mh_parser/vol_split/48 - Galatians/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Gal.iv" n="iv" next="Gal.v" prev="Gal.iii" progress="55.63%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Gal.iv-p0.1">G A L A T I A N S.</h2>
<h3 id="Gal.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Gal.iv-p1">The apostle in this chapter, I. Reproves the
Galatians for their folly, in suffering themselves to be drawn away
from the faith of the gospel, and endeavours, from several
considerations, to impress them with a sense of it. II. He proves
the doctrine which he had reproved them for departing from—that of
justification by faith without the works of the law, 1. From the
example of Abraham's justification. 2. From the nature and tenour
of the law. 3. From the express testimony of the Old Testament;
and, 4. From the stability of the covenant of God with Abraham.
Lest any should hereupon say, "Wherefore then serveth the law?" he
answers, (1.) It was added because of transgressions. (2.) It was
given to convince the world of the necessity of a Saviour. (3.) It
was designed as a schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ. And then he
concludes the chapter by acquainting us with the privilege of
Christians under the gospel state.</p>
<scripCom id="Gal.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3" parsed="|Gal|3|0|0|0" passage="Ga 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Gal.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.1-Gal.3.5" parsed="|Gal|3|1|3|5" passage="Ga 3:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gal.3.1-Gal.3.5">
<h4 id="Gal.iv-p1.3">Justification by Faith. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gal.iv-p1.4">a.
d.</span> 56.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gal.iv-p2">1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you,
that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ
hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?   2 This
only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of
the law, or by the hearing of faith?   3 Are ye so foolish?
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
  4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if <i>it be</i>
yet in vain.   5 He therefore that ministereth to you the
Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, <i>doeth he it</i> by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p3">The apostle is here dealing with those who,
having embraced the faith of Christ, still continued to seek for
justification by the works of the law; that is, who depended upon
their own obedience to the moral precepts as their righteousness
before God, and, wherein that was defective, had recourse to the
legal sacrifices and purifications to make it up. These he first
sharply reproves, and then endeavours, by the evidence of truth, to
convince them. This is the right method, when we reprove any for a
fault or an error, to convince them that it is an error, that it is
a fault.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p4">He reproves them, and the reproof is very
close and warm: he calls them <i>foolish Galatians,</i> <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.1" parsed="|Gal|3|1|0|0" passage="Ga 3:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Though as Christians they
were Wisdom's children, yet as corrupt Christians they were foolish
children. Yea, he asks, <i>Who hath bewitched you?</i> whereby he
represents them as enchanted by the arts and snares of their
seducing teachers, and so far deluded as to act very unlike
themselves. That wherein their folly and infatuation appeared was
that <i>they did not obey the truth;</i> that is, they did not
adhere to the gospel way of justification, wherein they had been
taught, and which they had professed to embrace. Note, It is not
enough to know the truth, and to say we believe it, but we must
obey it too; we must heartily submit to it, and stedfastly abide by
it. Note, also, Those are spiritually bewitched who, when the truth
as it is in Jesus is plainly set before them, will not thus obey
it. Several things proved and aggravated the folly of these
Christians.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p5">1. <i>Jesus Christ had been evidently set
forth as crucified among them;</i> that is, they had had the
doctrine of the cross preached to them, and the sacrament of the
Lord's supper administered among them, in both which Christ
crucified had been set before them. Now, it was the greatest
madness that could be for those who had acquaintance with such
sacred mysteries, and admittance to such great solemnities, not to
obey the truth which was thus published to them, and signed and
sealed in that ordinance. Note, The consideration of the honours
and privileges we have been admitted to as Christians should shame
us out of the folly of apostasy and backsliding.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p6">2. He appeals to the experiences they had
