The Fifth Chapter

Paul now drawing toward the end of his Epistle, disputes very vehemently in defense of the doctrine of faith and Christian liberty, against the false apostles, the enemies and destroyers of the same: against whom he casts out very thundering words, to beat them down and utterly to vanquish them. And therewith he exhorts the Galatians to flee their pernicious doctrine as a dangerous poison. In his exhortation he intermingles threatenings and promises, trying every way that he may keep them in that liberty which Christ had purchased for them, saying:

Verse 1. Stand fast therefore in that liberty wherein Christ has made us free.

That is to say: Be steadfast. So Peter says: Be sober and watch, for your adversary the Devil as a roaring lion walks about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist, being steadfast in the faith. Be not careless (says he) but steadfast and constant. Lie not down and sleep, but stand up. As if he would say: It stands you in hand to be watchful and constant, that you may keep and hold fast that liberty wherein Christ has made you free. They that are secure and negligent cannot keep this liberty. For Satan most deadly hates the light of the Gospel, that is to say, the doctrine of grace, liberty, consolation and life. Therefore when he sees that it begins once to appear, forthwith he fights against it with all might and main, stirring up storms and tempests to hinder the course thereof, and utterly to overthrow it. Therefore Paul warns the faithful not to sleep, not to be negligent: but constantly and valiantly to resist Satan, that he spoil them not of that liberty which Christ has purchased for them.

Every word has here a certain vehemence. Stand, says he. As if he should say: Here have you need of great diligence and vigilance. In that liberty. In what liberty? Not in that with which the Emperor has made us free, but in that with which Christ has made us free. The Emperor has given, or rather was compelled to give to the Bishop of Rome a free city and other lands: also immunities, privileges and prerogatives, etc. This is also a liberty, but it is a civil liberty, whereby the Pope with all his clergy is exempt from all public charges. Moreover there is a fleshly or rather a devilish liberty, whereby the Devil chiefly reigns throughout the whole world. For they that enjoy this liberty obey neither God nor laws, but do what they please. This liberty the people seek and embrace at this day: and so do the Sectaries which will be at liberty in their opinions and in all their doings, to the end they may teach and do whatever they dream to be good and sound, without reprehension. These stand in that liberty wherein the Devil has made them free. But we speak not here of this liberty: albeit the whole world seeks no other liberty. Neither do we speak of the civil liberty: but of a far other manner of liberty which the Devil hates and resists with all his power.

This is that liberty whereby Christ has made us free: not from an earthly bondage, or from the Babylonian captivity, or from the tyranny of the Turks, but from God's everlasting wrath. And where is this done? In the conscience. There rests our liberty, and goes no further. For Christ has made us free, not civilly nor carnally, but divinely, that is to say, we are made free in such sort, that our conscience is now free and quiet, not fearing the wrath of God to come. This is that true and inestimable liberty, to the excellence and majesty of which if we compare the other, they are but as one drop of water in respect of the whole sea. For who is able to express what a thing it is when a man is assured in his heart, that God neither is nor will be angry with him, but will be for ever a merciful and a loving father to him for Christ's sake? This is indeed a marvelous and an incomprehensible liberty, to have the most high and sovereign Majesty so favorable to us, that he does not only defend, maintain and help us in this life, but also as touching our bodies will so deliver us, that our bodies which are sown in corruption, in dishonor and infirmity, shall rise again in incorruption, in glory and power. Therefore this is an inestimable liberty, that we are made free from the wrath of God for ever: and is greater than heaven and earth and all other creatures.

Of this liberty there follows another, whereby through Christ we are made free from the law, sin, death, the power of the Devil, hell, etc. For as the wrath of God cannot terrify us for that Christ has delivered us from the same: so the law, sin and death, cannot accuse and condemn us. And although the law accuse us and sin terrify us, yet they cannot drive us to desperation. For faith, which overcomes the world, by and by says: These things belong not to me: for Christ has made me free, and delivered me from them all. Likewise death which is the most mighty and most dreadful thing in all the world, is utterly vanquished in the conscience by this liberty of the spirit. Therefore the majesty of this Christian liberty is highly to be esteemed, and diligently considered. It is an easy matter for a man to speak these words — freedom from the wrath of God, sin, and death — but in the time of temptation, experience and practice to apply them to himself, and to feel the excellence of this liberty and the fruit thereof, it is a harder matter than can be expressed.

Therefore our conscience must be instructed and prepared beforehand, that when we feel the accusation of the law, the terrors of sin, the horror of death and the wrath of God, we may remove these heavy sights and fearful fantasies out of our minds, and set in the place thereof the freedom purchased by Christ, the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, life and the everlasting mercy of God. And although the feeling of the contrary be very strong, yet let us assure ourselves that it shall not long endure: according to that saying of the Prophet: "For a moment in my anger I hid my face from you for a little season: but with everlasting mercy I have compassion on you." But this is very hard to do. Therefore that liberty which Christ has purchased for us is not so soon believed as it is named. If it could be apprehended with a sure and steadfast faith, then no rage or terror of the word, of the law, sin, death or the Devil could be so great, but by and by it should be swallowed up as a little drop of water is swallowed by the main sea. And certainly this Christian liberty swallows up at once and takes quite away the whole heap of evils, the law, sin, death, God's wrath, and briefly the serpent himself, with his head and whole power, and in the stead thereof it places righteousness, peace and everlasting life, etc. But blessed is he that understands and believes.

Let us learn therefore to magnify this our liberty purchased by Jesus Christ the son of God, by whom all things were created both in heaven and earth. Which liberty he has purchased with no other price than with his own blood, to deliver us, not from any bodily or temporal servitude, but from a spiritual and everlasting bondage under mighty and invincible tyrants, to wit, the law, sin, death and the Devil, and so to reconcile us to God his father. Now, since these enemies are overcome, and we reconciled to God by the death of his son, it is certain that we are righteous before God, and that whatever we do, pleases him. And although there be certain remnants of sin yet still in us, they are not laid to our charge, but pardoned for Christ's sake.

Paul uses words of great force and vehemence. Stand (says he) in that liberty in which Christ has made you free. This liberty then is not given to us by the law or for our righteousness, but freely for Christ's sake: which thing Paul here witnesses, and plainly declares throughout his whole Epistle. Christ also in John 8 says: If the son shall make you free, there shall you be free indeed. He only is set between us and the evils which trouble and afflict us: he has overcome them and taken them away, so that they can no more oppress us nor condemn us. In the stead of sin and death he gives to us righteousness and everlasting life: and by this means he changes the bondage and terrors of the law, into the liberty of conscience and consolation of the Gospel, which says: Be of good comfort my son, your sins are forgiven you. Whoever then believes in Christ the son of God, he has this liberty.

Reason cannot perceive the excellence of this matter: which when a man considers in spirit he shall see that it is inestimable. For who is able to conceive in his mind how great and unspeakable a gift it is to have the forgiveness of sins, righteousness and everlasting life, in the stead of the law, sin, death and the wrath of God, and to have God himself favorable and merciful forever? The Papists and the hypocrites that seek the righteousness of the law or their own righteousness, do glory that they likewise have remission of sins, righteousness, life, and the grace of God. For they vaunt that they also have this liberty, and they promise the same to others: but in very deed they are the servants of corruption, and in the time of temptation all their vain confidence vanishes away even in a moment. For they trust to the works and satisfactions of men, and not to the word of God nor to Christ. Therefore it is impossible for the Justiciaries which seek to win heaven, life and salvation by works and merits, to know what the liberty and deliverance from sin is.

Contrariwise our liberty has for her foundation Christ himself, who is our everlasting high Bishop, sitting at the right hand of God and making intercession for us. Therefore the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, life and liberty which we have through him, is sure, certain and perpetual, so that we believe this. Therefore if we cleave to Christ with a steadfast faith, and stand fast in that liberty in which he has made us free, we shall obtain those inestimable gifts: but if we be careless and negligent we shall lose them. It is not without cause that Paul bids us watch and stand fast: for he knew that the Devil seeks nothing more than to spoil us of this liberty which cost Christ so great a price, and to entangle us again by his ministers in the yoke of bondage, as follows.

