to subdue the flesh and
to reject the righteousness of the world.
Verse 16. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on
them, and mercy.
This is the rule by which we ought to live, “that ye put on the new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
(Ephesians 4:24.) Those who walk after this rule enjoy the favor of
God, the forgiveness of their sins, and peace of conscience. Should
they ever be overtaken by any sin, the mercy of God supports them.
Verse 17. From henceforth let no man trouble me.
The Apostle speaks these words with a certain amount of indig-
nation. “I have preached the Gospel to you in conformity with the
revelation which I received from Jesus Christ. If you do not care for
it, very well. Trouble me no more. Trouble me no more.”
Verse 17. For I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
“The marks on my body indicate whose servant I am. If I was
anxious to please men, if I approved of circumcision and good works
as factors in our salvation, if I would take delight in your flesh as
the false apostles do, I would not have these marks on my body. But
because I am the servant of Jesus Christ and publicly declare that no
person can obtain the salvation of his soul outside of Christ, I must [111]
bear the badge of my Lord. These marks were given to me against
my will as decorations from the devil and for no other merit but that
I made known Jesus.”
Of the marks of suffering which he bore in his body the Apostle
makes frequent mention in his epistles. “I think,” he says, “that
God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death:
for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to
men.” (1 Corinthians 4:9.) Again, “Unto this present hour we both
hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no
certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our hands: being
ccviii Luther on Galatians

reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we

intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring
of all things unto this day.” (1 Corinthians 4:11-13.)
Verse 18. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your
spirit. Amen.
This is the Apostle’s farewell. He ends his Epistle as he began it
by wishing the Galatians the grace of God. We can hear him say:
“I have presented Christ to you, I have pleaded with you, I have
reproved you, I have overlooked nothing that I thought might be
of benefit to you. All I can do now is to pray that our Lord Jesus
Christ would bless my Epistle and grant you the guidance of the
Holy Ghost.”
The Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, who gave me the strength and
the grace to explain this Epistle and granted you the grace to hear it,
preserve and strengthen us in faith unto the day of our redemption.
To Him, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, be glory, world
without end. Amen.