Of the Bodily and Spiritual Witchcraft

Paul calls the Galatians foolish and bewitched, comparing them to children, to whom witchcraft does much harm. As though he should say: It happens to you as it does to children, whom witches, sorcerers, and enchanters are wont to charm by their enchantments, and by the illusion of the devil. Afterward in the 5th chapter he rehearses sorcery among the works of the flesh, which is a kind of witchcraft, whereby he plainly testifies that such witchcraft and sorcery there is, and that it may be done. Moreover, it cannot be denied but that the devil lives, indeed and reigns throughout the whole world. Witchcraft and sorcery therefore are the works of the devil: whereby he does not only hurt men, but also, by the permission of God, he sometimes destroys them. Furthermore, we are all subject to the Devil both in body and goods: and we are strangers in this world, of which he is the Prince and God. Therefore the bread which we eat, the drink which we drink, the garments which we wear, indeed the air and whatever we live by in this flesh, is under his dominion.

But he does not only bewitch men after this gross manner, but also after a more subtle sort and much more dangerous: wherein he is a marvelous cunning workman. And from this it comes that Paul applies the charming and bewitching of the senses to the bewitching of the spirit. For by this spiritual witchcraft that old serpent bewitches not men's senses, but their minds with false and wicked opinions: which opinions they that are so bewitched do take to be true and right godly. Briefly so great is the malice of this sorcerer the devil, and desire to hurt, that not only he deceives those secure and proud spirits with his enchantments, but even those also which are professors of true Christianity, and well affected in religion: indeed, as touching myself, to say the truth, he sometimes assails me so mightily, and oppresses me with such heavy cogitations, that he utterly shadows my Savior Christ from me, and in a manner takes him clean out of my sight. To be brief, there is none of us all which is not oftentimes bewitched with false persuasions: that is to say, which does not fear, trust, or rejoice where he ought not, or does not sometimes think otherwise of God, of Christ, of faith, of his vocation, of the Christian state etc. than he should do.

Let us therefore learn to know the subtle sleights of this Sorcerer, lest if he find us sleeping in security, he deceive us by his enchantments. True it is, that by his sorcery he can do no hurt to our ministry: yet is he with us in spirit. Day and night he ranges up and down, and seeks how he may devour every one of us alone, and unless he find us sober and armed with spiritual weapons, that is to say, with the word of God and faith, he will devour us.

This is the cause that he oftentimes stirs up new battles against us. And indeed it is very profitable for us that he thus assails us, and by his subtle stratagems exercises us: For by this means he confirms our doctrine, he stirs up and increases faith in us. Indeed we have been many times cast down, and yet still are cast down in this conflict, but we perish not: for Christ has always triumphed and does triumph through us. Therefore we conceive assured hope, that by Jesus Christ we shall obtain the victory against the devil. And this hope brings forth in us sure consolation, so that in the midst of our temptations we take courage and say: Behold, Satan has previously tempted us, and by his false illusions has provoked us to unbelief, to the contempt of God, despair etc: yet has not he prevailed, neither shall he prevail hereafter. He is greater that is in us, than he that is in the world. Christ is stronger: who has, and does overcome that strong one in us, and shall overcome him forever. Notwithstanding, the devil sometimes overcomes us in the flesh, that we may have experience of the power of a stronger against that strong one, and may say with Paul: When I am weak, then am I strong.

Let no man think then that the Galatians only were bewitched of the Devil: but let every man think that he himself might have been, and yet may be bewitched by him. There is none of us so strong that he is able to resist him, and especially if he attempt to do it by his own strength. Job was an upright and a just man, fearing God, and there was none like him upon the earth. But what power had he against the devil when God withdrew his hand? Did not this holy man horribly fall? Therefore this enchanter was not only mighty in the Galatians: but he goes about busily always to deceive, if not all men, yet as many as he can with his illusions and false persuasions: For he is a liar, and the father of lies. And by this his subtle practice he has bewitched (as I have said) these frantic spirits, reigning in them and making them so obstinate and hard-hearted, that no anvil can be so hard.

Verse. 1. Who has bewitched you?

Here Paul excuses the Galatians, and lays the fault upon the false Apostles. As though he should say: I see that you are not fallen through willfulness or malice: but the Devil has sent the enchanting false Apostles his children among you, and they do so bewitch you in teaching you that you are justified by the law, that now you think otherwise of Christ than you did before when you heard the Gospel preached by me. But we labor both by preaching and writing to you, to uncharm that sorcery with which the false Apostles have bewitched you, and to set at liberty those which are snared with it.

So we also at this day do labor by the word of God against those fantastical opinions of the Anabaptists, that we may set at liberty those that are entangled therewith, and reduce them to the pure doctrine of faith, and there hold them. And this our labor is not altogether in vain. For we have called back many whom they had bewitched, and have delivered them out of their snares. Notwithstanding such there are as will not suffer themselves to be taught, especially the chief sorcerers and authors of this witchery. They will hear no reason, nor admit the Scripture: indeed they abuse and corrupt the Scripture, and avoid such places as are alleged against them, with their false glosses and devilish dreams clean contrary to the Scripture: which is a manifest sign that they are bewitched of the devil. Therefore they are nothing amended by our admonitions, but are much more hardened and more obstinate than they were before. And surely I could never have believed, but that I have good experience thereof at this day, that the power of the devil is so great, that he is able to make falsehood so like to the truth. Moreover (which is yet much more horrible) when he goes about to overwhelm sorrowful consciences with overmuch heaviness, he can so cunningly and so lively change himself into the likeness of Christ, that it is impossible for the poor tempted and afflicted soul to perceive it, whereby many simple and ignorant persons are deceived and driven down to desperation, and some also destroy themselves. For they are so bewitched of the devil that they believe this to be a most certain truth, that they are tempted and accused, not of the devil, but of Christ himself.

