R O
M A N S
CHAP. VIII.
The
apostle, having fully explained the doctrine of justification, and pressed the
necessity of sanctification, in this chapter applies himself to the
consolation of the Lord's people. Ministers are helpers of the joy of the
saints. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people," so runs our commission,
Isa. xl. 1. It is the will of God that his people should be a comforted
people. And we have here such a draught of the gospel charter, such a display
of the unspeakable privileges of true believers, as may furnish us with
abundant matter for joy and peace in believing, that by all these immutable
things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong
consolation. Many of the people of God have, accordingly, found this chapter a
well-spring of comfort to their souls, living and dying, and have sucked and
been satisfied from these breasts of consolation, and with joy drawn water out
of these wells of salvation. There are three things in this chapter:
I.
The particular instances of Christians'
privileges, ver. 1-28. II. The ground thereof laid in predestination, ver. 29,
30. III. The apostle's triumph herein, in the name of all the saints, ver. 31
to the end.
|
The
Believer's Privileges.
|
A. D. 58.
|
|
|
1 There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in
us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they
that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are
after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally
minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So
then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
I. The apostle here beings with one signal privilege of true Christians, and
describes the character of those to whom it belongs: There is therefore now
no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, v. 1. This is
his triumph after that melancholy complaint and conflict in the foregoing
chapter--sin remaining, disturbing, vexing, but, blessed be God, not ruining.
The complaint he takes to himself, but humbly transfers the comfort with
himself to all true believers, who are all interested in it. 1. It is the
unspeakable privilege and comfort of all those that are in Christ Jesus that
there is therefore now no condemnation to them. He does not say, "There
is no accusation against them," for this there is; but the accusation is
thrown out, and the indictment quashed. He does not say, "There is
nothing in them that deserves condemnation," for this there is, and they
see it, and own it, and mourn over it, and condemn themselves for it; but it
shall not be their ruin. He does not say, "There is no cross, no
affliction to them or no displeasure in the affliction," for this there
may be; but no condemnation. They may be chastened of the Lord, but not
condemned with the world. Now this arises from their being in Christ Jesus; by
virtue of their union with him through faith they are thus secured. They are
in Christ Jesus, as in their city of refuge, and so are protected from the
avenger of blood. He is their advocate, and brings them off. There is
therefore no condemnation, because they are interested in the satisfaction
that Christ by dying made to the law. In Christ, God does not only not condemn
them, but is well pleased with them, Matt. xvii. 5. 2. It is the undoubted
character of all those who are so in Christ Jesus as to be freed from
condemnation that they walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.
Observe, The character is given from their walk, not from any one particular
act, but from their course and way. And the great question is, What is the
principle of the walk, the flesh or the spirit, the old or the new nature,
corruption or grace? Which of these do we mind, for which of these doe we make
provision, by which of these are we governed, which of these do we take part
with?
II. This great truth, thus laid down, he illustrates in the following verses;
and shows how we come by this great privilege, and how we may answer this
character.
1. How we come by these privileges--the privilege of justification, that there
is no condemnation to us--the privilege of sanctification, that we walk
after the Spirit, and not after the flesh, which is no less our privilege
than it is our duty. How comes it about?
(1.) The law could not do it, v. 3. It could neither justify nor
sanctify, neither free us from the guilt nor from the power of sin, having not
the promises either of pardon or grace. The law made nothing perfect: It
was weak. Some attempt the law made towards these blessed ends, but, alas!
it was weak, it could not accomplish them: yet that weakness was not through
any defect in the law, but through the flesh, through the corruption of
human nature, by which we became incapable either of being justified or
sanctified by the law. We had become unable to keep the law, and, in case of
failure, the law, as a covenant of works, made no provision, and so left us as
it found us. Or understand it of the ceremonial law; that was a plaster not
wide enough for the wound, it could never take away sin, Heb. x. 4.
(2.) The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus does it, v.
2. The covenant of grace made with us in Christ is a treasury of merit and
grace, and thence we receive pardon and a new nature, are freed from the
law of sin and death, that is, both from the guilt and power of sin--from
the course of the law, and the dominion of the flesh. We are under another
covenant, another master, another husband, under the law of the Spirit,
the law that gives the Spirit, spiritual life to qualify us for eternal. The
foundation of this freedom is laid in Christ's undertaking for us, of which he
speaks v. 3, God sending his own Son. Observe, When the law
failed, God provided another method. Christ comes to do that which the law
could not do. Moses brought the children of
Israel
to the borders of
Canaan
, and then died, and left them there; but Joshua did that which Moses could
not do, and put them in possession of
Canaan
. Thus what the law could not do Christ did. The best exposition of this verse
we have Heb. x. 1-10. To make the sense of the words clear, which in our
translation is a little intricate, we may read it thus, with a little
transposition:--God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and a sacrifice for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, which the law could not
do, in that it was weak through the flesh, &c., v. 4. Observe,
[1.] How Christ appeared: In the likeness of sinful flesh. Not sinful,
for he was holy, harmless, undefiled; but in the likeness of that flesh which
was sinful. He took upon him that nature which was corrupt, though perfectly
abstracted from the corruptions of it. His being circumcised, redeemed,
baptized with John's baptism, bespeaks the likeness of sinful flesh. The
bitings of the fiery serpents were cured by a serpent of brass, which had the
shape, through free from the venom, of the serpents that bit them. It was
great condescension that he who was God should be made in the likeness of
flesh; but much greater that he who was holy should be made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. And for sin,--here the best Greek copies place the comma.
God sent him, en omoiwmati sarkoV amartiaV, kai
peri amartiaV--in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and as a sacrifice for sin. The LXX. call a sacrifice for sin no more than
peri amartiaV--for
sin; so Christ was a sacrifice; he was sent to be so, Heb. ix. 26. [2.]
What was done by this appearance of his: Sin was condemned, that is,
God did therein more than ever manifest his hatred of sin; and not only so,
but for all that are Christ's both the damning and the domineering power of
sin is broken and taken out of the way. He that is condemned can neither
accuse nor rule; his testimony is null, and his authority null. Thus by Christ
is sin condemned; though it live and remain, its life in the saints is still
but like that of a condemned malefactor. It was by the condemning of sin that
death was disarmed, and the devil, who had the power of death, destroyed. The
condemning of sin saved the sinner from condemnation. Christ was made sin for
us (2 Cor. v. 21), and, being so made, when he was condemned sin was condemned
in the flesh of Christ, condemned in the human nature: So was sanctification
made to divine justice, and way made for the salvation of the sinner. [3.] The
happy effect of this upon us (v. 4): That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us. Both in our justification and in our
sanctification, the righteousness of the law if fulfilled. A righteousness of
satisfaction for the breach of the law is fulfilled by the imputation of
Christ's complete and perfect righteousness, which answers the utmost demands
of the law, as the mercy-seat was as long and as broad as the ark. A
righteousness of obedience to the commands of the law is fulfilled in us, when
by the Spirit the law of love is written upon the heart, and that love is the
fulfilling of the law, ch. xiii. 10. Though the righteousness of the
law is not fulfilled by us, yet, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us; there
is that to be found upon and in all true believers which answers the intention
of the law. Us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. This
is the description of all those that are interested in this privilege--they
act from spiritual and not from carnal principles; as for others, the
righteousness of the law will be fulfilled upon them in their ruin. Now,
2. Observe how we may answer to this character, v. 5, &c.
(1.) By looking to our minds. How may we know whether we are after the flesh
or after the Spirit? By examining what we mind, the things of the flesh or the
things of the spirit. Carnal pleasure, worldly profit and honour, the things
of sense and time, are the things of the flesh, which unregenerate people
mind. The favour of God, the welfare of the soul, the concerns of eternity,
are the things of the Spirit, which those that are after the Spirit do mind.
