This only would I learn of you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

“As ye do not attend, says he, to long discourses, nor are willing to contemplate the magnitude of this Economy, I am desirous, (seeing your extreme ignorance,) to convince you by concise arguments and a summary method of proof. Before, he had convinced them by what he said to Peter; now, he encounters them entirely with arguments, drawn not from what had occurred elsewhere, but from what had happened among themselves. And his persuasives and proofs are adduced, not merely from what was given them in common with others, but from what was especially conferred on themselves. Therefore he says, "This only would I learn from you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith." Ye have received, he says, the Holy Spirit, ye have done many mighty works, ye have effected miracles in raising the dead, in cleansing lepers, in prophesying, in speaking with tongues,-did the Law confer this great power upon you? was it not rather Faith, seeing that, before, ye could do no such things? Is it not then the height of madness for these who have received such benefits from Faith, to abandon it, and desert back to the Law which can offer you nothing of the same kind?”

“Here he begins to demonstrate in what sense the grace of faith is sufficient for justification without the works of the law.… But so that this question may be carefully treated and no one may be deceived by ambiguities, we must first understand that the works of the law are twofold; for they reside partly in ceremonial ordinances and partly in morals. To the ordinances belong the circumcision of the flesh, the weekly sabbath, new moons, sacrifices and all the innumerable observances of this kind. But to morality belong "You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not bear false witness" and so on. Could the apostle possibly not care whether a Christian were a murderer and adulterer or chaste and innocent, in the way that he does not care whether he is circumcised or uncircumcised in the flesh? He therefore is specially concerned with the works that consist in ceremonial ordinances, although he indicates that the others are sometimes bound up with them. But near the end of the letter he deals separately with those works that consist in morals, and he does this briefly, but he speaks at greater length regarding the [ceremonial] works.… For nothing so terrifies the mind as a ceremonial ordinance that is not understood. But when it is understood it produces spiritual joy and is celebrated gladly and in due season. It is read and treated only with a spiritual sweetness. Now every sacrament, once understood in this way, is applied either to the contemplation of truth or to good morals. The contemplation of truth is founded in the love of God alone, good morals in the love of God and the neighbor, and on these two precepts depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