Such a like thing of late happened to that miserable man Doctor Kraus of Hal, which said: I have denied Christ, and therefore he stands now before his father and accuses me. He being blinded with the illusion of the devil, had so strongly conceived in his mind this imagination, that by no exhortation, no consolation, no promises of God he could be brought from it, whereupon he despaired and so miserably destroyed himself. This was a mere lie, a bewitching of the devil, and a fantastical definition of a wrong Christ whom the Scripture knows not. For the Scripture sets forth Christ not as a judge, a tempter or accuser: but a reconciler, a mediator, a comforter and a throne of grace.

But the poor man deluded by the devil, could not then see this, and therefore against all Scripture he thinks this to be an undoubted truth: Christ accuses you before his father: he stands not for you, but against you: therefore you are damned. And this temptation is not of man, but of the devil, which that enchanter most strongly imprints in the heart of the tempted. But to us which are led and taught by another spirit, it is a manifest and a cursed lie, and a plain bewitching of the devil. But to those that are thus bewitched, it is so certain a truth, that none can be more certain.

Seeing then that the devil is able to print in our hearts so manifest a lie, that we would swear a thousand times it were an undoubted truth, we must not be proud, but walk in fear and humility, calling upon the Lord Jesus, that we be not led into temptation. Worldly and secure men, which after they have once or twice heard the Gospel preached straightaway imagine that they have received abundance of God's Spirit, do fall at length in like manner, because they fear not God nor render thanks to him: but persuade themselves that they are able, not only to hold and to maintain the doctrine of true religion, but also to stand against the devil in any assault or conflict, however grievous it may be. Such are fit instruments for the Devil to bewitch, and to throw down to desperation.

On the other side, say not you: I am perfect, I cannot fall: but humble yourself, and fear, lest if you stand today, tomorrow you be overthrown. I myself, although I be a Doctor of divinity, and have now preached Christ and fought against the Devil in his false teachers a great while, do find by experience notwithstanding what a struggle I have to hold fast and not to lose Christ. For I cannot shake off Satan as I desire: neither can I so apprehend Christ as the Scriptures set him forth: but oftentimes the Devil sets before my eyes a false Christ. But thanks be to God who keeps us in the word, in faith, and in prayer, that we may walk before him in humility and fear, and not presume of our own wisdom, righteousness, and strength, but trust in the power of Christ, who is strong when we are weak, and by us weak and feeble creatures he always overcomes and triumphs. To whom be glory forever.

This bewitching and sorcery then is nothing else but a plain illusion of the Devil, printing in the heart a false opinion of Christ and against Christ, and he that is deluded with this opinion is bewitched. They therefore that have this opinion, that they are justified by the works of the law or traditions of men, are bewitched: for this opinion is against faith and against Christ. Paul uses this word bewitching, in contempt of the false Apostles, which so vehemently urged the doctrine of the law and works. As if he should say: what a devilish bewitching is this? For as the senses are perverted by bodily witchcraft, so are the minds of men also deluded by this spiritual witchcraft.

Verse. 1. That you should not obey the truth?

The Galatians at the first did gladly hear and obey the truth. Therefore where he says: Who has bewitched you? he shows that they were bewitched by these false apostles, and were fallen away from that truth which they before did obey. But this seems yet a more bitter and vehement kind of speech, when he says that they do not believe the truth. For he signifies by these words that they are bewitched, and that he would deliver them from this witchery, and yet they will not acknowledge nor receive this benefit. For it is certain that he did not reduce all from the error of the false Apostles to the truth, but that many of them remained yet still bewitched. Therefore he uses these sharp and vehement words: Who has bewitched you? As if he would say: You are so deluded and bewitched, that now you cannot obey the truth. I fear lest many of you are utterly lost, and so fallen away, that you will never return again to the truth.

Here have you yet another goodly commendation of the law and man's own righteousness, that it so bewitches men, that they cannot obey the truth. Hereof the Apostles and the fathers of the primitive Church did oftentimes make mention. There is a sin to death, for which I say you should not pray (1 John 5). And again: It is impossible that they which were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted of the good word of God, and of the powers of the world to come, if they fall away, should be renewed again by repentance, etc. (Hebrews 6). These words sound at the first as if some Novatian had spoken them. But the Apostles were constrained to speak after this manner because of the Heretics: And yet notwithstanding they did not hereby deny, but that they which were fallen might return again to the fellowship of the faithful. After the same manner must we also speak at this day, because of the authors and masters of errors and sects, that such shall never return to the truth. Notwithstanding some there are which do return: but such as are not greatly bewitched or strongly deluded. But the captains and the authors of this sorcery do never return. For to them we may well attribute this title which Paul here gives to them, that they cannot hear nor abide the truth, but study rather how they may resist it.

Verse 1. To whom Jesus Christ before was described in your sight.