The man is as the mind is. The mind is the forge of thoughts. As he
thinketh in his heart, so is he, Prov. xxiii. 7. Which way do the thoughts
move with most pleasure? On what do they dwell with most satisfaction? The
mind is the seat of wisdom. Which way go the projects and contrivances?
whether are we more wise for the world or for our souls? fronousi
ta thV sarkoV--they savour the things of the
flesh; so the word is rendered, Matt. xvi. 23. It is a great matter what
our savour is, what truths, what tidings, what comforts, we do most relish,
and are most agreeable to us. Now, to caution us against this
carnal-mindedness, he shows the great misery and malignity of it, and compares
it with the unspeakable excellency and comfort of spiritual-mindedness. [1.]
It is death, v. 6. It is spiritual death, the certain way to eternal
death. It is the death of the soul; for it is its alienation from God, in
union and communion with whom the life of the soul consists. A carnal soul is
a dead soul, dead as a soul can die. She that liveth in pleasure is dead
(1 Tim. v. 6), not only dead in law as guilty, but dead in state as carnal.
Death includes all misery; carnal souls are miserable souls. But to be spiritually
minded, fronhma tou pneumatoV--a
spiritual savour (the wisdom that is from above, a principle of grace) is life
and peace; it is the felicity and happiness of the soul. The life of the
soul consists in its union with spiritual things by the mind. A sanctified
soul is a living soul, and that life is peace; it is a very comfortable life.
All the paths of spiritual wisdom are paths of peace. It is life and peace in
the other world, as well as in this. Spiritual-mindedness is eternal life and
peace begun, and an assuring earnest of the perfection of it. [2.] It is
enmity to God (v. 7), and this is worse than the former. The former
speaks the carnal sinner a dead man, which is bad; but this speaks him a devil
of a man. It is not only an enemy, but enmity itself. It is not only the
alienation of the soul from God, but the opposition of the soul against God;
it rebels against his authority, thwarts his design, opposes his interest,
spits in his face, spurns at his bowels. Can there be a greater enmity? An
enemy may be reconciled, but enmity cannot. How should this humble us for and
warn us against, carnal-mindedness! Shall we harbour and indulge that which is
enmity to God our creator, owner, ruler, and benefactor? To prove this, he
urges that it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
The holiness of the law of God, and the unholiness of the carnal mind, are as
irreconcilable as light and darkness. The carnal man may, by the power of
divine grace, be made subject to the law of God, but the carnal mind
never can; this must be broken and expelled. See how wretchedly the corrupt
will of man is enslaved to sin; as far as the carnal mind prevails, there is
no inclination to the law of God; therefore wherever there is a change wrought
it is by the power of God's grace, not by the freedom of man's will. Hence he
infers (v. 8), Those that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Those that are in a carnal unregenerate state, under the reigning power of
sin, cannot do the things that please God, wanting grace, the pleasing
principle, and an interest in Christ, the pleasing Mediator. The very sacrifice
of the wicked is an abomination, Prov. xv. 8. Pleasing God is our highest
end, of which those that are in the flesh cannot but fall short; they cannot
please him, nay, they cannot but displease him. We may know our state and
character,
(2.) By enquiring whether we have the Spirit of God and Christ, or not (v.
9): You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. This expresses states
and conditions of the soul vastly different. All the saints have flesh and
spirit in them; but to be in the flesh and to be in the Spirit are contrary.
It denotes our being overcome and subdued by one of these principles. As we
say, A man is in love, or in drink, that is, overcome by it. Now
the great question is whether we are in the flesh or in the Spirit; and how
may we come to know it? Why, by enquiring whether the Spirit of God dwell in
us. The Spirit dwelling in us is the best evidence of our being in the Spirit,
for the indwelling is mutual (1 John iv. 16): Dwelleth in God, and God in
him. The Spirit visits many that are unregenerate with his motions, which
they resist and quench; but in all that are sanctified he dwells; there he
resides and rules. He is there as a man at his own house, where he is constant
and welcome, and has the dominion. Shall we put this question to our own
hearts, Who dwells, who rules, who keeps house, here? Which interest has the
ascendant? To this he subjoins a general rule of trial: If any man has not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. To be Christ's (that is, to be a
Christian indeed, one of his children, his servants, his friends, in union
with him) is a privilege and honour which many pretend to that have no part
nor lot in the matter. None are his but those that have his Spirit; that is,
[1.] That are spirited as he was spirited--are meek, and lowly, and humble,
and peaceable, and patient, and charitable, as he was. We cannot tread in his
steps unless we have his spirit; the frame and disposition of our souls must
be conformable to Christ's pattern. [2.] That are actuated and guided by the
Holy Spirit of God, as a sanctifier, teacher, and comforter. Having the Spirit
of Christ is the same with having the Spirit of God to dwell in us. But those
two come much to one; for all that are actuated by the Spirit of God as their
rule are conformable to the spirit of Christ as their pattern. Now this
description of the character of those to whom belongs this first privilege of
freedom from condemnation is to be applied to all the other privileges that
follow.
|
The
Believer's Privileges.
|
A. D. 58.
|
|
|
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is
dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus
from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the
flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye
through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that
we are the children of God:
In these verses the apostle represents two more excellent benefits, which
belong to true believers.
I. Life. The happiness is not barely a negative happiness, not to be
condemned; but it is positive, it is an advancement to a life that will be the
unspeakable happiness of the man (v. 10, 11): If Christ be in you.
Observe, If the Spirit be in us, Christ is in us. He dwells in the heart by
faith, Eph. iii. 17. Now we are here told what becomes of the bodies and souls
of those in whom Christ is.
1. We cannot say but that the body is dead; it is a frail, mortal,
dying body, and it will be dead shortly; it is a house of clay, whose
foundation is in the dust. The life purchased and promised does not
immortalize the body in its present state. It is dead, that is, it is
appointed to die, it is under a sentence of death: as we say one that is
condemned is a dead man. In the midst of life we are in death: be our bodies
ever so strong, and healthful, and handsome, they are as good as dead (Heb. xi.
12), and this because of sin. It is sin that kills the body. This
effect the first threatening has (Gen. iii. 19): Dust thou art.
Methinks, were there no other argument, love to our bodies should make us hate
sin, because it is such an enemy to our bodies. The death even of the bodies
of the saints is a remaining token of God's displeasure against sin.
2. But the spirit, the precious soul, that is life; it is now spiritually
alive, nay, it is life. Grace in the soul is its new nature; the life of the
saint lies in the soul, while the life of the sinner goes no further than the
body. When the body dies, and returns to the dust, the spirit if life;
not only living and immortal, but swallowed up of life. Death to the saints is
but the freeing of the heaven-born spirit from the clog and load of this body,
that it may be fit to partake of eternal life. When Abraham was dead, yet God
was the God of Abraham, for even then his spirit was life, Matt. xxii. 31, 32.
See Ps. xlix. 15. And this because of righteousness. The righteousness
of Christ imputed to them secures the soul, the better part, from death; the
righteousness of Christ inherent in them, the renewed image of God upon the
soul, preserves it, and, by God's ordination, at death elevates it, and
improves it, and makes it meet to partake of the inheritance of the saints in
light. The eternal life of the soul consists in the vision and fruition of
God, and both assimilating, for which the soul is qualified by the
righteousness of sanctification. I refer to Ps. xvii. 15, I will behold thy
face in righteousness.
