G
A L A T I A N S
CHAP. IV.
The
apostle, in this chapter, is still carrying on the same general design as in
the former--to recover these Christians from the impressions made upon them by
the judaizing teachers, and to represent their weakness and folly in suffering
themselves to be drawn away from the gospel doctrine of justification, and to
be deprived of their freedom from the bondage of the law of Moses. For this
purpose he makes use of various considerations; such as, I. The great
excellence of the gospel state above the legal, ver. 1-7. II. The happy change
that was made in them at their conversion, ver. 8-11. III. The affection they
had had for him and his ministry, ver. 12-16. IV. The character of the false
teachers by whom they had been perverted, ver. 17, 18. V. The very tender
affection he had for them, ver. 19, 20. VI. The history of Isaac and Ishmael,
by a comparison taken from which he illustrates the difference between such as
rested in Christ and such as trusted in the law. And in all these, as he uses
great plainness and faithfulness with them, so he expresses the tenderest
concern for them.
|
The
Redemption by Christ.
|
A. D. 56.
|
|
|
1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as
he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of
all; 2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed
of the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in
bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of
the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then a heir
of God through Christ.
In this chapter the apostle deals plainly with those who hearkened to the
judaizing teachers, who cried up the law of Moses in competition with the
gospel of Christ, and endeavoured to bring them under the bondage of it. To
convince them of their folly, and to rectify their mistake herein, in these
verses he prosecutes the comparison of a child under age, which he had touched
upon in the foregoing chapter, and thence shows what great advantages we have
now, under the gospel, above what they had under the law. And here.
I. He acquaints us with the state of the Old-Testament church: it was like a
child under age, and it was used accordingly, being kept in a state of
darkness and bondage, in comparison of the greater light and liberty which we
enjoy under the gospel. That was indeed a dispensation of grace, and yet it
was comparatively a dispensation of darkness; for as the heir, in his
minority, is under tutors and governors till the time appointed of his
father, by whom he is educated and instructed in those things which at
present he knows little of the meaning of, though afterwards they are likely
to be of great use to him; so it was with the Old-Testament church--the Mosaic
economy, which they were under, was what they could not fully understand the
meaning of; for, as the apostle says (2 Cor. iii. 13), They could not
stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But to the church,
when grown up to maturity, in gospel days, it becomes of great use. And as
that was a dispensation of darkness, so of bondage too; for they were in
bondage under the elements of the world, being tied to a great number of
burdensome rites and observances, by which, as by a kind of first rudiments,
they were taught and instructed, and whereby they were kept in a state of
subjection, like a child under tutors and governors. The church then lay more
under the character of a servant, being obliged to do every thing
according to the command of God, without being fully acquainted with the
reason of it; but the service under the gospel appears to be more reasonable
than that was. The time appointed of the Father having come, when the church
was to arrive at its full age, the darkness and bondage under which it before
lay are removed, and we are under a dispensation of greater light and liberty.
II. He acquaints us with the much happier state of Christians under the
gospel-dispensation, v. 4-7. When the fulness of time had come,
the time appointed of the Father, when he would put an end to the legal
dispensation, and set up another and a better in the room of it, he sent
forth his Son, &c. The person who was employed to introduce this new
dispensation was no other than the Son of God himself, the only-begotten of
the Father, who, as he had been prophesied of and promised from the foundation
of the world, so in due time he was manifested for this purpose. He, in
pursuance of the great design he had undertaken, submitted to be made of a
woman--there is his incarnation; and to be made under the law--there
is his subjection. He who was truly God for our sakes became man; and he who
was Lord of all consented to come into a state of subjection and to take upon
him the form of a servant; and one great end of all this was to redeem
those that were under the law--to save us from that intolerable yoke and
to appoint gospel ordinances more rational and easy. He had indeed something
more and greater in his view, in coming into the world, than merely to deliver
us from the bondage of the ceremonial law; for he came in our nature, and
consented to suffer and die for us, that hereby he might redeem us from the
wrath of God, and from the curse of the moral law, which, as sinners, we all
lay under. But that was one end of it, and a mercy reserved to be bestowed at
the time of his manifestation; then the more servile state of the church was
to come to a period, and a better to succeed in the place of it; for he was
sent to redeem us, that we might receive the adoption of sons--that we
might no longer be accounted and treated as servants, but as sons grown up to
maturity, who are allowed greater freedoms, and admitted to larger privileges,
than while they were under tutors and governors. This the course of the
apostle's argument leads us to take notice of, as one thing intended by this
expression, though no doubt it may also be understood as signifying that
gracious adoption which the gospel so often speaks of as the privilege of
those who believe in Christ. Israel was God's son, his first-born, Rom. ix. 4.
