The True Nature of the Gospel, Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
That by the word Law, when applied to the Goſpel, may be underſtood a Doctrine, prov'd from the ſignification of the Greek foreign, Nomos, a Law, as us'd by Grecian Authors, and by the Sacred Writers of the New Teſtament. Gal. 2. 19. explain'd.
AS I have prov'd, that when the Goſpel is named a Law in the Old Teſtament, according to the ſignification of the Hebrew word, a Doctrine only may be underſtood; ſo if we conſider how the Greek word is us'd by Authors who have wrote in that Language, it will appear, that it is with no certainty concluded by my Reverend Brother, from the Goſpel's being call'd a Law in the New Teſtament, that it is a Rule of Works eſtabliſh'd with Promiſes to the Performers, and with Threatnings againſt the Diſobedient.
I know very well that it is inferr'd from the Etymology of the Greek word foreign, Nomos, a Law, that a Rule of Duty, enacted with a Sanction of Penalty or Recompence, is ſignified by it. But I know, that as no great weight can be laid on Arguments drawn from an Etymology; ſo if that derivation of the Greek foreign, Nomos, Law, from foreign, Nemo, ſignifying the diſtribution of what is due, (which is pleaded) be the moſt natural, yet nothing can be argued from it: For ſutable Doctrine may be diſtributed among Men, as well as Rewards and Puniſhments. But this commonly receiv'd Derivation is not perhaps the trueſt: for if we may give Credit to Plato in his own Language, in which he was equally fam'd for Eloquence as for Philoſophy and Reaſon, foreign Nomos, a Law, is more fitly deduced from foreign Noos, the MindaPlato de Leg. lib. 12. pag. 957. Tom. 2. oper. Edit. Serrani, 1578.; which as it ſeems very natural, there wanting only the interpoſition of the Letter foreign to make it the ſame Word; ſo it plainly denotes a Law, in its original meaning, to be a Doctrine or Inſtruction, of which the Mind is the principal Subject and Seat. There is no need of Criticiſms to prove a Truth of the Goſpel, and therefore I wave them. I ſhall neither inſiſt on that Senſe which is aſſign'd to the Greek foreign Nomos, as ſignifying the Meaſures of a Verſe, or TunebEtymol. Magnum, in voce foreign. Ariſtot. pag. 159. Tom. 4. oper. Edit. Du Val. Par. 1639., tho from thence it is probable, the Word was transferr'd to ſignify the Statutes eſtabliſh'd among Men, to regulate the Actions of their Lives, ſince the moſt antient Laws were written in Verſe, that they might be more readily committed unto, and be more faithfully retain'd in Memory. I need only hint theſe things, as alſo that the Greek Tragedian dforeign. Sophocles in Ajace, pag. 33. Edit. H. Stephan. 1568.uſeth the word foreign Nomos, Law, to expreſs the Inclinations and Manners of a Perſon, to ſhew that no valid Reaſon can be rais'd from the meer ſound of the word Law, to convince us that the Goſpel, when deſcrib'd by that Name, is a Rule of Works with a Sanction ſince the Word admits of ſo many other Sgnifications.
I may however urge it as very natural to my Purpoſe, of proving the Goſpel to be a pure Doctrine of Grace; that the Septuagint, when they tranſlate thoſe places of Scripture, wherein I have prov'd that the Hebrew foreign hath this ſignification, render that word by foreign Nomos, as moſt fitting to expreſs ſuch a Senſe. We may then very well conclude, that the Greek word (when the Goſpel is named by it) hath the ſame Senſe in the New Teſtament, as the Hebrew had in the Old.
We anſwerably find that the Doctrine of Salvation by Chriſt, as revealed in the Old Teſtament, is expreſſed by this Name, John 12. 34. The People anſwered him, We have heard out of the Law, that Chriſt abideth for ever: and how ſaiſt thou, The Son of Man muſt be lift up? Who is this Son of Man? Where not the Decalogue, or Levitical Book of Statutes is intended, but the Doctrine concerning the Redeemer to come; as appears from thoſe Texts in Pſal. 110. 4, 5. Iſa. 9. 6. to which John 12. 34. hath a manifeſt regard. It is then plain from this Place of the Evangeliſt, that among the Jewiſh People, when our Saviour lived on Earth, not only Exodus and Leviticus, but the Inſtructions which they had concerning their ſo much deſir'd and expected Meſſiah, and Salvation by him, in any of the Books of the Old Teſtament, were call'd and known by the Name of a Law.
And to this common Notion of the People, according to which they nam'd the whole Doctrine reveal'd by God, whether it were Precepts or Promiſes, a Law, the Apoſtle Paul accommodates his way of writing, in ſtiling the Goſpel a Law, in Rom. 3. 27. (which I ſhall afterwards more fully vindicate from my Reverend Brother's impoſed meaning) and in Gal. 2. 19. which I now ſhall conſider.
