Galatians: Paul's Charter of Christian Freedom

by Leon L. Morris

Among the letters of Paul, Galatians burns like a firestorm of apostolic rebuke, persuasion and passion for the truth of the gospel. Against those who would preach "another gospel," Paul deploys an arsenal of biblical-theological reasoning and a rhetoric of vivid, contrasting images that have seldom failed to arrest readers of every era. Freedom in Christ is set against bondage to the law, adopted children of God are contrasted with slaves of elemental spirits, and justification by faith is opposed to works of the law. But what are these "works of the law"? Good works by which people assert their self-achieved righteousness, or practices of the Jewish law that defined social boundaries and thus stood as a barrier to Gentiles from entering the new covenant? Astute readers will recognize this question as central to the recent scholarly debate over the "new perspective" on Paul. Leon Morris clearly stands in the tradition of Martin Luther and the Reformers. With seasoned insight and deft simplicity, he explores the complexities and bold affirmations of Galatians--laying bare its essential structure, logic and meaning. Never diverted by interpretive fashion or speculation, he represents a classic exegetical tradition that focuses on the plain meaning of the biblical text and the apostolic truth of the gospel. Readers who have puzzled over the twists, turns and compressed arguments of Galatians will be delighted to have Morris as their guide. The text that through the centuries has stirred and ignited the embers of gospel faith speaks with clarity again in our day.

Genres: New Testament, Reference, Biblical Studies

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[David Monreal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but insightful book on the book of Galatians suitable for pastors, students, and committed believers who want to go deeper into God's word. He does deal with some of the Greek but not in a way that the non-fluent Greek reader could not understand. Rather than have the word in Greek, he transliterates it so the English reader can follow along. Overall a very helpful book in studying for weekly sermons.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leon Morris is always worth consulting in whatever commentary or biblical study he has written. His Galatians commentary is no exception. It is not a very technical commentary, and it doesn't interact with the new perspectives on Paul (which it doesn't need to, imo), but it is a solid exposition of text.

[John Brackbill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A helpful, supplementary commentary. One of my friends while preaching through Galatians.

[Rev Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leon Morris is my favorite commentator, but I wouldn't call his commentary on Galatians his best work. There was nothing wrong with his commentary, and I found his thoughts helpful and instructive as useful. This work just didn't have the same depth and insight as I normally see from Morris. Many of the best parts of Morris' commentary was his quotes from Bruce. This is a good commentary if one doesn't have the ability to interact with the Greek and wants a shorter commentary to help gain a second perspective to understand the text. Here is my ranking of the most helpful and instructive commentaries that I read as I preached through Galatians. 1. F.F. Bruce 2. Martin Luther 3. J.M. Boice 4. Leon Morris 5. Max Anders 6. Todd Wilson

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morris's commentary is workmanlike and tied entirely to the Lutheran/Reformation understanding of Judaism and Paul's understanding of justification and works. That is fine but he repeats it so much that I began looking for a Wright commentary on Galatians almost immediately.