had of the working of the Spirit upon their souls (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.2" parsed="|Gal|3|2|0|0" passage="Ga 3:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>); he puts them in mind
that, upon their becoming Christians, <i>they had received the
Spirit,</i> that many of them at least had been made partakers not
only of the sanctifying influences, but of the miraculous gifts, of
the Holy Spirit, which were eminent proofs of the truth of the
Christian religion and the several doctrines of it, and especially
of this, that justification is by Christ only, and not by the works
of the law, which was one of the peculiar and fundamental
principles of it. To convince them of the folly of their departing
from this doctrine, he desires to know how they came by these gifts
and graces: Was it <i>by the works of the law,</i> that is, the
preaching of the necessity of these in order to justification? This
they could not say, for that doctrine had not then been preached to
them, nor had they, as Gentiles, any pretence to justification in
that way. Or was it by the <i>hearing of faith,</i> that is, the
preaching of the doctrine of faith in Christ as the only way of
justification? This, if they would say the truth, they were obliged
to own, and therefore must be very unreasonable if they should
reject a doctrine of the good effects of which they had had such
experience. Note, (1.) It is usually by the ministry of the gospel
that the Spirit is communicated to persons. And, (2.) Those are
very unwise who suffer themselves to be turned away from the
ministry and doctrine which have been blessed to their spiritual
advantage.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p7">3. He calls upon them to consider their
past and present conduct, and thence to judge whether they were not
acting very weakly and unreasonably (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.3-Gal.3.4" parsed="|Gal|3|3|3|4" passage="Ga 3:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3, 4</scripRef>): he tells them that <i>they
had begun in the Spirit,</i> but now were seeking <i>to be made
perfect by the flesh;</i> they had embraced the doctrine of the
gospel, by means of which they had received the Spirit, and wherein
only the true way of justification is revealed. And thus they had
begun well; but now they were turning to the law, and expected to
be advanced to higher degrees of perfection by adding the
observance of it to faith in Christ, in order to their
justification, which could end in nothing but their shame and
disappointment: for this, instead of being an improvement upon the
gospel, was really a perversion of it; and, while they sought to be
justified in this way, they were so far from being more perfect
Christians that they were more in danger of becoming no Christians
at all; hereby they were pulling down with one hand what they had
built with the other, and undoing what they had hitherto done in
Christianity. Yea, he further puts them in mind that they had not
only embraced the Christian doctrine, but suffered for it too; and
therefore their folly would be the more aggravated, if now they
should desert it: for in this case all that they had suffered would
be in vain—it would appear that they had been foolish in suffering
for what they now deserted, and their sufferings would be
altogether in vain, and of no advantage to them. Note, (1.) It is
the folly of apostates that they lose the benefit of all they have
done in religion, or suffered for it. And, (2.) It is very sad for
any to live in an age of services and sufferings, of sabbaths,
sermons, and sacraments, in vain; in this case former righteousness
shall not be mentioned.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p8">4. He puts them in mind that they had had
ministers among them (and particularly himself) who came with a
divine seal and commission; for they had <i>ministered the Spirit
to them, and wrought miracles among them:</i> and he appeals to
them whether they did it <i>by the works of the law or by the
hearing of faith,</i> whether the doctrine that was preached by
them, and confirmed by the miraculous gifts and operations of the
Spirit, was that of justification by the works of the law or by the
faith of Christ; they very well knew that it was not the former,
but the latter; and therefore must needs be inexcusable in
forsaking a doctrine which had been so signally owned and attested,
and exchanging it for one that had received no such
attestations.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gal.iv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.6-Gal.3.18" parsed="|Gal|3|6|3|18" passage="Ga 3:6-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gal.3.6-Gal.3.18">
<h4 id="Gal.iv-p8.2">Justification by Faith. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gal.iv-p8.3">a.