3. There is a life reserved too for the poor body at last: He shall also
quicken your mortal bodies, v. 11. The Lord is for the body; and
though at death it is cast aside as a despised broken vessel, a vessel in
which is no pleasure, yet God will have a desire to the work of his hands (Job
xiv. 15), will remember his covenant with the dust, and will not lose a grain
of it; but the body shall be reunited to the soul, and clothed with a glory
agreeable to it. Vile bodies shall be newly fashioned, Phil. iii. 21; 1 Cor.
xv. 42. Two great assurances of the resurrection of the body are mentioned:--
(1.) The resurrection of Christ: He that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken. Christ rose as the head, and first-fruits, and
forerunner of all the saints, 1 Cor. xv. 20. The body of Christ lay in the
grave, under the sin of all the elect imputed, and broke through it. O grave,
then, where is thy victory? It is in the virtue of Christ's resurrection that
we shall rise. (2.) The indwelling of the Spirit. The same Spirit that raiseth
the soul now will raise the body shortly: By his Spirit that dwelleth in
you. The bodies of the saints are the temples of the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor.
iii. 16; vi. 19. Now, though these temples may be suffered for awhile to lie
in ruins, yet they shall be rebuilt. The tabernacle of David, which has fallen
down, shall be repaired, whatever great mountains may be in the way. The
Spirit, breathing upon dead and dry bones, will make them live, and the saints
even in their flesh shall see God. Hence the apostle by the way infers how
much it is our duty to walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, v.
12, 13. Let not our life be after the wills and motions of the flesh. Two
motives he mentions here:-- [1.] We are not debtors to the flesh, neither by
relation, gratitude, nor any other bond or obligation. We owe no suit nor
service to our carnal desires; we are indeed bound to clothe, and feed, and
take care of the body, as a servant to the soul in the service of God, but no
further. We are not debtors to it; the flesh never did us so much kindness as
to oblige us to serve it. It is implied that we are debtors to Christ and to
the Spirit: there we owe our all, all we have and all we can do, by a thousand
bonds and obligations. Being delivered from so great a death by so great a
ransom, we are deeply indebted to our deliverer. See 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. [2.]
Consider the consequences, what will be at the end of the way. Here are life
and death, blessing and cursing, set before us. If you live after the
flesh, you shall die; that is, die eternally. It is the pleasing, and
serving, and gratifying, of the flesh, that are the ruin of souls; that is,
the second death. Dying indeed is the soul's dying: the death of the saints is
but a sleep. But, on the other hand, You shall live, live and be happy
to eternity; that is the true life: If you through the Spirit mortify the
deeds of the body, subdue and keep under all fleshly lusts and affections,
deny yourselves in the pleasing and humouring of the body, and this through
the Spirit; we cannot do it without the Spirit working it in us, and the
Spirit will not do it without our doing our endeavour. So that in a word we
are put upon this dilemma, either to displease the body or destroy the soul.
II. The Spirit of adoption is another privilege belonging to those that
are in Christ Jesus, v. 14-16.
1. All that are Christ's are taken into the relation of Children to God, v.
14. Observe, (1.) Their property: They are led by the Spirit of God, as
a scholar in his learning is led by his tutor, as a traveller in his journey
is led by his guide, as a soldier in his engagements is led by his captain;
not driven as beasts, but led as rational creatures, drawn with the cords of a
man and the bands of love. It is the undoubted character of all true believers
that they are led by the Spirit of God. Having submitted themselves in
believing to his guidance, they do in their obedience follow that guidance,
and are sweetly led into all truth and all duty. (2.) Their privilege: They
are the sons of God, received into the number of God's children by
adoption, owned and loved by him as his children.
2. And those that are the sons of God have the Spirit,
(1.) To work in them the disposition of children.
[1.] You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, v.
15. Understand it, First, Of that spirit of bondage which the
Old-Testament church was under, by reason of the darkness and terror of that
dispensation. The veil signified bondage, 2 Cor. iii. 15. Compare v.
17. The Spirit of adoption was not then so plentifully poured out as now; for
the law opened the wound, but little of the remedy. Now you are not under that
dispensation, you have not received that spirit. Secondly, Of that
spirit of bondage which many of the saints themselves were under at their
conversion, under the convictions of sin and wrath set home by the Spirit; as
those in Acts ii. 37, the jailer (Acts xvi. 30), Paul, Acts ix. 6. Then the
Spirit himself was to the saints a spirit of bondage: "But," says
the apostle, "with you this is over." "God as a Judge,"
says Dr. Manton, "by the spirit of bondage, sends us to Christ as
Mediator, and Christ as Mediator, by the spirit of adoption, sends us back
again to God as a Father." Though a child of God may come under fear of
bondage again, and may be questioning his sonship, yet the blessed Spirit is
not again a spirit of bondage, for then he would witness an untruth.
[2.] But you have received the Spirit of adoption. Men may give a
charter of adoption; but it is God's prerogative, when he adopts, to give a
spirit of adoption--the nature of children. The Spirit of adoption works in
the children of God a filial love to God as a Father, a delight in him, and a
dependence upon him, as a Father. A sanctified soul bears the image of God, as
the child bears the image of the father. Whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Praying is here called crying, which is not only an earnest, but a
natural expression of desire; children that cannot speak vent their desires by
crying. Now, the Spirit teaches us in prayer to come to God as a Father, with
a holy humble confidence, emboldening the soul in that duty. Abba, Father.
Abba is a Syriac word signifying father or my father; pathr,
a Greek work; and why both, Abba, Father? Because Christ said so in
prayer (Mark xiv. 36), Abba, Father: and we have received the Spirit of
the Son. It denotes an affectionate endearing importunity, and a believing
stress laid upon the relation. Little children, begging of their parents, can
say little but Father, Father, and that is rhetoric enough. It also
denotes that the adoption is common both to Jews and Gentiles: the Jews call
him Abba in their language, the Greeks may call him pathr
in their language; for in Christ Jesus there is neither Greek nor Jew.
(2.) To witness to the relation of children, v. 16. The former is the
work of the Spirit as a Sanctifier; this as a Comforter. Beareth witness
with our spirit. Many a man has the witness of his own spirit to the
goodness of his state who has not the concurring testimony of the Spirit. Many
speak peace to themselves to whom the God of heaven does not speak peace. But
those that are sanctified have God's Spirit witnessing with their spirits,
which is to be understood not of any immediate extraordinary revelation, but
an ordinary work of the Spirit, in and by the means of comfort, speaking peace
to the soul. This testimony is always agreeable to the written word, and is
therefore always grounded upon sanctification; for the Spirit in the heart
cannot contradict the Spirit in the word. The Spirit witnesses to none the
privileges of children who have not the nature and disposition of children.
|
The
Believer's Privileges.
|
A. D. 58.
|
|
|
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we
may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not
willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in
hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of
God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and
travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they,
but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that
is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait
for it.
In these words the apostle describes a fourth illustrious branch of the
happiness of believers, namely, a title to the future glory. This is fitly
annexed to our sonship; for as the adoption of sons entitles us to that glory,
so the disposition of sons fits and prepares us for it. If children, then
heirs, v. 17. In earthly inheritances this rule does not hold, only
the first-born are heirs; but the church is a church of first-born, for they
are all heirs. Heaven is an inheritance that all the saints are heirs to. They
do not come to it as purchasers by any merit or procurement of their own; but
as heirs, purely by the act of God; for God makes heirs. The saints are heirs
though in this world they are heirs under age; see Gal. iv. 1, 2. Their
present state is a state of education and preparation for the inheritance. How
comfortable should this be to all the children of God, how little soever they
have in possession, that, being heirs, they have enough in reversion! But the
honour and happiness of an heir lie in the value and worth of that which he is
heir to: we read of those that inherit the wind; and therefore we have here an
abstract of the premises. 1. Heirs of God. The Lord himself is the
portion of the saints' inheritance (Ps. xvi. 5), a goodly heritage, v.
6. The saints are spiritual priests, that have the Lord for their inheritance,
Num. xviii. 20. The vision of God and the fruition of God make up the
inheritance the saints are heirs to. God himself will be with them, and will
be their God, Rev. xxi. 3. 2. Joint-heirs with Christ. Christ, as
Mediator, is said to be the heir of all things (Heb. i. 2), and true
believers, by virtue of their union with him, shall inherit all things,
Rev. xxi. 7. Those that now partake of the Spirit of Christ, as his brethren,
shall, as his brethren, partake of his glory (John xvii. 24), shall sit down
with him upon his throne, Rev. iii. 21. Lord, what is man, that thou shouldst
thus magnify him! Now this future glory is further spoken of as the reward of
present sufferings and as the accomplishment of present hopes.
