Christ Alone: Why Legal Works Cannot Profit the Soul

Paul's declaration cuts to the heart of religious corruption: "If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." The Galatians faced a false choice—whether Elohim deals with us entirely through works or entirely through Christ. These cannot be mixed without destroying the efficacy of grace itself.

Thomas Manton, D.D., exposed the fatal error: to supplement Christ's righteousness with our own works, to add anything to His passion as a meritorious cause of justification, renders Christ unprofitable. We must content ourselves with Christ and His merits alone (Colossians 2:10).

Circumcision was the skia (shadow) of substance already enjoyed by Christians. The law prescribing it had completed its true work and was abolished in Christ. Yet the Galatians abandoned their great liberator for the grievous shackles of their former tyranny. This was the superfluousness H.W. Beecher denounced.

The Church does not demand uniformity but unity in diversity. Trees possess branches large and small; flowers unfold freely according to their nature, yet the landscape remains one. The twelve tribes formed one am segulah (peculiar people). So Christians—differing in gifts, education, and opinions—are united in faith in Jesus Christ, worship of the true God, and love for fellow believers, forming one spiritual brotherhood through grace alone.