d.</span> 56.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gal.iv-p9">6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness.   7 Know ye therefore that
they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
  8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham,
<i>saying,</i> In thee shall all nations be blessed.   9 So
then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
  10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse: for it is written, Cursed <i>is</i> every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them.   11 But that no man is justified by the law
in the sight of God, <i>it is</i> evident: for, The just shall live
by faith.   12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that
doeth them shall live in them.   13 Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
written, Cursed <i>is</i> every one that hangeth on a tree:  
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith.   15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men;
Though <i>it be</i> but a man's covenant, yet <i>if it be</i>
confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.   16 Now to
Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to
seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
  17 And this I say, <i>that</i> the covenant, that was
confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred
and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the
promise of none effect.   18 For if the inheritance <i>be</i>
of the law, <i>it is</i> no more of promise: but God gave <i>it</i>
to Abraham by promise.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p10">The apostle having reproved the Galatians
for not obeying the truth, and endeavoured to impress them with a
sense of their folly herein, in these verses he largely proves the
doctrine which he had reproved them for rejecting, namely, that of
justification by faith without the works of the law. This he does
several ways.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p11">I. From the example of Abraham's
justification. This argument the apostle uses, <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.4.1-Rom.4.25" parsed="|Rom|4|1|4|25" passage="Ro 4:1-25">Rom. iv</scripRef>. <i>Abraham believed God, and that
was accounted to him for righteousness</i> (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.6" parsed="|Gal|3|6|0|0" passage="Ga 3:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>); that is, his faith fastened upon
the word and promise of God, and upon his believing he was owned
and accepted of God as a righteous man: as on this account he is
represented as the father of the faithful, so the apostle would
have us to know <i>that those who are of faith are the children of
Abraham</i> (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.7" parsed="|Gal|3|7|0|0" passage="Ga 3:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
not according to the flesh, but according to the promise; and,
consequently, that they are justified in the same way that he was.
Abraham was justified by faith, and so are they. To confirm this,
the apostle acquaints us that the promise made to Abraham
(<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.12.3" parsed="|Gen|12|3|0|0" passage="Ge 12:3">Gen. xii. 3</scripRef>), <i>In thee
shall all nations be blessed,</i> had a reference hereunto,
<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.8" parsed="|Gal|3|8|0|0" passage="Ga 3:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. The scripture is
said to <i>foresee,</i> because he that indited the scripture did
foresee, that God would justify the heathen world in the way of
faith; and therefore in Abraham, that is, in the seed of Abraham,
which is Christ, not the Jews only, but the Gentiles also, should
be blessed; not only blessed in the seed of Abraham, but blessed as
Abraham was, being justified as he was. This the apostle calls
<i>preaching the gospel to Abraham;</i> and thence infers
(<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.9" parsed="|Gal|3|9|0|0" passage="Ga 3:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) that <i>those
who are of faith,</i> that is, true believers, of what nation
soever they are, <i>are blessed with faithful Abraham.</i> They are
blessed with Abraham the father of the faithful, by the promise
made to him, and therefore by faith as he was. It was through faith
in the promise of God that he was blessed, and it is only in the
same way that others obtain this privilege.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p12">II. He shows that we cannot be justified
but by faith fastening on the gospel, because the law condemns us.
If we put ourselves upon trial in that court, and stand to the
sentence of it, we are certainly cast, and lost, and undone; <i>for
as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse,</i> as
many as depend upon the merit of their own works as their
righteousness, as plead not guilty, and insist upon their own
justification, the cause will certainly go against them; <i>for it
is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law, to do them,</i> <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.10 Bible:Deut.27.26" parsed="|Gal|3|10|0|0;|Deut|27|26|0|0" passage="Ga 3:10,De 27:26"><i>v.</i> 10, and Deut. xxvii.
26</scripRef>. The condition of life, by the law, is perfect,
personal, and perpetual, obedience; the language of it is, <i>Do
this and live;</i> or, as <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.12" parsed="|Gal|3|12|0|0" passage="Ga 3:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>, <i>The man that doeth them shall live in them:</i>
and for every failure herein the law denounces a curse. Unless our
obedience be universal, continuing in all things that are written
in the book of the law, and unless it be perpetual too (if in any
instance at any time we fail and come short), we fall under the
curse of the law. The curse is wrath revealed, and ruin threatened:
it is a separation unto all evil, and this is in full force, power,
and virtue, against all sinners, and therefore against all men; for
all have sinned and become guilty before God: and if, as
transgressors of the law, we are under the curse of it, it must be
a vain thing to look for justification by it. But, though this is
not to be expected from the law, yet the apostle afterwards
acquaints us that there is a way open to our escaping this curse,
and regaining the favour of God, namely, through faith in Christ,
who (as he says, <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.13" parsed="|Gal|3|13|0|0" passage="Ga 3:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>) <i>hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,</i>
&amp;c. A strange method it was which Christ took to redeem us from
the curse of the law; it was <i>by his being himself made a curse
for us.</i> Being made sin for us, he was made a curse for us; not
separated from God, but laid for the present under that infamous
token of the divine displeasure upon which the law of Moses had put
a particular brand, <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.21.22" parsed="|Deut|21|22|0|0" passage="De 21:22">Deut. xxi.
