صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

as a preparation to a higher state of being, but gave his true followers the privilege of continuing in their sins.

That Christ was a mere man, and therefore a pattern of our resurrection, the apostle proves in the following manner," But now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruit of them that slept. For since by man came death, by MAN also is the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive, each in his own order, Christ the first fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming," ver. 20, 21. And he again adds, "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul; the last Adam a quickening spirit: for the first man is of the earth earthy; the second MAN is the Lord from heaven, (that is, the Lord, who comes from heaven, when coming to raise the dead.) As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly: and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

And here we are to remember what has already been observed, that the question between the Apostles and the Gnostics, was not, Whether Christ was a God, or a God and man, but whether he was simply a God, or simply a man. The apostle Paul, therefore, in asserting the hu manity of Christ, asserts his simple humanity. His argument in this place rests entirely on this supposition. Had he supposed or conceded that Jesus had a superior nature, he conceded to his adversaries the very thing they contended for, and all that they wanted; and there would, in point of fact, have been no difference between

:

Did he

Paul, who laboured to establish, and the wicked
men who sought to overthrow the gospel.
Christ is here said to die for our sins.
die to atone for our sins, to satisfy divine justice"
for them, or did he die to remove them, to in-
duce us to leave them, by placing before us,
through his death and resurrection, the certainty
of a future state, in which virtue shall be re-
warded, and vice punished? The reasoning of
the apostle, in this chapter, solves this important
question beyond all reasonable doubt. The
apostle intended to set aside only what the de-
ceivers maintained; and it is beyond dispute
that they maintained, not that Christ did not
atone for our sins, but that he did not come into
the world to remove our sins, by giving us full
assurance of immortality. On the other hand,
the apostle maintained what his adversaries de-
nied: by the expression, therefore, that Christ
died for our sins, he must mean, that the object
of his mission was to induce us to forsake our
sins, by giving us the full assurance of a future
state. This inference is confirmed by what fol
lows. Paul does not say, that the death of
Christ was a sacrifice, or an atonement for sin;
but that he died for our sins, according to the
scriptures, that is, according to the Jewish scrip-
tures. But these scriptures, while they have
predicted the death of our Saviour, do not con-
tain the slightest intimation that its object was to
disarm the justice of God. The death of Jesus
is of no virtue in itself, and important only as a
necessary prelude to his resurrection. The
resurrection of Christ, therefore, is the great pil-
lar on which the Christian system rests its

weight, and on which the apostle was nowcalled upon to insist. What then does he say? Does he, with the evangelical preachers of modern days, say, That, if Christ have not died to atone for us, our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins? No; his language is, "If Christ is not risen from the dead, our faith is vain, and we are yet in our sins." The proper atonement for guilt according to the apostle Paul then, is afforded not by the death, but by the resurrection of Christ, for the obvious reason, that the great principle of repentance and amendment, the doctrine of a future state, by which our reconciliation with God is affected, rests immediately, not on the fact that Jesus had died, but on the fact that he rose from the dead as the first fruits of them that slept. According to the impostors, the believers at Corinth and elsewhere might return to their sins, or continue to sin. But the apostle, having proved the resurrection of Christ, and through him the resurrection of all mankind, enforces the natural conclusion, "Therefore, my beloved, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

Theodoret thus speaks of Cerinthus, one of the base authors of the Gnostic system,; "He maintained that the kingdom of the Lord was earthly, and painted it as consisting of eating and drinking, of lusts and nuptial festivals, of sacrifices and entertainments, which should be celebrated in Jerusalem; and that these things would be performed for a thousand years," Hær. Fab. lib. ii. 3. Against these impious notions, or others similar to them, the following words of the apos

tle are obviously levelled; "Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: neither doth corruption inherit in corruption."

Finally, the false teachers taught, that God the Father was not the Supreme God; that Christ did not derive his authority from him, and was therefore not subordinate or responsible to him, for the use he made of his power; his object being, not to establish the kingdom of God, but to emancipate mankind from obedience to his laws. The apostle sets aside these antichristian notions in the following manner: "Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to his God and Father, after he shall bring to nought all (antichristian) government, and all authority and power. For he must reign till he shall put all the enemies (of God) under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when the scripture saith, That all things are put under him, it is manifest that He is excepted that did put all things under him. But when all things shall be subjected unto him, then the Son himself shall be put under subjection to him who hath subjected all things, that God might be all in all." 24

29.

I next proceed to the PHILIPPIANS, one or two passages of which require illustration.

Philip. iii. 10. "Beware of dogs, beware of evil-doers, beware of their biting *-Be

* The original is τпy xaτατoμny, cutting, apparently used instead of EGITOμn, as intended to mean both circumcision and biting: " Beware of their cutting you as Jews, and biting you as dogs."

joint imitators of me, and as you have us for pattern, mark those who walk otherwise. For inany walk of whom I told you often, and now tell you weeping that they are enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is their destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose shame is their glory, and who think of an earthly kingdom. For our citizenship is in heaven; whence we look also for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will change our debased body, according to the working, by which he is able to subject all things to himself."

Here we have evidence that the system of the impostors was introduced into the church at Philippi, as well as into those in Rome, Galatia, and Corinth. Their character and leading sentiments may be recognized in this passage. The effects of them were so extensive and baleful, that the Apostle could not but weep over them. They were enemies to the cross of Christ, that is, they were enemies to the doctrine that Christ was really crucified, or that he was a real man. At Rome and at Corinth they affected to celebrate the sacrament in honour of his deity, while their real object was to indulge in their own vicious propensities. Hence the Apostle admonished the Roman converts to expel them from their church as servants, not of the Lord Jesus, but of their own bellies; under a similar pretext, they affected to honour Christ among the Philippians, and the Apostle scruples not to apprize the converts there that their own bellies, and not Christ, constituted the God which the impostors really worshipped. They committed not only the most shameful impurities, but boasted of

« السابقةمتابعة »