+I. What true religion is not.+--1. It is not circumcision nor
uncircumcision. 2. It is not an outward thing. (1) You are not
religious because you have been baptised. (2) Because you are called
a Christian, and have been born of Christian parents. (3) Because you
frequent the Church, attend the Lord's Supper, and are regular at
your devotions.
+II. What true religion is.+--1. It is not an outward but an inward
thing. It is not a new name, but a new nature. A _new creation_
describes a great change in man. 2. The greatness of this change
shows also the power by which it is wrought. Creation is a Divine
work. 3. The rite of circumcision taught the necessity of the change.
Though it was a _seal_ of the righteousness of faith, it was also a
sign of the inward renewal and purification of the heart. Baptism in
the Christian Church teaches the same truth. The texts of Scripture
which set forth the evil nature of man set forth the necessity of
this great change.--_Edward Cooper._
_The New Creature._--The new creature is the only thing acceptable to
God. It is the renovation of the whole man, both in the spirit of our
minds and in the affections of our heart. Neither the substance nor
the faculties of the soul are lost by the Fall, but only the
qualities of the faculties, as when an instrument is out of tune the
fault is not in the substance of the instrument, nor in the sound,
but in the disproportion or jar in the sound: therefore, the
qualities only are renewed by grace. These qualities are either in
the understanding or the will and affections. The quality in the
understanding is knowledge; in the will and affections they are
righteousness and holiness, both which are in truth and sincerity.
Holiness performs all the duties of piety, righteousness the duties
of humanity, truth seasoning both the former with sincerity.--_Ralph
Culworth._
_The Necessity of a New Nature._--The raven perched on the rock where
she whets her bloody beak, and with greedy eye watches the
death-struggles of an unhappy lamb, cannot tune her croaking voice to
the mellow music of a thrush; and since it is out of the abundance of
the heart that the mouth speaketh, how could a sinner take up the
strain and sing the song of saints?--_Guthrie._
_The New Birth begins our True Life._--A stranger passing through a
churchyard saw these words written on a tombstone: "Here lies an old
man seven years old." He had been a true Christian only for that
length of time.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 16-18.
_A Dignified and Touching Farewell_--
+I. Supplicates the best blessing on the truly righteous.+--"As many
as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God" (ver. 16). Jewish discipline and pagan culture are
for ever discredited by the new creation of moral virtue. The rule of
the renewed inward life supersedes the works of the condemned flesh.
On all who seek to regulate their lives according to this rule the
apostle invokes the peace and mercy of God. Peace is followed by the
mercy which guards and restores it. Mercy heals backslidings and
multiplies pardons. She loves to bind up a broken heart or a rent and
distracted Church. For the betrayers of the cross he has stern
indignation and alarms of judgment. Towards his children in the faith
nothing but peace and mercy remains in his heart. As an evening calm
shuts in a tempestuous day, so this blessing concludes the epistle so
full of strife and agitation. We catch in it once more the chime of
the old benediction, which through all storm and peril ever rings in
ears attuned to its note: "Peace shall be upon Israel" (Ps. cxxv. 5).
+II. Pleads the brand of suffering for loyalty to Christ as
conclusive proof of authority.+--"From henceforth let no man trouble
me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (ver. 17). The
apostle has sufficiently vindicated his authority by facts and
arguments, and he would effectually silence all quibbles on this
subject by triumphantly pointing to the marks of suffering on his own
body received in his Master's service. These marks he carried
wherever he went, like the standard-bearer of an army who proudly
wears his scars. No man would have suffered as Paul did unless he was
convinced of the importance of the truth he had received and of his
supernatural call to declare the same. Suffering is the test of
devotion and fidelity. For a picture of the harassed, battered,
famished sufferer in the cause of Christ and His Gospel read 2 Cor.
iv. 8-10, xi. 23-28. Marks of suffering are more eloquent than words.
The highest eminence of moral perfection and influence cannot be
reached without much suffering. It is a callous nature indeed that is
not touched with the sight of suffering heroically endured. The calm
bravery of the early Christians under the most fiendish persecution
won many a convert to the truth.
+III. Concludes with an affectionate benediction.+--"Brethren, the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen" (ver. 18).
Placing the word "brethren" at the end of the sentence, as in the
Greek, suggests that, after much rebuke and admonition, the apostle
bids his readers farewell with the warm-hearted expression of
brotherhood. Notwithstanding fickleness on their part, his love
towards them remains unchanged. He prays that the grace of Christ,
the distinctive and comprehensive blessing of the new covenant, may
continue to rest upon them and work its renewing and sanctifying
power upon their spirit, the place where alone it can accomplish its
most signal triumphs. Forgiveness for their defection and confidence
in their restoration to the highest Christian privileges and
enjoyment, are the last thoughts of the anxious apostle. Between them
and moral bankruptcy is the prayerful solicitude of a good man.
+Lessons.+--1. _When argument is exhausted prayer is the last
resource._ 2. _Prayer links Divine blessing with human entreaty._
3. _Last words have about them a solemn and affecting efficacy._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._