It was bitterly spoken where he said before, that they were so bewitched that they could not obey the truth: But it is more bitterly said when he adds that Christ was so lively described before them, that they might handle him with their hands, and yet they would not obey the truth. Thus he convinces them even by their own experience. As though he would say: You are so bewitched and deluded with the devilish opinions of the false apostles, that now you will not obey the truth. And whereas I have with great travail and diligence set forth Christ plainly before your eyes, yet does this profit you nothing at all.

In these words he has respect to the former arguments, whereby he proved, that to those that will be justified by the law, Christ is but the minister of sin: that such do reject the grace of God: and that to them Christ died in vain. Which arguments he had before more vehemently prosecuted, and more largely amplified in their presence: as if a painter had portrayed Christ Jesus before their eyes. Now being absent he puts them in mind of the same things, saying: To whom Jesus Christ was described in your sight. As if he said: There is no painter that with his colors can so lively set out Christ to you, as I have painted him out by my preaching: and yet notwithstanding you still remain most miserably bewitched.

Verse 1. And was among you crucified.

What did I then paint out? Even Christ himself. How was that done? In this sort, that he is crucified in you or among you. He uses here very rough and sharp words. Before he said that they sought righteousness by the law, rejected the grace of God, and that to them Christ died in vain. Now he adds moreover that they crucify Christ, who before lived and reigned in them. As if he should say: You have now not only rejected the grace of God, not only to you Christ died in vain, but also he is most shamefully crucified among you. After the same manner he speaks. (Hebrews 6.) Crucifying to themselves again the Son of God, and making a mock of him, etc.

If a man does but hear the name of a Monk, of his shaven crown, of his cowl, of his rule, it should make him to tremble (however much the Papists do adore these abominations, and boast that they are perfect religion and holiness, as I and others did judge of them before God revealed his Gospel to us: for we were brought up in the traditions of men, which darkened Christ and made him utterly unprofitable to us) when he hears Paul say, as here he does, that even they which seek to be justified by the law of God, be not only deniers and murderers of Christ, but also they do most wickedly crucify him again. Now, if they be crucifiers of Christ which seek to be justified by the righteousness of the law of God and the works thereof, what are they (I pray you) which seek salvation and eternal life by the dregs and filthy dung of man's righteousness, and by the doctrine of Devils?

But who could ever believe or think that it was so horrible and so abominable a sin to be made a religious man (for so they call them) namely to be made a Massing priest, a Monk, a Friar, a Nun? Doubtless no man. Indeed they themselves say moreover that Monkhood is a new baptism. Can there be anything more horrible than that the kingdom of the Papists is the kingdom of such as spitefully spit in the face of Christ the Son of God, and crucify him again? For indeed they crucify him afresh (who was once crucified and rose again) both in themselves, in the church, and in the hearts of the faithful: for with their spiteful reproaches, rebukes, slanders and injuries they spit upon him, and with their wicked opinions they wound him and thrust him through, that in them he may die most miserably: and in the stead of him they set up a glorious witchcraft, whereby men are so miserably charmed and deluded, that they cannot know Christ to be their justifier, their reconciler and Savior, but a minister of sin, their accuser, their judge and their destroyer, which must be pacified no otherwise than by our works and merits.

And out of this opinion did afterwards spring the most pestilent and pernicious doctrine that is in the whole Papacy, which is this: If you will serve God, you must merit forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, and must also help others to attain salvation: You must enter into a monastery, vow obedience, chastity, poverty, etc. Monks and friars, and the rest of that religious rabble being puffed up with this opinion of their own holiness, dreamed that they only were in the life and state of perfection, and that other Christians led but a common life, for they did no undue works, or more than they were bound to do, that is, they did not vow and keep chastity, poverty, obedience, etc. They were but only baptized and kept the ten commandments: But as for themselves, besides that which was common as well to them as to other Christians, they kept also the works of supererogation, and the counsels of Christ: therefore they hoped to have merit and a place in heaven among the principal saints, far above the common sort of Christians.

This was undoubtedly a horrible illusion of the devil, by which he has bewitched almost the whole world. And every man, the more holy he would seem to be, the more he is snared with this witchery, that is to say, with that pestilent persuasion of his own righteousness. And this was the cause that we could not know that Jesus Christ was our Mediator and Savior: but we did think that he was a severe judge, which should be pacified by our own works: which was nothing else but most horribly to blaspheme Christ, and as Paul said before, to reject the grace of God, to make the death of Christ of no effect, and not only to kill him, but also most shamefully to crucify him again. And this is the right meaning of that which Christ alleges out of Daniel: that abomination stands in the holy place. Therefore every monk and religious person, and every justiciary seeking remission of sins and righteousness by his own works or by his afflictions, is a crucifier of Christ now reigning and living, although not in the proper person of Christ, yet in his own heart and in the hearts of others. And whoever does enter into monasteries to the end, that by the keeping of their rule and order they may be justified, do enter into the dens of thieves and such as crucify Christ again.

Therefore Paul uses in this place very rigorous and bitter words, to the end that he may frighten and call back the Galatians from the doctrine of the false Apostles. As if he should say: Consider well what you have done. You have crucified Christ again (and this I do so plainly show and paint out before your eyes, that you may see it, yes and touch it with your hands) because you seek to be justified by the law. But if righteousness comes by the law, then is Christ a minister of sin, and his death altogether in vain. If this be true, then must it needs follow that Christ is crucified again in you.

