Christ is the head

A. M. oir. 4066. A. D. cir. 62. A. U. C. 814. An. Imp. Neronis Cæs. Aug. 9.

a

being could produce a work that necessarily requires omnipotence. 2. It is impossible, because, if omnipotence be delegated, he to whom it is delegated had it not before, and he who delegates it ceases to have it, and consequently ceases to be GOD; and the other to whom it was delegated becomes God, because such attributes as those with which he is supposed to be invested are essential to the nature of God. On this supposition God ceases to exist, though infinite and eternal, and another not naturally infinite and eternal becomes such; and thus an infinite and eternal Being ceases to exist, and another infinite and eternal Being is produced in time, and has a beginning, which is absurd. Therefore, as Christ is the Creator, he did not create by delegation, or in any official way.

Again, if he had created by delegation or officially, it would have been for that Being who gave him that office, and delegated to him the requisite power; but the text says that all things were made By him and FOR him, which is a demonstration that the apostle understood Jesus Christ to be truly and essentially God.

III. As all creation necessarily exists in time, and had a commencement, and there was an infinite duration in which it did not exist, whatever was before or prior to that must be no part of creation; and the Being who existed prior to creation, and before all things-all existence of every kind, must be the unoriginated and eternal God: but St. Paul says, Jesus Christ was before all things; ergo, the apostle conceived Jesus Christ to be truly and essentially God.

IV. As every effect depends upon its cause, and cannot exist without it; so creation, which is an effect of the power and skill of the Creator, can only exist and be preserved by a continuance of that energy that first gave it being. Hence God, as the Preserver, is as necessary to the continuance of all things, as God the Creator was to their original production. But this preserving or continuing power is here ascribed to Christ, for the apostle says, And by him do all things consist; for as all being was derived from him as its cause, so all being must subsist by him, as the effect subsists by and through its cause. This is another proof that the apostle considered Jesus Christ to be truly and properly God, as he attributes to him the preservation of all created things, which property of preservation belongs to God alone; ergo, Jesus Christ is, according to the plain obvious meaning of every expression in this text, truly, properly, independently, and essentially God.

Such are the reasonings to which the simple letter of these two verses necessarily leads me. I own it is possible that I may have misapprehended this awful subject, for humanum est errare et nescire; but

of the church. A. M. cir. 4066.

A. D. cir. 62. A. U. C. 814. An. Imp. Neronis Cæs. Aug. 9.

d John i. 16. iii, 34. Ch. ii. 9. iii. 11.

I am not conscious of the slightest intentional flaw in the argument. Taking, therefore, the apostle as an uninspired man, giving his own view of the Author of the Christian religion, it appears, beyond all controversy, that himself believed Christ Jesus to be Goi; but considering him as writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, then we have, from the plain grammatical meaning of the words which he has used, the fullest demonstration (for the Spirit of God cannot lie) that he who died for our sins and rose again for our justification, and in whose blood we have redemption, was God over all. And as God alone can give salvation to men, and God only can remit sin; hence with the strictest propriety we are commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus, with the assurance that we shall be saved. Glory be to God for this unspeakable gift! See my discourse on this subject.

Verse 18. He is the head of the body] What the apostle has said in the two preceding verses refers to the divine nature of Jesus Christ; he now proceeds to speak of his human nature, and to show how highly that is exalted beyond all created things, and how, in that, he is head of the church-the author and dispenser of light, life, and salvation, to the Christian world; or, in other words, that from him, as the man in whom the fulness of the Godhead bodily dwelt, all the mercy and salvation of the gospel system is to be received.

The beginning, the first-born from the dead] In 1 Cor. xv. 20, Christ is called the first-fruits of them that slept; and here, the chief and first-born from the dead; he being the first that ever resumed the natural life, with the employment of all its functions, never more to enter the empire of death, after having died a natural death, and in such circumstances as precluded the possibility of deception. The apxn, chief, head, or first, answers in this verse to the anaрxn, or first-fruits, 1 Cor. xv. 20. Jesus Christ is not only the first who rose from the dead to die no more, but he is the first-fruits of human beings; for as surely as the first-fruits were an indication and pledge of the harvest, so surely was the resurrection of Christ the proof that all mankind should have a resurrection from the dead.

