to him that teacheth it but it seldome troubles the soul that receives it whereas errour disquiets and distracts the conscience leaving her uncertaine of the issue pretended and troubling her about the means thereto leading And would pervert the Gospel of Christ The issue of their counterfeit Gospel which though it might not be the intent of the false teachers yet it would bee the event that the Gospel of Christ would thereby be perverted i. e. it would bee cast into a new mould or frame contrary to the forme it had before The addition of Circumcision and other legall Ceremonies doth adulterate and corrupt the Gospel of Christ by compounding it into a new nature contrary to the genuine simplicity and sincerity wherein it was originally planted and taught for they confound the Gospel who compound and complie it with the law because they who unto the Gospel of Christ would super-adde the law of Moses must consequently needs teach that Grace on Gods part and faith on our part make not a sufficient title to our right of inheritance unto blessednesse but that our title by grace and faith requires a further corroboration from our works according to the law of Moses such as Circumcision and difference of meats which are such servile works and such beggerly services unto God and so far from making us a title to have that right that they serve not for a tenure whereby to hold it but that right must bee held by our filiall works of love as wee are the sonnes and heires of God and as they are prescribed in the Gospel of Christ which works Evangelicall are of a more noble nature and more pleasing to God then the legall works under the law which were but beggerly and servile services VERSE 8. Text. But though we or an Angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you then that which we have preached unto you let him bee accursed Sense But though we i. e. Though I. Or an Angel from heaven i. e. an heavenly Angel Which we have preached i. e. Which I have preached Reason Though formerly the Apostle had sufficiently declared that the revolt of the Galatians from the Gospel of Christ was a foul errour and that they who obtruded another counterfeit gospel upon them were corrupters of the true Gospel and therefore not to be followed yet heere also hee further insisteth upon the same point shewing them what they are to thinke of any other person whatsoever that should presume to preach any doctrine contrary to his or different from it Comment Angels are some celestiall others infernall Doctrine may be false two wayes 1. Directly 2. Indirectly And such are humane Traditions The doome of false Doctrine BUt though we or an Angel from heaven Wee i. e. I Paul for he speaks only of or concerning himselfe using the plurall number for the singular as appears in the words in the verse following as we have sayd before for Paul only was the person who had sayd the words of this verse And the force of this argument is very moving because the Apostle argues for the truth of his owne doctrine even against himselfe q. d. Not only they who trouble you and would enforce a new gospel upon you are to bee wholly rejected but also I my selfe if I should attempt it am to bee repelled as an execrable person And not only I but if an Angel should come to you as an Evangelist or an Apostle with a message from Heaven contrary to the doctrine by me planted amongst you he is in like maner to be abandoned The words from heaven are not to be referred to the act of preaching but to the person of the Angel to whom they are an attribute and signifie only an heavenly Angel for there are Angels who in respect of their residence are celestiall and supernall in the highest Heaven and there are Angels who for their residence are aereall and infernall for in comparison of the highest Heaven which is most supernall the Ayre which makes the lowest Heaven is infernall Hence wicked spirits are called Princes of the Ayre and are sayd to bee in Heavenly Places i. e. in the Ayre for the Ayre though in respect of the highest Heaven above it it bee Hell yet in respect of the Earth below it it is Heaven and consequently the Ayre in a different and subalterne respect is both Heaven and Hell See and compare Mat. 6.26 and Luk. 13.19 and Ephes 2.2 and Ephes 3.10 and Ephes 6.12 and 2. Pet. 2.4 But to supply the Argument with the greater force the Apostle supposeth a condition altogether impossible seeing it could never come to passe that either hee himselfe should against himselfe or an Angel from Heaven against him should ever attempt to preach another Gospel Should preach any other Gospel unto you then that which wee have preached The Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. literally should preach unto you besides what wee have preached Heereby is excluded from the Gospel of Christ all such Doctrine that is either against his Gospel or besides it for whatsoever Doctrine is against it is also besides it and more then besides it and consequently all such Doctrine is excluded as alien from the Gospel of Christ which either doth wholly alter or partly subvert the way delivered by Paul for obtaining a true right and a right title to the Inheritance of Blessednesse And this is done either directly when any thing is taught manifestly contrary to that Doctrine which is necessary to salvation as to teach that Jesus is not the Christ or that there is no New Covenant Or indirectly when any thing not necessary is proposed and urged as necessary though it bee not contrary to the Gospel of Christ but onely disparate or diverse from it as to urge the Ceremonies either of Moses or of others as necessary to salvation for by this meanes the way to salvation is partly changed and assigned to some by-way whereto Christ and his Apostles assigned it not Yet because at that time the legall Ceremonies were urged as necessary to salvation especially by those Christians which were converted from Judaisme whose infirmity was tolerated by the rest of the Apostles and by Paul himselfe who Rom. 14. plainely declares that their opinion was no prejudice to their salvation Therefore wee must not affirme that it was the Apostles minde in this place to pronounce a curse upon all those who any manner of way should teach something as necessary to salvation besides what hee had taught if they taught it out of meere ignorance or errour but those onely hee pronounceth accursed who out of arrogance or some by-respect should presse as necessary to salvation those things which they knew the Apostle had taught to bee not necessary Doth not this Text reach unto the Church of Rome who urgeth as necessary to salvation the Traditions and Precepts of the Church as shee calls them which shee acknowledgeth not to bee comprised in the
worship and serve him with divine Honour for unto such honour God exalted him Phil. 2.9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of persons in Heaven and in earth and under the earth i. e. that Christ might have divine worship from all maner of persons whether they be Angels in Heaven or men on earth or the dead under the earth For if the Angels of Heaven have a command to worship him as they have Heb. 1.6 And let all the Angels of God worship him much more is worship due to him from men on earth And lastly thereby he was constituted and ordained to bee the High Priest of Gods Church and the King of Gods Kingdome to set upon the throne of Heaven as the highest person in the world excepting onely the most high God 1 Cor. 15.27 For hee hath put all things under his feet but when hee sayth all things are put under him it is manifest that hee is excepted which did put all things under him Thus Christ was a vested Executor But his Executorship was conditionall For it was charged with the condition of his owne death he must dye before he can enter it and therefore dye that he might performe it Every Testament is a decree of things to be done after death But the New Testament of God had this strange Prerogative that it was of things to be done after the death of the Executor who was to doe the things of it after his owne death A course quite contrary to the Testaments of men wherein the Executor after his owne death is able to doe nothing Although Gods Testament were in force upon the confirmation of it yet the effect of that force for the execution of it must necessarily be suspended untill this condition was accomplished But as the case stood one and the same death of one and the same person was both a Confirmation of that Testament and the condition for the execution of it A condition somewhat difficult and burthensome unto flesh and bloud for it is an hard case that an Executor must dye to compasse his Executorship Yet unto Christ the condition was possible and lay in his power to performe for unto a person who is mortall what is more possible then death And unto Christ it was very feasable for seeing he must dye for the testimony of Gods testament and for the confirmation of it the same death also would serve as the condition for the execution of it And unto Christ this condition was very Necessary for his death was the Meanes by or through which that testament must be executed and without this Meanes it could not be performed And for the Necessity of this Meanes these are two reasons 1. Because without his death he could not receive his owne Inheritance For by meanes of his death he was prepared fitted and perfected to receive that Inheritance which was ordained unto him in the testament whereof he was the Executor as his universall power honour and glory to set upon the throne of Heaven as the perpetuall Priest and King over the people of God Because 1 Cor. 15.50 flesh and bloud cannot inherite the kingdome of God much lesse can it set upon the throne of God That mortall person therefore that will enjoy immortality must first be devested of mortality and the mortality of a person mortall is devested onely by the meanes of death or of a sudden change instead of death as shall be done at the last day Christ at the first was made flesh John 1.14 And the word was made flesh but afterward he was made a spirit 1 Cor. 15.45 The last Adam was made a quickning spirit And Christ at the first was made mortall for he was made a little lower then the Angels but afterward hee was made immortall for hee was crowned with glory and honour above the Angels and the Meanes through which this change was made from his mortality to immortality was by or through the suffering of death Heb. 2.9 But we see Jesus who was made a little lower then the Angels for by or through the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour for the meaning of the Apostle is not that the death of Christ was the merit of his crowning but the meanes to it because betweene the two extreames of his mortality