Commentary on Galatians, Chapter 5 · Verse extract 16
Verſe. 16.
But I ſay, vvalke in the ſpirite, and ye shall not fulfill the vvorkes of the flesh.
As if he ſhould hauehave ſayd: I hauehave not forgotten my former diſcourſe concerning Faith, neither doe I now reuoke the ſame in that I exhort you to mutuall louelove, ſaying: that the vvhole lavve is fulfilled through louelove: but I am ſtill of the ſame minde and opinion that I was before. To the ende therefore that ye may rightly vnderſtand me, I adde this moreouer: VValke in the ſpirite, and ye shall not fulfill the luſtes of the flesh.
A confutation of the argument of the Schoolemen: LoueLove is the fulfilling of the lavve: therfore the lavve iustifieth.
Although Paule ſpeaketh here expreſly and plainly enough, yet hath he litle preuailed. For the Schoolemen not vnderſtanding this place of Paule: LoueLove is the fulfilling of the lavv, hauehave gathered out of it after this maner: If louelove be the fulfilling of the law, it foloweth then that louelove is righteouſnes: therfore if we louelove, we be righteous. Theſe profound clarkes doe argue from the word to the worke,Arguments from precept to vvorke. from doctrine or preceptes, to life, after this ſort: The lawe hath commaunded louelove: therefore the worke of louelove foloweth out of hand. But this is a fooliſh conſequence, to draw an argumēt from precepts, and to ground the concluſion vppon workes.
True it is that we ought to fulfill the lawe, and to be iuſtified through the fulfilling thereof: but ſinne hindreth vsus. In deede the law preſcribeth and commaundeth that we ſhould louelove God with all our heart,So euill conſequence of the Sophiſters: It is vvryttē, therfore it is done &c. and that we ſhould louelove our neighbour as our ſelues, but it foloweth not: this is wrytten, therfore it is done: the law commaundeth louelove, therefore we louelove. There is not one man to be found vppon the whole earth, which ſo loueth God and his neighbour, as the lawe requireth. But in the life to come, where we ſhall be throughly clenſed from all vices and ſinnes, and ſhall be made as pure & as cleare as the Sunne: we ſhall louelove perfectly and ſhall be righteous through perfect louelove. But in this life that puritie is hindred by the fleſh: for as long as we liue, ſinne remaineth in our fleſh.The LoueLove of our ſelfe corrupt. By reaſon wherof the corrupt louelove of our ſelues is ſo mightie, that it farre ſurmounteth ye louelove of god & of our neighbour. In the meane time notwithſtanding, that we may be righteous in this life alſo,Sinne is not here layed to our charge becauſe of our Faith in Chriſte. 1. Cor. 13.1…. we hauehave Chriſte the MercieMercy ſeat and throne of grace, and becauſe we beleue in him, ſinne is not imputed vntounto vsus. Faith therfore is our righteouſnes in this life. But in the life to come, when we ſhall be thorowly clenſed and deliuered from all ſinnes and concupiſcence, we ſhall hauehave no more neede of Faith and hope, but we ſhall then louelove perfectly.
It is a great errour therfore to attribute iuſtification or righteouſnes to louelove, whiche is nothinge: or if it be any thinge,Charitie can not pacifie God. yet is it not ſo great that it can pacifie God: for louelove euen in the faithfull (as I hauehave ſayd) is imperfect and impure:Apoc. 21.27. But no vncleane thing ſhall enter into the kingdom of God. Notwithſtanding in the meane while this truſt and confidence ſuſtaineth vsus, that Chriſte,Eſay. 53.9. 1. Pet. 2.22. 1. Iohn. 3.2. who a lonely committed no ſinne, and in whoſe mouth was neuer foūd any guile, doth ouerſhadow vsus with his righteouſnes. We being couered with this*He alludeth to the place of Exodus, Chapt. 13.21. cloud, and ſhrouded vnderunder this ſhadow, this heauen of remiſſion of ſinnes & throne of grace: doe begin to louelove and to fulfill the law. Yet for this fulfilling we are not iuſtified nor accepted of God whileſt we liue here. But whē Chriſt hath deliuered vp the kingdom to God his father & aboliſhed all principalitie, and God ſhall be all in all: then ſhall Faith and hope ceaſe, and louelove ſhall be perfect and euerlaſting. 1. Cor. 13. 1. Cor. 13.12.This thing the popiſh Schoolemen vnderſtand not, and therfore when they heare that louelove is the ſumme of the whole lawe, by and by they inferre: Ergo the law iuſtifieth. Or contrariwiſe, when they read in Paule that Faith maketh a man righteous: yea, ſay they, Faith formed and furniſhed with charitie. But that is not the meaning of Paule, Faith adorned vvith charitie is the papiſtes righteouſnes.as I hauehave largely declared before.
