porary institutions, were abolished by the coming of Christ and the gospel. Observe next, How the apostle endeavours to convince the Galatians of the folly and absurdity of hoping to perfect that in the flesh, which they had begun in the Spirit; Are ye so foolish? As if he had said, "That having, at your entrance into christianity, begun an holy life, by and according to the Holy Spirit conferred upon you, that now you should think it to be made more perfect by the flesh, by the external commandments and observances of the law:

how unreasonable is it to suppose that your justification should be begun by a more noble, and perfected by a less noble,

cause !"

4 Have ye suffered SO many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. As if the apostle had said, "To what purpose have you suffered so many persecutions from the Jews for the cause of christianity? All which sufferings will be in vain, if, after all, you bring yourselves under the bondage of the Jewish yoke; for these might have been escaped, had you owned the necessity of circumcision, and other legal observances. But I hope you will recollect yourselves, and persevere in your first profession, without which all your former labours, your past and present sufferings, will avail you nothing." Intimating, that all the good actions we have done, and the hard things which we have suffered, will be altogether in vain to us, if we do not persevere in well-doing and patient suffering unto the end. Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. Note here, 1. That it has been from the beginning the lot and portion of such as profess christianity, to suffer many things in the defence of it. Note, 2. That it is very possible for some of those who have made an early and long profession of christianity, yea, and suffered hard things for it, after all to make a foul defection and apostasy from it. Note, 3. That all such sufferings have been, are, and will be, in vain, and turn to no joyful account, if the persons suffering do afterward apostatize from, and turn their backs upon, the truths of God formerly embraced and maintained by them: Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in

vain.

5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh mi

racles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Observe here, 1. That God did accompany the first preaching and planting of the gospel with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, with a power to work miracles, to heal diseases, and to speak with tongues, which were so many attestations and confirmations that the doctrine of the gospel was from God; for here St. Paul appeals to the Galatians, as men that had the Spirit nistereth to you the Spirit, and worketh and miracles amongst them, He that mihad given to them his Holy Spirit, both in miracles; implying, that Almighty God the sanctifying graces and miraculous gifts of it. Observe, 2. That the Spirit thus communicated in the first and early days of christianity, was not given to the Galatians, or any other Gentiles, by the preaching of the law, but by the ministry and dispensation of the gospel, which is here called, the hearing of faith: He that by the works of the law, or by the hearministereth to you the Spirit, doeth he it ing of faith? Learn hence, That although the gifts and graces of God's Holy Spirit are conveyed to the hearers of the gospel by the ministry of the word, yet God is them, and the gospel only the instrument the author, the minister, and dispenser of and mean of their conveyance: He ministhe Spirit.

tereth to you

blessed; and this faith of his was accounted, imputed, and reckoned to him for righteousness; that is, was accepted of God for his justification." From whence the apostle doth infer or draw this conclusion, that such as seek justification by faith, as Abraham did, are the children of Abraham, as the Gentiles were; that is, the children of his faith: a far greater privilege than what the Jews gloried in, namely, that they were the children of his flesh. Learn hence, That as the pious Jews under the Old Testament, so are christians

now under the New Testament, justified alike. Were they justified freely? so are we. Are we justified fully? so were they. Was a righteousness necessary for them to be clothed with, in order to their acceptance with God? the same is necessary for us also. Was faith imputed by God to them for righteousness? so shall it be to us also.

8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Observe here, That because the former consequence from Abraham's justification to ours might be questioned, whether it holds in the Gentiles, who were not of Abraham's posterity; therefore the apostle declares, That the greatest promise made to him, that in him, that is, in the Messias, Christ Jesus, who was to come of him, all nations, Gentiles as well as Jews, should be blessed; God having determined that all believers indefinitely, of what nation or kindred soever, should be all justified one and the same way, namely, by faith in Christ, without the works of the law. So that all that are of faith, or true believers, whether Gentiles or Jews, do partake of all those benefits and blessings which believing Abraham did partake of, amongst which justification by faith is the chief. Learn hence, 1. That the gospel is no new doctrine, but the same for substance, though

not for clearness, with that which was preached to Abraham, and to the church under the Old Testament: The scripture preached before the gospel unto Abraham. Learn, 2. That the blessing of justification by faith, and of other spiritual favours promised to the nations in Abra

ham, was such as Abraham himself was a sharer in, and partaker of; they were blessed with faithful Abraham.

