2 Coríntios 3
Bob Utley · Citado em PreceptAustin
2 Coríntios 3:1-4
Utley adds that "The early church adopted the procedure of letters of recommendation to assure the orthodoxy and trustworthiness of itinerant ministers (cf. Acts 18:27; Ro 16:1; 1 Cor. 16:3, 15–18; Phil. 2:29–30; 3 John 1:12). Henry
2 Coríntios 3:1-4
Utley - Believers are meant to clearly reveal Christ by their motives, words, and actions. How we live reflects on His reputation! In the words of Jesus they did not "light a lamp (their new lives in Christ), and put it under the peck-measure (a "bushel basket"), but on the lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house. (Mt 5:15+) Even the pagan philosopher Plato wrote that a "good teacher does not write his message in ink that will fade; he writes it upon men." Pulpit Commentary - The fame and centrality of Corinth gave peculiar prominence to the fact of their conversion....The Corinthians are the epistle; it is written on the hearts of St. Paul and his companions; Christ was its Composer; they were its amanuenses and its conveyers (The pulpit commentary) Ray
2 Coríntios 3:5-6
Utley says logizomai "reflects Paul’s logical presentation of truths and followed by encouragement to think through the issues clearly." Logizomai is related to our English term logic which deals with the methods of valid thinking, reveals how to draw proper conclusions from premises and is a prerequisite of all thought. Paul says that his "logic" tells him that apart from God's supply of wisdom and power, he did not trust in anything coming from himself but recognized that his own adequacy was totally inadequate! THOUGHT Are we imitators of Paul (1Cor 11:1+) in God's ministry to and through us? Do we understand that any "fruit for eternity" (Jn 4:36, 15:16) is His fruit borne by His Spirit through us? Paul has a similar thought using a "clay pot" metaphor in chapter 4... But we have this treasure (the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ , cp 2Co 4:5, 6) in earthen vessels (lowly, common, cheap, breakable, expendable, replaceable clay pots that were used for mundane household chores), so that the surpassing greatness of the power (dunamis - sometimes translated as "miracles") will be of God and not from ourselves (2Corinthians 4:7) Wiersbe wisely reminds all of us who would seek to serve the Living God that "We must be empty before we can be full. The opposite of this is self-sufficiency. Our sufficiency is not of ourselves (2Co 3:5). The world promotes self-sufficiency, yet God dwells with the person whose heart is broken (Is 57:15). This does not mean false humility or cowardice; it means a proper attitude toward self, realizing how weak and sinful we are apart from Christ. Compare the two men in Luke 18:9-14+) (Bible Exposition Commentary) Anything as coming from ourselves ("to take credit for anything as coming from ourselves" NAB; "It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves" - Original edition of NLT) - "Coming" is not in the original Greek but is added by the translators. Paul is saying in essence that apart from God's adequacy, His Spirit's empowerment and His sufficient grace, a believer can do nothing of lasting, eternal value in the his or her own strength. A W Pink paraphrases it as "we are not sufficient of ourselves to think a godly thought." And he adds "If insufficient of ourselves to even think a good thought, how much less can we perform a good deed." All that is good in us is but a stream from the fountain of Divine grace, and naught but an abiding conviction of that fact will keep us both humble and thankful. God it is who inclines the mind and will unto any good, who illumines our understandings and draws out our affections unto things above. Jesus stated the same principle declaring... I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides (present tense - continually, as one's lifestyle or habitual practice) in Me and I in him, he bears (present tense) much fruit, for apart from Me you can do (absolutely) nothing. (Jn 15:5, contrast "nothing" with the antithesis = "all things" in Php 4:13+). John
2 Coríntios 3:12-14