But now, under the gospel, particular believers receive the adoption; and, as
an earnest and evidence of it, they have together therewith the Spirit of
adoption, putting them upon the duty of prayer, and enabling them in prayer to
eye God as a Father (v. 6): Because you are sons, God hath sent
forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. And
hereupon (v. 7) the apostle concludes this argument by adding, Wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son; and, if a son, then an heir of God
through Christ; that is, Now, under the gospel state, we are no longer
under the servitude of the law, but, upon our believing in Christ, become the
sons of God; we are thereupon accepted of him, and adopted by him; and, being
the sons, we are also heirs of God, and are entitled to the heavenly
inheritance (as he also reasons Rom. viii. 17), and therefore it must needs be
the greatest weakness and folly to turn back to the law, and to seek
justification by the works of it. From what the apostle says in these verses,
we may observe,
1. The wonders of divine love and mercy towards us, particularly of God the
Father, in sending his Son into the world to redeem and save us,--of the Son
of God, in submitting so low, and suffering so much, for us, in pursuance of
that design,--and of the Holy Spirit, in condescending to dwell in the hearts
of believers for such gracious purposes.
2. The great and invaluable advantages which Christians enjoy under the
gospel; for, (1.) We receive the adoption of sons. Whence note, It is
the great privilege which believers have through Christ that they are adopted
children of the God of heaven. We who by nature are children of wrath and
disobedience have become by grace children of love. (2.) We receive the
Spirit of adoption. Note, [1.] All who have the privilege of adoption have
the Spirit of adoption--all who are received into the number partake of the
nature of the children of God; for he will have all his children to resemble
him. [2.] The Spirit of adoption is always the Spirit of prayer, and it is our
duty in prayer to eye God as a Father. Christ has taught us in prayer to eye
God as our Father in heaven. [3.] If we are his sons, then his heirs. It is
not so among men, with whom the eldest son is heir; but all God's children are
heirs. Those who have the nature of sons shall have the inheritance of sons.
|
Affectionate
Remonstrance.
|
A. D. 56.
|
|
|
8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did
service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9 But now, after
that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the
weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am
afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
In these verses the apostle puts them in mind of what they were before their
conversion to the faith of Christ, and what a blessed change their conversion
had made upon them; and thence endeavours to convince them of their great
weakness in hearkening to those who would bring them under the bondage of the
law of Moses.
I. He reminds them of their past state and behaviour, and what they were
before the gospel was preached to them. Then they knew not God; they
were grossly ignorant of the true God, and the way wherein he is to be
worshipped: and at that time they were under the worst of slaveries, for they
did service to those which by nature were no gods, they were employed in a
great number of superstitious and idolatrous services to those who, though
they were accounted gods, were yet really no gods, but mere creatures, and
perhaps of their own making, and therefore were utterly unable to hear and
help them. Note, 1. Those who are ignorant of the true God cannot but be
inclined to false gods. Those who forsook the God who made the world, rather
than be without gods, worshipped such as they themselves made. 2. Religious
worship is due to none but to him who is by nature God; for, when the apostle
blames the doing service to such as by nature were no gods, he plainly shows
that he only who is by nature God is the proper object of our religious
worship.
II. He calls upon them to consider the happy change that was made in them by
the preaching of the gospel among them. Now they had known God (they
were brought to the knowledge of the true God and of his Son Jesus Christ,
whereby they were recovered out of the ignorance and bondage under which they
before lay) or rather were known of God; this happy change in their
state, whereby they were turned from idols to the living God, and through
Christ had received the adoption of sons, was not owing to themselves, but to
him; it was the effect of his free and rich grace towards them, and as such
they ought to account it; and therefore hereby they were laid under the
greater obligation to adhere to the liberty wherewith he had made them free.