and immortality his death was the interposed Meane through which hee was to passe from one to the other 2. Because without his death hee could not discharge the Legacies given to Believers For through meanes of his death hee was prepared fitted and perfected to performe all the Promises of the New Testament For seeing every Testament is a Decree touching things to bee done after death and the New Testament was touching things to bee done after the death of Christ therefore Christ must needes dye before they can bee done and before hee can doe them that through his death hee might bee qualified and perfected for the doing of them God for the bringing of many sonnes unto glory will constitute Christ the Captaine of their salvation But for this Function hee will make Christ perfect through the suffering of death And this meanes of perfecting was so decent and comely that it became Almighty God to perfect him by this meanes Heb. 2.10 For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sonnes unto glory to make the Captaine of their salvation perfect through sufferings Christ was the sonne of God who learned obedience by the things which hee suffered and through that suffering hee was made perfect to become the authour of salvation to all who obey him Heb. 5.8 Though hee were a sonne yet learned hee obedience by the things which hee suffered and being made perfect hee became the authour of salvation unto all them that obey him Christ is ascended into the highest parts of the Heavens for this end and purpose that hee might execute and fulfill all things that were to bee done according to the last Will and Testament of God But thither hee could not ascend unlesse hee first dyed and descended into the Grave which is the lower part of the earth Ephes 4.9 Now that hee ascended what is it but that hee also descended first into the lower parts of the Earth Hee that descended is the same also that ascended up farre above all Heavens that hee might fill all things or rather fulfill all things for so it is in the Margin and should have beene so in the Text. Because in this place the word fulfill is a testamentary word which signifies the executing and performing of a Testament in distributing and discharging the Gifts and Legacies therein devised to fulfill the minde of the Testator For that heer the word beareth this sense it plainly appears partly by the words preceding ver 8. When hee ascended up on high hee led captivity captive
quickned us together with Christ by grace yee are saved i. e. The cause of your present right to future salvation is the grace of God And Tit. 3.7 That being justified by his grace wee should bee made heires according to the hope of eternall life i. e. The cause of our Justifying is Gods grace and the effect of it is that thereby wee are made heires of eternall life and because wee are heires wee have good reason to hope for it for who can have better hope of any thing then an heire hath of his inheritance These are the chiefe authorities from the Scriptures to testifie this truth that our inheritance is by grace Causes to prove it there are none for wee sayd that Gods grace was the highest cause which had none above it and therefore this verity must needes bee a principle and consequently cannot bee proved for hee abuseth a principle who attempteth to prove it Yet there are reasons that may argue and perswade it and they being grounded on Scripture are chiefely these five following 1. Because this Right comes from Gods gift John 4.10 If thou knewest the gift of God i. e. everlasting life which comes from Gods gift for so the Well of water is interpreted at the last words of the 14. verse following And Acts 11.18 Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life i. e. then hath God given them the benefit or fruit of repentance which is eternall life for the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. given yet it is Englished well enough because every grant is a gift And Rom. 5.15 But not as the offence so also is the free gift for if through the offence of one many bee dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many here unto eternall death the cause whereof was the offence or sin is opposed eternall life the cause whereof is grace for it is a gift by grace And Rom. 6.23 But the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Jesus Christ our Lord. i. e. The cause of our present guiltinesse unto eternall death is sin whereof death is the wages but the cause of our present right unto eternall life is not our holinesse but Gods grace whereof life is the gift and that gift is conveyed unto us by the meanes of Jesus Christ And Heb. 6.4 It is impossible for those who were once inlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift i. e. who have had the knowledge and have felt the joy of their inheritance to blessednes which is no earthly purchase but a heavenly gift proceeding from God Now the fountaine or cause from which gifts and grants proceed is not Law and justice but grace and favour for what else is a gift or grant but an act of grace 2. Because it commeth from Gods good pleasure Luk. 2.14 Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. good pleasure towards men q. d. Let the God of Heaven be glorified for that blessednesse on earth descended from his favour or good pleasure towards men which he hath abundantly testified by sending his son to be their Saviour And Luke 12.32 Feare not little flock for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdome i. e. feare not the want of food and raiment for God is your Father and therefore will give it you and more then so for he will also give you the Kingdome of Heaven for the blessing thereof comes from his gift and that gift proceeds from his good pleasure And Ephes 1.9 having made knowne unto us the mystery of his Will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himselfe i. e. That Will and Testament of God wherein we are made heirs to the inheritance of Heaven was a long time a mystery and concealed in secret but is now published and made knowne unto us and this is according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himselfe first for the making of that Will and after for the publishing of it Now that which proceeds from the good pleasure of any person is not an act of Law and justice but of Grace and favour for matters of Law and justice leave not a man to his good pleasure but oblige him to that which Law and justice require to be done 3. Because it comes from Gods goodnes or kindnes Rom. 11.22 Behold therefore the goodnesse and severity of God on them which fell severity but towards thee goodnes if thou continue in his goodnes otherwise thou also shalt be cut off i. e. The Jews were once in the state of alliance with God to be his children and people but because they fell from their obedience God cut them off and their excision proceeded from Gods severity but Gods election of thee in their room proceeds from his goodnes or kindnes towards thee if thou cōtinue in that state wherinto his goodnes hath grafted thee otherwise thou also shalt be cut off with the like severity And Eph. 2.7 And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come hee might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindnesse towards us through Christ Jesus i. e. God hath raised Christ from the dead and hath seated him in Heaven and in him he hath given us a precedent of our future possession there to be raised as he was and to be seated as he is for he was raised and seated there to him and his co-heirs i. e. to all believers in him that in the world to come after the Resurrection God might shew and impart unto us the exceeding riches or abundance of that blessednes which proceeds from the abundance of his grace and kindnes towards us through the means of Jesus Christ And Tit. 3.4 But after that the kindenesse and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared i. e. Those benefits whereby God is the Saviour of man proceeds from Gods kindnesse and love toward man Now Gods goodnesse or kindnesse is really the very same thing with his grace for his grace is that inward affection from whence his outward kindnesse floweth as the effect thereof 4. Because it comes from Gods Mercy or Pity Rom. 11.30 For as yee in times past have not believed God yet have now obtained mercy through their unbeliefe Even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they also may obtaine mercy i. e. As heeretofore yee Gentiles were Infidells or Unbelievers yet now have believed upon the Jewes unbeliefe So now the Jewes are become unbelievers that upon your beliefe they may bee provoked to believe Hee calls beliefe mercy because the thing believed and the act of believing proceed from Gods mercy And Tit. 3.5 Not by workes of righteousnesse which wee have done but according to his
he received not his mission from men as sent to Preach from men as if men were the prime authors of it Before his conversion while he was a Pharisee his authority against the Gospel was humane for hee had that calling from men and from men hee had his mandate to persecute the professours of it seeing hee had it from the chiefe Priests as it appeares Act. 9.14 And heere he hath authority from the chiefe Priests to bind all that call on thy Name But after his conversion when he was a Beleever his authority for the Gospel to preach and plant it came not from men Neither by man His Apostleship was not from God mediately by the meanes of any person who was a mortall or meere man And heere hee takes man for an ordinary mortall man in opposition unto Christ who is both God and man and who though hee bee man yet is an extraordinary and immortall man First therefore for his Instruction in the Doctrine of the Gospel hee had it not by man as taught it by man as before hee had his knowledge in the Law by the meanes of Gamaliel at whose feete hee was brought up in Jerusalem Act. 22.3 And taught according to the perfect manner of the Law of the Fathers and was zealous towards God Or as Apollos who although hee was before eloquent in the Scriptures and well catechised in the Christian Religion yet afterward hee had his best and soundest knowledge therein by the meanes of Aquila and Priscilla for Acts 18.26 They tooke him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly Secondly neither had hee his Mission by man for some Preachers of the Gospel in the Primitive Church though they had their authority and calling from God yet they had their Mission into their Function by the meanes of men being instituted and ordained thereunto by men As Mathias by the eleven Timothy and Titus by Paul and others by the rest of the Apostles But the Mission of Paul was not effected by any such meanes for although Ananias at Damascus put his