Doctrine 11. So many and great are the interveniences and temptations that Page 599 599 PREFACE. TAE general concernments of this Epistle, have all of them been discussed and cleared in the preceding Exercitations and Discourses. The things and matters confirmed in them, we therefore here suppose, and take for granted. And some of these are of such a nature, that without a demonstration of them, a genuine and perspicuous declaration of the design of the author, and of the sense of the Epistle, cannot be well founded or carried on. Unto them therefore we must remit the reader, who desires to peruse the ensuing Exposition with profit and advantage. But yet, because the manner of the handling of things in those Discourses, may not be so suited to the minds of all who would willingly inquire into the Exposition itself, I shall here make an entrance into it, by laying down some such general principles and circumstances of the Epistle, as may give a competent prospect into the design and argument of the apostle, in the whole thereof. First, The first of these concerns the persons whose instruction and edification in the faith is here aimed at. These in general were the Hebrews, the posterity of Abraham, and the only church of God before the promulgation of the gospel, who in those days were distributed into three sorts, or parties. 1st, Some of them believing in Christ through the gospel, were perfectly instructed in the liberty given them from the Mosaic law, with the foundation of that liberty, in the accomplishment of that law, in the person, office, and work of the Messiah, Acts ii. 41, 42. 2d, Some with their profession of faith in Christ as the promised Messiah, retained an opinion of the necessity of observing the Mosaic rites; and these also were of two sorts. 1. Such as from a pure reverence of their original institutions, either being not fully instructed in their liberty, or by reason of prejudices, not readily admitting the consequences of that truth wherein they were instructed, abode in the observVOL. III. B ance of them, without seeking for righteousness or salvation by them, Acts xxi. 20. 2. Such as urged their observance as indispensably necessary to our justification before God, Acts xv. 1. Gal. iii. 4. The first sort of these the apostles bore with in all meekness; yea, and using the liberty given them of the Lord, to avoid offending of them, joined with them in their practice, as occasion did require, Acts xvi. 3. ch. xxi. 23, 24. 26. ch. xxvii. 9. 1 Cor. ix. 20. Whence for a long season, in many places, the worship of the gospel, and the synagogue worship of the law, were observed together, James ii. 2. though in process of time many disputes and differences were occasioned thereby, between the Gentile aud Jewish worshippers, Rom. xiv. The other sort they opposed, as perverters of the gospel which they pretended to profess, Acts xv. 5. Gal. ii. 13-16. ch. iv. 9-11. ch. v. 2. And of these, some afterwards apostatized to Judaism; others abiding in a corrupt mixture of both professions, separated themselves from the church, and were called Nazarenes and Ebionites. 3d, Others, far the greatest number of the whole people, persisted in their old church-state, not receiving the salvation that was tendered unto them in the preaching of the gospel; and these also were of two sorts. 1. Such as, although they had not embraced the faith, yet were free and willing to attend to the doctrine of it, searching the Scriptures for a discovery of its truth, and in the mean time instantly serving God, according to the light of the Old Testament which they had received, and in these was the essence of the Judaical church preserved to its final dissolution, Acts xvii. 11. ch. xxviii. 22-24. Such as being hardened in their infidelity, blasphemed, scoffed at, and persecuted the gospel, with all that professed it, Acts xiii. 45. 50. ch. xiv. 19. ch. xvii. 5. 1 Thess. ii. 15, 16. Rom. xi. 7—10. whom, not long after, the vengeance of God overtook in their total destruction. 2. Now our apostle, vehemently thirsting after the salvation of the Hebrews in general, Rom. ix. 1. ch. x. 1. having all these several sorts or parties to deal with, so frames his Epistle unto them, that it might be suited to the good of all, in their conversion, instruction, edification and establishment, as their several conditions did require; the latter sort only excepted, who being under judicial blindness, were cast out of the care of God, and of the apostle, Acts xiii. 46. 