Commentary on Galatians, Chapter 3 · Verse extract 24
Verſe. 24. That vve may be made righteous by Faith.
The lawe is not a Scholemaſter to bring vsus vntounto an other lawgeuer which requireth good workes,The lavve is not a Scholemaiſter to bring vsus to an other lavvgeuer, but to Chriſte. but vntounto Chriſt our Iuſtifier and Sauiour, that by Faith in him we might be iuſtified, and not by workes. But when a man feeleth the force and ſtrength of the law, he doth not vnderſtand nor beleue this. Therefore he ſayth: I hauehave liued wickedly: for I hauehave tranſgreſſed all the commaundements of God, and therfore I am giltie of eternall death. If God would prolong my life certaine yeres, or at leaſt certaine moneths, I would amend my life, and liue holily hereafter.Of the true vſe of the lavve, to make an abuſe. Here, of the true vſe of the lawe he maketh an abuſe. Reaſon being ouertaken in theſe terrours and ſtreites, is bolde to promiſe vntounto God the fulfilling of all the workes of the whole law. And hereof came ſo many ſectes and ſwarmes of Monkes and religious hypocrites, ſo many ceremonies, and ſo many workes, deuiſed to deſerue grace and remiſſion of ſinnes. And they which deuiſed theſe things, thought that the lawe was a Scholemaſter to lead thē, not vntounto Chriſt, but to a new lawe, or vntounto Chriſte as a lawgeuer, and not as one that hath aboliſhed the lawe.
The true vſe of the lavv.But the true vſe of the lawe is to teach me that I am brought to the knowledge of my ſinne & humbled, that ſo I may come vntounto Chriſt and may be iuſtified by Faith. But Faith is neither lawe nor worke, but an aſſured confidence which apprehendeth Chriſt, vvho is the end of the lavv. Rom. 10.4.Rom. 10. And how? Not that he hath aboliſhed the olde law and geuen a newe: or that he is a iudge which muſt be pacified by workes, as the Papiſtes hauehave taught: but he is the ende of the lawe to all thoſe that beleue: that is to ſay, eueryevery one that beleueth in him is righteous, and the lawe ſhall neuer accuſe him. The lawe then is good, holy, and iuſt, ſo that a man vſe it as he ſhould doe. Nowe, they that abuſe the lawe, are firſt the hypocrites which attribute vntounto the law a power to iuſtifie: and ſecondly they which doe deſpaire, not knowing that the lawe is a Scholemaſter to lead men vntounto Chriſt: that is to ſay, that the lawe humbleth them, not to their deſtruction, but to their ſaluation: For God woundeth that he may heale againe: he killeth that he may quicken againe.
Now, Paule (as before I hauehave ſayd) ſpeaketh of thoſe that are to be iuſtified, and not of thoſe which are iuſtified already. Therefore when thou goeſt about to reaſon as concerning the lawe, thou muſt take the matter of the lawe, or that whervpon the lawe worketh, namely the ſinner and the wicked perſon, whom the lawe iuſtifieth not, but ſetteth ſinne before his eyes, caſteth him downe, and bringeth him to the knowledge of him ſelfe: it ſheweth vntounto him hell, the wrath and the iudgement of God. This is in deede the proper office of the law.The proper office of the lavve, and the vſe of the office therof. Then foloweth the vſe of this office: to witte, that the ſinner may knowe that the lawe doth not reueale vntounto him his ſinne and thus humbleth him, to the ende he ſhould deſpaire: but that by this accuſing and bruſing it may driue him vntounto Chriſt the Sauiour and comforter. When this is done, he is no longer vnderunder the Scholemaſter. And this vſe is very neceſſary. For ſeeing the whole world is ouerwhelmed with ſinne, it hath neede of this miniſterie of the lawe, that ſinne may be reuealed: Otherwiſe no man ſhould euer attaine to righteouſnes, as before we hauehave largely declared. But what worketh the lawe in them which are already iuſtified by Chriſt? Paule aunſwereth by theſe wordes: which are as it were an addition to that which goeth before.