hands upon Paul that hee might receive his sight Yet Paul had no Instruction nor Mission from Ananias but from the Lord onely who having first converted him sent Ananias to performe this office unto him for the recovery of his sight But Christ reserved unto himselfe the Instruction of Paul Act. 9.16 I will shew him how great things hee must suffer for my names sake Likewise the Presbytery at Antioch Act. 13.3 When they had fasted and prayed layd their hands on Paul and Barnabas and sent them away But that Mission was not autoritative but onely dismissive for the Calling and the Warrant for their sending away was wholly from the Holy Ghost who had sayd in the former verse Seperate me Barnabas and Saul for the worke whereunto I have called them Paul therefore doth utterly disclaime this humane Instruction and Mission that thereby hee might the more commend and improve the authority and credit of his Apostleship against the calumnies and obloquies of the false Teachers who had divulged that Paul had received from Peter James and John both his Instruction and his Mission And heere againe the Calling of the Apostles differeth from ours for although our Calling bee Divine and come from God yet it is not Primitively and immediately from God but derivatively and mediately by the meanes of man Because our Instruction and Mission is derivative and delegate to bee instructed by the teachings and writings of men and to bee sent forth to preach by the authority of men who were in this Office before us and are the onely competent Judges of our ability and sincerity for our Function But by Jesus Christ and God the Father A full Declaration of his calling to his Apostleship whence hee received it and by whom namely from God the Father as the prime Authour of it by the meanes of Jesus Christ by whom hee had immediatly his Instruction and his Mission For having before removed the calumny that was made against his Calling he now asserts the verity and truth of it But in this Assertion hee proceeds in an order retrograde to the former for in the first place he introduceth Christ as the immediate and proximous person by whom he was called unto his Apostleship opposing Christ to the last words before mentioned not by man wherein the cause mediall was before intimated And then he specifies God the Father as the prime and principall person from whom hee was called by Christ opposing God the Father to the remoter words before not of or from men wherein was intimated the cause prime and principall of his humane calling But in opposing Christ unto man by man he understands as we sayd before an ordinary person like other vulgar men unto whom Christ though he also be man may with good reason be opposed Because Christ is exempted and exalted from and above the ranke quality and condition of all other men for he is the unigent Sonne of God who was in the entire and perfect nature of man even then when he lived amongst men on earth And therefore much more is he so now in Heaven where he is invested with immortality and glory enjoying soveraigne dominion over all men and Angels For Worthies and persons of eminent quality are wont to exempt themselves from the account and number of men because they are not like other vulgar men but seeme to themselves as petty gods For so Sampson sayd of himselfe Judg. 16.17 If I be shaven then my strength will goe from me and I shall become weake and be like any man i. e. like every ordinary man And from the number of men Judges and Rulers are in a maner exempted and that by God himself when he speakes to them in this forme Psal 82.6 I have sayd Yee are gods and all of you are children of the most High but yee shall die like men i. e. Like other vulgar and ordinary men If then such persons as are Worthies and Judges may be exempted from the number of men and be opposed unto them much more may Christ be so who is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 With good reason therefore Paul heere opposeth Christ unto man q. d. I am no way inferiour to the rest of the Apostles for as they for their preaching of the Gospel had not their Instruction and Mission by man but by Jesus Christ who first taught and after sent them forth so I for my part to preach among the Gentiles had my Instruction and Mission not mediately by man but immediatly by Christ who immediately by himselfe revealed and taught the Gospel unto me and by himselfe sent me forth to preach it among the Gentils And as the rest of the Apostles had the originall of their calling from God the Father whose will it was that they should bee taught and sent forth by Christ so the originall author of my Apostleship is God the Father
unto all other Christians Because these Churches had partly corrupted the grace of God and partly rejected the Meanes of it by Christ for they had sowred the liberty of the Gospel with the necessity of legall Ceremonies especially that of Circumcision Yet in saying unto the Churches of Galatia he allowes them the name of Churches because they yet retayned severall parts of Christianity As in like maner he doth to the Corinthians who were fowly tainted and stayned with divers corruptions both in doctrine and maners VERSE 3. Text. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ Sense Grace i. e. All love favour and kindnesse be to you from God and Christ Peace i. e. All happinesse and blessednesse be to you from God and Christ Reason After the harsh Direction followes a kind Salutation in the best forme which is by way of Benediction and for the best Matter which is Grace and Peace from God and Christ In the former verse Paul had denied unto the Galatians that ordinary respect which usually accompanieth the Direction of Epistles and therefore hee doth heere bespeake them with a most pious and Christian Salutation that hee might seeme to recompence the flatnesse and sowrenesse of his former Direction with the kindnesse and sweetnesse of this Salutation For although hee were unwilling to vouchsafe them their Title yet he is ready to afford them his Prayer in the best and holiest maner And the prudent Apostle practiseth this variety of discourse that he might gaine some advantage by every forme of Arguing sometime by harshnesse and sometime by sweetnesse leaving no meanes unassayed whereby to recover the Galatians from their errour Comment The forme of salutation among the Jewes Grace what and Peace Of blessednesse God the Authour and Christ the meanes The title of the Father of Christ Yet neithers title exclude the others There are many Gods and many Lords yet to us but one so and but one supreamely so Invocation is due to Christ the Ground thereof the Command of it and Practice of it A mis-reading of the Text and a misconstruction of it GRace be to you and Peace This is the ordinary forme of Apostolicke Salutation and benediction in the Epistles of Paul Peter John and Jude And the verbe substantive Be which by Paul is silenced in the originall is by Peter expressed by the word Be multiplied 1. Pet. 1.2 Grace unto you and peace be multiplied The ancient forme of Salutation among the Hebrewes was Peace be unto you Which forme was also used by Christ himselfe and he commanded the use of it to his Apostles Luke 10.5 And into whatsoever house ye enter first say Peace bee to this house But afterward among the Christians in memory of that rich Grace which came by the meanes of Christ the word Grace was added and prefixed to the former ancient Salutation Grace then is the love favour or kindenesse of God by the meanes of Christ or that rich kindenesse of God towards us whereof Christ is the Messenger and Mediatour the Beginner and the Finisher who first published the truth and procureth the finall effect of it Peace denoteth unto us Christians all the effects events and issues of Grace for Peace includes all those blessings which are the fruit growing from Grace as from the roote Whether those blessings bee temporall and spirituall in this life or celestiall and eternall in the life to come according to the sence of the Hebrewes who by Peace understand all safety prosperity and happinesse whatsoever From God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. The persons from whom Paul salutes them and prayes a benediction upon them are expressed to bee two namely God the Father as the originall and prime cause from whence all grace and peace doth arise and Christ our Lord as the instrumentall and meane cause wherby all Grace and Peace is conveyed For hee wisheth a blessing upon them from the very same persons in the very same order that hee had his Calling namely from God the Father by Jesus Christ Or to use the very same words wherein hee expresseth himselfe elsewhere 1 Cor. 8.6 From God of whom are all things and from Christ by whom are all things Unto each of these divine persons severally Paul attributes a peculiar dignity or title of honour For unto the Father hee gives the title of God in an eminent and transcendent sense because the Father is the supreame and most high God who of himselfe hath soveraigne dominion and power over all things over all persons and who of himselfe is that person from whom all other persons are descended And unto Christ he gives the title of our Lord because Christ is the person to whom the Father hath communicated the universal dominion governement over all things and persons excepting one onely who is the Father himselfe For the Father hath ordained Christ in a peculiar manner to bee the Lord or head over his Church in all matters thereto pertaining And heereby Christ in a peculiar relation unto us becomes our Lord in whom wee must believe and trust and whom wee must worship serve and obey Yet it is not Pauls meaning to make these titles so peculiar to each person as if Christ were not God or as if the Father were not our Lord for each person beares both these titles but that when they are mentioned both together these are the usuall formes to difference them Hence from these two attributes thus differenced and distributed unto these two divine persons of God unto the Father and of Lord unto Christ and because there is but one Father and one Christ therefore it is frequent with the Apostle Paul to call the Father one God and Christ one Lord. For although there bee extant many Gods and many Lords Yet there is extant but one God and one Lord to bee by us invocated and worshipded i. e. God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ Because there is but one person who unto us hath that relation of God which the Father hath and but one person who unto us hath that relation of Lord which Christ hath Hence it is sayd 1 Cor. 8.5 For though there bee that are called Gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there bee Gods many and Lords many But to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and wee for him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and wee by him Where by the way wee may note that there are made three degrees the first is of those who are called Gods but are not indeed so as the Sunne and Moone in Heaven Idolls and Images on Earth the next of those who are called so and are indeede so but not supreamely so as the Angels in Heaven and Rulers on Earth and the last of those who are called so and are really or indeed so and also are supreamely so to bee invocated and worshipped as