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Here is a third argument produced in this chapter, to prove that we are justified who seek to be justified by the works of the by faith, and not by works; because they law, are under the curse; and if so, cannot be justified. The argument runs thus, best, is but imperfect. Now every imper"Our observance of the law, when at the fect performance lays us under the curse: therefore no performance of ours can justify us. They that cannot fulfil the law, can never be justified by the law. But no fallen man can perfectly fulfil the law: Therefore none can be justified by the law." This is the force of the argument, which the apostle proves by a quotation out of Deut. xxvii. 26. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them. Where note, 1. The duty which the law exacts: obedience. namely, perfect, personal, and perpetual 2. The penalty which the law inflicts, and that is, the curse; Cursed is every one, &c. Learn hence, That sin and the curse are inseparable; wherever sin is, the curse will be, be it upon a person by imputation, or by actual commission: wherever sin lies, it lays us under the curse; for sin is an infinite evil, objectively con. sidered; it is a contempt of infinite authority, a contrariety to infinite holiness, a provocation of infinite justice, and an abuse of infinite mercy; and consequently, the desert of sin is death and the curse.

11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for, The just shall live by faith.

12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

A fourth argument is here produced to prove, that no sinner can be justified before God by the works of the law, although before men he may. The argument is this, taken from Hab. ii. 4. The just shall live by faith; that is, live his spiritual life by faith, his life of justification and sanctifi.

cation also the life of his righteousness before God, of his holiness before men, and his life of glory with God in heaven, are all by faith. He adds, ver. 12. The law is not of faith; that is, the law says nothing of faith in a Mediator, or promises life to any person, save only to him who by a sinless obedience performs exactly what it prescribes; but the voice of the law is, Do, or die. Learn hence, That the law and faith, that is, the law and the gospel, are not contrary to each other, but are mutually subservient one to another in many things; as thus, when the law makes known sin, the gospel holds forth the remedy for sin; the law discovers our need of Christ, the gospel makes an offer and gracious tender of Jesus Christ; the law makes known to us our entire duty, the gospel furnishes us with strength and ability to perform that duty. Learn, 1. That though the law and faith, (that is, the gospel, which is the doctrine of faith,) be not contrary to each other, yet in point of justification they are mutually inconsistent one with another; so that if justification be by the works of the law, it cannot be had by faith; if it be had by faith, it cannot be attained by the works of the law. There can be no mixture of law and gos. pel, of faith and works, in this matter.

13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a

tree.

This is the apostle's fifth and last argument, to prove that we are justified by faith; and that, notwithstanding the threats of the law, a believer is freed from the curse and malediction of the law, by Christ's bearing the curse for him. Christ hath redeemed us, &c. Where note, 1. The believer's happy discharge from the most dismal and dreadful thing imaginable; namely, the condemnatory sentence and curse of the law, whereby a sinner is bound over to death, even to death of soul and body. 2. The person that doth and only can deliver the sinner from this condemnatory curse and sentence; and that is Jesus Christ. He discharges the believer from his obnoxiousness to wrath, dissolves his obligation to punishment, looses all bands, and chains of guilt: so that the curse of the law has nothing, and shall have nothing, to do with him for ever. 3. The

way and manner in and by which Jesus Christ effecteth all this for us; namely, by his being made a curse for us; not that Christ was made the very curse itself, or changed into a curse, but he took the curse upon himself; our sin became his, by a voluntary susception of the punishment; and Christ underwent that death, the death of the cross, which by the law was accursed, to free us from the curse of the law: as Christ was made sin for us, so was he made a curse for us. Now, as he was made sin, not by contracting the guilt of sin, but by suffering the punishment of sin; so he was made a curse, by undergoing that death which the law styles accursed.

14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Observe here, One special fruit of Christ's sufferings, and being made a curse for us; namely, that the curse being abolished, the blessing of Abraham, that is, the blessing of justification, reconciliation, and adoption, promised to Abraham upon his believing, might come upon all the believing Gentiles, through Christ, the promised seed; and that the Gentiles might receive the promises, made by Christ, of the Holy Spirit, both in its miraculous gifts and sanctifying graces, through their submission to the faith of Christ, or the doctrine of the gospel. Learn hence, 1. That Christ, by submitting to the curse of the law, did not only appease the wrath of God towards us, and deliver us from the curse of the law deserved by us, but purchased all spiritual blessings for us, such as grace here, and glory hereafter. Christ was made a curse, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles. O wonderful grace, infinite love, and astonishing goodness of God, in that great work of our redemption, in bringing about one contrary by another! He giveth life by death, and the blessing by the curse: Christ was made a curse, that the blessing might come upon the Gentiles. Learn, 2. That there was a promise of divers blessings made to Abraham; namely, that God would give him a son, a son by Sarah, a son in his old age, and by that son a numerous issue; that that issue should become a mighty nation, and possess all the land of Canaan,

wherein he then sojourned; and that he would settle his covenant, that is, his church, in that family and nation; and that in one person descending from his posterity, all nations should be blessed; and that this blessing, introduced by that one person, should abolish the curse brought upon all nations by the first person's sin: That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.

