An expositon of all St. Pauls epistles together with an explanation of those other epistles of the apostles St. James, Peter, John & Jude : wherein the sense of every chapter and verse is analytically unfolded and the text enlightened. / David Dickson ...

The Third Part.

Vers. 21. Tell mee, yee that desire to bee under the Law, do yee not bear the Law?

The Third Part of the Chapter follows, in which hee confirms and illustrates the whole disputation from the history of the condition of Abrahams family, in which by a typical Allegory, God hath prefigured the whole matter now disputed. The summe of which is this. God in times past prefigured, that they who seek justification by Works, or a Covenant of works, are in a servile, mi∣serable, and cursed condition, and at length shall bee cast from the face of God, and society of the Saints, they that seek justification by grace through faith in Christ, are free Sons of the family of God, and bles∣sed, and at length shall certainly come to an inheritance of life eternal, why therefore are you so foolish, O Ga∣latians, that yee willingly affect this servile, miserable, and cursed way of justification sought by the works of the Law?

For this end, the Apostle in this last part of the Chapter, First of all provokes them to the Law, or to the books of Moses, that the whole question may bee decided, vers. 21. Furthermore he propounds a typical history of the condition of Abrahams family, ver. 22, 23. Thirdly, he propounds the type, and opens the mystery, vers. 24, 25, 26. Fourthly, hee confirms the exposition out of Isaiah, vers. 27. Fifthly, hee applies the allegory or type to the truly faithfull Christians, and hee comforts himself and the rest against the persecution of the false brethren, strangers to the grace of God, vers. 28, 29, 30, 31.

Tell] That which appertaines to the first, hee re∣proves the Galatians of a double errour. The first errour is, that willingly they had affected to bee under the Law, i. e. under the legal Covenant, or the Covenant of works, whose condition is this, that thou binde thy self to the perfect fulfilling the Law, and God deals with thee according to the Covenant of the Law, that is, hee saves thee if thou offend in nothing, but doth curse and destroy thee, if thou become guilty in the least tittle of that which is written in the book of the Law, or art found in the least to turn aside from the Rule: For o∣therwise all the faithful are under the Law, as a rule and direction of life, and they are to endeavour obedi∣ence to it sincerely in all things, through grace admini∣stred by Christ. The second errour is, That they were very ignorant both of the sense and scope of the Law, or of books that were written by Moses.

Vers. 22. For it is written, that Abraham had two Sons, the one by a bond-maid, the other by a free-woman.

23. But hee who was of the bond-woman, was born after the flesh, but hee of the free-woman, was by promise.

In the second place hee propounds from Gen. 16. & 21. the typical history of Abrahams family, wherein there were two wives that were mothers, Hagar, and Sarah. The conditions of the mothers twofold, Hagar was a servant, Sarah free-born: Two Sons, Ishmael a servant of his mother a servant, Isaac free of his mother free-born; a twofold principle of their Nativity, viz. The power of nature according to the flesh eminent in the nativity of Ishmael of a young woman, and the vertue of the pro∣mise, or divine supernatural vertue, in the nativity of Isaac of Sarah an old woman and conspicuously barren. From hence arose the unlike disposition of Ishmael and Isaac, so great a discord, that Ishmael persecuted Isaac, and the dissimilitude of both their conditions in the up∣shot: Ishmael is cast out of the family, but Isaac obtains the Inheritance, by which type God did figure out the di∣vers conditions of the visible Church sprung from di∣vers principles and causes. For (1.) As there are two wives Hagar and Sarah, so there are two Covenants of God with men, the Covenant of works or legal, the Co∣venant of grace, or the Evangelical. (2.) Both the wives had off-spring, so both the Covenants had their worshippers and professors as born of the Covenant. (3.) As Hagar a young woman according to nature and the flesh brought forth; but Sarah barren, and an old woman according to the power of the divine promise. So the Law or Covenant of works hath the ordinary strength of nature, or the powers of free will for its foun∣dation; But the Gospel, or Covenant of grace, hath for its foundation, the special grace of God. (4.) As Ishmael was of a servile and malicious disposition that hee would per∣secute his brother, but Isaac indued with an ingenuous and godly disposition patiently indured persecution, so how many justiciaries so ever, seeking righteousness by works, are of a servile and perverse disposition, and they do vexe the true faithful of God. But the truly faithful, and Sons of the promise worship God with an in∣genuous piety, and do suffer persecutions as it behoves them.

Vers. 24. Which things are an allegory, for these are the two Covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar.