22</scripRef>. The design of this was <i>that the blessing of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ</i>—that
all who believed on Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles, might become
heirs of Abraham's blessing, and particularly of that great promise
of the Spirit, which was peculiarly reserved for the times of the
gospel. Hence it appeared that it was not by putting themselves
under the law, but by faith in Christ, that they become the people
of God and heirs of the promise. Here note, 1. The misery which as
sinners we are sunk into—we are under the curse and condemnation
of the law. 2. The love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ towards
us—he has submitted to be made a curse for us, that he might
redeem us from the curse of the law. 3. The happy prospect which we
now have through him, not only of escaping the curse, but of
inheriting the blessing. And, 4. That it is only through faith in
him that we can hope to obtain this favour.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p13">III. To prove that justification is by
faith, and not by the works of the law, the apostle alleges the
express testimony of the Old Testament, <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.11" parsed="|Gal|3|11|0|0" passage="Ga 3:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. The place referred to is
<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.4" parsed="|Hab|2|4|0|0" passage="Hab 2:4">Habak. ii. 4</scripRef>, where it is
said, <i>The just shall live by faith;</i> it is again quoted,
<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.17 Bible:Heb.10.38" parsed="|Rom|1|17|0|0;|Heb|10|38|0|0" passage="Ro 1:17,Heb 10:38">Rom. i. 17, and Heb. x.
38</scripRef>. The design of it is to show that those only are just
or righteous who do truly live, who are freed from death and wrath,
and restored into a state of life in the favour of God; and that it
is only through faith that persons become righteous, and as such
obtain this life and happiness—that they are accepted of God, and
enabled to live to him now, and are entitled to an eternal life in
the enjoyment of him hereafter. Hence the apostle says, <i>It is
evident that no man is justified by the law in the sight of
God.</i> Whatever he may be in the account of others, yet he is not
so in the sight of God; for <i>the law is not of faith</i>—that
says nothing concerning faith in the business of justification, nor
does it give life to those who believe; but the language of it is,
<i>The man that doeth them shall live in them,</i> as <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.18.5" parsed="|Lev|18|5|0|0" passage="Le 18:5">Lev. xviii. 5</scripRef>. It requires perfect
obedience as the condition of life, and therefore now can by no
means be the rule of our justification. This argument of the
apostle's may give us occasion to remark that justification by
faith is no new doctrine, but what was established and taught in
the church of God long before the times of the gospel. Yea, it is
the only way wherein any sinners ever were, or can be,
justified.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p14">IV. To this purpose the apostle urges the
stability of the covenant which God made with Abraham, which was
not vacated nor disannulled by the giving of the law to Moses,
<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.15" parsed="|Gal|3|15|0|0" passage="Ga 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>, &amp;c. Faith
had the precedence of the law, for Abraham was justified by faith.
