faith. The church of Christ is very frequently defigned the house of God, and the body of Chrift. Here it is fet forth in a view which includes every member of the family, and the defignation is taken from their way of living, very different indeed from the way of the world. The natural children of Adam have no other way of living but by fight and sense, which can extend no further than fenfible objects. But the household of God lives and walks by faith, the belief of the teftimony and promifes of God concerning unfeen, fpiritual, and eternal things. Men may, with no great labour, perceive what is good and profitable to man in his present state; but cannot find proper motives, fuch as may be ftrong enough to determine the heart to the practice of them. Nothing but faith can work love, and nothing but love can form the heart into a fuitablenefs unto the gofpel of Chrift.

ti. Te fee how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. 12. As many as defire to make a fair fhew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcifed; only left they should fuffer perfecution for the cross of Chrift. 13. For neither they themfelves who are circumcifed keep the law; but defire to have you circumcifed, that they may glory in your flefb14. But God forbid that I should glory, fave in the cross of our Lord Jefus Chrift, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 15. For in Chrift Fefus neither circumcifion availeth any thing, nor uncircumcifion, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Ifrael of God. 17. From henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jefus. 18. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift be with your fpirit. Amen.

WE

16.

E have here before us the conclufion of this epistle, and a very proper conclufion it is for fuch an epiftle. He had made very warm intimations of his fatherly care and tender concern about them; and here adds, as no fmall evidence of it, that he had written this fo large a letter to them with his own hand. It was an honour that very few, of the many churches he planted, had, to 3 L 2 receive

receive a letter from him; fuch at least as were thought proper to remain on record for the use of the churches of Chrift. But even among those which are thus preferved, this is the only one which we are told was written with his own hand. It is certain it was not his ordinary cuftom. But whether it was to give his rebukes and injunctions more weight with them by this fingular condefcenfion, or that his then circumstances did not admit a perfon to attend him whom he would chufe to employ in this manner, we have no occafion to give ourselves any trouble about: though it appears he was not alone; for he wrote with the concurrence of the brethren who were with him.

But there is one queftion which hardly ever fails to be put on fuch occafions; and which, notwithstanding, the Apostle takes little or no notice of throughout this long epiftle: If thofe things the new teachers were fo intent on, were really fo unprofitable and hurtful, what could have moved them, not only to adhere to them fo tenaciously, but to promote them with such zeal and earneftnefs? Here he lets them

into the fecret of it: verf. 12. They compelled the Galatians to be circumcised, and thereby made a fair fhew in the flesh. But the true motive of their whole conduct

was, that they themselves might avoid perfecution on account of the cross of Chrift.

The word our tranflators make ufe of in defcribing the conduct of thefe falfe teachers, viz. that they conftrained them to be circumcifed, does not appear fo proper to exprefs the meaning of the original; which imports no more than the plain fact, that they made their being circumcifed neceffary in order to falvation. Nor had they any other compulfion in their power, than what weight this affertion had on the Gentile converts.

The character the Apostle gives of them carries fomething very inftructive in it. They were fuch as defired to make a fair, fhew in the flesh; and as many as had this view, insisted on the neceffity of circumcifion. He had, chap. ii. 10. set the pleafing of men, and the pleafing God, in a direct oppofition one to another. The former he renounced with great abhorrence; for this good reason, that if he yet

fought

fought to please men, he could not be the fervant of God. This has been in all ages the great fnare in which multitudes have been caught. And it certainly requires a refolution more than merely human to ftand firm against the courfe of the world. Among those who profeffed the worship of the true God, the Jews were both the most numerous, and the most powerful party. In effect, they had all the worldly power in their hands, and wanted not enough of zeal to employ it against all who differed from them, even to the feverest perfecution. The nearest way of avoiding the effects of it was, either to renounce Christianity altogether, or to bring it into` a confiftency with Judaism, the then prevailing religion. There needed no more but a flaming zeal for the doctrinal characteristics of that religion, which were indeed all that remained of it at that time, the fubftance being, as our Lord teftifies, deftroyed by their traditions. And has not Christianity itself been ferved much in the same manner? How great a part of the Chriftian world is to this day overrun with fuperftitious fopperies of man's invention? And even where these are de