Verse 1. And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Paul has spoken most effectually and profoundly as concerning grace and Christian liberty, and with high and mighty words has exhorted the Galatians to continue in the same: for it is easily lost. Therefore he bids them stand fast, lest that through negligence or security they fall back again from grace and faith, to the law and works. Now, because reason judges that there can be no danger in preferring the righteousness of the law before the righteousness of faith: therefore with a certain indignation he inveighs against the law, and with great contempt he calls it a yoke, yea a yoke of bondage. So Peter calls it also (Acts 15): "Why do you tempt God to lay a yoke on the disciples' necks, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" And thus he turns all things to the contrary. For the false Apostles did abase the promise, and magnified the law and the works thereof in this wise: If you will be made free (say they) from sin and death and obtain righteousness and life, fulfill the law, be circumcised, observe days, months, times and years, offer sacrifices, and do such other like things: then shall this obedience of the law justify and save you. But Paul says the contrary. They (says he) that teach the law after this sort, do not set men's consciences at liberty, but snare and entangle them with a yoke, yea and that with a yoke of bondage.

He speaks therefore of the law very basely and contemptuously, and calls it a hard bondage and a servile yoke. And this he does not without great cause. For this pernicious opinion of the law, that it justifies and makes men righteous before God, is deeply rooted in man's reason, and all mankind is so wrapped in it, that it can hardly get out. And Paul seems here to compare those that seek righteousness by the law, to oxen that are tied to the yoke, to the end he might take from it the glory of justifying and of righteousness. For just as oxen that draw in the yoke with great toil receive nothing thereby but forage or pasture, and when they are able to draw the yoke no more, are appointed to the slaughter: even so they that seek righteousness by the law are captives and oppressed with the yoke of bondage, that is to say, with the law: and when they have tired themselves a long time in the works of the law with great and grievous toil, in the end this is their reward, that they are miserable and perpetual servants. And of what? Even of sin, death, God's wrath, and of the Devil. Therefore there is no greater or harder bondage, than the bondage of the law. It is not without cause then, that Paul calls it the yoke of bondage. For as we have often said before, the law does but reveal, increase and aggravate sin, accuse, terrify, condemn, and generate wrath, and finally it drives poor consciences into desperation, which is the most miserable and most grievous bondage that can be (Romans 3:4-5).

He uses therefore very vehement words. For he would gladly persuade them that they should not suffer this unbearable burden to be laid upon their shoulders by the false apostles, or be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. As if he should say: We stand not here upon a matter of small importance, but either of everlasting liberty, or everlasting bondage. For just as freedom from God's wrath and all evils is not temporal or carnal, but everlasting: even so the bondage of sin, death, the Devil and damnation (with which all they are oppressed who will be made righteous and saved by the law) is not corporal and such as continues but for a time, but everlasting. For such workers of the law as go about to perform and accomplish all things precisely and exactly (for of such Paul speaks) can never find quietness and peace of conscience in this life. They always doubt of the good will of God toward them: they are always in fear of death, of the wrath and judgment of God: and after this life they shall be punished for their unbelief with everlasting damnation.

Therefore the doers of the law, and such as stand altogether upon the righteousness and works thereof, are rightly called the Devil's martyrs. They take more pains and punish themselves more in purchasing hell (according to the proverb) than the martyrs of Christ do in obtaining heaven. For they are tormented two kinds of ways. First, they miserably afflict themselves while they live here by doing many hard and great works, and all in vain: and afterward when they die, they reap for a recompense everlasting damnation. Thus are they most miserable martyrs, both in this life and in the life to come, and their bondage is everlasting. On the contrary, the godly have troubles in this world, but in Christ they have peace, because they believe that he has overcome the world. Therefore we must stand fast in that freedom which Christ has purchased for us by his death, and we must take good heed that we be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage: as it happens at this day to the fanatical spirits, who falling away from faith and from this freedom, have procured to themselves here a temporal bondage, and in the world to come shall be oppressed with an everlasting bondage. As for the Papists, the most part of them are become at this day plain Epicures: therefore while they may, they use the liberty of the flesh, singing this careless song: Ede, bibe, lude, post mortem nulla voluptas: That is, Eat, drink, and make good cheer, for after this life there is no pleasure. But they are the very bondslaves of the Devil, by whom they are held captive at his will and pleasure, therefore they shall feel this everlasting bondage in hell. Up to this point Paul's exhortation has been vehement and earnest, but that which follows does far surpass it.

Verse 2. Behold I Paul say to you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.

Paul here wonderfully stirred up with zeal and fervency of spirit, thunders against the law and circumcision: and these thundering words proceeding of great zeal and indignation, the Holy Ghost wrests from him in saying: Behold, I Paul, etc. I (I say), who know that I have not received the Gospel by man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, and have commission and authority from above to teach and define, etc., do tell you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing at all. This is a very hard sentence: whereby Paul declares, that, to be circumcised, is as much as to make Christ utterly unprofitable: not in respect of himself, but of the Galatians, who being deceived by the subtleties of the false apostles, believed that, besides faith in Christ, it was needful for the faithful to be circumcised, without which they could not obtain salvation.

This place is as it were a touchstone, whereby we may most certainly and freely judge of all doctrines, works, religions and ceremonies of all men. Whoever teaches that there is anything necessary to salvation (whether they be Papists, Turks, Jews or Sectaries) besides faith in Christ, or shall devise any work or religion, or observe any rule, tradition or ceremony whatever, with this opinion that by such things they shall obtain forgiveness of sins, righteousness and everlasting life: they hear in this place the sentence of the Holy Ghost pronounced against them by the Apostle, that Christ profits them nothing. Since Paul dared give this sentence against the law and circumcision, which were ordained of God himself, what dared he not do against the chaff and the dross of men's traditions?

Therefore this place is a terrible thunderbolt against all the kingdom of the Pope. For all the priests, monks, and hermits that live in their cloisters (I speak of the best of them) reposed all their trust and confidence in their own works, righteousness, vows and merits, and not in Christ, whom they most wickedly and blasphemously imagined to be an angry judge, an accuser and condemner: And therefore here they hear their judgment, that Christ profits them nothing. For if they can put away sins and deserve forgiveness of sins and everlasting life through their own righteousness and strictness of life: then to what purpose was Christ born? What profit have they by his death and bloodshedding, by his resurrection, victory over sin, death and the Devil, seeing they are able to overcome these monsters by their own strength? And what tongue can express, or what heart can conceive how horrible a thing it is to make Christ unprofitable? Therefore the Apostle casts out these words with great displeasure and indignation: If you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing: that is to say, no profit shall redound to you of all his benefits: but he has bestowed them all upon you in vain.

Hereby it appears sufficiently that nothing under the sun is more hurtful than the doctrine of men's traditions and works: for they utterly abolish and overthrow at once the truth of the Gospel, faith, the true worshiping of God and Christ himself, in whom the Father has ordained all things (Colossians 2). In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: In him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). Therefore all they that are either authors or maintainers of the doctrine of works, are oppressors of the Gospel, they make the death and victory of Christ unprofitable, they blemish and deface his Sacraments and utterly take away the true use thereof, and briefly they are blasphemers, enemies, and deniers of God and of all his promises and benefits. Whoever is not moved with these words of Paul (which calls the law a yoke of bondage, and says that they which affirm the keeping of circumcision to be necessary to salvation, make Christ unprofitable): and can not be driven from the law and circumcision, nor yet from the confidence which he has in his own righteousness and works, nor be stirred up to seek that liberty which is in Christ, his heart is harder than stone and iron.

This is therefore a most certain and clear sentence, that Christ is unprofitable, that is to say, he is born, crucified and risen again in vain to him that is circumcised, that is, which puts his trust in circumcision. For (as I have said before) Paul speaks not here of the work of circumcision (which hurts not him that has no trust or opinion of righteousness in it): but of the use of the work, that is to say of the confidence and righteousness that is annexed to the work: For we must understand Paul according to the matter of which he treats, or according to the argument which he has in hand: which is, that men be not justified by the law, by works, by circumcision or such like. He says not that works of themselves are nothing, but the confidence and righteousness of works are nothing: for that makes Christ unprofitable. Therefore whoever receives circumcision with this opinion that it is necessary to justification, to him Christ avails nothing.

