Commentary on Galatians, Chapter 3 · Verse extract 1
Verſe. 1. O foolish Galathians.
PAVLE here ſheweth his Apoſtolicall care and feruent zeale which he beareth to the church: ſo that in diſputing and confuting he intermixeth ſometimes gentle exhortations, and ſometimes he ſharply chideth, according to his owne rule geuē to Timothy. Preach (ſaith he) the vvord: be inſtant in ſeaſon and out of ſeaſon: 2. Timot. 4.5.Improue, rebuke, exhort. 2. Timot. 4. Here the ſimple reader haply may be deceaued, if he be not circumſpect,Paules order in teaching. to thinke that Paule in teaching keepeth no order at all. And ſurely after the maner of the Rhetoricians he obſerueth none: but as concerning the ſpirite he vſeth a goodly order.
Now, after that he hath ſufficiently proued, and with two ſtrong arguments confirmed this article, that Chriſtian righteouſnes cometh not by keeping of the law, but by faith in Chriſt, and withall hath confuted the doctrine of the falſe Apoſtles: in the middes of this diſcourſe he turneth his talke to the Galathians, O ye foolish Galathians.and reproueth them, ſaying: O ye foolish Galathians. &c. As if he ſhould ſay: Alas, from whence are ye falne, O ye miſerable Galathians? I hauehave moſt carefully and diligently taught you the truth of the Goſpell, and ye alſo hauehave receaued the ſame of me with feruent zeale and greate diligence. How then cometh it to paſſe, that ye are ſo ſuddainly falne away from it? who hath bewitched you?
Paule offendeth not in chiding the Galathians ſo sharply.He rebuketh the Galathians very ſharply (as it ſeemeth) when he calleth them fooles, bewitched, and diſobedient to the truth. Now, whether he did this of zeale or compaſſion, I will not here contend: both may be true. A carnall man would interprete this to be a reuiling rather then a godly reprehenſion. Did Paule then geue an euill example, or was he ſpitefull againſt the churches of Galatia becauſe he called them fooliſh and bewitched? No, not ſo. For with a Chriſtian zeale it is lawfull for an Apoſtle, paſtour, or preacher ſharply to reproue the people committed to his charge:The chiding of parents tovvards their children. and ſuch reprouings are both fatherly & godly. So parents, of a fatherly and motherly affection, do ſharply reproue and rebuke their children: which they would not beare if an other ſhould doe it. The Scholemaſter ſometimes is angry with his ſcholler: he rebuketh him and beateth him with roddes: all which he taketh in good parte and would not beare it at the handes of his equall. The magiſtrate likewiſe is angry: he reproueth and puniſheth ſuch as are vnderunder his charge. And this diſcipline is not onelyonly good, but alſo very neceſſary:Anger ſometimes a neceſſary vertue. without the which nothing can be well done. Wherfore vnleſſe the magiſtrate, the miniſter, the father and mother be angry and vſe to reproue or rebuke when caſe requireth, he is vnprofitable, and neuer ſhall diſcharge his office rightly.
Wherfore ſharpe chidings & bitter words are as neceſſary in eueryevery kind of life, as any other vertue els. Yet notwithſtanding this anger muſt be ſo tempered, that it procede not of any enuy or malice, but onelyonly of a fatherly affection and Chriſtian zeale: that is to ſay, it ought not to be childiſh or womanlike, ſeking reuenge: but onelyonly for the correcting of the faulte: As the father correcteth not his childe with deſire to reuenge, but only that the childe therby may be the better.Iuſt anger is called in the ſcripture zeale or ielouſie. And theſe kindes of anger are good, and are called in the ſcripture ielouſies or zeales. For in chaſtiſing my brother, my child, my ſcholler or ſubiect in this ſort, I ſeeke not his deſtruction, but his profite and welfare.
It may be then that Paule here rebuketh the Galathians, either of a very zeale (not to deſtroy them, but by this meanes to reduce them into the way againe and to amend them): or els of pitie and compaſſion, as it were by way of complaint, for that it greueth him that the Galathians ſhould be ſo miſerably ſeduced. As if he ſhould ſay: I am ſory and aſhamed to heare of this your miſerable caſe, your wretched doings, &c. In like maner doe we alſo reproue the miſerable: not that we treade them downe, or vpbraide them with their miſery, but as hauing compaſſion on them and ſeeking their amendment. This I ſay, leſt any man ſhould cauill that Paule railed vponupon the churches, contrary to the rule of the Goſpell.
