ple 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-assurance 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 be 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." (Isa. 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 appreciate 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.

Because reason prefers the righteousness of the Law to the
righteousness 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 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 doers 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 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 be 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 unprofitable.
The second fault is that it obligates those who are circumcised 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 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 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 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 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 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