It was a promise that he built upon, and promises are the proper
objects of faith. God entered into covenant with Abraham (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.8" parsed="|Gal|3|8|0|0" passage="Ga 3:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), and this covenant was
firm and steady; even men's covenants are so, and therefore much
more his. When a deed is executed, or articles of agreement are
sealed, both parties are bound, and it is too late then to settle
things otherwise; and therefore it is not to be supposed that by
the subsequent law the covenant of God should be vacated. The
original word <b><i>diatheke</i></b> signifies both a covenant and
a testament. Now the promise made to Abraham was rather a testament
than a covenant. When a testament has become of force by the death
of the testator, it is not capable of being altered; and therefore,
the promise that was given to Abraham being of the nature of a
testament, it remains firm and unalterable. But, if it should be
said that a grant or testament may be defeated for want of persons
to claim the benefit of it (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.16" parsed="|Gal|3|16|0|0" passage="Ga 3:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>), he shows that there is no danger of that in this
case. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, but the covenant
is made with Abraham and his seed. And he gives us a very
surprising exposition of this. We should have thought it had been
meant only of the people of the Jews. "Nay," says the apostle, "it
is in the singular number, and points at a single person—<i>that
seed is Christ,</i>" So that the covenant is still in force; for
Christ abideth for ever in his person, and in his spiritual seed,
who are his by faith. And if it be objected that the law which was
given by Moses did disannul this covenant, because that insisted so
much upon works, and there was so little in it of faith or of the
promised Messiah, he answers that the subsequent law could not
disannul the previous covenant or promise (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.18" parsed="|Gal|3|18|0|0" passage="Ga 3:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>If the inheritance be of the
law, it is no more of promise; but,</i> says he, <i>God gave it to
Abraham by promise,</i> and therefore it would be inconsistent with
his holiness, wisdom, and faithfulness, by any subsequent act to
set aside the promise, and so alter the way of justification which
he had thus established. If the inheritance was given to Abraham by
promise, and thereby entailed upon his spiritual seed, we may be
sure that God would not retract that promise; for he is not a man
that he should repent.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gal.iv-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.19-Gal.3.29" parsed="|Gal|3|19|3|29" passage="Ga 3:19-29" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gal.3.19-Gal.3.29">
<h4 id="Gal.iv-p14.6">Design of the Law; The True Children of
Abraham. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gal.iv-p14.7">a.
d.</span> 56.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gal.iv-p15">19 Wherefore then <i>serveth</i> the law? It was
added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom
the promise was made; <i>and it was</i> ordained by angels in the
hand of a mediator.   20 Now a mediator is not <i>a
mediator</i> of one, but God is one.   21 <i>Is</i> the law
then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been
a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law.   22 But the scripture hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ
might be given to them that believe.   23 But before faith
came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed.   24 Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster <i>to bring us</i> unto Christ, that we might be
justified by faith.   25 But after that faith is come, we are
no longer under a schoolmaster.   26 For ye are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.   27 For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.   28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus.   29 And if ye <i>be</i> Christ's, then are ye
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p16">The apostle having just before been
speaking of the promise made to Abraham, and representing that as
the rule of our justification, and not the law, lest they should
think he did too much derogate from the law, and render it
altogether useless, he thence takes occasion to discourse of the
design and tendency of it, and to acquaint us for what purposes it
was given. It might be asked, "If that promise be sufficient for
salvation, wherefore then serveth the law? Or, Why did God give the
law by Moses?" To this he answers,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p17">I. The law <i>was added because of
transgressions,</i> <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.19" parsed="|Gal|3|19|0|0" passage="Ga 3:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. It was not designed to disannul the promise, and to
establish a different way of justification from that which was
settled by the promise; but <i>it was added</i> to it, annexed on
purpose to be subservient to it, and it was so <i>because of
transgressions.</i> The Israelites, though they were chosen to be
God's peculiar people, were sinners as well as others, and
therefore the law was given to convince them of their sin, and of
their obnoxiousness to the divine displeasure on the account of it;
<i>for by the law is the knowledge of sin</i> (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.3.20" parsed="|Rom|3|20|0|0" passage="Ro 3:20">Rom. iii. 20</scripRef>), and <i>the law entered that sin
might abound,</i> <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.20" parsed="|Rom|5|20|0|0" passage="Ro 5:20">Rom. v.