Utley - Paul makes several comparisons between Moses’ covenant and Jesus’ covenant. the Lord of Exodus = the Spirit of Jesus only Moses could approach God intimately; all believers in Christ can approach God Moses’ glory faded; Jesus’ glory never fades Moses’ followers cannot see Christ in the OT; Jesus’ followers through the Spirit can correctly interpret the OT in light of Christ Moses brought the bondage of performance; Christ brings the freedom of grace the letter of the Mosaic Law brings death; the Spirit of the New Covenant brings life, life eternal, life abundant Moses’ covenant was unable to produce a righteous people; Jesus’ covenant does produce righteous people (both objectively in justification and subjectively in sanctification) QUESTION - Why did Moses have to wear a veil? ANSWER - When God began to give the Law to Israel, He did so accompanied by an overwhelming atmospheric display of thunder and lightning, smoke and fire, and the sound of a trumpet on the top of Mt. Sinai. This was to warn the people that He is holy and should not be approached. Anyone who tried to come up the mountain would be killed. (See Exodus 19 and Hebrews 12:18–19.) When God delivers the Ten Commandments, the people are so frightened that they are afraid to have God speak. They ask that Moses deliver the Law instead (Exodus 20:18–21). So Moses approaches God and receives the Law in Exodus 21–23. He delivers it to the people who are called to affirm their willingness to obey in Exodus 24:3,7. In Exodus 25–31 Moses goes up to the mountain and receives the plans for the tabernacle and the tablets of stone on which God had engraved the Ten Commandments. Upon his return to the Israelite camp, Moses finds the Israelites worshiping the golden calf in violation of the Law they had just agreed to keep. In anger Moses smashes the stone tablets to bits and proceeds to address this sin in the camp (chapter 32.) After the sin had been dealt with, God invites Moses to come back up the mountain to receive the Law again, engraved on new tablets of stone. Moses goes up the mountain alone and meets with God. There he begs for pardon for the nation. God forgives and renews the covenant with Israel and once again provides a summary form of the Law, the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 34:1–27). Moses spends 40 days and nights with God on the mountain, and during that time he did not eat or drink (Ex 34:28). It seems that the glory of God sustained him. After spending this extended amount of time with God, Moses comes down the mountain, and his face is shining with the glory of God (Exodus 34:29). We don’t know exactly what this would have looked like, but it was frightening to his brother, Aaron, the high priest; and to all the rest of the people. Because everyone was afraid to come near Moses (Ex 34:31), he wore a veil over his face to shroud the glory (Ex 34:33–35). (ED: I DISAGREE - THE TEXT OF Ex 34:32 SAYS ISRAEL DID APPROACH MOSES. AFTER HE SPOKE THEN HE PUT THE VEIL OVER HIS FACE = Ex 34:33) We are not told how long this lasted, but presumably the glory began to fade when Moses was no longer regularly going into the presence of God. How long Moses wore the veil is unknown, but the veil is not mentioned during the remaining years of his leadership—roughly 38 years. The story of Moses’ veil as recorded in the Old Testament is pretty straightforward. But Paul’s mention of the veil in the New Testament has caused some to take a second look at the reason Moses chose to wear a veil. 2 Corinthians 3:13 says, “We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.” This makes it sound as if Moses put the veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing that the glory was beginning to fade. If this verse is read in isolation, it would indeed seem to imply that Moses’ veil was designed to make people think his face was still shining, even when it wasn’t; however, such an interpretation simply highlights the danger of reading verses in isolation. When 2 Corinthians 3:13 is read in the context of Paul’s total argument, we find that it says nothing about Moses’ motive for veiling his face. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul is contrasting the glories of the Old and New Covenants, and he concludes that the New Covenant is far more glorious. The Old Covenant was written on tablets of stone; the New Covenant is written on the heart (2Co 3:3). The Old Covenant is the letter of the Law, while the New Covenant is of the Spirit. The letter kills but the Spirit gives life (2Co 3:6). The Old Covenant brings condemnation; the New Covenant brings righteousness (2Co 3:9). The Old Covenant had a glory that faded; the New Covenant has a glory that remains and in fact so far surpasses it that the Old Covenant appears to have no glory by comparison (2Co 3:10–11). 