e 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.

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 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 exercises, 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 Father. 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.

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 I 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, "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
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 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 conviction, we are
enlightened and may pass judgment upon the papists, monks, nuns,
priests, Mohammedans, Anabaptists, and all who trust 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 conception
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, 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 Med