Chapter 3: Verses 27b–29
Scriptures. And the best commentary to a man's own self is his own baptism. For if a man have learned to know ought and to practice his own baptism, he shall the better be able to understand the whole.
And without this help, the Scriptures themselves shall be as a riddle unto us.
Chapter 3: Verses 27b–29 The fourth point whereby the gift of adoption is described is the ground thereof, in these words, "Ye have put on Christ: and all are one in Christ." The phrase which Paul uses is borrowed from the custom of them which were baptized in the apostles' days, who put off their garments when they were to be baptized and put on new garments after baptism. To put on a garment is to apply it to the body and to use or wear it. And to put on Christ is to be joined nearly to Christ and to have spiritual fellowship with Him. Here then the foundation of our adoption is in two things: our union with Christ and our communion with Him. Of which we are somewhat to be advertised for the better understanding of the text.
The union with Christ is a work of God whereby all believers are made one with Christ. Here two questions are to be demanded. The first, in what respect or for what cause are they said to be one with Christ? Answer. They are not one with Him in conceit or imagination. For this conjunction is in truth a real conjunction.
Christ prays that "all believers may be one with him, as he is one with the Father" (John 17:22). Secondly, they are not one barely by consent of heart and affection. For thus all familiars and friends are one. And they of Jerusalem are said thus to be "of one heart and mind" (Acts 4:32). Thirdly, they are not one in substance, for so many believers as there are, so many distinct persons are there. And
every one of them distinct from the person of Christ. And the substance of the Godhead of Christ is incommunicable. And the flesh of Christ is in heaven and shall there abide till the last judgment.
Whereupon it cannot be mixed or compounded with our substances.
Lastly, believers are not one with Christ by transfusion of the properties and qualities of the Godhead or manhood unto us. It may be said, how then are they one with Him? I answer, by one and the same Spirit dwelling in Christ and in all the members of Christ. "He that cleaveth to the Lord, is one Spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17). Paul says in this sense that Christ makes the two distinct nations of Jews and Gentiles
"one new man" (Eph. 2:15). St. John says, that Christ "dwells in us and we in him by the Spirit' (1 John 3:24). For the better conceiving of this, suppose a man whose head lies in Italy, his arms in Germany and Spain, his feet in England. Suppose further that one and the same soul extends itself to all the foresaid parts, and quickens them all. They are all now become one in respect of one and the same soul.
And all concur as members to one and the same body. Even so, all the saints in heaven and all believers upon earth, having one and the same Spirit of Christ dwelling in them, are all one in Christ.
The second question is, how are all believers made one with Christ?
Answer. By a donation on God's part whereby Christ is given unto us and by a receiving on our part. The donation is whereby Christ is made ours for right, so as a man may say truly, Christ is mine with all
His benefits. Of this donation four things are to be observed. The first is that Christ Himself and [the] whole Christ is given to us. For here we are said to put on Christ. Here a distinction must be observed. The Godhead of Christ is given to us, not in respect of substance which is incommunicable, but only in respect of operation.
But the very flesh or manhood of Christ is really given to the believing heart (John 6:54, 56). By it we receive eternal life from the Godhead, and by it God is joined to man and man to God. The
second is that Christ gives His merit and satisfaction to them that believe. And this satisfaction imputed is the cover whereby our sins are covered (Ps. 32:1), and the white robes dipped in the blood of Christ (Rev. 7:14). Thirdly, Christ gives the efficacy of His Spirit to make us conformable to Himself in holiness and newness of life. And thus He makes us "put off the old man, and put on the new man, created after God in righteousness and holiness" (Eph. 4:22, 24). The fourth is that the word preached and the sacraments are (as it were) the hand of God, whereby He exhibits and gives Christ unto us with all His benefits.
Of our receiving of Christ given by God, two things must be observed.