Theſe are the Apoſtle's Words, Gal. 2. 19. For I through the Law am dead to the Law, that I might live unto God. He writes to the Galatians, among whom it was a prevailing Opinion, that tho Chriſt had abated the too rigorous obſervation of the Law of Works, yet Juſtification was to be obtain'd by ſome lower degrees of Obedience. To ſhew them how oppoſite this Doctrine was to the Goſpel preach'd by him, the Apoſtle tells them what were the Experiences of his own Soul; I am dead, ſays he, to the Law of Works, and have not the leaſt Heart to ſeek Juſtification by it. And how was he thus mortified to the Law of Works? What, by a new Law of Works lower'd to more moderate Conditions? No; for ſuch an one would rather have cheriſhed and encouraged the Life of his Hopes in his own Obedience. By the Law then, that is, by the pure Doctrine of Grace in the Goſpel revealing Chriſt's Righteouſneſs as that alone by which a Sinner can be juſtified, the Apoſtle is quite deaden'd as to any hopes of Juſtification by his own Righteouſneſs, and hath not the leaſt motion in his Soul to ſeek it in that manner.
What very much weighs with me, is, That Luther (who ſo excellently hath wrote on this Epiſtle, and who ſucceſsfully prevailed againſt the Errors of Antichriſt, about Merit of Works, by ſubverting the great Foundation of them, which is this Aſſertion of the Goſpel's being a milder Law of Works) interprets the Apoſtle to mean by that Law, which had ſuch a mortifying Efficacy upon him, the pure Doctrine of Grace in the Goſpel.aLex Decalogi ligabat me, contra illam nunc habeo aliam Legem ſcilicet gratiae quae non eſt mihi Lex, ne que ligat, ſed liberat me; eſt autem Lex contra damnatricem Legem; hanc ligat, ut amplius non poſſit me ligare. Luther. Com. plenior in Gal. 2. Ed. An. 1538. Fol. 45. pag. 2. Tom. 4. oper. Jenae 1611. The Law of the Decalogue (ſays he) did bind me, againſt it I have now another Law, viz. of Grace, which is not a Law to me, neither binds me, but frees me. But it is a Law againſt the damning LAW. THIS it binds, that it may no longer bind me. If Luther thus calls the Goſpel a Law, ſignifying no more by that Name than a pure Doctrine of Grace; it is no wonder that others of the Reformed Religion, cited by my Reverend Brother, call it ſo too, tho not in his Senſe; but deſigning Luther's Meaning, who ruin'd the greateſt Strength of Popery, by denying the Goſpel to be a new Law of Works, and by aſſerting it on all Occaſions to be meerly a Doctrine of Grace.
But it is not the Authority of this Great Man which ſolely prevails with me; the Deſign and Scope of the Apoſtle in this ſecond Chapter of his Epiſtle to the Galatians, hath the greateſt Force to perſwade me, that by the Law which made him dead to the Law of Works, he intends the ſincere and unmuddied Doctrine of free Juſtification by Chriſt's Righteouſneſs alone. His Deſign is plainly to refute an Error prevailing among the Galatians; who tho profeſſing the Goſpel, and to be juſtified by Faith in Chriſt, yet would make this Goſpel to be a new Law, exacting Works as neceſſary to Juſtification. He anſwerably diſclaims every Law of Works, whether the old Jewiſh, or that new Evangelical One ſo lately invented among theſe Chriſtians, and made to look with the poliſh'd and ſmooth Face of the Goſpel. He excludes the Obſervances of any Duties, or any Act of Obedience, from having an Intereſt in our Juſtification, aſſigning the whole Buſineſs of it to Faith alone; ver. 16. Knowing that a Man is not juſtified by the Works of the Law, but by the Faith of Jeſus Chriſt: even we have believed in Jeſus Chriſt, that we might be juſtified by the Faith of Chriſt, and not by the Works of the Law; for by the Works of the Law ſhall no Fleſh be juſtified. It is thus he demonſtrates this Propoſition, [That we are not juſtified by the Works of any Law] That they who were Jews, to whom the Law was more eſpecially given, yet they having been inſtructed by the Doctrine of Grace, that they could not be juſtified by Obedience to the Law; and having by the Goſpel, which brings in a better Righteouſneſs, been convinc'd of the Defects of their own; and therefore knowing that God had not appointed any Law whereby he would juſtify a Sinner, they anſwerably had believed on Chriſt, that ſo according to the Doctrine of the Goſpel they might be juſtified by his Righteouſneſs alone. This is undoubted that we muſt be juſtified by ſome Righteouſneſs or other; not by our own, for then Juſtification would be by the Works of a Law; and ſo our Faith in another's Righteouſneſs would be