Galatians 6:8

6:8 Living to please the Spirit is only possible in the Spirit’s power (3:3; 5:16). Those who trust in human effort and those who think they can do as they wish are in the same position: They live to satisfy their own sinful nature. Such people harvest decay and death. Those who live by the Spirit’s power and trust in God will harvest everlasting life.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Gal 6:8. Εἰς, into) as into [upon] the ground.—τὸ πνεῦμα, the Spirit) Here his is not added [as in “his flesh”]. In ourselves we are carnal, not spiritual. The flesh is devoted to selfishness.—ζωὴν αἰώνιον, eternal life) The article is not added, for the question here is not about faith, but about the fruit of faith.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gal_6:8. Ground assigned for the foregoing proposition. So it is, since in fact the two opposite sorts of ground which receive the seed will also yield two opposite kinds of harvest. In the words ὃ ἐὰν σπείρῃ ἄνθρ. τοῦτο κ. θερίσει Paul, as was required by the matter which he would figuratively present (evilgood), has conceived two different classes of seed, with two sorts of recipient soil likewise essentially different; one class comprises all the kinds of seed which are sown to a mans own flesh, the other class includes all those which are sown to the Holy Spirit. He who scatters the former class of seeds, and therefore sows to his own flesh, will from this soil, which he has furnished with the corresponding seed, reap corruption, etc. Therefore we have not here any alteration in the figure, by which Paul leaves the description of the seed, and passes over to that of the soil (Rückert, Hofmann, according to whom it is only this alteration which explains the connection with Gal_6:6), but a proof that the state of the case, in accordance with the two kinds of soil which come into view, will not be other than is said in Gal_6:7. Observe the ὅτι, for the most part neglected by expositors, which is not explanatory, but causative (quoniam, Vulgate).

ὁ σπείρων εἰς τ. σάρκα ἑαυτοῦ] that is, he who is minded and acts so that his own fleshhis sinfully-determined corporeo-psychical nature (comp. Gal_5:16 f.)is the element conditioning and prompting his thoughts and actions. ἑαυτοῦ is added, because afterwards an objective principle, τὸ πνεῦμα, is opposed to this selfish subjective principle.[256] The idea that εἰς τ. σάρκα ἑαυτοῦ applies to circumcision (Pelagius, Schoettgen; comp. Rückert and also Usteri) is entirely foreign to the context.

φθοράν] corruption, destruction (Rom_8:21; Col_2:22; 2Pe_2:12; LXX. Psa_102:4; Wis_14:12; Thuc. ii. 47; Plat. Pol. viii. p. 546 A; and frequently), that is, here, in accordance with the contrast of ζωὴ αἰώνιος, the eternal ἀπώλεια.[257] But the suggestion that ΦΘΟΡΆΝ is used in reference to the corruptibility of the flesh (Winer, Schott, Reithmayr, and others; comp. also Chrysostom and Theodoret) cannot be entertained, because the true Christians who die before the παρουσία partake the lot of corruption, and the point of time for the harvest is conceived as not earlier than the nearly approaching ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑ (Gal_6:9), in which either ΦΘΟΡΆ or ΖΩῊ ΑἸΏΝΙΟς will be the result of the judgment. According to de Wette, Paul has chosen this expression in order to denote the perishableness of carnal aims, and at the same time their destructive consequences for the soul. This is arbitrary. The general idea of φθοράν obtains its more precise definition simply from ΖΩῊΝ ΑἸΏΝ. Comp. 1Co_3:17; 2Pe_2:12.

Ὁ ΔῈ ΣΠΕΊΡΩΝ ΕἸς ΤῸ ΠΝΕῦΜΑ] No more than in chap. 5 does ΤῸ ΠΝΕῦΜΑ here mean the higher nature of man (Rückert, Schott, and most expositors; also Ernesti Urspr. d. Sünde, I. p. 60, II. p. 90 f.), but (so also Wieseler and Hofmann) it denotes the Holy Spirit. Jerome aptly remarks, that for this very reason Paul did not again add ἑαυτοῦ (which Ernesti would arbitrarily again supply). The less, therefore, the ground for misapplying the passage in favour of the meritoriousness of good works. The sense, when divested of figure, is: he who is minded and acts so that the Holy Spirit is the element which determines and prompts him.

ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος θερίσει κ.τ.λ.] At the ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑ. See also Rom_8:11; Rom_8:15-17; 2Co_5:5; Eph_1:14. ΦΘΟΡΆ and ΖΩῊ ΑἸΏΝΙΟς are conceived as the two kinds of produce which shall have sprung up from the two different sorts of recipient soil.

[256] Luther (1519 and 1524), with strange arbitrariness, holds that Paul desires to obviate the thought de seminatione masculi in carnem feminae. But in 1533 he consistently abides by the reference to the attitude towards the teachers, and explains: qui nihil communicat ministris verbi, sed se solum bene pascit et curat, id quod caro suadet, etc. Comp. Calovius and others; also Hofmann: he who applies that which he possesses to his own flesh, in order to gratify its desires. We may add that the Encratites made use of our passage (see Jerome) as a ground for rejecting sexual intercourse and marriage; holding that he who takes a wife sows to the flesh, etc.

[257] The same thought is expressed in Rom_8:13 : εἰ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνήσκειν. Comp. ver. 23.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gal 6:8 . Every action produces an effect on the character of the actor corresponding as exactly to its motive as the fruit to the seed. If it springs from selfish desire, it stimulates the growth of evil lusts, and issues in a harvest of inward corruption. If, on the contrary, it be done in obedience to the spirit, it quickens spiritual growth, and issues eventually in a harvest of eternal life. The heart of man resembles a field in which he sows, by the mere exercise of his will, a future harvest of good or evil.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To the commodities of this present life.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Translate, "He that soweth unto his own flesh," with a view to fulfilling its desires. He does not say, "His spirit," as he does say, "His flesh." For in ourselves we are not spiritual, but carnal. The flesh is devoted to selfishness.

corruption--that is, destruction (Phi 3:19). Compare as to the deliverance of believers from "corruption" (Rom 8:21). The use of the term "corruption" instead, implies that destruction is not an arbitrary punishment of fleshly-mindedness, but is its natural fruit; the corrupt flesh producing corruption, which is another word for destruction: corruption is the fault, and corruption the punishment (see on Co1 3:17; Pe2 2:12). Future life only expands the seed sown here. Men cannot mock God because they can deceive themselves. They who sow tares cannot reap wheat. They alone reap life eternal who sow to the Spirit (Psa 126:6; Pro 11:18; Pro 22:8; Hos 8:7; Hos 10:12; Luk 16:25; Rom 8:11; Jam 5:7).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. He that soweth to his flesh] In like manner, he that sows to the flesh-who indulges his sensual and animal appetites, shall have corruption as the crop: you cannot expect to lead a bad life and go to heaven at last. According as your present life is, so will be your eternal life whether your sowing be to the flesh or to the Spirit, so will your eternal reaping be. To sow, here, means transacting the concerns of a man's natural life. To reap, signifies his enjoyment or punishment in another world. Probably by flesh and Spirit the apostle means Judaism and Christianity. Circumcision of the flesh was the principal rite of the former; circumcision in the heart, by the Spirit, the chief rite of the latter; hence the one may have been called flesh, the other, Spirit. He who rejects the Gospel, and trusts only in the rites and ceremonies of the law for salvation, will reap endless disappointment and misery. He who trusts in Christ, and receives the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, shall reap life everlasting.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. For he that soweth to his flesh. Having stated the general sentiment, he now divides it into parts. To sow to the flesh, is to look forward to the wants of the present life, without any regard to a future life. They who do this will gather fruit corresponding to the seed which they have sown, — will heap up that which shall miserably perish. To sow in the flesh, (seminare in carne,) is supposed by some to mean indulgence in the lusts of the flesh, and corruption to mean destruction; but the former exposition agrees better with the context. In departing from the old translation and from Erasmus, I have not acted rashly. The Greek words, ὁ σπείρων εἰς τὴν σάρκα ἑαυτοῦ, literally signify, he that soweth into his flesh. And what else does this mean, but to be so entirely devoted to the flesh, as to direct all our thoughts to its interests or convenience?

But he that soweth to the spirit. By the spirit I understand the spiritual life, to which they are said to sow whose views are directed more to heaven than to earth, and whose life is regulated by the desire of reaching the kingdom of God. From their spiritual employments they will reap in heaven incorruptible fruit. Those employments are denominated spiritual on account of their end, though in some respects they are external and relate to the body, as in the very case now under consideration of supporting pastors. If the Papists shall endeavor, in their usual manner, to build upon these words the righteousness of works, we have already shewn how easily their absurdities may be exposed. Though eternal life is a reward, it does not follow either that we are justified by works, or that works are meritorious of salvation. The undeserved kindness of God appears in the very act of honoring the works which his grace has enabled us to perform, by promising to them a reward to which they are not entitled.

