+I. Man, under the influence of corruption, is called flesh.+--He may
be said to be a spiritual being because he is possessed of an
immortal spirit; but the term flesh seems to be awfully appropriate,
because he is wholly and exclusively under the dominion of matter. In
the text it implies the evil principle that inhabits the bosom of
man. It is the mighty autocrat of humanity in the wreck of the Fall.
Sin is such a mighty monster that none can bind him in fetters of
iron and imprison him but God Himself. In the operation of weaving,
different materials cross each other in the warp and woof in order to
make one whole, and this is the case with the family of heaven here
below. Sin and grace are perpetually crossing each other.
+II. The spiritual offspring which is born of God is called the new
man.+--It is the junior offspring, the junior disposition, the
offspring of the second Adam. Corruption has its root only in
humanity. Not so with grace. This springs alone from God. The new man
lives in Him; his head is above the skies, his feet lower than hell;
and the reason why he is destined to be conqueror is that he fights
in and under the inspiration of Heaven.
+III. These two principles are in a state of ceaseless warfare, ever
opposed to each other.+--They are like two armies, sometimes
encamped, at others engaged in terrible conflict; but, whether
apparently engaged or not, each seeks the destruction of the other
perpetually. They are and must be ever opposed, till one fall; one
must perish and the other live eternally. Where there is no conflict
there can be no grace.
+IV. Consider the wisdom and valour evinced by this new
principle.+--It is illumined by the Spirit and by the truth of God.
The sun does not give me an eye. God alone can confer this organ; yet
it is equally true my eye must attain its full vigour in the light of
the sun: so the external means are necessary to teach us what God is,
and to develop all the principles of the new man, to clothe it with
the panoply of Deity, and to lead it on from battle to battle, and
from victory to victory, till the last battle is eventually fought,
the last victory won, and the fruits of triumph enjoyed for
ever.--_William Howels._
Ver. 18. _The Leading of the Spirit._--1. The new man performs the
office of guide to the godly in all actions truly spiritual. (1) As
it is ruled by the Word, which is the external light and lantern to
direct our steps. (2) The work of grace itself is the internal light
whereby the regenerate man spiritually understands the things of God.
(3) The same work of grace being actuated by the continual supply of
exciting grace from the Spirit is a strengthening guide to all
spiritual actions. 2. The natural man is so much a slave to his
sinful lusts that the things appointed by God to curb and make them
weaker are so far from bringing this about that his lusts are thereby
enraged and made more violent. The rigidity of the law, which tends
to restrain sin, is turned by the unregenerate man into an occasion
for fulfilling his lusts.--_Fergusson._
_The Guidance of the Spirit._
+I. Preservation,+ whereby the Holy Ghost maintains the gift of
regeneration in them that are regenerate.
+II. Co-operation,+ whereby the will of God, as the first cause,
works together with the regenerate will of man, as the second cause.
Without this co-operation, man's will brings forth no good action; no
more than the tree which is apt to bring forth fruit yields fruit
indeed till it have the co-operation of the sun, and that in the
proper season of the year.
+III. Direction,+ whereby the Spirit of God ordereth and establisheth
the mind, will, and affections in good duties.
+IV. Excitation,+ whereby the Spirit stirs and still moves the will
and mind after they are regenerate, because the grace of God is
hindered and oppressed by the flesh.
+V. Privilege of believers not to be subject to the ceremonial
law.+--"Ye are not under the law." Not under the law respecting its
curse and condemnation, though we are all under law, as it is the
rule of good life.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-21.
_The Works of the Flesh_--
+I. Are offensively obtrusive.+--"Now the works of the flesh are
manifest" (ver. 19). Sin, though at first committed in secret, will
by-and-by work to the surface and advertise itself with shameless
publicity. The rulers of the civilised world in the first century of
the Christian era, such as Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Domitian, are
the execration of history as monsters of vice and cruelty. Their
enormities would have been impossible if the people they governed had
not been equally corrupt. It is the nature of evil to develop a
terrible energy the more it is indulged, and its works are apparent
in every possible form of wickedness. "Every man blameth the devil
for his sins; but the great devil, the house-devil of every man that
eateth and lieth in every man's bosom, is that idol which killeth
all--himself."
+II. Furnish a revolting catalogue.+--The sins enumerated may be
grouped into four classes:--
1. _Sensual passions._--"Adultery [omitted in the oldest MSS.],
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness" (ver. 19). _Fornication_
was practically universal. Few were found, even among severe
moralists, to condemn it. It is a prostitution of the physical nature
which Jesus Christ wore and still wears, which He claims for the
temple of His Spirit, and will raise from the dead to share His
immortality. _Uncleanness_ is the general quality of licentiousness,
and includes whatever is contaminating in word or look, in gesture or
in dress, in thought or sentiment. _Lasciviousness_ is uncleanness
open and shameless. It is the final loathsome analysis of the works
of the flesh.