In like maner Chriſt rebuketh the phariſeis, calling them ſerpents, Math. 13 33. The sharp rebukings of the holy Ghoſt.the generation of vipers, the children of the deuil. But theſe are the rebukings of the holy Ghoſt. They are fatherly and motherly, and as the chidings of a faithfull frend: As it is ſaid alſo in the prouerbes: Better are the vvoundes of a frend then the kiſſes of an enemy. Prouerb. 27.6.Thus one and the ſelfe ſame rebuke, if it come out of the mouth of a father, may be a great benefite: but if it procede out of the mouth of our equall or enemy, it is a ſpitefull reproch. When two men doe both one thing, in the one it is commendable, and in the other it is cleane contrary. When Chriſt and Paule doe reproue, it is done with ſingular vertue and commendation: but when a priuate man ſhall doe the like, in him it is a greate vice. Therfore one and the ſelfe ſame word in the mouth of Paule is a great vertue and a ſingular benefite: but in the mouth of an other it is a ſhamefull reproch.
Here is a great vehemencie to be noted in this word Galathians. For he calleth them not brethren, as els where he is wont to doe:The naturall vice of the Galathians. but he calleth them by the name of their coūtrey. And it ſhould ſeeme that it was the naturall vice of that nation to be fooliſh: like as it was the fault of the Cretenſes to be liars. As if he ſhould ſay: As ye are called, euen ſo are ye in deed and ſo ye continue, that is to ſay, fooliſh Galathians: and this ye proue euen now in this buſines of the Goſpell (wherin notwithſtāding ye ought to hauehave ſhewed your ſelues moſt wiſe), but ye continue ſtill in your old nature and ſhew your ſelues no changelings. Thus Paule by way of correction putteth them in mind of their corrupt nature.
Moreouer, we are here admoniſhed, that according to the fleſh there are yet certaine naturall vices remaining euen in Chriſtian churches.The remnants of naturall vices remaine in the Godly. Grace maketh not ſuch a chaung in the faithfull, that by and by they become altogether new creatures and perfect in all things: but there remaine yet certaine dregges of their old and naturall corruption. As if a man that is naturally enclined to anger be conuerted to Chriſt, although he be mollified by grace (the holy Ghoſt ſo framing his heart, yt he is now become more meeke and gentile) yet this naturall vice is not vtterly quenched in his fleſh. Likewiſe, ſuch as are by nature ſtubborne and ſtout harted men,Ebr. 12. although they be conuerted to the faith, yet notwithſtanding they can not vtterly forſake this ſtubbernes. Hereof it cometh that the holy ſcriptures, which doe containe all one truth, of diuers ſpirites are diuerſly handled.The ſcripture being one and the ſelfe ſame truth, is diuerſly handled of ſundry men One in teaching is mild and gentle: an other more rough and rigorous. Thus the ſpirite of god being powred into diuers veſſels, doth not quench at once the vices of nature: but by litle & litle during this life, he purgeth that ſinne which is rooted, not onelyonly in the Galathians, but alſo in all men of all nations.
Albeit then that the Galathians were lightned and did beleue, and had now receaued the holy Ghoſt by the preaching of faith, notwithſtanding this remnant of vice (this fooliſhnes I meane) and the originall corruption which afterward did eaſily burſt out in to the flame of falſe doctrine,Grace by litle and litle clenſeth thoſe that be godly, from their old ſinnes. remained in them ſtill. Wherfore let no man truſt ſo much in himſelfe, to thinke that when he hath receaued grace, he is thorowly purged from his old vices. In deede many things are purged in vsus, and principally the head of the Serpent, that is to ſay, infidelitie & ignorance of God is cutte of and bruſed, but the ſlime and the relikes of ſinne remaine ſtill in vsus. Let no man therfore preſume ſo much of himſelfe, that when he hath once receaued faith, he can by and by be thorowly chaunged into a new man: Nay, he ſhall keepe ſomewhat of his old vices ſtill hanging vponupon him, though he be neuer ſo good and perfect a Chriſtiā. For we are not yet dead, but we ſtil liue in the fleſh: which,Galat. 5.17. Rom. 7.13.14. becauſe it is not yet pure, continually luſteth againſt the ſpirite. Gal. 1. Rom. 7. I am fleshly (ſayth Paule) ſould vnderunder ſinne. I ſee an other lavv in my members rebelling againſt the lavv of my minde. Wherfore the naturall vices that were in vsus before we receaued faith, doe ſtill remaine in vsus after that we hauehave receaued faith:There is none ſo pure & vnſpotted, that he may be called a Puritane but Chriſt. 1. Pet. 2.22. Eſay. 53.9. 1. Iohn. 3.2. ſauing that nowe they are ſubdued to the ſpirite, which hath the vpper hande, to keepe them vnderunder that they rule not: and yet not without great conflict. This glory is due to Chriſt alone, and this title he beareth, that he is pure and without blemiſh. 1. Pet. 2. VVho did no ſinne, neither vvas there any guile found in his mouth.