Chapter 2:
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 2 Corinthians Ephesians
Galatians 2
Verse 1. Then fourteen years after - My first journey thither. I went up
again to Jerusalem - This seems to be the journey mentioned Acts
xv, 2; several passages here referring to that great council,
wherein all the apostles showed that they were of the same
judgment with him.
Verse 2. I went up - Not by any command from them, but by an express
Revelation from God. And laid before them - The chief of the
church in Jerusalem. The gospel which I preach among the
gentiles - Acts xv, 4, touching justification by faith alone; not that
they might confirm me therein, but that I might remove prejudice
from them. Yet not publicly at first, but severally to those of
eminence - Speaking to them one by one. Lest I should run, or
should have run, in vain - Lest I should lose the fruit either of my
present or past labours. For they might have greatly hindered this,
had they not been fully satisfied both of his mission and doctrine.
The word run beautifully expresses the swift progress of the
gospel.
Verse 3. But neither was Titus who was with me - When I conversed
with them. Compelled to be circumcised - A clear proof that none
of the apostles insisted on the circumcising gentile believers. The
sense is, And it is true, some of those false brethren would fain
have compelled Titus to be circumcised; but I utterly refused it.
Verse 4. Because of false brethren - Who seem to have urged it.
Introduced unawares - Into some of those private conferences at
Jerusalem. Who had slipped in to spy out our liberty - From the
ceremonial law. That they might, if possible, bring us into that
bondage again.
Verse 5. To whom we did not yield by submission - Although in love he
would have yielded to any. With such wonderful prudence did the
apostle use his Christian liberty! circumcising Timothy, Acts xvi,
3, because of weak brethren, but not Titus, because of false
brethren. That the truth of the gospel - That is, the true genuine
gospel. Might continue with you - With you gentiles. So we
defend, for your sakes, the privilege which you would give up.
Verse 6. And they who undoubtedly were something - Above all others.
What they were - How eminent soever. It is no difference to me -
So that I should alter either my doctrine or my practice. God
accepteth no man's person - For any eminence in gifts or outward
prerogatives. In that conference added nothing to me - Neither as
to doctrine nor mission.
Verse 7. But when they saw - By the effects which I laid before them,
ver. 8; Acts xv, 12. That I was intrusted with the gospel of the
uncircumcision - That is, with the charge of preaching it to the
uncircumcised heathens.
Verse 8. For he that wrought effectually in Peter for the apostleship of
the circumcision - To qualify him for, and support him in, the
discharge of that office to the Jews. Wrought likewise effectually
in and by me - For and in the discharge of my office toward the
gentiles.
Verse 9. And when James - Probably named first because he was bishop
of the church in Jerusalem. And Cephas - Speaking of him at
Jerusalem he calls him by his Hebrew name. And John - Hence it
appears that he also was at the council, though he is not
particularly named in the Acts. Who undoubtedly were pillars -
The principal supporters and defenders of the gospel. Knew -
After they had heard the account I gave them. The grace - Of
apostleship. Which was given me, they - In the name of all. Gave
to me and Barnabas - My fellow-labourer. The right hands of
fellowship - They gave us their hands in token of receiving us as
their fellow- labourers, mutually agreeing that we - I and those in
union with me. Should go to the gentiles - Chiefly. And they -
With those that were in union with them, chiefly to the
circumcision - The Jews.
Verse 10. Of the poor - The poor Christians in Judea, who had lost all
they had for Christ's sake.
Verse 11. But - The argument here comes to the height. Paul reproves
Peter himself. So far was he from receiving his doctrine from
man, or from being inferior to the chief of the apostles. When
Peter - Afterwards, Came to Antioch - Then the chief of all the
Gentile churches. I withstood him to the face, because he was to
be blamed - For fear of man, ver. 12; for dissimulation, ver. 13;
and for not walking uprightly. ver. 14.
Verse 13. And the other believing Jews - Who were at Antioch.