Is a more complete solution of the question demanded?

1. We have no good works which God rewards but those which we derive from his grace.

2. The good works which we perform by the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, are the fruits of that adoption which is an act of free grace.

3. They are not only unworthy of the smallest and most inconsiderable reward, but deserve to be wholly condemned, because they are always stained by many blemishes; and what have pollutions to do with the presence of God?

4. Though a reward had been a thousand times promised to works, yet it is not due but by fulfilling the condition of obeying the law perfectly; and how widely distant are we all from that perfection!

Let Papists now go and attempt to force their way into heaven by the merit of works. We cheerfully concur with Paul and with the whole Bible in acknowledging, that we are unable to do anything but by the free grace of God, and yet that the benefits resulting from our works receive the name of a reward.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(8) He that soweth to his flesh.—The seed sown is a man’s actions here on earth. If the object of those actions is merely self-indulgence, they are, as it were, sown in a field the owner of which is the flesh (i.e., the lower, carnal self). The flesh alone benefits by them, and for it alone are they garnered up.

Shall of the flesh reap corruption.—If such has been a man’s conduct, he must look to the flesh for his reward, and all the reward it can give him will be a share in its own corruption. The flesh perishes, and so shall the fruit of his actions perish, and “leave not a wrack behind.”

He that soweth to the Spirit . . .—On the other hand, where all the actions are like seed deposited in the field of which the owner and lord is the Spirit, that same Spirit will reward them in the world to come with the gift of everlasting life.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. A particular application of the general truth just stated. True in the material world, it is equally so in the moral and spiritual. Embracing the whole sphere of human action, it includes the special case under consideration. Such as is the seed sown, such will be the harvest garnered. To hoard earthly ‘good things’, is one form of sowing to the flesh, and silver and gold are ‘corruptible things’. To give liberally is to lay up treasure in heaven, “where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt”.

soweth to his flesh] Some expositors regard the flesh as the ground into which, metaphorically, the seed is cast. It is perhaps better to take it as that for the purpose of which—its indulgence and the gratification of its desires, men live and act. The word is used here, as elsewhere in this Epistle, of the unrenewed nature of man, in strong contrast to the spirit—the ‘new man’, the ‘new creation’.

to his flesh] Gr. ‘to his own flesh’.

corruption] That which he has saved and that which he has gained will turn to decay. But from the corresponding expression in the second clause, ‘life everlasting’, we must regard the ‘corruption’ as affecting the man himself, as well as his possessions and enjoyments. A course of self-indulgence corrupts the moral nature and ends in destruction. The sowing here spoken of represents the thoughts, desires, words, and deeds which go to make up the active side of a human life.

life everlasting] This life, like the corruption to which it is antithetical, is begun now (Joh_3:36), although its full development is future; for ‘the harvest is the end of the world.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And let us not be weary in well doing,.... This may be understood of well doing, or doing good works in general, of every sort; which are such as are done according to the will of God, from a principle of love to him, in faith, and in the name and strength of Christ, and with a view to the glory of God: or else acts of beneficence to Christ's ministers and poor in particular; which are agreeable to the mind of God, and wellpleasing in his sight: and in doing which men should not be weary; nor are they, when their spiritual strength is renewed, and grace is in exercise, though they may meet with many things which tend to discourage and make them weary; such as change in their own circumstances, losses in the world, the multitude of objects, the ungratefulness of some, and unworthiness of others:

for in due time we shall reap; either in this world, sooner or later; in proper time, in God's own time, by enjoying an increase of the fruits of righteousness; for the seed sown shall spring up again; the bread that is cast on the waters will be found after many days; and such as honour the Lord with their substance shall be blessed with plenty of temporal good things, either they or theirs: or else in the other world, or at the end of this; which will be the harvest time, the reaping time, the time of enjoying eternal life:

if we faint not; but continue to the end, persevere constantly in doing acts of beneficence, and patiently wait, as the husbandman does, for the precious fruits of the earth; for there must be a distance of time between sowing and reaping; men must not expect to reap as soon as they sow; and therefore should not be weary of sowing, nor impatient in waiting, though they do not see as yet the appearance of the fruits thereof; for in their season they will be seen and enjoyed.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Ver. 8. For he that soweth to his flesh] He that neglecting his poor soul, cares only to feather his nest and to heap up riches. Si ventri bene, si lateri, as Epicurus in Horace; if the belly may be filled, the back fitted, let the soul sink or swim, he takes no thought.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For he that soweth to his flesh - That makes provision for the indulgence of fleshly appetites and passions; see the notes at Gal 5:19-21. He who makes use of his property to give indulgence to licentiousness, intemperance, and vanity.

Shall of the flesh - From the flesh, or as that which indulgence in fleshly appetites properly produces. Punishment, under the divine government, is commonly in the line of offences. The punishment of licentiousness and intemperance in this life is commonly loathsome and offensive disease; and when long indulged, the sensualist becomes haggard, and bloated, and corrupted, and sinks into the grave. Such, also, is often the punishment of luxurious living, of a pampered appetite, of gluttony, as well as of intemperate drinking. But if the punishment does not follow in this life, it will be sure to overtake the sensualist in the world to come. There he shall reap ruin, final and everlasting.

Corruption -

(1) By disease.

(2) In the grave - the home to which the sensualist rapidly travels.

(3) In the world of woe.

There all shall be corrupt. His virtue - even the semblance of virtue, shall all be gone. His understanding, will, fancy - his whole soul shall be debased and corrupt. No virtue will linger and live on the plains of ruin, but all shall be depravity and woe. Everything in hell is debased and corrupt; and the whole harvest of sensuality in this world and the world to come, is degradation and defilement.

But he that soweth to the Spirit - He who follows the leadings and cultivates the affections which the Holy Spirit would produce; see the notes at Gal 5:22-23.

Shall of the Spirit - As the result of following the leadings of the Spirit.

Reap life everlasting - See the note at Rom 2:7.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He that soweth in his flesh, &c. The apostle represents the flesh and the spirit like two fields, on which men sow good or bad seed, according to which they shall reap. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For he that soweth to his flesh; he that layeth out his estate, or spendeth his time and talents, for the gratifying of the flesh;

shall of the flesh reap corruption; shall or may reap some carnal satisfaction, of a corruptible, dying, perishing nature.

But he that soweth to the Spirit; but he who layeth out his estate, or spendeth his time, strength, talents, whatsoever God hath given him, for the glory of God, in obedience to the commands, motions, and dictates of the Spirit, or the revelations of the Divine will;

shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting; he shall not of merit, but of grace from the Spirit, reap everlasting life, reward, and satisfaction. So that as in the world, that man doth not suffer loss that layeth out his money, time, or strength about good things of a valuable and enduring nature; but he only who layeth them out about things perishing, and transitory, and of a corruptible nature: so that man shall not lose his estate that layeth it out for the maintenance of the gospel, and upholding the ministry of it; for he soweth to the Spirit, and shall thereof reap eternal life and salvation: he only loseth his estate, &c., who spendeth it to gratify his lusts, and please his flesh, for all the return which he shall have, will be in poor, sensible, perishing good things, which perish with the using, and will be of no significancy to him beyond this life.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. To his flesh—Flesh and Spirit do not designate the different fields in which we sow, nor the different seeds, but the different interests to please which we sow. Yet the seed is different according to the different interests in which we sow, as the responsible act is different according to which interest it regards.

To his flesh—To the gratification of his flesh.

Reap corruption—That absolute ruin of which bodily putrefaction is the image, and which, as the opposite of eternal life, is eternal death.