Let us bear this well in mind in our private temptations when the Devil accuses and terrifies our conscience to drive it to desperation. For he is the father of lying and the enemy of Christian liberty: therefore he torments us every moment with false fears, that when our conscience has lost this Christian liberty, it should feel the remorse of sin and condemnation, and always remain in anguish and terror. When that great dragon (I say) that old serpent the Devil (who deceives the whole world and accuses our brothers in the presence of God day and night (Revelation 12)) comes and lays to your charge that you have not only done no good, but have also transgressed the law of God, say to him: You trouble me with the remembrance of my sins past: You put me also in mind that I have done no good. But this is nothing to me: for if either I trusted in my own good deeds, or distrusted because I have done none, Christ should both ways profit me nothing at all. Therefore whether you lay my sins before me, or my good works, I care not, but removing both far out of my sight, I only rest in that liberty wherein Christ has made me free. I know him to be profitable to me: therefore I will not make him unprofitable: which I should do, if either I should presume to purchase myself favor and everlasting life by my good deeds, or should despair of my salvation because of my sins.

Therefore let us learn with all diligence to separate Christ far from all works, as well good as evil: from all laws both of God and man, and from all troubled consciences: for with all these Christ has nothing to do. He has to do, I grant, with afflicted consciences: however not to afflict them more, but to raise them up, and in their affliction to comfort them. Therefore if Christ appears in the likeness of an angry judge, or of a lawmaker that requires a strict account of our life past: then let us assure ourselves that it is not Christ but a raging fiend. For the Scripture paints out Christ to be our reconciliation, our advocate and our comforter. Such a one he is and ever shall be: he cannot be unlike himself.

Therefore whenever the Devil, transforming himself into the likeness of Christ, disputes with us after this manner: This you ought, being admonished by my word, to have done, and have not done it: and this you ought not to have done, and have done it: know therefore that I will take vengeance on you, etc. Let this nothing at all move us, but by and by let us thus think with ourselves: Christ speaks not to poor afflicted and despairing consciences after this manner: He adds not affliction to the afflicted: He breaks not the bruised reed, neither quenches he the smoking flax. Indeed to the hard hearted he speaks sharply: but such as are terrified and afflicted, he most lovingly and comfortably allures to him, saying: Come to me all you that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Be of good comfort my son, your sins are forgiven you. Be not afraid, I have overcome the world. The Son of man came to seek out and save that which was lost. We must take good heed therefore lest that we, being deceived by the wonderful sleights and infinite subtleties of Satan, do receive an accuser and condemner in the stead of a comforter and Savior, and so under the visor of a false Christ, that is to say, of the Devil, we lose the true Christ and make him unprofitable to us. This much have we said as touching private and particular temptations, and how we should use ourselves therein.

Verse 3. For I testify again to every man which is circumcised, that he is bound to keep the whole law.

The first inconvenience is indeed very great, where Paul says that Christ profits them nothing which are circumcised: and this that follows is nothing less, where he says that they which are circumcised, are bound to keep the whole law. He speaks these words with such earnestness, that he confirms them with an oath. I testify, that is to say, I swear by the living God. But these words may be expounded two ways, negatively and affirmatively. Negatively after this manner. I testify to every man which is circumcised that he is bound to keep the whole law, that is to say, that he performs no piece of the law: indeed that in the very work of circumcision he is not circumcised, and even in the fulfilling of the law he fulfills it not, but transgresses it. And this seems to me to be the simple and true meaning of Paul in this place. Afterwards in the sixth chapter he expounds himself, saying: They themselves which are circumcised, keep not the law. So he says also before in the third chapter. Whoever are of the works of the law are under the curse. As if he said: Although you be circumcised, yet are you not righteous and free from the law, but by this deed you are rather debtors and bondservants of the law: And the more you go about to satisfy the law, and to be set free from it, the more you entangle and snare yourselves in the yoke thereof, so that it has more power to accuse and condemn you. This is to go backward like the crab, and to wash away filth with filth.

And this which I say by occasion of Paul's words, I have learned both in myself and others. I have seen many which have painfully travailed, and upon mere conscience have done as much as was possible for them to do, in fasting, in prayer, in wearing of hair, in punishing and tormenting their bodies with various exercises (whereby at length they must needs have utterly consumed them, indeed although they had been made of iron), and all to this end that they might obtain quietness and peace of conscience: notwithstanding, the more they travailed, the more they were stricken down with fear, and specially when the hour of death approached they were so fearful, that I have seen many murderers and other malefactors condemned to death, dying more courageously than they did: which notwithstanding had lived very holily.

Therefore it is most true, that they which do the law, do it not: For the more they go about to fulfill the law, the more they transgress it. Even so we say and judge of men's traditions. The more a man strives to pacify his conscience thereby, the more he troubles and torments it. When I was a monk, I endeavored as much as was possible, to live after the strict rule of my Order. I was accustomed to confess myself with great devotion, and to reckon up all my sins (yet being always very contrite before): and I returned to confession very often, and thoroughly performed the penance that was enjoined to me: Yet for all this my conscience could never be fully certified, but was always in doubt, and said: This or that you have not done rightly: you were not contrite and sorrowful enough: this sin you did omit in your confession, etc. Therefore the more I went about to help my weak, wavering and afflicted conscience by men's traditions, the more weak and doubtful, and the more afflicted I was. And thus, the more I observed men's traditions, the more I transgressed them, and in seeking after righteousness by my Order, I could never attain to it. For it is impossible (as Paul says) that the conscience should be pacified by the works of the law, and much less by men's traditions, without the promise and glad tidings concerning Christ.

Therefore they that seek to be justified and quickened by the law, are much further off from righteousness and life, than the Publicans, sinners and harlots. For they cannot trust to their own works, seeing they be such, for the which they cannot hope to obtain grace and forgiveness of sins. For if righteousness and works done according to the law do not justify, how can sins justify which are committed contrary to the law? Therefore in this point they are in far better case than the Justiciaries: for they have no trust in their own works: which greatly hinders true faith in Christ, if it does not utterly take it away. Contrariwise the Justiciaries which abstain outwardly from sins, and live holily and without blame in the sight of the world, cannot be without the opinion of their own righteousness, with the which true faith in Christ cannot stand: And for this cause they be more miserable than Publicans and harlots, who offer not their good works to God in his displeasure, that for the same he may recompense them with everlasting life (as the Justiciaries do) for they have none to offer: but desire that their sins may be pardoned for Christ's sake, etc.

The other exposition is affirmative: he that is circumcised, is also bound to keep the whole law. For he that receives Moses in one point, must of necessity receive him in all. And it nothing helps to say: that circumcision is necessary, and not the rest of Moses' laws. For by the same reason that you are bound to keep circumcision, you are also bound to keep the whole law. Now, to be bound to keep the whole law, is nothing else but to show in effect, that Christ is not yet come. If this be true, then are we bound to keep all the Jewish ceremonies and laws touching meats, places and times: and Christ must be looked for as yet to come, that he may abolish the Jewish kingdom and priesthood, and set up a new kingdom throughout the whole world. But the whole Scripture witnesses, and the sequel thereof plainly declares that Christ is already come, that by his death he has redeemed mankind, that he has abolished the law, and that he has fulfilled all things which all the Prophets have foretold of him. Therefore the law being clean abolished and quite taken away, he has given to us grace and truth. It is not then the law nor the works thereof, but it is faith in Jesus Christ, that makes a man righteous.

Some would bind us at this day to certain of Moses' laws that like them best, as the false apostles would have done at that time. But this is in no wise to be suffered. For if we give Moses leave to rule over us in anything, we are bound to obey him in all things. Therefore we will not be burdened with any law of Moses. We grant that he is to be read among us, and to be heard as a Prophet and a witness bearer of Christ: and moreover, that out of him we may take good examples of good laws and holy manners. But we will not suffer him in any wise to have dominion over our conscience. In this case let him be dead and buried, and let no man know where his grave is.

The former exposition: that is to say, the negative, seems to me to be more apt and more spiritual: notwithstanding both are good, and both do condemn the righteousness of the law. The first is, that we are so far from obtaining righteousness of the law, that the more we go about to accomplish the law, the more we transgress the law. The second is: that he which will perform any piece of the law, is bound to keep the whole law. To conclude, that Christ profits them nothing at all that will be justified by the law.

Hereby it appears that Paul means nothing else, but that the law is a plain denial of Christ. Now, it is a wonderful thing that Paul dare affirm, that the law of Moses which was given by God to the people of Israel, is a denial of Christ. Why then did God give it? Before the coming of Christ, and before his manifestation in the flesh, the law was necessary. For the law is our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. But now that Christ is revealed, in that we believe in him, we are no longer under the Schoolmaster. Of this we have spoken largely enough before in the end of the third Chapter. Whoever teaches then, that the law is necessary to righteousness, teaches a plain denial of Christ and of all his benefits, he makes God a liar, yes he makes the law also a liar: for the law itself bears witness of Christ, and of the promises made as concerning Christ, and has foretold that he should be a King of grace, and not of the law.