Dissembled with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away
with their dissimulation - Was born away, as with a torrent, into
the same ill practice.
Verse 14. I said to Cephas before them all - See Paul single against Peter
and all the Jews! If thou being a Jew, yet livest, in thy ordinary
conversation, after the manner of the gentiles - Not observing the
ceremonial law, which thou knowest to be now abolished. Why
compellest thou the gentiles - By withdrawing thyself and all the
ministers from them; either to judaize, to keep the ceremonial law,
or to be excluded from church communion?
Verse 15. We - St. Paul, to spare St. Peter, drops the first person
singular, and speaks in the plural number. ver. 18, he speaks in the
first person singular again by a figure; and without a figure, ver.
19, &c. Who are Jews by nature - By birth, not proselytes only.
And not sinners of the gentiles - That is, not sinful Gentiles; not
such gross, enormous, abandoned sinners, as the heathens
generally were.
Verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law -
Not even of the moral, much less the ceremonial, law. But by the
faith of Jesus Christ - That is, by faith in him. The name Jesus was
first known by the gentiles; the name Christ by the Jews. And they
are not always placed promiscuously; but generally in a more
solemn way of speaking, the Apostle says, Christ Jesus; in a more
familiar, Jesus Christ. Even we - And how much more must the
Gentiles, who have still less pretense to depend on their own
works! Have believed - Knowing there is no other way. Because -
Considering the demands of the law, and the fate of human nature,
it is evident, that by the works of the law - By such an obedience
as it requires. Shall no flesh living - No human creature, Jew or
Gentile, be justified. Hitherto St. Paul had been considering that
single question, "Are Christians obliged to observe the ceremonial
law? But he here insensibly goes farther, and, by citing this
scripture, shows that what he spoke directly of the ceremonial,
included also the moral, law. For David undoubtedly did so, when
he said, Psalm cxliii, 2, the place here referred to, "In thy sight
shall no man living be justified;" which the Apostle likewise
explains, Rom. iii, 19, 20, in such a manner as can agree to none
but the moral law.
Verse 17. But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are
still found sinners - If we continue in sin, will it therefore follow,
that Christ is the minister or countenancer of sin?
Verse 18. By no means. For if I build again - By my sinful practice. The
things which I destroyed - By my preaching, I only make myself -
Or show myself, not Christ, to be a transgressor; the whole blame
lies on me, not him or his gospel. As if he had said, The objection
were just, if the gospel promised justification to men continuing in
sin. But it does not. Therefore if any who profess the gospel do
not live according to it, they are sinners, it is certain, but not
justified, and so the gospel is clear.
Verse 19. For I through the law - Applied by the Spirit to my heart, and
deeply convincing me of my utter sinfulness and helplessness.
Am dead to the law - To all hope of justification from it. That I
may live to God - Not continue in sin. For this very end am I, in
this sense, freed from the law, that I may be freed from sin.
Verse 20. The Apostle goes on to describe how he is freed from sin; how
far he is from continuing therein. I am crucified with Christ -
Made conformable to his death; "the body of sin is destroyed."
Rom. vi, 6. And I - As to my corrupt nature. Live no longer -
Being dead to sin. But Christ liveth in me - Is a fountain of life in
my inmost soul, from which all my tempers, words, and actions
flow. And the life that I now live in the flesh - Even in this mortal
body, I live by faith in the Son of God - I derive every moment
from that supernatural principle; from a divine evidence and
conviction, that "he loved me, and delivered up himself for me."
Verse 21. Meantime I do not make void - In seeking to be justified by
my own works. The grace of God - The free love of God in Christ
Jesus. But they do, who seek justification by the law. For if
righteousness is by the law - If men might be justified by their
obedience to the law, moral or ceremonial. Then Christ died in
vain - Without any necessity for it, since men might have been
saved without his death; might by their own obedience have been
both discharged from condemnation, and entitled to eternal life.
Chapter 2:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Luther
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 2 Corinthians Ephesians
This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
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Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