Of the Spirit—As the flesh is corruptible, so from the flesh is reaped corruption; as the Spirit is pure, perfect, living and eternal, so the life from him is eternal life. There is a lower and a higher system of things in life, including different masses of men. The one is the system of the flesh, particularly conspicuous in a sensual age like the present. It runs to sensual gratifications and excitements, to the revelling room, the liquor saloon, the horse race, the gambling hell, and the theatre. Opposite to this is the system of intellectual and spiritual aspiration; which tends to the school, the Christian association, the Sabbath dedicated to self-improvement, the Bible, and the Church. The latter accords with the healthful recreation in which reason, but not mere animal, is gratified. The former tends downward, and ends in endless ruin; the latter is upward, and rises to eternal life. Let no one be deceived; for as sure as God is not mocked, these, to the fleshly, will be the result.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption (oti oJ speirwn eijv thrka eJautou ejk thv sarkosei fqoran); for he that soweth unto his own flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. "Fort" the causal force of the particle oti, properly "because," is here greatly attenuated, being employed to introduce a sentence commending to acceptance the foregoing one, simply by a detailed exposition of particulars illustrating its meaning. This is the case also in 1Th_2:14:4:16; Eph_2:18; Php_4:16. In regard to the connection of this first half of the eighth verse withthe preceding context, we must take note of the sternly monitory tone which marks ver. 7. This shows that in the sentence, "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," the apostle has more immediately in view the terrible harvest to be reaped by those who acted as if they thought that God might be overreached. We may infer from this that this first clause of ver. 8 is mainly the thought which up to here the writer had it on his mind to inculcate the "corruption" which a man would reap from a life of self-indulgence. But, after completing the statement of this thought, his tone forthwith changes; the frown clearing away from his countenance, he adds, to the threatening admonition of the first clause, the cheering promise of the second, while a more genial tone marks his further remarks on the subject in vers. 9 and 10. The second limb of the verse thus appears introduced in the same way as the second does in Rom_8:13; and in both cases with the conjunction de "Sowing unto his own flesh." Many critics render, "into his own flesh," as if, with a shifting of the image, which is certainly not uncommon with St. Paul, the flesh were now the ground into which the seed is cast. This relation, however, to the verb "sow" (see Alford and Ellicott) is in the New Testament expressed differently, by ejn, in, or by ejpi, upon; while eijv in Mat_13:22 denotes "among." It is more obvious to take eijv as "unto," "denoting the immediate object of the action, that to which it tends, that in which it terminates" (Webster and Wilkinson, "Commentary") This way of construing suits better in the phrase, eijv to Pneuma, which follows. Applying the image of sowing generally, the apostle in ver. 7 speaks of the quality of the sowing (not precisely the quality of the seed) as determining the quality of the harvest; and here, of one kind of sowing being "unto the flesh," the other "unto the Spirit." "He that soweth unto his own flesh;" that is, he whose general action in life is referred to his own personal gratification in his lower nature to his own profit, pleasure, honour. The addition of eJautou ("his own") has a marked reference to the topic which led to this general statement: the apostle has in his view a man"s gratifying his own merely worldly inclinations, to the disregard of the well-being, even the physical well-being, of other men. To sow unto the flesh of our brethren, in one sense, namely, for the promotion of their physical well-being, would bear a different aspect from sowing unto oar own flesh. "Shall from the flesh reap corruption." This by some commentators has been interpreted thus: In the harvest of That Day, nought will be found with him of all those things on which his heart has been set nought save, at the best, mere rottenness, disappointment, and illusion. This would be analogous to the moral with which our Lord pointed his parable of the rich fool, to whom God said, "Whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?" "So is he," added Christ, "that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God". (Luk_12:20, Luk_12:21) The word fqora, corruption, involves at least as much as this; but this view alone would furnish an inadequate antitheten to "eternal life," as also it gives less force to the word itself than it appears from its ordinary use to convey. One essential element of this verbal noun fqora is the notion of decay, or the condition of being impaired, spoilt, wasted away (cf. Col_2:20; Rom_8:21) It is used of corruption in our moral nature in 2Pe 1, 4 2:12, 19; as fqeirw and diafqeirw are likewise applied in 2Co_7:2; 1Ti_6:5. But the clear presentment of its sense, when connected as it is herewith "flesh," is afforded by its antithesis, with respect to the "body" or "flesh," to ajfqarsia in 1Co_15:42, "It is sown in corruption. , it is raised in incorruption," and ibid., 50," Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption;" and by the opposed adjectives "corruptible" and "incorruptible" (fqartov and afqartov) in 1Co_15:53, 