not humane or after man because he neyther received of man nor was taught it by man Comment The construction of the words Paul learned the Gospell not from Men. But immediately from Christ By way of Revelation At what time FOR I neyther received it of man neyther was I taught it The word of man interposed heer between the two Verbs received and taught must bee referred to both and follow both thus I neyther received it nor was taught it of man And the word taught is but explicative to specifie the generall word received and restraine it to the Gospel in reference whereto those two words make but one sense for to receive the Gospel and to be taught the Gospel is all one and in a sense somewhat like to this Paul requires the Thessalonians to hold the Traditions which they had beene taught 2. Thess 2.15 The meaning of the Apostle in this place is not simply to say that hee neyther received nor was taught the Gospel at all for in the words next following he acknowledgeth and confesseth that hee received and was taught it of Christ by revelation for that was the maine point which as he sayd in the former verse he would certifie or make knowne unto the Galatians But his purpose is to prove that his knowledge in the divine Gospel of Christ was not humane that hee neyther received nor was taught his knowledge therein by any Apostle nor by any other mortall man For although the Gospel which Paul preached were for the matter of it divine as being the same which Peter and the rest of the Apostles preached Yet his knowledge therein for the meanes whereby hee had it might by the false Teachers bee alleadged and pretended to bee humane which Paul heere denyes of himselfe But hee denies it not of Timothy who though hee preached that Gospel which was divine yet Timothies knowledge in that divine Gospel was humane because hee received and was taught his knowledge therein by Paul who was a mortall man for Paul both instructed Timothy in the Gospel and ordained him a Minister thereof by the imposition of his hands See and compare 1. Tim 4.6.14 and 1. Tim. 6.20 and 2. Tim. 1.6.13.14 and 2. Tim. 3.14 So is it in all the Ministers of the Gospel at this day for although the Gospel which they preach bee divine yet their knowledge therein is humane because they receive their knowledge by humane meanes But by the Revelation of Jesus Christ. A super-reason or confirmation of his former reason by an argument drawne from the contrary that the Gospel which hee preached hee neither received nor was taught it by man because hee received and was taught it of Christ by Revelation And heere againe Christ is opposed to man not that Christ was no way man but because when hee revealed the Gospel unto Paul hee was not at that time a mortall man nor at any time a meere man but alwayes both God and man And heereby also hee firmely concludes and proves his principall assertion that the Gospel which hee preached was not humane or not after man for if hee received and was taught it by the Revelation of Jesus Christ then certainely the Gospell so by Christ revealed unto him was no humane invention neither was his knowledge in it by any humane instruction q. d. For my knowledge in the Gospel which I preached unto you I was no Disciple nor Auditor to any of the Apostles nor to any other mortall man to bee taught it and learne it from man but my onely Master and Teacher in the Gospel was Jesus Christ himselfe who revealed it unto mee and his Revelation of it unto mee was not after an ordinary manner as hee taught it his Apostles and the rest of his Disciples while hee conversed upon Earth But after an extraordinary and miraculous manner for hee taught it mee since his ascention and revealed it unto mee from Heaven and this was the ground why I told you before that if an Angel from Heaven should preach any other Gospel unto you hee was to bee accursed because thereby hee preacheth a Gospell repugnant to that Gospel which was revealed by Christ from Heaven Hee useth the word Revelation because Revelation is an instruction teaching peculiar and proper to the Gospel and such an instruction as is also peculiar and proper to God to bee made by him for although men have and doe teach the Gospel yet the action of revealing the Gospel is never ascribed unto man but only unto God See Mat. 16.17 and Luke 10.21 and 1. Cor. 2.10 and Ephes 3.3 and Phil. 3.15 For the Gospel and the points therein contained are the sacred mysteries and secrets of God which of themselves are veiled and covered from the knowledge of man who by the course of nature or by force of his naturall understanding can never attaine to any knowledge therein unlesse first they bee revealed and discovered by God Because God and God onely is the revealer of secrets Dan. 2.47 The first Teacher of the Gospel who published the Doctrine of it was Christ who because hee was God was therefore a Revealer of it and his Instruction was Revelation But since Christs ascention his Apostles and their Successours have beene Teachers thereof yet not Revealers neither is their instruction Revelation because Revelation is that instruction which is immediate or proximous from God therefore the Instruction in the Gospel which Paul received immediately and proximously from Christ who is God hee calls it Revelation But the time when Paul had this Revelation from Christ can not bee certainely defined from Scripture Yet probable it is that hee had it at the time of his conversion when hee lay at Damascus in a Trance three dayes together blinde and fasting without sight or meat for when in his astonishment hee demanded of Christ what hee would have him to doe Christ answered hee must goe into Damascus and there it should bee told him what hee must doe Act. 9.6.9 c. And probable also it is that hee had this Revelation at the time of those Revelations which hee had in his rapture when hee was caught up into Paradice and heard unspeakeable words whereof hee writes 2. Cor. 12.1.2.3 because it is very probable that his trance after his conversion and his rapture for those Revelations were at one and the same time for in the sequele of this Chapter hee drawes immediate Arguments from his conversion to prove hee was taught by Revelation But this is certaine that Paul never preached the Gospel of Christ untill first hee was taught it by Christ and then immediately hee preached it See afterward in this Chapter vers 16. VERSE 13. Text. For yee have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jewes Religion how that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it Sense Beyond measure i. e. Beyond all excesse And wasted it i. e. Destroyed it Reason Another Argument to prove that the
God to undertake that journey which they had already determined upon him because Gods will is sometime subsequent to follow not only mans will but his act by approving and confirming afterward what man before hath willed and acted for hence Christ sayd to his Disciples Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall bee bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Mat. 18.18 Now Paul mentions this Motive of his journey that he went it by revelation thereby to signifie that hee went then to Jerusalem chiefly as a Messenger sent from God lest his adversaries to diminish the authority of his Ministery should suggest to the Galatians that Paul went that journey as a meere Messenger and servant to the Church of Antioch And communicated unto them that Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles And communicated The Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. I declared related or reported for in all the New Testament the word is used but in one place besides and that is by Luke who sayth that Festus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. reported Pauls cause unto King Agrippa where our last English Translation renders it declared Act. 25.14 The pronoune them is here a relative without an antecedent as the manner of the Hebrewes is sometimes to use it yet it is referred antecedently not to any persons mentioned before expresly but tacitly as they are couched in the word Jerusalem and it is referred subsequently to persons that shall be mentioned in the next following clause of this verse namely to them which were of reputation in Jerusalem The matter which unto them he related was not that whole Gospel wherein at his conversion Christ was revealed unto him but the summe of that Gospel or of that Doctrine which as part of the whole Gospel he preached among the Gentiles particularly to the point of circumcision and the rest of the legall ceremonies namely he preached that men are justified only by faith in Christ without either circumcision or other observances of the Law which he no where pressed upon the Gentiles or mentioned as necessary to salvation But privately to them which were of reputation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. secretly apart or aside for so also the word is commonly rendred elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to the principall or chiefe persons for among the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are such who are personages of chiefe esteem or repute of whom other men hold a great opinion for their knowledge wisedome and integrity such among the Apostles were Peter James and John and whosoever else were principall persons in the Church of Jerusalem To the chiefe persons therefore of that Church Paul related the summe of his Doctrine for they were most concerned in the point because they were best able to examine it and to give their judgement in it And with these he first dealt privately at a secret meeting as in like cases commonly the maner is before he communicated the matter to the whole Church of Jerusalem to whom the matter was referred and to whom afterward Paul and Barnabas publickly delivered it in the Synod For when in a full audience of the Synod they two had rendred an account of that Doctrine which they had preached among the Gentiles and had declared the miracles and wonders which God by them had wrought among the Gentiles presently upon their silence James gave the sentence which was approved by the whole Synod and thereupon the Decrees were drawne up to be sent abroad among the