One is that we must there receive Christ where God offers and gives Him, that is, in the word and sacraments. The second is that faith is our hand whereby we receive Christ, and this receiving is done by a supernatural act of the mind whereby we believe Christ with His benefits to be ours (John 1:12). Thus we see how we are one with Christ, and Christ with us.
Communion with Christ is when we have, possess, and enjoy Christ and His benefits. And that is partly in this life, and fully in the life to come. Of this communion speaks Solomon at large in the Song of Songs, and David (Ps. 45).
The Use. In that we are to put on Christ, we are put in mind to consider our fearful nakedness. What is that? Answer. There is a nakedness of creation, and a nakedness following the fall. The nakedness of creation is when the body without all covering is in health, full of glory and majesty in respect of other creatures.
Nakedness arising of the fall of man is either inward or outward.
Inward is the want of the image of God, the want of innocence, of good conscience, of the favor of God, and affiance in Him. For these
are (as it were) the coverings of the soul. Outward nakedness is when the body being uncovered is full of deformity and shame. Now that inward nakedness of heart is noted as a special evil (Gen. 3:7; Ex.
32:25; Prov. 29:18; Rev. 3:17). We must labor to see and feel this nakedness in ourselves. For by it, we are deformed and odious in the eye of God.
Secondly, we are here put in mind to have a special care of the trimming and garnishing of our soul. And for this cause we must
"put on the Lord Jesus" (Rom. 13:14). And that is done two ways.
First, by uncovering our nakedness before God, and by praying Him to cover it. To uncover our shame is the way to cover it (Ps. 32:1–3).
The second way is to subject ourselves to the word and Spirit of God, and to be conformable to Christ both in His life and death. It stands us in hand thus to put on Christ. For the King of heaven has long invited us to the marriage of His Son. We have yielded ourselves to be His guests. And there is a time when the King will take a survey of all His guests, whether they have the wedding garment, which is
Christ Himself. And they which are not clad with this robe shall be cast into utter darkness. We are as naked infants exposed to death
(Ezek. 16:4). The merits and obedience of Christ is as swaddling clothes and swaddling bands. If we would then live, we must lap and enfold ourselves in them. The rather I speak this [is] because in these days men and women are intoxicated with a spiritual drunkenness or rather madness whereby they are always tempering and trifling about their bodies, and let their souls lie naked. It may be said, we have all put on Christ in baptism. I answer: We have had in England peace and prosperity this forty-three years. And we have lived all this while, as it were in the warm sunshine. And therefore many of us (no doubt) have worn this garment very loosely.
Thirdly, there is a great temptation arising upon the consideration of our own indignity. For when our sins come to our remembrance, they drive us from the presence of God and make us that we dare not pray. Now the remedy is this. We must come clothed with Christ into the presence of God. We may not come in our names, but we must come in His name and present the merit of Christ unto the Father, even as if we were one and the same person with Him. Thus shall we be accepted.
Fourthly, it may be demanded, what we must do for ourselves in the time of plague, famine, sword? We must put on Christ; then shall we walk in safety in all dangers. This garment serves not only for a covering of our shame, but also for protection (Isa. 4:6). And if we be taken away in any common judgment, being clothed with Christ, there is no more hurt done to us than to Him. And He carries us in His breast, as if we were part of His bowels.
Lastly, though we be clothed with Christ in baptism, yet we must further desire to be clothed upon (2 Cor. 5:4). In this life we are clad with the justice of Christ (1 Cor. 1:30). This is one garment. In the life to come, we shall be clad with immortality. This is the second garment to be upon the former.
Verse 28, "There is neither Jew nor Grecian," etc.
These words (as I have said) contain an answer to an objection, which is this. If all believers among the Gentiles be children of God, and all put on Christ, then there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, and the prerogative of the Jew is nothing. Paul answers thus.
There be sundry differences of men in respect of nation, condition, sex. Yet in respect of Christ, all are one. Moreover, I have showed that these words contain the ground of the adoption of the Galatians,
which is a union with Christ whereby all believers are made one with Him. There remain other things to be added.
