Gal 1:10 | Burkitt | STEP | Our apostle in these words discovers the great sincerity used in preaching the pure and unmixed doctrine of the gospel to the Galatians; for he did not persuade that men, but God, should be heard and obeyed, that so their faith might be founded upon divine, and not human authority; nor did he in his ministry aim at pleasing men, but Christ: for should he now please men, being an apostle, as he did at times past, being a Pharisee, he should not be the servant of Christ. The ministers of Christ must not be men-pleasers; they must not please men either by flattery or falsehood, nor accommodate their doctrines to the humour and dispositions of men; pleasing of God is our great work and business, let us mind that: man-pleasing is endless, and needless, any farther than for their good, and the gospel's gain. Accordingly, the apostle tells us elsewhere, that he was made all things to all men, that he might gain some: not to make a present gain of them, but that they might be eternal gainers by him; it was not to exalt himself, but that Christ might be exalted in the hearts and lives of his hearers, that he sought in and by his ministry to please all men; and thus in imitation of him, let us seek to please all men for their good to edification.

‏ Galatians 1:10

Our apostle in these words discovers the great sincerity used in preaching the pure and unmixed doctrine of the gospel to the Galatians; for he did not persuade that men, but God, should be heard and obeyed, that so their faith might be founded upon divine, and not human authority; nor did he in his ministry aim at pleasing men, but Christ: for should he now please men, being an apostle, as he did at times past, being a Pharisee, he should not be the servant of Christ.

The ministers of Christ must not be men-pleasers; they must not please men either by flattery or falsehood, nor accommodate their doctrines to the humour and dispositions of men; pleasing of God is our great work and business, let us mind that: man-pleasing is endless, and needless, any farther than for their good, and the gospel's gain.

Accordingly, the apostle tells us elsewhere, that he was made all things to all men, that he might gain some: not to make a present gain of them, but that they might be eternal gainers by him; it was not to exalt himself, but that Christ might be exalted in the hearts and lives of his hearers, that he sought in and by his ministry to please all men; and thus in imitation of him, let us seek to please all men for their good to edification.