Gentiles as Luke reports it Acts 15.12 13. Against which order of proceeding this makes nothing that here in this Epistle he mentions his conference with the chiefest persons secretly in the last place for he might therefore doe so because he would expresse the generall act of his message before that which therein was particular without respect to the order of time Yet if any man will urge the contrary I shall not much stand upon it Lest by any meanes I should run or had run in vaine The finall cause why he made this relation of his Doctrine to the Apostles Not that Paul made any doubt concerning the certainty of his Doctrine as if he would acknowledge the verity and certainty thereof from the approbation of those who were the chiefe in reputation for as we heard before the verity and certainty of his Doctrine was by God himselfe miraculously revealed unto him and every where confirmed by divers miracles But he therefore related it to avoyd the inconvenience of losing his labour q. d. Unlesse I had thus communicated my selfe at Jerusalem to the Apostles I might have lost all my labour in preaching of the Gospel for my adversaries would continually have clamoured against my Doctrine that the chiefest of the Apostles thought and taught otherwise by which meanes they would have subverted their Faith who had beleft it and consequently I should have run in vaine losing all the fruit of my labour in preaching VERSE 3. Text. But neither Titus who was with me being a Greeke was compelled to be circumcised Sense Neither i. e. Not indeed A Greeke i. e. A non-Jew or Gentile Compelled The Greeke is necessitated Reason The issue of the conference at Jerusalem that circumcision was not decreed necessary neither was Titus a Gentile necessitated to be circumcised Comment A Greeke who Why Titus was not circumcised and why afterward Timothy was BUT neither Titus who was with me being a Greeke We may now perceive from these words why Paul mentioned Titus before as the companion of his journey to Jerusalem and why he tooke him with him by Revelation namely that from his person he might draw an evident testimony against the necessity of circumcision upon the Gentiles The particle neither stands not here for a copulative but is put for the single negative firmely denying of not indeed A Greeke i. e. a non-Jew or a Gentile for by the Jew every non-Jew of what Nation soever is generally called sometime a Greeke sometime a Gentile or Heathen See Rom. 1.16 and Rom. 2.9 q. d. From the result of the Synod no not Titus a man of great repute in the Church of God and my frequent assistant in the Gospel who was then with me at Jerusalem and present in the Assembly although by nation and birth he was not a Jew but a Gentile was ordered to be circumcised no not although circumcision seemed of great moment in regard of his person that he might be a precedent and leading man to the rest of the Gentiles Compelled to bee circumcised Compelled the Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. necessitated to bee circumcised for the question was whether circumcision were necessary to salvation and to shew it not necessary Titus was not necessitated to bee circumcised An infallible argument that the judgement of the Apostles was that neither circumcision nor the rest of the legall Ceremonies were no way necessary neither
bee justified i. e. freed by the Law of Moses and sometime it is translated by the word freed as Rom. 6.7 Hee that is dead is freed from sinne where the Margin shewes that the Originall word is justified From all those former jurall words thus referred to Justifying it plainely appeares that Justifying is not onely a jurall but also a curiall or Court-word Yet not borrowed from a Court criminall or any other Civill Court of Justice or Law where the suite is contentious and the sentence a judgement in which jus dicitur i. e. in which that right which was in being before is declared to bee according to the letter or meaning of the Law as heere in England is done in the Courts of the Kings Bench and of the Common Pleas where the Judges represent the King for his Justice But Justifying in the sense of the Apostle is rather proper to a Court of favour or grace where the suite is voluntary and the sentence is a Decree in which jus fit datur i. e. in which that right which was not in being before is made to bee according to the kindenesse favour goodwill and grace of the Prince wherein the iniquities and rigours of the Law are rectified pardons for offences are granted Patents and Charters for the Rights of Honours Profits and Priviledges are issued as heere in England is done in the Courts of Requests and the Chancery where the persons President represent the King for his Mercy and Grace and therefore are not called Judges as that word is properly signified by Judex But to avoyd the rough sense of the word Judges they are called by other names In effect therefore Justifying is a right Chancery-word whereby not onely our sinnes are cancelled crossed out and blotted but our Patent for blessednesse is granted and sealed But if wee may borrow a little light from the Civill Law or from those Courts wherein Wills and Testaments receive their Debates and Probates wee shall easily perceive that Justification is a Testamentary word Yet not for the letter of it for wee finde it not expresly used in Testaments But for the sence of it which is the very same or very neare with the Testamentary word of Institution Not as Institution is distinguished from Substitution But as it is opposed to Exheridation or disinheriting and signifies indifferently either for the ordaining of an Heire or for the devising of a Legacy In which ample signification Instituting is co-incident or equivalent with Justifying Both words carrying a sense either really the same or rationally consequent each to other For whosoever in a Testament is Instituted as an Heire or a Legatary that person is Justified or made to have a right to that Inheritance or Legacy which is therein conveyed or devised unto him And whosoever in a Testament is Justified unto any Inheritance or Legacy that person is thereto Instituted And the co-incidence or resemblance betweene these two words is the more proper Partly because Justification is a most gratious act proceeding from the meere favour and free grace of God without any previous Petition Motion or Request made by the party Justified As commonly Institutions are made in Wills and Testaments which are or should bee acts of meere favour and grace But chiefely because Justification is also a Testamentary act of God arising from his Will and Testament wherein all Believers are Instituted Heires to the Inheritance of everlasting life i. e. wherein they are Justified Having hitherto shewed the meaning of the word let us now gather nearer toward the nature of the thing to specifie more particularly what Right that is wee are made to have according to the purpose of the Apostle heere in saying that a man is justified Man is jurally a Sinner and ungodly i. e. a Calamitous person who is unto God an Alien and a Stranger who by his birth heere on earth hath no right to the Kingdome of Heaven For if a Native of England by his birth heere can claime no Inheritance in France nor in any other Kingdome on earth much lesse can a Native of earth claime any Inheritance in the Kingdome of Heaven And man is legally and morally a Sinner and ungodly i. e. Hee is unto God a Transgressour an Offendour and a Malefactour and by reason of sinne man is a Bondman and a Captive held a Prisoner in the Grave under Death and under Sathan who hath the Dominion and power of Death for because of sinne man is not onely debarred from Heaven but condemned to that earth from whence hee was taken even the uprightest man on earth can never bee found upright if God enter into judgement with him to take the examination of his life and marke what is done amisse Contrarily God is jurally Just or righteous i. e. hee is a Lord and Owner for hee is the universall and supreame Lord and Owner of all the whole World over all Owners Lords and Kings having the Soveraigne Dominion and Possession both of Heaven and Earth the Sea and all things else for the whole World and all the Creatures thereof are the workes of his hands and every workeman especially if hee worke upon his owne materialls is the Lord and Owner of his owne workes Unto God therefore doe belong not onely the things that may bee no mans and the things that may bee any mans but also the very things that are each mans as the Lands Goods and Chattells which each man possesseth For although God hath given the Earth to the Children of men and some men in respect of others are great Lords and rich Owners Yet all men even the greatest Kings in respect of God are but meane Lords and petty Owners or rather Tenants at will who have but a precarious use of earthly things the supreme seigniory and property whereof doth rest in God who still retaines to himselfe an absolute and full power to dispose of all things at his pleasure by giving and taking them away at his will See and compare Deut. 10.14 and Job 1.21 and Psal 24.1 and Psal 115.16 and Hos 2.8.9 and 1. Cor. 10.26 And God is morally Just or Righteous i. e. Hee is kind free and bounteous for hee is universally and supreamly kind free and bounteous to bestow in abundance his blessings upon all Creatures but chiefely upon man in a surpassing maner above all the rest Hence the Scripture is very serious and copious in setting forth Gods kindenesse for she magnifies it with the Attributes of great kindenesse Joel 2.13 and Jonah 4.2 of loving kindenesse Esay 63.7 and Jer. 31.3 and Hos 2.19 and in the Psalmes above 20. places of mercifull kindenesse Psalm 117.2 and Psalm 119.76 of marvellous kindenesse Psalm 17.7 and Psalm 31.21 and of everlasting kindenesse Esay 54.8 Shee extolls it with the praises of being Gods title that hee is the God of kindenesse Nehem. 9.17 and of being Gods exercise that hee makes it his delight Jer. 9.24 And the kindnesses which God