2. _Unlawful dealing in things spiritual._--"Idolatry, witchcraft
[sorcery]," (ver. 20). _Idolatry_ and sensuality have always been
closely related. Some of the most popular pagan systems were
purveyors of lust and lent to it the sanctions of religion. When man
loses the true conception of God he becomes degraded. _Sorcery_ is
closely allied to idolatry. A low, naturalistic notion of the Divine
lends itself to immoral purposes. Men try to operate upon it by
material causes, and to make it a partner in evil. Magical charms are
made the instruments of unholy indulgence.
3. _Violations of brotherly love._--"Hatred [enmities], variance
[strife], emulations [jealousies], wrath [ragings], strife
[factions], seditions [divisions], heresies [keen controversial
partisanship], envyings, murders" (vers. 20, 21). A horrible progeny
of evils having their source in a fruitful hotbed of unreasoning
hatred, each vice preying upon and feeding the other. Settled rancour
is the worst form of contentiousness. It nurses its revenge, waiting,
like Shylock, for the time when it shall "feed fat its ancient
grudge."
4. _Intemperate excesses._--"Drunkenness, revellings, and such like"
(ver. 21). These are the vices of a barbarous people. Our Teutonic
and Celtic forefathers were alike prone to this kind of excess. The
Greeks were a comparatively sober people. The Romans were more
notorious for gluttony than for hard drinking. The practice of
seeking pleasure in intoxication is a remnant of savagery which
exists to a shameful extent in our own country. With Europe turned
into one vast camp, and its nations groaning audibly under the weight
of their armaments, with hordes of degrading women infesting the
streets of its cities, with discontent and social hatred smouldering
throughout its industrial populations, we have small reason to boast
of the triumphs of modern civilisation. Better circumstances do not
make better men (_Findlay_).
+III. Exclude the sinner from the kingdom of God.+--"They which do
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (ver. 21). How poor
life seems outside that kingdom! How beautiful and glorious inside
its gates! If I tried to tell you how Christ brings us there, I
should repeat to you once more the old familiar story. He comes and
lives and dies and rises again for us. He touches us with gratitude.
He sets before our softened lives His life. He makes us see the
beauty of holiness and the strength of the spiritual life in Him. He
transfers His life to us through the open channel of faith, and so we
come to live as He lives, by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God. How old the story is, but how endlessly fresh and true
to him whose own career it describes (_Phillips Brooks_). Exclusion
from the kingdom of God is man's own act; it is self-exclusion. He
_will not_ enter in; he loves darkness rather than light.
+Lessons.+--1. _Sin is an active principle whose works are
perniciously evident._ 2. _Sin is the primal cause of every possible
vice._ 3. _Sin persisted in involves moral ruin._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 19-21. _Biblical Account of Sin._--A mournful catalogue of
words, based on a great variety of images, is employed in Scripture
to describe the state of sinfulness which man inherits from his
birth. Sometimes it is set forth as the _missing of a mark or aim_;
sometimes as the _transgressing of a line_--the word occurs seven
times in the New Testament and is twice applied to Adam's Fall (Rom.
v. 14; 1 Tim. ii. 14); sometimes as _disobedience to a voice, i.e._
to hear carelessly, to take no need of--the word occurs three times
(Rom. v. 19; 2 Cor. x. 6; Heb. ii. 2); sometimes as _ignorance of
what we ought to have done_ (Heb. ix. 7); sometimes as _a defect or
discomfiture_--to be worsted, because, as Gerhard says, "A sinner
yields to, is worsted by, the temptations of the flesh and of Satan";
sometimes as _a debt_ (Matt. vi. 12); sometimes as _disobedience to
law_--the word occurs fourteen times in the New Testament and is
generally translated by "iniquity." The last figure employed in the
most general definition of sin given in the New Testament--_sin is
the transgression of the law_ (1 John iii. 4).--_Trench and Maclear._
_The Works of the Flesh._
+I. Sins against chastity.+--Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
wantonness. 1. We must stock up the root of these things, mortify the
passion of concupiscence. 2. All occasions of these sins must be cut
off, two especially, idleness and the pampering of the body. 3. All
signs of these vices must be avoided, any speech or action that may
give suspicion of incontinent disposition, as light talk, wanton
behaviour, curiousness and excess in trimming of the body, suspected
company.
+II. Sins against religion.+--Idolatry, witchcraft, heresies.
+III. Sins against charity.+--Enmity, debate, emulations, anger,
contention, seditions.
+IV. Sins against temperance.+--Drunkenness, gluttony. 1. We may use
meat and drink not only for necessity, but also for delight. 2. That
measure of meat and drink which in our experience makes us fit both
in body and mind for the service of God and the duties of our calling
is convenient and lawful. To be given to drinking and to love to sit
by the cup, when there is no drunkenness, is a sin. Drunkenness:
(1) Destroys the body. (2) Hurts the mind. (3) Vile imaginations and
affections that are in men when they are drunk remain in them when
they are sober, so being sober they are drunk in
affection.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 22-26.