Note, All our acquaintance with God begins with him; we know him, because we
are known of him.
III. Hence he infers the unreasonableness and madness of their suffering
themselves to be brought again into a state of bondage. He speaks of it with
surprise and deep concern of mind that such as they should do so: How turn
you again, &c., says he, v. 9. "How is it that you, who
have been taught to worship God in the gospel way, should not be persuaded to
comply with the ceremonial way of worship? that you, who have been acquainted
with a dispensation of light, liberty, and love, as that of the gospel is,
should now submit to a dispensation of darkness, and bondage, and terror, as
that of the law is?" This they had the less reason for, since they had
never been under the law of Moses, as the Jews had been; and therefore on this
account they were more inexcusable than the Jews themselves, who might be
supposed to have some fondness for that which had been of such long standing
among them. Besides, what they suffered themselves to be brought into bondage
to were but weak and beggarly elements, such things as had no power in
them to cleanse the soul, nor to afford any solid satisfaction to the mind,
and which were only designed for that state of pupillage under which the
church had been, but which had now come to a period; and therefore their
weakness and folly were the more aggravated, in submitting to them, and in
symbolizing with the Jews in observing their various festivals, here signified
by days, and months, and times, and years. Here note, 1. It is possible
for those who have made great professions of religion to be afterwards drawn
into very great defections from the purity and simplicity of it, for this was
the case of these Christians. And, 2. The more mercy God has shown to any, in
bringing them into an acquaintance with the gospel, and the liberties and
privileges of it, the greater are their sin and folly in suffering themselves
to be deprived of them; for this the apostle lays a special stress upon, that
after they had known God, or rather were known of him, they desired to be in
bondage under the weak and beggarly elements of the law.
IV. Hereupon he expresses his fears concerning them, lest he had bestowed
on them labour in vain. He had been at a great deal of pains about them,
in preaching the gospel to them, and endeavouring to confirm them in the faith
and liberty of it; but now they were giving up these, and thereby rendering
his labour among them fruitless and ineffectual, and with the thoughts of this
he could not but be deeply affected. Note, 1. A great deal of the labour of
faithful ministers is labour in vain; and, when it is so, it cannot but be a
great grief to those who desire the salvation of souls. Note, 2. The labour of
ministers is in vain upon those who begin in the Spirit and end in the flesh,
who, though they seem to set out well, yet afterwards turn aside from the way
of the gospel. Note, 3. Those will have a great deal to answer for upon whom
the faithful ministers of Jesus Christ bestow labour in vain.
|
Affectionate
Remonstrance.
|
A. D. 56.
|
|
|
12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am;
for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.
13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you
at the first. 14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye
despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as
Christ Jesus. 15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I
bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked
out your own eyes, and have given them to me. 16 Am I therefore
become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
That these Christians might be the more ashamed of their defection from the
truth of the gospel which Paul had preached to them, he here reminds them of
the great affection they formerly had for him and his ministry, and puts them
upon considering how very unsuitable their present behaviour was to what they
then professed. And here we may observe,
I. How affectionately he addresses himself to them. He styles them brethren,
though he knew their hearts were in a great measure alienated from him. He
desires that all resentments might be laid aside, and that they would bear the
same temper of mind towards him which he did to them; he would have them to
be as he was, for he was as they were, and moreover tells them that they
had not injured him at all. He had no quarrel with them upon his own
account. Though, in blaming their conduct, he had expressed himself with some
warmth and concern of mind he assured them that it was not owing to any sense
of personal injury or affront (as they might be ready to think), but proceeded
wholly from a zeal for the truth and purity of the gospel, and their welfare
and happiness. Thus he endeavours to mollify their spirits towards him, that
so they might be the better disposed to receive the admonitions he was giving
them. Hereby he teaches us that in reproving others we should take care to
convince them that our reproofs do not proceed from any private pique or
resentment, but from a sincere regard to the honour of God and religion and
their truest welfare; for they are then likely to be most successful when they
appear to be most disinterested.
II. How he magnifies their former affection to him, that hereby they might be
the more ashamed of their present behaviour towards him. To this purpose, 1.