2 Corinthians 3:12–13 gives another contrast. Ministers of the New Covenant are unlike Moses. New Covenant ministers proclaim the unfading glory in a bold manner, while Moses wore a veil to shield Israel from a fading glory. Paul is not giving us new insight into what Moses was doing. There is no new information in 2 Corinthians 3 concerning the events in Exodus 34. The main point is that the Old Covenant glory was temporary; the shining of Moses’ face was destined to fade, just as the Law he proclaimed. The emphasis is that the veil prevented the Israelites from seeing a temporary glory, not that they were prevented from noticing that the glory was gradually fading, much less that Moses had some personal (perhaps prideful) reason for hiding the fact that it was fading. This paraphrase may help: Unlike Moses, who wore a veil to conceal the temporary glory of the Old Covenant, we boldly proclaim the permanent glory of the New Covenant. Paul goes on to say that, just as Moses gave Israel the Law with a veil over his face, even today, when the Law is read, a veil descends over the hearts of unbelieving Israelites. Then and now, Israel’s vision is obscured, and they are hard of heart. The “veil” prevents them from seeing the true glory of God. The veil is only taken away when they turn to Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14–16). Paul ends his illustration of Moses’ veil by making something of a comparison to Moses. Moses beheld the glory of God, and his face reflected God’s glory; so New Testament believers behold the glory of God and are transformed into that glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Moses wore a veil for the reason stated in Exodus 34—his shining face frightened the Israelites. Paul uses that historical incident to contrast the ministries of the Old and New Covenants.GotQuestions.org 2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. (NASB: Lockman) Greek : alla eporothe (3SAPI) ta noemata auton. achri gar tes semeron hemeras to auto kalumma epi te anagnosei tes palaias diathekes menei (3SPAI) me anakaluptomenon (PPPNSN), oti en Christo katargeitai (3SPPI); Amplified: In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused [they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding]; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies [on their hearts], not being lifted [to reveal] that in Christ it is made void and done away. (Lockman) ESV: But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. (ESV) KJV: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. NET: But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. (NET Bible) NIV: But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. (NIV - IBS) NLT: But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. (NLT - Tyndale House)
2 Coríntios 3:12-14
Utley - Spiritual blindness has both a spiritual origin -- [1] God by the use - hardened is passive voice [divine passive], cf. Isa. 6:9–10; Isa 29:10; John 12:40; Ro 9:18 and [2] Satan, cf. 2 Cor. 4:4) and human origin (cf. John 3:19–20). Moses used a literal veil; this term is now used to describe the inner blindness of contemporary rabbinical Judaism. Jews are walking in the judgment of Isa. 6:9-10+ and Isa 29:10. This also relates to the Jews of our day who refuse to accept Jesus as the Messiah (cf. 2Co 3:15). (2 Corinthians 3 Commentary) Minds (3540)(noema from noéo = perceive in turn from noús = mind) is literally the result of the activity of the "nous" or mind, that part of man which thinks. Noema means that which is thought (a thought), perceived with the mind (a mental perception), understood, pondered, or considered. Paul uses noema again in the next chapter "And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world (Satan --1Jn 5:19 Ep 2:2 Jn 12:31 14:30) has blinded the minds (noema) of the unbelieving (disbelieving, lacking in faith, not trusting) so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2Co 4:3, 4) Robertson draws our attention to the order of events: (1) They refused to believe and so (2) Satan got the power to blind their thoughts. That happens with wilful disbelievers. (Woe!) We must pray for God "open their eyes ("spiritual eyes" of their heart and mind) so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in" Christ (Acts 26:18). Noema is a keyword in 2 Corinthians - here are all NT uses - 2 Co. 2:11; 2 Co. 3:14; 2 Co. 4:4; 2 Co. 10:5; 2 Co. 11:3; Phil. 4:7 Were hardened (4456) (poroo from poros = small piece of stone, a kind of marble, and thence used of a callus on fractured bones; see related word porosis) means to make hard as stone and used figuratively to describe that which has become callous or insensitive to touch. The effect is to cause the person to have difficulty understanding or comprehending. In the New Testament, poroo is used only in the spiritual sense referring to the devastating effect sin and unbelief exert on one's heart or mind. In this passage Paul describes the sons of Israel as possessed of a closed mind, mental obtuseness and intellectual blindness. Friberg writes that poroo is a medical technical term (Hippocrates) cover with thick skin or callous; of body organs thicken. Liddell Scott explains the literal meaning is "to petrify, turn into stone" Barclay on the related word porosis explains that "Porosis comes from poros, which originally meant a stone that was harder than marble. It came to have certain medical uses. It was used for the chalk stone which can form in the