And it is not without cause that he adds this clause, in you, or among you. For Christ is no more crucified, or dies any more in his own person (as is said in the sixth chapter of Romans): but he dies in us when we, rejecting true doctrine, grace, faith, free remission of sins, seek to be justified by our own works, or else by the works commanded in the law. Here Christ is crucified in us again. Now, this false and wicked persuasion, to seek righteousness by the law and works, is nothing else (as I have before more amply declared) but the illusion of the Devil, with which men are so bewitched, that in no wise they can acknowledge the benefit of Christ: yes in all their life they can do nothing else but, not only deny the Lord who has bought them and in whose name they are baptized, but also crucify him again in themselves. Whoever then has a fear of God and a true heart to Christ and his religion, let him flee quickly out of this Babylon, and let him tremble at the very name of the Papacy. For the impiety and abomination thereof is so horrible, that no man is able to express it with words, neither can it be otherwise seen than with spiritual eyes only.

These two arguments Paul prosecutes, and drives into the heads of the Galatians very diligently: First, that they are so bewitched of the devil, that they obey not the truth most clearly set forth before their eyes: Secondly, that they crucify Christ again in themselves. These seem to be simple and plain words, and without any high eloquence, but in very deed they are so mighty, that they exceed all the eloquence of man. It can not therefore be comprehended, but only in spirit, how great an impiety it is to seek to be justified by the righteousness of the law or by man's own righteousness. For, as Paul says here, it is nothing else but to be bewitched of the devil, to be disobedient to the truth, and to crucify Christ again. Are not these goodly commendations of the righteousness of the law and man's own righteousness?

The Apostle therefore is here kindled with great zeal, and with bitter words he pursues and condemns the presumption of our own righteousness rising upon the observation of the law of God, and charges it with this impiety, that it crucifies again the Son of God. Since then it is so dangerous a thing, it can not be beaten down enough or condemned as it should be: For thereof ensues such a fall as is no less than the fall of Lucifer, and such a loss as can never be recovered, and therefore he uses so sharp and rigorous words against it, that he spares not the very law of God: against which he so bitterly inveighs, that it seems he would utterly reject and condemn it. And this does he being constrained by great necessity: for otherwise he could not withstand the false Apostles, nor defend the righteousness of faith against them. Although then that the law be holy, just, and good, yet must it put on as it were the visor of a hypocrite, if he seeks to be justified by works. Now he presses them with an argument of which they themselves had good experience, and which they could not deny.

Verse 2. This only would I learn of you: Received you the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith preached?

He speaks these words with a certain indignation and contempt of the false Apostles. If I had nothing else against you but even your own experience (says he) yet have I enough. As if he were to say: Go to now, answer me I pray you, which am your scholar (for you are so suddenly become doctors that you are now my masters and teachers): Received you the holy ghost by the works of the law, or by the preaching of the gospel? With this argument he so convinces them that they have nothing to reply again. For their own experience is altogether against them: to wit, that they had received the holy ghost, not by the works of the law, but by the preaching of the gospel.

Here again I admonish you that Paul speaks not only of the ceremonial law, but of the whole law. For he grounds his argument upon a sufficient division. If he should speak but only of the ceremonial law, it were no sufficient division. It is therefore a double horned argument, standing upon two parts, of which the one must needs be true and the other false: That is, either you have received the holy Ghost by the law, or by the hearing of faith. If it be by the law, then is it not by the preaching of faith. If it be by the preaching of faith, then is it not by the law. There is no mean between these two. For all that is not the holy Ghost or the preaching of faith, is the law. Here are we in the matter of justification. But to come to justification, there is no other way but either the voice of the Gospel or the voice of the law. Therefore the law is here taken generally, as wholly separate from the Gospel. But it is not only the ceremonial law that is separate from the Gospel, but also the moral law or the ten commandments: therefore Paul speaks here of the whole law.

His argument therefore is grounded upon a sufficient distinction, after this sort. Tell me (says he): Received you the holy ghost by the works of the law, or by the preaching of the Gospel? Answer me to this. You cannot say that this was done by the law. For so long as you were under the law and did the works thereof, you never received the holy ghost. Indeed you taught and heard the law of Moses every Sabbath: but it has not been heard or seen that ever the holy ghost was given to any, either teacher or learner, through the preaching of the law. Moreover, you have not only taught and heard the law, but also you have labored with all your power to perform the same by your works, whereby you should most of all have received the holy ghost if he had been given by the law, seeing you were not only teachers and learners, but also doers of the law: and yet you cannot show me that this was done at any time. But as soon as the hearing of faith or the gospel came to you, by and by you received the holy Ghost by the only hearing of faith, before you had done any work or showed any fruit of the gospel. For as Luke witnesses in the Acts, at the only preaching of Peter and Paul the holy ghost came upon those which heard the word, through whom also they received various gifts, so that they spoke with new tongues.

It is manifest therefore that by the only preaching of faith you received the holy ghost before you did any good work, or brought forth any fruits of the gospel. On the other side, the accomplishing of the law never brought the holy ghost: much less could the only hearing of the law do it. Therefore not only the hearing of the law, but that affection and zeal also whereby you go about to perform the law by your works, is utterly unprofitable. Therefore, although a man attempt to do all things: that is to say, although he have a zeal of God, and with all endeavor go about to be saved by the law, and exercise himself day and night in the righteousness thereof, notwithstanding he does but labor and consume himself in vain. For they that are ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seek to establish their own righteousness (as Paul says in another place) are not subject to the righteousness of God. Again: Israel which followed the law of righteousness, attained not to the law of righteousness, etc. Now, Paul speaks here of the manifestation of the holy ghost in the primitive church. For the holy ghost came down in a manifest likeness upon those that did believe, and by this sign did plainly witness that he was there present at the preaching of the Apostles: Also that they which heard the word of faith preached by the Apostles, were accepted as righteous before God: for else the holy Ghost would not have come down upon them.