Verse 4. You are abolished [or separated] from Christ: whoever are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace.

Here Paul expounds himself, and shows that he speaks not simply of the law nor of the work of circumcision, but of the confidence and opinion that men have to be justified thereby. As if he would say: I do not utterly condemn the law or circumcision (for it is lawful for me to drink, to eat, and to keep company with the Jews according to the law: it is lawful for me to circumcise Timothy:) but to seek to be justified by the law, as if Christ were not yet come, or being now present, he alone were not able to justify: this is it which I condemn, for this is to be separated from Christ. Therefore, says he, you are abolished: that is, you are utterly void of Christ, Christ is not in you, he works not in you any more. You are not partakers of the knowledge, the spirit, the fellowship, the favor, the liberty, the life, or the doings of Christ, but you are utterly separate from him, so that he has no more to do with you, nor you with him.

These words of Paul are diligently to be noted: that to seek righteousness by the law, is nothing else but to be separated from Christ, and to make him utterly unprofitable. What can be spoken more mightily against the law? What can be set against this thunderbolt? Therefore it is impossible that Christ and the law should dwell together in one heart: for either the law or Christ must give place. But if you think that Christ and the law can dwell together, then be you sure that Christ dwells not in your heart, but the Devil in the likeness of Christ, accusing and terrifying you, and strictly exacting of you the law and the works thereof. For the true Christ (as I said before) neither calls you to a reckoning for your sins, nor bids you trust to your own good works. And the true knowledge of Christ or faith disputes not whether you have done good works to righteousness, or evil works to condemnation: but simply concludes after this sort: if you have done good works, you are not therefore justified, or if you have done evil works, you are not therefore condemned. I neither take from good works their praise, nor commend evil works. But in the matter of justification, I say, we must look how we may hold Christ, lest if we seek to be justified by the law, we make him unprofitable to us. For it is Christ alone that justifies me, both against my evil deeds, and without my good deeds. If I have this persuasion of Christ, I lay hold of the true Christ. But if I think that he exacts the law and works of me to salvation, then he becomes unprofitable to me, and I am utterly separated from him.

These are dreadful sentences and threatenings against the righteousness of the law and man's own righteousness. Moreover, they are also most certain principles which confirm the article of justification. This is then a final conclusion: Either you must forgo Christ or the righteousness of the law. If you retain Christ, you are righteous before God: but if you stick to the law, Christ avails you nothing: you are bound to keep the whole law, and you have now sentence already pronounced against you: Cursed is everyone that fulfills not all the things that are written in this law. As we have said of the law, so we say also of men's traditions. Either the Pope with his religious rout must reject all those things wherein until now he has put his trust, or else Christ shall be unprofitable to them. And hereby we may plainly see how pernicious and pestilent the Popish doctrine has been. For it has led men clean away from Christ, and made him altogether unprofitable. God complains in the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah, that the Prophets prophesied lies and the dreams of their own heart, to the end that his people should forget his name. Therefore just as the false Prophets, leaving the right interpretation of the law and the true doctrine concerning the seed of Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed, preached their own dreams, to the end that the people should forget their God: even so the Papists having darkened and defaced the doctrine of Christ, so that they made it of none effect, taught and set forth nothing else but the doctrine of works, whereby they drew the whole world away from Christ. Whoever earnestly considers this matter, it will make his heart to tremble.

Verse. 4. You are fallen from grace.

That is to say: You are no longer in the kingdom of grace. For just as he that is in a ship, on whichever side he falls into the sea, is drowned: even so he which is fallen from grace must needs perish. He therefore that will be justified by the law, is fallen into the sea, and has cast himself into danger of eternal death. Now, if they fall from grace which will be justified by the moral law: where shall they fall (I pray you) which will be justified by their own traditions and vows? Even to the bottom of hell. No indeed: they fly up into heaven, for so they themselves have taught us. Whoever lives (say they) according to the Rule of Saint Francis, Dominic, Benedict or such other, the peace and mercy of God is upon them. Again, all they that observe and keep chastity, obedience, etc. shall have everlasting life. But let these trifles go to the Devil from whom they came, and hearken what Paul teaches you here: and what Christ teaches, saying: He that believes in the Son of God has everlasting life: but he that believes not in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him. Again, he that believes not is judged already.

Now just as all the doctrine of the Papists (to note this by the way) concerning men's traditions, works, vows and merits, was most common in the world: so was it thought to be the best and most certain of all others: whereby the Devil has both set up and established his kingdom most mightily. Therefore when we at this day do impugn and vanquish this doctrine by the power of God's word, as chaff is driven away by the wind, it is no marvel that Satan rages so cruelly against us, raises up slanders and offenses everywhere, and sets the whole world at our tops. Then, will some man say: It had been better to have held our peace, for then had none of these evils been raised up. But we ought more to esteem the favor of God, whose glory we set forth, than to care for the tyranny of the world which persecutes us. For what is the Pope and the whole world in comparison of God? Indeed we are weak, and bear a heavenly treasure in brittle and earthly vessels: but although the vessels be never so brittle, yet is the treasure inestimable.

These words: You are fallen from grace, must not be coldly or slenderly considered: for they are weighty and of great importance. He that falls from grace, utterly loses the atonement, the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness, liberty and life that Jesus Christ has merited for us by his death and resurrection: and in stead thereof he purchases to himself the wrath and judgment of God, sin, death, the bondage of the Devil and everlasting damnation. And this place strongly confirms and fortifies our doctrine concerning faith or the article of justification, and marvelously comforts us against the cruel rage of the Papists that persecute and condemn us as heretics because we teach this article. Indeed this place ought to frighten the enemies of faith and grace, that is to say, all that seek righteousness by works, from persecuting and blaspheming the word of grace, life and everlasting salvation: but they are so hardhearted and obstinate, that seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, and when they read this dreadful sentence of the Apostle pronounced against them, they understand it not. Let us therefore let them alone: they are blind, and leaders of the blind.

Verse. 5. For we in spirit wait for the hope of righteousness through faith.

Paul here knits up the matter with a notable conclusion, saying: You will be justified by the law, by circumcision and by works: but we seek not to be justified by this means, lest Christ should be made utterly unprofitable to us: and we become debtors to perform the whole law, and so finally fall away from grace: but we wait in spirit through faith for the hope of righteousness. Every word is here diligently to be noted, for they are pithy and full of power. He does not only say, as he is wont: We are justified by faith, or in spirit by faith, but moreover he adds: We wait for the hope of righteousness, including hope also, that he may comprehend the whole matter of faith.

Hope, after the manner of the Scriptures, is taken two ways: for the thing that is hoped for, and for the affection of him that hopes. For the thing which is hoped for, it is taken in the first chapter to the Colossians: "For the hope's sake which is laid up for you in heaven" (Colossians 1): that is to say, the thing which you hope for. For the affection of him that hopes, it is taken in the 8th chapter to the Romans (Romans 8:24): "For we are saved by hope." So hope in this place also may be taken two ways, and so it yields a double sense. The first is: we wait in spirit through faith for the hope of righteousness, that is to say, the righteousness hoped for, which shall be certainly revealed in such time as it pleases the Lord to give it. The second: we wait in spirit by faith for righteousness with hope and desire: that is to say, we are righteous: however our righteousness is not yet revealed, but hangs yet in hope. For, as long as we live here, sin remains in our flesh: there is also a law in our flesh and members rebelling against the law of our mind, and leading us captive to the service of sin (Romans 7:15-17; Romans 7:23). Now when these affections of the flesh do rage and reign, and we on the other side through the spirit do wrestle against the same, then is there a place for hope. Indeed we have begun to be justified through faith: whereby also we have received the first fruits of the spirit, and the mortification of the flesh is also begun in us: but we are not yet perfectly righteous. It remains then that we be perfectly justified, and this is it that we hope for. So our righteousness is not yet in actual possession but lies under hope.