“Having set forth the rebuke, the Apostle consequently proceeds to show the insufficiency of the law and the power of faith. And first he shows the insufficiency of the law; second, he raises a question and solves it, where he says "What then is the law," etc. And concerning the first he does two things. First, he proves the defect and insufficiency of the law through the things which they themselves had experienced; second, through authorities and arguments, where he says "as it is written." Concerning the first he does two things: for first he proves his proposition, taking the experience from their own side; second he proves the same thing, taking the experience from the side of the Apostle himself, where he says "He therefore who gives to you," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows the gift which they had received; second, the defect into which they had fallen, where he says "Are you so foolish," etc. Now he shows the gift which they had received by asking them whence they had received it. Hence, presupposing the gift received, questioning, he asks them, saying: although you are bewitched and foolish, nevertheless you have not been so deluded that you cannot teach me one thing which is very manifest. And therefore I wish to learn only this from you, because this alone suffices to prove what I intend: this, I say, is that it is established that you received the Holy Spirit; I ask therefore whether you received him from the works of the law, or from the hearing of faith? For understanding this, it should be known that in the primitive Church, by divine disposition, in order that the faith of Christ might be promoted and grow, immediately after the preaching of the faith by the apostles, manifest signs of the Holy Spirit came upon those who heard. Hence it is said of Peter in Acts 10:44: "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell," etc. The Galatians themselves also had manifestly received the Holy Spirit at Paul's preaching. The Apostle therefore asks them whence they had the Holy Spirit. Now it is established that it was not through the works of the law, since, being Gentiles, before the reception of the Holy Spirit they did not have the law; therefore they had the Holy Spirit, that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, from the hearing of faith. Romans 8:15: "You have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear" — the spirit, namely, which was given in the law (whence also the law was given with trembling) — "but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons," which is given through faith, which is from hearing, as is said in Romans 10:17. If therefore the power of faith could accomplish this, it is in vain to seek something else by which we might be saved, since it is much more difficult to make a just man out of an unjust one, than to preserve a just man in justice. If therefore faith, without the law, had made the unjust Galatians just, there is no doubt that it could, without the law, preserve them in justice. Great, therefore, was the gift which they had received through faith. Consequently, when he says "Are you so foolish," etc., he shows the defect into which they had fallen. And the Apostle aggravates a twofold defect in them: namely, as to the gifts which they had received from Christ, and as to the evils which they had endured for him, where he says "Have you suffered so many things," etc. Concerning the first, it should be known that these Galatians, deserting what was great, namely the Holy Spirit, clung to what was lesser, namely the carnal observance of the law, and this is foolish. And therefore he says "Are you so foolish," to the point that, whereas you began by the instinct of the Holy Spirit — that is, you had the beginning of your perfection from the Holy Spirit — now, while you are more perfect, you are consummated by the flesh, that is, you seek to be preserved through the carnal observances of the law, from which not even the beginning of justice can be had? John 6:64: "The flesh profits nothing," etc. And thus you pervert the order, because the way of perfection is to tend from the imperfect toward the perfect. You, however, because you do the opposite, are foolish. Ecclesiasticus 27:12: "A holy man remains in wisdom like the sun; a fool changes like the moon." These men are like those who begin to serve God with fervor of spirit, and afterward fail into the flesh; they are also likened to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, whose head was of gold and whose feet were of clay, Daniel 2:32. And therefore it is said in Romans 8:8: "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." And below, 6:8: "He who sows in the flesh shall reap corruption from the flesh." Consequently, when he says "Have you suffered so many things," etc., he aggravates their defect as to the evils which they endured for Christ. For those who receive something without labor guard it less dearly; but it is foolish to hold cheap, and not to guard, that which is acquired with labor. But these men received the Holy Spirit with labor and great tribulation, which they suffered from their fellow tribesmen on account of the faith. And therefore he says "Have you suffered so many things in vain," as if to say: do not despise so great a gift which you received with labor; otherwise you have suffered those things "in vain," that is, without benefit — since you endured these things in order that you might arrive at eternal life. Romans 5:3: "Tribulation works patience, and patience, proof, and proof, hope," etc. Hence, if you close off for yourselves the entrance to eternal life, deserting the faith, seeking to be preserved by carnal observances, you have suffered "in vain," that is, uselessly. And this I say, "if indeed it be in vain." He says this for the reason that it was in their power to repent, if they wished, as long as they lived. From this, moreover, it is gathered that mortified works come to life again. Wisdom 3:11: "Their labors are without fruit," etc. Galatians 4:11: "But I fear lest I have labored in vain," etc. But if it be understood of the wicked who do not repent, it can be said that they suffer without a cause that confers, namely, eternal life. Consequently, when he says "He therefore who gives to you," etc., he proves his proposition, taking the experience from the side of the Apostle. For they could say: it is true that we received the Holy Spirit from the hearing of faith, but on account of the devotion which we had toward the law, we accepted the faith which you preached. And therefore he says: I do not care whatever may be on your part; nevertheless, that which I did, giving to you through my ministry the Holy Spirit, who works among you mighty deeds — that is, miracles among you — do I do this, then, from the works of the law, or from the works of faith? Not at all from the works of the law, but from faith. But can anyone give the Holy Spirit? For Augustine, in Book XV On the Trinity, says that no mere man can give the Holy Spirit, nor did the apostles themselves give him, but they laid hands upon men, and they received the Holy Spirit. What then is it that the Apostle, speaking of himself, says here, "He who gives to you the Holy Spirit"? I respond. It must be said that in the giving of the Holy Spirit three things occur, related in order: namely, the Holy Spirit indwelling; the gift of grace and charity together with the other habits; and the sacrament of the new law, by whose ministry he is given. And thus he can be given by certain persons in three ways. For he is given by someone as having authority with respect to the three aforesaid things, namely with respect to the indwelling Holy Spirit, with respect to the gift, and with respect to the sacrament; and in this way the Holy Spirit is given by the Father and the Son alone, insofar as they have authority over him — not, indeed, of lordship, but of origin, since he proceeds from both. But as to grace or the gift, and as to the sacraments, the Holy Spirit also gives himself, insofar as the giving implies the causality of the Holy Spirit with respect to his own gifts; for, as the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 12:11, "he himself divides to each as he wills." But insofar as authority is implied in the giving, the Holy Spirit cannot properly be said to give himself. But as to the sacrament, which is given through the ministry of the ministers of the Church, it can be said that the saints, through the ministry of the sacraments, give the Holy Spirit. And it is in this way that the Apostle speaks here, according to what is touched upon in the Gloss; nevertheless, this manner of speaking is not customary, nor is it to be extended further. The Gloss also says that working miracles is attributed to faith, because from the fact that one believes things which are above nature, one works above nature; and because the apostles preached a faith which contained certain things exceeding reason, it was therefore necessary to bring forward some testimonies to their credibility, that they had been sent by God — which exceeds reason. Hence Christ gave them his sign to show this. Now there is a twofold sign of Christ. One is that he is Lord of all; hence it is said in Psalm 144:13: "Your kingdom is a kingdom of all ages," etc. The other is that he is the justifier and savior, according to Acts 4:12: "There is no other name under heaven given to men," etc. He gave them, therefore, two signs: one is that they should work miracles, by which they might show that they had been sent by God, the Lord of every creature. Luke 10: "He gave them power and virtue over all devils," etc. The other, that they should give the Holy Spirit through their ministry, by which they might show that they had been sent by the Savior of all. Acts 8:17: "Then they laid hands upon them," etc., and "then, when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them," etc. And concerning these two ways it is said in Hebrews 2:4: "God bearing witness with signs, and wonders, and various mighty deeds, and distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will."”

“Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ? The Spirit here is the Holy Spirit, with His visible gifts of tongues and prophecy, which He used to give in baptism, as outward tokens of the invisible graces He there infused. S. Paul asks the Galatians whether it is not clear that they received the Spirit and His gifts, not from circumcision, but in baptism. The hearing of faith. Hearing can be taken here either actively, in reference to the preaching they heard, or passively, in reference to their hearkening to and obeying the faith preached. Cf. Isaiah liii. i”

“This one thing would I learn of you,.... Though there were many things he could have put to them, yet he would only ask this one question, which, if rightly attended to, and honestly answered, must expose their folly, and put an end to the controversy upon this head: received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? This question supposes they had received the Spirit; that is, the Spirit of God, as a spirit of wisdom and knowledge in the revelation of Christ; as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification; as a spirit of faith and adoption; and as the earnest, seal, and pledge of their future glory. Now the apostle asks, whether they received this Spirit "by the works of the law"; meaning, either whether they could imagine, that they by their obedience to the law had merited and procured the Spirit of God; or whether they thought that the Spirit came to them, and into their hearts, through the doctrine or preaching of the law: the former could not be true, for if they could not obtain righteousness and life by the works of the law, then not the Spirit; besides, works done without the Spirit of God, are not properly good works: not the latter, for though by the law is the knowledge of sin, yet this leaves nothing but a sense of wrath and damnation in the conscience; it is the killing letter, and a ministration of condemnation and death, and not of the Spirit, and of life; this belongs to the Gospel, "or the hearing of faith"; for by "faith", is meant the Gospel, and particularly the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ's righteousness; and by "the hearing" of it, the preaching of it, the report of it, Isa 53:1 which, in the Hebrew text, is "our hearing", that by which the Gospel is heard and understood. Now in this way the Spirit of God is received; while the Gospel is preaching he falls on them that hear it, conveys himself into their hearts, and begets them again by the word of truth: and in this way the Galatians came by the Spirit, and which is another aggravation of their folly, that they should enjoy so great an advantage by the Gospel, and yet be so easily removed from it.”

“Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law - This may refer to the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, which were very common in the apostolic Church. Did ye receive these extraordinary gifts in consequence of your circumcision, and observing the Mosaic precepts? or was it by the hearing of the Gospel, prescribing faith in Christ crucified? It may also refer to the spirit of adoption, and consequently to their sonship.”

“Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law? As if he said, you esteem it a great favour to have received those spiritual gifts of working miracles, &c. When you were made Christians, had you these favours by the works of the law, or was it not by the hearing of faith, and by the faith of Christ, that you had such extraordinary graces? and when you have begun thus happily by the spirit of Christ and his spiritual gifts, are you for finishing and thinking to make yourselves more perfect by the exterior works of the law, the circumcision of the flesh, and such like ceremonies? (Witham)”

“"Was it by the works of the law that ye received the Spirit (manifested by outward miracles, Gal 3:5; Mar 16:17; Heb 2:4; and by spiritual graces, Gal 3:14; Gal 4:5-6; Eph 1:13), or by the hearing of faith?" The "only" implies, "I desire, omitting other arguments, to rest the question on this alone"; I who was your teacher, desire now to "learn" this one thing from you. The epithet "Holy" is not prefixed to "Spirit" because that epithet is a joyous one, whereas this Epistle is stern and reproving [BENGEL]. hearing of faith--Faith consists not in working, but in receiving (Rom 10:16-17).”