Paul calls the Galatians foolish and bewitched, comparing them to children — those whom witches, sorcerers, and enchanters are in the habit of charming through their spells and the illusions of the devil. Later in the fifth chapter he lists sorcery among the works of the flesh — a kind of witchcraft — making it clear that such things are real and that they happen. Nor can it be denied that the devil is truly alive and actively at work throughout the whole world. Witchcraft and sorcery are the devil's work — and through them he not only harms people but, with God's permission, sometimes destroys them. Beyond this, we are all subject to the devil in body and in possessions. We are strangers in this world, of which he is the ruler and god. The bread we eat, the drink we drink, the clothes we wear, and the very air we breathe while living in this body — all of it falls under his dominion.

But the devil does not only bewitch people in this obvious, physical way — he also does it in a far more subtle and dangerous manner, and he is a remarkably skilled craftsman at this. This is why Paul draws a parallel between the charming of the physical senses and the bewitching of the spirit. Through this spiritual witchcraft, that ancient serpent does not deceive the senses but the mind — implanting false and wicked opinions that those who are deceived take to be true and genuinely godly. The malice of this sorcerer is so great, and his desire to harm so intense, that he deceives not only careless and proud spirits with his enchantments, but also those who profess true Christianity and are sincere in their faith. To speak honestly about myself: he sometimes attacks me so powerfully and presses me down with such heavy thoughts that he completely hides my Savior Christ from me and nearly takes Him out of my sight altogether. In short, none of us is free from being bewitched by false persuasions at some point — that is, there is not one of us who does not sometimes fear, trust, or rejoice in the wrong things, or who does not at times think wrongly about God, about Christ, about faith, about his calling, or about the Christian life.

We must therefore learn to recognize the subtle tricks of this sorcerer, so that he does not find us sleeping and unprepared and deceive us with his enchantments. It is true that his sorcery cannot harm our ministry; yet he is present with us in spirit. Day and night he prowls about seeking to devour each one of us individually, and unless he finds us sober and armed with spiritual weapons — that is, with the word of God and faith — he will devour us.

This is why he so often stirs up fresh battles against us. And in fact it is very good for us that he attacks us and puts us to work against his subtle strategies — because through this our teaching is confirmed and our faith is strengthened and increased. Many times we have been knocked down — and still are knocked down in this conflict — yet we do not perish, for Christ has always triumphed and continues to triumph through us. We therefore hold a confident hope that through Jesus Christ we will win the victory over the devil. This hope produces firm comfort in us, so that in the midst of temptation we take courage and say: 'Look, Satan has attacked us before with his false illusions and provoked us to unbelief, contempt of God, and despair — and yet he did not prevail, and he will not prevail in the future.' He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Christ is stronger; He has overcome that strong enemy in us and does overcome him still, and He will overcome him forever. Nevertheless, the devil sometimes overcomes us in the flesh, so that we may have experience of a stronger power working against that strong one, and may say with Paul: 'When I am weak, then I am strong.'

Let no one think that only the Galatians were bewitched by the devil — let every person recognize that he himself could be, and may yet be, bewitched by him. None of us is strong enough to resist him on his own, especially if he tries to do so by his own strength. Job was an upright and righteous man who feared God, and there was no one like him on earth. But how much power did he have against the devil when God withdrew His protecting hand? Did not this holy man fall terribly? This enchanter was not only powerful against the Galatians — he is constantly at work, seeking to deceive, if not everyone, then as many as he can with his illusions and false persuasions, for he is a liar and the father of lies. By this subtle practice he has bewitched — as I have said — these frantic spirits, ruling in them and making them so stubborn and hard-hearted that no anvil is harder.

Verse 1. Who has bewitched you?

Here Paul excuses the Galatians and places the blame on the false apostles. It is as if he were saying: I can see that you have not fallen through stubbornness or malice — but the devil has sent his children, the deceiving false apostles, among you. They have so bewitched you with their teaching that righteousness comes through the law, that you now think about Christ differently than you did when you first heard the Gospel from me. But we are working — both through preaching and through writing to you — to break the spell that the false apostles have cast, and to set free those who are caught in it.

Today we are doing the same work — through the word of God we labor against the fantastical opinions of the Anabaptists, trying to set free those who are caught in them and draw them back to the pure teaching of faith, and to hold them there. And this labor of ours is not entirely in vain. We have brought back many whom they had bewitched and rescued them from their snares. Even so, there are those who refuse to be taught — especially the leading sorcerers and originators of this error. They will not listen to reason or accept Scripture; instead they abuse and distort the Scripture, evading every passage brought against them with false interpretations and ideas that are directly contrary to the Scripture itself. This is a clear sign that they are bewitched by the devil. Our warnings do nothing to improve them — they only become more hardened and more stubborn than before. I could never have believed — had I not experienced it firsthand — that the devil's power is so great that he can make a lie appear so much like the truth. What is even more terrible: when he sets out to crush a troubled conscience under overwhelming despair, he can so skillfully and convincingly disguise himself as Christ that the poor tempted and afflicted soul cannot detect the difference. Through this, many simple and ignorant people are deceived and driven to despair, and some even destroy themselves. They are so bewitched by the devil that they believe with absolute certainty that they are being tempted and accused not by the devil but by Christ Himself.

