Martin Luther on Galatians 5:7

Verſe. 7. Ye did runne vvell: vvho did let you, that ye did not obey the truth? Theſe are plaine wordes. Paule affirmeth that he teacheth them the truth, and the ſelfe ſame thing that he taught them before, and that they ranne well ſo long as they obeyed the truth, that is, they beleued and liued rightly: but now they did not ſo ſince they were miſled by the falſe apoſtles. Moreouer he vſeth here a new kinde of ſpeech in calling the Chriſtian life a courſe or a race. For among the Hebrues,The chriſtian life is a courſe or a race. to runne or to walke ſignifieth as much as to liue or to be conuerſant. The teachers doe runne when they teach purely, and the hearers or learners doe runne when they receaue the word with ioy, and when the frutes of the ſpirite doe folow. Which thing was done as long as Paule was preſent, as he witneſſed before in the third and fourth chap. And here he ſayeth: Ye did runne vvell: that is to ſay, all things went forward well and happely among you, ye liued very well, ye went on the right way to euerlaſting life, which the word of God promiſed you, &c. Theſe wordes: Ye did runne vvell, containe in them a ſinguler comfort. This tentation oftentimes exerciſeth the godly, that their life ſeemeth vnto them to be rather a certaine ſlow creeping, then a running. But if they abide in ſound doctrine and walke in the ſpirite, lette this nothing trouble them, thoughe their doings ſeeme to goe ſlowly forward, or rather to creepe. God iudgeth farre otherwiſe. For that which ſeemeth vnto vs to be very ſlow & ſcarſely to creepe,That vvhich ſeemeth to vs to creepe, runneth ſvviftly in Gods ſight. Math. 5.4. Luke. 6.21. Rom. 8.28. runneth ſwiftly in Gods ſight. Againe, that which is to vs nothing els but ſorrow, mourning and death, is before God, ioy, mirth & true happines. Therfore Chriſt ſayth: Bleſſed are ye that mourne & vveepe for ye shal receaue cōfort: ye shall laugh. &c. All things ſhall turne to ye beſt to them which beleue in ye ſonne of God, be it ſorrow; or be it death it ſelfe. Therefore they be true runners in deede, and whatſoeuer they doe, it runneth well & goeth happely forward by ye furtherance of Gods ſpirite, which can not ſkill of ſlow procedings.

Verſe. 7. VVho did let you that you did not obey the truth? They are hindred in this courſe which fall away from Faith and grace to the lawe and workes: as it hapned to the Galathians being miſled and ſeduced by the falſe apoſtles, whom he couertly reprehendeth with theſe wordes:Galath. 3.1. vvho did let you that ye did not obey the truth? In like maner he ſayd before in the third Chap. vvho hath bevvitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? And here Paule ſheweth by the way,Falſe doctrine bevvitcheth men. that men are ſo ſtrongly bewitched with falſe doctrine, that they embrace lies & hereſies in the ſted of the truth and ſpirituall doctrine. And on the other ſide they ſay and ſweare that ye ſound doctrine which before they loued, is erroneous, & that their errour is ſound doctrine, maintaining and defending the ſame with all their power. Euen ſo the falſe apoſtles brought the Galathians, which ranne well at the beginning, into this opinion, to beleue that they erred and went very ſlowly forward when Paule was their teacher. But afterwardes they being ſeduced by the falſe apoſtles and falling cleane away from the truth, were ſo ſtrongly bewitched with their falſe perſwaſion, that they thought them ſelues to be in an happie ſtate, and that they ranne very well. The ſame hapneth at this day to ſuch as are ſeduced by the Sectaries and fantaſticall ſpirits. Therfore I am wont to ſay,Falling in doctrine cometh of the Deuil. that falling in doctrine cometh not of man, but of the Deuil, and is moſt perillous: to witte, euen from the high heauen to the bottom of hell: For they that continue in errour, are ſo farre of from acknowledging their ſinne, that they maintaine the ſame to be high righteouſnes. Wherfore it is vnpoſſible for them to obtaine pardon.