15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of meu: Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Observe here, 1. An argument drawn from contracts among men, to prove the fixedness and stability of the covenant made by God if one man makes a covenant with another, signs it, seals it, and delivers it before witnesses, it becomes irrevocable and irreversible; much more then must the covenant of grace and mercy made with us by God be perpetual and immutable, since it is a covenant established by oath; and when God swears, he cannot repent. Observe, 2. The apostle proves, That as the covenant of God can never fail, in regard of the wisdom and invariableness of Him that made it; so it can never expire for want of parties that have interest in it and advantage by it, for want of a seed to whom it is made; for so long as Christ hath a church and members upon earth, so long shall the promise be of force. Not only to Abraham, but to his seed, were the promises made: not of seeds, as of many but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ: where, by one, we understand one mystically, and in the aggregate; not one personally and indi

vidually; and by Christ, the whole church, consisting of head and members, believing Gentiles as well as Jews. Observe, 3. That the apostle having confirmed the truth of his doctrine by arguments, in the foregoing part of the chapter, comes now in the latter part of it to answer objections, which some might be ready to make against his doctrine. The first we have, ver. 17. This I say, that the covenant, which was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul. The objection lies thus: Some might say, "When two laws are made, whereof the one was expressly contradictory to the other, the latter doth, in common presumption, abrogate that four hundred and thirty years after the promise made to Abraham, there was a law published extremely contrary to that promise, a law without mercy or compassion, a law both impossible and inexorable, a law which can neither be obeyed nor endured, a law which denounces a terrible breakers of it; therefore it should seem as and severe curse to the transgressors and if some cause had happened, to make God repent and revoke his former covenantpromise made to Abraham." To obviate this objection, our apostle shows, first, What the purpose of the covenant-promise to Abraham was; namely, to give life and salvation by grace and promise. Secondly, What the purpose of the latter covenant by Moses was not; namely, to give the same life by working; since in those respects there would be a contradiction and inconsistency in the covenants, and so by consequence instability and unfaithfulness in him that made them. That therefore which the apostle here drives at, is this, That the coming of the law hath not voided the promise, and that the law is not of force towards the seed to whom the promise is made, in any such sense as carries contradiction to, or implies abrogation of, the promise before made: from whence it follows, if it be not to stand in contradiction to, it must stand in subordination to, the gospel, and so tend to evangelical purposes. Learn hence, 1. That although God might have dealt with mankind as absolute Lord and Sovereign, yet he doth not govern them barely by a law, but by a covenant which has promises and threatenings annexed. Learn, 2. That after the covenant of works, made with man before the fall, was broken by Adam, God was pleased to

and disannul the former. But here we find

enter into a covenant of grace with fallen man, to deliver him out of an estate of sin and misery, and to bring him into a state of salvation by a Redeemer. Learn, 3. That though the former and latter covenant did differ in some considerable circumstances, yet they are one and the same in substance, and do fully agree in all the essential parts of both. Learn, 4. That God's intent in giving the law, and urging exact obedience to it, under the penalty of the curse, was not to take us off from seeking righteousness and life only by the promise, but to encourage us to seek it; for, says the apostle here, The law could not disannul the covenant made with Abraham, nor make the promise of no effect.

19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one; but God is one.

Here an objection is moved: Some might be ready to say, " If the law, that is, works done in obedience to the law, do not justify, then the law given by Moses upon mount Sinai is in vain, and to no purpose; for why was the law given, enjoining so many duties, promising life to the obedient, and threatening wrath and a curse to the disobedient, if the inheritance come not by the law?" The apostle answers, That one great end for which the law was given was, to discover sin, and a sinner's undone condition by reason of sin, and to lead him to seek out for a remedy. The law was added because of transgression, that is, to make transgression appear, to discover the pollutions of men's hearts and natures, and make them sensible

of the condemnation they are under. The law was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come; that is, Christ and his church. Where note, That the legal dispensations were not to continue always in the church, but only till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; at whose death the partition-wall was broken down, and the Gentiles called into the fellowship of the church, as well as the Jews. Ob. serve farther, The glorious and amazing manner in which the law was given upon Mount Sinai in thunder and lightning by

the ministry of angels in such a terrible manner, that there was no access for sinful man to God but by Moses, a mediator, standing betwixt God and them; who in that action was a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and us. As Moses was a typical, national, and representative mediator, standing between the Lord and that people of the Jews, so Christ was a substantial and universal Mediator between God and mankind. Where note, That the law was published in mercy and pacification, not in fury and revenge; for had the Lord intended death in the publishing of the law, he would not have proclaimed it in the hand of a mediator but of an executioner. He adds, That a mediator is not a mediator of one, that is, of one party, but of disagreeing parties. God and man were once friends; they were one, and needed no mediator. But God and man, by sin, fell at variance, and now need a mediator. The very notion of a mediator doth suppose, that men, by sin, are at odds with God, and that God, by grace, is willing to be one with man. However, though a mediator is not a mediator of one, yet God is one; that is, though there be two covenants, and two mediators, yet God is one and the same in both covenants; he carries on one and the same purpose and intention, both in the law and in the gospel; namely, a benevolence and good-will towards, and an hearty desire and reconciliation with, man

kind.