Something like this happened recently to that miserable man, Doctor Kraus of Hal, who said: 'I have denied Christ, and therefore He now stands before His Father accusing me.' He was so blinded by the devil's illusion that he had fixed this idea in his mind so firmly that no encouragement, no comfort, and no promise of God could move him from it — and so he despaired and destroyed himself miserably. This was a pure lie, a bewitching of the devil, and a completely false idea of a Christ the Scripture does not know. For Scripture presents Christ not as a judge, a tempter, or an accuser, but as a reconciler, a mediator, a comforter, and a throne of grace.

But the poor man, deceived by the devil, could not see this at the time — and so against all of Scripture he became convinced of what seemed to him an undoubted truth: 'Christ is accusing you before His Father; He stands not for you but against you; therefore you are condemned.' This temptation did not come from a human being but from the devil, who as an enchanter pressed this thought powerfully into the heart of the one being tempted. To those of us who are led and taught by another Spirit, it is an obvious and accursed lie — a plain bewitching of the devil. But to those who are bewitched in this way, it feels like the most certain truth imaginable.

Since the devil is able to stamp such an obvious lie into our hearts — so convincingly that we would swear a thousand times it was an undoubted truth — we must not be proud but must walk in fear and humility, calling on the Lord Jesus that we not be led into temptation. Worldly and careless people, who after hearing the Gospel once or twice imagine they have received a full measure of God's Spirit, eventually fall in just this way — because they do not fear God or give Him thanks, but convince themselves that they are capable not only of holding and defending the true teaching but of standing against the devil in any attack, however severe. Such people are ready instruments for the devil to bewitch and throw down into despair.

On the other hand, do not say to yourself: 'I am perfect; I cannot fall.' Instead, humble yourself and be watchful — if you are standing today, you may be overthrown tomorrow. I myself — though I am a doctor of theology and have preached Christ and fought against the devil in his false teachers for a long time — still find from experience what a struggle it is to hold fast to Christ and not lose Him. I cannot shake Satan off as I would like to, nor can I lay hold of Christ as clearly as the Scriptures present Him — for the devil often places a false Christ before my eyes. But thanks be to God who keeps us in the word, in faith, and in prayer, so that we may walk before Him in humility and fear, and not presume on our own wisdom, righteousness, and strength, but trust in the power of Christ — who is strong when we are weak, and who through us weak and feeble creatures always overcomes and triumphs. To Him be glory forever.

This bewitching and sorcery, then, is nothing other than a plain illusion of the devil — pressing a false opinion of Christ, or against Christ, into the heart. The person who is trapped in this illusion is bewitched. Those who hold the opinion that they are justified by the works of the law or the traditions of men are bewitched, because this opinion is against faith and against Christ. Paul uses the word 'bewitching' to show his contempt for the false apostles, who pushed the teaching of the law and works so aggressively. It is as if he were saying: What a devilish bewitching is this! Just as the physical senses are corrupted by bodily witchcraft, so are the minds of people corrupted by this spiritual witchcraft.

Verse 1. That you should not obey the truth?

At first the Galatians gladly heard and obeyed the truth. So when Paul asks 'Who has bewitched you?' he is showing that they were bewitched by the false apostles and had fallen away from the truth they had previously embraced. It is an even sharper and stronger statement when he says they do not believe the truth. By these words he indicates that they have been bewitched, and that he wants to deliver them from this witchery — yet they will not acknowledge or receive this help. It is certain that he did not bring all of them back from the error of the false apostles to the truth — many of them remained bewitched. This is why he uses such sharp and forceful words: 'Who has bewitched you?' It is as if he were saying: You are so deluded and bewitched that you can no longer obey the truth. I fear that many of you are utterly lost and have fallen away so far that you will never return to the truth.

Here we have yet another glowing description of the law and human righteousness — that it so bewitches people they cannot obey the truth. The apostles and the church fathers often spoke of this. There is 'a sin that leads to death, for which I say you should not pray' (1 John 5). And again: 'It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age — if they then fall away — to be restored again to repentance' (Hebrews 6). At first these words sound as if some Novatian were speaking them. But the apostles were compelled to speak this way because of the heretics — and yet they did not thereby deny that those who had fallen could return again to fellowship with the faithful. We must speak the same way today regarding the leaders and promoters of errors and sects — that such people will never return to the truth. There are some, however, who do return: those who are not yet deeply bewitched or firmly locked in the delusion. But the ringleaders and originators of this sorcery never return. To them we may rightly apply the very title Paul gives here — that they cannot bear to hear the truth but are always working to resist it.

Verse 1. To whom Jesus Christ was previously portrayed before your eyes.

It was a sharp thing to say that they were so bewitched they could not obey the truth — but it is sharper still when Paul adds that Christ was displayed so vividly before them that they could almost touch Him with their hands, and yet they still would not obey the truth. With this, Paul convicts them by their own experience. It is as if he were saying: You are so bewitched and deceived by the devilish opinions of the false apostles that you will no longer obey the truth — and yet I labored with great diligence to set Christ plainly before your eyes, and all of it has profited you nothing.