That in all he might have the pre-eminence] That he might be considered, in consequence of his mediatorial office, as possessing the first place in and being chief over all the creation of God; for is it to be wondered at that the human nature, with which the great Creator condescended to unite himself, should be set over all the works of his hands?

Verse 19. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell] As the words, the Father, are not in the text, some have translated the verse thus: For in Him it seemed right that all fulness

should dwell; that is, that the majesty, power, and goodness of God should be manifested in and by Christ Jesus, and thus by him the Father reconciles all things to himself. The λnowμa, or fulness, must refer here to the divine nature dwelling in the man Christ Jesus.

Verse 20. And, having made peace through the blood of his cross] Peace between God and man; for man being in a sinful state, and there being no peace to the wicked, it required a reconciliation to be made to restore peace between heaven and earth; but peace could not be made without an atonement for sin, and the consequence shows that the blood of Christ shed on the cross was necessary to make this atonement. To reconcile all things unto himself] The enmity was on the part of the creature; though God is angry with the wicked every day, yet he is never unwilling to be reconciled. But man, whose carnal mind is enmity to God, is naturally averse from this reconciliation; it requires, therefore, the blood of the cross to atone for the sin, and the influence of the Spirit to reconcile the transgressor to him against whom he has offended! See the notes on 2 Cor. v. 19, &c. Things in earth, or things in heaven.] .Much has been said on this very obscure clause; but, as it is my object not to write dissertations but notes, I shall not introduce the opinions of learned men, which have as much ingenuity as variety to recommend them. If the phrase be not a kind of collective phrase to signify all the world or all mankind, as Dr. Hammond supposed, the things in heaven may refer, according to some, to those persons who died under the Old TestaLent dispensation, and who could not have a title to glory but through the sacrificial death of Christ: and the apostle may have intended these merely to show that without this sacrifice no human beings could be saved, not only those who were then on the earth, and to whom in their successive generations the gospel should be preached, but even those who had died before the incarnation; and, as those of them that were faithful were now in a state of blessedness, they could not have arrived there but through the bond of the cross, for the blood of calves and goats could not take away sin. After all, the apostle protably means the Jews and the Gentiles; the state of the former being always considered a sort of divine or celestial state, while that of the latter was reputed to be merely earthly, without any mixture of spiritual or heavenly good. It is certain that a grand part of

k

Eph. i. 4. v. 27. 1 Thess. Eph. iii. 17. Ch. ii. 7.

our Lord's design, in his incarnation and death, was to reconcile the Jews and the Gentiles, and make them one fold under himself, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. That the enmity of the Jews was great against the Gentiles is well known, and that the Gentiles held them in supreme contempt is not less so. It was therefore an object worthy of the mercy of God to form a scheme that might reconcile these two grand divisions of mankind; and, as it was his purpose to reconcile and make them one, we learn from this circumstance, as well as from many others, that his design was to save the whole human race.

Verse 21. And you, that were sometime alienated] All men are alienated from God, and all are enemies in their minds to him, and show it by their wicked works; but this is spoken particularly of the Gentiles. The word anaλorpiow, which we render to alienate, to give to another, to estrange, expresses the state of the Gentiles: while the Jews were, at least by profession, dedicated to God, the Gentiles were alienated, that is, given up to others; they worshipped not the true God, but had gods many and lords many, to whom they dedicated themselves, their religious service, and their property. The verb alloтplow, to alienate, being compounded here with the preposition ano, from, signifies to abalienate, to estrange utterly, to be wholly the property of another. Thus the Gentiles had alienated themselves from God, and were alienated or rejected by him, because of their wickedness and idolatry.