20</scripRef>. And it was also intended to restrain them from the
commission of sin, to put an awe upon their minds, and be a curb
upon their lusts, that they should not run into that excess of riot
to which they were naturally inclined; and yet at the same time it
was designed to direct them to the true and only way whereby sin
was to be expiated, and wherein they might obtain the pardon of it;
namely, through the death and sacrifice of Christ, which was the
special use for which the law of sacrifices and purifications was
given.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p18">The apostle adds that the law was given for
this purpose <i>till the seed should come to whom the promise was
made;</i> that is, either till Christ should come (the principle
seed referred to in the promise, as he had before shown), or till
the gospel dispensation should take place, when Jews and Gentiles,
without distinction, should, upon believing, become the seed of
Abraham. The law was added because of transgressions, till this
fulness of time, or this complete dispensation, should come. But
when the seed came, and a fuller discovery of divine grace in the
promise was made, then the law, as given by Moses, was to cease;
that covenant, being found faulty, was to give place to another,
and a better, <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.8.7-Heb.8.8" parsed="|Heb|8|7|8|8" passage="Heb 8:7,8">Heb. viii. 7,
8</scripRef>. And though the law, considered as the law of nature,
is always in force, and still continues to be of use to convince
men of sin and to restrain them from it, yet we are now no longer
under the bondage and terror of that legal covenant. The law then
was not intended to discover another way of justification,
different from that revealed by the promise, but only to lead men
to see their need of the promise, by showing them the sinfulness of
sin, and to point them to Christ, through whom alone they could be
pardoned and justified.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p19">As a further proof that the law was not
designed to vacate the promise, the apostle adds, <i>It was
ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.</i> It was given to
different persons, and in a different manner from the promise, and
therefore for different purposes. The promise was made to Abraham,
and all his spiritual seed, including believers of all nations,
even of the Gentiles as well as the Jews; but the law was given to
the Israelites as a peculiar people, and separated from the rest of
the world. And, whereas the promise was given immediately by God
himself, the law was given <i>by the ministry of angels, and the
hand of a mediator.</i> Hence it appeared that the law could not be
designed to set aside the promise; for (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.20" parsed="|Gal|3|20|0|0" passage="Ga 3:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), <i>A mediator is not a mediator
of one,</i> of one party only; <i>but God is one,</i> but one party
in the promise or covenant made with Abraham: and therefore it is
not to be supposed that by a transaction which passed only between
him and the nation of the Jews he should make void a promise which
he had long before made to Abraham and all his spiritual seed,
whether Jews or Gentiles. This would not have been consistent with
his wisdom, nor with his truth and faithfulness. Moses was only a
mediator between God and the spiritual seed of Abraham; and
therefore the law that was given by him could not affect the
promise made to them, much less be subversive of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p20">II. The law was given to convince men of
the necessity of a Saviour. The apostle asks (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.21" parsed="|Gal|3|21|0|0" passage="Ga 3:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), as what some might be willing
to object, "<i>Is the law then against the promises of God?</i> Do
they really clash and interfere with each other? Or do you not set
the covenant with Abraham, and the law of Moses, at variance with
one another?" To this he answers, <i>God forbid;</i> he was far
from entertaining such a thought, nor could it be inferred from
what he had said. The law is by no means inconsistent with the
promise, but subservient to it, as the design of it is to discover
men's transgressions, and to show them the need they have of a
better righteousness than that of the law. That consequence would
much rather follow from their doctrine than from his; <i>for, if
there had been a law given that could have given life, verily
righteousness would have been by the law,</i> and in that case the
promise would have been superseded and rendered useless. But that
in our present state could not be, <i>for the scripture hath
concluded all under sin</i> (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.22" parsed="|Gal|3|22|0|0" passage="Ga 3:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>), or declared that all, both Jew and Gentile, are in
a state of guilt, and therefore unable to attain to righteousness
and justification by the works of the law. The law discovered their
wounds, but could not afford them a remedy: it showed that they
were guilty, because it appointed sacrifices and purifications,
which were manifestly insufficient to take away sin: and therefore
the great design of it was <i>that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to those that believe,</i> that being
convinced of their guilt, and the insufficiency of the law to
effect a righteousness for them, they might be persuaded to believe
on Christ, and so obtain the benefit of the promise.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p21">III. The law was designed for <i>a
