Commentary on Galatians, Chapter 2 · Verse extract 20 – Verse extract 20
Verſe. 20. I am crucified vvith Chriſt.
This he addeth to declare that the law is a deuourer of the law. Not onelyonly (ſaith he) I am dead to the law through the law that I may liue to God, but alſo I am crucified with Chriſt. But Chriſt is Lord ouer the law becauſe he is crucified and dead vntounto the law: Therfore am I alſo Lord ouer the law: for I likewiſe am crucified and dead vntounto the lawe for as much as I am crucified and dead with Chriſt. By what meanes? By grace and faith. Through this faith, becauſe I am nowe crucified and deade vntounto the law, therfore the law looſeth all his power which it had ouer me, euen as it hath loſt all his power which it had ouer Chriſt.To be crucified vvith Chriſt. Wherfore euen as Chriſt himſelfe was crucified to the law, ſinne, death and the Deuill, ſo that they hauehave no further power ouer him: euen ſo I through faith being now crucified with Chriſt in ſpirite, am crucified and deade to the law, ſinne, death and the Deuill, ſo that they hauehave no further power ouer me, but are now crucified and deade vntounto me.
Paule ſpeaketh not here of crucifying by imitation or example (for to follow the example of Chriſt is alſo to be crucified with him), which crucifying belongeth to the fleſh.1. Pet. ….21. Wherof Peter ſpeaketh in his 1. epiſtle and .2. chapter. Chriſt ſuffered for vsus (ſaith he) leauing vntounto vsus an example that vve should follovv his ſteppes. But he ſpeaketh here of that high crucifying, wherby ſinne, the deuil and death are crucified in Chriſt & not in me. Here Chriſt Ieſus doth all himſelfe alone. But I beleuing in Chriſt am by faith crucified alſo with Chriſt, ſo that all theſe things are crucified and dead vntounto me.
Verſe. 20. Thus I liue.
I ſpeake not ſo (ſaith he) of my death and crucifying as though I now liued not: Yea I liue, for I am quickned by this death and crucifying through the which I die: That is, for as much as I am deliuered from the law,The true life of the faithful ſinne and death, I now liue in deede. Wherfore that crucifying and that death wherby I am crucified and dead to the law, ſinne, death and all euils, is to me reſurrection and life. For Chriſt crucifieth the Deuill, he killeth death, condemneth ſinne, and bindeth the law: and I beleuing this, am deliuered from the law, ſinne, death and the Deuill. The law therfore is bound, dead and crucified vntounto me, & I againe am bound, dead, & crucified vntounto it. Wherfore euen by this death and crucifying, that is to ſay, by this grace or liberty I now liue.
Here (as before I hauehave ſayd) we muſt obſerue Paules maner of ſpeaking. He ſaith that we are dead and crucified to the law, where as in very deede the law it ſelfe is dead and crucified vntounto vsus.The faithfull crucified and deade to the lavv. But this maner of ſpeach he vſeth here of purpoſe, that it may be the more ſweete and comfortable vntounto vsus. For the law (which notwithſtanding continueth, liueth and reigneth in the whole world, which alſo accuſeth and condemneth all men) is crucified and dead vntounto thoſe onelyonly which beleue in Chriſt:The glory of the faithfull. and therfore to them alone belongeth this glory, that they are dead to ſinne, hell, death, and the Deuill.
Verſe. 20. Yet novv not I.
That is to ſay, not in mine owne perſon nor in mine owne ſubſtance. Here he plainly ſheweth by what meanes he liueth: And he teacheth what true Chriſtian righteouſnes is, namely that righteouſnes wherby Chriſt liueth in vsus, and not that which is in our perſon. Therefore when we ſpeake of Chriſtian righteouſnes we muſt vtterly reiect the perſon. And here Chriſt and my conſcience muſt become one body,VVe muſt hauehave Ghriſt onelyonly before our eies. ſo that nothing remaine in my ſight but Chriſt crucified and raiſed from the dead. But if I behold my ſelfe only and ſet Chriſt aſide, I am gone. For by and by I fall into this cogitation: Chriſt is in heauen and thou art on the earth: how ſhalt thou now come vntounto him? Forſoth I will liue holily and doe that which the law requireth: ſo ſhall I enter into life. Here returning to my ſelfe, and conſidering what I am, what I ought to be, and what I am bound to doe, I loſe Chriſt out of ſight, who is my righteouſnes and life. Who being loſt, there is no counſell nor ſuccour now remaining, but certaine deſperation and deſtruction muſt needes follow.
And this is a common euil among men. For ſuch is our miſery, that when tentation or death cometh, by and by ſetting Chriſt aſide,Such is our miſery that intentations and afflictions vve ſet Chriſt aſide and loke backe into our ovvne life paſt. we conſider our owne life paſt and what we hauehave done. Here, except we be raiſed vppe againe by faith, we muſt needes periſh. Wherefore we muſt learne in ſuch conflicts & terrours of conſcience forgetting our ſelues, and ſetting the law, our life paſt, and all our works apart, which driue vsus to the conſideration of our ſelues onelyonly, to turne our eies wholy to yt braſen ſerpent Chriſt Ieſus crucified, & aſſuredly beleue that he is our righteouſnes and life, not fearing the threatnings and terrours of the law, ſinne, death and the iudgement of God. For Chriſt, on whom our eies are fixed, in whom we liue, who alſo liueth in vsus, is Lord and conquerour of the law, ſinne, death and all euils: In whom moſt certaine and ſure conſolation is ſet forth vntounto vsus and victory geuen.