This is a sweet and sound consolation, whereby afflicted and troubled consciences feeling their sin, and terrified with every fiery dart of the Devil, may be marvelously comforted. For the feeling of sin, the wrath of God, death, hell and all other terrors, is wonderfully strong in the conflict of conscience: as I myself being taught by experience do know. Then counsel must be given to the poor afflicted in this way: Brother, you desire to have a sensible feeling of your justification: that is, you would have such a feeling of God's favor, as you have of your own sin: but that will not be. But your righteousness ought to surmount all feeling of sin: that is to say, your righteousness or justification upon which you hold, stands not upon your own feeling, but upon your hoping that it shall be revealed when it pleases the Lord. Therefore you must not judge according to the feeling of sin which troubles and terrifies you, but according to the promise and doctrine of faith, whereby Christ is promised to you, who is your perfect and everlasting righteousness. Thus the hope of the afflicted consisting in the inward affection, is stirred up by faith in the midst of all terrors and feeling of sin, to hope that he is righteous. Moreover, if hope be here taken for the thing which is hoped for, it is thus to be understood, that that which a man now sees not, he hopes in time shall be made perfect and clearly revealed.

Either sense may well stand: but the first touching the inward desire and affection of hoping, brings more plentiful consolation. For my righteousness is not yet perfect, it cannot yet be felt: yet I do not despair: for faith shows to me Christ in whom I trust, and when I have laid hold of him by faith, I wrestle against the fiery darts of the Devil, and I take a good heart through hope against the feeling of sin, assuring myself that I have a perfect righteousness prepared for me in heaven. So both these sayings are true, that I am made righteous already by that righteousness which is begun in me: and also I am raised up in the same hope against sin, and wait for the full consummation of perfect righteousness in heaven. These things are not rightly understood, but when they are put in practice.

As Paul approaches the end of his letter, he mounts a vigorous defense of the doctrine of faith and Christian liberty, hurling thundering words against the false apostles — the enemies and destroyers of it — aiming to defeat and silence them. He urges the Galatians to flee their poisonous teaching as they would flee a deadly plague. In doing so, he mingles warnings and promises, doing everything he can to keep them in the liberty Christ has purchased for them.

Verse 1. Stand firm, then, in the freedom with which Christ has set us free.

In other words: hold your ground. Peter says the same: 'Be sober and watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.' Don't be careless — be steadfast and constant. Don't lie down and sleep. Stand up. It matters that you stay alert and hold fast to the liberty Christ has won for you. Those who grow complacent and careless cannot keep this liberty. For Satan despises the light of the Gospel — the doctrine of grace, liberty, comfort, and life — with the deepest hatred. The moment it begins to shine, he fights against it with everything he has, stirring up storms and obstacles to block its progress and bring it down. Paul therefore warns believers not to sleep or be negligent, but to resist Satan steadily and boldly, so that he cannot rob them of the liberty Christ has purchased for them.

Every word here carries weight. 'Stand,' he says — as if to say: this requires great diligence and vigilance. 'In that liberty' — but what liberty? Not the kind the Emperor grants, but the kind Christ grants. The Emperor gave — or rather was forced to give — the Bishop of Rome a free city and other lands, along with exemptions, privileges, and special rights. That is also a kind of liberty, but it is civil liberty, the kind that exempts the Pope and his clergy from public obligations. Then there is another liberty — a fleshly and in fact devilish liberty — the kind the devil most actively promotes throughout the world. Those who live by this liberty answer to neither God nor law; they simply do as they please. This is the liberty people pursue and embrace today, and it is the liberty the sectarians want — freedom from all correction in their opinions and actions, so they can teach and do whatever they dream up without anyone challenging them. They stand in the liberty the devil has given them. But that is not the liberty we are talking about here — even though the whole world seeks no other. Nor are we speaking of civil liberty. We speak of a very different kind of liberty, one the devil hates and fights against with all his power.

This is the liberty Christ has won for us — not freedom from earthly slavery, nor from Babylonian captivity, nor from the tyranny of the Turks, but from God's eternal wrath. And where does this freedom take effect? In the conscience. There is where our liberty rests, and it extends no further. Christ has made us free — not in a civil or physical sense, but in a divine sense: our conscience is now free and at peace, no longer fearing the wrath of God to come. This is the true and immeasurable liberty, and if you compare any other kind of liberty to it, the others are like a single drop of water beside the whole ocean. Who can fully express what it means for a person to be assured in his heart that God is not and will never be angry with him, but will be his merciful and loving Father forever — for Christ's sake? This is a marvelous and incomprehensible liberty: that the supreme and almighty Majesty is so favorable toward us that He not only defends, sustains, and helps us in this life, but will also raise our bodies — sown in corruption, dishonor, and weakness — to rise again in incorruption, glory, and power. This is therefore an immeasurable liberty: to be freed from God's wrath forever — a freedom greater than heaven and earth and all creation.

From this liberty flows another: through Christ we are also freed from the law, sin, death, the power of the devil, hell, and everything like these. Just as God's wrath cannot terrify us because Christ has delivered us from it, so the law, sin, and death cannot accuse and condemn us. And even when the law does accuse us and sin does alarm us, they cannot drive us to despair. For faith — which overcomes the world — immediately says: these things have no claim on me, because Christ has set me free and delivered me from all of them. Likewise, death — the most powerful and terrifying force in all the world — is completely conquered in the conscience by this spiritual liberty. The greatness of this Christian liberty must therefore be highly valued and carefully considered. It is easy enough to say the words — freedom from God's wrath, from sin, from death — but actually applying them to yourself and experiencing their power in the time of temptation is harder than words can express.

Our conscience must therefore be trained and prepared in advance, so that when we feel the accusation of the law, the terrors of sin, the horror of death, and the wrath of God, we can push these dark and frightening images out of our minds and set in their place the liberty Christ has purchased — the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, life, and God's everlasting mercy. Even when the opposing feeling is very strong, we must assure ourselves that it will not last — as the prophet says: 'For a brief moment, in my anger, I hid My face from you — but with everlasting mercy I have compassion on you.' This is very difficult to do. The liberty Christ has purchased for us is not believed as easily as it is named. But if it could be grasped with a sure and steady faith, then no force of terror — whether from the law, sin, death, or the devil — could be so great that it would not be swallowed up instantly, just as a tiny drop of water is swallowed by the sea. And indeed, this Christian liberty swallows up and completely removes the whole mass of evils — the law, sin, death, God's wrath, and in the end the serpent himself, with his head and all his power — and in their place sets righteousness, peace, and eternal life. But blessed is the one who understands and believes this.

Let us learn, then, to value highly this liberty purchased for us by Jesus Christ the Son of God — the one through whom all things in heaven and earth were created. He purchased this liberty at no lesser price than His own blood, to deliver us not from any physical or earthly slavery, but from a spiritual and eternal bondage under mighty and unconquerable tyrants — the law, sin, death, and the devil — and so to reconcile us to God His Father. Now that these enemies have been defeated and we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son, we can be certain that we stand righteous before God and that everything we do pleases Him. And although some remnants of sin still remain in us, they are not counted against us but are pardoned for Christ's sake.

Paul's words here carry great force. 'Stand,' he says, 'in that liberty in which Christ has made you free.' This liberty is not given to us by the law or earned by our righteousness — it is given freely, for Christ's sake. Paul makes this plain throughout the entire letter. Christ also says in John 8: 'If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.' He alone stands between us and the evils that trouble and afflict us — He has conquered them and stripped them of their power, so that they can no longer oppress or condemn us. In place of sin and death He gives us righteousness and eternal life, and in this way He transforms the bondage and terror of the law into the liberty of conscience and the comfort of the Gospel, which says: 'Take courage, My son — your sins are forgiven.' Whoever believes in Christ the Son of God has this liberty.

Reason cannot grasp how great this gift truly is, but when a person considers it in the Spirit, he sees that it is beyond all measure. Who can even imagine how great and unspeakable a gift it is — to receive forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal life in place of the law, sin, death, and God's wrath, and to have God Himself as a gracious and merciful Father forever? The papists and the hypocrites who seek righteousness through the law or through their own efforts boast that they too have forgiveness of sins, righteousness, life, and God's favor. They claim to possess this liberty and promise it to others — but in reality they are servants of corruption, and in the time of temptation their false confidence vanishes in an instant. They are trusting in human works and satisfactions, not in the word of God or in Christ. It is therefore impossible for those who seek to win heaven, life, and salvation by works and merits to ever truly know what liberty and deliverance from sin means.

Our liberty, by contrast, has Christ Himself as its foundation — the eternal high priest who sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Therefore the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, life, and liberty we have through Him is sure, certain, and permanent — as long as we believe it. If we hold to Christ with a steady faith and stand firm in the liberty He has given us, we will possess these immeasurable gifts. But if we become careless and indifferent, we will lose them. Paul's call to watch and stand firm is not without reason — he knew that the devil desires nothing more than to strip us of this liberty, which cost Christ so great a price, and through his servants to entangle us once more in the yoke of bondage, as follows.