In the third place the Apostle expounds the significa∣tion of the type, as much as belongs to the present pur∣pose; and first hee shews that the two Wives are figures of the two Covenants, whereof one is the Covenant of Works represented by Hagar: The other is the Covenant Grace, or faith, represented by Sarah: As to Hagar and the Covenant of Works, the Apostle teacheth, First, That Covenant had its rise from Mount Sinai, because in that mountain the Law was given, and this Covenant was established betwixt God and his people. Secondly, hee teaches that this Covenant generated an off-spring to bondage, or did render the Disciples and professours of it, onely servants, i. e. Mercenary worshippers of God, who do nothing but the external work, and brought to that either by fear, or hope of a reward, and they heing ignorant that this was the end of the Law (that being sensible of our sins we might flye to Christ) do abuse the Law, being meer hypocrites, seeking by it righteous∣ness, which they never obtain, but being not freed re∣main in their sins.

Vers. 25. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Ierusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

Hee shews the convenience of the exposition: (1.) From this, because Mount Sinai situated in Arabia, and far removed from the promised Land, was called by the Arabians and Caldeans Hagar, by the special provi∣dence of God. (2.) That it had affinity with the earthly Ierusalem (as it was in the Apostles time) or with the Jewish Synagogue, which is said to bee in bondage with her children, because shee was tenacious of the Covenant of works, and continued with her Dis∣ciples in a servile condition, strangers to the Redeemer, and free deliverance by him.

Vers. 26. But Ierusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all.

Hee expounds what is figured by Sarah the free-woman, viz. The Covenant of Faith or Grace, whereof the Church of the truly faithful is very tenacious, which is the heavenly Ierusalem that is above, created by God, and studious of heavenly things, the mother of all the faithful, called both of Iews and Gentiles.

Vers. 27. For it is written, Rejoyce thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry, thou that travellest

not, for the desolate hath many more Children than she which hath an husband.

In the fourth place, The Apostle proves the Exposition give•• out of Isaiah 54.1. where the Church of the faith∣ful, the upper Ierusalem, our Mother, is represented by Sarah, barren, as if shee had been a Widow. And the Synagogue of the Jews, unfaithful and tenacious of the Covenant of Works, is represented by fruitful Hagar dwelling with her Husband. But the Church of the faithful before the comming of Christ was compared, as it were to a barren Widow, because her Husband, the Covenant of Grace, was unknown almost to all, except a few, who dispersed hither and thither, did not make a company, neither did Grace appear, but lay hid, like an Husband absent or dead under the covers of Ceremonies. The Synagogue of unbeleeving Justiciaries is compared to a fruitful Wife, dwelling with her Husband, viz. the Covenant of Works conspicuous in the external dispen∣sation of the Law. And it is fore-told by the Prophet that it should come to pass, that the Church of the faith∣ful, made fruitful by the Promises of God, shall bring forth more children under the Gospel, than the Synagogue hath brought Servants under the Law; and therefore is commanded to rejoyce and praise God.

Vers. 28. Now wee, Brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of Promise.

In the last place hee applies this typical history, and partly admonishes the truly faithful Christians, and partly comforts them, by four Arguments.

Argum. 1. That wee are redeemed children justified by Faith, and truly free born, and regenerated by vir∣tue of Evangelical Promises to the similitude of Isaac, who is elder than those other Citizens of the heavenly Ierusalem that were after him.

Vers. 29. But as then hee hat was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit.

Argum. 2. Of consolation, That suffering persecution by false Brethren, Patrons of free will and Righteousness by Works; were finde nothing unlike to Isaacs condi∣tion: For when in Abrahams Family, hee who is onely begotten by the ordinary strength of nature persecuted him, who is begotten by a divine and spiritual way; what wonder then, if the same now bee usual amongst us?

Vers. 30. Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? cast out the bond-woman and her Son: for the Son of the bond-woman, shall not bee heir with the Son of the free-woman.

Argum. 3. That the persecutors of the faithful, and Patrons of Righteousness by Works, seeing they are not set at liberty by the Son, are to bee cast out of the socie∣ty of the Saints, and the inheritance of life eternal; as it was figured by the sentence of God, concerning the ca∣sting Ishmael with his Mother out of the family, and ex∣cluding him from the inheritance that was to bee en∣joyed with Isaac.

Vers. 31. So then, Brethren, wee are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free.

Argum. 4. From the comparing of this verse with the former, that seeing wee are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free, certainly wee shall obtain an in∣heritance of life eternal: which Argument with the for∣mer, as it hath the virtue of consolation, so also of ad∣monition, that they would not adhere to their errour in seeking Righteousness by the Works of the Law, and moreover of an exhortation, that they hold fast Righte∣ousness by Grace through Faith in Christ, unless they would exclude themselves from the inheritance.