GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
GALATIANS 6:16
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16 Peace and mercy to all who live by this rule, even to the Israel of God.
David concludes his 23rd Psalm in a similar way, declaring the blessing there on his own head: “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:6). Paul showers this blessing on all his readers until the end of time, for he knows that this epistle will be read and read again in the churches. Those churches, the holy Christian church that knows Jesus Christ as Lord, that repents of sin and turns to Christ alone for forgiveness, is the true Israel of God.
The difference between the blessing of Psalm 23:6 and Paul’s blessing here is the manner of the blessing; a difference only in the word-picture but not in the factual blessing. In the Psalm, David pictures goodness and mercy “following” the way that a shadow follows a person, or the way that puppies or kittens follow you wherever you go. And once upon a time, I suppose that I was the same way, following my big brother Dan wherever he went, mostly because I thought that he and his life were interesting, and mine was not. Paul, however, uses the Greek preposition epi (ἐπί), “upon.” He pictures peace and mercy resting over us at all times. Jesus told his apostles, “When you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, let your peace rest upon (ἐπί) it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you” (Matthew 10:12-13). The peace that the Savior meant was the same peace Paul is offering as a blessing here: the blessing of true peace, the end of all hostility, warfare, and punishment from God. It is the absolute peace, the peace of essence and not merely of substance, between God and mankind. It is the peace of having the guilt of our sins removed by the blood of the Son of God.
The act of this removal was a demonstration of God’s divine mercy. This is the emotion that is part of God’s essence; one of his irremovable characteristics, for he says, “‘Return, unfaithful Israel,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will no longer frown on you. for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:12).
The word “rule” is kanón (κανών), or “canon,” the measuring rod by which something is judged to be the correct length, size, or any other measurement. He means the basic measuring stick of the new creation in Christ; of being saved through faith in Christ alone apart from the law, for this is the immediate context of verses 14-15, and the larger context of the entire letter.
We use the term canon to describe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. All Scripture is inspired or “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). Every statement of the Bible must be accepted as absolute truth, although not every statement is an article of faith (doctrine), since some of the Scriptures are simply a true history (for example, Esther). Articles of faith stand in some relation to our salvation. Some of these do this in a direct way, others in a more remote relation. But the written text of the Bible is the only word of God that we have. Moses spoke with the Lord face to face “as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11) but we only have what Moses and the prophets wrote down. We cannot go back and listen to what Jesus preached and taught; we have only what the apostles recorded for us. “The Scriptures are the only fountain of doctrine,” wrote Professor J. P. Meyer. “This is underscored by the demand that every teacher must submit to its judgment without reservation. The Scriptures provide the absolute standard by which all doctrine must be gauged.”
Against this, the theologians of the E.L.C.A. proclaim: “The ultimate authority of Christian theology is not the biblical canon as such but the gospel of Jesus Christ to which the Scriptures bear witness– the ‘canon within the canon.’” But their judgment elevates them above God and above Christ. What a burden and an honor it must be to be a minister or a bishop in the ELCA! They have taken up the responsibility of judging God himself, and of being able to say, “This is not what God said” when that is exactly what the text says. They have said publicly and in convention that Jesus’ words, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) are an embarrassment to them. They have gone above and beyond (I am using these words precisely) God himself. They have set themselves up as God above God and as Lord above Christ. For Jesus always submitted to the written text of the Scriptures without hesitation or reservation. “It is written” was his constant refrain when speaking about any doctrine (Matthew 4:4,6,7,10; 11:10; 26:24,31; John 6:31,45; 8:16; 10:34, etc.). Abraham Calov (Lutheran theologian, 1612-1686) said: “The genus of Scripture is the Word of God [that is, it is in a class by itself], because not only what God speaks, but also what is written by God through secretaries is God’s Word, and it is the same word, which has been and is in God, which we call ‘immanent in God,’ and which was revealed, which is reduced to writing, and which we call ‘emmanent from God.’” As Paul says: “Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you. You received it, and on it you now take your stand” (1 Corinthians 15:1).
Holy Scripture is the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. I have said this before, but the so-called apocryphal books testify themselves that they are outside the canon of Scripture. Anyone who disagrees with that judgment of the apocrypha immediately condemns those books because he judges them to be mistaken about their own status in the canon. Anyone who agrees with that judgment also condemns those books as far as the canon is concerned because he accepts their own (that is, the apocrypha’s) judgment about themselves. So why do I quote from the apocrypha from time to time? I do not quote them as authoritative, but as pious examples of faith asserting true statements of the true Scriptures, just as I quote from the early church fathers, from the creeds, from Martin Luther, from my own professors and teachers, and from the sermons of my father-in-law. I also quote from the apocryphal books and the early church fathers because they were written in the same Greek dialect as the New Testament, and their grammar and vocabulary can help us to understand the language of the New Testament just as knowing Shakespeare can help us to understand the language of English and especially a translation of the same time period such as the King James Version (1611).
Live by the rule, the governing text, of the holy Bible. For those who walk in step with this rule there is peace from God, the favor of God, the forgiveness of sins, and serenity for the conscience. There is also mercy from God, which includes his constant affection and attention, his guidance, and his protection through the holy angels that surround us and wage unseen wars all around us on our behalf (Hebrews 1:14; Luke 4:10-11; Psalm 91:11-12).
You, who trust in Christ for forgiveness, the resurrection, and peace, are the true Israel of God. Praise him for all his gifts.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Galatians 6:16 peace and mercy