_The Fruit of the Spirit_--
+I. Is evident in manifold Christian virtues.+--1. _Virtues
describing a general state of heart._ "The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace" (ver. 22). _Love_ is foremost of the group of
Christian graces, and gives a nameless charm to all the rest, for
there is an element of love in all true goodness. Love derives its
power from being in the first place, love to God. When the soul
centres its affection in God through Christ all its outgoings are
influenced and regulated accordingly. _Joy_ is the product of love. A
philosophy or religion which has no room for the joy and pleasure of
man is as little conversant with the wants of man as with the will of
God. "Joy in the Lord quickens and elevates, while it cleanses all
other emotions. It gives a new glow to life. It sheds a Diviner
meaning, a brighter aspect, over the common face of earth and sky.
Joy is the beaming countenance, the elastic step, the singing voice,
of Christian goodness." _Peace_ is the holy calm breathed into the
soul by a pardoning God. It is the gift of Christ, giving rest to the
soul in the midst of external agitations. "It is a settled quiet of
the heart, a deep, brooding mystery that 'passeth all understanding,'
the stillness of eternity entering the spirit, the Sabbath of God. It
is the calm, unruffled brow, the poised and even temper which
Christian goodness wears."
2. _Virtues exercised in the Christian's intercourse with his
neighbour._--"Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness." Charity suffereth
long. The heart at peace with God has patience with men.
_Longsuffering_ is the patient magnanimity of Christian goodness, the
broad shoulders on which it "beareth all things." _Gentleness_ (or
kindness, as the word is more frequently and better rendered)
resembles longsuffering in finding its chief objects in the evil and
unthankful. But while the latter is passive and self-contained,
kindness is an active, busy virtue. It is the thoughtful insight, the
delicate tact, the gentle ministering hand of charity. Linked with
kindness comes _goodness,_ which is its other self, differing from it
as only twin sisters may, each fairer for the beauty of the other.
Goodness is perhaps more affluent, more catholic in its bounty;
kindness more delicate and discriminating. Goodness is the honest,
generous face, the open hand of charity (_Findlay_).
3. _Virtues indicating the principles which regulate the Christian's
life._--"Faith [honesty, trustworthiness], meekness, temperance"
(vers. 22, 23). The _faith_ that unites man to God in turn joins man
to his fellows. Faith in the divine Fatherhood becomes trust in the
human brotherhood. He who doubts every one is even more deceived than
the man who blindly confides in every one. Trustfulness is the warm,
firm clasp of friendship, the generous and loyal homage which
goodness ever pays to goodness. _Meekness_ is the other side of
faith. It is not tameness and want of spirit; it comports with the
highest courage and activity and is a qualification for public
leadership. It is the content and quiet mien, the willing
self-effacement, that is the mark of Christ-like goodness.
_Temperance,_ or self-control, is the third of Plato's cardinal
virtues. Temperance is a practised mastery of self. It covers the
whole range of moral discipline and concerns every sense and passion
of our nature. It is the guarded step, the sober, measured walk in
which Christian goodness keeps the way of life, and makes straight
paths for stumbling and straying feet (_Ibid._).
+II. Violates no law.+--"Against such there is no law" (ver. 23;
comp. ver. 18). The fruit of the Spirit is love; and the law, so far
from being against love, commands it (ver. 14). The practice of love
and all its works is the fulfilling of the law and disarms it of all
terror. The expression, "Against such there is no law," so far from
being more than superfluous, as Hoffman asserts, is intended to make
evident how it is that, by virtue of this, their moral frame, those
who are led by the Spirit are not subject to the Mosaic law. For
whosoever is so constituted that a law is not against him, over such
a one the law has no power.
+III. Indicates the reality of a great spiritual change.+--1. _The
old self-hood is crucified._ "They that are Christ's have crucified
the flesh" (ver. 24). This well expresses how sin must, little by
little, be disabled and slain, for the crucified man did not die at
once. He was first made fast with nails to the cross, and then kept
there, till through hunger and thirst and loss of blood he became
weaker and weaker, and finally died. We are to be executioners,
dealing cruelly with the body of sin which caused the acting of all
cruelties on the body of Christ.
2. _A new law now regulates the life._--"If we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit" (ver. 25). The life is governed, not
by the law of the flesh, but of the Spirit. The electrician can
demagnetise and remagnetise a bar of iron, but the biologist cannot
devitalise a plant or an animal and revivify it again. Spiritual life
is not a visit from a force, but a resident tenant in the soul. The
Spirit who created the life within sustains it and directs all its
outgoings.
3. _Everything provocative of strife and envy is carefully
avoided._--"Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one
another, envying one another" (ver. 26). Vaingloriousness was a
weakness of the Galatic temperament; and is not unknown in modern
Christian life. Superiority, or fancied superiority, in talents or
status is apt to proudly display itself. It is indeed a pitiable
exhibition when even spiritual gifts are made matter of ostentation,
exciting the jealousy of inferior brethren, and creating discontent
and envy. The cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit is the best
remedy against all bitterness and strife.
+Lessons.+--1. _The fruit of the Spirit a suggestive contrast to the
works of the flesh._ 2. _Consistency of life is the test of genuine
religion._ 3. _The operations of the Spirit are in harmony with the
highest law._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._