joints and completely paralyze action. It was used of the callus that forms where a bone has been broken and re-set, a callus which is harder than the bone itself. Finally the word came to mean the loss of all power of sensation; it described something which had become so hardened, so petrified that it had no power to feel at all. That is what Paul says the heathen life is like (Ep 4:17, 18, 19+) (Ed: And in the present context this is the condition of the majority of the sons of Israel even to the present time)...The terror of sin is its petrifying effect. The process of sin is quite discernible (Ed: I think perhaps "quite indiscernible" is a better description of the deceitfulness of sin and its hardening effect [see note] Heb 3:13). No man becomes a great sinner all at once. At first he regards sin with horror. When he sins, there enters into his heart remorse and regret (Ed: But not genuine repentance or turning from that sin! - cp "sorrow of the world" ["Sorry I got caught" type sorrow!] in 2Co 7:10b). But if he continues to sin there comes a time when he loses all sensation and can do the most shameful things without any feeling at all. His conscience is petrified (Cp "seared...conscience" 1Ti 4:2 - see illustration below). (Ed note: This is because all men in Adam are totally depraved and have an inherent sin nature from Adam to commit sins). (Barclay, William: New Testament Words:. Westminster John Know Press, 1964) Poroo - 5x in 5v in NAS - Mark 6:52 Mk 8:17; John 12:40; Ro 11:7; 2Cor 3:14. The only use in the non-apocryphal Septuagint is Job 17:7 describing the "dimming" of one's eyes as a result of grief. John 12:40 quotes Isa 6:10+ (where it was actually issued as a command to the prophet Isaiah) giving an example of divine judicial hardening, the penalty for continual rejection God's Word of Truth and Life (see discussion) - "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM."
2 Coríntios 3:15-17
Utley - The ministry of Jesus and the Spirit are inseparably linked (cf. vv. 17–18). The ministry of the Spirit is to magnify Jesus. It is described in John 16:8–14. (2 Corinthians 3 Commentary)
2 Coríntios 3:15-17
Utley - SPECIAL TOPIC: JESUS AND THE SPIRIT There is a fluidity between the work of the Spirit and the Son. G. Campbell Morgan said the best name for the Spirit is “the other Jesus.” (ED: OF COURSE ONLY "ONE JESUS" EFFECTED ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS WITH HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD!) The following is an outline comparison of the work and titles of the Son and Spirit. 1. Spirit called “Spirit of Jesus” or similar expressions (cf. Ro. 8:9; 1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 4:6; 1 Pet. 1:11). 2. Both called by the same terms a. “truth” (1) Jesus—John 14:6 (2) Spirit—John 14:17; 16:13 b. “advocate” (1) Jesus—1 John 2:1 (2) Spirit—John 14:16; 16:7 3. All three persons of the Trinity indwell believers: a. Jesus—Matt. 28:20; John 14:20, 23; 15:4–5; Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:27 b. Spirit—John 14:16–17; Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:14 c. even the Father—John 14:23; 2 Cor. 6:16 C H Spurgeon on Spiritual Liberty… Liberty is the birthright of every man. But where do you find liberty unaccompanied by religion? This land is the home of liberty, not so much because of our institutions as because the Spirit of the Lord is here — the spirit of true and hearty religion. But the liberty of the text is an infinitely greater and better one, and one which Christian men alone enjoy. He is the free man whom the truth makes free. Without the Spirit of the Lord, in a free country, ye may still be bondsmen; and where there are no serfs in body, ye may be slaves in soul. Note — I. WHAT WE ARE FREED FROM. 1. The bondage of sin. Of all slavery there is none more horrible than this. “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me” from it? But the Christian is free. 2. The penalty of sin — eternal death. 3. The guilt of sin. 4. The dominion of sin. Profane men glory in free living and free thinking. Free living! Let the slave hold up his fetters and jingle them, and say, “This is music, and I am free.” A sinner without grace attempting to reform himself is like Sisiphus rolling the stone up hill, which always comes down with greater force. A man without grace attempting to save himself is engaged in as hopeless a task as the daughters of Danaus, when they attempted to fill a vast vessel with bottomless buckets. He has a bow without a string, a sword without a blade, a gun without powder. 5. Slavish fear of law. Many people are honest because they are afraid of the policeman. Many are sober because they are afraid of the eye of the public. If a man be destitute of the grace of God, his works are only works of slavery; he feels forced to do them. But now, Christian, “Love makes your willing feet in swift obedience move.” We are free from the law that we may obey it better. 