inſignificant, and to little or no purpoſe: For why ſhould we entirely truſt in another Perſon, for that which we could ſo well accompliſh our ſelves? If then not our own, it muſt be Chriſt's Righteouſneſs only that can have this deſir'd Effect; and knowing this by the Law or Doctrine of the Goſpel, we have (ſays the Apoſtle) for this very purpoſe believ'd on Jeſus. This, without any Shuffles or intricate Windings, is the plain Senſe of this 16th Verſe. And among other Cauſes which mortified in him, and the other Believers, any Inclinations to ſeek Juſtification by the Law, Pareus numbers the Doctrine of the Goſpel, as that which had the ſtrongeſt and moſt efficacious InfluenceaPareus in Gal. 2. 19. in part. 2. oper. exeget. Calvin. in Gal. 2. 19. Eilhardus Lubinus in Gal. 2. 19. in Tom. 1. Exercit. Theol. in Epiſtolas. Francof. 1612.. It is now then very agreeably, that the Apoſtle ſays of himſelf, That this Law or Doctrine of Grace had made him dead to the Law of Works, but alive unto God. What is it to be dead to the Law? To renounce it in the Matter of our Juſtification, to be freed from its galling Yoke of Servitude and Bondage, whereby it keeps guilty unbelieving Sinners perpetually under the Tortures of ſlaviſh Fears and amazing Terrors. To be dead to the Law, is to diſclaim our Juſtification by Works of our own, and not to truſt in any Obedience which we can perform to it; and being convinced that it condemns and dooms us to Death, not to ſeek Life by it any more, and no longer to have the leaſt Commerce with it in the Affairs of our Juſtification: or to be dead to the Law, is no more to be obnoxious to its condemning Sentence, in that it cannot exact from thee its threaten'd Puniſhments; tho indeed as a Rule of Duty it always unalterably requires Obedience. To be dead to the Law, is no longer to be under its Dominion and Reign, as it is a Covenant of Works. Thus a King hath no Authority over a Subject, whom Death hath tranſported out of his Territories into the Regions of another World; nor can the Power of the Greateſt reach beyond the Confines of the Grave. In all theſe Meanings the Apoſtle aſſerts himſelf to be dead to the Law: And what was it made him ſo? What! but the Law or Doctrine of Grace revealed in the Goſpel, which ſo happily inſtructed him in the knowledg of free and compleat Juſtification by Chriſt. This Sun no ſooner riſeth, but all thoſe little wandering Stars, which as falſe Lights had before ſo wretchedly miſled him, do ſet preſently; and all his natural and rooted Inclinations, to ſeek Juſtification by the Works of the Law, leſſen, and at laſt wholly vaniſh and diſappear at the glorious Appearance of the Sun of Righteouſneſs, who comes with healing in his Wings. All thoſe treacherous Hopes which he repos'd before in his Obedience to the Law, in the ſevere Obſervance of its Precepts, and ſtrict Performances of Duties, are utterly extinguiſhed; and all the Sparks of them being quite dead, do not ſcatter any longer the leaſt Glimmerings in his Soul. Thus the Law, or Doctrine of the Goſpel, teaching him, how that Chriſt his Surety being made under the Law for him, hath redeem'd him from its Curſe, anſwered all its Demands, and ſilenced every Accuſation, hath ſtopp'd its Mouth, and taken away its Strength; and not only ſo, but depriv'd it of Life as well as Voice: the Apoſtle's Mind being thus illuminated with the Light of his new Law, or Heavenly Doctrine, to know more than ever he did before, that Chriſt hath ſlain the Law as it is a Covenant of Works, as well as the Enmity which Sin had cauſed between God and miſerable Sinners; he accordingly looks on the Law as a dead Thing, which can neither hurt in reſpect to Condemnation, nor do him any good as to Salvation and Life. He anſwerably regards it with other Eyes than before; and his former Zeal and Affection he had to it for the Purpoſes of Juſtification, are not only abated, but extirpated out of his Heart; not meerly cool'd and damp'd, but perfectly quench'd and dead.
Now then that the Goſpel is called a Law by the Apoſtle, not in the ſtrict Senſe, as importing Works of any kind, but as a meer Doctrine of Grace, is evident from all theſe Effects which it produc'd. It perfectly mortified him to a Law of Works, and therefore could not be one it ſelf, unleſs we can imagine that the Apoſtle became dead, as to ſeeking Juſtification by the Works of any Law whatever; and that no otherwiſe than by giving entertainment to, and putting himſelf under the Conduct of a new Law of Works; which things do not ſeem very well to agree.