I. As the reward of the saints' present sufferings; and it is a rich reward: If
so be that we suffer with him (v. 17), or forasmuch as we suffer
with him. The state of the church in this world always is, but was then
especially, an afflicted state; to be a Christian was certainly to be a
sufferer. Now, to comfort them in reference to those sufferings, he tells them
that they suffered with Christ--for his sake, for his honour, and for the
testimony of a good conscience, and should be glorified with him. Those that
suffered with David in his persecuted state were advanced by him and with him
when he came to the crown; see 2 Tim. ii. 12. See the gains of suffering for
Christ; though we may be losers for him, we shall not, we cannot, be losers by
him in the end. This the gospel is filled with the assurances of. Now, that
suffering saints may have strong supports and consolations from their hopes of
heaven, he holds the balance (v. 18), in a comparison between the two,
which is observable. 1. In one scale he puts the sufferings of this present
time. The sufferings of the saints are but sufferings of this present
time, strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the
present time (2 Cor. iv. 17), light affliction, and but for a moment. So that
on the sufferings he writes tekel, weighed in the balance and found
light. 2. In the other scale he puts the glory, and finds that a weight, an
exceeding and eternal weight: Glory that shall be revealed. In our
present state we come short, not only in the enjoyment, but in the knowledge
of that glory (1 Cor. ii. 9; 1 John iii. 2): it shall be revealed. It
surpasses all that we have yet seen and known: present vouchsafements are
sweet and precious, very precious, very sweet; but there is something to come,
something behind the curtain, that will outshine all. Shall be revealed in
us; not only revealed to us, to be seen, but revealed in us, to be
enjoyed. The kingdom of God is within you, and will be so to eternity. 3. He
concludes the sufferings not worthy to be compared with the glory--ouk
axia proV thn doxan. They cannot merit that glory;
and, if suffering for Christ will not merit, much less will doing. They should
not at all deter and frighten us from the diligent and earnest pursuit of that
glory. The sufferings are small and short, and concern the body only; but the
glory is rich and great, and concerns the soul, and is eternal. This he
reckons. I reckon--logizomai.
It is not a rash and sudden determination, but the product of a very serious
and deliberate consideration. He had reasoned the case within himself, weighed
the arguments on both sides, and thus at last resolves the point. O how vastly
different is the sentence of the word from the sentiment of the world
concerning the sufferings of this present time! I reckon, as an
arithmetician that is balancing an account. He first sums up what is disbursed
for Christ in the sufferings of this present time, and finds they come to very
little; he then sums up what is secured to us by Christ in the glory that
shall be revealed, and this he finds to be an infinite sum, transcending all
conception, the disbursement abundantly made up and the losses infinitely
countervailed. And who would be afraid then to suffer for Christ, who as he is
before-hand with us in suffering, so he will not be behind-hand with us in
recompence? Now Paul was as competent a judge of this point as ever any mere
man was. He could reckon not by art only, but by experience; for he knew both.
He knew what the sufferings of this present time were; see 2 Cor. xi. 23-28.
He knew what the glory of heaven is; see 2 Cor. xii. 3, 4. And, upon the view
of both, he gives this judgment here. There is nothing like a believing view
of the glory which shall be revealed to support and bear up the spirit under
all the sufferings of this present time. The reproach of Christ appears riches
to those who have respect to the recompence of reward, Heb. xi. 26.
II. As the accomplishment of the saints' present hopes and expectations, v.
19, &c. As the saints are suffering for it, so they are waiting for it.
Heaven is therefore sure; for God by his Spirit would not raise and encourage
those hopes only to defeat and disappoint them. He will establish that word
unto his servants on which he has caused them to hope (Ps. cxix. 49), and
heaven is therefore sweet; for, if hope deferred makes the heart sick, surely
when the desire comes it will be a tree of life, Prov. xiii. 12. Now he
observes an expectation of this glory,
1. In the creatures v. 19-22. That must needs be a great, a
transcendent glory, which all the creatures are so earnestly expecting and
longing for. This observation in these verses has some difficulty in it, which
puzzles interpreters a little; and the more because it is a remark not made in
any other scripture, with which it might be compared. By the creature
here we understand, not as some do the Gentile world, and their expectation of
Christ and the gospel, which is an exposition very foreign and forced, but the
whole frame of nature, especially that of this lower world--the whole
creation, the compages of inanimate and sensible creatures, which, because of
their harmony and mutual dependence, and because they all constitute and make
up one world, are spoken of in the singular number as the creature. The
sense of the apostle in these four verses we may take in the following
observations:-- (1.) That there is a present vanity to which the creature, by
reason of the sin of man, is made subject, v. 20. When man sinned, the
ground was cursed for man's sake, and with it all the creatures (especially of
this lower world, where our acquaintance lies) became subject to that curse,
became mutable and mortal. Under the bondage of corruption, v.
21. There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, which the creature has
contracted by the fall of man: the creation is sullied and stained, much of
the beauty of the world gone. There is an enmity of one creature to another;
they are all subject to continual alteration and decay of the individuals,
liable to the strokes of God's judgments upon man. When the world was drowned,
and almost all the creatures in it, surely then it was subject to vanity
indeed. The whole species of creatures is designed for, and is hastening to, a
total dissolution by fire. And it is not the least part of their vanity and
bondage that they are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments of sin.
The creatures are often abused to the dishonour of their Creator, the hurt of
his children, or the service of his enemies. When the creatures are made the
food and fuel of our lusts, they are subject to vanity, they are captivated by
the law of sin. And this not willingly, not of their own choice. All
the creatures desire their own perfection and consummation; when they are made
instruments of sin it is not willingly. Or, They are thus captivated, not for
any sin of their own, which they had committed, but for man's sin: By
reason of him who hath subjected the same. Adam did it meritoriously; the
creatures being delivered to him, when he by sin delivered himself he
delivered them likewise into the bondage of corruption. God did it judicially;
he passed a sentence upon the creatures for the sin of man, by which they
became subject. And this yoke (poor creatures) they bear in hope that it will
not be so always. Ep elpidi oti kai,
&c.--in hope that the creature itself; so many Greek copies join
the words. We have reason to pity the poor creatures that for our sin have
become subject to vanity. (2.) That the creatures groan and travail in pain
together under this vanity and corruption, v. 22. It is a figurative
expression. Sin is a burden to the whole creation; the sin of the Jews, in
crucifying Christ, set the earth a quaking under them. The idols were a burden
to the weary beast, Isa. xlvi. 1. There is a general outcry of the whole
creation against the sin of man: the stone crieth out of the wall (Hab. ii.
11), the land cries, Job xxxi. 38. (3.) That the creature, that is now thus
burdened, shall, at the time of the restitution of all things, be delivered
from this bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God (v.
21)-- they shall no more be subject to vanity and corruption, and the other
fruits of the curse; but, on the contrary, this lower world shall be renewed:
when there will be new heavens there will be a new earth (2 Pet. iii. 13; Rev.
xxi. 1); and there shall be a glory conferred upon all the creatures, which
shall be (in the proportion of their natures) as suitable and as great an
advancement as the glory of the children of God shall be to them. The fire at
the last day shall be a refining, not a destroying annihilating fire. What
becomes of the souls of brutes, that go downwards, none can tell. But it
should seem by the scripture that there will be some kind of restoration of
them. And if it be objected, What use will they be of to glorified saints? we
may suppose them of as much use as they were to Adam in innocency; and if it
be only to illustrate the wisdom, power, and goodness of their Creator, that
is enough. Compare with this Ps. xcvi. 10-13; xcviii. 7-9. Let the heavens
rejoice before the Lord, for he cometh. (4.) That the creature doth
therefore earnestly expect and wait for the manifestation of the children
of God, v. 19. Observe, At the second coming of Christ there will
be a manifestation of the children of God. Now the saints are God's hidden
ones, the wheat seems lost in a heap of chaff; but then they shall be
manifested. It does not yet appear what we shall be (1 John iii. 2), but then
the glory shall be revealed. The children of God shall appear in their own
colours. And this redemption of the creature is reserved till then; for, as it
was with man and for man that they fell under the curse, so with man and for
man they shall be delivered. All the curse and filth that now adhere to the
creature shall be done away then when those that have suffered with Christ
upon earth shall reign with him upon the earth. This the whole creation looks
and longs for; and it may serve as a reason why now a good man should be
merciful to his beast.