In these words Paul refers back to the earlier arguments he had made — that those who seek to be justified by the law make Christ a minister of sin, that they reject the grace of God, and that to them Christ died for nothing. He had pressed these arguments with even greater force and detail when he was with them in person, like a painter portraying Christ Jesus before their very eyes. Now, writing to them from a distance, he reminds them of the same things: 'To whom Jesus Christ was portrayed before your eyes.' It is as if he were saying: No painter with his colors could ever have portrayed Christ to you as vividly as I painted Him through my preaching — and yet you remain miserably bewitched.

Verse 1. And was crucified among you.

What did I portray? Christ Himself. And how was this done? In this way: that He was crucified in you, or among you. Paul uses very harsh and forceful words here. Earlier he said they were seeking righteousness by the law, rejecting the grace of God, and making Christ's death meaningless to themselves. Now he adds something even more severe: that they are crucifying Christ, who had previously lived and reigned in them. It is as if he were saying: You have not only rejected the grace of God and made Christ's death worthless to yourselves — you are now crucifying Him most shamefully among yourselves. He speaks the same way in Hebrews 6: 'crucifying to themselves again the Son of God and putting Him to open shame.'

Anyone who hears the words 'monk,' 'shaved head,' 'cowl,' and 'monastic rule' — however much the papists worship these things and boast of them as perfect religion and holiness (as I and others once judged them, before God revealed His Gospel to us, for we were raised in human traditions that darkened Christ and made Him utterly useless to us) — should be filled with alarm when he hears Paul say that even those who seek to be justified by God's own law are not only deniers and murderers of Christ but are actually crucifying Him again in the most wicked way. Now if those who seek to be justified by the righteousness of God's law and its works are crucifiers of Christ, what shall we say about those who seek salvation and eternal life through the dregs and filthy rubbish of human righteousness and the teachings of demons?

But who could ever have believed or imagined that becoming a 'religious person' — as they call it — that is, becoming a Mass-priest, a monk, a friar, or a nun, was so horrible and abominable a sin? Certainly no one suspected it. Indeed the monks themselves say that entering the monastery is a second baptism. And yet what could be more horrible than that the kingdom of the papists is a kingdom of those who spite and spit in the face of Christ the Son of God and crucify Him again? For they do crucify Him afresh — Him who was once crucified and rose again — both in themselves, in the church, and in the hearts of the faithful. With their contemptuous attacks, slanders, and insults they spit on Him; with their wicked opinions they wound and pierce Him so that He dies miserably in them. And in His place they have erected a glorious witchcraft — a spell so powerful that people are miserably deceived and cannot recognize Christ as their justifier, their reconciler, and their Savior, but instead see Him as a minister of sin, their accuser, their judge, and their destroyer — someone who must be appeased by nothing less than our own works and merits.

Out of this opinion grew the most poisonous and destructive doctrine in all of the papacy, which goes like this: 'If you want to serve God, you must merit forgiveness of sins and eternal life, and you must also help others attain salvation. You must enter a monastery and vow obedience, chastity, poverty, and so on.' Monks, friars, and the rest of that religious company, puffed up with this view of their own holiness, imagined that they alone lived in a state of perfection, while ordinary Christians lived only a common life — since they performed no extraordinary works beyond what they were obligated to do; that is, they did not vow and keep chastity, poverty, and obedience. Ordinary believers were merely baptized and kept the Ten Commandments. But the monks — in addition to all they shared with other Christians — also performed works of supererogation and followed the counsels of Christ. Therefore they expected to earn merit and a place in heaven among the leading saints, far above the common run of Christians.

This was without doubt a horrible illusion of the devil, by which he had bewitched nearly the entire world. The more holy a person wanted to appear, the more deeply he was snared by this witchery — that is, by that poisonous confidence in his own righteousness. This was the very reason we could not recognize that Jesus Christ was our Mediator and Savior: instead we thought of Him as a severe judge who had to be appeased by our own works. That was nothing other than the most horrible blasphemy against Christ — and as Paul said earlier, it meant rejecting the grace of God, making the death of Christ of no effect, and not only killing Him but crucifying Him again most shamefully. This is the true meaning of what Christ cites from Daniel: 'the abomination stands in the holy place.' Therefore every monk, every religious person, every person seeking forgiveness of sins and righteousness through their own works or their own suffering is a crucifier of the Christ who now lives and reigns — not in Christ's own physical person, but in their own heart and in the hearts of others. And whoever enters a monastery with the intention of being justified by keeping its rule and way of life is entering a den of thieves — a place where Christ is crucified again.

Paul therefore uses very severe and harsh words here in order to alarm the Galatians and call them back from the teaching of the false apostles. It is as if he were saying: Consider carefully what you have done. You have crucified Christ again — and I am setting this before your eyes so plainly that you can see it and almost touch it with your hands — because you are seeking to be justified by the law. But if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ is merely a minister of sin and His death accomplishes nothing. And if that is true, it necessarily follows that Christ is being crucified again in you.

