For if I build again the things which I destroyed,.... Which must be understood not of good things, for formerly he destroyed the faith of the Gospel, at least as much as in him lay, and now he built it up, established, and defended it; in doing which he did no evil, or made himself a transgressor, but the reverse; he showed himself a faithful minister of Christ: but of things not lawful, such as the rites and ceremonies of the law of Moses, which were now abrogated, and he had declared to be so all over the Gentile world; and therefore should he go about to establish these things as necessary to salvation, or teach men to join the observance of them with Christ's righteousness for justification, then, says he,I make myself a transgressor: for he could not be otherwise, be the case how it would with respect to the abrogation, or non-abrogation of the law; for if the law was not abolished, then he made himself a transgressor of it; by neglecting it himself, and teaching others to do so; and if it was abolished, then it must be criminal in him to enforce the observance of it as necessary to a sinner's justification before God.
Bible Commentary
Galatians 2:18
Galatians 2:18
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Galatians 2 — OverviewGalatians 2 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThe apostle, in this chapter, continues the relation of his past life
and conduct, which he had begun in the former; and, by some further
instances of what had passed between him and the other apostles, makes…Galatians 2 — OverviewGalatians 2 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeGalatians 2:1, He shows when he went up again to Jerusalem, and for what purpose; Galatians 2:3, and that Titus was not circumcised; Galatians 2:11, and that he resisted Peter, and told him the reason; Galatians 2:14,…Galatians 2 — OverviewGalatians 2 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleIn this chapter the apostle proceeds with the narrative of himself, and gives an account of another journey of his to Jerusalem, where he had a conversation with the chief of the apostles; in which they approved of his…Galatians 2:1-21Galatians 2:1-21 · The Pulpit CommentaryEXPOSITION
In the preceding chapter, St. Paul has been concerned to make clear the position that neither the gospel which he preached nor the commission which he held was derived from the older apostles- the history of…Galatians 2:11-21Galatians 2:11-21 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleI. From the account which Paul gives of what passed between him and the
other apostles at Jerusalem, the Galatians might easily discern both
the falseness of what his enemies had insinuated against him and their…Galatians 2:11-18Galatians 2:11-18 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe apostolic strife at Antioch.
Passing from the Jerusalem conference, Paul next mentions the strife which Peter and he had at Antioch. Peter had come down to see the work of God among the Gentiles. In his…
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