By occasion of this text, two questions are moved, the answer whereof serves much to clear the meaning of Paul. The first is, whether magistracy and government be necessary in the societies of Christians? Answer. Yea: "Kings and queens shall be nursing fathers and nursing mothers to the church of God," says the prophet (Isa.
49:23). Paul bids us, "Pray for kings and all in authority, that we may live in peace and godliness" (1 Tim. 2:1). The fifth commandment,
"Honor thy father," etc., requires subjection to authority. And this commandment is eternal.
Objection I. All believers are "one in Christ." Therefore there is no subjection among them. Answer. Believers are under a twofold estate or regiment. The first is the regiment of this world, in civil society.
The second is the regiment of the kingdom of heaven which stands in "justice, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost." In the first estate, there are sundry differences of persons that believe: some fathers and mothers, some children, some masters and servants, some magistrates and subjects. In the second estate, there are no outward differences of men, but all are members of Christ, and all one in Him. Thus must the text be understood.
Objection II. Believers are governed by God's Spirit, and therefore outward government by magistrates is needless. Answer. In the visible church, hypocrites are mingled with true believers, and they are not governed by God's Spirit, but by the spirit of the devil. And therefore in respect of them, civil authority is requisite. Again, true believers are but in part governed by the Spirit for the time of this life. And for this cause, civil government is requisite for the ordering of the outward man and for the protection of the church.
Objection III. They that are in Christ are freed from sin, and, consequently, from subjection which follows upon sin. Answer.
Subjection is either politic or servile. Politic is when men are subject for their own good, and this was before the fall, yielded by Eve to Adam. Servile subjection, when they are subject for the good of their masters. And this only comes of sin. Again, subjection with joy was before the fall. Subjection joined with pain and misery follows upon sin (Gen. 3:16).
The second question is, whether bondage, in which some are lords, others bondmen or slaves, may stand with Christian religion?
Answer. It may, in the countries where it is established by positive laws, if it be used with mercy and moderation. Righteous Abraham had in his own house, bond-slaves (Gen. 17:13). God did permit the Jews to buy the children of the Canaanites (Lev. 25:45). Paul says, "If any man be called being a servant or bondman, let him not care for it" (1 Cor. 7:21).
Objection I. "Be not servants of men" (1 Cor. 7:23). Answer. That is, in respect of conscience, the subjection whereof must be reserved to God.
Objection II. Christians have liberty by Christ. And where liberty is, there may be no bondage. Answer. Christians obtain by Christ spiritual liberty in this life, and bodily liberty in the life to come.
Objection III. Bondage is against the law of nature. Answer. Against the law of pure nature, created in innocence, not against the law of corrupt nature, the fruit whereof is bondage.
Objection IV. "All are one in Christ." Therefore the difference of bondmen and freemen must cease. Answer. All are one in respect of the inward man, or in respect of faith and fellowship with Christ. But
all are not one in respect of the outward man, and in regard of civil order.
The sense then of the text is this. There are distinctions of men in respect of nation: some Jews, some Gentiles; in respect of condition: some bond, some free, some rich, some poor, some in authority, some in subjection, etc.; in respect of sex: some men, some women.
Yet in Christ Jesus, all are even as one man.
The Use. By this text we may expound another, "God would have all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2). That is, not all particular persons upon earth, but all kinds. For here Paul says, "All are one in Christ"—that is, men of all nations, of all conditions, and of all sexes.
Again, the name (Jew) opposed to Gentiles signifies not only men of the tribe of Judah, but all circumcised persons of all tribes (Rom.
2:28); and thus it is all one with an Israelite. And thus we see how to expound the place of Scripture where Jehoshaphat king of Judah is called "king of Israel" (2 Chron. 21:2). The words "Judah" and "Israel" are sometimes opposed: Judah signifying the kingdom of the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin; and Israel signifying the ten tribes.