schoolmaster, to bring men to Christ,</i> <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.24" parsed="|Gal|3|24|0|0" passage="Ga 3:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. In the <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.23" parsed="|Gal|3|23|0|0" passage="Ga 3:23">foregoing verse</scripRef>, the apostle acquaints us with
the state of the Jews under the Mosaic economy, that <i>before
faith came,</i> or before Christ appeared and the doctrine of
justification by faith in him was more fully discovered, <i>they
were kept under the law,</i> obliged, under severe penalties, to a
strict observance of the various precepts of it; and at that time
they were shut up, held under the terror and discipline of it, as
prisoners in a state of confinement: the design of this was that
hereby they might be disposed more readily to embrace <i>the faith
which should afterwards be revealed,</i> or be persuaded to accept
Christ when he came into the world, and to fall in with that better
dispensation he was to introduce, whereby they were to be freed
from bondage and servitude, and brought into a state of greater
light and liberty. Now, in that state, he tells them, <i>the law
was their schoolmaster, to bring them to Christ, that they might be
justified by faith.</i> As it declared the mind and will of God
concerning them, and at the same time denounced a curse against
them for every failure in their duty, so it was proper to convince
them of their lost and undone condition in themselves, and to let
them see the weakness and insufficiency of their own righteousness
to recommend them to God. And as it obliged them to a variety of
sacrifices, &amp;c., which, though they could not of themselves
take away sin, were typical of Christ, and of the great sacrifice
which he was to offer up for the expiation of it, so it directed
them (though in a more dark and obscure manner) to him as their
only relief and refuge. And thus it was their schoolmaster, to
instruct and govern them in their state of minority, or, as the
word <b><i>paidagogos</i></b> most properly signifies, their
<i>servant,</i> to lead and conduct them to Christ (as children
were wont to be led to school by those servants who had the care of
them); that they might be more fully instructed by him as their
schoolmaster, in the true way of justification and salvation, which
is only by faith in him, and of which he was appointed to give the
fullest and clearest discoveries. But lest it should be said, If
the law was of this use and service under the Jewish, why may it
not continue to be so under the Christian state too, the apostle
adds (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.25" parsed="|Gal|3|25|0|0" passage="Ga 3:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>) that
<i>after faith has come,</i> and the gospel dispensation has taken
place, under which Christ, and the way of pardon and life through
faith in him, are set in the clearest light, <i>we are no longer
under a schoolmaster</i>—we have no such need of the law to direct
us to him as there was then. Thus the apostle acquaints us for what
uses and purposes the law served; and, from what he says concerning
this matter, we may observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p22">1. The goodness of God to his people of
old, in giving the law to them; for though, in comparison of the
gospel state, it was a dispensation of darkness and terror, yet it
furnished them with sufficient means and helps both to direct them
in their duty to God and to encourage their hopes in him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p23">2. The great fault and folly of the Jews,
in mistaking the design of the law, and abusing it to a very
different purpose from that which God intended in the giving of it;
for they expected to be justified by the works of it, whereas it
was never designed to be the rule of their justification, but only
a means of convincing them of their guilt and of their need of a
Saviour, and of directing them to Christ, and faith in him, as the
only way of obtaining this privilege. See <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.9.31-Rom.9.32 Bible:Rom.10.3-Rom.10.4" parsed="|Rom|9|31|9|32;|Rom|10|3|10|4" passage="Ro 9:31,32,10:3,4">Rom. ix. 31, 32; x. 3, 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p24">3. The great advantage of the gospel state
above the legal, under which we not only enjoy a clearer discovery
of divine grace and mercy than was afforded to the Jews of old, but
are also freed from the state of bondage and terror under which
they were held. We are not now treated as children in a state of
minority, but as sons grown up to a full age, who are admitted to
greater freedoms, and instated in larger privileges, than they
were. This the apostle enlarges upon in the <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.26-Gal.3.29" parsed="|Gal|3|26|3|29" passage="Ga 3:26-29">following verses</scripRef>. For, having shown for
what intent the law was given, in the close of the chapter he
acquaints us with our privilege by Christ, where he particularly
declares,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p25">(1.) That <i>we are the children of God by
faith in Christ Jesus,</i> <scripRef id="Gal.iv-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.26" parsed="|Gal|3|26|0|0" passage="Ga 3:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>. And here we may observe, [1.] The great and
excellent privilege which real Christians enjoy under the gospel:
<i>They are the children of God;</i> they are no longer accounted
servants, but <i>sons;</i> they are not now kept at such a
distance, and under such restraints, as the Jews were, but are