He puts them in mind of the difficulty under which he laboured when he came
first among them: I knew, says he, how, through infirmity of the
flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at the first. What this infirmity
of the flesh was, which in the following words he expresses by his
temptation that was in his flesh (though, no doubt, it was well known to
those Christians to whom he wrote), we can now have no certain knowledge of:
some take it to have been the persecutions which he suffered for the gospel's
sake; others, to have been something in his person, or manner of speaking,
which might render his ministry less grateful and acceptable, referring to 2
Cor. x. 10, and to ch. xii. 7-10. But, whatever it was, it seems it
made no impression on them to his disadvantage. For, 2. He takes notice that,
notwithstanding this his infirmity (which might possibly lessen him in the
esteem of some others), they did not despise nor reject him on the account of
it, but, on the contrary, received him as an angel of God, even as Christ
Jesus. They showed a great deal of respect to him, he was a welcome
messenger to them, even as though an angel of God or Jesus Christ himself had
preached to them; yea, so great was their esteem of him, that, if it would
have been any advantage to him, they could have plucked out their own eyes,
and have given them to him. Note, How uncertain the respects of people
are, how apt they are to change their minds, and how easily they are drawn
into contempt of those for whom they once had the greatest esteem and
affection, so that they are ready to pluck out the eyes of those for whom they
would before have plucked out their own! We should therefore labour to be
accepted of God, for it is a small thing to be judged of man's judgment,
1 Cor. iv. 2.
III. How earnestly he expostulates with them hereupon: Where is then,
says he, the blessedness you spoke of? As if he had said, "Time
was when you expressed the greatest joy and satisfaction in the glad tidings
of the gospel, and were very forward in pouring out your blessings upon me as
the publisher of them; whence is it that you are now so much altered, that you
have so little relish of them or respect for me? You once thought yourselves
happy in receiving the gospel; have you now any reason to think
otherwise?" Note, Those who have left their first love would do well to
consider, Where is now the blessedness they once spoke of? What has become of
that pleasure they used to take in communion with God, and in the company of
his servants? The more to impress upon them a just shame of their present
conduct, he again asks (v. 16), "Am I become your enemy,
because I tell you the truth? How is it that I, who was heretofore your
favourite, am now accounted your enemy? Can you pretend any other reason for
it than that I have told you the truth, endeavoured to acquaint you with, and
to confirm you in, the truth of the gospel? And, if not, how unreasonable must
your disaffection be!" Note, 1. It is no uncommon thing for men to
account those their enemies who are really their best friends; for so,
undoubtedly, those are, whether ministers or others, who tell them the truth,
and deal freely and faithfully with them in matters relating to their eternal
salvation, as the apostle now did with these Christians. 2. Ministers may
sometimes create enemies to themselves by the faithful discharge of their
duty; for this was the case of Paul, he was accounted their enemy for telling
them the truth. 3. Yet ministers must not forbear speaking the truth, for fear
of offending others and drawing their displeasure upon them. 4. They may be
easy in their own minds, when they are conscious to themselves that, if others
have become their enemies, it is only for telling them the truth.
|
Affectionate
Remonstrance.
|
A. D. 56.
|
|
|
17 They zealously affect you, but not
well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. 18
But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing,
and not only when I am present with you.
The apostle is still carrying on the same design as in the foregoing verses,
which was, to convince the Galatians of their sin and folly in departing from
the truth of the gospel: having just before been expostulating with them about
the change of their behaviour towards him who endeavoured to establish them in
it, he here gives them the character of those false teachers who made it their
business to draw them away from it, which if they would attend to, they might
soon see how little reason they had to hearken to them: whatever opinion they
might have of them, he tells them they were designing men, who were aiming to
set up themselves, and who, under their specious pretences, were more
consulting their own interest than theirs: "They zealously affect you,"
says he; "they show a mighty respect for you, and pretend a great deal of
affection to you, but not well; they do it not with any good design,
they are not sincere and upright in it, for they would exclude you, that
you might affect them. That which they are chiefly aiming at is to engage
your affections to them; and, in order to this, they are doing all they can to
draw off your affections from me and from the truth, that so they may engross
you to themselves." This, he assures them, was their design, and
therefore they must needs be very unwise in hearkening to them. Note, 1. There
may appear to be a great deal of zeal where yet there is but little truth and
sincerity. 2. It is the usual way of seducers to insinuate themselves into
people's affections, and by that means to draw them into their opinions. 3.