Sometimes again, they are synonymous and are put one for another, as Psalm 114:1–2 and in this text. And Judah at this time was indeed the true Israel of God, and Jehoshaphat without any fault in the text
(as some suppose) is called "king of Israel."
Thirdly, they which are of great birth and of high condition must be put in mind not to be high minded, nor to despise them that are of low degree, for all are one in Christ. The obscure and base person has as good part in Christ, as the greatest men that be. Therefore we may not swell in pride for outward things. "The king must not lift up his heart against his brethren" (Deut. 17:20). "Rich men" (says Paul)
"must not be high minded" (1 Tim. 6:17). Job would not despise the
cause of his handmaid (Job 31:13). Naaman, a great man, respected the counsel of his servants (2 Kings 5:13).
Fourthly, all believers must be of one heart and mind (1 Cor. 1:10). In the kingdom of Christ, the wolf and the lamb dwell together (Isa.
11:6). And good reason, for all are one in Christ. And we have great cause to be humbled when schisms, contentions, and differences arise in points of religion. For that shows that hypocrites are mingled with true believers, and that we are but in part (as yet) united to Christ.
Lastly, hence we learn not to hate any man, but always to carry in mind a purpose to do good to all by thought, word, and deed, and to do good to men in respect of their names, their goods, their lives.
And this holy mind and purpose must always bear sway in us. "There is no hurt in the mount of the Lord" (Isa. 11:9). Men turn their swords and spears into mattocks and scythes, that are of the kingdom of Christ (Isa. 2:4), because they are one with Christ by the bond of one Spirit.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs by promise.
Before, Paul had taught (vv. 7–9) that all believing Gentiles were the children of Abraham, and not the Jews only. Here he returns to the same point again and proves it by as new argument, thus. Christ is the seed of Abraham (v. 16), and all Gentiles believing in Christ are parts of Him and one with Him. Therefore they also are children of Abraham and heirs of all the blessings of God.
The intent of Paul in these words is to establish and confirm an argument which before he had urged in this chapter against patrons of works in the case of our justification. It may be framed thus. As
Abraham was justified, so are all they that believe in Christ justified.
For they are Abraham's children and succeed him (v. 29). But Abraham was justified by faith without works; therefore, all believers in Christ are so justified. Let the argument be observed, for it makes against the papist, who if he study till his head and heart ache, shall never answer it.
In this verse, Paul sets down the fruit and benefit that comes by the gift of adoption to them that believe. And that is, to be children of Abraham and heirs of all the blessings of God. And therefore learn here one golden lesson, namely, that the basest person that is, if he believe in Christ, is in the place of Abraham and succeeds him in the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. Some man may say, O this is excellent comfort, if I might know that I were in the case of Abraham.
Answer. You may know it certainly, if you will do as Abraham did, namely, follow the calling of God and obey the gospel—that is, subject your heart to the commandments of God, which bid you repent, and believe in Christ. For then all the good things revealed in the gospel shall be yours.
The Use. Believers in this world must be content with any estate that God shall lay upon them. For they are heirs with Abraham of heaven and earth. In this regard, Abraham was content to forsake his country and his father's house and as a pilgrim to dwell in tents to the death (Heb. 11:8–9).
Secondly, they that believe in Christ must moderate their worldly cares and not live as drudges of the world. For they are heirs of God, and have a title or right to all good things promised in the covenant.
Therefore they shall never want any good thing that is needful for them. He that has made them heirs will carefully provide for them.
Therefore our care must be to do the duties that belong unto us. And
all other cares we must cast upon God. They in this world that are born to land and living are content to live sparingly and oftentimes very barely with a little, upon hope of further enlargement after the decease of some friends.
Lastly, our special care must be for heaven. For the things of this world are but trifles in respect of it. The city of God in heaven is your portion or child's part. Seek for the assurance of that above all things.
Thus did Abraham (Heb. 11:15–16).