bestowes upon man for the acts of kinde persons are also called kindnesses are divine blessings beseeming the goodnes and greatnes of God as a right of heavenly freedome a right of Alliance with God and a right of inheritance in his kingdome For God is so free that his will is to make man free of heaven by giving him a right of divine freedome as a Denizen or Citizen of the Kingdome of Heaven See John 8.32 36. and Rom. 6.22 and Rom. 8.2 and 1 Cor. 7.22 and Ephes 2.19 and Heb. 8.10 And God is so kinde as to make man his Kinsman by giving him a right of divine alliance in making him his Son and becomming a father to him which makes not a remote and distant alliance but the nearest and best degree of kindred See John 1.12 and Rom. 8.14 and 2 Cor. 6.18 and Phil. 2.15 and Gal. 4.5 and 1 John 3.1 2. So fatherly kinde as to make man his heire by giving him a right of inheritance in Heaven where God hath provided for him many Manors and Mansions so goodly and so glorious that the Manors and Mansions on earth are but the figures and shadowes of those in Heaven for God who hath feared man here upon earth will hereafter most gloriously settle him in Heaven whereof he hath already made him the Heire by giving him a present right to the future possession of it for this kinde of right makes the nature of an Heire See Mat. 5.3 and Mat. 25.34 and John 14.2 and Rom. 8.17 and Gal. 4.7 and Ephes 1.3 and Ephes 2.6 and Tit. 3.7 and James â— 5 and 1 Pet. 1.4 But for the better conveyance and settling of these Heavenly kindnesses God frames his Will into a Testament wherein more blessings are devised and bequeathed unto man by way of gifts and Legacyes for hence the holy Scriptures both New and Old are called Gods Testaments though at the first making neither of them were written but were nuncupative because God at first declared his will by the word of his mouth for hence the same Testaments are called the word of God but his Will being afterwards written became the Scriptures And God by publishing of his Testament reveales the Gifts and Legacies thereof into promises for Gods promises are but his Gifts and Legacyes declared he covenants with man for the performance of those Promises and confirmes his Covenant that it may be irrevocable Now the proper virtue and effect of Testaments Promises and Covenants especially being once confirmed is to constitute ordaine impute and convey unto the persons concerned rights interests and claymes to the things therein specified And the rights and claymes constituted ordained and conveyed in Gods Testament are no lesse precious then the inheritances of Heaven whereto man is instituted Heire for although among men here on earth some Lands and inheritances cannot be disposed by Will and Testament yet all the inheritances of Heaven are deviseable by the Will and Testament of God And Gods Testament argues Gods marvellous loving kindnes for can a man possibly shew greater love and kindnes then first to give away all his estate and at last to confirme that gift give up his life all which is done in the making of a Will because a Will is a Deed which makes away all and yet it selfe is not fully made at least not made of force untill the death of the maker And Gods Testament for the purpose of it is a Will ad pias causas i. e. for godly and charitable uses wherein Gods goods are all distributed for the reliefe of impotent poore and needy wretches for all the parties instituted in Gods Testament are miserable persons such as are the blind and lame the deafe and dumbe the dead and buried such as are strangers unto God as aliens bondslaves captives and prisoners unto Satan such as are Sinners against him as offendors and malefactors For hence the publishing of Gods last Will and Testament is called by Christ Luke 4.18 preaching of the Gospel to the poore sending to heale the broken-hearted preaching deliverance to the captives recovering of sight to the blind setting at liberty them that are bruised And this againe doth magnifie Gods marveylous loving kindnesse for can a Testament shew greater love and kindnesse then when it is all for charitable uses And the better to qualifie these miserable persons and to inable them for the possession of these blessings Gods will is yet further to performe all acts thereto conducing as to Illuminate and instruct them in heavenly knowledge that they may know God to be their gratious Father to Regenerate and sanctifie them by writing his divine Law in their hearts that they may carry themselves as the sons of God to Expiate pardon and forgive all their sins in generall past present and to come to Redeem from the grave their dead and vile bodies transforming them into heavenly and glorious bodies and lastly to Glorifie them at their entrance into their Lords joy where they shall be partakers of his divine nature and the freeholders of eternall blessednesse For such clauses there are in Gods will See Heb. 8.10 11 12. and Phil. 3.21 and 2. Pet. 1.4 Hence the nature of Justifying may easily appeare For when unto a Sinner and a stranger God by his Will and Testament deviseth or imputeth a present right to a future blessing then God justifieth the ungodly and when a Sinner hath that right then a man is justified And therefore actively and factively all the gifts and Legacies of Gods Will and all the promises of God doe justifie because it is the nature of a Legacy and of a promise to impute a present right to some future benefit or blessing And therefore againe passively and effectually all the free men of Gods kingdome and all the sonnes and heyres of God are justified because it is the nature of a freeman of a son and of an heyre to have a present right to a future estate When unto Abraham who at first was a sinner and a stranger God by his Will and Testament devised these earthly blessings That he should have an heyre from his owne body and should have the Kingdome of Canaan for his inheritance Gods will was that Abraham should have a present right to those blessings and when effectually Abraham had that right then was he justified When unto Rahab who was an harlot and a stranger God by the same Will imputed a present right to her future safety and consequently to make her free in Israel then was Rahab justified When unto the Jewes who were sinners God by his last Will and Testament which is his new Covenant devised and ordayned the kingdome of Heaven and those heavenly blessings wherof the Earthly kingdome of Canaan and her blessings were but figures and shadowes as their exemption from the Law the Priviledge and benefit of Repentance the Renovation of their mindes the Remission of their sins the Resurrection of their bodies and the Inheritance of
everlasting life in the kingdome of Heaven Gods Will was to give them a present right to those blessings and those Jewes who effectually had that right they were justified And when the Gentiles who were both sinners and strangers were by the same Will made fellow-citizens with the Saints fellow-heyres fellow-members and partakers of Gods promise in Christ to have the same right unto the same blessings with the believing Jewes then were the Gentiles justified The Names of Justifying or other words whereby in Scripture this is expressed are too many to be mentioned here yet for the better understanding of the thing we may take notice of some which intimate either the causes effects affections or resemblances of it 1. Therefore it is called adopting or making Sons of God Joh. 1.12 As many as received him to them gave he power to become or be made the sonnes of God i. e. he justified them by giving them the right or priviledge of Sons for so the word power is explained in the margin 2. Manumising infranchising or making free John 8.36 If the Sonne shall make you free you shall be free indeed i. e. if the Son shall justifie you by giving you the right of freedome the Kingdome of Heaven ye shall have that reall and true freedome whereof your earthly freedome is but a figure or shadow 3. Reconciling or attoneing with God Rom. 5.10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God i. e. justified by way of amity or alliance to be made the friends and Sons of God and at the next verse following By whom we have now received the attonement i. e. by whom we have now been justified for in the originall the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in both these verses but is rendred in the 10. reconciled and in the 11. attonement 4. Inoculating or grafting Rom. 11.24 If thou wert cut out of the Olive tree which is wilde by nature and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good Olive tree i. e. if contrary to nature thou wert justified for as the Cions or Graft hath a right of life and maintenance to partake of the root and sap of that stock whereinto it is inoculated so the justified are made joynt-heyres with Christ to have the same rights with Christ into whom they are incorporated 5. Ingratiating or making accepted Ephes 1.6 To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath made us accepted in the beloved i. e. hath justified and graced us by giving us a right in Christ who is the beloved of God 6. Infeoffing or estating Ephes 1.11 In whom also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee have obtained an inheritance or have been infeoffed i. e. by whom we are justified to have that inheritance whereto God had predestinated instituted or ordained us in his will and testament 7. Seating or placing in Heaven Ephes 2.6 And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus i. e. hath justified us by making us co-heires with Christ by Christ and giving us a present right to a future seat or possession in Heaven where Christ is already seated for in this life we doe not actually sit in heavenly places but in this life we are made to have a present right for our future sitting there 8. Allying or making nigh unto God Ephes 2.13 Yee who sometimes were farre off are made nigh by the bloud of Christ. i. e. ye who were sometimes strangers unto God are now justified and made to have an allyance with God amounting in a manner to a consanguinity and as effectuall as a nearenesse by bloud yet not by your bloud but by the bloud of Christ 9. Inabling or making meet Col. 1.12 Which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light i. e. hath justified us to make us fellow-heires and fellow commoners with the Saints 10. Translating in the next verse following Who hath delivered us from the power of darkenesse and hath translated us into the Kingdome of his deare Sonne i. e. and hath justified us by changing our state or condition from being bondslaves and captives in the Kingdome of Satan to be made Owners and Freeholders in the Kingdome of Christ 11. Pardoning or forgiving Col. 2.13 And you being dead in your sinnes and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath hee quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses i. e. having justified you by giving you a right of impunity or pardon whereby ye are released from the punishment of all your sinnes 12. Ransoming or Redeeming Revel 5.9 For thou wast slaine and hast redeemed us to God by thy bloud i. e. hast justified us by delivering us from the bondage and slavery of Satan and by asserting us into a spirituall freedome and a divine allyance with God The Matter of Justifying or the Right which thereby a man is made to have is a Right of State which is a permanent and stable condition wherein his person standeth remaineth and resteth and this State is as it