G
A L A T I A N S
CHAP. III.
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.
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Justification
by Faith.
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A. D. 56.
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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 it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that
ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it
by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
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.
He reproves them, and the reproof is very close and warm: he calls them foolish
Galatians, v. 1. Though as Christians they were Wisdom's children,
yet as corrupt Christians they were foolish children. Yea, he asks, Who
hath bewitched you? 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 they
did not obey the truth; 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.
1. Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth as crucified among them;
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.
2. He appeals to the experiences they had had of the working of the Spirit
upon their souls (v. 2); he puts them in mind that, upon their becoming
Christians, they had received the Spirit, 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 by the works of the law,
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 hearing of faith, 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.
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 (v.
3, 4): he tells them that they had begun in the Spirit, but now were
seeking to be made perfect by the flesh; 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.
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
ministered the Spirit to them, and wrought miracles among them: and he
appeals to them whether they did it by the works of the law or by the
hearing of faith, 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.
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Justification
by Faith.
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A. D. 56.
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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, saying, 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 is 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, it is 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 is 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 it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be 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, that
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 be of the
law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by
promise.
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.
I. From the example of Abraham's justification. This argument the apostle
uses, Rom. iv. Abraham believed God, and that was accounted to him for
righteousness (v. 6); 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 that those who are of faith
are the children of Abraham (v. 7), 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 (Gen.
xii. 3), In thee shall all nations be blessed, had a reference
hereunto, v. 8. The scripture is said to foresee, 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 preaching the gospel to
Abraham; and thence infers (v. 9) that those who are of faith,
that is, true believers, of what nation soever they are, are blessed with
faithful Abraham. 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.
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; for
as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, 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; 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, v.
10, and Deut. xxvii. 26. The condition of life, by the law, is perfect,
personal, and perpetual, obedience; the language of it is, Do this and
live; or, as v. 12, The man that doeth them shall live in them:
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, v. 13) hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, &c. A strange method it was which Christ took to
redeem us from the curse of the law; it was by his being himself made a
curse for us. 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,
Deut. xxi. 22. The design of this was that the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ--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.
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, v. 11.
The place referred to is Habak. ii. 4, where it is said, The just shall
live by faith; it is again quoted, Rom. i. 17, and Heb. x. 38. 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, It is evident that
no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. Whatever he may be in
the account of others, yet he is not so in the sight of God; for the law is
not of faith--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, The man that doeth them shall live in them, as Lev. xviii. 5. 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.
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, v. 15, &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 (v. 8), 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
diaqhkh 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 (v.
16), 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--that
seed is Christ," 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 (v.
18): If the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise; but,
says he, God gave it to Abraham by promise, 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.
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Design
of the Law; The True Children of Abraham.
A. D. 56.
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19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It
was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the
promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a
mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but
God is one. 21 Is 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 to
bring us 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 be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise.
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,
I. The law was added because of transgressions, v. 19. 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 it was added
to it, annexed on purpose to be subservient to it, and it was so because of
transgressions. 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; for by the law is the knowledge of sin
(Rom. iii. 20), and the law entered that sin might abound, Rom. v. 20.
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.
The apostle adds that the law was given for this purpose till the seed
should come to whom the promise was made; 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, Heb. viii. 7, 8. 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.
As a further proof that the law was not designed to vacate the promise, the
apostle adds, It was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 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 by the ministry of
angels, and the hand of a mediator. Hence it appeared that the law could
not be designed to set aside the promise; for (v. 20), A mediator is
not a mediator of one, of one party only; but God is one, 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.
II. The law was given to convince men of the necessity of a Saviour. The
apostle asks (v. 21), as what some might be willing to object, "Is
the law then against the promises of God? 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, God
forbid; 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; for, if there had been a law given that could have
given life, verily righteousness would have been by the law, and in that
case the promise would have been superseded and rendered useless. But that in
our present state could not be, for the scripture hath concluded all under
sin (v. 22), 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 that the promise by
faith of Jesus Christ might be given to those that believe, 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.
III. The law was designed for a schoolmaster, to bring men to Christ, v.
24. In the foregoing verse, the apostle acquaints us with the state of the
Jews under the Mosaic economy, that before faith came, or before Christ
appeared and the doctrine of justification by faith in him was more fully
discovered, they were kept under the law, 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 the faith which should afterwards
be revealed, 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, the law was
their schoolmaster, to bring them to Christ, that they might be justified by
faith. 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, &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 paidagwgoV most
properly signifies, their servant, 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 (v. 25) that after faith has come,
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, we
are no longer under a schoolmaster--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,
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.
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 Rom. ix. 31, 32; x. 3, 4.
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 following verses. 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,
(1.) That we are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, v.
26. And here we may observe, [1.] The great and excellent privilege which real
Christians enjoy under the gospel: They are the children of God; they
are no longer accounted servants, but sons; 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 by faith
in Christ Jesus. 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 (John i. 12) as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to those that believe on his name. And this
faith in Christ, whereby they became the children of God, he reminds us (v.
27), was what they professed in baptism; for he adds, As many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 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, First, 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 (Matt. xxviii. 19), 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, Those who are
baptized into Christ have put on Christ; 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 (Phil. iii. 3),
and therefore there was no reason why the use of that should still be
continued. Note, Secondly, 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 (Rom. vi. 3, 4); it would be of great
advantage to us did we oftener remember this.
(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 bond and
free, master and servant, and between male and female, the males
being circumcised. But it is not so now; they all stand on the same level, and
are all one in Christ Jesus; 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.
(3.) That, being Christ's, we are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise. 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 if
you be Christ's, 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 seed of Abraham, the father of the faithful, and as
such are heirs according to the promise, 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.
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