Enemies in your mind] They had the carnal mind, which is enmity against God; and this was expressed in their outward conduct by wicked works. See the note on Rom. v. 10. The mind is taken here for all the soul, heart, affections, passions, &c.

Verse 22. In the body of his flesh] By Christ's assumption of a human body, and dying for man, he has made an atonement for sin, through which men become reconciled to God and to each other.

To present you holy] Having saved you from your sins.

Unblameable] Having filled you with his Spirit, and written his law in your hearts, so that his love, shed abroad in your hearts, becomes the principle and motive to every action. The tree therefore being good, the fruit is also good.

And unreproveable] For, being filled with love, joy, peace, meekness, gentleness, and goodness, against these there is no law; and as they were called to

Eph. iii. 7. Ver. 25.

25 Whereof I am minister, according to

pensation of God which is given An. Imp. Neronis to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

1

26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations," but now is made manifest to his saints:

is

27 To whom God would make known what the riches of the glory of this mystery

love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and their neighbour as themselves, the whole spirit and design of the law was fulfilled in them, for love is the fulfilling of the law.

In his sight] At the day of judgment. None can enjoy heaven who have not been reconciled to God here, and shown forth the fruits of that reconciliation in being made holy and unblamable, that, when they come to be judged, they may be found unreproveable. Verse 23. If ye continue in the faith] This will be the case if you, who have already believed in Christ Jesus, continue in that faith, grounded in the knowledge and love of God, and settled-made firm and perseveringly stedfast, in that state of salvation.

And be not moved away] Not permitting yourselves to be seduced by false teachers.

The hope of the gospel] The resurrection of the body, and the glorification of it and the soul together, in the realms of blessedness. This is properly the gospel HOPE.

To every creature which is under heaven] A Hebraism for the whole human race, and particularly referring to the two grand divisions of mankind, the Jews and Gentiles; to both of these the gospel had been preached, and to each, salvation by Christ had been equally offered. And as none had been excluded from the offers of mercy, and Jesus Christ had tasted death for every man, and the Jews and Gentiles, in their great corporate capacity, had all been invited to believe the gospel; therefore, the apostle concludes that the gospel was preached to every creature under heaven, as being offered without restrictions or limitations to these two grand divisions of mankind, including the whole human race.

Verse 24. Rejoice in my sufferings for you] St. Paul always considers his persecutions, as far as the Jews were concerned in them, as arising from this simple circumstance-his asserting that God had chosen the Gentiles, and called them to enjoy the very same privileges with the Jews, and to constitute one church with them.

which persecution he was now suffering in his imprisonment in Rome. See on chap. iv. 2.

That which is behind of the afflictions of Christ] I have still some afflictions to pass through before my race of glory be finished; afflictions which fall on me on account of the gospel; such as Christ bore from the same persecuting people.

It is worthy of remark that the apostle does not say Taonuara, the passion of Christ, but simply

pa, the afflictions; such as are common to all good men who bear a testimony against the ways and fashions of a wicked world. In these the apostle had his share, in the passion of Christ he could have none. He trod the wine-press alone, of the people there were none with him.

His body's sake] Believers, both of Jews and Gentiles, who form that one body, of which Christ is the head.

Verse 25. Whereof I am made a minister] Having received especial commission from God to preach salvation to the Gentiles.

According to the dispensation] Κατα την οικονομίαν According to the gospel economy or institution; the scheme or plan of salvation by Christ crucified.

To fulfil the word of God] The Greek Anpwoo τον λογον του Θεου may be translated, fully to preach the doctrine of God. See Rom. xv. 19, and the note there. Were we to take the word in its common meaning, it might signify to accomplish the purpose of God, as predicted by the prophets.

the

Verse 26. The mystery which hath been hid] The mystery is this: that God had designed to grant Gentiles the same privileges with the Jews, and make them his people who were not his people. That this is what St. Paul means by the mystery, see Eph. iii. 3, &c.

Made manifest to his saints] It is fully known to all who have embraced the doctrine of Christ cruci fied; to all Christians.