6. The fear of death. I recollect a good old woman, who said, “Afraid to die, sir! I have dipped my foot in Jordan every morning before breakfast for the last fifty years, and do you think I am afraid to die now?” A good Welsh lady, when she lay a-dying, was visited by her minister, who said to her, “Sister, are you sinking?” But, rising a little in the bed, she said, “Sinking! Sinking! Did you ever know a sinner sink through a rock? If I had been standing on the sand I might sink; but, thank God! I am on the Rock of Ages, and there is no sinking there.” II. WHAT WE ARE FREE TO. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” and that liberty gives us certain rights and privileges. 1. To heaven’s charter. Heaven’s Magna Carta is the Bible, and you are free to it — to all its doctrines, promises, etc. You are free to all that is in the Bible. It is the bank of heaven: you may draw from it as much as you please without let or hindrance. 2. To the throne of grace. It is the privilege of Englishmen that they can always send a petition to Parliament; and it is the privilege of a believer that he can always send a petition to the throne of God. It signifies nothing what, where, or under what circumstances I am. 3. To enter into the city. I am not a freeman of London, which is doubtless a great privilege, but I am a freeman of a better city. Now some of you have obtained the freedom of the city, but you won’t take it up. Don’t remain outside the Church any longer, for you have a right to come in. 4. To heaven. When a Christian dies he knows the password that can make the gates wide open fly; he has the white stone whereby he shall be known as a ransomed one, and that shall pass him at the barrier. Richard Sibbes speaks about the Signs of spiritual liberty: — Wheresoever the Spirit of God is, there is — I. A LIBERTY OF HOLINESS, TO FREE US FROM THE DOMINION OF SIN (Luke 1:75). As children can give a bird leave to fly so it be in a string to pull it back again, so Satan hath men in a string if they live in sin. The beast that runs away with a cord about him is caught by the cord again; so, having Satan’s cords about us, he can pull us in when he lists. From this we are freed by the Spirit. II. A BLESSED FREEDOM AND AN ENLARGEMENT OF HEART TO DUTIES God’s people are a voluntary people. Those that are under grace are “anointed by the Spirit” (Ps 89:20), and that spiritual anointment makes them nimble. Otherwise spiritual duties are as opposite to flesh and blood as fire and water. When we are drawn, therefore, to duties, as a bear to a stake, for fear, or out of custom, with extrinsic motives, and not from a new nature, this is not from. the Spirit. For the liberty of the Spirit is when actions come off naturally, without any extrinsic motive. A child needs not extrinsic motives to please his father. So there is a new nature in those that have the Spirit of God to stir them up to duty, though God’s motives may help as the sweet encouragements and rewards. But the principle is to do things naturally. Artificial things move from a principle without them, therefore they are artificial. Clocks and such things have weights that stir all the wheels they go by, and that move them; so it is with an artificial Christian. He moves with weights without him; he hath not an inward principle of the Spirit to make things natural to him. III. COURAGE AGAINST ALL OPPOSITION WHATSOEVER, JOINED WITH LIGHT AND STRENGTH OF FAITH, BREAKING THROUGH ALL OPPOSITIONS. Opposition to a spiritual man adds but courage and strength to him to resist. In Acts 4:23, seq., when they had the Spirit of God, they encountered opposition; and the more they were opposed, the more they grew. They were cast in prison, and rejoiced; and the more they were imprisoned, the more courageous they were still. There is no setting against this wind, no quenching of this fire, by any human power. See how the Spirit triumphed in the martyrs. The Spirit of God is a victorious Spirit (Ro 8:33, 34; Acts 6:10, 15). IV. BOLDNESS WITH GOD HIMSELF, otherwise a “consuming fire?” For the Spirit of Christ goes through the mediation of Christ to God. That familiar boldness whereby we cry, “Abba, Father,” comes from sons. This comes from the Spirit. If we be sons, then we have the Spirit, whereby we cry, “Abba, Father.” J A Stowell on liberty of the Spirit… The liberty of the Spirit: — How much is made of earthly liberty — the shadow of true freedom. How true it is that, whilst many men “profess to give liberty to others, they themselves are the slaves of corruption.” Men are content to be slaves within who would be very indignant at any attempt to make them slaves without. The apostle, speaking of the bondage of the law, said that, when the heart of the Jew shall turn to the Lord, then, and not till then, shall they come to the true freedom. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is — I. LIBERTY FROM CONDEMNATION. If a man is under sentence of death he cannot find liberty. He may forget his imprisonment in mirth and feasting, but it is not the less real because he forgets it. The morning will come when he will be dragged off to his fearful doom. We are under the sentence of God’s broken law. “The soul that sins shall die.” How beautiful, then, the language of the apostle! (Ro 8:1). II. LIBERTY FROM LAW. The law knows nothing of mercy and forgiveness, nor does it afford the least help to holiness. Its command is, “Do this, and live; break this in the least, and die.” Therefore, “by the deeds of the law “ shall no man have peace with God. But “what the law could not do,” etc. (Ro 8:2, 3, 4). III. LIBERTY TO OBEY. Many think they are free, and that they will do as they like; but they do not like to do what they ought to like, and therefore they are slaves after all. The way in which a man may convince himself of his slavery is to try to be what he ought to be. He can do nothing of himself, and he must be brought to feel that he can do no good thing without God. But what the flesh cannot do the Spirit will enable him to do. “It is God which worketh in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure”; therefore “work out your own salvation,” etc. IV. LIBERTY TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. A man can do battle with his corrupt nature, he can win the victory over the principalities and powers of darkness, and his sword is a sword of liberty. The drunkard becomes sober, the impure chaste, the vindictive forgiving, by the power of the Spirit of God. V. LIBERTY OF ACCESS TO GOD. The one true and living way is open, but it cannot be discerned except a man has it revealed to him by the Spirit of God. Through Christ we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. VI. LIBERTY OF HOLY BOLDNESS AND FORTITUDE IN THE SERVICE OF GOD. J C Philpot on liberty of the gospel (the New Covenant)… A third feature of the gospel is, that it is the perfect law of liberty "for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;" (2Co 3:17) and, therefore, all the precepts of the gospel, as animated by the Spirit, harmonize with this perfect liberty. Under the law, all is bondage; under the gospel, all is liberty. Whatever, therefore, does not breathe liberty, call it what you will, wrap it up and disguise it how you may, is not the gospel. Here many teachers and preachers have erred in handling and enforcing the precept. They have read and heard of the liberty of the gospel, for that is too plainly revealed and insisted upon in the New Testament to be questioned or denied, but they have been afraid of extending this liberty to the precept, as if the necessary consequence was that we were at liberty to obey it or not, just as we pleased. Now this is a thorough misconception of the nature of the liberty of the gospel, and of the liberty of the precept as a part of that gospel. To this timorous though mistaken apprehension we may trace the tenacity with which so many have held that the Mosaic law is the believer's rule of life. Their poor, timorous, servile minds, drenched and drowned in legal bondage, were afraid of the gospel, as if it were a kind of tamed lion, which would be very quiet and do nobody any harm as long as it was kept in a cage, but must not be allowed to get out, lest it should work incalculable mischief. Or, to change the figure, they treated it almost as if it were a ticket of license. Man, who, though, from his good conduct in prison, he might be set at a kind of half liberty, yet was to be carefully watched, lest he should associate himself with thieves, or commit a burglary. And thus the free, noble, glorious gospel of the grace of God, containing in its bosom and holding forth the eternal love of the Father, the blood and righteousness of the Son, and the teaching and testimony of the Holy Spirit—this pure and precious gospel, which proclaims liberty to the captive and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, has been shut up, caged, and confined within all sorts of bars, conditions, and limitations, as if it were a wild beast which "had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it;" and which, if let loose, would "arise and devour much flesh." (Dan. 7:5.) Yes, this pure and precious gospel has been suspected of all manner of evil deeds; and if, by its good and excellent behavior it has sometimes been allowed a half liberty, yet has it been most carefully watched with the jealous eyes of a whole host of clerical and lay police, lest it should