Whatever pretences such may make, they have usually more regard to their own
interest than that of others, and will not stick at ruining the reputation of
others, if by that means they can raise their own. On this occasion the
apostle gives us that excellent rule which we have, v. 18, It is
good to be zealously affected always in a good thing. What our translation
renders in a good man, and so consider the apostle as pointing to
himself; this sense, they think, is favoured both by the preceding context and
also by the words immediately following, and not only when I am present
with you, which may be as if he had said, "Time was when you were
zealously affected towards me; you once took me for a good man, and have now
no reason to think otherwise of me; surely then it would become you to show
the same regard to me, now that I am absent from you, which you did when I was
present with you." But, if we adhere to our own translation, the apostle
here furnishes us with a very good rule to direct and regulate us in the
exercise of our zeal: there are two things which to this purpose he more
especially recommends to us:-- (1.) That it be exercised only upon that which
is good; for zeal is then only good when it is in a good thing: those who are
zealously affected to that which is evil will thereby only to do so much the
more hurt. And, (2.) That herein it be constant and steady: it is good to be
zealous always in a good thing; not for a time only, or now and then, like the
heat of an ague-fit, but, like the natural heat of the body, constant. Happy
would it be for the church of Christ if this rule were better observed among
Christians!
|
Affectionate
Remonstrance.
|
A. D. 56.
|
|
|
19 My little children, of whom I travail in
birth again until Christ be formed in you, 20 I desire to be
present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
That the apostle might the better dispose these Christians to bear with him in
the reproofs which he was obliged to give them, he here expresses his great
affection to them, and the very tender concern he had for their welfare: he
was not like them--one thing when among them and another when absent from
them. Their disaffection to him had not removed his affection from them; but
he still bore the same respect to them which he had formerly done, nor was he
like their false teachers, who pretended a great deal of affection to them,
when at the same time they were only consulting their own interest; but he had
a sincere concern for their truest advantage; he sought not theirs, but them.
They were too ready to account him their enemy, but he assures them that he
was their friend; nay, not only so, but that he had the bowels of a parent
towards them. He calls them his children, as he justly might, since he
had been the instrument of their conversion to the Christian faith; yea, he
styles them his little children, which, as it denotes a greater degree
of tenderness and affection to them, so it may possibly have a respect to
their present behaviour, whereby they showed themselves too much like little
children, who are easily wrought upon by the arts and insinuations of others.
He expresses his concern for them, and earnest desire of their welfare and
soul-prosperity, by the pangs of a travailing woman: He travailed in birth
for them: and the great thing which he was in so much pain about, and
which he was so earnestly desirous of, was not so much that they might affect
him as that Christ might be formed in them, that they might become
Christians indeed, and be more confirmed and established in the faith of the
gospel. From this we may note, 1. The very tender affection which faithful
ministers bear towards those among whom they are employed; it is like that of
the most affectionate parents to their little children. 2. That the chief
thing they are longing and even travailing in birth for, on their account, is
that Christ may be formed in them; not so much that they may gain their
affections, much less that they may make a prey of them, but that they may be
renewed in the spirit of their minds, wrought into the image of Christ, and
more fully settled and confirmed in the Christian faith and life: and how
unreasonably must those people act who suffer themselves to be prevailed upon
to desert or dislike such ministers! 3. That Christ is not fully formed in men
till they are brought off from trusting in their own righteousness, and made
to rely only upon him and his righteousness.