2. In the saints, who are new creatures, v. 23-25. Observe, (1.) The
grounds of this expectation in the saints. It is our having received the
first-fruits of the Spirit, which both quickens our desires and encourages
our hopes, and both ways raises our expectations. The first-fruits did both
sanctify and ensure the lump. Grace is the first-fruits of glory, it is glory
begun. We, having received such clusters in this wilderness, cannot but long
for the full vintage in the heavenly Canaan. Not only they--not only
the creatures which are not capable of such a happiness as the first-fruits of
the Spirit, but even we, who have such present rich receivings, cannot but
long for something more and greater. In having the first-fruits of the Spirit
we have that which is very precious, but we have not all we would have. We
groan within ourselves, which denotes the strength and secrecy of these
desires; not making a loud noise, as the hypocrites howling upon the bed for
corn and wine, but with silent groans, which pierce heaven soonest of all. Or,
We groan among ourselves. It is the unanimous vote, the joint desire,
of the whole church, all agree in this: Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
The groaning denotes a very earnest and importunate desire, the soul pained
with the delay. Present receivings and comforts are consistent with a great
many groans; not as the pangs of one dying, but as the throes of a woman in
travail--groans that are symptoms of life, not of death. (2.) The object of
this expectation. What is it we are thus desiring and waiting for? What would
we have? The adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Though the
soul be the principal part of the man, yet the Lord has declared himself for
the body also, and has provided a great deal of honour and happiness for the
body. The resurrection is here called the redemption of the body. It
shall then be rescued from the power of death and the grave, and the bondage
of corruption; and, though a vile body, yet it shall be refined and
beautified, and made like that glorious body of Christ, Phil. iii. 21; 1 Cor.
xv. 42. This is called the adoption. [1.] It is the adoption manifested
before all the world, angels and men. Now are we the sons of God, but it does
not yet appear, the honour is now clouded; but then God will publicly own all
his children. The deed of adoption, which is now written, signed, and sealed,
will then be recognized, proclaimed, and published. As Christ was, so the
saints will be, declared to be the sons of God with power, by the resurrection
from the dead, ch. i. 4. It will then be put past dispute. [2.] It is
the adoption perfected and completed. The children of God have bodies as well
as souls; and, till those bodies are brought into the glorious liberty of the
children of God, the adoption is not perfect. But then it will be complete,
when the Captain of our salvation shall bring the many sons to glory, Heb. ii.
10. This is that which we expect, in hope of which our flesh rests, Ps. xvi.
9, 10. All the days of our appointed time we are waiting, till this change
shall come, when he shall call, and we shall answer, and he will have a desire
to the work of his hands, Job xiv. 14, 15. (3.) The agreeableness of this to
our present state, v. 24, 25. Our happiness is not in present
possession: We are saved by hope. In this, as in other things, God hath
made our present state a state of trial and probation--that our reward is out
of sight. Those that will deal with God must deal upon trust. It is
acknowledged that one of the principal graces of a Christian is hope (1 Cor.
xiii. 13), which necessarily implies a good thing to come, which is the object
of that hope. Faith respects the promise, hope the thing promised. Faith is
the evidence, hope the expectation, of things not seen. Faith is the mother of
hope. We do with patience wait. In hoping for this glory we have need
of patience, to bear the sufferings we meet with in the way to it and the
delays of it. Our way is rough and long; but he that shall come will come, and
will not tarry; and therefore, though he seem to tarry, it becomes us to wait
for him.
|
The
Believer's Privileges.
|
A. D. 58.
|
|
|
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is
the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose.
The apostle here suggests two privileges more to which true Christians are
entitled:--
I. The help of the Spirit in prayer. While we are in this world, hoping and
waiting for what we see not, we must be praying. Hope supposes desire, and
that desire offered up to God is prayer; we groan. Now observe,
1. Our weakness in prayer: We know not what we should pray for as we ought.
(1.) As to the matter of our requests, we know not what to ask. We are not
competent judges of our own condition. Who knows what is good for a man in
this life? Eccl. vi. 12. We are short-sighted, and very much biassed in
favour of the flesh, and apt to separate the end from the way. You know not
what you ask, Matt. xx. 22. We are like foolish children, that are ready
to cry for fruit before it is ripe and fit for them; see Luke ix. 54, 55. (2.)
As to the manner, we know not how to pray as we ought. It is not enough that
we do that which is good, but we must do it well, seek in a due order; and
here we are often at a loss--graces are weak, affections cold, thoughts
wandering, and it is not always easy to find the heart to pray, 2 Sam.
vii. 27. The apostle speaks of this in the first person: We know not.
He puts himself among the rest. Folly, and weakness, and distraction in
prayer, are what all the saints are complaining of. If so great a saint as
Paul knew not what to pray for, what little reason have we to go forth about
that duty in our own strength!
2. The assistances which the Spirit gives us in that duty. He helps our
infirmities, meant especially of our praying infirmities, which most
easily beset us in that duty, against which the Spirit helps. The Spirit in
the world helps; many rules and promises there are in the word for our help.
The Spirit in the heart helps, dwelling in us, working in us, as a Spirit of
grace and supplication, especially with respect to the infirmities we are
under when we are in a suffering state, when our faith is most apt to fail;
for this end the Holy Ghost was poured out. Helpeth, sunantilambanetai--heaves
with us, over against us, helps as we help one that would lift up a
burden, by lifting over against him at the other end--helps with us, that is,
with us doing our endeavour, putting forth the strength we have. We must not
sit still, and expect that the Spirit should do all; when the Spirit goes
before us we must bestir ourselves. We cannot without God, and he will not
without us. What help? Why, the Spirit itself makes intercession for us,
dictates our requests, indites our petitions, draws up our plea for us. Christ
intercedes for us in heaven, the Spirit intercedes for us in our hearts; so
graciously has God provided for the encouragement of the praying remnant. The
Spirit, as an enlightening Spirit, teaches us what to pray for, as a
sanctifying Spirit works and excites praying graces, as a comforting Spirit
silences our fears, and helps us over all our discouragements. The Holy Spirit
is the spring of all our desires and breathings towards God. Now this
intercession which the Spirit makes is, (1.) With groanings that cannot be
uttered. The strength and fervency of those desires which the Holy Spirit
works are hereby intimated. There may be praying in the Spirit where there is
not a word spoken; as Moses prayed (Exod. xiv. 15), and Hannah, 1 Sam. i. 13.
It is not the rhetoric and eloquence, but the faith and fervency, of our
prayers, that the Spirit works, as an intercessor, in us. Cannot be
uttered; they are so confused, the soul is in such a hurry with
temptations and troubles, we know not what to say, nor how to express
ourselves. Here is the Spirit interceding with groans that cannot be uttered.
When we can but cry, Abba, Father, and refer ourselves to him with a
holy humble boldness, this is the work of the Spirit. (2.) According to the
will of God, v. 27. The Spirit in the heart never contradicts the
Spirit in the word. Those desires that are contrary to the will of God do not
come from the Spirit. The Spirit interceding in us evermore melts our wills
into the will of God. Not as I will, but as thou wilt.
