Brief Exposition of Galatians and Ephesians, Exposition 2 · Chapter 4 · Verse and explication 18
Vers. 18. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindnesse of their heart.
NExt, that the Apostle may the more effectually deter them from walking as these other Gentiles did, he doth more largely and distinctly set forth that vain and godlesse conversation of theirs, by shewing severall branches and degrees thereof, both inward in their understanding and affections, and outward in their life and conversation: And, first, he sheweth, that their understanding and knowing part, or that part of it, whereby men do reason, inferring one thing from another, (for so the word signifieth) was wholly blind and darkened, to wit, as to those things which relate to God and heaven, 1 Cor. 1. 21. whatever was their understanding and quicknesse of judgement in other things, Gen. 4. 21, 22. yet, in those things they were altogether vain and wilde, Rom. 1. 21. And, secondly, that they were estranged from, and wholly destitute of, the life of God, or that spirituall life, begun in regeneration, Joh. 3. 3. and consisting in the saving knowledge of God, and the severall pieces of Gods image, Col. 3. 10. called the life of God, because not only God is the author of it, as He is of our naturall life; but also it floweth, both in its being and operation, from the gracious presence of God dwelling in us by His Spirit, Gal. 2. 20. And, thirdly, he sheweth that the cause of those former two, was their ignorance of God, and of those things belonging to the worship of God and their own salvation, to wit, both simple ignorance, or want of the knowledge of those things; which ignorance is in all by nature, and ignorance affected and delighted in, whereby the things of God are judged foolishnesse, 1 Cor. 2. 14. from which ignorance of theirs did flow a further degree of darknesse in the understanding, and of alienation from the life of God, than what was naturall unto them. And, fourthly, that this their ignorance, with both the forementioned effects, did flow from their blindnesse, or rather, as the Originall doth read, hardnesse of heart, whereby their heart, or that part of the soul, which chooseth and refuseth good or evil, did obstinately and against all means used to the contrary, refuse the light of God, which was proffered unto them, and were wholly inflexible to good, being obdured and hardened, not only naturally from their birth, Psal. 51. 5. but also voluntarily by themselves, Exod. 8. 15. and judicially by God, Exod. 9. 12. Doct. 1. That the vileness of sin may be sufficiently seen, and so as we may abhor and detest it, it is not sufficient to take a general view of it, and in the bulk, except we also dive into the particular branches, pieces and degrees of it, and by ripping up the womb of that abominable monster, look upon the vile intrals of it, that so we may be made to detest and hate it with a perfect hatred: for, therefore Paul, being to deterre these Ephesians from walking as the Gentiles, doth not only give a brief sum of their wickednesse in the bulk, ver. 17. but also here, and ver. 19. doth more distinctly lay open the several branches and degrees of it; Having the understanding darkned, &c. 2. Man considered in his natural state, is so vile and loathsom by reason of sin, that being rightly anatomized and deciphered, there is nothing to be seen in him but what may make himself and others to abhor him; there being no part of him, neither in soul nor body, free from those wounds, bruises and putrifying sores which sin hath brought upon him, as appeareth by this discovery, which in these two verses the Spirit of God by Paul maketh of him: his understanding is darkned, his heart hardned, his conscience past feeling, &c. for, he speaketh this of all the Gentiles, who were not yet converted, and consequently of all men in their unrenewed state: and though all such have not arrived at the utmost height of that wickednesse, which some of those expressions hold forth; yet that vain mind, spoken of, ver. 17, which is the root of all the rest, is in every unrenewed man, 1 Cor. 2. 14. and every such man is posting towards all that wickednesse here expressed: yea, and would arrive at the utmost height of all, if restraining grace did not hinder him, Gen. 20. 6. and therefore in Gods sight he may be justly charged with all; having the understanding darkned, &c. 3. As every man by nature is wholly unskilfull to discern the things of God, or to improve those lurking principles of the knowledge of a Godhead, and of right and wrong remaining after the fall (Rom. 1. 20.) by drawing solid conclusions from them, for rules to direct him in the matter of worship, and walking in the way to salvation; So this unskilfulnesse and darknesse of his, doth daily increase, and the longer he liveth, and exerciseth himself in finding out what is right and acceptable to God in those things, by the direction and guidance of his natural light only, he is the further from the mark: for, he speaketh of a further darkening of their understanding, than what was naturall to them, even that, which did flow from ignorance and hardnesse of heart, as is clear from the construction of the words; Having their understanding darkened—through the ignorance that is in them. 4. As all men did once in their common root and first father Adam partake of the life of God, consisting in Gods image, Eccles. 7. 29. and are now, by Adams fall, from their very conception and birth, deprived of it, Rom. 5. 12, 13, 14. So, the longer they live in their unrenewed state, they are the more estranged from it, while every sin they commit doth make them in a further degree uncapable of it: for, he speaketh of a further degree of alienation from the life of God, than what was naturall to them, even that which was afterward contracted by their ignorance and hardnesse of heart; Being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them. 5. Hardnesse of heart is a wofull evil, and the root and fountain of severall other evils, in so far as when a man doth obstinatley refuse light, and walketh contrary to light, and so hardeneth his heart to do mischief, he thereby provoketh the Lord to give him over to ignorance, and to lose the small measure of knowledge which he formerly had, Rom. 1. 28. And thus, hardnesse is the cause of ignorance, and being thus both hardned in heart, and blinded in mind, he is further removed and estranged from the life of God, which consisteth in the saving knowledge of God in Christ, Joh. 17. 3. and his understanding and reason rendered more dark and unskilfull to find out what is truth or errour, right or wrong; the common principles which were left in him after the fall concerning those things, being now through a continued custome of obstinacie in sin almost wholly obliterated and blotted out: for, if we look exactly to the construction of the words, we will find that the blindnesse or hardnesse of their hearts is mentioned as the cause of that ignorance which was in them, and both hardnesse and ignorance, as the cause of their alienation from the life of God, and the darkning of their understandings.