CHAPTER 6
Lecture 5
16 And whosoever shall follow this rule, peace on them and mercy; and upon the Israel of God.
17 From henceforth let no man be troublesome to me; for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.
Having disclosed the intention of the seducers and intimated his own, the Apostle counsels them:
First, to imitate him;
Secondly, to desist from being troublesome to him (v. 17);
Thirdly, he begs grace for them to carry out the aforesaid (v. 18).
First, therefore, he says: My intention is to glory only in the Cross of Christ. And you, too, should do this, because whosoever shall follow this rule which I follow, namely, this proper way of glorying—“But we will not glory beyond our measure and according to the measure of the rule which God hath measured to us” (2 Cor 10: 13) — peace on them , namely, on those who glory, because they glory in Christ alone: peace, I say, by which they are set at rest and made perfect in good. (For peace is tranquillity of mind: “Since I am become in his presence as one finding peace” (Cant 8: 10); and in Colossians (3:15): “And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body”): and mercy , by which we are set free of our sins: “The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed” (Lam 3:22); “The grace of God and his mercy is with his saints, and he hath respect to his chosen,” namely, who are His Israel (Wis 4:15): “For it is not he is a Jew who is so outwardly” (Rom 2:28). He, therefore, is the Israel of God who is spiritually an Israel before God: “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile” (Jn 1:47); “For all are not Israelites that are of Israel: neither are all they that are the seed of Abraham, children; but in Isaac shall thy seed be called; that is to say, not they that are the children of the flesh are the children of God but they that are the children of the promise, are ac counted for the seed” (Rom 9:6). Hence even the Gentiles have become the Israel of God by uprightness of mind; for Israel means “most upright”: “Israel will be your name” (Gen 32:28).
Then when he says, From henceforth let no man be troublesome to me , he admonishes them to bother him no more.
First, he gives the admonition;
Secondly, he gives a reason for it (v. 17).
He says therefore: From henceforth let no man be troublesome to me. This can be explained in two ways. In one way, from henceforth can be taken as one word [ amodo ] that the sense is: From henceforth , i.e., from now on. In another way it might be taken as two words [de cetero], so that the sense is: Let no man be troublesome to me about anything else. As if to say: I glory in the Cross alone; with respect to anything else, let no man bother me, because I care about nothing else. But the first is better.
His saying, let no man be troublesome to me , can be referred to the false brethren, who were troubling the Apostle by raising difficulties and murmuring about the legal observances: “But as for me, when they were troublesome, I was clothed with haircloth” (Ps 34:13). Or it can be referred to hearers who do not grasp his meaning. As if to say: let no one be troublesome to me , i.e., let no one who hears me show himself to be such as to make it necessary for me to labor with him again, namely, by understanding in a way other than I have taught.
The reason for this admonition he assigns when he says, for I bear the marks [stigmata] of the Lord Jesus in my body . For stigmata are, strictly speaking, certain marks branded on one with a hot iron; as when a slave is marked on the face by his master, so that no one else will claim him, but quietly let him remain with the master whose marks he bears. And this is the way the Apostle says he bears the marks of the Lord, branded, as it were, as a slave of Christ; and this, because he bore the marks of Christ’s passion, suffering many tribulations in his body for Him, according to the saying of 1 Peter (2:21): “Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps”; “Always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor 4: 10).
According to this there are two ways of connecting this with the preceding. In one way, as has been said: let no man be troublesome to me , for I bear the marks of Our Lord Jesus Christ in my body; consequently, no one has any right over me except Christ. In another way: let no man be troublesome to me, because I have many other conflicts and marks that trouble me in the persecutions I suffer; and it is cruel to add affliction to one already afflicted. Hence the complaint of Job (16:15): “He hath torn me with wound upon wound.” Nevertheless, the first is better.
Then he implores the help of God’s grace, saying: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ , by which you may carry out the foregoing, be with your spirit , i.e., with your understanding, so that you may understand the truth. Or, with your spirit, with which you should observe the Law, rather than in a carnal manner: “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons” (Rom 8:15).