Verse 1. Do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Paul has spoken with profound power about grace and Christian liberty, and with strong and weighty words he has urged the Galatians to remain in it — for it is easily lost. He therefore tells them to stand firm, lest through carelessness or overconfidence they fall back from grace and faith into the law and works. Now, because reason sees no danger in preferring the righteousness of the law over the righteousness of faith, Paul speaks against the law with a kind of holy indignation, calling it with great contempt a yoke — and a yoke of bondage at that. Peter uses the same language in Acts 15: 'Why are you putting God to the test by placing on the disciples' necks a yoke that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?' And so Paul turns everything around. The false apostles had belittled the promise and exalted the law and its works, saying: 'If you want to be freed from sin and death and to obtain righteousness and life, keep the law — be circumcised, observe special days and months and seasons and years, offer sacrifices, and do things like these. Then your obedience to the law will justify and save you.' But Paul says exactly the opposite. Those who teach the law in that way, he says, do not set people's consciences free — they snare and trap them with a yoke, and a yoke of bondage at that.

Paul therefore speaks of the law in the lowest and most contemptuous terms, calling it a harsh bondage and a servile yoke — and not without good reason. The dangerous opinion that the law justifies and makes people righteous before God is deeply rooted in human reason, and all of humanity is so wrapped up in it that it can barely escape. Paul seems to be comparing those who seek righteousness by the law to oxen yoked for labor — intending to strip the law of any claim to justify or make righteous. Just as oxen straining under the yoke with great effort receive nothing for their work except fodder, and when they can no longer pull are sent to slaughter — so those who seek righteousness by the law are captive and crushed under the yoke of bondage, the law. After exhausting themselves for a long time in hard, grinding labor, their final reward is to remain miserable and permanent servants. Servants of what? Of sin, death, God's wrath, and the devil. There is therefore no greater or harder bondage than the bondage of the law — which is exactly why Paul calls it the yoke of bondage. For as we have said many times: the law only reveals, increases, and magnifies sin, accuses, terrifies, condemns, generates wrath, and in the end drives poor consciences to despair — which is the most miserable and crushing bondage there is (Romans 3:4-5).

Paul therefore uses very forceful language. He desperately wants to persuade the Galatians not to let the false apostles lay this unbearable burden on their shoulders, or to be tangled again in the yoke of bondage. It is as if he is saying: what is at stake here is not a trivial matter — it is either eternal liberty or eternal bondage. Just as freedom from God's wrath and all evils is not temporary or physical but eternal, so the bondage of sin, death, the devil, and damnation — which burdens everyone who tries to be made righteous and saved by the law — is not a temporary physical bondage but an eternal one. Those who push themselves to fulfill the law precisely and completely (and it is these people Paul is speaking about) can never find rest and peace of conscience in this life. They constantly doubt whether God is pleased with them, they live in perpetual fear of death and the wrath and judgment of God — and after this life they will be punished for their unbelief with eternal damnation.

Those who depend entirely on the law and its works for righteousness are rightly called the devil's martyrs. According to the proverb, they endure more suffering and self-punishment to earn hell than Christ's martyrs endure to obtain heaven. They are tormented in two ways. First, they afflict themselves miserably throughout their lives with many hard and demanding works — all for nothing. Then at death they receive as their reward eternal damnation. They are the most miserable martyrs of all — both in this life and in the next — and their bondage is eternal. The godly, by contrast, have troubles in this world, but in Christ they have peace, because they believe He has overcome the world. We must therefore stand firm in the freedom Christ purchased for us by His death, and guard carefully against being entangled again in the yoke of bondage — as happens today to the fanatical spirits who, falling away from faith and from this freedom, have brought on themselves a temporary bondage in this life and will face an eternal bondage in the life to come. As for the papists, most of them have become outright Epicureans — so while they can, they indulge the freedom of the flesh, singing that careless song: 'Eat, drink, and be merry — after death there is no more pleasure.' But they are the devil's slaves, held captive at his will and pleasure, and they will feel that eternal bondage in hell. Paul's exhortation up to this point has been intense and earnest — but what follows goes even further.

Verse 2. Look! I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

Here Paul, powerfully stirred by zeal and spiritual intensity, thunders against the law and circumcision. These thundering words, driven by deep zeal and indignation, are drawn out of him by the Holy Spirit: 'Look — I, Paul,' he says. I — who know I have received the Gospel not from any man but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, and who have been given authority from above to teach and declare — I tell you: if you receive circumcision, Christ will benefit you absolutely nothing. This is a very hard sentence. Paul is declaring that to be circumcised is effectively to make Christ useless — not in regard to Christ Himself, but in regard to the Galatians, who had been deceived by the false apostles into believing that faith in Christ was not enough, that circumcision was also required for salvation.

This passage serves as a touchstone by which we can judge with complete certainty all doctrines, works, religions, and ceremonies — whoever teaches them. Whoever teaches that anything other than faith in Christ is necessary for salvation — whether papists, Turks, Jews, or sectarians — or devises any work, religious practice, rule, tradition, or ceremony with the belief that through such things one can obtain forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal life — these people hear in this passage the judgment of the Holy Spirit pronounced against them through the apostle: Christ benefits them nothing. Since Paul dared pronounce this verdict against the law and circumcision, both of which were ordained by God Himself, what would he have said against the worthless scraps of human tradition?

This passage therefore falls like a thunderbolt on the entire papal kingdom. All the priests, monks, and hermits living in their monasteries — and I am speaking of the best of them — placed all their trust and confidence in their own works, righteousness, vows, and merits rather than in Christ. They wickedly and blasphemously imagined Christ to be an angry judge, an accuser, a condemner — and so here they hear their verdict: Christ benefits them nothing. For if they can put away their sins and earn forgiveness of sins and eternal life through their own righteousness and strict manner of life, then what was the point of Christ's birth? What benefit do they receive from His death and bloodshed, His resurrection, His victory over sin, death, and the devil — if they are able to conquer these enemies by their own strength? And what tongue can express, or what heart can conceive, how terrible a thing it is to make Christ useless? The apostle therefore hurls these words with sharp displeasure and indignation: 'If you receive circumcision, Christ will benefit you nothing' — meaning: none of His benefits will come to you. He will have given them all to you for nothing.

This makes it plain enough that nothing under the sun is more harmful than the doctrine of human traditions and works, for it completely abolishes and overturns the truth of the Gospel, faith, true worship of God, and Christ Himself — in whom the Father has established everything (Colossians 2). In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). Therefore all who are authors or defenders of the doctrine of works are suppressors of the Gospel — they make Christ's death and victory worthless, they disfigure and destroy His sacraments, stripping them of their true purpose, and in short they are blasphemers, enemies, and deniers of God and all His promises and gifts. Whoever is not moved by Paul's words — calling the law a yoke of bondage and declaring that those who require circumcision for salvation make Christ worthless — whoever cannot be turned away from the law and circumcision, nor shaken loose from trust in his own righteousness and works, nor stirred to seek the liberty that is in Christ — that person's heart is harder than stone and iron.

This is therefore a clear and certain verdict: Christ is useless — that is, His birth, crucifixion, and resurrection profit nothing — to the one who is circumcised in the sense of putting his trust in circumcision. Paul is not speaking here, as I have said before, of the physical act of circumcision (which does no harm to the person who places no confidence in it for righteousness), but of the use that is made of the act — that is, the trust and righteousness attached to it. We must read Paul in light of the subject he is addressing, which is this: people are not justified by the law, by works, by circumcision, or by anything like these. He is not saying works are nothing in themselves, but that trust in works and righteousness based on works are nothing — because that is what makes Christ useless. Therefore, whoever receives circumcision with the belief that it is necessary for justification — Christ avails him nothing.

We must keep this firmly in mind in our private temptations, when the devil accuses and terrifies our conscience in order to drive it to despair. He is the father of lies and the enemy of Christian liberty — so he torments us constantly with false fears, hoping that when our conscience has lost its Christian liberty, it will feel the grip of sin and condemnation and remain permanently in anguish and terror. When that great dragon — that ancient serpent, the devil, who deceives the whole world and accuses our brothers before God day and night (Revelation 12) — comes and charges you with having done no good and having broken God's law, say to him: You are reminding me of my past sins and telling me I have done nothing right. But none of that touches me — because if I were trusting in my good deeds, or despairing because I have none, Christ would profit me nothing either way. So whether you throw my sins at me or my good works, I don't care — I set both far out of my sight and rest only in the liberty Christ has given me. I know He profits me, and I will not make Him useless — which I would do if I either presumed to earn God's favor and eternal life by my good deeds, or despaired of my salvation because of my sins.