1Co_15:54, as well as by the use of diafqora of the rotting away of a dead body, in Act_2:27, 31 13:34-37. That the apostle uses the word "corruption" with a direct reference to "flesh," and therefore as alluding to or rather expressing a certain qualification of the flesh"s condition, is shown by his inserting the words, ejk thv sarko) "of the flesh." Strictly speaking those words are not necessary for the completeness of the sentence. To all appearance they are added aetiologically, to make prominent the thought that what is sown unto the flesh may be expected to issue in corruption, because corruption is the natural end of flesh itself. For an analogous reason, "of the Spirit" is inserted in the antithetic statement; the Spirit being essentially not only living, but vivific. The words, then, seem to mean this" "shall from the flesh reap that corruption which the flesh, un-quickened by the Spirit of God for comp., (Rom_8:11) must itself issue in." In endeavouring more exactly to determine the sense of these words, it is well in the first instance to confine our view to the conceptions relative to this subject presented by St. Paul. In reviewing these, we observe that St. Paul never predicates ajfqarsia ("incorruption," "incorruptible-ness") of the future bodily condition of "those who perish (oiJ ajpollumenoi)." On the contrary, in 1Co_15:42-54 he clearly restricts this conception of bodily being to the case of those whose body shall be assimilated to that of the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, as indeed it is only to them that the entire discourse (vers. 20-58) relates. So again inleia)." Php_3:21, the "fashioning anew of the body of our humiliation into conformity with the body of his glory" is evidently limited to those whoso end is not "perdition (ajpw) Again, in 2Co 5. In the "house not made with hands, eternal," appears to be an exclusive designation of the resurrection-body of the accepted believer. Once more, inan)," Rom_2:7 the words, "to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and incorruption (ajfqarsi) imply that incorruption is an attribute exclusively pertaining to the happiness after which true Christians aspire. All that we meet with elsewhere in St. Paul"s writings fits in perfectly with his holding the view that, while "there shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust," as he stated to Felix (Act_24:15) a resurrection surely he meant in the body the bodies of the accepted alone wilt be incorruptible, the bodies of the lost being, for all that appears in his teaching, left in some sense subject to corruption. In what way the apostle in his own mind connected this conception, of incorruption being a quality exclusively pertaining to the future condition of the just. with that of the "eternal destruction (aijwniov oleqrov)" awaiting them who know not God, (2Th_1:9) we shall, perhaps, do wisely in not attempting to determine. We can, it is true, imagine ways of conjoining the two notions; "but it will be best not to positively affirm that this or that that was St. Paul"s manner of viewing the subject. Possibly the Spirit had not revealed this to him. if so, he might feel it incumbent upon him to forbear from giving forth definite statements on matters not really disclosed to his view, and, therefore, not intended to form a part of revealed truth. This, however, should not keep us back from accepting what appears to be the only probable view of the sense of the present passage, namely, that they who live a life of selfishness and carnal self-indulgence will reap the final award of having a body with flesh, in some most real and important sense, subject to corruption. The consideration that the apostle is thinking of the awards of the day of judgment, at once meets the objection that corruption is predicable of the Christian"s body also. It is obvious to reply that, though the body of a believer is sown in corruption even as the body of an unrighteous man, it is revealed to us that it will be raised in incorruption; which it is nowhere said that the body of him who dies in his sins will be. As applied to objects lying on the other side of the veil which parts the spiritual world from that visible world whence all our images of thought are derived, this term "corruption" must be understood as describing a condition of bodily being, not necessarily identical with, but very conceivably only in some respects analogous to, that which it describes in relation to a corpse in our present state. The resurrection stale, with all that pertains to it, inscrutably blending, as the story, of the forty days commencing with Christ s resurrection exemplifies, spiritual phenomena with corporeal, is one which we are wholly unable to understand or to realize. This may be thought a very superfluous observation. But it is not so. The attempts intellectually to realize the events which we are hereafter to witness and to be the subjects of, and the dogmatic affirmations relating to them, made, not merely in past ages, but in the very present, render it necessary that we should distinctly keep this truth in view. The physical theory of that future state, and the eventual history which is to be evolved in it, we not merely do not know, but are absolutely incapable of forecasting. We dare not say one syllable about them beyond what is distinctly told us; and what is told us, we are to remember, is through the very nature of the case no other than images, presented in a dark dim mirror, which shows them so obscurely, that to our intellective perception they seem riddles rather than revelations:

Arti gapomen dij ejsoptrou ejn aijnigmati. (1Co_13:12) It is, in fact, not our intellect, but our moral sense, that the revelations of the future state are designed to inform. Next, looking out from the field of purely Pauline doctrine upon the teaching presented in other parts of the New Testament, we are reminded at once of that awful and repeated word of our Lord concerning the "Gehenna of fire their worm (skwlhx) dieth not, and the fire is not quenched". (Mar_9:43-48) It is known that, before our Lord appeared upon earth, this conception of Gehenna, the terms of which beyond question were borrowed from the closing verses of Isaiah, had already become current in the eschatological views of the Jews. This is evidenced by RAPC Jdt 16:17; Ecc_7:17. This imagery our Lord adopted, recognizing, it should seem, in this portion of rabbinical teaching a just evolution of ideas which had been presented in the inspired volumes of the Old Testament a development of them which we may fairly attribute to the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit promised to God"s restored people, as e.g, in Eze_36:24-28. We cannot doubt that the worm" which our Lord spoke of means the worm which preys upon rotting flesh. The image, therefore, exactly accords with the word corruption" as interpreted above. Whether the apostle glanced at that discourse of Christ, or was even aware of it, is uncertain; but that he both knew of it and even inferred from it in using this word corruption," is by no means unlikely. One other reference to corruption" as the future doom of at least certain of the lost, is found in 2Pe_2:12, which, according to the now approved reading of the Greek text, runs thus: "But these, as creatures without reason, born mere animals to be taken and destroyed shall in their destroying be destroyed or, "in their corruption shall even rot away (ejn th fqora aujtwn kaisontai)." Possibly the word fqora, taken as "corruption," points here to moral corruption; but the verb fqarhsontai may very well point to the miserable doom of rotting away by which they shall judicially perish, moral corruption working physical corruption. But the exact sense is doubtful. With the clause before us we must group Rom_8:13, "If ye live after the flesh, ye are certain to die;" whilst the sentence which follows, "But if by the Spirit ye put to death the doings of the body, ye shall live," answers to the closing sentence of the present verse; as also does "death" as "the wages of sin," balanced against the "eternal life" which is "the gift of God," in Rom_6:2-5. The contrasted thoughts insei Php_3:19, 20 likewise closely touch those here presented to us. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting (oJ derwn eijv tomatov qeri zwhnion); but he that soweth unto the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life eternal. That is, he that expends thought, time, effort, money, upon the furthering, in himself and in others, of the fruits of the Spirit, shall receive, from that Holy Spirit to whose guidance dwelling within him he resigns himself, that quickening of his whole being, body, soul, and spirit, for an everlasting existence in glory, which it is the proper work of that Divine Agent to effect. For the latter clause, comp., Rom_8:11, "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you as the guiding, animating influence in your lives) he that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit dwelling within you;" in which passage the aetiologleal clause, "by reason of his Spirit dwelling in you," corresponds exactly with the aetiological clause, "of the Spirit," in the words before us. The two verses which follow show that one specific form of sowing unto the Spirit which the apostle has definitely in view, while enforcing the general idea, is that of Christian beneficence. How closely the practice of Christian beneficence was in the apostle"s mind, in conformity with Christ"s own teaching, (Mt 25 etc.) connected with the securing of the future blissful immortality, is markedly shown inbwntai 1Ti_6:18, 1Ti_6:19; not the less so if we adopt the now approved reading, ina ejkila tou ontwv zwhv, "that they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For he that now soweth to the flesh - That follows the desires of corrupt nature. Shall hereafter of the flesh - Out of this very seed. Reap corruption - Death everlasting. But he that soweth to the Spirit - That follows his guidance in all his tempers and conversation. Shall of the Spirit - By the free grace and power of God, reap life everlasting.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