plot a murder or accomplish a robbery. What so much troubles the clergyman of some quiet country parish as the appearance in it of a preacher of the gospel, and the opening of a little cottage where a few poor people meet to hear it? What an immediate outcry is raised. "O these dreadful, those dangerous doctrines! Are they come at last into my parish—my domain?" As if this poor, humble minister were come to burn down the parish rectory; or as if his few hearers, probably by his own confession the best-living people in the parish, met together to get drunk, or strengthen each other's hands in all manner of sin and wickedness. And this terribly outcry of "dangerous doctrines" is raised by men who see no danger in the careless profanity of the rich, and the loose licentiousness of the poor; no danger in, or at least who raise no warning cry against, the stealthy advance of Popery; no danger in the rapid growth of infidelity; no danger in bishops and deans denying the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. But they are not the first, and will not be the last, who have spared the thief and arrested the honest man, justified the wicked and condemned the righteous. But these blind judges are not the only men who bark at the gospel. How the great bulk of preachers and writers, far and near, whether they call themselves churchmen or dissenters, are of one mind either wholly to cast out the precious gospel, or, by abridging it of its liberty, to stop its vital breath. And to do this wretched work more effectually, they have constructed a cage for the gospel out of the precepts of the gospel; and thus not only made it a prisoner, but have found or fashioned chains and fetters to tie it hand and foot by strips torn from its own clothes. But how ignorant are all such men of what the liberty of the gospel is; and that it is a liberty not to sin—but from sin—a holy, heavenly freedom of spirit which engages every willing affection of the heart to yield the obedience of faith. In fact, liberty is the very essence of the gospel—its vital breath, its animating spirit; for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2Cor. 3:17.) The gospel is "the perfect law of liberty," therefore the very perfection of liberty, and thus thoroughly and entirely free from the least taint of bondage, the slightest tincture of servitude. It is this perfect freedom which distinguishes it from the law which "works wrath" (Ro 4:15) and "genders to bondage." (Gal. 4:24.) It is, therefore, a freedom from sin—(Ro 6:18;) from the guilt of sin, as having "the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience;" (Heb 10:22;) from the filth of sin, by "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit;" (Titus 3:5;) from the love of sin, through "the love of God, shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit;" (Ro 5:5;) from the dominion of sin, as "not being under the law but under grace;" (Ro 6:14;) and from the practice of sin, by becoming servants to God, so as to have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." (Ro 6:22.) How, then, can this pure, holy, and precious gospel be condemned as leading to licentiousness? It is because its power, its preciousness, its happy, holy, heavenly liberty have never been experimentally known by them that some, like the Galatians, do all they can to frustrate the grace of God, by turning again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto they desire to be in bondage; (Gal 2:21; 4:9;) while others, like those monsters of wickedness whom Jude and Peter denounce with such burning words, pervert and abuse the liberty of the gospel unto licentiousness, "They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures," and, "while they promise others liberty, are themselves the servants of corruption." (2Pe 2:13, 19.) Now the liberty of the gospel, as revealed in the Scriptures, and made experimentally known to the soul, steers, so to speak, between the two extremes, and is as perfectly free from the least intermixture of legal bondage as from the least taint of Antinomian licentiousness. It is, indeed, this holy liberty, heavenly power, and gracious influence of the precious gospel, under the teaching and testimony of the Holy Spirit, which makes it so suitable to our case and state when first convinced of sin, and cast into prison under guilt and condemnation. What release but a perfect release would suit our deplorable case as prisoner—in the pit where there is no water, shut up under wrath and guilty fear through a condemning law and an accusing conscience? This pure and precious gospel, therefore, comes down to us poor miserable captives, shut up in bondage under the law, under a guilty conscience, under the tormenting accusations of Satan, and the doubts and fears of our own trembling, misgiving