Commentary on the Epistle to the GalatiansLuther, Martin
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Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians
Luther, Martin
Bible. Galatians -- Commentaries
The fact that the Spirit of Christ in our hearts cries unto God and
makes intercession for us with groanings should reassure us greatly.
However, there are many factors that prevent such full reassurance on
our part. We are born in sin. To doubt the good will of God is an inborn
suspicion of God with all of us. Besides, the devil, our adversary,
goeth about seeking to devour us by roaring: “God is angry at you and
is going to destroy you forever.” In all these difficulties we have only
one support, the Gospel of Christ. To hold on to it, that is the trick.
Christ cannot be perceived with the senses. We cannot see Him. The heart
does not feel His helpful presence. Especially in times of trials
a Christian feels the power of sin, the infirmity of his flesh, the
goading darts of the devil, the agues of death, the scowl and judgment
of God. All these things cry out against us. The Law scolds us, sin
screams at us, death thunders at us, the devil roars at us. In the midst
of the clamor the Spirit of Christ cries in our hearts: “Abba, Father.”
And this little cry of the Spirit transcends the hullabaloo of the Law,
sin, death, and the devil, and finds a hearing with God.
The Spirit cries in us because of our weakness. Because of our infirmity
the Holy Ghost is sent forth into our hearts to pray for us according to
the will of God and to assure us of the grace of God.
Let the Law, sin, and the devil cry out against us until their outcry
fills heaven and earth. The Spirit of God outcries them all. Our feeble
groans, “Abba, Father,” will be heard of God sooner than the combined
racket of hell, sin, and the Law.
We do not think of our groanings as a crying. It is so faint we do not
know we are groaning. “But he,” says Paul, “that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:27.) To this Searcher
of hearts our feeble groaning, as it seems to us, is a loud shout for
help in comparison with which the howls of hell, the din of the devil,
the yells of the Law, the shouts of sin are like so many whispers.
In the fourteenth chapter of Exodus the Lord addresses Moses at the Red
Sea: “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” Moses had not cried unto the Lord.
He trembled so he could hardly talk. His faith was at low ebb. He saw
the people of Israel wedged between the Sea and the approaching armies
of Pharaoh. How were they to escape? Moses did not know what to say. How
then could God say that Moses was crying to Him? God heard the groaning
heart of Moses and the groans to Him sounded like loud shouts for help.
God is quick to catch the sigh of the heart.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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