If we were pure from all ſinne, and were inflamed with perfect louelove both towardes God and our neighbour, then ſhould we in deede be righteous and holy through louelove, and God could require no more of vsus. This is not done in this preſent life, but is differred vntill ye life to come.Rom. 1.23. In deede we receaue here the gift and firſt frutes of the ſpirite, ſo that we begin to louelove, howbeit very ſlenderly. But, if we loued God truely and perfectly as the law of God requireth, which ſayeth: Thou shalt louelove the Lord thy God vvith all thy heart, Deut. 6.5. Math. 22.3…. Marke. 12.2…. Luke. 10.27.vvith all thy ſoule, and vvith all thy ſtrength then ſhould we be as well contented with pouertie as with wealth, with paine as with pleaſure, & with life as with death.Perfect louelove. Yea he that could louelove God truly and perfectly in dede, ſhould not long continue in this life, but ſhould ſtraight way be ſwalowed vp by this charitie.
But now mans nature is ſo corrupt and drowned in ſinne, that it can not hauehave any right ſenſe or cogitation of God. It loueth not God, but hateth him deadly.God firſt loued vsus. 1. Iohn. 4.10. Galath. 2 4. Galath. 4.4.5. Wherfore as Iohn ſayth: VVe loued not god, but he loued vsus, & ſent his ſonne to be a reconciliation for our ſinnes. And as Paule ſayth before in the ſecond Chap: Chriſte hath loued me and geuen him ſelfe for me. And in the .4. Chap. But vvhen the fulnes of time vvas come, God ſent forth his ſonne made of a vvoman, and made vnderunder the lavve, that he might redeme them vvhichwhich vvere vnderunder the lavv. We being redemed and iuſtified by this Sonne, begin to louelove, according to that ſaying of Paule in the .8. to the Romains: That vvhichwhich vvas impoſſible to the lavv, (in as much as it vvas vveake becauſe of the flesh) God ſending his ovvne ſonne in the ſimilitude of ſinnefull flesh, and for ſinne condemned ſinne in the flesh, that the righteouſnes of the lavv might be fulfilled in vsus, that is, might begin to be fulfilled. They are mere dreames therfore which the Sophiſters and Schoolemen hauehave taught concerning the fulfilling of the lawe.
Wherfore Paule ſheweth by theſe words: VValke in the ſpirit, how he would hauehave that ſentence to be vnderſtād, where he ſayd: Serue ye one an other through louelove. And againe: LoueLove is the fulfillīg of the lavv. &c. As if he ſhould ſay. When I bid you louelove one an other, this is it that I require of you, that ye walke in the ſpirit. For I know that ye ſhall not fulfill the law becauſe ſinne dwelleth in you as lōg as ye liue, and therfore it is impoſſible that ye ſhould fulfill the law. Notwithſtā dīg in ye meane while endeuor your ſelues diligētly to walk in ye ſpirit, that is, wraſtle in ſpirit againſt the fleſh, & folow ſpiritual motions. &c.
It appeareth then that he had not forgotten the matter of iuſtifition. For when he biddeth them to walke in ye ſpirit, he plainly denieth that works do iuſtifie. As if he ſhuld ſay: When I ſpeake of ye fulfilling of ye law, I meane not that ye are iuſtified by ye law: but this I meane, that there be two contrary capitaines in you, the ſpirite and the fleſh. God hath ſtirred vp in your bodies a ſtrife and a battaile. For the ſpirite wraſtleth againſt the fleſh,Galath. 5.17. & the fleſh againſt the ſpirit. Here I require nothing elſe of you, but that ye folow the ſpirit as your captaine and guide, & that ye reſiſt that captaine ye fleſh: for that is all that ye be able to doe. Obey the ſpirit and fight againſt the fleſh. Therfore when I teach you to obſerue the lawe, and exhort you to louelove one an other, thinke not that I goe about to reuoke that which I hauehave taught concerning the doctrine of Faith, and that now I attribute iuſtification to the lawe or to charitie: but my meaning is, that ye ſhould walke in the ſpirite, and that ye ſhould not fulfill the luſtes of the fleſh.
Paule vſeth very fitte wordes and to the purpoſe. As if he would ſay: we come not yet to the fulfilling of the lawe: therefore we muſt walke in the ſpirite and be exerciſed therein, that we may thinke, ſay, and doe thoſe things which are of the ſpirite, and reſiſt thoſe things which are of the fleſh: therfore he addeth.