heart. Yes, it comes down to our pitiable state and condition as a message of pure mercy, as revealing and proclaiming pardon and peace through a Saviour's blood; and when, by grace, we can receive, embrace, and entertain it as a word from God to us, proclaiming liberty as with a jubilee trumpet through every court and ward of the soul. And shall we take, or willingly allow any one else to take prisoner this heavenly messenger and shut her up in the condemned cell? Shall we stand tamely by and not lift up our voice with indignation when we see this beauteous visitant, fresh, as it were, from the very courts of heaven, and radiant with the glory of God, laid hold of by a villainous jailer, as if she came to rob and murder? What were we before this precious gospel reached our ears and hearts? Were we not bondslaves to sin, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, taken and led captive by Satan at his will—and while we talked about enjoying life, were, through fear of death, subject to bondage? When we saw the saints of God not daring to do what we did greedily, we thought that they were the slaves, and we the free men, not knowing that "to whom we yield ourselves servants to obey, his servants we are, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness;" (Ro 6:16;) not knowing that "whoever commits sin is the servant of sin," and that our boasted freedom was real servitude, while their apparent bondage was real freedom; for they had an interest in that precious declaration—"If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." (Jn 8:36.) As, then, the spirit of liberty is the spirit of the gospel, it must be the very spirit of the precept also as an integral part of the gospel. If, therefore, you have never known the spirit of liberty in the gospel, you have never known the spirit of the precept, which is a part of that liberty; and if you have never known the spirit of the precept, you have never once performed one of the precepts aright. All your obedience has been not in newness of the spirit, but in the oldness of the letter. O how pious and religious some of you have been, if not now are! How you have set the precepts before your eves and tried to keep them—how harshly you have judged others who were not so strict in keeping the commandments as you believed you were—how you spied out the liberty of some of the dear family of God which they had in Christ Jesus, that you might, by your conversation, or your preaching, your letters of advice, your solemn warnings, your sharp and angry reproofs, your praying at them, and, as you thought and said, for them, bring them into bondage. (Gal 2:4) How dangerous you considered must be the liberty of the gospel if it should set anyone who professed godliness free from all those shackles and fetters which, the more self-imposed and the stricter they were, the more closely you hugged them to your self-righteous bosom! Thus you took the precepts of the gospel out of their connection with the liberty of the gospel, and turned them into moral duties to feed your legal, self-righteous spirit. And what was the consequence? Bondage, guilt, and fear in your own conscience, for you could never keep the precept even according to your own interpretation of it; harsh judgment of all who did not partake of your legal spirit, whatever might be their experience or consistency; close alliance with shallow professors held fast in the same bonds with yourself; and a gradual departure from the truths of the gospel, until a miracle of grace put you into the furnace, there to learn what your own arm could do for you, and that nothing but the gospel, in its blessed liberty and power, could save your soul. We have rather wandered from our point, but we could not show the liberty of the precept as animated by the spirit of the precept, and its harmony with the whole tenor and current of the gospel, without entering a little into the nature of the liberty of the gospel; and, as this is a subject of great importance, and very dear to us, we have been tempted to stray somewhat from our due limits. But now observe the connection between the 'spirit of the precept' and the 'liberty of the gospel'. In order, then, that this liberty of the gospel should not be abused unto licentiousness, it is guided and regulated by the precept, and by the spirit of the precept as animating the letter. The liberty of the gospel is a living, animated principle—not a dead letter, but a gracious power and influence. This is one of its main blessings. The precept therefore, in guiding and regulating this liberty, must be animated, too, with spirit and life, or you would have the strange anomaly, the gross and palpable inconsistency, of a living body walking with dead feet, or served by paralyzed hands. (The Precepts of the Word of God)