Galatians 6:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Therefore, whoever remains in this rule of new life according to the image of Christ, avoiding circumcision grown old and deprived of power, will attain peace with God. He will be freed from the sins that make God our enemy. He will be counted worthy of love for mankind, no longer subject to hatred as God's enemy. Rather, he will be granted mercy, since peace has come to him through the Cross and grace. Such people are Israel in the proper sense, as those who see God. Those who are not such, even if they are Israelites by descent, are falsely called so. Paul took this from David, who says: "Peace be upon Israel" (Ps 124:5).

Paul is speaking of those who are truly ready to behold God, not of those who are called by the name of Israel yet, in their fleshly blindness, refuse to see the Lord. They reject His mercy and still seek to be slaves of what passes away.

Upon those who walk according to this rule, the Apostle Paul sends down peace and mercy. For although they come from different tribes and rites, through unity of faith and love they make up the true children of God, a holy people, the people of renewal, the true Israel of God. Verse 18: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen."

And those who firmly hold this gracious rule of grace, whether they are Gentiles or Israelites of God, peace shall be upon them.

The Apostle called the teaching set forth here a "rule," since it is adorned with rectitude and contains nothing deficient or excessive. To those who loved it he wished mercy and peace. He called the faithful the "Israel of God," since they behold God by faith. For this is what the name "Israel" means.

He calls the prescriptions of this teaching his rule. By it he revealed that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision profits and saves a man, but renewal through faith in Christ. By the expression "upon them" he indicates those who believed from among the Gentiles. By the expression "upon the Israel of God" he indicates those who believed from the race of Israel and became children of God by faith. He wishes the peace and mercy of God both to the Gentile faithful and to the Israelite faithful who walk according to the prescription of his teaching. He says: those from the Gentiles who believe and walk by the rule of this teaching of mine, may the peace and mercy of God be with them, and with the Israelites who by faith have become God's own.

"Upon the Israel of God." Sending peace to the faithful fulfillers of the rules of apostolic teaching, Saint Paul calls them Israel. For Christians have become the faithful people of God in place of Israel according to the flesh, which rejected Him and was rejected.

Then, having bestowed peace and mercy upon "those who walk according to this rule, and upon the true Israel of God," that is, upon those who have renounced circumcision and begun to walk in the renewal of gracious life, the Apostle concludes the epistle with an exclamation.

The false teachers, who sought to appear Israelites through their visible sign, circumcision, were not truly such. Christians, as those chosen by God through Jesus Christ, have at the same time become true Israelites. Therefore to them belong all the promises of God that were promised through the patriarchs and prophets. Among these promises, peace and mercy had and always will have special significance. That is, God's forgiveness of human sins, and their repose in God the Savior. "These Christians are the ones who should properly be called Israel. Those who think contrary to this, even if they were born of Israel and bear its name, have lost all this, both kinship with it and its very name. Only those who live according to this rule, in renewal of life, in Christ Jesus, and in crucifying themselves with Him, having left the old behind and following the teaching of grace, can be called true Israelites" (John Chrysostom).

By what rule? By the rule of walking in newness of life, in Christ Jesus, having crucified the world to oneself and oneself to the world, apart from circumcision and all other external ranks that only constrain the freedom of the spirit. To such people the Apostle wishes peace and mercy, or he affirms that peace and mercy already rest upon them. In them there is truly peace with God through faith in the crucified Lord, and peace within themselves through gracious renewal. Everyone who approaches the Lord receives both. This is the first mercy of God, by which the door is opened to all other mercies. Having been shown mercy, one has become beloved by God. Having been born again, one has become a son of God.