3. The sure success of these intercessions: He that searches the heart
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, v. 27. To a hypocrite, all
whose religion lies in his tongue, nothing is more dreadful than that God
searches the heart and sees through all his disguises. To a sincere Christian,
who makes heart-work of his duty, nothing is more comfortable than that God
searches the heart, for then he will hear and answer those desires which we
want words to express. He knows what we have need of before we ask, Matt. vi.
8. He knows what is the mind of his own Spirit in us. And, as he always hears
the Son interceding for us, so he always hears the Spirit interceding in us,
because his intercession is according to the will of God. What could have been
done more for the comfort of the Lord's people, in all their addresses to God?
Christ had said, "Whatever you ask the Father according to his will he
will give it you." But how shall we learn to ask according to his will?
Why, the Spirit will teach us that. Therefore it is that the seed of Jacob
never seek in vain.
II. The concurrence of all providences for the good of those that are
Christ's, v. 28. It might be objected that, notwithstanding all these
privileges, we see believers compassed about with manifold afflictions; though
the Spirit makes intercession for them, yet their troubles are continued. It
is very true; but in this the Spirit's intercession is always effectual, that,
however it goes with them, all this is working together for their good.
Observe here.
1. The character of the saints, who are interested in this privilege; they are
here described by such properties as are common to all that are truly
sanctified. (1.) They love God. This includes all the out-goings of the
soul's affections towards God as the chief good and highest end. It is our
love to God that makes every providence sweet, and therefore profitable. Those
that love God make the best of all he does, and take all in good part. (2.) They
are the called according to his purpose, effectually called according to
the eternal purpose. The call is effectual, not according to any merit or
desert of ours, but according to God's own gracious purpose.
2. The privilege of the saints, that all things work together for good to
them, that is, all the providences of God that concern them. All that God
performs he performs for them, Ps. lvii. 2. Their sins are not of his
performing, therefore not intended here, though his permitting sin is made to
work for their good, 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. But all the providences of God are
theirs--merciful providences, afflicting providences, personal, public. They
are all for good; perhaps for temporal good, as Joseph's troubles; at least,
for spiritual and eternal good. That is good for them which does their souls
good. Either directly or indirectly, every providence has a tendency to the
spiritual good of those that love God, breaking them off from sin, bringing
them nearer to God, weaning them from the world, fitting them for heaven. Work
together. They work, as physic works upon the body, various ways,
according to the intention of the physician; but all for the patient's good. They
work together, as several ingredients in a medicine concur to answer the
intention. God hath set the one over against the other (Eccl. vii. 14): sunergei,
a very singular, with a noun plural, denoting the harmony of Providence and
its uniform designs, all the wheels as one wheel, Ezek. x. 13. He worketh
all things together for good; so some read it. It is not from any specific
quality in the providences themselves, but from the power and grace of God
working in, with, and by, these providences. All this we know--know it
for a certainty, from the word of God, from our own experience, and from the
experience of all the saints.
|
The
Believer's Privileges.
|
A. D. 58.
|
|
|
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
The apostle, having reckoned up so many ingredients of the happiness of true
believers, comes here to represent the ground of them all, which he lays in
predestination. These precious privileges are conveyed to us by the charter of
the covenant, but they are founded in the counsel of God, which infallibly
secures the event. That Jesus Christ, the purchaser, might not labour in vain,
nor spend his strength and life for nought and in vain, there is a remnant
given him, a seed that he shall see, so that the good pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hands. For the explication of this he here sets before us
the order of the causes of our salvation, a golden chain, which cannot be
broken. There are four links of it:--
I. Whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son. All that God designed for glory and happiness as the end
he decreed to grace and holiness as the way. Not, whom he did foreknow to be
holy those he predestinated to be so. The counsels and decrees of God do not
truckle to the frail and fickle will of men; no, God's foreknowledge of the
saints is the same with that everlasting love wherewith he is said to have
loved them, Jer. xxxi. 3. God's knowing his people is the same with his owning
them, Ps. i. 6; John x. 14; 2 Tim. ii. 19. See ch. xi. 2. Words of
knowledge often in scripture denote affection; so here: Elect according to
the foreknowledge of God, 1 Pet. i. 2. And the same word is rendered fore-ordained,
1 Pet. i. 20. Whom he did foreknow, that is, whom he designed for his
friends and favourites. I know thee by name, said God to Moses, Exod.
xxxiii. 12. Now those whom god thus foreknew he did predestinate to be
conformed to Christ. 1. Holiness consists in our conformity to the image of
Christ. This takes in the whole of sanctification, of which Christ is the
great pattern and sampler. To be spirited as Christ was, to walk and live as
Christ did, to bear our sufferings patiently as Christ did. Christ is the
express image of his Father, and the saints are conformed to the image of
Christ. Thus it is by the mediation and interposal of Christ that we have
God's love restored to us and God's likeness renewed upon us, in which two
things consists the happiness of man. 2. All that God hath from eternity
foreknown with favour he hath predestinated to this conformity. It is not we
that can conform ourselves to Christ. Our giving ourselves to Christ takes
rise in God's giving us to him; and, in giving us to him, he predestinated us
to be conformable to his image. It is a mere cavil therefore to call the
doctrine of election a licentious doctrine, and to argue that it gives
encouragement to sin, as if the end were separated from the way and happiness
from holiness. None can know their election but by their conformity to the
image of Christ; for all that are chosen are chosen to sanctification (2 Thess.
ii. 13), and surely it cannot be a temptation to any to be conformed to the
world to believe that they were predestinated to be conformed to Christ. 3.
That which is herein chiefly designed is the honour of Jesus Christ, that he
might be the first-born among many brethren; that is, that Christ might
have the honour of being the great pattern, as well as the great prince, and
in this, as in other things, might have pre-eminence. It was in the first-born
that all the children were dedicated to God under the law. The first-born was
the head of the family, on whom all the rest did depend: now in the family of
the saints Christ must have the honour of being the first-born. And blessed be
God that there are many brethren; though they seem but a few in one place at
one time, yet, when they come all together, they will be a great many. There
is, therefore, a certain number predestinated, that the end of Christ's
undertaking might be infallibly secured. Had the event been left at
uncertainties in the divine counsels, to depend upon the contingent turn of
man's will, Christ might have been the first-born among but few or no
brethren--a captain without soldiers and a prince without subjects--to prevent
which, and to secure to him many brethren, the decree is absolute, the thing
ascertained, that he might be sure to see his seed, there is a remnant
predestinated to be conformed to his image, which decree will certainly have
its accomplishment in the holiness and happiness of that chosen race; and so,
in spite of all the opposition of the powers of darkness, Christ will be the
first-born among many, very many brethren.
II. Whom he did predestinate those he also called, not only with the
external call (so many are called that were not chosen, Matt. xx. 16; xxii.
14), but with the internal and effectual call. The former comes to the ear
only, but this to the heart. All that God did from eternity predestinate to
grace and glory he does, in the fulness of time, effectually call. The call is
then effectual when we come at the call; and we then come at the call when the
Spirit draws us, convinces the conscience of guilt and wrath, enlightens the
understanding, bows the will, persuades and enables us to embrace Christ in
the promises, makes us willing in the day of his power. It is an effectual
call from self and earth to God, and Christ, and heaven, as our end--from sin
and vanity to grace, and holiness, and seriousness as our way. This is the
gospel call. Them he called, that the purpose of God, according to
election, might stand: we are called to that to which we were chosen. So that
the only way to make our election sure is to make sure our calling, 2 Pet. i.
10.
III. Whom he called those he also justified. All that are effectually
called are justified, absolved from guilt, and accepted as righteous through
Jesus Christ. They are recti in curia--right in court; no sin that ever
they have been guilty of shall come against them, to condemn them. The book is
crossed, the bond cancelled, the judgment vacated, the attainder reversed; and
they are no longer dealt with as criminals, but owned and loved as friends and
favourites. Blessed is the man whose iniquity is thus forgiven. None are thus
justified but those that are effectually called. Those that stand it out
against the gospel call abide under guilt and wrath.