And that by Law, when the Goſpel is ſo nam'd in this Gal. 2. 19. the Apoſtle means a pure Doctrine of Grace, and not a more moderated Law of Works, appears from ver. 21. I do not fruſtrate the Grace of God: for if Righteouſneſs come by the Law, then Chriſt is dead in vain. It is as if he ſhould have ſaid, However others deſpiſe the Grace of God, and think it too mean and ignoble to owe their Life to it, it ſhall be my great Zeal to magnify it, to illuſtrate its Glory, and to pay unto it the higheſt Honour. However others are Obſtacles to its Progreſs, and endeavour to put a ſtop to its Victories and Triumphs, or attempt to render all its Power and Force vain and ineffectual, yet for my part I will neither ſay nor do any thing to fruſtrate it; and none of my Actions, nor any Article of Doctrine which I teach, ſhall in the leaſt degree have ſuch a Tendency. I will not let fall a Word, which may but ſeem to leſſen or diſparage the Favours of my bleſſed Redeemer, who loved me, and gave himſelf for me. And can there be a greater Slight, than when he hath done, and ſuffered ſo much to ſave me, not to reſt ſatisfied with his Undertaking and Work as compleat, but to be ſolicitouſly endeavouring how to ſupply the Deficiencies, and to perfect it my ſelf? To eſteem Chriſt as inſufficient, is certainly to deſpiſe him in the higheſt meaſure, and he doth not ſuffice meaNihil tam apertum, quia ſi per Legem potuiſſet homo juſtificari, Chriſtum non oportuerat mori. Sed quia Lex dare remiſſionem peccatorum non poterat, ne que ſecundam mortem detriumphans expoliare captivis, quos tenebat cauſa peccati, idcirco Chriſtus mortuus eſt, ut ea praeſtaret, quae Lex non poterat, ac per hoc non gratis mortuus eſt. Mors enim ejus juſtificatio peccatorum. Ambroſ. in Gal. 2. pag. 327. in Tom. 5. oper. Edit. Froben. Baſil. 1538. Non debeo illi eſſe ingratus, qui me tantum dilexit, ut pro me etiam moreretur; abjecta enim eſt gratia, ſi ſola non ſufficit. Comment. in Gal. 2. Incert. Aut. ſed Antiqui inter opera Hieronymi. Fol. 216. pag. 2. Tom. 9. Edit. Froben. Baſil. 1526., if I join my own Righteouſneſs to his, or add Works done by me in Obedience to any Law unto his great Performances: Nay, if I ſhould aſſert Righteouſneſs to come by any Law, whether New or Old, I ſhould diſhonour Chriſt ſo much as to inſinuate, that he died very unwiſely or unadviſedly: For what could be more unadviſed, than to come and ſuffer all ſorts of Miſeries, and at laſt to expire in Torments, and that only to the Purpoſe of effecting what might have been done very well without ſuch expence of his ineſtimable Blood? For if by my Obedience to ſome Law I may be juſtified, and the Works of that can be my Righteouſneſs, why ſhould Chriſt die? or to what purpoſe was he obedient, ſince no other Ends of his Death and Obedience are aſſigned, but the Juſtification of a Sinner? And if this Buſineſs can be effected by this Sinner's own Works of what Nature ſoever, the Blood and Righteouſneſs of Chriſt comes in uncalled for, and when there is no great or urgent need of thembThoſe Errors with which Crellius the Socinian hath corrupted this Text, when he aſſerts the Goſpel to be a new Law, and that to be juſtified by our Faith, as our Evangelical Obedience to it, is not excluded here by the Apoſtle. This Fundamental Error of Socinianiſm, is excellently refuted by Cocceius, whom I would have tranſcribed, had the deſign'd brevity of this Diſcourſe permitted it; I therefore refer the Learned Reader to that Author himſelf. Cocceius in Gal. 2. 21. in Tom. 4. oper. Amſtel. 1673.. But far be it from me to defeat the Deſigns of the God of all Grace, to miſprize the greateſt Favours which can be beſtowed upon a Creature, or to darken and obſcure the Glory of the Grace it ſelf; and therefore I am firm to it, and will unmoveably maintain it, that Righteouſneſs comes by no Law whatever; nor are Sinners juſtified by the performance of any Conditions in obedience to it. And therefore when I before, ver. 19. call'd the Goſpel a Law, you muſt by no means underſtand it to be a ſoften'd and milder Law of Works, but a Doctrine of Grace; in which Senſe I alſo us'd the word Law in my Epiſtle to the Romans; where I call the Goſpel a Law of Faith, Rom. 3. 27. Thus I have endeavour'd to give briefly the Apoſtle's Senſe in this Text, which proves his Meaning in the other, where he calls the Goſpel a Law, that he underſtands only a Doctrine of Grace by that Word.