Commentary on Galatians, Chapter 3 · Verse extract 19
Ver. 19. And it vvas ordeined by*Angelles as miniſters gaue it to Moiſes by the authority of Chriſt. Angels in the hand of a Mediatour.
This is a litle digreſſion from his purpoſe, which he neither declareth, nor finiſheth: but onelyonly toucheth it by the way, and ſo proceedeth. For he retourneth incontinent to his purpoſe, when he ſayeth: what? is the lawe then contrary to the promiſes of God? Nowe, this was the occaſion of his digreſſion. He fell into this difference betwene the lawe and the Goſpell: to witte, that the lawe added to the promiſes, did differ from the goſpell, not onelyonly in reſpect of time, but alſo of the author and the principal cauſe therof. For the lawe was deliuered by the Angels.Heb. 1. Heb. 1: but the Goſpell by the Lord him ſelfe. Wherfore the Goſpell is farre more excellent then the lawe. For the lawe is the voice of the ſeruauntes,The lavve geuen by Angels, the Goſpell by Chriſt. but the Goſpell is the voyce of the Lord him ſelfe. Therfore to abaſe and to diminiſh the authority of the lawe, and to exalt and magnifie the Goſpell, he ſayth that the lawe was a doctrine geuen to continue but for a ſmall time (for it endured but onelyonly vntill the fulnes of the promiſe,The lavv vvas geuen to endure but for a time: but the Goſpell vvas geuen to endure for euer. that is to ſay, vntill the bleſſed Seede came which fulfilled the promiſe): but that the Goſpel was for euer. For all the faithfull hauehave had alway one and the ſelfe ſame Goſpel from the beginning of the world, and by that they were ſaued. The lawe therefore is farre inferiour to the Goſpell, becauſe it was ordained by the Angelles which are but ſeruauntes, and endured but for a ſhort time, whereas the Goſpell was ordeined by the Lord him ſelfe, to continue for euer. Hebrues. 1. For it vvas promiſed before all vvorldes. Tit. 1.
Moreouer, the word of the lawe was not ordeined by the Angels being but ſeruauntes, but alſo by an other ſeruaunt farre inferiour to the Angels,Chriſt is not a Mediatour according to the lavv, as Moiſes vvas. namely by a man, that is (as here he ſayeth) by the hand of a Mediatour, that is to ſay, Moiſes. Nowe, Chriſt is not a ſeruaunt, but the Lord him ſelfe. He is not a Mediatour betwene God and man according to the lawe as Moiſes was, but he is a Mediatour of a better Teſtament. The law therfore was ordeined by Angels as ſeruauntes. For Moiſes and the people heard God ſpeaking in the Mount Sina: that is to ſay, they heard the angels ſpeaking in the perſon of God. Therfore Stephen in the ſeuenth of the Actes ſayeth: Ye hauehave receaued the lavve by the miniſterie of the Angels, and ye hauehave not regarded it. Exod. ….…Alſo the text in the third of Exodus ſheweth plainely that the Angell appeared vntounto Moiſes in a flame of fire, and ſpake vntounto him from the middeſt of the bush.
Paule therefore ſignifieth that Chriſte is a Mediaotur of a farre better Teſtament then Moiſes. Exod. 19.20.And here he alludeth to that hiſtory in Moiſes concerning the geuing of the lawe, which ſayeth, that Moiſes ledde the people out of their tentes to meete with God, and that he placed them at the foote of the Mount Sina. There was an heauie and an horrible ſight. The whole Mount was on a flaming fier. When the people ſawe this, they began to tremble: for they thought that they ſhould hauehave ben ſuddenly deſtroyed in this fearfull tempeſt. Becauſe therefore they could not abide the lawe ſounding ſo horribly out of Mount Sina, (for that terrifying voice of the lawe would hauehave killed the people) they ſayd vntounto Moiſes their Mediatour: Come thou hether and heare vvhat the Lord ſayeth, and ſpeake thou vntounto vsus. Moiſes a Mediatour.And he aunſwered: I my ſelfe (ſayeth he) vvas a Mediatour, and one that ſtoode betvvene God and you. &c. By theſe places it is plaine enough that Moiſes was appoynted a Mediatour betwene the people, and the lawe ſpeaking.
Wherfore Paule by this hiſtorie goeth about to declare, that it is impoſſible that righteouſnes ſhould come by the lawe. As if he ſhould ſay: howe can the lawe iuſtifie, ſeeing the whole people of Iſraell, being purified and ſanctified, yea and Moiſes him ſelfe the Mediatour betwene God and the people, were afraide and trembled at the voice of the lawe, as it is ſayd in the Epiſtle to the Hebrewes?The lavv maketh men afraid, therfore it iuſtifieth not. Here was nothing but feare and trembling. But what righteouſnes and holines is this, not to be able to beare, yea not to be able or willing to heare the lawe, but to flie from it, and ſo to hate it, that it is impoſſible to hate and abhorre any thing more in the whole world? as the hiſtorie moſte plainly teſtifieth, that the people when they heard the lawe, did hate nothing more then the lawe, and rather wiſhed death, then to heare the lawe.