IV. Whom he justified those he also glorified. The power of corruption
being broken in effectual calling, and the guilt of sin removed in
justification, all that which hinders is taken out of the way, and nothing can
come between that soul and glory. Observe, It is spoken of as a thing done: He
glorified, because of the certainty of it; he hath saved us, and
called us with a holy calling. In the eternal glorification of all the elect,
God's design of love has its full accomplishment. This was what he aimed at
all along--to bring them to heaven. Nothing less than that glory would make up
the fulness of his covenant relation to them as God; and therefore, in all he
does for them, and in them, he has this in his eye. Are they chosen? It is to
salvation. Called? It is to his kingdom and glory. Begotten again? It is to an
inheritance incorruptible. Afflicted: It is to work for them this exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. Observe, The author of all these is the same. It
is God himself that predestinated, calleth, justifieth, glorifieth; so the
Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him. Created
wills are so very fickle, and created powers so very feeble, that, if any of
these did depend upon the creature, the whole would shake. But God himself
hath undertaken the doing of it from first to last, that we might abide in a
constant dependence upon him and subjection to him, and ascribe all the praise
to him--that every crown may be cast before the throne. This is a mighty
encouragement to our faith and hope; for, as for God, his way, his work, is
perfect. He that hath laid the foundation will build upon it, and the
top-stone will at length be brought forth with shoutings, and it will be our
eternal work to cry, Grace, grace to it.
|
The
Believer's Triumph.
|
A. D. 58.
|
|
|
31 What shall we then say to these things? If
God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that
spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to
the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake
we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
The apostle closes this excellent discourse upon the privileges of believers
with a holy triumph, in the name of all the saints. Having largely set forth
the mystery of God's love to us in Christ, and the exceedingly great and
precious privileges we enjoy by him, he concludes like an orator: What
shall we then say to these things? What use shall we make of all that has
been said? He speaks as one amazed and swallowed up with the contemplation and
admiration of it, wondering at the height and depth, and length and breadth,
of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. The more we know of other
things the less we wonder at them; but the further we are led into an
acquaintance with gospel mysteries the more we are affected with the
admiration of them. If Paul was at a loss what to say to these things, no
marvel if we be. And what does he say? Why, if ever Paul rode in a triumphant
chariot on this side of heaven, here it was: with such a holy height and
bravery of spirit, with such a fluency and copiousness of expression, does he
here comfort himself and all the people of God, upon the consideration of
these privileges. In general, he here makes a challenge, throws down the
gauntlet, as it were, dares all the enemies of the saints to do their worst: If
God be for us, who can be against us? The ground of the challenge is God's
being for us; in this he sums up all our privileges. This includes all, that God
is for us; not only reconciled to us, and so not against us, but in
covenant with us, and so engaged for us--all his attributes for us, his
promises for us. All that he is, and has, and does, is for his people. He
performs all things for them. He is for them, even when he seems to act
against them. And, if so, who can be against us, so as to prevail
against us, so as to hinder our happiness? Be they ever so great and strong,
ever so many, ever so might, ever so malicious, what can they do? While God is
for us, and we keep in his love, we may with a holy boldness defy all the
powers of darkness. Let Satan do his worst, he is chained; let the world do
its worst, it is conquered: principalities and powers are spoiled and
disarmed, and triumphed over, in the cross of Christ. Who then dares fight
against us, while God himself is fighting for us? And this we say to these
things, this is the inference we draw from these premises. More particularly.
I. We have supplies ready in all our wants (v. 32): He that spared,
&c. Who can be against us, to strip us, to deprive us of our comforts? Who
can cut off our streams, while we have a fountain to go to? 1. Observe what
God has done for us, on which our hopes are built: He spared not his own
Son. When he was to undertake our salvation, the Father was willing to
part with him, did not think him too precious a gift to bestow for the
salvation of poor souls; now we may know that he loves us, in that he hath not
withheld his Son, his own Son, his only Son, from us, as he said of Abraham,
Gen. xxii. 12. If nothing less will save man, rather than man shall perish let
him go, though it were out of his bosom. Thus did he deliver him up for us
all, that is, for all the elect; for us all, not only for our good,
but in our stead, as a sacrifice of atonement to be a propitiation for sin.
When he had undertaken it, he did not spare him. Though he was his own Son,
yet, being made sin for us, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Ouk
efeisato--he did not abate him a farthing of
that great debt, but charged it home. Awake, O sword. He did not spare
his own Son that served him, that he might spare us, though we have done
him so much disservice. 2. What we may therefore expect he will do: He will with
him freely give us all things. (1.) It is implied that he will give us
Christ, for other things are bestowed with him: not only with him given for
us, but with him given to us. He that put himself to so much charge to make
the purchase for us surely will not hesitate at making the application to us.
(2.) He will with him freely give us all things, all things that he sees to be
needful and necessary for us, all good things, and more we should not desire,
Ps. xxxiv. 10. And Infinite Wisdom shall be the judge whether it be good for
us and needful for us or no. Freely give--freely, without reluctancy;
he is ready to give, meets us with his favours;--and freely, without
recompence, without money, and without price. How shall he not? Can it
be imagined that he should do the greater and not do the less? that he should
give so great a gift for us when we were enemies, and should deny us any good
thing, now that through him we are friends and children? Thus may we by faith
argue against our fears of want. He that hath prepared a crown and kingdom for
us will be sure to give us enough to bear our charges in the way to it. He
that hath designed us for the inheritance of sons when we come to age will not
let us want necessaries in the mean time.
II. We have an answer ready to all accusations and a security against all
condemnations (v. 33, 34): Who shall lay any thing? Doth the law
accuse them? Do their own consciences accuse them? Is the devil, the accuser
of the brethren, accusing them before our God day and night? This is enough to
answer all those accusations, It is God that justifieth. Men may
justify themselves, as the Pharisees did, and yet the accusations may be in
full force against them; but, if God justifies, this answers all. He is the
judge, the king, the party offended, and his judgment is according to truth,
and sooner or later all the world will be brought to be of his mind; so that
we may challenge all our accusers to come and put in their charge. This
overthrows them all; it is God, the righteous faithful God, that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? Though they cannot make good the charge yet they
will be ready to condemn; but we have a plea ready to move in arrest of
judgment, a plea which cannot be overruled. It is Christ that died,
&c. It is by virtue of our interest in Christ, our relation to him, and
our union with him, that we are thus secured. 1. His death: It is Christ
that died. By the merit of his death he paid our debt; and the surety's
payment is a good plea to an action of debt. It is Christ, an able
all-sufficient Saviour. 2. His resurrection: Yea, rather, that has risen
again. This is a much greater encouragement, for it is a convincing
evidence that divine justice was satisfied by the merit of his death. His
resurrection was his acquittance, it was a legal discharge. Therefore the
apostle mentions it with a yea, rather. If he had died, and not risen
again, we had been where we were. 3. His sitting at the right hand of God: He
is even at the right hand of God--a further evidence that he has done
his work, and a mighty encouragement to us in reference to all accusations,
that we have a friend, such a friend, in court. At the right hand of God,
which denotes that he is ready there--always at hand; and that he is ruling
there--all power is given to him. Our friend is himself the judge. 4. The
intercession which he makes there. He is there, not unconcerned about us, not
forgetful of us, but making intercession. He is agent for us there, an
advocate for us, to answer all accusations, to put in our plea, and to
prosecute it with effect, to appear for us and to present our petitions. And
is not this abundant matter for comfort? What shall we say to these things? Is
this the manner of men, O Lord God? What room is left for doubting and
disquietment? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Some understand the
accusation and condemnation here spoken of of that which the suffering saints
met with from men. The primitive Christians had many black crimes laid to
their charge--heresy, sedition, rebellion, and what not? For these the ruling
powers condemned them: "But no matter for that" (says the apostle);
"while we stand right at God's bar it is of no great moment how we stand
at men's. To all the hard censures, the malicious calumnies, and the unjust
and unrighteous sentences of men, we may with comfort oppose our justification
before God through Christ Jesus as that which doth abundantly
countervail," 1 Cor. iv. 3, 4.