51. Hence in part is that admirable contexture of this Epistle, which Peter ascribes to his eminent wisdom, 2 Pet. iii. 18. As it is indeed evident from the story, that he did excel in applying himself to the various principles, capacities and prejudices, of them with whom he had to do. The Lord Christ having set him forth as a great example of that diligence, zeal and prudence, which he requires in the dispensers of the gospel. Divine reasonings, instructions, exhortations, promises, threats and arguments, are so interwoven in this Epistle from the beginning to the end, that all to whose hands or hearing it should come, might every where meet with that which was of especial and immediate concern to themselves, unto which of the sorts before mentioned soever they did belong. And this principle we must have respect unto, in that intermixture of arguments to prove the truth of the gospel, with exhortations to constancy in the profession of it, which we shall meet with. The several conditions of those to whom the apostle wrote, required that way of procedure. Hence no one chapter in the Epistle is purely dogmatical, the first only excepted, nor purely parænetical; for though the design that lies in view, and is never out of sight, be exhortation, yet far the greatest part of the Epistle is taken up in those doctrinals, wherein the foundations of the exhortations do lie, and both are interwoven together, somewhat variously from the method of the same apostle in all his other Epistles, as hath been observed; that to the Galatians, which is of the like nature with this, only excepted. Secondly, A second thing to be previously observed is, that although those to whom the apostle wrote, were of the several sorts before mentioned, yet they centred in this, that they were Hebrews by birth and religion, who all agreed in some common principles relating to the subject about which he treated with them. These he makes use of unto them all; for though the unbelieving Jews did deny, or did not yet acknowledge, that Jesus was the Christ, yet they also consented to, or could not gainsay, what in the Old Testament was revealed concerning the person, office, dignity and work of the Messiah, when he should come, that being the faith whereby they were saved before his appearance, Acts xxvi. 6, 7. Upon these general principles wherein they also agreed, and which were the general persuasion of the whole Judaical church, the apostle lays the foundation of all his arguments. And hence he oft-times takes that for granted, which, without this consideration, should we look on any of those to whom he writes under the general notion of unbelievers, would seem to be the thing principally in question. And therefore have we at large already manifested what in those days was the avowed profession of the sounder part of the Judaical church concerning the Messiah, which the apostle here and elsewhere, in dealing with the Jews, built upon, Acts xxvi. 22, 23. 27. ch. xxviii, 23. ch. xiii. 16, 17. &c. which the reader must have constant respect to. Thirdly, In urging testimonies out of the Old Testament, he doth not always make use of those that seem to be most per spicuous and apposite to his purpose; but oftentimes takes others more abstruse, obscure, and which at first view seem to be of less evident consequence. And that upon a double ac count. First, that he might instruct the believers amongst them in the more abstruse prophecies of the Old Testament, and thereby incite them to the further search after Christ under the Mosaic veil, and prophetical allegories, whereby he is therein expressed, aiming to lead them on towards perfection, ch. v. 12. vi. 1. Secondly, because most of the testimonies he makes use of, were generally granted by the Jews of all sorts to belong to the Messiah, his kingdom and offices; and his design was to deal with them chiefly, upon their own concessions and principles. As we have some few other helps remaining to acquaint us with what was the received sense of the Judaical church concerning sundry passages in the Old Testament relating unto the promised Christ, so the paraphrases of Scripture that were either at that time in use amongst them, as was the Greek translation amongst the Hellenists; or about that time composed, as the Targums, at least some parts of them, will give us much light into it. What of that ancient sense appeareth yet in the corrupted copies of those translations which remain, being considered, will much evince the reason and suitableness of the apostle's quotations. And this is needful to be observed, to refute that impiety of some (as Cajetan) who not being able to understand the force of some testimonies cited by the apostle as to his purpose in hand, have questioned the authority of the whole epistle; as also the mistake of Hierome, who in his epistle to Pammachius, rashly affirmed that Paul did quote Scriptures that were not indeed to his purpose, but out of design to stop the mouths of his adversaries, as he himself had dealt with Jovinian; which was very far from him whose only design was aλndeve en ayan, to promote the truth in love. Fourthly, He takes it for granted in the whole epistle, that the Judaical church-state did yet continue, and that the wor ship of it was not yet disallowed of God; suitably to what was before declared concerning his own and the other apostles' practice. Had that church-state been utterly abolished, all observance of Mosaic rites, which were the worship of that church as such, had been utterly unlawful, as now it is. Neither did the determination recorded Acts xv. abolish them as some suppose, but only free the Gentiles from their observance. Their free use was yet permitted unto the Jews. Acts xxi. 20, 22, 26. ch. xxvii. 9. and practised by Paul in particu lar, in his Nazaretical vow, Acts xxi. 26. which was attended with a sacrifice, Numb. vi. 13. Nor was Mosaic worship utterly to cease, so as to have no acceptance with God until the |