Let us therefore learn with great care to separate Christ from all works — good as well as evil — from all laws both human and divine, and from all troubled consciences. He does deal with afflicted consciences — but not to afflict them further, but to lift them up and comfort them in their affliction. Therefore, if Christ appears in the form of an angry judge or a lawgiver demanding a strict accounting of our past life, let us be certain that what appears is not Christ but a raging demon. Scripture portrays Christ as our reconciler, our advocate, and our comforter. That is what He is and always will be — He cannot be other than Himself.

So whenever the devil, disguising himself as Christ, argues with us like this — 'My word warned you to do this, and you did not do it. You did this other thing you should not have done. Therefore I will take vengeance on you' — let none of this move us at all. Instead, let us immediately think to ourselves: this is not how Christ speaks to poor, afflicted, and despairing consciences. He does not heap more suffering on the already burdened. He does not break the bruised reed or snuff out the smoldering wick. He speaks sharply to the hardened, yes — but to those who are terrified and crushed, He draws them to Himself with the most gentle and comforting words: 'Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' 'I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' 'Take courage, My son — your sins are forgiven.' 'Do not be afraid — I have overcome the world.' 'The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.' We must be on our guard, therefore, against being deceived by Satan's marvelous tricks and endless subtleties — mistaking an accuser and condemner for a comforter and Savior, so that under the mask of a false Christ (that is, the devil), we lose the true Christ and make Him useless to us. This is what we have to say about private and personal temptations, and how we should conduct ourselves in them.

Verse 3. I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

The first problem is severe enough — that Christ profits nothing to those who are circumcised — but what follows is no less serious: that those who receive circumcision are obligated to keep the entire law. Paul says this with such earnestness that he confirms it with an oath: 'I testify' — that is, I swear by the living God. These words can be understood in two ways — negatively and positively. Taking them negatively: I testify to every man who receives circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law — meaning, he fulfills none of it. In the very act of circumcision he is not truly circumcised, and in attempting to fulfill the law he does not fulfill it but rather transgresses it. This seems to me to be the plain and true meaning of Paul here. Later in chapter 6 he explains himself: 'Even those who are circumcised do not keep the law themselves.' He says the same earlier in chapter 3: 'All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse.' As if to say: even though you are circumcised, you are not thereby righteous or free from the law — instead, by that very act you become more indebted and enslaved to it. The harder you try to satisfy the law and be released from it, the more deeply you trap yourself under its yoke, giving it more power to accuse and condemn you. This is going backward like a crab — trying to wash away filth with more filth.

What I am saying here in connection with Paul's words I have learned both from my own experience and from observing others. I have seen many people who labored painfully and in all sincerity did everything within their power — fasting, praying, wearing hair shirts, punishing and tormenting their bodies with various disciplines (practices that would eventually have destroyed even a body made of iron) — all in order to find quietness and peace of conscience. And yet the more they labored, the more they were crushed with fear. Especially when death drew near, they became so terrified that I have seen convicted murderers and other criminals face death more courageously than these people did — people who had nonetheless lived very holy lives.

It is therefore entirely true that those who do the law do not do it — for the more they try to fulfill it, the more they transgress it. We can say the same about human traditions: the more a person strives to quiet his conscience through them, the more he disturbs and torments it. When I was a monk, I tried with everything I had to live according to the strict rule of my order. I was in the habit of going to confession with great devotion, carefully listing all my sins — always with deep sorrow and contrition — and I returned to confession frequently, faithfully performing the penance assigned to me. Yet even so, my conscience could never be fully settled. It was always in doubt, always saying: you did not do this correctly; you were not contrite and sorrowful enough; you left out that sin in your confession. The more I tried to heal my weak, wavering, and troubled conscience through human traditions, the weaker, more uncertain, and more afflicted I became. And so, the more I followed human traditions, the more I violated them — and in seeking righteousness through my monastic order, I could never reach it. For it is impossible, as Paul says, for the conscience to be settled by the works of the law — and far less by human traditions — without the promise and the good news concerning Christ.

Those who seek to be justified and made alive by the law are actually much further from righteousness and life than tax collectors, sinners, and prostitutes. These latter people cannot place their trust in their own works, because their works are the kind for which they cannot hope to earn grace and forgiveness of sins. After all, if righteousness and works done according to the law do not justify, how could sins committed against the law possibly justify? In this sense, sinners and tax collectors are in far better standing than those who pursue righteousness through works — because they have no confidence in their own works, and that kind of confidence is what most powerfully blocks true faith in Christ, when it does not kill it altogether. Those who pursue righteousness through works, on the other hand, outwardly avoid sin and live blamelessly in the world's eyes — and because of this they cannot escape a sense of their own righteousness, which is incompatible with true faith in Christ. This makes them more miserable than tax collectors and prostitutes. The sinners offer God no good works and demand no eternal reward for them — as the self-righteous do — because they have no such works to offer. Instead, they simply ask that their sins be forgiven for Christ's sake.

The other interpretation is positive: whoever is circumcised is also obligated to keep the entire law. For whoever accepts Moses in one point must of necessity accept him in all points. It does no good to say that circumcision is required but the rest of Moses's laws are not. By the same logic that binds you to circumcision, you are also bound to the whole law. Now, to be obligated to keep the entire law is nothing other than to show in effect that Christ has not yet come. If that is true, then we are obligated to keep all the Jewish ceremonies and laws concerning foods, places, and times — and we are still waiting for Christ to come, abolish the Jewish kingdom and priesthood, and establish a new kingdom throughout the world. But all of Scripture bears witness, and everything that followed plainly demonstrates, that Christ has already come — that through His death He has redeemed humanity, abolished the law, and fulfilled everything the prophets foretold about Him. Therefore, since the law has been completely abolished and set aside, He has given us grace and truth. It is not the law or its works, but faith in Jesus Christ, that makes a person righteous.

Some today would bind us to certain laws of Moses — whichever ones they happen to prefer — just as the false apostles tried to do in their time. This must not be permitted in any way. For if we allow Moses to rule over us in any one thing, we become obligated to obey him in everything. We therefore will not be burdened with any law of Moses. We are glad to read him and hear him as a prophet and witness to Christ, and to draw from him good examples of wise laws and upright conduct. But we will not allow him to have any authority over our conscience. In that regard, let him be dead and buried — with no one knowing where his grave is.

The first interpretation — the negative one — seems to me more fitting and more spiritually penetrating, though both are valid and both condemn the righteousness of the law. The first says: we are so far from obtaining righteousness through the law that the more we try to fulfill it, the more we transgress it. The second says: whoever wants to keep any part of the law is obligated to keep the whole law. Both lead to the same conclusion: Christ profits nothing to those who seek to be justified by the law.

What this makes plain is that Paul means nothing other than this: the law is a direct denial of Christ. It is a remarkable thing that Paul dares to say this — that the law of Moses, given by God to the people of Israel, is a denial of Christ. Why then did God give it? Before Christ came and appeared in the flesh, the law was necessary — for the law is our guardian to bring us to Christ. But now that Christ has been revealed and we believe in Him, we are no longer under that guardian. We covered this extensively at the end of chapter 3. Whoever teaches, then, that the law is necessary for righteousness teaches a plain denial of Christ and all His benefits — and makes God a liar, and even makes the law itself a liar. For the law itself bears witness to Christ and to the promises made concerning Him, and foretold that He would be a King of grace, not of the law.

Verse 4. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law — you have fallen from grace.

Here Paul explains himself and makes clear that he is not speaking simply about the law or the act of circumcision, but about the confidence and belief that one can be justified by them. It is as if he were saying: I do not condemn the law or circumcision outright — it is lawful for me to eat and drink and associate with Jews according to the law; it was lawful for me to circumcise Timothy. But to seek to be justified by the law, as though Christ had not yet come, or as though His presence alone were not sufficient to justify — that is what I condemn, for that is what it means to be cut off from Christ. Therefore, he says, 'you have been severed' — meaning you are completely empty of Christ. Christ is not in you, He does not work in you any longer. You have no share in His knowledge, His Spirit, His fellowship, His favor, His liberty, His life, or His work — you are completely separated from Him, so that He has nothing more to do with you, nor you with Him.