allowed a nearer and freer access to God than was granted to them;
yea, they are admitted into the number, and have a right to all the
privileges, of his children. [2.] How they come to obtain this
privilege, and that is <i>by faith in Christ Jesus.</i> Having
accepted him as their Lord and Saviour, and relying on him alone
for justification and salvation, they are hereupon admitted into
this happy relation to God, and are entitled to the privileges of
it; for (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:John.1.12" parsed="|John|1|12|0|0" passage="Joh 1:12">John i. 12</scripRef>) <i>as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to those that believe on his name.</i> And this faith in
Christ, whereby they became the children of God, he reminds us
(<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.27" parsed="|Gal|3|27|0|0" passage="Ga 3:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>), was what
they professed in baptism; for he adds, <i>As many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.</i> Having in baptism
professed their faith in him, they were thereby devoted to him, and
had, as it were, put on his livery, and declared themselves to be
his servants and disciples; and having thus become the members of
Christ, they were through him owned and accounted as the children
of God. Here note, <i>First,</i> Baptism is now the solemn rite of
our admission into the Christian church, as circumcision was into
that of the Jews. Our Lord Jesus appointed it to be so, in the
commission he gave to his apostles (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.28.19" parsed="|Matt|28|19|0|0" passage="Mt 28:19">Matt. xxviii. 19</scripRef>), and accordingly it was
their practice to baptize those whom they had discipled to the
Christian faith; and perhaps the apostle might take notice of their
baptism here, and of their becoming the children of God through
faith in Christ, professed therein, to obviate a further objection,
which the false teachers might be apt to urge in favour of
circumcision. They might be ready to say, "Though it should be
allowed that the law, as given at mount Sinai, was abrogated by the
coming of Christ the promised seed, yet why should circumcision be
set aside too, when that was given to Abraham together with the
promise, and long before the giving of the law by Moses?" But this
difficulty is sufficiently removed when the apostle says, <i>Those
who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ;</i> for thence it
appears that under the gospel baptism comes in the room of
circumcision, and that those who by baptism are devoted to Christ,
and do sincerely believe in him, are to all intents and purposes as
much admitted into the privileges of the Christian state as the
Jews were by circumcision into those of the legal (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:Phil.3.3" parsed="|Phil|3|3|0|0" passage="Php 3:3">Phil. iii. 3</scripRef>), and therefore there was
no reason why the use of that should still be continued. Note,
<i>Secondly,</i> In our baptism we put on Christ; therein we
profess our discipleship to him, and are obliged to behave
ourselves as his faithful servants. Being baptized into Christ, we
are baptized into his death, that as he died and rose again, so, in
conformity thereunto, we should die unto sin, and walk in newness
of life (<scripRef id="Gal.iv-p25.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.3-Rom.6.4" parsed="|Rom|6|3|6|4" passage="Ro 6:3,4">Rom. vi. 3, 4</scripRef>); it
would be of great advantage to us did we oftener remember this.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p26">(2.) That this privilege of being the
children of God, and of being by baptism devoted to Christ, is now
enjoyed in common by all real Christians. The law indeed made a
difference between Jew and Greek, giving the Jews on many accounts
the pre-eminence: that also made a difference between <i>bond and
free,</i> master and servant, and between <i>male and female,</i>
the males being circumcised. But it is not so now; they all stand
on the same level, <i>and are all one in Christ Jesus;</i> as the
one is not accepted on the account of any national or personal
advantages he may enjoy above the other, so neither is the other
rejected for the want of them; but all who sincerely believe on
Christ, of what nation, or sex, or condition, soever they be, are
accepted of him, and become the children of God through faith in
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gal.iv-p27">(3.) That, <i>being Christ's, we are
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.</i> Their
judaizing teachers would have them believe that they must be
circumcised and keep the law of Moses, or they could not be saved:
"No," says the apostle, "there is no need of that; for <i>if you be
Christ's,</i> if you sincerely believe on him, who is the promised
seed, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, you
therefore become the true <i>seed of Abraham,</i> the father of the
faithful, and as such <i>are heirs according to the promise,</i>
and consequently are entitled to the great blessings and privileges
of it." And therefore upon the whole, since it appeared that
justification was not to be attained by the works of the law, but
only by faith in Christ, and that the law of Moses was a temporary
institution and was given for such purposes as were only
subservient to and not subversive of the promise, and that now,
under the gospel, Christians enjoy much greater and better
privileges than the Jews did under that dispensation, it must needs
follow that they were very unreasonable and unwise, in hearkening
to those who at once endeavoured to deprive them of the truth and
liberty of the gospel.</p>
</div></div2>