Galatians 5:2

Behold, I Paul say unto you,.... The apostle proceeds to give some reasons and arguments to enforce the above exhortation and dissuasion: the first of which is introduced with a note of attention,

Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Behold - i:e., mark what I say. I Paul. However you disparage me, I give my personal authority as enough by itself to refute all opposition.

It is manifest that the apostle is speaking here concerning circumcision, looked upon as necessary to justification, now under the gospel state. For under the Old Testament undoubtedly Christ profited the fathers, though circumcised; yea, Christ undoubtedly profiled Timothy, even under the gospel, though he was circumcised, , that being done to prevent a scandal, and during a time whilst, for the gaining of the Jews to the Christian faith, the Jewish ceremonies, though dead, were (as it were) kept above ground, unburied for a time. But for men, after a sufficient time indulged them for their satisfaction concerning the abolition of the ceremonial law, still to adhere to it, and religiously to observe the rites of it, as in obedience to a Divine precept, and as necessary, over and above faith in Christ for justification, was indeed to deny Christ, and disclaim his sufficiency to save, who is able to save to the utmost them that come to God by him, ; and besides whom there is no name given under heaven, by which men can be saved, neither is there salvation in any other, ,12; and who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, . So that to join any thing with Christ, and faith in him, for the justification of the soul before God, is plainly to deny and disclaim him, and to make him insignificant to us. This Paul affirms with an apostolical authority and gravity: I Paul say unto you.

2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Ver. 2. Behold I Paul] q.d. As true as I am Paul, and do write these things. Christ shall profit you nothing] For he profits none but those that are found in him, not having their "own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God through faith," Philippians 3:9. As Pharaoh said of the Israelites, "they are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in," Exodus 14:3; so may it be said of Pharisaical and Popish justiciaries, they are entangled in the fond conceits of their own righteousness, they cannot come to Christ. A man will never truly desire Christ till soundly shaken, Haggai 2:7.

(2-6) There can be no compromise between Christianity and Judaism. If you accept the one you must give up the other. Circumcision is a pledge or engagement to live by the rule of the Law. That rule must be taken as a whole. You are committed to the practice of the whole Law, and in that way alone you must seek for justification. Our position is something quite different. We hope to be admitted into a state of righteousness through the action of the Spirit on God’s side, and through faith on our own. The Christian owes the righteousness attributed to him, not to circumcision, but to a life of which faith is the motive and love the law. The whole tenor of the Epistle shows that the Apostle viewed the attempts of the Judaising party with indignation; and at this point his language takes a more than usually stern and imperative tone. He speaks with the full weight of his apostolic authority, and warns the Galatians that no half-measures will avail, but that they must decide, once for all, either to give up Judaism or Christ. This is one of the passages which have been insisted on as proving a direct antagonism between St. Paul and the other Apostles; but any one who enters into the thought of the Apostle, and follows the course of his impassioned reasoning, will see how unnecessary any such assumption is. Nothing is more in accordance with human nature than that the same man should at one time agree to the amicable compromise of Acts 15, and at another, some years later, with the field all to himself, and only his own converts to deal with, should allow freer scope to his own convictions. He is speaking with feelings highly roused, and with less regard to considerations of policy. Besides, the march of events had been rapid, and the principles of policy themselves would naturally change.

Verse 2. If ye be circumcised] By circumcision you take on you the whole obligation of the Jewish law, and consequently profess to seek salvation by means of its observances; and therefore Christ can profit you nothing; for, by seeking justification by the works of the law, you renounce justification by faith in Christ.

2. St Paul here speaks with the Apostolic authority which he had vindicated at the opening of the Epistle, but which he has hitherto kept in abeyance while using argument, and remonstrance, and entreaty.if ye be circumcised] St Paul and the other Apostles, and indeed every convert from Judaism, were circumcised. It is clear therefore that this expression (repeated in Galatians 5:3) must mean not the fact of being circumcised, but the deliberate submission of Gentiles to the rite by which proselytes were admitted to the Jewish Church, as if it were necessary to salvation. A better rendering would be, if ye submit to be circumcised. The act of such submission implied that a man sought salvation in and by the law, of which circumcision is the seal. But to such a man Christ and His righteousness bring no advantage. ‘He who submits to circumcision does so because he stands in fear of the law, and he who so stands in fear distrusts the power of grace, and he who distrusts gains no advantage from that which is so distrusted’. Chrys.St Paul, though as ‘touching the righteousness which is in the law,’ he was found blameless before his conversion, yet turned his back on it all that he might win Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of his own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Philippians 3:6-9.

Behold, I Paul say unto you - I, who at first preached the gospel to you; I, too, who have been circumcised, and who was formerly a strenuous assertor of the necessity of observing the laws of Moses;

PART THIRD. TO IN DUTY, Galatians 5:2 to Galatians 6:18.1. Admonitory warnings to maintain their freedom from circumcision and legalism, Galatians 5:2-12.2.