As further evidence of the affection and concern which the apostle had for
these Christians, he adds (v. 20) that he desired to be then present
with them--that he would be glad of an opportunity of being among them,
and conversing with them, and that thereupon he might find occasion to
change his voice towards them; for at present he stood in doubt of
them. He knew not well what to think of them. He was not so fully
acquainted with their state as to know how to accommodate himself to them. He
was full of fears and jealousies concerning them, which was the reason of his
writing to them in such a manner as he had done; but he would be glad to find
that matters were better with them than he feared, and that he might have
occasion to commend them, instead of thus reproving and chiding them. Note,
Though ministers too often find it necessary to reprove those they have to do
with, yet this is no grateful work to them; they had much rather there were no
occasion for it, and are always glad when they can see reason to change their
voice towards them.
|
Affectionate
Remonstrance.
|
A. D. 56.
|
|
|
21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law,
do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two
sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who
was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was
by promise. 24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two
covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is
Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break
forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more
children than she which hath a husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as
Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was
born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,
even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the
scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then,
brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
In these verses the apostle illustrates the difference between believers who
rested in Christ only and those judaizers who trusted in the law, by a
comparison taken from the story of Isaac and Ishmael. This he introduces in
such a manner as was proper to strike and impress their minds, and to convince
them of their great weakness in departing from the truth, and suffering
themselves to be deprived of the liberty of the gospel: Tell me, says
he, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? He
takes it for granted that they did hear the law, for among the Jews it was
wont to be read in their public assemblies every sabbath day; and, since they
were so very fond of being under it, he would have them duly to consider what
is written therein (referring to what is recorded Gen. xvi. and xxi.), for, if
they would do this, they might soon see how little reason they had to trust in
it. And here, 1. He sets before them the history itself (v. 22, 23): For
it is written, Abraham had two sons, &c. Here he represents the
different state and condition of these two sons of Abraham--that the one,
Ishmael, was by a bond-maid, and the other, Isaac, by a free-woman;
and that whereas the former was born after the flesh, or by the
ordinary course of nature, the other was by promise, when in the course
of nature there was no reason to expect that Sarah should have a son. 2. He
acquaints them with the meaning and design of this history, or the use which
he intended to make of it (v. 24-27): These things, says he, are
an allegory, wherein, besides the literal and historical sense of the
words, the Spirit of God might design to signify something further to us, and
that was, That these two, Agar and Sarah, are the two covenants, or
were intended to typify and prefigure the two different dispensations of the
covenant. The former, Agar, represented that which was given from mount Sinai,
and which gendereth to bondage, which, though it was a dispensation of
grace, yet, in comparison of the gospel state, was a dispensation of bondage,
and became more so to the Jews, through their mistake of the design of it, and
expecting to be justified by the works of it. For this Agar is mount Sinai
in Arabia (mount Sinai was then called Agar by the Arabians), and it
answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children;
that is, it justly represents the present state of the Jews, who, continuing
in their infidelity and adhering to that covenant, are still in bondage with
their children. But the other, Sarah, was intended to prefigure Jerusalem
which is above, or the state of Christians under the new and better
dispensation of the covenant, which is free both from the curse of the moral
and the bondage of the ceremonial law, and is the mother of us all--a
state into which all, both Jews and Gentiles, are admitted, upon their
believing in Christ. And to this greater freedom and enlargement of the church
under the gospel dispensation, which was typified by Sarah the mother of the
promised seed, the apostle refers that of the prophet, Isa. liv. 1, where it
is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry,
thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she
who hath a husband. 3. He applies the history thus explained to the
present case (v. 28); Now we, brethren, says he, as Isaac
was, are the children of the promise. We Christians, who have accepted
Christ, and rely upon him, and look for justification and salvation by him
alone, as hereby we become the spiritual, though we are not the natural, seed
of Abraham, so we are entitled to the promised inheritance and interested in
the blessings of it. But lest these Christians should be stumbled at the
opposition they might meet with from the Jews, who were so tenacious of their
law as to be ready to persecute those who would not submit to it, he tells
them that this was no more than what was pointed to in the type; for as
then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit, they must expect it would be so now. But, for their comfort
in this case, he desires them to consider what the scripture saith (Gen. xxi.
10), Cast out the bond-woman and her son, for the son of the bond-woman
shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman. Though the judaizers
should persecute and hate them, yet the issue would be that Judaism would
sink, and wither, and perish; but true Christianity should flourish and last
for ever. And then, as a general inference from the whole of the sum of what
he had said, he concludes (v. 31), So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bond-woman, but of the free.
Contents
|
Next
Section