It is not without purpose that Paul adds the phrase 'in you' or 'among you.' Christ is no longer crucified or dying in His own person, as Romans 6 makes clear — but He dies in us when we reject true teaching, grace, faith, and free forgiveness of sins, and instead seek to be justified by our own works or by the works commanded in the law. That is where Christ is crucified in us again. Now this false and wicked assumption — that righteousness comes through the law and works — is nothing other, as I have explained at greater length earlier, than the illusion of the devil. By it, people are so bewitched that they cannot in any way acknowledge the benefit of Christ. Indeed, all their life long they can do nothing other than deny the Lord who bought them and in whose name they were baptized — and crucify Him again in themselves. Therefore, anyone who fears God and has a sincere heart toward Christ and His Gospel, let him flee quickly out of this Babylon and tremble at the very name of the papacy. The impiety and abomination of it is so horrible that no human words can express it — it can only be seen with spiritual eyes.

Paul presses these two arguments vigorously into the minds of the Galatians: first, that they are so bewitched by the devil that they cannot obey the truth, even though it has been set plainly before their eyes; and second, that they are crucifying Christ again within themselves. These seem like simple and unadorned words, without any grand rhetoric — but in reality they are so powerful that they surpass all human eloquence. It cannot be grasped except by the Spirit how great an offense it is to seek to be justified by the righteousness of the law or by human merit. For as Paul says here, it is nothing other than being bewitched by the devil, being disobedient to the truth, and crucifying Christ again. Are these not impressive commendations of the righteousness of the law and of human effort?

The apostle is moved with great zeal here, and with sharp words he attacks and condemns the presumption of our own righteousness built on keeping God's law — charging it with the offense of crucifying the Son of God again. Since it is so dangerous a thing, it cannot be condemned sharply enough — for from it follows a fall no less devastating than the fall of Lucifer, and a loss that can never be recovered. This is why Paul uses such severe and forceful language, sparing not even the law of God itself — speaking so forcefully against it that he seems to be rejecting and condemning it entirely. He does this out of necessity, for otherwise he could not withstand the false apostles or defend the righteousness of faith against them. Even though the law is holy, just, and good, it puts on the mask of a hypocrite the moment a person uses it to seek justification by works. And now Paul presses them with an argument drawn from their own experience — one they cannot deny.

Verse 2. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

Paul speaks these words with a certain indignation and contempt for the false apostles. 'If I had nothing else against you but your own experience,' he says, 'that would be enough.' It is as if he were saying: Very well, answer me then — I who am your student (for you have so suddenly become doctors that you are now my masters and teachers): Did you receive the Holy Spirit by the works of the law, or by the preaching of the Gospel? With this argument he so thoroughly silences them that they have nothing to say in reply. Their own experience is entirely against them: they had received the Holy Spirit not through the works of the law but through the preaching of the Gospel.

Again I must point out that Paul is not speaking only of the ceremonial law but of the whole law. He bases his argument on a complete and sufficient division. If he were speaking only of the ceremonial law, the division would be incomplete. This is a two-horned argument with two options, one of which must be true and the other false: either you received the Holy Spirit through the law, or through hearing with faith. If it was by the law, then it was not by the hearing of faith. If it was by the hearing of faith, then it was not by the law. There is no middle ground between these two. Everything that is not the Holy Spirit or the preaching of faith is the law. This is the question of justification. And on the way to justification, there is no path other than the voice of the Gospel or the voice of the law. Here, then, the law is taken in its broadest sense — as everything that stands apart from the Gospel. It is not only the ceremonial law that is separate from the Gospel, but also the moral law and the Ten Commandments. Therefore Paul is speaking here of the whole law.

His argument rests on a solid distinction, and it goes like this: 'Tell me,' he says, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit by the works of the law, or by the preaching of the Gospel? Answer me.' You cannot claim it happened through the law. As long as you were under the law and performing its works, you never received the Holy Spirit. You taught and heard the law of Moses every Sabbath — but there is no record of the Holy Spirit ever being given to any teacher or student through the preaching of the law. Beyond that, you not only taught and heard the law — you also worked with all your strength to carry it out. If the Holy Spirit were given through the law, you should have received Him above all others, since you were not merely students of the law but doers of it. And yet you cannot point to a single instance of this happening. But the moment the preaching of faith and the Gospel came to you, you received the Holy Spirit immediately — simply through hearing in faith, before you had done any work or produced any fruit of the Gospel. As Luke records in the Acts of the Apostles, at the very preaching of Peter and Paul the Holy Spirit came upon those who heard the word, and through Him they received various gifts, so that they spoke in new tongues.

It is clear, then, that through the preaching of faith alone you received the Holy Spirit — before you had done any good work or brought forth any fruits of the Gospel. On the other hand, fulfilling the law never produced the Holy Spirit — and much less could merely hearing the law do so. Not only is hearing the law useless for this purpose, but even that passionate zeal with which you set out to fulfill the law through your works is entirely fruitless. A person may attempt to do everything — he may have a zeal for God and labor with all his energy to be saved by the law, devoting himself day and night to its righteousness — and yet all his effort is wasted and empty. For those who do not know the righteousness of God and seek to establish their own righteousness, as Paul says elsewhere, are not subject to the righteousness of God. Again: 'Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, did not succeed in reaching that law' (Romans 9:31). Paul here is speaking specifically about the visible coming of the Holy Spirit in the early church. For the Holy Spirit came down visibly upon those who believed, and by this sign He clearly testified that He was present at the apostles' preaching — and also that those who heard the word of faith preached by the apostles were accepted as righteous before God, for otherwise the Holy Spirit would not have come upon them.