VERSE 8. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

This simile of sowing and reaping also refers to the proper support of ministers. "He that soweth to the Spirit," i.e., he that honors the ministers of God is doing a spiritual thing and will reap everlasting life. "He that soweth to the flesh," i.e., he that has nothing left for the ministers of God, but only thinks of himself, that person will reap of the flesh corruption, not only in this life but also in the life to come. The Apostle wants to stir up his readers to be generous to their pastors.

That the ministers of the Church need support any man with common sense can see. Though this support is something physical the Apostle does not hesitate to call it sowing to the Spirit. When people scrape up everything they can lay their hands on and keep everything for themselves the Apostle calls it a sowing to the flesh. He pronounces those who sow to the Spirit blessed for this life and the life to come, while those who sow to the flesh are accursed now and forever.

Martin Luther — Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), English translation by Theodore Graebner (Zondervan, 1939) — public domain (U.S. copyright not renewed). Text from a community e-Sword module.

For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life. [God is not to be deceived by false appearances, and whoever hopes to overreach him only deceives himself ( 2Ki_5:15-27 ; Act_5:4-5 ; Act_5:9 ). It is a broad law of God's (and he can not be deceived about it) that whatever a man sows he shall reap. As in the natural world he reaps grain for grain, so in the moral world, if he sows fleshly indulgence, he shall reap corruption, and so in the spiritual world, if he sows to the Spirit of God, he shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. Soweth to his flesh. He who thus sows will reap a crop of fleshly lusts and ills. His carnal indulgence will end in moral ruin. Soweth to the Spirit. He shall reap spiritually, and as a final harvest the spiritual life beyond, the life everlasting.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

8. St Paul defines what he means by sowing, but leaves the thought of strict identity of the seed, and, like our Lord in Matthew 13, regards the difference of soil into which the seed is cast.

ὃτι. The reason for the statement ὃ γὰρ ἐὰν κ.τ.λ.

ὁ σπείρων εἰς τὴν σάρκα ἑαυτοῦ. For σπείρειν with εἰς, marking the ground into which seed is sown, see Mar 4:15; Mar 4:18 (||Mat 13:22). This is more natural than to understand εἰς only as “with a view to,” or “for the indulgence of.”

ἑαυτοῦ lays stress on the selfishness of the man.

ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς. So out of that ground will come his harvest. τῆς is probably possessive, though there is no stress laid on “his own.” But possibly ἡ σάρξ in this clause means the whole of the anti-spiritual world of which ἡ σάρξ ἑαυτοῦ was but a part.

θερίσει φθοράν. The dissolution that marks all created things (Rom 8:21), nowhere more apparent than in “flesh.” But as ἡ σάρξ here is primarily moral, so also it is moral dissolution of which the Apostle is chiefly thinking; cf. Eph 4:22; Jud 1:10.

ὁ δὲ σπείρων εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα. Not the personal Spirit of God, but the Divine Spirit generally, precisely as in Gal 5:17; Gal 5:22. Yet no ἐαυτοῦ here for “per nos sumus carnales, non spirituales” (Bengel).

ἐκ τοῦ πνεῦματος θερίσει ζωὴν αἰώνιον. The true side of the doctrine of “merit.” αἰώνιον: see Moulton and Milligan in Expositor VII. 5, 1908, p. 174 for interesting quotations from the Papyri.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8.] ὅτι, for—i.e. and this will be an example of the universal rule.

ὁ σπείρων, he that (now) soweth,—is now sowing.

εἰς, unto,—with a view to—not local, ‘drops his seed into,’ ‘tanquam in agrum,’ Bengel: this in the N. T. is given by ἐν (Mat 13:24, Mat 13:27. Mar 4:15), or ἐπί (Mat 13:20, Mat 13:23.Mar 4:16Mar 4:16, Mar 4:20, Mar 4:31): εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας (Mat 13:22.Mar 4:18Mar 4:18) rather being ‘among the thorns’ (see Ellic.).

ἑαυτοῦ, not apparently with any especial emphasis—to his own flesh.

φθοράν] (not ἀπώλειαν—as Php 3:19) corruption—because the flesh is a prey to corruption, and with it all fleshly desires and practices come to nothing (De W.): see 1Co 6:13; 1Co 15:50:—or perhaps in the stronger sense of φθορά (see 1Co 3:17; 2Pe 2:12), destruction (Meyer).

ἐκ τ. πν.] See Rom 8:11, Rom 8:15-17.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To his flesh [εις την σαρκα εαυτου] . Rather, his own flesh. Eiv into : the flesh being conceived as the soil into which the seed is cast. Comp. Mt 13:22. His own, because the idea of personal, selfish desire is involved.

Corruption [φθοραν] . Primarily, destruction, ruin; but it also has the sense of deterioration, decay, as 1Co 14:42. Comp. Aristotle, Rhet. 3 3, 4 "And thou didst sow [εσπειρας] shamefully [αισχρως] and didst reap [εθερισας] miserably [κακως] ." See also Plato, Phaedrus, 260 D, and on defile, Rom 3:17.

The Spirit. The Holy Spirit : not the higher nature of man.

Eternal life [ζωην αιωνιον] . See on 2Th 1:9 (additional note).

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.