III. We have good assurance of our preservation and continuance in this
blessed state, v. 35, to the end. The fears of the saints lest they
should lose their hold of Christ are often very discouraging and disquieting,
and create them a great deal of disturbance; but here is that which may
silence their fears, and still such storms, that nothing can separate them. We
have here from the apostle,
1. A daring challenge to all the enemies of the saints to separate them, if
they could, from the love of Christ. Who shall? None shall, v.
35-37. God having manifested his love in giving his own Son for us, and not
hesitating at that, can we imagine that any thing else should divert or
dissolve that love? Observe here,
(1.) The present calamities of Christ's beloved ones supposed--that they meet
with tribulation on all hands, are in distress, know not which
way to look for any succour and relief in this world, are followed with persecution
from an angry malicious world that always hated those whom Christ loved,
pinched with famine, and starved with nakedness, when stripped
of all creature-comforts, exposed to the greatest perils, the sword
of the magistrate drawn against them, ready to be sheathed in their bowels,
bathed in their blood. Can a case be supposed more black and dismal? It is
illustrated (v. 36) by a passage quoted from Ps. xliv. 22, For thy
sake we are killed all the day long, which intimates that we are not to
think strange, no not concerning the fiery bloody trial. We see the
Old-Testament saints had the same lot; so persecuted they the prophets that
were before us. Killed all the day long, that is, continually exposed
to and expecting the fatal stroke. There is still every day, and all the day
long, one or other of the people of God bleeding and dying under the rage of
persecuting enemies. Accounted as sheep for the slaughter; they make no
more of killing a Christian than of butchering a sheep. Sheep are killed, not
because they are hurtful while they live, but because they are useful when
they are dead. They kill the Christians to please themselves, to be food to
their malice. They eat up my people as they eat bread, Ps. xiv. 4.
(2.) The inability of all these things to separate us from the love of Christ.
Shall they, can they, do it? No, by no means. All this will not cut the bond
of love and friendship that is between Christ and true believers. [1.] Christ
doth not, will not, love us the less for all this. All these troubles are very
consistent with the strong and constant love of the Lord Jesus. They are
neither a cause nor an evidence of the abatement of his love. When Paul was
whipped, and beaten, and imprisoned, and stoned, did Christ love him ever the
less? Were his favours intermitted? his smiles any whit suspended? his visits
more shy? By no means, but the contrary. These things separate us from the
love of other friends. When Paul was brought before Nero all men forsook him,
but then the Lord stood by him, 2 Tim. iv. 16, 17. Whatever persecuting
enemies may rob us of, they cannot rob us of the love of Christ, they cannot
intercept his love-tokens, they cannot interrupt nor exclude his visits: and
therefore, let them do their worst, they cannot make a true believer
miserable. [2.] We do not, will not, love him the less for this; and that for
this reason, because we do not think that he loves us the less. Charity thinks
no evil, entertains no misgiving thoughts, makes no hard conclusions, no
unkind constructions, takes all in good part that comes from love. A true
Christian loves Christ never the less though he suffer for him, thinks never
the worse of Christ through he lose all for him.
(3.) The triumph of believers in this ( v. 37): Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors.
[1.] We are conquerors: though killed all the day long, yet conquerors. A
strange way of conquering, but it was Christ's way; thus he triumphed over
principalities and powers in his cross. It is a surer and a nobler way of
conquest by faith and patience than by fire and sword. The enemies have
sometimes confessed themselves baffled and overcome by the invincible courage
and constancy of the martyrs, who thus overcame the most victorious princes by
not loving their lives to the death, Rev. xii. 11.
[2.] We are more than conquerors. In our patiently bearing these trials we are
not only conquerors, but more than conquerors, that is, triumphers. Those are
more than conquerors that conquer, First, With little loss. Many
conquests are dearly bought; but what do the suffering saints lose? Why, they
lose that which the gold loses in the furnace, nothing but the dross. It is no
great loss to lose things which are not--a body that is of the earth, earthy. Secondly,
With great gain. The spoils are exceedingly rich; glory, honour, and peace, a
crown of righteousness that fades not away. In this the suffering saints have
triumphed; not only have not been separated from the love of Christ, but have
been taken into the most sensible endearments and embraces of it. As
afflictions abound, consolations much more abound, 2 Cor. i. 5. There is one
more than a conqueror, when pressed above measure. He that embraced the stake,
and said, "Welcome the cross of Christ, welcome everlasting
life,"--he that dated his letter from the delectable orchard of the
Leonine prison,--he that said, "In these flames I feel no more pain than
if I were upon a bed of down,"--she who, a little before her martyrdom,
being asked how she did, said, "Well and merry, and going to
heaven,"--those that have gone smiling to the stake, and stood singing in
the flames--these were more than conquerors.
[3.] It is only through Christ that loved us, the merit of his death
taking the sting out of all these troubles, the Spirit of his grace
strengthening us, and enabling us to bear them with holy courage and
constancy, and coming in with special comforts and supports. Thus we are
conquerors, not in our own strength, but in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
We are conquerors by virtue of our interest in Christ's victory. He hath
overcome the world for us (John xvi. 33), both the good things and the evil
things of it; so that we have nothing to do but to pursue the victory, and to
divide the spoil, and so are more than conquerors.
2. A direct and positive conclusion of the whole matter: For I am
persuaded, v. 38, 39. It denotes a full, and strong, and
affectionate persuasion, arising from the experience of the strength and
sweetness of the divine love. And here he enumerates all those things which
might be supposed likely to separate between Christ and believers, and
concludes that it could not be done. (1.) Neither death nor life--neither
the terrors of death on the one hand nor the comforts and pleasures of life on
the other, neither the fear of death nor the hope of life. Or, We shall not be
separated from that love either in death or in life. (2.) Nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers. Both the good angels and the bad are called
principalities and powers: the good, Eph. i. 21; Col. i. 16; the bad, Eph. vi.
12; Col. ii. 15. And neither shall do it. The good angels will not, the bad
shall not; and neither can. The good angels are engaged friends, the bad are
restrained enemies. (3.) Nor things present, nor things to come--neither
the sense of troubles present nor the fear of troubles to come. Time shall not
separate us, eternity shall not. Things present separate us from things to
come, and things to come separate and cut us off from things present; but
neither from the love of Christ, whose favour is twisted in with both present
things and things to come. (4.) Nor height, nor depth--neither the
height of prosperity and preferment, nor the depth of adversity and disgrace;
nothing from heaven above, no storms, no tempests; nothing on earth below, no
rocks, no seas, no dungeons. (5.) Nor any other creature--any thing
that can be named or thought of. It will not, it cannot, separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It cannot cut off or impair
our love to God, or God's to us; nothing does it, can do it, but sin. Observe,
The love that exists between God and true believers is through Christ. He is
the Mediator of our love: it is in and through him that God can love us and
that we dare love God. This is the ground of the stedfastness of the love;
therefore God rests in his love (Zeph. iii. 17), because Jesus Christ, in whom
he loves us, is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
Mr. Hugh Kennedy, an eminent Christian of Ayr, in Scotland, when he was dying,
called for a Bible; but, finding his sight gone, he said, "Turn me to the
eighth of the Romans, and set my finger at these words, I am persuaded that
neither death nor life," &c. "Now," said he, "is
my finger upon them?" And, when they told him it was, without speaking
any more, he said, "Now, God be with you, my children; I have breakfasted
with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ this night;" and so
departed.
Contents
|
Next
Section