Paul's words here deserve careful attention: to seek righteousness by the law is nothing other than to be cut off from Christ and to make Him completely useless. What could be said more powerfully against the law? What argument can stand against a thunderbolt like this? It is impossible for Christ and the law to dwell together in one heart — either the law must yield, or Christ must. If you think Christ and the law can coexist in you, you can be sure it is not Christ who dwells in your heart but the devil in Christ's likeness — accusing and terrifying you, and demanding strict compliance with the law and its works. The true Christ, as I said before, does not call you to account for your sins, nor tell you to trust in your own good works. True knowledge of Christ — genuine faith — does not argue about whether your good works earn righteousness or your evil works earn condemnation. It simply concludes: if you have done good works, you are not thereby justified; if you have done evil works, you are not thereby condemned. I am not denying praise to good works, nor am I commending evil ones. But in the matter of justification, I say we must look to how we hold onto Christ — because if we seek to be justified by the law, we make Him useless to us. Christ alone justifies me — both over against my evil deeds and apart from my good deeds. If I hold this conviction about Christ, I have grasped the true Christ. But if I think He requires the law and works from me for salvation, He becomes useless to me, and I am completely cut off from Him.

These are terrifying declarations and warnings against the righteousness of the law and human self-righteousness. Yet they are also the most certain foundational truths that confirm the article of justification. The conclusion is final: you must give up either Christ or the righteousness of the law. If you keep Christ, you are righteous before God. But if you cling to the law, Christ benefits you nothing — you become obligated to keep the entire law, and the sentence has already been pronounced against you: 'Cursed is everyone who does not do everything written in this law.' What we say of the law we say equally of human traditions. Either the Pope and all his religious systems must abandon everything in which they have trusted until now, or Christ will profit them nothing. This shows us clearly how deadly and destructive the papal doctrine has been. It has led people completely away from Christ and made Him worthless to them. God complains in Jeremiah 23 that the prophets prophesied lies and the dreams of their own hearts, so that His people would forget His name. In the same way, the false prophets abandoned the true interpretation of the law and the genuine teaching about the seed of Abraham in whom all nations would be blessed — and preached their own inventions instead, causing the people to forget their God. So the papists darkened and buried the doctrine of Christ until it had no effect, teaching nothing but the doctrine of works and drawing the whole world away from Christ. Whoever considers this seriously will feel his heart tremble.

Verse 4. You have fallen from grace.

That is to say: you are no longer in the kingdom of grace. Just as a person on a ship who falls overboard on either side is drowned, so anyone who has fallen from grace must perish. Whoever seeks to be justified by the law has fallen into the sea and thrown himself into danger of eternal death. Now if those who seek to be justified by the moral law fall from grace, where do those fall who seek to be justified by their own human traditions and vows? To the very bottom of hell. Though of course they themselves taught it differently — they flew up to heaven! 'Whoever lives according to the rule of Saint Francis, Dominic, Benedict, or such others,' they said, 'the peace and mercy of God rests upon them.' And again: 'All who observe and keep chastity, obedience, and so on, will have eternal life.' But let all that nonsense go back to the devil, from whom it came — and listen instead to what Paul teaches here, and what Christ teaches: 'Whoever believes in the Son of God has eternal life; but whoever does not believe in the Son will not see life — the wrath of God remains on him.' And again: 'Whoever does not believe is condemned already.'

Now, just as the entire papal doctrine concerning human traditions, works, vows, and merits was once the most widespread teaching in the world, it was also considered the best and most reliable of all — and through it the devil established and strengthened his kingdom most powerfully. So when we today attack and overthrow this doctrine through the power of God's word, driving it away like chaff before the wind, it is no wonder that Satan rages so savagely against us, stirs up slander and controversy everywhere, and turns the whole world against us. Someone will say: 'It would have been better to stay silent — none of these troubles would have come.' But we must care more about God's honor, whose glory we proclaim, than about the world's tyranny, which persecutes us. What is the Pope and all the world compared to God? We are weak, and we carry a heavenly treasure in fragile earthly vessels — but however fragile the vessels, the treasure is beyond all price.

The words 'you have fallen from grace' must not be treated lightly or passed over quickly — they are weighty and of enormous importance. Whoever falls from grace completely loses the atonement, the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness, liberty, and life that Jesus Christ has won for us by His death and resurrection — and in their place acquires God's wrath and judgment, sin, death, the devil's bondage, and eternal damnation. This passage powerfully confirms and defends our doctrine of faith and the article of justification, and it gives us wonderful comfort against the fierce rage of the papists who persecute and condemn us as heretics for teaching it. Indeed, this passage ought to make the enemies of faith and grace — all who seek righteousness through works — afraid to persecute and blaspheme the word of grace, life, and eternal salvation. But they are so hard-hearted and stubborn that they see without seeing and hear without hearing — and when they read this dreadful verdict of the apostle pronounced against them, they do not understand it. Let us therefore leave them alone — they are blind, and they lead the blind.

Verse 5. For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

Paul here brings the argument to a close with a notable conclusion: You seek to be justified by the law, by circumcision, by works — but we do not seek justification by those means, so that Christ will not be made useless to us and we will not become obligated to keep the entire law and ultimately fall away from grace. Instead, we wait through the Spirit, by faith, for the hope of righteousness. Every word here deserves careful attention — they are compact and full of force. Paul does not only say, as he often does, 'we are justified by faith' or 'through the Spirit by faith' — he adds 'we wait for the hope of righteousness,' including hope as well, so that he captures the full scope of faith.

In Scripture, the word 'hope' is used in two ways: for the thing hoped for, and for the inner disposition of the one who hopes. As the thing hoped for, it is used in Colossians 1: 'For the hope laid up for you in heaven' — meaning the actual thing you are hoping for. As the inner disposition of the one who hopes, it is used in Romans 8:24: 'For we are saved by hope.' The word 'hope' in this verse can therefore be taken in either sense, yielding two related meanings. The first: we wait through the Spirit, by faith, for the hope of righteousness — that is, for the righteousness that is hoped for, which will certainly be revealed at the time the Lord chooses to give it. The second: we wait through the Spirit, by faith, for righteousness with hope and longing — meaning we are righteous, but our righteousness has not yet been fully revealed; it still rests in hope. As long as we live in this world, sin remains in our flesh — there is a law in our bodies and members that wages war against the law of our mind and takes us captive to sin (Romans 7:15-17; Romans 7:23). When these impulses of the flesh surge and rule, and we on the other side wrestle against them through the Spirit, that is precisely where hope lives. We have indeed begun to be justified through faith — we have received the firstfruits of the Spirit, and the putting to death of the flesh has begun in us — but we are not yet perfectly righteous. What remains is that we be perfectly justified, and that is what we hope for. Our righteousness, then, is not yet in full possession — it rests under hope.

This is a sweet and solid comfort by which afflicted and troubled consciences — those who feel their sin and are struck by every fiery arrow of the devil — can be wonderfully sustained. The felt weight of sin, God's wrath, death, hell, and every other terror is overwhelmingly powerful in a battle of conscience, as I know from my own experience. In that hour, this is what must be said to the poor afflicted soul: Brother, you want to feel your justification the way you feel your sin — you want the same clear, immediate sense of God's favor that you have of your guilt. But that is not how it works. Your righteousness must rise above all feeling of sin. That is, the justification you hold to does not rest on what you feel, but on your hope that it will be revealed when the Lord is pleased to reveal it. Therefore you must not judge by the feeling of sin that troubles and terrifies you, but by the promise and teaching of faith — by which Christ is promised to you as your perfect and eternal righteousness. In this way, hope in the afflicted — arising from an inward longing — is awakened by faith in the midst of all terrors and felt sin, to hope that he is righteous. And if hope here is taken to mean the thing hoped for, the sense is this: what a person cannot yet see, he trusts will in time be made perfect and fully revealed.

Either meaning stands well, but the first — concerning the inward longing and disposition of hope — brings the richer comfort. My righteousness is not yet complete and cannot yet be felt — and yet I do not despair. Faith holds Christ before me, in whom I trust, and when I have grasped Him by faith, I resist the fiery arrows of the devil and take courage through hope against the feeling of sin, assuring myself that a perfect righteousness is being prepared for me in heaven. Both things are therefore true: I am already made righteous by the righteousness that has begun in me, and I am also sustained by that same hope against sin, waiting for the full completion of perfect righteousness in heaven. These things are not truly understood until they are put into practice.