were the standerd base or ground to all the rest of mans future rights priviledges and benefits which unto this state are incident and subsequent to be raised and built thereon For as in many Kingdomes of the world so in the Kingdome of God mens persons are made to stand and rest under severall states and conditions whereof the most remarkable are the two states of spirituall bondage and of spirituall freedome which being in themselves contrary draw after them contrary consequents and accidents Spirituall bondage is a restraint pressure closenesse or fastnesse of the spirit whereby a man stands tyed from good unto evill debarred from having the good that hee would and should have is hindred from doing the good that hee would and should doe is constrained to doe the evill that hee would not and should not doe is a drudge to the pleasure of sinne is a slave to the motions of his lust and a Captive under the power of Satan This is a state of wrath a low base terrene and miserable condition a condition farre beneath the proper nature and quality of man a condition that hath no right or interest to any spirituall benefit nor while it lasteth is capable of any a condition charged and loaden with so many burdens and miseries thereto incident and consequent that in poynt of Law the Bondman is reputed a dead man Contrarily spirituall freedome is a gallantry braven fluency cleernesse or loosenesse of the spirit whereby a man is inlarged from evill unto good is advanced to have that good which hee would and should have is inabled to doe that good which hee would and should doe is restrained from doing that evill whereto Sathan may tempt him is licensed to live according to his owne will or rather according to a better will then his owne namely according to the good will and pleasure of God whose will hee makes his owne will
God that God is their God i. e. their benefactor or patron and they the beneficiaries or friends of God for long after their death God acknowledged this their state of alliance unto him in saying unto Moses Exod. 3.6 I am the God of thy father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And from this their alliance unto God Christ proveth their Resurrection and not only theirs but of the dead in generall Luk. 20.38 because God is not a God of the dead i. e. he neyther is nor can be a benefactor to give a blessing to the dead who while they rest in the state of death are not capable of any benefit but he is a God of the living i. e. The persons to whom God is a benefactor to give them his blessing must be living or being dead must be raysed to life that therby they may be capable to receive his blessing for unto him all live i. e. all the dead in God by vertue of their state of alliance unto him which state dies not by their dying have a present right to a future life whereto God being their benefactor is able and willing to rayse them The Degree of mans Right to these future Priviledges is a right of Institution If we consider mans state of freedome and alliance with God man therein hath now a right in possession to become seized of that state ipso facto and to enjoy it actually in this life for in this life a man justified is actually the freed-man and friend the son and heyre of God But if wee consider the future priviledges consequent to this state as the Remission of sins the Resurrection of the body and Life everlasting man unto these hath not a right in possession for untill the day of Judgement no mans sins are actually forgiven no mans body is actually raysed no mans person is actually possessed of life everlasting But unto these future blessings man in this life hath a right of Institution i. e. he hath a present right to the future possession of them and a present right to petition for that future possession to clayme and make suit for it Such a degree of right had the Israelites during their bondage in Aegypt unto the Land of Canaan whereof then they were not in possession yet then they had a present right to the future possession of it whereto God by his promise unto Abraham had instituted or ordayned them Such a degree of right had David after his anointing by Samuel during the life of Saul unto the kingdome of Israel whereof then he was not in possession yet then hee had a present right to the future possession of it whereto God by his anointing had instituted and ordayned him Such a degree of right have the faithfull during their mortall life unto the Remission of their sinnes the Resurrection of their bodies and the Life everlasting of which blessings they are not now in possession yet now they have a present right to the future possession of them because thereto God by his Will and Testament hath predestinated instituted or ordained them And such a degree of right hath a legatary to his Legacy when the Testament is once confirmed and come to bee of force but a possessory and compleate right hee hath not untill the Executor make delivery or payment of the Legacy which being not done in due time the Legatary by his right of Institution may bring his action and sue for it For Testaments Promises and Covenants have two different effects according to the two differences of time present and future their present effect is an Institution to a right and their future effect is a possession of the thing So their whole effect conjoyned is to institute or ordaine a present right to some future possession The manner how a man hath this state is factively i. e. hee is made to have it This state of divine franchise and alliance with God man hath it not natively i. e. not by virtue of his birth for hee is not borne free nor borne the Sonne of God but is borne an Alien to the Kingdome of Heaven and a stranger to the Family of God for man who is borne on earth and borne the Sonne of man how should hee by virtue of his birth become free of Heaven and bee the Sonne and Heire of God When by his birth in one Kingdome on earth hee can claime no right in another But the Verbe Justified being a compound of Justus and facio doth intimate unto man not onely his seisure of haveing this state but also the maner how hee hath it namely factively by the fact or deede of God by whom hee is made to have this right of state by whom hee is translated from the state of an Alien and of a Stranger to bee made the friend and sonne of God For hence wee are sayd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to bee made the sonnes of God John 1.12 As many as received him to them gave hee power to become or bee made the sonnes of God and to bee made free John 8.36 If the sonne shall make you free yee shall bee free indeed and to bee made accepted Ephes 1.6 To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein hee hath made us accepted in the beloved and made to sit in heavenly places Ephes 2.6 And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places and made nigh Ephes 2.13 Yee who sometimes were farre off are made nigh by the blood of Christ and made meet Col. 1.10 Which hath made us meete to bee partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light So Moses was the sonne of Pharoahs Daughter not natively for shee bred him not in her wombe but factively for shee found him by the Rivers brinke floating in a boat of bulrushes and made him her sonne So Uriah the Husband of Bathsheba was an Israelite not natively for by Nation hee was an Hittite but factively in being made an Israelite So Araunah was natively a Jebusite but factively an Israelite and so every Proselite became free of Israel factively to bee made free And this fact of God in making man to have this state the Scripture calls Justifying which though it much resemble the fact of Adoption yet in the sense of Paul is farre more ample more noble and more gratious Because Justifying is extended to more acts then adopting for it includes pardoning redeeming naturalizing legitimating infranchising and adopting And this justifying fact of God is a Testamentary act whereby this state is predestinated ordained or devised unto man in the Will and Testament of God For wee are made the sonnes of God by his Will John 1.13 Which were borne not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God i. e. Men are not borne the sonnes of God by flesh and blood nor made his sonnes by the Will and Testament of man
to the bloud of Abel and is sayd to speake better things then that of Abel Heb. 12.24 And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Testament and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better things then that of Abel viz. Because the sprinkling of Christs bloud confirmed the New Testament which gives rights and claymes to blessednesse whereas the bloud of Abel clamors and cryes for vengeance Hence the New Testament is highly magnified above the Old in respect of the confirmation for although the Old Testament was confirmed by bloud yet that confirmation was made but by the bloud of beasts as of Oxen Calves and Goats for that with such bloud onely the Old Testament was established or confirmed it appeares playnely Exod. 24.8 which place we recited before and is further manifested Heb. 9.18 Whereupon neither the first Testament was dedicated or confirmed to be in force without bloud for when Moses had spoken every Precept to all the people according to the Law he tooke the bloud of Calves and of Goates with water and scarlet wooll and hysop and sprinkled both the Booke and all the people saying this is the bloud of the Testament which God hath enjoyned unto you And hence a contempt against the New Testament is farre more fearefull and dangerous then a despite against the Old because the New was sanctified confirmed or hallowed with holy bloud even with the bloud of the Son of God Heb. 10.28 Hee that despised Moses Law dyed without mercy under two or three witnesses Of how much sorer punishment suppose yee shall hee bee thought worthy who hath troden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the bloud of the covenant or New Testament wherewith hee it should be wherewith it viz. the New Testament was sanctified i. e. was ratified confirmed and established to be and to stand in force 3. To execute or performe the Decrees of the New Testament According to the rule of right reason and to the Law of naturall equity the will of the dead is to bee performed Because otherwise the will also is dead For it is a rule among the Civilians Voluntas Testatoris pro Lege habetâ—â— i. e. the Testators Will is a kinde of Law As therefore the Execution if the Law is the life of the Law So the Execution of a Will is the life of the Will and as the Law bindes the Magistrate to execute it So doth a Will binde the Executor But it is definitive and naturall to a Testament to bee a Will wherein an Executor is nominated that Will therefore