So, when ſinne is diſcouered, as it were by certaine bright beames which the law ſtriketh into the heart,Nothing is more intolerable to man then the lavv, there is nothing more odious & more intolerable to mā, then ye law is. Here he wold rather choſe death, thē be cōſtraind to bear theſe terrors of ye law, be it neuer ſo litle a time: which is a moſt certaine token that the lawe iuſtifieth not. For if the lawe did iuſtifie, then (no dout) men would louelove it, they would delite was raiſed vppe and comforted by the gratious and free mercy of God. Therefore the lawe iuſtifieth not.
If the lawe ſhould ſerue mine affections: that is to ſay, if it ſhould approue my hypocriſie,The lavv flattereth not reaſon, and therfore reaſon hateth it. my opinion and confidence of mine owne righteouſnes: if it ſhould ſay that without the mercy of God and faith in Chriſt through the helpe of it alone (as all the world naturally iudgeth of the lawe) I might be iuſtified before God: and moreouer, if it ſhould ſay that God is pacified and ouercome by works, and is bound to reward the doers therof, that ſo I hauing no nede of God, might be a God vntounto my ſelfe, & merite grace by my workes, & ſetting my Sauiour Chriſt apart, might ſaue my ſelfe by mine owne merites: If (I ſay) the lawe ſhould thus ſerue mine affections, then ſhould it be ſweete, delectable, and pleaſant in deede: So wel can reaſon flatter it ſelfe. Notwtſtanding this ſhould no longer cōtinue, but vntil the law ſhould come to his owne proper vſe and office: then ſhould it appeare that reaſon can not ſuffer thoſe bright beames of the law. There ſome Moiſes muſt needes come betwene as a Mediatour, and yet notwithſtanding without any fruite, as I will declare hereafter.
2. Cor. 3.1….To this purpoſe ſerueth that place in the .2. Cor. 3. chapt. concerning the couered face of Moiſes, where Paule out of the hyſtorie of Exod. 34. chap. ſheweth that the children of Iſraell,Exod. 34.30. not onelyonly did not knowe, but alſo could not abide the true and ſpirituall vſe of the lawe: Firſt,The place of Paule expounded, as touching the couering of Moiſes face. Verſes. 30.33.34.35. for that they could not looke vntounto the ende of the lawe (ſayeth Paule) becauſe of the veile which Moiſes put vponupon his face: Againe, they could not looke vppon the face of Moiſes being bare and vncouered, for the glory of his countenaunce. For when Moiſes went about to talke with them, he couered his face with a veile: without the which they could not beare his talke: that is, they could not heare Moiſes him ſelfe their Mediatour, vnleſſe he had ſet an other Mediatour betwene: that is to ſay, the veile. Howe then ſhould they heare the voyce of God, or of an Angell, when they could not heare the voyce of Moiſes being but a mā, yea and alſo their Mediatour, except his face had ben couered?Faith in Chriſt driueth avvay the terrours of the lavve. Therfore, except the bleſſed Seede come to raiſe vppe and comfort him which hath heard the lawe, he periſheth through deſperation, in deteſting of the lawe, in hating and blaſpheming of God, and daily more and more offendeth againſt God. For this feare and confuſion of conſcience which the lawe bringeth, the deeper it perceth and the longer it continueth, the more it encreaſeth hatred, and blaſphemy againſt God.
This hiſtorie therefore teacheth what is the power of freewill.The povver of freevvill. The people are ſtricken with feare, they tremble and they flie backe. Where is now freewill? where is nowe that good will, that good entent, that right iudgement of reaſon which the Papiſtes doe ſo much bragge of? What auaileth freewill here in theſe ſanctified and holy men? It can ſay nothing: It blindeth their reaſon: it peruerteth theyr will: it receiueth not, it ſaluteth not, it embraceth not with ioy the Lord comming with thundring, lightning, and fire in to the Mounte Sina. It can not heare the voyce of the Lord: but contrariwiſe it ſayth: Let not the Lord ſpeake vntounto vsus, leſt vve die. We ſee then what the ſtrength and power of freewil is in the children of Iſrael, who though they were clenſed and ſanctified, could not heare one ſyllable or letter of the law. Therfore theſe high cōmendations which the Papiſts geue to their freewill are nothing elſe but mere toyes and doting dreames.