wherein no Execution is nominated is no Testament or is not properly so called And to what purpose is an Executor nominated or nominated by the name of an Executor if hee execute not the Testament of the Testator And because it is definitive and naturall to a Testament to predestinate and pre-decree things to be executed after death that Testament therfore which after death is not executed is frustrated or frustrated to those particulars which are not executed And avested Executor who hath some benefit by the Testament wherin he is nominated may be compelled to accept the Executorship or else to lose his benefit by the Testament And although a nude or bare Executor who hath no benefit by the Testament bee not precisely bound to undertake the Executorship for if hee see cause hee may refuse it Yet when once hee hath accepted it he is then precisely bound to execute it Now of the New Testament the Executor was Christ For the New Testament was the last and best Will of God established upon better Promises better Inheritances and better Legacies then were ordained in the former Testament And therefore what better Executor could God nominate and depute for the performance of it then Christ Because Christ was the Son of God and by that relation above all persons in the World was nearest in alliance unto the Testator and fittest in ability to execute the Testament For who but Christ can execute the Office of that Priest who was to enter the Sanctuary of Heaven and there to sanctifie the people of God by expiating their sinnes and sending unto them the holy spirit of God to purifie and cleanse their conscience from sinne And who but Christ can execute the Office of that King who was to set on the Throne of Heaven there to governe the people of God to subdue all their enemies to raise them from death to invest them with heavenly bodies and to seate them in the possession of blessednesse For the Priestly and Kingly Office of Christ wherein else doth it chiefely consist but in the execution of the New Testament In a word who but Christ can discharge the Promises or Legacies of blessednesse which in the New Testament are made and devised unto Believers Hence Christ is called the Mediatour of the New Testament Heb. 9.15 And for this cause hee is the Mediatour of the New Testament And againe Heb. 12.24 And to Jesus the Mediatour of the New Covenant or Testament for that word stands in the Margin and should have beene in the Text. Now the Mediatour of a Testament is hee whom in these times wee call the Executor of it for although every Mediatour bee not the Executor of a Testament yet every Mediatour of a Testament is the Executor of it Because the Executor thereof is a Mediatour or middle person betweene the Testator and the Legataries and by Means of him the finall effect of the Testament is procured and therein in consisteth the finall execution of it But although this be not the onely respect wherein Christ is the Mediator of the New Testament for he mediated it by testifying the truth of it and he mediated it by confirming the force of it yet he also mediated it this way and chiefly this way namely by executing the decrees of it For albeit the Testament were of force upon the confirmation of it yet till the Execution of it it was of no effect But here we shall not further prosecute this verity that Christ is the Executor of the new Testament because we certified it before upon verse 16. And Christ was a vested Executor Because he was to receive an infinite benefit by the new Testament For therein he was appointed the universall heire of God Heb. 1.2 God in these last dayes hath spoken unto us by his Sonne whom he hath appointed heire of all things Now in a testamentary construction an heire and a vested Executor are really all one and the same although some rationall difference may be betweene them Thereby he was to receive universall Power over all the world both in heaven and earth for such power was given him and after his Resurrection he received it Mat. 28.18 And Jesus came and spake unto them saying All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Thereby he was to receive universall honour from all persons in Heaven in earth or under the earth for all were to
and gave gifts unto men and partly by the words immediately following vers 11. And hee gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministery for the edifying of the body of Christ Now to doe these things was to execute and fulfill the last Will of God Hence the Apostle teacheth the conveniency of Christs death through the meanes whereof hee was fitted and perfected for the executing and doing of those things which according to the last Will of God conduce to our finall salvation For hence is our Expiation whereby wee are absolved and acquitted from our sinnes for Christ through his death was made a mercifull and faithfull high Priest to performe this gracious Office unto us Heb. 2.17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to bee made like unto his brethren that hee might bee a mercifull and faithfull high Priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sinnes of the people for in that hee himselfe hath suffered being tempted hee is able to succour them that are tempted And whereas at the Legall Expiation the Priest entred the Tabernacle after hee had shed the blood of Goates and Calves But Christ first shed his owne blood and thereupon entred the Sanctuary of Heaven once for all to make an eternall Expiation Heb. 9.12 Neither by the blood of Goates and Calves but by his owne blood hee entred in once into the holy place having obtained eternall redemption Hence is our Consolation whereby wee are succoured in all our sufferings and distresses for seeing Christ suffered and was tryed in all poynts as wee are therefore hee hath a sense of our infirmities and thereupon wee may confidently come to him for helpe in time of neede Heb. 4.15 For wee have not an high Priest which cannot bee touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted as wee are yet without sinne let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that wee may obtaine mercy and finde grace to helpe in time of neede Hence is our Resurrection whereby wee are raised from death for Christ through his death destroyes the Divell who had the power of death and delivers us from our death whereof though wee feele the pressure yet wee need not feare the bondage that it will bee eternall Heb. 2.14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood hee also himselfe likewise tooke part of the same that through death hee might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Divell and deliver them who through feare of death were all their life time subject to bondage And hence is our Glorification whereby the possession of our eternall inheritance is delivered unto us for Christ was the Executor of the New Testament for this very cause that through the meanes of his death wee might receive the possession of that eternall inheritance to the present right whereof wee are called and justified Heb. 9.15 And for this cause hee is the Mediatour of the New Testament that by meanes of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called might receive the promise the promised possession of eternall inheritance Hence also Christ himselfe before his death taught his Disciples the Expediency of his death that it was expedient for them hee should dye for otherwise the Comforter which was the holy Ghost would not come unto them John 16.7 Neverthelesse I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away the Comforter will not come unto you But if I depart I will send him unto you By his going away and departing hee meanes his dying for wee commonly expresse dying by the words of going away and departing And after his death hee taught them the Necessity of his death that it behoved him to die and rise again from the dead that thereupon the Gospel might be preached in his name Luk. 24.46 And hee sayd unto them thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sinnes should bee preached in his name among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem Thus the immediate proper finall causes or reasons why Christ dyed are chiefely three namely to Testifie the truth of the New Testament to Confirme the force of it and to Execute the decrees of it for unto a Testament once constituted what acts more do necessarily belong then the Testification the Confirmation and the Execution of it But the remote causes of his death might bee many and various For all the actions done by Christ as Mediatour of the New Testament were causes of his death whether wee respect his Prophetick Office in publishing Gods Will preaching his Doctrine and working Miracles or his Priestly Office in sanctifying Believers and expiating their sinnes or his Kingly Office in governing his people and subduing their enemies And all benefits redounding to Believers as the Legacies and Promises of the New Testament were causes of his death as their Justification the Remission of their sinnes their Resurrection and Glorification And all Duties to bee done by Believers as the conditions without which they are not to enjoy their Legacies are the causes of his death as their sanctity or holynesse their dying to sinne and newnesse of life in all the good workes of love But all these and the like are not opposite or repugnant to the three causes by us assigned but are comprehended and included in them are subordinate and consequent to them are collected and inferred from them For because Christ dyed to testifie confirm and execute the New Testament and my sanctity or holinesse is a Precept thereof and a duty by me to be done therefore Christ dyed for my Sanctification that I might dye unto sin and live unto holinesse and consequently he dyed for my patience temperance mercifulnesse c. because these and the like are branches of holinesse And because Christ dyed to testifie confirme and execute the New Testament wherein Remission of sins the Resurrection from the dead and Glorification were devised and promised as Legacies unto Believers therfore Christ also dyed for the Remission of my sins for my Resurrection and Glorification Yet among the remote Causes of Christs death the Scripture doth most frequently mention the Remission of sins Because my sins have the greatest force upon me to bereave or at least to hinder me from the hope of their forgivenes For according to the evidence of reason if I looke upon my sins to consider the custome and foulenesse of them how can I chuse but feare that I have deserved a fearfull punishment and that God in his Justice will inflict it on me Or if I looke upon my death to consider my dissolution and rottennesse in the Grave how can I hope that God whom I